Chapter Thirteen: Hijacking the Plane

Gu Sha hadn't originally intended to kill Lin Xingyan, nor did he wish harm upon the other survivors. In his plan, as long as these people behaved themselves, he wouldn't have minded them hiding under his protection for a few days during his stay here. But since they failed to appreciate his goodwill, he had no qualms about exerting a bit more effort.

As for Lin Xingyan, Gu Sha cared nothing for who she was, her background, or her character. So long as she kept to their agreement and allowed the helicopter to take him to Tong City, their connection would have ended there. But since Lin Xingyan insisted on courting death, he did not mind granting her wish.

After all, from the moment Lin Xingyan first answered the satellite phone, her usefulness to Gu Sha was already at an end; for him, as long as the Lin family's helicopter arrived, that was enough.

Once he had killed Lin Xingyan and the group of survivors, Gu Sha found some peace. Apart from occasionally dispatching a couple of zombies that wandered into the villa, he spent his time in his room cultivating.

On the third day, the satellite phone rang.

Upon answering, a man's voice came through: "Miss, Miss, please respond if you can hear me, please respond!"

Gu Sha replied, "Miss Lin is injured and unable to answer."

There was a brief pause on the other end before the voice said, "Are you Gu Sha?"

"I am," Gu Sha replied.

In the past few days, the satellite phone had been connected three times. During one of those calls, once Lin Xingyan's father's people learned that Gu Sha was protecting her, there had been a brief exchange of gratitude. Thus, those coming to fetch Lin Xingyan were aware of Gu Sha's existence.

"What is wrong with you?" The man on the other end was furious, berating him: "How did you protect our young miss? How could you let her get hurt? What do you think you're doing, being so incompetent!"

Gu Sha's brow furrowed. The Lin family truly was accustomed to looking down on others.

Without waiting for his answer, the man continued: "In three minutes, we will use the satellite phone's signal to pinpoint your location in the villa. The helicopter will land there. Listen carefully, you only have three minutes. Bring our young miss upstairs to wait. If anything happens to her, you will be held responsible!"

With that, the call was cut off.

Gu Sha set the satellite phone down, a cold glint flickering in his eyes. So, reason was no longer an option.

Without delay, Gu Sha grabbed his backpack, went outside, picked up Lin Xingyan's corpse, and headed for the rooftop.

Soon, the helicopter appeared in the sky. Its thunderous roar drew a swarm of zombies, surging toward the villa in droves as the aircraft hovered and started to descend.

Gu Sha saw people aboard the helicopter using binoculars to observe.

He sneered.

The reason he had stabbed Lin Xingyan only once, preserving the integrity of her body, was precisely to avoid arousing suspicion.

Sure enough, once they confirmed Lin Xingyan's identity, the helicopter began its descent, the powerful downdraft oppressive.

From his position on the roof, Gu Sha could see three people in the helicopter: one piloting, and two burly men in body armor, each armed with a light machine gun.

The helicopter touched down on the rooftop.

The two armed men leapt out swiftly and ran toward Gu Sha.

"Hand her over!"

One of the men snatched Lin Xingyan's corpse from Gu Sha without even checking her condition and turned to run.

The other man immediately raised his weapon, preparing to shoot Gu Sha.

"Damn it, so much for honor among men," Gu Sha cursed inwardly. In a flash, he drew his Tang sword and swung, severing the man's arms in one stroke.

A scream tore from the man's throat as his machine gun clattered to the ground, but his cry was abruptly cut short as Gu Sha's blade sliced through the air once more, decapitating him.

Blood sprayed as the head flew, and the corpse collapsed heavily to the ground.

The man carrying Lin Xingyan's body turned at the sound, his face draining of color in terror.

Gu Sha snorted coldly. Before the man could react, the Tang sword spun in his grip—another stroke, another severed head.

In the next instant, Gu Sha leapt into the helicopter.

The pilot instinctively reached for his sidearm, but Gu Sha's blade was already at his throat. With a forceful slash, he opened the man's neck, blood spurting as Gu Sha clamped his hand over the wound to prevent it from staining the cabin.

After a brief struggle, the pilot went still.

Gu Sha tossed the body out of the aircraft.

"Damn it!" he cursed.

He had suspected that the Lin family's attitude might be poor, perhaps even that they would refuse to take him. After all, in the apocalypse, helicopters were the only vehicles capable of long-distance travel—priceless assets. To send him alone to Tong City was hardly worth the Lin family's trouble.

But he hadn't expected the Lin family not only to refuse him passage but to try and kill him outright.

"Damn it, the apocalypse has barely begun, and these people's thinking is already so advanced? No, it must be that even in the so-called civilized era, these high and mighty elites never cared for honor," Gu Sha mused. Then he shrugged—after all, those who prided themselves on honor could never have reached the Lin family's position, in any era.

For Gu Sha, it made little difference. He had planned to kill these people and steal the helicopter anyway.

After closing the cabin door, Gu Sha climbed into the cockpit. Fiddling with the controls for a while, he managed to start the aircraft.

In his previous life, as a fifth-rank warrior, he hadn't been considered an expert globally, but he wasn't lacking either. He had participated in several official zombie-clearing campaigns, and had undergone military training. He'd received instruction on tanks, fighter jets, and similar vehicles—not to the point of mastery, but enough to operate them. Though his skill was limited to just getting them moving.

After some more fumbling, the helicopter lifted off, heading toward Tong City.

Tong City lay a considerable distance from Cang City. In the past, the train journey took two days and nights, but the helicopter's direct route was much shorter and far faster.

Still, Gu Sha's piloting skills left much to be desired. Upon reaching Tong City, his landing went awry; he crashed into a building, resulting in a tremendous explosion.

Fortunately, he emerged mostly unscathed, if a bit disheveled.

Returning once more to Tong City, Gu Sha felt a sense of both familiarity and strangeness. Familiar, for he had lived here over a decade; strange, because in the future, beyond the city walls, Tong City would be a wasteland, utterly transformed from its current state.

He allowed himself a moment of reflection, then set the thought aside.

His foremost task now was to prepare for the second Scarlet Descent, twenty days hence!