Chapter 76 Karma

Chapter 76: Karma

So, Chi Shuyuan closed his eyes, calmly embracing his fate…

Not a single zombie was visible outside the derelict gate. Bai Suizhi sent vines snaking through the crack in the door. Shi Yunzheng quietly asked him, “Are your vines alive?”

Shen Yu, curious, reached out to touch them, but Shi Yunzheng swiftly swatted his hand away. Bai Suizhi replied, “Yes, they can see what’s inside.”

Shi Yunzheng nodded, thinking, *As expected of an S-class ability.*

Suddenly, Bai Suizhi frowned. Shi Yunzheng asked, “What’s wrong?”

Before Bai Suizhi could answer, he rapidly retracted the vines. The leading section of the green vine had already turned to ash. With barely concealed excitement, he exclaimed, “This is the place!”

He stood up, ready to charge in, but Shi Yunzheng held him back. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? We don’t know how many people are inside. Rushing in recklessly is too dangerous.” At the same time, he grabbed Shen Yu by the back of his collar—who was already halfway out—with a practiced, almost heartbreaking familiarity.

Bai Suizhi couldn’t calm down. “He’s in there. Every minute I delay, he’s in greater danger.”

A sharp, tearing sound, like a clap of thunder, ripped through the air. Several razor-sharp stone spikes materialized out of nowhere, hurtling directly toward them. In that critical instant, a brilliant emerald light surged in Bai Suizhi’s eyes, and a vibrant green glow of life emanated from his palm. Countless vines shot forth like lightning, coiling around the stone spikes with uncanny agility, their barbs sinking deep into the sharp edges. With a powerful twist, they altered the spikes’ trajectory. Simultaneously, several steel-reinforced wooden spikes pierced into the crevices. With a series of dull thuds, the stone spikes disintegrated into fragments from within.

Their attackers were a young man as robust as a mountain, and beside him, a scrawny old man, thin as a monkey, whose appearance starkly contrasted with his hulking companion.

They stood guard at the entrance. “What are you doing here?” they demanded.

Bai Suizhi’s voice was icy. “We’re looking for someone.”

The old man’s voice was hoarse and grating. “We don’t release people here.”

“Why waste words with them?” Shen Yu, too impatient to wait, charged forward.

Several fiery spears, wreathed in scorching heat, shot through the air. The strongman reacted instantly, stomping the ground to summon a massive stone wall that rose before him in an instant. Simultaneously, the old man conjured a curtain of water, enveloping the stone wall.

The fiery spears struck the stone wall and water curtain, instantly hissing and billowing steam. The flames were blocked layer by layer, finally extinguishing against the stone. Their assault had been completely neutralized.

Bai Suizhi and Shi Yunzheng immediately joined the fray.

Countless vines erupted from the ground like arrows, precisely coiling around the base of the stone wall. Their sharp barbs bit deep into the rock, instantly tearing several cracks. At the same time, Shi Yunzheng conjured several golden blades that sliced through the air toward the water curtain. The blades, imbued with armor-piercing force, cleaved through the water, tearing open a gaping hole.

“Shen Yu!” they both shouted.

“It’s my turn to shine!” Shen Yu yelled excitedly.

A colossal pillar of fire surged through the opening, striking directly at the cracked section of the stone wall. With a thunderous roar, the stone wall crumbled, the water curtain dissolved, and flames instantly engulfed the two opponents.

“Why so much anger? Can’t we just sit down and have a nice chat?” A voice laced with amusement came from behind the two charred figures.

“Boss!” they cried in unison.

Qu Baining said, “You two, stand down for now. I’ll have a chat with these three young friends.”

Bai Suizhi didn’t beat around the bush. “Where is Kahn?”

Qu Baining asked, “Who?”

Hearing this, Bai Suizhi stopped wasting words and stepped forward, ready to charge inside.

Qu Baining warned, “Stop right there, and you still have a way out.”

Shi Yunzheng said gravely, “Qu Baining, do you realize the consequences of your actions?”

“What consequences?” Qu Baining asked, feigning ignorance.

Shi Yunzheng snapped sharply, “You—and those behind you—will face retribution, sooner or later!”

Qu Baining burst into laughter. “We haven’t done anything wrong. Why should we be punished?”

“Treating human lives as expendable, conducting unauthorized human experiments, maliciously cultivating mutant beasts—each of these crimes is enough to warrant your death a thousand times over.” Though concrete evidence was lacking, both sides understood the truth implicitly.

“They were necessary sacrifices,” Qu Baining declared self-righteously. “Currently, fewer than a hundred awakened individuals exist across all of Z Country. Yet, with just one small experiment of mine, three people awakened—including an S-class. Isn’t that better than you sitting idly by, waiting for death?” His gaze deliberately swept over Bai Suizhi.

“So, you admit now that you orchestrated those incidents?” Bai Suizhi’s voice was terrifyingly cold.

“Does it matter?” Qu Baining replied indifferently. “Those old, stubborn fools are too conservative—keeping you all like lambs in a safe utopia. That path leads only to ruin. Only by following someone like me can humanity reach the blissful shore.”

“What a grand scheme,” Shi Yunzheng scoffed.

“No, no, I have no grand ambitions. I’m just a businessman,” Qu Baining replied modestly.

Shen Yu had grown impatient. “Are we fighting or not?”

Shi Yunzheng and Bai Suizhi answered with action. Almost simultaneously, they appeared before Qu Baining—one gripping his throat, the other pressing a golden spear to his heart.

“Hand him over!” Bai Suizhi snarled through clenched teeth.

Qu Baining remained unruffled, but Bai Suizhi sensed something was amiss.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air from above: “Ah—!”

Everyone looked up to see three people bound and suspended mid-air from the roof of a derelict building across the street.

Qu Baining kindly explained the situation: “Mo Mo… Oliver… Kahn. Tsk—what a coincidence that all the evolvers awakened this time happen to be people you know, right?”

Bai Suizhi’s eyes widened in fury. “What do you want?” He stared fixedly at the tiny black dot in the distance—too far to see clearly, yet he somehow knew Kahn must be in terrible shape.

“Choose one—or choose two. The decision is yours.” He savored the expression on Bai Suizhi’s face. “Knowing they hold different weights in your heart, I’ve added some stakes for you. So—which will it be?”

It went without saying who the “one” referred to in “choose one.”

What a revolting choice…

Oliver seemed to recognize them and shouted, “Brother Bai—is that you? Hurry—save Kahn! He’s lost a lot of blood!”

Hearing this, Qu Baining tensed momentarily, then relaxed, assuming it must be leftover fake blood that hadn’t been wiped clean.

But Bai Suizhi didn’t know that. His eyes turned bloodshot; veins bulged along his neck. “What did you do to him?!” His grip on Qu Baining’s throat tightened abruptly—knuckles whitening, fingertips nearly piercing the skin. A guttural growl escaped his throat, his face twisted in pure, unadulterated rage.

Seeing that Bai Suizhi truly intended to kill him, Qu Baining—desperate to save his own life—stammered out the truth: “It wasn’t… me. He did it to himself… to escape.”

Oliver was still wailing: “I kept calling him—but he wouldn’t wake up!”

The noise roused the unconscious Kahn. Opening his eyes, he was startled to find himself hanging mid-air—though a soft cushion supported his feet and the safety ropes were secure. Aside from feeling slightly cold, he wasn’t particularly uncomfortable.

“What’s happening?” he asked Oliver beside him, bewildered.

“Hey—you’re awake?” Oliver said joyfully. “Brother Bai and the others are here to save us!”

Kahn was stunned—and instinctively looked down, spotting a familiar figure below.

His first reaction was undoubtedly joy—but then Qu Baining’s words echoed in his mind, plunging him into an indescribable sense of dejection and inferiority. He felt strangely afraid to face Bai Suizhi.

But now was not the time for wallowing in sentimentality. Kahn quickly assessed the situation: two hulking brutes stood above them—one with a thick bandage wrapped around his neck, clearly injured, and the other as alert as a mouse that had just had its oil stolen, fully healed and powered-up.

Suddenly, Mo Mo glanced at him. Kahn caught the signal without hesitation, yanked Oliver—who was still howling like a banshee at the scene below—and, using the wall behind him and the safety rope around his waist, arched his back and pivoted, ready to leap successfully onto the rooftop. At that moment, a gentle wave surged from Mo Mo’s palm, forcefully supporting their bodies and pushing them completely onto the rooftop.

Oliver was still out of the loop: “Mo Mo? Kahn?”

The young boy said with utter disdain, “I gave you so many cues, and you didn’t catch a single one! All you did was scream mindlessly downward…”

But at least it had distracted the two big guys.

Oliver looked totally lost: “Huh?”

The burly men were already charging toward them. Kahn cut in urgently, “Now’s not the time for this!”

The three immediately shifted into battle mode.

Down below, Shi Yunzheng and Bai Suizhi were still confronting Qu Baining, so Shen Yu, who was on lookout duty, was the first to notice the commotion above and shouted, “They’re moving!”

Everyone looked up at the rooftop in unison. In the blink of an eye, the trio who had just been dangling mid-air were now in a full-on brawl with the two big guys.

Without hesitation, they abandoned Qu Baining and rushed to provide backup.

Seeing things going south, Qu Baining tried to retreat.

Suddenly, a figure fell from the rooftop.

“Chi Shuyuan—”

His ever-disobedient little plaything had somehow sneaked up to the rooftop again, and this time had gotten himself caught up in it, falling from the building.

Qu Baining almost let out a derisive snort, his expression clearly conveying how irredeemably foolish he found the person. Yet, his feet seemed to move on their own, hurrying toward where the figure was falling.

He was merely a mortal, with no special abilities or armored gear. Using such a body to catch someone falling from the twenty-second floor would undoubtedly have a gruesome outcome…

Just as the two bodies were about to collide, soft vines caught them.

Bai Suizhi wasn’t turning the other cheek; he had recognized the frantic shout as Kahn’s.

It was someone Kahn wanted to save, so he saved him.

Rewind three minutes: Kahn and the others were locked in a fierce fight with the burly men. But perhaps due to the intensity of the struggle, a dull pain suddenly shot through Kahn’s abdomen. He instinctively paused, giving the opponent an opening.

The injured man raised his knee, aiming to kick Kahn in the stomach. Oliver and Mo Mo, held back by the fully energized man, were too late to intervene.

In that life-or-death moment, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the corner. He shoved Kahn aside but was himself kicked off the rooftop.

Perhaps this was karma, Chi Shuyuan thought. The evil deeds Qu Baining had committed were now being repaid through him.

But then again, he had enjoyed the benefits of Qu Baining’s favor for so many years—it was time to pay it back.

So, Chi Shuyuan closed his eyes and resignedly accepted his death.