She couldn't shake the feeling that this person was coming straight for her!
Sure enough, that woman shot Ye Shu a look of utter disgust, as if she were something filthy.
"It’s just too unfair! We’re all human, so why does she get to go in while we have to wait outside and get drenched in the rain?"
Bai Chacha's eyes blazed with envy, twisting her once delicate features.
Just because she's a little prettier, she gets to latch onto someone and hide in the shelter—after waiting outside for days, Bai Chacha simply couldn’t accept that.
"You talking about me?"
"We’re all human—so why do you look so weird? We had the same teachers, yet some go to Tsinghua or Beida, and you’re at Qingniao Beida. Why’s that? If you’re weak, train more. Don’t come picking fights for no reason, got it?"
Ye Shu strode forward, whipped a silver pistol from her pocket, and pressed it to the woman’s forehead.
"Y-y-you... This is a shelter! There are so many people here—"
Bai Chacha blanched, her legs going limp like noodles; she couldn’t even stand. She stammered, "L-Longguo is a nation of law. Killing is against the law, y-you… please, big sis, let’s talk this out, don’t get violent…"
Ye Shu gave a cold laugh. "You want to reason with me?"
She didn’t believe in lofty ideals; the only real reason was force.
Besides, at heart… she was no kind-hearted fool.
Terror flickered in Bai Chacha’s eyes. Her sharp voice nearly broke, and she glanced around, hoping to get help from the crowd who had just egged her on. But to her despair, they’d all melted away beyond the shelter doors. She forced out a plea through gritted teeth: "I-I won’t dare anymore… big sis, I’ll never dare again… please, have mercy!"
"Big sis?"
Ye Shu disliked that address: it sounded like she was an old hag. She was only twenty-one, after all!
"Ancestor, little ancestor, it was a man who made me do it! He said he couldn’t stand women like you, who climb up on their bodies, and he gave me some food. I-I haven’t eaten for two days… so…"
Bai Chacha trembled, watching Ye Shu’s lips curl into a faint smile. Her fear peaked. "No, no, little auntie, I don’t want that food anymore! I’ll bring it back to you right now!!"
Ye Shu arched an eyebrow—it seemed there was more to the story.
"Was that man thick-browed, looked dependable, but his right arm didn’t work so well?"
Ye Shu took a wild guess. The man hiding and targeting her was probably Ye Tianxiang.
"Yes, yes! He said his surname was Ye, but covered his face so I couldn’t see. But his right arm was definitely weird."
Bai Chacha instantly realized she’d been used as someone’s stooge. Furious, her weak limbs straightened as she spilled everything she knew.
After a day of calm, Ye Shu had almost forgotten there was someone named Ye Tianxiang in the world.
She moved the gun away from the trembling woman’s forehead. Bai Chacha staggered back three steps, casting wary glances in case Ye Shu lost her temper and shot her after all.
"I know now. As for the supplies… don’t forget to bring them."
Everything about Ye Shu—from her flawless face to her cutting words—completely overwhelmed Bai Chacha.
Chen Jianjun glanced at the gun in Ye Shu's hand, hesitating to speak. In Longguo, firearms were strictly controlled—how did this young woman get one…
"Relax. It’s just a lighter," Ye Shu said, careless, twirling the sleek gun in her hand. She aimed at the woman and flicked the switch—a spurt of orange flame shot from the barrel.
Everyone around: "..."
Well, the girl’s just putting on a show.
Bai Chacha: "..."
So the pistol wasn’t real—just a lighter.
She was, through and through, the clown.
Still, Ye Shu’s aura was so fierce that, in that instant, Bai Chacha really thought she’d be killed.
…
With Chen Jianjun’s help, Ye Shu easily tracked Ye Tianxiang down in Zone B.
Ye Tianxiang was sitting in the main hall, drinking with a few companions, a couple of dishes of peanuts on the table. The buildings here couldn’t compare to those in her Zone A. Ye Shu kicked the door open with enough force to crack it, her ferocity bringing the stationed soldiers to tears.
Sometimes, under another’s roof, you really just have to bow your head.
Ye Shu, not one to cause unnecessary trouble for Chen Jianjun’s sake, didn’t kill Ye Tianxiang outright. Even so, his once-handsome face was beaten into a pig’s head, a few teeth missing, and every word he spoke whistled out with a lisp.
"Ye Shu… what are you doing? I’m your brother! Your own brother. Won’t Mom and Dad grieve if you treat me like this? Have you forgotten all that our family did for you? You ungrateful—"
This was Ye Tianxiang’s first time in the game, with a constitution stat of 7—not bad for a newbie, but nothing against Ye Shu. "Idiot. Say another word and just see what happens."
"Moral blackmail? Doesn’t work on me if I don’t have any morals to blackmail."
"My dear brother, plotting against me from the shadows—Bai Chacha’s confessed everything."
"What plot? Who’s Bai Chacha? Never heard of her. Don’t slander me, Ye Shu!"
Ye Tianxiang stubbornly denied it, and finally Chen Jianjun came to stop her, worried Ye Shu might actually beat him to death.
…
Back at her quarters.
Pang Pangzi happened to return, looking somber. The two of them had worked together on two dungeons before, so Ye Shu instantly understood his meaning.
They evaded the surveillance and chatted in-game via private message, acting as if nothing were wrong.
[Haianxian888: Heroine Ye, as we predicted, the shelter is recruiting ability users en masse. None of the original world’s NPCs have awakened any special abilities.]
[WoshiniDie: Just as I suspected.]
While they chatted, some players began leaking on the forums that they’d been recruited by foreign shelters, boasting with barely concealed pride.
She also noticed that in Zone B, the residents nearby were all high-priced, ability-using players hired by the shelter.
A bold notion crossed Ye Shu’s mind.
From the moment she entered the shelter, something had felt off—as if she were being watched.
This storm was a natural disaster, beyond human influence. Recruiting all these ability users—for "shelter equipment upgrades"—made no sense. If the scenario was a zombie siege, it’d at least be reasonable.
If she left the safehouse, it wasn't like survival at Qixia Mountain would be impossible.
Ye Shu was just about to leave the shelter when, right outside the zone’s gate, she ran into someone entirely unexpected.
Lin Qingyue! Wasn’t he the one she'd shot two holes in, dead as a doornail? Why on earth was he appearing inside the human shelter?
His face was striking, cold and ascetic—utterly transcendent. Under thick brows, his dark eyes were bottomless and unperturbed; the beauty mark beneath his lower lid confirmed it was, without a doubt, Lin Qingyue.
Ye Shu realized immediately: he’d feigned death before, just to slip away from her control.
Clearly, his status in the shelter was very high; a dozen bodyguards flanked him.
The instant their gazes locked, the very air seemed to freeze over.
"You again?!"
Lin Qingyue's lifeless eyes flashed with surprise, then within a heartbeat, simmered with murderous intent. He gestured to his guards, "Fire."
Ye Shu sensed danger—dove aside, evading the bullets, and dashed toward the distant emergency escape exit.