Chapter Eighty-Six: Liu Jie Gone Mad

A lone figure arrived at the edge of the territory, casually slaughtered dozens of undead, and climbed to the top of a tall building.

A boundless sea of the dead stretched before him; some of the undead, bored beyond measure, had even begun biting one another.

Outside the city, was there still any way out?

Suddenly, Fang Xia shuddered all over, as though something had locked onto him.

He followed the sensation and looked out, but all he could see was that endless gray tide of corpses. Nothing was clear.

And yet that feeling only grew stronger. Something had set its sights on him.

"To hell with this. That is absolutely a tier-five undead."

Fang Xia was nearly driven mad. What in the world had this place become?

The earthquake still had not come, but the city’s fall to the undead had been in preparation all along.

Last time it had been a siege of tier-three undead, and he had crushed it before it even began.

And this time they had gone straight to tier five?

Cheating. Damn it, this was cheating.

With Fang Xia’s current strength, if he faced a tier-five undead one-on-one, he might still have a chance.

But would the undead duel him one-on-one?

As long as there were more than ten tier-four undead, plus one tier-five, his little harem would turn into a horde of undead.

Tier five—he had to reach tier five.

Otherwise, no one would survive.

By his experience, though he no longer knew how reliable that experience was,

once the undead rain stopped, the city assault would be triggered.

He had five days left. Only five days.

What Fang Xia needed now were vast numbers of upgrade crystals above tier three. He had to trade for them, no matter what—he had to get the high-tier upgrade crystals from everyone else into his hands.

"Sister Rui, why the long face? Got something on your mind?"

Today White Star had not gone out. Without the threat of the undead, Liu Rui and Li Xiaochun alone were enough to handle things.

"Nothing... nothing. Where’s Brother Fang?"

"I haven’t seen him all day. No idea what he’s been doing. Why, you looking for him?"

"No."

White Star gave Liu Rui a puzzled glance. She always seemed a little off today, but soon enough his attention was captured again by the comic book in his hands.

"Right, where’s Xiaochun?"

It was only a casual question, but Liu Rui’s body gave a slight tremor.

Luckily, White Star was utterly absorbed in his comic and did not notice the tiny detail.

"She? She had something to do. She’ll be back in a bit."

White Star did not suspect anything. He answered with an indifferent hum and went back to his comic.

After sitting in the living room for a while, with Li Xiaochun still not back and Fang Xia having returned first,

"Have dinner without me. I’m a little tired; I’m going to sleep for a while."

Fang Xia looked exhausted, and there was even a faint trace of blood on his body.

Had he gone out to kill undead this morning?

Before the question could even be asked, Fang Xia had already returned to his room. He did seem genuinely tired.

Liu Rui seemed about to say something, but seeing him go straight into his room, she hesitated, words rising and falling unsaid, until they finally became a sigh.

"I’m going for a walk downstairs."

After Liu Rui left, White Star closed the comic book he had not turned a page of for more than ten minutes, and a flicker of disappointment crossed his face.

Liu Rui, who had left the villa in a hurry, headed quickly in one direction—that was where the young women usually lived.

"Sister Rui."

Seeing Liu Rui approach, many of the young women who had just been about to eat something and rest hurriedly stood up again.

"Have you seen Li Xiaochun?"

"Yes. She went out with Li Jie."

One of them answered.

"Just the two of them?"

Liu Rui asked quickly.

"Seems like just those two. I didn’t see anyone else."

Hearing the confirmation, Liu Rui only grew more anxious.

She had clearly told Li Xiaochun to keep Li Jie under watch. Why had they gone out?

If Li Xiaochun had not agreed, Li Jie alone could never have beaten her.

Liu Rui was a little lost. She realized things had become different from what she had expected.

Earlier that day, when Li Jie had come to her, she had urged her to be independent, saying things like, why should a well-formed women's group be led by a man?

Especially after they found that extraordinary airdrop crate, Li Jie had become even more fervent, constantly trying to persuade her.

Li Jie had been her best friend before the apocalypse, a friend she had grown up with. In terms of feelings, she was no less close than White Star or Li Xiaochun.

After much agonizing, Liu Rui still did nothing to Li Jie. Instead, after returning, she quietly arranged for Li Xiaochun to keep an eye on her and prevent any mischief.

But now there had been a change. Li Xiaochun had actually gone out together with Li Jie.

Following the direction the young woman pointed out, Liu Rui kept walking. Today, it seemed, it was Li Jie’s group on patrol?

She went a little farther, but there was not a single person in sight. If she kept going, she would be leaving the territory altogether.

Not only that, but not even one of the young women who should have been patrolling the territory could be seen today. It was too strange.

Something had definitely happened. Unease began to rise in Liu Rui’s heart.

Bang!

A massive crashing sound rang out.

Liu Rui instantly ran toward the source of the noise.

"Liu Rui, I knew you’d come."

What she saw made Liu Rui tremble.

Li Xiaochun, one of the few in the team with a tenacious ability, and the only tier-four among them, had already used up all three of her skill activations at dawn.

At this moment, several bloody wounds marked her body; on her leg in particular, a dagger had pierced straight through her entire right leg, and she was bound tightly to a chair with ropes.

Because she kept struggling, the ropes only tightened more and more.

The loud crash from moments ago had been caused by her sudden burst of force in resistance, and the result was that blood continued to pour more heavily from her right leg.

"Li Jie, what are you trying to do?"

Liu Rui was furious.

"Give me today’s upgrade elixir, or I’d quite like to see whether a tier-four fighter can bleed to death."

Li Jie held a battle blade in her hand, gesturing toward Li Xiaochun as if deciding where to strike first.

"Li Jie, ever since you joined us, everyone has treated you like a sister. Why betray us?"

"Betray?"

Li Jie laughed.

"Liu Rui, oh Liu Rui, why cling so desperately to a man? This is the apocalypse. Whoever has the bigger fist is right. There is no such thing as betrayal."

"When you clearly had a chance to grow stronger, when you clearly could have been a queen, you were actually willing to stay beneath someone else?"

"In that case, let me do it. With that upgrade elixir, and as a fighter with a tenacious ability, I’d have invincible defense plus increased attack speed. Not to mention some little guild leader—I’d even dare to try for the city lord of Dawn City."

Looking at the familiar face before her, Liu Rui suddenly felt as though she did not know her anymore.

Listening to Li Jie’s frenzied words, then looking at the dozen or so young women beside her, Liu Rui could tell they had all been bewitched by her.

An elixir appeared in Liu Rui’s hand—the premium upgrade elixir she had obtained that morning from the extraordinary airdrop crate.

A hot gleam flashed in Li Jie’s eyes. Once she had that, and once she tied up Liu Rui as well, she wanted to see what Fang Xia could do then.

Besides, she still had another card up her sleeve.