Xiao Sheng and others, after being besieged by zombies, had no choice but to enter the mountains. They were out of contact for a short time. Meanwhile, the zombies in the north and east of the city were preparing to advance northward. The Zombie King was also well aware that the tide had turned against them. If they didn't flee, they would be annihilated by humans. Escape was the best option.
Upon discovering the zombie horde's retreat, the headquarters immediately engaged in heated discussions about how to pursue them. A purely defensive battle would not yield glorious results. However, if they could strike the retreating zombies, it would make for a sensational headline: "In a hard-fought pursuit, our forces achieved victory, thwarting the conspiracy of hundreds of Zombie Kings, successfully defending the capital, and pursuing the zombies for hundreds of miles!"
Ultimately, the headquarters dispatched half of its fighter jets. The mutated birds within the city had all disappeared, allowing the fighter jets to rest temporarily. Now, with the need to pursue the zombie horde, it was the perfect opportunity to deploy the fighter jets.
Half of the fighter jets departed from Yanjing, carrying sufficient ammunition, and commenced another bombing campaign. Pitifully, the zombies, just beginning their escape, now faced utter destruction. Shells rained down from the sky. Unlucky zombies were instantly incinerated. The Zombie Kings were the most terrified. They could have hidden in caves for a while longer, but now, venturing out of their caves meant risking bombardment. Who could endure this?
Shen Feng, riding on Zhang Jue, pursued the Red-crowned Crane. Despite its injured wing, the Red-crowned Crane, being the king of birds, was incredibly fast, far surpassing Zhang Jue's speed. After flying a distance, it became a mere black speck.
At this moment, countless mutated birds charged towards Shen Feng, seemingly intent on obstructing his progress.
Shen Feng stood on Zhang Jue's back, continuously unleashing his abilities. Whirlwinds and barriers alternated, preventing the mutated birds from getting close. Simultaneously, he summoned wind blades, relentlessly killing the surrounding mutated birds. Blood splattered, and feathers flew. Before they could even approach the duo, the mutated birds were riddled with holes, falling from the sky with mournful cries.
Zhang Jue and Shen Feng fought their way through, killing mutated birds all along. Both white cranes and swans were felled by their attacks.
After flying for two hours, Zhang Jue was exhausted. Although Shen Feng was the one fighting, he was carrying the weight of two individuals. He truly couldn't fly any further.
"Shen Feng, let's stop chasing. I'm really tired. Let's rest," Zhang Jue said to Shen Feng on his back.
Shen Feng was also helpless. He hadn't expected Zhang Jue's stamina to be so poor. He himself had been using his abilities for half a day and felt no exhaustion. Thus, he said, "Alright then. You find a place to rest. I'll also clear out these mutated birds."
There were still thousands of mutated birds entangled with Shen Feng. The rest had been killed or injured by his wind blades. Shen Feng seized the opportunity to unleash "Vast East Wind," and a gust of wind blew the mutated birds a considerable distance away.
Zhang Jue took the chance to descend. Once they landed on the ground, the mutated birds' attacks would be less effective. It was easy for them to land, but taking off again would not be simple.
As Zhang Jue was descending, a cluster of small black dots suddenly appeared in the distance. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an uncountable number of mutated birds charging towards them. Instantly, Zhang Jue was terrified. If so many mutated birds surrounded him, wouldn't it mean certain death?
"Rustle, rustle." The sheer number of mutated birds created a constant friction sound as they flew. Shen Feng felt a chill run down his spine. He wouldn't have been worried about one or two thousand mutated birds, but such a vast number – who could fight this?
The mutated birds in the sky were like locusts, their numbers so immense they were impossible to count. If such a multitude had entered Yanjing, the city would likely have fallen long ago.
"Fly faster! If they catch us, we're dead!" Shen Feng urgently shouted to Zhang Jue.
Zhang Jue also cursed, "If you hadn't made me chase so hard, would we be running into so many mutated birds now? I'm already too tired to fly, and you want me to escape? You really treat me like livestock!"
Shen Feng glanced back at the mutated birds in the sky, his scalp tingling. He couldn't fathom why so many mutated birds had appeared. The mutated birds attacking Yanjing daily numbered only ten to twenty thousand, at most thirty thousand. But now, the number of mutated birds seemed far too great, certainly in the hundreds of thousands. He couldn't understand why so few had attacked Yanjing previously.
"This was a miscalculation. I suppose the cooperation between the mutated birds and the Zombie Kings wasn't that close. They only symbolically sent a portion of the mutated birds for aerial attacks on Yanjing, which is why Yanjing could be defended. If the mutated birds had launched a full-scale assault, Yanjing likely wouldn't have held out this long," Shen Feng muttered to himself.
At this moment, Shen Feng understood everything. The communication method between the zombies and the mutated bird king was through electromagnetic waves emitted by extraterrestrial elements, but the communication efficiency was poor. Ultimately, their cooperation was superficial. If the zombies had received the full support of the mutated birds, Yanjing would have already fallen. And his bad luck had angered the mutated birds, leading to a massive swarm attacking them.
The mutated birds were much faster than Zhang Jue. In an instant, they closed in on the duo in the sky. However, Zhang Jue was still at least fifty meters from the ground. If they fell directly, they would be severely injured, or worse, die from the impact. Even ability users couldn't withstand such a fall; gravity wasn't just for show.
Sweat beaded on Zhang Jue's forehead. If they were caught, they would be utterly destroyed.
Fortunately, a large river appeared ahead – the Yongding River, still flowing south.
Seeing the river was like seeing a lifeline. Diving into the water would save them, as the mutated birds wouldn't go into the water.
Shen Feng quickly reminded him, "Let's quickly get into the water. I'll activate the barrier and we can hide underwater. That way, we'll be safe."
Zhang Jue had no better ideas. Prompted by Shen Feng, he decided to go for it, tucking in his wings and descending. The moment they hit the water, Shen Feng activated the "Wind King's Barrier," and they instantly plunged into the river.
Although they were underwater, the barrier contained a lot of air, preventing them from sinking further. Soon, they began to drift towards the surface.
Countless mutated birds circled overhead. Since these mutated birds couldn't enter the water, they were all waiting in the sky for them to surface.
As Shen Feng and Zhang Jue floated to the surface, the mutated birds all attacked them. The birds' sharp beaks pecked at the barrier, which soon developed cracks and finally shattered with a loud bang.
Shen Feng immediately unleashed "Eye of the Hurricane." Within a radius of several meters around him, a whirlwind erupted, disorienting the numerous gathered mutated birds. However, the mutated birds further away were still watching menacingly, ready to swoop down and peck at Shen Feng and Zhang Jue at any moment.
"Let's escape. My stamina is also severely depleted. If this continues, I'll collapse from exhaustion," Shen Feng quickly said to Zhang Jue.
Zhang Jue and Shen Feng dared not go ashore. Fortunately, both of them could swim. In critical moments, they could hide underwater to evade the mutated birds' attacks.
The two drifted for two kilometers in the Yongding River, constantly evading attacks from the mutated birds in the sky. Although it was early spring, the river water was still icy cold. Staying in the water for too long would lead to hypothermia, but they dared not leave the river, as doing so would expose them to the dense swarm of mutated birds in the sky.
Zhang Jue was filled with regret. He wished he hadn't listened to Shen Feng. They could have retreated after defeating the bird king, but Shen Feng insisted on pursuing, which ultimately angered the mutated bird flock, leading to their current predicament. It was all Shen Feng's fault.
Just when all hope seemed lost, a patch of reeds appeared on the riverbank after they had drifted for a while. Although it was only spring, the reeds had already begun to grow. The dense reed bed could conceal their figures.
"Quick, get in and hide!" Shen Feng quickly called out to Zhang Jue. While using wind blades to kill the attacking mutated birds, he led Zhang Jue into the reed bed to hide. The lush green reeds concealed their figures. The birds had excellent eyesight in the sky, but being obscured by the reeds, they couldn't find Shen Feng's trace.
Shen Feng and Zhang Jue were in a sorry state. They lay down in the reed bed, covered in thick mud, smelling foul and feeling uncomfortable. But for survival, they had to endure.
The mutated birds circled above the reed bed for an hour. Finally, they lost patience and flew south.
Only then did Shen Feng breathe a sigh of relief. He went into the river to wash himself and clean off the mud.
Zhang Jue also quickly entered the river to clean his wings. Mud on his wings made it difficult to fly; he needed to keep his wings dry.
As Shen Feng washed himself, he said, "That was really dangerous just now. If we hadn't encountered the reed bed, we wouldn't have survived. Let me tell you, seeing so many mutated birds just now, I almost peed myself."
Zhang Jue said guiltily, "Yes, yes, the scene was indeed terrifying. I almost peed myself too."
After cleaning themselves, Shen Feng suddenly remembered something and quickly found the satellite phone in his bag. Fortunately, it was waterproof and encased in a white rubber bag, preventing water from easily seeping in. Thus, it wasn't damaged by the river water and was still usable.
Shen Feng looked towards the south and then said to Zhang Jue, "Let's head south and see if we can find anything different."
Zhang Jue shook his head like a rattle, resolutely stating, "If you want to go, go yourself. That's the direction the mutated birds went. I don't want to die. I'll wait for my wings to dry and then return to Yanjing."
Zhang Jue was determined not to risk any further adventures. They had almost met their end just now. If there hadn't been reeds below, wouldn't they have been surrounded and killed by the mutated birds? Their mission was complete, and venturing further was suicidal.
Shen Feng shrugged indifferently, "If you don't want to go, then don't. I'll go south by myself. If I discover anything, it will be my own achievement."
With that, Shen Feng unleashed "Wind Walker" and dashed south. The surrounding area was flat plains, ideal for Shen Feng to use his abilities.
Shen Feng was fast, easily reaching speeds of two hundred kilometers per hour. After traveling ninety kilometers south, Shen Feng discovered an anomaly. They had already left the Yanjing territory and entered the region of Jizhou. However, he saw many mutated birds in the sky. The further he went, the more astonished Shen Feng became. He seemed to see many young birds here as well. The surroundings were forests and wetlands, and bird calls could be heard everywhere.
Near the wetlands, not a single zombie or animal could be seen. All that was visible were piles of white bones on the ground – human bones and those of cattle and sheep, which looked terrifying.
Fearing detection by the mutated birds in the sky, Shen Feng chose to climb a tree. Moving through the forest made it harder to be spotted.
Finally, Shen Feng arrived at a swamp and was stunned. Countless mutated birds resided here. On the ground and in the grass, he saw many white eggs. Chicks were in their nests, chirping for food, and fledglings, already fully feathered, were learning to fly.
Upon witnessing this scene, Shen Feng knew he had found what he was looking for. This swamp was the habitat of numerous mutated birds. Besides raptors, all kinds of birds could be seen: swans and wild ducks, crows and albatrosses, as well as magpies and sparrows. They were enormous and often flew in the sky.
Without human interference, the birds had ample food. Zombies and other animals were no match for the birds of prey, giving the birds an opportunity to breed their offspring. Their numbers had consequently surged. Here, at least a million mutated birds resided.
"So many mutated birds, it's truly terrifying. If they continue to breed, it will surely lead to disaster," Shen Feng thought to himself.