Chapter 108
Chapter 108
Qingshui hung suspended in midair.
The ground was dozens of meters below her. A frigid wind surged up from beneath, tossing her like a fallen leaf on the verge of being blown away.
In front of her, more than a dozen deathly pale, grinning faces crowded around the glass window she had just burst through, fighting to stick their heads outside.
“Die, you bastard! Fall and die, fall and die, fall and die, fall and die! Hahahahahaha!”
“Smash her! Smash her! Hahahahahaha!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming, I-I’m coming! Hehehehehe!”
The Madmen crushed together in a seething mass, trembling with excitement. They grabbed everything within reach-chairs, shards of glass, chunks of stone, even the severed limbs of their dead companions-and hurled them at Qingshui with all their might!
A glass ashtray whistled past her ear!
The crowd was so tightly packed that some of them simply began slamming their heads against the glass.
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Madmen smashed away as if they meant to bash their own brains to pulp!
Spiderweb cracks spread across the tempered glass. Blood burst from the Madmen’s foreheads and seeped along the fractures, painting vivid crimson trails across the transparent pane.
But they felt no pain. They did not stop. Instead, they laughed even harder, their grins stretching wider and wider, as though their faces might split open at the lips and even the folds deep inside their throats would spill out with their deranged laughter.
“Hee-hee! It’s breaking! It’s breaking!”
Some of the Madmen had already lost patience.
Rather than wait for the glass to shatter, they leaped straight out of the window.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
One after another.
They spread their arms and cackled in midair like birds eager to take flight. Then, a moment later, gravity sent them crashing onto the cold pavement below.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Muffled impacts rang out. Flesh and blood sprayed everywhere, and bodies blossomed across the street like crimson flowers.
But still more kept jumping.
The wind howled.
Qingshui’s suspended body began to sway. She swung through the air like a pendulum, on the verge of falling.
She had to move.
Horizontal decorative bands ran across the building’s glass facade at regular intervals. Made of metal, each was about ten centimeters wide and protruded from the wall.
Qingshui drew a deep breath. Tensing her core, she used the momentum of her swing and suddenly reached out.
Her fingertips hooked over the cold metal edge. She pulled herself in until her whole body pressed against the outer wall.
There was nothing beneath her feet. Only the narrow decorative band supported half her weight.
She looked up and to the right. An interconnected building with a similar design stood there, slightly shorter than this one.
If she could get inside that building, she might still have a chance…
Qingshui’s gaze sharpened. She tightened the muscles in her legs, gathered the last of her strength, and launched herself upward, catching hold of the decorative band one story above.
But the windows on that floor were packed with Madmen too.
The building was crawling with them, and they had spotted her.
They stopped their bloody revelry and stared at her with delight so intense it was almost uncanny, as though they had discovered some rare and marvelous new toy.
“There’s someone outside the window… Someone outside! Hahahahahaha! Hee-hee-hee!”
“Come inside and play! Come on in! I’ll make you feel so good! Hahahahahaha!”
They jumped and flailed in excitement. Some ran off to find things to throw, while others lunged at the window and mashed their faces against the glass, flattening their noses and bulging their eyes as they stared fixedly at Qingshui.
Qingshui tuned them out and climbed upward with both hands and feet.
Three floors… four floors…
Something came hurtling down from above, grazing her shoulder before plunging toward the ground.
Then another!
And another!
Five floors.
Just as Qingshui caught hold of the next decorative band, an odd clicking noise traveled down the safety rope from above.
Creak…
Creak…
The rope attached to her suddenly snapped taut. The next second, her entire world plunged downward at breakneck speed.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, she was whipped wildly through the air by the machine. The rope reeled in abruptly, then released just as violently, jerking her up and down again and again.
It felt as though an invisible hand had seized her organs and was crushing them upward. Acid surged from her stomach into her throat, the bitter burn and suffocating pressure closing around her windpipe at once.
Her bones felt ready to shatter. Every plunge and sudden stop sent a jolt of force racing up her spine and into her skull.
Her hands and feet could find no purchase. She dangled helplessly in midair, panic numbing her entire body.
Her vision dissolved into a blur. The world spun, every direction turning upside down. Sky and ground merged together until nothing remained but endless, violent jolting!
Her ears roared, and her heart pounded so fast it seemed ready to burst!
I’m going to be thrown off-
The thought had barely crossed her mind.
Snap!
The rope pulled taut again!
Qingshui trembled violently, every breath laced with pain. Before she could recover, her constricted pupils caught sight of the rope beginning to move.
It was dragging her sideways.
Her body was being pulled to the left, inch by inch.
N-no!
Understanding struck her in an instant.
The machine had not malfunctioned. A Madman was controlling the rope!
She thrashed wildly, trying to undo the buckle, but the machine suddenly roared to life again.
A high-speed plunge, an abrupt stop, then a rapid ascent and another stop-
This time, it was even more violent than before!
It felt as though her organs were about to be flung right out of her body!
“The little piggy’s flying! The little piggy’s flying!!!”
“I wanna fly too, hee-hee-hee! I wanna fly too!!”
The violent commotion had drawn nearly every Madman in the building. Heads poked out from every floor and every window. When they saw Qingshui suspended in midair, swinging wildly back and forth, they all burst into excited, manic laughter!
Then they began leaping out, arms spread wide as they lunged for Qingshui!
Some plummeted to the ground and splattered into pulp. The lucky ones managed to grab the decorative bands or window frames below, then continued climbing upward! Crimson light burned in their eyes.
One deathly pale, grinning face was already closing in. The Madman hung from a decorative band two meters below Qingshui, craning its head back and stretching out an arm. Its twisted fingers nearly brushed her ankle!
“Caught you, hee-hee-hee! Caught you-!”
Bang!
Fighting through the violent dizziness, Qingshui raised her gun and pulled the trigger!
The bullet struck the Madman in the neck. Clutching its blood-gushing throat, it fell toward the ground with a grin still plastered across its face.
But more were still coming!
Countless pale, smiling faces surrounded her from above, below, left, and right. All manner of sounds spilled from their mouths, laden with suffocating malice.
Rumble-
The cable plunged again.
This time, she dropped even farther, almost level with the roof of the shorter building!
Then she jerked to a sudden stop.
“Come on, come on, hee-hee-hee! We’ll catch you! We’ll catch you!! Hee-hee-hee!”
“Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome! Hahahahahaha!”
They tilted their heads back, spread their arms, and grinned at Qingshui as she hung in midair, as if welcoming an honored guest descending from the heavens.
Up she went.
Whoosh-
The wind cut into her like a knife, leaving her whole body aching.
Through the crushing vertigo, Qingshui bit down hard on the tip of her tongue. The sharp pain and sudden taste of blood instantly cleared her daze. Trembling, she raised her gun and aimed at the metal arm jutting out over the edge of the rooftop above.
Bang!
A hit!
But the machine kept running. The cable didn’t stop!
Bang!
Another shot!
Still nothing!
Bang!
A third shot!
Her magazine was almost empty! She was running out of bullets!
Everywhere she looked, crimson-eyed smiling faces pressed in on her until she could barely breathe.
She slowly eased her finger off the trigger and lowered her gaze.
Dozens of meters below, a glass skybridge connected the two buildings, spanning the empty air between them.
If she could jump onto it…
If she jumped when the cable swung her to its lowest point, she wouldn’t die instantly, but she would very likely break a bone.
But she had no other choice.
Qingshui drew a deep breath, relaxed her body, and waited for the right moment.
Just as the cable was about to swing her to its lowest point-
Bang!
A gunshot tore through the air from the distance.
A spark flashed in Qingshui’s eyes. A… sniper?!
Bang!
A second shot!
The machine controlling the cable emitted a piercing screech, then plunged again at full speed. The cable suddenly went slack!
Qingshui dropped as if in free fall before jerking to a violent stop, now only a few meters above the skybridge.
She was still hanging in midair, but this was far better than before!
Bang!
A third gunshot!
The head of the nearest Madman, which was lunging straight at her, suddenly exploded. Its rigid body plunged downward.
Now was her chance!
Qingshui immediately undid her safety buckle and let her body sway gently in midair. The next second, she used that slight momentum to hurl herself forward.
She desperately twisted to bleed off the force of her fall. With a heavy crash, she slammed onto the skybridge and rolled several times.
A sharp crack came from her ankle, and Qingshui’s whole body buckled.
Thunderous impacts followed close behind her as the Madmen’s crazed laughter flooded her ears.
“Don’t look back!”
A sharp female voice rang out from above!
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-!!!
A dense barrage of gunfire erupted over her head!
Bullets screamed through the air above her, followed by a rapid series of muffled impacts as they tore into flesh.
Qingshui looked up. On roughly the twentieth-something floor of the high-rise opposite her, a window stood wide open.
Three people were crowded around it.
Two women and one man.
One lay braced against the windowsill, holding what looked like an improvised sniper rifle. Of the other two, one had short hair, while the other’s face bore a vicious knife scar. They were pouring fire from their rifles into the Madmen on the skybridge!
“Run-!!!” the Scarred Woman roared.
Run!
Gritting her teeth, Qingshui limped forward as fast as she could, racing desperately toward the other end of the skybridge!
All she could see was that rope. Everything else went blank, leaving only the sound of her ragged breathing and the violent pounding of her heart.
Don’t stop!
Grab the rope!
Faster, faster, faster, faster, faster!!!!
“AAAAAAAHHHH!!”
Qingshui roared. With only a few steps left, she slammed one foot into the ground.
Knees bent. She launched herself upward.
And leaped!
Her hands clamped around the dangling rope!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The barrage overhead intensified!
A moment later, the rope pulled taut and she began to rise.
Two hands reached out from the window. A man and a woman each seized one of her wrists and hauled her up with all their strength.
They dragged her through the window by sheer force.
Sound crashed back into her silent world, gunfire exploding in her ears.
Qingshui lay sprawled on the floor, her vision blurred and her ears ringing. Her entire body trembled.
Then a face appeared before her.
A vicious scar ran from the woman’s brow to her jaw, slashing across her entire face.
The Scarred Woman panted heavily and grinned.
“Damn, sister. You’re hard to kill.”
Without waiting for Qingshui to respond, she swiftly tossed her backpack to the man beside her. He silently caught it and slung it over his shoulders.
Another man and woman stood by the door, vigilantly guarding the entrance.
The Scarred Woman quickly unfastened the rope around herself and tied Qingshui to her.
She winked at Qingshui.
Then she pulled out a walkie-talkie and roared into it,
“Asshole! Are you here yet? You trying to get us killed in here?”
An equally harsh curse crackled from the other end.
“Rush, rush, rush! Go fuck yourself! These bastards are all over my ass!”
“Thirty seconds!”
The Short-haired Girl, who had been lying beside the window with her sniper rifle, put away her weapon and began packing up her gear with practiced efficiency.
Carrying both backpacks, the man joined the two companions outside in watching the corridor.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire rang out again.
The three of them returned fire methodically, but the beads of cold sweat trickling down their temples betrayed their tension.
“He’s here.”
The Scarred Woman put away the walkie-talkie.
“Move. Stop wasting ammo.”
The group immediately rushed out the door. Tethered to the Scarred Woman, Qingshui stumbled after her.
The corridor outside was strewn with mangled corpses and awash in blood.
They sprinted straight for the open window at the far end. Without the slightest hesitation, the Scarred Woman pulled Qingshui along and leaped out!
They plummeted at breakneck speed. Cold wind howled past as the world shot upward before Qingshui’s eyes!
Just as they fell halfway down-
SCREEECH!
The piercing squeal of brakes rapidly drew closer.
Below them, a truck came roaring down the road, its tires shrieking against the pavement.
In midair, they released their ropes at the same time.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
All six of them slammed heavily onto the roof of the truck.
The Madmen closing in from every direction immediately hurled chunks of flesh and stones at them. Gunshots rang out among the barrage!
The Scarred Woman shoved a gas mask over Qingshui’s face while snatching up her walkie-talkie and shouting,
“Watch the tires!”
Only two words came back.
“Hold tight!”
The next instant-
SCREEECH!
The truck veered sharply, narrowly avoiding two crazed vehicles barreling toward it head-on.
The tremendous inertia flung all six of them violently to one side. Qingshui clung desperately to the edge of the roof, her knuckles white!
“Hee-hee-hee!!”
The Madmen behind the wheel wrenched their steering wheels around and charged the truck with utter disregard for their own lives. Deranged grins stretched across their faces, their eyes blazing with manic excitement!
The truck driver was no pushover either. He jerked the wheel, dodging a sedan charging in from the left, then swung the rear of the truck around-
BANG!
The truck’s tail smashed into the side of the sedan on the right. The car instantly spun out of control, rolling into the ruins along the roadside.
Shattering glass and bodies striking the ground melded into one grisly cacophony as the thick stench of blood assaulted everyone’s nostrils.
Several times, the truck tilted so sharply that it nearly rolled over. Each time, Qingshui thought she would be flung off and killed, yet the driver always managed to wrestle it back from the brink. Somehow, he drove the heavy truck with the vicious precision of a drift car.
But several cars were still hot on their heels!
The Short-haired Girl struggled to the edge of the roof and leaned halfway over, aiming at the sedans behind them. The violently swaying view made it nearly impossible to take aim, and every shot she fired went wide!
Qingshui tore off her gas mask, rolled over, and braced herself in a steadier position. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
The world fell silent again.
Bang!
A bullet screamed through the air!
One of the pursuing sedans suddenly lost control. Its front end swerved and slammed hard into the car beside it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The cars crashed into one another, instantly descending into chaos as the truck left them far behind!
“Holy shit, sister!”
The Scarred Woman let out an excited whistle and turned toward Qingshui. Her grin bunched the vicious scar across her face into the creases around her eyes.
“Guess saving you was worth it.”
Qingshui lay on the roof, gasping for breath without a word.
The wind swept through her damp hair, clearing her head completely.
She was still alive.