106: White Lotus and Silly Girl
Lu Yin raised her dagger, ready to strike, but in the next moment, her wrist was firmly seized, and a sudden force yanked her back.
Lei Yan, sensing movement behind her, glanced back but saw nothing, then cheerfully rushed into a small candy store nearby.
"It seems you really don't understand reason," Bai Wanning said coldly, gripping Lu Yin's throat and slamming her against the wall. "I told you, if you dare to move again, I'll kill you. Do you really think you're strong, or do you think I'm just bluffing?"
"Let... let go of me!" Lu Yin struggled with difficulty, trying to free herself from the hand on her neck, and even attempted to kick Bai Wanning's knee with her leg.
Bai Wanning sneered: "Let you go? If I let you go, who will spare Lei Yan? With your limited intelligence, even if I told you not to touch her, you wouldn't listen, would you?"
"In that case, it's better to just kill you. After all, dead people are the most obedient."
Hearing this, Lu Yin's eyes widened instantly, and she struggled desperately, but only felt the pressure on her neck grow heavier, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
"Bang!"
A loud noise came, and Bai Wanning instinctively looked back.
In that instant, Lu Yin seized the opportunity and kicked her hard in the abdomen.
Bai Wanning had already anticipated it and released her grip before Lu Yin could kick.
After landing, Lu Yin immediately pushed Bai Wanning away, took off running, not daring to stop for a moment.
Bai Wanning watched her disheveled escape and sneered.
With such little courage, she dared to harbor ill intentions; she truly overestimated herself.
She did not pursue, but instead turned and walked in the direction from which the sound had come.
In the air, the faint smell of blood mixed with the sweet aroma of candy, causing her to frown slightly.
She took a dagger from her space pocket and held it tightly in her palm.
She quietly walked to the end of the alley, turned on the small ring flashlight she had taken from Lei Qian, and the dim yellow beam illuminated the front, allowing Bai Wanning to clearly see the situation inside.
She rounded a large barrel overflowing with trash, and suddenly noticed a pair of dirty sneakers. She instinctively raised the flashlight beam to the person's face.
Under the light, that familiar face clearly appeared—Bai Minghe.
Bai Wanning looked at the man lying half-dead on the ground, speechless for a moment. She stared at his pale face and asked coldly, "Are you really in such a hurry to die? All the good medicine I gave you last time was wasted."
Had she known he had such intentions, she should have let him fend for himself back then; why waste those precious medicines?
Hearing her words, Bai Minghe slightly raised the corner of his mouth, clutching his zombie-bitten arm with difficulty, and looked up at her, whispering, "I'm sorry."
Bai Wanning looked down at him.
To avoid attracting zombies, he had actually used candy wrappers, water bottles, a few bags of potato chips, and several bags of rotten fruit and expired bread to create a temporary barrier around himself.
"Is it worth it?" she couldn't help but ask.
He knew he didn't have much time left to live, yet he still dragged his ailing body out to collect supplies, all for the sake of the family she hated to the bone.
She didn't understand why Bai Minghe could never break free from Chu Chuxia's mental control over him.
However, she also understood that some shackles are not visible.
It was only after losing Bai Cai that she truly broke free from the cage that had suffocated her since childhood.
She wanted to know what else Bai Minghe needed to lose before he would truly awaken.
Bai Minghe did not answer. He just looked up at her hand holding the dagger and asked hoarsely, "Are you here to kill me?"
"You were bitten by a zombie." Bai Wanning's tone was calm, as if stating an irrelevant fact, as if he were just an ordinary stranger, and not the brother she had grown up with.
Bai Minghe nodded.
He understood that his chances of survival were already slim.
He released his injured hand, fumbled around beside him for a while, and pulled out two bags of soft candy from the corner, one strawberry flavored, one peach flavored.
"Take these."
"I won't bring anything to the Bai family," Bai Wanning sneered, refusing without hesitation.
"They're not for them, they're for you," Bai Minghe explained. "You like to eat them, right?"
Bai Wanning paused.
Only then did she remember that she indeed liked to eat these two kinds of candy in those years. It was just that after the Apocalypse, she had long since stopped eating them, and had even forgotten their taste.
She reached out and took the two bags of candy, her voice a little hoarse: "Do you have anything else you want to say?"
"No." Bai Minghe looked at her, neither begging for mercy nor offering any comforting words. He just calmly looked up and said, "Rather than die by a monster's hand, I'd rather die by yours."
His tone was firm, but Bai Wanning still saw deep unwillingness in his eyes; he actually didn't want to die, but truly had no other path.
She stood before him, her gaze icy, her expression indifferent, like a mountain silently pressing on Bai Minghe's heart.
He couldn't tell what she was thinking at all.
Bai Wanning slowly raised the dagger in her hand, the tip resting steadily against his pale neck. Under the light, the blood vessels in his neck were clearly visible, his skin abnormally white from excessive blood loss.
With just a little more force, the last guardian of the Bai family would disappear.
Just a little.
"Wanning, do you like peaches or strawberries?"
Ten-year-old Bai Minghe squatted beside her, asking softly. "Don't tell Aunt Chu, these two bags are what I stole from Grandpa. Aunt Chu will take them away if she knows."
"Then I want both," the childish voice was full of greed.
"Huh? Both?" He frowned, but in the end, he still put both bags of candy into her hand, even though he really wanted to eat them himself.
"Do it," Bai Minghe whispered.
Bai Wanning suddenly snapped back to reality, looked down at him, and hearing that sentence, her frown deepened.
"Don't hesitate." Bai Minghe's tone was calm, but there was pain hidden in his eyes.
He knew she was hesitant because of their relationship.
But the more she hesitated, the more dangerous it became. What if he really turned into a monster? Then she would be the one hurt.
Bai Wanning sighed, slowly lowered her hand, and put away the dagger.
She glanced at the shallow wound on his neck and said coldly, "I think you're still fine for now. Being able to speak and having your wits about you means your chances of mutation are small."
She paused, then added, "There are still things to do at the gas station. I'll come back to check before I leave. If you really change, I'll take care of you immediately, without mercy. If you don't change..."
She curled a mischievous smile, a cold glint flashing in her eyes, "Then you have to remember, I saved your life twice. Even if you want to get angry at me again in the future, you'll have to admit defeat. You saving me only cost you your life, but I saved you, and I'm still alive and kicking."
With that, she turned and left the alley, returning to the gas station.
Lei Yan had already returned, happily stuffing a bag of popping candy into her mouth. She had no idea that she had almost lost her life moments ago due to Lu Yin's sneak attack.