Counter-kill

This feeling... pushed her into utter despair.

The zombies in the hallway were growing bolder. Their ashen eyes, once filled with confusion, now burned with savage hunger.

"Roar!"

The lead zombie let out a greedy howl. Its mouth twitched, and suddenly, it charged down the hallway at full speed!

Its frenzied footsteps splashed through the thick blood coating the floor, making a sickening squelch with every step. It lunged to the office door, eyes locking onto Huan Tian and Lin Qingqing.

In that instant, its gaze filled with crazed, ravenous desire.

But it also saw something else—

Lin Qingqing raises her Desert Eagle!

"Die!"

She pulled the trigger, but the recoil was too much. The force nearly knocked the gun from her hands. The bullet hit the zombie square in the chest, slamming it into the far wall and blowing a bowl-sized hole straight through its torso.

Yet it didn't fall.

It dropped to all fours and slowly pushed itself up, blood pouring from its chest, eyes gleaming with a twisted, mocking glare.

Bang! Bang!

Click. Click.

Two more shots—its shoulder burst apart, its neck split open. It finally collapsed, motionless.

But Lin Qingqing's heart was in her throat.

She stared at the gaping wound in its chest.

From inside the hole, two sharp limbs slowly emerged—front legs of the Six-Legged Widow.

Then came the middle pair. Then the rear.

Six legs clawed out, latching onto the shredded flesh around the cavity, dragging a black-blooded body from within the corpse.

"Hisssss—!"

This one was even fatter than the creature Huan Tian had slain before. On its back, a faint bluish line traced along its spine—the mark of an insect on the verge of evolution.

The Six-Legged Widow let out an excited screech, its sharp mandibles vibrating like a bee's wings.

For a split second, everything went still—then it pounced, lightning-fast, straight at them!

Its tail whipped up behind it, stinger raised high like a scorpion's, then plunged toward Huan Tian with terrifying speed.

"No!" 

Without hesitation, Lin Qingqing threw herself over him, using her body to shield him from the strike.

But the expected agony never came.

Instead, a powerful force slammed into her. An arm like an iron band wrapped around her, hurling her backpack and all violently to the side.

Her fall jolted Huan Tian awake.

But before joy could reach her eyes, a sickening sound tore it away.

Squelch.

The Widow's stinger drove deep into Huan Tian's side. Blood sprayed violently, and Lin Qingqing's face turned ghostly pale.

"Huan Tian!!"

Screeeee!!

The creature shrieked with delight. The base of its stinger began to swell—it was preparing to inject something into him.

But at that critical moment, Huan Tian's hand shot up and locked onto the midsection of the stinger.

He stopped it.

The parasite that was meant to inject stayed outside, clutched in his iron grip.

Then, gritting his teeth, Huan Tian ripped the stinger from his body.

Blood gushed out in torrents.

Only then did Lin Qingqing realize—

The stinger wasn't just a spike. Once inside, it spread countless tiny barbs, like an anchor, locking it in place.

Tearing it out by brute force ripped a raw, gaping wound into his side. Just watching it made Lin Qingqing's heart clench.

But the pain didn't even flicker in Huan Tian's eyes.

If anything, they grew colder.

He grabbed the Six-Legged Widow and slammed it into the wall. In one swift motion, he drew the bone knife strapped to his calf.

Without hesitation, he stabbed it deep into the bloody wound at his waist, and cut.

A thick slab of flesh tore free and slapped wetly onto the floor.

Inside, a few pale larvae writhed, squirming like maggots.

Huan Tian didn't even glance down.

He raised his boot and stomped hard.

Blood and parasites were crushed into a paste.

His face had paled slightly, but his eyes—sharp as blades—locked back onto the Widow.

Murderous intent flooded the room like a storm.

"You little monster... die."

Hissss!

The Six-Legged Widow let out a sharp, almost fearful screech. It sensed the killing intent erupting from Huan Tian like a tidal wave, and it knew death was near.

It turned and bolted toward the nearest air vent, its tail dragging behind it, leaking a trail of thick, sticky fluid across the floor.

The vent was just within reach—

But a flash of cold steel flew past.

Thud!

A bone dagger pierced straight through the creature's body, pinning it to the wall in mid-run.

The Widow shrieked in agony, thrashing wildly.

But Huan Tian was already there.

With a swift, brutal strike, his bone blade came down—

and sliced the monster clean in half.

Its body hit the ground with a wet slap. Rolling out from the remains was a shimmering blue crystal, slightly larger than a standard second-tier Nightmare Core.

A Tier-3 Nightmare crystal.

Huan Tian didn't move to pick it up. His body collapsed with a dull thud, blood still pouring from his waist.

But the room had gone silent.

The Six-Legged Widow had drawn all the zombies on the floor here. The earlier chain explosions had taken them all out, along with the monster itself.

This floor… was finally secure.

"Don't move, Huan Tian! Let me treat you!"

Lin Qingqing rushed to his side, dropped her backpack to the ground, yanked open the main pocket, and frantically searched for medical supplies—her hands trembling with panic.

"Relax. I'm not dying yet."

Huan Tian's pale lips curled into a familiar smirk.

Weak, but enough to give Lin Qingqing strength.

They were lucky. The bandages, antibiotics, and medical-grade cotton they had found earlier in the warehouse were all still intact inside her pack, untouched by the explosions.

"You're okay... thank god."

"Damn it… You scared me so much."

"Do you even realize—I thought you were going to die just now."

"If you died..., what was I supposed to do alone?"

...

Lin Qingqing twisted open a bottle of mineral water and carefully began cleaning Huan Tian's wound. With each rinse, she couldn't help but mutter something under her breath.

Huan Tian found it both amusing and a bit exasperating, so he raised his hand and gently flicked her forehead.

"Alright, just wrap it up casually. I'm not going to die."

"Don't joke about that."

"I'm serious—putting medicine on it is just a waste."

"I'm serious, too! You have to dress it properly! Don't worry, my skills won't let you down."

Only then did Huan Tian realize how skillful Lin Qingqing's technique was, and his eyes lit up.

She first cleaned the wound carefully with medical disinfectant cotton, then wiped the surrounding area with alcohol. Next, she opened a bottle of amoxicillin and evenly sprinkled the powder over the wound. After folding the gauze to pad the wound, she began wrapping it layer by layer—tight enough to avoid cutting off circulation, but loose enough to prevent the bandage from slipping off.

"Your nursing skills are pretty professional. Where did you learn this?" Huan Tian asked in surprise.

"Hehe, you don't know, do you? Being a secretary is a comprehensive role—not only do I arrange schedules, but I also have to read people and handle emergencies. My old boss at my previous company wasn't in good health, so I secretly got a nursing assistant certification. These are just basic skills."

Huan Tian sized Lin Qingqing up from head to toe with a smile, which instantly made her cheeks flush bright red.

"W-what are you looking at?"

"I'm just wondering if I've found a real treasure."

"Well, you better keep a good eye on your treasure and not lose it!"

Lin Qingqing blurted out without thinking, and the moment the words left her mouth, she suddenly felt like maybe what she said wasn't quite right.