Chapter 106: Trouble comes knocking at the door
Boom - !
A sudden violent explosion comes from the direction of the school's gates. Without waiting for anyone within the school to react, the roars of several vehicles draw close. Taking the lead of the short convoy is a Hummer, followed by two construction trucks filled with ten over people armed with melee weapons.
The line of vehicles come to a stop before the crowd. A rugged looking man exits the Hummer, carrying a large steel hammer. Dark suntanned skin, cigar clenched between his teeth and gold chains draped around his neck, fingers adorned with gold rings, the stranger gives off a very unsophisticated air.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Enemies meeting on a narrow road indeed. Hey, take a look at who I'm seeing!" A loud scornful voice rings out.
The passenger side door of the Hummer opens and a slender figure emerges, limping slowly forward. As he approaches, Huo Zaiyuan's expression stiffens, eyes widening.
In his previous life, when the apocalypse broke out, the person standing before him now was torn to shreds in front of his eyes by zombies. Huo Zaiyuan thought it was possible he might run into Zhou Huijiao when he comes back to S City again, but never did he expect to meet this person instead.
Sure enough, his rebirth caused a butterfly effect. The apocalypse happening before its supposed time, the person who was meant to be dead is standing before him, alive…
"What's wrong? Why are you so shocked after seeing me? Is it because you thought this kind of environment will be the death of me? Or is it because of my broken leg? Or my one blind eye?" Staring at Huo Zaiyuan's astonished face, that man chuckles lowly, as though he just came across a hilarious matter.
Looking at that person, Huo Zaiyuan says in a bland tone. "Indeed, I am shocked seeing you here, only…would you mind explaining what you mean by that sentence? There are elderly and children here, as well as men and women, and two injured people. It wouldn't do to scare them."
"Oh, it's nothing major. Older brother suddenly went missing. My mother really missed you…which is why when she saw you driving around the city in a car, I followed you here. Naturally, I brought along some people from my base of operation to invite you back to our house as a guest." As he speaks, the crippled youngster slowly unhooks a coiled whip at his waist.
"I have no interest in you or your mother." Huo Zaiyuan's face darkens, pointing the pistol in his hand at the young man. "I'll give you a chance. Scram."
"Little Yuan." At the same moment Huo Zaiyuan raised his gun, Long Zhanye who is standing next to him aims his own firearm at the other larger stranger.
"Wait until these people leave, then I will explain everything to you." Huo Zaiyuan murmurs before shutting his mouth, not saying anything more.
Knowing that now is not the time to be questioning matters, Long Zhanye glances at the group of armed men currently climbing down from the top of the construction trucks. His eyes narrow as the thugs roll their shoulders and wave their weapons threateningly.
Although the other party has more men, none of them are carrying guns while he has one in hand, meaning there is no need to fear them.
"Yah, there are quite a few people wielding guns here ah. Older brother…looks like I have to resort to a tougher method in order for you to accept this invitation!" The lone working eye narrows slightly, causing the horrible scar marring the blind one to wrinkle, resulting in a rather frightening appearance.
As the words left his mouth, the young man charges towards Huo Zaiyuan, brandishing his whip. Without the slightest hesitation, Huo Zaiyuan pulls the trigger of his gun.
Bang!
A bullet flies out of the barrel, but what happens next shocks everyone. An arrogant smile curves the young man's lips, his whip lashing out in a flash of cyan light. The bullet that was originally about to hit his shoulder halts in its track, as though blocked by an invisible barrier.
It drops to the ground with a clang, and a flick of his wrist has the whip returning to the man's side.
"Little Yuan, watch out!" Long Zhanye's reaction is extremely fast. In a blink of an eye, he grabs hold of Huo Zaiyuan and pulls him aside, successfully evading the whip that comes lashing out. The force behind it even broke the cement ground!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
This time, it is Qin Jun who delivers three consecutive shots. However, as before, the bullets were stopped by the incorporeal shield before it can strike their target.
"Idiots! Do you think mere pistols can overcome my power? All of you, go! Don't spare even a single one!" The young man orders his followers before looking at Huo Zaiyuan. "Bring that person to me!"
Between one moment and the next, the peaceful school grounds descends into chaos, the shrieks of ladies and young girls rise into the air.
Naturally, Huo Zaiyuan will not do anything less than accept the young man's blatant challenge. Although he doesn't know what kind of power the other party wields that is capable of stopping bullets, since pistols are useless, then he might as well resort to fists. If it is brawling, after staying by Long Zhanye's side for so long, the Huo Zaiyuan who has learned martial arts before will not lose badly.
Smoothly dodging the brandished whip, he strikes out with a punch towards his opponent, but it seems the other is prepared for it. The fist is nimbly evaded.
Amongst the survivors in the school, the majority of them are women and female students. Thus, when a large group of armed men rush forth, they scream in fear. During the apocalypse, they don't fear stiff and relatively slow zombies but instead, fear other humans. However, those that pushed aside their fright and shock scramble to pick up any makeshift weapon lying on the floor and meet the attackers head on.
Although guns are useless against the man Huo Zaiyuan is engaging in combat with, that doesn't mean bullet wouldn't work on anyone else. Gunshots ring out, felling a few thugs. A lean shadow flashes across the distance between the two sides, ramming into the charging group. A vicious uppercut slams into the jaw of one man, knocking him out instantly. Slender legs swipe out, sending another thug to the ground even as he disarms him of the sword in his hand.
"Little Yuan!" Long Zhanye yells, flinging the sword he just took from the man in Huo Zaiyuan's direction.
Huo Zaiyuan hears Long Zhanye's shout and his eyes catch the glint of steel as the sword heads unerringly towards him. Pushing off the ground in a powerful leap, he reaches out, fingers wrapping around the hilt of the weapon. But at the same moment, the whip has already wrapped tightly around the blade.
"I will not allow anything to go smoothly for you. Huo Zaiyuan…today, I'll make you pay for everything…if it wasn't for you, I would not have become like this!" The crippled man's tone is exceptionally malicious, heavy killing intent permeating their direct surroundings. "I'll let you personally witness the vast power I acquired in exchange for an eye and a leg! Hahaha…"
As maniacal laughter rings out, Huo Zaiyuan immediately senses a change in the air. A sudden ferocious gust of wind rips through the area towards him. Scarlet drops of blood fly in an arc before his eyes. A large gash appears on his face, shoulder and torso. A split-second later another large sphere of energy strikes him in the face, flinging him away.
"Little Yuan!"
Throughout the entire fight, Long Zhanye has always been keeping an eye on Huo Zaiyuan's condition. Watching him get thrown away by an invisible force, a cry of alarm rips out from him. However, as much as he aches to, he cannot rush to his beloved's rescue. Because…
A large berserker-like man wielding an extremely heavy sledgehammer brings it down in a brutal smash. Even as he calls out to Huo Zaiyuan, he manages to dodge the attack, causing it to break cement instead of his body. A two-meter crack appears in the pavement below. Should one receive such a blow, one will be paralysed for life, if not dead.
Just as Long Zhanye's heart is filled with worry, Huo Zaiyuan's body disappears in a flash of silver.
If it was anyone else witnessing such a thing, they would have been bewildered. But not Long Zhanye. For Huo Zaiyuan has already done things like this countless times before his eyes.
He entered his space!
Sure enough, in another flash of silver, Huo Zaiyuan reappears and lands on the ground in a nimble crouch. Besides his hair in disarray, a trace of blood on his cheek and damaged clothes, he seems safe and sound. Breathing a sigh of relief, Long Zhanye refocuses on that sledgehammer wielding man who looks like the distant cousin of a ground beetle.
The sooner he deals with this annoyance, the sooner he can return to his little Yuan's side!
"Huo Zaiyuan, truly didn't expect you to have similar powers…Hahaha…today is really a good day! Really great ah! Great enough to make people envious!"
"Huo. Jia. Bao. You have truly provoked my fury." A livid light enters Huo Zaiyuan's eyes. A flick of his wrist and a high-quality talisman appears.
"Come, then. Let me see how formidable your power is! Is it more powerful than mine?!" A violent gleam surfaces in Huo Jiabao's eyes before he bounds forward to attack Huo Zaiyuan.
Retreating swiftly in a single backwards leap, the corners of Huo Zaiyuan's mouth curl up. Talisman flying from his fingers, it shoots towards Huo Jiabao.
A cyan light flares as it attempts to stop the talisman, similar to the barrier that successfully halted bullets before. However, this time the peach wood talisman merges with the protective barrier instead of being blocked…
Boom!
A huge explosion rocks the place and Huo Jiabao is sent flying from the force of it.
Standing tall and firm, Huo Zaiyuan stares frostily down at the dazed man lying on the ground, a mirthless smile playing on his lips. "How does my explosion talisman taste like? Being my first experimental test subject…you should be honoured!"