Chapter 50: Parting Ways

Seeing Guo Hanxue nod, everyone present looked at Jiang Yi in utter shock!

Although they knew that zombie cores could make awakened individuals stronger, they had never known that zombie cores could actually awaken someone's abilities in the first place!

Jia Chuan threw the knife in his hand to the floor, staring with desperate longing at Dongfang Tian. "Dongfang Tian, you have a zombie core on you, please give it to me! I'll be your loyal servant to repay you from now on!"

Dongfang Tian's expression turned atrocious. He touched the zombie core hidden inside his chest pocket and remained silent for a long time. Jia Chuan's expression shifted from pleasant surprise to astonishment, and finally culminated in pure rage. He snatched his knife back up and hacked frantically at Dongfang Tian. "Dongfang Tian, go to hell!"

Li Gang swung his club with a fierce blow, striking Jia Chuan's wrist squarely. Amidst the cracking sound of breaking bones, Jia Chuan cradled his arm and shrieked in agony. The piercing screams snapped Dongfang Tian out of his daze. Horrified, Dongfang Tian instinctively looked toward the last remaining person besides Li Gang, only to see that person retreating coldly into a corner, casting a gaze full of alienation toward him. It was then that Dongfang Tian realized his previous behavior had been a grave mistake, yet he still refused to hand over the zombie core to Jia Chuan!

Seeing the vicious glare in Jia Chuan's eyes sent a jolt through Dongfang Tian's heart, making him realize that things were beyond repair. Since that was the case, he couldn't afford to let Jia Chuan survive either...

"Jia Chuan, don't listen to Jiang Yi's nonsense! He only said it was a possibility, but death is far more likely!"

"Shut up, you hypocritical bastard! If I'm not going to make it, you shouldn't expect to live either!" With that, Jia Chuan suddenly turned and bolted toward the stairs!

Jiang Yi's brows knitted tightly together, but he made no move to stop Jia Chuan!

Dongfang Tian roared furiously, "Stop him, quick!" As he spoke, a freezing aura began to gather in the palm of his hand...

Li Gang chased after him brandishing his iron club, but having awakened strength-based abilities wasn't enough to make him a match for Jia Chuan, who was now driven by sheer suicidal intent.

With a cruel expression, Jia Chuan thought to himself that since he was going to die anyway, he might as well drag everyone down with him. As long as he lured the zombies from the second floor up here, none of them would make it out alive!

Just as he was about to reach the stairs, the space ahead of him suddenly darkened. Jia Chuan blinked and realized it was none other than the male student who had climbed up to the third floor with him earlier. Seeing him block his path, Jia Chuan immediately shoved forward with his left hand. "Li Huiyu, get the hell out of my way!"

Li Huiyu, who had kept his head bowed all this time, suddenly lifted his face and grabbed hold of Jia Chuan's left hand. Jia Chuan was stunned; he never imagined that Li Huiyu, always so unremarkable within their student club, would actually dare to fight back. Just as he raised his other hand to slap him away, Li Huiyu dropped his center of gravity and crashed directly into Jia Chuan's chest!

Jia Chuan's entire body shuddered, a stabbing agony causing him to convulse slightly. He looked down in sheer disbelief at the short blade buried deep inside his heart...

With an expressionless face, Li Huiyu raised his head and muttered in a low voice, "I can't afford to die yet, so you'll just have to die quietly."

"Gasp..." Jia Chuan clawed feebly at empty air with his left hand, still unable to accept that he had been killed by the utterly presence-devoid Li Huiyu. The others behind them only saw the two figures collide, and then Jia Chuan abruptly stopped moving. It wasn't until Jia Chuan's body pitched forward and crashed onto the floor, revealing Li Huiyu coldly gripping a blood-drenched knife, that they realized with horror that Jia Chuan was already dead!

"What the hell are you doing?!" Shinto whipped out his white-bladed katana, his eyes blazing with vigilance! He sensed a bone-chilling killing intent radiating from the current Li Huiyu, one that even surpassed Jiang Yi's.

Dongfang Tian and Li Gang stared in shock at the sudden turn of events, Dongfang Tian raising his head in profound disbelief to look at the cold-faced Li Huiyu.

Li Gang waved his iron club menacingly and pointed it straight at him. "Li Huiyu, I've had my eyes on you for a long time. I knew there was something wrong with you. Drop the knife, or I'll smash your skull to pieces with a single strike!"

Li Huiyu glanced down at the blood-stained short blade in his hand, then looked back up at Li Gang. A sudden cold smirk crossed his lips, and with a blur of motion, he vanished from the spot with astonishing speed. When he reappeared, he was right in front of Li Gang, the vicious, chilling blade already pressed flush against Li Gang's throat, freezing him completely in place without daring to twitch a muscle.

Dongfang Tian bellowed, "Li Huiyu, stop right there!" Frost began to seep from his body, though he held back from unleashing it...

Li Huiyu slowly pulled his blade back, cast a disdainful glance at Dongfang Tian, threw a final look toward Jiang Yi in the distance, and then turned and walked away!

Once the immediate tension dissipated, Li Gang couldn't help roaring in fury, "Li Huiyu, where do you think you're going? Don't forget, you're still a member of our team!" Li Huiyu didn't even look back. He merely raised a blood-smeared hand and replied coldly, "Not anymore!"

Watching Li Huiyu slip into one of the rooms, the hallway fell back into a heavy silence. Li Gang breathed heavily with rage, while Dongfang Tian experienced a tumultuous mix of emotions. He had never expected that such a formidable awakened powerhouse had been hiding right under his nose all along!

No wonder Li Huiyu, the most slender and seemingly weak member of the team, had always managed to return safely from every outing...

Shinto took a heavy blow to his pride as well, blankly sheathing his katana. He truly hadn't expected that out of the six survivors, he would end up being the only completely ordinary person left!

Guo Hanxue's eyes, however, lit up. She seemed to appreciate Li Huiyu's personality, or perhaps she was simply thrilled that someone so inconspicuous possessed such remarkable strength. After all, Li Gang possessed a profound foundation in martial arts coupled with a strength-enhancement ability, making him already one of the formidable awakened fighters she had ever witnessed; yet facing Li Huiyu, he hadn't had the slightest room to retaliate!

"Jiang Yi, is his ability related to speed?" Relying on her intuition, Guo Hanxue turned to look at her team captain. Jiang Yi frowned. The final look Li Huiyu had given him before leaving left him somewhat uncertain, but upon hearing Guo Hanxue's question, he shook his head. "No. I've seen a few speed-type awakened ones, and none of them can reach Li Huiyu's level. But I have to admit, Li Huiyu has achieved an exceptional grasp of his own ability. In that regard, neither you nor I can compare to him."

At that moment, Dongfang Tian finally managed to suppress the deep-seated dread in his heart. After all, having someone of such terrifying strength hiding nearby would make anyone with a shred of self-preservation break out in cold sweat.

Forcing down his inner unease, he turned back and said to Jiang Yi, "Team Leader Jiang, Hanxue, we're temporarily safe now. What should we do next?"

Jiang Yi stepped forward, recognizing this as Dongfang Tian's way of extending an olive branch. Glancing at the lone figures of Dongfang Tian and Li Gang, Jiang Yi smiled. "There are far too many zombies gathered downstairs and outside, so we can't leave just yet. Let's clear out the third floor first and make sure we don't leave any hidden dangers behind!"

Dongfang Tian nodded. "Alright. Then Li Gang, let's split up and handle it!"

Unlike the second floor, the third floor consisted mostly of separate, private karaoke boxes. Rather than moving together as a group, dispersing into separate rooms was a much more efficient strategy.

Jiang Yi agreed as well, and the five of them walked toward different rooms. Jiang Yi approached a door, scanned the perimeter to ensure it wasn't damaged, and then slowly pushed it open!

The moment a narrow gap appeared, a zombie claw lunged out, grabbing toward his arm! Jiang Yi jerked his hand back with lightning speed. Boasting a movement speed approaching twice that of a normal human, Jiang Yi was already extremely close to the caliber of a primary speed-type awakened individual!

Facing an ordinary zombie, he was practically immune to sudden sneak attacks like this!

With a flash of his black-bladed knife in his left hand, he instantly sliced off the protruding zombie claw, followed swiftly by a hard kick that smashed the door wide open, sending the zombie inside tumbling out!

Three zombies crashed to the floor in a tangled heap. Jiang Yi strode into the room, and after three fluid strokes with his skull-clearing blade, all three zombie heads parted ways with their bodies! Simultaneously, the sounds of combat echoed from other directions as well!

Clearly, the number of zombies inside the third-floor private rooms was quite substantial. The only reason they hadn't alerted the group earlier was the exceptional soundproofing of the rooms.

Jiang Yi conducted a quick search of the room, though there wasn't much of value—just four mobile phones and some miscellaneous trinkets recovered from designer handbags left behind by three victims. Stowing anything potentially useful into his backpack, Jiang Yi proceeded systematically to kick open the door to the next private room...

Before long, the entire third floor had been largely cleared out by the five of them. The absence of any evolved zombies, however, left Jiang Yi somewhat disappointed, especially since the second zombie core belonged to him according to their agreement!

When Jiang Yi and the others regrouped, Jiang Yi couldn't help tilting his head to glance at Li Huiyu, who was standing behind Guo Hanxue.

Li Huiyu met his gaze and gave a subtle, acknowledging nod.

Upon spotting Li Huiyu, Li Gang flew into a rage and started to charge forward, only to be held back by Dongfang Tian. Li Gang could only fix a venomous, highly guarded glare on the nonchalant Li Huiyu. Meanwhile, Guo Hanxue stepped forward, glaring straight at Li Gang. "Dongfang Tian, I suggest you keep your subordinate under control!"

Both Dongfang Tian and Jiang Yi were somewhat surprised that Guo Hanxue would choose to intervene at a time like this.

Standing unblinkingly between them, Guo Hanxue looked at both Li Gang and Li Huiyu. "I'm sure you both realize that we're currently in a life-or-death crisis. The last thing I want to see right now is internal strife! Every single person adds to our hope of survival. Whatever grievances you have, save them until we reach safety. Do I make myself clear?"

Li Huiyu held his short blade in a reverse grip and muttered in a low voice, "I never wanted to make enemies with any of you in the first place! I just want to survive. Dongfang Tian, I advise you and your men not to provoke me again, because I'm not someone you can easily push around."

Laughing in bitter fury, Li Gang retorted, "Li Huiyu, you ungrateful wretch! If it weren't for us all this time, do you really think you'd still be breathing?"

Dongfang Tian stepped forward, staring coldly at Guo Hanxue. Seeing the absolute seriousness on her face, he barked, "That's enough, Li Gang! Since he no longer acknowledges me as his team leader, trying to force him to stay is pointless. I agree with Hanxue's suggestion!"

Guo Hanxue cast a satisfied look at both parties before retreating to stand beside Jiang Yi. Catching her meaningful look, Jiang Yi let out an amused chuckle and muttered softly, "Are you trying to create trouble for me?"

Guo Hanxue rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh please, since you're the team leader, shouldn't you be figuring out ways to strengthen our team? Li Huiyu's combat strength is exceptional. Don't you want to recruit a powerhouse like him?"

Jiang Yi pursed his lips non-committally.

While Guo Hanxue's reasoning wasn't wrong, his own criteria for selecting team members weren't simply about recruiting the strongest fighters. He only had a single standard! That is, his teammates had to be individuals recognized by his system's team-formation capability...

It wasn't that Jiang Yi overly relied on his special ability, but rather that he was gradually discovering certain underlying rules governing the team-recruitment system.

Although not entirely definitive, Jiang Yi estimated that the system's criteria for choosing team members probably wasn't based purely on raw strength...