"Someone?!"
Zhang Chen's expression sharpened.
He had been focusing his attention on whether there were powerful energy bodies within the city, completely ignoring the pitifully weak energy of ordinary humans.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have failed to notice living people nearby.
What surprised Zhang Chen was that Miaoke and the others had already conducted a preliminary sweep of the city.
How did this guy manage to evade their detection?!
Furthermore, if he could evade detection, why would he appear so brazenly?!
"Master... it's my fault..."
Miaoke lowered her head, her face flushed red.
"It's not your fault. This guy was likely hidden in a room. I overlooked him... them at first!"
Just as Zhang Chen was speaking to Miaoke, he clearly sensed many more people suddenly appearing in the nearby alleys.
"Them?"
Miaoke was slightly surprised, and then she also sensed the number of people appearing around them increasing.
"Strange, where did they come from?"
Miaomian said with a frown.
"They seem to have appeared out of thin air. Perhaps they were hiding in a cellar or room that could isolate energy!"
Miaoyin analyzed.
"Perhaps underground shelters? I heard that the Valen Empire was very security-conscious and often liked to build extensive shelters beneath cities, where citizens could hide during a crisis."
"The citizens being sensed now must be those who were forced to hide in the shelters because they didn't have time to evacuate."
Jexia explained from the side.
"So that's how it is, that makes sense!"
"But... there's no danger at all, what are they hiding from?!"
Miaoke asked, perplexed.
"Oh, there's no need to worry about that. We can just ask anyone and find out!"
Miaomian said, walking towards the alley where the sound was coming from.
*Pad... pad... pad...*
The strange sound also became clearer and closer.
They arrived at the alley entrance almost at the same time as Miaomian.
"Ah!"
Miaomian only glanced into the alley, and her hair stood on end. She jumped high into the air.
Her fingernails instantly lengthened, and fangs protruded from her mouth. She directly entered combat mode.
"What could possibly scare Miaomian like that?!"
Although Miaoke and Miaomian hadn't seen what was in the alley with their own eyes, they could empathize with the creepy sense of fear from Miaomian's reaction.
"Mas... Master! These guys... they seem wrong, very wrong!"
Miaomian steadied herself and found that the person in the alley wasn't attacking her. Her emotions calmed down slightly.
At this moment, the person in the alley was slowly "walking" out.
"Walking" was a very inaccurate description for him.
He was walking on his hands, his feet suspended in the air, his entire body inverted.
Most peculiar was his head. His neck seemed to be broken, his entire head pressed tightly against his back. His eyes were asymmetrical, one looking to the left and the other directly forward, and a chilling smile adorned his face.
Such an appearance was no wonder Miaomian was startled.
"Save me... save me..."
A faint sound came from the man's throat, as if his throat was being choked, with occasional wheezing sounds like bronchitis.
Even though he was crying for help, his expression remained a smile, a particularly bright one.
"What kind of monster is this!"
The man took two steps towards Miaomian, and Miaomian quickly retreated four steps.
She was unwilling to get close to this guy at all.
*Pad... pad... pad...*
More sounds of palms slapping the ground echoed from the alley.
Not just this alley, but all the connecting alleys around the street where the caravan was located were emitting these strange sounds.
"They're coming, and more and more!"
Miaoke said with a grim expression, entering combat state.
"We're surrounded!"
"What kind of monster is this!"
"It's too terrifying~"
"I've been with the caravan for over ten years, and I've never seen such a bizarre situation."
"Why don't we escape quickly? The monsters don't eat the goods, but they eat us."
"Calm down, with the True God here, nothing is a problem."
Jexia tried to appease the emotions of the caravan members.
The merchants in the caravan were skilled at negotiating and selling goods, but they had never fought monsters up close. Especially monsters they had never heard of, which terrified them to the core.
Some of the timid ones simply hid inside the cargo trucks, covering their heads, not even daring to look.
"Go and check what this thing is!"
Zhang Chen said to Miaoke.
"Yes, Master!"
Although Miaoke was panicking internally, as the eldest of the three sisters, she should set an example.
She bravely walked in front of the inverted man, shielding Miaomian behind her, and asked:
"How do you need us to save you? What happened to you?!"
The man's face still wore a smile as he slowly walked towards Miaoke unhurriedly, repeating his plea:
"Save me... save me..."
"Stop! If you continue like this, I'll have to attack!"
Miaoke said, conjuring a short sword and a shield in her hands.
"Save me... save me..."
The man's smile widened, and his pace quickened, practically lunging towards Miaoke.
"Let me grant you liberation!"
*Swish!*
The short sword swung out, directly severing the man's legs.
Blood gushed out immediately.
At the same time, the man suddenly fell backward onto the ground. The skin on his back began to move, as if something was stirring beneath it.
Not just one thing, but many.
*Puff!*
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!*
Seven or eight tentacles suddenly erupted from the man's back, slowly opening their mouths like small snakes.
"Careful!"
Zhang Chen finally saw clearly. These were clearly the Resurrected!
He had only seen the appearance of the Resurrected before; this was his first time witnessing how an infected person transformed into one.
*Clang, clang, clang!*
Miaoke blocked all the flesh projectiles with her shield.
However, her shield developed fine cracks, its load-bearing capacity nearing its limit.
"Damn it, it's a new type of Soul-Lost!"
Miaoke's face turned grim as she shouted.
"I'll blow its head off!"
Miaomian leaped high into the air, a longbow appearing in her hand.
*Swish, swish, swish!*
Three arrows whistled through the air, accurately hitting the man's head.
*Squish!*
Upon impact, the arrows also detonated, directly blasting the man's head apart.
However, despite losing his head, the man still staggered to his feet. Where his legs had been, growths resembling fleshy tumors had appeared.