Zhang Meizhu never would have imagined that Tang Chao could be this ruthless.
To make sure she died, he was even willing to throw his own life away.
"G-Gao Teng, quick! We have to get out of here!"
Every hair on Zhang Meizhu's body stood on end. The stench of blood would surely attract a lot of mutated creatures. If they didn't leave now, it would be too late!
"Still leaving? Run!"
Gao Teng turned and sprinted for the exit. He did want to kill mutated creatures for merit points, but there were far too many of them. He couldn't hold them off.
Staying alive was the most important thing now!
In just a few seconds, Gao Teng disappeared from sight. His flashlight beam swung wildly in the darkness, rapidly shrinking to a single point of light.
Zhang Meizhu stared in shock. He was moving way too fast!
She immediately took off after him, heading for the exit.
In no time, she had caught up with Gao Teng and called from behind, "You're running way too fast! Couldn't you show a little loyalty?"
Without looking back, Gao Teng said, "You seem pretty loyal. How about you stay behind and buy me time to escape?"
"In your dreams!"
Zhang Meizhu tossed the words over her shoulder and suddenly sped up.
Gao Teng felt a rush of wind sweep past him. When he looked again, Zhang Meizhu had already darted five or six meters ahead.
...She really is a Level Four martial artist. That speed is incredible!
Gao Teng sighed inwardly, gritted his teeth, and squeezed every last bit of strength from his body as he ran.
Luckily, he hadn't gone too deep into the sewers. Before long, he spotted the haphazardly built shacks.
"Gao Teng, wait."
Zhang Meizhu hadn't made it out. She stopped beside one of the shacks and held out a hand to block his way.
Gao Teng skidded to a stop and looked at her, panting hard.
Zhang Meizhu said urgently, "What about these people? I can't wake them up at all.
"If we leave, we'll get them killed!"
Gao Teng raised his flashlight and shone it into the shack.
The glaring light didn't wake the people inside. Their snores still thundered on. They had clearly taken some kind of drug and fallen into a deep sleep.
If they left them behind, the mutated creatures would eat every last one of them, bones and all.
Gao Teng pressed his lips together and swept the flashlight across the darkness behind them.
The mutated creatures hadn't come after them. The sewer was quiet.
But that didn't mean they were safe. Stimulated by the smell of blood and flesh, the creatures would surely go berserk. It was only a matter of time before they charged out.
Gao Teng fell silent for a moment. They weren't far from the exit anyway. Why not stay and hold off the mutated creatures, and rack up a few more merit points?
If things got too dangerous, they could always turn and run.
Once he'd made up his mind, he said, "We need to report this to the Public Security Bureau, then gather the martial artists living here to fight the mutated creatures together."
Zhang Meizhu nodded. She'd been thinking the same thing.
But...
She said with concern, "Getting the Public Security Bureau to send help won't be hard. Getting the martial artists here to work together will be. Why would they be so kind?
"They'll definitely mind their own business and run off at the first chance."
"Then don't count on them," Gao Teng said. "We'll rely on ourselves."
"Us?"
Zhang Meizhu had no confidence at all. Her voice rose before she could stop it.
Gao Teng reassured her, "Relax. We clear out the sewers every day, so there shouldn't be too many mutated creatures inside.
"We just need to hold out for ten minutes or so. The Public Security Bureau's support should arrive by then. Call them now."
"...All right. All right."
Zhang Meizhu took a deep breath, pulled her phone from her pocket, and called the Public Security Bureau.
Once the call connected, she quickly explained the situation and gave them their exact location.
After hanging up, her expression eased a little. "They said they should be here in about ten minutes. They told us to hold on."
"Oh."
Gao Teng nodded, looking completely calm.
Zhang Meizhu couldn't help looking at him again, and said with some surprise, "I didn't expect you to stay. I thought you'd only look out for yourself and run, without caring whether anyone else lived or died."
Gao Teng curled his lip.
He'd stayed because he wanted to rack up more merit points. If his life was really in danger, he'd still put survival first.
He looked at Zhang Meizhu and asked, "Why did you stay? What good does sacrificing yourself do?"
Zhang Meizhu sighed. "I caused this. If other people die because of me, I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life."
Gao Teng sighed deeply. "What a good person."
Zhang Meizhu looked at him and said sincerely, "You're a good person too."
Gao Teng shook his head. "I'm not as good as you."
Zhang Meizhu didn't agree. She said earnestly, "Unlike me, you don't have a reason you have to stay. You're a truly noble person."
Gao Teng laughed helplessly. There was no way he could explain this misunderstanding.
"Enough talking. The mutated creatures could come at any moment. Stay alert."
"Mm."
They fell silent and focused all their attention on the dark, cavernous tunnel.
About two or three minutes later, a burst of noise came from within.
Gao Teng's expression grew serious. He swept his flashlight over the darkness, where countless red lights appeared: rats' eyes.
"They're here!"
Gao Teng gripped his knife hilt tightly. Instead of feeling afraid, he couldn't help getting excited.
At a glance, there seemed to be only about a hundred rats.
That number was no threat at all. With his and Zhang Meizhu's abilities, they could easily take care of them.
"I'm going in!"
Gao Teng circulated the true qi in his body and charged forward.
His long knife flashed wildly, cutting the enormous rats in half one after another.
[You have gained 36 merit points] [You have gained 25 merit points] [You have gained 40 merit points] [You have gained...]
As the notifications sounded, Gao Teng grew even more excited and fought even harder.
Wherever his blade flashed, rat carcasses went flying.
Seeing this, Zhang Meizhu had no time to think and joined the slaughter.
Although the two had never truly fought side by side before, they shared an unspoken understanding.
Gao Teng wielded his knife with raw force, sweeping and chopping as he focused on the rats surging toward them head-on.
Zhang Meizhu moved around his flank, covering the blind spots he couldn't reach.
Their teamwork was flawless. Before long, they had driven the rats back, and the creatures scattered in every direction to flee.
But Gao Teng refused to let them go. When he saw the rats fleeing for their lives, he immediately chased after them.
"Gao Teng, don't chase them!"
Seeing this, Zhang Meizhu shouted anxiously, "We don't know what's in there. What if you run into a monster?"
[You have gained 38 merit points] [You have gained 25 merit points] [You have gained...]
After chopping down several rats, Gao Teng stopped.
Zhang Meizhu was right. It would be dangerous to chase them any farther. Better to quit while they were ahead.
He looked down at his long knife. After killing dozens of rats, the blade had already developed several chips.
The weapons issued by the Public Security Bureau were really poor quality.
"Are you crazy? Why did you chase them in there?
"If you run into a monster, you're dead!"
Zhang Meizhu ran over, unable to stop herself from scolding him.
Gao Teng chuckled. "Killing them felt so good that I couldn't quite control myself."
Zhang Meizhu's eyes flickered with amusement. "You really are a born killer."
"????"
A string of question marks popped up over Gao Teng's head.
Wait, why was she insulting him?
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