None of them were weaklings. Over the past few days, they had witnessed life and death and countless dangers. To have survived this long, none of them could be considered good-natured.
When the bald man’s head was suddenly severed by Su Li, who was hidden in the shadows, they were startled but not panicked, immediately launching a full-force counterattack.
Earlier, Su Li, concealed in the darkness, had only relied on his hearing to track them, unaware that Brother Xiang had climbed up along the outer wall. Now, suddenly realizing there were only four people in front of him—one missing—his heart jolted, and he silently cursed. Spinning around, faint shadows appeared around his legs as he activated “Spider Walk.” With a whoosh, he shot up the stairs.
With only four people in sight and one missing, the most logical explanation was that the enemy had split into two groups. These four were coming up the stairs, while the other had taken a different route. The missing one was most likely their leader, Brother Xiang.
If Brother Xiang had reached the top from another direction, thinking of Ding Longyun and the other two still on the rooftop, Su Li dared not delay. He rushed up the stairs at full speed toward the roof.
Originally, he had planned to stay hidden, using his familiarity with the building to pick them off one by one. He would first ambush and kill one, then pretend to flee, luring the others to chase him. In the chaos of pursuit, he could slowly eliminate them one by one. With “Spider Walk,” he could accelerate instantly, making this plan highly feasible. Perhaps he could take down all five without Ding Longyun’s help.
But he hadn’t anticipated Brother Xiang sneaking up from another spot.
Worried for the safety of the three on the rooftop, Su Li had no choice but to abandon the plan.
“After him!” Ni Jianrong shouted fiercely, charging up the stairs alongside the tattooed man. Xu Haiwei hesitated for a moment, glanced at the headless corpse of the bald man on the ground, then steeled himself and followed.
Su Li ignored the three chasing him from behind. Though he was confident he could kill them, he feared that even if he did, the three on the rooftop would still fall victim.
From the earlier exchange among these five, he had gathered that Brother Xiang was not just their leader but also possessed formidable strength. Ni Jianrong, a Level 4 Source User, was no pushover based on their fight yesterday, yet he acted sycophantically toward Brother Xiang.
In this near-apocalyptic, brutal environment, money, former power, and social status had all collapsed. The only thing that could command submission and flattery was strength.
Brother Xiang must have been powerful enough to make Ni Jianrong, already no weakling, behave this way.
Su Li reacted swiftly. The moment he realized Brother Xiang was missing, he turned and dashed toward the rooftop.
As he burst out of the rooftop entrance, he heard Ding Longyun’s scream and Gong Xiao’s shout.
His eyes landed on Brother Xiang, who was grinning widely, his right hand extended and clenched into a fist. Ding Longyun was flying backward through the air, a deep fist-shaped dent caved into his chest, blood gushing from his open mouth.
Earlier, Brother Xiang had split up with Ni Jianrong and the other three. He climbed up the outer wall like a human gecko, avoiding the notice of Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, and the others on the rooftop. Suddenly appearing there, he startled all three.
With a wild laugh, he lunged at Gong Xiao like a whirlwind, his eyes gleaming with a naked, undisguised hunger.
In this world, order had collapsed, morality was gone, and without legal constraints, the ugly side of human nature was fully exposed.
Brother Xiang moved fast. Gong Xiao, unable to bear his gaze, let out an angry shout. Instead of dodging, she gripped her baseball bat and swung it at the charging Brother Xiang.
Ding Longyun reacted just as quickly, gripping his short axe and charging from the other side, aiming a strike at Brother Xiang.
But Brother Xiang’s lunge at Gong Xiao was just a feint. His real target was Ding Longyun. As Ding Longyun closed in, Brother Xiang suddenly spun, his right fist slamming into Ding Longyun’s chest.
Caught off guard, Ding Longyun felt as if a sledgehammer had struck him. The sound of cracking ribs echoed as he let out a scream, sent flying backward by the punch, blood spraying from his mouth.
The force of that punch was at least over a thousand pounds.
Su Li, rushing up, witnessed this moment. Letting out a long howl, he summoned faint leg shadows around his body, sprouting eight limbs like a spider. Activating “Spider Walk,” he accelerated and charged at Brother Xiang.
A flicker of surprise crossed Brother Xiang’s eyes. Su Li’s charge was so fast that even he felt a blur, struggling to track it. He immediately retreated, trying to create distance.
With a clang, Su Li’s cleaver came down. Brother Xiang failed to dodge fully, crossing his arms to block. The blade barely stopped against his forearms.
“What?” Su Li was shocked. Brother Xiang’s arms seemed forged from iron. His sharp cleaver, striking those crossed arms, only tore the sleeves, failing to even cut the skin.
As Su Li hesitated, Brother Xiang kicked out. Su Li couldn’t evade in time, lowering his left arm to block. With a thud, he was pushed back, his left arm numb, the bones feeling like they might snap. Brother Xiang’s arms were like steel—he had never faced such a bizarre opponent.
Just then, Ni Jianrong, Xu Haiwei, and the tattooed man with the right-arm design burst out of the stairwell entrance.
“Brother Xiang, this is Su Li! He just killed Old Cui!” Ni Jianrong’s face was twisted with grief. Old Cui was the bald man.
A flicker of killing intent passed through Brother Xiang’s eyes, but his face twisted into a cold smile. “I know. Leave him to me. You take care of the others. Remember, capture those two women, big and small, alive.”
“Got it!” Ni Jianrong said, then charged out with the tattooed man. Ni Jianrong went for the injured Ding Longyun on the ground, while the tattooed man lunged at Gong Xiao. Xu Haiwei hesitated, then ran toward Xu Xuehui, who had retreated to a distance.
Brother Xiang pointed at Su Li, laughing wildly. “You killed Old Cui—impressive, no doubt. But soon, I’ll show you there’s always someone stronger. Don’t worry, I won’t let you die easy. I’ll break every bone in your body, one by one. Remember my name—Chen Xiangyu. A name you’ll remember for the rest of your life, haha!”
Chen Xiangyu was arrogantly cocky, pointing at Su Li, his body trembling as muscles bulged slightly.
In Su Li’s pupils, a slit-like pattern appeared.
He activated “Peep Pattern” to examine Chen Xiangyu’s data.
“Name: Source User, Level: 5, Special Skills: Three, Source Art: One, Weakness: Unknown, Other: None.”