NOVEL NEXT Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Lu You Joins the Team
The gang leader writhed on the floor, clutching his bleeding thigh. "You want me dead? Let her go!" he screamed at his lackeys.
Lao Er reluctantly released Lu You. "We'll trade!"
Xiao Yang pressed his combat knife against the leader's other leg. "No negotiations."
"Release her! Now!" The thugs scrambled to obey.
Lu You stumbled forward, her torn clothes exposing frostbitten skin. Mu Wanqing rushed upstairs with a Tang sword and draped her parka over the shivering chef.
"Time to pay up." Xiao Yang gripped the leader's wrist, forcing their forearms together. The glowing numerals 354d 12:34:21 flickered on the thug's skin. "Transfer all but thirty minutes."
"What witchcraft..."
Xiao Yang's pistol barked twice. Lao Er and Lao San collapsed with knee wounds. "Next bullet's between your eyes."
The gang leader's lifespan drained into Xiao Yang's arm like sand through an hourglass. His underlings followed suit, whimpering as their remaining days evaporated.
Reckoning
Lu You accepted the Tang sword with calloused hands. The blade flashed.
"Mercy! I'll—"
The leader's plea ended mid-sentence as steel cleaved his skull. Lu You stared at the twitching corpse, then turned to the crawling thugs.
"Wait! We'll—"
Three swift chops silenced them. She methodically mutilated Lao Si's corpse, her strikes echoing butcher shop rhythms.
"Rest in peace." She draped tablecloths over her dead staff.
Departure
Xiao Yang loaded the restaurant's liquor stash into the RV. Lu You paused at the entrance, tracing her faded restaurant sign once more before boarding.
"Call me Xiao Yang."
"Xiao... di." She tested the familial term, wrapping herself in borrowed thermal wear.
Mu Wanqing gaped. "You're thirty-five? You look twenty-eight!"
The chef's laughter warmed the armored cabin. "Late-night kitchen shifts preserve youth."
As the RV plowed through frozen streets, Lu You's gaze lingered on the apocalyptic scenery - her old life shrinking in the rearview, her new survival manual being written in bloodstained steel.