"Qiangzi! Get ready! We're leaving!"

"Huh?" With a look of surprise, Wang Qiang turned his head, repeating noncommittally, "You mean leave?"

It was evident that he couldn't quite understand his brother's thought process. After all, they had just spent quite a bit of effort to climb into this room. And now, they hadn't even finished searching the second floor, yet they're being urged to leave. Emotionally and logically, Wang Qiang felt...

Seemingly considering some possibility, Wang Qiang pointed mockingly at the corpse on the floor and sneered, "I say, you can't be freaking out over this thing, right!"

Instinctively following Wang Qiang's finger to the ground, Tang Xiaoquan's pupils immediately narrowed.

Bloodstains! Lots of bloodstains!

Although the sunlight filtering through the window was weakened by the curtains, Tang Xiaoquan could still vaguely make out many, disorderly small bloodstains dotted on the ground.

Without a doubt, these tiny bloodstains did not come from zombie feet, so could it be that there's even more here...

Tang Xiaoquan's terrified expression caught Wang Daguo's attention. The latter took two steps forward and patted his shoulder, speaking in a local accent: "What's wrong, brother, are you okay?"

Shaking his head unconsciously, Tang Xiaoquan fixated his eyes on the floor, muttering to himself, "We need to leave here, we need to leave now, something's not right here!"

"Huh? Something's not right?" Wang Daguo raised his eyebrows and looked around, truly baffled by the young man's words. To him, aside from the eerily quiet room, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Cut it! Nothing's wrong! Daguo!" Wang Qiang waved dismissively, slightly annoyed, explaining to Wang Daguo, "This brother of mine likes to act mystical when there's nothing going on. I bet he's having one of his episodes again! So let's just do what we need to do!"

Tilting his head, Wang Qiang began moving towards the inner room, but before he took a few steps, a loud crash sounded from below.

"Bang! Creak, creak!" The door hinges swayed violently under the impact, making a series of painful "groans" that sent chills down everyone's spine.

"What the hell's going on!" Abruptly stopping, Wang Qiang quickly peeked around, but besides the endless blackness below, he couldn't see anything else!

"Everyone, stay alert, something has gotten in!" Tightening his grip on his weapon, though everything had happened in a flash, Tang Xiaoquan was certain something had entered the house!!

No sooner had he spoken, the atmosphere in the room instantly became tense.

After all, in this world, the most terrifying things aren't always those you can see, but those hidden in the dark, unseen, untouchable, yet constantly tugging at your fragile nerves with the unknown.

And the current survivors were undoubtedly facing such a situation.

Wang Qiang fell silent, his eyes glued to the floor below, as the constantly opening and closing wooden door seemed like the pendulum of hell, ceaselessly striking at his heartstrings.

The wooden door swung slower and slower, and as the last bit of momentum faded, it finally stopped at a point.

The oblique sunlight shone into the room along the edge of the door, and within its gradually lengthening shadow, a wholly black silhouette slowly emerged.

Unconsciously staggering two steps back, Tang Xiaoquan swore that what he saw was the most disgusting and horrifying thing he'd ever seen in his life.

Countless ripped wounds densely covered its black body, with morbid red flesh protruding from within, the mix of two colors inducing an indescribable fear.

"What the hell is this thing!" Due to limited visibility, Wang Qiang couldn't see the entire body of the black shadow.

But standing at the stairwell, Tang Xiaoquan roughly deduced its identity from its appearance and shape: Dog!!

"No way! You gotta be kidding me, this disgusting thing can't be a dog!" Wang Qiang couldn't accept his brother's statement.

Indeed! How could this thing before them be a dog! Even Tang Xiaoquan himself didn't want to bestow the reputation of "man's most loyal friend" onto such a monstrosity.

However, in reality… no matter from which angle, it resembled a dog's form.

No, to be precise, it resembled a dog before it met with misfortune, but now…

The term from countless game films suddenly surfaced in Tang Xiaoquan's mind, and he almost instinctively blurted it out: "Zombie Dog!"

Zombie Dog! As the name implies, a canine infected with the zombie virus. Upon hearing his brother utter this term, Wang Qiang's face turned ashen.

"What, what do we do!" Stammering in disbelief, even though usually fearless, Wang Qiang was at a loss when faced with a creature that should only exist in novels or games.

"Stay calm, and slowly back away!"

He had seen it more than once in disaster relief films—to deal with hunting dogs, one must remain calm and never flee in panic, for taking the first step in a desperate escape guarantees a relentless pursuit to follow.

Moreover, the films also suggested that by throwing objects and creating noises to intimidate hunting dogs, there's a chance they might back off.

However, Tang Xiaoquan wouldn't be foolish enough to try such a provocation against the brainless, bloodthirsty monster below.

His legs started retreating backward, though unsure if this tactic would work, judging by people turning into zombies, the virus generally retains some basic attributes of the host, like walking, like hearing;

And if this applies to the zombie dog, it should also inherit its living host's predatory instincts, right.

Inwardly praying, Tang Xiaoquan hoped the corpse dog wouldn't launch an attack due to their movements.

It's true that Tang Xiaoquan showed some intelligence, deducing the corpse dog's traits from observing human-zombie mutations, but unfortunately, the tense atmosphere made him overlook something extremely crucial:

That was exactly the messy footprints he had found upstairs earlier.

In the sunlight, the black body was tensed and coiled, its half-open mouth emitting low growls, with strands of viscous fluid slowly dripping from its sharp white fangs.

The black shadow slowly moved, although its pace was slow, its poised stance clearly signaling its intent—it was about to attack.

Watching the zombie dog gradually approach the stairwell, Tang Xiaoquan suddenly realized: "Dogs can climb stairs!"

In that instant… sweat broke out on his face, his heart began to pound uncontrollably, and Tang Xiaoquan shouted loudly:

"Run!!"

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