The man seemed not to expect that the seemingly delicate young girl could be so strong. He quickly turned, searching for her in the darkness.
He also took out the fruit knife he had prepared.
"Bitch, get out here! If I'm done, I'll spare your life, otherwise don't blame me for being rude!"
In the darkness, only a few dismissive chuckles could be vaguely heard.
The laughter further agitated the man's nerves, making him even more furious.
She took out a dagger from her spatial storage. Compared to a long saber, she preferred using a dagger.
For her, a long saber was for killing zombies, while a dagger was for killing people.
Saying that, the man menacingly gripped the fruit knife and advanced towards Xu An.
He saw the figure standing in front of him, assuming she was scared and dared not resist. He reached out to grab her.
Just as one of the man's hands was about to touch Xu An's arm.
The next second, a pig-like scream rang out.
"Ah—my hand—my hand!!!"
The man's outstretched hand had been severed, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
Xu An looked at the dagger in her hand with a slightly bloodthirsty smile. It was worth the hefty price.
Listening to the man's roar, Xu An frowned impatiently, raised the dagger again, lunged forward, and slit the man's throat with a backhand, dodging the splashing blood as she sidestepped.
The man couldn't believe that Xu An would actually kill him to silence her. His eyes widened, as if to shout for help, but his throat had been slit, rendering him unable to speak.
Even after killing someone, there was no trace of panic or regret on Xu An's face.
Having endured the tribulations of the apocalypse, her heart had long turned to stone.
If not for that, she wouldn't have survived for ten years.
She recalled the resentful and triumphant smiles on their faces just before her death.
Xu An pushed her tongue against her right jaw, revealing a hint of excitement. She wondered if that mother and daughter would appear before her again in this life.
Thinking this, she headed towards the beat-up pickup truck.
"One down, one to go."
When you cut grass, you have to remove the roots. She never left trouble for herself.
The woman, sitting in the car, faintly heard a fierce scream.
She felt a sense of fear.
She opened the car door and got out. She didn't believe her son couldn't handle that little bitch, especially since her son had a knife.
This was not the first time they had done such a thing. It had always been like this. After her son dealt with the opponent, she would take out her phone to record, threatening the other party not to call the police.
But this was the first time she had felt such unease.
"Hu'er... Hu'er, are you done, Hu'er?"
The woman called out, walking towards where Xu An had parked.
"Stop shouting. Your son can't answer you anymore."
The woman was startled by the voice, her feet stumbled, and she fell onto the uneven rocky shore.
The hot wind stirred no ripples; the water's surface was as calm as the prelude to death.
As for who would die, it was self-evident.
"You... it's you, it's actually you! Where is my son? You damn bitch, where is my son!"
The woman looked at Xu An standing before her, experiencing a fear she had never known.
Xu An's presence here proved that her son had definitely been dealt with.
Thinking of this, her heart tightened.
"Where is my son? You damn bitch! Hand over my son!"
The smile on Xu An's face appeared somewhat cruel, yet possessed a strange beauty.
"Don't rush. I'll let you join your son below soon."
Upon hearing this, the woman broke out in a cold sweat, her body trembling uncontrollably as she retreated.
"You, you dare to kill! You murderer, you actually dare to kill! I'm calling the police, yes, I'm calling the police, sentence you to death!"
A profound fear enveloped the woman, much like what she had done to the girls her son had molested.
At this moment, she finally understood what despair felt like.
Xu An watched as the woman's finger trembled, reaching for her phone. The next instant, she kicked the phone away.
Xu An turned, catching the phone. To her surprise, the screen was paused on the photo album.
She had intended to smash the phone, but noticed the woman staring strangely at the phone in her hand.
As if possessed, she tapped on a video in the album.
Inside were nude photos and indecent videos of several different girls.
The male protagonist in all of them was the perverted man who had just died by her dagger.
Xu An's smile widened. This made killing both of them even easier, without any psychological burden.
They were utter scum.
She didn't believe the girls in the videos, with their pleading expressions, were willing participants.
Thinking that these two were habitual offenders, Xu An could understand why the woman had pursued her so relentlessly after a minor conflict in the supermarket.
They had probably been too successful in their past misdeeds, assuming girls were all submissive and could be molded as they pleased by this mother and son duo.
But they had never expected to encounter Xu An, a tough nut to crack, and end up failing spectacularly.
"You... don't kill me, little girl, please, don't kill me."
The woman's tears streamed down her face. At this moment, she no longer cared about avenging her son.
Faced with the threat of death, human nature was selfish.
Even when facing Xu An, who had just killed her son, she could kneel and beg for mercy without any reservations.
But Xu An knew that these people had no bottom line.
If she was strong today, this woman would kneel and beg for mercy. But if she became weak in the future,
this woman would immediately become like a venomous snake, hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to retaliate.
Xu An approached the woman with a smile, twirling her dagger like a flower, spinning it around her fair fingertips.
Before the woman could cry for help, her mouth agape, Xu An backhanded her with a stab to the heart.
Swift, accurate, and deadly – a single blow.
Blood flowed from the woman's chest, soaking the t-shirt she wore. Her body lost its support and fell heavily onto the rocky shore.
Xu An meticulously wiped the phone with wet wipes, ensuring no evidence was left behind, and placed the phone on the woman's body.
After cleaning up the scene, she drove away.
"Looks like I can't drive this car for a while."
The apocalypse had not yet erupted, and social order still existed. If she were found to have committed murder, it would cause a lot of trouble.
Although she had carefully cleaned up the traces at the scene, it was unavoidable that someone might find a handle on her. She had to be cautious.
No one knew that she had lost control for a moment when she saw this mother and son, but she had hidden it well.
In a moment of trance, she was transported back to her previous life, when that mother and daughter, starving and freezing, had come begging to her.
Although she knew that people's hearts were unfathomable in the apocalypse, seeing them support each other, she couldn't help but think of her own mother.
A moment of misplaced pity had ultimately led to her great misfortune.