novelraw Chapter 47 Bloodstains
Chapter 47 Bloodstains
Time seemed to be frozen and then violently pushed forward, repeating itself mechanically day after day.
Inside the shelter, the thermometer faithfully recorded the chillingly rapid drop in outside temperature. -18 degrees Celsius, -20 degrees Celsius, -22 degrees Celsius. Finally, the mercury column trembled, hovering around the -25 degree Celsius mark.
Xu Mo stared at the number, and even with his superhuman physique, he could clearly feel the pervasive chill emanating from it. Thick frost flowers had formed on the broken window on the third floor, blocking out most of the light and making the room perpetually dark.
"At this temperature, let alone people, even the zombies would probably be frozen stiff, right?" Xu Mo couldn't help but think.
Xu Mo recalled what Wang Meng's team had mentioned before: that zombie activity decreases in winter. In such a frigid environment, how would those walking corpses, driven by some unknown virus and whose bodies had undergone varying degrees of mutation, cope?
Are they frozen solid like ice sculptures, like prehistoric creatures frozen in ice? Or will they, like some cold-blooded animals or creatures with special physiological mechanisms, enter a state similar to hibernation, with their metabolism dropping to extremely low levels to reduce energy consumption and wait for the warmer season to revive?
If it's the latter...
An idea flashed into Xu Mo's mind like a spark.
"If the zombies really do gather together to 'hibernate,' wouldn't now be the best time to clear them out?" He imagined finding a building or cave that might be teeming with hibernating zombies, and then setting it on fire, which might eliminate the huge threat without bloodshed.
But then, another deduction made Xu Mo's heart sink.
"If winter is their period of lowest activity, or even dormancy, what about spring? What about summer? When temperatures rise and everything comes back to life, will the zombies' activity also surge to an alarming level? Perhaps even becoming more ferocious and aggressive?"
This speculation added a layer of unease to Xu Mo's anxieties about the coming summer. While the harsh winter was indeed difficult, it at least suppressed some of the threats. If summer truly became a "hunting season" where zombies were extremely active, then the difficulty of survival would likely increase rather than decrease.
Of course, all of this is currently just speculation based on limited information. The zombie ecosystem remains shrouded in mystery for him and for all the survivors.
At dawn, Xu Mo, as usual, completed his Qi gathering on the rooftop. The Qi and blood within his body felt exceptionally warm and active thanks to the infusion of the purple aura of the rising sun. He picked up his binoculars and began his first observation of the day. His gaze habitually swept across the town and the snow-covered fields in the distance.
At first, everything seemed the same as usual. Dead silence, pure white, desolate.
However, when Xu Mo's gaze swept across the edge of a sparse woodland in the northwest of the town, he was shocked to find an extremely glaring crimson mark on the white snow.
The color was so vivid, creating a stark contrast with the surrounding pure white, like thick ink dripping onto a sheet of white paper. It was the mark left by fresh blood, covering a considerable area and appearing as a splatter, looking particularly gruesome on the snow.
Because of the considerable distance, even with Xu Mo's enhanced eyesight, he couldn't see it very clearly. However, he was certain that it wasn't old blood, but rather blood that had been left recently. Around the bloodstains, there seemed to be some dark, irregularly shaped objects scattered around, like fragments of torn fur?
"Something's been hunted down? Over there?" Xu Mo's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly focused intently. He adjusted the binoculars to their maximum focus, locking onto that area.
With that striking scarlet mark as an "anchor point," Xu Mo's observation became even more meticulous. Soon, he discovered more unusual traces.
The snow near the bloodstains showed obvious signs of being turned over and trampled. A wide, plow-like track extended from the bloodstains, pointing towards the town.
Xu Mo's gaze followed the trail forward. About two or three hundred meters from the bloodstain, he saw a... "figure"?
The reason it's in quotes is because the thing was incredibly massive. Its upper body was almost naked, exposed to the frigid air of minus twenty degrees Celsius, its skin a deathly, frozen bluish-gray. Its muscles were abnormally developed and bulging, especially the muscles in its shoulders, back, and arms, which were swollen to an almost deformed state, exuding an explosive sense of power. Its lower body seemed to be clad only in some tattered strips of cloth frozen to its body.
It is moving slowly through the snow.
Yes, slowly.
It was less of a walk and more of a trek through thick snow. Its movements were stiff and sluggish, each step sinking deep into the snow before it struggled to pull itself out. But it was moving, steadily and resolutely, inching forward towards Qingsongling Town.
"This is not human!" Xu Mo made the judgment instantly.
No normal survivor would be out in the wild naked in this weather, let alone have that inhumanly robust physique.
"This is a strength-type zombie!"
The name pierced Xu Mo's mind like an ice pick, crystal clear.
The description Wang Meng gave perfectly matched the terrifying figure struggling across the snowfield seen through the binoculars.
This discovery immediately overturned his previous speculation that zombies might be in a state of "hibernation".
Mutated zombies, at least the strength-type mutant zombies, do not completely hibernate in the freezing cold. They retain their mobility, although the low temperature obviously greatly limits their speed and agility, making them much "sluggish" than in the warmer seasons.
"Why is it coming into the town?" Xu Mo thought to himself quickly.
Looking for food? Unlikely. Apart from him, the hidden survivor, there was no other living thing left in the town.
So...
Looking at the zombie's bare upper body exposed in the freezing cold, and its sluggish movements clearly affected by the low temperature, Xu Mo had a guess.
"Could it be that they're looking for a place to escape the bitter cold?"
Just as animals seek out caves and humans seek out houses, perhaps these mutated zombies also retain some kind of instinct for seeking advantage and avoiding harm? Unable to withstand the extreme cold in the wild, they instinctively gather towards buildings that can provide shelter? Perhaps these abandoned houses in Qingsongling Town have become natural "havens" for them?
If this conjecture is true, it means that the town may not be entirely safe this winter. It might attract mutated zombies that struggle to survive in the wild to "winter" here!
Xu Mo put down the binoculars, his expression becoming extremely serious.
He had initially thought that things would improve once he survived the winter and spring arrived. But now it seemed that winter itself harbored unique dangers. The extreme cold might have contained the zombies, but it could also have driven them closer to humans.
Xu Mo stared intently at the giant shadow that was slowly moving across the snowfield, watching it approach the town step by step, unwavering in its determination.