Qiao Xi didn’t answer him. Instead, her gaze passed over him and landed somewhere behind him.
“I asked you where he is?!”
Li Chuan grabbed her shoulders, his grip so tight it nearly crushed her bones.
Qiao Xi’s face contorted in pain as she shouted toward the person behind him, “Qin Wang… save me…”
Qin Wang had just stepped out of the car when he saw Li Chuan gripping Qiao Xi with a murderous look, as if he wanted to strangle her.
His expression shifted in an instant, and the next second he vanished from where he stood, not even bothering to close the car door.
The others were stunned by the scene. Weren’t the two of them getting along just fine moments ago? How had they suddenly come to blows?
And against such a beautiful girl, no less.
The guards at the entrance couldn’t help but worry for Qiao Xi. It wasn’t that they were overflowing with compassion—it was simply that Qiao Xi was so stunningly beautiful that it was hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for her.
Qiao Xi still wore a look of fear on her face. Under Li Chuan’s gaze that seemed to want to flay her alive, she said in a voice only the two of them could hear, “You’ll find out when he comes looking for you. He also said he’d send you to reunite with your family.”
“You’re asking for death!”
Li Chuan was completely enraged. Flames erupted from both palms gripping her shoulders, the searing heat making Qiao Xi flinch. She smelled the stench of burning fabric.
But only for a moment—before Li Chuan’s attack could truly land, he was sent flying by someone else.
Qin Wang’s face showed rare panic as he pulled Qiao Xi into his arms. He reached out and peeled back her scorched clothing, revealing the red, burned skin beneath.
He let out a relieved breath. “Good thing your skin is thick. You’re not hurt.”
Qiao Xi, who had been about to take the opportunity to act coy, immediately stopped herself upon hearing that.
She looked up at Qin Wang’s handsome profile. “What did you say?”
Qin Wang pretended not to hear.
He had genuinely been frightened just now, so he hadn’t held back.
Li Chuan was blasted several meters away, crashing into the top of the security checkpoint. The metal frame snapped on impact, and the plastic canopy and water pipes were all destroyed.
He hit the ground, soaked through, medicinal liquid dripping down his face. He looked utterly pathetic.
Qin Wang’s gaze shifted from Qiao Xi’s face to Li Chuan.
The warmth in his eyes vanished in an instant, his voice carrying a warning and a hint of murderous intent. “I told you not to touch her.”
Li Chuan climbed to his feet, wiping the liquid from his face, and pointed at Qiao Xi with barely contained fury. “She provoked me first! She’s been scheming all along to drive a wedge between us. This woman, she—”
“Enough.”
Qin Wang cut him off with a frown. “You don’t need to say anything more.”
Li Chuan opened his mouth to speak, but then heard him say, “Stay here tonight. Whether you leave or remain after that, the decision is yours.”
Without waiting for his reaction, Qin Wang took Qiao Xi’s hand and walked toward the car.
Li Chuan stood frozen in place.
Chen Zhiang looked back and forth between them, then mumbled, “Well… someone’s gotta drive, right… I’ll just take them to their place…”
With that, he pulled open the driver’s door and climbed in.
Xia Manman hesitated for a moment, glanced at the security checkpoint, then got in the car as well.
Li Chuan watched the car drive away, the medicinal liquid still dripping from the hem of his clothes, a puddle forming at his feet.
The people around him cast strange looks his way, but no one dared approach him.
Who knew if he might suddenly go berserk and hurl a fireball at them?
Li Chuan clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.
“Qiao Xi… I’m going to kill you…”
Achoo!
In the car, Qiao Xi sneezed out of nowhere.
“Li Chuan must be cursing me again,” she muttered, rubbing her nose.
“Why would he curse you?” Qin Wang turned to look at her, his deep eyes gleaming with a dark light, as if he could see right through her. “What did you do to provoke him?”
Qiao Xi looked completely innocent. “You should go ask him.”
Qin Wang couldn’t be bothered to press further—he wouldn’t get the truth out of her anyway. His gaze fell to her ankle instead.
“Your foot injury healed?”
Qiao Xi hummed in acknowledgment, staring out the window with an expression that said she didn’t want to talk more.
By the time it was getting dark, they arrived at a residential area.
The houses here were mostly standalone villas, offering good privacy. Located in the suburbs with low occupancy rates, there were few zombies around.
They were looking for a suitable place to stay. As the car circled around, Qiao Xi suddenly spotted a house with its lights on as they turned a corner.
“Someone lives there!” She pointed at the standalone villa on the left.
Chen Zhiang turned to look. Sure enough.
He slowed the car down and glanced at Qin Wang in the rearview mirror, a hint of anticipation in his voice. “Brother Qin, should we go over?”
If someone lived there, it meant everything was already in place—clean beds, hot food. They could save a lot of effort, and they could even trade supplies with the residents for other items. A win-win situation.
But Qin Wang rejected the idea outright. “No.”
“Just find a clean place.”
“Alright.”
Chen Zhiang didn’t understand, but he followed orders.
In the apocalypse, human hearts were treacherous. If you recklessly moved in with strangers, you might get stabbed in your sleep without ever knowing what hit you.
Night fell. Qiao Xi curled up inside a wardrobe, thinking about how she could get some blood from Qin Wang.
She was only a tiny bit away from her Breakthrough now, and every time she thought about it, an impatient, clawing restlessness gnawed at her.
Just then, a tapping sound came from the window—ding, ding, ding. Not loud, but rhythmic, one knock after another.
Qiao Xi listened for a moment and realized it wasn’t the wind or tree branches—it sounded like something alive was outside.
The sound was very much like someone tapping gently with their fingertips.
She quietly pulled open the wardrobe door and crept softly toward the window.
The tapping continued.
Qiao Xi grabbed a corner of the curtain and yanked it open.
Swish!
The obstruction in front of her vanished, and once Qiao Xi saw what was outside, she gasped sharply in shock.
Her room was on the third floor, at the edge of the building. There was no balcony outside the window—only a windowsill about a palm’s width wide, the kind that couldn’t even hold a person standing steadily.
Yet at this moment, someone was sitting on that windowsill, back facing the window, two legs dangling and swinging below.
His fingertips rested beneath the glass—that was the hand he’d been using to tap on it just now.
Hearing the commotion, he slowly turned his face around and flashed Qiao Xi a grin, looking like a ghost.
“Big sister, we meet again.”
Qiao Xi’s mind went blank.
She instinctively glanced downstairs—no sign of the Zombie Dog.
Last time she’d been chased by the dog, Qin Wang had nearly died protecting her.
Remembering that only made Qiao Xi’s expression darker. “You still dare to come? Do you really think I can’t kill you?”
Hearing her words, the youth immediately looked aggrieved. “Big sister, you’ve misunderstood me.”
Qiao Xi rolled her eyes. “Stop pretending. I know exactly what you are.”
They were the same kind of creature, after all—Qiao Xi knew his capabilities inside and out.
“Spit it out. What’s your purpose for climbing up to my window in the middle of the night?”
The youth’s eyes dimmed. “You really have misunderstood me. Last time, I actually acted out of good intentions—I was trying to help you…”
“Help me?” Qiao Xi curled her lips into a mocking smile. “Help me with what?”
“I thought you were being controlled by those people, and the person beside you—I couldn’t beat him.”
The youth’s gaze was earnest. “So I sent the dog to distract them, so you could take the chance to escape…”
Qiao Xi stared at him. This guy looked sincere, but monsters were best at disguise and lies. Not a single word he said did Qiao Xi believe.
“Then what’s your purpose for coming this time?”
“Big sister, I want to cooperate with you.”
Qiao Xi frowned. “Cooperate how?”
The youth’s eyes sparkled. “Let’s join forces and take out that fire-element ability user. We split his energy evenly—what do you say?”