“After September 30th, what exactly happened here? Tell us the truth.”
The restrained man hissed in pain. “And what if I tell you? Once you drink that water, you’ll soon turn into monsters anyway. At that point, you’ll just be slaughtered by us.”
Xi Zhou gathered a flame in his hand. “Speak.”
“So it really is an ability user. No wonder you’re so arrogant.” The man spat in disdain, accepting his fate.
On September 30th, the day the apocalypse descended, the village chief united the surviving villagers to clear out zombies and prohibited anyone from leaving the village. The surrounding ten miles were all farmland—so as long as no one went out, there was basically no danger to life.
However, isolation brought a food crisis, and human nature began to distort.
“Besides the captured and locked-up zombies, the village chief makes us take turns sending one person each day. That person is locked up and forced to drink the water from the village chief’s water vat. After drinking it for three consecutive days, a living person will turn into a monster.”
“You two are just unlucky. Qin Yi’s younger brother, Yongzi, was already a monster. By right, today should’ve skipped his family—but you two just happened to show up.”
The man looked at them seriously, his tone shifting from gloating to something faintly sorrowful.
“Except for women and children, almost all the men in the village are ability users. Even if you catch me, you won’t escape. Just accept your fate. In this world, isn’t it the same whether you die sooner or later?”
Having experienced death once already, Li Ge would never resign herself to fate as he said.
“To think you even dared target zombies. Quite creative—but that cleverness is better not used on living people.”
Using rainwater contaminated with zombie virus to turn living humans into zombies—just over ten days into the apocalypse, it had already become this distorted.
The man was bound and thrown into a corner, his mouth stuffed with cloth to prevent him from making noise.
“The neighboring courtyard has gone quiet. What do you want to do?” Xi Zhou asked casually, as if watching a show.
“I want that cactus. Didn’t you sense something in the water vat? Let’s go take a look.”
“Just like that?”
Li Ge paused. “Just like that. If you want to do something else, I won’t stop you.”
He did have other ideas, but unfortunately, their intentions didn’t align.
From the third floor, Li Ge couldn’t simply jump down lightly. She used the night as cover to approach the villagers guarding the stairs. A hand strike to the back of the neck brought one down silently, and she slipped downstairs.
The firelight in the courtyard had dimmed. Only a few red lanterns still burned faintly, and the air carried a faint, nauseating stench.
Li Ge used a plastic bag to scoop the cactus out of the water vat and stepped back, making space. She had no intention of competing for what Xi Zhou wanted.
Long fingers dipped into the dark green water, stirring up ripples. The curve at the corner of the man’s lips deepened.
Heat rose from his palm. The water vat began to boil, white steam rising continuously, and bubbling sounds became clear in the silence.
Li Ge frowned slightly. She placed the cactus into her backpack and took out a fruit knife for defense.
Boiling water was not a subtle sound—especially in the dead of night. They could be discovered at any moment.
Large amounts of water evaporated. Something beneath the surface gradually condensed in Xi Zhou’s palm.
The autumn night was cool, yet Li Ge felt the air growing warm. His fire ability was becoming increasingly refined.
In less than three minutes, the bottom mud was exposed. Xi Zhou held up a white crystal the size of a pigeon egg under the moonlight.
Pure, flawless white—glowing with an alluring sheen beneath the moonlight.
Her heart sank. It was a level-three zombie core.
“Surprised?”
Without hesitation, the crystal was thrown into his mouth and crushed with a crackling sound.
Li Ge tightened her grip on the fruit knife. “Since your goal is achieved, stop wasting time. Someone is coming out of the room.”
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, the village chief appeared at the doorway in pajamas, his face dark as he stared at them.
“Just trash. Your worry is unnecessary,” Xi Zhou said, flicking a fireball at the water vat.
The shattered fragments seemed to break the illusion the village chief had been clinging to. Something inside him snapped.
“I won’t let you get away with this!”
Gripping the doorframe until it nearly broke, the village chief ground his teeth and blew a sharp whistle. The piercing sound shot into the sky, summoning villagers in response.
“Looks like leaving won’t be easy. Ability users are troublesome—I’ll leave this to you.”
At the critical moment, Li Ge sprinted straight toward the gate without hesitation, dumping all the trouble on him.
She was already closest to the exit. By the time nearby ability users rushed over, she had already pulled the door open.
“No hesitation at all. You’re really ruthless.” The girl ran faster than a rabbit when danger came.
Xi Zhou was instantly surrounded by more than a dozen ability users. The untrained villagers attacked chaotically—water balls, clumps of earth, kitchen knives, and bricks all flew at him.
For an ordinary ability user, this kind of mobbing would have been fatal. But to him, it was barely even child’s play.
The chaotic attacks continued nonstop, and footsteps from reinforcements echoed through the street. The village chief’s smile grew increasingly smug.
“You little brat, thinking you’re something special? Do you really think I’m easy to bully? Dare to cause trouble here—perfect, you can stay and become our meal.”
A chaotic group beating continued for four to five minutes. Dust filled the center of the courtyard as ability users bent over, gasping for breath.
“Village chief, we’re tired too. How about we grill some meat later?” a slick young man said, wiping sweat off his face and looking hopefully at the village chief.
“Always thinking about eating,” the village chief scolded irritably. Then, seeing the others also staring at him expectantly, he relented. “Fine! Do it yourselves, but remember to save me some for breakfast tomorrow.”
The courtyard burst into laughter—but soon, they couldn’t laugh anymore.
“Don’t you think it’s getting a bit hot?”
“It really is hotter than before… and does it smell like something burning? Did someone light a fire too early?”
One person raised the question, and others sniffed the air. Sure enough, they caught the scent of burning.
“It’s your clothes.” The man being pointed at looked confused. “Your clothes are on fire! Take them off—quick!”
By the time he came to his senses, the upper half of his body was already burning. Even after tearing off his shirt, large patches of his skin were still scorched red.
“What a pity.”
In the center of the crowd, a well-dressed man shook his head regretfully, as if lamenting something.
“Why are you completely fine?”
The village chief widened his eyes in disbelief, fear creeping in as he hurled a kitchen knife at him.
Xi Zhou tilted his body slightly to avoid it. Without even clearly seeing his movement, a fireball followed the trajectory of the knife and flew back.
The village chief did not have Xi Zhou’s reaction speed. Flames instantly caught at his pant leg and began to spread upward.
“People like you are only capable of acting tyrannical in a village like this. You’re not qualified to deal with me.” Behind his glasses, his blood-tinted eyes were cold. “This is your last chance. Next time, keep your eyes open.”