Rebirth: Leading Families to Survive in the Apocalypse

The flames had spread to the inside of the den, and a series of animal shrieks could be heard.

Finally, a yellow weasel with its back on fire rushed out from the tree hole, seemingly attempting to escape through the bushes. Lu Hao, with quick eyes and quicker hands, condensed another small fireball and struck it.

The fireball spread across the whole body of the weasel, which let out a pitiful scream before it stopped moving altogether.

The weasel’s yellow fur had been singed to a charred black; even the burnt skin underneath was exposed.

At this moment, the faint scent that had lingered also vanished. Local Tyrant Gold, who was dozing in Lu Hao’s pocket, slowly awoke. Lu Hao, worried that it would fall while asleep, had stuffed it into his pocket.

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Lu Hao crouched on the ground and looked at the dead yellow weasel. He sneered and said, “Quite the convincing act.”

From the very first glimpse of that “Su Jin,” he had sensed something was amiss. His only worry had been whether the others had been led away by that “Su Jin” as well, so he followed. It seemed that now only he was brought to this place.

Local Tyrant Gold hopped out of Lu Hao’s pocket, surveyed the surroundings, then stretched out a tiny hand to point Lu Hao in a direction. Lu Hao, uncharacteristically gentle, patted its head and walked in the direction it pointed.

Passing by the tree hole, Lu Hao noticed the vicinity was strewn with white bones and some flies buzzing above, emitting bursts of stench…

These were probably the handy work of the mutated yellow weasel, which surprisingly possessed such capabilities.

Following Local Tyrant Gold’s directions, Lu Hao indeed found several people, who all seemed to still be in a dream, especially Lu Guanhai, who was unaware of what he was dreaming about, his legs still moving as if running.

…

Su Jin thought she had returned to her previous life.

She saw herself being trapped by Chen Xiarong, but instead of turning into a zombie, she simply stopped breathing… The next scene was Lu Hao holding her body, leaving the lab with a trail of blood behind him, his gaze lowered. Yet, Su Jin still made out the crimson in his eyes and his quivering lips…

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She had never seen Lu Hao like this before. She wanted to hold him, but she couldn’t move at all; she could only watch his desolate figure carrying her body, walking further away from her sight… She tried to scream but couldn’t make any sound.

“Xiao Jin, Xiao Jin?”

A familiar voice rang in her ears. Su Jin suddenly opened her eyes, saw Lu Hao beside her, looking at her worriedly, and after observing her surroundings, realized it was all just a dream — a dream so real that it almost took her breath away.

“Had a nightmare?” Lu Hao gently held her in his embrace, gently patting her back to calm her down.

She clung tightly to Lu Hao, the scenes from the dream still fresh, and even with the real Lu Hao before her, she felt immensely frightened.

At that moment, she heard Lu Guanhai’s voice from nearby, continuously muttering, “That scared me to death.”

“Did Old Lu also have a nightmare?” asked Su Xiangzhe.

“Yeah, I dreamed I was being chased by Liu Meifang, who was demanding to remarry me,” Lu Guanhai patted his chest, still shaken by the nightmare.

“Who is Liu Meifang?” Nie Qing inquired.

“His ex-wife,” Su Xiangzhe answered with a bitter smile. It wasn’t just Lu Guanhai; he too had a nightmare, dreaming that he and Lin Tianhui had both turned into zombies, which startled him into a cold sweat.

“Me too, me too, I also had a nightmare, about taking the college entrance exam and not being able to answer a single question!”

Lin Xiuyuan also ran over, squatting beside her and breaking down, “That dream was terrifying.”

“But how did we all end up sleeping here?”

Huang Yunxiang pointed out the critical issue. Although she also had a nightmare, it was a dream about her toiling at home when she was young, not something frightening. ṚÀ𝐍Ó𐌱Ёŝ

“It’s its trickery,” said Lu Hao as he tossed the yellow weasel onto the ground.

“What is this?”

Su Jin asked, looking at the charred, unrecognizable object on the ground that could vaguely be made out as an animal.

“A mutated yellow weasel,” Lu Hao recounted what he had encountered, and the others suddenly came to a realization.

In folk tales, the yellow weasel, commonly known as “yellow hide,” was said to attach itself to humans. The elderly at home would also often caution not to be bewitched by “yellow hide.” They never expected to encounter one, let alone a mutated one capable of creating such beguiling illusions!

This mutated yellow weasel must have first emitted a scent that confuses prey into a dazed state, then lures them back to its burrow and devours them.

Today, it seemed to have chosen the wrong victim to strike first, intending to start with Lu Hao. But he was the first to see through the illusion it had created.

“Are you saying it transformed into a replica of Xiao Jin?” Su Xiangzhe asked incredulously.

This was no longer a mutated yellow weasel; it was a Yellow Weasel Spirit, capable of morphing into human form. If it were him, he might indeed have been deceived.

“So, when did you realize it wasn’t me?” Su Jin also asked curiously.

“At first glance,”

Lu Hao didn’t elaborate, but he truly recognized at first glance that it wasn’t Su Jin, not just by demeanor and mannerisms, but also because it said, “I’ve been waiting for you a long time.”

The real Su Jin, aware of Lu Hao’s situation, would not have him seek her out. Most importantly, the “Su Jin” did not have the scent of his Su Jin.

“We should leave this place quickly…”

Lin Xiuyuan touched his arm, feeling that the place was becoming increasingly eerie.

After extracting the Beast Core from the charred head of the yellow weasel and placing it into his space, they left the area.

As they descended the mountain, Lu Guanhai asked Nie Qing, “What dream did you have?”

Nie Qing smiled without answering. He indeed had a dream, though not about anything horrifying. He dreamt of returning to his former residence, where only he and Xiao Fen were present, living the same life day in, day out. Aside from the monotonous existence, it was indeed somewhat lonely and hard to bear…

Though the path down the mountain was rough, they managed to reach the foot of the mountain before nightfall. Along the way, they took breaks to set up two spirit gathering trapping formations, and Su Jin collected the bodies of the Mutated Beasts directly into her space.

Watching the sun ready to set, Su Jin felt that no matter how they hurried, they wouldn’t make it back to the base today, so they prepared to rest in the space again tonight and return first thing in the morning.

Everyone agreed, worn out from a day of hunting and nightmarish experiences. They planned to rest properly in the space for a while.

Thus, before leaving the mountainside, they found a hidden thicket and entered the space.