Chapter Thirty-Nine: What the Hell?

"That’s right, Director Liu is absolutely correct. These young people nowadays are becoming increasingly selfish; they only care about themselves and have no respect for their elders at all."

"Exactly, exactly! They’ve completely abandoned the traditional Chinese virtues of respecting the elderly and caring for the young."

"True, so true."

Seeing someone take the lead, the others chimed in one after another.

Facing these two young women, they showed none of the fear they had displayed toward the zombies. They didn't even notice the zombie corpses scattered all over the ground; their eyes were fixed solely on the bags of supplies in the girls' hands.

They had been coveting these supplies for days, but the zombies gathered at the entrance had kept them at bay. It was only when they saw these two young strangers kill all the zombies today that these people dared to come out.

Who could willingly watch items they had been eyeing for days be taken right from under their noses?

Lin Qingqing crossed her arms and sneered, watching the five cowardly and greedy old men spout their nonsense.

She couldn't help but wonder how these people had even survived until now. Had they not considered that she and Lei Min were ability users?

Lei Min, however, didn't overthink it. She glanced at Lin Qingqing, who was standing to the side watching the show, then turned and pulled a brand-new steel pipe from the trunk. She swung it casually through the air and asked, "What do you mean by this? Are you trying to rob us?"

As she spoke, she flicked her wrist, and a series of sparks crackled at the tip of the steel pipe.

This sight sent the old men scrambling backward. One thin, tall man was so terrified his voice cracked: "Sorcery... it's sorcery! This girl can use sorcery too!"

"Sorcery? This is an ability. Do you not know what an ability user is?" Lei Min was surprised. They didn't know about ability users, yet they had seen people use abilities? How was that possible?

"Don't try to deny it! You are both sorceresses, and those man-eating monsters were conjured up by your dark magic!"

The leader of the group—the one the others called Director Liu—looked ferocious, his expression so agitated that he looked ready to lunge forward and take a bite out of them.

"What? Sorceresses? Are you talking about us?"

Lei Min pointed at herself in bewilderment, then at Lin Qingqing.

"Sister Lin, it’s been so long since the apocalypse began; how can there still be people who don't know about ability users? Hasn't anyone among them awakened an ability?"

"And they say we created the zombies. If we had that kind of power, we’d have just conquered the world already, wouldn't we?" Lei Min rolled her eyes, her tone dripping with disdain.

Lin Qingqing hadn't expected to encounter such a situation. She had originally thought these old men were just trying to take advantage of them. Though it was shameless, it was the apocalypse, after all, and for the sake of everyone trying to survive, she would have just turned a blind eye.

But she never expected someone to point a finger at her and call her a sorceress. It was truly... absurdly ignorant.

"Who told you that ability users are sorceresses? Have you seen other ability users?" Lin Qingqing suddenly became curious.

"A sorceress is a sorceress, and none of them are any good!"

This came from a short, stout man. Just as he was about to provide an example, a bald man interrupted him.

"Exactly! That daughter-in-law from the Liu family has been divorced twice and now has the nerve to take her child back to her parents' home. And what about the niece of the Wen family? She’s blind, and on top of 'cursing' her parents to death, she still wants to study. What could a blind person possibly read?"

"True, true! And that widow from the Wang family... and the granddaughter of the Zhang family..."

The short man, interrupted, glared at the bald man but continued, unwilling to be outdone.

"These people are omens. If they have sorcery, what else could they be but sorceresses?" another dark-faced man stated firmly.

"Yes, yes! It’s all their fault. My poor grandson... he used to ask that blind girl from the Wen family for candy, and then one piece of candy turned him into one of those man-eating monsters. Boo-hoo..."

The last man, a chubby fellow, started wiping away tears as he spoke of his grandson.

Watching the five old men spitting as they ranted about these so-called sorceresses, Lin Qingqing and Lei Min exchanged a look.

Is that it??

In their eyes, those were all perfectly normal life events. Yet, twisted by these men, those women were painted as wicked witches who were not only unlucky themselves but had brought all sorts of disasters upon the world.

Lei Min had a short temper. Hearing this, anger surged in her chest. "What are you talking about? How come it's only women? What about the men? What are those male ability users? Sorcerers?"

"Non... nonsense! Those are the incarnations of Erlang Shen, possessing infinite strength, sent specifically to slay demons and eliminate evil!" The leader, Director Liu, glared fiercely at Lei Min.

"What on earth? So, a strength-type ability user calls energy-type ability users 'sorceresses,' while he transforms himself into the reincarnation of Erlang Shen? And he's here to 'slay demons'? Can you get any more shameless?"

Lei Min stared at the old men in utter disbelief. "I've really seen it all now!"

"I've always felt that the awakening of abilities has a lot to do with personality and emotions. The women they mentioned all sound like people with strong characters and their own independent thoughts. It's not surprising that such people would awaken abilities."

"But in the eyes of these mediocre men, women they usually look down upon awakening abilities must mean they are 'abnormal.' And since they are abnormal, they must be eliminated," Lin Qingqing analyzed calmly.

"It's just 'sour grapes' because they can't have any," Lei Min shrugged. These people were essentially driven by jealousy, unable to accept that the people they usually looked down on might one day be more powerful than them.

"Sister Lin, let's go," Lei Min said, not wanting to look at these old men for another second.

Lin Qingqing hesitated. Looking at these men, she was sure there were others, perhaps a small survivor settlement nearby.

She had originally wanted to fish for information. If there really was a small base here, wouldn't that solve the problem of where Lei Min could go?

She wasn't afraid of these people being weak; being weak was actually better, as Lei Min wouldn't be bullied. Besides, hearing them talk about many female ability users, Lei Min could find companions there.

She was looking to form a team, wasn't she? Here, the teammates were already waiting. And with Lei Min as a mutant lightning-type ability user, the others would surely be happy to team up with her. If the female ability users could band together, they wouldn't have to fear these discriminatory men anymore.

"Maybe this is a good opportunity that benefits both sides," Lin Qingqing thought to herself.

"Sister Lin?" Lei Min had already sat in the car and looked at Lin Qingqing, who was still standing outside, asking in confusion.

"Wait a moment," Lin Qingqing waved at her. Just as she was about to explain, a crowd appeared around the corner.

There were men and women, old and young. They walked over hand-in-hand, heads held high, with an air as if they were going to fight against class enemies.

"What's going on now? Looking at this posture, they don't mean well!" Fearing Lin Qingqing might be at a disadvantage, Lei Min quickly got out of the car, grabbed her weapon, and stood by her side.

"So, these are the two little sorceresses? Men, tie them up! Since those man-eating monsters were created by them, we'll feed them to the monsters!"

The middle-aged woman in the lead glanced at the two of them and, without asking a single question, signaled for her people to tie them up.

"Hmph, you people are all more shameless than the last!"

Lei Min was furious. Her temper had already reached its limit. Seeing two burly old men approaching with ropes, she gave a cold hum and thrust her electrified steel pipe directly at them. Both men immediately rolled their eyes and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Murder! The little sorceresses are killing people!"

They hadn't expected the two young girls to actually dare to strike back. Seeing the two men lying on the ground, dead or alive, the leading woman immediately began to shriek at the top of her lungs.

"Hey! They're just shocked, not dead. What are you screaming for?" Lei Min rubbed her ears, looking disgusted.

"They must be dead! They're not moving at all! They must have been killed by your sorcery!"

The woman didn't care about the truth; her piercing screams continued: "These heaven-damned little sorceresses! Old Zhang and Old Wang have been killed by them! If you don't want to die, hurry up and attack!"

With a few words, she ignited the anger of the others. They glared at Lin Qingqing and Lei Min, rubbing their hands together, eager to capture them.