Scarlet flames roared to life, swallowing the three cars surrounding them in moments.
Brother Ji clutched his arm and writhed across the ground in agony. From fingertips to elbow, his entire arm had been burned black. Tears and snot smeared across his face, and the swagger he’d shown while using his ability earlier had vanished without a trace.
Beside him, the man who had demanded their jeep had met the same fate as his boss. Both his arms hung limply at his sides after Xiao Jin tore through them. The pain was so intense he couldn’t even scream anymore.
Just moments ago, “Brother Ji” had been treated like a king surrounded by loyal followers. But now, those same underlings had fled as far away from him as possible. They stared in terror at the blazing cars, then at the two men rolling on the ground in pain, fear written all over their faces.
So this… this was what a true ability user looked like.
The only ability users they had seen before were people like Brother Ji—enhancing a single arm, throwing punches harder than normal during fights. Sure, it seemed impressive, but it still felt like nothing more than glorified street brawling.
But this man…
With a mere wave of his hand, he created a sea of fire. The flames clung like parasites to the bone, impossible to extinguish. He hadn’t even needed to move. Just standing there calmly, he had effortlessly destroyed the arm of the strongest man they knew.
So this was a real ability user.
The group grew even more terrified. Mo Chu even spotted someone who had wet his pants. One boy who looked barely grown was crying so hard he was covered in tears and mucus, looking pitiful beyond words.
But Mo Chu didn’t pity them in the slightest.
These people were far too practiced at this. It was obvious this wasn’t the first—or second—time they’d done something like this. If she pitied them, then who would pity the people they had preyed on?
Mo Chu had already become familiar with the cruelty people showed each other in the apocalypse. What she hadn’t expected was how quickly humanity embraced that cruelty. The apocalypse hadn’t even lasted half a month, and some people were already reveling in their own viciousness.
She jumped down from the roof of the car, twirling her dagger lazily between her fingers as she walked past Brother Ji and his loyal lackey toward the others.
As she passed him, Brother Ji suddenly lifted his head. The hatred in his eyes when he looked at her was bone-deep.
Mo Chu barely cared how a defeated enemy looked at her. But Li Chen cared.
Following behind her, he slowed as he passed Brother Ji. Leaning down slightly, he spoke in a low voice only the two of them could hear.
“Look at her one more time, and I’ll burn your eyes out too.”
His tone was calm—so calm it didn’t even sound threatening. As though he were merely stating a fact.
Yet Brother Ji’s eyes widened instantly in horror. He looked at Li Chen as if staring at a demon crawling out of hell itself.
Li Chen straightened again, the darkness in his eyes disappearing as quickly as it came. In the blink of an eye, he was once again that stunningly handsome young man with an unreadable calmness about him.
Meanwhile, as Mo Chu approached, the group’s reaction was completely different from before. The amazement and lust they’d shown toward her beauty had turned into naked fear.
Now, they looked at her less like a beautiful woman and more like some bloodthirsty demon.
They clearly wanted to run, but under her gaze, none of them dared move. Their terrified expressions were almost absurdly comical.
Mo Chu considered herself someone with principles. She dealt with the people actually responsible. Besides, there was no point wasting effort on these ordinary people. Without Brother Ji backing them, they wouldn’t be capable of causing much trouble anyway.
Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to think so.
The moment she got close, one of them suddenly let out a terrified shriek, rolled his eyes back—
—and fainted on the spot.
Mo Chu: “…”
With courage like that, and you still dared run around bullying people?
She walked over and nudged him with her foot. To her surprise, he had genuinely fainted instead of pretending.
Mo Chu fell silent for a moment before pointing at the unconscious man, then at Brother Ji and his crippled lackey.
“You lot,” she said flatly, “take these three and get lost. The farther, the better. Don’t let me see you again.”
The group exchanged uneasy looks.
Seeing that no one moved, Li Chen added calmly from behind her, “Didn’t you hear her?”
The entire group shuddered.
They sprang into action immediately. Some bent down to drag away the unconscious man, while others forced their trembling legs to carry them toward Brother Ji.
One of them crouched beside him, trying to lift him onto his back.
Li Chen said lightly, “No need to carry him. Too slow. Drag him.”
Everyone froze.
Brother Ji looked up at Li Chen with furious hatred—but the moment their eyes met, the anger instantly stiffened into fear.
Li Chen repeated, “Drag him.”
Brother Ji’s underling gritted his teeth. Not daring to look at his boss, he grabbed his shoulder and started dragging him away. But Brother Ji was too heavy. Halfway through—
Bang.
He lost his grip and dropped him hard onto the ground.
Brother Ji broke out in cold sweat from the pain. Somehow, this hurt even more than having his arm burned alive earlier.
His underling was sweating just as badly, nervously glancing at Li Chen.
“If one person can’t do it,” Li Chen said mildly, “then get another.”
After a tense silence, another man hurried over. Avoiding Brother Ji’s gaze, he grabbed the other shoulder.
At last, they managed to drag him forward.
“There,” Li Chen said with a faint smile. “Wasn’t that easy?”
The two men forced out smiles uglier than crying.
Li Chen curled his lips slightly. “Alright. Get going.”
And so Mo Chu watched as the three of them were dragged away like dead dogs.
The man whose arms Xiao Jin had bitten apart had already passed out from pain. Brother Ji, however, was still conscious. Judging by his expression, though, he probably wished he wasn’t.
The worst part was that Li Chen simply stood there watching them.
They didn’t even dare stop dragging Brother Ji.
So they kept hauling him across the ground the entire way, until they disappeared completely from Mo Chu’s sight.
Mo Chu turned to look at Li Chen.
His expression was perfectly calm, as though none of this had anything to do with him.
Thinking back on everything he’d just done, she could only sigh inwardly.
Li Chen really was the same man who, in the future, would torture Chu Ming for three days and three nights before killing him.
When Li Chen wanted someone to suffer, he had endless methods.
As she was thinking that, Li Chen suddenly turned and met her gaze directly.
He looked at her quietly for a moment before asking in a low voice,
“Do you think what I did was cruel?”
Cruel?
Mo Chu blinked, genuinely confused.
Why would he even ask that?
Was that supposed to be cruel?
But because she paused too long without answering, Li Chen seemed to misunderstand something. His expression dimmed slightly.
Then Mo Chu finally realized what he was thinking—and burst out laughing.
Li Chen looked up at her in surprise.
The girl standing before him smiled so brightly that faint dimples appeared at the corners of her lips. She shook her head and said,
“I actually thought it was pretty funny. Your method was… well, honestly? It was satisfying to watch.”
Li Chen stared at her smile for a second, almost forgetting how to react.
Then he found himself smiling too.
After that, he heard her ask,
“Then do you think it was cruel when I had Xiao Jin bite someone’s arm clean off?”
Li Chen answered without hesitation.
“He brought it on himself.”
Mo Chu laughed again. Rising onto her toes, she patted his shoulder lightly.
“Well, there you go. Don’t overthink it. Let’s keep moving.”
“Mm.”
She didn’t think he was cruel.
That alone made him feel strangely happy.
The two of them set off once more. This time, they traveled without incident for nearly an hour before they were forced to stop again.
A bridge ahead had collapsed.
Below it stretched a river more than ten meters wide. Unless they suddenly learned how to fly—and somehow carry the car with them—there was no way across.
After getting out to inspect the situation, they returned to the car and decisively drove off the main highway, taking smaller and smaller side roads. The farther they went, the worse the roads became, until eventually even pavement disappeared, replaced by uneven dirt paths.
After another half hour of jolting along like that, Mo Chu finally couldn’t take it anymore.
The two stopped beside a small river to rest.
Night was beginning to fall by then.
There was already another vehicle parked nearby, surrounded by five or six young men and women. Some were gathering dry branches to start a fire, while another was opening the trunk to take food out.
The moment Mo Chu’s vehicle approached, the young man at the trunk immediately slammed it shut and turned toward them with sharp vigilance.
The others also stopped what they were doing, subtly moving closer together. There was obvious wariness—and faint hostility—in their eyes.
Mo Chu understood their caution.
She gestured for Li Chen to drive farther away. Following the riverbank for another three hundred meters or so, they finally stopped and got out.
The two groups watched each other from a distance.
To Mo Chu, this was the perfect distance for strangers camping nearby during the apocalypse. Far enough to avoid invading each other’s privacy and show there were no bad intentions—yet close enough that they could still help each other if something dangerous appeared.
After all, if a high-level zombie attacked, isolated groups would only be wiped out one by one.
But clearly, the people across from them didn’t think so.
Mo Chu watched one of the men speak to a girl who seemed to be their leader. The two even appeared to argue for a bit. In the end, the entire group got back into their vehicle and retreated several hundred more meters before stopping again.
Only then did they resume gathering wood and preparing camp.
Apparently, that was what they considered safe.
Mo Chu didn’t comment.
She quickly gathered wood herself and started a fire. After watching her for a moment, Li Chen suddenly took Xiao Jin and headed into the river.
Mo Chu stared after them, confused.
A little while later, both man and beast emerged from the water again.
Li Chen carried two plump fish in his hands.
Xiao Jin had another clamped proudly in his jaws.
The moment Mo Chu saw those fat fish, her mouth practically watered. Instantly, a dozen different recipes flashed through her mind.
Unfortunately, reality was cruel.
They had absolutely no cooking equipment.
Watching Li Chen walk over, she laughed helplessly.
“So… how exactly are we supposed to eat these?”
“Fish soup,” Li Chen answered calmly.
Mo Chu: “???”
With what? Did they suddenly have a pot? Bowls?
Without another word, Li Chen handed her the fish, then walked behind a tree and dragged out an old rusty metal bucket.
Using Mo Chu’s dagger, he cut away most of the bucket’s sides, leaving only the bottom and part of the wall intact—creating a crude makeshift pot.
A flicker of flame appeared in his palm and swept around the metal once.
All the grime and rust instantly burned away.
Then he carried it to the river, rinsed it clean, and returned holding a perfectly usable iron pot.
Li Chen lifted it slightly.
“Now we have one.”
Mo Chu: “…”
Seriously.
Which one of them had survived six years in the apocalypse?
So in the end, they made fish stew.
There were no seasonings. Mo Chu could only add a little baijiu to remove the fishiness. But after so long without a single hot meal, the moment the water in the pot began to boil and the faint aroma drifted out, her appetite exploded.
And right then—
she heard an unmistakable sound nearby.
Gulp.
“Slurp.”
