Chapter Forty-Two: Another Encounter with the Eccentric Mother and Daughter

By the time Qin Yu and the others returned to the base, having exhausted every ounce of their strength, dawn was already breaking. Not far from the base, many had set up camp, a faint sense of harmony lingering in the air—though no one knew how long that peace would last.

Qin Yu was deeply shocked as she watched with her own eyes the bluish mist swirling around the perimeter of the base, seemingly barred from entering by some unknown force. It seemed the S City Base was even more formidable than she had imagined.

Cautiously, she made her way forward. Suddenly, she noticed that a middle-aged man beside her had a wound on his arm that had turned an ominous shade of greenish-black. Alarm bells rang in her mind. The blue mist had begun to invade the human body—it appeared to enter through open wounds.

At that moment, the middle-aged man abruptly opened his eyes, but they were utterly unfocused. Fangs protruded from his mouth as foul liquid dripped out, falling onto his own clothes and dissolving the fabric in its corrosive wake.

Sensing something, the man lunged at Qin Yu. With a swift motion, she swung her dagger, beheading him on the spot. His body crumpled forward lifelessly.

Staring at the limp corpse, Qin Yu grew anxious. She didn’t know how many others had been infected by the blue mist. If any of them made it into the base… the ordinary survivors would surely suffer devastating losses.

Just then, a mother and daughter who had heard the commotion hurried over. Spotting the corpse, an older woman threw herself onto the body, wailing, "Husband! How could you die like this? How are we supposed to go on?"

A member of Wang Bing’s team suddenly spoke up. "Sister-in-law?"

The woman lifted her head stiffly at the sound, but quickly recovered, leaping to her feet and cursing, "Who are you calling sister-in-law? Don’t go claiming relatives! We can’t afford to feed you!" Still unsatisfied, she turned on Qin Yu, jabbing a finger at her and shrieking, "You! Yes, you! You killed my husband! What do you plan to do about it? If you don't give us satisfaction, just wait for justice to be served!"

Qin Yu could only roll her eyes in exasperation, saying nothing. Instead, she looked at the young woman standing behind the older one. She remembered these two—they were Li Zong’s sister-in-law and niece. Li Zong had once given them his food. Tch, and now they’d found a new patron. Quite resourceful, to have made it all the way from B City to S City.

The young woman seemed to sense Qin Yu’s gaze. She looked up, a flash of hatred in her eyes, quickly masked.

She stepped forward with a gentle air, tugging at her mother’s sleeve, and said softly, "Mom, you’re mistaken. We’ve met this lady before—she even shared her food with us. We should be thanking her."

Then, turning to Qin Yu, she continued, "But still, to kill our family member so suddenly… this…"

Qin Yu actually smiled. "Sister? I’m not worthy of such a title. Are you sure he was your family and not… well, you know."

The young woman smiled nervously, a hint of panic in her eyes. "There’s a misunderstanding, miss. Words like those shouldn’t be spoken lightly. After all, we’ve met before. Ah! By the way, where is your companion? Could it be…"

Qin Yu saw through the young woman’s intentions at once and said no more. She had no time for idle chatter.

The young woman—Feng Fei—watched Qin Yu’s silent profile, her eyes glimmering with calculation. So, it seemed that the fire-wielder had parted ways with them. Tch, in that case…

Qin Yu ignored Feng Fei, turning to Wang Bing and the others. "Go stand guard at the base entrance. Don’t let anyone in!"

Wang Bing and his team nodded and prepared to leave, but the older woman blocked their way. She grabbed Wang Bing and collapsed dramatically to the ground, making a scene. By now, their commotion had drawn a crowd.

Seeing the corpse beside the woman and how she clung to Wang Bing, the onlookers quickly sized up the situation.

It looked like these people had killed the woman’s husband, and now she wouldn’t let them leave.

Some in the crowd thought it was despicable to kill without reason—such people deserved death. Others reflected that in this post-apocalyptic world, might makes right. As for the so-called law the woman referred to? Ha! That had vanished the moment the world ended.

The crowd was already splitting into two camps, each prepared to walk a different path.

Watching the older woman’s ugly display, Feng Fei suddenly burst into tears, her voice gentle as she sobbed, "Miss, we’ve done nothing to offend you. Why did you have to kill our loved one so cruelly? Oh, pity us, just a mother and daughter alone…"

Her eyes glistened with tears, but there was the faintest hint of a smile at her lips. She’d long grown weary of that man—always harassing and threatening her. Good riddance! But he couldn’t just die for nothing, could he?

Qin Yu’s gaze darkened as she saw the gates of the base opening, with many people packing their things, ready to return. This was bad. She flung the older woman aside and barked at Wang Bing and the others, "Go! Don’t let a single person into the base!"

The woman, stunned as she was thrown off, began wailing even louder from the ache all over her body. Qin Yu brandished her dagger, pointing it at the woman’s nose. "Another word, and I’ll kill you."

The woman flinched, silenced by the unmistakable intent to kill in Qin Yu’s eyes.

Qin Yu turned to Feng Fei. "Put away your little schemes. Next time, my dagger will be pointed at you."

Feng Fei shrank back, feigning fear, her eyes brimming with accusation as she glanced at those around her.

The crowd, meeting her gaze, felt a surge of righteous indignation. Someone shouted at Qin Yu, "You killed her family! Now you want to kill them too? Do you have no humanity? Are you going to kill us all? Apologize! You must apologize!"

The others, fired up by his words, echoed the call for Qin Yu to apologize.

Qin Yu gripped her dagger in her right hand, conjured a large orb of water with her left, and smiled coldly. "And if I kill you all, what of it?"

At that, silence fell. Ignoring the pitiful figure Feng Fei cut, the crowd hurriedly gathered their belongings and left.

Such is human nature, Qin Yu thought as she dismissed the water orb, a wry smile on her lips. Without another glance at Feng Fei, she headed for the base entrance.

At the gates, many people faced off with Wang Bing and the others, shouting:

"What’s going on? Why won’t you let us in?"

"Move aside! I need to hand in my mission! The deadline’s today!"

"You bastards! Get out of my way!"

No matter how the crowd raged, Wang Bing and the others let not a single person through. Just as the situation was about to explode into violence—

A sudden, blood-curdling scream pierced the air. "Help! Somebody help!"

Everyone turned toward the sound, pupils contracting in horror at what they saw…