Chapter 109: Chapter 109: The Confident Lu Chi
 

Everyone had a dreamless night and hadn’t expected to sleep so well while camping outdoors.

The next morning at the campsite, there were no birds singing or scent of flowers, nor the soft, warm sunlight. The sky remained overcast, the sun hiding behind thick clouds as if it no longer wished to glimpse the world.

Su Jin and Lu Hao woke up relatively early. After freshening up, they took advantage of the others’ wash-up time to bring out various types of breakfast from the Space.

Milk-flavored steamed buns, sandwiches, a pot of glistening purple sweet potato porridge, fried eggs, and a few of Lin Yunguo’s pickled side dishes—all light yet nutritious food.

“Xiao Jin, do you have any red bean buns? I’d like some,” Mrs. Su Lin Tianhui whispered to Su Jin.

“Yes, we do.”

After saying that, Su Jin took out a plate of homemade red bean buns.

Lin Tianhui loved this taste—the red bean filling was sweet without being cloying, and the chewy texture combined with the crisp side dishes was simply perfect.

There was an abundance of red bean buns and everyone had one, earning a heap of praise. They were still warm and delicious.

The breakfast left everyone extremely satisfied, and even without bright sunshine, their hearts were aglow.

Just as everyone was packing up the tents, a series of chaotic cries came from the distant horizon.

“Is that… bird calls?” Aunt Lin Tianzhen, holding Qiqi’s hand, looked towards the source of the sounds.

In no time, a swarm of dark birds flapped their wings, flying over from a distance.

Terrible—it was Zombie Birds! A thought flashed through Su Jin’s mind.

There were many types of Zombie Birds: crows, sparrows, geese… In short, if they were flocking together, that meant nothing good.

“Everyone, quick, get in the car! It’s Zombie Birds, close the windows tight, and don’t let them bite you!” Su Jin yelled.

“Damn, there’s such a thing?!”

Guo Yang hastily grabbed Liao Yifan and ran towards the vehicle.

The rest of the group also hurried into the cars. After Su Jin got into the car, she noticed two or three tents and a barbecue grill still on the ground—not yet packed up. These things didn’t matter anymore; she had plenty of such items in her Space.

“Drive quickly, head for the wooded woods,” Su Jin said.

Based on her experience from a previous life, some Zombie Birds could even peck cars to pieces. If they drove into an open field, the flock might launch a group attack, so the only option was to drive towards sheltered areas.

“Okay, good.”

A deep, familiar voice came, making Su Jin feel uneasy.

“Lu, Lu Hao, why are you driving…” In the panic, Su Jin hadn’t looked towards the driver’s seat until she heard Lu Hao’s voice.

“It’s me, I was closest to the driver’s door,” Lu Hao responded while keeping an eye on the situation outside, seemingly unruffled by Su Jin’s questioning.

“Xiao Jin, it was too chaotic just now, I just grabbed Qiqi and jumped in,” Mao Zhihang also felt a bit embarrassed.

“Yeah, daughter, your mom was still doing her hair at the time. I pulled her up without noticing it was Xiao Hao…”

Following behind, Su Xiangzhe was also taken aback, having assumed it was Mao Zhihang driving in front.

Both had whispered to Su Jin from the back, after all, it wasn’t polite to say in front of Lu Hao that he wasn’t good at driving, right?

“Don’t worry, let’s shake off these birds first. I’m very steady,” Lu Hao said, firmly grasping the steering wheel.

Steady… you are very steady, but your sense of direction…

Su Jin felt a sense of powerlessness to complain, as she suddenly found that letting Lu Hao drive to escape was more troubling to her than the thought of being pursued by the zombie birds behind them. After all, there were two more cars following them, following a directionally challenged driver—what to do?!

Lin Cheng and Xue Wanyi tightly followed the car driven by Su Jin, and the speed of the zombie birds behind them was not slow at all, failing to shake them off!

“There’s a forest ahead, let’s find a way in,” Su Jin said. At this point, they had to resort to desperate remedies, and she tried her best to give Lu Hao directions.

“Okay, good,” he responded.

Lu Hao looked at the dense forest ahead and stepped on the accelerator, driving into it. His driving skills were indeed impressive; there was no path through the forest, yet he drove with great stability.

The zombie birds also followed, flying over the treetops, and some ventured into the forest itself. However, after flying past tree after tree, they found it extremely difficult to keep up with the car ahead. The zombie birds circling above the forest, having lost their target, did not continue the pursuit.

The group continued driving for a while, and seeing no more zombie birds behind them, they finally stopped.

Su Jin got out of the car, looked up at the dense treetops, and confirmed there was no longer any trace of the zombie birds.

The other survivors also got out of their cars one after another, realizing that zombie animals are even more troublesome than zombies themselves, attacking in groups and hard to defend against.

“Xiao Jin, what were our chances if we had fought with them just now?” Lu Guanhai asked as he leaned against the car and sat down on the ground after exiting.

“They were too many in number and could find our weak spots. Even if we could win, I fear someone would get hurt,” Su Jin replied.

She remembered being told in her previous life about a survivor group of nearly four to five hundred people who encountered these zombie birds. Although there were many Special Ability Users in the group, in the end, they were completely wiped out.

“Sister Xiao Jin, why don’t I sense those zombie animals?” Mao Qiqi had been pondering this question—her small map didn’t seem to show any traces of the zombie birds.

“It might be because they are too small. Maybe you’ll see them after your Special Ability is upgraded,” Su Jin speculated. If it was just one zombie bird, it wouldn’t pose any threat; moreover, zombie birds are small in size. Either they go undetected by Special Ability Users, or Qiqi would need to zoom in on her map to see them?

However, these weren’t important anymore. They didn’t need to rely solely on Qiqi to sense every danger.

What was more important was figuring out where they were now…

“What? The person who was leading the way driving is Xiao Hao?” Lu Guanhai suddenly jumped up from the ground, well aware of his son’s atrocious sense of direction.

“If it comes to it, we’ll just retrace our steps,” Yin Chengtian stepped forward hastily, wanting to help Lu Hao smooth things over.

But it seemed that nobody was really blaming Captain Lu, instead actively looking at maps and compasses, searching for a way out.

“Squeak~”

“Chitter-chitter~”

A rustling of leaves came from all around, and everyone immediately stopped talking and looked around with heightened alertness.

“Qiqi?”

Su Jin wanted to ask Mao Qiqi if she had sensed anything.

Mao Qiqi frowned and shook her head—what was going on? Was her small map not working?

“Ah! Who’s that? My bag!” Shi Jin suddenly cried out.

When everyone had a clear view, they let out a sigh of relief. It turned out to be a short-tailed monkey that had snatched Shi Jin’s bag while he wasn’t looking and was now earnestly rifling through it.

Next, an astonishing scene unfolded: many such monkeys emerged from the bushes surrounding them, encircling the group.