Xu Qingtian’s gaze faltered, cold sweat beading on her forehead from the searing pain in her palm, yet her eyes remained fixed on the Crystal Core in Hua Wuyan’s hand.
“Senior Wuyan, could I take a look at that Crystal Core?”
Hua Wuyan clenched the Crystal Core in her palm, instantly absorbing all the spiritual energy within it.
When she opened her hand, the once radiant and beautiful Crystal Core had turned into a small pile of white powder, which she scattered into the air.
“No. Today is merely a minor punishment as a warning. If I ever catch you coveting my things again, whichever hand touched them—I’ll chop that entire hand off and feed it to the Zombies.”
Xu Qingtian nodded, holding back her tears, gritting her teeth but daring not to talk back.
Hua Wuyan was a devil! If she had known she would be tormented like this, she would rather have let her take the food back to the equipment room and stay with them. At least it wouldn’t have driven her to change so drastically, and now it was only making things worse for herself.
She had to find a way to escape her clutches, and then find a way to kill her to avenge today’s humiliation.
Hua Wuyan absorbed all the Crystal Cores she had collected along the way, her body strengthening once again.
This time, she not only felt her body becoming much lighter. With lighter steps, her speed naturally increased as well. Her strength grew once more.
At this rate, she should have no problem facing sixty or seventy Low-tier Zombies on her own.
Xu Qingtian clutched her sore, itchy throat, dizzy with hunger, a look of hatred flashing in her eyes.
That damned Hua Wuyan—she must have changed because she absorbed those Crystal Cores.
Now her strength was enough to fight dozens of Zombies at once. It looked like she had awakened a strength-type Supernatural Ability.
If only she could get even a single Crystal Core, as long as she awakened a Supernatural Ability—even if it was the same strength-type as Hua Wuyan’s—that would be enough.
Then she would have the strength to fight back.
Hua Wuyan walked ahead, faintly sensing the feeling of Xu Qingtian’s gaze on her back.
She could feel Xu Qingtian’s malice.
She glanced back at Xu Qingtian. “Walk faster. Keep screaming.”
“Senior, I really can’t take it anymore. I haven’t eaten anything this whole month, and now my hand is injured too—I have no strength left at all. Please, have mercy and let me go.
I won’t go against you ever again.”
Smack!
“I’m begging you, even if you kill me, I can’t scream anymore.”
Smack!
“It hurts! Stop hitting me!” How she hated this! She would get her revenge!
Smack! Hua Wuyan glanced at her eyes. They were filled with hatred—it seemed she hadn’t been harsh enough.
“You have two choices: screaming or getting slapped. If you waste my time with more nonsense, I’ll slice off your flesh piece by piece and feed it to the Zombies.”
Xu Qingtian’s chest heaved violently, tears streaming down her face, and finally a hint of fear appeared in her eyes.
“Fine, I’ll scream, alright! Wuwuwu.”
“Ah!”
With her scream, the Zombies wandering nearby slowly gathered once more, letting out strange “kaka kaka” cries.
“Ah!”
“Kaka kaka.”
“Ah!”
“Kaka kaka!”
Until the sky began to darken, Hua Wuyan had cleared wave after wave of Zombies, both arms so sore and swollen she could barely lift them.
“System, after all this way, I’ve absorbed over a hundred and thirty Crystal Cores in total. I’m already at the late Qi Condensation Stage now. As soon as I reach the Great Perfection of the Qi Condensation Stage, I’ll be able to activate the technique and perform Dual Cultivation with that little dog Ouyang, and my strength will skyrocket.”
“System, once I break through to Qi Refining Great Perfection and reach Foundation Establishment, I’ll be able to restore my Natural Alluring Physique as you said. At that point, the Female Lead Halo will have no effect on me, and I won’t have to constantly worry about being bewitched by her.”
Although the most difficult period to cultivate in the Qi Condensation Stage is the Great Perfection phase—requiring more Spiritual Power than all three earlier phases combined—what did that matter? She had a ready-made Zombie summoner at her disposal, both safe and effective. All she needed to do was exert some force to obtain Crystal Cores.
With that thought, she tugged on the rope, signaling Xu Qingtian to continue attracting Zombies.
At this moment, Xu Qingtian’s face was ashen, her lips purple, and the hand that had been stepped on was swollen like a risen steamed bun.
“Huh? Why do you look like a ghost? Don’t tell me you’re about to mutate?”
Xu Qingtian couldn’t voice her suffering, her eyes filled with terror as she shook her head frantically.
If not for the System’s real-time monitoring, even Hua Wuyan would have thought this one was about to mutate.
Seeing Xu Qingtian collapse onto the ground without moving, she walked over and kicked her.
“Hey, get up. Don’t play dead with me.”
When Xu Qingtian saw Hua Wuyan approach, she instinctively cowered, her whole body trembling. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice was hoarse—not a single syllable could escape.
Hua Wuyan watched her shake her head and point at her throat, her eyes full of fear and pleading, with not a trace of resentment or unwillingness.
This was only the beginning, and she was already this terrified?
The Female Lead in this book was truly weak and pathetic. If she were in the Cultivation Realm, she’d be torn to shreds in seconds by those rogue cultivators fighting over immortal fortunes.
【Host, I can barely watch this anymore. This might be the most miserable Female Lead in history—subjected to such abuse that she can’t even cry anymore. Too tragic. Absolutely too tragic.】
“What? You sympathize with her?”
【No, no, no. I’m just detecting that the Female Lead’s mental state is on the verge of collapse. If we keep going, she might really break. If the Female Lead dies, we’ll both be erased.】
“This? Her mental defenses are that fragile? I haven’t even started yet!”
【Host, do you think these are the Cultivators from the Cultivation Realm who are used to plundering resources and fortunes? This is still the ordinary mortal world, at least for now. Human mental defenses are heavily influenced by their physical state.
Don’t actually play her to death. If we go down with her, that wouldn’t be good.】
Hua Wuyan shot Xu Qingtian a contemptuous glare, then rifled through the System Warehouse and shop. Her gaze suddenly landed on a suona horn tucked in the corner of the System Warehouse.
“Now that you mention it, I’ve got a good idea.”
School.
Hua Wuyan cleared out all the Zombies from the north back gate of Linjiang University to the equipment room, locked Xu Qingtian inside, and stood alone at the glass door with the suona in hand.
“System, let me play you my favorite mortal-world divine tune—’Tante’ (Anxiety).”
She sucked in her stomach, took a deep breath, and puffed out her cheeks. Amid the System’s cheers, the suona’s sound echoed from the equipment room’s corridor, carrying far into the distance.
The brass reed of the suona vibrated with a crisp, melodious tone, drawing the distant Zombies into restless motion as they converged toward the source of the sound.
The corridor wasn’t wide—only enough for two or three Zombies to pass through at once. This gave Hua Wuyan ample room to swing her long blade.
She held the front of the corridor, slaughtering every Zombie lured in by the suona before playing again.
Inside the equipment room, Xu Qingtian watched the Zombie Horde outside the door, her heart filled with sheer terror.
She’s insane! This Hua Wuyan has lost her mind!
Not only did she bring her back to the school, but she’s also actively playing the suona to lure zombies over and kill them.
Lin University was the largest school in Linjiang City, covering a massive area with a student and faculty population of nearly seventy thousand.
If it weren’t for the sheer number of zombies on campus, they wouldn’t have been trapped in the school for a whole month before finally escaping.
But now Hua Wuyan had brought her back to the school again.
The food bag on the ground contained the supplies Hua Wuyan had gathered for them earlier.
Hmph, Hua Wuyan had gone just as long without eating as she had—nearly half a day now. She’d just eat every last bit of this food.
Even Ability Users got hungry. She refused to believe that after going hungry for long enough, Hua Wuyan would still have the strength to boss her around.
And when that time came, even if she couldn’t escape herself, she’d drag Hua Wuyan down with her!