"Stop right there, you bitch!" Someone chased after him, shouting and cursing loudly.
"Hurry up, grab her! It's so hot, you're forcing me to come out and work. I have to bleed her dry!" another voice urged.
Li Ke was exhausted. Her brain was still urging her to run faster, but her body wouldn't obey and collapsed. The numb pain in her body appeared for a moment and then disappeared.
She was so thirsty! So hot! So tired!
At this moment, Li Ke felt like a thirsty fish being roasted on the ground, so uncomfortable that he felt he would die at any moment.
The blazing sun beat down on everything in the world, making even the air seem to burn.
Li Ke's consciousness began to blur. She seemed to hear footsteps approaching, and her brain instinctively sent out a message of danger.
She felt herself struggling to get up, wanting to escape as quickly as possible, but it was all just a figment of her imagination; she no longer had the strength to move an inch.
A barrage of punches and kicks rained down on Li Ke. She tried to protect her head with her arms, but it wasn't very effective; she was too thin and weak.
Li Ke was too weak to resist. She was kicked in the chest, and a mouthful of blood welled up in her throat. Before she could spit it out, the blood flowed back into her throat. Li Ke curled up in pain and forced herself to swallow it back.
"You bitch, try running away? You think you're so great? Get up and keep running!" the man yelled as he hit her.
"You cripple, we took you in because we were being kind. You ate our food and drank our water, and you still want to run away? I'll cripple your other leg right now!" Another man's voice rang out.
Immediately afterwards, Li Ke felt a sharp pain in his leg as the man began to smash it with an iron rod.
Li Ke screamed, but the sound wasn't very loud. With her remaining consciousness, she looked at these faces. Only the eyes of the two men were visible. The iron rod in the hand of one of them had once belonged to her.
"Stop hitting her, stop hitting her! If you keep hitting her, she'll die. We still have a use for her if we take her back." A hoarse female voice rang out, stopping the two men who were about to attack. She was breathing heavily, as if she had just arrived.
"Don't worry, this bitch is tough as nails, she won't die!" The man kicked Li Ke again in a fit of anger.
"Isn't that right? Daring to run away in broad daylight is practically courting death!" another man said angrily.
Li Ke lay motionless with her eyes closed, her whole body aching terribly; even the slightest movement felt like it would kill her.
She was also marveling at how tough her life was; even though she was so weak, she hadn't been beaten to death.
"Is anyone dead?" The sound of wheel wheels rang out, followed by another voice. It was another man pushing a scavenging cart as he arrived.
"She's not dead. That bitch's got a tough life!" the man who spoke kicked Li Ke's leg and replied.
Someone helped Li Ke up, pulled off the clothes wrapped around her head, revealing her mouth and nose. Sensing her weak breath, a hoarse voice said, "She's not doing well. Give me some water. Just a sip of water is enough for her to keep living."
The voice seemed to really want Li Ke to be rescued. Soon, a moist breath was brought to Li Ke's lips. Almost instinctively, she opened her mouth, and warm water flowed into her mouth. She began to swallow greedily, but the flow of water soon stopped.
Li Ke opened her eyes, hugged the entire water bottle to her hands, and licked the rim of the bottle vigorously until not a single drop of water could be licked out. Only then did she give up this greedy and thirsty exploration.
"Sister, please bear with me a little longer. I'll take you back right now. I won't let you die." The hoarse voice rang out again, filled with concern.
Li Ke closed her eyes, too exhausted even to muster a cold laugh. Anger, rage, despair—these rich emotions had long since vanished from her. Having wandered this apocalyptic world for nearly thirteen years, she was becoming more and more like a sophisticated killing machine.
If she had any strength left, she would have killed the owner of that voice, but unfortunately, she was crippled.
She was too weak right now, and she had no weapons. Irrational resistance would only make her get beaten even worse.
Even if she wanted to die a quick death, she couldn't do it now.
"Sister, I know you're angry with me, but I really can't just watch you die. How about we, the two sisters, rely on each other from now on?" the hoarse voice continued, as if it cherished Li Ke's life very much.
Li Ke felt her body being lifted up, and the voice of the man who pushed the cart over rang out: "Hurry up, don't waste time, it's fucking hot."
She opened her eyes and saw herself being placed on a cart piled with garbage.
Li Ke was extremely thin. The car was piled with trash, including broken bottles and cans, and scraps of wood. She was placed on top of these without any padding.
The car was pushed forward, and Li Ke's body lay on the jagged garbage, in great pain and discomfort, but no one cared whether she was comfortable or not.
To others, the fact that she could lie effortlessly in the car and be pushed forward was already a form of enjoyment for her.
When Li Ke woke up again, it was already evening. He was back in the dilapidated brick house with peeling paint, a type of house that is now commonplace.
Chen Jiaojiao was squatting to the side, boiling water with a hanging water tank.
Li Ke's throat bobbed, still feeling the pain of thirst. She said in a hoarse voice, "Water, give me some water."
"Sister, you're awake!" Chen Jiaojiao's hoarse voice was filled with joy. She immediately got up and went to Li Ke's side, helping her up from the floor.
The so-called "floor bedding" was actually just a makeshift blanket made of several tattered clothes sewn together.
"I knew you'd be thirsty when you woke up, so I've already prepared some water for you," Chen Jiaojiao said in a flattering tone.
She brought over the cooled water and fed it to Li Ke. The water was very murky, but Li Ke swallowed it without any disgust, finishing the whole glass in just two or three seconds.
A thin, greasy man walked in. He was wearing a cropped T-shirt and ripped jeans hanging on his legs.
The man's hair had reached his shoulders. Much of it was knotted up, and the top of his hair was casually tied into a ball with a strip of cloth and placed on top of his head.
The man leered at Li Ke, who was now somewhat lucid, and looked her up and down with a look of disgust. He asked, "So, are you taking any business today? One biscuit and half a bottle of water."
Chen Jiao's eyes lit up when she heard "purified water." She left Li Ke behind, walked closer to the man, snuggled up to him, and said with a smile, "Brother Qiu, shall I serve you?"
The man pushed Chen Jiaojiao away with obvious disgust: "Your genitals are all worn out. I could find a dog that's tighter than you. Get lost. I've got my eye on her. Didn't you say she didn't have a man?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
