Chapter 23: Heavy Losses

Meanwhile, Lin Qingqing gripped her ice blade in her right hand and charged toward Zhou Mang, accompanied by a flying ice blade.

It was only then that Zhou Mang realized he had been played. Provoked by Lin Qingqing time and again, his fury instantly overwhelmed his reason. He no longer cared about anything; there was only one thought in his mind: "Kill her!" He had to tear her limb from limb and burn her to ash to satisfy the hatred burning within him.

Seeing the ice blade hurtling toward him, Zhou Mang did not use a fireball to deflect it, but instead raised his flame-wreathed fist to meet it head-on.

Just as they were about to collide, the ice blade suddenly split into two. One aimed for Zhou Mang's fist, while the other veered sharply toward his eyes.

With a crisp "clang," the ice blade shattered. Zhou Mang’s fist was sliced by the shards, blood instantly staining his hand red. At the same time, he instinctively jerked his head to the side, narrowly missing the second blade. Although he avoided a direct hit to his eye, his left ear was sliced clean off.

Overcome by blinding pain, Zhou Mang ignored his bleeding ear. He clenched his left fist, wreathed in roaring flames, and swung at Lin Qingqing.

Lin Qingqing dodged sideways, twisted her wrist, and slashed her ice blade horizontally toward Zhou Mang's neck. Just as the blade was about to sever his bulging artery, a wall of fire suddenly erupted between them.

Lin Qingqing’s pupils contracted. She forced herself to stop, shifting the blade to block in front of her as she swept it against the wall of fire. Although her quick reaction saved her from being burned, she could not avoid Zhou Mang’s incoming fist. She managed a slight turn, taking the blow on her right shoulder guard.

The sound of cracking bone echoed from her shoulder. Lin Qingqing vomited a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward.

Zhou Mang did not fare much better. With a muffled grunt, he looked down at his abdomen, where one of the ice blades Lin Qingqing had hidden in the shadows had struck home. Cloaked by the darkness, the small blade had waited patiently, finally playing its part. Zhou Mang had been completely off guard. The blade sank deep into his flesh, its freezing energy eroding his body until it felt as if his very blood had frozen solid.

"You b*tch..."

Before he could finish, another ice blade struck, burying itself into his body. It was the second blade she had kept in reserve—her final strike. Her ability was now exhausted; she had only possessed twelve blades, and it was only thanks to Captain Xiao’s guidance over the past two days that she had managed to generate two extra.

Zhou Mang never expected that a hunter like him would be brought down by his own prey.

He collapsed to the ground, unwilling to accept his fate. He looked at Lin Qingqing, who sat slumped on the ground coughing up blood, and struggled to raise his arm. A fierce, desperate light ignited in his eyes. Using his final breath, he launched two fireballs at her. Lin Qingqing stared in horror as the flames roared toward her.

Without a second thought, she rolled on the ground, narrowly dodging the first fireball, and dove straight into a small fishpond.

"Sizzle!"

The fireball plunged into the water with her, its intense heat still dangerous even through the liquid. In her desperation, Lin Qingqing suddenly recalled the frozen lake from her dreams. The situation was almost identical. She instinctively waved her hand, and a thin, curved shield of ice instantly coalesced in front of her, blocking the now-diminished fireball.

"Saved!"

"Hah..." Lin Qingqing surfaced, gasping for air. She struggled to climb out of the pond and immediately looked toward where Zhou Mang had fallen. "No, I can't let him turn into a zombie!"

Struggling to her feet, she picked up her fallen ice blade and moved step by step toward his corpse. Seeing his eyes still wide open in death, she closed her own for a moment, then used her left hand to raise the ice blade and hacked off his head.

"Snap!" The ice blade shattered, and the bloodied head rolled away.

...

The three-story building continued to burn. By now, Xiao Pengfei and the others had led the surviving residents to safety. By the time dawn approached, all survivors had reached a secure area. Of the hundred or so residents who had followed them from the Furong residential complex, only about thirty remained. Most had perished in the catastrophe, and the military squad had lost one of their own.

That soldier had been bitten by a civilian who had just turned into a zombie. Xiao Pengfei had been forced to end his life. The base had developed serums to improve physical condition and enhance abilities, but there was still no way to stop those bitten by zombies from turning.

His soldiers were elites, brothers who had shared life and death. They had weathered countless dangers, yet he never imagined they would lose someone in a small agritainment resort like this.

"How is the headcount? Who is missing?" Xiao Pengfei lit a cigarette. He wasn't asking about the civilians. Lu, his subordinate, knew best; he counted the people he recognized one by one.

"Excluding us, there are thirty-six survivors. Shi Kai is here, but his sister died. We couldn't find Miss Lin, and Zhou Mang’s entire group is gone too!"

Lu’s tone was heavy. They all understood the truth behind the disaster, but no one had expected that group to be so insane. When Shi Kai heard that the fire and the zombies were likely Zhou Mang’s doing, he was stunned. "Was it because I led everyone out that Zhou Mang became dissatisfied?"

Xiao Pengfei glanced at him without speaking. That might have been a factor, but it certainly wasn't the main one. The true motive likely centered on that Miss Lin.

"That girl is probably doomed," Xiao Pengfei sighed. Shi Kai curled his lip, thinking Xiao Pengfei was just reluctant to lose such a beautiful woman.

Fearing further trouble, the group did not dare to delay any longer and pushed forward toward the base at full speed.

On another road ahead of them, three vehicles were also heading to the Rongcheng base. There were eleven people in total, including six ability users. Unlike the disheveled state of Xiao Pengfei’s group, these people were traveling in comfort, their vehicles packed with supplies. The leader was none other than Qian Mao.

Lin Qingqing knew nothing of this. After dressing her wounds, she took advantage of the fire on the three-story building, which was temporarily holding back the zombies in the front yard. She climbed over the back wall and followed a small path, hiding in the woods behind the resort.

The slopes here were steep and the trees dense; the zombies could not reach her. It was the perfect place to recover. Without her abilities, she felt unsafe, and she could not settle her mind without the means to protect herself.

Lin Qingqing climbed a tree, intending to recover her strength before going to find Xiao Pengfei. By then, in the safety of numbers, even if Zhou Mang had accomplices left, they would be unable to do anything to her.