It was noon and the sun was getting higher. In winter, the warm sun shines brightly, dispersing the thin black fog, making those who are running a little hot.
On a street corner in the north of Shashi City, footsteps and a few conversations gradually came out.
"Sister Qian, hurry up, you're going to lose me."
"Xiaoxiao, which way did that person go?"
"Here! Brother Lang Hua, follow closely, I'm going to speed up."
If you could look down from a high altitude at this moment, you could see a figure of three in front and four in back, passing through this block in an instant.
The figure at the front seemed to be very familiar with this area, and his running and climbing movements were very flexible, allowing the two groups to maintain a moderate distance. After Yang Xiaoxiao used the "Phantom" ability to accelerate, it can be observed that this distance is shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Is it because you are hiding your cleverness to save my face?
"Oh, this girl Xiaoxiao..." Lin Qian sighed inadvertently, activated Shen Mian's evolutionary energy, and managed to follow her.
It turned out that when Lang Hua and the other three left the Black Street, they rushed all the way to Shashi People's Hospital in the north of the city. Halfway through, Lin Qian discovered that someone was spying on them secretly.
Lang Hua remembered the "black-robed man incident" he encountered before and wanted to find out.
Unexpectedly, this figure was extremely slippery. When he saw that he was exposed, he immediately retreated without any hesitation. Lang Hua couldn't help but secretly praise him for his strong vigilance. But before they can see the true face of the other party, how can Lang Hua and the others stop here?
The person being chased was overly familiar with the terrain. If Yang Xiaoxiao hadn't been blessed with the speed ability "Phantom", he might have been thrown away.
However, after going back and forth, Lang Hua was certain that this person should not be the same as the previous black-robed man.
Suddenly, the figure stopped in front of an old bungalow. "He" wore a heather gray hoodie, a thick peach skin sweatshirt that was a bit too wide, and carried a plain wooden sheathed long sword behind his back. If Lang Hua's prediction was correct, "he" should be wearing wide-leg pants from the ancient swordsmanship hall.
Turning around, half of his face was exposed under his baseball cap. She looks delicate and cute, she turns out to be a girl.
Lang Hua couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that the person spying on them was this harmless-looking girl?
The girl kept breathing white out of her mouth, like a wounded trapped animal, nervously glancing back and forth at the faces of the two people in front of her.
Lin Qian was not good at speed, so she arrived at this moment and joined Lang Hua and Yang Xiaoxiao.
Then she was surprised: "She is also a little girl."
Yang Xiaoxiao seemed to be dissatisfied with the word "ye", so she curled her lips and asked the person opposite: "Hey, what's your name? Why are you spying on us?"
"Lan Xi." Lang Hua said lightly.
Lin Qian was wondering how Lang Hua knew, when she suddenly saw a wall with mottled graffiti, and she suddenly understood and stopped talking.
The wall was covered with dirty words smeared with paint. Even if it was painted over with white paint, one area after another was covered up, but the rest was still as dazzling as the midday sun:
"Lan Dahe, if you don't pay back the money before the end of the year, use your daughter Lan Xi to pay off the debt!"
"It is only natural to pay back debts!"
"The deadline is December 31st. If you still can't get the money, ask your daughter to sell it as soon as possible and pay back the interest!"
"The old guy won't pay back the money, so he has no shame in asking for money."
"Lan Dahe, you bastard who doesn't pay back your money. Your daughter Lan Xi must also be a bastard!"
Debt collection and debt collection? So is it loan sharking or gambling?
Lin Qian vaguely guessed some truth in her heart.
"Girl, you..."
Before she could speak, she was interrupted by the roar of the girl Lan Xi.
"Go! Get out of here! You are not welcome here!"
The figure was trembling, as if enduring great humiliation and fear. She drew a long sword from behind and pointed at Lin Qian and Yang Xiaoxiao: "Get out of here! Get out of here!"
Lang Hua narrowed his eyes, reached out and grabbed Yang Xiaoxiao and blocked him behind him. Then he took a step forward and stopped in front of Lin Qian and Yang Xiaoxiao.
He said: "We don't care about your family's private affairs, but you have been spying on us before, so you have to give us an explanation, right?"
"Let's go, let's go! I didn't want to provoke you, don't force me!"
Such a tone was hardly a request. Being driven away inexplicably... made the three-person team feel a little unhappy.
"What a sword!" Lang Hua looked at the sword and said slowly.
His expression was a little playful: "It was just a blade I made after the disaster. What a pity for this good sword."
"Shut up, you!"
Seeing that the three of them had no intention of leaving, Lan Xi felt anxious and thrust out her sword.
"Well done."
Lang Hua casually pulled out a bayonet, leaned over and waved his hand gently, and the blade was swung away by the back of the sword. The long sword tilted to the other side and lost its accuracy.
He chuckled and said: "With this little strength, is the girl using a sword to embroider with me?"
"Go to hell!" The girl was furious. She turned around and raised her sword, but was blocked by Lang Hua.
Stab, chop, wipe, sweep, several rounds passed. Lan Xi failed to touch Lang Hua at all, but was pushed slowly by Lang Hua and took six steps backward.
"You have a good foundation, but you're not a proficient player. Your advantage is your agility. Sticking to swordsmanship routines is really a waste of resources."
Lang Hua commented: "The Three-foot Plum Frost Sword is suitable for a girl like you. Your master is not stupid enough to fool you with the heavy Seven-Star Longyuan."
He suddenly turned his head to Yang Xiaoxiao and said, "Leave it to you." Then he passed Lan Xi and walked towards the house.
"I want to see what dirty secrets you are hiding." He said solemnly.
Lan Xi was immediately stunned, feeling anxious, and stood up to draw her sword, but was stopped by Yang Xiaoxiao who was holding a pair of daggers.
"Now your opponent is me." Yang Xiaoxiao smiled.
"Get out of the way!" Lan Xi was in a panic, and her men were even more disorganized.
She is just an ordinary evolver after the catastrophe, with only a slight improvement in speed. She is no match for someone with speed abilities like Yang Xiaoxiao.
Yang Xiaoxiao also deliberately let go, fearing to hurt the girl. Anyway, her mission is just to "stop Lan Xi".
Lin Qian also walked through the hall and entered Lan Xi's home.
Suddenly Yang Xiaoxiao heard Lin Qian scream: "Xiaohua, why is there a black corpse here!"
This sentence only made Yang Xiaoxiao slightly stunned, but it stimulated Lan Xi to almost go crazy.
Lan Xi's sword skills were suddenly messy. Yang Xiaoxiao was distracted and could not hold back her strength, penetrating Lan Xi's sleeve and creating a big gap.
Blood immediately flowed down. And even if Lan Xi tried her best to take the knife from Yang Xiaoxiao, she still had to stumble into the house.
"No!" Lan Xi cried out.
When Yang Xiaoxiao entered the house, he saw exactly this scene:
The black corpse of a man was tied tightly to an armchair with thick hemp rope.
Lan Xi fell on the chair leg and stood guard with his sword.
And Brother Lang Hua, who stood still and stared, and Sister Qian, who was at a loss...
Lang Hua was silent for a moment and finally said: "Lan Dahe? Your father?"
"Don't hurt him, don't hurt him." Lan Xi's hand holding the sword kept trembling, and blood flowed down from the sleeve, eventually dripping to the ground.
The black corpse coveted the blood dripping from her. It kept roaring and struggling with its body, causing the solid wood armchair to tremble.
Yang Xiaoxiao suddenly became silent. I wonder if she also remembered her father, whom she had never met.
Lin Qian comforted her: "Miss Lan Xi, please calm down..."
Lang Hua suddenly interrupted her: "That's not your father anymore."
He drew the long knife behind him and said calmly: "Lan Xi, get out of the way."
"No, don't. It's my fault, I provoked you." Lan Xi burst into tears unknowingly, "Brother, please go. Please, please let us go..."
Lang Hua frowned: "Let you go, are you waiting for him to eat you, and then come and collect the bones? Look at what it looks like now! It just wants to drink your blood now!"
He seemed a little angry: "Lan Xi, please see clearly! It is not your father now, it is a black corpse, a zombie monster that wants to eat your flesh and drink your blood!"
"Don't kill him, don't kill him. Please, please let him go. It's my fault, it's all my fault..."
The girl suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to Lang Hua in front of her. Lin Qian felt distressed and pulled her up.
"If you can't do it, we can do it for you..." After a few pauses, Lang Hua suggested, "Or let him go, leave him, and live elsewhere. I can pretend that I didn't see what happened today. .”
The expression on this girl's face, who was similar to Yang Xiaoxiao, was already a little numb and dull.
She repeated her pleading words: "I will take good care of him, I will not let him eat people...don't kill him, please don't kill him. The master was torn to pieces by the black corpse and eaten, and he is the only one I have. Please You, please..."
Tears rolled down her cheeks one after another, falling on the peach skin sweatshirt, breaking and splashing, turning into smaller water droplets, making the surface fabric look like a sweater that had been wet on a foggy day.
Lin Qian said warmly: "Miss Lan Xi, why are you spying on us? Can you give us a reason?"
"Could it be?" Lang Hua suddenly narrowed his eyes and asked in a deep voice, "Do you want to kill us who are passing by so that we can feed your zombie 'good father'?"
"No, I'm not spying on you." Lan Xi shook her head desperately, her words gradually failing to form a complete sentence.
She stumbled and said: "I didn't want to kill... I thought it was them... They came back. They are very vicious... I followed to check because I was worried."
Lang Hua sighed: "I don't care who those people are, and I don't need to hold you accountable for following and monitoring them today. But you have to understand that we are rescuing you now."
"My dad won't eat people. I won't let him eat people. Really, you believe me. Please, let him go...please..."
Lan Xi kept sobbing and choking, not knowing how much of Lang Hua's words she had listened to.
"You! Why don't you understand?" Lang Hua gritted his teeth, puzzled.
He took a deep breath, shook his head and said: "The black corpse only wants to eat people. If you don't kill him today, he will eat you tomorrow!"
Seeing that Lan Xi was about to kowtow again, Lin Qian couldn't see it and pulled Lang Hua's sleeves.
She whispered: "Xiaohua, why not forget it."
never mind? How to forget it? Should we let Lan Xi and her black corpse fend for themselves...
Although he regards the black corpse as a zombie mutant and a sworn enemy. But this time it was indeed someone else's private matter, and it wasn't Lang Hua's turn to make his own decision...
"That's it, that's all." He thought.
Lang Hua was about to turn around when he saw Lan Xi's torn sleeves from the battle out of the corner of his eye.
The wound exposed by the gap in the sleeve was long but not deep, and the bleeding had stopped. But on that wrist, there were clearly several smooth cuts! Some even look like they have just healed.
He thought again about Lan Xi's panicked answer - a black corpse that can't eat people? How can you not eat people? How can Lan Xi ensure that it won't eat people?
"Could it be?"
Combined with Lan Xi's previous words and the fact that the Black Corpse Orchid River ignored the living creatures close at hand, it only screamed at the blood on the ground.
Lang Hua suddenly thought of something. He rushed into the Lan family's kitchen and after a moment threw a piece of raw pork stained with blood at everyone's feet.
"Pig blood?" Yang Xiaoxiao was confused.
"It's human blood. The evolved person cut his wrist to release his own blood!" He shook his head.
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Qian was so frightened that she took half a step back. She didn't fully understand the meaning of Lang Hua's words, but at that moment, she instinctively felt a little scared.
Lang Hua frowned and asked Lan Xi: "I told you why you don't have enough blood, and your sword is weak and weak like a sick man. I told you why it only reacts strongly to your blood. It turns out that it eats the marrow to know the taste!"
He couldn't help but feel a little angry: "Do you know what you are doing? You actually used your own blood to feed this black corpse! Do you know that eating the blood of evolvers with similar genes will only accelerate the evolution of the black corpse?"
"I……"
The latter raised his head at this time, his eyes were wandering and flustered, and he didn't know what to answer at all.
"Feeding the black corpse with blood is stupid! Why are you so stupid! When you run out of blood, when you are too weak to take out the blood, it will still go crazy and break the rope, eating you without leaving any bones. Do you know ?”
Lan Xi was speechless at this moment, but Lang Hua seemed to hate iron: "Don't you want to live so much? If you are so eager for the enemy to die, why didn't you chop yourself into pieces and feed it to it from the beginning?"
"I can't die. Without my care, my dad will die. I...I have no choice...if I don't put my own blood on it, he won't eat it..."
Lan Xi said in a panic: "My dad will starve to death if he doesn't eat... I can't let him starve to death. He has never eaten people... I have never let him eat people. Please, don't kill him... Please..."
"Your father is dead a long time ago! He was dead the moment he turned into a black corpse!" Lang Hua also shouted unexpectedly.
Lang Hua, an orphan for two generations, had never met his biological parents. Lang Hua, who was alone in the black-hearted orphanage and suffered bullying... actually couldn't bear to hear such things.
"Don't kill him, don't kill my dad. Please, I can't live without my dad..." Lan Xi threw the Meishuang sword aside with a "ding-dong" sound.
She kowtowed heavily to Lang Hua and the others: "Don't hurt him, please... please..."
As he kowtowed, the blood gradually penetrated the skin of his forehead and skewed bangs, imprinting on the rough cement floor, staining pieces of blood-red "flowers".
Lang Hua looked at her, watching Lin Qian and Yang Xiaoxiao pull Lan Xi up. He watched her kneel down again, putting her forehead on the ground and refusing to lift it up.
A pair of fists were clenched and contracted, and the nails were deeply embedded in Lang Hua's flesh and blood...
Finally, his clenched fists were released again, and he seemed to be discouraged. He took out a trauma medicine bottle and placed it next to the girl, turned around and walked out of the door.
"That's all," he said softly, "Miss Lan Xi, you...just take care of yourself."
The sound floated lightly in the air, as if it had no weight.
The three of them left silently. Before leaving, Yang Xiaoxiao took off his dry food bag and placed it next to Lan Xi.
From beginning to end, Lan Xi didn't raise her head again. And her "loving father" was still tied to the chair behind her, struggling and roaring as usual, begging for the next meal of blood...
