PSW - Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Xuancheng.
"Someone's coming from Qiying."
A group of people sat huddled around a crackling bonfire. An iron pot rested over the flames, its water boiling. Some held porcelain bowls filled with the hot water, warming their hands and drinking it to warm their bodies.
The man who spoke was holding his hands close to the fire, rubbing them together from time to time. His eyes were closed. "They're in a car… has it been modified? They might be ability users sent from another survivor camp. I'll take a closer look."
"Just two people, two women, very young. The back seat is empty, so they probably don't have many supplies. Maybe they're outsiders here to scavenge in Xuancheng. Judging by their speed, they don't seem to know the situation here. We can take them."
"…Wait, I think she saw me?"
The man's hand-rubbing motion froze. The next second, he let out a sharp scream and fell backward, clutching his head as he began to roll uncontrollably on the ground. Two streams of bloody tears ran down his cheeks…
The group, which had been peacefully warming themselves by the fire, was thrown into a panic. Someone rushed over, helped the man up, and pressed a hand to his arm, continuously channeling healing energy into him.
"You were discovered? Did she kill the bird you were controlling?"
Everyone crowded around.
"…Xiao Hei is dead. It was instantaneous." It took the man a long while to recover. His face was deathly pale, and he spoke in a breathy whisper. Even so, every breath seemed to send a stabbing pain through his head. "A young girl saw me… saw Xiao Hei. Maybe she sensed something was wrong. I… I didn't see how she attacked, but Xiao Hei just… just died in an instant." Xiao Hei was a crow he controlled, mentally and visually linked to it to share its vision. Normally, very few ability users would pay any mind to a crow observing from a distance.
But that young girl had spotted him at a glance. His heart pounded, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. He had the distinct feeling of having narrowly escaped death. He gasped for breath, as if needing to prove to himself that he was still alive. "Her mental power… is absolutely immense. She's probably an extremely powerful mental-type ability user."
"The one driving didn't detect my presence…" he said, then grew uncertain. Supported by a companion, he took a sip of hot water and corrected himself. "The one driving didn't pay attention to me."
"A mental-type… Could an ability user with such keen senses have detected the presence of the Key?" a female ability user mused. She stood up. "Regardless of why they're heading here, as a mental-type ability user, she must have noticed that this place is different. They'll come. I'll go inform the Master."
"We need to monitor their movements. If Zhang Zhenhua can't do it…"
"I'll do it," another male ability user volunteered. He set down his bowl of hot water and rubbed his temples. "But since they're so perceptive, I won't dare to probe too deeply. If you notice anything wrong with me, you must interrupt me immediately." It was a risky endeavor for a weaker mental-type ability user to try and sense a stronger one. However, if he didn't focus his mental power too precisely or get too close, it probably wouldn't be a problem.
He gave this warning because he was spooked by the instant death of Zhang Zhenhua's crow. Generally, as ability users who had come into contact with the "Key," their mental power was stronger than that of ability users from other regions. Even if someone was stronger than him, they shouldn't be absurdly so. Still, to avoid a backlash, he had to be cautious.
"Alright, you two keep observing," the female ability user agreed, then walked quickly upstairs.
However, just as she knocked on Wu Banhuai's door, another commotion erupted downstairs.
"It's over! It's over!"
"Lao Sun, say something! Lao Sun! Someone save him!"
"Master! Master! Sun Turen isn't going to make it!"
Heart-wrenching screams echoed from downstairs. She froze for a moment before the door was hastily pushed open from within. Wu Banhuai emerged, dressed in a thick, heavy robe with a string of prayer beads wrapped around his wrist. Despite the chaos below, his expression was composed. In a calm, deep voice, he said, "Tell me as we walk."
His composure helped the ability user calm down as well. She stepped aside to let Wu Banhuai pass, then quickly recounted what Zhang Zhenhua had discovered. When they got downstairs, they found a large splatter of blood staining the faces and clothes of several people. There was no need to ask what had happened—the others were already crowded around Sun Turen.
The ability user who had healed Zhang Zhenhua earlier wasn't even trying to help. After all…
His eyeballs had burst, and blood was streaming from his seven facial orifices. Sun Turen's body was rigid—he was as dead as one could be.
Wu Banhuai listened in silence as Zhang Zhenhua haltingly recounted his story about the two women, while the others described Sun Turen's reaction. It had all happened far too quickly. Xuancheng was a large place; even with Zhang Zhenhua providing their approximate location, it should have taken Sun Turen some time to find them with his mental power. Sun Turen wasn't a reckless man. Knowing he was up against a powerful mental-type, he shouldn't have rashly initiated a conflict, and yet…
At this rate, it seemed Sun Turen had died violently the very instant he located them.
"We have to make them pay!" someone stood up, fuming. He looked at Wu Banhuai and said angrily, "No matter how strong she is, she's just a mental-type. Let's send the mutated beasts to surround and kill them! There are only two of them. Even if her mental power is immense, can she make all the mutated beasts drop dead at once? Master, give the order!"
But Wu Banhuai's expression remained unchanged. He merely rotated the prayer beads on his wrist as he carefully examined the state of Sun Turen's corpse. He closed his eyes for a moment, then said in a low voice, "We cannot kill them."
"Master?"
"You should all know that I am not the true 'Master.' I have merely received a bit of favor from that one." He met the eyes of each person in turn, and not one of them could hold his gaze for more than three seconds. Whoever he looked at lowered their head. Even the man who had been furiously demanding revenge averted his eyes under Wu Banhuai's stare. "You have also borne the energy of the 'Key.' That was but a small grace bestowed by the true Master."
"But what does that have to do with those two people!"
Wu Banhuai's eyes flickered, as if he were hesitating. Finally, he calmly fingered his prayer beads and said in a deep voice, "They, or rather… she, is connected to the Master."
"We are not the only ones fortunate enough to receive the Master's grace."
"You… you mean… they are also messengers chosen by the Master? That… that woman who killed Sun Turen is an existence on par with you?" an ability user stammered in disbelief, taking an involuntary step back. "But if she's really a messenger, why… why would she kill Sun Turen so directly…"
"Her rank is above mine." Wu Banhuai lowered his gaze, his mind already formulating a plan. "First, Zhang Zhenhua's spying displeased her. Then Sun Turen offended her again…" Wu Banhuai didn't finish, but everyone present understood his implication. The moment they realized this woman was an existence even more powerful than Wu Banhuai, all their discontent transformed into reverence.
"Go prepare fine wine and meat to receive our honored guests," Wu Banhuai ordered, composing himself. "She has come for matters concerning the 'Key' and the 'Master.' The Master just sent a revelation into my divine consciousness to inform me."
"…Oh, and inform all the believers. Have them all come out to welcome our honored guests. They are to perform the ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows. Everyone must wear only a single layer of clothing, with no exceptions, not even for the children."
"Tong Jiefeng, control the mutated beasts. Make them behave and join in… welcoming our honored guests. Tell the other mental-type ability users to stay put. They are absolutely forbidden from rashly using their abilities and offending our guests again. Otherwise, death will be the least of your worries. If we incur the Master's displeasure and are deemed disrespectful… well, I don't need to spell out the consequences."
Wu Banhuai quickly arranged everything, giving out instructions until everyone had received their tasks and dispersed. Only then did he stand before the bonfire, glance at the lingering bloodstains, and head upstairs, his lips pressed into a thin line.
Did she come for the meteor fragment? It had only been half a year since the apocalypse began. Both Zhang Zhenhua and Sun Turen, whom he had recruited to his inner circle, had gained their abilities by being exposed to the meteor fragment from the very start. Their talent and strength were undeniable, yet this uninvited guest in Xuancheng had instantly crushed Sun Turen to death with sheer mental force…
She was strong. So strong that her mental power was completely overwhelming. Alone now, Wu Banhuai lost the calm composure with which he fingered his prayer beads. He gripped them so tightly he nearly crushed them.
He was the messenger of a god, and the meteor fragment was the key that god had bestowed upon him—a key for devout believers to ascend.
When the apocalypse descended, everything fell into chaos. He was the one who seized a sliver of hope amid the turmoil. After awakening his ability, he remembered the faint blue meteor that had fallen that night. Ignoring the dangerous zombies in the streets, he searched painstakingly until he located the meteor fragment. The powerful energy radiating from it knocked him unconscious, and he nearly died from the exposure.
Fortunately, he pulled through.
When he awoke, the story of a divine gift began to take shape.
With all order collapsed, he saw it as a heaven-sent opportunity—an opportunity he was determined to seize.
He fabricated a fictional, messianic god and went about saving people cornered by zombies. Under the influence of the meteor fragment, those who became ability users were said to have passed the god's trial, qualifying them as inner-circle believers. Those who turned into zombies were heretics, unrecognized by the god for their lack of piety. As for those who never awakened and remained ordinary people… they were the lowest-ranking believers, destined to endure hardship, spread the god's teachings, and sacrifice themselves in service to the masses.
With this crude framework and simple structure, a new god-worshipping cult was born.
It was a pyramid-like structure. At the apex was, naturally, the non-existent god. He himself was second only to the god, followed by the ability users who trusted and fanatically worshipped this deity. Below them were the common ability users. And at the very bottom were the ordinary people, who could be endlessly exploited and used as tools.
"I'll display both my power and my sincerity… I hope those two women know what's good for them," Wu Banhuai murmured, but the unease in his heart did not lessen in the slightest.
Where in the world did such a powerful being come from?
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