Chapter Twenty-Six: Settling Accounts

Seeing the wound left by Xiao Gang’s ice spike, Shen Lie gained a new understanding of the abilities possessed by Awakened ones. The wound on his abdomen was perfectly round and unnaturally smooth, with not a single drop of blood flowing from it. Instead, a thin layer of white frost covered the area, as though that part of his body had just been taken from a freezer.

What weighed most heavily on Shen Lie’s mind was that the frost did not fade with time. On the contrary, it spread ever more aggressively. In the short time since he had killed Xiao Gang and returned, the frost had already expanded by four or five centimeters. At this rate, his internal organs would be entirely frozen before the night was through.

Zhang Jing’s expression grew increasingly panicked. She was just an ordinary person; even though she had endured some hardships since the advent of the apocalypse, she had never seen such a bizarre injury. Overwhelmed, she began to sob.

Shen Lie focused his inner energy on the wound and soon noticed the spread of the frost beginning to slow. The more power he concentrated, the better the situation became, until at last the frost began to recede.

“Aaah!” Zhang Jing cried out in astonishment, though this time it was a cry of joy. Right now, Shen Lie was her whole world. She was the last person who wanted to see him harmed.

Unfortunately, Shen Lie had only a limited amount of energy. He could just barely keep the injury in check; to purge the frost completely was beyond his current strength. Zhang Jing’s eyes, which had just brightened, dimmed again with worry.

A sudden knock came at the door. Shen Lie pulled his clothes over his wound and said calmly, “Come in.”

Li Cheng entered in response, and upon seeing the state of Shen Lie and Zhang Jing, he paused, a flicker of complicated emotion flashing in his eyes. The scene before him was simply too suggestive—Shen Lie half-dressed, Zhang Jing half-seated on his lap—no one would think their relationship was merely ordinary.

“Brother Shen, dinner’s ready!”

Li Cheng silently set down the tray he carried and prepared to leave, but at the door he suddenly remembered something. Turning back, he drew a delicate gift box from his pocket, walked respectfully to the bed, and placed it down. “I heard this morning that Team Cheng Five got their hands on two pieces of Phantom Mushroom, so I hurried over and traded for them. But it cost us most of our remaining supplies.”

Shen Lie’s heart leapt with joy. He desperately needed something to replenish his energy, and these two Phantom Mushrooms were a timely blessing. As for the supplies, that was of little concern—they had gathered enough for the time being.

Zhang Jing, too, knew how important the Phantom Mushrooms were to Shen Lie at this moment. Without needing his instruction, she opened the box, revealing two mushrooms—one large, one small—each shimmering with an uncertain, flickering light.

“You’ve done well. I’ll get more supplies, so just do your best to acquire more of these for me. As for the supplies in the truck, distribute them as you see fit. I’ll leave that to you.”

At these words, Li Cheng finally let his joy show. Resources in this town were now scarce to the extreme. Whoever controlled the supplies controlled everything. A few pounds of rice could make even the proudest beauties debase themselves for you; a couple of buckets of instant noodles would buy someone’s loyalty unto death. With Shen Lie’s blessing, his life was about to change.

“Thank you, Brother Shen. I’ll take my leave.” Li Cheng glanced at Zhang Jing once more before turning to go.

“What happens if an ordinary person eats this?” Since even non-Awakened people could acquire Phantom Mushrooms, Shen Lie guessed there must be a fair number of them and asked the question absently as he mulled over his thoughts.

“No, it’s deadly. Ordinary people who eat it suffer full-body congestion, and if they eat too much, they suddenly explode!” Zhang Jing seemed to recall something, fear coloring her voice.

“Oh? Someone’s actually tried?” Shen Lie had spoken offhand, but was surprised by Zhang Jing’s knowledge.

“Yes. When this mushroom field was first discovered, many starving people were driven mad and ate them raw on the spot… In short, ordinary people can’t eat this. And not just this mushroom—almost all wild plants have mutated in some way. Very few are edible, and nearly a thousand people have died from eating strange things. Only in the past couple of weeks has the death toll dropped; now, people would rather starve than risk eating unknown plants.”

“I see. All right, go check on Tao Tao for me.” Shen Lie waved her off. Zhang Jing knew he wanted to use the Phantom Mushroom. While she was curious about what might happen when an Awakened one consumed it, she also understood her own place and quietly left the room.

Having used it once before, Shen Lie had no hesitation once Zhang Jing was gone. He picked up the smaller mushroom and popped it into his mouth…

An hour later, Shen Lie emerged from his room. Zhang Jing, waiting outside, was startled and hurried over to him. “Brother Shen, why are you up?”

There were still quite a few others in the yard, so Zhang Jing didn’t speak too plainly, but her concern was clear—she was afraid he’d strain his wound.

“It’s fine, I’m almost fully recovered. Where’s Li Cheng? Tell him to bring two men—I have things that need doing.”

Shen Lie was surprised by how effective the mushrooms had been. In a short time, his injuries had mostly healed; the chill had completely vanished from his wound, and his energy reserves had grown significantly. Since his recovery was beyond expectation, his plans would have to change.

Without a mobile phone, everything was inconvenient. Li Cheng was nowhere in the courtyard; he had apparently gone next door to acquire more Phantom Mushrooms. Zhang Jing sent several people out, and after some time, they finally returned with him.

“Brother Shen, what are your orders?” The men with Li Cheng were sturdy fellows, among the first group Shen Lie had met. Yet they seemed to have an instinctive fear of Awakened ones; upon seeing Shen Lie, they all stood quietly to the side, none daring to greet him.

Shen Lie found this rather exasperating. He’d never acted harshly—he hadn’t even raised his voice at them—yet they regarded him as a cat might a tiger. Only little Tao Tao treated him warmly; even Zhang Jing was respectfully reserved.

“Bring a few men. We’re going out.” Shen Lie gathered his thoughts, glanced at Li Cheng, and climbed into the passenger seat of a battered truck. It was the only working vehicle he had—hardly dignified, but better than walking. Zhang Jing took the driver’s seat without being asked, and Li Cheng, seeing this, could only signal his men to climb into the back, his face dark with resignation.

“You know where Xiao Gang’s headquarters is?” Seeing Zhang Jing glance at him, Shen Lie looked ahead and spoke calmly.

Zhang Jing’s face changed as she instantly guessed his intention. Without a word, she started the truck, turned left at the next intersection, made several more turns, and stopped in front of a supermarket.

“Qi Family Supermarket.”

Shen Lie glanced at the sign, then at the guards patrolling the entrance. “This is the place?”

“Yes, Brother Shen. This is the second-largest supermarket in the north of town after Yin Hao Supermarket. It’s been under Xiao Gang’s control. The original owner was also a survivor, but after an argument over ownership, Xiao Gang sliced him to death—piece by piece.”

“Heh. Not a very clever man, that owner,” Shen Lie remarked dryly, then opened the door and got out.

“Brother Shen, this is King Xiao’s turf! What are we doing here?” Li Cheng and his men’s faces changed at once, scrambling out of the back and rushing to stop Shen Lie, panic in their voices.

“King Xiao’s turf? All the better. As of today, this place belongs to me.” Shen Lie shot Li Cheng a look, drew the black spear from his waist, and strode toward the supermarket entrance with murderous intent.

“Zhang Jing, what’s Brother Shen doing? Why aren’t you stopping him?” Li Cheng, unable to hinder Shen Lie, turned his pleading gaze on Zhang Jing, hoping she would dissuade him. Did Shen Lie really understand what he was doing? King Xiao was a veteran Awakened, second only to King Du in power—more formidable even than Ma Zhanlin. If you wanted to make a name for yourself, why not pick someone weak and cowardly like Wang Qingshan?

But Zhang Jing’s expression was calm, even faintly pleased, as though she looked forward to what was coming. Li Cheng wondered if both she and Shen Lie had lost their minds.

“King Xiao? He’s already a thing of the past.” After a few steps, Zhang Jing finally spoke in a low voice out of lingering sentiment.

“What? What did you say?” Li Cheng was slow to react, but Zhang Jing said nothing more. She watched as Shen Lie reached the supermarket doors. After a moment’s hesitation, Li Cheng gritted his teeth and hurried after him, his men following close behind.