Chapter 60 The Lone City (60)

Chapter 60: The Lonely City (Part Sixty)

"Brother Lili." Zhuang Jiaxi tried to stand up.

"Stay put." Xia Li was sitting on the balcony floor.

Zhuang Jiaxi swallowed hard, said miserably, "I'm thirsty, and I'm really hungry too."

Liu Wen was crunching on crackers nearby. He crushed half a cracker in his hand and sprinkled the crumbs on the floor, sneering at Zhuang Jiaxi. "Come on, come on. Eat the crumbs off the floor, and then I'll get you some water."

Zhuang Jiaxi hugged his knees and buried his head, weeping quietly. "Mom, Dad... Dad, Mom..."

"Shut up, idiot! Stop wasting food! Get over here and eat it! We'll be stuck here forever, and you dare waste food!" Liu Wen put down his cracker, grabbed Zhuang Jiaxi's arm, pulled him forward, and forced his head down toward the crumbs.

Zhou Hong's heart ached to see it, but she didn't want to step in. She turned away awkwardly. "The weather is weirdly hot. I'm a bit thirsty too."

Xia Li fixed Liu Wen with a stare, then slowly walked toward the living room.

"Stop! What do you think you're doing?" Chen Wu demanded.

"I need to use the bathroom," Xia Li said, shrinking back.

Chen Wu gave him a once-over, a nasty smirk playing on his lips. He pressed his pistol against Xia Li's abdomen. "Go on, to the bathroom."

Xia Li lowered his head in panic, trembling as he walked.

Behind him, Zhuang Jiaxi's head was ground into the floor as he cried out Xia Li's name.

The lights flickered and buzzed, making the room alternately bright and dim. Chen Wu shoved Xia Li into the bathroom, twisted his arms behind his back, and pushed him into a corner.

Xia Li's face was smashed against the tiles as he struggled feebly. "What are you doing?"

"Your brother was so damn cocky, wasn't he? Think having some supernatural ability makes him special? Damn bastard!" Chen Wu pulled down his pants with one hand, speaking impatiently. "Ever since Xue Xiaofeng came down, I haven't had a woman in a long time. You'll have to do."

It was awkward with one hand. After pulling down his own pants, Chen Wu reached around to undo Xia Li's jeans. The button was stubborn, and Xia Li kept struggling. Chen Wu simply wrapped both arms around him from behind, trying to undo the button with both hands.

The lights went out for a moment. Just as Chen Wu was getting excited, Xia Li turned around to face him.

Chen Wu felt a searing pain in his chest. A fruit knife was buried in it.

The overhead light flickered. Xia Li's face in the light looked like a demon's. He calmly pulled out the fruit knife and plunged it in again, over and over, until Chen Wu stopped breathing.

Blood splattered on Xia Li's face. He stepped over Chen Wu's corpse, pulled out the fruit knife, and walked toward the living room.

In the living room, Liu Wen was tormenting Zhuang Jiaxi, while Zhou Hong had her back to them, turning a blind eye to everything.

Xia Li quietly walked up behind Liu Wen, about to plunge the knife into the back of his neck. But Liu Wen suddenly turned around, absentmindedly swatting his hand and knocking the fruit knife away.

The living room fell silent for a second as Xia Li and Liu Wen stared at each other.

Xia Li's blood-smeared face was etched into Liu Wen's pupils.

Liu Wen screamed hoarsely, calling Chen Wu's name. At the same time, Xia Li scrambled up from the floor and grabbed the fruit knife again. Seeing this, Liu Wen lunged at Xia Li. They wrestled for control of the blood-stained knife.

Liu Wen was bigger and stronger, easily pinning Xia Li down.

"Zhuang Jiaxi! Zhuang Jiaxi!" Xia Li roared.

Trembling, Zhuang Jiaxi came over and pulled Liu Wen off from behind.

Xia Li got to his feet. He picked up the knife and ordered, "Xiaoxi! Hold him down!"

Obediently, Zhuang Jiaxi pinned Liu Wen down, but he was terrified, squeezing his eyes shut and just following orders.

Xia Li reached his knife-wielding hand between them, slowly slicing open Liu Wen's throat. Blood sprayed, covering Zhuang Jiaxi's face. Liu Wen's body convulsed, twitched a few times, and then he fell still.

Xia Li let out a long sigh. He stood up, knife in hand, wiped the blood from his cheeks, and looked over at Zhou Hong on the balcony.

Zhou Hong was wide-eyed with terror, her back pressed tightly against the wall. With nowhere to run, she kept glancing out the window.

"No problem, you can keep watching the show." Xia Li's sinister gaze remained fixed on Zhou Hong.

Zhou Hong shook her head frantically. "No, I..."

"Come here. Move the bodies to the doorway. Then you can go drink some water," Xia Li said.

Zhuang Jiaxi had already sat up, hugging his knees and crying in the corner.

Zhou Hong's face was deathly pale. She staggered, stumbling every few steps as she walked, staggering into the bathroom. She dragged Chen Wu's corpse into the living room, then to the front door.

Xia Li walked over to the wall, crouched down, and gently patted Zhuang Jiaxi's head. He said with a warm smile, "It's okay, Xiaoxi. Don't be scared. The bad guys have been eaten by the crazies."

Zhuang Jiaxi peered up at him through his tears. "The bad guys were eaten by the crazies?"

Xia Li nodded firmly, giving a gentle smile. "The bad guys were eaten by the crazies. The crazies jumped out the window. We're safe now."

Just as Zhou Hong was about to go drink water, Xia Li suddenly called out to her.

"Right? Sister Zhou Hong from apartment 1602, Building 9?"

A chill ran through Zhou Hong's body. She nodded stiffly. "The crazies... killed a few people."

Xia Li tapped his cheek with the blood-dripping knife tip, his smile sweet and innocent. "Let's get along nicely."

*

Although the front door was blocked, there were thousands of crazies inside the residential complex. The vehicles of Pei Zheng and the others were already surrounded. Even psychics wouldn't risk opening the doors in this situation.

Through the windows of both cars, Pei Zheng could turn his head and see the side of Wu Ke's face. Wu Ke expressionlessly tore open a roll, ate it in two bites, washed it down with cola, then crossed his arms and closed his eyes comfortably.

Pei Zheng gritted his teeth in frustration.

Behind them, Lin Yanqing climbed onto the roof of the truck. Through the shattered glass, he saw two blood-soaked men. Jiang Songnian's head was tilted to the side, his breathing faint. Master Zhang, however, was gradually regaining consciousness.

Lin Yanqing reached in to check Jiang Songnian's pulse, gently shaking his shoulder. "What do I do? There are still so many crazies inside. What should I do?"

Jiang Songnian didn't answer, his face contorted in pain.

Lin Yanqing used some cardboard and a jacket he'd found to cover the broken window, muttering to himself, "I'll come get you soon."

"Hurry up. The power's out. In this damn weather, a lot of people might die from the heat tomorrow. So, any grenades left?" Pei Zheng said over the walkie-talkie.

But there were too many crazies inside, spread out all over. Even with grenades, they couldn't kill that many. Besides, as long as there was Serum, these people could still be saved.

Lin Yanqing didn't know how to handle it. It wasn't that he hadn't killed crazies before, but those were always in life-or-death situations. Over the past half month, he'd always used ropes on these irrational people.

Pei Zheng gripped the walkie-talkie tightly, staring straight ahead, his voice low. "The living are more important. These people are already dead."

Lin Yanqing's voice was hoarse. "There are two."

"Too few. Use my crossbow bolts. Aim straight for their throats and hearts."

"What?" Lin Yanqing stared blankly.

Pei Zheng said, "You heard me."

Lin Yanqing lowered his head to look at the crossbow in his hand, his eyes welling up.

"Survival of the fittest, they've already been eliminated." After saying this, Pei Zheng turned off the walkie-talkie.

Standing on top of the truck, Lin Yanqing gazed at the crowd not far away. Before his eyes was a scene of rivers of blood; in his ears, an endless torrent of weeping. After a long while, Lin Yanqing jumped down from the truck, raised the crossbow in his hand, and walked toward the nearest frenzied person.

The frenzied person grinned as if smiling, their crimson pupils unfocused. When Lin Yanqing stabbed with the crossbow bolt, the frenzied person spread their arms, a look of relief appearing on their face.

Something bumped Lin Yanqing’s knee. He looked down to see a little boy with a backpack, not watching where he was going, repeatedly knocking against his calf.

Lin Yanqing lowered his trembling hand and crouched on the ground. The boy’s face was clean, his round, blood-red eyes vacant and dull. He bared his teeth, revealing two sharp fangs.

Lin Yanqing touched the boy’s face, wiping the bloodstain from his cheek. Tears streaming, he smiled and asked, "Why are you so silly? Everyone else followed the tear gas away. Why didn’t you know to leave? Don't you know to run faster?"

The child tilted his head, his teeth chattering.

Lin Yanqing wiped the corner of his eye, scooped up the little boy and, holding him with one arm, climbed onto the roof of Pei Zheng’s car.

"Damn, what are you doing?" Roger let out a strange cry.

Lin Yanqing placed the child on the car roof and patted his head. "Stay here quietly."

Then he climbed down, walked to the front of the car, and threw the crossbow bolt onto the hood with a resounding thud. "The plan is rejected. I won’t kill them!"

Wu Ke opened his eyes and turned to look at him.

"They’re not dead. They haven’t been eliminated yet. The government has never described them as zombies. They’re not corpses. I want to save everyone, including the frenzied."

Pei Zheng threw the walkie-talkie aside and closed his eyes.

Wu Ke asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Lin Yanqing said, "There’s a small gate to the south. I’ll lure them out. Once most of the frenzied in the square have left, I’ll close the gate."

"What do you plan to use to lure them out?" Wu Ke asked again.

After a moment of silence, Lin Yanqing calmly replied, "Jiang Songnian."