Chapter 26: All Boasts Until Now

Su Miao was extremely tense, gripped by fear. Though these people wore smiles on their faces, the malice emanating from them was obvious—so blatant that they didn’t even bother to hide it.

“Hurry up and open the door! Move it aside a bit, and we’ll be able to get in!” said the man at the front, brandishing an axe, smiling as he spoke.

With a crack, the cabinet blocking the door was split almost in half.

Su Miao was terrified. Her hands trembled, but her crossbow bolt found its mark with uncanny precision, striking the axe-wielding man straight in the heart.

The axe tumbled to the floor. Clutching his chest, the man stared in disbelief at Su Miao, who, paralyzed by fear, was already reloading her crossbow with near mechanical speed.

He’d thought the weapon was merely a toy. Who could have told him the crossbow was real?

Damn it!

His body hit the ground, shocking everyone present.

He Weixin, the head of the small group, was stunned.

She had killed someone! Without the slightest hesitation, she had taken a life.

She looked like a young girl, terrified to the core, and yet her act of killing was so swift, so ruthless.

“Old Cat!”

“Damn you! I’ll kill you!” someone roared, charging at her with a sledgehammer.

The scene felt eerily familiar. Su Miao was so frightened that her hand shook, and another crossbow bolt shot out, once again piercing the attacker’s heart with deadly accuracy.

The man crashed into the gap in the barricade, his corpse sliding to the floor.

Su Miao was petrified.

She had already loaded a third bolt.

As another man made to rush forward, He Weixin shouted, “Don’t move!”

Su Miao flinched, nearly firing her freshly loaded bolt by accident.

But the gap the men had hacked in the cabinet wasn’t wide enough yet.

The rest of them couldn’t get through; their view was blocked.

If she fired now, the bolt wouldn’t be able to kill instantly.

If the door hadn’t been blown apart—if it could be opened normally—she might have been able to shoot them one after another.

“We were wrong! Please, spare my brothers, give us a way to survive!” He Weixin fell to his knees outside, pleading loudly.

“Boss, what are you doing?”

“She killed Old Cat and the others! Let’s take her down together and avenge our brothers!”

“There are six of us—are we really afraid of a little girl?”

The men around him shouted, each more indignant than the last, unable to comprehend He Weixin’s actions.

“Shut up!” He Weixin’s face was taut with veins, and he roared at his companions once more.

How could he explain? What was there to say?

Didn’t they see that the two brothers who’d charged in had been killed instantly by her crossbow?

Both bolts had struck straight at the heart. Once could be called luck, but twice?

What was more terrifying was that he saw Su Miao’s body trembling with fear, looking as if she were about to collapse, and yet she had killed two men with unerring precision.

Who could achieve such feats in such a state?

The more he thought about it, the more chilling it became.

“The ones who tried to hurt you are dead now. We didn’t lay a hand on you—please, spare us! We promise never to bother you again! We’ll even warn others to stay away!”

“I beg you!” He Weixin pleaded loudly.

Through the broken gap in the cabinet, Su Miao regarded the man kneeling outside in silence.

She hesitated. If the six men outside truly went all out in their escape, killing them all in an instant would be difficult.

But if letting them go meant she’d be left in peace, perhaps it was a fair trade.

After all, the apocalypse had only just begun. There would be blizzards, freezing cold, heatwaves, and more disasters ahead. In the end, those who survived would become fewer and fewer.

A man willing to kneel and beg for his brothers’ lives still retained some shred of humanity.

Thus, the kind-hearted Su Miao decided to give them a chance.

She lowered her crossbow for the moment, simply watching them without a word.

“Thank you for sparing us!” Realizing that her murderous intent had faded, He Weixin knelt and bowed his head outside the door.

“Hurry up—take Old Cat and the others away.”

“…”

“Boss!”

“Stop dawdling! If you still call me boss, move! If you don’t listen, then we’re no longer brothers!”

He Weixin was anxious, terrified that Su Miao might raise her crossbow again.

If she did, who knew how many more of his brothers would die? He might even lose his own life.

Since the world fell apart, He Weixin had led his brothers out of the city, escaping through blood and chaos—not because he was the most ruthless, but because he could recognize those who were.

People like Su Miao—who looked scared out of their wits, but killed without hesitation—were the most dangerous.

His brothers had never seen He Weixin so afraid before. Though they were disgruntled and confused by his scolding, they obediently carried the two corpses away, edging backward through the shattered cabinet, keeping their eyes on Su Miao the whole time.

Only after they’d retreated to safety did they quicken their pace and hurry off.

Once she was sure everyone had left, Su Miao’s heart gradually settled.

She really had been terrified just now.

After taking a few moments to compose herself, she placed the broken cabinet into her magical storage space, fetched a new one from another room, and blocked the door again.

When all was done, Su Miao went upstairs.

It was nearly time for dinner. She thought for a moment and decided to make a bowl of noodles for Xia Xiaoan.

As for herself, she’d have grilled fish.

It had been a long time since she’d eaten grilled fish.

…

Half an hour later.

He Weixin and his group returned to the villa they’d initially chosen.

To their surprise, they found a crowd of people already inside.

Those within were alarmed as well.

“Why are you bringing dead bodies in here? That’s bad luck!”

“Oh my god, this is terrifying—what happened to those two?”

“This is our place! Don’t bring dead people in here—get out!”

The people in the villa all spoke at once.

With two of his brothers dead, He Weixin was already seething with anger. Now, to find their chosen villa occupied, belongings scattered about, and their own luggage ransacked and strewn everywhere, his fury grew.

Back when they’d begun this journey together, he’d already wanted to kill some of these people.

At the time, everyone thought it was just a huge flood from torrential rain. However unpleasant others might be, they figured they could part ways when they reached the resort area. There was still some semblance of order.

But after encountering Su Miao at the resort, He Weixin realized that order no longer existed.

Someone here even possessed a forbidden weapon—a crossbow.

And someone had killed without a moment’s hesitation.

Two of his closest brothers, gone in the blink of an eye.

To prevent further deaths, He Weixin had cast aside his dignity, knelt, and begged Su Miao to spare them.

Now, back at the villa, he realized that compared to Su Miao, he’d been far too lenient with these people.

“Put Old Cat and the others down,” he said.

His brothers laid the two corpses in the center of the living room.

The villa’s occupants immediately protested, clamoring for He Weixin to take the bodies away.

“It’s pouring rain outside. Aren’t you afraid of bringing plague here by leaving bodies inside?”

“What’s wrong with you people? Are you trying to disgust us?”

“Corpses will start to rot overnight.”

“Move them out now!”

“If you love corpses so much, why don’t you go die with them?”

“…”

He Weixin didn’t respond.

He took a machete from one of his brothers and strode to the coffee table, hacking down with force. “Damn it! This villa belongs to us brothers! Who said you could take our things? Leave everything and get out!”

“If anyone dares take my stuff, you’ll be the next one lying there!”

With a crash, the tempered glass coffee table shattered into pieces.

Everyone around seemed cowed. They stared at He Weixin in silence, but none moved to leave.

He Weixin pointed the machete at those standing nearby. “Not going, huh? I’ll count to three. If you’re still here, my brothers and I will start cutting!”

“Three!”

“Two!”

“…”

“Wait!” a middle-aged man stepped forward. “What is the meaning of this? Can’t we talk this over? The villa doesn’t belong to you—it’s open to anyone. Why can’t we stay here? Just because someone died, you can’t—”

He Weixin’s blade came down.

The machete sliced from the man’s throat down to his right shoulder. Blood sprayed, splattering He Weixin’s face.

Too late, the man screamed, then fell over, lifeless.

“Are you leaving or not? Stay and you’ll end up like this idiot!” He Weixin growled at the remaining people, face twisted with rage.

“Ahhh!”

“Someone’s been killed!”

“Did anyone get that on video? Once the internet’s back, we’ll call the police!”

At the gruesome sight, some people screamed, some burst into tears, and others tried to rally the rest to fight back.

Without another word, He Weixin charged at the woman who had threatened to call the police, his bloodied blade in hand.

His brothers, also enraged, brandished their weapons and prepared to attack.

At once, those crowded in the living room dared not protest further and fled outside in a panic.

In their haste, they left behind all the food and belongings they’d brought into the villa.

“Shut the door!” He Weixin barked.

His brothers slammed the door and barricaded it, making sure no one could get in.

It was only then that someone noticed He Weixin’s hand was trembling as he gripped the machete.

This was the first time He Weixin had killed a man.

All those nights drinking, eating, and boasting about how each of them could fight their way through eight streets—those were just empty words.