Chapter 17: The Strange Pentagram

Having made up his mind, Qin Zhong descended the steps, took out a bottle of mineral water, and fed a few sips to the woman. After examining her wounds, he could tell she was merely clinging to life by a thread; she was beyond saving.

After a brief hesitation, Qin Zhong asked out of curiosity, "How many days have you two been hiding here?"

The woman drank some water, her spirits lifting slightly. She licked her lips and said slowly, "I fled here alone, and only then did I run into her... she was already..."

Qin Zhong thought to himself, "It seems you are quite the unfortunate soul—having managed to escape here, only to lose your life in this place."

The woman continued, "When I found her, she had already gone mad. It was she who inflicted these wounds upon me. After... after I was injured, I’ve been lying here for two days and two nights..."

Qin Zhong raised an eyebrow. He glanced at the other woman and felt a tinge of genuine admiration. For a woman to manage to kill a zombie, even at such a high cost, was impressive.

The woman rested for a moment before adding, "Actually, I know I won't make it."

Hearing this, Qin Zhong fell silent. He sighed, "You’ve been lying here this whole time—didn't you encounter any zombies?"

"Zombies?" A look of confusion flickered in her eyes. "Is that what you call them? So that’s what they are... I always thought they had just contracted something like rabies, causing them to go mad and bite people... Oh, the pain is unbearable..."

Qin Zhong said nothing more. He fed her another sip of water and asked, "Where did you escape from? Are there any other survivors?"

"Henglong Mansion..." The woman’s face twisted in pain as she spoke. "It’s the building where someone lit a fire a few days ago."

Qin Zhong was slightly startled, then said with joy, "I saw the light from that fire and was just planning to head there. So, there really are survivors..."

His voice trailed off, his spirits dampening. A grim thought occurred to him: if there were survivors there, why did this woman run away? Could something have happened there?

The woman said urgently, "Don't go there—it's no longer safe..."

Qin Zhong, confused, pressed her, "Why do you say that? What happened there?"

"I'm not entirely sure..." the woman continued. "At first, there were over a dozen of us hiding there. To gather more survivors, we lit that fire. Three or five others found their way to us, and things seemed to be looking up, but..."

She stopped, her face contorted in agony, her breathing labored. Qin Zhong quickly fed her more water. After a while, her breathing calmed.

"A few days ago," she continued, "a glowing pentagram suddenly appeared in the building. It just hung there in mid-air. Some tried to touch it, but it was untouchable. It seemed strange, but it didn't affect anyone at first. However, as time passed, we noticed something abnormal..."

"Mutated zombies and animals began appearing in the building. They would fight each other the moment they met, as if competing for that pentagram. We survivors were caught in the crossfire, attacked by both sides. Many died, and others fled in all directions. I ended up running here."

Listening to her account, Qin Zhong felt a surge of interest in the pentagram. He had a hunch that something worth fighting over for zombies and mutated creatures was no ordinary object.

He asked, "So, you have no idea what that pentagram actually is?"

The woman shook her head slightly. "Some tried to touch it, but it was no use. It was as if... as if it were a projection, like a mirage—visible, but intangible."

Qin Zhong pondered this silently. He didn't believe the pentagram was truly untouchable; there had to be a special way to interact with it that they hadn't discovered.

As he was lost in thought, the woman seemed to lose her breath. She struggled, "You... you must not..."

Having reached the end of her strength, she didn't finish her sentence. Her eyes rolled back, her head slumped to the side, and she stopped breathing.

Qin Zhong watched for a moment, sighed, and continued up the stairs. He didn't encounter any more zombies or living souls.

Upon reaching the top floor, Qin Zhong pushed open the fire door. There were indeed few zombies on the top floor. On the spacious terrace and the circular corridor, only seven or eight zombies dressed in staff uniforms wandered aimlessly.

He didn't know how many zombies were inside the shopping mall itself, but given the desolate scene, there couldn't be too many.

...

On the wall outside the fire door, there was a mall directory. Qin Zhong glanced at it and learned that this large shopping center was called Tianwang Mall. It spanned nine floors, covering everything from leisure and entertainment to shopping and dining.

According to the map, there was even an aquarium on the first floor.

It was no exaggeration to say that before the apocalypse, if one had enough money, they could live comfortably for a lifetime without ever leaving the mall; everything one needed for food, clothing, housing, and transportation was there.

Qin Zhong calculated his options. Since he was injured, he could recuperate here. Ideally, he could wait for the next thunderstorm to communicate with Sun Xiaoyan, ensuring he wouldn't run out of supplies.

He sat down and checked his injury. His brow furrowed; while not severe, leaving a wound exposed in this apocalypse was dangerous.

He still didn't understand how people had turned into zombies overnight. If it hadn't been airborne, such a rapid transformation would have been impossible. If he left his wound exposed to the air and became infected, it would be a disaster. He struggled to his feet and checked the directory again. There had to be a pharmacy in the mall.

As a top-tier metropolis, the super-large malls in the Magic City were no longer just for shopping; shrewd developers had made dining, entertainment, and healthcare standard features.

Just as he expected, the floor plan showed a pharmacy named "Dayang" not far past the fire door to the right.

Currently, the only zombies in the corridor and on the terrace were those seven or eight, and they were over a hundred meters away. Qin Zhong reasoned that at such a distance, they probably couldn't distinguish between a human and a zombie.

As long as he didn't make any loud noises, he should be able to walk over without issue.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Zhong mimicked the slow, sluggish gait of a zombie, dragging his feet as he moved toward the Dayang Pharmacy.

As he walked, he kept a wary eye on the zombies. True to his hopes, they took no notice of him. By the time he reached the pharmacy, however, his heart was pounding, and his limbs felt weak.