Chapter 54: The Return Trip

Now, Lin Shi was seventy percent certain that the unlocking of the genetic lock was related to intense life-and-death crises.

"You liar!!"

Xu Qin still wanted to question Lin Shi about why he didn't keep his word.

However, the next second, she fell to the ground again, convulsing all over.

"8 seconds."

The time from when Xu Qin dodged the bullet to when she fell.

Lin Shi stared at Xu Qin.

This time, Xu Qin did not lose consciousness, and her body had the same reaction as before.

"Does it hurt?"

Lin Shi observed that the side effects of Xu Qin's second genetic lock were significantly worse than the first time.

This time, blood seeped from Xu Qin's ears, nose, and the corners of her mouth, and her eyes were filled with bloodshot veins.

Xu Qin couldn't make a sound; she stared at Lin Shi desperately, her eyes clearly conveying a message:

Kill her!

Lin Shi observed indifferently.

Finally, after seventeen minutes, the side effects of the genetic lock ended, and Xu Qin fell into a coma.

Lin Shi put away his pistol, stabbed a knife into Xu Qin's heart, and ended her life.

Lin Shi glanced at his mechanical arm; it was already past 3 a.m.

It was time for him to leave.

After some thought, he still put the bodies of Chu, the school doctor, and Xu Qin into space.

To prevent anyone from discovering anything through the bodies in the future.

A strong wind had blown up outside the window at some point, making the glass windows of the taekwondo gym howl.

The indoor temperature, which was still in the teens before going to bed, had dropped to only about ten degrees.

It was estimated to be only five or six degrees outside.

Lin Shi first took out a set of warmer clothes and changed into them.

Then, carrying a flashlight, he left the Sha City Art College.

The dark road was silent, with water stains left by the hail on the ground.

After walking a few hundred meters, Lin Shi took out that shared bicycle and tied the flashlight to the front of the bicycle.

He rode towards the Sha City Cross-Sea Bridge.

Now, there were several bodies in space.

Although the space kept them fresh and they wouldn't rot, with so much food in the space, it was always uncomfortable.

Lin Shi planned to take advantage of the dark night to dispose of these bodies.

After driving a few kilometers, fog began to rise around, reducing visibility.

Occasionally, one or two pale corpses killed by hail could be seen on the road.

Some corpses had half their heads smashed, with brain matter splattered.

Some were bloody and mangled, with blood flowing everywhere.

On such a dark and silent night, it looked particularly gloomy and terrifying.

Lin Shi, however, didn't show much change in expression; he had seen too many corpses in the post-apocalyptic world and was already immune to these scenes.

If the hail in Sha City had been during the day like in the previous life's Hai City, more people would have been killed.

...

Twenty minutes later or so.

Several bodies were thrown into the sea by Lin Shi, "plop" "plop," like dumping dumplings.

He also took the opportunity to wash that bulletproof off-road vehicle.

After cleaning all the blood inside the car, he drove the off-road vehicle directly towards the safe house.

At this point, basically no one would be active outside, and even if someone heard the sound of a vehicle driving, they couldn't see who was driving.

The off-road vehicle had a high chassis, and when encountering corpses, there was no need to get out of the car to move them; just drive over them.

It was much more convenient than sharing a bicycle.

Naturally, Lin Shi wouldn't foolishly ride a bicycle and endure the cold wind.

When the vehicle passed through the urban area, some people heard the sound of a car passing by downstairs.

"Honey, wake up, I think I heard the sound of a car?"

"Wife, don't make trouble, go to sleep, you must be dreaming."

...

"A car? Are there still cars that can be driven now?"

Someone opened the window and looked downstairs, only to be filled with a gust of cold wind, and quickly closed the window.

...

Occasionally, there were some corpses and obstacles on the road, so Lin Shi didn't drive too fast, maintaining a speed of fifty to sixty miles per hour.

As the sky gradually brightened, Lin Shi retracted the car back into space and switched to a shared bicycle again.

With the dawn, Lin Shi noticed more people in a hurry than yesterday as he cycled along, and almost all of them were young and strong adults.

Many people were wearing short sleeves yesterday, but today they all uniformly donned long-sleeved jackets.

However, most people's clothes looked quite thin.

As Lin Shi had thought, in Sha City, a place where it's almost summer all year round, the local residents hardly prepared for winter clothing.

The fog grew thicker, and sporadic snowflakes began to fall, weather that was almost impossible to see in Sha City.

Even the most insensitive person could sense something was amiss.

Those who had rushed to buy food yesterday were now busy scrambling to buy clothes and bedding.

Many people on the road were so cold that their lips turned purple, yet despite the biting cold, they still had to go out.

There were elderly and children at home in dire need of cold protection supplies.

But how many of these family pillars would be able to return home alive today was uncertain.

A blizzard was approaching.

Lin Shi saw some people, unable to bear the cold, smashing the glass of shops that were not open for business.

They pulled down curtains from some stores or took other things to keep warm.

Order was also beginning to collapse.

The end of the world was coming, and in order to survive, anything could happen.

Around 6 in the morning, Lin Shi finally returned to Wolong Village.

The mountain leading to his safe house was behind the village, requiring him to bypass the village or go through the middle of it.

Given the temperament of the villagers in Wolong Village, Lin Shi naturally chose to avoid trouble and take a longer route.

However, today, a group of villagers were gathered on the road outside the village, blocking Lin Shi's path.

...

On the cement road outside the village.

A dozen villagers armed with kitchen knives, hoes, wood axes, sticks, and various other weapons were gathered together, forming an encirclement in the middle of the road.

A noisy clamor was coming from this circle.

"Hit it! Hit it!"

"Kill it!"

"Liangzi, hurry up! It's so cold today, I've been craving a hotpot with dog meat!"

"What are you afraid of? It's just an animal, and we have so many people!"

"Why don't you go then?"

In the middle of these villagers, a dog, already covered in wounds, was baring its teeth at them, growling menacingly.

From the dog's stature, it was a large breed, with a coat of black and yellow dirt that obscured its original fur color.

A pair of round dog eyes were now showing a fierce look, and as the teeth were bared, sharp teeth with faint bloodstains could be seen.

What was surprising was that its eyes were heterochromatic, with the left eye being sea blue and the right eye scarlet red.

"It's just an animal, and with so many of us, it can't kill anyone, can it?!

Killing this beast will give each of us several pounds of meat, and you can't buy meat at the market now!"

The speaker was Li Qiang, who had recently tried to extort Lin Shi outside his safe house.

Although Li Qiang made sense, no one was willing to go first.

They were all waiting for others to attract the dog's attention so they could safely capture the dog.

Who wanted to be bitten for nothing?

It was the village head, the oldest in the crowd, who made the decision:

"Alright.

Qiangzi, Liangzi, you two are the strongest here, you go."

Li Qiang and Wang Liang exchanged glances, understanding each other's intentions.

Wang Liang complained:

"Uncle, if you say it like that, I'm going home.

How can it always be me and Qiangzi who take the lead?"

Li Qiang echoed Wang Liang:

"That's right, last time I went up the mountain, it cost my dad his hand, and I still haven't gotten any money from that son of a gun!"

Yesterday, Li Qiang had shouted and banged on the door of Lin Shi's safe house, exhausting himself to no avail, and hadn't seen Lin Shi come out, which had already made him very unhappy.

Now, without getting any money, he had spent thousands on medical expenses.

Li Qiang had silently vowed in his heart that the next time he saw Lin Shi, he would make him pay.

Who would have thought, speak of the devil and he shall appear.

A shrill screeching of brakes sounded, and Lin Shi, whose vision was obscured by the snow and fog, only noticed the presence of people a dozen meters ahead when he was close.

Lin Shi saw the villagers, and naturally, the villagers also saw Lin Shi.

Li Qiang, holding a wood axe, pointed at Lin Shi and shouted angrily:

"Kid! I've finally found you!!"