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Zhang Yi took the clothing away from the woman's mouth and tossed it on the floor. Without another look at the two bodies stacked together, still joined, he put his counter-surveillance skills to use, carefully erasing the faint traces he and Nan Shao had left in the room before leaving with Nan Shao at an unhurried pace. As for fingerprints and the like, he was not worried. After all, there was no way to check fingerprints now.

By the time the Vanguard Team discovered their captain's body after daybreak tomorrow, rigor mortis would surely have set in. What would they think when faced with this pair of ill-fated lovers who would not part even in death?

They made their way home in the dark. Yangyang was already asleep, but Li Muran and Meat Tower Chen were still waiting anxiously. Only after seeing them return safely and learning that they really had killed Zheng Kun did the two relax and settle down to rest. Meat Tower Chen was itching with curiosity. If it had not been so late, he would have grabbed them and asked about the entire process. Even though he barely managed to restrain himself, he kept tossing and turning as though he had lice, unable to fall asleep.

Nan Shao and Zhang Yi were just as sleepless. They had killed plenty of zombies, but this was their first time killing people. They were not exactly afraid, just deeply uncomfortable. Whenever they closed their eyes, they saw Zheng Kun's and Bai Mei's wide-open eyes. But they knew they would get used to it sooner or later, gradually growing numb, just as they had with killing zombies. When that time came, perhaps the moral boundaries still lingering in their hearts would collapse completely. Yet they had no choice, because at a time like this, nothing but themselves could guarantee their safety.

After lying down for a while without speaking, Nan Shao took out a Corpse Crystal and began cultivating, while Zhang Yi picked up his billhook and went into the courtyard, where he began swinging it silently, working hard to find the chopping motions best suited to his body. Neither of them would go out until they were certain the Vanguard Team would no longer target Meat Tower Chen and Yangyang. The nights were still hot, but without the scorching sun beating down, they were the best time to train.

Perhaps influenced by the two of them, Meat Tower Chen and Li Muran, who had also been having trouble sleeping, took out Corpse Crystals and began cultivating too. They were far too weak. Anyone could trample all over them, and that was a very unpleasant feeling.

Early the next morning, when Li Muran learned they did not need to go out, she took Yangyang to exercise, going up and down the mountain, then down and up again. Once Yangyang could no longer run, she went up the mountain herself with her pickaxe and machete. She would not give up the pickaxe she had grown used to using, but she also wanted to become proficient with the machete so she would not be helpless without her pickaxe.

After breakfast, Zhang Yi went out for a while. When he returned, there was a faint smile on his face.

"The Vanguard Team's captain was stabbed to death in bed by his lover, and his killer committed suicide out of fear of retaliation. As soon as the captain died, infighting broke out in the team. Several people died, and Wang Yuanwei is in control now. They haven't gone hunting today, either. They're probably going to carry out an internal purge first." At this point, he looked at Nan Shao. "The former captain's trusted aide was killed in the chaos. We won't need to do it ourselves." The trusted aide he meant was, of course, the man who had always harbored ill intentions toward them.

Naturally, it was best not to have to kill anyone else. Nan Shao's expression eased slightly.

Meat Tower Chen, however, was completely confused. Only after Zhang Yi finished speaking did he find a chance to ask, "Lover? What lover? Brother Yi, what exactly happened? Weren't you the ones who killed Zheng Kun?" A vague sense of foreboding stirred in him.

Zhang Yi paused, only then remembering that last night he had told them the outcome but not what had happened. He immediately gave them a detailed account, including the conversation they had overheard and their subsequent arrangements to pin the blame on someone else.

After listening, Meat Tower Chen sat stunned for a long time before finally uttering an "Oh." He lay back on the floor and stared woodenly at the ceiling, clearly struggling with the blow dealt by the truth. His feelings for Bai Mei were not actually all that deep, but no man could accept being played for a fool by a woman. Before, he could still deceive himself. Now he could not.

Seeing him like this, Zhang Yi offered no consolation and went out to train with his machete again. Nan Shao had spent the night absorbing Corpse Crystals and had now reached his limit again. Unable to continue, he too began practicing with a machete. In fact, Zhang Yi was quite skilled, but he had one major weakness: he could not put too much strain on his right leg, and standing or running for too long caused unbearable pain. He knew that if his injured leg continued to hold him back, the gap between his strength and the others' would only grow until he eventually became a burden. He had to resolve this problem.

As he trained, he began paying close attention to the strain on his right leg when he used the blade and how different stances affected it. When running, he also explored how to move quickly while minimizing the pressure on his injured leg. He kept experimenting until lunchtime. Although he had not yet found a clear direction, he knew his idea was not unworkable. With hope in his heart, he looked full of fighting spirit, and even the other three were affected by it.

Nan Shao had no such concerns, so his training focused on how to strike as quickly as possible, at the most suitable angle, without wasting the slightest bit of strength or time. He practiced chopping in the morning until he exhausted his strength, then began absorbing Corpse Crystals in the afternoon. Once his body had absorbed all the energy it could hold, he jumped up and practiced his bladework again.

"Hurry up and heal. Hurry up and heal." Seeing them work so desperately hard, Meat Tower Chen could not help feeling a sense of crisis. He had long since stopped grieving over his miserable love life and kept muttering to his legs.

Li Muran had given him IV infusions for two days. Once the injectable medication ran out, she stopped and switched to oral medication to control inflammation. Perhaps because ability users had stronger bodies, he had actually developed no infection, and his wounds were healing well. The drainage strips had already been removed. Since the bones in his legs were undamaged, judging by his recovery, the stitches could come out in fewer than ten days. He might still be unable to exert much force, but walking on his own would be no problem at all.

Zhang Ruiyang was learning the crane exercise from a book, standing shakily on one leg with both arms spread like wings and flapping them happily. At those words, he swooped over to Meat Tower Chen like a little bird, lightly touched the gauze-covered wounds with a small finger, and blew on them twice before saying, "Get better soon! Once you're better, Uncle Fatty can learn to be a big bear."