Wen Xian looked around carefully. Everyone was here, both familiar faces and strangers, and each person held a weapon. Although they recognized her, the circle surrounding her didn’t move an inch.
She forced a smile and replied to Xiang Yuyang, “It’s you. Thank you for taking me in yesterday. I had something to attend to, so I left early. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye properly.”
She deliberately lowered her stance. Xiang Yuyang felt a bit relieved and was about to speak when Ding Wei interrupted: “Something to attend to? You were just afraid we’d come looking for trouble, weren’t you?” She crossed her arms and sneered, “Since we’ve met, why don’t you tell us properly, how did you manage to hurt Shouzi (Skinny) so badly?”
Xiang Yuyang was momentarily displeased at being cut off, but it passed quickly. He smiled diplomatically: “Since there seems to be some misunderstanding between you two, why doesn’t Miss Wen come back with us and sit down so we can clear things up? That way, no one has to leave upset.”
Ding Wei scoffed disdainfully: “There’s no misunderstanding between us and her. The only thing she can do now is compensate Shouzi for the arm he lost!”
Xiang Yuyang gave her a cold glance, expression indifferent, but Ding Wei didn’t notice at all. At that moment, Chen Lian stepped forward, pulling Ding Wei behind him, and fixed Wen Xian with a heavy gaze: “Boss Xiang is right. Wen Xian, you should come back with us first.”
This both flattered Xiang Yuyang and made Chen Lian’s stance clear, which made Xiang Yuyang feel a little better, so he smiled and nodded.
Wen Xian, however, had no interest in their verbal sparring. She leaned against the wall, her hands gripping the green plants covering it, and looked at Chen Lian coldly: “I have nothing to say to you. I didn’t do anything to Shouzi, but you know full well what he wants to do to me.”
Seeing the change in Chen Lian and the others’ expressions, she sneered: “Before, when he got verbally and physically dirty with me, you never stood up for me. Now, he’s outmatched and got hurt by those mutated plants or animals. You don’t have the ability to take revenge on them, so you dare only to target me, the weak one. Claiming to avenge him, aren’t you ashamed of being so hypocritical and powerless? It disgusts me.”
She had long been fed up with these people. First, they had used their numbers to seize the innkeeper’s territory and resources; now, they were here, swearing to avenge a ‘brother.’ In the end, it was just taking advantage of someone vulnerable.
Xiang Yuyang raised an eyebrow, a faint smile playing on his lips as he watched coldly. Chen Lian, however, looked very displeased. He had always prided himself on being accountable, which was why he had managed to form convoy after convoy before the apocalypse. But now the situation had drastically changed, and he knew Wen Xian was speaking the truth. Yet that truth was both insulting and humiliating, any man would find it hard to face.
He took a deep breath, suppressing his frustration, and said coldly: “Miss Wen, I only asked you to come back and clear things up. I didn’t say anything would happen to you. There’s no need for you to be so sharp and cutting.”
Sharp and cutting?
Wen Xian seemed to hear a joke. She was about to retort when Ding Wei, hearing that Chen Lian wouldn’t do anything to her, felt a chill in her heart. Jealousy erupted. She snatched the old hunting rifle from Cai Xin beside her, aimed it at Wen Xian, and pulled the trigger without hesitation: “Bitch, die!”
Wen Xian’s pupils constricted. Fortunately, she had been alert. Instinctively, she grabbed the vines in her hands and swung them toward Ding Wei, silently screaming, “Hit them!”
Bang!
The bullet tore through Wen Xian’s left shoulder. She let out a muffled groan, her face paling, fear flashing across her features. Then her expression hardened. With her right hand gripping the vines tightly, she silently screamed in rage: “Hit them! Kill them all!”
Almost instantly, the surrounding mutated plants seemed to go mad, attacking everyone. They whipped, bound, and slammed the group. Shouts and screams filled the area. Ding Wei, in particular, was relentlessly lashed by multiple vine-like arms as thick as human limbs, unable to protect herself, taking blow after blow to her face and body.
By the time everyone managed to organize resistance, the attacks suddenly stopped. Shaken, they stood back-to-back, wary, but the plants didn’t strike again.
“Where’s Wen Xian?”
Ding Wei touched her swollen face and shouted hoarsely, eyes full of hatred, looking around, but saw no sign of Wen Xian.
“Bitch, she actually got away!” Ding Wei seethed with rage.
“Miss Ding, who told you to fire just now?”
Xiang Yuyang could no longer bother with maintaining courtesy and asked sharply.
Ding Wei was startled by his grim expression and froze for a moment. Then the pain all over her body snapped her back to awareness, and she shouted angrily, “What do you mean? Didn’t you hear what she said? She said we’re disgusting!”
“That was said about you, not about Sifang Plaza!”
Chen Lian’s face darkened as he pushed Ding Wei behind him and asked sharply, “What do you mean by that?”
Xiang Yuyang, who had been very polite to them before, now sneered repeatedly: “Brother Chen, I used to think that if you could keep them alive until today, you must have some sense. But now I see you can’t tell weight from light, you can’t distinguish right from wrong!” He gestured at the chaotic surroundings. “Do you really think everything that just happened was an accident?”
Chen Lian’s eyes flickered slightly, but he said nothing.
Ding Wei felt confused: “What do you mean? If it wasn’t an accident, it must have been deliberate? We’re on the same side now. You don’t help me take revenge, fine, but now you’re scolding me? Who do you think you are?”
Xiang Yuyang didn’t even look at her, only at Chen Lian, his tone dripping with sarcasm: “When Wen Xian first arrived at Sifang Plaza, I tested her abilities. She has a Wood ability, at least level three. How many here can reach level two? And how many Wood users can control hundreds of mutated plants like her? Do you know what that means in the current situation?”
Everyone present changed expressions, disbelief written all over their faces. All of that just now… was Wen Xian behind it?
Impossible.
Ding Wei, in particular, could hardly believe it. She was about to speak again, but Xiang Yuyang pointed at her face, eyes icy cold: “Because of this fool, we could have made an ally of a powerful ability user. Instead, we’ve offended her. That one shot of hers destroyed every possibility of cooperation we had!”
He was so furious he could have killed someone on the spot. If he weren’t keeping some restraint, Ding Wei would already be dead.
He looked at the pale-faced Chen Lian and said coldly: “From now on, we pray that Wen Xian was really killed by that shot. Otherwise, when her abilities level up and she can control even more mutated plants, it will be us who die!”
He didn’t even bother to look at Ding Wei again. Gathering his men, he left, fortunately, Wen Xian’s control over the plants was still short-lived, so no one had died, though many were seriously injured. The lightly wounded helped the seriously injured and left.
Soon, only Chen Lian’s group remained. Everyone had clearly heard Xiang Yuyang’s words and looked at the now eerily quiet mutated plants with growing fear. Zhang Jun, holding his swollen, painful left hand, stepped forward cautiously and asked, “Brother Lian… is what Boss Xiang said true?”
Wen Xian? That gentle-looking woman… really that strong?
It wasn’t just him; everyone else still found it hard to believe.
“She couldn’t possibly be that strong. Xiang Yuyang is just trying to scare us. He prides himself on being powerful, but he didn’t even react when the mutated plants went berserk. He must be embarrassed, so he’s shifting the blame to Wen Xian. That bitch got hit by my shot; she’s probably dead. What are you all worried about?”
Ding Wei shouted hysterically, her swollen facial muscles twisting, her expression repulsive.
But she wasn’t entirely wrong, after all, no one had ever actually seen Wen Xian fight.
However, Qi Hao, who had previously warned Wen Xian, wore a complex expression. After chasing her out and seeing that she was surrounded, he didn’t leave the alley but hid in a corner, silently watching. So when the incident occurred, he saw everything clearly: the mutated plants didn’t harm Wen Xian at all. In fact, they quickly formed a wall of plants in front of her, and her figure soon disappeared.
He was also the only person present, aside from Wen Xian, who wasn’t attacked by the mutated plants.
He didn’t think it was a sudden stroke of luck.
So when Ding Wei spoke and saw Fan Yaohui about to say something, he quickly grabbed his arm and subtly shook his head.
Fan Yaohui was a little puzzled, but the two had a certain understanding between them, so he stayed silent.
Because he didn’t speak, and the others were still in shock, no one responded to Ding Wei, making her words seem especially abrupt.
Ding Wei’s unease grew, but she absolutely refused to believe Wen Xian had such power. Otherwise, Wen Xian would be the true culprit behind everything that had happened, how could that be!
She hurriedly clutched Chen Lian’s arm, eyes red, and said, “Ah Lian, speak! What Xiang Yuyang said isn’t true, right? And I only wanted to take revenge on Shouzi, I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”
Chen Lian clenched his chest, still aching from the earlier blows, and ignored her. Instead, he asked Shao Qingqing, “What do you feel?”
All eyes turned to Shao Qingqing. After all, her perception was keen; perhaps she had noticed something.
Shao Qingqing was silent for a moment before saying, “I always thought that besides my awakening-speed ability, my perception had also been enhanced. But after Boss Xiang’s words just now, I realized I may have awakened a second ability, and it’s probably the same type as his. Only, my ability isn’t as advanced as his.”
Not talking about Wen Xian, but Xiang Yuyang’s ability?
Ding Wei didn’t understand and grew anxious. She was about to ask for clarification when she saw Chen Lian’s expression visibly darken out of the corner of her eye.
Her unease deepened. She stammered, “W-what does this mean?”
Cai Xin had just found his body split in two by the mutated vines, pain radiating through him. Seeing that Ding Wei still didn’t grasp the seriousness of the situation, he was annoyed and said coldly, “Qingqing means that Xiang Yuyang has also awakened a perception-type ability, and it’s even stronger than hers. So what he said earlier, that Wen Xian has a Wood ability at level three and can control mutated plants to attack people, is true.”
Ding Wei felt her heart drop and instinctively shook her head, refusing to believe it: “That’s impossible!”
Seeing her still stubborn, Cai Xin dropped the broken piece in his hands and asked Shao Qingqing, “What exactly did you sense?”
Shao Qingqing glanced at Ding Wei, whose expression was chaotic. Although they were close friends, the present crisis was more important. She said, “She… is very strong.”
The group fell silent, a rising sense of danger and confusion filling their hearts.
After a long moment, Chen Lian hoarsely said, “From now on, don’t go out alone. If you encounter her, try to communicate first.”
Beyond that, he had no better solution.
After all, who would have thought that the once overlooked, fragile girl would suddenly become so powerful?
At this moment, Wen Xian, feared and respected by all, once again disappeared into the mountains.