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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 32: Withering Kindness
"Quick! Save Jinhua!" An Zheng shouted from the car.
Hearing this, Chao Yifan drew his pistol and rushed toward the roadside, while Ming Junwei couldn't even hold him back.
Jiang He jumped into the car, anxiously calling out, "Sister An, are you okay?"
Two windows on the coach side shattered, and An Zheng, gripping his gun, desperately tried to calm the two frightened children who were crying loudly. "That person has taken Jinhua hostage!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
More gunshots rang out. Jiang He hurriedly jumped out of the car and saw Chao Yifan standing by the guardrail, firing repeatedly toward the rear of the vehicle. Ming Junwei had hidden himself behind the SUV and shouted urgently when he saw Jiang He come down, "Get down!"
Jiang He's mind raced, and he rolled onto the ground just as gunfire erupted behind him.
Ming Junwei peeked out and fired three shots in quick succession, forcing the shooter at the back of the car to retreat. He yelled at Jiang He, "Get inside!"
Jiang He's ears buzzed from the close-range gunfire; he could see Ming Junwei shouting but couldn't make out what he was saying. Ming Junwei waved his hand in frustration, and only then did Jiang He realize what to do. He twisted his body and rolled under the car. While trying to clear his ears, he glanced toward the rear of the vehicle and saw two pairs of legs—one covered in mud and the other wearing Jinhua's sneakers. The gunfire outside had stopped, and Chao Yifan was cursing loudly while the two children inside continued to cry, creating chaos all around. Gritting his teeth, Jiang He turned over and crawled toward the back of the car. From his angle, he could see Jinhua's body in front and Mud Man behind her, clearly using her as a human shield.
Jiang He couldn't understand why that useless Mud Man would suddenly turn aggressive. His ears were still ringing, and his mind was a jumble as he quickly crawled forward, grabbing hold of those muddy legs while shouting, "I've got him—ah!"
Just as he shouted half of it, a scream escaped him as Mud Man kicked him away. Jiang He felt like he had been hit in the nose with a hammer; tears mixed with blood streamed down his face. Before he could pull back his head, Mud Man Zhang stomped down hard several times. Jiang He's head slammed against the ground like a ball, causing him to black out instantly.
"Old Zhang! What the hell do you mean?!" Ming Junwei yelled from behind the SUV, his voice hoarse. With only one bullet left in his magazine and no sign of Mud Man Zhang showing himself, he felt utterly helpless.
"All your people retreat into the woods now! Hurry! Otherwise, I'll blow this little girl’s head off!" Mud Man Zhang snorted coldly; his voice was no longer hoarse. "Damn it! You guys are so unlucky to keep running into me wherever you go!"
Chao Yifan, hiding behind the railing, glared furiously and shouted, "You bastard!"
Ming Junwei was taken aback for a moment, then recalled who Mud Man Zhang was. The realization that he had actually saved this person made him feel a wave of regret. He glanced at the car, where An Zheng was calming a child, looking anxiously at him.
Ming Junwei quickly assessed Mud Man Zhang's position and signaled An Zheng to sneak attack from the back window. An Zheng nodded and stealthily approached the rear of the vehicle. Just a few steps in, a gunshot rang out, shattering the rear glass of the coach.
"That female doctor, don't you dare pull any tricks. I'll say it again: your people retreat into the woods, or you'll test my patience," Mud Man Zhang's hiding spot was excellent. Ming Junwei and Chao Yifan were on either side of the front of the car, perfectly blocked from sight by a small panda, unable to communicate.
Chao Yifan, furious, quickly moved along the railing towards Mud Man Zhang. It seemed Mud Man Zhang heard the movement and fired two shots at the railing, sparks flying everywhere. Chao Yifan was forced to crouch down and slowly retreat down the slope without exposing himself, inching towards the rear of the car. He knew he had no aim when shooting; even if he jumped out and saw Mud Man Zhang five meters away, he had no confidence in hitting him.
Behind the SUV, Ming Junwei did the same thing as Chao Yifan. He darted out from behind the SUV, quickly and silently leaping over the central barrier of the road, slowly making his way towards the rear of the car. However, just a few steps in, he was shot at from ahead.
Ming Junwei crouched down in fright, puzzled by how alert this guy was, as if he could see his movements. Unwilling to give up, Ming Junwei peeked again and indeed saw another shot fired at the barrier. This time when he raised his head, he found out why: behind Coach was an Audi whose windshield acted like a large mirror, reflecting his and Chao Yifan's movements clearly. Ming Junwei hunched over and ran a few steps forward; when he peeked again, he discovered that Mud Man Zhang had already moved with Jinhua to behind the Audi. Now there was no chance for a sneak attack; if they exposed themselves, they would only be suppressed by Mud Man Zhang.
The scene fell silent for a moment; only Jinhua's whimpering could be heard—presumably because Mud Man Zhang had covered her mouth.
"Have you thought it through? Are you really willing to sacrifice this little girl's life?" Mud Man Zhang shouted.
"Zhou Huai! Don't you dare hurt her!" Chao Yifan yelled in desperation, but there was nothing he could do.
"I don't want to see blood either," Zhou Huai said from behind the Audi. He had Jinhua's neck in one arm as a shield while holding a gun in his other hand with a cold smile. "I just wanted to stay at your place for one night; such a simple request you refused and even brought zombies to harm us. Ha! My people are dead now; are you satisfied?"
Chao Yifan trembled with anger and shouted back, "So you think it's justified to rob us?"
Zhou Huai replied coolly, "Everyone wants to live; if you don't give me a way out, I can't be blamed."
Bang!
A bullet flew out from the barricade, shattering the glass of the Audi.
Zhou Huai crouched down without firing back, shouting loudly, "Don't force me to kill this little girl! The zombies in the forest are about to come out. If you don't retreat now, we'll all die together! I can take you all on by myself; that’s enough for me!"
Chao Yifan turned to look at Jiang He and the others who had run out from the nearby woods. So far, no zombies had appeared, but the continuous gunfire would surely attract them. Chao Yifan was unsure how many bullets were left in his gun. Jiang He had shouted something earlier but then fell silent, leaving him in the dark. He couldn’t communicate with Ming Junwei either; if this stalemate continued, it would definitely lead to trouble.
Ming Junwei dropped his empty gun, raised both hands high, and called out, "Old Zhang, don’t be impulsive! I’m unarmed. Can I come out and talk to you for a moment?"
"There’s nothing to talk about. Just throw me the car keys and you all retreat to the woods!" Zhou Huai leaned against the Audi and saw Ming Junwei standing up with his hands raised from behind the barricade.
"I don’t know what grudges you have with them, but you just stole half their supplies yesterday. We have more people here and we need to survive too. Do you really think we’ll back down?" Ming Junwei stepped over the barricade and noticed Zhou Huai hadn’t fired, so he slowed his pace and moved forward.
"Then it’s not my fault," Zhou Huai snorted, calculating the opponent's ammunition in his mind. The female doctor in the car had a gun but wasn’t accurate with her shots; the bar kid was useless in his eyes. Only Ming Junwei posed some threat, but since he had put down his weapon, that threat naturally dissipated. Initially uncertain about Jiang He and the others' armed forces, Zhou Huai now felt there was no need to use hostages as leverage.
Zhou Huai glanced at the windshield of the car across from him; neither the bar kid nor the female doctor showed their faces—only Ming Junwei was still slowly advancing. Jinhua was being choked by Zhou Huai's arm; her lips were turning pale as she tried to pry open Zhou Huai's iron grip, but her efforts were futile against his strength.
Seeing that Zhou Huai had fallen silent and Jinhua's struggles had lessened, Ming Junwei couldn’t help but feel anxious. He reached back to grab his hand axe to take Zhou Huai by surprise but realized too late that he had thrown it into the woods for Zhou Huai's self-defense. Chao Yifan, seeing that there was no movement from above on the highway slope, quickly jumped over the guardrail and shouted "Catch!" while tossing his handgun to Ming Junwei.
Zhou Huai and Ming Junwei both sprang into action simultaneously; Zhou Huai raised his gun and fired while Chao Yifan’s handgun spun through the air. In a moment of crisis, Ming Junwei had no choice but to abandon catching the gun and rolled on the ground several times to evade the shots. Although Chao Yifan was unarmed, he lunged forward with a fierce cry.
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