Reconnaissance

Qin Hua looked around to see that all the humans and also the cat were still fast asleep. Of course, Xu Meilin was still somewhat awake but only barely.

[Ok. It looks like I still have some time. Woof. Maybe I will head outside and take a look at things beforehand.]

She activated her skill Blending into darkness and quietly slipped out from under the front door without waking anyone up.

[Waaah! So cool!] The slightly bigger puppy wagged its tail, feeling amazed by her own skills.

But once she was outside the door, her figure instantly materialized as the corridor was fully lighted. It was also eerily quiet which made Qin Hua nervous.

[Where should I go first?] She pondered, while cautiously walking and blending into the bits of shadows she found here and there.

[I should go and check the stairwell door on our apartment's floor first.] She could never forget those loud banging noises and the terrifying fist impressions on that thick steel door.

And now having seen the transformed Sister Min, she wondered if that back there was a mana zombie as well, perhaps a higher-level one.

[System, if I use the inspect skill whilst I am in the shadow form, will I get made?] Qin Hua asked, for which she immediately got the answer.

<Ding. The inspect skill is compatible with the Blending into darkness skill and can be used together>

Qin Hua nodded and then headed over to the same fire escape they had used to climb down. She peeked her small head out and saw a string of continuous shadow cast by the thin ladder.

[I should be able to go up and down using this right?] She nervously gulped, her eyes shifting from looking up above to down below.

Earlier she had been conveniently carried around like a potato sack by Su Yan, but now looking at the height, she was getting second thoughts.

[Fuuuck! Hell no. This is way too risky. I don't want to die stupidly by falling down from the 7th floor.] She shook her head and ran away from the fire exit.

Instead of using the fire exit, she decided to slip under the stairwell door just like how she had done for getting past the front door.

By doing so chances were that she might come face to face with another mana zombie but that was still better than falling from the 7th floor because of a flickering shadow or something like that.

[Here we go.] The puppy took a deep breath and quickly blended in once again. Luckily for her, the stairwell was not lit and it was completely dark.

So Qin Hua quickly reached the 9th floor after climbing two sets of stairs.

<Ding. Blending into Darkness skill has increased to Level2>

[Woof! Yass!]

As she neared the last set of stairs, even though currently in a sort of stealth mode, Qin Hua still became extra cautious and careful in case the monster had the ability to detect her presence.

She slowly tiptoed up to the stairwell door and once she could see the silhouette slumped against the door, not banging it any longer, she paused her movements.

[Inspect!] Qin Hua's heart was thumping wildly inside her small puppy chest. She had never done anything like this before so she was finding it difficult to remain calm.

The figure in front of her was clearly human but the eyes… were bright white in color as if a tube light was glowing inside the human body… just like sister Min.

<Ding. Mana Zombie; Level 15; A human being who was unable to withstand the mana currents and the awakening of inner ability>

[Ah~ 10 levels above me? Let's leave first.] She slowly started backing away.

[So this man also had an inner ability like Su Yan and Lu Chen!]

Just judging from the strength he had used to almost unhinge the door, she could roughly guess what type of inner ability he might have had.

[System, can you give me more details? What ability? Can he still use it?] Qin Hua licked her lips nervously.

<Ding. Inspect skill level not sufficient for more answers>

[Tsk. Tsk. So stingy. Guess I need to quickly level up my skills and make them more useful. Let's finish this trip first.]

If there were 2 mana zombies… one dead and one alive… then there were probably more.

She needed to find out more details about this as soon as possible, otherwise, everyone's lives will be inevitably in danger.

Still in her shadow form, Qin Hua ran away from the mana zombie on the 9th floor and slipped out from underneath the stairwell door on the 8th floor.

She then started systematically peeking into the several apartments, beginning from the one closest to the stairwell.

She hid carefully in the small stretch of darkness underneath the front door in each apartment, only going in further if necessary.

There were ten apartments in total on the floor and the first three were empty.

On the fourth one, Qin Hua noticed a man sitting quietly on the couch, not moving or perhaps not even breathing. His eyes were closed.

[Inspect.] The puppy immediately stiffened up, waiting for the results.

<Ding. Mana Zombie; Level 3>

[Woah! A level 3 zombie! I am level 5, can I kill this guy myself?] She pondered but didn't risk knowing the answer just yet.

She quietly slipped out and peeped into the next apartment.

<Ding. Mana Zombie; Level 5>

<Ding. Mana Zombie; Level 7>

<Ding. Mana Zombie; Level 1>

With every apartment complex she surveyed, Qin Hua's face darkened more and more.

In the last apartment, she saw a woman sitting rigidly like a statue on the floor and the bodies of what looked like her children were laid around her, smashed into bits and pieces.

She almost puked at the gore-filled scene, quietly backing out of that apartment as well.

She had now done a full circle of all the apartments on the 8th floor, coming back again to the stairwell.

[I should go back to the group.] She furrowed her brows and started running back.

If there were mana zombies here, then it was only logical that there were mana zombies on their floor as well.

So Qin Hua wanted to quickly rejoin the group as soon as possible, lest something terrible happens.

Now that she knew about the various dangers lurking in this apartment complex, she had a bad feeling in her heart.

But as she climbed down the stairs and slipped out from under the stairwell door and reached the 7th floor, standing in front of her was a creature with shining red eyes.