Chapter 42

Chapter 42

By the time Qingshui and the other two reached the villa, An Xiaolin and the others were waiting anxiously on the balcony.

Everyone brightened when they saw Qingshui’s group return, but their smiles quickly froze. “Where’s Li Wei’an?”

Qingshui ignored the question and shouted toward the upper floor, “Get in the car!” Then she raced toward the underground garage with Chen Yuhui and Ji Feifan.

An Xiaolin and Lin Hao led the way, each carrying a large pack. Fang Shuyao followed in the middle, holding the child’s hand, while Zhou Shaocheng brought up the rear.

The SUV was already running. Qingshui yanked open a door. “Get in!”

An Xiaolin scrambled into the driver’s seat. Before Lin Hao could climb aboard, the shriek of a horn tore through the underground garage.

“BEEEEEP!”

Blinding high beams shone from the garage entrance, forcing everyone to squeeze their eyes shut.

Tires screeched as a sedan fishtailed in at an almost uncontrollable speed and came to a stop squarely across the garage’s only exit. Its doors flew open, and three figures slowly emerged.

Sister Li stood beside the car, an icy smile on her pale face. On either side of her, Machete Man and Machete Woman silently brandished their blades.

“What a coincidence.” Sister Li’s voice echoed through the enclosed garage. “Heading out? Weren’t you going to say goodbye to your neighbors?”

“Fall back!” Qingshui barked. Everyone instantly ducked behind the SUV. Ji Feifan and Zhou Shaocheng had already drawn their weapons, while Chen Yuhui braced her crossbow against a car window.

But Machete Woman moved.

She closed the distance in a flash. Before anyone could react, her hand was already clamped around Zhou Yaping’s throat.

“Pingping!” Fang Shuyao’s scream ripped through the air. She flicked her left hand, revealing the gleam of the dagger concealed in her sleeve, and drove it viciously toward Machete Woman’s lower back.

Machete Woman did not even bother dodging. Her right foot lashed out, swift and brutal, striking Fang Shuyao squarely in the stomach. There was a dull thud, and Fang Shuyao flew backward like a sack, dagger and all. She slammed heavily onto the cold concrete floor.

“Mommy!” Pingping wailed.

“Shuyao!” Zhou Shaocheng’s eyes went bloodshot. He rushed over to pull Fang Shuyao into his arms, only for Machete Man to force him back with a slash of his blade.

Qingshui moved.

She was even faster. None of them caught more than a blur before she appeared in front of Machete Woman, driving her military spike straight toward a vital point!

Fast. Precise. Ruthless.

Clang!

Machete Man’s blade intercepted the spike with flawless precision, blocking it just inches from Machete Woman. Sparks exploded from the impact!

At the same moment, Sister Li attacked. Somehow, she had already slipped alongside Qingshui, and she drove a fist toward Qingshui’s abdomen!

One attack high, the other low. One from afar, the other up close. Their coordination was flawless!

Qingshui’s pupils contracted. She had no choice but to withdraw her spike, twisting aside by the narrowest of margins!

“Nobody move!”

Machete Woman raised her hand again, lifting Zhou Yaping by the throat. The child had gone almost completely silent.

On the other side of the garage, Chen Yuhui kept her finger pressed against the crossbow’s trigger, cold sweat soaking her palm. But she did not dare fire. Machete Woman was holding Pingping in front of herself, completely blocking any possible shot. Even if Chen Yuhui could hit Machete Man or Sister Li, Machete Woman could still snap the child’s neck with ease before she died.

They were completely at the enemy’s mercy.

Sister Li slowly approached Qingshui and drew a deep breath, inhaling her scent like a predator that had finally locked on to its prey.

“It’s you…” Her voice trembled, not from fear, but from overwhelming excitement. “It is you, isn’t it?”

She reached out to touch Qingshui’s face, but Qingshui turned her head away. When Sister Li’s fingers met empty air, her smile only grew more deranged, a bloodred gleam churning in her eyes. “Come with me. I’ll give you food, weapons, anything you want. Together, we’ll turn this rotten place upside down.”

“Get lost.”

Qingshui’s gaze was as cold as ice, utterly unruffled. “Get treatment if you’re mentally ill.”

Sister Li tilted her head, as though she could not understand why Qingshui would refuse her. Yet Qingshui’s resistance sent a thrill of pleasure through her body.

A moment later, realization dawned on her. “No story ends right after it begins. It hasn’t had time to develop yet… It hasn’t had time to develop!”

She stepped back, her voice abruptly becoming terrifyingly calm, as though she had not been the deranged woman ranting just moments ago.

“Hand over the car. Toss me the keys and move against the wall. Otherwise…”

She did not finish, but Machete Woman’s tightening fingers said everything. Pingping’s face darkened from purple to blue, and her small body began to convulse.

She’s insane! The same thought flashed through everyone’s mind as they stared at the woman behaving as though she were performing in a play.

“Give it to them,” Qingshui said coldly. The woman before her struck her as profoundly dangerous. She did not dare gamble with Zhou Yaping’s life. This lunatic really would kill her!

“The car… is yours.” An Xiaolin’s voice broke with tears. She reluctantly climbed out of the driver’s seat, threw the key onto the floor, and retreated to the wall.

“Smart.” Sister Li sneered. At her signal, Machete Man quickly inspected the vehicle, confirming that the key worked and the SUV was fully stocked.

Sister Li glanced at the grim-faced Ji Feifan, then climbed into the driver’s seat with a quiet chuckle. Machete Man followed her inside.

Machete Woman got into the car and tossed the barely breathing Pingping toward Zhou Shaocheng like a piece of trash. Zhou Shaocheng hurriedly caught the child and huddled with Fang Shuyao, who was struggling to her feet.

The window rolled down. Sister Li looked at the group forced into the corner, a crazed smile spreading across her pale face.

“My darling. I almost forgot. I brought you a special gift. I hope you… like it.”

Before she had even finished speaking, a rear window slid open, revealing Machete Man’s impassive face. In a rare display, his lips curled into a faint smile. He raised a bottle filled with scarlet liquid and flung its contents toward Zhou Shaocheng!
Ji Feifan’s heart sank. “Get out of the way!” he shouted.

The car suddenly shot forward and vanished from the underground garage in an instant!

Zhou Shaocheng had no idea what it was, but he instinctively moved in front of his wife and daughter.

Liquid splattered across the floor and struck Zhou Shaocheng square in the face, blinding him.

“Argh!” Zhou Shaocheng clawed frantically at his face, trying to wipe the liquid away. But it was already too late.

His movements became twisted and unnatural. Blood flooded his eyes, turning them red, and a strange laugh bubbled from his throat. He turned toward everyone in the garage, the corners of his mouth stretching uncontrollably toward his ears in a hideous grin of ecstasy.

“Run… hee… Shuyao…” He tilted his head and called his wife’s name in a voice dripping with malice. “This feels so good. I’m going to make you and Pingping feel just as good!” Opening his mouth wide, he sank his teeth into Fang Shuyao’s uninjured shoulder!

“Shaocheng?! No!”

In the blink of an eye, Fang Shuyao was infected and became one of the madmen too!

“Cousin!”

“Don’t go over there!” Ji Feifan grabbed Lin Hao, but Lin Hao erupted with astonishing strength and tore himself free.

He lunged forward and grabbed Zhou Yaping by the shoulders. “Pingping!”

“Hee-hee… This is fun…” Zhou Shaocheng, or rather, the thing that had once been Zhou Shaocheng, raised his head and looked at Lin Hao. His eyes held nothing but cruel excitement. “Haohao, come play with your cousin! Let me… tear your body open. Heh-heh-heh…”

Just as the two madmen were about to pounce on Lin Hao, Qingshui and Chen Yuhui moved.

Thud! Thud!

Two clean, muffled impacts rang out. Zhou Shaocheng and Fang Shuyao abruptly went rigid, then collapsed limply to the ground.

Time seemed to freeze. The only sounds were Pingping’s heart-wrenching screams and Lin Hao’s stifled sobs.

“Go,” Qingshui rasped. “Hurry!”

They had no car now. Their only remaining escape route was through the woods they had marked earlier.

Qingshui led the way, followed closely by An Xiaolin, then Lin Hao carrying the child, Chen Yuhui, and Ji Feifan bringing up the rear. The group rushed out of the basement, only for the sight beyond the back entrance to turn their blood to ice.

At some point, more than a dozen figures had gathered in the clearing in front of the villa. Every survivor from the guesthouse had become a madman.

Covered in blood and filth, they were gleefully playing games.

Several of them were dragging a mangled corpse in circles, while others competed to tear apart a smaller, weaker madman. Their laughter rose and fell as though they were holding some grotesque, horrifying carnival of flesh and blood.

“Straight into the woods!” Qingshui made the decision without hesitation and sprinted toward the trees. “Follow the markers!”

The madmen spotted them.

“Bitches… don’t run… I’ll use my body to love you real good…”

“Get them, hee-hee-hee! Fresh toys! Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Their giggles instantly swelled into excited howls. The madmen charged after them on all fours, moving with terrifying speed!

Crack!

Thump!

Several madmen plunged into the traps that had not yet been destroyed and slammed onto the spikes at the bottom, howling in pleasure.

“Aah! That feels so good!”

“Hee-hee-hee!”

“Run!” Qingshui was the last to leap through the window. She hit the ground, rolled, sprang back to her feet, and ran.

Another group of madmen cleared the traps and raced straight after Qingshui and the others!

Up ahead, An Xiaolin, Lin Hao with Zhou Yaping in his arms, Chen Yuhui, and Ji Feifan had already reached the edge of the woods. Behind them, the madmen surged closer like a flood. The nearest were less than twenty meters away!

“Follow the arrows!” Qingshui screamed hoarsely as she ran.

The woods swallowed them in an instant. The light dimmed abruptly, and a maze of tangled roots and soft fallen leaves covered the ground. In his panic, Lin Hao caught his foot on a protruding root and crashed down hard!

“Ah!” he cried out. Pingping flew from his arms, and the little girl tumbled down the steep dirt slope beside them like a kite with its string cut, screaming as she fell!

“Pingping!” Without a second thought, Lin Hao threw himself after her.

“Hey!” An Xiaolin instinctively reached for him, only to slip on another patch of wet moss. She slammed heavily to the ground, and a piercing pain shot through her ankle.

That brief delay was all it took. Ji Feifan and Chen Yuhui, who had been running at the front, had already vanished behind the dense trees, while the nearest madman was now less than ten meters away!

Qingshui caught all of this from the corner of her eye and skidded to a stop. She glanced at Lin Hao and the child, who had disappeared down the slope, then turned, hauled An Xiaolin off the ground, and charged downhill.

“Lin Hao! Find the child!” she roared.

They could not stop. Stopping meant death!

Dragging the injured An Xiaolin with her, Qingshui summoned speed she had never known she possessed and half ran, half tumbled down the slope!

Seven or eight madmen continued after Chen Yuhui and Ji Feifan, but another four or five leaped laughing down the slope.

Qingshui quickly caught up to Lin Hao, who was clutching the trembling Zhou Yaping in his arms.

Lin Hao’s eyes were bloodshot. “Qingshui!”

Without slowing for even a second, Qingshui grabbed him with her free hand. “Run!”

Branches lashed their faces. Thorns tore through their clothes and skin. Their lungs burned, and every breath tasted of blood.

The three of them did not dare stop. The laughter and pounding footsteps behind them drew ever closer, like Death’s scythe at their backs!

Run! All they could do was run!

Run!