No one expected that before the Mother died, she would lay such a sinister trap!
A main root vine, deeply submerged beneath the village entrance, suddenly launched an attack at this moment!
“Akui! Watch out!” Li Xinhu’s roar was distorted by fear.
Li Kui had just pulled open the car door when the massive vine, covered in menacing barbs, was already upon him, threatening to engulf and tear him apart!
Li Xinhu’s mind went blank, his body reacting before his thoughts. He used all his strength to lunge forward, pushing his brother away with all his might.
“Brother!” Li Kui stumbled from the push, falling to the ground.
And Li Xinhu, in his place, was fully exposed to the vine’s attack.
“Pfft—!”
A bone-chilling sound of flesh being pierced rang out.
The enormous vine passed straight through Li Xinhu’s chest, lifting him high into the air, then quickly retreated towards the ancestral hall.
Blood, like a bursting dam, gushed out along the vine’s thorns, staining the ground beneath him red.
Li Xinhu’s body convulsed violently. He lowered his head, staring in disbelief at the large gaping hole that had pierced his chest.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but only large mouthfuls of bloody foam emerged.
His gaze, passing over the vine that had taken his life, finally landed on his brother, whom he had desperately saved. In his eyes, there was pain, reluctance, but more than that, a sense of relieved satisfaction.
“Quick… go…”
He used his last ounce of strength to squeeze out two words.
Then, his head tilted, and he completely lost consciousness.
“No—! Brother—!”
Li Kui struggled to get up, wanting to rush towards his brother’s corpse, but A Mo, who had already jumped out of the car, held him back tightly from behind.
“Let me go! Let me go! I need to save my brother!” Li Kui was like a madman, struggling desperately, his fists raining down on A Mo’s body.
“He’s already dead! Li Kui! Calm down!” A Mo tightened his grip, his voice also hoarse with grief.
Su Wan and Xiao Han in the car were completely stunned by this bloody and cruel scene.
Su Wan covered her mouth, and the usual playful smile was gone from Xiao Han’s face, replaced only by endless shock and anger.
Lu Shiyan didn't hesitate. His lightning surged, not only cutting the vine that had pierced Li Xinhu’s body with a lightning blade but also unleashing several electric snakes, blasting the evil vine’s remains into pieces, charred and pulverized! “You’re asking for death!”
Li Xinhu’s body fell to the ground in the distance with a dull thud.
“Brother Lu… please… take my brother with us…” Li Kui stopped struggling, knelt on the ground, and pleaded to Lu Shiyan, sobbing uncontrollably.
Lu Shiyan looked at him, then at the large number of zombies beginning to gather in the distance, attracted by the huge commotion. Su Wan’s face was pale, his ability was almost exhausted, there was no time…
“A Mo, get Li Kui into the car.” Lu Shiyan’s voice, suppressed with great effort, sounded exceptionally cold, “We… leave.”
This meant that Li Xinhu’s body would be abandoned in this collapsing ruin.
“No! Brother Lu!” Li Kui suddenly looked up, his tear-streaked face full of despair and pleading, “My brother… we can’t leave him here! Please, Brother Lu! Take him, take him with us!” He tried to break free from A Mo’s grip, wanting to rush towards his brother’s cold corpse not far away.
A Mo held him tightly, his own eyes red, but he said nothing, simply following orders.
Lu Shiyan was expressionless, the scales in his heart long tilted towards the safety of the living.
A dead person, in the apocalypse, was not worth more people risking their lives for.
Just then, a slightly weak but firm voice spoke.
“I’ll do it. I’ll… put him in my space.” Su Wan leaned against the car door, her face terrifyingly pale from blood loss and overuse of her ability, but her eyes were exceptionally clear, “You guys get in the car quickly.”
She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the cramping pain in her abdomen, closed her eyes, frowned deeply, and concentrated all her thoughts.
This time, she could feel her mental energy being drawn out by an invisible hand, and the veins on her forehead slightly bulged.
Li Xinhu’s body was finally absorbed into her space.
After doing all this, Su Wan suddenly coughed, her knuckles gripping the car frame turning white, her vision blurring, and cold sweat instantly drenched her back. The familiar sinking pain in her abdomen returned.
She used her mind to clear a spot in a corner of her space, gently placed Li Xinhu’s remains there, and then found a clean sheet to cover him.
“Sister Su Wan… thank you! Thank you for giving my brother his final dignity!”
“Alright, drive quickly!”
The off-road vehicle roared angrily, its tires leaving two deep marks on the ground as it sped off into the distance.
The off-road vehicle drove for an hour through the wilderness, away from Changqing Village, and stopped at an abandoned highway service area.
A Mo sat beside Li Kui, taking out a first-aid kit and quietly treating Li Kui’s arm abrasions, his movements very gentle.
Su Wan sat in the car; she felt much better after absorbing the energy stone, but she simply couldn’t understand.
That man who always smiled honestly, silently followed behind Li Kui, and could carry two bags of rice by himself, had just become a gradually cooling corpse?
According to the apocalypse power ranking in the book… Li Xinhu, with his brute earth ability and fearless fighting style, was steadily ranked eighth.
But now, he died so suddenly, so aggrieved, without even getting the chance to awaken.
Was it because of her?
If she hadn’t transmigrated into the book, hadn’t led them down this path, hadn’t intruded into their lives like an uninvited guest…
Would Li Xinhu not have encountered this death, which wasn’t meant for him, today and here? Would he still have had the chance to grow into that powerful warrior?
A Mo searched the perimeter of the service area and finally stopped on a slightly raised small slope beside the road.
There were a few sparse, unnamed drought-resistant trees growing there, and underneath was relatively soft sandy soil. Compared to the broken stones and cement all over the service area, here he could at least be buried in the earth.
“This will do.”
Su Wan nodded, her face still pale. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, Li Xinhu’s remains quietly appeared on the clean sheet, lying peacefully next to the spot they had chosen.
Li Kui seemed to be pushed by an invisible hand, stumbling and falling beside his brother, his knees hitting the ground heavily.
He had been in a daze before, but now a suppressed sob finally escaped his throat, and his shoulders began to tremble violently: “Brother… oh, brother…”
A Mo stepped forward, pressing his palm heavily on Li Kui’s trembling shoulder. Then, he picked up half a rebar salvaged from an abandoned vehicle and began to laboriously dig into the hard ground.
Lu Shiyan silently picked up the only entrenching tool and dug with him. Around them, there was only the grating sound of metal rubbing against dirt, and Li Kui’s uncontrollable weeping.
Xiao Han stood to the side, his usual playful energy gone without a trace. He irritably kicked away a piece of gravel at his feet, then walked over and silently helped move the larger stones dug out by the other two.
The pit wasn’t dug deep, but it was enough. A Mo and Lu Shiyan worked together, carefully lowering Li Xinhu’s remains into the pit.
Li Kui reached out, trembling as he smoothed the sheet covering his brother’s face. He took off a slightly polished copper whistle from his neck—one his brother had made for him when they were children, which had called him home countless times from the fields—and gently placed it in Li Xinhu’s cool hand, gripping it tightly.
“Brother, rest assured…” Li Kui’s voice was hoarse beyond recognition, tears blurring his eyes again, “I… I will be fine… I will live… carrying your hopes, I will live well…”
A Mo silently began to fill the pit with the dug-out earth. Lu Shiyan and Xiao Han also helped without a word.