this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
Surely, this person would be like the others she had saved before, waking up and being grateful to her. She had gone against all odds to save him after all.
Thinking this, a smug smile appeared on Bai Tingting’s face.
She didn’t notice that the fingers of the person lying beside her twitched slightly, with a faint purple electric current flowing from his fingertips for a moment before quickly disappearing into the air, going completely unnoticed.
Sun Qing and Xu Feng told their teammates about the situation and the information they had gotten from scouting. Thus, the group put Bai Tingting out of their minds and began discussing the plan for after dawn tomorrow.
After an unknown amount of time, a scream suddenly erupted from the room where Bai Tingting was, followed by a loud bang.
As the sound rang out, the previously quiet surroundings also began to stir. The nearby zombies and mutated beasts surged forward, clawing and howling at the door.
Sun Qing and her group were startled and quickly went to investigate.
As they approached, they saw a corpse carelessly strewn on the ground—it was their teammate, Xiao Zhou.
Xiao Zhou’s body had already stiffened, with wisps of white smoke rising from it, his eyes wide open.
Meanwhile, the sound of Bai Tingting’s struggle continued to emanate from inside the room. “I… I saved you, you… you can’t… do this, you ungrateful…”
After Bai Tingting managed to utter these words with great difficulty, a low chuckle and a slightly hoarse male voice echoed from inside, “Who asked you to save me?”
If Song Jinchuan and his group had been there, they would have recognized this all too familiar voice—it was Zong Tao, the man who had fled in defeat after being defeated by Song Jinchuan.
Most of Zong Tao’s underlings had sacrificed themselves to cover his escape. He was severely injured and, exhausted, collapsed by the roadside, believing he was done for. Yet he never expected someone to save him.
It seemed that he, Zong Tao, was not destined to die just yet.
At this moment, he was venting all the anger and humiliation he had suffered at Song Jinchuan’s hands on the people before him.
The woman who had been incessantly noisy since he woke up was now in his grasp, her neck strangled by him until her face turned purple and she could no longer breathe. The man who had been monitoring the situation behind the door was struck dead by a bolt of lightning.
Now, with so many people standing at the door, their expressions wary and weapons aimed at him, Zong Tao’s lips curled into a slight smile. Ordinary people, huh? That made things easier.
Sun Qing and her group exchanged glances, all sensing the gravity of the situation. This man was likely a high-level ability user.
The battle was imminent. Zong Tao threw Bai Tingting to the ground as purple lightning crackled in his hands.
Although Sun Qing and her group were ordinary people, they were all seasoned in combat. They skillfully dodged his attacks while striking back with their weapons.
Bai Tingting cowered in the corner, nearly paralyzed with fear, her neck still throbbing with pain. She couldn’t understand why her good deed hadn’t been rewarded.
The fight between ordinary people and a survivor like Zong Tao was brutal, especially against a madman like him. His fighting style was reckless and ruthless, as if he was driven by a death wish. He coughed up blood several times but simply wiped it away and continued using his abilities.
Fortunately, Zong Tao had just been injured and hadn’t fully recovered yet. Despite his crazy frenzy, some of his vulnerabilities were still inevitably revealed.
Seizing the moment when Zong Tao exposed a weakness, Sun Qing and her group dealt him a heavy blow and quickly retreated with their remaining members.
Zong Tao, too exhausted to give chase, staggered a few steps before collapsing to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Yet, a terrifying smile still lingered on his face.
Only then did Bai Tingting, still in the corner, realize that they had left without her! What was she supposed to do now?!
In the darkness, Zong Tao spoke, his palm still crackling with purple lightning, his threat unmistakably clear. “You, go and collect all these body fragments.”
“Should I throw them away?” Bai Tingting was on the verge of tears, thinking that if she were sent out to dispose of the bodies, she might have a chance to escape this lunatic.
“Don’t throw them away, collect them. I need to recuperate here for the next few days, and they will provide me with the necessary nutrients.” Zong Tao’s lips curled into a sinister smile, revealing teeth stained with blood, like a demon.
At that moment, Bai Tingting truly regretted her decisions.
*
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
Meanwhile, in the hotpot restaurant, Jiang Ci ordered two meals, planning to eat with Xiao Yu.
Seeing that there was food for him as well, Xiao Yu looked somewhat flustered and quickly said, “No need, I’ve already eaten so much earlier.”
Jiang Ci had ordered braised pork with tiger skin quail eggs, the deep red sauce drizzled over it made it look incredibly appetizing.
“But that was hours ago, aren’t you hungry now?” Jiang Ci opened the food container in front of her, the aroma immediately wafting out.
“I…” Xiao Yu was about to say he wasn’t hungry when his stomach let out a loud growl, causing his face to turn red.
“See, your stomach is protesting your own words. Eat up. You already owe me a favor, what difference does it make if you owe me a little more? If you feel really bad about it, you can come help me peel potatoes once you’re settled and have nothing else to do.” Jiang Ci said half-jokingly.
Looking at the meal placed before him, Xiao Yu finally accepted it.
Jiang Ci had saved him when he was in dire straits, found him a place to stay, and now was giving him such good food. Xiao Yu’s heart was filled with gratitude, wondering how he could ever repay Jiang Ci for her kindness.
The two sat by the wooden table near the window, eating while watching the sunset outside.
The sunset painted the sky in shades of gray and orange, the dilapidated city enveloped in its glow, exuding a sense of decaying beauty.
Xiao Yu was completely immersed in the bowl of braised pork rice in front of him. The pork was tender but not falling apart, melting in his mouth with a rich blend of meat and flavour from the sauce. Xiao Yu felt that he wouldn’t trade this bowl of rice for anything else.
After finishing the meal, Xiao Yu stood up and took the two food containers to throw them in the recycling bin outside the wooden cabin.
Jiang Ci stepped out of the hotpot restaurant’s wooden door, standing in the protected courtyard to stretch. Xiao Yu returned and stood beside her, gazing at the distant evening glow.
Soon, the sun completely set, and the lights outside the hotpot restaurant came on.
Tonight, Xiao Yu was to rest at the hotpot restaurant. Jiang Ci found a folding bed in the nearby warehouse and set it up for him to make do for a couple of days.
If it weren’t for encountering those two villains and realizing how well the system protected her, Jiang Ci wouldn’t have dared to let a survivor stay overnight in this post-apocalyptic world. But now, the system gave her enough confidence to do so.
After setting up the bed and lingering for a while, Jiang Ci felt that no one else would come, so she closed the wooden door.
She handed Xiao Yu a set of toiletries and told him to go to the outside restroom to wash up.
Just as they finished tidying up and were about to head to their respective rooms to sleep, the wooden door was suddenly knocked on.
Jiang Ci stood at the door, her hand still on the doorknob. Hearing the noise, she quickly went to open it. Lately, it seemed like she had unlocked some kind of ‘late-night visitor’ buff, as guests kept arriving in the middle of the night.
As soon as the wooden door opened, the survivor outside collapsed to the ground with a thud.
With the first person falling, the other exhausted survivors behind them also tumbled down in a chain reaction.
Jiang Ci exclaimed in surprise. After the system confirmed that none of the survivors had been bitten by zombies, she hurried forward to help them up. However, the survivors were all incredibly heavy, and she simply couldn’t manage to lift them on her own.
Xiao Yu, hearing the commotion, quickly came out from inside to assist.
The two of them exerted tremendous effort and finally managed to drag all eight people into the house.
Jiang Ci’s hands and clothes were stained with blood, and the room was now filled with the metallic smell of it. The eight survivors looked seriously injured, lying haphazardly on the floor.
It seemed that reaching this place had drained the last of their strength.
Jiang Ci was now at a loss. She didn’t have any medicine or bandages to treat their wounds. She couldn’t just stand by and watch these eight people die in front of her.
For now, all she could do was boil some water, hoping it might be useful later.
“Sister…” Xiao Yu’s voice came from the kitchen doorway as she was boiling the water. “One of them has woken up.”
Jiang Ci quickly turned off the stove and went out to check. She found that a woman had already sat up from the floor. Even with blood on her face, her complexion looked extremely pale.
“Thank you,” the woman said, her voice hoarse. “Can we rest here for a while? We’ll leave as soon as we regain some strength.”
“It’s fine. Rest her for as long as you need. I’ve boiled some water for you to clean your wounds later. How did you get so badly injured?”
At this, the woman’s eyes darkened. “We encountered a powerful enemy. There were fifteen of us originally, but only eight of us managed to escape.”
Jiang Ci fell silent. Losing seven companions in one night was something no one could easily come to terms with.
Perhaps it was because the light in the room felt so warm, but the woman suddenly felt the urge to confide in someone. “One of them was a close friend of mine for many years. We supported each other to reach this base, joined this team together, but she died right in front of me, her eyes still open. Another was my mentor, the one who taught me combat and how to use a gun…”
The woman recounted each loss, her voice trembling with emotion.
“My condolences,” Jiang Ci said, struggling to find the right words, only to end up settling on this dry remark.
The woman wiped her tears and looked up, her eyes slightly red. “I’m sorry for showing you something so unsightly.”
“It’s alright,” Jiang Ci replied, remembering the hot water in the kitchen. She quickly went in and brought out a large basin. “Here, use this water to clean your wounds.”
The woman, Sun Qing, who had previously engaged in a fierce battle with Zong Tao, was stunned when she saw so much clean water that could be directly consumed without any strange aftertaste.
“This… water is too precious. I… I can’t use it.”
“It’s fine, there’s plenty more. Go ahead and use it. I’ve also boiled some water. You can tend to their wounds first. Xiao Yu, can you lend her a hand?” Jiang Ci noticed that as long as Xiao Yu was helping with tasks, he felt less psychological burden and could prove he wasn’t useless. So, she kept Xiao Yu behind to assist Sun Qing.
now i’m craving tiger skin quail eggs TAT
