XG 184- Tempting his heart like a siren

With their activated gene, their eyesight was better, including during the night.

Chen Yibo never disagreed that Wong Xue Guo was pretty whenever he heard someone compliment her beauty. But he was never attracted to her.

There was no need for Wong Xue Guo to wear her spectacles anymore with her improved eyesight, and her watery eyes were no longer hidden. Her eyes looked much lazier and bewitching, attracting his attention like a siren beckoning the sailor to crash into the rock.

"I..." Chen Yibo's tongue felt tied, as his usually structured mind failed to produce the right response in time. He wanted to say it was not a confession, but he was scared of hurting her.

Wong Xue Guo knew it was not the right time for a personal talk. "I will wait for your talk later."

The streetlights were not working, so they only relied on moonlight. The barely lit place allowed them to hide what they were doing, but Max, who had heard the tale of the 'one shot' ability, believed that she must be feeling weak now.

"You could have let me drive the truck away," Max apologized indirectly when they regrouped. If not for his squeamishness, she would not be forced to overuse her ability.

"It's faster and cleaner," Wong Xue Guo answered indifferently. "Let's go."

The energy from the tree and rows of short grass pulled her away from exhaustion, but she was worried it would not be enough if she needed to fight Zene's people. She could only hope there would be more zombies for her to absorb later.

Max continues driving, and this time more careful in eying the road. It would be very bad if he accidentally collided with something and damage their car.

Chen Yibo eyed the dark houses that they passed by, vaguely catching hints of thoughts. His frown deepened when the survivors would have dangerous thoughts just from seeing their car passing by. It would have been understandable if they sought help, but what occupied their mind was ways to hijack their car.

There was no movement other than just thinking about it, but he did not dare to relax his guard.

His mind-reading ability allowed him to understand people better, just as he always wanted. But the more he listened, the more he wondered if he would hate having this ability one day.

Those that knew of his ability had already started to avoid him out of fear of their secrets being known. It was a blessing that his father and brother remained the same, but his brother tends to be even more talkative.

Chen Yibo does not have the heart to tell his brother to stop, even if it often drives him to a headache. If not for him learning how to be a selective listener, he would likely end up actively avoiding people.

His new ability only allowed him to relax when he was around Wong Xue Guo, the only person he could not read. Unlike his speculation, he could read Vihaan's thoughts, and he suspected Wong Xue Guo enhancing his ability was a reason for it.

The silence from her plays a strong influence on what he plans to do with Wong Xue Guo, who judging from her actions, does not seem to be giving up on him.

With Chen Yibo's increasing defensiveness, L.L. became more alert, which also affected Max. He became even more careful with his driving and slowed down even further. It was a wise choice, as there were more cars parked haphazardly further down the road.

When the car was forced to stop, it was already a more than two-hour ride with them needing to push the cars away from the road. It was further than Manse street, but not as far as Dulljae's shopping mall.

The thoughts became even more aggressive with each delay, causing Chen Yibo's guard to soar even further.

That took a toll on his concentration and he nearly wanted them to quickly decide whether to attack them or not. This was a rare moment where Chen Yibo wished for violence instead of peaceful dealing.

Since they have the idea of attacking them, they should have gone for it!

But strangely, the moment they notice their destination, their thoughts immediately change course, with everyone not wanting to attack them anymore.

Chen Yibo grasped Wong Xue Guo's hand to form a link before sending a thought to her. ["Xue Guo, it's me, Yibo."]

There was no one else that was able to talk in her mind, even if his thoughts could be hard to differentiate from her own. But he was not planting suggestions in her mind, and she could detect his energy, so there was actually no need to introduce himself every time he did so. Holding hands was also not needed, but she would not be the one that helps him realize that.

["What is it?"]

["I heard there had been a lot of zombies attacking the temple. The shaman that Max spoke of must be strong."]

A lot of zombies?

The car had stopped, unable to move forward with the road filled with corpses instead of cars this time. It would be hard for them to get into the temple. But the temple was within their sight and they could see the temple's wooden gate was still intact.

Even Max was shocked by the horrifying scene. If not for being wary of the danger, he would have charged over instead of eying the rest of the group, waiting for their next action.

["The shaman should an item that let out ringing sounds, likely the ceremonial bell, to attack."] Chen Yibo could not hear people's thoughts if they were honestly speaking their thoughts out loud, so what he caught were snippets that he had to decipher.

The people's thoughts shared that they stopped hearing the sound of bells not long ago, just as the attacks had stopped.

Was the attack stopped because the shaman won?

Or was the attack stopped because the enemy did a strategic retreat and plan to return with more zombies?

"Wow, that zombie controller must be a good multi-tasker," Wong Xue Guo praised sarcastically.

With two places being the favourite zombie hotspot, it was no wonder there were so few zombies left in the other areas. If she was a narcissistic person, she would be angry that the zombie controller does not pay full attention to her base.

["I will try to get more information from them.]

Chen Yibo could talk to other people in their minds and had gotten feedback from his elder brother that his voice in his mind sounded neutral. He had also tested on L.L. and Smoker, where they could easily assume that voice to be their own thought.

["Can you hear anyone's mind from the temple at this range?"] Wong Xue Guo asked.

["I could at this distance, but there are no thoughts coming from the temple. It could be the shaman is blocking me."] Chen Yibo does not want to believe the possibility that the people in the temple were dead.

They could not just leave without confirming with their eyes whether the people they intended to rescue were dead or not. "Let's hurry in."

Max had to take the lead, being the only one that knew the way better and lit the way with a torchlight.

The torchlight took in the skeletons crowded on the road and the sound of bones creaking echoed in the night as they stepped over them to cross the road.

"Oh, this is so scary." Max shivered as he forced himself to continue stepping over the bones. It was stressful for his heart to constantly have the thought that the skeletons might suddenly attack him.

Out of curiosity, Wong Xue Guo increased her strength until the bones underneath her feet cracked. She had used almost all her strength to succeed.

No wonder some people at their base started using zombie bones as weapons.

"We are here!" Max exclaimed in joy, and his momentary distraction had his feet slip. Like a heavy object that obeys the law of gravity faithfully, he crashed down onto the wooden gate without holding back any weight. The lock could not withstand his weight and broke apart, and the door forcefully opened.

Yelps of surprise rang from inside the temple, and Max waving his torchlight frantically from his fall did not help either.

["I still can't hear any thoughts."] Chen Yibo informed her.

"Looks like that shaman is a real deal," Wong Xue Guo said, letting L.L. know as well.

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