Chapter 528 - 522: Arson

Zhuang Lei was a petty man; he must already hold a grudge against her.

’It’s all that damn girl Su Xiyue’s fault. Wouldn’t it have been better if she’d just submitted obediently? No, she had to resist and cause so much trouble!’

’So being burned alive now is just what she deserves.’

At this thought, a gleam of excited triumph flashed in Lin Yiyi’s eyes.

’Too bad I can’t get the backpack from that bitch. Otherwise, the rewards would have been even greater.’

Because of her earlier mistake with Beast Taming, which led to the beasts turning on them, Zhuang Lei was already very displeased with her.

Lin Yiyi felt she couldn’t stir up any more trouble, so she kept her mouth shut and let Zhuang Lei and Xu Yu handle it together.

Zhuang Lei had wanted to douse the place in gasoline to intensify the fire, but unfortunately, that stuff was more precious than vegetables in the post-apocalyptic world.

He only had a small can left in his backpack and couldn’t bear to waste it here. So, he had to resort to lighting pieces of wood with a lighter and tossing them toward Su Xiyue.

Su Xiyue was, of course, terrified, but she put on a calm facade.

She knew one thing very well: if she dispelled the Wood Vines around her, she stood no chance against the three of them combined.

So, at this point, all she could do was gamble.

Gulping down a large mouthful of Replenishing Well Water, Su Xiyue wove dense Wood Vines all around her body—the thicker and more tightly packed, the better.

But even if she could block the flames, the smoke would be suffocating.

’I don’t know if I’ll be able to withstand it...’

After thinking it over, Su Xiyue took out the ordinary-looking blanket her sister had gotten from the prize wheel and wrapped it around herself.

Immediately, and she wasn’t sure if it was just a psychological effect, she felt as if much of the scorching heat had been blocked, and the smoke was no longer as thick.

A jolt of joy went through her, and she thought to herself: ’I really can’t take my sister’s words at face value.’

’An ordinary-looking blanket? This feels more like a magical blanket, doesn’t it?’

’Its effect is just too incredible.’

In just two or three minutes, the thick smoke and hot flames seemed to have subsided considerably.

With the added protection of the densely interwoven Wood Vines already surrounding her, she instantly felt much better.

Huddled under the ordinary-looking blanket, Su Xiyue secretly chugged several more mouthfuls of Replenishing Well Water.

Dense branches once again shot out from around her, weaving themselves into a thick cocoon, three layers deep inside and out, sealing her securely within.

The fire began to spread, licking at the outer layer of the wooden cocoon and letting out a series of CRACKLES and POPS.

The old equipment in the generator room also began to sputter, shooting out sparks.

Lin Yiyi stared anxiously at the large, thick cocoon in the center of the room, a bad feeling creeping into her heart.

"Is she dead yet or not?"

"I have a feeling she’s not dead yet. Don’t you guys feel like this sphere made of Wood Vines is getting thicker and bigger?"

"Do you guys feel it or not?"

"What if she doesn’t die? Zhuang, Ms. Xu Yu, is this fire you started even working?"

Lin Yiyi’s barrage of questions made Zhuang Lei, who was already feeling extremely unwell both mentally and physically, even more furious.

Zhuang Lei shot her a look and sneered, "If you hadn’t been so meddlesome, would we be in this difficult situation?"

"I’m begging you, stop pulling these kinds of unreliable stunts. Look at this mess! How are we supposed to clean this up?!"

Getting scolded by Zhuang Lei again and again, Lin Yiyi grew very unhappy and couldn’t help but retort.

"Now you’re blaming me over and over again. Weren’t you secretly happy when you saw me catch that little bitch? Don’t you want to get revenge on Xie Ning too? What’s with this holier-than-thou act now?"

Zhuang Lei’s eyes flew wide open. He seemed to have never expected Lin Yiyi would dare to talk back to him at a time like this, showing him such disrespect.

He wished he could just slap her across the face.

Seeing this, Xu Yu quickly grabbed his hand, playing the part of a Holy Mother and peacemaker. "Alright, alright, Brother Lei, why are you getting worked up over a child? She doesn’t know any better."

Zhuang Lei glanced at his girlfriend. He felt like she was possessed or something. Even at a time like this, she was still siding with a troublemaker like Lin Yiyi.

’It’s simply baffling!’

That’s just how people are. They never understand another person’s pain until it happens to them.

Zhuang Lei could now somewhat understand how pained and helpless his former teammates must have felt when dealing with someone as clueless as Xu Yu.

’Thinking back, wasn’t Xu Yu the entire reason he’d ended up abandoned by everyone?’

’Had he really been wrong before?’

Xu Yu, completely oblivious to Zhuang Lei’s emotional turmoil, just kept urging them on. "Come on, let’s go, let’s go!"

"The fire is getting bigger. We need to get out of here quickly. Let’s not wait until it spreads so much that we can’t escape ourselves."

This old, dilapidated generator room was buried underground. If the fire spread rapidly or caused an explosion, they might be caught in it too.

Xu Yu had always been afraid of dying, which was why she was desperately rushing the other two.

Lin Yiyi, however, was still unwilling to give up. She had a feeling that Su Xiyue, wrapped in layer upon layer of that thick cocoon, wasn’t dead yet.

She didn’t know why, but she just had this strange feeling.

And as for Su Xiyue, she was indeed fine.

That ordinary-looking blanket had blocked the vast majority of the searing heat and smoke.

The remaining flames were all held back by the multiple layers of the thick wooden cocoon, unable to singe even a single hair on her head.

Su Xiyue lay on her backpack, secretly chugging Replenishing Well Water and eating beef jerky—a swig of water, a bite of jerky.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t anxious.

She was extremely worried.

After all, this underground generator room could suddenly collapse after being burned.

’If I get buried down here, it’ll probably be even harder for my sister and the others to find me, right?’

But for now, her only option was to wait for those three to get lost. Only then could she safely retract her Wood Vines and find a chance to escape.

If she went out now, she would just fall back into the hands of those three villains. Even if she were lucky enough to survive, she would certainly be severely maimed.

Su Xiyue didn’t want that to happen. If something really happened to her, her mother would surely die of sadness.

This life wasn’t just her own, so she had to be extra, extra careful.

’It was all my fault for being too careless earlier. How did I not notice the pit right next to me?’

’If only I could have been a little more careful and cautious like my sister, this whole mess might never have happened.’

Time ticked by, second by second.

Zhuang Lei and Xu Yu led Lin Yiyi out of the generator room, fleeing all the way to the entrance of the earthen tunnel.

Just as they were about to climb the ladder, a beam of light shone down from above.