Watching Lao Yang fall, Chu Wei finally came to his senses. When he realized what he had done, a wave of regret washed over him.
"Brother Chu, what are you doing?" Xiao Li was the first to react. He stared at Chu Wei in horror, as if he couldn't quite believe what had happened.
At the moment Lao Yang was pierced, Xiao Hu, who had his arrow aimed at the zombie, subconsciously turned the arrowhead towards Chu Wei, as if he was the more ferocious demon than the second - order zombie.
Lin Qingqing raised her eyebrows in surprise, then quickly took two steps back, her eyes full of vigilance.
Sensing the shocked or guarded gazes of the others, Chu Wei's face was as cold as water, and his throat felt dry.
Then, glaring with a vicious look, he said, "This was an accident. I thought Lao Yang was going to sneak - attack me, so I instinctively pulled him. This is self - defense!"
Such a far - fetched excuse surely wouldn't be believed by anyone. Chu Wei knew this in his heart, but he couldn't come up with a better reason for the moment. So, he could only force himself to say, "Let's focus on dealing with the zombie first. We can talk about other things later."
Looking at the zombie crawling on the ground, gnawing on Lao Yang's body, the others wisely didn't say anything more. They just subconsciously distanced themselves from Chu Wei.Hmph, what did it matter if one or two people died? As long as he got the crystal nucleus and advanced to the second - order, who would dare to have an opinion of him then?
A fierce glint flashed in Chu Wei's eyes. He raised the dagger in his hand and stabbed viciously at the zombie's head.
There was already a gash there made by Lin Qingqing. Chu Wei stared intently at the gash, as if he could see the crystal nucleus inside the zombie's head through it.
Although Chu Wei's attacks were much fiercer this time, with the loss of Lao Yang, the strength - type superpower user, everyone still felt the pressure increase sharply.
Especially Xiao Li. Most of his ability had already been consumed, and then Chu Wei's accidental killing of Lao Yang greatly increased the fear and pressure in his heart.
His psychological quality wasn't strong to begin with. Under the double blow, he made frequent mistakes, affecting both Lin Qingqing and Chu Wei with his water whip.
"What do you mean?"
Chu Wei was swept by the water whip again. He turned to question Xiao Li.
"Careless," Xiao Li bit his lip, offering no further explanation.
"Careless? I think you're doing it on purpose!"
"I really was careless. Believe it or not, I'm not like you!"
"You..."
Chu Wei was furious. He never expected that even the gentle - tempered and good - natured Xiao Li would dare to deliberately contradict him.
The two of them were distracted by the argument, and Lin Qingqing silently slacked off on the side. With no one to hold it back, the zombie suddenly chased after Xiao Hu, who had been shooting arrows at it.
Xiao Hu was startled. He quickly put away his bow and arrow and turned to run. They started a chase - and - escape scene inside the factory building, with all kinds of glass products falling to the ground, their fragments flying everywhere.
"Run this way!" Chu Wei shouted at him, waving his dagger.
In his panicked escape, Xiao Hu tripped over a fallen iron rack. His leg was injured, and strands of blood dripped down along his trouser leg.The smell of fresh blood instantly made the zombie even more frenzied. Xiao Hu quickly got up, ignored his injured leg, and rushed towards his companions.
"Help!"
Xiao Hu glanced at Chu Wei and without hesitation ran past him.
The scene of Lao Yang's death was still vivid in his mind. Compared to the zombie behind him, he was more afraid that Chu Wei would push him again. So, he would rather choose Lin Qingqing and Xiao Li, who were farther away from Chu Wei, than turn to him for help.
"Bah! Ungrateful wretch!"
At this moment, Chu Wei's face was extremely ugly. He cursed Xiao Hu under his breath and retracted the leg he had already stepped forward.
Lin Qingqing watched coldly as the three of them became wary and suspicious of each other because of Lao Yang's unexpected death, causing their originally harmonious team to fall apart.
"I originally wanted to use the second - order zombie to weaken their strength. It seems I don't need to now."
Lin Qingqing stared at the zombie that was attracted by Xiao Hu and planned to take this opportunity to deal with it directly.
At this moment, the "Fire Armor" on the zombie had disappeared, and it had lost an arm, so its strength was much weaker than before.
Lin Qingqing seized the right moment, rushed forward with the ice - blade in her hand, and chopped off the zombie's head in one strike.
The moment the zombie's head fell, she suddenly turned the blade, inserted it into the zombie's half - destroyed face, and pulled it backward, then retreated a few steps with the zombie's head, creating some distance from Chu Wei and the others.
These actions were completed in a flash, without any hesitation. By the time the other three reacted, the second - order crystal nucleus was already in Lin Qingqing's hand.
"Miss Lin, what do you mean by this?"
Seeing the crystal nucleus in Lin Qingqing's hand, Chu Wei became anxious immediately. After all the hardships and the loss of one person, he still didn't get the crystal nucleus. How could Chu Wei remain calm?
"It doesn't mean much. We still have a deal later. Mr. Chu hasn't forgotten, has he?"Lin Qingqing waved the ice - blade, and the cracks on the blade instantly returned to their original state. The head of this second - order zombie was much harder than that of a first - order one. Just one strike had caused two cracks on her ice - blade.
Looking at the still - sharp ice - blade in Lin Qingqing's hand, Chu Wei suppressed his anger again and again in his heart.
"How could I forget? We agreed that I would tell you the location right after we killed the second - order zombie. Miss Lin, you don't think I'd go back on my word, do you?"
"I had no choice. Mr. Chu surely knows that in business, integrity is crucial. However..."
Lin Qingqing deliberately glanced at Lao Yang's body on the ground halfway through her words.
The meaning was clear: You even used your own brother to block the attack. How can I trust you?
"You!"
Chu Wei was extremely angry at Lin Qingqing's actions. He had originally planned to come up with some excuses to gloss over this matter, but Lin Qingqing had brought it out into the open with just one sentence, and now he couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to.
What was even more infuriating was the attitude of Xiao Hu and Xiao Li. At this moment, one was looking at the sky and the other was looking at the ground, and neither of them made a sound to refute.
"You... you two!"
Chu Wei stared fiercely at the three of them, especially Lin Qingqing. Looking at the second - order crystal nucleus in her hand, Chu Wei wished he could skin her alive right now.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Mr. Chu?""What on earth do you want?" Chu Wei said through gritted teeth.
"You take me there in person. I'll return the crystal nucleus to you once we see that second - order zombie."
"Fine! I hope Miss Lin will keep her word!"
"Of course!"
After saying that, Lin Qingqing put the crystal nucleus into her pocket right in front of him.
Realizing that he couldn't shirk this time, Chu Wei snorted coldly and turned to walk out.
Xiao Li and Xiao Hu exchanged a glance and could only follow helplessly. After all, since Chu Wei hadn't obtained the crystal nucleus, their deal wasn't considered complete.
"This Miss Lin is no ordinary person," this thought flashed through the minds of Chu Wei and the other two simultaneously.
They had originally thought she was an easy target, but she turned out to be an experienced hunter. Even Chu Wei, a seasoned guy who had dealt with all kinds of people, admitted that he had really misjudged her this time.
He recalled Lin Qingqing's performance from start to finish and realized that apart from the ice - blade, she hadn't revealed anything else.
Moreover, during the entire battle, everyone was more or less flustered, but she had been calm and composed from beginning to end. Especially that final strike to cut off the zombie's head, it was so fast, accurate, and ruthless.
Even now, Chu Wei still couldn't figure out just how powerful Miss Lin was.