Chapter 57

Chapter 57

"This time we really scored big. I ain't never even held a gun before. And these meds, so many of them."

"Tch, look at your pathetic self. Guns and meds are nothing compared to these two bags of crystal cores. Are they stupid or what? Leaving two big bags of crystal cores unabsorbed, such a goddamn waste."

"If they weren't dumbasses, you think we'd get this lucky? They say women are vicious, but I think a pretty man can be even deadlier when he's ruthless. What's his game anyway? Giving us the info for nothing, not even wanting the stuff from both vehicles, and not caring about his teammate's life either."

"You're the dumb one here. That guy obviously wanted us to do his dirty work and kill this pretty boy..."

Bai Tu came to, his head splitting with pain, his whole body feeling as if it had been crushed by something heavy, his eyelids weighing a thousand pounds. He heard voices, coming in and out. He could only open his eyes a slit. Bai Tu first saw several pairs of feet with mud-caked soles before he remembered blacking out.

Not long after he ended the call with Huo Changfeng, a fireball materialized out of thin air and shot straight for his face. He only dodged it because Guan Jianrui pushed him aside, but the walkie-talkie fell to the ground. Immediately after, five vicious-looking men appeared from nowhere and went on the attack without a word.

All five were superhumans, their assault relentless and swift. Guan Jianrui's earth-based superpower was good for both offense and defense, but he was no match for them offensively, and he struggled to cope. Bai Tu helped him with the gun, took the chance to pick up the walkie-talkie to call for help, only to find it was already broken.

Guan Jianrui soon became overwhelmed and told him to run into the base and find Huo Changfeng and the others. Bai Tu knew staying would only be a burden and was about to run when he suddenly remembered a similar fierce battle in his previous life. It was the same five men, him and Guan Jianrui. Guan Jianrui blocked the attacks for him while he went for help. By the time he found Huo Changfeng and they hurried back, only Guan Jianrui's corpse remained at the scene.

After that, his relationship with the others in Huo Changfeng's team rapidly deteriorated. Apart from Huo Changfeng, everyone else more or less blamed Guan Jianrui's death on him. If not for having to protect him, Guan Jianrui could have escaped even if he couldn't win.

Song Lan often brought up the incident, only dropping the snide remarks after Huo Changfeng told him to shut up. However, Huo Changfeng's protection didn't ease his relationship with the others; instead, it had the opposite effect.

Remembering this, Bai Tu's feet felt nailed to the spot.

But the timing was wrong. In his previous life, Guan Jianrui didn't die at this time. Except for the timing, everything else matched.

Why was it so much earlier? Bai Tu didn't dare take that chance. He turned back. Grabbing two handfuls of crystal cores, he stuffed them into Guan Jianrui's hands. "Absorb them, now!" He also gave him a piece of tree root to hold in his mouth. "Chew and swallow it if you're at your limit."

The mutation direction of post-apocalyptic plants wasn't singular. Some became highly aggressive, while others evolved extraordinary medicinal value, capable of saving lives at critical moments. This type of tree root was one of them. He swallowed a piece himself, then picked up the gun and opened fire on the opponents.

The attack power of bullets was negligible compared to supernatural superpowers, but sometimes buying a few minutes was enough to save a life.

"Then why did we bring him back? Don't tell me you've also taken a fancy to playing with men—"

"Don't disgust me! You know nothing. This pretty boy has delicate skin and tender flesh, definitely can fetch a good price. Might even be good at 'servicing'. Otherwise, why would that guy Huo treasure him so much, even holding back in a fight?"

The van erupted in a burst of malicious laughter. Bai Tu tried to move his fingers, and a piercing pain immediately shot through his right palm. His hands were tied behind his back, his legs bent backward, his wrists and ankles bound together. His whole body was arched backward, unable to move. So he began observing his surroundings.

This was a medium-sized van. The last row of seats had been removed, replaced by boxes and bags of stuff. Bai Tu recognized most of it as looted from their vehicle. He was lying on his side amidst this pile, only able to see two pairs of feet from the gap under the front seats. But judging by the voices, there were at least four people in the van besides him.

The remaining two were driving and in the passenger seat. Five people in total. Given their style, they definitely wouldn't leave any supplies for Huo Changfeng and the others. Their supplies far exceeded what was in this van, so the fifth person must be driving another vehicle, loaded with most of the supplies.

"To be honest, that guy Huo's taste isn't that great. That pretty man looks much more exciting. If I were Huo, I'd get my hands on both and have fun with them alternately..."

Pretty man, did they mean Song Lan? Combined with their earlier words, this murder and robbery was orchestrated by Song Lan, with the aim of eliminating him. If not for these people's insatiable greed, he would already be dead.

Bai Tu strained to straighten his fingers, carefully pulled open the hidden pocket at his waist, and reached in to feel around.

Good, it was still there.

He pinched a razor blade, hooked his fingers back to locate the rope's position, and began sawing back and forth in small motions. Doing this in a backward-arched position was extremely taxing on stamina. Bai Tu tried hard to control his breathing, focusing all his attention on his fingers, gritting his teeth to not make a sound. He didn't know how many times he repeated the sawing motion before finally feeling his hands and feet loosen.

He maintained the tied-up posture, not daring to move, but his limbs remained numb and cold even after the ropes were undone. It took a long time for blood to slowly start flowing back.

Bai Tu waited for his limbs to regain sensation when he suddenly heard someone say, "Why isn't this kid awake yet? Don't tell me he's dead."

Bai Tu's breath hitched. He quickly closed his eyes. The next second, he felt a shadow fall over him. He tried hard to hide his hands and feet, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

The following seconds stretched as long as a century.

"Fuck! This pretty boy's faking it! The ropes are undone!"

Bai Tu's heart skipped a beat. Without hesitation, he mustered all his strength and violently rolled towards the cargo area, crashing into the piled-up supplies. At the same time, he pulled out the air gun from his inner jacket pocket. Supplies rained down on him, obstructing his view. Curses erupted from the front seats. Bai Tu fired several shots towards the voices, then unceasingly shot at the cargo door. The moment wind and light poured in, he hugged his head, curled up his body, and threw himself against it with all his might.

The feeling of crashing through the cargo door hadn't even registered before a sense of weightlessness followed. His body slammed heavily onto the rough ground and rolled backward with the momentum. Something else crashed onto his body with a force that felt like it would break his bones. After the world spun, Bai Tu gasped heavily for breath, looked up to scan his surroundings, and vaguely recognized it as a mountain road, with a mountain on one side and an extremely steep, almost vertical slope on the other.

Looking at the surrounding mountain forest, Bai Tu felt a familiar, deathly fear rise in his heart. But both vehicles had stopped. The sharp screech of emergency brakes sounded like an omen of death. Bai Tu had no time to think. He scrambled up on all fours and ran towards the mountains.

Once in the mountains, he had a chance to escape.

Just as he was about to step into the forest, a tremendous pulling force suddenly seized his ankle. Bai Tu cried out in pain, falling face down onto the ground. He was swiftly dragged backward by the immense force on his foot. His body scraped against the road surface, causing a burning pain.

He tried to grab onto something on the ground to resist the force, but it was useless.

Despair surged in Bai Tu's heart, but images of Huo Changfeng's face and the scene on the Wangxiang Terrace, where bones were crushed into the yellow earth and trampled upon, flashed through his mind one after another.

No, he absolutely could not die here...

He clenched the gun in his hand tightly. From somewhere, a burst of strength erupted. In the midst of being dragged at high speed, he flipped over, raised his hand, and fired diagonally upward.

A head exploded before his eyes.

"Third Brother!!!"

A man's furious roar echoed through the entire mountain road.

Bai Tu's foot went slack. Only then did he see he had shot the man who could control vines. With the man dead, the vine dragging him disappeared.

The corpse missing half its head fell, caught by the man beside it. Bai Tu tried to raise the gun to shoot again, but his right wrist suddenly felt cold, accompanied by a sharp pain. His entire arm was pressed to the ground by a tremendous force, and the gun flew from his hand.

Bai Tu screamed, turning his head to see his wrist pinned to the ground by an ice blade.

Three men approached him menacingly, like demons.

Bai Tu gritted his teeth, pulled his wrist free, and immediately reached for the gun. The next second, darkness suddenly fell before his eyes. His hand was stomped on and viciously ground under a foot, giving him the illusion that all five finger bones were being crushed. He trembled all over with pain. Then he felt his scalp tighten as someone grabbed his hair, yanked his head up, and slapped him hard several times.

"You fucking bitch! You're looking for death!"

He was lifted by the neck. Air rapidly left his chest. His vision darkened. Tears of physiological response streamed out uncontrollably. His feet kicked wildly in the air.

It hurts... Huo Changfeng, it hurts...

Where are you...

No... he couldn't die... He had to find Huo Changfeng... He absolutely could not die...

"He killed Third Brother! Don't let him die so easily!"

They wanted to torture him. This was his chance...

Bai Tu's left hand, hanging by his side, brushed against his pant leg. Pretending to struggle, he grabbed the hand on his neck and pressed the poplar thorn between his fingers into it.

The man cried out in pain, let go, pulled the thorn from the fleshy part between his thumb and index finger, and kicked Bai Tu angrily. "You fucking bitch! Still playing tricks!"

"You'd better look at your hand," Bai Tu coughed a few times. "Only I have the antidote."

The man's kicking foot froze mid-air. He looked down at his right hand and saw it turning black and swelling from the fleshy part between thumb and index finger, sensation gradually fading. A flicker of fear passed through the man's eyes. "Fuck your mother! Where's the antidote?!"

Another man spat a curse, viciously kicked Bai Tu in the stomach, sending him flying. Then he strode over, grabbed Bai Tu's hair, forcing his face up. A fireball rose in his palm. "Speak! Or I'll burn that face of yours!"

“If I give you the antidote, will you let me live?”

The man stared at him, then suddenly licked his lips and spread into a cold, sinister grin. “Of course. As long as you cure him, we’ll let you live.”

Bai Tu smiled, baring teeth stained with blood. His right hand, hidden behind his back, suddenly exerted force. Seizing the moment the man was off guard, he drove a sliver of poplar wood into his ear canal.

“Ah—!!!”

“Old Five!!”

Bai Tu retreated several steps and tumbled down the slope.

“Second Brother! Old Five! You bastard! I’m going to kill him!”

“Calm down! I think this kid is strange!”

“Then what do you suggest we do?! Just let them die for nothing?! You don’t want revenge, but I do! If I don’t kill this son of a bitch today, my name isn’t Liu!”

The argument raged on above him. Bai Tu gripped the vegetation on the slope, his chest heaving violently. He clenched his teeth, refusing to let out any panting sound, feeling as if his chest was about to explode from the pressure. The slope was overgrown with wild vegetation. He glanced down, slowly moved his feet onto a section of tree trunk growing against the cliff wall, then released his right hand to fumble over himself.

The bloody hole in his wrist was still oozing blood, and his right hand trembled uncontrollably. Bai Tu dug out a fragment of tree root, stuffed it into his mouth, and swallowed it down with blood. He bit the tip of his tongue, fighting to stay conscious, and pulled a mini dart gun from his pocket. It wasn’t loaded with tranquilizer, but a mixture of zombie saliva and blood he had collected back in the town.

Clenching the gun between his teeth, he silently climbed up using the vegetation. The two men had stopped arguing and were now moving the three corpses together. Bai Tu buried his face in the grass, wiping the sweat and blood from his eyes. He aimed at the calves of the two men one after another and fired the darts.

These darts were extremely fine, causing almost no pain when they hit. A few minutes later, the two men collapsed to the ground, their joints beginning to tremble and twist. Bai Tu finally dared to take deep breaths. On hands and knees, he crawled back onto the mountain road, staggered to his feet, and went to retrieve the air gun. He aimed at the foreheads of the two men who were turning into zombies and fired a shot into each.

He didn’t turn until the last two had completely stopped moving, intending to search the scattered supplies on the ground for a first aid kit to bandage himself. But he had barely taken a step when his legs gave way and he collapsed.

All the various pains throughout his body surged up the moment the danger passed, threatening to overwhelm him. The sky was as blue as if washed clean, with cumulus clouds like snow, reflected in Bai Tu’s pitch-black pupils. In his dazed state, he seemed to hear the roar of a motorcycle, growing closer and closer.

Bai Tu turned his head with great effort. Someone was speeding toward him.

That person threw aside the motorcycle and ran toward him, kneeling down and gently helping him up.

“Huo Changfeng, I’m in so much pain.”

Huo Changfeng held him, flustered and at a loss. “It’s okay now, it’s okay, I’m here… Where does it hurt? I’ll take you back. Everything will be fine.”

Bai Tu smiled. “I know it will be fine. You’re here… so it will be fine.”

He smiled, two lines of tears sliding from the corners of his eyes. “Huo Changfeng, I missed you so much.”

“…Being able to see you again, I’m really happy.”

“I know, I know.” Huo Changfeng replied hastily, wanting to wipe Bai Tu’s tears but not daring to touch his face covered in wounds. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you outside. I came too late…”

“Then from now on, no matter what happens, you must never… leave me behind again.”

“Okay, I promise you, I promise you. Let’s not talk anymore now. I’ll take you back to find Ji Songyue, find a doctor. They can treat you. The pain will stop soon.”

Huo Changfeng picked Bai Tu up and ran at the fastest speed of his life toward the stolen Hummer. He reclined the passenger seat, carefully placed Bai Tu on it, started the vehicle, and sped back the way he came.

On the quiet mountain road, soon only a van, wooden crates scattered everywhere, and five corpses with gruesome wounds remained.