Rotting Land: Survive

The direction in which the rice stalks were pressed down pointed right towards the group, and as the distance continued to close, the black shadow hidden within gradually revealed its true form.

Zombie dog! As these three terrifying words appeared in Hu Xiaodong's mind, his heart immediately clenched.

Although the black shadow was still about 50 meters away from his position at that moment, Hu Xiaodong, situated at a higher vantage point, could clearly discern the "identity" of the incoming figure.

A long, narrow back, powerful limbs, a mouth exhaling cold breath; what else could possess such characteristics besides a zombie dog?

Perhaps the ruckus caused by the corpse dog sprinting through was too loud, for even Tang Xiaoquan, who was supporting Wang Qiang and slowly progressing forward, couldn't help but turn his head.

Yet, the stalks of rice behind him were so tall that aside from seeing blinding gold, he could see nothing else.

"Maybe it's just the faint rustle of the rice stalks from a gentle breeze," Tang Xiaoquan dispelled his concerns while secretly scolding himself for being overly sensitive.

However, what he never expected was that just as he was about to take another step forward, Hu Xiaodong's low voice shot across the open field like an arrow piercing the clouds.

"Run! There's a zombie dog!"

"Buzz~" His head felt like it was struck by something, causing a dizzying roar.

Without a doubt, the last words Tang Xiaoquan wanted to hear right now were "zombie dog."

After all, he and Wang Qiang had almost paid with their lives to take down such beasts.

But before Tang Xiaoquan could recover from this shocking impact, something even more horrifying befell him.

"Four dogs, no, five! Five zombie dogs are approaching from the 2 o'clock direction!"

Hu Xiaodong's shout was urgent and forceful. He couldn't quite determine the number of zombies hidden among the rice stalks, but judging by the flattened marks among them, there were at least five corpse dogs running through.

"Five!?" Wang Qiang opened his eyes wide in disbelief, perhaps too shocked, his voice came out with a slight tremor.

No one understood the terror of these beasts better than him; several bouts of combat experience made Wang Qiang instantly realized that the upcoming battle would likely be dire for their side!

Tang Xiaoquan's heart was pounding hard; he also acutely felt the ferociousness of the corpse dogs. He suppressed his fear urgently and shouted at Zhao Yunhai beside him, "Uncle Zhao, maintain formation. Everyone, stay calm!"

This was the best countermeasure Tang Xiaoquan could think of at the moment. Although he wasn't sure how effective it would be against the attack of corpse dogs, many medieval battles relied on formations for tactics.

But of course, Tang Xiaoquan wasn't a general, nor had he received any military guidance or training, so his so-called formation was just a primitive human instinct: placing the weak inside and surrounding them with the strong, thereby forming a defensive system from point to area.

Almost as Tang Xiaoquan's words fell, several black shadows darted out from the rice stalks, revealing their terrifying true selves.

The sensations from afar and up close were undoubtedly vast and different, the visual impact of it causing the women in the inner circle to clamor in terror.

"Everyone, calm down! Steady retreat!" Zhao Yunhai tried to keep his voice natural, yet his trembling right hand still revealed his inner panic and anxiety.

This was a normal psychological reaction; it did not change due to age or gender.

Perhaps only soldiers or special forces personnel with corresponding training could maintain the necessary restraint and reason in such situations, but to the survivors here, they were ultimately ordinary, common people.

Soon, the women were overwhelmed by the soul-seizing glare and the sharp claws scraping the ground of the corpse dogs.

Some among them began to cry, shake, or even scream to varying degrees.

When the first scream pierced through the sky above the field, Tang Xiaoquan's heart instantly rose to his throat.

Undoubtedly, nothing could incite the bloodthirsty brutality of zombie dogs more than the cries of their prey.

The five corpse dogs nearly simultaneously charged towards the flank Zhao Yunhai had been guarding.

"Crouch down! Raise your shields!" Amidst his panic, Tang Xiaoquan did not forget to shout a reminder, while he hurriedly supported Wang Qiang towards the main group.

Zhao Yunhai and Wu Chao, upon hearing Tang Xiaoquan's urgent call, instinctively crouched down.

And in order to block the attacks of the five corpse dogs to the greatest extent, they had no choice but to cross and overlap the shields in their hands, though this certainly led to a deficiency in the upper and lower defensive positions, in terms of overall defensive area, it undoubtedly maximized.

Without a doubt, this was an absolute gamble, and what Zhao and Wu were betting on was the dog's lack of intelligence.

In other words, if these beasts still retained their original hunting instincts, they would definitely exploit Zhao and Wu's defensive gaps for deadly attacks.

Unfortunately, the cries of the prey were too loud, the five corpse dogs could barely "think" of anything else, for them, pouncing on the prey before them and tearing it apart to share within was the most urgent task.

The collision came faster than expected, almost the instant Zhao Yunhai steadied himself, a force akin to a car crash hit his left forearm.

"Damn it!" Rarely did he curse aloud as it was not typical of Zhao Yunhai, usually a respectable teacher, to "utter foul language" or do anything uncivil.

But now, faced with such a blatant charge from these beasts, his masculine bloodlust was also aroused.

But this surge of bloodlust was limited to the curses he uttered because after five consecutive assaults from the corpse dogs, Zhao Yunhai's right hand shield was almost numb with pain.

"Damn it!" Struggling to get up from the ground, thanks to the desperate resistance by him and Wu Chao, the first attack from the five zombie dogs was repelled.

But even though they had the ability to block the attack of the corpse dogs, they could not quell the terror within the women's hearts.

As the saying goes: once hearts scatter, the group becomes hard to manage; the fierce attack by the corpse dogs indeed shattered the last shred of sanity within the women's hearts.

Accompanied by crazed cries, the irrational women began desperately rushing towards the group.

And they didn't realize that this seemingly self-preserving act gave the zombie hunting dogs the prime opportunity to feast.

The hunt is set to begin; the blood-soaked curtain has been drawn open...