Black Sky - Chapter 10

Although Bai Zi’s face bore terrifying scars, Meng Yilan found her smile bright and pure, and was momentarily stunned by it—she hadn’t experienced this feeling of being “illuminated” for nearly a year.

Shi Lei, completely oblivious to the tender atmosphere between the two, pressed, “What opportunity?”

Coming back to her senses, Meng Yilan turned her head to look at Shi Lei and Sister Hua, a little flustered, and voiced her idea: “Although these mutants can’t see, their hearing is very sensitive. If we can get the mutants to distract the two of them, we can take the opportunity to escape…”

Sister Hua didn’t agree with this plan: “The handcuff keys are on that fatty, how can we escape?”

Before Meng Yilan could reply, Bai Zi moved her legs, and the hemp rope wrapped around them immediately loosened.

The others were speechless. Bai Zi said calmly, “I folded my legs earlier, and he didn’t tie them tightly.”

Suddenly, the sound of the iron door being opened came, and Bai Zi immediately twisted her legs, and the hemp rope immediately returned to its original state.

Listening to the approaching footsteps, everyone tensed up, but Meng Yilan frowned, looking extremely uneasy, completely lacking the excitement she had when she made eye contact with Bai Zi earlier.

A Ben and Fatty Qiu returned to the room, their bodies covered in blood, with contrasting expressions. A Ben looked indifferent, even revealing a bit of sleepiness, while Fatty Qiu’s face was pale, his body trembling, looking like his soul had left his body.

“What are you all looking at me for?” A Ben yawned, and smiled at the four people sitting on the ground with slurred speech, “Aren’t you going to hurry up and sleep? We have to travel tomorrow, don’t we?”

Seeing that the others didn’t speak, Shi Lei said tremblingly, “We heard a sound just now, it seemed like…mutants were coming this way, and there’s more than one.”

A Ben, who was changing clothes, stopped his movements, then shrugged his neck indifferently: “There are traps everywhere nearby, they can’t get through.”

“The traps can only trap them temporarily, they can’t shut them up,” Bai Zi reminded, “Their cries will attract more mutants.”

A Ben looked at Bai Zi, surprised that this taciturn woman had suddenly said so much, then “tsk”ed, and scratched his head impatiently after putting on his clothes: “Then what do you say we should do? Shooting them will at most shut them up for an hour or two, and it wastes bullets…”

Sister Hua laughed: “Cut off their heads, isn’t that what you’re best at?”

Everyone looked at A Ben a little nervously, fearing that he would be angered by Sister Hua’s words.

Suddenly, there was a “bang” sound from outside the house.

“A trap…was triggered.” Fatty Qiu widened his eyes a little nervously.

A Ben picked up the shotgun, quickly walked to the window sealed with wooden boards, and looked outside through the gaps, but didn’t see anything. He turned his head, looking thoughtfully at Sister Hua, and then turned to ask Fatty Qiu: “Just you and me, we ca handle it.”

“Huh?” Fatty Qiu, who had just changed out of his bloody clothes, was still in shock. He didn’t have any energy to understand A Ben’s words.

“Didn’t Sister Hua say,” A Ben threw the dagger that had just cut off Uncle Ma’s head to Fatty Qiu, “Cut off their heads, otherwise they won’t shut up.”

Fatty Qiu dodged sideways to avoid the dagger, looking like he was about to faint: “Brother Ben, I really can’t handle it…”

A Ben frowned a little irritably, and turned to look at the few people who were tied up.

“Hey,” Sister Hua’s face, covered in blood, revealed a smile, “Let me go, how about it?”

A Ben raised his eyebrows, thoughtfully echoing: “That’s right, you’re a wrestling athlete from the provincial team, one can be worth three,” then nodded as if he had suddenly realized something, “If I let you go, you’ll definitely cut off my head first, that would be so exciting,” A Ben looked at Shi Lei, and asked with a smile, “Right?”

Shi Lei immediately turned his head away, not daring to look directly at A Ben, and said tremblingly, “Uh, I, I’m not very strong…”

A Ben sneered at Shi Lei, and turned to look at Bai Zi.

Suddenly, Meng Yilan spoke: “Let me go.” She glanced at Bai Zi’s feet, extremely worried that A Ben would discover that the hemp rope on them wasn’t tied tightly at all.

“Let me go.” Bai Zi also said immediately.

“Yes, let Bai Zi go!” Shi Lei immediately echoed, “Don’t look at how thin she is, she easily pushed me into the sea, she’s very strong!”

“Miss Meng,” A Ben said with a smile, as if he was watching a good show, “You’re our boss, we can’t trouble you with this,” he turned to look at Bai Zi, “It’s you then.”

Meng Yilan looked a little flustered: “I’ll pay the money, I have the right to decide…”

“If you pay the money, then do your part as someone who pays the money,” A Ben closed his eyes, and explained patiently, “Don’t interfere in everything.”

At this time, Fatty Qiu, who had been slumped by the wall, gritted his teeth and stood up: “Actually, I’m still okay, how about just the two of us?”

A Ben didn’t speak, but raised his eyebrows, looking at Fatty Qiu as if he was scrutinizing him. In the end, the latter drooped his head, not daring to raise any more objections, and obediently squatted down, preparing to untie the hemp rope for Bai Zi.

Meng Yilan nervously stopped him: “Wait…”

“Just drag her out.” A Ben narrowed his eyes.

Fatty Qiu stopped his movements, turned his head, and asked in confusion: “Drag her out?”

“I don’t want to risk my life to cut off the heads of those mutants,” A Ben shook his head, “If they don’t shut up, just stuff their mouths full, if they’re full, they won’t yell – at least it can last until we wake up.”

Fatty Qiu looked at A Ben in disbelief: “You mean, use her to…” feed the mutants in the traps?

Meng Yilan sternly reminded: “I said, twice the money, to safely send all of us to Bei City!”

“Oh, Boss Meng,” A Ben sighed with an apologetic expression, “Actually, we can also use Uncle Ma’s corpse to feed them, but we threw him into that stinky ditch behind us just now, and we really don’t want to bother to fish him out…” As he said this, his eyes lit up, “I’ll give you a 10% discount, consider it me buying her, and it will also guarantee all of our lives, isn’t it a good deal?”

“Wouldn’t it be more to your liking to use me to feed them?” Sister Hua twisted her neck and interjected.

A Ben curled his lips: “The road back to Bei City is still long. For now, let’s use the weakest one first.”

The weakest – Bai Zi slightly curled the corners of her mouth. Whether it was a year ago or a year later, her ranking in society’s strength hierarchy was still so stable.

“No way…” Fatty Qiu shook his head desperately in opposition.

A Ben directly pressed the shotgun against Fatty Qiu’s temple: “Then we’ll use you to feed them, anyway, you’re definitely more filling than her.”

Fatty Qiu’s face turned red with anxiety, and he seemed to be about to cry in the next second.

“Stop arguing, just take me over there.” Bai Zi was surprisingly calm.

Meng Yilan widened her eyes in disbelief. Bai Zi turned her head and gave her a meaningful look. Meng Yilan immediately understood Bai Zi’s meaning – to reassure her.

Having no other choice, Meng Yilan could only close her eyes, grit her teeth, and force herself to stop speaking.

“I’m sorry, Sister…” Fatty Qiu said tremblingly, bent down, and hugged Bai Zi around the waist. He believed that this method was more able to express his “respect” for his savior than “dragging” her.

To Fatty Qiu’s surprise, although he had long expected Bai Zi’s weight to be very light, he didn’t expect her to be so light – like a small, thin quilt, light and airy, like the kind of extremely ordinary warm item that people put on in winter nights to keep warm, but is ignored because it is too light and thin.

A Ben looked at Meng Yilan provocatively, and then, carrying the shotgun, followed leisurely behind Fatty Qiu.

After the three left, as soon as the iron door closed, Meng Yilan immediately moved her body, gritting her teeth and climbing towards the boiler by the wall.

Outside the door, the originally fierce wind had stopped at some point.

A Ben, holding the shotgun, used the small flashlight installed on the barrel to illuminate the way, and walked out cautiously.

Fatty Qiu, holding Bai Zi, followed slowly behind.

The three quietly came to a trap a dozen meters away from the gas station – in a certain bush, a strong mutant was trapped by a snare. He struggled desperately, and when he saw the people coming, he roared even more fiercely.

A Ben had Fatty Qiu put Bai Zi down under a tree. The two of them, holding guns, wandered around nearby, and also found another trap that had trapped a mutant – he was lying face up in a pit, with several spikes piercing his back and protruding from his abdomen. Despite this, the mutant was still waving his hands randomly, making terrifying roars.

In addition, it seemed that no other mutants had appeared.

“You’re right,” A Ben stood in front of the pit, putting his hands on his hips, “This yelling is too loud. Not to mention mutants, it can probably attract the wild beasts nearby.”

Fatty Qiu licked his lips, and mustered up the courage to persuade, in order to protect Bai Zi: “Actually, it’s not that loud, or maybe we should just forget about it…”

“Hmm,” A Ben, however, began to plan the next course of action to himself, “Should we cut her in half at the waist and give her to both sides to eat, or should we just chop off her limbs…”

Fatty Qiu closed his eyes, he had been pushed to the verge of collapse by A Ben’s words and actions.

“Wait a minute.” The always silent Bai Zi suddenly spoke.

“Sorry,” A Ben took out the dagger, measuring Bai Zi’s waist and abdomen, “You don’t have the right to express your opinion.”

“Before you cut me open,” Bai Zi continued to say to herself, “You have to strangle me first, otherwise, when you cut me, my yelling will probably attract another large group of mutants, because I’m especially afraid of pain – also, although you have silencers, I don’t recommend you use guns, after all, you’ve already given Miss Meng a 10% discount for me, and now you’re wasting another bullet, it’s not very cost-effective.”

A Ben frowned, sighed, and then patted Fatty Qiu’s shoulder: “Hurry up.”

“I can’t…I…” Fatty Qiu took a few steps back, his body shaking like a sieve.

“Good-for-nothing!” A Ben cursed, and slung the shotgun behind him, trying to straddle Bai Zi’s waist and abdomen.

Just as he bent down, Bai Zi shook her legs, and the hemp rope immediately loosened. In the next second, she raised her foot and kicked A Ben’s crotch hard.

A Ben fell to the ground with a muffled sound, and Bai Zi stretched out her leg and kicked the shotgun into the pit.

“You…you bitch…” A Ben lay on the ground, clutching his crotch, and roared at Fatty Qiu, “Li Feiqiu! Push her down!”

Fatty Qiu, who was a few steps away, finally came back to his senses. He was sweating profusely from nervousness, and the clean clothes he had just changed into were soaked in sweat again.

“Li Feiqiu!” A Ben, enduring the pain, roared again.

Fatty Qiu then raised his handgun in a panic, and pointed the muzzle at – A Ben.

A Ben was unable to open his eyes because of the flashlight beam on the handgun, and asked in disbelief: “What are you doing?!”

Fatty Qiu shook his head: “D-don’t…don’t force me…”

His hands were shaking so badly that he couldn’t pull the trigger at all.

Bai Zi quickly moved her body, and tried hard to raise her foot to kick A Ben’s back again, trying to kick the other party into the trap. But A Ben was prepared, and enduring the pain, he knelt up, dodged Bai Zi’s foot, and roared at Fatty Qiu again: “Li Feiqiu! You son of a bitch!”

At this time, a figure rushed towards A Ben, and then, with a “thud” sound, A Ben’s head was hit hard, and his body fell to the ground.

Bai Zi turned her head and found that the person who came was Meng Yilan. Although her hands were still tightly locked with handcuffs, she was holding the handle of the iron pot tightly, and was hitting the already unconscious A Ben again and again with the pot.

“Push him…down…” Bai Zi said, panting, reminding her.

Meng Yilan seemed to regain her senses at this time. She raised her leg and kicked A Ben into the trap – the iron thorns pierced through the back of A Ben’s head, instantly killing him silently. A Ben’s neck happened to fall next to the mutant’s mouth, and in the next moment, there was a sound of tearing like a wolf gnawing on meat.

Meng Yilan turned her head and looked at Fatty Qiu, who was holding the handgun. Without thinking, she raised the iron pot and walked quickly towards him, but before Meng Yilan could make a move, Fatty Qiu, who had long been scared half to death, only felt a burst of dizziness and slumped to the ground.

“There are no bullets in his gun.” Bai Zi told Meng Yilan.

Fatty Qiu looked down at the gun in his hand, as if he had heard a fantasy.

Meng Yilan then dispersed the hostility on her face. She threw down the iron pot, didn’t say a word, and directly bent down to pick off the keys hanging on Fatty Qiu’s waist, neatly opened her own handcuffs, and then turned back to open Bai Zi’s handcuffs.

“You go back to the house first, and help them untie the handcuffs.” Bai Zi said, and quickly walked to the trap, looking like she was about to jump in.

Meng Yilan asked in surprise: “What are you going to do?”

“Get the gun back.” Bai Zi said, and without even turning her head, she jumped into the pit, stepping on A Ben’s stomach, just dodging the spikes in the pit. The mutant was focused on sucking A Ben’s blood, and didn’t react to Bai Zi jumping down at all.

Meng Yilan chased to the side of the pit, and seeing that Bai Zi inside was handling it with ease, she turned around and ran towards the house.

Looking at the two people acting hastily in front of her, Fatty Qiu’s mind was blank, until he heard the roars coming from the forest, he finally came back to his senses.

Bai Zi had long heard the mutants that were constantly approaching – there were at least a dozen of them. She grabbed the shotgun and quickly climbed out of the pit, raised her hand and pulled the trigger without hesitation, shooting down one that was walking in the front, and then turned to shout at Meng Yilan, who had already helped Sister Hua and Shi Lei untie the handcuffs and was preparing to go out again: “Close the door!”

Meng Yilan vaguely saw in the light that there seemed to be several mutants rushing towards Bai Zi, and was so shocked that she couldn’t react. Shi Lei, who was behind her, had already realized that something was wrong, and immediately pulled Meng Yilan back into the house and locked the door.

Fatty Qiu, who was hiding behind Bai Zi, stood up, and bent down to pick up the iron pot that Meng Yilan had thrown down. When he looked up, he found that Bai Zi was running into the depths of the forest.

After thinking for half a second, he used all his strength to swing the pot in the air, and the three mutants in front of him were instantly knocked to the ground. Then, he ran wildly towards Bai Zi’s direction like a madman.

The movements of the two attracted the attention of all the mutants, and they surged towards Bai Zi and Fatty Qiu like a tide.

Meng Yilan, who was watching all of this through the crack in the window, pursed her lips, and then turned around to find a handgun from Uncle Ma’s bag, but was stopped by Sister Hua: “Are you crazy?!”

Meng Yilan shook off Sister Hua, opened the door without hesitation, and rushed towards the direction where Bai Zi and Fatty Qiu had left.

In the darkness, the two had long disappeared, and even the mutants chasing them were nowhere to be seen, but Meng Yilan still ran forward by instinct, like an ant, swimming desperately forward in a sea of endless death.

After who knows how long, when she was too tired to run anymore, Meng Yilan slowed down her pace slightly, but still refused to stop.

It seemed that once she stopped, she would lose something that she could never recover.

Suddenly, the familiar roars rang out in the once silent forest. Meng Yilan immediately raised her gun and pointed it in the direction of the sound. In the light, the figure of a mutant was walking towards this side. She was about to pull the trigger when someone suddenly covered her mouth and nose from behind. The familiar scent made her calm down immediately – it was Bai Zi.

Without saying a word, Bai Zi put her arm around Meng Yilan and slowly retreated, and the two hid behind a boulder.