She struggled to her feet, clutching her broken wrist, and stumbled backward.
The tall man, who had been mostly silent, took a deep look at Hong Jie, who was still throwing a tantrum on the ground, then turned to Li Xinhu.
He no longer hesitated and silently walked behind Li Xinhu.
Su Wan watched the farce conclude with cold eyes.
Xiao Han had already opened the SUV door for her, but she didn't move.
Her feet seemed rooted, firmly nailed to the spot.
This woman, time and again, tried to kill them.
She couldn't be left alive.
She had to die.
This thought exploded in Su Wan's mind like a thunderclap.
Kill someone?
Her?
A cold chill crawled up her spine, making her shiver involuntarily.
But this was the apocalypse.
It was either you die or I die.
Su Wan's hand, hanging at her side, clenched suddenly, her fingernails digging deep into her palm, the sharp pain sobering her a little.
That's right, Hong Jie had to die.
Inside the car, Lu Shiyan still leaned lazily against the seat; he didn't even lift an eyelid.
The next second, a dark green vine shot out from the car window.
Fast!
So fast that people couldn't react in time!
The vine accurately wrapped around Hong Jie's neck and tightened suddenly.
“Ugh… ho…”
Hong Jie's eyes instantly bulged like a dead fish's, her eyeballs protruding and bloodshot from lack of oxygen and fear.
Her hands clawed wildly at her neck, her throat emitting hoarse, bellows-like sounds, and her face turned purplish-black at a visible speed.
“Hong Jie!” Li Xinhu awoke as if from a dream, instinctively wanting to rush forward.
A large hand gripped his arm tightly.
It was the tall man.
“Don't mind her! It was her! She pushed Xiaomei into the zombie horde!”
Li Xinhu froze completely, as if struck by a bolt of lightning.
He turned his head to look at the tall man in disbelief, then at Hong Jie, who was struggling in her death throes under the vine, the color draining from his face instantly.
Xiaomei…
The vine tightened more and more.
“Crack.”
A faint sound of bone cracking.
Hong Jie's struggles abruptly ceased.
Her body slumped softly, her head lolling weakly to one side.
Dead.
Li Xinhu seemed to have all his strength drained, and he lowered his head dejectedly.
Hong Jie was dead.
He slowly raised his head, looked at the silent SUV, his voice dry and hoarse.
“Can… can we… follow you?”
He pointed to himself, then to the tall man beside him.
“Please!”
Su Wan got into the car without answering. Xiao Han looked at Lu Shiyan, and A Mo remained expressionless.
“Get in,” Lu Shiyan's voice came out.
She hadn't expected him to agree; Su Wan had thought he would refuse.
“That wall is really tall, looks about the same as last time we came, just creepy,” Su Wan muttered softly, staring at the approaching base wall.
The smell of blood seemed to still linger at the tip of her nose, and she unconsciously snuggled closer to Lu Shiyan.
Her finger quietly reached out and touched his arm.
“It's okay, dry, hard, it's scabbed over, no more bleeding,” she judged in her heart.
Su Wan breathed a sigh of relief.
“We're here,” Xiao Han's voice came from the driver's seat.
The SUV's speed clearly slowed down, finally stopping at the end of a seemingly endless line of vehicles.
The queue moved slowly.
The inspection at the entrance looked much stricter than when Su Wan and her group had come last time.
The heavily armed guards had stern expressions, directing the crowd and vehicles with crisp movements.
The air was filled with a sense of anxiety and suppression.
Li Xinhu and the tall man also poked their heads out from the back seat, nervously surveying the Central Base ahead, which stood like a lighthouse in the apocalypse.
The high walls were majestic, but also exuded a coldness that kept people at a distance.
“Goodness, this setup is much stricter than last time!”
“Isn't it? Old brother, let me tell you, a few days ago, I personally saw a group of people who refused to comply and tried to rush the checkpoint. Guess what happened?”
“What happened?”
“Bang bang bang! A few bursts of gunfire, and they were all laid out there! Blood flowed everywhere, and by the time they were dragged away, they were already stiff!”
“Hiss—that harsh? Recently, those zombies have been like crazy, everywhere. How can the base not be nervous!”
The murmurs from the nearby queue were neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to drift into the car.
Li Xinhu and the tall man's faces instantly turned even uglier, their muscles tensing.
Su Wan's expression didn't change. She pulled a shiny crystal core from her pocket and handed it to Lu Shiyan. “Here, take it.”
He lifted an eyelid and took it, the cold, hard sensation making his brow twitch almost imperceptibly.
“You keep it,” his voice was low.
“If you encounter someone who can't see straight, use this to stuff the teeth of certain 'gatekeepers' to keep them from barking.”
Finally, it was their turn.
People in the nearby queue craned their necks.
“Oh, this car looks quite impressive. I wonder what big shot is inside?” a man with a sharp nose and monkey-like cheeks muttered softly.
“Looking at that aura, they're probably not to be trifled with. Maybe they'll have less trouble, unlike us, who have to be fleeced!” another woman with a weathered face clicked her tongue enviously.
As a result, the inspection was so fast it made people drop their jaws!
The guards acted like they were blind, symbolically glancing into the car a few times without even getting off their butts.
The Scarface captain from last time, who had a fierce, fleshy face and looked like he wanted to flay people alive, was nowhere to be seen!
Then, with a wave of his hand, like shooing flies.
“Go in!”
The people in the adjacent queue waiting to be searched and interrogated had their eyes bulging, their jaws hitting the floor.
“What the heck? That's it?”
“No way? We were just turned inside out, even our shoe soles were pried open!”
“What… what kind of divine being is in this car? Such influence? Could it be a relative of a high-ranking base official?”
The murmuring was buzzing, filled with incredulity and jealousy.
The car slowly drove into the base.
“What the hell?” Xiao Han peered at Su Wan and Lu Shiyan in the rearview mirror, his brows furrowed so tightly they could trap a fly. “I thought we'd at least get fleeced, or at least they'd hint for us to 'show some appreciation'! They just let us through? Has the sun risen from the west?”
Lu Shiyan leaned back in his seat, his eyes closed, his voice devoid of warmth, like ice shards in the dead of winter: “Too smooth, it's not a good thing. When things are abnormal, there must be a demon.”
Inside the base, it was bustling, with temporary stalls lining both sides of the street, and hawking sounds rising and falling.
Pedestrians on the road had various expressions; some hurried by with their heads down, some gathered in groups of three or five, loudly chatting, and uniformed patrol members occasionally moved among them.
The SUV attracted countless prying glances. Su Wan felt those greedy or wary stares and remained unfazed.
“Area A,” A Mo said, pointing to the old gray-black apartment building ahead.
As soon as the car stopped, a group of ragged, emaciated children, like starved wild dogs, darted out from the shadow of the street corner, circling the car, their eyes glinting with fear and longing.
“Newcomers! Got food? Give us some!”
“Please, just a bite!”
Xiao Han frowned, poked his head out of the car window, his eyes wide and glinting with a cold, man-eating stare.
The little brats shrieked in fright and instantly vanished into the winding alleys.
“Finally back,” Su Wan pushed open the door to the two-bedroom apartment and placed her backpack on the floor.
A Mo and Xiao Han immediately began checking the room, nodding their approval after ensuring nothing was amiss.
Li Xinhu and the tall man stood at the doorway, unsure whether to come in.
Li Xinhu and the tall man named Li Kui were still standing foolishly at the doorway like two wooden posts, rubbing their hands, not daring to step inside.
“Come in, why are you standing there like door gods? Want to feed mosquitoes outside?” Su Wan glanced at them, saying impatiently, “You can stay here tonight, and tomorrow we'll find you a place to settle.”
Upon hearing this, Li Xinhu was so excited he almost prostrated himself before Su Wan on the spot, his back bent like a cooked shrimp, his voice trembling: “Oh! Thank you! Thank you, Miss Su! Miss Su, you truly are a living Bodhisattva descended to earth! My brother and I have caused you trouble!”
The tall man, Li Kui, also nodded vigorously, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word, but his eyes suddenly reddened, as if he had received an immense favor.