Chapter 221: The Phoenix Man Who Soared Before the Apocalypse – 26

“They… they have Supernatural Abilities too?”

“Second Brother, are you still alive?”

You couldn’t blame them for asking. At that moment, Second Brother was covered in blood and looked absolutely terrible.

Only then did Second Brother come to his senses. He quickly withdrew his ability, and the vines vanished in an instant.

Young Master Huo could finally stop swinging him around.

Second Brother spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground, then charged forward again.

But before he could even touch the hem of Young Master Huo’s clothes, he was knocked out cold by a punch that landed first.

Young Master Huo stared at the twitching body on the ground, unable to believe what his own hand had just done.

Maybe strength-type abilities weren’t so bad after all?

At least when it came to beating people up, they were pretty effective…

“Second Brother!”

First Brother and Third Brother shouted in unison. When they saw he wasn’t responding, they turned and rushed toward Young Master Huo.

Seeing this, Shen Xiuyan decided to stop playing around. Two Lightning Balls shot straight toward their faces.

The two were startled and barely managed to dodge.

But their luck didn’t hold out for long. Countless Lightning Balls floated in the air. Unlike Third Brother’s water balls, these were large and densely packed, leaving no room to dodge.

As the Lightning Balls rained down, the inevitable result was unconsciousness and foaming at the mouth.

Shen Xiuyan rolled his shoulder and turned to walk toward the only conscious woman.

Terrified, the woman stumbled backward, her face ashen as she screamed, “D-Don’t come any closer!”

Shen Xiuyan ignored her and instead asked an older child nearby, “Where are your parents?”

The child glanced at the woman but didn’t dare speak.

Shen Xiuyan gently reassured him, “It’s okay. As long as I’m here, she can’t hurt you. You only get one chance. If you miss it, there won’t be another.”

His voice was low and calm, soothing the child’s nerves.

And the child wasn’t stupid. He’d just seen this man take down a bunch of bad guys and still speak to them kindly. So, choking back tears, he finally spoke up.

“Some… some of them were fed to zombies. The rest are locked in the cellar.”

“Where? Is it far?”

The child wiped his tears and shook his head, pointing to a nearby house. “Over there.”

Shen Xiuyan turned his head. “Young Master Huo, go with him. I’ll leave you with this warning: don’t try anything funny, got it?”

The child’s face flushed red as he shook his head furiously. “I-I wouldn’t dare. I’m telling the truth, I swear.”

“Good. You’d better be.” Shen Xiuyan patted his head. “Take this big brother with you and go save them.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Once the two of them left, Shen Xiuyan turned his emotionless gaze on the woman. His eyes looked at her as if she were already a corpse.

“Speak. What’s going on here? How many terrible things have you done?”

The woman hesitated, her mouth opening and closing without a word.

Shen Xiuyan let out a cold snort and raised his hand.

“I already gave you a chance…”

The woman immediately dropped to her knees, begging for mercy. “Please, no! I’ll talk! Big brother, just don’t kill me!”

Shen Xiuyan nodded. “Fine.”

Killing her would only dirty his hands. And even if he didn’t deal with her, her fate wouldn’t be much better.

Seeing hope in his response, the woman’s eyes lit up. She began to stammer out the whole story.

These men were small-time thugs from a nearby town.

When the Apocalypse hit, the three men awakened Supernatural Abilities and began to see themselves as chosen ones.

They fantasized about a world where everyone bowed to their commands. So they teamed up and picked a small village to test their power. This unfortunate village happened to be the one.

They suddenly showed up and demanded that everyone obey them. The villagers thought they were crazy.

When the villagers refused to comply, the men used their abilities to kill a few as a warning. After that, everyone was too scared to resist and had no choice but to obey.

Some villagers had thought about calling the police, but with the Apocalypse in full swing, society had already collapsed. Who would care about the fate of one tiny village?

At first, the men enjoyed their newfound power, living like tyrants. But when the zombies started attacking, their good life came to an end.

No one dared to go out and work, and food supplies began to run low.

Seeing things deteriorate, they decided to go all in and started using people as bait to lure zombies into houses.

That way, the zombies would be eliminated, the streets would be safe again, and the houses could be turned into traps. When travelers came to rest, they’d be caught off guard and killed. All the supplies they brought would then belong to the three men.

They’d been running this scheme for days and had even discovered that they weren’t the only people in the world with Supernatural Abilities.

To avoid mutually destructive fights with other ability users, they turned their attention to the village children.

First, they used the children to tug at travelers’ heartstrings. If that didn’t work, they’d resort to force.

Their plan was working well. They’d gathered a fair amount of supplies—until today, when they ran into Shen Xiuyan, the immovable wall.

“I’ve told you everything. Please don’t kill me,” the woman sobbed in terror.

Shen Xiuyan gave her a cold glance but said nothing.

Just then, Young Master Huo returned, and he wasn’t alone.

The people following behind him were staggering, looking utterly miserable. The Apocalypse had only just begun, yet they were already skin and bones.

Young Master Huo cursed under his breath. “Those bastards are pure scum. They locked all these people in a tiny cellar. It’s a miracle they didn’t suffocate, let alone starve. Some of them haven’t eaten in over a week. If it weren’t for those kids sneaking them water, they’d all be dead by now.”

As the group got closer, Shen Xiuyan noticed that they were all elderly, sick, or disabled. There were barely any able-bodied adults among them.

One old man dropped to his knees the moment he saw Shen Xiuyan.

“Thank you. Truly, thank you for saving us.”

Shen Xiuyan quickly helped him up. “It was nothing. But where are the able-bodied men in your village? Surely you could’ve fought back against those three.”

Even if those men had Supernatural Abilities, they weren’t limitless. With enough people, they could’ve worn them down.

Tears welled up in the old man’s eyes. “You don’t understand, sir. The Apocalypse came so suddenly. Most of our young men were working in the cities. Even if they wanted to come back, it’s not easy now.”

At that, his tears finally spilled over, falling like large pearls.

With trembling hands, he pointed at the three men. “The few young men we had left tried to resist those animals, but they were killed. Even the ones who obeyed weren’t spared. They forced people to lure zombies into the houses. And with the children in their hands, we were powerless…”

The atmosphere grew heavy.

Suddenly, an old woman burst out from the crowd and charged at the still-conscious woman.

“You evil witch! Give me back my son!”

“Ahhh—!” the woman screamed. “Don’t hit me!”

As she screamed, she shoved the old woman hard. The moment the old woman hit the ground, the villagers were completely enraged.

Someone shouted, “She dared to hit Granny Qiao! Let’s get her!!!”

The woman had provoked public fury. The villagers surged forward in anger. Terrified, the woman screamed at Shen Xiuyan, “You said you wouldn’t kill me!”

Shen Xiuyan shrugged and gave her a faint smile. “I did say I wouldn’t kill you. But I never said I’d stop others from doing it.”

The woman’s eyes filled with horror.