Chapter Eleven: The Murong Sisters

The scavenger goblins immediately turned their heads upon hearing the sound. Spotting Tang Zhen running toward them, they locked onto him with fierce, bloodthirsty eyes, emitting harsh low growls. At the same time, two of the scavenger goblins swiftly changed direction and lunged viciously at Tang Zhen.

The young girl, having seen this unexpected intruder, first showed a flicker of surprise in her eyes before seeming to realize something. She shouted urgently at Tang Zhen, “Run! Run fast! The monsters eat people!”

Her words were desperate, clearly warning him to escape quickly. Yet, her awkward speech suggested she had not spoken to anyone in a long while.

Tang Zhen was grateful for the girl's kindness. Even in danger, she thought of others’ safety. He could not simply stand by and watch.

Without hesitation, Tang Zhen swiftly raised his pistol, aimed at one of the creatures, and pulled the trigger.

“Bang!”

A sharp crack echoed, the bullet striking its mark. The struck monster let out a miserable scream as a green, round hole appeared in its head. It struggled violently before twitching and dying.

The gunshot instantly stunned the remaining four monsters. They were evidently creatures of simple intelligence; the sudden death of their companion shocked them deeply. After a few chirps and squeaks exchanged among them, a flicker of fear appeared in their eyes. Then, without agreement, they twisted their bodies and fled.

Perhaps they had once witnessed the power of firearms, which explained their terror.

Seeing this, Tang Zhen’s heart leapt with joy. He did not hesitate to shoot repeatedly at the backs of the four fleeing monsters. After a rapid volley, all four collapsed to the ground, twitching in their death throes.

Slaying five monsters so easily surprised Tang Zhen, especially since he had firsthand experience with how troublesome these creatures could be.

He glanced at the monsters’ bodies and felt a twinge of disgust at the green slime oozing from their wounds, turning away without another look. He ejected the empty magazine and swiftly replaced it with a fully loaded one.

Then, drawing his folding knife, he crouched and extracted the brains from the slain monsters. After wiping his hands clean with a tissue, he turned to look at the girl. Offering a faint smile to the still frightened girl, Tang Zhen tucked his pistol into his belt.

The girl had laid down the iron plate knife she had been clutching across her chest and was now sitting on the ground, sobbing as she held the little girl in her arms. The harrowing near-death experience had evidently terrified her.

Seeing this, Tang Zhen said nothing, only grinning as he shook his hand, which bore a raw patch torn by the pistol’s holster. He silently admonished himself for being too nervous.

But for a first-time user of a weapon, managing to kill the monsters rather than firing bullets wildly into the air was already an admirable feat.

As the girl’s crying dragged on, Tang Zhen finally interrupted, “Please don’t cry anymore. This place isn’t safe. Shouldn’t we find somewhere else?”

The girl stopped crying at his words, wiping the mud-streaked tears from her cheeks. She glanced silently at Tang Zhen, then waved her hand.

She carried the expressionless little girl ahead, while Tang Zhen followed closely behind. They turned left and right, walking far away. When they reached the edge of the abandoned factory, the girl stopped in front of a patch of grass hiding a cement pipe blocked by a slab, barely wide enough for one person to enter.

She beckoned Tang Zhen again and crawled inside first.

After a moment’s hesitation, Tang Zhen quietly drew his pistol, concealed beneath his clothes, and followed into the pitch-black entrance. After bending low and walking about ten meters, a roughly ten-square-meter underground water channel opened before him.

The environment was crude, barely sufficient to shield from wind and rain.

A strange, unsettling odor filled the air. The two sisters, living long in this place, carried the same scent. Tang Zhen instinctively covered his nose.

Noticing his reaction, the girl’s face flushed slightly. Tang Zhen realized his mistake and discreetly lowered his hand.

Sunlight filtered through cracks in the ruins above, illuminating the underground chamber. In one corner stood a small bed made from wooden planks and straw. The little girl was seated there, curiously watching Tang Zhen.

The elder girl was carefully collecting dripping clear water from a hollow in the basement floor, gathering it into a glass bottle.

Seeing Tang Zhen’s curious gaze, she avoided his eyes briefly before offering the bottle with both hands. Her voice hoarse from screaming earlier, she said in a somewhat awkward tone, “You… sit down and drink some water.”

Tang Zhen was momentarily stunned. Was she asking him to drink this dirty, pooled water? Yet, considering her dire circumstances, he guessed this water must be precious to her.

Smiling gently, he shook his head and refused. Seeing the slight hurt in her eyes, he waved his hand lightly, and a bottle of mineral water along with several packets of biscuits appeared on the ground.

Startled by the sudden appearance of food, the girl examined it carefully. After confirming it was edible, she cautiously asked, “Are you… a mystic?”

Tang Zhen, showing off his ability to summon items from storage space for the first time, had been somewhat proud. But her question sent a shock through him. He hurriedly asked, “Mystic? You mean someone who can conjure things like I do?”

“Yes,” she nodded slightly, eyes fixed on the food, lips pursed dryly.

Seeing this, Tang Zhen shook his head slightly, picked up a packet of biscuits and a bottle of water, and handed them to her. “If you tell me everything you know—the rumors and all—then this food is yours.”

Suddenly, the girl’s eyes sparkled with hope. She stared intently and asked, “Is that really true? All of it for me?”

“Of course.”

Tang Zhen’s nod of affirmation prompted the girl to snatch a biscuit packet and bite fiercely—but only on the plastic wrapping.

Tang Zhen laughed heartily. Embarrassed, the girl rolled her eyes and ignored him. She tore open the biscuit packet, gave some to the little girl, and quickly hid the rest of the food and water behind the bed.

Tang Zhen could only laugh and shake his head. “Don’t worry, it’s all yours. No one will take it from you. Now come sit and tell me all the rumors you know.”

But instead of moving closer, the girl curled her slender legs, hugging herself gently. She watched the little girl devour the food, then began to recount her tale with a distant gaze.

The girl’s father had once been the lord of a small human city. When the city was attacked by warriors of a foreign tribe, her parents were both slain in battle. She and her sister were rescued at great risk by a few warriors.

In the days following, these warriors either left or died one by one, leaving only the two sisters wandering the wilderness.

Their current shelter was discovered a year ago: an abandoned underground culvert.

Though not entirely safe, the girl’s hidden refuge was well concealed, and her cautious nature had miraculously kept them alive for a year.

But two evenings ago, the factory ruins suddenly appeared nearby, just a stone’s throw from her hiding place. She had been terrified, clutching the little girl in a corner, barely daring to breathe for fear of attracting the wandering monsters.

Yesterday at noon, a group of warriors from a nearby city stormed the area. They cleared the monsters and found a hidden basement, fighting fiercely with several powerful creatures. After killing them, they left.

The girl had witnessed the entire battle. During the fighting, one person had used firearms and another had conjured items out of thin air, just like Tang Zhen. The other warriors called that man “Mr. Mystic.”

The girl had only ever seen warriors skilled in martial arts before; this was her first encounter with a mystic.

With the monsters cleared and her sister starving, the girl risked venturing out for food.

Despite her extreme caution, she was discovered by hidden monsters. Before Tang Zhen appeared, she had feared she and her sister would become the monsters’ prey, her heart sinking into despair.

Listening to the girl’s tearful recounting, Tang Zhen furrowed his brow, touched by the harsh fate of these two girls. A faint pang of compassion stirred within him.

Whatever the reasons, he could not bear to see them, so young and beautiful, continue to endure hunger and the threat of death. Especially after learning the tragic plight of humanity in this world, he was even less willing to watch his kind perish without action.

Watching the girl lost in memories, Tang Zhen casually asked, “Do you have a name? What is it?”

The girl brushed hair from her eyes and whispered, “My name is Murong Ziyan. My sister is Ziyue.”

“Um, um, uncle is good. I’m Ziyue,” the little girl said crisply, nodding. Beneath her malnourished yellow hair, her lively eyes looked at Tang Zhen.

“Call me brother. My surname is Tang,” he smiled.

Seeing these two sisters struggling to survive in the wilderness, depending on each other, Tang Zhen felt a deep kinship stir in his heart, reminding him of his childhood with his own sister.

He chuckled softly. “Both your names are beautiful.”

Murong Ziyan shook her head gently, stroking her sister’s dry hair, her face clouded with worries.

After a long moment, with a hint of struggle, she bit her lip and turned to Tang Zhen, her voice pleading, “Can I stay? I want to be your woman.”

Tang Zhen had not expected such a sudden confession and was momentarily at a loss for words. Then he realized her motive—it was to secure a protector for herself and her sister.

Though he wanted to refuse, the tender look she cast toward her sister extinguished his refusal.

Indeed, how could a fragile young woman, with a naive sister, survive in this chaotic, perilous world? Perhaps attaching herself to a strong man was their best hope. Even if Murong Ziyan saw it as a bargain, she was willing.

Shaking his head softly, Tang Zhen inwardly lamented fate’s cruelty, but Murong Ziyan misunderstood his gesture.

She trembled, gritted her teeth fiercely, then suddenly lunged, grabbing his hand before he could react. She pulled open his clothes and pressed his large hand against her bare chest.

Looking him straight in the eyes, she implored, “I can cook, I can sleep with you, and I can bear your children. Anything a woman can do, I can do! Please stay. I beg you, stay!”