Transmigrated as the Villainous Love Rival of the Abusive Novel's Heroine [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Tenderness

“Big brother, do you think there are ghosts on this mountain?” Cheng Er, who happened to run into One-eye, swallowed nervously. “D*mn, why is it so cold?”

“Stop talking nonsense. What era do you think this is? Still believe in that superstitious crap?” One-eye turned around impatiently and gave him a kick. This guy usually acted tough, but why did he turn into such a coward here?

Cheng Er, staggering a few steps from the kick, gave a dry laugh and leaned back toward One-eye, trying to flatter him. “No, brother, don’t you really feel cold?”

“What the hell are you trying to say?” One-eye glared at him warily. What was wrong with this bastard today? Usually, after a kick like that, the brat would have scrambled away in fear; why was he unnervingly leaning in today?

“Brother, look at what you’re saying, what could I possibly do?” Cheng Er hunched his back and waved his hands, but his smiling face gradually began to distort. His curled lips hooked upward excessively high until the flesh tore open; black-red blood clots erupted from his mouth, and his voice suddenly shifted to a rasping, coarse grit.

Like the sound of sandpaper rubbing together, he reached out his hand with a low, agonizing cry, pleading to his big brother: “Big brother, save me… save us…”

“Save me!” That unrecognizable ghostly face suddenly lunged at One-eye. Terrified, One-eye roared and pulled the trigger.

“Bang!” The sound of the gunshot jolted One-eye awake from his dream.

“Huff, huff—” He flipped over and sat up abruptly. One-eye looked at his right hand; the barrel of the gun he was holding was still smoking. Dammit, it misfired. One-eye wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, cursing that this godforsaken place really wasn’t fit for sleeping. How could he dream such weird, f*cked-up dreams?

“Tsk…” He put the gun away and stood in place to wait for the other brothers. They had agreed beforehand to converge immediately upon hearing a gunshot. Now he could only wait for everyone to gather before restarting the search. “Dammit, wasting my time.”

“Brother Mang, two gunshots. Which way do we go?” The short man was originally going to look for the Liu brothers, but the gunshots interrupted them. The group decisively abandoned the Liu brothers and headed in the opposite direction.

And Yin Shaoqing, lying in ambush up ahead: “…?”

“Where did the gunshots come from? Are there other hunters?” Yin Shaoqing frowned and asked the Fat Calico Cat in secret.

“No, one of the traps the female lead set earlier in her haste caught someone,” the Fat Calico Cat saw the scene. A man was netted and hung from a tree; he shot the rope to break it, but fell from the height into a shallow pit below. He was skewered into a sieve by the sharp wooden spikes in the pit.

“The female lead is really ruthless, tsk tsk…” The cat clicked its tongue. She hadn’t left a shred of mercy.

“She’s not ruthless. What’s the point of leaving them alive?” Yin Shaoqing snorted coldly. If these four defenseless people—two women and two children—were caught by this pack of men, what would happen? She had heard Liu Da’s foul language with her own ears; with those beasts’ natures, they deserved to die.

“Host, should we give chase?” The cat nodded solemnly and continued planning the route.

“No,” Yin Shaoqing refused. If the trap was discovered, so be it; they couldn’t trace it back to her anyway.

“Bang!” As soon as she finished speaking, another gunshot startled the birds in the forest.

“Who is it this time?” Yin Shaoqing didn’t believe her little girl could have set that many traps and caught people so accurately.

“Wow~” The Fat Calico Cat wagged its tail in delight. “This time it was the one-eyed man, the leader. He fired a shot.”

“Did he find a clue?”

“No.” The cat laughed until its belly ached, rolling around. “Hahaha, his gun misfired, hahaha~”

Yin Shaoqing: “…” Utterly speechless.

“D*mmit, why were there two shots?” Brother Mang frowned and rubbed his hair. He hated making choices; he’d just check both sides. “Me and Mouse will go this way, you two go check over there.” Brother Mang figured maybe that woman had abandoned the people she was with. They had checked the two cars earlier; based on the clothes, there were three women and two kids. In this situation, children were a burden; if that woman wanted to save herself, she’d have to dump them.

“Host, should we hunt One-eye?” The cat thought that if they killed One-eye, the others would be leaderless, making it easier for the host to hunt.

Yin Shaoqing ran incessantly, her features cold and stern. she replied: “Of course.” As long as the lead ram is slaughtered, the flock will scatter. In this place, at this moment, they were all weak herbivores, only waiting to be hunted. They couldn’t even resist.

See, this is the consequence of being too arrogant. The “weak” female lead could still run and escape because she hadn’t been caught yet, but these men arrogantly thought nothing could threaten them. So they didn’t even bring an ability user—just dozens of ordinary men thinking they could hunt anyone just because they had guns…

“Why is it so slow?” One-eye, crouching in a tree and looking out, had been waiting for two hours, but hadn’t seen a single soul. Even though the mountain was high and the woods were thick, and it was easy to get lost, forty-odd people couldn’t all be lost, right? Not a single one was close to him?

“Twenty meters to the left, in the gully, someone is climbing up.” The Fat Calico Cat lay on Yin Shaoqing’s shoulder, twitching its whiskers. “This is the one closest to One-eye.”

“The last one?” Yin Shaoqing’s ice blade slit the man’s throat; she hid the gun in the grass nearby. she had hidden quite a few weapons along the way; once everyone was dealt with, she’d bring them back for the little girl to play with.

“Giving weapons as toys, you really have no sense of romance,” the cat rolled its eyes in disgust. Who gives guns as gifts to a young girl? You should give food or something.

“You’re just a foodie,” Yin Shaoqing retorted. “In the apocalypse, can a bite of food protect you?” Besides, she could ensure Yun Qianxue had plenty of food, even meat. Only weapons were scarce. Like this time—if Yun Qianxue had a thousand landmines to place along the path to blow up these bastards, she wouldn’t have been chased so miserably.

Fat Calico Cat: “…A thousand… could she even carry them?” The host was too exaggerated.

“Load them in the car, drop them on the road, blow up their vehicles, stupid cat.” Yin Shaoqing’s disdainful look and tone of “caring for a little idiot” made the cat want to scratch her.

However, a strong survival instinct made Yin Shaoqing change the subject instantly. “This is the last person within a two-kilometer radius of One-eye, right?” she wanted to deal with these people first, kill One-eye while they couldn’t gather, and clean up his traces. Then, let the “sheep” who couldn’t find their leader wander in pairs or act alone. That would make the hunt easier; sheep with no vigilance are the easiest to catch.

Of course, the worst-case scenario was them waiting for companions and eventually huddling together out of fear. If that happened, she’d just call down lightning and electrocute them all together. But Yin Shaoqing didn’t like that method; it was too quick. They hadn’t experienced enough despair and terror yet—that heart-pounding fear of having death grip your neck and the hopelessness of being unable to break free. Like what Yun Qianxue had felt: the fear of being hunted, the fear of having nowhere to run, the fear that Zhe Yu and the others wouldn’t hold out and would be caught. Yin Shaoqing would return all of that to these people.

“Yes, and including One-eye, there are fourteen sheep left.” The cat stamped its paws. “Host, you’re killing too fast.” Two-thirds of the forty-odd people had been slaughtered; the host had no intention of leaving a single survivor.

“Ah-Xue and the others have been running for so long and haven’t even had a bite of food. Once I finish this, I need to take them to rest.” And she had glanced at the two children’s condition earlier; An An was alright, just exhausted and hungry. But Qi Ming’s condition was not optimistic; the boy was pale, blind, and had blood on his mouth that hadn’t been wiped clean. Their medicine and food were in the car, and regardless of whether this group had destroyed them, it would take a long time to get off these two mountains. Ah-Xue and the others wouldn’t hold out.

Thinking this, her movements in dealing with One-eye became even more ruthless. A sudden small bolt of lightning sent One-eye into convulsions, paralyzing him. He fell from the high tree, and the sound of his leg bone snapping on the rock was crystal clear. His wails were blocked by ice.

How to completely erase a person’s trace? Yin Shaoqing raised her hand, and the soil beneath One-eye surged like a monster’s gaping maw, swallowing him whole.

“Tsk…” Yin Shaoqing looked at the fresh soil and the plants swallowed along with him, a bit dissatisfied. she was in too much of a hurry and forgot to move the plants aside.

“Oh ho~ well, look at that~ we’ll have to change the battle plan~” The Fat Calico Cat jumped onto a nearby tree, gloating at its dark-faced host. Its host was good at everything, but she tended to be reckless whenever the female lead was involved. Of course, no major problems had ever arisen.

Yin Shaoqing stepped on the fresh soil, and ice gathered into a chair for her. she threw her coat on the ice and sat down. she would wait right here for the flock to deliver themselves into her hands, then slaughter them.

“Why isn’t it a throne?” The cat, liking the crystalline look of the light filtering through the trees onto the ice, pouted. It liked grand, magnificent things. Like a king’s throne. As a noble system cat, it should be standing on a throne, treading on the host and looking down on everything.

“Watch less TV,” Yin Shaoqing pinched the back of the cat’s neck and pulled it into her arms. “I’m repulsed by your heavy chuunibyou aura and terrible aesthetics.”

“Pah!” The cat squirmed, trying to escape the woman’s clutches. “This is clearly a noble temperament!” A noble cat deserves noble treatment, not waiting for a bunch of smelly men with the host in this stifling forest!

“Shh…” Yin Shaoqing suddenly pressed her hand against its shouting, fanged mouth. “Be quiet. Listen…”

Listen to the wind blowing through the leaves; the rustling sound carried the people’s terror.

“Is this Cheng Er?” The two who reached the site of the first gunshot were slightly terrified as they turned over the corpse. Seeing the face with its eyes skewered, they couldn’t help but feel scared and disgusted. “Who set this trap?”

“The soil is relatively fresh; it’s likely that Yun Qianxue,” one person inspected the trap and concluded. “she probably set it while running.”

“Tsk, she’s really something,” the other man lamented. That woman, being chased by over forty of them, still had time to set traps.

“Hmph, she just took advantage of the terrain,” his companion said unhappily. If they called Yun Qianxue “something,” wasn’t that admitting the forty of them were useless? That they couldn’t even catch one woman?

“True.” In fact, this man didn’t want to admit he was inferior to a woman either. In these times, in the apocalypse, women were just parasites clinging to men. Few were capable. Weren’t they all just surviving on their flesh and looks?

“Let’s go. Blame Cheng Er for his own bad luck, falling for such a crappy trap.” This man gloated and told the other to leave.

“Yeah.” The other agreed. They had never gotten along with Cheng Er anyway; what did his life or death have to do with them? Besides, if they had firecrackers right now, they’d love to set them off in celebration. “Hahaha, but seriously, the way Cheng Er died is too f*cking funny, skewered by wood, hahaha…”

The laughter of one could still be heard from far away. “He deserved it. When he was snatching our territory, he should have known this day would come.” It was karma; he deserved it.

In this dense forest, where sunlight rarely penetrated, malice was infinitely magnified. Some people, in the darkness where others couldn’t see, would take off their human skins and reveal the monsters inside. Monsters that also ate their own kind…

“The seventh one.” Yin Shaoqing coldly counted as she threw the corpse onto the pile. Seven people left. she wiped the non-existent dust from her hands. she said impatiently: “Why are they so slow?” It was just a climb, not like they were building a road as they came; it had been an hour and a half and they still hadn’t gathered?

“Meow~ soon.” The cat yawned on her lap. It estimated the remaining people would arrive in ten minutes. “But that Brother Mang, why was he so easy to take down?” Its slit pupils swept over the large male corpse in the pile. Its demon-like eyes were calm and pitiless. It had seen this man be quite ruthless to his own people and thought he’d at least resist the host. Who knew he’d be electrocuted directly with no chance to even fire his gun.

In fact, Yin Shaoqing, whose heart was entirely on Yun Qianxue and the others, was on the verge of a breakdown. she wanted to just strike everyone dead. Furthermore, the forest blocked the sun, and without anyone noticing, it had turned dark. In the pitch-black woods, only the area around Yin Shaoqing flickered with orange light—the flames were jumping. she was particularly worried the little girl would be afraid in the dark. In the nighttime forest, all sorts of noises were constant, and the eyes of unknown animals watched them from the shadows.

“Mama, An An is cold.” The six-year-old, even wrapped in Zhe Yu’s coat, was still cold to the touch. Though not hungry, An An felt weak and dizzy; she couldn’t open her eyes to sleep but was too cold to rest.

“An An, bear with it a little longer.” Zhe Yu stroked her daughter’s back with heartache. They could only light a fire once Yin Shaoqing returned and confirmed there was no danger. Otherwise, it was too easy to be exposed.

Yun Qianxue’s coat was over Qi Ming; she wore only a thin shirt, pacing around as she kept watch. Her longbow never left her hand; she was constantly on guard against animals hiding in the dark. “Ah-Xue, are you cold? Put your coat on; let Qi Ming and An An use mine.” Zhe Yu whispered to the girl in the dark. The mountain was high, and the temperature dropped sharply at night. Combined with the large temperature swings of the apocalypse, Zhe Yu couldn’t let Yun Qianxue freeze, even if she loved her own children.

“It’s fine, I’m not cold, keep it over Qi Ming.” Yun Qianxue shook her head. Her ability had reached Level 2; while covering Qi Ming earlier, she had secretly replenished his energy. The boy was better now, at least able to sleep. she had spread many branches and leaves on the ground so Zhe Yu and the kids wouldn’t be too cold. As for herself, she rubbed her fingers. Whew… it really is cold tonight…

“Shoo—” An ice arrow pierced the night sky, accurately penetrating the head of a wild boar. Yin Shaoqing stepped forward and dragged the boar back. This pig was quite heavy; dinner was secured.

“Well, animals that were once protected are now being hunted at will,” the cat lamented on her shoulder.

“After all, this is an era of disorder and chaos.” The Noah Era, the era where humans lacked food the most; the earth could no longer grow normal plants, and animals began to mutate. Order destroyed, laws changed, regulations turned to dust. Now, as long as they can be full, humans will use any means.

“If it weren’t the apocalypse, hunting this thing would be illegal without a permit or a life-threatening hunger.”

“Tsk, the thing is, starving to death isn’t that easy,” the cat remarked. Its database contained survival data; those who struggled in desperation, surviving on tree bark for a long time. It seemed that as long as they didn’t give up hope, humans could truly break through shackles and create miracles. This was incomprehensible in the system’s data calculations. The cat flicked its ears; no matter how human-like it acted, it was ultimately an aggregate of data. It was fake.

“Melancholy doesn’t suit you.” Yin Shaoqing roughly rubbed the cat’s head with her free hand, making it howl. “You’re better suited for this flustered look.” Or sharp-tongued bickering, or just being lazy. In any case, not a wilted, negative little cat.

Fat Calico Cat: “…Pah!” Shameless host, nothing good comes out of her mouth! Even comforting a cat sounds like scolding! Double-standard woman! Why are you so normal when comforting the female lead?!

Alas, a single fat cat wouldn’t understand this woman who radiated the sour stench of being in love. It could only hide back in the host’s soul and watch as she set a huge, exaggerated bonfire and started cooking.

Started cooking… uh… wait, WHAT?!!

Heaven help us, it’s nighttime “Shaoqing” appearing, and she’s COOKING?!

“Boom!” An explosion took away the little bit of sentiment Yun Qianxue and Zhe Yu felt. Yun Qianxue exhaled a breath of turbid air, touched her singed hair, and with a grim face, grabbed the woman by her clothes and hauled her over to the two children.

Zhe Yu was even worse; she actually gave Yin Shaoqing a colored candy wrapper pretending it was candy and made her sit obediently. Entirely treated like a toddler. The most irritating part was that An An was praised and had her head patted by Yun Qianxue for sitting quietly. Qi Ming was patted and coaxed by Zhe Yu during his sleep to keep nightmares away.

Shaoqing, because she caused an explosion, was ignored by both of them… Ignored… just like that! Not even a praise or a pat!

“I want suckling pig!” Shaoqing was angry, Shaoqing was being unreasonable!

A vein popped on Yun Qianxue’s forehead. she gripped her knife, narrowed her eyes, and gritted her teeth: “But you caught an adult pig.”

“I want suckling pig!” Shaoqing wouldn’t listen, Shaoqing didn’t care; the chef should satisfy the customer’s request. “Shaoqing is the customer.”

“I think you’re asking for a beating!” Yun Qianxue bared her claws to pounce on her.

However, she was pulled back by Zhe Yu; a candy wrapper was shoved into her hand, and she was pushed down to sit next to Yin Shaoqing. Zhe Yu narrowed her eyes, her smile “kind and amiable” as she said to the four “children”: “Be good, okay~”

“Gulp…” That was the sound of two “big kids” losing their nerve. An An was gently stroking her brother’s hair nearby—An An stayed with her brother, quietly, obediently… An An chased away the nightmares for her brother.

“Okay?” Zhe Yu’s hands on their shoulders tightened, her voice becoming even more gentle.

Eek~

The two who were frightened acted like recruits being lectured by a drill sergeant, shouting loudly and decisively: “YES!”

No problem, Mama Zhe Yu! You’re cooking, you’re right about everything!

Hiss, this is likely the power of a mother. A terrifying deterrent naturally built for bratty kids.

The wild boar had to be processed on the spot; Zhe Yu worked quickly. she had sent Yun Qianxue back because she was truly exhausted. Yun Qianxue’s nerves had been high-strung all day, and the wounds on her hands weren’t fit for cooking. When Zhe Yu put the meat on the fire to roast and turned around, she saw the four of them sleeping in a huddle.

Yun Qianxue was in Yin Shaoqing’s arms, sleeping soundly with her head on her arm. Yin Shaoqing was leaning against a backpack, taking a nap. The two children were sleeping beside them, covered by the two women’s coats. With a bonfire, adults could withstand the cold better than children; the children needed the coats more.

A smile hung on Zhe Yu’s lips; she moved quietly, not wanting to wake them. These people had worked hard and deserved a good rest. Especially Yun Qianxue, and Yin Shaoqing had also consumed a lot today by frantically using her abilities to hurry. Her core seemed split into two layers; the energy in the first layer was consumed very slowly, but reaching the second layer would cause a rapid drain. Like opening a floodgate, it couldn’t be stopped. Today, she almost used the energy of the second layer. It was dangerous.

“Yin… Shao… Shaoqing…” The sleeping person murmured her companion’s name in a dream. The napping Yin Shaoqing opened her eyes and looked down at the girl in her arms. The night wind ruffled her hair; Yin Shaoqing raised her hand to help tidy it carefully. Under the glow of the fire, it was tender and infinitely affectionate…

Zhe Yu thought, this was perhaps the tenderness that Shaoqing exclusively offered to Ah-Xue. A tenderness that crossed danger, existed in the apocalypse without burden, required no worry, and would never be lost.

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