AFTCKCTCKATD - Chapter 17
Chapter 17
It Felt Like Something Extraordinary Was Protecting Him.
“As the elder brother, you must take good care of your younger brother,” Ji Yanqing said to Ji An. Although Ji An was called the elder brother, he was only a few months older than Ji Le. While Ji Yanqing’s request for him to take care of Ji Le was a bit too demanding, he had no other choice.
After giving his instructions, Ji Yanqing gently pulled open the paws of the two little cubs who were tightly grasping his hands desperately. He stood up and looked towards the others.
There were seven adults and two children in their group.
Not to mention Ji An and Ji Le, other than Ji Yanqing there was Xia Shen Shu, Lan Zi, Baldy, Zhang Guxian and Qian Guoyun. Additionally there were two quiet, previously unmentioned mice – Kang Haoyi and Wu Yao.
Kang Haoyi is twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, an office worker, with a sense of mental exhaustion about him.
Wu Yao is not very old either. He’s quiet, and he wears glasses. Before the virus outbreak, he was a university student.
Neither of them were people who could fight before, but the last half year of their apocalyptic experience had left both of them with a fierce glint in their eyes.
This is a dog eat dog world, more often than not they do not have a choice.
Ji Yanqing took a deep breath, “We will only get one chance.”
Ji Yanqing briefly described the plan; aside from Zhang Gu Xian, the remaining five quickly took action—Lan Zi and Qian Guoyun swiftly found the thick coats and split them up, while Xia Shen Shu filled the gun’s magazine.
With preparations complete, the group quickly dissolved into the darkness, searching for a suitable place to launch their attack.
Ji Yanqing grabbed his backpack, and after hiding the wailing Ji An and Ji Le underneath it, with a quick glance at the still silent Zhang Guxian, he quickly followed the others.
“Will he... die...?” As Ji Yanqing’s figure disappeared into the darkness, Ji Le looked anxiously at Ji An from under his backpack, holding back tears as they welled up in his eyes.
Ji An held Ji Le’s hand. He remembered Ji Yanqing’s words, he was the older brother and he had to protect Ji Le.
He braced himself, but he still couldn’t resist crying out loud when he heard Ji Le’s tearful question.
Seeing Ji An cry, Ji Le immediately cried even more intensely.
“Gu Xian...Gu...”
In the darkness, a faint and malicious voice filled with excitement crept closer. The woman had already noticed where they were; she was deliberately approaching them slowly, her interest piqued. She was out to torment them.
Amidst the darkness where tree trunks twisted and spiraled, Ji Yanqing gave Xia Shen Shu a fleeting glance before silently melting into the shadows.
Xia Shen Shu took a deep breath. He lowered his head, his hands trembling violently.
He had managed to shoot her three times, and the force from Ji Yanqing’s axe nearly crushed all the ribs in her chest. Those kinds of severe injuries left not just normal people, but even zombies crawling on the ground for half the day, unable to get up. But that woman was acting like nothing had happened…
Previously while in the farmland, the ribs in her chest seemed to have fully healed.
In this case, actively standing in front of that thing is no different from seeking death.
Xia Shen Shu took a deep breath and suppressed the trembling of his hands. He loaded the gun and the crisp ‘click’ rang out in the darkness like firecrackers.
After a moment of deathly silence, a laugh suppressed with excitement rang out to his left.
Amidst the silence, a rustling sound filled the air, as if something was treading through the grass. The noise grew closer, each footfall plucking at Xia Shen Shu’s taut nerves.
He clenched the gun in his hand.
The world was deathly silent, the world enveloped in a profound darkness.
“Haha…” Laughter sounded, not from the previous direction, but behind Xia Shen Shu’s ear.
Xia Shen Shu trembled as he rolled to the ground and fired blindly behind him.
“BANG! BANG! BANG!” The deafening gunshots pierced the air.
On the ground, Xia Shen Shu steadied his body and looked up. The spot he had been standing in was now empty. Before he could turn his head, something pounced on him from the left.
Xia Shen Shu’s reflexes were incredibly fast. He quickly raised his gun and fired in that direction. However, even after two consecutive shots, he did not manage to hit her. The woman disappeared into the woods, her speed far surpassing his.
After the two misses, Xia Shen Shu lost sight of the woman.
He gripped the gun in his hand tightly, breathing heavily.
As he prepared to look for the source, something grabbed onto his clothes from behind, causing him to be struck hard in the back and sending him sprawling forward.
Falling to the ground on his knees, Xia Shen Shu immediately reached for his gun amid the intense pain, but before he could aim it, his wrist was struck with another piercing pain. The object hit his wrist, sending the gun flying into the darkness.
“Heh heh...” the laughter sounded, and a skinny, hideous figure walked out of the darkness and appeared in front of Xia Shen Shu.
A face torn and withered, sharp, uneven teeth behind a ripped wound, a thin emaciated torso and limbs, and a pair of eyes filled with a terrifying, vicious, and cold murderous intent.
Xia Shen Shu’s breathing paused, but he did not flee. Instead, he fiercely pounced on the other party and hugged their neck.
The woman was taken aback. None of her past conquests had ever done something like this before.
Before she could recover from her surprise, five figures suddenly leapt down from the trees.
Kang Haoyi and Wu Yao covered the woman’s head with a coat and hugged her tightly to prevent her from biting anyone. Lan Zi, Qian Guoyun, and Baldy grabbed her hands and feet and pressed her down on the ground to keep her from moving or escaping.
Within an instant, before the woman could react, the axe in Ji Yanqing’s hand had swung down from overhead.‘The air was split by the whistle of an object hurtling through the air as a razor-sharp axe descended!
As the blade descended, Ji Yanqing only felt his two arms being devoured by excruciating pain. The sensation was like striking steel with all his might.
“Ah!” A sharp and furious roar echoed through the air, the sound devoid of human characteristics, its shrillness piercing and grating against the ears. The rage and killing intent contained within it were so potent that they sent shivers down the spine.
Ji Yanqing’s axe did not sever[e/n: demon slayer, demon slayer, slicey slicey neck] the opponent’s neck completely, only cutting less than a third.
This woman was physically weak, but her strength was enormous. She suddenly struggled and pushed away Qian Guoyun and the others who were pressing down on her. She clawed in the direction of Kang Haoyi and Qian Guoyun.
“Ugh!.” There were sounds of pain and panic, Kang Haoyi was scratched on the back of his hand, and Qian Guoyun was injured on the neck.
Everyone’s eyes were filled with despair as they watched the woman spin out of control, flung away from them like a discarded toy.
Ji Yanqing used a great deal of strength in that axe swing. It was enough to chop through a tree thicker than that woman’s neck, yet he was unable to cut through her neck.
If even Ji Yanqing couldn’t cut through her neck, then nobody could.
They had long known that awakened zombies were not something ordinary people could handle. Guns might not even be able to kill them. They had held onto a glimmer of hope before, but now it seemed like a complete joke.
“Hiss...” The woman, her clothes disheveled and her hair even more tousled, fiercely glared at the crowd, completely infuriated.
Before the woman could react, Ji Yanqing swung the axe again, aiming for her neck.
His eyes didn’t reveal despair, but instead an icy killing intent like the abyss. If one stroke was not enough to cut through, he would strike again!
“Clang!” The axe was blocked by the woman’s arm.
Her face contorted with rage, she spun her head 180 degrees, looking at Ji Yanqing in a strange way.
She wanted to kill Ji Yanqing, and she would kill him first!
“Nuo Yun!” Zhang Guxian’s voice sounded abruptly in the darkness.
Upon hearing her name, the woman’s movements paused for a moment. She slowly turned her head to face the direction the voice had come from as Zhang Guxian slowly emerged from behind the tree.
“Let’s go home...let’s go back home...” Zhang Guxian extended a hand.
The woman took a step towards him, but the next moment, to everyone’s shock, she lunged at Ji Yanqing. Her face twisted into an angry sneer as she ignored Zhang Guxian.
Ji Yanqing used his axe to block her attack, but was also pushed back by the impact.
He took two steps back, planted his feet, and before the others could recover from their shock and despair, Ji Yanqing’s axe, which was slightly stained with blood, swung again at the monster.
His speed and strength were remarkable. His axe swung through the air with a swish, and with a mighty blow, he severed one of his opponent’s arms, forcing the ghastly creature to recoil.
If this woman was a monster, then Ji Yanqing was a monster in another sense. Despite facing such a creature, he had managed to fight on equal footing!
“Bang bang bang!” Xia Shen Shu doesn’t know when he picked up the gun again.
Amidst the deafening roar of gunfire, the sight of Ji Yanqing single-handedly driving the monstrous creature back stirred Lan Zi, Baldy, and Wu Yao from the depths of despair.
The group took two quick steps forward, wanting to assist, but there simply wasn’t enough room between Ji Yanqing and the beast for them to interfere.
Lan Zi was sent flying after being struck by Xia Shen Shu’s blow.
“Stay away, don’t distract him!”
Lan Zi turned around and saw Qian Guoyun stumbling towards her, while Kang Haoyi was trying to get up from the ground in a strange posture.
In the darkness, Lan Zi couldn’t see the faces of the two men clearly, but the strange and familiar figures were enough for her to understand. She quickly shouted loudly at Ji Yanqing, “The claws of that thing are poisonous. Once injured, you’ll be infected and turn[e/n: wait, that’s basic zombie logic I thought... what happens when NORMAL zombies scratch ya?]!”
“Stop them from getting past!” Someone shouted, though it was unclear who.
The zombification of Kang Haoyi and Qian Guoyun only added insult to injury.
In the distance of behind the tree, two pairs of tear-filled, golden eyes anxiously watched, following every movement.
Ji An held onto the tree beside him tightly, unaware of how his slender fingers were deeply embedded in it. The old tree’s roots, as hard as iron and sharp as a knife, felt as soft as tofu beneath his delicate fingers.
Beside him, Ji Le saw the monster’s claws almost brushing against Ji Yanqing’s slender neck several times, causing his heart to leap into his throat.
He bit his lower lip tightly. Anyone is fine, please help Ji Yanqing, save Ji Yanqing!
“Ah...” Strange and inexplicable moans escaped from Qian Guoyun and Kang Haoyi’s throats. They slowly turned their heads, their gazes landing precisely on Ji Yanqing, who was under attack.
Ji Yanqing was being bullied!
“Ah!” Kang Haoyi seemed to be crying.
“Grr!” Qian Guoyun was incredibly angry.
Before Xia Shen Shu could fire his gun, Qian Guoyun and Kang Haoyi fiercely rushed towards Ji Yanqing.
Xia Shen Shu’s heart pounded like a drum as he immediately fired away.
Just as everyone gasped, their hearts in their throats, Qian Guoyun and Kang Haoyi fiercely lunged at the creature in front of Ji Yanqing. Their combined strength was so immense that they managed to knock the creature to the ground.
“Wuah!” Qian Guoyun, in a fit of extreme anger, tackled the person and let out a furious roar from his throat. He went crazy, scratching, biting, and gnawing like a madman. He wouldn’t allow anyone to bully Ji Yanqing, he wouldn’t allow anyone to kill Ji Yanqing. They should just leave!
Kang Haoyi was no different. He attacked like a madman over and over again. She has to die, to die, to die!
The monster was caught off-guard and thrown to the ground. After coming around, it immediately snapped at Qian Guoyun, but Qian Guoyun and Kang Haoyi were already beyond the realm of human flesh and bone.
Ji Yanqing snapped out of his momentary daze. The scene felt both strange and familiar. It was as if something unusual was guarding him. Prior to that incident, the monster had suddenly stopped moving in front of him.
Reacting before thinking, Ji Yanqing felt that the axe was already swinging with force in his hand before he could even recover from his surprise.
“SLAM!” The heavy axe relentlessly dug into the notch he had previously carved.
Something round rolled past and collided with a nearby tree.
When everyone came back to their senses, everything had already come to an end.
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e/n this chap was scheduled on may 15 kek 呵呵 - now to try and stock up on carpenter and widow...
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