"Is it over..."
Xia Leng's desperate gamble had paid off.
In the end, death was inevitable. If he could leave the enemy with a scar that would never be forgotten, why not?
Even without poison on the blade, Xia Leng would still have fought with all his might, even if it meant only leaving a faint scar.
Although the poison had seeped into the enemy's blood, the fate of this "Baptized" was sealed.
Yet Xia Leng remained highly vigilant.
The poison took three seconds to travel from the blood to the brain and spinal nerves to completely incapacitate a person. Given that Baptized individuals generally had a much higher constitution than ordinary people, it would take about five seconds to fully paralyze them.
Five seconds was enough time for an agile hunter to risk everything in a suicidal attack!
So Xia Leng gripped his dagger tightly, his gaze focused, ready to defend against the enemy's furious counterattack.
If he could withstand these five seconds, he might survive the night!
Moreover, the crystal in the Baptized's brain had tremendous value!
However, after two seconds had passed, Xia Leng did not receive the storm-like counterattack he had expected.
Puzzled, he looked up and saw the small leader with his left hand raised high, holding a steel knife with a fierce and gritted expression!
Crack!
With a crisp sound of bone being chopped, the small leader, wielding the knife in his left hand, had slashed down hard at his own elbow before the poison could spread from his right hand to the rest of his body...
"Ah!!!!!!!"
Xia Leng watched in shock as the severed arm fell to the ground, quickly melting into a pool of smoking green pus.
Aside from the blood gushing wildly from the severed arm and the agonized screams, the rest of the small leader's body seemed relatively unharmed.
Losing a limb to save one's life was a common occurrence in the apocalypse.
The small leader's self-rescue act was also one of the scenarios Xia Leng had anticipated.
Taking advantage of the moment before the enemy fully adapted to the extreme pain, he had to take the initiative to attack!
Xia Leng raised his dagger again, taking a step forward to stab at the small leader's neck!
Clang~~
The bone dagger did not penetrate the skin as he had hoped. Instead, it was quickly blocked by the small leader's left hand, which had deftly reversed the grip on the knife handle...
"You... you bastard, I will make you experience what it means to... wish you were dead!!"
The small leader's eyes, filled with bloodshot rage from the intense pain, stared fiercely at Xia Leng. He gritted his teeth, wishing he could crush Xia Leng to pieces!
How could a noble "Baptized" like him be defeated by a lowly commoner?!
Xia Leng instantly sensed an extremely ferocious aura from the small leader. Just as he was preparing to withdraw the dagger and retreat to a safe distance.
Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed by below him, thud!!
He felt a coldness in his abdomen, followed by excruciating pain that spread from his stomach to his entire body!
Xia Leng was kicked away by a swift and powerful kick from the apocalypse hunter, sending him flying five meters away!
During his flight, he heard the crunch of broken ribs in his chest, and then he crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust...
Xia Leng struggled to lift his head and saw the small leader tearing apart his clothes to bandage the severed arm and stop the bleeding. Then, wielding a knife in his left hand, he approached with a fierce expression.
As an ordinary person who had used all kinds of strategies and poured all his strength, Xia Leng still could not match the favored Baptized...
Gradually, his eyelids grew heavier, until darkness enveloped his vision...
...
...
The darkness lasted an unknown amount of time, until a searing heat spread throughout his body, waking Xia Leng from his unconsciousness.
He slowly opened his heavy eyelids and found himself tied to a vertical cross. The pain from the fractured ribs in his chest made it difficult to breathe.
Whoosh~
Another wave of intense burning sensation spread from head to toe, causing Xia Leng to emit a pained scream.
"Eh? Boss!! This guy is awake!"
At that moment, Xia Leng heard a familiar voice—it was the previous tall and thin one!
The tall and thin man dropped the iron bucket used to hold boiling water and ran to report to the boss.
Xia Leng weakly looked around and found himself in a makeshift camp surrounded by iron wire, tripods, and other obstacles, forming a small temporary refuge with dozens of tents.
The cross he was bound to stood in the center of the camp, facing a roaring bonfire. Through the flickering light, he could see dozens of hungry, beast-like eyes in the partially open tents, all fixated on the bound Xia Leng.
Xia Leng tried to struggle free from the cross, but intense pain shot through his limbs as they were bound with barbed wire!
The two buckets of boiling water thrown by the tall and thin man had almost burned the skin off him, making him even more sensitive to pain!
Soon, a hellish ordeal of torture was about to befall Xia Leng.
"Send some people to our previous battle site and bring back the bodies of those guys. Don't let them go to waste in the mouths of other mutated creatures."
At this moment, Xia Leng heard the small leader's voice approaching, giving orders to his subordinates.
Suddenly!
A hand yanked on Xia Leng's hair, pulling his head up!
Forced to see, Xia Leng saw the same small leader from before.
His own severed right arm, wrapped in layers of bandages, was still fresh in Xia Leng's memory, though blood was seeping through the wrappings.
"How do you like seeing your handiwork? Does it fill you with pride?!"
The small leader's face was twisted with rage as he forcefully lifted Xia Leng's head, making him look at the severed arm. His chest heaved violently, showing his words were not true to his heart, wishing he could tear the lowly commoner apart!
"Hmph..."
Xia Leng responded with a cold sneer, not even bothering to lift his eyelids, further infuriating the small leader, who had hoped to hear pleas for mercy!
But the small leader soon calmed down, "What? Do you want to completely enrage me so I kill you right away? Your thoughts are too naive, hahaha!!"
Seeing through his intentions, Xia Leng fell silent, closing his eyes to await the coming torture. He had come to terms with the situation—if he was going to die, it might as well be with some variety.
Xia Leng always found comfort in seeking amusement amidst suffering, giving himself a reason to be reassured...
"Originally, seeing your skills and the traps you set, I considered recruiting you, but you ruined my arm! Of course, that's not the main issue; it's your eyes that made me decide not to let you live, because one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers..."
"Are all small leaders so fond of talking nonsense? Just act, you fool..."
Xia Leng interrupted the small leader's lengthy speech, leaving him stunned.
"Fine! Since you're so intent on dying, I'll let you die slowly! Kids, come out and eat!!"
With his words, the residents inside the tents, who had been eager for a while, emerged!
However, these "residents" were either covered in sores, missing limbs, or had backs hunched so badly that their upper bodies were almost touching the ground!
In short, these deformed and grotesque humans were also products of the black rain contamination...
"Go and enjoy your meal. Remember, don't nibble at his vital points, or I'll blow your heads off!"
The small leader's face bore a savage smile, showing a sense of revenge fulfilled. However, thinking about how his missing arm would inconvenience future hunting expeditions, his mood soon darkened.
As Xia Leng looked at the approaching deformed and savage people, his prepared heart remained unmoved.
As their disgusting, rotting teeth began to gnaw at his body, causing excruciating pain, he still did not emit any cries of agony.
Even in death, Xia Leng wanted to see the small leader's disappointed expression...
Feeling the intense pain of his flesh being torn and bitten, Xia Leng's eyelids grew heavier. His life was slipping away with his blood.
In this cannibalistic wasteland world, perhaps death was the only true release...
At this moment, a deformed person trying to get a share of the feast was unable to push through and reach the "delicacy" right before it. It jumped around anxiously.
Finally, unable to resist the strong smell of blood, it took out a spiked mace, climbed onto the backs of the crowd, ignoring the leader's warnings, and rushed towards the near-death Xia Leng, smashing down on his head!
This deformed person wanted to savor the freshest brain fluid!
Boom!!
With a muffled sound, Xia Leng's head fell completely...
Inside his skull, a capsule buried there for an unknown number of years shattered upon impact, releasing a drop of pure black liquid that mixed with Xia Leng's brain...