Chapter 108: Revival
The sudden turn of events not only startled Yang Haoran but also sent a jolt through the police officers present.
"He's still alive!"
Chen Ying's face lit up with joy. This was the first living person she had found in Yangjiawan, apart from Yang Haoran.
Earlier, they had received an alarm from Yangjiawan residents, reporting that several deranged individuals had appeared in the village. They were behaving like beasts, tearing and gnawing at anyone they saw. Many villagers had already fallen victim to their poisonous hands, and they even spared no livestock.
Upon learning of the situation, Chen Ying and her colleagues immediately deployed under their captain's lead, rushing to Yangjiawan without a moment's delay.
Upon arriving in Yangjiawan, the scene before them was shocking. Bodies lay everywhere, but not a single living person was to be seen, not even a single head of livestock.
The entire Yangjiawan village was permeated with an aura of death.
In response, their captain decided to divide the dispatched police force into two small teams, conducting a carpet search of Yangjiawan from two different directions in hopes of finding something.
Chen Ying had no idea what the other team might have found, but her own team had discovered absolutely nothing before encountering Yang Haoran.
Chen Ying couldn't be certain if Yang Haoran was a murderer, but with such a horrific massacre occurring in Yangjiawan, and only Yang Haoran remaining perfectly fine, it was hard for her not to suspect that everything was connected to him.
She intended to apprehend Yang Haoran and then conduct a thorough investigation back at the station, confident that they would uncover something. However, to her surprise, just as they were gradually closing in on Yang Haoran, preparing to forcefully take him down, a corpse on the ground suddenly moved.
In Chen Ying's eyes, if it could move, it meant the person wasn't dead; they were still alive!
A survivor! This was definitely good news for them, as they could glean a lot of information from the survivor's testimony.
Yang Haoran's reaction was precisely the opposite of Chen Ying's. The moment his ankle was seized, he cursed inwardly, instinctively shifting his body sideways, attempting to forcefully pull his foot free from the grasp.
However, he had underestimated the other party's strength. His ankle was firmly gripped, and he actually failed to withdraw his foot.
"Don't move! Move again and I'll shoot!"
Yang Haoran's reaction clearly provoked the police. One officer roared at Yang Haoran, looking as if he would decisively open fire if Yang Haoran made even the slightest move.
The answer to the police officer didn't come from Yang Haoran, but from a hoarse roar, and this roar emanated precisely from beneath Yang Haoran's foot.
This hoarse roar not only caught Yang Haoran's attention but also that of Chen Ying and the other officers.
A face lifted from the ground. Upon seeing it clearly, Chen Ying instantly let out a shriek.
As a police officer, Chen Ying had witnessed many bloody and terrifying scenes; her courage was far from ordinary. Yet, the face before her still made her cry out involuntarily.
The face had been bitten beyond recognition; the nose was gone, an eyeball dangled from its socket, and multiple areas of the face were pockmarked with bites, some even exposing white bone. What was eerie was that from such a mangled face, not a single drop of blood flowed.
This person looked up at Yang Haoran, like a beast spotting its prey, a series of hoarse roars erupting from his mouth.
"Wha—what in the world is going on?"
The other officers were also thoroughly terrified by the scene before them. Although they were all police and armed with firearms, they were ultimately just ordinary people. This bizarre and horrifying sight would instill fear in anyone.
"It seems my guess was right. They've indeed turned into Corpse Puppets!"
Yang Haoran's expression was grim. As he forcefully pulled at his foot, he roared at the police officers present, "Run! Get as far away as you can! Otherwise, you'll all die here today!"
The officers exchanged uneasy glances, Chen Ying included. Although they had no idea what was truly happening, as police officers, how could they possibly choose to flee?
"Yang Haoran, is this your doing? " Chen Ying loudly questioned Yang Haoran.
Yang Haoran couldn't be bothered with her. He tried to pull his foot free several times, but couldn't dislodge it from the grip, making him feel increasingly anxious.
It wasn't that he had no way to free his foot; he simply couldn't bring himself to do it. After all, the Corpse Puppet holding him had once been his family, an elder.
Seeing that Yang Haoran didn't answer her, Chen Ying felt a surge of panic mixed with anger. She was just about to teach Yang Haoran a lesson, but precisely at that moment, all the corpses on the ground began to stir.
Hoarse roars echoed throughout the entire courtyard, as mangled corpses struggled one after another to rise from the ground. Their appearance was terrifying, their eyes devoid of any humanity, containing only bloodthirsty madness.
This scene, let alone Chen Ying and the other police officers, even startled Yang Haoran himself considerably!
"What in the world are these monstrous things? " Chen Ying could barely believe her eyes. Earlier, she had thought the one who suddenly grabbed Yang Haoran's ankle must have been a survivor, but now, it seemed the truth was entirely different from what she had imagined.
"Zombies. . . are these the zombies we see in movies? " a police officer stammered, licking his dry lips.
The officer's reminder sent a chill down the spines of the other police present, for they realized that the villagers before them indeed bore a striking resemblance to the zombies from films.
Even if they weren't zombies, these villagers were definitely no longer human. They were monsters of a kind they couldn't comprehend. Given the extent of their injuries and their horrific state, any human would have long been dead, certainly not able to stand upright.
"What do we do now?"
At this moment, Chen Ying no longer cared about Yang Haoran. With a panicked expression, she asked her colleagues.
"Let's retreat from the courtyard first!"
One officer quickly spoke up. His suggestion immediately gained everyone's approval. This place was too sinister; they had never encountered anything so strange before. Faced with such an occurrence, they had no good course of action. The best approach was to retreat first and then formulate a plan.
Their idea was sound, but reality delivered a harsh slap to their faces. When they decided to leave the courtyard, they discovered, to their horror, that they had already been surrounded by these monsters, like dumplings in a pot.
"Damn it, we can't get out!"
An officer's face paled drastically. No sooner had his words fallen than the surrounding Corpse Puppets charged madly at them, and among them were even two transformed native dogs!
"Open fire!"
An officer roared. In this situation, he no longer cared what kind of monsters they were. He knew that shooting might give them a chance at survival, but if they didn't, they would most likely meet their end here today.
The other officers understood this just as well, so even without his reminder, they would have decisively opened fire in such circumstances.
After a volley of gunshots, Chen Ying and the others had emptied their magazines, but to their horror, they discovered that bullets had little effect on these monsters. Besides slightly slowing them down, they had no other discernible impact whatsoever.
Even as police officers, they were now somewhat flustered by the situation.
Their greatest reliance had always been the guns in their hands, but now, seeing their most dependable advantage rendered useless against these monsters, how could they not panic?
"Find a way to break through! " Yang Haoran's anxious roar reached the officers' ears.
To be honest, Yang Haoran had always held deep respect for the sacred profession of a police officer. Although recent events had made him uncomfortable, and Chen Ying's words and actions had particularly hurt him, he would never, for that reason, develop an aversion to all police.
The current unfriendliness of these officers towards him was understandable when he put himself in their shoes. If he were a police officer encountering such a situation, he, too, would likely have harbored suspicions about his past self.
As he spoke, a surge of Yin Qi suddenly emanated from Yang Haoran's gripped foot. He activated his Spirit Power, and his entire leg forcefully pushed outwards once more.
This time, he did not fail again. He not only successfully pulled his foot free from the opponent's grasp, but with such immense force, he even sent the entire person flying, crashing into several Corpse Puppets that were lunging at him.
He hadn't chosen to do this before because he was worried about harming the other party, but now he truly had no other option. If he didn't act, it was highly probable that he would be the one to die next.
With his body now free, the most rational course of action would have been to find a way to escape the courtyard. However, Yang Haoran had no intention of doing so. His gaze fixed on the interior of the house, and without any hesitation, he charged directly inside.
He wanted to confirm whether his parents were inside the house. This was incredibly important to him, arguably more important than his own life. So, even knowing that doing so would put him in an even more perilous situation, he made his decision without a moment's hesitation.
Just as he reached the doorway of the house, a series of twisted, deformed Corpse Puppets, accompanied by hoarse roars, began to crawl out from within.
Yang Haoran's body froze. This sight sent a chill through him, and he found himself praying silently, desperately hoping he wouldn't find his parents inside this house.
The reason was simple: from the current situation, if his parents truly were inside, the chances of their survival were virtually zero.
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