Modern Cultivation : The Strongest Couple Bonded by Vampire System

The civilians stepped back. The children cried louder.

Rovan looked at Beatrice. "Please tell me we are not opening that door."

Beatrice stared at the cracked seals.

"I don't want to open it."

"Good. Then don't."

"The gate behind us will break. West leads back to the infected. North is flooded and blocked. If we stay here, the heartbeat will turn more people."

Rovan pointed at the door. "And if we open it?"

"We may find another way..."

"Or we walk straight into whatever it was.."

Beatrice did not answer.

That was already the answer.

The metal gate behind them shook again.

BAM!!

More infected had returned.

The barricade started moving.

The old worker looked between the gate and the east door.

His lips trembled. "There is an old inspection passage past the sealed door. It should connect to the city hall foundation. From there, we might find another exit."

"City hall?" Rovan frowned.

Beatrice's eyes sharpened.

The city hall foundation.

The heartbeat, The disabled city formation.

Everything pointed there.

Rovan noticed her expression and cursed.

"Don't make that face."

"What face?"

"The face that says we are going toward the worst place."

Beatrice gripped her staff and stood straighter, even though her leg was shaking.

"We have no other way."

BAM!!

The gate bent inward.

One metal box was thrown aside.

The infected were almost through.

Rovan looked at the civilians, then at the sealed east door.

His jaw tightened.

"Fine."

He picked up the metal bar again.

"But if we die, I am blaming you."

Beatrice touched the formation line on the east door.

The seal was old, but it had already been weakened from the other side.

Her remaining qi entered the crack.

The red lines trembled.

Rovan stood in front with the guards, holding back the gate as much as they could.

The infected pushed harder.

A gray hand reached through and grabbed one guard's sleeve.

Rovan smashed it down.

BAM!!

The wrist bent, but the hand still held.

The guard screamed.

Rovan hit again.

CRACK!!

The hand finally broke loose.

Behind him, Beatrice's voice came.

"Almost."

"Faster!"

The east door began to open. A cold wind blew from the gap.

It carried the smell of blood.

Everyone in the room froze for a moment.

Beyond the door was a dark passage sloping downward.

On the walls, red formation lines pulsed with the same rhythm as the heartbeat.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Rovan looked into the passage and felt his stomach sink.

Beatrice's face was pale, but her eyes were firm.

"Everyone move."

The old worker helped the civilians forward.

The children were carried by their parents.

The guards retreated last.

Rovan carried Beatrice again and stepped into the passage.

Behind them, the barricade finally broke.

The infected flooded into the pump station.

The old worker pulled the emergency lever beside the east door.

The heavy door started closing.

The infected rushed toward them.

One almost reached the gap.

Rovan raised the metal bar and smashed its face.

BAM!!

The infected stumbled back.

The door closed.

BOOM!!

For a moment, only the heartbeat remained.

Then a low sound came from deep ahead.

It sounded like something breathing for the first time.

Rovan's face turned stiff.

Beatrice looked down the passage.

The red lines on the wall pulsed brighter.

Rovan swallowed. "This is the route out, right?"

Beatrice answered after a moment. "It should be."

They moved deeper.

With every step, the heartbeat became louder.

The passage sloped down for a long time.

The walls were older than the pump station. The metal panels were gone. Only black stone remained, covered with red formation lines.

Some lines were carved into the wall.

Some lines looked like veins.

Thump.

A child started crying again.

His mother covered his mouth quickly, but her own hands were shaking.

One guard whispered, "What is this place?"

The old worker shook his head. "This is not part of the map."

Rovan looked at him. "You said there was an inspection passage."

"There should be."

"Should be?"

"I only saw old records."

Rovan almost laughed. "Great. We are trusting old records in a cursed tunnel."

Beatrice looked at the walls. "These formations is new…"

Rovan glanced at her. "Then what are it doing?"

"It's pulling qi and something else in."

"Pulling what?"

Then the heartbeat came again.

Thump.

The red lines brightened. Everyone felt their chest tighten.

One civilian bent over and vomited blood. The guards quickly pointed their guns at him.

The civilian raised both hands in fear. "I'm not infected! I'm not!"

Beatrice stared at him.

No gray veins, only his qi had been shaken.

"He is fine. Keep moving."

Rovan lowered his voice. "You sure?"

"No."

"That is not helping."

"It is the truth."

They kept moving.

After another turn, the passage opened into a larger underground layer.

Everyone stopped. Below them was an old city space.

It was buried under the modern city.

Broken stone streets, Collapsed pillars.

Old houses crushed by the weight above.

But the whole place was covered in red formation lines.

The lines spread across the ground like blood vessels.

They all led toward the center.

Far away, under the city hall foundation, there was a huge pit.

Something red pulsed inside it.

Rovan could not see its full shape. He only saw a giant shadow wrapped in chains and blood mist.

Thump.

The shadow moved.

The heartbeat came from there.

The civilians froze. Even the children stopped crying for a second.

Then they saw the infected.

Thousands of them, maybe more.

They were crawling through the old streets below.

Some had their bodies split open.

Some were dragging themselves with only their arms.

They all crawled toward the red lines.

One infected reached a blood groove on the ground. Its body suddenly sank.

It was being swallowed.

The red line wrapped around it like a living thing.

The infected did not resist. Its body dried at a speed visible to the eye.

Black blood flowed into the groove and moved toward the center pit.

The body became an empty shell. Then it fell apart.

The old worker's lips trembled. "They are feeding it."

Beatrice's face was dark. "Not only the infected. Anything with qi can be used."

Rovan looked at the civilians behind him.

His face changed. "We need to get them out now."

"Quiet," Beatrice said.

Rovan followed her gaze.

Below the stone platform, several infected had stopped moving.

Their heads slowly turned upward.

Toward the living people.

The infected opened their mouths at the same time.

A low growl spread through the old city layer.

Rovan cursed. "Run."

They moved along the upper walkway.

The old worker led the way, holding a small emergency lamp.

"The inspection passage should be on the other side. If it still exists, it can go up to the city hall service shaft."

"If it still exists," Rovan said through gritted teeth.

The old worker did not answer.

Behind them, infected started climbing the wall.

Their nails dug into the stone.

The guards fired at the ones closest to the walkway.

Bang! Bang!

The bullets still did little.

Rovan shouted, "Aim at the eyes or cracked heads!"

"I'm trying!"

Beatrice raised her staff.

Ice formed along the edge of the walkway.

The first infected that climbed up slipped and fell back down.

Several more hit the ice and slid off.

But Beatrice's face turned paler.

Rovan noticed it.

"Don't force yourself."

"If I stop, they climb up."

"Then force yourself a little less."

Beatrice ignored him.

The group rushed across the walkway.

Halfway through, the heartbeat suddenly changed.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The red lines on the wall lit up all at once.