Those hyenas really did look just like proctologists from his previous life. They all went "Heh heh heh heh," as if calling back and forth to one another.
They were hot on their heels, and their bite force was no joke. They were nothing like the ordinary hyenas Lu Xi'an had seen in his previous life.
The woman retreated into the villa and locked the door. Right after that, Lu Xi'an heard a series of thuds against it. Then came the sound of something cracking, and the area around the lock was wrenched outward, leaving a hole.
The hyenas outside bared their teeth, clamped down on the lock with their jaws, and tore at it. They actually ripped the lock right off the door, then charged inside.
These hyenas weren't stupid, either!
Luckily, the woman had a gun. She immediately fired twice, killing the hyena at the front.
But these savage beasts, which should have lived far from people in the wilderness, seemed to have seen guns before. They weren't afraid at all. The hyenas behind leaped right over their dead companion and continued pouncing on the woman.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The woman fired as she backed away. Her aim was incredibly accurate. Even in such an extremely dangerous situation, she managed to stay calm and shoot two more of the hyenas leaping at her.
When she reached the sofa, she was already prepared. She tossed away the iron bucket, braced a hand on the sofa, and vaulted over it, using it as a barrier.
"Sorry, those things have me surrounded. I can only escape this way."
She didn't look back at Lu Xi'an upstairs. She kept facing off against the hyenas as she spoke.
That was the longest sentence Lu Xi'an had heard her say.
Damn, you're pretty polite!
Lu Xi'an curled his lip and said, "It's fine. Be careful. These things love going for the ass."
Then he saw the woman's body seem to tense up.
When he saw another hyena leap in through the window the woman had broken earlier, about to surround her, he immediately called out, "Fall back up here. It's easier to defend."
The woman's aim was far better than his. If he had been down there, he would've been done for already.
But there were far too many hyenas. No matter how good her aim was, she was surrounded on all sides. One person with one gun wouldn't be much use.
These hyenas feared nothing, not even death. If the woman died, Lu Xi'an didn't know whether he could drive them off after using up all his bullets.
So the woman couldn't die.
Lu Xi'an was sure of it.
He didn't want them going for his ass.
The woman reacted quickly. As soon as she heard Lu Xi'an, she retreated toward the stairs.
She fired several more shots as she backed away. By the time she reached the stairs, she'd used up her bullets. She ejected the magazine, replaced it with a fresh one, and kept shooting at the hyenas charging up.
She had two magazines.
"Give me the empty magazine!"
Lu Xi'an called from the top of the stairs.
The woman kept backing upstairs. Without hesitating, she did as he asked and tossed the empty magazine behind her.
Lu Xi'an caught it and checked. The magazine was a different model, but it used the same caliber of bullets. He immediately got to work, taking the pistol rounds from the satchel on the dog's back and loading them into the magazine.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."
The woman fired as she retreated. By the time she reached the top of the stairs, her gun had run out of bullets.
"Here."
Lu Xi'an held out the magazine he'd refilled with bullets.
The woman paused, then said, "Thanks."
She immediately took the magazine and replaced the empty one.
Several hyena carcasses already littered the stairs. Some lay across the steps, while others had slid down, but nothing could stop the pack's frenzied charge.
Still, Lu Xi'an and the woman worked together. One reloaded the magazine while the other fired. Guarding the bottleneck at the top of the stairs, they kept the dogs from climbing up for the time being.
Even with a supply of bullets, the woman didn't fire carelessly. Just as before, she remained cautious and aimed for vital spots.
Not bad. She knows to save her bullets.
Being frugal was a good habit in this world. Lu Xi'an thought the woman was as capable as he was in some respects. Not bad.
After several more hyenas had died, the beasts finally stopped rushing to their deaths.
They prowled downstairs, keeping their eyes on the two of them, while some went off to search for another way up.
But the second floor was too high for even a person to climb up. Four-legged animals stood no chance.
And so the two sides reached a stalemate.
Only now did Lu Xi'an and the woman have a chance to observe each other.
Lu Xi'an looked at her openly, while the woman stole glances from the corners of her eyes.
Up close, she looked even more refined and captivating. The roughness of her cheeks, slightly reddened from years of wind and sun, was clearer. Her chapped lips parted and closed as she panted, and her chest rose and fell beneath her tight black tank top.
Quite eye-catching.
But Lu Xi'an could keep his eyes under control.
"I'm Lu Xi'an. What's your name?"
He asked.
The woman immediately stopped glancing at him, pretending she hadn't been looking.
As for his question, she had no intention of answering.
But Lu Xi'an had noticed the sudden change in her formerly placid eyes. It gave him a sense of what she was feeling.
The woman seemed to have suddenly grown a little jealous.
She'd looked at him once. What could she possibly be jealous of?
The answer was obvious. Lu Xi'an smiled.
After handing her the magazine he'd filled, he said, "Were you planning to get gasoline with that iron bucket? Do you have a car?
"If you do, give me a ride when you travel. I can trade you some Cold Cream. It's for taking care of your skin. Look at my face—so smooth."
His skin really was smooth. Smooth enough to make the woman jealous.
But it wasn't actually thanks to the Cold Cream.
His skin had been pretty good before he crossed over. After nearly a year of traveling from south to north, enduring wind, sun, and rain, it still hadn't been affected at all.
Maybe he was just naturally blessed.
But he really did have Cold Cream. He'd scavenged it from Wanhu Village, the village he'd written about in his diary as "Ten Thousand Corpses Village." It was a whole box, still new, so the cream was clean and moist, not dried out, and perfectly usable.
Maybe because it looked white and clean and came in a cream form, this Cold Cream shared a name with a product from his previous life. It also served the same purpose.
But Lu Xi'an hadn't used it up carelessly. He'd kept it in reserve to prevent the skin on his hands, feet, and other important areas from cracking in extreme weather.
In extreme weather, if your hands got badly damaged, it would affect your grip. As for your feet, that went without saying: damage would affect your walking and, at a critical moment, your ability to escape.
So this stuff was pretty useful to Lu Xi'an.
But a car would be more useful right now.
The woman frowned, seeming a little displeased, and still said nothing.
The woman didn't seem good at hiding what she felt.
Just from her expression, Lu Xi'an could tell she was unhappy with his bragging. Her silence and furrowed brow seemed to say, Let's get through this and stay alive before talking about anything else. Why are you wasting your breath?
She didn't deny it.
So the woman really did have a car.
Lu Xi'an had found out what he wanted to know and achieved his goal, so he stopped talking.
He and the woman waited quietly together, curious to see how long the hyenas downstairs intended to hold out.
He had plenty of perseverance, and the woman seemed to have plenty too. Even as the sun moved west, she still managed to stay alert.
Those hyenas had some serious endurance, too! Damn it!
Feeling the discomfort caused by hunger and dehydration, Lu Xi'an immediately returned to the bedroom and brought out two bottles of water and two packets of Instant Noodles.
He knew that at a crucial moment like this, he couldn't be stingy with these things. If the woman collapsed from exhaustion, he'd be in trouble too.
So he generously unscrewed one bottle of water and set it within the woman's reach. He also tore open a packet of Instant Noodles and handed it to her. "Here."
The water had come from a tap downstairs. He'd picked up the Instant Noodles after killing some members of the Wolf Gang in Mo Zhou City.
"Thanks."
The woman's reply was short again, and she started eating the Instant Noodles.
As for the bottle of water, she didn't seem inclined to touch it.
But the state of her chapped lips and the sound of her voice clearly told Lu Xi'an that she was thirsty.
Lu Xi'an finished his own packet of Instant Noodles. Instead of opening the other bottle of water, he picked up the one on the floor with its cap already unscrewed, took a big gulp, and handed it back to the woman. "Here."
The woman paused, then finally took the water and tipped her head back to drink deeply.
After setting down the empty bottle, she licked her now-moist lips with her tongue. Only then did she finally tell Lu Xi'an, "My name is Yao Wei."
Before you continue