Chapter 114: The Weeping Inferno

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Fire was the nemesis of the Sierwu—though in truth, it was something feared by most living creatures.

The blazing Iveco charged straight toward the Piper. Beneath the vehicle’s grotesque roar, clouds of black smoke mingled with a pungent stench and billowed relentlessly into the air.

As the flames rose, all the Sierwu that had originally clustered around the vehicle scattered. Those that had been too slow to escape were completely consumed by the fire.

The three members of the research team who had fled stared at the dazzling blaze, hope flaring in their hearts.

They saw the demon insects shrieking and retreating from the flames. Clearly, they were terrified of fire.

Unfortunately, that hope vanished as quickly as it had appeared. They soon realized that the fire was not coming toward them, but was instead racing in the direction of the Piper.

Worse still, with the distant Iveco now ablaze, the Sierwu that had gathered around Dazhuang dispersed and began swarming toward the three of them.

Seeing that the situation was turning dangerous, Bai Ruixue immediately shouted, “Quick, run back! Get to the vehicle!”

“We can’t! If it keeps burning like that, the vehicle will definitely explode! It’ll be even more dangerous if we go over there,” Liang Zhichao said anxiously.

“It’s too late to run now,” Su Wei said helplessly as she watched the demon insects closing in around them.

As they spoke, the Sierwu, roaring like mountains and oceans, completely surrounded the three of them. They were moments away from pouncing.

At that instant, Liang Zhichao snatched the insecticide from Su Wei’s hand.

“Don’t panic. There’s still a chance!”

He pressed the nozzle of the insecticide, then struck a lighter and aimed the flame at the mist spraying from the can.

The insecticide contained a large amount of flammable gas. Once the spray was ignited, it immediately formed a mass of fire.

Bai Ruixue understood at once and pulled out her own lighter, setting fire to the insecticide as well.

Since they often needed to light alcohol lamps during experiments or outdoor cooking, they always carried lighters in their pockets even though none of them smoked.

Still, none of them had expected those lighters to come in handy under circumstances like these.

Thus, while the insecticide continued releasing gas, the two flames burned steadily for the time being.

Su Wei crouched between the two men. Liang Zhichao handed her his burning can of insecticide, then, as if performing a conjuring trick, produced two metal liquor flasks from his waist.

Su Wei accepted the burning insecticide and stared at it in slight bewilderment. Liang Zhichao never usually drank. Why was he carrying two large liquor flasks with him?

But with a formidable enemy before them, she had no time to ask. She focused instead on spraying the swarm in front of her.

Liang Zhichao instructed Su Wei and Bai Ruixue to hold their makeshift flamethrowers and slowly retreat. He himself unscrewed the caps of the metal flasks.

The gas in the insecticide was limited. Although this method could force the swarm back temporarily, it obviously could not last.

Glug, glug, glug... Glug, glug, glug...

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Liquid poured from the metal flasks onto the path behind them and across the rock walls on either side. The flames then ignited it.

Su Wei caught a strange smell and was even more astonished this time.

“That isn’t alcohol!”

The metal flasks Liang Zhichao carried were filled entirely with gasoline. Wherever it splashed, fire sprang up, quickly forming a low wall of flame.

Though the fire wall was short, it was more than enough to stop the insects. Since their own bodies were highly flammable as well, they instinctively feared it.

The three of them continued retreating. Liang Zhichao hoisted Lü Zuzhi onto his back again.

If the Sierwu wanted to circle around from above the rock walls on either side, it would still take them some time. The three of them now had ample opportunity to withdraw.

Meanwhile, when the burning Iveco charged toward the Piper, the sound of the flute abruptly ceased.

The driver of the vehicle was, naturally, Li Tianque—the role Li Tianque himself was playing.

The Iveco slammed into the mountain rock, sending sparks exploding in every direction.

A second earlier, Li Tianque had already leapt from the cab and tackled the Piper, who had been preparing to flee, directly to the ground.

Boom!

A deafening blast erupted through the valley. The moment the Iveco struck the wall, it exploded.

The immense shock wave made the entire valley tremble. Loose stones rained down from above like a torrential downpour.

Li Tianque and the Piper he had tackled were both hurled through the air.

Although Li Tianque had promptly used his enhancement to cover his body in cancer cells, the force of the explosion was simply too great. Most of the cancer cells coating his skin were annihilated in an instant.

He had already expended a tremendous number of cancer cells while putting out the fire earlier. Though he had replenished some with capsules, he had not fully recovered.

Now that he had used his ability again, Li Tianque felt that the cancer cells inside his body were nearly depleted.

For an ordinary person, having all the cancer cells in their body eliminated would certainly be a blessing. But for Li Tianque, an enhanced individual, the disappearance of those cells meant that he would become an ordinary man—or even less than one.

After being enhanced, the cancer cells had fused with his normal cells. For a long time, Li Tianque’s body had been governed by the combined power of both.

Now, the loss of his cancer cells felt as though one of his legs had suddenly become crippled. Every step immediately became difficult.

With that thought, Li Tianque had no choice but to swallow his final capsule and replenish the cancer cells within his body.

Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, the capsule produced no immediate effect this time.

The wreckage of the Iveco continued burning after the explosion, seeming liable to detonate a second time at any moment.

Behind the wreckage, the rocks blasted loose by the impact had blocked the way back. Together with the wall of fire, they cut the Sierwu off on the other side.

The Piper he had tackled had also been thrown aside by the explosion. Her head had suffered a severe injury, and blood had soaked her entire upper body.

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What Li Tianque had not expected was that the woman’s willpower would be so tenacious. She still had enough strength to stand.

Even more remarkably, her flute had survived intact.

After being flung away, the flute had landed at an angle among the rubble ten meters away. Its body radiated a brilliant golden light, dazzling beneath the reflection of the flames.

The Piper staggered forward, supporting herself against the rock wall. Clearly, she intended to retrieve the flute.

Li Tianque felt dizzy and light-headed. For the first time, he truly experienced what it meant to have his body completely drained.

The sensation was strange and uncanny. Even the original owner’s memories contained no comparable experience.

It seemed he had acted too recklessly. He should not have exhausted his strength so easily.

Even the capsules could no longer restore him quickly.

Still, Li Tianque’s plan had more or less succeeded.

He had used the research team as bait and waited for the killer to reveal herself.

And the killer had not disappointed him. She had confirmed his deduction.

Because Li Tianque had informed Liang Zhichao of the plan in advance and told him about the Sierwu’s weakness, Liang Zhichao had been able to prepare beforehand.

That was why he had brought the liquor flasks and lighters, allowing the members of the research team to escape disaster temporarily.

But although the killer’s identity had now been exposed, she was still making one final struggle.

Li Tianque stared at the hunched figure ahead, struggling again and again to rise, and his heart tightened.

If the killer managed to pick up the flute and regain the ability to control the Sierwu, she might still have a good chance of killing every one of them.

With that thought, Li Tianque gritted his teeth and charged toward the Piper, determined to fight her to the death.

“Damn it. You really are hard to kill...” Li Tianque staggered after her, while the Piper quickened her pace.

“Heh heh heh heh... So you possess such a strange superpower... This world truly is unfair. All roads lead to Rome, yet some people are born in Rome. Heh heh heh heh...”

The Piper gave a hideous laugh, madness filling her voice.

“Hahahahaha... Aren’t girls who love to laugh supposed to have good luck? This... this is the biggest joke in the world...”

Her bleak, despairing, and frenzied laughter echoed through the gorge. Liang Zhichao and the others on the opposite side of the flames heard that familiar laughter at the same time.

Everyone’s heart tightened at once. None of the two girls had ever imagined that the killer would be her...

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