Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 272: battle of olds
Boranโs gaze sharpened.
His jaw clenched, and for the first time in hours, a thin thread of real anger flickered behind his usually composed expression. ๐๐๐๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ป๐๐๐๐น.๐๐จ๐
"Watch your mouth..." he said quietly.
Moli stood with unhurried grace, wiping her bloodied fingers on the hem of her shirt. "Struck a nerve, didnโt I?"
He didnโt answer. He turned back to Wei Shengโs limp form on the floor.
The body was fading fast. His breathing was erratic now, barely audible wheezes, shallow like a leaky bellows.
The shredded skin around his shoulder was a mess of bite marks and dried blood.
Boran had told her to leave him usable. Not bleeding out like a butchered pig.
Moli walked closer, her presence taunting.
"Donโt pretend you didnโt like it. Seeing me break him. Watching how easy it is for someone to fall apart."
Her tone turned mocking.
"You chose me because Iโm good at making things unravel. You just didnโt think Iโd start with one of your toys."
"I didnโt choose you.." he said coldly. "I used you."
Her lips twitched into a grin.
"Thatโs the same thing, darling. Just fewer kisses."
Boran knelt beside Wei Sheng again, fingers brushing the edge of a pulse point in his neck.
It was weak, but still there.
Heโd have to replace the vessel soon. This one wasnโt going to last long. But he needed it to hold out just long enough.
Long enough for Qingran to find them.
Moli leaned down beside him, her voice lowering to something softer, almost sing-song.
"Sheโs not going to forgive you, you know. Even if she does come, even if you kneel and bleed and offer your throat like a dog, she wonโt take you back."
"She doesnโt need to take me back.." Boran murmured, standing slowly. "She just needs to look me in the eye again.."
Moli laughed.
It was cold and high-pitched, the kind that didnโt sound entirely human.
"Still chasing ghosts I see.." she said, eyes glittering. "And here I thought I was the unstable one."
He ignored her, moving to the dusty desk in the corner of the room.
Moliโs voice interrupted again, quieter this time. "You think you can still fix what you broke?"
"I donโt want to fix it.." he said.
His tone was calm."I want to ruin it properly."
She stared at him for a long moment, something flickering behind her expression. It wasnโt love. It wasnโt hate.
Just a kind of fascinated horror.
"You really are worse than me.." she whispered.
"I never pretended otherwise."
He looked back at Wei Shengโs crumpled body.
"Clean him up. We might need him just a little longer."
Qingran adjusted the straps on her backpack and turned to Meng Nian. Her voice was quiet but firm.
"Lead the way out," she said. "We donโt have time to waste."
Meng Nian gave a short nod, his expression already sharpening with focus. "Weโll need to move fast. The eastern zone is a long way from here. Weโre currently stationed in the south, which means a full-day trek, maybe longer if anything blocks our path."
Qingran glanced toward the narrow exit corridor that led out of their temporary shelter. "We donโt have a vehicle. Weโll walk."
Ruihuang lifted a brow. "Of course we will. Whatโs a trip without a little leg pain?"
Yu Song sighed but didnโt argue. He remained behind with Xu Tianming to watch over Shen Li and the others.
As they moved out of the bunker, the air shifted immediately. The scent of cement and filtered air was replaced with the dry, open stillness of the outside world.
Their boots crunched faintly against the cracked pavement as they stepped into the open landscape.
The roads were mostly empty.
Weeds pushed through fractures in the concrete. Old traffic lights hung askew, dead and useless.
Street signs were faded with age and corrosion. The silence was not comforting, but it was manageable.
Qingran scanned the horizon. The faint outline of distant structures marked the east side of the zone. It was far, but not unreachable.
Lingquanโs voice stirred gently in her mind. His tone was soft, but laced with unease.
[Qingran... I donโt want you to go. You know whoโs waiting. That man... heโs not someone you should face again.]
Qingran didnโt respond immediately. Her gaze remained on the path ahead, steady and clear.
"You think I have a choice?"
[No] Lingquan admitted.[But this isnโt just another mission. Youโre walking into the belly of the beast. I can feel it.]
"Then itโs time I learn how to cut it open. Iโm not afraid Lingquan, I wonโt be afraid to fight this time.."
Lingquan sighed, the kind of resigned breath only someone whoโs lived through it all could manage.
[Just promise me one thing. If itโs too much, if he tries to twist your mind again, youโll pull back. Donโt let him get inside your head. Not again.]
Qingranโs voice in her own thoughts was like steel.
"He wonโt. Iโve changed. And Iโm not the one who should be afraid this time.."
Beside her, Ruihuang adjusted the blade on his back.
"Youโre walking like youโve already decided to die in there," he muttered. "Donโt like that look on your face."
"I donโt plan to die."
"Good. Because if you do, Iโll be stuck babysitting that mess of a bunker."
Ahead of them, Meng Nian called out over his shoulder. "Weโll hit a broken rail line in a few hours. If we follow it northeast, itโll take us through the abandoned outer zone faster. Fewer buildings, less risk of ambush."
"Sounds good.." Qingran said.
Ruihuang jogged a few steps to catch up beside Meng Nian. "Do we have any idea what condition the east sideโs in?"
"Not much. Last I heard, most of it was overrun, but Boranโs presence changed that. Whatever hellhole heโs set up in, heโs cleared a space. We just have to find it."
A small humming noise buzzed in their ears. It wasnโt mechanical, it was Qiaoqiao, who burst into cheerful conversation from Meng Nianโs system space.
[Oooooh this is so exciting! I havenโt been this hyped since the battle of old.. you donโt know it, yโall weโre still cave men then..]
