Chapter 68
Chapter 68
An Xiaolin watched the twisted, grinning faces slowly closing in through the darkness. Her blood ran cold, and the hand holding her knife trembled involuntarily.
This… am I done for? Run? No, even if she ran first, she’d be overtaken.
“Ji Feifan-!”
Just as despair was about to drown her–
“Got it! Go!!!”
Ji Feifan’s roar rang out behind her! The veins on his forehead bulged as he wrenched the heavy box from the crevice, then awkwardly but swiftly climbed over the railing with it in his arms.
Run!
That was the only thought in her mind.
She didn’t even have time to glance at the box in Ji Feifan’s hands. She turned and sprinted alongside him as he carried the box!
“Hahahahahahahaha!!!”
“Don’t run, you bastards! Let me give you some loving care, hahahahaha!!”
The Madmen behind them began to howl with laughter. Tireless, they moved with terrifying speed, like a pack of hyenas scenting blood. They doggedly pursued the two, and the distance, far from widening, was actually shrinking!
The heavy footsteps, the ragged breaths, and the obscene taunts clung to their ears like a bone-deep parasite.
An Xiaolin’s throat burned painfully, her legs felt like lead, and all she could hear was her own thundering heartbeat and the manic laughter behind her.
At this rate, getting caught was only a matter of time!
“Open the box-! Open the box!!!” she screamed at Ji Feifan beside her as she ran, her voice distorted by fear.
Ji Feifan was equally gasping for breath. While maintaining his sprint, he frantically fumbled with trembling fingers on the box.
Found it! The latch! He tried pressing his fingerprint to it.
Ji Feifan forced himself to calm down. Don’t panic, don’t panic. We discussed this earlier. Besides the fingerprint, there’s the eye. The eye. Don’t panic, you can’t panic!!
He practically shoved his eye against the scanner!
“Beep-”
A soft sound, and the lid popped open a crack!
In the dim moonlight, Ji Feifan’s gaze instantly locked onto the dark green ovals inside.
Grenades!
Without the slightest hesitation, survival instinct took over. He used his teeth to yank the safety ring of a grenade and pulled hard!
“Urgh-!” he grunted.
He didn’t even have time to look back; he just relied on instinct. With all his strength, he hurled the grenade behind him!
“Get down!!!” Ji Feifan only managed a muffled warning before he and An Xiaolin threw themselves forward onto the ground.
“BOOM!!!”
The deafening explosion tore through the night sky in an instant! A scorching, violent blast surged from behind, slamming into their backs.
“Ugh!”
An Xiaolin and Ji Feifan felt a sharp pain in their backs as they were uncontrollably blown away, tumbling heavily into the bushes several meters away and rolling over several times before stopping.
The world went silent, leaving only a sharp, persistent ringing in their ears. Dirt and grass showered them, the heat from the explosion searing the skin on their backs. The thick smell of gunpowder mixed with the stench of burnt flesh assaulted their nostrils.
It took a few seconds, or maybe longer, for the two to barely regain consciousness from the violent impact. Every bone in their bodies felt shattered, their internal organs protested, their ears buzzed, and their vision was blurred.
“Holy… shit…” Ji Feifan spat out a mouthful of dirt-laced saliva, feeling half his body go numb.
An Xiaolin struggled to get up, but a wave of dizziness hit her, and she fell back down. She shook her groggy head and tried to look behind her. The area near the explosion was a mess-scorch marks, dismembered limbs.
They had shaken off the pursuers, but they hadn’t come out unscathed.
Just then, a familiar “buzzing” sound approached from afar. It was the drone controlled by Lin Hao! It quickly circled low around them, as if urging them on frantically.
An Xiaolin’s heart lurched.
“Oh no! Something might have happened to Qingshui!” She instantly understood what the drone was trying to tell them. Ignoring the pain racking her body, she gritted her teeth and forced herself to her feet.
Ji Feifan had also noticed the drone’s strange behavior, and his expression changed. They exchanged a glance, each seeing the anxiety in the other’s eyes. Fighting through the pain, they hastily stuffed everything scattered across the ground back into the case and backpack.
“Let’s go!” Ji Feifan picked up the case. Without even stopping to check their injuries, they limped after the drone, racing toward the grove as fast as they could.
…
Meanwhile, deep within the grove, Qingshui was fleeing through the treetops.
The instant the Madmen closed in from both directions, she reacted without hesitation. She abandoned the ground route and used the trees as a natural barrier.
As agile as an ape, she shot up the nearest large tree, seized a branch, and swung with all her strength. Her body sailed toward another tree six feet away!
Knees bent and stomach drawn in, she arced through the air.
Her hands caught the target branch with perfect accuracy. The powerful momentum sent her swinging forward like a pendulum. Engaging her core, she hooked both feet firmly around the trunk, flipped herself over, and landed on the branch.
But the Madmen’s ability to learn was equally astonishing. One of the quicker Madmen copied her and scrambled up the tree, cackling as it lunged toward her branch!
Qingshui’s pupils contracted. The moment it pounced, she twisted aside and drove a vicious kick into its waist!
Crack!
The branch snapped as gleeful laughter rang out. The attacker lost its balance and plunged to the ground.
But the danger was far from over.
More Madmen gathered beneath the tree. Some tried to climb, while others hurled rocks, clubs, and even entrails at her.
Qingshui had only just swung to a foothold on the next tree and had not even found her balance when a bloodstained machete came slicing toward her with a cold gleam!
She had no choice but to give up her footing and risk another drop. She hit the ground, rolled to absorb the impact, then sprinted without pause toward the next tree she could use as a springboard.
She knew she could not pin all her hopes on reinforcements from An Xiaolin and Ji Feifan. She had to create an opening herself.
In a flash, a plan took shape in her mind.
Head deeper in!
There was another supply crate inside! She had to get there!
Now that she had a target, Qingshui no longer hesitated. Instead of simply evading her pursuers, she began driving purposefully toward the deepest part of the park.
Sure enough, the trees thinned as she ventured farther in, revealing a clearing filled with old exercise equipment.
The nauseating stench of blood hung so thick in the air it was almost tangible. Far more Madmen had gathered here than by the lake. They were engrossed in unspeakably brutal “games,” their shrill laughter deafening.
Qingshui streaked out from the edge of the grove like a phantom. Several Madmen along the perimeter spotted her immediately and rushed at her with piercing cackles.
But she was too fast, and she knew exactly where she was going. She slipped past the first lunge, grabbed a rusted tai chi hand-wheel machine with one hand, and used her momentum to spin into the air. Her feet lashed out in rapid succession, sending two Madmen charging from the side flying backward.
Before she even touched the ground, her hand caught a horizontal bar. Engaging her core, she swung forward like a gymnast and sailed directly over the heads of a small cluster of Madmen!
She twisted and dodged, weaving between the frenzied monsters and the cold metal equipment.
In just a few minutes, she had forcibly broken through the chaotic crowd on the perimeter and reached the center of the area.
There, a sheet of red parachute fabric stood out sharply, half buried beneath blood and filth.
There it was!
Qingshui’s pulse quickened. She lunged forward, dodged one of the Madmen swinging a human spine, and tore aside the heavy parachute fabric.
There was nothing underneath.
Nothing but dried, blackened bloodstains.