193: Chapter 193 His gaze shifted between several knives

Eyes wandering between several knives.

A cleaver.

The largest, heaviest, and sharpest.

It could cut through many things.

Bones, meat, and...

A fruit knife.

Small, flexible, and sharp.

It could pierce through many things.

Skin, muscle, and...

A paring knife.

The smallest, but also the most dangerous.

It could slice open many things.

Epidermis, blood vessels, and...

She stared at them, the cold light of the blades reflected in her eyes.

Then she reached out her hand.

Strawberry juice still remained on that hand; the red had already dried, turning into dark brown patches like dried bloodstains.

Her fingers touched the handle.

The handle of the cleaver.

Cool and hard.

The tactile sensation of wood and metal.

She grasped it.

Slowly lifting it.

The blade was pulled from the knife rack, tracing a faint light in the darkness.

The cleaver left the knife rack completely, held in her hand.

It was somewhat heavy.

She raised the cleaver and examined it closely.

The blade reflected a hint of cold light under the glimmer of the emergency light.

Very sharp.

It could cut through many things.

Vegetables, fruit, meat...

And...

She stared at the blade, that hint of cold light reflected in her eyes.

Images flashed through her mind:

The blade slicing across...

Red gushing out...

Those people...

Those who wanted to snatch Brother Qin Lin away...

Her hand trembled slightly.

Just for a moment.

Then, the other hand also trembled slightly.

She looked down, watching her hand holding the knife.

That hand was shaking.

Very slightly, but it was indeed shaking.

She stared at that trembling hand for a long time.

Then she put the knife back into the rack.

No reason, no cause.

Just... it wasn't needed for the time being.

She turned and left the kitchen.

Those red traces still remained on her face, neck, and hands.

But she didn't care at all.

Her pace remained steady, her goal remained clear.

At the end of the hallway, the door to Bedroom No. 000.

That was Brother Qin Lin's room.

Previously, every time she walked to this door, her heart would race, she would be indecisive, and she would stand at the door for a long time before gathering the courage to knock.

Sometimes she stood there for ten minutes and still didn't dare to knock in the end.

Sometimes she knocked, but the sound was so quiet it was almost inaudible.

Sometimes she went in, but she would only keep her head down with a flushed face, finishing her task and then quickly running away.

But now, she didn't have any hesitation.

She walked over and stood before the door.

Raising her hand.

She knocked three times.

Thump—thump—thump—

Slow, intermittent, and drawn out.

It wasn't the usual continuous and hurried knocking, nor was it a soft, tentative knock.

Instead, it was a... rhythmic, very eerie way of knocking.

Three times.

Then she lowered her hand and stood quietly.

Waiting.

...

In the room, Qin Lin was not asleep.

Occasionally, the faint sound of wind came from outside the window, and the RV vibrated slightly—these were all sounds familiar to him.

The Eternal Night had passed, the RV continued south, and everything seemed to have returned to normal.

But in his heart, there was always an indescribable confusion.

Was this kind of life going to continue forever?

He didn't know.

He thought of the days before his Rebirth.

Back then he had nothing, struggling alone in the apocalypse.

No RV, no System, no so many women, only endless fear and despair.

Every time he opened his eyes, he was running for his life; every time he closed them, it was a nightmare.

In the end, he died.

He died a miserable death.

Before dying, he was still thinking that if he could do it all over again, he must live well.

Then he really did start over.

He had the RV, the System, and so many women who loved him.

Life was so good that sometimes he couldn't believe it was real.

But what then?

Just keep driving the RV, keep heading south, keep avoiding disasters, and keep picking up female passengers forever?

When would it end?

He thought of the Lv6, Lv7, and even higher Ranks mentioned by the System.

Perhaps by reaching the highest Rank, he could find the truth behind the disaster.

Perhaps he could take these people to a safe world.

Perhaps...

He didn't know.

He only knew that for now, he had to keep going.

Just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard a knock at the door.

Thump—thump—thump—

Three times.

Slow, intermittent, and drawn out.

Qin Lin was stunned for a moment.

He felt that this knocking sound was very strange.

It made him feel inexplicably flustered.

At this hour, past two in the morning, who would come?

Han Yurou?

Although that girl was clingy, she was afraid of the dark and never dared to go out alone at night.

Moreover, her knocking was always a series of "thump-thump-thump-thump-thump," like beating a drum.

Li Ying?

She didn't care about the time, but her knocking was very casual—just two random knocks, and then she would push the door right in.

She never waited for someone to open the door.

Han Qing?

She would usually send a message before coming, or agree on it during the day.

Coming suddenly so late wasn't quite her style.

The Zhou Sisters?

They hadn't been here long and weren't used to going out this late yet.

Besides, every time they came, they were together, and they would take turns knocking; it wasn't like this.

Then who was it?

Su Yuling?

That timid girl?

Impossible.

At night, she sometimes even needed her sister to accompany her to the restroom; how could she possibly come to knock on his door alone?

But besides her, who else could it be?

Qin Lin got out of bed.

His feet stepped on the floor; it was cool.

He walked to the door and grasped the doorknob.

He inexplicably felt a strange sensation in his heart.

He couldn't quite say what it was.

It was just... a bit cold.

That coldness didn't come from beneath his feet, but rose from the bottom of his heart.

He opened the door.

Then he was stunned.

A person was standing outside the door.

A woman with red on her face.

The red flowed from her forehead all the way to her chin; under the dim yellow emergency light in the hallway, those red marks appeared in a dull, almost black tone.

There was also a patch of red on her neck, as if soaked by something, extending down below her collar.

She just stood there, motionless.

Her eyes looked straight at him.

Without blinking.

Against the backdrop of the red, those eyes appeared exceptionally bright, exceptionally...

Focused.

Qin Lin's heart skipped a beat.

In that instant, he even thought he had seen something unclean.

The female ghosts with faces full of blood in horror movies probably looked like this.

But in the next second, he recognized her.

Those eyes.

Those eyes he was familiar with, always filled with shyness and avoidance.

Those eyes that would flush every time they looked at him and look down every time they spoke to him.

"Yuling?"

Su Yuling didn't answer.

She just looked at him like that, without any expression on her face.

But those eyes were looking at him.

Intently, motionlessly, looking at him.

Qin Lin looked closely at the red on her face.

His first reaction was blood.

So much red, from forehead to chin, her entire face was covered.

With a bang in his head, all his sleepiness instantly vanished.

"Are you injured?!"

He blurted out, his voice changing pitch.

He reached out to touch her face, his movements quick and urgent.

His fingertips touched the red.

It was sticky and slippery, already half-dried.

It didn't feel like blood.

He looked closer again and leaned in to sniff.

A sweet scent of strawberries.

Qin Lin breathed a sigh of relief, but then he felt both annoyed and amused.