Chapter 797: The Mural
Chapter 797: Chapter 797: The Mural
A bizarre situation unfolded.
The Bai Family and Captain Zhang were very close to the zombie horde, whose keen sense of smell for flesh would usually detect their presence instantly.
Yet, not a single zombie charged at them.
If the zombie horde were merely retreating, it wouldn’t be that strange. The strangest situation was—
The commander of the Human Survivor Alliance stood not far from the zombie horde, exchanging "meaningful" glances with them.
This was a war without smoke.
It wasn’t until the last zombie disappeared from everyone’s sight that Captain Zhang withdrew his gaze.
He hoped he wasn’t mistaken.
He hoped that his gamble would allow human civilization to endure a while longer.
For a moment, Captain Zhang didn’t know what kind of risk his decision would pose to the distant future.
He didn’t know if he was right or wrong.
He only knew that, in these past few decades, the best choice was as it was.
"Let’s go! Let’s go have a look inside."
Captain Zhang sighed softly, his expression tinged with complicated emotions, and took the lead, heading towards the passage.
Everywhere ahead lay zombie corpses, scattered rotten flesh, making any step difficult.
Centered around Captain Zhang, suddenly a thick layer of frost appeared on the ground, freezing the rotten flesh and black blood beneath his feet.
The surrounding vegetation had already been destroyed, revealing the scorching sun.
The sun’s intense rays fell upon the ice layer but couldn’t shake its solidity.
The Bai Family was uncertain of Captain Zhang’s intentions and looked towards Bai Xiqin in unison.
Their goal had actually been achieved, as the Fusang Tree, capable of resisting the zombie virus, had been given to the Alliance. They trusted Mr. Zhong would definitely be able to develop a vaccine.
Whether to stay or leave no longer mattered.
Before Bai Xiqin could speak, Captain Zhang’s voice came from ahead.
"Don’t you want to know what the Tomb Guardians have been protecting for generations? Or, why the earth’s mountains and rivers suddenly erupted with energy tides?"
Captain Zhang’s voice was very calm, as if he already knew the truth, and this time he was here just for a look.
"Let’s go."
Bai Xiqin let out a single word from her throat and began to walk towards Captain Zhang.
She desperately wanted to know why the apocalypse had erupted.
If they hadn’t reincarnated, every member of their family would have met a tragic end.
The Bai Family saw Bai Xiqin nod and tacitly followed in her footsteps.
"It would be even better if we could find out how the apocalypse ends."
The Base Commander muttered, also following behind Leng Yebai.
Click, clack.
The shoes clacked on the ice surface, making click-clack sounds. Beneath the ice layer, the zombies’ distorted faces were shapeless.
Everywhere were fragments of rotten flesh.
Through the ice layer, the decayed smell of the zombies couldn’t be sensed, but stepping on the rotten flesh always felt like one could be attacked by the hideous zombies below at any moment.
Occasionally, a few zombies with open eyes had severely twisted and damaged limbs, unable to leave with the main horde.
They could only lie there, eyes wide open.
Even though there was an ice layer above them, they wouldn’t "die."
Their mouths barely opened and closed, only capable of chewing on ice shards.
If no one ended them, they would have a long life, indifferent to sorrow or joy, silently watching the sky, their emotions stirred only when flesh and blood passed nearby.
The group stepped on the fragments of rotten flesh, passed through the passage, and finally arrived at what was once a rather large base.
This was a cave entrance, and it could be seen that it had once been fairly concealed. After multiple explosions, it was now completely exposed.
The entrance was extremely conspicuous.
Inside the cave, dim lighting was still visible, leading to a long passage, which was packed with zombie bodies.
At Captain Zhang’s fingertips, a dense wave of energy surged, the invisible control power affecting the zombies in the passage.
Bits of zombie rotten flesh flew out one by one and then slowly landed on the open ground beside them.
Even though they were zombie bodies, Captain Zhang showed their corpses the respect they deserved.
In not much time, the long passage was covered in frost, the bodies cleared, and the black blood coagulated beneath the ice layer.
There was no worry about accidentally scratching oneself and turning into a cutie while walking.
The passage sloped downwards, and the lamps embedded on both sides were intact, with only the black blood indicating something had happened here.
Captain Zhang took the lead, heading inside, with the Bai Family closely following behind.
The passage was spacious enough for two people to walk side by side, not too narrow.
Underfoot, in the uneven ground, small pieces of rotten flesh were occasionally embedded in the ice layer.
Even Liu Jing and Wang Yiyun, with their strong mental state, found some of it hard to look at.
"There are murals up here!"
Bai Yifan looked towards the surrounding walls to divert attention and suddenly saw the ancient designs on both sides of the passage.
These murals were a bit blurry, having avoided the elements inside the cave, yet their surfaces had begun to show signs of weathering.
The mural patterns depicted lavish palaces or beautiful maidservants.
The palaces overlapped, with pavilions and towers, scattered beautifully.
Though he had never seen such structures, Bai Yifan could feel the glorious moment once experienced by the ancients.
"This should be a sacrifice to heaven."
Further in, a scene of a group of people kneeling on the ground soon appeared.
Among the group, one person stood at the forefront, wearing attire resembling the Dragon Robe seen in TV shows.
It should be the Emperor of that time.
"They’re kneeling towards this direction, but the pattern here isn’t clear."
Bai Yifan pointed to a spot.
It seemed to have been touched many times, making the pattern on the stone wall somewhat indistinct.
Only faint outlines of a serpent-like design could be discerned within the deep textures.
"It should be—a dragon, right?"
Bai Zhengxuan suddenly recalled the White Dragon once seen entangled in battle with the Zombie Flood Dragon in the sky.
Even in this era, dragons had appeared, surely there were far more in ancient times than now.
The reason people today believe dragons don’t exist is because the vast majority have never seen one.
Ancient people deeply revered the dragon totem, their faith unwavering.
There were even historical accounts of families raising dragons.
The ancient emperor’s dragon robe was shaped like a dragon, so it made sense if they worshiped dragons.
"They didn’t worship the dragon; they worshiped the geography."
Captain Zhang’s voice came from the front.
He didn’t look at the totem on the wall, but his voice was immensely certain.
Hearing Captain Zhang’s words, Bai Xiqin looked at the totem on the stone wall again.
Besides the already blurred serpent patterns, there indeed were other textures around.
These textures were carved very shallowly, as if intentionally downplaying their presence.
If they were emphasized, it would indeed feel like the serpentine pattern was more like a road or a river, whereas the other parts being overlooked were the textures of mountains and rivers.
A person who loves to draw would emphasize the lines of what they want to portray, and the less important parts would have weakened lines.
It’s like this situation now.
"This geography, it’s the shape of the Ancient Kunlun Mountain, right? But is this serpentine pattern a river or a road?"
Bai Xiqin could vaguely discern the general outline, but couldn’t make out which current location this serpentine pattern corresponded to now.