The circle of fire had dwindled to embers and ashes. The improvised torches sputtered in desperation, becoming less and less effective. The group's bodies trembled, exhausted, covered in soot, blood, and sweat. Every strike hurt more. Every fallen zombie was replaced by another emerging from the mist, as if the forest held an endless supply.
Long Tian panted, his chest covered in wounds, his hands blackened by fire. The smoke burned his eyes, but he couldn't stop. Beside him, Mei and the others fought with what little strength they had left. There were no more screams only ragged breaths and the clash of bodies.
Suddenly, a slight shift in the air.
A breeze, barely perceptible.
Long Tian froze for a moment. He felt something change. He looked up: the mist was beginning to thin, little by little. An orange hue peeked through the treetops. The sky, once shrouded in total darkness, now showed the first signs of dawn.
"The sun..." Mei whispered, her voice broken.
The mist receded, as if fearing the light. And with it, the zombies began to falter. Some stopped abruptly, others stumbled backward, sluggish. The aggression that had driven them seemed to fade along with the night's shadow.
"Look!" Lao shouted, pointing toward the horizon.
A ray of sunlight pierced through the trees, illuminating part of the clearing. When the light touched the undead, they began to tremble, crumbling like dry dust until they vanished. One after another, the zombies collapsed, as if the earth itself was reclaiming them.
The group stood in silence, unable to believe what they were seeing. The threat that had seemed infinite just moments before was now dissolving before their eyes with the arrival of dawn.
"Are they... leaving?" Hao asked, still kneeling, clutching his wounded shoulder.
"No. They're fleeing," Long Tian replied, slowly lowering his weapon.
In a matter of minutes, it was over. Only ashes remained, the desiccated remains of corpses, and the echo of a night none of them would ever forget.
Everyone collapsed to the ground, gasping. No one spoke. There were no cheers or celebrations. Only a heavy silence, filled with relief and unspoken fear.
After a few minutes of silence, broken only by the crackling of embers and weary breaths, Mei was the first to stand. Her legs trembled, but her gaze remained steady. She looked at her companions, all collapsed, covered in wounds, dirt, and ash. Then she spoke, her voice clear, slicing through the silence like a spark:
"We have to move. We can't stay here… We all need water and something to eat. Injured and weak, we won't reach the dock safely. And no one wants to spend another night in this cursed place."
Her words stirred something in the others. Long Tian slowly raised his head, nodding silently. Lao pushed himself up with a groan, and Hao leaned against a log, still clutching his bandaged shoulder wrapped in a torn strip of cloth. No one argued. She was right.
"We'll look for a nearby stream, or any usable vegetation," Long Tian said as he got to his feet with effort. "We won't go far. We stay together."
"And stay alert," Mei added. "Even if they left with the sunlight, we don't know if they'll return with the next darkness of the forest."
With slow, aching movements, they began to rise one by one. The battle had taken more than their physical strength; it had left an invisible mark. But as the sun climbed higher and the forest began to show signs of life again, a new urgency pushed them forward. They had to survive. They had to escape the island.
Long Tian separated from the group discreetly, slipping through the undergrowth like a shadow. The low-hanging branches brushed against his clothes, but his movements were so fluid that not a single crackle betrayed his presence. He advanced through the vegetation, each step calculated, until the silhouettes of his companions were completely hidden behind a green wall of ferns and vines.
Once certain he was alone, he took a deep breath and unfolded the system map. With a swift gesture, he activated his mental interface and projected a floating holographic image showing a three-dimensional model of the terrain. Jagged mountains, winding rivers, and dense jungle zones unfolded before his eyes. But his attention focused on the northern edge of the island, where the coastline curved into a rocky beach scattered with irregular formations. There, like stars in a night sky, several points glowed in an ethereal blue: the locations of the Spiritual Energy Pearls.
Without wasting a second, he closed the map and plunged into the jungle. The ground, softened by the night's humidity, gave slightly underfoot, leaving faint footprints quickly erased by the undergrowth. The twisted roots of the trees rose like veins from the earth, threatening to tangle his steps, but he dodged them with practiced ease. The heat, once bearable, began to intensify with the first rays of dawn, wrapping the air in a warm mist that made his skin glisten with sweat.
After an exhausting trek, he arrived at the beach. The landscape was both desolate and beautiful: hundreds, perhaps thousands, of oysters lay scattered across the dry sand, some half-buried, others covered in dried algae and fragments of coral. The sea, rough beyond the shoreline, crashed against the rocks with fury, spraying salty foam that evaporated almost instantly under the rising sun.
He realized at once that the spiritual pearls were indeed inside these oysters—but there was a problem. He couldn't possibly examine them all. Time was against him, and every passing minute increased the risk of someone noticing his absence.
With determination, he knelt and began opening the oysters one by one, careful not to damage their interiors. Some were empty; others contained dull, worthless pearls. But after several minutes of methodical searching, his efforts were rewarded: five radiant pearls, pulsing with spiritual energy, rested in his palm. Each one glowed with a golden-blue hue, as if a drop of liquid light was sealed within.
Still, the invisible clock ticking in his mind warned him not to push his luck. If he delayed any longer, the others might start wondering where he was or worse, come looking for him.
Carefully, he stored the pearls in a hidden compartment of his pouch. Then he spent a few precious minutes erasing all signs of his presence: he rearranged the opened oysters, covered his tracks with sand, and even left false trail marks leading eastward.
Before leaving, he paused for a moment, scanning the horizon with a satisfied look in his eyes.