Chapter 68: A Brand New Way to Play with a Thousand Faces

Jiang Fengmian’s fingers gently hooked around the trigger, the muzzle pointed straight at the slowly approaching "zombie" as her gaze turned as cold as ice. The air was thick with tension, and those around her did not even dare to breathe too loudly.

"Fengmian, stay calm!" Jiang Qiyu stepped over the dry leaves, making a faint rustling sound, and quickly rushed to her side. "That's not a zombie!"

Jiang Fengmian was slightly startled, but she did not release the trigger. Instead, she kept her eyes locked on the target ahead, asking with a vigilant and low voice, "How can you be sure?"

"Because that's a human, a resident of my territory!" Jiang Qiyu grabbed her wrist, applied a bit of force to push the muzzle away, and said with a solemn expression, "He's disguised, don't shoot!"

Jiang Fengmian paused for a moment and cast her gaze toward the "zombie," only to notice that its movements were far more agile than those of an ordinary zombie, its pace deliberately slow as if acting out a clumsy play. At that moment, the "zombie" abruptly stopped, raised a hand, and casually tore its grotesque "mask" off to the side, revealing a familiar, handsome face—none other than Shi Chao.

Shi Chao looked at the two of them with an innocent expression, his tone carrying a hint of grievance, "It took quite a bit of effort to put on this makeup, and you two were actually going to blow my head off. So heartless."

Jiang Fengmian’s lips twitched slightly. Before she could even speak, Jiang Qiyu glared at him with a cold smirk, "Why did you have to make the disguise so convincing without telling us in advance? You almost scared half the life out of us!"

Inside the tent, Zhang Yu was sitting cross-legged on the ground gnawing on a piece of hard, compressed biscuit. Hearing the low growls coming from outside, his brow furrowed and his entire body instantly stiffened. Zhao Hu was tinkering with a machete nearby, and upon hearing the commotion, his hand shook so badly he almost cut himself.

"What's going on? Are the zombies here?" Zhang Yu swallowed the biscuit in his mouth and nervously inched toward the edge of the tent, peeking left and right through the gap.

"No way? Doesn't our camp have a protective barrier?" Zhao Hu panicked as well, gripping his machete tightly with a trembling voice, "Could the barrier have failed? If I had known, I would have brought back a couple more iron plates to reinforce it!"

Just as the two were muttering to each other, the tent flap was suddenly yanked open, revealing an ugly "zombie" face. The dark, rotting flesh and rolled-back white eyeballs were practically pressed against the tip of Zhang Yu's nose.

"Ah!!!" Zhang Yu let out a miserable scream, tumbling backward and crashing onto Zhao Hu, while the machete hit the ground with a loud clatter.

Zhao Hu’s face drained of color from fright as well. He kicked Zhang Yu aside with his foot, trembling as he grabbed the machete off the ground and pointed it at the "zombie," his voice cracking, "Stay back! Stay back! I'm warning you, take one more step forward and I'll hack you to pieces right now!"

"Hey, wait, don't! Don't attack!" The "zombie" hurriedly took half a step back, pulling off the mask as he cried out, "Are you two seriously reacting this way? I'm just in disguise!"

As their vision suddenly cleared, Zhang Yu and Zhao Hu finally recognized that the person beneath the mask was Shi Chao. The two of them stared at each other in blank bewilderment for several seconds.

"S-Shi Chao?!" Zhao Hu’s voice was still trembling. "What on earth are you playing at? You went all out with the makeup?!"

Zhang Yu sat slumped on the ground, panting heavily, and nearly swore aloud, "Are you out of your mind?! Coming up to someone's face with a zombie mask in the middle of the night? I should have just sliced you first instead of letting you scare the life out of us!"

Shi Chao awkwardly scratched the back of his head, flashing an apologetic smile, "I just wanted to test out the effect for reconnaissance at the frontline before the zombie horde arrives."

Zhao Hu rolled his eyes and wiped a forehead drenched in cold sweat, "Are you trying to claim our lives or the zombies'? Do it again, and see if I don't actually hack you!"

"Alright, alright, don't get mad. It's all for scouting the path, right?" Shi Chao shrugged, pulled the tattered fabric draped over his shoulder down, and casually pinched a cracked, fake wound, admiring it as if it were a masterpiece.

Jiang Fengmian finally snapped back to her senses from the preceding chaos. Her gaze narrowed slightly, her eyebrows raised, and a subtle trace of disdain flashed across the depths of her eyes. Her tone laced with mockery, she coldly remarked, "Your cheat ability is truly out of the ordinary, possessing a thousand faces with maxed-out disguise skills, complete with special effects. It's practically an intimidation weapon."

Shi Chao was choked momentarily by this merciless piece of sarcasm, but he simply curled the corners of his lips unconcernedly, flashing a brazen smile. Putting on the air of a villain who had achieved his ambition, he cupped his fists and said, "Oh, please don't shower me with such praise, Eldest Miss Jiang, this humble brother is hardly worthy. But as for being frightening—successfully accelerating everyone's heart rate, especially yours, is the utmost honor!"

Faced with Shi Chao's self-amusement, the chill on Jiang Fengmian's lips deepened. Her mouth twitched slightly, but she couldn't be bothered to waste any more breath adding luster to this boring "award ceremony." She let out a light snort, her eyes sweeping across Shi Chao's smug face like blades, and coldly dropped a sentence: "An honor? If you play these bottomless tricks again next time, it might genuinely be your last honor."

Unfortunately, this warning seemed to go in one ear and out the other for Shi Chao. He still stood there with a cheeky grin, actually wearing an expression that made it seem as though he considered threats to be a bargain.

However, Jiang Fengmian clearly couldn't be bothered to dwell on this person any longer. She simply turned around, waved her hand, and coldly spat out two words: "Whatever." With that, she strode away toward the depths of the camp.

"Hey now, don't rush off," Shi Chao instantly dropped his frivolous attitude, turning to Jiang Qiyu with a serious expression, "Boss, scouting all the way along this path, I discovered a massive wave of zombies gathered around the perimeter of the school five kilometers away. They're jammed right outside the entrance of the biochemical laboratory. It's a sizable scale, which suggests something must have attracted them."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qiyu narrowed her eyes slightly—that was her destination. Those zombies could not possibly blockade the laboratory for no reason; there had to be crucial information or supplies there, and that significance would likely dictate the future trajectory of this crisis.

"Guns and ammunition aren't enough for us to go on a killing spree, unless we're looking to commit collective suicide," Shi Chao continued, though his tone retained a hint of ease, "However, I have a plan."

"Speak," Jiang Qiyu said decisively, a spark of interest igniting in her gaze.

"We can outsmart them," Shi Chao looked toward a construction site not far away. "Look over there, isn't there an abandoned construction site?" Pointing at a pile of messy steel bars and concrete, excitement laced his tone, "The Second Sister is a strength-type user; we can have her haul a few large concrete slabs or steel beams and hurl them toward the school." He made a throwing gesture, "Create some commotion. As long as the noise is loud enough, it's bound to draw those zombies away. Then we can take the opportunity to slip into the laboratory."

Jiang Fengmian had just been about to express her dissatisfaction, but upon hearing Shi Chao mention the trait of her strength, she swallowed the words back down and instead stared at Shi Chao with a scrutinizing gaze: "How do you know about my superpower?"

"Heh, an actor making a living on the same film set—if my powers of observation weren't up to par, how could I survive?" A relaxed trace of a smile lingered in Shi Chao's voice, "Don't get me wrong, I just think you must look super cool when you're tossing concrete."

His tone was deadpan, but Jiang Fengmian always felt those words harbored ill intentions, yet she couldn't find a single flaw to criticize, leaving her with no choice but to respond with a cold snort. Meanwhile, Shi Chao silently noted a thought in his mind: It's rare to witness a unique kind of female strength; truly astonishing.

Jiang Qiyu had no mind to participate in this undercurrent of "rivalry." Concentrating fully on the plan, she quickly confirmed the details, turned around, and crisply issued her command: "Rest tonight, conserve your stamina, and move out tomorrow at five sharp."

She swept a cold gaze across the team members, and everyone saw an unambiguous determination reflected in her eyes.

As dawn approached, every breeze that swept past seemed to herald the danger lurking behind the horde of corpses, yet not a single person backed down. Everyone was fully armed and ready, calculating their own opportunities for a breakthrough.