Chapter 223: The Silver Fox

"Where is the map?"

The young man hurriedly lunged toward Jin Woo beside him. In a panic, he fumbled around and pulled out a notebook from his body. He then took out a hand drawn map from inside the notebook’s cover. The map was somewhat crude and abstract.

Joo Joowon looked at it. "Explain it."

"This red line marks the places where the forest rangers normally patrol. This is where they live. This is a water source. Here, and here... Let me think..." The young man tremblingly explained all the markings on the map. As time passed, his thoughts gradually became clearer. By the end, he was practically choking back tears. "I’ve told you everything I know. Since I’ve been cooperative, can you let me go? I won’t take anything with me. Once I’m out, I’ll leave my life to fate. You won’t even have to get your hands dirty. What do you think?"

He knew very well how ruthless the things he and his brothers had done in the mountains to outdoor travelers had been. There was no way they would give someone who had seen their faces a chance to leave. What if those people got out and reported them to the authorities?

At most, they would only toy with those people for entertainment. But now, he had become the one being toyed with, and that was terrifying.

He had not lived long enough yet!

To be honest, this proposal really did make Joo Joowon somewhat tempted. Although he had cleared out most of the area nearby with the wheel loader, it was not as though there were no stragglers left. If the other man simply went outside like this, there was a good chance that he would be killed by zombies. At the same time, he would not have to dirty her own hands. However, "I refuse."

The moment the words left her mouth, a head flew into the air. Several drops of blood splashed onto her clothes, causing his eyes to darken slightly.

Although the other party had merely been gambling with his life and might not necessarily have had a backup plan, there was always the possibility of something going wrong. They had one base here. How could he be certain that they did not have a second one?

Untimely softness would only bring harm to himself. Besides, the other party had never considered showing him any mercy. Naturally, he would not have any hesitation about killing them either.

The morality and laws that had been deeply rooted in him for more than twenty years had already collapsed completely when he killed his first zombie. Now, he did not feel anything at all.

If slhe really had to say something, it would simply be, "Pay more attention in your next life."

[ Ding! ]

[ You have picked up a Dead Man Treasure Chest. After opening the chest, it will randomly extract the experience and personal items of a dead player. For every treasure chest you open, you will gain one point of Killing Intent. ]

After picking up the two treasure chests, Joo Joowon directly threw their bodies onto the blood and flesh scattered across the asphalt road. He did not hurry to leave. Instead, he began searching through the house.

Joo Joowon did not take the guns. To him, they were no different from fire pokers, and there were not many bullets either. Even if he took them, they would be of little use.

While talking with the young man, he had already explored the surrounding area using his search silk and mental power. Therefore, his purpose was clear, and he quickly found the basement beneath the house.

It seemed that the owner of the house had already considered hunting when building it. Perhaps hunting had been the family’s livelihood for generations, or perhaps the purpose of building this place in the first place had been to engage in poaching. That was probably why the house had a basement.

As soon as Joo Joowon opened the basement door, an extremely pungent smell immediately rushed toward him.

The reason he had not been certain whether there were two or three people inside the house earlier was because he had also sensed a faint, almost imperceptible presence of life.

Before entering the house, he had thought that this was simply because he was not yet skilled enough at using his mental power. Now, however, it seemed that the problem had purely been that his perception had been unclear because the basement was in between.

There were dried bloodstains on the concrete floor, with several rust covered cages placed around the room. On a nearby table were various gun parts, hunting knives, and similar items, while the walls were decorated with their trophies.

Some specimens that had already been preserved and tanned.

The scene was indeed somewhat creepy to look at, but Joo Joowon did not feel much of anything. After looking around, he found that there was not much inside the basement. It seemed that the results of their hunting trip this time had not been particularly good.

Only a small cage contained a little animal, which was lying there weakly and listlessly.

Joo Joowon did not sense any signs of injury on its body, so perhaps those two men simply had not fed it for the past few days?

After thinking for a moment, he picked up the cage and carried the animal out of the basement. Only then could he clearly see that it was a fox.

It was a black fox. The undercoat covering its entire body was black, while the tips of its fur were white. Even the tip of its tail was white.

It did not look particularly attractive. It looked almost like a white cat from the countryside that had crawled into a stove and gotten itself covered in soot. It looked extremely disheveled and miserable.

After being exposed to the light again, the silver fox secretly opened its eyes into a narrow slit and observed the situation.