Su Wan's almond eyes narrowed slightly, the naturally upturned corners now filled with a chilling coldness.
These people were truly shameless.
"What about us?" The woman chuckled, her gaze roaming over Su Wan.
"You were useless in killing zombies, but when it came to snatching things, you were all quicker than the last. Do you even deserve these crystal nuclei?"
She paused, malice practically overflowing: "A delicate woman like you, wanting a piece of the pie? In the apocalypse, things that are only good to look at don't last long."
A Mo stepped forward, his tall figure shielding Su Wan behind him.
"We killed them, so they naturally belong to us."
"Oh, a bodyguard, huh?" The lanky man sneered at A Mo, shaking the blood-stained dagger in his hand.
"There are three of us, and only one of you can move, plus those two half-dead ones in the car. Be smart, hand over the crystal nuclei, and you'll suffer less."
A surge of anger boiled in Su Wan's chest.
These people's faces were more disgusting than zombies.
The woman even walked directly to a zombie that Su Wan had just fought desperately to cut down.
She kicked open the zombie's mangled head and reached in to rummage.
Her movements were crude and unseemly.
"This one's mine," she declared, lifting her chin.
"Get lost!" Su Wan growled.
The glowing blue crystal nucleus was pried out of the zombie's head by the woman and tossed in her fingertips.
She exchanged a look with the other two men, their faces full of greed.
The slightly plump man patted his bulging pockets.
The lanky man also weighed several crystal nuclei in his hand.
Su Wan just watched them quietly.
Against this kind of scum, only more direct methods would work.
Su Wan moved.
Her Tang blade, in the dim light, was so fast it left only an afterimage; a cold gleam flashed, and it was already at the lanky man's throat.
The still-wet black blood on the blade pressed against his skin.
The smiles on the three people's faces instantly froze.
"Huh?" The lanky man's mouth was still half-open, his pupils wide with astonishment.
He didn't seem to feel the coldness on his neck yet, subconsciously stuffing the crystal nuclei in his pocket.
"Little girl, are you not awake yet? Don't think you can act tough just because you're pretty. I've seen plenty of your kind, and I can make you cry and beg for mercy in minutes!"
"Crack!"
A crisp sound.
Su Wan raised her Tang blade and slammed the hilt hard across the lanky man's face.
The force was so great that it spun him half a circle, sending him crashing into the wall behind him, then sliding to the ground.
His face stung, a clear red mark quickly swelled, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
The lanky man clutched his face, both shocked and furious: "You f*cking... you dare hit me?! You bitch, you're asking for death!"
Su Wan was expressionless.
She didn't even look at the man on the ground, just flicked her Tang blade.
"Say one more word, and it won't be the hilt."
The other two were also stunned.
The slightly plump man subconsciously protected his pockets, quietly shrinking back.
"You... what do you want to do? Are you crazy?! This is outside the city, do you dare touch us?! Aren't you afraid our people will find you and make your life a living hell?!"
"Crack!"
Su Wan swung her Tang blade back, hitting the plump man's face with the hilt again.
His fat jiggled, and he stumbled backward, hitting the car door with a dull thud.
He clutched his face, not daring to say more.
"One retort, one slap," Su Wan said, enunciating each word. "Or, you can try whether my blade is faster or your mouths are harder."
The Tang blade in her hand lifted slightly, the black blood on its edge gleaming ominously in the dim light.
When the woman saw both men had been hit, her face instantly turned pale.
"Why should you! We painstakingly dug these out! You're unreasonable! Lunatic!"
"Hmph."
Su Wan didn't hesitate; her Tang blade instantly grazed the woman's cheek.
It wasn't a slap, but the faint sound of a blade slicing through flesh.
A streak of blood instantly appeared on her fair face, and drops of blood trickled down her chin.
The woman's scream was caught in her throat; she clutched her face, her body trembling like a sieve.
The lanky man, who had been dazed from the hit, saw the bloodstain on the woman's face and jolted, instantly sobering up.
He no longer dared to yell, spitting a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground, his eyes filled with venom, but he didn't dare to say another word.
"It seems none of you understood," Su Wan retracted her Tang blade, her gaze sweeping over the three people's faces one by one.
"The crystal nuclei, hand them over. Or, your lives, hand those over too. Choose one."
The plump man looked at his fallen companion and the bloodstain on the woman's face, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Su Wan's gaze swept over him, and he immediately swallowed his words, even letting out a frightened burp.
Inside the car.
Xiao Han's mouth was agape, and it took him a long time to squeeze out a few words from his throat: "I... what the f*ck?"
This... was this still the Su Wan who was too lazy to even twist open a bottle cap herself?
Lu Shiyan ignored Xiao Han.
His gaze had never left Su Wan from beginning to end.
The three people trembled violently, not daring to delay for even a moment.
The lanky man scrambled to his feet, fumbling nervously in his pocket for the crystal nuclei.
He then collected all the crystal nuclei from his two companions as well.
He held them in both hands, not daring to even lift his head.
The other two had pale faces and obediently handed over their shares as well.
Su Wan took the heavy bag of crystal nuclei, weighing it in her hand.
"Scram."
The three people looked as if they had received a great pardon, about to scramble away.
The woman had only run two steps when she couldn't help but look back.
Su Wan's icy gaze, and the still-wet black blood on her Tang blade, instantly reminded her of the beating she had just taken, and the fear of death, which gripped her instantly, making her legs go weak.
"Little girl... it's too dangerous outside, there are zombies everywhere... please, have mercy, let us stay here... even if it's just hiding by the door for one night! We'll leave as soon as it's light, we absolutely won't cause you any trouble!"
Her voice was trembling uncontrollably, her face full of fear and pleading.
Su Wan's lips curved into a slight arc.
"Want to die?"
Those simple two words instantly silenced the woman.
The lanky man and the plump man were even more terrified out of their wits.
They dragged and pulled the woman, stumbling as they tried to escape.
Inside the car, Lu Shiyan had been silently watching everything.
He tilted his head slightly, making a nearly imperceptible gesture.
Xiao Han took a deep breath, suppressing the churning qi and blood, and condensed a sharp green glow at his fingertips.
"Whoosh!"
A Wind Blade cut through the air.
The three figures who had just run a few steps froze, a line of blood spurting from their necks simultaneously, and they fell straight down.
That night, Lu Shiyan's high fever finally subsided, and his complexion regained some color.
Or perhaps, he was inherently different from ordinary people, with exceptionally strong recovery abilities, as his injuries had already healed by more than half, and he could already move with some effort.
Seeing his condition stabilize, the group finally decided to head back to the base.
A Mo checked the car's condition; fortunately, it could still start.
After clearing out the scattered zombies around them, the group, suppressing their exhaustion, once again set off on the road back to the base.
After driving for about two hours, a group of figures suddenly appeared among the broken walls and ruins by the roadside...
"Wait, is that..." Su Wan narrowed her eyes.
"Li Xinhu?"