Surviving the apocalypse with a wife and a system! [GL]

Chapter 217: Dmmit.

"Damn it, Bai Li, you stupid bitch, you really think I am just talking big and won’t actually dare to touch you, huh? You just wait, I am going to make you regret breathing!"

Bai Li was completely unaware of the ugly storm of rage breaking loose upstairs. Right now, she had only one thing on her mind, and that was getting out of the stairwell and into the courtyard as fast as she could. Her footsteps were light but steady as she moved down the narrow concrete stairs, one hand on the Tang sword and the other already adjusting her balance in case she had to fight at any second. The air in the stairwell smelled stale and heavy, like dust, sweat, rotten blood, and the damp cold of a place that had been shut up too long. Every sound seemed to bounce off the walls, so even the faint scrape of a shoe, or the wet drag of a zombie foot, felt much louder than it should have been.

When she reached the eighth floor, she did not even have time to fully step out into the landing before she saw two zombies blocking the way. They were standing close together, both swaying a little, both making those low broken groans that were becoming far too familiar by now. One of them was a woman. Bai Li only needed one quick glance to know who it was. The blood-stained clothes were still recognizable, even though they were torn and dirty and hanging badly on the dead body. That pattern, that color, that shape of the outfit, it was Jiang Xiaoyun, Lin Lei’s mother.

Bai Li’s eyes only paused for a split second. There was no hesitation in them, no pity that could slow her down, because pity in this kind of world was the fastest way to die. The female zombie had clearly once been a person she knew, but that did not change what stood in front of her now. Jiang Xiaoyun had already turned into one of those hungry, senseless things that only knew how to lunge, bite, and tear. Beside her was a male zombie Bai Li did not recognize at all. His face was badly damaged, his skin was grayish and stretched tight over his bones, and his mouth kept opening and closing as if he was trying to remember how to speak and failing every single time.

Without breaking her stride, Bai Li lifted her leg and kicked Jiang Xiaoyun square in the chest. The kick was fast, clean, and heavy enough to send the zombie stumbling backward with a harsh thud against the concrete. The female zombie lost her balance completely and tumbled down the stairs, rolling in a messy heap one level lower. Bai Li did not look after her. The very same moment her leg came down, Bai Li had already leaped forward. Her body was light and sharp in the air, and both hands lifted the Tang sword high overhead. She used the force of the jump, the weight of her arms, and the momentum of her fall all at once, driving the blade straight down with ruthless precision. The sword sliced through the male zombie’s neck in one smooth motion. His head tilted strangely, the body still jerking for a second, and then the whole thing collapsed in a useless, broken spasm.

Bai Li landed without stumbling. Her knees bent slightly to absorb the impact, then straightened right away as she kept moving. The whole exchange had happened so quickly that someone watching from far away might have thought she did it without even thinking. In truth, she had thought plenty. Her eyes had already measured the distance, the angle, the weight of the threat, and the best place to strike before her body even moved. That was the difference between a person who was still adapting to the apocalypse and a person who was starting to become dangerous inside it.

She continued down the stairwell without any wasted motion. When she passed Jiang Xiaoyun, the clumsy creature was still struggling to get up from the floor, one arm bending at a strange angle as she clawed at the steps. Bai Li did not waste a second on her. She simply lowered her sword, tightened her grip, and kept going. The stairwell below felt colder than the one above, and the silence was broken now and then by the weak scrape of the zombie rolling behind her, but Bai Li acted like she did not hear it. There was no need to turn around. The thing was too slow to matter right now.

On the fourth floor landing, she found Lin Lei himself wandering around again. He looked even more ruined than before, his clothes filthy, his hair stuck to his forehead in ugly clumps, and his body swaying in that stiff, aimless way that only zombies could manage. He was moving more by instinct than by purpose, likely drawn by sound, smell, or the faint traces of living people nearby. Bai Li’s expression did not change at all. She stepped in hard, kicked him straight down to the floor, and sent him crashing onto his back with a solid thump. Lin Lei’s arms jerked upward as if he wanted to catch himself, but he was too late and too clumsy. Bai Li looked down at him for one second, then simply walked past.

The two groaning zombies were left exactly where they were. Bai Li had no intention of finishing them off right now. That was not kindness. It was deliberate. She was leaving them there on purpose, alive enough to move, alive enough to groan, and alive enough to keep causing trouble for the troublesome residents later. It was a small, twisted kind of gift, one she did not plan to explain to anyone. In this kind of place, it was often smarter to turn one enemy into another person’s problem.They could deal with the mess she left behind. Bai Li had better things to do.

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TO BE CONTINUED,