Chapter 20: Lin Sanjiu’s Roundabout Tactics
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
No one could anticipate this attack. Since that gust of wind was about to reach the top of Luther’s head, and he did not have the time to defend himself, he could only roll to the ground. Somehow, he managed to dodge the attack but could not avoid tumbling down the staircase.
Luckily, Lin Sanjiu reacted quickly, she stooped down and grabbed his sleeve stopping Luther’s momentum down the stairs. The attack, which had missed Luther, slammed into the top of the staircase and actually destroyed a segment of the stairs, stirring up a cloud of dust and broken concrete which sent Lin Sanjiu and Luther into a fit of coughing. Witnessing that, they were a little traumatized—if the attack landed on a person, it would have shaved off half his life!
Missing its attack, the black shadow lingered in the air, swaying lightly up and down as if undecided on which prey, underneath, it should attack. Taking advantage of that short frame of time, the two of them finally saw the perpetrator clearly, ultimately solving the riddle about the whereabouts of the mountain of corpses.
It was a long, green vine which extended from the tropical forest.
No, instead of calling that green, it was closer to a sepia brown. The green vines which spanned over half the shopping mall’s central hall were covered with so much blood stains that it was basically impossible to tell their original color. There were even a few pieces of orange fabrics dangling on the thorns of the vines, and with one sweeping look, Lin Sanjiu was certain that the fabric matched that of the staff uniform for the supermarket downstairs.
“What the f*ck! How can those things extend so far?” Luther touched the abrasion on his face, cursing angrily. Lin Sanjiu locked her eyes on the green vines, not daring to make any rash movements, “It probably grew after it mutated… what should we do now?”
“What else? Let’s run back! I don’t believe that it can follow us all the way back to the supermarket!”
The green vine seemed like it had understood what was said, “Hu!” and generated another strong gust of wind. Following which, the few broken slabs of concrete which was stirred into the wind flew toward the two of them. They twist to their side, dodging them. Lin Sanjiu stared back at the green vine, biting her lips tightly. Her heart was thumping loudly. “That won’t work, we have to split up! I will go upstairs, you downstairs!”
“Are you crazy?” Luther was astounded and turned, only to find that he was already staring at the back of her head.
“The corpses were piled just beside the escalator, and the green vines could reach them. That clearly means that we will be attacked throughout the way back!” While Lin Sanjiu explained, she had already picked up a broken concrete slab beside her, aimed and threw it at the green vine in lightning speed.
It was as if the vine in mid-air grew eyes; it suddenly shifted upwards avoiding the slab. Before Luther could react, Lin Sanjiu shot up the stairs like an arrow while she yelled, “I will attract its attention here. Quick! Tell Marcie to bring some liquor over to rescue me! Get those with a high alcohol content!”
Within the time it took for her to say that, the vine had already aimed a few consecutive attacks at her—Lin Sanjiu managed to dodge the first few attack, but just as she was about to finish climbing the final few steps, she was cut by the last slash of wind. It tore a hole in her pants, and a little blood seeped from her wound. Not caring the least bit about that, Lin Sanjiu jumped and leaped forward, reaching the second floor at last. She immediately hid behind one of the doors belonging to a store.
Luther, who has been staring at her, only felt his heart settling down at this point. He knew what Lin Sanjiu was planning. He felt anxious for her but also admired her quick-thinking, “You are crazy! Take care, Marcie and I will come back as soon as possible!”
“Leave! It’s going for you now!” Lin Sanjiu yelled as she gave the store’s door a kick.
The green vine lingered for a moment mid-air. In that half-second, Luther used the full potential of his enhanced body and sprinted toward the escalator like the wind. Seeing that the green vine was almost bent on following him, Lin Sanjiu rushed out of the store without delay and threw a promotional board at it.
Luther simply did not have the time to turn to look, he could only trust that Lin Sanjiu was providing him cover as he ran like mad for the escalator. He rushed down the escalator in a split-second and, sure enough, the green vine did not chase after him.
He only ran a few steps toward the supermarket when he nearly collided into Marcie—she had heard and realized that something was wrong, so she quickly ran outside. When she saw Luther, she shot him a series of questions, “What happened? What was that sound outside? Where is Xiao Jiu?”
“I have no time to explain; we have to get some liquor! Grab the wines and spirits with high alcohol content!” Ignoring the fact that Marcie was still confused, Luther rushed into the supermarket, grabbing some shopping bags on his way and headed for the alcoholic beverage section.
Marcie did not know what had happened, but she moved quickly. Before even a full ten minutes, the two of them were both carrying a few bags of wine.
“Do you have a lighter on you?”
“Yes! What are we going to burn?” Seeing the association between the wine and the lighter, Marcie caught the drift.
Luther gave a wry smile, “We have to go destroy the greenery!” He nodded saying this and ran toward the escalator first. The two of them climbed the escalator alongside each other. Just as they were about to reach the top, Luther suddenly stopped. After he had paused to think for a moment, he decided to peek out cautiously first. It was quiet on the first floor; nothing seemed out of place.
The terrifyingly crafty length of vine had already disappeared from the mid-air. The tropical forest in the middle of the mall was just plainly there, as still as before. He could not spot Lin Sanjiu as well. He looked upward, but there was no movement on the second floor. If it hadn’t been for that damaged segment of stairs, he would have thought that it was just a dream.
Marcie stepped closer to him and whispered, ”What exactly happened? Where is Xiao Jiu?”
Luther could feel a bitter taste in his mouth as he muttered, ”I don’t know…”
After briefing Marcie about the whole incident, Luther felt his heart grew tenser and tenser. If Lin Sanjiu messed up, and the green vine successfully attack her, what should they do if she ended up like that mountain of corpses?
After hearing what he said, Marcie also thought of the same possibility. Suddenly feeling too anxious, she unexpectedly raised her voice and shouted, “Xiao Jiu! Where are you? Please reply!” her voice rang out loudly in the spacious shopping mall, triggering off a series of echoes.
Luther was shocked; he quickly looked toward the tropical forest and noticed that the leaves of the tallest few coconut trees in the center started to move—it was practically like how a person turned his head when he heard a sound. Mostly likely because the two of them were still hidden at the escalator, which was the tropical forest’s blind spot, Marcie’s shouting voice did not attract any attacks.
Knowing this, he was relieved. Therefore he joined Marcie and started to shout with Marcie.
Both their voices were amplified by the surrounding to such an extent that their voices were almost deafeningly loud. However, Lin Sanjiu still did not show her face. The longer they yelled, the more worried they felt.
Suddenly, after there was a sound of an opening door, they heard Lin Sanjiu’s voice coming from an unknown location, “Have you gotten the liquor? I’m alright, don’t worry!”
“Where are you?” Marcie searched hastily for the source of her voice. Probably because of the echoes, Lin Sanjiu’s voice seemed to come from all directions. “You won’t be able to see me. I’m on the fourth story.”
“Why did you go up there?” Luther asked, puzzled. She should have faced more attacks climbing up, but the staircase up from the second floor was totally intact.
“I had no choice! Whichever store I hid in, the bloody vine would destroy the entire thing. If I didn’t think to hide in the stairways used by the staff, I wouldn’t be able to survive till now.”
Luther only noticed then that the fancy and exquisite storefronts of the branded stores on the second floor have all been destroyed. In any case, he felt relieved after hearing that Lin Sanjiu was safe. He really didn’t think of that before. Normally, many customers were moving around the shopping mall, and they used the easily visible staircases and escalators. But if the staff had to transport some rubbish or move their cleaning equipment or something, they would not squeeze with the customers, so there was definitely a backup hidden passageway. Lin Sanjiu was just lucky to spot that staff passageway.
“Then, how will you come back to the supermarket?” Marcie asked still feeling deeply worried.
It had taken a while before Lin Sanjiu’s voice rang out again, “I reckon that there must be a way to get to the basement from this staff passageway. Don’t burn the trees first. I found out just now that the tropical forest is linked to the flower bed on the fifth story. If the entire fifth story gets burn as well, it will be too dangerous. Why don’t we do this? Both of you should go back first. We will meet in the basement.”
Luther and Marcie exchanged looks. They worriedly implored her to be careful before they went back to the supermarket. They put them the full bags of wines and walked around the supermarket uneasily. Other than the back door that was dead bolted, there was no other entrance.
“It seems that the staff passageway is behind that door…” Marcie shook the brass lock on the door. “We need to open this door; otherwise, how would she come in later?” Luther’s head ached when he observed that the back door was also made of durable materials. Even the keys that they got from the dead manager was with Lin Sanjiu, yet the door was locked from inside. There wasn’t even a gap at the bottom of the door. Luther walked another around, not wanting to give up. This time he found a suitable weapon. At a nondescript corner, there was a red fire hydrant box. He broke the outer glass with his elbow and found a small hammer.
“Quick! We can use this to smash open the door!” He hurried to the back door, presenting it to Marcie like a treasure. Marcie’s knitted brows relaxed a little when she saw the hammer. Luther was stronger than her, so she scowled, signaling for Luther to start hammering.
After a few hits, sparks appeared as the hammer hit the lock. Unfortunately, the door did not show even a hint that it was opening. The knocking sounds were amplified multiple times in the cavernous supermarket. Wang Sisi, who seemed to be startled, gave a few sudden shrieks. Just when the two of them were just going to ignore her and continue hammering, they heard a familiar voice: “My god! I entered the staff room!”