As Xu An's voice fell, she felt as if she were being pulled into a vortex of memories.
Within that vortex,
There were countless men and women.
Their faces were covered in blood, their eyeballs protruding as if about to burst from the intense pressure.
A girl, whose ribcage had not yet been broken and could still weakly cry for help, looked at Xu An, who had fallen to the ground.
She waved her arms in despair.
Muttering incessantly, "Xu An, save me, Xu An save me."
That girl was someone Xu An had teamed up with temporarily at the base.
Even to this day, Xu An could still remember the girl's appearance.
Her face was round, with a pair of bright eyes, and she had two dimples on her cheeks when she smiled.
The girl was the only one in the entire team who kept her hair long.
She didn't know how she managed it, but her hair didn't look too dirty.
Xu An remembered asking her once.
"Long hair is so troublesome, why do you insist on keeping it long?"
The girl smiled playfully, "One must have something to look forward to in life. I like keeping my hair long, so I will."
This was almost the most absurd, most unreasonable explanation Xu An had heard in her several years of living in the apocalypse.
But Xu An did not save her.
Even though she was still alive then, not yet dragged into the dense forest by the giant tentacle.
If Xu An had cut off that tentacle, she might have been able to save the girl.
But Xu An did not.
She allowed the girl to be dragged into the dense forest by the tentacle monster amidst her desperate screams.
She watched as the girl's expression shifted from fear and panic to numb despair.
Until finally, the girl seemed to have calmly accepted the judgment of death.
She simply looked at Xu An faintly, but that gaze caused Xu An many sleepless nights for years to come.
She would always think about what would have happened if she had saved that girl back then.
But there were no "if onlys."
All of this was hypothetical.
Xu An looked at Zhou Haimei, who was being swung back and forth in the air.
In an instant.
Zhou Haimei's face suddenly overlapped with that girl's face.
She seemed to see the girl reaching out her hands to her again, saying to her.
"Save me."
The leg Xu An had just stepped forward hesitated for a moment.
Even she didn't notice that it was her momentary hesitation that gave the Wolf King an opportunity.
The Wolf King, with only three legs, limped out of the mist.
Unlike other zombie wolves.
The Wolf King before her seemed to possess intelligence, its eerie green eyes fixed on Xu An.
As if it were looking at its prey.
Even though Zhou Haimei had been captured, and it had the massive tentacle monster behind it as a backer,
The Wolf King still did not let down its guard against Xu An.
Its animalistic instincts made it inherently wary of Xu An.
It stared fixedly at Xu An, ignoring the mess of corpses on the ground.
Sensing Xu An's momentary hesitation, the Wolf King did not hesitate and lunged towards Xu An.
At this time, Xu An's gaze remained fixed on Zhou Haimei, who was trapped by the tentacle monster.
Even Ze Yuan felt that Xu An was in danger at that moment and instinctively wanted to warn Xu An to be careful.
But Xu An still stood there blankly.
And the Wolf King had already found its opportunity, leaping high from the hillside, its two sharp front claws lunging directly towards Xu An's neck.
At the critical moment, something moved faster than Ze Yuan.
Before Xu An could react.
A black and white object leaped out from Xu An's body and swiped away the Wolf King's attack.
"Goudan!"
Xu An's voice was still a bit dazed, but upon seeing who it was, she couldn't help but be surprised.
"How did you get out?"
But Goudan clearly had no time to pay attention to her.
Goudan glared fiercely at the Wolf King.
"How did Goudan get out?" This question was clearly directed at Ze Yuan.
Not only Xu An was surprised, but even Ze Yuan looked curious.
Even though it had no face.
"I don't know either. I was just about to warn you to be careful, but this Goudan was faster than me and just rushed out."
Ever since Xu An had descended the tower, Goudan had been confined to the spatial dimension by her.
She had originally planned to find an opportunity to act alone after coming down.
But she unexpectedly teamed up with Zhou Haimei and had come this far.
Goudan had never had a chance to be released.
As Xu An and Ze Yuan were conversing, Goudan barked at her from in front.
At the same time, it looked at Xu An with a silly expression, then turned to look at the three-legged Wolf King.
Its expression seemed to say, "Leave this weakling to me. You go do your thing."
Xu An was taken aback by this dismissive look.
Both of them pondered for a long time, unable to figure out how Goudan had gotten out.
But she was still a little worried, "Do you think it'll be okay if Goudan fights that Wolf King?"
"Don't worry. Goudan's abilities have been greatly improving in the spatial dimension recently. And that Wolf King is still limping. It should be fine."
Xu An finally felt at ease.
With the wolf king blocking the way dealt with, the next task was to save Zhou Haimei.
Without hesitation, she walked resolutely towards the massive monster whose full form she couldn't even see.
Ze Yuan looked at Xu An's expression and didn't try to dissuade her.
It knew Xu An had made up her mind, and anything it said now would likely fall on deaf ears.
However, Ze Yuan "looked" at the giant tentacle monster and hesitated for a moment.
It didn't know whether to tell Xu An about the monster's weakness.
From an emotional standpoint, it shouldn't have told Xu An.
After all, this was a rule of nature.
But out of self-interest, Ze Yuan couldn't just watch Xu An court death.
"If Xu An dies, I'll have to find another host."
Ze Yuan tried to convince itself with this reasoning.
Evidently, it was persuaded by its own flimsy excuse.
Just as Xu An was about to reach the tentacle monster.
Ze Yuan's conflicted voice sounded in Xu An's mind.
"The monster's weakness is its eyes."
Xu An paused upon hearing the voice, then continued to walk.
"This is a rule, isn't it? You're just telling me like this?" Xu An's voice carried a hint of playfulness.
Mixed with an indescribable sense of gratitude and awkwardness.
"Mind your own business!"
"Alright, so where are the eyes?"
Ze Yuan became even angrier, suddenly regretting telling Xu An.
Why was this woman so pushy?
"I only know! Find it yourself!"
Xu An's smile widened. "If I can't find it, I'll die."
Ze Yuan finally heard that Xu An was teasing it.
"Then die," Ze Yuan said irritably.