RIACMET chapter 166

 

“…”

Jiang Nian unconsciously clenched his fists. This place looked too much like where he had been imprisoned in his previous life. The person lying on the bed reminded him of himself.

He hadn’t turned into a corpse, but he had often been tied up like that, always in misery and pain.

Judging by the look in his eyes, the person on the bed was fully aware.

The speed at which someone infected turned into a zombie depended on their physical endurance. People with superpowers generally had better endurance than ordinary people.

However, if their superpower wasn’t healing, using it repeatedly after being infected would speed up the virus’s spread and the breakdown of the body.

Xiaoya’s mother turned into a corpse quickly because she had overused her superpower.

“Ugh—”

Li Shuhui lowered her head and began to vomit.

Jiang Nian calmed down and gently patted her.

“Don’t look,” he said.

Then, he turned to Chen Shanmin and asked,

“Who is he?”

Despite his disheveled appearance, it was obvious that the person on the bed was very young.

He was clearly infected and being experimented on. He definitely didn’t look like a “volunteer.”

Hearing the question, both Chen Xiuling and Chen Lin looked like they wanted to hack the man on the iron bed to pieces.

Seeing their reactions, Jiang Nian had a sudden thought.

“Could he be the one who infected Chen Yue?”

If so, then he wanted to save this person!

Chen Shanmin nodded through gritted teeth.

“Yes, he’s the reason Xiao Yue got infected with the zombie virus. He’s a traitor and completely heartless. We took him in out of goodwill, but he repaid our kindness with evil!”

After hearing this, Jiang Nian’s first reaction was disbelief. His second reaction was, “Well done.” At the same time, he looked at the partially zombified person on the bed with a friendly gaze.

Just as he was about to speak, Young Master Liao’s voice caught in his throat.

“To be honest, this sounds like karma within your own family. If what you said is true, then it proves the principle of cause and effect. The wicked reap what they sow—that’s justice!”

“You’re spouting nonsense!”

Chen Xiuling snapped angrily, holding Chen Lin behind the group. But when her eyes met Jiang Nian’s, she unconsciously stepped back and glared at the person on the bed.

Meeting the cold, hate-filled eyes of the man tied down, Jiang Nian calmly asked,

“Why would he want to hurt Chen Yue?”

That expression reminded Jiang Nian of himself in his last life—unwilling, desperate, and full of hatred.

“He…”

Chen Shanmin opened his mouth to answer, but Jiang Nian shook his head.

“I want to hear it from him.”

After saying that, he stepped forward, but Chu Yi stopped him.

“I’ll do it.”

He pulled out a dagger, stepped up, cut off the gag in the man’s mouth, and unchained the collar around his neck.

Jiang Nian took two steps forward, ready to speak, when he heard the man’s hoarse voice:

“So many people are coming to see me. Does that mean Chen Yue is going to die soon?”

“You’re the one dying! You won’t die a peaceful death!”

Chen Xiuling cursed.

“Hahaha…”

The man on the bed burst into loud laughter.

“If I don’t die peacefully, does that mean your son will?”

“My son won’t die! He is alive and well! You animal!”

Chen Xiuling snapped, grabbing an empty bottle from the ground and hurling it. But the angle was off, and it hit Jiang Nian in the face as he passed by.

Jiang Nian turned around, pistol in hand. Chen Shanmin rushed forward, sweating bullets.

“Niannian, your aunt didn’t mean to…”

“Oh…”

Jiang Nian lowered his gaze slightly, pointed the gun downward, and looked at Chen Xiuling coldly.

“She didn’t mean to. I did.”

Right after saying that, he fired—the bullet pierced through the back of Chen Shanmin’s foot. Who cared if it was intentional or not?

“Ah!”

Chen Shanmin screamed, dropping to his knees and clutching his leg in pain and fear. He looked up and met Jiang Nian’s eyes, which were full of contempt as if he were looking at trash. He was at a total loss for words.

He suddenly realized: Jiang Nian wasn’t here to help them. He was here to settle scores.

“Husband!”

“Dad!”

“…”

Chen Xiuling and Chen Lin were both stunned, staggering forward with blood still covering them.

After the next shot, Jiang Nian felt a little better emotionally. He turned back toward the person on the bed, who looked shocked until he spotted Chen Lin, covered in blood, hiding behind the others. His hand was broken!

The smell of blood hit him, and hunger and thirst flared up. He hated that disgusting craving, but he couldn’t control it.

Realizing that Jiang Nian and his team weren’t on the same side as the Chen Shanmin family, the person on the bed started to struggle and asked,

“You…who are you?”

At that moment, even if this guy had come to kill him, he would have thought he was a good person.

Jiang Nian didn’t answer. He looked down at the sobbing family of three on the floor.

“From now until I see Chen Yue, I don’t want to hear a sound from any of you.”

Then, he walked up to the bed and stood still.

“Let’s talk. My name is Jiang Nian. What’s yours?”

The man on the bed tried to turn his head to look at Jiang Nian.

“Tang Ji.”

Jiang Nian nodded.

“Tang Ji, can you stop using your superpower?”

Tang Ji shook his head without hesitation.

“No, I want to lose consciousness and become a zombie as soon as possible. That way, I won’t feel pain anymore.”

Jiang Nian pressed his lips together and didn’t argue. Instead, he changed the subject.

“All right. How did you get infected? Why did you infect Chen Yue?”

Tang Ji looked toward the Chen Shanmin family, his expression dark and heavy.

“Chen Yue killed my little sister, so I took revenge using the same method. I just didn’t run away afterward.”

Seeing Jiang Nian’s puzzled expression, he decided it would be best to tell his story before he died. He forced himself not to look at Chen Lin’s severed hand and tried to ignore the blood sticking to his nose. He swallowed hard a few times and slowly said,

Tang Ji’s parents were businesspeople, and they were among the first group of zombies after the poisonous rain fell.

Tang Ji and his younger sister, Tang Miao, had only each other to rely on. Later, they met the Chen Shanmin family in the extreme cold resettlement zone.

Shortly after the apocalypse began, Tang Miao awakened a plant-based superpower. During their time in the resettlement area, she often went out scavenging with Chen Yue, his sister, and Xia Weiwei.

After the extreme cold weather passed, the siblings accepted Xia Weiwei’s invitation to travel to Base Z together.

Many people traveled together along the main road. One night, their campsite was hit by an earthquake and a zombie attack.

To save Xia Weiwei, Chen Yue used his superpower to control Tang Miao, forcing her to act as a shield for his girlfriend at the critical moment.

In the chaos, Tang Miao was scratched by a zombie and became infected.

Tang Ji witnessed his sister getting clawed by a zombie and then shot dead by Xia Weiwei.

Instead of rushing to retaliate, he vowed to avenge her. Instead, he endured the pain, drove through the chaos, and escaped that night.

A rescue team found him on the road and brought him to Base Z, where he had a high fever that night and awakened a superpower.

Tang Ji knew that Xia Weiwei came from a powerful background. In Base Z, he carefully hid his identity, working under a pseudonym and using his powers to help the psychic team. He earned points to buy weapons and gear while waiting for his chance.

Later, when he learned that the Chen Yue family was heading to South City Base, he secretly followed them.

While fighting zombies and collecting crystal cores along the way, he soaked several bullets in zombie blood.

His marksmanship wasn’t great; he couldn’t guarantee a clean kill with a single shot.

As it turned out, his fears were valid. He only managed to wound Chen Yue. Luckily, the bullet carried the zombie virus.

After wounding Chen Yue, he didn’t run away or commit suicide and ended up like this.

They injected him with the virus, calling it an eye for an eye, and used him as a test subject for Xia Weiwei’s private doctor. The doctor gave him drugs to slow the virus.

In order to turn faster and escape the pain, he had to keep using his superpower to accelerate the infection.

Either way, he had already avenged his sister. Now, he could just die. In a world this messed up, death was the only way out.

Too bad he didn’t get to kill Xia Weiwei.