CHAPTER 272: CHAPTER 272: BATTLE OF OLDS

Boran’s gaze sharpened.

His jaw clenched, and for the first time in hours, a thin thread of real anger flickered behind his usually composed expression.

"Watch your mouth..." he said quietly.

Moli stood with unhurried grace, wiping her bloodied fingers on the hem of her shirt. "Struck a nerve, didn’t I?"

He didn’t answer. He turned back to Wei Sheng’s limp form on the floor.

The body was fading fast. His breathing was erratic now, barely audible wheezes, shallow like a leaky bellows.

The shredded skin around his shoulder was a mess of bite marks and dried blood.

Boran had told her to leave him usable. Not bleeding out like a butchered pig.

Moli walked closer, her presence taunting.

"Don’t pretend you didn’t like it. Seeing me break him. Watching how easy it is for someone to fall apart."

Her tone turned mocking.

"You chose me because I’m good at making things unravel. You just didn’t think I’d start with one of your toys."

"I didn’t choose you.." he said coldly. "I used you."

Her lips twitched into a grin.

"That’s the same thing, darling. Just fewer kisses."

Boran knelt beside Wei Sheng again, fingers brushing the edge of a pulse point in his neck.

It was weak, but still there.

He’d have to replace the vessel soon. This one wasn’t going to last long. But he needed it to hold out just long enough.

Long enough for Qingran to find them.

Moli leaned down beside him, her voice lowering to something softer, almost sing-song.

"She’s not going to forgive you, you know. Even if she does come, even if you kneel and bleed and offer your throat like a dog, she won’t take you back."

"She doesn’t need to take me back.." Boran murmured, standing slowly. "She just needs to look me in the eye again.."

Moli laughed.

It was cold and high-pitched, the kind that didn’t sound entirely human.

"Still chasing ghosts I see.." she said, eyes glittering. "And here I thought I was the unstable one."

He ignored her, moving to the dusty desk in the corner of the room.

Moli’s voice interrupted again, quieter this time. "You think you can still fix what you broke?"

"I don’t want to fix it.." he said.

His tone was calm."I want to ruin it properly."

She stared at him for a long moment, something flickering behind her expression. It wasn’t love. It wasn’t hate.

Just a kind of fascinated horror.

"You really are worse than me.." she whispered.

"I never pretended otherwise."

He looked back at Wei Sheng’s crumpled body.

"Clean him up. We might need him just a little longer."

Qingran adjusted the straps on her backpack and turned to Meng Nian. Her voice was quiet but firm.

"Lead the way out," she said. "We don’t have time to waste."

Meng Nian gave a short nod, his expression already sharpening with focus. "We’ll need to move fast. The eastern zone is a long way from here. We’re currently stationed in the south, which means a full-day trek, maybe longer if anything blocks our path."

Qingran glanced toward the narrow exit corridor that led out of their temporary shelter. "We don’t have a vehicle. We’ll walk."

Ruihuang lifted a brow. "Of course we will. What’s a trip without a little leg pain?"

Yu Song sighed but didn’t argue. He remained behind with Xu Tianming to watch over Shen Li and the others.

As they moved out of the bunker, the air shifted immediately. The scent of cement and filtered air was replaced with the dry, open stillness of the outside world.

Their boots crunched faintly against the cracked pavement as they stepped into the open landscape.

The roads were mostly empty.

Weeds pushed through fractures in the concrete. Old traffic lights hung askew, dead and useless.

Street signs were faded with age and corrosion. The silence was not comforting, but it was manageable.

Qingran scanned the horizon. The faint outline of distant structures marked the east side of the zone. It was far, but not unreachable.

Lingquan’s voice stirred gently in her mind. His tone was soft, but laced with unease.

[Qingran... I don’t want you to go. You know who’s waiting. That man... he’s not someone you should face again.]

Qingran didn’t respond immediately. Her gaze remained on the path ahead, steady and clear.

"You think I have a choice?"

[No] Lingquan admitted.[But this isn’t just another mission. You’re walking into the belly of the beast. I can feel it.]

"Then it’s time I learn how to cut it open. I’m not afraid Lingquan, I won’t be afraid to fight this time.."

Lingquan sighed, the kind of resigned breath only someone who’s lived through it all could manage.

[Just promise me one thing. If it’s too much, if he tries to twist your mind again, you’ll pull back. Don’t let him get inside your head. Not again.]

Qingran’s voice in her own thoughts was like steel.

"He won’t. I’ve changed. And I’m not the one who should be afraid this time.."

Beside her, Ruihuang adjusted the blade on his back.

"You’re walking like you’ve already decided to die in there," he muttered. "Don’t like that look on your face."

"I don’t plan to die."

"Good. Because if you do, I’ll be stuck babysitting that mess of a bunker."

Ahead of them, Meng Nian called out over his shoulder. "We’ll hit a broken rail line in a few hours. If we follow it northeast, it’ll take us through the abandoned outer zone faster. Fewer buildings, less risk of ambush."

"Sounds good.." Qingran said.

Ruihuang jogged a few steps to catch up beside Meng Nian. "Do we have any idea what condition the east side’s in?"

"Not much. Last I heard, most of it was overrun, but Boran’s presence changed that. Whatever hellhole he’s set up in, he’s cleared a space. We just have to find it."

A small humming noise buzzed in their ears. It wasn’t mechanical, it was Qiaoqiao, who burst into cheerful conversation from Meng Nian’s system space.

[Oooooh this is so exciting! I haven’t been this hyped since the battle of old.. you don’t know it, y’all we’re still cave men then..]