Before Gu Qingcheng could reply, Gu Chaobei suddenly saw the humanoid creature being chased ahead stop abruptly, rolling on the ground as if in great pain.
Although he could only make out the figure and not the expression or hear the voice, the way it rolled and its body twitched indicated it was suffering terribly.
"What's wrong?" Gu Qingcheng asked worriedly when she saw her father's expression turn serious.
"I don't know what's happening yet. Let me see," Gu Chaobei said.
Seeing this, Gu Qingcheng distributed infrared binoculars to her mother and Mi Guo, and took one for herself, holding it to her eyes.
By this time, the humanoid creature had stopped twitching and had sprung up from the ground.
The villagers had surrounded it, but the humanoid creature no longer seemed afraid. Instead, it counter-attacked the villagers.
The villagers were caught off guard at first, but when one was struck by the creature, he let out a horrifying scream.
Sensing something was wrong, other villagers rushed forward to try and separate the humanoid creature from the attacked villager.
However, the villager on the ground also began to convulse. After a short while, the villager got up and, catching everyone off guard, lunged at another villager.
Watching these scenes, a grim thought suddenly crossed Gu Qingcheng's mind. She said:
"Dad, could it be zombies?"
"Zombies?" Gu Chaobei hadn't quite understood.
He was a doctor and believed in science, and in his understanding of science, there were no zombies.
"Look at their symptoms, people biting people, spreading from person to person. Isn't that the characteristic of zombies?"
"Ah? This?"
Gu Chaobei was momentarily indecisive.
In the darkness, other than the torches dropped by the villagers, they could not see the scene clearly. They could only hear the screams of some villagers.
From time to time, someone was knocked down, then twitched on the ground for a while before standing up and attacking another villager...
After this situation unfolded for a while, it seemed that all the pursuing villagers had been attacked and bitten.
Of course, a few villagers, sensing the danger, did not linger and fled back into the village.
However, their running created too much noise. The snapping of branches underfoot and the rustling of leaves from their clothes alerted all the bitten villagers, who then leaped up and chased after the source of the sound.
Soon, all the villagers on the bank had completely disappeared.
Gu Qingcheng said speechlessly, "Dad, it seems we have to go into the village to check if they are zombies."
"Alright," Gu Chaobei was naturally interested.
Hu Lanfang, however, said, "No, curiosity killed the cat. I won't allow you to go."
"Mom, we'll go during the day. If they are zombies, they usually fear the light and won't be active during the day," Gu Qingcheng said. "I don't want to rush in and get ourselves killed."
"Daughter is right. We must go and investigate. Otherwise, if they truly are zombies, we won't be able to cope.
You saw just now how quickly people bite and infect others.
The first person they were chasing was probably discovered to be acting strangely by the villagers and they wanted to confine him. He didn't mutate immediately.
But under the villagers' pursuit, his abnormality was triggered. What's more terrifying is how incredibly fast they mutated after him, and how quickly they infected others.
If we don't study how to deal with this, the entire Great Zhou Dynasty might soon be filled with such zombies.
If that happens, no matter how many supplies we have, we won't be able to live here peacefully."
Gu Chaobei said sternly.
Hu Lanfang hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "Then I must go with you."
Hu Lanfang knew that this father and daughter duo would definitely act on their own, always excluding her from dangerous ventures. She was not happy about this.
"No, Dad and I will go. You and Mi Guo wait on the boat."
Gu Qingcheng said resolutely.
"Okay, we'll talk about it tomorrow."
Gu Chaobei cleverly steered away from the topic.
By the next day, Hu Lanfang and Mi Guo were still left on the boat.
Gu Qingcheng's reason was that their worry would distract them. If something happened to them, they would have to worry about taking care of Hu Lanfang and Mi Guo, making them more vulnerable.
Hu Lanfang felt her daughter's reasoning was sound and reluctantly agreed:
"Alright then, we'll wait for you on the boat. Come back quickly after you've investigated. If you're not back by three in the afternoon, we'll come find you."
Hu Lanfang reasoned that if they waited past three in the afternoon to search, it would soon be dark. And in the dark, if the enemy were the zombies her daughter spoke of, then night would be their advantage.
"Understood," Gu Chaobei nodded, conveying his understanding.
The father and daughter disembarked and walked directly towards the village.
They tread lightly, trying to make as little noise as possible. But upon reaching the village entrance, they found it eerily quiet in broad daylight. Not a single villager was in sight.
It was past eight in the morning, and it was unlikely for a village to have no activity.
The common folk of the Great Zhou Dynasty were diligent, with many waking up at four or five in the morning to work.
It was now past eight in the morning, and not seeing any villagers was indeed abnormal.
Both father and daughter felt the village was likely doomed, but they needed to investigate further to understand the specifics.
At this point, they noticed a courtyard gate was open. To show respect, Gu Chaobei gently knocked on the door and asked:
"Is anyone home?"
Receiving no response from inside, he continued:
"Fellow villager, I'd like to borrow some water. Is anyone there? If not, I'll come in."
They walked into the courtyard while speaking.
They searched the courtyard but found no one. However, they saw that the tables and chairs in the hall were overturned, lying scattered on the floor as if a struggle had taken place. Their hearts sank.
At this moment, they heard a "click" sound nearby.
The sound came from the side room on the right.
Gu Qingcheng slowly pushed open the door to the side room. Another "click" came from inside a wooden cabinet.
Gu Qingcheng then called out:
"Who's there?"
The cabinet door creaked open.
Two little boys peeked out, trembling with fear. Seeing that Gu Qingcheng and Gu Chaobei appeared normal, they finally managed to calm down slightly.
"Children, where are your adults?"
Gu Chaobei asked gently.
Seeing that they were not monstrous eaters, one of the slightly older boys said:
"We don't know where Mom and Dad went. Last night, a group of villagers were biting people everywhere like madmen, knocking people to the ground and biting them for their blood. Dad and Mom hid us here and told us to come out after dawn."
"Yes, Mom and Dad told us not to make any noise, and then they took cleavers and hoes to drive away those monsters themselves. Later, when there was no more noise from the village, we didn't dare to make a sound until you arrived."
The younger child said, crying.