Chapter 36
by LhaoziChapter 36: The Legendary Crystal Core
“Could you… please help me, help me let my older sister rest in peace…”
A gust of icy wind blew past, and Bai Hanyue’s voice was nearly scattered into the wind and rain.
Yet Qin Xi still heard her clearly.
The cold indifference on her face softened a fraction. Looking at Bai Hanyue, she asked softly:
“She turned into a zombie?”
Bai Hanyue’s eyes were already bloodshot. Her lips trembled as she uttered a quiet “Mm.”
Qin Xi’s brow twitched slightly, faintly catching Bai Hanyue’s meaning.
Bai Hanyue’s older sister had turned into a zombie, but she couldn’t bear to strike the blow herself.
Yet she also didn’t want her sister—who had turned into a monster—to continue wandering the world, nor did she likely want her to be brutally killed by strangers.
That was why she wanted their help.
The group of five walked in silence through the village.
This time, they didn’t bother searching other households, heading directly to Bai Hanyue’s house.
Seeing the tightly shut main gate, Li Zekai looked at Bai Hanyue in some confusion and voiced his question:
“Is this main gate… locked?”
Hearing him ask, Bai Hanyue hurriedly replied:
“I shut it. I was afraid they would run out and get hurt, and also afraid they might harm others.”
This genuinely surprised Qin Xi!
After all, logically speaking, at that time when the zombie outbreak had just erupted, Bai Hanyue herself had to face two zombies all at once. The fact that she managed to escape was already impressive enough, yet she actually had the presence of mind to shut the courtyard gate.
She truly possessed immense courage!
The group walked slowly up to the gate, only then noticing that not only was the courtyard gate shut, but the twin handles on the door were actually bound together with a shoelace.
To prevent the gate from being pushed open.
Qin Xi subconsciously looked down at Bai Hanyue’s feet, only to discover that the shoes she was wearing weren’t missing any shoelaces.
Bai Hanyue instantly understood Qin Xi’s look and hurriedly explained:
“I changed into a new pair of shoes at the house where I stayed last night.”
Qin Xi nodded; this explanation was entirely logical.
Looking at the shoelace on the door, she didn’t untie it.
Yesterday, the method Lin Xin used—squatting on top of the wall and taking out zombies one slash per target—worked very well.
She figured they would use that exact method again this time.
Lin Xin volunteered himself, scrambling up the wall once more, but right as he was about to strike, Bai Hanyue called out to stop him!
“Lin Xin, wait a moment!”
Hesitating for a long while, she gritted her teeth and climbed up as well.
She then lowered her head, looking down at the zombie beneath the wall.
Pulling out the pitchfork she used as a weapon, she aimed it at her mutated older sister. A few seconds later, tears streamed down her face.
She still couldn’t bring herself to do it!
Squatting on the wall, Lin Xin looked at Bai Hanyue, who was crying uncontrollably, then turned his head to exchange glances with Qin Xi and the others outside the wall.
He spread his hands, gesturing for what they should do now!
Right at that moment, however, a sudden turn of events erupted!
The zombie inside the wall suddenly reached up and grabbed the downward-hanging pitchfork in Bai Hanyue’s hand.
Standing atop the wall, Bai Hanyue had no time to react at all and was dragged straight down in an instant!
Lin Xin nearby was startled out of his wits! By the time he snapped back to his senses, Bai Hanyue and the zombie had already tumbled together onto the ground inside the courtyard!
Lin Xin let out a terrified shout!
With no time to think, he jumped down right after her.
He slammed onto the ground, and before he could even stand up, a sharp metallic clatter echoed out:
CLANG—
Tilting his head to look, he saw that Qin Xi had also leaped in from outside the courtyard at some unknown point.
The Standard Machete in her hand was slashed into the back of the head of the zombie Bai Hanyue’s sister had turned into; at the same time, however, a steel pitchfork had plunged deeply into the zombie’s forehead!
That crisp sound was precisely the noise generated when the machete collided with the steel pitchfork!
The air inside the courtyard seemed to freeze for a split second!
Qin Xi let out a sigh, pulled back her blade, and dragged the corpse of Bai Hanyue’s sister over to lay it down on the ground nearby.
Looking at the girl sitting on the ground weeping in silence, she didn’t say a word.
Right at this moment, Lin Xin off to the side suddenly spoke up:
“Um, what is this thing?”
She turned her head to look over, seeing the tip of Lin Xin’s blade pointing at the head of the corpse. Within the gap carved open on the skull, a faint green light shimmered in and out of view.
Qin Xi froze!
It was actually a crystal core!
However, at this point in time, the identity of this zombie…
She blinked, lowered her eyes, and glanced at Bai Hanyue once more.
Lin Xin’s somewhat disbelieving voice echoed beside her ear:
“This couldn’t be the legendary crystal core, could it?”
Qin Xi raised her eyes to look at him, nodding her head:
“Something along those lines.”
The expression on Lin Xin’s face shifted instantly!
Yet as his gaze suddenly turned to Bai Hanyue, who was still sitting on the ground, that touch of novelty vanished immediately.
At this point, Qin Song had already opened the courtyard gate from the outside.
He and Li Zekai walked in from outside.
Qin Xi pointed the crystal core out to him, but neither of them made a move.
Qin Song looked at Bai Hanyue, who was being supported by Lin Xin as she rose staggeringly from the ground, speaking in a calm tone:
“What do you plan to do with the corpse? Bury it? Or leave it somewhere?”
Hearing this, Bai Hanyue wiped her bloodshot eyes, a look of sorrow across her face:
“I want to bury her. Let’s just bury her right here. I can do it myself—you guys can go next door to collect supplies first!”
Hearing that, Lin Xin and Li Zekai exchanged a glance, then turned to look at Qin Xi and Qin Song together.
In the end, Qin Xi, Qin Song, and Li Zekai went next door to gather supplies together, leaving Lin Xin behind to help Bai Hanyue out and keep her company along the way!
Qin Xi and her two companions vaulted directly over the courtyard wall of Bai Hanyue’s home into the adjacent yard.
Just as Bai Hanyue had described, this courtyard was indeed maintained in an exceptionally gorgeous manner.
A flagstone path ran through the middle of the courtyard leading to the main entrance, lined on both sides with colorful, vibrant flowers. Halfway down the flagstone path, two side paths branched off to the left and right, leading to the side wing and a small gazebo on the right side; beside the gazebo lay an artificial water pond, where chubby red koi fish could be seen swimming back and forth inside.
It looked just like a garden straight out of a fairytale!
The only unlovely detail, however, was a zombie wearing a long white dress pacing back and forth inside the garden.
Noticing the few human figures on top of the wall, she turned around immediately and shuffled over.
Looking at the zombie shuffling closer and closer, Qin Xi creased her brows; sure enough, the movements of the zombies had become significantly more nimble.
That being said, there was a good chance this zombie had a crystal core inside her head as well!
Watching the zombie close in, Qin Xi raised her blade and brought it down, resolving her quickly.
Leaping down from the top of the wall, she looked down; sure enough, a streak of purple showed through inside the zombie’s head.
She hurriedly squatted down and retrieved the crystal core—it was deep purple, making it far more suitable for Qin Song’s lightning supernatural ability!
She handed the crystal core over to Qin Song:
“Big Brother, it’s lightning-element.”
Qin Song didn’t refuse.
Crystal cores of different colors produced different effects on different supernatural abilities.
Only when the ability aligned with the element of the crystal core could absorbing it maximize its effectiveness.
Even if they didn’t match, it would still yield some effect, albeit a lesser one.
Right now, absorbing this crystal core wouldn’t benefit Qin Xi by much!
Qin Song reached out to take it, gripping it tightly in his palm.
Starting from today, zombies had truly become dangerous; he needed to raise his supernatural ability level as quickly as possible!
Right at that moment, however, Li Zekai nearby suddenly looked toward the direction of the house door, shouting out sharply:
“Who’s there?!”
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