Chapter 4 I'll go to the countryside if you want.
Thank you for coming to see me.
She took a step forward, the dim light of the kerosene lamp casting flickering shadows on her face, making her eerie smile even more sinister. "Thanks to you all... I've 'come back to life'."
"Now……"
Xu Zhili's gaze swept over Lin Wanwan's instantly pale face, then over Zhang Jiumei's bewildered yet composed face at the door, and finally landed on her own wrist wrapped in cloth. Her tongue licked her sharp canine teeth again, and the crimson in her eyes seemed to be dripping blood.
"Shall we... settle the score?"
The air inside the room suddenly dropped to freezing point.
Lin Wanwan couldn't help but take a step back, bumping into the door frame, her whole body turning cold.
Zhang Jiumei's feigned concern shattered completely, leaving only fear. She took a step back and turned to leave.
This Xu Zhili...
Things are different now!
She's no longer that pitiful creature who can be manipulated by others!
She was like...like a demon crawled back from hell!
Xu Zhili felt her heart pounding powerfully in her delicate chest, and felt the killing intent forged in the apocalypse surging and roaring in her blood.
In this era, this small, suffocating space will become her new hunting ground.
Rules? Morality? Social etiquette?
Oh.
Xu Zhili only recognizes one rule—
Blood for blood, tooth for tooth!
"Zhi Li? Mom... Mom asked me to bring you medicine..."
Lin Wanwan's voice trembled deliberately, but her gaze was like a poisoned hook, locked tightly on Xu Zhili's neck.
There, a half-sized, irregularly shaped piece of warm, smooth mutton-fat jade pendant shimmered with an alluring glow in the dim light.
That thing is valuable! Extremely valuable!
If one attempt fails... then try again! This coward...
The murderous intent, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, instantly filled the cramped attic.
Xu Zhili didn't even fully open her eyes.
Her heightened sense of danger, honed through countless trials in the apocalypse, allowed her body to react before her mind could process the sudden flash of cold light from Lin Wanwan's sleeve!
"call out--"
The dagger slammed down with a whooshing sound, but only pierced through the tattered cotton wadding, producing a dull thud that made one's teeth ache.
Xu Zhili's figure vanished from the bed like a ghost, and the instant she rolled to the ground, her hand had already grabbed the chipped rough porcelain cup next to her.
"Snap!"
The porcelain cup, carrying immense force, struck Lin Wanwan's knee with perfect precision.
"ah--!!!"
The girl's shrill, distorted screams tore through the silent night sky, startling the crows perched on the sycamore trees in the courtyard. The flapping of their wings added to the eerie atmosphere.
Xu Zhili slowly straightened up, looking down at Lin Wanwan who was rolling on the ground, clutching her knees and wailing. A chilling smile curved her lips.
She raised her foot and, without hesitation, stepped on Lin Wanwan's wrist, which was gripping the dagger and convulsing in pain, grinding it down hard with the sole of her shoe.
"Ugh!"
Lin Wanwan's screams turned into suffocating sobs, and immense fear made her tremble all over.
The broken mirror reflected her distorted, terrified face, and Xu Zhili's cold, still-red eyes.
"You think you can kill me?"
Xu Zhili's voice was as soft as a whisper, yet it carried a chilling edge, "In your next life, remember to train faster." The force on her toes increased, and her bones emitted a muffled creak as if they were about to collapse under the strain.
Lin Wanwan was in tears; the shadow of death had never been so clear.
Xu Zhili leaned down, her cold fingers pinching Lin Wanwan's chin, forcing her to look at her. With her other hand, she picked up the fallen dagger.
The cold, rusty blade slowly, very slowly, traced a cold line across Lin Wanwan's face, which was trembling violently with fear, and finally stopped at the side of her vulnerable neck.
"Give a message to your mother."
Xu Zhili's voice was eerily calm, "If you want me to go to the countryside, fine, I agree."
The coldness of the blade pierced her skin, and Lin Wanwan was so terrified that she couldn't even scream.
"But, of the three conditions, one is missing..."
Xu Zhili leaned closer, her breath almost hitting Lin Wanwan's face, her voice carrying a chilling yet almost pleasurable cruel whisper.
"I'll let you and your dear mother experience what it truly means to be unable to live or die. Believe me, that feeling will be a thousand times worse than death."
She even gave a low, nervous laugh.
"Demon...you're not human! You're insane! Insane!"
Lin Wanwan squeezed out a hoarse voice, her eyes unfocused, as if she had seen a real demon crawling out of hell.
Xu Zhili looked at her indifferently and loosened her grip.
"roll."
Lin Wanwan felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She scrambled out of the attic, dragging her aching legs and nearly broken wrists, and fled in panic, forgetting even to take the kerosene lamp.
The attic returned to its deathly silence.
Xu Zhili threw away the dagger, pressed her fingertips against her temples, a trace of barely perceptible fatigue flashed across her face, but it was instantly replaced by a deeper chill.
Going to the countryside...
It's a road.
She clearly remembered that in the original owner's memories, there was a mother also named "Xu Nuoyan" with the exact same face as her mother in the apocalypse.
It seems as if some unseen thread is pulling us along.
She has to go.
Standing before the worn-out wardrobe, she recalled Xu Nuoyan's whispered words before he left.
After a moment of searching, my fingertips touched a hidden mechanism.
"Click".
The hidden compartment popped open, revealing a heavy sandalwood box lying quietly inside.
Opening it, twenty small yellow croakers gleamed with a warm, rich luster in the dim light, and beneath them lay a yellowed but well-preserved land deed from the capital.
Grandpa, you have such profound thoughts.
This family fortune, which she had kept hidden for most of her life and even from her heartless father, became the first cornerstone for her to establish herself in this world.
With a slight thought, the wooden box instantly disappeared from her hand and was incorporated into the mental space she had entered during her transmigration.
"No one can take what's mine. Those who owe me must repay a hundredfold." Xu Zhili's eyes were like a cold pool as she turned and went downstairs.
In the kitchen, Zhang Jiumei's shrill voice rang out, accompanied by the sound of a spatula banging on the stove: "You damned girl! You've been dawdling until the sun is high in the sky! The stove is cold, are you trying to starve us to death? Get over here!"
Xu Zhili ignored him and walked straight to the courtyard.
The father, Lin Jianguo, was holding a teacup, sitting at the stone table with Lin Wanwan, who was pale, still in shock, and had strips of cloth wrapped around her wrists and ankles that were oozing blood. It was a facade of "filial piety and loving father and daughter".
Xu Zhili stood still, her gaze like a cold probe piercing Lin Jianguo.
"Lin Jianguo." The full name was used, showing absolutely no respect.
Lin Jianguo frowned, his anger rising on his face: "You rude wretch! Didn't you see..."
"The job at the machinery factory..." Xu Zhili interrupted him, her voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable penetrating force, "is mine. Lin Wanwan took my place; she stole it." She didn't even bother to look at Lin Wanwan.
Like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, Lin Wanwan grabbed her father's sleeve and screamed, "Dad! She's talking nonsense! She's crazy! She's trying to drive me to my death..."
"I told you to shut up."
Xu Zhili glanced at Lin Wanwan, and Lin Wanwan instantly felt like a chicken being choked, the rest of her words stuck in her throat, leaving only fearful gasps.
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