Chapter 19: The dark sacrifice

*Warning: Depictions of death, blood and gore. *

19 June, Afternoon, before 18:00

The kid observed the chaos in silence before turning to remind Xiao Mo, “Mission.”

Xiao Mo immediately understood what he meant, “Right now, the situation is dangerous to get off the car and run to the park!”

Xiao Mo honked his car horn repeatedly. It was too chaotic outside right now. He had to bring a kid along, hence, if possible, he wanted them to stay in the safety of his car. If he sent the kid back home first, he would have exceeded the time limit.

The people that still had a clear mind started escaping and scattering away in all four directions. Some were even screaming, “Cannibals! Zombies are here!” or other words along the same lines.

Wails and clamouring rang out everywhere.

There was another place that was filled with chaotic movement.

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Gde vbl pszl vakttla oyp vbl xlvyzzkn pxlzz nsxkdt qasx czsse!

Mbl dlktbcswabsse rszknlxld yaakhle cu cknunzlp, cwv vblu vss olal czsnjle yv vbl asye.

Mblal olal y zsv sq rlsrzl vbyv pyo vbl rszknl wdkqsaxp yde kxxlekyvlzu qzsnjle vsoyaep vblx yde czsnjle vblka oyu, rzlyekdt vblx vs pvyu yde blzr vblx rasvlnv vblxplzhlp.

Mbl dwxcla rlsrzl vbyv zlyrle sdvs vbl kdfwale yde elhswale vblka qzlpb yde czsse jlrv kdnalypkdt.

Pkdt Ckys oydvle vs nbypl vblx yoyu, cwv bl vss oyp yvvynjle cu vbl rlsrzl obs bye vypvle czsse.

“Pkdt Ckys!” Dkys Ys nswze dsv pvyde kv yde pbswvle yv bkx, “Tlal! Usxl shla iwknj!”

“Jasvbla Dkys!”

Ding Qiao saw that it was Xiao Mo and his eyes brightened- it was as if he had found his main support. He hurriedly ran towards him, but there were a few people that persistently chased behind.

Xiao Mo hastily got down and violently kicked those that followed behind Ding Qiao, before pulling Ding Qiao and running.

The kid actually dared to follow down.

Xiao Mo cursed under his breath. He rushed to grab the kid before shouting at Ding Qiao to board the car.

He revved the engine. The car started.

Xiao Mo drove while Ding Qiao was sitting at the passenger seat. The kid was sitting behind and looking out from the window.

It was an utter pandemonium.

There were people dashing all over. Bawling and wailing permeated the air.

Some were fighting for something.

Others were fighting with one another.

Few policemen were desperately waving their batons, trying their best to stop the discord from spreading, but to no avail.

A 24-hour convenience store got raided and attacked.

From the clear glass windows, you would see that the customers inside had transformed into bandits raiding the store.

A few policemen were inside trying to warn and stop them, but their warnings were like cotton candy to the peoples’ ears.

The people inside the supermarket were escaping out, but at the same time, people were trying to squeeze in.

Those that had robbed got themselves robbed in return.

There were a few people in the convenience store that got severely injured and the entire situation here was at least thrice as messy as the situation outside the residential area.

The shop selling rice and oil that had their shutters closed were forced open.

The shop owner was hysterically fighting the robbers.

The shop owner’s two-year-old daughter was bawling her eyes out from her pram.

The shops selling breakfast, noodles and bread, all the consumable items, also suffered some damage to an extent.

There were people who were afraid and hiding, people who were indifferent entirely, and people who were extremely excited and agitated.

The police kept shouting through his loudspeaker in an attempt to calm the people down, but the situation refused to improve, but worsened over time.

“What is happening??” Ding Qiao stared at the commotion outside in horror.

Xiao Mo did not reply, since he had no answer either.

“Has everyone gone crazy?” Ding Qiao was also not expecting an answer. He just wanted to say something to cover up his panic and anxiety.

Xue Li Hong continued to peer out of the window, seemingly observing something.

Ding Qiao asked again after being silent for a while, “Brother Xiao, the people sucking blood, are they really… zombies?”

“Zombies also probably eat meat?” Xue Li Hong suddenly replied.

Ding Qiao broke into a laugh. His panic seemed to recede quite a bit.

Xiao Mo’s lips twitched.

“Then, they’re vampires? But it is now broad daylight. What exactly are they? Why do they not want to stay as a human? It’s so wonderful to stay as a human.” Ding Qiao scratched his head in confusion.

Xiao Mo knew the answer, but he did not open his mouth.

“We can analyse it from the surface.” Xue Li Hong straightened his back, and sincerely theorized, “Those people fighting for food means they are hungry, while those fighting for blood are also hoping to obtain a certain element from the blood itself.”

Ding Qiao glanced at the kid with surprise, before turning to Xiao Mo in awe, “Brother Xiao, your kid is so smart.”

Screeeeech

Xiao Mo suddenly hit the car breaks violently.

Having not worn the safety belt, both Ding Qiao and Xue Li Hong violently crashed forward.

Luckily the car was slow in the first place. Ding Qiao cushioned his head with his arm and cancelled most of the impact. Xue Li Hong was unluckier and his head collided straight onto the back of the chair.

“Brother Xiao!”

“Sorry! Are you both ok?”

“We’re alright. What happened just now?” Ding Qiao wasn’t looking in front, so he was entirely clueless.

Xiao Mo shifted down the windows and shouted at the person that ran across right in front of his car.

“Brother, if you want to die, don’t also get others into trouble! I have a kid in my car!”

The man only continued to run away desperately, like there was something fearful behind. He was out of sight in a flash.

Xiao Mo shifted the windows back up before turning round and asked the kid, “Are you ok?”

Xue Li Hong rubbed his head and fastened his seat belt, “I’m alright.”

Xiao Mo sighed in relief hearing that. He turned back and was about to on the engine, but the commotion at the supermarket nearby made him pause in his actions.

Ding Qiao also followed and fastened up his seat belt.

They had learnt a lesson: Even the shortest of roads still have accidents occurring; it’s better to be safe and fasten the seat belts when you are in a car.

The two who had fastened their seat-belts were waiting for Xiao Mo to re-start the engine, but Xiao Mo sat there motionless, staring intently outside the car.

“Inspector Fang, there are a lot of people attacking all the supermarkets! There must be something going on!” Cheng Bing was shouting to Fang Zhen Gang.

“I have seen it; you need not tell me.”

Fang Zhen Gang was taking a call. The policemen stationed within the quarantined zone were calling him to request for re-enforcement, saying that there was chaos all around the zone.

“Cheng Bing, ask the people to close all the doors of the supermarkets and pull all the shutters down! Also ask all working personal to escape from the back door!”

“Roger!”

“Ye Biao, you drive out to the street and use a loudspeaker to inform all citizens that they can come to the Lian Gou Le supermarket to collect free food. At the same time, inform those who don’t feel hungry to stay indoors and lock all the doors and windows. No, ignore the last one, just in case they think too much.”

“What??” A policeman preparing the blockage stopped in shock.

Fang Zhen Gang resisted his temper and repeated his order, before barking, “Why aren’t you hurrying up!”

“Yes sir!”

Right after Fang Zheng Gang ran out of the supermarket, it was locked down immediately without any delay.

Outside the supermarket, the policemen who had not leave were currently holding a shield, blocking the entrance of the supermarket.

The crowd outside the supermarket ballooned without seeming to stop anytime soon.

“Inspector Fang, the situation outside is really bad, when is the backup coming? We had to spare half of our manpower to guard the other supermarkets. I don’t think we can last long with the remaining of our manpower.” The leader-in-charge of the police team, Leader Zhang, saw Fang Zheng Gang, and immediately pulled him aside to discuss.

“I know, I was asking for permission from the upper management. Besides backup, I also requested for some sleeping gas to be sent over.”

“Sleeping gas, won’t this…”

“It is the latest invention by the research institute. It will not cause any harm to the human body, and is most suitable for mob attacks.

“… … Inspector Fang, are you kidding me?”

Fang Zheng Gang patted Team Leader Zhang’s back, “Don’t get too excited. This is not a riot; it is now a kind of uncontrollable widespread hunger. You either let them sleep it off and wait for the doctors to cure them, or feed them till they become full. Which one would you choose?”

Team Leader Zhang smiled bitterly, “I don’t know how much they need to eat before they become full.”

“Yes, I also don’t know. Comparing the cost of sleeping gas and the cost of letting those hungry people fight and eat till they get full, I feel that the sleeping gas has got way better value.”

Team Leader Zhang chuckled. Fang Zheng Gang maintained a relaxed face as he continued to dial for help, inwardly cursing in his heart.

A few police cars were traveling around the roads near Lian Gou Le supermarket using loudspeakers to broadcast: Lian Gou Le supermarket was giving out free food to all; those interested, be fast!

Those who heard the news, regardless whether they were in a normal state or not, all of them started moving towards the square of Lian Gou Le supermarket.

Some that were currently robbing the stores, or were about to rob, all put down the goods, turned and ran towards Lian Gou Le. They were still sane enough to weight the benefits and costs of each option and chose the more beneficial option, even though they were mad from hunger.

As for the normal people that still retained their sanity, some of them were greedy, but most of them had hidden at home and decided to wait for everything to be over. Smart people knew that going to Lian Gou Le supermarket was an unwise decision, as all the mad people would be gathered there.

As for the hungry ghosts that almost lost their minds, they suspected that it was a plot that was aiming at them. They suspected they would gather them all and capture them all in one fell swoop. But seeing the normal people also running towards Lian Gou Le, their suspicions evaporated and they followed too.

Of course, there were a few suspicious hungry people that did not go to Lian Gou Le, but most of them went.

Xiao Mo saw that the square in front of Lian Gou Le supermarket were choke full of people.

He estimated that there were at least two to three thousand people around, and more were moving towards that direction.

But what shocked him the most was not the crowd. Along the road, there was something bloody and bizarre happening.

Xue Li Hong unbuckled his safetybelt and leaned on the back of Xiao Mo’s chair, “Human behaviour is very infectious, especially in a crowd and under certain mental conditions.”

Ding Qiao also saw it; anyone that passed by saw it.

No wonder the man just now was so shocked that he did not see the incoming car and just bolted.

*Warning: Gore ahead*

Along the edge of the square, there was a group of people sucking the blood of cats and dogs.

The flower bed along the roadside were littered with dried up carcasses of cats and dogs.

At the same time, there were people leading dogs and cats, joining into the massacre. They even sorted out and exchanged according to the size of the animals.

A lot of people avoided them.

But there were some who also joined.

Such an eerie environment made it seem like it was a sacrificial performance used to worship the god of darkness.

It was fine if this were really a sacrificial performance, but reality wasn’t so.

The eerie and heart-breaking howls and screeches of these animals before their deaths made one’s hair stand up.

The animals seemed like they knew what their fate was, especially seeing the bodies of their own kind. Their backs arched and they started biting and fighting back, trying to escape their owner or the person who captured them.

The scream of the cats and dogs also spread to the crowd.

Was this caused by the Gluttony virus too?

The system suddenly spoke up, “If you still hesitate, the condition will worsen.”

Xiao Mo wanted to shout, “I’m not hesitating, I am just mentally entangled, ok!”

Killing one person could save a thousand. It sounded really easy, but when it came down to the execution…

The man who had once thought that his life had nothing to do with killing people straightened his shirt collar. He felt that he suddenly had breathing difficulties.

Forget it! Stop thinking about it, let’s wait till we meet Li Xiao Shuang.