Chapter 91: The Key, the Square and the Avenue (Second Update)

Bian Changxi wasn’t trying to provoke him—she was just telling the truth. She genuinely wanted Shadow to leave, and her mocking of A-Gang was sincere too. At what she thought might be her last moments, she couldn’t help but ridicule him a little—she really looked down on the guy.

But as it turned out, her words had an unintended effect.

Shadow had actually been waiting for A-Gang to let his guard down. He could feel the skin and flesh on his back melting, the toxins seeping in, his body growing stiff and heavy. That shot A-Gang fired earlier hadn’t actually hit him—he’d shifted position at the last second, pretending to be wounded just to make his opponent relax.

He had to take out these three while he still had strength left.

He lowered his head slightly, gathering power in his hands, ready to strike.

A-Gang was also from the military, also a special forces soldier, but even among special forces there were differences. To Shadow, this guy was full of openings. Even though he was unarmed now, even though the odds had shifted, he still saw a chance to win.

One step, two steps—he approached. Just as A-Gang reached out and his hand brushed Shadow’s hair, Shadow exploded into action. He twisted A-Gang’s arm, sprang up, and drove his knee hard into A-Gang’s abdomen.

Crack!

A-Gang’s shoulder was dislocated, his abdomen caved in, and he couldn’t even cry out. Shadow jerked his head forward and up, smashing A-Gang’s jaw, making his head snap back as a spray of blood burst from his mouth.

Shadow let go of his hand, ready to snap his neck—but just then, the elite man nearby suddenly opened fire.

Shadow staggered back.

All of this happened in an instant. Bian Changxi was stunned for a split second, then blurted out without thinking, “Condense mist—make a blade! Cough, cough…”

A-Gang wasn’t just a paper tiger; those two blows hadn’t been fatal. He reacted immediately, lunging forward to grapple with Shadow. Shadow, distracted by Bian Changxi’s words, hesitated for a split second—and in that moment, a thick layer of ice swept down over him from above.

He froze in place, caught in a strange pose—turned into an ice statue.

A-Gang let out a wild yell: “Ha! That’s what you get for underestimating me, for trying to ambush—”

His words were cut short.

A flash of white light swept across his throat, glinting in the air before embedding itself in a tree stump—a thin, white, curved blade, which then dissolved into mist and vanished.

A thin red line appeared on A-Gang’s neck.

The next moment, the line split open with a squelch. Blood spurted out, his head thrown back by the force, nearly falling off his body.

But it didn’t—some skin and flesh at the back of his neck still held it on, leaving his head dangling.

The upside-down head wobbled twice, the wide-open eyes still twitching, filled with disbelief.

Boss Zhang and the elite man stared so wide-eyed it was a wonder their eyes didn’t fall out. They couldn’t even process what had just happened.

Wasn’t Shadow at a disadvantage? How did the tables turn so quickly?

A chill ran through the elite man’s heart as he looked at Shadow’s outstretched hands—his fingers frozen in place, but not actually encased in ice.

Before he could say or do anything, he felt a cold, then hot sensation at his throat. He instinctively touched it, saw the blood on his hand, and collapsed backward in terror.

His death was less gruesome than A-Gang’s.

Because the mist blade had already slashed A-Gang’s throat first; by the time it reached him, it had lost most of its power.

Boss Zhang screamed. He couldn’t keep up with this kind of terrifying fight. He drew his pistol, looking around in panic.

Bian Changxi was also stunned, staring blankly at Boss Zhang. Suddenly, she shouted, “Watch your back!”

Strange—why warn him?

It made no sense, but Boss Zhang didn’t think about it. He spun around in panic, and a second later, a bullet hit him in the back, sending him sprawling.

Bian Changxi, left hand gripping an ordinary pistol, right hand bracing the left, both hands shaking uncontrollably, somehow still managed to hit him.

She kept her gun trained on him, making sure he could only groan and couldn’t get up, before inching her way toward the frozen Shadow. He was up on the slope, and she couldn’t climb up. After much effort, she managed to grab hold of him, only to slip and fall back down.

The slippery ice statue slid down with her, luckily not crushing her.

She quickly took out her small hatchet and carefully tapped at the ice around his head.

Fortunately, the ice wasn’t thick, and some of A-Gang’s hot blood had already melted parts of it. Soon, she broke the ice off Shadow’s face, revealing his unconscious, bruised features.

“Shadow?” She patted his face, anxiously checking his breathing—he was still alive.

Thank goodness. She tried to channel some energy into him, but with a pop, the tier-three crystal core in her hand crumbled to dust. She hurriedly switched to her last tier-two core, only to find she couldn’t absorb a single bit of energy from it.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t draw on the core. The last trace of energy in her body was stuck.

She froze, her hand sliding down the ice, mouth open, head drooping, her whole body filled with exhaustion.

A feeling of utter hopelessness.

She looked at her battered body, the pile of crystal core dust, her trembling limbs from overusing her powers, and thought of the person responsible for all this. Her cold, hateful gaze slowly turned to Boss Zhang as she shakily got to her feet.

Boss Zhang had managed to roll onto his side, struggling to get up. Oddly, the bullet didn’t seem to hurt or bleed, but he’d lost control of his limbs.

Bian Changxi walked over and looked down at him, giving a cold laugh. “So, you’re tougher than I thought. Should’ve killed you earlier.”

Boss Zhang’s lips moved, glaring at her in frustration. “Even if I failed, someone else will take over. Just you wait… No, actually, you’re almost done for too. Ha! Come to hell with me!”

Bian Changxi curled her lip, and suddenly a syringe appeared in her hand.

Boss Zhang’s eyes widened. “Spatial ability? You—”

Bian Changxi glanced at him with a hint of pity. “Looks like your boss didn’t tell you everything. Cough… This isn’t a spatial ability. It’s a…” She paused, “special ability.”

“Is it related to the jade bracelet?”

“Tell me—who sent you?”

Boss Zhang immediately shut his mouth.

Bian Changxi twirled the syringe between her fingers, her voice hoarse and strained. “Know what this is? I’m pretty sure it’s a truth serum. Never used it before. You’ll be my first test subject.”

She’d gotten this syringe from the 4S dealership. At first, she hadn’t known what it was, only that Gu Xu seemed to have something similar. Later, after guessing from the English words on the box, she figured it was probably some kind of interrogation drug.

Boss Zhang was clearly panicking. “Don’t try to fool me. If you had something like that, you’d have used it already.”

Bian Changxi said nothing, just jabbed the needle in.

Boss Zhang’s whole body went rigid, then he started convulsing and screaming in agony.

“Ahhh! I’ll talk, I’ll talk! It was Sun Buqun! Sun Buqun sent me! Save me, please!”

Sun Buqun? Not Zhu Yunhua?

“Who’s that? Not Zhu Yunhua?”

“Who’s Zhu Yunhua?” Boss Zhang wailed, unable to move his limbs, banging his head on the ground, snot, tears, and urine streaming out in pain. “Oh, wait, I remember—there’s someone by that name. He’s our employer’s rival. Our employer hired us to ruin his company… Ahhh! It hurts! I can’t take it! I really don’t know what he has to do with this! Sun was the one who told me to do it! Let me go! It’s not my fault!”

Suddenly, he started foaming at the mouth, convulsing violently, then stiffened and died, eyes wide open.

Bian Changxi stared blankly for a long moment, then her body gave out and she collapsed to the ground, finally lying flat on her back.

She lay there, arms and legs spread, staring dazedly up at the night sky above the forest.

Sun Buqun. Sun Buqun.

She vaguely remembered the name—he really had been Zhu Yunhua’s rival before the apocalypse. But why him? Why this random person?

Then she laughed at herself. Who knew if she’d even survive—what was the point of thinking about this?

Right—call for help!

She finally remembered, and fumbled for her earpiece from the farm. But her left fingers wouldn’t even close. The earpiece was in her palm, but she couldn’t bring it to her ear.

Heh, she really was out of strength.

Even if she called for help, Gu Xu was probably still in Longyue Town.

She closed her eyes in exhaustion.

“Hiss—hiss—” A strange, hoarse sound echoed, along with the slow dragging of something long across the ground. That peculiar, fishy stench filled the air again. Bian Changxi’s heart skipped a beat. She opened her eyes and looked up.

A pair of huge, blood-red eyes peered out from between the trees.

Shadow’s mist had dissipated. Her mind was fuzzy, but she still recognized the mutant snake.

Why wasn’t this thing dead yet?

She gave a bitter smile. Was this the end for her?

Her smile froze. No—she couldn’t die in a snake’s belly. Nothing could be more disgusting.

She could still enter the farm, but what about Shadow…?

She gritted her teeth, used all her strength to roll over—but she really had no energy left. She was still several meters from Shadow, and wanted to cry.

The snake’s head appeared over the slope.

That massive head, the thick, stinking saliva, the heavy, rasping breath—Bian Changxi was paralyzed, staring at it in despair.

How fast was a snake? With one lunge, it could swallow Shadow in a blink. She even wondered if, after Shadow was eaten, she should escape into the farm.

That felt disloyal, but being eaten by a snake… ugh…

Her head was spinning, random thoughts swirling. Through the snake’s gaping mouth, she seemed to see a dark lump inside—was that a human head?

And those bulges in its belly—what were those?

Her stomach churned, goosebumps rising.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the woods.

“No one move!”

“Search everywhere!”

“They—they all ran into the woods!” That sounded like Wei Xiaodong.

A crowd of people rushed in.

“Shadow!”

“Miss Bian—!”

Bian Changxi’s spirits lifted. Rescue had arrived. She bared her teeth at the mutant snake: “Go on! Get lost!”

ps:

Thanks to Long Shao ll1 for the safety charm! (╯3╰)"