Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Feeling the pressure suddenly ease, An Xiaolin let out a hoarse roar and practically stomped the accelerator through the floor.
The vehicle shuddered violently, then tore free through the bloody gap Zhou Shaocheng had opened by ramming into the mob.
The tires rolled over severed limbs and blood-soaked pavement with a sickening crunch.
They were out!
An Xiaolin floored the accelerator again, sending them surging forward. But before any of the three could relax, the vehicle abruptly sagged.
Its speed plummeted, and no matter how hard she pressed the gas, it refused to accelerate. The wheels began slipping unnaturally.
They had barely started picking up speed when the vehicle slowed again, even beginning to swerve.
“Damn it… Those bastards blew out the tires!” An Xiaolin’s eyes reddened as she slammed a fist against the steering wheel.
In the rearview mirror, the lunatics were already closing in, their faces twisted into excited grins.
They seemed utterly indifferent to their companions’ gruesome deaths, treating the whole thing as nothing more than an even more thrilling game of chase. Scrambling on all fours, they lunged after the vehicle once more.
“The gasoline!” Qingshui barked.
She and Ji Feifan threw open the doors without hesitation and jumped out while the vehicle was still rocking to a stop. Each of them carried a plastic container they had prepared in advance, filled to the brim with gasoline.
They unscrewed the caps and hurled the pungent liquid across the road behind the vehicle.
Pale yellow gasoline rapidly spread over the filthy pavement, creating a dangerously slick patch.
The nearest lunatics were already upon them!
“Fall back!” Qingshui ordered. They both retreated several paces and took cover beside the doors.
The instant the lunatic in front stepped into the gasoline, grinning savagely as it reached for them, Qingshui hurled the burning strip of cloth in her hand.
The orange-red flame arced through the air and landed in the gasoline.
“Whoosh!”
Flames erupted in an instant. Tongues of fire shot upward, engulfing the lunatics at the front and forming a temporary wall of roaring flames.
“Ahahaha! Hot! So hot! This feels amazing! Aaaah!” The lunatics wrapped in flames howled with warped laughter and flailed wildly. They became moving torches, blocking the path of those behind them.
The reek of charred flesh and gleeful laughter filled the air.
Just then, Zhou Shaocheng slammed on the brakes up ahead and whipped his vehicle around, skidding to a stop beside theirs.
“Move!” Zhou Shaocheng roared. Li Wei’an leaped out of the passenger seat as well. Both of them were smeared with blood and soot, but their eyes remained remarkably clear.
Every second was a matter of life and death. There was no time for talk.
An Xiaolin jumped out again, and the group frantically transferred the food, water, and alcohol from their disabled vehicle into Zhou Shaocheng’s as quickly as they could.
Heavy boxes flew from hand to hand before being tossed into the trunk and back seat.
Amid the frantic scramble, a woman’s bloodcurdling scream suddenly pierced through the roar of the flames and the lunatics’ laughter.
“Help… me…!”
Everyone froze instinctively and turned toward the sound.
Not far away, at the foot of the building opposite the convenience store, the woman who had been screaming curses earlier lay on her back in a pool of blood. She desperately tried to drag herself away, but no longer had the strength to stand.
Two lunatics were sprinting toward her, their mouths stretched into grins that nearly reached their ears. Each held a round object that dripped red liquid onto the ground.
Qingshui’s cold gaze shifted upward.
The balcony on the second floor, which had once belonged to the married couple, now presented an even more horrifying sight. The husband, his face deathly pale, was “standing” awkwardly on the balcony.
Behind him, another hulking lunatic held him upright while sexually assaulting him with extreme, bloody brutality. Blood ran down the man’s legs and dripped from the railing, while the lunatic’s face twisted with sadistic ecstasy.
A bloody, depraved, and utterly inhuman party was unfolding just a stone’s throw away.
Li Wei’an instinctively looked at Qingshui. Her expression was conflicted as she tightened her grip on her knife.
Qingshui’s gaze lingered there for less than half a second before her icy voice severed all unnecessary thoughts.
“Ignore them! Keep loading!”
Her command snapped everyone back to reality. They could barely save themselves. Any hesitation now would be suicide.
Besides, those people had brought this on themselves!
As Zhou Shaocheng shoved the last box of canned food into the vehicle, he anxiously glanced toward the far end of the street. From the shadows came the sound of more running feet.
“We have to go! They’re coming!” he screamed, his voice warped by terror.
In the distance, another massive horde of lunatics emerged from different intersections, a dense black tide surging toward the area engulfed in flames.
They were moving incredibly fast!
There was no time!
Most of the food still hadn’t been loaded, but they were out of time!
“Get in!” Qingshui made the call without hesitation. She grabbed the dazed An Xiaolin and shoved her into Zhou Shaocheng’s vehicle. Ji Feifan and Li Wei’an immediately abandoned the supplies in their hands and scrambled into the passenger compartment.
Zhou Shaocheng slammed the door shut.
The instant the vehicle started moving, everyone clearly heard the woman’s inhuman shrieks outside reach a terrible crescendo before… abruptly falling silent.
In their place came the thunderous collective laughter of countless lunatics, the crackle of flames, and the frenzied pounding of footsteps rapidly closing in from the distance.
Zhou Shaocheng floored the accelerator and raced desperately toward the mountain road they had taken on the way there.
No one spoke inside the vehicle. There was only their heavy, stifled breathing and, behind them, the street completely swallowed by fire and madness.
They… had survived!
Watching everything from inside the villa, Lin Hao’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the sofa.
Fang Shuyao and Chen Yuhui were in no better shape. Even watching through a screen had left them drenched in cold sweat.
“Oh my God…” Fang Shuyao took a trembling sip of water as the vehicle disappeared from the screen. “Haohao! Hurry, catch up with them!”
“Right!” Lin Hao snapped back to his senses and hurriedly accelerated the drone. He flew it past Qingshui’s group and sent it ahead to scout the road.
“No lunatics ahead. The road is clear,” his trembling voice came through the phone.
Without a word, Zhou Shaocheng pressed harder on the accelerator. Right now, all he wanted was to get back to the villa as quickly as possible.
The vehicle accelerated again, its engine roaring throughout the entire mountain resort. Chen Yuhui and the others weren’t the only ones who noticed it.
So did a group of… “lunatics” hiding inside the villa.