Everyone looked towards the Hanba.
"What should we do?"
Lin Gushi asked Zhang Wei, and the others also looked at Zhang Wei.
They had originally thought that if Zhang Wei got along well with Wan Taisui, this trip would be completed perfectly. They hadn't expected the Hanba to appear and block their path. They were momentarily unsure of what to do and could only let Zhang Wei make the decision.
The others chimed in:
"Captain Zhang Wei, should we force our way through? Or try to talk? We'll listen to you."
"I agree, Captain Zhang Wei, whatever you say, we'll do."
Zhang Wei glanced at everyone and was about to speak when, as if sensing something, he and Hill simultaneously looked towards a spot not far away.
At the same time.
The Hanba also looked in that direction.
"Huh? What's wrong? Captain Zhang Wei."
Lin Gushi asked, following their gaze. The next second, he and everyone present were stunned.
"Huang Xiaodan?"
"Hu Shiliu?"
...
On the other side.
On the path leading to the lake, where Lin Gushi and the others had hidden from the zombie horde earlier.
At this moment.
Huang Xiaodan, holding a knife to Hu Shiliu's neck, was backing away step by step towards the lake. He spoke to Hu Da and Huang San, who were chasing him:
"Don't come any closer. If you do, I'll kill Shiliu."
Hu Da and Huang San looked helpless and a bit amused. They glanced at Huang Xiaodan, then at Hu Shiliu, and then spoke:
"Little sister, you and Huang Xiaodan, stop fooling around. I know you're being held hostage by Huang Xiaodan on purpose. Stop acting. I've told you, it's no use for us to go. Just listen to your brother's advice."
"You brat, why don't you listen to me? Hurry up and stop being impulsive with Miss Hu Shiliu. You can't save Captain Zhang Wei and the others. You saw the scale of that zombie horde."
Just now.
Hu Da and Huang San had brought Huang Xiaodan and Hu Shiliu back to their hiding place. As soon as they woke up, before they could hide for half a minute, Huang Xiaodan suddenly attacked Hu Shiliu, acting like a hostage-taker, and wanted to take Hu Shiliu to the lake to find Zhang Wei.
In response.
As shrewd weasels and foxes, they naturally saw through Huang Xiaodan and Hu Shiliu's trick, but they dared not intervene. After all, they knew very well that Huang Xiaodan and Hu Shiliu were both restless individuals, and they might actually slit throats.
As they approached the lake and could already see the zombie horde in the distance, Hu Da and Huang San were anxious.
Immediately.
Hu Da and Huang San gritted their teeth and said:
"If that's the case, Hu Da and I will go to the lake to save Mr. Zhang Wei. You brat, you and Miss Hu Shiliu, stay put in our hiding place."
"That's right, Huang San and I will go. You two have such little strength, you'll just be adding to the zombie horde's food."
Huang Xiaodan heard this and replied while holding the knife to Hu Shiliu's neck:
"No, we have to go together. If we let you go, aren't we just going to our deaths? You... Huh? What are you looking at? What's wrong?"
Before he could finish speaking.
Huang Xiaodan suddenly noticed that Hu Da and Huang San's faces had frozen, and they were staring straight at them with expressions of shock.
Hu Shiliu also noticed their change in expression. As Huang Xiaodan spoke, she chimed in:
"Huang Xiaodan is right, big brother. I just want to save Captain Zhang Wei, not have you go to your deaths. Huang Xiaodan, relax the knife at my neck, don't relax it... Big brother, what's wrong with you?"
At the same time.
Hu Da and Huang San, still in shock at their inquiries, only raised their hands and pointed in their direction when Huang Xiaodan and the others repeatedly asked:
"You... look behind you."
"Why isn't the zombie horde moving."
As they spoke.
Huang Xiaodan and Hu Shiliu were full of questions. Out of curiosity and vigilance, Huang Xiaodan said to Hu Shiliu:
"Shiliu, help me see what's behind us. I suspect third brother is playing a trick, deliberately distracting us."
Hu Shiliu nodded, agreeing with his assessment, and turned to look first.
The next moment.
Hu Shiliu's pupils constricted:
"There's a zombie horde! No, this... what's going on?"
As she spoke.
Huang Xiaodan couldn't help but be curious, and he knew Hu Da and Huang San weren't lying to him. He quickly looked back, and like Hu Shiliu, his face showed astonishment.
They saw...
The road behind them leading to the lake was almost blocked, with dense zombie hordes gathered there, a black mass. Just one glance made their scalps tingle. The numbers were comparable to an army.
However.
Unlike the zombie hordes they had seen before, the ones in front of them were very strange. Despite their large numbers, they were all stationary, like an army ready to march, unmoving, with their backs to them and facing the lake, their behavior peculiar.
Even when Huang Xiaodan and the others arrived, the zombie horde showed no reaction. Even the zombies in the rear, noticing Huang Xiaodan and the others, turned to look at them, but only glanced, with no intention of attacking them.
Huang Xiaodan and the others were dumbfounded, all bewildered and confused.
"What's going on?"
"Were they immobilized by a corpse-fixing talisman? That doesn't seem right either. Some zombies looked back at us just now, and there were no corpse-fixing talismans on their heads."
Hu Da and Huang San murmured one after another.
The next moment.
Out of curiosity, Hu Da and Huang San looked towards the largest ancient tree nearby and then leaped up, wanting to see what was happening. They both discovered that the zombie horde was looking towards the lake, clearly something in the lake's direction was attracting the zombie horde and keeping them still.
Then.
As they looked, their eyes widened again, and they exclaimed in unison:
"It's Captain Zhang Wei! Uh... damn, what's going on?"
"Captain Zhang Wei is still alive! Wait, my God! Hu Da, look quickly!! Is that Wan Taisui?!"
Their voices were loud.
Upon hearing Zhang Wei's name, Huang Xiaodan and Hu Shiliu, without a second thought, climbed the tree to see the situation. They were all surprised, shocked, and equally bewildered.
As they watched.
Zhang Wei and the others were by the lake shore, surrounded by zombie hordes, almost encircled, but there was no zombie horde attack as they expected. Instead, the zombie horde was surrounding them without attacking, standing there as if watching a show.
It was just that.
Compared to the stationary zombie horde, as Huang Xiaodan and the others glanced at Zhang Wei, upon seeing the Hanba and Wan Taisui, they no longer cared about the zombie horde, being completely drawn to Wan Taisui and the Hanba.
"Am I seeing things? Is that Wan Taisui protecting Captain Zhang Wei?"
Huang Xiaodan rubbed his eyes vigorously, thinking he had misread, but Wan Taisui's posture, blocking in front of Zhang Wei, looked like he was protecting his young.
Huang San and Hu Da also looked at each other, sharing the same doubt as Huang Xiaodan.
"What's going on? Wasn't Captain Zhang Wei swallowed by the poisonous python? Why is Wan Taisui protecting him?"
"I'm starting to understand why Dad and Grandpa insisted on Zhang Wei's participation. Could Captain Zhang Wei... know Wan Taisui?"
In their words.
They didn't have time to speculate. After a glance at each other, they all made a decision:
"Let's go! Little sister, let's go help Captain Zhang Wei."
"You brat, I was wrong. We should help Captain Zhang Wei. Even if you sacrifice yourself, we have to save Captain Zhang Wei."
For the sake of their respective Hu and Huang families.
Hu Da and Huang San understood the importance of Wan Taisui. Although Hu Shiliu and Huang Xiaodan were also important, for the development of their families, they had to make a painful decision, to protect Zhang Wei and obtain Wan Taisui at all costs, even if Hu Shiliu and Huang Xiaodan died in the Yunnan Worm Valley.
Huang Xiaodan's mouth twitched:
"...Damn, third brother, your mind changed too quickly."
Hu Shiliu, however, was unfazed and nodded:
"I've said it before, Captain Zhang Wei is more important than me. Brother, if I die, give this letter to great-grandfather. It's my will written before I came. That way, great-grandfather won't blame you for not saving me."
...