13: Chapter 13 Fierce Battle Against the Hunters

At this moment, in Area 04 of the rear carriage.

This had originally been a small storage room, but it had been temporarily converted into a four-person room.

However, because the conditions were too poor, the other three girls had all found excuses to squeeze into the front, leaving Zhao Ji all alone here, sulking.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The sounds of impact against the window grew more and more violent, each one feeling like a hammer blow to Zhao Ji's heart.

She curled up in the corner of the lower bunk, wrapped in her expensive fur coat (though it looked a bit dirty now), clutching her Hermes bag for self-defense, her whole body shaking like a leaf.

"Don't come over... please don't come over..."

Zhao Ji looked at the startling cracks on the window and the terrifying, eyeless face with only a mouth outside the glass. Tears and snot smeared her face, and her originally exquisite makeup was now a mess, making her look like a ghost.

She wanted to run, but her legs were as soft as noodles and she couldn't stand up at all. She wanted to scream for help, but her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and she could only make wheezing sounds.

Crack—Crash!

Finally, the battered bulletproof glass reached its limit.

With a crisp shattering sound, the entire pane of glass exploded into fragments.

A cold wind carrying the scent of blood instantly poured in, blowing Zhao Ji's long hair into a wild dance.

Immediately after, a pale white figure slipped inside like a phantom.

Screech—

The Hunter landed silently. Its reverse-jointed limbs twisted on the floor, and its eyeless head swayed from side to side. Its keen sense of smell instantly locked onto Zhao Ji in the corner, who was radiating fear and the scent of flesh.

It split its huge mouth open, revealing a row of saw-like fangs, and let out a hair-raising hiss. With a kick of its hind legs, it pounced forward like an arrow released from a bow!

"Ah—!!!"

Zhao Ji finally erupted into the highest-decibel scream of her life.

She instinctively raised the Hermes bag in her hands to block her front, but before the Hunter's sharp claws, it was as flimsy as a sheet of tissue paper.

Riiip!

The bag worth over a hundred thousand yuan was instantly shredded.

The sharp claw tips sliced through the fur, piercing into Zhao Ji's arm, and blood splattered.

At that critical moment.

Bam!

The locked iron door was kicked open!

"Get the hell away from her!"

A thunderous roar echoed.

Lin Xiao rushed in like a god descending to earth.

The narrow carriage made it impossible to use long weapons, let alone fire a gun, as it was too easy to cause accidental injuries.

The fire axe in his hand whistled through the air. Using the momentum of his sprint, he swung it down hard at the Hunter that was about to bite through Zhao Ji's neck!

Clang!

The Hunter's reactions were extremely fast. It seemed to have eyes in the back of its head as it forcefully twisted its body and raised its claws to block the axe.

The steel axe blade struck its iron-hard claws, and a shower of sparks actually flew!

The massive recoil made Lin Xiao's palm go numb, but he did not back down.

"You want to eat my crew member? Did you get my permission!"

Lin Xiao used the momentum to turn sideways and delivered a fierce knee strike to the Hunter's abdomen.

But the monster's strength was astonishing. It took the hit without moving an inch; instead, its long tail lashed out like a whip, sending Lin Xiao crashing against the wall with a dull thud.

Cough...

Lin Xiao felt his blood churning in his chest. This Level 2 monster was truly no joke; its strength attribute was at least three times that of an ordinary person!

The Hunter was clearly enraged by this interloper. It abandoned Zhao Ji, who was already its prey, and turned its focus toward this more threatening male creature.

It hissed and moved like lightning, pouncing at Lin Xiao again. Its two claws struck from the left and right, cutting off all of Lin Xiao's evasion routes.

When meeting on a narrow path, the brave prevails!

In this narrow space of less than five square meters, Lin Xiao had no way to dodge.

His eyes turned fierce. Since he couldn't dodge, he would fight for his life!

Instead of retreating, he advanced, raising his left arm to tank a claw strike, not caring even as several bloody gashes were carved into him. His right hand tightly gripped the fire axe, aiming to hack down at the Hunter's neck.

Just then.

A blast of frigid air suddenly rushed in from the doorway.

The temperature in the entire carriage instantly dropped by over a dozen degrees, and even the dust in the air condensed into ice crystals.

"Frost Thrust!"

A cold and resolute voice rang out.

Su Qingqian was seen fluttering like an ice butterfly, gracefully sweeping past Lin Xiao's side.

The Tang sword "water cutter" in her hand was now completely enveloped in a layer of eerie blue ice, its tip condensing a heart-stopping low temperature.

The moment the Hunter pounced toward Lin Xiao, the blade pierced with unerring precision into its defenseless back!

Pfft!

No blood splattered.

Because the moment the blade entered, the wound was frozen solid.

The extreme cold rapidly spread through its blood, and the Hunter's once wind-swift movements instantly stiffened, like a robot that had its pause button pressed.

"Lin Xiao! Do it!"

Su Qingqian shouted, both hands gripping the hilt as she firmly held the monster in place, preventing it from breaking free.

"Die!"

Lin Xiao didn't need her reminder.

The moment the monster stiffened, he ignored the sharp pain in his left arm, gripped the fire axe with both hands, mobilized all his strength, and with power from his core, delivered a sweeping strike!

Crack—

That ugly pale white head, like a frozen radish, was chopped right off by the axe!

Even the frozen spine shattered under this blow.

Black foul blood, having lost the suppression of the ice, finally gushed out.

Splurt—

The headless corpse was still twitching, and the gushing foul blood splattered all over Zhao Ji, who was closest.

"Ahhhhhhh—!!!"

Looking at the head that had rolled to her feet, its large mouth still agape, Zhao Ji completely broke down. She scrambled backward using both hands and feet until her back hit the cold wall, and she continued to scream incessantly.

"Shut up!"

Lin Xiao wiped the blood from his face (mostly the monster's, with a bit of his own), his eyes filled with murderous intent as he stared coldly at Zhao Ji.

That gaze was even scarier than the zombies outside.

Zhao Ji was silenced instantly by the roar, like a chicken with its neck squeezed, leaving only her whole body trembling and her eyes filled with endless terror.

Lin Xiao carried the blood-dripping fire axe and walked step by step to Zhao Ji.

He looked down at this once haughty and arrogant young lady. At this moment, she was as wretched as a stray dog, her face a mix of tears, snot, and zombie blood—where was there any trace of the "department beauty" left?

"Look at yourself now."

Lin Xiao said coldly, his voice devoid of any pity.

"When that monster came in just now, what were you doing? Screaming? Waiting to die?"

"Don't you have nail clippers? Don't you have high heels? Even biting it would be better than waiting here like a pig to be slaughtered!"

Zhao Ji's lips trembled, wanting to defend herself, but she couldn't say a word.

"I saved you once, but that doesn't mean I'll save you a second time."

Lin Xiao bent down, using his blood-stained finger to tilt Zhao Ji's chin up, forcing her to look at him.

"On this train, there are no useless people."

"Next time, if you encounter this situation again and all you do is scream without fighting back... I'll throw you out to provide a meal for the brothers outside."

"I mean what I say."

After speaking, Lin Xiao pushed her face away in disgust and turned to look at Su Qingqian.

Su Qingqian was leaning against the doorframe, panting slightly. That burst just now had consumed a lot of her stamina, and such an extremely cold environment was also a burden on her.

But her gaze as she looked at Lin Xiao was strikingly bright.

It was the tacit understanding between comrades-in-arms, and also a woman's admiration for the strong.

"Are you okay?" Lin Xiao looked at her slightly pale lips, his tone softening considerably.

"I'm fine. Just a bit cold." Su Qingqian sheathed her sword and wrapped her clothes tightly around her.

Lin Xiao nodded, then pointed to the headless corpse on the floor still leaking black blood, before looking back at Zhao Ji huddled in the corner.

"Zhao Ji, I'll give you a chance to live."

He kicked a nearby bucket and rag (originally placed there for cleaning).

"Clean this place up. Don't leave even a single drop of blood. Also, drag this corpse to the incinerator and burn it."

"If you don't finish, don't sleep tonight, and don't eat either."

"I... I don't dare... It's so disgusting..." Zhao Ji looked at the corpse, her stomach churning.

"You don't dare?" Lin Xiao sneered. "Then you can sleep while hugging it. Or, I think the zombies outside would be very happy to switch places with you."

After speaking, Lin Xiao ignored her and pulled Su Qingqian out of the room.

"Come on, let's go to the front and bandage your wounds."

Behind them came Zhao Ji's suppressed crying and the sound of a bucket being dragged.

This young lady, who had never done a day's work in her life, finally picked up a rag for the first time on this brutal night, even if she was trembling, even if she was crying while she worked.

Because she finally understood one truth: in this world, no one would coddle her. If she wanted to live, she had to work as hard as a dog.

...

Back in the driver's cabin.

The tide of corpses outside finally seemed to show signs of receding.

With the deaths of the Screamer and the Hunter, although the remaining ordinary berserk zombies were still charging tirelessly, their numbers were rapidly decreasing under the harvest of the swarm drones and machine gun towers, whose power had been restored.

Lin Xiao leaned back in his chair, letting Shen Man bandage the claw wound on his left arm while she wept.

"Hiss... gentler, Beauty Shen, are you trying to murder your husband?" Lin Xiao joked, intentionally grimacing.

"You still have the nerve to talk! Do you know how much you scared me!"

Shen Man glared at him with red eyes, though her movements became even more gentle. "It was so dangerous and you still rushed in. If something happened to you, what would happen to all of us on this train?"

"I knew what I was doing."

Lin Xiao smiled and glanced at Su Qingqian, who was resting with her eyes closed nearby. "Besides, didn't I have Qing Qian covering me? That strike was brilliant."

Su Qingqian opened her eyes, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly: "It's because you drew the fire so well. You're the only one who dares to use such a reckless fighting style."

The three of them looked at each other and smiled.

This night of bloody battle, though perilous, had made the relationship between these three core members even closer.

That kind of life-and-death bond was far more solid than any oath.

Outside the window, on the eastern horizon, that crimson blood moon finally began to dim.

A sliver of dawn was stubbornly tearing through the night curtain.

The sky was about to brighten.

...

...

The eastern horizon showed a pale dawn, and that heart-stopping blood moon finally slowly faded behind the turbid clouds.

Four o'clock in the morning.

The wind on the wasteland still carried a bone-chilling cold, but blowing on everyone now, it felt like the gentlest caress in the world.

"It's over..."

It was unclear who murmured it first.

The Black Iron train sat quietly on the tracks. Its originally black and domineering armored body was now covered in various colors of foul blood and shredded meat, looking like a steel beast that had just crawled out of an asura field.

Within a fifty-meter radius of the train, zombie corpses were piled like mountains—some charred, some shredded, others with their heads blown open—emitting a nauseating stench of burning and rot.

In the driver's cabin, Lin Xiao slumped in the leather seat. The cigarette in his hand, only half-smoked, had long since burnt out, and he didn't even notice the ash falling on his pants.

He was too tired.

Although his body had been enhanced, those four hours of high-intensity command, like walking a tightrope, were an extreme drain on his spirit.

Just then, a dazzling golden light exploded before everyone's eyes, followed by a system notification sound that was like heavenly music:

**[Ding! Congratulations to all members of Train No. 9527 for successfully resisting the first wave of the corpse tide, "Crimson Scurry"!]**

**[Survivors: 39/39 (Full survival!) ]**

**[Battle Rating: SSS-Rank (Perfect)!]**

**[Calculating rewards...]**

**[Conductor Lin Xiao has obtained: 5,000 Points!]**

**[All crew members receive attribute rewards: All Attributes +2!]**

**[Obtained Special Title: Junior Survivor Team (Team cooperation increased by 5%).]**

As the voice faded, a warm current surged into everyone's bodies out of thin air.

The girls, who had been so tired they didn't even want to move a finger, felt their exhaustion recede like a tide, replaced by an unprecedented sense of lightness.

Their skin became tighter and more delicate, and their eyes, which had been somewhat dull from fright, regained their luster.

"Wow! My strength seems to have increased!"

"Me too! My back doesn't ache and my legs don't hurt, and I feel like my skin has gotten better!"

The carriage filled with the surprised chatter of the girls.

Lin Xiao also felt this power. He clenched his fist, his knuckles making a crisp popping sound.

All Attributes +2 was equivalent to half a year of high-intensity special forces training for an ordinary person.

"Whew..."

Lin Xiao let out a long breath and stood up, looking out the window through the blood-stained bulletproof glass.

"This is just the beginning. What's more important are those..."

His gaze fell on the mountain of corpses. More precisely, on the shiny things within those corpses.