Chapter 41

Chapter 41

The door opened, and Sister Li walked in with the two knife-wielders behind her.

She crouched in front of Li Wei’an, then looked up at Ji Feifan with disappointment in her voice. “What a shame. I really thought you two would manage to break out.”

Ji Feifan coughed a few times and sneered. “So we could both die together?”

“Just tell me. What exactly do you want me to do?”

Sister Li soon broke into a giggle. “That’s right, that’s right. My game isn’t over yet.”

“It’s simple. Go back.”

“Go back?” Ji Feifan froze for two seconds before his lips twisted into a mocking smile. “As a mole?”

Sister Li tilted her head, a hint of approval appearing on her pale face. “Talking to smart people certainly saves time.”

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

Sister Li smiled. She motioned for one of the knife-wielders to untie Ji Feifan, then pulled a plastic bottle of water and a flattened piece of bread from her pocket and tossed them into his lap.

“Eat. You’ll be heading back soon.”

Ji Feifan did not hesitate. He unscrewed the cap, took several large gulps of water, and devoured the bread.

Once he had finished, Sister Li handed him something else.

It was a small glass vial filled with dark red liquid. Even in the dim light, its color was glaringly vivid.

“What’s this?” Ji Feifan asked.

“A maniac’s blood,” Sister Li replied, as casually as if she were describing an ordinary vial of medicine. “If even a drop touches the mucous membranes in someone’s mouth or gets into their eyes, they’ll start mutating within two seconds.”

Watching Ji Feifan’s pupils contract sharply, she continued, “Take it back with you. Who you use it on and how you use it are up to you. All I want are results: chaos or fewer people.”

Ji Feifan accepted the vial. The glass felt cold, yet the liquid inside seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.

“What if I don’t do it?”

“If you don’t…” Sister Li propped her chin on her hand. “I suppose there isn’t much I can do to you.”

“Oh…” She suddenly covered her mouth and giggled. “No, no. That’s not true. There is something I can do. If you don’t do it, I’ll turn into a maniac and come find you.”

“I’ve already memorized your face. I’ll turn into a maniac and hunt you down. Hee hee hee. No matter where you run, you’ll never escape me.”

A maniac… This woman was completely insane. Ji Feifan could feel his heart racing.

Sister Li rose and headed for the door. “Let’s go. I’m looking forward to seeing what you do.”

Ji Feifan stared at the glass vial for a long time. Then he unscrewed its cap and dripped a few drops into the half-finished bottle of water. The dark red blood bloomed through the water before quickly dissolving into a faint pink that was almost impossible to see.

…………

After an agonizing half hour, Qingshui finally made her move. She slung a backpack over her shoulders and instructed the others, “Stay here and keep an eye on those maniacs. I’m going to find them.”

Chen Yuhui asked worriedly, “What if we can’t get in touch with you?”

“Then take the vehicle and leave without me.”

“No. I’m coming with you. I can’t let you go alone.”

Qingshui’s hands paused as she packed. Seeing the resolve on Chen Yuhui’s face, she agreed.

“Let’s go.”

The two of them took some supplies and headed toward the foot of the mountain. There was no time to waste, so they could not take a long detour through the woods. Instead, they walked directly along the asphalt road. Those people wanted supplies, so Qingshui and Yuhui would give them supplies.

As they rounded a bend, a figure suddenly burst out of the woods above them.

Startled, Chen Yuhui nearly fired the bolt loaded in her crossbow. Fortunately, Qingshui stopped her in time.

The man was covered in dirt and had blood on his face. Branches had torn his clothes in several places, and his face was scraped raw.

“Go back, now!”

“Where’s Wei’an? Why isn’t she…”

“She’s dead.” Ji Feifan was panting hard, his words coming in a breathless rush. “They spotted us. We split up and ran, but we didn’t get away.”

Qingshui stared into his eyes. “Then what happened?”

“A woman took us back to the guesthouse and locked us up.” Ji Feifan’s breathing was ragged, and sweat streamed down his face. “Their leader really is a woman! She’s been tracking our every move this entire time!”

He kept glancing over his shoulder as though something terrifying were pursuing him. “She said she was going to use us to trade for food. Li Wei’an and I tried to ambush them, but damn it, someone inside had been infected!”
“That woman shoved Li Wei’an toward those lunatics. I took advantage of the chaos and jumped down from the balcony!”

After Ji Feifan finished speaking, he lowered his eyes. He had lied about what happened to Li Wei’an, but the part about there being lunatics at the B&B was true.

Maybe not yet, but… logically, someone should have found that bottle of water by now.

The people there were starving and parched. Sooner or later, someone would pick it up and drink it.

He had never intended to do what Sister Li told him. He might have scoffed at Qingshui’s lectures about teamwork, found An Xiaolin’s snide remarks irritating, and even looked down on Lin Hao’s cowardice and Zhou Shaocheng’s indecisiveness.

But he wasn’t an idiot.

He knew which side gave him a better chance of survival.

As for Li Wei’an… no one had seen what happened. Whatever he said was the truth.

What he didn’t know was that the outbreak among the lunatics would happen much sooner than he expected.

It was over.

Chen Yuhui closed her eyes and murmured, “It’s over. Two groups of lunatics…”

“What do you mean? What two groups…?”

“Go back!”

Qingshui spun around and practically broke into a run. Conserving their strength was pointless now. They had to get back to the villa immediately!

Before the two groups of lunatics arrived.

…………

The moment after Ji Feifan left the B&B…

The two people who realized Zhang Qingsheng had deceived them stormed back to the rooftop, furious and ready to confront him. But as soon as they stepped outside, they spotted Zhang Qingsheng crouching in a corner of the corridor.

Gao Yizhou was about to march over and demand an explanation when He Qianxue suddenly grabbed him.

“Wait. Something feels wrong with him…”

“Hee-hee…”

Zhang Qingsheng slowly raised his head from where he crouched in the corner. The smile on his face instantly made their hearts sink.

He grinned, his eyes stretched so wide that they seemed ready to burst from their sockets.

“Bitch… bastards! I’ll tear your bodies apart, heh-heh-heh…”

Gao Yizhou grabbed his girlfriend and bolted. “Run! Hurry!”

The lunatic cocked his head, then sprang forward and tackled He Qianxue in an instant.

As Gao Yizhou screamed in despair, the lunatic plunged a knife straight through He Qianxue’s body. Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth, but she clung desperately to the lunatic on top of her with both hands.

She looked at her boyfriend. “Run… run!”

Gao Yizhou fled toward the lobby in tears, never expecting the lunatic behind him to follow. He Qianxue slowly rose to her feet and let out a soft laugh. “Yizhou… come play with me… Don’t you love me more than anything?”

The people idling in the lobby watched Gao Yizhou burst in with terror etched across his face. Before they could ask what was wrong, the two lunatics charging in behind him pounced on them.

The lobby erupted into chaos. Screams rang out one after another.

Someone was surrounded atop the coffee table as the lunatics tore at their limbs. Someone else was decapitated, blood flooding the floor. Another person was pinned down by a mob of lunatics who carved countless holes into their body while subjecting them to a brutally violent assault.

Gao Yizhou never slowed. The crowd behind him bought him time to escape, and even after he shoved open the front door and gulped down fresh air, he didn’t dare stop for a single second.

Sister Li and her two companions, who were still inside the room, naturally heard the commotion. Sister Li frowned. “Xiao Yi, go take a look.”

Machete Man immediately approached the door. Hearing the screams outside, he sensed something was wrong. He opened the door a crack, and the blood-soaked scene beyond instantly told him what had happened.

He slammed the door shut. “This is bad. The people outside have turned into lunatics!”

Back then, seven or eight members of their group had died before they managed to kill all the lunatics in the B&B. Now that only the three of them remained, there was no way they could fight their way out by force.

After a moment’s thought, Sister Li understood what had happened. She began to chuckle, the sound faint and broken.

“How clever… How fun… How interesting! Hahaha…”

Interesting.

Machete Woman and Machete Man exchanged a glance. “Sister Li, what do we do now?”

Sister Li said, “Climb down from the balcony. Ji Feifan can’t have gotten far. We’ll take the car and catch up with them!”

“Let’s deliver them a very special gift.”