Chapter 532 - The Dying Meng Chao
Chapter 532: The Dying Meng Chao
Wild Wolf, Zhang Tie, and Bai Shan were all shocked.
All three of them sank into deep thought, and their expressions were gloomy.
“Where is Ms. Mulian?” Wild Wolf asked grimly. “Don’t be scared. We’ll go and save her right now.”
“Razor Street has a weapons shop that specializes in making all sorts of poisoned daggers. It’s very famous in Leprosy Village,” A’Ji said. “Ms. Mulian was heavily injured when she crawled underground through the manhole cover at the entrance of the shop. She couldn’t have gotten far, so she should be around there.”
Wild Wolf, Zhang Tie, and Bai Shan looked at each other. They immediately said, “Summon the men. We’ll go and save Ms. Mulian now!”
“Wait.” Zhang Tie sized up A’Ji and frowned. “I feel like this brat has the face of a bad guy. He doesn’t look like a good person to me. Wild Wolf, you must be careful that there isn’t a scheme behind this. Why don’t I bring someone to investigate the place first?”
“What?!” A’Ji looked like he had just been humiliated greatly. He jumped up, patted his chest, and said, “I-I might have been working for Boss Feng and stealing a lot of things on a daily basis, but Ms. Mulian is the Goddess I idolize! I won’t joke around when it comes to her life! Big Brother Wild Wolf, trust me, I wasn’t lying to you. Ms. Mulian is really under the dagger shop on Razor Street. Please, save her! Otherwise, it’ll be too late!”
Bai Shan thought about it for a while and said warily, “Wild Wolf, we must save Ms. Mulian. Even if we set aside your relationship with her, we must still do everything we can to save her to stabilize the emotions of the villagers.
“But Zhang Tie’s worries are logical as well. Right now, the situation in Leprosy Village is very complicated. The old village chief is dead, and we’re not certain whether Ms. Mulian is still alive. You’re the pillar of strength in everyone’s hearts. If something happens to you, Leprosy Village will be without a leader and we’ll all die.
“I know that you’re worried and want to personally save her, so why don’t you bring a few well-armed men with you so that you can be on guard against surprises?”
Wild Wolf pondered over this for a while before he accepted Bai Shan’s suggestion.
He carefully chose a few dozen elite Wild Wolves and had them all wear secondhand motorized armor they had gained through a lot of trouble. Then, he brought Strong Arm Zhang Tie and Pearl Bai Shan toward Razor Street under A’Ji’s lead.
Choosing the elites and arming them had wasted a lot of time. When they arrived at Razor Street, half an hour had already passed.
Right when they reached the entrance of the street, they heard a deafening explosion from the end of the street, and practically half of the street collapsed.
“No!” The trio’s expressions changed. “The underground spirit energy pipes and drains have exploded!”
This place was not far away from the ruins of the major crystal bomb explosion and was shrouded in smoke. Flames roared, and poisonous smog danced around like the tentacles of an Apocalyptic Beast.
The flames flowed in streams in the underground and continued spreading. It was not strange for them to detonate the spirit energy pipes and drains.
“Ms. Mulian!” A’Ji screamed, and his face went pale.
Wild Wolf could no longer hold back. He quickly went to the smoke-shrouded and burning ruins with Zhang Tie, Bai Shan, and the other Wild Wolves. They began searching and fumbling around in the dark.
The underground tunnel system in Leprosy Village was so complicated that it was like a 3D spider web.
Even a local would find themselves easily lost in there if they were careless.
Besides, right then, the space above and below the tunnels was a mess because of the explosions. The collapse had distorted the original space.
The smoke was also thick enough to block people’s gazes.
Even if they brought with them high-powered searchlights, they could only see their fingers.
The light was swallowed up by darkness right away.
The group split up and searched. The distance between them grew larger and larger.
Aside from A’Ji, who was kept in a tight grip by Wild Wolf, Strong Arm Zhang Tie and Pearl Bai Shan had left the group at some point and were moving forward in the dark by themselves.
Soon, Pearl Bai Shan heard faint moans under her feet.
She narrowed her eyes and carefully deciphered the direction of the moans.
Then, she bent her back and moved through a collapsed beam. She then crawled into a triangular space formed by two collapsed walls before jumping a flight of stairs that was broken in half.
When she turned her head around to look, all she saw was darkness. She could not see Wild Wolf, the others, or the searchlights. She could not hear their voices either.
Of course, the Wild Wolves could not hear her voice either.
It was only then that Bai Shan started scanning the area.
She saw a dying person crushed under a collapsed corner of ruins. He was a bloody mess.
But based on the weak moans, this person was not Ms. Mulian. It was a man.
“Who are you?”
Bai Shan moved forward. With the help of the searchlight, she carefully observed the terrifying wound on the man’s body.
His broken bones tore through his flesh, and blood flowed all over the ground. His heartbeat and breathing were incredibly weak and chaotic. He did not seem like he would be able to live for long.
“Save… Save me…” the man said weakly, “I’m Meng Chao. I’m a good person… Help me tell Wild Wolves…”
“Meng Chao?” Bai Shan said. “I’ve heard your name before. I’m part of the Wild Wolves.”
As she spoke, she placed a hand on Meng Caho’s wrist to get a reading of his pulse and the strength of his vitality magnetic field.
“Oh, thank goodness… Save me. I was attacked.” Meng Chao widened his eyes, and the light of hope shone in his gaze. “Give me a medical injection. I need a medical injection!”
“Alright, I’ll give you an injection now,” Bai Shan said. “But Wild Wolves came here to search for the old village chief’s granddaughter, Ms. Mulian. She’s heavily injured and should be hiding nearby. Why are you here as well?”
“Ms. Mulian…” Meng Chao’s gaze suddenly became dim. He looked away, as if he did not dare to look at Bai Shan in the eye. He remained quiet for a long time before he answered dejectedly, “I was with Ms. Mulian just now. I… I wanted to save her, but…”
“But what?!”
Bai Shan instantly tightened her grip around Meng Chao’s wrist. Her hands were so strong that they were like a pair of burning metal chopsticks stabbing into beancurd. She nearly crushed Meng Chao’s wrist bone as she raised her voice. “Where is Ms. Mulian?!”
“Right… Right here,” Meng Chao said in a quivering voice.
He shut his eyes. His expression was one of great pain, as if he was filled with regret.
Bai Shan cast the searchlight on the other side of the rock that crushed Meng Chao.
She found half of a burnt corpse among the shattered reinforced concrete.
By the looks of it, she was first devoured by the flames caused by crystal and chemical substances.
Then, the shockwaves from the explosion and collapsing building destroyed her until she was beyond recognition.
Pearl could not see any traces of Ms. Mulian.
“That’s impossible!”
Bai Shan was so shocked that she suddenly flew into a rage. She hit a block of the reinforced concrete, and the third eye on her forehead shone with a light that made her look like a fierce demon.
She said fiercely, “This isn’t Ms. Mulian! Tell me! Where is the real Ms. Mulian?!”
Meng Chao’s face was covered in blood and grime, and he could not hide the shock and puzzlement. “I don’t… I don’t want this to be the real Ms. Mulian either. After all, her death would make the entire situation even more complicated.
“But I don’t know why this happened. Our hiding spot should have been a well-kept secret.
“I just know that Ms. Mulian’s death wasn’t an accident. It was not caused by the chain explosions and collapses brought by the streams of fire. It’s the monster and the so-called secret police who did it!
“Those people aren’t real secret police! Trust me, they’re all puppets of monsters! You have to believe me!”
Meng Chao seemed to be in a state of delirium, as if he was about to die. He even started waving his abnormally twisted arm around.
With the searchlight, Bai Shan could see that he was holding something in his hand.
It was a half-burnt wooden bracelet.
A half of a blooming Ford’s maglientia could be seen on the remaining part.
Bai Shan knew that it was a gift Wild Wolf had given Ms. Mulian on her sixteenth birthday.
From that day onwards, Ms. Mulian always wore that bracelet.
“Help me tell Wild Wolf, the monsters have a major scheme…” Meng Chao’s eyes were glazed over. He mumbled, “Ms. Mulian told me everything she knew, and with the information I have… Hurry, tell Wild Wolf… Otherwise… it’ll be too late…”
Bai Shan held Meng Chao’s flailing wrist and removed the burnt wood bracelet.
She weighed it on her palm before she put it into her pocket. Then, she calmly brought out something from her pocket.
She leaned down and whispered into Meng Chao’s ear, “Alright. Don’t worry. I’ll give you a medical injection first. I’ll bring Wild Wolf over to save you later.”
After that, she gently and discreetly brought out a dagger that looked like a large embroidery needle to pierce Meng Chao’s heart.
When the dagger sank half an inch into Meng Chao’s heart, he snapped up as if he was shocked by electricity. His muscles shrank, and he screamed.
It was as if a powerful desire to survive had stimulated him, and the last bit of strength was squeezed out from his cells. He started struggling violently in the face of death.
Bai Shan frowned a little. She was about to summon her strength and push down, but since the ruins were already very unstable and they were surrounded by swaying debris, Meng Chao’s struggles caused a chain reaction. With a loud rumble, a large area of shattered reinforced concrete fell on them.
Bai Shan was immediately blinded by dust while dodging the falling reinforced concrete.
In a short while, the dust settled.
When she had come in, Meng Chao was a bloody mess and dying on the floor. Half of his body had been crushed under the debris, and he could not even move. But somehow, he had broken free and found brand new energy within himself. He scrambled to his feet and fled deeper into the ruins.