Chapter 93: Rescue

Of course she knew who was there. “Wasn’t all of this the plan between the two of you, master and disciple?”

“Maybe. Keep this sword for now.” After saying that, Yoyo turned and left.

Even as they watched her receding figure, the two remained wary. Ye Tang picked up the red blade stuck in the ground. The entire sword was crimson, and flames surged fiercely from it as though bound to her. This was the true Red Blade Sword.

Hu Guozheng and the others returned to Panyu District and found Wu Yongxin’s mother, Ye Qian. Everyone began clearing the vampires from the area. With the expert Le Er lending support, even the previously encountered double-winged vampire was easily taken down.

“Humph.” Ye Qian swept her hand lightly and dismembered the virus-infected man before her. She had not cultivated for many years and was already rusty; exhausted, she leaned against the wall, panting.

“If you’re so dissatisfied, then say it out loud. I should never have saved you, you money-grubbing woman. You’ve lived in Italy so long you’ve forgotten what you are.”

“If you know that, then let’s talk price.” Ye Qian walked over to her.

Ye Lan flicked her hand and wiped out several virus-infected men behind her. “You’re about to lose your life and you’re still thinking about money? If this crisis isn’t resolved, everyone in the city is doomed.”

Ye Qian snorted. “Fine, fatso. I’ll give you that.”

“I may be fat, but I’m still your sister. You’re almost forty and you still don’t know how to show respect.”

“You’re the one nearly forty!” Ye Qian fumed, glaring furiously. She no longer wanted to argue and stormed off. Her daughter, Wu Yongxin, looked completely bewildered the entire time.

After receiving civilian reports that someone was trapped inside a commercial building, Li Ping led the special investigation team to the site. The building had twenty floors, and because the power was out, they could only search floor by floor. Team members Zhang Zhihao, Li Jianwen, and the others followed closely behind.

When they reached the tenth floor, they finally heard crying coming from a restroom. “There’s crying over there. It should be a civilian trapped inside.” Li Ning opened the door to the women’s restroom and shone a light in, but the inside was pitch-black and impossible to make out.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Li Jianwen said cautiously.

“No matter how I hear it, that doesn’t sound like crying to me,” Zhang Zhihao said. The sound felt strangely off.

“Everyone be careful. Watch for mutation.”

Li Jianwen and Zhang Zhihao advanced first with their rifles raised. Li Ping and the others followed behind, providing cover as they moved inward. The closer they got, the louder the sound became. “All right.”

After exchanging a glance, Zhang Zhihao slowly opened the door and pushed it inward. Everyone immediately raised their guns and aimed inside. In the light, they saw a woman sitting on a toilet, weeping, while beside her lay a female corpse torn apart by bites.

“Could it be a mutated one?”

Li Ping wasn’t sure. “Careful. Check whether she’s been infected first.”

“Miss, could you please lift your head?”

Li Ning was about to step forward to examine her, but her brother stopped her. “Don’t go over yet. We’ll confirm first.”

Hearing someone speak, the woman’s strange crying ceased. She slowly raised her head, and the sight sent everyone into alarm. Her face was a mass of bloody ruin.

“Everyone back up. It’s a virus-infected one!” Li Ping warned them.

She sprang to her feet and lunged viciously at Li Ning. The others reacted at once and opened fire. Seeing her charge straight for her, Li Ning quickly drew her pistol and shot. As she leaped, Li Ping rushed forward and struck her back with a fist.

“Retreat!” Li Ping held her off while the others pulled back. He dodged the virus-infected woman’s attack and withdrew from the restroom.

“She’s been chasing us nonstop,” Li Jianwen said as he shone his light down the staircase and saw the mutated creature following close behind. “This won’t work. Better to stop her with a bomb.”

With that, Zhang Zhihao threw a bomb near the stairs. After they had gone only a short distance, the explosion rang out, and the virus-infected woman lost her footing and tumbled down.

Li Ping and his team had searched all the way to the top floor and still found no survivors. Just as they stepped out onto the rooftop, they heard a strange sound. In the next instant, a shadow flashed behind them. One of the team members at the rear was suddenly lifted into the air. Struggling desperately, he cried out, “Captain, save me!”

By the time everyone turned around, he was gone. All they could hear was the fading echo of his screams. They stood there in stunned confusion. “What happened? Where are you?”

They swept the area with their flashlights, but saw nothing. “כולם, form a circle. Don’t scatter.” The six of them formed a ring and watched their backs. Though grief over their fallen teammate weighed heavily on them, they could not afford to lose focus now; otherwise they would all die.

“Who is it?” Li Ping shouted. The rooftop remained still. Just as they were about to step closer to investigate, they suddenly heard noises overhead. Everyone tensed.

From behind the water tank, countless vines snaked outward. Then a gigantic mass came into view, its body covered with innumerable root-like appendages that had coiled around the entire rooftop.

“A plant?” Panic spread through the group. Li Ping and his sister recognized it at once: it was the enormous plant they had encountered on the ship. Before the others could react, it had already extended roots from both sides. The roots at the center twisted together like a spiral and stabbed straight toward them.

“Fire!” Everyone shot at it in rapid succession. Though the barrage eased the threat for the moment, it would not give them any breathing room.

“These viruses are insane! They can actually turn people into something like this?”

Li Jianwen noticed a human head embedded in the center of the plant, while below it lay piles of corpses that had been devoured.

“Quick, get inside!”

Dodging its attacks as they retreated, they rushed through the door. Li Ping knew that the last time, on the ship, they had ended it with fire.

“Fire. Burn it with fire! Does anyone have fire?”

Zhang Zhihao thought for a moment. “Right. Why didn’t I think of burning it?”

Everyone began searching for a flame source. Meanwhile, Ye Tang and Du Bin did not choose to linger. Their destination was the center of this incident. Ye Tang had initially intended to fly there, but the sky was filled with countless bats, leaving them no choice but to find a car. Because the roads were either collapsed or engulfed in fire, they were forced to take a very long detour.

After crossing Haizhu Bridge, they had entered the battlefield proper. Countless mutated people chased after the rear of their car all along the way.

“It’s only been less than a day, and the infection has reached this point. Can they still recover?”

“They should be able to. If the bacteria are removed, their sanity ought to return. As for whether that applies to vampires, I can’t say.”

“If that’s true, then before long vampires will spread across the entire world. Wouldn’t that mean normal humans are facing extinction?” Du Bin found the thought hard to accept. It wasn’t that he hated becoming a vampire; quite the opposite. The person he loved was a vampire, so he did not want others to suffer the same fate as he had.

“She’s here. Should we stop her?” Yaso spotted Ye Tang’s whereabouts through the bats’ surveillance.

“Then let them play with her for a while,” Pan said.

“All right. Then let the Ten Warriors go.” After speaking, Yaso flew up into the sky and called out. Before long, ten vampires appeared overhead. After Yaso assigned them their mission, they flew toward Ye Tang’s direction.