Chapter 55: The Terrifying Orange-Crystal Zombie

"Get the hell away!" Jiang Yi shot forward with blinding speed. In the next second, he appeared right behind Seito, grabbed Seito's arm, yanked him back, and then delivered a vicious kick straight into Li Zhitian's chest!

The square-centered kick sent Li Zhitian crashing backward onto the ground! Seito, whose face had been completely drained of color, was pulled back several steps by Jiang Yi.

As Li Zhitian struggled to get back up, Guo Hansue, having witnessed the entire scene, drew her sharp bow and aimed it directly at him. "Don't move! Or I'll shoot an arrow right through your skull!"

Li Zhitian didn't dare move another inch, but an exceptionally smug expression remained plastered across his face. He shook the blade in his hand and casually tossed it onto the ground...

This sudden turn of events shocked every single survivor. Jiang Yi's face was as dark as pitch. "Why try to kill me?"

Li Zhitian, held at bay by Guo Hansue, let out a loud laugh. "Because I despise you! If it weren't for you, Seito would never have joined Dongfang Tian's faction! You cost our people dearly! And if you hadn't dragged Ji Seito away these past few days, we wouldn't have suffered so miserably!"

Seito clutched his bleeding arm, his face pale, but he still struggled and roared, "I wanted to leave! What does that have to do with Jiang Yi? I'd been planning to get away from you guys for a long time!"

Standing behind the crowd, Zhu Caijun watched the scene unfold. Although the outcome wasn't quite what he had originally intended, seeing Seito's arm dripping with endless blood brought a satisfied, sinister grin to his face.

Li Zhitian was truly useful; all it took was a few casually dropped, provocative remarks, and he would charge blindly ahead. Realizing the overall situation was sealed, Zhu Caijun stepped forward, walked up beside Li Zhitian, and looked toward Jiang Yi and Seito with a face full of remorse. "I'm so sorry. Zhitian's temper is just too hot-headed; he wasn't thinking straight in the heat of the moment! I hope you two won't hold it against them!"

Dongfang Tian stood to the side, watching the two opposing groups with quiet amusement. Being able to watch Jiang Yi take a hit was something he took great pleasure in right now.

By this time, the pursuing zombies had been completely wiped out, and the horde behind them couldn't break through for the moment. Able to catch their collective breath, the survivors inevitably turned their eyes toward the conflicting factions.

Guo Hansue's face was frosty with anger. "We're all running for our lives, and yet you people are still plotting to murder each other behind our backs? Have you all lost your minds?"

Li Zhitian raised both hands and took two smug steps back. "I surrender! I just got carried away for a moment. You guys are so powerful, surely you won't stoop to my level and hold a grudge!"

Seeing his shameless attitude, Guo Hansue raised her bow in fury. "You bastard..."

Zhu Caijun hurriedly stepped in front of Guo Hansue, wearing a conciliatory, peacemaker smile. "President Guo, please calm yourself. You know as well as I do that after the apocalypse, everyone has been driven to the brink of neurosis. Li Zhitian has already admitted his mistake. Captain Jiang, for my sake, please spare him this once. I'll make sure he gives Seito a proper apology later!"

Jiang Yi's expression remained locked in a dark scowl, completely ignoring everything Zhu Caijun and Li Zhitian had to say.

Hearing Zhu Caijun's words, Jiang Yi let go of Seito, who had lost a dangerous amount of blood, and stepped forward one stride at a time. He bent down, picked up the blade Li Zhitian had discarded on the ground, and stared at the bloodstains smeared across the metal. The murderous intent in the depths of his eyes could no longer be suppressed!

Jiang Yi's actions caught the attention of many. Guo Hansue paused for just a few seconds before her expression turned pale with horror. "Corpse poison! There is zombie blood on that blade!"

She jerked her golden bow taut, pointing it wildly at Li Zhitian. "It was you! You actually wanted to infect Jiang Yi and Seito with corpse poison, didn't you?!"

Li Zhitian put on an innocent act. "How could that be? I just lost my head for a second back there, I didn't even think about that!" But looking at the upturned corners of his mouth, everyone finally understood why he had been so smug just moments before. He had deliberately tried to send them to their graves...

The realization sent a chill straight through everyone's bones. Could such a vicious and ruthless person really be one of their former classmates?

"Surrender? No need. An apology? Don't bother either!" Jiang Yi walked forward with a ferocious expression, every single step unleashing an intimidating wave of killing intent!

Zhu Caijun and Li Zhitian were startled. Watching Jiang Yi stride toward them without a care for the onlookers, they suddenly realized they knew nothing at all about who Jiang Yi truly was.

Seeing Jiang Yi's murderous aura up close, Li Zhitian panicked and screamed, "What do you think you're doing?! I already apologized! Are you really going to murder me in broad daylight in front of everyone?"

Jiang Yi flashed a cruel, grim smile. "Don't worry. After you're dead, I'll apologize to you much more sincerely!"

Zhu Caijun was so terrified by Jiang Yi's killing intent that his legs turned to jelly, and he didn't dare utter another word. He sensed Jiang Yi's terrifying nature far more acutely than Li Zhitian did.

Guo Hansue was alarmed. Seeing the surrounding people watching anxiously, she hurriedly grabbed Jiang Yi's arm. "Jiang Yi, what are you doing? Don't do something stupid!"

Jiang Yi looked at her expressionlessly, then suddenly cracked a grin. "Debts must be repaid, and lives must be taken for lives. What do you think I'm doing?"

"Jiang Yi!" Guo Hansue felt a chill run down her spine under his gaze and involuntarily released her grip.

Realizing at last that he might have miscalculated Jiang Yi, and seeing that Jiang Yi didn't care at all about killing him in front of witnesses, Li Zhitian let out a shrill scream and turned to run!

Jiang Yi raised his head, narrowing his eyes as he stared at Li Zhitian's fleeing back...

With a blur of movement, Jiang Yi unleashed his full speed, moving as fast as a gale-force wind. The crowd saw only a blur as Jiang Yi shot forward like a flying arrow in pursuit of Li Zhitian!

Seito, whose vision had been swimming, managed to clear his head just in time to see Jiang Yi chasing down Li Zhitian to kill him. He cried out in alarm, "Jiang Yi, stop!"

He couldn't let Jiang Yi become a murderer in front of everyone, or else there would never be any place for him within the team again!

He refused to let Jiang Yi become a killer because of him!

Yet by this time, Jiang Yi had completely lost his reason. His mind held only a single, overriding thought... Kill him!

Hearing the heavy footsteps rushing up behind him, Li Zhitian couldn't help glancing back. He saw Jiang Yi holding a raised blade high above his head, charging ferociously toward him from less than ten meters away!

"Ah!" Panicking, his foot tripped, and he tumbled forward, crashing hard to the ground. Without a moment's hesitation, Jiang Yi slashed his blade straight down toward Li Zhitian's neck! Amidst the screams of the crowd, the blade cleaved downward without the slightest trace of hesitation!

"Clang!" Amidst a harsh, metallic clash, Dongfang Tian and Jiang Yi both staggered backward several steps. Jiang Yi glanced at the blade in his hand—which was now on the verge of snapping—and glared darkly at him. "Dongfang Tian, are you trying to stop me from killing him?"

Dongfang Tian shouted sternly, "Jiang Yi, what on earth are you trying to do?! First you injured Li Gang, and now you want to murder Li Zhitian in broad daylight in front of everyone. Are you really that bloodthirsty? Do you kill people over every little disagreement?"

Jiang Yi roared back, "He tried to kill me and hurt Seito! What's wrong with me killing him in return? Dongfang Tian, stop putting on a facade of high-morality in front of me! Get out of my way, or I'll kill you too!" With that, Jiang Yi skirted around Dongfang Tian and lunged toward Li Zhitian, who was still struggling to climb back to his feet.

Without anyone noticing, the corners of Dongfang Tian's mouth curved upward slightly. He turned to block Jiang Yi again, but deliberately put on a show of physical exhaustion, swinging his sword with just enough force to barely parry Jiang Yi's attacks.

Go ahead, kill him. Once you murder Li Zhitian, everyone will know you're nothing more than a cold-blooded killer. And I will be the hero who tried to stop you!

Feigning physical collapse, Dongfang Tian let Jiang Yi bat his sword away and kicked him to the ground. With wide eyes, he watched as Jiang Yi bolted after the fleeing Li Zhitian!

Anger had completely consumed Jiang Yi's sanity; his sole objective now was to kill Li Zhitian! Seeing that Li Zhitian had already run quite a distance, and realizing his own blade was completely broken, Jiang Yi finally ground to a halt. Guo Hansue and Seito let out collective sighs of relief, while Dongfang Tian and Zhu Caijun wore deeply disgruntled expressions.

"Splut!" Li Zhitian, believing he had successfully escaped the terrifying demon's pursuit and feeling a surge of elation, suddenly felt a sharp, agonizing pain in his chest. Stumbling forward, he managed to keep from falling completely, but stared in horrified disbelief at the black tip of a blade protruding straight out from his chest!

He turned his head in agony, only to see Jiang Yi still standing a good five or six meters away! The rest of the crowd was staring at the scene in utter shock!

Dongfang Tian roared internally in disbelief. What just happened? When did Jiang Yi retrieve his blade?

He clearly didn't have it in his hand while they were fighting!

Jiang Yi tossed aside the shattered half-blade in his right hand and stared coldly at Zhu Caijun, who was trembling not far away. "Didn't you people always want my blade? Well, here it is!"

Li Zhitian wailed in agony. "Save me! I don't want to turn into a zombie! President Zhu, please save me..."

Zhu Caijun's face turned green with terror. Watching Jiang Yi walk toward him step by step, he collapsed backward onto the ground. "It has nothing to do with me, Captain Jiang! I really had no idea Li Zhitian was going to try to kill you!"

Jiang Yi cast a cold glance at Zhu Caijun, who was sitting in a growing puddle of yellow urine leaking from his pants, and—ignoring the desperate cries of Guo Hansue and Seito—walked steadily toward the dying Li Zhitian.

Li Zhitian desperately tried to pull the blade out of his chest, but could only writhe helplessly on the ground in torment.

As Jiang Yi walked toward Li Zhitian under the terrified gazes of everyone present, debating how best to torture him to death, a sudden jolt of alarm shot through his entire body. He threw himself backward through the air, his eyes widening as he stared at Li Zhitian!

It wasn't just him; everyone else stared at Li Zhitian in sheer disbelief! Kneeling on the ground in agony, Li Zhitian gripped the hilt of the blade embedded in his chest with both hands as blood poured from his mouth and nose. He turned a pleading gaze toward the crowd, only to find everyone staring past him in horror...

"Huff... huff!" Heavy, ragged breathing laden with a sickening, rotting stench was blowing constantly against the back of his neck!

Every hair on Li Zhitian's body stood on end. Fighting through the agonizing pain, he forced his head around to look! A terrifying, ferocious maw had clamped down tightly onto his neck, tearing into his flesh with savage frenzy!

Li Zhitian shrieked in mortal terror. Under the horrified gazes of the crowd, an immense, terrifying force ripped his head clean off his shoulders! A bizarre zombie, appearing seemingly out of thin air, held Li Zhitian's wide-eyed, decapitated head by the hair, its face drenched in blood as it glared coldly at the crowd from a distance. Not a single person dared to move a muscle, because no one had seen where the creature came from—it had materialized instantly right behind Li Zhitian to launch its attack!

Every hair on Jiang Yi's body stood on end. He could sense that this zombie possessed a terrifying strength far exceeding any evolved zombie he had ever encountered!

His eyes locked onto the orange crystal embedded in the zombie's forehead, and his heart skipped a beat. It wasn't red?

The horrifying female zombie gripped Li Zhitian's head in one hand and his corpse in the other, staring blankly straight at Jiang Yi!

As if recognizing him, she suddenly cracked her blood-stained maw into a bizarre, eerie smile. In the blink of an eye, a gust of violent wind swept through, and by the time the crowd recovered their senses, both the zombie and Li Zhitian's remains had completely vanished without a trace!