PSW - Chapter 146
Chapter 146
A strange zombie, huh. Zheng Yi was lost in thought. If this man wasn't lying, didn't that mean it was a zombie of a higher tier than even a blue-bulb zombie?
Interesting.
The man at her feet, like a pile of mud, was enveloped by the light of the healing array. Amidst the extreme pain and healing, he was constantly crushed and reassembled, his mind fracturing until he was on the verge of insanity.
It was only then that he truly understood the meaning behind Zheng Yi's words: "Death is a luxury."
So, when Zheng Yi approached again and crushed the bones in his limbs, Si Haotian didn't dare to resist or fight back, even though the array had just restored him. He let out a muffled grunt. The healing array beneath him had vanished?
Like a puppet, he was grabbed by Zheng Yi with one hand. At nearly 1.9 meters tall, and with Zheng Yi having no intention of lifting him, he was dragged across the ground like a broken sack.
Meanwhile, Yu Yinan had already gathered all the ability users in Yongdu. Those who had actively worked for Si Haotian, even gaining a bit of "power," were in one group. Those who had feigned submission just to survive were in another. As for ability users who had risen up in resistance? Yongdu would never tolerate such an existence; they had long since returned to nature.
As for the ordinary people... here, only young women had survived. Even the ability users were forced by Si Haotian to mate without any dignity or choice, making the plight of these ordinary women all the more tragic.
In Si Haotian's eyes, not even ability users were his "peers." He was more inclined to treat everyone as pets. It was merely a distinction between a "pure and rare bloodline" and an "expendable common bloodline." Ordinary women who were already pregnant had a basic guarantee of survival, but those who weren't... if Si Haotian had a sudden whim or impulse, they would become food for other "humans" or "mutated beasts," or be mockingly locked in a cage for a "beast fighting" or "survival" performance.
And now, he too had lost his dignity as a "person," dragged lifelessly by Zheng Yi to stand before the very ability users he had looked down upon.
Zheng Yi let go, casually tossing the man aside. She glanced at the ability users, who were split into two groups, wanting to look at her with curiosity but not daring to meet her gaze, and directed a questioning sound at Yu Yinan. "Hm?"
Yu Yinan repeated the information she had gathered. She didn't fully believe the words of these ability users. The main issue was that the second group portrayed themselves as too innocent and pitiful. They were indeed powerless and forced, but... they were also Si Haotian's accomplices.
Yu Yinan had also briefly told them about the "Saint's Bible." After Yu Yinan finished relaying the information to Zheng Yi, one of the ability users dropped to his knees with a thud and began kowtowing forcefully. He did his best to recite the contents of the "Saint's Bible," shouting things like, "Long live the Saint!" and "Thank you, my lady, for delivering us from our suffering!"
Zheng Yi paid no mind to these words, nor did she have any intention of reciting the names of those who had contributed Saint Points. She merely glanced at Si Haotian on the ground, then swept her gaze over the ability users and asked calmly, "That 'Strange Person' you mentioned, does anyone know which direction he went?" Si Haotian had no idea where the mysterious zombie had gone, but perhaps one of these people had information.
The result, however, was slightly disappointing for Zheng Yi. The people looked at each other in silence; clearly, none of them knew any specifics. As for whether the missing Xia siblings were connected to that zombie, or if they were even still alive... it was impossible to know.
Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan exchanged a look. Zheng Yi had Yu Yinan burn Si Haotian to death on the spot, then picked out the few remaining female ability users from the crowd and had them lead the way to where the ordinary people were being held.
These female ability users were visibly haggard. When they were singled out, they were mostly bewildered and afraid. When told to lead the way, they obediently walked ahead. The remaining male ability users looked uneasy, even hesitant and apprehensive. They didn't know what Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan wanted to do, but without any orders, they didn't dare make a move.
Resist? That terrifying golden python had been utterly defeated by this woman. Si Haotian was now a pile of ashes. They felt nothing but endless terror and awe toward these two.
Along the way, Yu Yinan questioned the female ability users again, asking if what the men had said was true. They were clearly hesitant, but after one apprehensive glance at Zheng Yi, they lowered their heads and, with trembling voices, dared not hide anything.
What the men had said was all true, but they had omitted the part about how they, in turn, oppressed those below them.
The hierarchy in Yongdu was like a pyramid. Si Haotian stood at the very top with his mutated beasts. The level just below him wasn't the male ability users who had earned a sliver of his approval, but them—the female ability users.
After all, Si Haotian was raising them like pets! In his eyes, female ability users were prime breeding stock. He would even personally check on their physical condition every day. If someone was malnourished during a food shortage, he would casually slaughter a person to make soup for them to "nourish their bodies." Of course, this "kindness" was mandatory.
As for the very bottom, that was naturally the ordinary women, who were treated as "birthing tools."
"We... we... actually, there used to be a lot of female ability users. But... but... they couldn't stand this life, so they all killed themselves. I didn't dare..." one ability user sobbed, clutching her stomach in despair as she spoke with utter shame.
"Why should we kill ourselves? We shouldn't. Those damn..." Another ability user retorted through gritted teeth, but after glancing at Zheng Yi, she refrained from cursing. She just seethed, "None of those guys are any good."
Though they were all "kept" by Si Haotian, the relationships between the ability users were not harmonious. It might have been fine at first, but when the periods of extreme heat and cold arrived one after another, resources grew scarce, and life became increasingly hopeless, they heard more and more complaints from the male ability users:
Their behavior and attitude, which had started as forced, almost gentle, and even considerate, gradually turned into complaints and resentment: "I'm so jealous of you all. You get to live so comfortably just by lying down, spreading your legs, and enjoying it."
"There are so many of you, and we've fucked you so many times, how come none of you are pregnant yet? Shit, can't we get a single day off?"
"Who knows whose kid it'll be..."
As ability users, they heard these words. The situation for ordinary women was even worse. Besides the wanton verbal humiliation and abuse, there was also hidden physical violence.
The environment truly can change a person. In the environment Si Haotian created, where he raised them like animals, their "bestial" side gradually grew, as if they had truly shed their humanity. It was only after Zheng Yi appeared, after she displayed such immense power and put Si Haotian at a disadvantage, that they regained some semblance of their pre-apocalypse selves and could communicate and act like people again.
The female ability users didn't repeat the specific humiliating words, but Yu Yinan didn't need them to; she could guess what they were. After all, such humiliation was not unheard of even before the apocalypse. As for the violence...
There had been plenty of news reports about domestic violence before the apocalypse.
Soon, they arrived at the so-called "residence."
It was a relatively small building, its interior layout clearly altered. The good news was that everyone had their own room.
The bad news was that the so-called "room" could only fit a single bed. Even the bathroom was a separate structure at the end of the hallway, with no shower, only a sink that had no running water.
Despite the major commotion outside, the women inside had no reaction at all. The entire building was silent, as if it were dead.
"If Si Haotian didn't watch them so closely... I'm afraid even more of them would have killed themselves." That was the kind of person Si Haotian was. He could take your life at will, but he wouldn't allow you to end it yourself.
There were no tools, and there were guards at the door. Someone would bring food every day. The ability users who came to perform their "duties"... were also tasked with feeding them and keeping them alive. If an ordinary woman died, the male ability user responsible for her that day would be thrown into a cage by Si Haotian for a full day. If he was still alive the next day, his mistake would be forgiven.
"..." Yu Yinan was almost speechless.
Zheng Yi lowered her gaze slightly and said nothing. She walked to the first room and found it was locked.
"The key... ah, I remember them saying they were kept by the door?" one of them recalled, and someone went to look. But just as she took a step, Zheng Yi easily "twisted" the door open with immense strength.
The cramped, narrow room was filled with a dampness that carried a thick, nauseating smell. The heavy curtains were drawn, covered in a layer of dust, leaving the room almost completely dark and suffocating. Inside, on the double bed, lay a woman so thin she was practically skin and bones, her skeleton clearly visible. She lay there numbly, as if asleep, or perhaps already dead. Her belly was slightly swollen, and her skeletal fingers rested unconsciously upon it.
Even hearing the door open, she barely reacted. It took a long moment before she sluggishly turned her head to look.
The other rooms were mostly in the same condition.
A lump completely blocked Yu Yinan's throat. She wanted to say something, to do something, but all that came out was a choked sob.
"..." Zheng Yi stared at the woman on the bed for a moment, then took out several Stamina Recovery Pills and popped them into her mouth. The next instant, a brilliant golden array bloomed beneath her feet. The array's patterns grew brighter and brighter, its range expanding until it finally enveloped the entire building.
Dazzling golden motes of light, like stars or raindrops, drifted down and merged into the bodies of the women on the beds, into the women in every room, healing their physical shells.
"Bring them all out," Zheng Yi said. "Everyone, bring them to the entrance."
Inside the array, the female ability users who were also being healed stood stunned. Witnessing Zheng Yi's power firsthand was completely different from just observing it; it was enough to shake them to their core. But more than being amazed by the strength of her abilities, they were astonished that Zheng Yi was willing to expend so much energy for them... for those ordinary women.
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