I Return From Hell

Chapter 38: Chapter 36: Outbreak of the Fourth Mist Event

”Well, if it isn’t Xia Yu?”

”What brings you here?”

A shrill voice piped up.

Xia Yu didn’t need to turn around to know who was speaking. It was Xie Chunlan, her third aunt. She had already noticed the woman while she was surveying the picking-garden’s terrain, but had simply chosen not to greet her.

’Looks like she saw me anyway.’

Hearing the voice, Liu Daqing looked over. He naturally noticed Xia Yu, who was exceptionally outstanding in every aspect. His eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but give her a second look.

As if not noticing Liu Daqing’s gaze, Xia Yu looked at Xie Chunlan with a calm expression and asked coolly, ”Is there something you need?”

Xie Chunlan faltered for a moment, then her smile widened. ”The day before yesterday, I saw you come back to the village. I happened to have an extra ticket for this place and was going to give it to you, but it seemed like you didn’t hear me calling. You just stepped on the gas and drove off.”

”Such a shame.”

”Otherwise, I could have saved you a few dozen yuan on the entrance fee.”

Xia Yu couldn’t be bothered to deal with her.

She turned and walked away.

”???”

Xie Chunlan’s mind was filled with question marks. She hadn’t expected Xia Yu to react this way. All the words she had prepared were now stuck in her throat, leaving her utterly frustrated.

”Isn’t this Yu?”

Just then, Xie Chunlan’s son, Xia Feng, blocked Xia Yu’s path. ”Didn’t you hear my mom talking to you?” he said.

’If you’re so intent on looking for trouble, I’ll play along.’

”I heard her.”

Xia Yu stopped and said flatly, ”She can say what she wants, and I can walk where I want. We don’t have to affect each other, do we?”

Ugh.

Xie Chunlan was so incensed she almost fainted on the spot.

Xia Feng was very displeased. He questioned her in a dissatisfied tone, ”Respecting your elders is basic courtesy, isn’t it?”

Xia Yu shot back, ”And I’m your older cousin. Is that any way to talk to me? Do you know what courtesy is?”

”Someone who doesn’t understand courtesy is lecturing others on being courteous. Don’t you find that hilarious?”

”You...”

Xia Feng was actually speechless.

”Xia Yu, I just want to ease the tension between us,” Xie Chunlan said, forcing a smile and speaking in a kind tone again. ”We’re family, after all. We’re bone of the same bone and flesh of the same flesh. There’s no need to act like enemies.”

’Who would believe that?’

’You’re speaking so softly and forcing a smile because you want to buy my family’s homestead, don’t you?’

In her past life, Xie Chunlan and her husband had come to her shortly after this to discuss that very matter.

”There’s no need.”

Xia Yu said flatly, ”Also, I heard you calling me the day before yesterday. I just didn’t feel like acknowledging you.”

With that, she strode away on her long legs.

Without a single glance back.

Xie Chunlan was about to explode with rage. She wanted to yell a curse, just like the day before, and make sure Xia Yu heard it. But remembering her goal, she held back and could only mutter under her breath, ”Such an ill-mannered brat.”

Once again, Xia Yu didn’t hear her.

”You...”

Xia Feng started to curse.

”Shh.”

Xie Chunlan tugged on his clothes.

”Mom, what are you doing?”

”What am I doing? I’m trying to buy her family’s homestead, of course. Have you forgotten about the demolition and relocation?”

”Is that news even reliable?”

”It is! Your dad is the village party secretary; he knows people in high places and has inside information. Besides, even if the development doesn’t happen, it’s no loss to buy Xia Yu’s homestead. Her place is so big, I could raise a few dozen more pigs.”

”Then we have to push the price down as hard as we can.”

”Of course. The market price is around fifty thousand. I’m planning to offer her twenty thousand.”

”Make it ten thousand.”

”Hm, I’ll listen to you. Eighteen thousand, then.”

They prepared to find another chance to go and have a ”good talk” with Xia Yu.

...

...

After watching Xia Yu disappear into a greenhouse for cherry tomatoes, Liu Daqing’s five bodyguards finally, and reluctantly, tore their eyes away, turning unwillingly to look at their boss.

In the crowd, Xie Shaokun was just about to go meet up with Xia Yu when his phone rang.

’Yu?’

He wasn’t stupid. He instantly realized that if Yu was calling him at a time like this, it must be inconvenient for them to meet. She must have instructions for him. So, he stopped, turned, and walked toward a different vegetable greenhouse as he answered the call.

”Listen to me.”

Xia Yu’s voice came through. ”The young man in his twenties behind me, wearing a black jacket, black pants, and black shoes, is a police informant.”

Hearing this, Xie Shaokun’s expression changed. His gaze quickly locked onto Wang Quanzhi, who was following Xia Yu.

”Yu, what do we do?”

A ruthless look appeared on his face. ”Should I knock him out?”

Xia Yu: ”And here I thought you were going to suggest killing him.”

Er.

Xie Shaokun froze.

”This is an opportunity.”

Xia Yu’s voice came again. ”Here’s my plan: when the Mist Event begins, I’ll be near the farmhouse in the picking garden. You find an opportunity to go there too, but pretend you don’t know me.”

”After that, you reveal your power, take control of the situation, and kill as many Mutants as possible.”

’That’s it?’

Xie Shaokun was stunned for a moment and couldn’t help but ask, ”Is it that simple?”

Xia Yu: ”You wouldn’t be able to handle anything more complex. Besides, this won’t be simple for you.”

With that, she hung up.

Xie Shaokun’s mouth twitched. He muttered resentfully, ”One must look upon a scholar who has been absent for three days with new eyes. This time, I will astound you!”

As time passed, Liu Daqing grew impatient and decided to contact Xia Yu.

Xia Yu had only one sentence for him: ”Stuck in traffic. Wait a moment.”

’You think I’d believe that?’

Liu Daqing frowned, pondering. He figured the real reason she hadn’t shown up was likely to observe whether he had brought anyone with him. He quickly sent a message to his driver, Xiao Wang: ”Don’t hang around me. Be careful not to get spotted.”

Then, he saw a familiar figure.

A young woman he was keeping as a mistress.

Nie Qianqian.

Right now, however, she was clinging to another man’s arm. As they walked, the part of her body that Liu Daqing liked best would inevitably brush against the man’s sturdy arm.

Rage surged through Liu Daqing. He subconsciously touched his own hair.

’I’m keeping you, and you’re keeping someone else?’

He never imagined that a joke he’d seen online would happen to him. He no longer felt like laughing at others from behind his phone screen. He felt as disgusted as if he’d swallowed a fly.

However, he knew the situation was special and it wasn’t the time for a reckoning. He held back, opened his phone’s camera, and prepared to record the evidence.

And then...

He saw the shameless couple kissing passionately in public.

It was a sickeningly sweet sight.

’A phone is a good thing,’ he thought. ’It can record this beautiful moment.’

Liu Daqing was so angry he almost cursed out loud. But in the next moment, he noticed something was wrong.

On the screen.

A thick white fog had appeared in the sky at some unknown point.

And Nie Qianqian’s expression as she kissed the man wasn’t one of enjoyment, but of pain.

Huh?

’Is she being forced?’

Liu Daqing clearly remembered that when Nie Qianqian kissed him, her expression was one of pleasure. This was because he had a habit: he liked to keep his eyes open when he kissed.

”COUGH, COUGH.”

A wave of pain coursing through his body pulled his thoughts back to the present. When he looked at the shameless couple again, the situation had changed drastically.

Nie Qianqian’s face, which once held a deep, bone-deep charm—one could say she was born with seductive bones—was utterly captivating. A single glance was enough to make one want to pull her into an embrace and love her fiercely.

But now, it had become just skin and bones.

No.

It wasn’t skin and bones.

Her skin was too dry. It was rapidly cracking and peeling away, revealing the bone underneath.

’So these are the ”seductive bones”?’

’Seeing is believing.’

’I’ve really seen it all now.’

”Wait.”

”How can a person’s skin peel off their face, revealing the bone!!!”

Liu Daqing was suddenly startled, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him. He shook his head forcefully.

He focused his gaze.

Nie Qianqian had actually bitten down hard on the man’s tongue, yanked it out of his mouth, and then...

...began to chew it raw!

Blood sprayed everywhere!

”AARGH!”

The man let out a bizarre, miserable shriek, like the quack of a drake in autumn.

At that moment, Liu Daqing was scared stiff.

He subconsciously clamped his legs together.