Chapter 43 - 41: To Kill with a Borrowed Knife

Chapter 43: Chapter 41: To Kill with a Borrowed Knife

Liu Daqing didn’t hear a word Xiao Fan was saying. Immense fear had ignited an overwhelming will to survive, unlocking some astonishing potential within him. His crawling speed didn’t decrease—it actually increased.

Unfortunately.

He was too fat. Although Xiao Fan’s kick had sent him flying out of the glass greenhouse, he had only just cleared the entrance.

Now injured and with his abdomen in excruciating pain, his crawling speed was comparable to a snail’s.

THWIP.

A Root burst from the earth, wrapped around Liu Daqing’s ankle, and began to drag him back.

!

A shudder of terror went through Liu Daqing. He dug his fingers into the ground, his face a mask of despair. He wanted to scream for help, but he couldn’t even open his mouth, terrified that letting out a single breath would cause him to lose his strength and be dragged back.

For a moment, the two sides were locked in a brief stalemate.

"Five meters."

Xia Yu walked up, step by step.

’No matter what I decide, I have to fully understand the enemy.’ She watched as Liu Daqing and the sunflower remained deadlocked for over ten seconds before he slowly started getting dragged back. During that time, no second Root had appeared. ’This must be the current limit of the sunflower’s reach.’

And that alone was terrifying.

"Save me."

Liu Daqing had noticed Xia Yu as well. Seeing that she was a human, he was ecstatic. He squeezed a few words through his clenched teeth with all his might: "I’ll give you ten million."

’Ten million?’

If she hadn’t already gotten money from Nian Dali and Manager Ma, she would have certainly needed it.

But now, hearing the number, her heart was as calm as still water, without the slightest ripple.

"You arrived at the Joyful Picking Garden on time. You kept your word," Xia Yu said calmly. "So I deleted the video of you and Number 7. I also burned the ledger of your transactions with Nian Dali."

!!!

Liu Daqing’s pupils contracted sharply.

’It was you!’

’This...’

’What a small world...’

’No!’

"It’s better to squash a grudge than to hold one."

"Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you."

Liu Daqing realized that at this rate, he would definitely be dragged back. So, he blurted out everything he wanted to say in one go.

In that instant, his breath gave out.

The speed at which he was being pulled back increased.

What’s more, he felt his other ankle get snared.

He was dragged back even faster.

A third and fourth Root erupted from the earth, snaring his ankles.

Then a fifth... all the way to an eighth Root burst from the ground.

"Save me."

Liu Daqing’s face was a mask of despair and pleading.

SLICE.

...

Xia Yu took a step forward. The Blood Butterfly in her hand danced, effortlessly severing all eight Roots.

The eight severed Roots quickly retracted back into the ground.

They left behind eight twitching segments, like rootless duckweed, which wriggled a couple more times before going completely still.

The human faces on two of the sunflowers contorted in pain.

"Thank you."

Liu Daqing let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Don’t bother."

At some point, the toe of Xia Yu’s boot had come to rest on his abdomen. She suddenly exerted her strength, unleashing even greater Power than Xiao Fan had, and flicked him two meters back toward the greenhouse.

!!!

Liu Daqing was so frightened he felt like his soul was about to leave his body. "What are you doing?!" he roared.

THWIP.

...

Dozens of Roots burst from the ground.

The Blood Butterfly in Xia Yu’s hand "danced" at high speed, transforming into a crimson butterfly that flitted past one Root after another, instantly slicing them in two.

The faces on six of the sunflowers showed looks of pain. They changed their strategy, opting to pierce Liu Daqing’s body directly from beneath the ground and drag him under!

And then, Liu Daqing’s real misery began.

SQUELCH.

...

The sounds of flesh being pierced echoed one after another as his body began to sink into the earth.

But this time, Xia Yu didn’t press the attack. Instead, she retreated.

She had already probed the true strength and methods of this cluster of Mutated Plants; there was no need to continue risking her life.

Besides, it seemed Xie Shaokun and Wang Quanzhi were in some kind of trouble and urgently needed her support.

At that moment, Liu Daqing understood everything. ’This woman deliberately lured me to the Joyful Picking Garden to have me killed. By using such a bizarre incident to commit murder, she won’t have to face any legal consequences.’

’What a cunning plan!’

’But...’

"Why?"

His face was filled with confusion. He had no idea how he had offended Xia Yu to the point that she would want him dead.

"My younger brother’s name is Xia Tian."

Xia Yu left him with those words and vanished completely into the darkness.

’Xia Tian?’

Liu Daqing felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He understood everything.

And then, he sank completely into the ground.

As for Wang Quanzhi, he had been having a great time running over Mutants with his car. It looked like he and Xie Shaokun were about to resolve this disaster together.

But then...

BANG.

A tire burst.

If he hadn’t been gripping the steering wheel for dear life, the car would have flipped on the spot. But just as he managed to stabilize the vehicle, the sound of a bursting tire rang out again.

"Damn it!"

Wang Quanzhi was baffled. ’Why would the tires suddenly blow out?’

’This is a brand-new car!’

The car’s speed dropped rapidly. He let go of the steering wheel and quickly scrambled into the back. The car wouldn’t flip at this speed anyway, so he figured he might as well find a Weapon before it came to a complete stop.

Soon enough.

A baseball bat was in his hands.

Although the baseball bat wasn’t as sharp as a rake, it was easier to wield. Besides, Wang Quanzhi’s aim wasn’t good enough against the fast-moving Mutants, so even a rake wouldn’t have done much damage in his hands.

He decided to just resign himself to playing ’support’ for Xie Shaokun.

THUD.

...

One Mutant after another slammed violently against the car.

Only when Xie Shaokun arrived with six other survivors and the owner’s mongrel dog did Wang Quanzhi get out of the car to fight.

By now,

the group was already surrounded by Mutants.

"You two, get in the car."

Wang Quanzhi pointed to a woman with a sprained ankle and an injured man. "Be careful," he said.

The pair immediately scrambled into the car, slammed the doors shut, and locked them from the inside.

The movements were as smooth as flowing water.

They moved as fast as they possibly could.

Wang Quanzhi: "..."

The other four male survivors looked on with envy, but they knew it was their turn to step up.

But the Weapons in their hands were pathetic: bricks and wooden sticks.

One of them was even empty-handed.

"Backs to the car!"

Xie Shaokun roared. "Support me! Try to take some of the pressure off!"

The battle began before he even had time to hear a response.

Six people and one dog in a bitter struggle against eighteen Mutants.

Inside the car.

"Whew."

The man and woman huddled against the car door closest to Xie Shaokun and the others, finally getting a chance to catch their breath.

"What the hell is going on? Why did those perfectly normal people suddenly turn into monsters? *Sob...*"

"They must be zombies. I’ve seen a lot of zombie movies, and they’re just like this. Sometimes animals even turn into zombies, becoming even more ferocious Mutated Beasts."

"I wish I’d watched more zombie movies now... Wait, did you say Mutated Beasts? I saw some people bring their pets in here... Those pets aren’t going to actually turn into Mutated Beasts, are they? *Sob...*"

"Hey, why aren’t you saying anything? You’re scaring me."

"Monster! Urk... argh..."