The woman lying on the wooden bed was shocked by Su Qian's scream, and she opened her eyes. She began wailing again, and Zhang Xiao Qiang knew that she did not have long to live. She had been kept alive like some livestock by the doctor, who came over to slice some meat each time he wanted to eat, before using the blood coagulant to stop the blood flow.
The powder was truly effective, abit too effective. However, as Zhang Xiao Qiang looked at the packet hanging by his body, he had a sudden urge to fling it away out of disgust.
The woman's wails reverberated throughout the room, which caused even some dust to be shaken loose from the ceiling. Zhang Xiao Qiang could not watch any longer, and walked over to her. He placed her right hand on her neck. Seeing an unfamiliar face, the woman instantly stopped her wails, and her eyes seem to shine with some vigor.
"Kaka…" She opened her mouth but the words won't come up. However, the begging look in her eyes was clear to him, and Zhang Xiao Qiang began to exert more strength.
Slowly, the woman's face started to turn red, then purple, and her eyes started to roll up. Her mouth hung open, while her tongue that was half of its original length began to roll out. Finally, he felt that her pulse had stopped, and he pulled his hands back.
The woman laid quietly on the bed, having regained peace. She did not have an unwilling look at the time of death, instead, there was a tranquil calm on her face. There was even a slight smile at the corner of her mouths. She had finally to leave this god-forsaken place, where not only did zombies consume human flesh, even other humans had resorted to cannibalism.
Zhang Xiao Qiang watched her quietly, his emotions in turmoil. He was infuriated, but at the same time, there was a profound sorrow. He wanted to laugh maniacally, but at the same time, he wanted to scream in anguish.
He turned around to look at the unconscious doctor, the fury in his eyes had disappeared. Instead, there was only a deep, icy look. It had never appeared before from Zhang Xiao Qiang, and even to the sick freak Xie Yuan Shan, there had only been fury. However, in the current situation, there was only this intense cold radiating from him.
Yang Ke'er and Yuan Yi saw his expression and they immediately felt like they were plunged in ice. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably, as the temperature of the room seemed to decrease. Yuan Yi felt it the most. She had been sort of a vine, rely on Zhang Xiao Qiang to find her inner pride and strength. Now, seeing him like that, she felt it the most, and could feel an intense dread and fear.
She lowered her head, afraid to look at Zhang Xiao Qiang, and her fear that had disappeared in the past returned. She didn't even dare to breathe loudly, as Zhang Xiao Qiang walked towards her slowly. She felt her skin all standing on ends, as though there were a million ants crawling all over her. She wanted to scream from the feeling, but she didn't dare to, and as his footsteps neared, she felt an intense urge to relieve her bladder out of fear. She gritted her teeth to control herself, until finally, he walked past her without stopping towards the living room.
With beads of perspiration, she leaned against the wall, and slumped down to the floor. As she panted heavily, the shadow of Zhang Xiao Qiang in her mind had grown even larger, to an extent where she knew she would never overcome.
Yang Ke'er was faring slightly better. She could feel that Zhang Xiao Qiang was intensely terrifying right now, although she couldn't pinpoint what exactly. As he walked by, she followed behind without hesitation, although she continued to look around to see if there were any hidden treasures.
Su Qian continued to follow behind, there was nothing out of the ordinary to her. She was fearful though, not because of Zhang Xiao Qiang, but because of the world, and the circumstances that her fellow human beings were being pushed to. She was afraid, very afraid. It was even more intense now than ever, she had never expected cannibalism to happen. It was even under the conditions of having food, yet the darn old man had kept his fellow human being like a livestock to feast on.
Su Qian was beginning to feel the true depths of despair.
Zhang Xiao Qiang currently was in no mood to understand or care about what the women by his side was thinking. He knew that he had only seen 2 people, one unforgivable old man, one immobile woman, there had to be someone who sent that signal earlier. He did not know who the person was, and he did not know what role the other person played in this cannibalism issue, but he wanted to get his answers, was there anyone else who had partaken in human flesh?
Zhang Xiao Qiang could be described in one word: careful. He was always alert and meticulous, and his view had always been: 'Don't go looking for trouble, but if trouble knocks, don't fear it.'
However, the earlier scene had somehow burrowed itself deep within his conscience, and although he didn't know the woman, witnessing her fate, he was of only one mind to seek revenge for her.
It was not out of heroics, nor ideals. It was purely because as a person, he had the reason to do so. If a person could see that and be numb to it, then the person was definitely not normal. He would be worse than a beast, at the very least, some animals would not eat their own kind even when hungry.
Hence, Zhang Xiao Qiang was prepared to act, if there happened to be someone else who had eaten human flesh? Heh heh….
He slammed open various doors, flipping the entire house. Not a single corner was spared from looking, and even if there were corners not easy to search? Not a problem, he would just use his sword to sweep the area. If he had accidentally killed someone, too bad, if the person could hide, it meant that he or she was afraid. As to what they're afraid of? Does he need say more?
"No, no, no! Fuck, where did that bastard go?!" Zhang Xiao Qiang's icy look was deepening, and the fury in his heart was billowing. He wanted to vent it, and go on a massacre.
At this time, he reached the last room. Without even looking, he sent a kick, and the door remained shut with a 'bang'. There was a rattling of some lock behind. 'Kacha' The Jing Wei Sword came slashing down, and the lock was chopped in two. Zhang Xiao Qiang kicked the door once more.
"Gadang!" The wooden door swung open, and 2 people appeared in his icy sight.
It was a small room, and the furnishing was simple, with only a bed, and the windows were sealed shut by wooden planks. However, the work had been shoddy, as the planks were not straight, and some of the nails were left party hammered in. Rays of light still managed to shine into the room.
There was a little girl of about 11 or 12 seated on the bed, and she wasn't wearing anything, just sitting there stark naked. Her eyes were fixated in front, even when Zhang Xiao Qiang barged in, her eyes did not move. It was as though the only thing in her eyes was the wall in front, and even as the dust began to fall off the wall, she kept on looking, silently.
Chapter 99: As long as we can live!Zhang Xiao Qiang walked in slowly, seeing the little girl staring ahead like a puppet, the cold fury in his eyes began to diminish. The girl had numerous wounds on her body, and they were all superficial. However, there seemed to be cigarette burn marks on her front and back. There were some bite marks on her thighs, and her right cheek was swollen, as though she had been punched before. Her eyes were vacant, even when Zhang Xiao Qiang blocked her view, there was no response whatsoever.
Zhang Xiao Qiang prepared to grab a blanket to cover the little girl. However, as he approached her, the silent girl suddenly moved. Not even looking at him, she just laid there and opened her legs wide, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth as though to prepare for what's to come.
Zhang Xiao Qiang did not spare a second glance, and just threw the blanket over her. The other person was also a girl, except that she was older by a few years, looking about 17 or 18. There were no injuries to her face, and she was pretty.
The girl was holding onto a bamboo pole on the ground, and there was a red bra tied to the pole. Her neck had been fastened with a steel wire collar, which was connected by a thick metal chain to the other end of a lock at the foot of the bed. Her body was covered in multiple wounds as well, however, it was definitely less serious than the younger girl. It seemed that this older girl was not as abused. Her position was near the windows, and she had used the edge of the pole to push a few of the window panes away. It seemed that she had somehow retrieved the pole from outside, before tying the bit of clothing left on her to signal for help.
The older girl looked at Zhang Xiao Qiang with a hint of fear, especially since he came barging in with an icy killing intent. Until she saw him drape the blanket over the little girl, and she heaved a sigh of relief.
Zhang Xiao Qiang swung the Jing Wei Sword down, and the lock was immediately cut open.
He then motioned for the girl to stand up, at this time, Yang Ke'er and Yuan Yi walked into the room. Su Qian was nowhere to be seen, and her actions were unclear.
"You, you guys…" The older girl opened her mouth to clear her doubts, but before she could continue, her words were interrupted by Zhang Xiao Qiang.
"We're not a rescue force, and we're not good people. I don't want to ask for your name." Having nothing to vent his frustrations on, Zhang Xiao Qiang felt extremely stifled. When the older girl heard Zhang Xiao Qiang admitting that they weren't decent folk, her face turned pale, and her legs trembled again.
"How many of you are here in total? Who's the old man?" Zhang Xiao Qiang began to interrogate, hoping to discover if he had everyone where he had them.
"My younger sister and I live here, that day, my mother felt some pain in her joints and I went to find Miracle Doctor Yu…."
The older girl then proceeded to narrate everything she knew leading up to the current situation.
This was a family of 3 women, the father of the girls had been out working, and when the zombie outbreak happened, their mother was suffering from some pain in her leg joints and they decided to invite the old man over to take a look. At that point, they looked out the hill and saw the chaos in the tourist stop. Hence they hid in the house, not daring to go out.
The old man was quite brave, after a few days of observation, he determined that the zombies had a set behaviour, and as long as he was careful, and adding on to the weird medicine he had, he began to transport food items. The food was plenty and sufficient, and they had water. However, the old man was pretty perverted, and liked to take advantage of the two sisters.
One time, their mother discovered the actions of the old man, and she was a terrifying force to reckon with. She scolded and cursed at him, and chased him out. It wasn't until he got on the ground and kowtowed that she let him off. However, he bore the resentment, and one night, he doped their food. As a result, all three were knocked out.
The old man kept them separated, using the mother to control the 2 sisters. The sisters were obedient, allowing the old man to lock them up, and since the little one was of no threat to him, he decided not to lock her.
The 2 of them did not know of their mother's condition, just persevering, until one day, the younger sister noticed that her soup had a finger bone. She immediately said that the old man had eaten their mother, which the old man didn't deny, and he even threatened: "Whoever is disobedient, I will eat who."
The younger sister was stubborn, and wanted to kill the old man day after day. Hence, he brought her out under control, whereas the older sister remained tied up in the room, afraid. When her sister came back, she was relieved, but she only heard a sentence from her sister: "Mummy is not dead!" After that, she had become mute!
The old man was sick in the head, but because of his age, his 'thing' wasn't as effective. Hence, he had resorted to torture to increase his excitement and pleasure. The 12-year-old girl was his favourite subject of torture, and once in awhile, he would bring her out, and back, each time she came back, she would look like she had suffered some huge illness, until she had gone completely insane.
Such desolate days passed until Zhang Xiao Qiang and his team came over. When the old man saw them, he quickly locked them in the room, and he tried to run, but he was still caught by Zhang Xiao Qiang.
"Fuck, what a sicko, not only did he commit cannibalism, he even forced the younger sister to watch him eat her own mother! No wonder she turned insane!" Zhang Xiao Qiang was becoming more infuriated by the second, even Xie Yuan Shan could not compare with this old man.
Yuan Yi found 2 sets of clothes and gave them to the older sister, who helped her younger sister dress after she was dressed herself. The younger sister was like a puppet, allowing her sister to control her. She had no response to the outside world, when something came to the side of her mouth, she knew to open her mouth, when she needed to relieve herself, she knew to find the spittoon under the bed. When she saw a man beside her, she would just open her legs wide. There were no other responses.
Zhang Xiao Qiang looked at the 2 and felt his head hurt, and spoke to the sister: "Your mother has passed away peacefully. I've caught the old bastard, tomorrow I'll kill him. What will the 2 of you do?"
The older sister immediately became frantic: "Take us away! I don't want to stay here, I'm afraid!"
Zhang Xiao Qiang looked at the 2 of them, the older was cowardly, the younger had gone insane. He could not bring them both along as burdens. Sending them to the chicken farm, they would just become toys, a life only slightly better than their current fate.
Seeing his hesitation, the older sister became more anxious, and she kneeled on the floor with tears streaming down her face: "Please, please please, bring us away. We don't eat much, just a little. I'm willing to do anything, anything!! Take us away, we don't want to stay here any longer!"
Seeing that he had no response, she began to take off her clothes, and even her younger sister's clothes. She then brought her sister together with her to kneel in front of Zhang Xiao Qiang.
Seeing that they were willing to use their bodies to exchange for their lives, Zhang Xiao Qiang felt like laughing bitterly, he looked at the older sister and said: "I can take you away, but I'll hand you to someone else, you must think carefully."
Since the older sister didn't care how her body was used, Zhang Xiao Qiang wasn't concerned about it any longer. It would do fine to send them to the chicken farm. At that time, their lives and deaths would no longer concern him.
"Yes, anything, as long as we can live, anything is fine!" The older sister stood up, her face resolute. She pulled her sister up as well, and bowed to Zhang Xiao Qiang.