Chapter 99: Shancheng: “Later, He’ll Say I’m Delicate Again”

The man eagerly took a puff of the cigarette, squinting his eyes in satisfaction and letting out a contented sigh.

He glanced at Lin Mu and Fu Jingmo, then at the car parked behind them. These days, gasoline was hard to come by, and anyone who could afford to drive a car must hold some status in Shancheng. They were probably sent here on some kind of inspection.

He chuckled and leaned in closer. “Hey, don’t think I’m kidding. There really is a river monster. It showed up just the night before last—over ten meters long.”

The man tucked his weapon under his arm and awkwardly gestured to indicate something very large, the cigarette clamped in his mouth as if he couldn’t bear to take it out for even a second.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t on this stretch. It appeared further down the river the other night. When we heard the gunshots, we ran over, but guess what? The two guys stationed there had already been dragged under.”

“Oh, I see. That’s pretty scary. Did you get a good look at what the river monster looked like?”

“Of course! Didn’t I say it was over ten meters long? It leapt out of the water, and its head, man, it was like the front of a big truck. Dark and bulky, and it stank so bad, just like the zombies across the river…”

“Wait, are you saying it’s a fish?” Fu Jingmo interrupted him again, cutting him off mid-description.

The man shot him a dissatisfied look but quickly reined it in, remembering he had just accepted half a pack of cigarettes. “Tch, it’s not a fish. Its whole head is round. Aren’t fish heads flat and vertical?”

“Anyway, I think it looked kind of like a long snake, a giant python or something. But where in the Lucong River would such a big snake even come from? I don’t get it.”

“Whatever it is, as long as it doesn’t show up around here, I’m fine. Otherwise, who knows if I’d still have my life?”

Fu Jingmo chuckled, figuring the man had shared everything he knew. After thanking him, he pulled Lin Mu, who was crouching nearby, to his feet and started walking back.

Lin Mu was still pondering the man’s words. “Could it really be a snake?”

“Mm, it’s quite possible. It might be something like a water python,” Fu Jingmo replied.

“But he mentioned a rotting smell. If animals are infected, don’t they usually just grow larger?”

Fu Jingmo stopped in his tracks, turning to look at the river. “That’s just what we know. Maybe there’s more we haven’t encountered yet. Or, is it possible that during the fusion of humans and animals, they were attacked by zombies?”

Lin Mu frowned, finding the idea bizarre. Only Fu Jingmo could come up with such a strange hypothesis. He glanced at Fu Jingmo and saw his expression was deadly serious, not at all joking.

“Forget it, let’s head back first. Tomorrow, I plan to meet Chen Yu.”

“…Chen Yu,” Lin Mu’s gaze flickered slightly as he spoke slowly. “Hmm, will Ye Xing let you see him?”

Fu Jingmo chuckled, “That’s not up to him to decide.”

As he turned to leave, a sudden surge of intense energy burst out behind them, followed by the loud, terrified scream of the man from earlier.

The two quickly turned around. The man was frantically scrambling toward the greenery, while a massive whirlpool formed on the river’s surface, as if a plug had been pulled from the bottom. The water spiraled rapidly, being sucked downward.

The surface churned violently, and Fu Jingmo stared intently. The entire Lucong River seemed to be boiling.

The man stumbled and fell with every step. Lin Mu flicked his whip, wrapping it around him and flinging him onto the street.

…It hadn’t even emerged yet, and he was already this terrified.

“Bang!” A gunshot rang out. The man, sitting on the ground, foolishly fired a shot into the air.

The churning water stilled for a moment, as if recognizing the sound that had attacked it before. Following a wave of nauseating stench, a massive head emerged from the river’s surface.

This stretch of the Lucong River was over twenty meters deep in its deepest parts. For such a large river, it wasn’t surprising that the river monster was enormous.

With its appearance, the stench became indescribably overwhelming.

The response was swift. People who heard the gunshot were already converging in this direction, and two patrol vehicles carrying ability users also arrived.

Atop the massive black head were two pale gray eyes that moved slowly. Then, more and more of its head emerged. Before anyone could react, a gigantic figure shot out of the river.

Just as the man had described, it was indeed a long snake—or perhaps a giant water python? A zombie water python?

“Fire!”

Someone gave the order, and gunfire erupted continuously. However, the bullets only sparked off the water python’s body, showing no signs of harming it.

Fu Jingmo moved in a flash, grabbing the shoulder of someone nearby with an iron grip, rendering the man immobile. “What the hell are you doing?!”

Without wasting words, Fu Jingmo yanked the gun out of the man’s hands in two swift motions, took aim, and fired. The bullet flew precisely toward the snake’s eye.

A series of shots followed, each one perfectly aligned along the same trajectory. The people nearby were left speechless, staring in stunned silence.

However, just as the bullets reached the giant snake’s eye, it abruptly closed its eyelids. The tiny bullet hit its rough, thick eyelid and had no effect but clearly enraged it.

The massive snake extended its head toward the riverbank, then opened its enormous mouth and let out a strange, otherworldly sound. It was hoarse, resembling the guttural growl of a zombie more than any sound a normal animal could produce.

The massive snake’s tail emerged from the water on the other side. At that moment, Lin Mu finally realized—this wasn’t just ten meters long. The snake was at least a hundred meters in length!

With a sweep of its tail, the snake struck the zombie horde on the southern bank, flinging countless zombies onto the northern bank. The zombies that landed on the ground were momentarily stunned before they began to stagger upright, shambling toward the street.

“Zombies!! Zombies are coming!!” someone shouted in alarm.

Fu Jingmo aimed carefully, taking down one zombie with each shot, while Lin Mu stepped forward, swiftly dispatching any zombies that got too close.

The two worked seamlessly together, efficiently eliminating the zombies. Watching their coordinated actions, the others behind them steadied themselves and began shooting the zombies charging forward.

The giant snake continued its movements, flinging more and more zombies onto the shore.

“We can’t let this go on,” Lin Mu shouted, frowning as he flung off another zombie.

Fu Jingmo tossed the gun back to the man from earlier, twisting his wrist as black mist coalesced in his palm. Without hesitation, he hurled it forward.

The black mist solidified into a black blade, though unlike before, it wasn’t entirely black—its edges faintly glimmered with silver. 

The blade shot swiftly toward the snake’s abdomen, which appeared softer compared to its hard skull.

Gunfire continued to echo, and more people, drawn by the sound, arrived to assist.

The black blade grazed the snake’s abdomen, tearing a small gash. Though the wound wasn’t large, it was enough for the previously unscathed snake to feel the searing pain of its flesh being torn.

Distracted, it ceased flinging zombies, and its massive body thrashing wildly. Waves surged over ten meters high on the river’s surface, with some splashing onto the streets.

Fu Jingmo swiftly grabbed Lin Mu by the waist and retreated, avoiding the foul-smelling river water.

The giant snake seemed unwilling to continue the fight. With a sweep of its tail, it sent a cluster of zombies flying, then plunged its head into the river and sank beneath the surface. A long wave rippled across the water as it fled downstream, disappearing quickly.

The people on the street were almost completely drenched, and the air was thick with a foul stench. Its final move had thrown quite a few zombies onto the northern bank. Fu Jingmo hurled several black blades, taking out most of them. The remaining scattered zombies were swiftly shot and killed with coordinated efforts from those on the shore.

“Let’s go, back.”

Although they hadn’t killed the river monster, at least they now knew what it was.

Their car was parked near the concrete wall at the end of the road, thankfully avoiding the foul-smelling river water. However, the street had already been dirtied by the water that had flowed over from further downstream.

“You stay here, I’ll get the car.”

Fu Jingmo stopped Lin Mu, guiding him to stand on the higher pedestrian walkway, and then stepped into the foul-smelling water without a second thought to fetch the car.

Lin Mu touched the tip of his nose and muttered softly, “Later, he’ll say I’m being delicate again.”