Chapter 314: You’re Dead Now
The first military reinforced vehicle came around the corner too quickly to avoid the wreckage covering the road.
I had to give it credit. Its driver tried anyway.
The front tires climbed over a twisted bumper before slipping sideways, forcing the vehicle into the remains of one of the trucks Yuche had already ruined. Metal screamed as the two frames scraped together, but the driver kept pressing the accelerator while the men clinging to the outside shouted at him to keep moving.
Two more trucks followed close behind, trapping themselves in the narrow stretch of road before anyone seemed to realize that stopping outside the plants would have been the smarter choice.
Apparently, intelligence wasn’t required to join this group of kindergarten students. But then again, they didn’t need matching colors to know that they were all on the same side, so that was a point in their favor.
The woman with the shaved head smiled when she saw the reinforcements forcing their way closer to where she was standing. In fact, her confidence returned so quickly that she seemed to forget the vine still wrapped around her wrist or the bodies that had been standing beside her only minutes ago.
I let out a long sigh. I couldn’t figure out if I wanted to be dealing with these idiots or go back to poking tiny holes into fabric poorly.
For now, the fight won over hobbies.
Turning my attention back to the... what was it? Third wave? Fourth? Something like that. But these vehicles had brought plenty more men to be killed.
"You’re dead now," the woman called toward Lingyun, her smile widening when the rear doors of the reinforced vehicle opened.
Lingyun turned toward me instead of answering her. His eyebrows lifted, and the flames around his hands flickered as though he genuinely wanted to know whether I agreed with her assessment.
I let out a soft snort. This wasn’t enough people to kill me and mine. There was even as single evolved zombie with any of them. They really didn’t stand a chance in hell at winning.
Nodding his head as if he could read my thoughts, Lingyun looked back at the woman with a bright smile. "Rouxi doesn’t seem convinced. She’s the one we listen to, so...." His voice trailed off even as the woman’s smile got brighter.
The reason for the woman’s confidence became obvious when six men climbed out carrying metal tanks strapped across their backs.
Thick hoses connected the tanks to long nozzles held in both hands, and the sharp smell of fuel reached the porch before they had finished spreading across the road.
They were prepared for mutated plants and had brought fire to deal with them.
I mean... that might have been a good idea against an ordinary mutated garden, but not this one. And not with Lingyun.
I could swear that that man could read me like a book because by the time I had turned away from the flame throwing men, Lingyun was already walking toward them.
The men raised their nozzles together, and streams of fire rolled across the road. Flames covered the nearest vines, raced through the grass, and climbed toward the flowers lining the outer edge of the property.
Lingyun stopped in the middle of it, his trademark smile still firmly fixed on his face.
For several seconds, I could only see his outline through the fire. Then he lifted one hand and slowly curled his fingers.
The flames pulled away from the plants without a single burned mark.
Sliding over the pavement in long streams, they gathering around Lingyun’s body until every spark the attackers had created belonged to him instead. He stood inside a hurricane of fire with his head tilted slightly, studying the men and their fuel tanks as though they had delivered him a present.
His grin became almost painful to look at.
"You brought me more?" he purred. "So thoughtful. But I didn’t bring you anything. I’ll have to change that."
The men tried to shut off the nozzles, but the fire had already travelled back along the streams of fuel. Yuche moved at the same time, flicking two fingers toward the metal tanks strapped to their backs.
Valves twisted shut before the flames could reach the fuel inside, and the attackers looked relieved for a brief second.
Then Yuche smiled.
Metal straps tightened across their chests, dragging the men backward into one another while the hoses wrapped around their wrists and throats. Before they could cut themselves free, Lingyun sent the stolen flames across the road in a low circle around them.
"See? Aren’t we so giving?" he continued. But he didn’t burn them immediately. Instead, he simply left them trapped inside the heat while their tanks grew warmer and warmer against their backs.
The woman’s smile finally disappeared.
More men poured from the trucks, but the wreckage had forced them into a narrow space with nowhere to spread out. They climbed over twisted doors and broken windows, shoving past one another while their commanders screamed instructions that no one could follow.
I rested both hands against the porch railing and watched them make an already bad situation worse.
The plants could have closed the road immediately. They could have done a lot of things. Instead, they pulled farther apart and created a clear corridor leading toward the mansion.
I shook my head, the smile never leaving my face as they literally created a road for their food to follow. And follow they did.
The newcomers saw an opening and they mistook it for a weakness.
The driver of the reinforced vehicle corrected his angle and accelerated again, his eyes widening with joy as he followed the cleared path. The heavy frame tore through the first layer of vines, flattening shrubs and crushing several smaller plants beneath its tires as it forced its way onto the property.
Men followed behind it, cheering when nothing immediately dragged them underground.
I waited until the entire vehicle crossed the boundary.
Then I closed the path behind them.
