Chapter 19: Murder  

A few of them came closer, led by a young guy who looked around 24-years-old. He looked reckless but there was a gun strapped to his waist. He was holding an iron bar in one hand and beating it against the other’s palm every once in awhile. Upon approaching them, he arrogantly said, "You’re quite brave, huh? Didn’t even try to run when you saw us coming. I thought I’d have to go after you!"

"Boss, you don’t need to bullshit him.”

“You, man! Leave your weapon and wallet here, while the girl, she must stay! Such a beautiful lady... must be a good one! Seems like we are going to be busy tonight!" another gangster said while looking at Zhao Yali and drooling.

Zhao Yali’s face turned slightly pale. She asked Luo Yuan, "Should we call the police?"

"The police? Are you kidding me?"

"It’s the end of the world, so who cares? If you don’t believe us, you can try calling." Several gangsters laughed.

"Are the police not working anymore?" Although Luo Yuan didn’t understand their dialect, he could guess the general meaning.

"I can’t stop laughing man! There are so many people dying every day and you think the police have nothing better to do? Nobody is going to investigate even if I kill you now. If you don’t want to leave and want to be the hero, won’t you regret it?" The leader of the gang laughed crazily but felt somewhat uneasy. But he calmed down once he remembered the gun at his waist.

Looking at the lawless actions of these people, it seemed like they were saying the truth. "Does that mean it is okay to kill you, too?" Luo Yuan asked quietly.

The gang weren’t afraid and didn’t take even the smallest of steps backward. Their head man reached for the pistol at his waist, but Luo Yuan had long noticed it and was definitely not going to give him the opportunity to use it. He adjusted his footing and propelled himself forward. His body moved like an arrow and he took out his knife before anyone was able to respond. His long knife easily slid out from its sheath and he quickly sliced off the opponent’s right hand that held the gun. The hand fell onto the ground and the gang’s head released a mournful scream.

A few of the gang members looked horrified. Things happened too fast and they no longer knew whether they should stay or retreat.

Luo Yuan kicked the pistol away from the detached hand. Without a gun, these bullies were no match for him.

"Kill him, kill him!" the leader of the gang ordered while clutching his injured hand and crying hysterically. He was full of anger aimed at Luo Yuan. Several bullies hesitated as they knew they had encountered a stronger than usual opponent and now were very fearful.

Luo Yuan hesitated whether to kill the leader or not as he saw the anger in the young man’s eyes.

His moral ethics and the concern of being arrested delayed his decision. However, Zhao Yali would be in trouble if he didn’t kill the leader now. She would be staying nearby while he left to return to his own place.

“Yali, please close your eyes,” Luo Yuan said suddenly.

The gangsters’ leader seemed to sense something wrong and tried to move backward. He shouted to his followers, "Beat him! You idiots! Do you think he will let you go?"

"Shut up!" Luo Yuan yelled at the lousy leader and walked toward him. He raised his knife and sliced the leader’s neck. The poor leader opened his eyes wide and pressed his remaining hand to his neck, trying to stop the blood from oozing out. He wanted to say something but he was no longer able to speak and his body slowly fell down in a puddle of blood.

Something was stimulated in Luo Yuan’s mind while watching the poor leader fall. He then looked at the other gangsters with murderous eyes. He wondered whether he should just kill all of them to avoid any unnecessary trouble in the future, since he had already killed one anyway.

All of them were bullies and had done many bad things; Luo Yuan didn’t need to feel guilty even if he killed them all. It was a good deed to defeat evil people. He took a moment to convince himself of that and very soon didn’t hesitate anymore.

Those bullies sensed that something was wrong and tried to escape. Unfortunately, it was already too late. Luo Yuan acted very swiftly and his knife sliced through one of the bullies’ necks, his head flying through the air and falling on the ground. Luo Yuan then took a few leaps to reach another bully, his blade stabbing into the bully’s neck and then coming out on its other side.

Cut, chop, strike, and slice! None of the bullies were able to escape. Luo Yuan managed to kill all of them with his 12-points of dexterity.

Most of the bullies tried to escape but in the end, all of them got murdered. He only spent about 20 seconds to kill all of them. He shook his knife to try and remove the blood from the blade, then returned it to the sheath.

During the killing process, Luo Yuan was full of excitement, however, now all he felt was fear and regret. What if the police found him? He turned around and saw Zhao Yali sitting on the floor; she looked frightened.

He quickly ran over and asked, “Are you alright? I told you to close your eyes, why didn’t you listen to me?”

“Murderer! You killed those people!” Zhao Yali said to herself without looking at Luo Yuan.

"Don’t worry, just a few bullies. We should leave now, otherwise, we will be in trouble if someone sees us!" he told her, and immediately realized he’d said the wrong thing. But it was a bit too late to regret it.

His concern had been for the consequences of murdering instead of the killing itself. He felt that killing people was almost the same as killing those mutated rats. For a moment he wondered since when was he like that. Previously, he’d never dared to even fight anyone, and now he was fine with killing.

“Yes, you’re right! We should go!” Zhao Yali responded immediately. But when she was about to get up from the ground, she felt numb and said, “Could you help me up? My legs are numb.”

Luo Yuan naturally looked at her thighs and noticed that the posture she was sitting in was inappropriate. Her dress had accidentally rosen up, exposing her fair buttocks. Luo Yuan had just gone through a series of fights and he was still pumped from the killing experience. He became braver and naturally touched her buttock after failing to resist such a seductive sight.

“What the hell are you doing?” Zhao Yali shouted out, shocked when Luo Yuan grabbed her butt.

He then pulled her up from the ground.

"You jerk! Your mind is just full of porn!" Zhao Yali scolded him madly. She got up from the ground and pushed Luo Yuan’s hand away.

“Why didn’t you wear any underwear? It’s normal for a healthy guy to react this way!” he explained innocently. He wondered why women were so weird. Last night she was desperately asking for it, but today she was totally different, and he wasn’t even allowed to touch her.

Zhao Yali’s face blushed red and she said, “You shouldn’t do that even if I’m not wearing any underwear! You’re not my boyfriend!” Luo Yuan remained silent. Zhao Yali became more furious and kicked his leg. She then walked away angrily and said, “I’m leaving, you should go home!”

However, she slowed down when she saw the dead bodies.

"There is still a long way to go and you might be in danger, I’ll be worried if you go alone," Luo Yuan said.

"Just leave me alone! Even if you arrive at my house, I’ll still kick you out!" Zhao Yali threatened.

“Do you really need to do this? I’m just trying to help you.” Luo Yuan sighed and then added angrily, “Fine, I’ll go home. Since you’re so mad and don’t want to see me, I’ll just leave. I shouldn’t have come here in the first place!” He turned around and walked away without looking back.

Zhao Yali turned around and seeing Luo Yuan walking away, she immediately felt depressed. She waited for a while but he was still walking away from her. Certain that he won’t come back, she squatted down and started crying the tears she had held in for a long time.

It was becoming difficult to breathe when she heard, “Aren’t you an adult? Still crying?”

She sobbed even louder when she heard his voice and cried out, “Don’t bother me! Why didn’t you go home? Why did you come back?”

“I was joking, my dear, and I recalled there is a gun somewhere in the area. I was trying to get it,” Luo Yuan explained. He wouldn’t just let her go home alone even if there was no mission to complete.

Zhao Yali stopped crying once she heard his explanation. She quickly got up from the ground and asked, "Are you crazy? Why would you take the gun? Throw it away, we might get arrested if the police finds out!"

Luo Yuan felt touched and said, "The gun is for you, you might be able to use it in the future. And don’t worry about the police, they are too busy for such small things. If even bullies can get a gun now, there must be more people out there who own guns. As long as you keep it properly, it should be fine."

But Zhao Yali still rejected anxiously, “Why would I need it? It’s dangerous and my parents might be frightened!”

“The world is chaotic right now and it will be worse in the future. Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow? It will be safer if you have a gun for protection. Even if you bump into bullies in the future, you will be able scare them away with a gun.”

Zhao Yali changed her mind as she remembered all the many horrible and scary experiences she had gone through recently. She was no longer afraid of the gun. "But I don’t know how to fire," she said softly.

"I’ve learned from a police once, I’ll teach you later," Luo Yuan told her with a smile.

Zhao Yali got mad again when she saw Luo Yuan smile. "Don’t even begin to think I’ll forgive you. The incident last night was a mistake! If you touch me again, I’ll... I’ll...” She couldn’t think of a word strong enough to threaten him.

The scent of blood was attracting many different mutated animals. There were also a few dark shadows lingering in the sky. It was obvious more would come later. It was good in a way, though, since the chance of Luo Yuan getting arrested would become that much slimmer.

He looked around and then said, “Alright, alright. This place is not safe anymore, we should leave now.” He then grabbed her hand and ran.