Chapter 7: Betrayal—A Helpless Farewell (Revised)

“What did you say? Mutant beasts are besieging the city?!” Bian Changxi shot to her feet. The overhead light blurred into a white haze before her eyes, and a wave of dizziness swept over her. For a moment, she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.

“It’s true, sis-in-law!” The man who’d burst into her office shouted in panic. “There are countless mutant beasts and zombies—they’ve already surrounded the outer city. We can’t hold them back any longer! But Brother Zhu is still out trying to persuade the neighboring bases and hasn’t returned. What should we do?”

“Why wasn’t I told sooner?!” Bian Changxi grabbed the black walkie-talkie on her desk—no signal at all. She strode to the floor-to-ceiling window and yanked the curtains open. Instantly, the city’s warning red lights flashed across her vision.

Outside, the base was in chaos under the night sky. In the distance, flames raged atop the city walls. Blinding bursts of supernatural power and gunfire flared and faded, as if trying to burn through the heavens themselves. Yet for every wave of mutant beasts that fell, more clambered up the walls behind them—endless, relentless.

Those grotesque, hulking bodies, those razor-sharp claws and gaping maws—even the monsters unleashed powerful abilities, hurling themselves at the defenders in a frenzy.

Even though her office was soundproofed to the extreme, Bian Changxi could almost hear the earth-shaking roars, the screams of people tumbling from the walls.

Her face turned ashen.

She’d survived seven years in the apocalypse and seen her share of zombie hordes and beast sieges. One glance told her this attack was no accident—it was orchestrated.

Something was off about those mutant beasts.

Besides, the city gates were thirty-one meters tall, the outer city was smooth and bare, and there was heavy firepower suppressing the area. How on earth had these things managed to scale the walls?

A chill settled in her heart. Forcing her hoarse, trembling voice steady, she spoke rapidly: “There are two electronic surveillance lines outside the base, three manned checkpoints, and we’ve sent out three recon drones. For mutant beasts to reach our doorstep without a sound, there must be a traitor! Someone wants to destroy Yunhua Base! Xu Hong, go find Yunhua right now, tell him to—”

She turned as she spoke—only to see Xu Hong, who’d been panicked a moment ago, now wearing a twisted, ferocious expression. She froze. A rocket pierced her chest, bursting through her back and shattering the window behind her with a bang, disappearing into the night.

Bian Changxi shuddered violently, doubling over as if she hadn’t yet realized what had happened. She clutched at the gaping wound in her chest, staring at the blackened ground, then slowly—so slowly—looked up at Xu Hong.

Her eyes were full of disbelief.

A few strands of hair clung to her sweat-dampened face, making this workaholic—who’d never known gentleness—look strangely fragile.

Xu Hong hesitated, a flicker of guilt in his eyes. The second attack he’d meant to deliver stalled for a moment. He turned his face away and said coldly, “Don’t blame me, sis-in-law. Blame yourself for standing in Brother Zhu’s way. Only if you die can he rightfully marry Cai Jiangmei. And it’s not just that—the zombies and mutant creatures are getting stronger. The Xiangjiang Base has to relocate inland because of rising sea levels, and wouldn’t you know it, we’re right on their path. You think they’ll pass up the chance to loot us? They’re one of the three major bases. We can’t fight them head-on, and if we retreat, Tengyang Base is right behind us—we’d just get swallowed up. Our only option is to ally with Feitian Base.”

“Feitian Base is pretty powerful. Their leader’s daughter, Cai Jiangmei, is a dual-ability ice and psychic user, mid-eighth rank, and a formidable fighter. She’s also head-over-heels for Brother Zhu… He’s doing this for the greater good. If you were in his shoes, you’d make the same choice.”

Bian Changxi’s eyes widened. “You… Zhu Yunhua planned this?” She couldn’t believe they’d conspired to kill her.

Of course. Xiangjiang was closing in from the front, Tengyang was entrenched in the capital behind, and the increasingly hostile mutant flora and fauna were everywhere. Second-tier bases like theirs had little room to survive—now they were truly caught between a rock and a hard place. More than half the base’s leadership insisted on holding out, strengthening defenses, and forming alliances with nearby bases. They were determined to weather this crisis.

But alliances were easier said than done. The bases had argued for days without reaching any workable agreement. Feitian, being weaker, had indeed suggested a marriage alliance, which got the other leaders scheming. But Zhu Yunhua already had a wife—her. Even if their marriage was loveless, how could a proud eighth-rank like Cai Jiangmei settle for being a concubine?

Bian Changxi had thought it had nothing to do with her.

Who would have guessed Zhu Yunhua wanted her dead?

A wave of sorrow washed over her, quickly replaced by deep hatred. “To kill me, you’d even unleash a beast horde? Quite the grand gesture.”

Xu Hong smirked. “Don’t worry, sis-in-law. All the important supplies have already been moved, and all the fifth-rank and above ability users have been transferred out. The only ones left defending the city are your loyalists and those who won’t obey Brother Zhu. In half an hour, Brother Zhu will ‘hear the news’ and rush back to ‘save’ us. The base won’t suffer much.”

Bian Changxi instinctively reached for her empty left wrist. Of course—her jade bracelet farm had been “borrowed” by Zhu Yunhua that morning, supposedly as a bargaining chip for negotiations. But really, it was to use the farm’s space to transfer supplies, wasn’t it?

And now, with the beast and zombie hordes as cover, not only would Zhu Yunhua kill her and eliminate dissenters, he’d also put the base’s 500,000 survivors in mortal peril. On the surface, the losses would seem catastrophic, making them worthless to Xiangjiang as a target for plundering.

What a move—feigning weakness to mislead the enemy! What a perfect escape plan!

Such cunning. Such cruelty. She was shocked and furious. After years of weathering storms together, even if there wasn’t much love, they’d been the closest of partners. Yet the true face of that gentle, handsome man was so hideous!

He’d hidden it well.

Bian Changxi let out a bitter, piercing laugh.

Xu Hong’s gaze flickered. He stepped closer and whispered, “Don’t hate Brother Zhu. No offense, but your ability is useless now. Medical tech has improved, agriculture is booming, and low-level wood powers are just dead weight. Plus, you’re only late sixth-rank—no help to Brother Zhu at all. And you’re too headstrong, too stubborn. Like this time—everyone wanted to stay and fight, but you insisted that the timing, terrain, and people weren’t in our favor, and we should retreat north, maybe even ask Tengyang for help…”

Suddenly, his eyes turned vicious. “Everyone knows Tengyang’s leader, Gu Xu, is your old flame. Were you planning to cuckold Brother Zhu in broad daylight? Do you know how humiliating that was for him?”

Bian Changxi’s laughter stopped abruptly. She snapped, “There’s nothing between me and Gu Xu!”

“Oh? Who can say for sure?”

She glared at him, then slowly began to sneer. “You’ll get what’s coming to you. Just wait—you’ll regret this soon enough!” She staggered back, her shoulders hitting the glass already cracked by the fire blade. The entire window shattered with a crash, and she toppled backward, slamming into the ground below in a cloud of dust.

The people fleeing in panic nearby screamed in terror. Xu Hong frowned—he’d tried to grab her but missed. Now she’d drawn everyone’s attention. What now?

No matter. Dying in front of everyone was even better. He quickly put on a look of shock and concern, leaping down after her. The six-story drop was nothing to an eighth-rank fire user. He landed lightly, scooped up Bian Changxi, and cried out, “Sis-in-law, what happened? Even if you’re upset, you can’t just jump! What if you got hurt?”

As he shouted, he called to the crowd, “Quick! Get the medical team!”

Before he could finish, a powerful sense of danger struck him. Instinctively, he summoned his power, a shield of fire erupting from beneath his skin, bathing him in a red glow. But at that moment, green vines burst from the ground and from Bian Changxi’s body, their needle-sharp tips stabbing at him from every angle—his abdomen, the soles of his feet, his groin. Two wooden spikes, cold as death, shot straight for his eyes.

Xu Hong screamed, unleashing a pillar of fire two or three meters high, incinerating the vines and spikes instantly. But the “dead” Bian Changxi sprang up, drew two small black pistols from her thighs, and pressed them to Xu Hong’s eyes, pulling the triggers without hesitation.

Bang—

“Ah—!”

Xu Hong flung Bian Changxi away, rolling on the ground in agony.

She was thrown far, flames licking at her body until she looked like a fireball. She convulsed, but a faint smile played on her lips.

Xu Hong was finished.

In theory, an eighth-rank ability user feared nothing but missiles or nukes. But her pistols were loaded with bullets made from purified bone of a sixth-rank mutant tiger—large caliber, tremendous penetration, and aimed at the most vulnerable spot: the eyes. The bullets tore into his skull, the spinning force turning his brain to mush.

No brain, no heart—no matter how strong an ability user, death was certain. Unless a ninth-rank wood user intervened in time.

How many ninth-ranks were there in the world? Yunhua Base didn’t even have half of one.

Xu Hong had drugged her food to suppress her powers. She’d realized it when she tried to heal herself after the fire blade attack, so he’d let his guard down. But he’d forgotten—she was wood-type, specializing in healing. How could she not have countermeasures against poison?

Given the slightest opening, she’d be like a nail in the bone—unyielding, unkillable.

If only…

She suddenly remembered the year she’d rejected Gu Xu, the frost in his eyes as she left: “Zhu Yunhua is no good. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

She’d thought it was just a bitter remark, but it had come true.

If he knew what had happened to her, would he sneer and say she deserved it?

Bian Changxi gave a faint, bleak smile.

Her pupils dilated as she stared up at the oppressive, lightless sky. There was no warmth, no hope. In the distance, the screams of humans and the howls of beasts never ceased. The air reeked of death.

This wasn’t the world she wanted. Maybe it was time to leave.

******

Just had an interesting idea, so I made a few tweaks to this chapter."