Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Establishment of the Crimson Mist Sect

The survivors continued their breakout, though as they diverged toward different paths, their numbers grew increasingly sparse.

Shen Lie and his companions ran for over ten miles before taking a brief respite. Their luck had been decent; they had encountered only two scattered groups of spider monsters—one of three, the other of five. Before him and Du Lili, these creatures were no match and were dispatched with ease.

"Commander, where are we headed?" Duan Yu’s physical stamina was somewhat lacking. Even as a speed-type awakener, the prolonged running had left him utterly exhausted, not to mention the burden of assisting his wife. Upon receiving the order to rest, he slumped to the ground, gasping for air as he questioned Shen Lie.

Ever since joining Shen Lie’s squad, Duan Yu had insisted on calling him "Commander." The title originated from the name "Red Mist Group." Although Shen Lie had corrected him several times, Duan Yu remained stubborn, claiming that without rules, there could be no order. Since they called themselves the Red Mist Group, they naturally needed a commander, and Shen Lie was the only logical choice.

This proposal had received unanimous support. Zhang Jing was the first to express her enthusiastic approval, and Du Lili had no objections, so the matter was settled. In truth, the only people in the group capable of issuing orders were Shen Lie and Du Lili. Given Du Lili’s icy temperament, she would never take on the role of commander, leaving Shen Lie with no choice but to accept it.

Shen Lie pondered for a moment and decided not to argue further. They now had over twenty people, and more might join in the future. If they remained a loose collection of individuals, their chances of survival would be slim; forming a proper group was for the best. However, if they were to be a formal team, certain rules were essential. The first was absolute obedience to orders—no scattering the moment they encountered monsters.

Shen Lie, however, had little interest in the minutiae of team management. Seeing that Duan Yu was quite keen on it, he appointed him as vice-commander, granting Du Lili the same title. The two responded differently: Duan Yu was delighted, immediately suggesting several sets of regulations and enthusiastically outlining future plans, while Du Lili merely gave a soft acknowledgement, showing no further reaction.

With the Red Mist Group established, the party rested briefly before continuing their journey. They were still unaware that Yang City had fallen, so they proceeded in their original direction.

Suddenly, the roar of an engine echoed from ahead. A white SUV came careening toward them, its high beams cutting through the darkness with such intensity that the group had to shield their eyes.

"Damn it! Where did that idiot come from? If you want to die, don't take us with you!"

Duan Yu cursed loudly. They were currently traversing farmland; driving on such terrain was not only difficult to balance, but the engine noise and headlights would inevitably draw a swarm of spider monsters. It was a miracle the vehicle had made it this far.

"Everyone, dive into the fields! Stay silent!" Shen Lie’s expression darkened. Everyone was fighting for their lives, and how someone else chose to survive was their own business, but he found it strange that the vehicle was coming from the opposite direction.

"Who’s there? Yang City has fallen! Don't head toward it! If you run into the army of monsters pouring out of there, you're finished!"

Before Shen Lie and his team could fully conceal themselves, the occupants of the car spotted them. A woman with long hair leaned out of the passenger window, shouting the warning.

"What? Yang City has fallen?"
"That’s impossible! Wasn't Yang City one of the seven major gathering points established at the start of the apocalypse? How could it fall?"
"No wonder we saw helicopters flying by; they must have been fleeing from Yang City!"
"If Yang City is gone, where are we supposed to go?"

The members of the Red Mist Group stood frozen in shock, forgetting to hide. The news was too devastating; if true, the implications were terrifying.

The vehicle roared past and vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving only a trail of dust and a group of stunned survivors in its wake.

"Commander, what do we do?"

The woman had no reason to lie. If Yang City had indeed fallen, they could no longer head in that direction. The mere thought of a monster horde capable of crushing a city like Yang City was enough to induce despair; even a small fraction of that army could devour them without a trace. With no other major safe zones known in the vicinity, everyone looked to Shen Lie, waiting for their commander's decision.

But as they stared at him, they realized their commander was completely catatonic, his eyes hollow and vacant, as if his soul had left his body.

Shen Lie’s mind was in total chaos. He wasn't thinking about where to go; he was thinking about his uncle’s family. Was his cousin, Wen Wan, still alive?

Images of his cousin flooded his mind: buying ice cream as a child, going to the movies in middle school, her visiting him in college and slipping him pocket money. The memories finally settled on their last phone call before the end. Back then, she had been anxious because he hadn't headed to Yang City. He had thought the city was an impregnable fortress—yet it had fallen in less than four months!

"Impossible... it’s impossible. This can't be true," Shen Lie muttered, his lips trembling, beads of cold sweat forming on his brow. If the monster army had truly conquered Yang City, could she have survived? He dared not think it. He simply dared not.

"Brother Shen? Brother Shen?" Zhang Jing, who never left his side, was the first to notice his state.

"No, I have to go to Yang City and see for myself. I have to. Yes, I'll go right now. Yang City can't have fallen, right? Tell me, isn't that true?" Pulled from his stupor by Zhang Jing, Shen Lie gripped her hand, his eyes filled with desperate hope.

"Shen Lie, calm down. Whether Yang City has fallen or not, we can find out more later. But we absolutely cannot head toward it now. If it has fallen, it will be swarming with monsters. That white giant insect we encountered likely came from there, too."

"We need to find a place to shelter and regroup first, then we can decide. If you truly must go to Yang City, I will go with you when the time is right."

It was the first time Du Lili had spoken at such length. She sensed that Shen Lie was on the verge of a breakdown. But they weren't just two people; they were an entire squad. Even as their commander, Shen Lie could not drag everyone to their deaths for his personal affairs, especially since most of the team were ordinary people.

"Uncle, Taotao will go with you too!" little Taotao, huddled on Shen Lie’s back, said with a solemn face.

"I’ll go too!"
"Me too!"
"Forget finding a place to hide! Let’s all go to Yang City! The Commander’s business is our business. We in the Red Mist Group have faced death countless times; none of us are afraid!"

One by one, the team members voiced their support. Shen Lie could see their sincerity, and his emotions finally began to stabilize. He looked at their faces and said, "Alright, I’m fine. We'll discuss Yang City later. Let’s head toward Xing City. If there are survivors gathered there, we’ll rest; if not, we’ll bypass it and head straight for the capital."

Shen Lie forced down the urge to rush to Yang City. He knew it was irrational; the city would surely be blanketed in monsters, and there was no guarantee they could even get inside. Furthermore, after the city fell, his cousin and her family wouldn't have just waited there to die; he had no idea where they might be. Searching for more intelligence was the only logical path.