Yuan Gaofei shouted in shock.
What stunned him even more than his attack vanishing before it reached He Lingyu was this, Mu Qingfeng’s flames had swallowed his.
Two streams of fire collided. There was no explosion. Instead, Mu Qingfeng’s fire devoured Yuan Gaofei’s, as if it were food.
How was that possible? He had never heard of abilities consuming each other.
Yet it was happening right in front of him.
After the devouring, Mu Qingfeng’s flames even trembled twice, like they were disgusted and about to vomit. Then the fire shifted into a faint bluish hue, as if it had mutated.
“My goodness, boss’s ability got even stronger!” Fatty’s eyes shone. As he spoke, he used his earth ability to form earthen spikes that shot toward the enemy, all while praising Mu Qingfeng.
Xiao Yan was more restrained and did not say it out loud, but his eyes flickered with the same excitement.
He focused, and an invisible strike shot out.
“Ah!” Someone on the other side dropped instantly.
Xiao Yan’s ability level had risen too, his mental attacks could now take on substance.
Hua Yue stood beside He Lingyu, worry in her eyes as she watched them. “Xiao Yu’er, will the restaurant’s facilities really be unharmed?”
“Auntie Yue, that’s what you’re worried about?” He Lingyu could not help laughing.
Hua Yue answered as if it were obvious. “These brats are strong, what do I have to worry about? If the restaurant gets smashed, then I’ll cry, alright?”
He Lingyu laughed again. Auntie Yue had become adorable too. “Don’t worry. Even if they use every bit of their ability, this restaurant won’t suffer the slightest damage.”
Then He Lingyu watched Hua Yue go to the small storage room and bring out a plate of sunflower seeds. “Come, Xiao Yu’er. Auntie Yue will peel seeds for you.”
He Lingyu blinked. Auntie Yue was making it a little too obvious.
Yuan Gaofei clearly did not expect them to act like this. He suspected they were trying to disrupt his men’s nerves.
But he had to admit, it worked.
“That vile woman is really not taking us seriously!” Yuan Gaofei could not hold back. He hurled a burst of fire straight at He Lingyu.
“Your opponent is me.” Mu Qingfeng lifted a hand and absorbed the attack, turning it into his own power.
Yuan Gaofei knew he was outmatched and retreated at once. This restaurant was too uncanny. He needed to get out.
“You, get up there now!”
He barked orders while forcing his men to block Mu Qingfeng, then bolted toward the courtyard gate.
“Hmph.” Mu Qingfeng let out a cold snort.
Run? Where could he run?
Today was Yuan Gaofei’s day to die.
Mu Qingfeng pursued him at an unhurried pace. Ability users surrounded him, but none dared attack. They only stared, backing away each time he stepped forward.
Soon he left the first floor and reached the yard. Yuan Gaofei had already gotten outside the courtyard, standing beyond the wall, watching Mu Qingfeng with vicious eyes.
“Pull back! This yard is cursed. We can’t fight them in there!” Yuan Gaofei finally understood. He Lingyu was unharmed not because she was powerful, but because the restaurant protected her.
That only made him want the restaurant more.
If he could seize it, he might even take another base and expand his territory.
In the apocalypse, the strong ruled. If his power grew, maybe he could become a petty emperor.
“They went outside? No more show.” He Lingyu clicked her tongue, chewing the sunflower seed kernels Auntie Yue peeled for her.
She did not go out to watch. She knew what would happen, and that was enough. If she saw it with her own eyes, she would probably have nightmares.
“You still dare chase me out? Without the restaurant’s protection, you think you can beat me?” Yuan Gaofei turned back smugly, wearing a twisted grin.
Mu Qingfeng chuckled. “When did I ever say this was about winning or losing? Fine, let’s put it that way. The price of losing is your life.”
The moment he finished speaking, Mu Qingfeng surged forward like a gust of wind, closing the distance in an instant.
Yuan Gaofei’s gaze sharpened. He twisted aside and barely avoided the main strike.
Still, he took a hit across the face. A thin line of blood appeared, then the lingering fire ability scorched it, releasing the stench of burnt flesh.
The searing pain was unbearable, and the disbelief was worse.
Was Mu Qingfeng really this strong? Even outside the restaurant, Yuan Gaofei could not hold him off?
Mu Qingfeng’s mind flashed with his mother’s face, how she used to stroke his cheek and promise she would watch him marry and have children someday.
Then the apocalypse came, and he never even got to see her one last time.
“Yuan Gaofei, die!”
The more he thought, the angrier he became. His flames wavered beyond control, as if they were responding to his rage, growing fiercer and hotter.
When the fire clung to Yuan Gaofei, he could not beat it out.
At first, Yuan Gaofei did not care. He slapped at it a few times, then realized it would not go out and tried to counter with his own ability.
No matter what he did, it was useless.
Only then did fear hit him.
“What’s going on? Why won’t it go out, ah!” The flames crawled over his arm, already releasing the smell of roasting meat.
After struggling and failing, Yuan Gaofei finally begged.
“I was wrong, I was wrong! Please put it out. Please!”
He dropped to his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face, acting pitiful to the extreme.
Mu Qingfeng felt nauseated watching him. “When my mother begged you, did you ever think about sparing her? Did you?”
He swung his hand, and another burst of flame struck Yuan Gaofei’s chest. The fire devoured his clothes in an instant and began eating into skin.
Yuan Gaofei rolled on the ground, trying to smother it.
He could not understand. They were both fire ability users, so why was Mu Qingfeng’s fire so terrifying?
When begging did not work, Yuan Gaofei snapped and started cursing, laughing wildly. “You dog born bastard, hahaha, I remember who your mother was now. After that woman refused me, I threw her out of the base. Outside, where it’s full of zombies, she’s probably not even bones anymore!”
He started with a low laugh, then turned it into unrestrained roaring laughter.
He was going to die anyway. He might as well hurt Mu Qingfeng as much as possible.
Flames engulfed his face. The smoke made him cough violently, but he forced himself to keep laughing through it.
“Your mother is dead, hahaha, dead without a whole corpse!”
Mu Qingfeng’s eyes turned bloodshot, his gaze splitting at the seams. His clenched fist trembled, betraying the storm inside him.
Not only him. Fatty and Xiao Yan heard it too.
Fatty had met Lan Qing before. She had been gentle, and her cooking had been good.
“Aunt Lan…” Fatty murmured.
At this moment, Fatty and Xiao Yan wanted Yuan Gaofei dead just as badly as Mu Qingfeng did.
But they could not take that revenge for him.
A mother’s death had to be repaid by Mu Qingfeng himself.
“Damn it!” Fatty cursed, glaring at the other ability users with growing hatred. These were the people who helped Yuan Gaofei, the people who had enabled Aunt Lan’s death.
Xiao Yan’s actions spoke for his mood.
He launched a mental strike toward the crowd. “All of you should die.”
“We were just following orders!” Panic exploded among them. Yuan Gaofei was finished, and they were terrified their own end was next.
They did not want to die, so they shouted over each other.
“Yes, we couldn’t beat him, we had to listen or we’d die too!”
What did that change? Was it not still wrong?
They had long heard these people were criminals gathered by Yuan Gaofei from prison. Neither Fatty nor Xiao Yan felt any guilt fighting them.
They were criminals to begin with. Even without Yuan Gaofei, who could guarantee they would not become the next Yuan Gaofei?
“Die!” Fatty roared.
Pi San was the strongest among them, but he had no will to fight. He only wanted to escape.
If Yuan Gaofei could not win and was already half charred, how could Pi San possibly stand a chance?
The moment he tried to slip away, Xiao Yan’s mental binding pinned him in place.
Not far away, Mu Qingfeng noticed Pi San’s attempted retreat.
With a casual wave, he sent a strike onto Pi San.
Fire erupted. Pi San screamed once, then collapsed, limp.
The flames burned through his organs. He went silent in moments.
Mu Qingfeng had not even spared him attention. That was mercy.
But Yuan Gaofei?
Mu Qingfeng would not give him mercy. He would make him suffer. If Yuan Gaofei could not feel the pain of a mother’s death, then he could taste what it meant to be slowly burned alive.
Yuan Gaofei could not endure it anymore. He even tried to kill himself and end it.
The moment he moved, raising his hand to strike himself to death, Mu Qingfeng snapped his arm.
A sharp crack.
“Ah!”
The agony was so intense that Yuan Gaofei passed out on the spot. He lay there motionless, flames still eating at him.
Too easy.
Dying like that would be far too kind.
Mu Qingfeng’s every wave took another life. Soon, the entire group lay dead on the ground.
Fatty and Xiao Yan dragged the bodies together.
“Boss, just burn them. They’re dead anyway. Cremate them,” Fatty said.
Mu Qingfeng said nothing. He looked exhausted, not just physically, but in his soul.
He flicked a flame, and the pile ignited, then he walked back toward the restaurant.
As he neared, he noticed a woman still standing in the yard.
He looked up.
The instant their eyes met, she shuddered. “Please don’t kill me!”
Mu Qingfeng did not kill women, especially powerless women.
But this woman had been with Yuan Gaofei.
Mu Qingfeng studied her carefully, as if deciding whether she had any reason to live.
The woman looked ready to cry, her eyes misting as her mind raced for the right words.
At that moment, He Lingyu came out. She had planned to check on Mu Qingfeng, feeling that someone should comfort him after all this.
But the moment she stepped out, the woman threw herself at her legs.
He Lingyu looked down. The woman knelt at her feet, fat tears rolling down her face.
“Sister, save me. Yuan Gaofei forced me to stay by his side!”
The woman was terrified. She blurted the words out instinctively. She did not want to die. She still had…
He Lingyu paused, then looked up at Mu Qingfeng. “How about… we go inside first and talk?”
The woman truly seemed like a normal person. It was better to hear her explanation, just in case, rather than kill an innocent person by mistake.