Chapter 32
Chapter 32
A woman.
She lounged on the sofa with her legs crossed, looking completely at ease, a cigarette held between her fingers.
In stark contrast to her languid posture, the coffee table before her was piled high with food: sealed packages of jerky, crackers, cakes, canned goods, chocolate, as well as several bottles of soft drinks and mineral water.
At the sound of movement, the woman slowly turned her head and looked at Gao Yizhou and He Qianxue, who stood frozen in place, their faces deathly pale.
Her face was expressionless, her gaze calm. She took a drag from her cigarette and slowly exhaled a smoke ring, her eyes sweeping over their faces, which were filled with both fear and longing.
Then she raised her chin slightly. Her voice was quiet, but it carried clearly to their ears.
“Want some?”
Gao Yizhou and He Qianxue exchanged a glance. In the end, hunger won out, and they nodded.
The woman casually tossed them several packages of jerky and watched as they snatched them up and wolfed down the contents.
“I’m not feeding you for free.”
The two of them froze, suddenly unsure whether to swallow the food in their mouths or spit it out.
The woman chuckled. “All I want is for you to find the others who are still alive.”
And so, at the woman’s command, Gao Yizhou and He Qianxue searched the villa for the remaining survivors and gathered everyone in the main hall.
In the process, they discovered that every madman in the villa had either been locked up by the woman or killed.
This woman… was terrifying.
What happened next went far beyond anything they could have imagined. The woman had gathered the survivors not so they could escape together, but because she wanted to build her own… paradise!
Anyone who refused to obey her was hacked to death by the inexplicable Machete Man and Machete Woman. Those who submitted had to risk their lives exploring the surrounding villas.
Pulled from his thoughts, Gao Yizhou let out a deep sigh. Perhaps this place… was no different from the outside after all.
Watching the crowd inside the villa grow increasingly excited, the woman clapped her hands and glanced casually at the Scarred Man. “Then we’ll go say hello again tomorrow.”
It wasn’t a question. It was an order.
Li Jianping’s mouth twitched uncontrollably, but he still lowered his head in submission. “Of course, Sister Li.”
His manner was meek and deferential, but other thoughts churned inside him. Smiling, he suggested, “Sister Li, how about I take more people with me in a few days? Once the chance comes, we’ll just…”
He drew a finger across his throat and flashed her a sycophantic grin.
The woman’s calm gaze settled on him, making Li Jianping’s skin crawl. After a long silence, she smiled. “Sure.”
Li Jianping’s heart leaped, excitement flooding his body. He was already lost in fantasies of seizing that villa, completely overlooking the knowing look on the woman’s face.
…
Meanwhile, at Qingshui’s villa.
Even though Qingshui had told everyone to ignore the other group’s actions, the relentless barrage of stones over the next few days steadily wore down the occupants’ nerves.
An Xiaolin, who was already living in constant fear of the madmen, could barely rest because of the provocation.
Later, the Scarface leading the group no longer even bothered to hide. He swaggered into view outside the villa with several others and stood at a distance, surveying the building with a greedy, vicious stare, as though appraising prey that would soon be his.
Once, he had even brazenly raised his middle finger toward the second-floor windows from afar.
The constant hostility also left Chen Yuhui’s nerves stretched taut. She voluntarily took on most of the daytime lookout duty, hiding in the villa’s highest attic and using her phone camera’s zoom function to carefully monitor every movement throughout the resort.
That afternoon, clouds covered the sun, leaving the sky dim and overcast. Chen Yuhui was holding up her phone as usual when she suddenly went still.
On the screen, a line of figures emerged from the mountain road leading from the guesthouse and headed their way.
There were clearly more of them than in the past few days, a dozen or so in total. Every one of them was armed with something: iron pipes, steel bars, machetes.
What made Chen Yuhui’s heart clench most was Scarface at the front of the group. He wasn’t carrying a weapon. Instead, he was hauling a large, dark plastic container!
A gas can?!
Chen Yuhui’s fingers jerked, nearly causing her to drop her phone. She immediately opened the group chat and typed out a message as fast as she could.
“They’re back! There are a lot of them this time, a dozen or so, and they’re all armed! Scarface… He’s carrying a huge container. It looks like gasoline!!!”
The instant the message went through, it was as though someone had hit the mute button inside the villa.
Lin Hao and Fang Shuyao, who had been carefully rationing ingredients in the kitchen to prepare a simple lunch, froze in place. Ji Feifan and An Xiaolin, who had been sitting blankly in a corner of the living room, snapped their heads up.
Zhou Shaocheng, who had been in a room with the children, hurried out as well.
Almost at the same time, everyone looked toward Qingshui, who stood by the window.
Qingshui did not turn around. Her gaze remained fixed on the unwelcome visitors steadily approaching in the distance. Her expression was as impassive as ever.
It wasn’t long before the group reached the wrought-iron fence surrounding the villa and came to a stop.
Li Jianping dropped the gas can to the ground with a heavy thud and stared provocatively at the villa, especially the faint silhouettes visible behind the second-floor windows.
He raised his harsh, grating voice and shouted, “Hey! You people up there! Listen the fuck up! Stop hiding! See what this is?” He kicked the gas can beside his foot. “If you know what’s good for you, get your asses down here and open the gate!”
When there was no response from inside, only deathly silence, the flesh on Li Jianping’s face twitched and his expression grew even more vicious. He lifted the gas can and poured its contents around the villa with a loud splash.
Then he pulled out a lighter and flicked it on. An orange flame sprang to life.
“If you don’t open the gate, I’ll set this whole place on fire!” He waved the lighter around, his voice filled with reckless madness. “We’ll all go down together! I’m fucking sick of living like this anyway! Hahaha!”
Inside the villa, the tension reached its breaking point.
An Xiaolin had already raised her crossbow, aiming the bolt at the swaggering Li Jianping through a gap in the curtains. Her finger rested on the trigger, the veins standing out across the back of her hand from how tightly she was gripping it.
“Qingshui,” she said tensely, murder in her voice. “Should I kill him? Before he starts the fire!”
Qingshui tilted her head slightly. Her gaze swept over the crossbow trembling faintly in An Xiaolin’s hands, and she replied in an even voice, “Can you bring yourself to kill him?”
An Xiaolin bit her lip and said nothing.
She couldn’t.
He was a human being, not a madman.
Besides, she couldn’t guarantee a clean shot. He was some distance away and still moving. If she missed, or only wounded him, that lunatic would ignite the gasoline without the slightest hesitation.
“All of you stay here. Remain alert and keep an eye on the other attackers,” Qingshui decided. “I’ll go down.”
“What?!” Li Wei’an cried. “No! It’s too dangerous!”
“They outnumber us, and they have gasoline…” Zhou Shaocheng added with a deep frown.
“Do as I say. If things get out of control outside, or if I give the signal, Ji Feifan and Li Wei’an will provide covering fire from a distance. The rest of you, guard the doors and windows and prepare in case they try to force their way in.” After issuing her instructions in quick succession, she turned toward the side door leading to the yard.
“Qingshui!” Li Wei’an tried to say more, but one calm look from Qingshui stopped her.
The iron gate slowly opened a crack. Qingshui walked out alone, her steps steady and her face completely expressionless as she approached the crowd gathered beyond the fence.