Chapter Twelve: The Mad Escape

For a moment, Bai Xiaoyun stiffened—she wasn’t mistaken; there had indeed been someone on the rooftop just now. Although the figure had already slipped out of her sight and was running in another direction, if she nodded, that person would surely be caught by Zhou Mang and the others.

Should she say something or not?

At this moment, Bai Xiaoyun’s heart was torn in two. She clenched her fists tightly, a flicker of struggle crossing her eyes.

“Why should I be captured and controlled, while that person gets away? These people are all perverts. If they don’t find him, I’ll be their outlet for torment.”

Remembering her deceased brother, her own miserable fate, and the bleak future that held no light, Bai Xiaoyun’s eyes reddened. The last bit of hesitation inside her vanished.

After a moment, Bai Xiaoyun opened her eyes and slowly nodded.

“There’s someone… on the rooftop.”

Her lips trembled as she revealed the whereabouts of that person.

“What? Say that again?”

Hearing this, Zhou Mang suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Bai Xiaoyun by the collar. His eyes widened like copper bells, his expression as if he wanted to devour this fragile woman whole.

“There’s… someone on the rooftop!”

Forced off the ground, Bai Xiaoyun was terrified, her voice trembling and distorted.

“Brother Mang, calm down, Brother Mang!”

At that moment, a metallic sheen clasped Zhou Mang’s wrist firmly.

It was Old Qian who dared to step forward to calm Zhou Mang at such a critical juncture.

“Since we’ve found the culprit, let’s go catch him. Brother Mang, you can deal with him however you want afterward!”

Old Qian, whose full name was Qian Mao, was the golden-element ability user Bao Hui had mentioned. Seeing Bai Xiaoyun nearly faint from fear, he quickly stepped forward to intervene.

Qian Mao despised Zhou Mang’s feral, biting temper but was powerless to oppose him, so he resorted to soothing him gently.

Moreover, Bai Xiaoyun was ostensibly his woman.

Recalling how those men had leered at Bai Xiaoyun, a dark gleam flashed in Qian Mao’s eyes.

“Brother Mang, don’t be anxious. That bastard can run off, but he can’t escape the monastery. With so many of us plus Xiaoyun, how could we fail to find him?”

“Exactly! With so many zombies outside, I don’t believe he’d dare run out alone. As long as he’s still around, we’ll catch him for sure!”

At this, the others quickly responded and stepped forward to dissuade Zhou Mang.

“Rest assured, Brother Mang, Hui Zi was my brother too. We will definitely avenge him!”

Qian Mao vowed solemnly.

After the gentle persuasion from the group and Qian Mao tactfully offering an exit, the fury burning in Zhou Mang’s heart was barely suppressed.

He slowly released his grip and let Bai Xiaoyun fall to the ground at his feet.

***

Bai Xiaoyun’s heart was filled with dread. She knew very well that if it weren’t for her powers being useful to them, she might have died countless times over by now.

“Move out!”

Zhou Mang clenched his fists and strode ahead with a wave of his hand.

The others hurried after him, and Bai Xiaoyun silently got to her feet, too upset to wipe the tears from her eyes, stumbling at the rear.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop, Lin Qingqing had already descended from the other passageway on the tenth floor. Unaware she had been discovered, she was preparing to find a place to lay low for a while. She planned to return to her attic once these people left.

Zhou Mang and his group took the elevator down. Just as they stepped out, a gray figure flickered past the corner of the building.

“There! That’s the person!”

Bai Xiaoyun, gasping for breath and trembling, pointed at Lin Qingqing.

Without her saying a word, several sharp-eyed men had already spotted the suspicious figure, though from behind, it seemed to be a woman.

This discovery immediately excited Zhou Mang and the others.

Since Bai Xiaoyun belonged to Qian Mao and her powers were useful, they had to show some respect to Qian Mao.

As for the other women in the complex, they held no qualms about them, but only secretly; openly causing too much trouble was out of the question since Zhou Mang still intended to bully the residents for his own ends. Reputation still mattered.

But if this was their enemy, no one would dare speak out against whatever they did, right?

With that wicked thought stirring in their hearts, everyone was itching to be the first to capture her. Their eagerness surpassed even Zhou Mang’s own.

Bai Xiaoyun’s earlier shout had been loud enough for Lin Qingqing to hear immediately.

Alarm bells rang in her mind, and she had no time to ponder how she was discovered—she could only bury her head and sprint wildly.

The community had many trees and flowers. Even in winter in the south, the plants were lush and green, providing great cover for Lin Qingqing’s escape.

She ran desperately, the wind roaring past her ears, with seven or eight burly men chasing her, encircling and cursing.

“Stop, you filthy bitch!”

Hearing Zhou Mang’s furious shout behind her, Lin Qingqing’s heart tightened, and she ran even harder.

After nearly a month of recuperation, her body was only just beginning to recover. At this moment, her lungs felt like an old, creaky bellows, aching faintly with every breath.

As for the zombies, she no longer cared. Fortunately, they moved slowly, so as long as she stayed out of their encirclement, she was safe.

She knew her stamina couldn’t match Zhou Mang and the others, so she had to shake them off quickly.

Just as Lin Qingqing was strategizing how to lose her pursuers, her heart suddenly leapt.

Without hesitation, she instinctively ducked as a small fireball, no bigger than a ping-pong ball, whizzed past her head.

The burnt smell of singed hair confirmed it was a real, harmful flame.

At once, she understood—this must be the “fireball technique” the little thief had mentioned earlier. He wasn’t lying; Zhou Mang really could shoot flames with his power.

***

Sensing the danger of the fireball behind her, Lin Qingqing deliberately veered into a patch of dense vegetation.

Seeing someone attempting to flank her ahead, she suddenly changed direction, leapt over a low shrubbery, passed by a pavilion beyond it, and followed a winding flower corridor through the fitness area straight into another building.

The upper floors were dead ends, so she avoided them. Her goal was the underground parking lot on basement level one.

“Where’s that filthy bitch?”

Zhou Mang turned the corner of the flower corridor and found the target had vanished, cursing loudly.

Qian Mao and the others behind him looked grim. At the end of the corridor was a small grove of waist-high flowering trees surrounded by many bamboo stalks.

Two buildings stood opposite each other nearby, with several quiet paths stretching in all directions.

This time, Zhou Mang had limited manpower and couldn’t dispatch someone to every path, so he stood there, fuming.

“Bai Xiaoyun! Bring that bitch to me!”

No sooner had he spoken than two men dragged the nearly collapsing Bai Xiaoyun and threw her at Zhou Mang’s feet.

Her stamina was utterly depleted, and she had been dragged along the whole time. Now, she lay limp on the ground, looking as if she had been pulled from the water, unable to form a complete sentence.

Seeing her barely alive state, Zhou Mang burned with rage, itching to kick her to death, but still restrained himself out of respect for Qian Mao.

“Search! Find that bitch for me!”

Zhou Mang’s shout made Bai Xiaoyun tremble. She dared not meet his gaze and bowed her head, releasing her abilities to sense.

This process took more than ten seconds. Just as Zhou Mang’s patience neared its limit, she finally raised her arm, trembling as she pointed to a building on the right.

“She… she went inside!”

“Damn it, you dare to fool me?”

Zhou Mang didn’t believe Bai Xiaoyun didn’t know the exact location.

As his fist, the size of a sandbag, was about to fall, Bai Xiaoyun instinctively curled into a ball, holding her head, then quickly blurted out:

“I didn’t finish earlier! It’s on basement level one! She’s in basement level one! Please don’t hit me!”

Qian Mao once again intercepted Zhou Mang’s fist, staring at his darkened face.

“Brother Mang, catching her is what matters now!”

“Hmph! That’s the second time,” Zhou Mang snorted coldly, giving Qian Mao a displeased glance before instructing the others:

“Take this bitch along. First, catch that woman, then we’ll deal with her!”

Seeing Zhou Mang relent, Qian Mao breathed a sigh of relief. He turned and, with another man, hoisted the dazed Bai Xiaoyun and followed through the unit door.

Seeing Bai Xiaoyun’s vacant expression, Qian Mao whispered a warning:

“Don’t think about pulling any tricks. If there’s a next time, no one will be able to save you. We’ll settle this when we get back.”

Hearing the demon-like voice beside her ear, Bai Xiaoyun trembled and nodded instinctively.