Chapter 293: The Furious Ling Feng
He was eager to tell Xu Lili how dangerous Xu Family Town had become, with no one knowing what the enraged special forces might do. He wanted to take Xu Lili away from here. However, he realized that he hadn’t gotten Zhang Yi’s permission to bring anyone along. Even if he could take someone, how many could he take? If he only took Xu Lili, what would happen to her family?
As Fatty Xu was mulling over these thoughts, the voices of Xu Lili and her family floated out from inside the snow house.
“Mom, so many people have died outside. Will we be okay?”
“Silly girl, why would anything happen to us? Didn’t you see? They’re killing each other.”
“This has nothing to do with us. They have to be reasonable. We’ve treated them well with good food and drink; we’ll be fine.”
“That’s right. Maybe I should go find that fatty. If I say a few nice words, he’ll definitely protect us.”
“True, that fatty may be a bit dumb, but he’s capable and can keep our family safe.”
“Lili, why don’t you marry him?”“What???”
Xu Lili’s voice suddenly turned sharp.
“Mom, what nonsense are you talking about? He’s fat and ugly! If you all hadn’t pressured me to cozy up to him, I wouldn’t have bothered speaking to him.”
Outside the snow house, Fatty Xu’s heart felt like it was being stabbed with a knife. Is this how Xu Lili really saw him? He wasn’t the hero she thought he was after all!
The conversation inside continued.
“You don’t get it. Marriage is about living life. Sure, he’s not great, but he can keep all of us alive.”
“Forget it. If I had to sleep in the same bed as him, I’d have nightmares every night.”
“I’d puke just looking at that greasy, fat face!”
“But if you don’t sweet-talk him, how will he protect us?”
“Don’t worry, Mom. That idiot is dumb as a rock. If I show him just a little kindness, he’ll be over the moon.”
“Fat shut-ins are the easiest to deal with. Their heads are full of fantasies. As long as a woman shows them the slightest affection, they’ll practically hand you their hearts.”
Outside, Fatty Xu’s heart turned cold. All the wonderful fantasies he once had shattered in that moment.
At that point, they noticed him standing outside.
Xu Lili’s mother looked a bit awkward. “Oh... Chunlei, you’re here! Come in and sit for a while.”
Xu Lili’s face changed slightly when she saw Fatty Xu, but since their conversation had been exposed, she didn’t bother pretending anymore. Instead, her expression turned haughty.
Fatty Xu forced a smile. “No, Auntie. I just need to have a word with Lili. Could you ask her to come out?”
Xu Lili’s mother nudged her, and only then did Xu Lili step out of the snow house. She fixed her hair and, trying to ensure that Fatty Xu would continue to protect her family, put on her sweetest smile.
“Chunlei, when did you get here?”
“Oh, I just arrived.”
Fatty Xu stared at the sweet-smiling girl before him, feeling dazed. He couldn’t believe that the vile words he had just heard had come from her cherry-red lips.
“Chunlei, is there something you wanted to talk about?”
Fatty Xu’s lips felt bitter, but he didn’t angrily storm off. After all, once you’ve fallen in love, it’s hard to give up on the dream.
“Lili, you should come with me. It’s not safe in the village anymore. So many people have died. There could be even more danger.”
Fatty Xu urged.
Xu Lili smiled lightly, “Chunlei, where could we go even if we left the village?”
Fatty Xu didn’t mention that he was planning to find Zhang Yi.
“If you trust me, I’ll take you out of here. Don’t worry, as long as I’m around, I’ll make sure you’re safe!”
Given his abilities, they could probably find shelter in a snow-covered supermarket. Even if they didn’t meet up with Zhang Yi, he could still survive. The snow-covered world was his domain.
Xu Lili was silent for a few seconds before smiling apologetically. “Sorry, Chunlei! Isn’t this a bit too reckless? This isn’t some romance drama. Why act like we’re eloping?”
Her warm smile and the pity in her eyes deeply wounded Fatty Xu. It was like a grown woman comforting a naive boy.
It was a gaze from someone looking down from a high place.
Even at that moment, Fatty Xu couldn’t let go of his fantasy. He tried to explain, “But so many soldiers have died. What do you think will happen when those people come back?”
Xu Lili thought for a moment and nonchalantly said, “That has nothing to do with us, does it? It shouldn’t affect us.”
Then she stepped closer, smiling as she took Fatty Xu’s hand. Gazing up at him pitifully, she said, “Even if we do face danger, Chunlei, you’ll protect us, won’t you?”
Fatty Xu’s body stiffened. He didn’t know what he said or did afterward. He probably just nodded numbly and watched Xu Lili return to the house.
But when he snapped out of it, he immediately turned and ran out of the village. He had to get out of there, to find Zhang Yi, or maybe just hide like an ostrich.
He feared death, so he had a keen sense for danger.
After all, he was Zhang Yi’s undercover agent. It was only a matter of time before he was discovered.
Run!
Running away may be cowardly, but it works.
As for Xu Lili… to hell with her!
Fatty Xu ran as he called Zhang Yi.
“Boss, I’ve made up my mind. I’m going back with you!”
---
Across the river, Ling Feng was leading a group of team leader-level Superhumans and some special forces soldiers to carry out routine harassment of the shelter, while also overseeing the Xu Family Town villagers as they worked.
Suddenly, a barrage of gunfire erupted from Xu Family Town, attracting attention across the river. Both the special forces soldiers and the working villagers instinctively turned to look.
“Gunshots... from the village?”
“Could someone be setting off firecrackers?”
“Impossible! Who’d be dumb enough to set off firecrackers in times like these?”
Ling Feng’s expression immediately grew serious when he heard the gunshots. Gunfire meant trouble in Xu Family Town. But Zhang Yi had been trapped in the shelter and couldn’t possibly have caused it. So where did it come from? Could there be other forces nearby that West Hill Base hadn’t discovered?
Ling Feng immediately ordered someone to contact the people in Xu Family Town to find out what had happened. A team member used the communicator to make contact, but all the soldiers in the village had already been killed, so no one answered.
The team member reported back to Ling Feng, and his expression darkened.
The special forces operated under strict discipline, and failing to respond to a communication was unheard of unless they were overwhelmed by force.
“Let’s go back and see what happened!”
Ling Feng left Shi Dayong and others behind to continue harassing the shelter, to prevent Zhang Yi from noticing anything unusual. Then he took five soldiers and sped back to Xu Family Town on sleds.
As they crossed the river, they encountered a bloody corpse at the village entrance. The body was mangled, as if crushed by something massive. Blood had dyed the ground red, freezing into chunks of crimson ice. The corpse’s right hand was stretched toward the riverbank, as if there was some terrifying monster in the village.
Ling Feng’s eyes sharpened immediately.
“Stay alert!”
He ordered his men to raise their guns, all of them warily watching the surroundings. But Ling Feng himself strode boldly into the village.
By now, Zhang Yi had already fled far away.
Corpses of soldiers were scattered along the village roads, blood splattered everywhere in a gruesome display. The sight was too horrific to bear.
Villagers stood at the side of the road, chattering among themselves as they pointed at the bodies. When they saw Ling Feng and his men return, they quickly stepped aside.
As Ling Feng walked through the village, his expression grew darker and darker, bloodshot veins forming in his eyes.
Dead. More dead!
These longtime comrades, these brothers, had once again died in front of him!
Ling Feng had brought a total of fifty men with him, along with the dozen or so from the rescue team, making over sixty people. The failed explosion outside the shelter had already killed twenty-two of them. Now, all the soldiers left behind in Xu Family Town were dead. Aside from the captains, there were only thirteen soldiers left by his side!
Such heavy losses! And these weren’t just any soldiers; they were the elite of West Hill Base. How would he ever explain this to Chen Xinian?
Ling Feng walked to the bloodiest part of the battlefield, his eyes filled with killing intent as he looked down at the familiar faces of his fallen comrades.
“Ahhhh!!!”
Unable to contain his rage, Ling Feng let out a roar that surged outward in a wave, stirring up the falling snow. Nearby villagers were knocked to the ground by the force of his voice.
“Who did this? Who killed my brothers?!”
Ling Feng’s bloodshot eyes swept across the village as
he shot forward, grabbing an old man by the neck.
“Tell me! Who did this?!”
The old man was terrified, stammering incoherently, unable to form a complete sentence.
“Crack!”
With a squeeze, Ling Feng snapped the man’s neck like he was crushing a rubber doll, tearing his head clean off.
The villagers stared in disbelief before breaking into terrified screams and fleeing for their lives.
“Don’t run! If anyone runs, I’ll kill them!”
Ling Feng’s fury had almost obliterated his reason after watching his soldiers die twice in a row. The sight of the panicked villagers only filled him with disgust.
In a few quick flashes, Ling Feng turned seven or eight villagers into piles of gore, crushing them like clay figures.
Desperate to vent his emotions, Ling Feng held nothing back. These ordinary people were as fragile as mud in his hands.
The villagers of Xu Family Town died without ever understanding why. They had done nothing wrong, yet they were slaughtered by the very soldiers they had treated so kindly.
Author\'s Note