The woman on the ground convulsed for a while longer, then finally gave a few hard kicks with her legs before going completely still.
I glanced at Suo Tian, who had half his body leaned into the car.
He was very close to the woman on the ground.
I sighed, pulled out my dagger, and walked toward the woman — I had to finish her off before she turned.
Uncle Gazi seemed to realize what I was planning.
He reached out and stopped me, his tone somewhat apologetic. "Girl, we folks in the countryside have some customs you might not know. When someone dies, we believe it should be a family member who sends them off on their final journey."
I paused and looked at the woman lying on the ground, waiting for him to continue.
"Let me do it," he said.
"I'm at least kind of family to Sister Zhang. We weren't close relatives, but I still count as someone from the same clan, don't I?"
I looked again at the woman on the ground, nodded to Uncle Gazi, and took a step back.
At that moment, Suo Tian, who had been tinkering with the car the whole time, turned around — probably having overheard my conversation with Uncle Gazi.
He glanced at the woman lying there, paused for a moment, then walked over to me.
I noticed he was holding something in his hand.
"What's that?" I asked him when he came to my side.
Suo Tian opened his hand calmly and said, "Found the car keys."
I was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Really? Where did you find it?"
Although Suo Tian could start the car without the key, having it would definitely make stop-and-go travel much more convenient.
Suo Tian didn't answer me.
Instead, he looked thoughtfully at the woman lying on the ground.
I followed his gaze.
Uncle Gazi was standing beside her, gripping his kitchen knife, but hadn't made a move yet.
I sighed.
After spending the past couple of days with him, I'd come to see that the old man had a warm heart and a kind soul.
Facing something like this now, it was understandable that he'd be feeling a bit conflicted.
Quite some time passed again.
I couldn't help but want to go over and urge Uncle Gazi.
Wang Tingyun was still at home waiting for us to return.
Although she had been left alone at home many times before, this was the first time I'd seen it with my own eyes, and I couldn't help but feel worried.
The sooner we dealt with this woman, the sooner we could get back.
Just as I was about to speak, I saw Uncle Gazi take a deep breath, step up to stand in front of the woman's head, raise his knife, and say apologetically, "Sister Zhang, I'm sorry. Old Gazi is sending you off on your final journey. Your two boys are waiting for you."
Then, without any more hesitation, he let out a heavy grunt and brought the knife down on the woman's head.
It was an eerie coincidence — just as Uncle Gazi's blade came down, I saw the woman suddenly open her eyes.
But in the very next second, the knife had already cleaved through half of her skull.
Uncle Gazi naturally didn't see that moment.
As he put away the knife, he forced out a couple of dry chuckles and said to Suo Tian and me, "At least she passed cleanly, right? She didn't turn into one of those... twisted things before she died."
Suo Tian said nothing, and I could only nod stiffly in agreement.
After moving the three bodies aside, Suo Tian got in the driver's seat.
I went ahead to open the main gate, wanting to check the surroundings first.
But the moment I opened the door, I was caught off guard—suddenly, a large walker lunged at me.
Although the attack was sudden, after being pounced on so many times before, I had at least learned a bit.
The moment that big guy lunged at me, my body moved on instinct—before my brain could even react, I dodged to the side just in time.
Suo Tian and Uncle Gazi were already seated in the car.
The big walker hadn't noticed them yet.
After I dodged, it turned its head back around and snarled, lunging at me again.
Its movements weren't fast, but paired with its massive size, the sheer presence alone was intimidating.
Even though I had a dagger in my hand, I didn't dare charge in recklessly.
With its bulk, and my height barely over 160 cm, it wouldn't be easy to accurately stab through its head.
Worse, if I failed and it pinned me down, I wouldn't even get a chance to struggle—I'd be joining that woman and her two sons in no time.
I had already been standing near the gate, and now with this lunge, I took two quick steps backward and exited the courtyard completely.
In front of the gate was a small patch of open cement ground, and beyond that was a narrow stream running across.
I had no choice but to retreat toward the right-hand path.
Gripping my dagger tightly, my palms were soaked with cold sweat.
My eyes kept darting to the courtyard gate behind the walker, looking for a chance.
Why the hell isn't Suo Tian coming out to save me?!
Just as I kept backing up, hoping Suo Tian would come out and rescue me, things took an even worse turn.
I swear, the one thing this world never lacks is trouble piling on when things are already bad—like a leaky roof getting hit by a downpour.
Not far behind me, I suddenly heard the groans of a few more walkers.
This road only led to the village chief's house, so it wasn't very long to begin with.
I had already backed up halfway.
I glanced at the hulking walker in front of me to make sure there was still a safe distance between us, then quickly turned around to check the situation behind me.
One look, and I almost cursed out loud—four more walkers were staggering down the path we'd just come from, heading straight toward me.
I seriously wanted to scream.
Just when I was about to get sandwiched by walkers from both sides, Suo Tian finally charged out of the gate holding his long blade.
He quickly scanned the surroundings and frowned slightly when he saw the situation I was in.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he rushed straight at me, blade in hand.
Suo Tian was tall—had to be at least 1.8 meters by my estimation.
Though not quite as tall as that hulking walker, the size difference wasn't enough to matter.
With a weapon that sharp and his skill, cutting off that thing's head was about as easy as wringing a chicken's neck.
The moment Suo Tian swung his blade at the hulking walker, I stopped worrying and immediately turned to face the group of walkers now closing in from behind.
Compared to the big one just now, these guys were nothing but small fry.
I kicked one over, then thrust my dagger straight into the skull of another.
At that moment, I noticed one of the walkers I'd knocked down still moving on the ground, its head not far from me.
Gritting my teeth, I raised my foot and stomped hard on its skull.
Black brain matter splattered everywhere as the walker's skull was completely crushed beneath my foot.
In just that brief moment, I had taken down two walkers on my own.
Right then, Suo Tian caught up from behind.
Swish, swish—two clean, swift strikes, and the remaining two walkers were cleanly decapitated.
I noticed that whenever Suo Tian swung his long blade, the walker heads were cleanly cut in half and sent flying.
Unlike me—every time I killed a walker, there'd be black, sticky blood splattering everywhere.
Disgusting.
After that, we didn't dare waste another second.
Suo Tian and I quickly returned to the car.
As soon as I got in, Uncle Gazi looked at me anxiously and asked, "Girl, you okay? This young fella here refused to let me outta the car—otherwise, your Uncle Gazi would've definitely gone down to save you."
I glanced at Suo Tian, who was starting the engine, then smiled at Uncle Gazi and said, "The two of us can handle it. No need to worry, Uncle Gazi —I'm totally fine, not a scratch on me."
Sure enough, when we got back to Uncle Gazi's house, Wang Tingyun didn't even wait for us to knock—she immediately opened the front gate.
Seeing her tiny little figure standing there, all serious-faced as she pulled the door open, something inside me instantly softened.
The alley in front of Uncle Gazi's house was just wide enough, so we simply parked the car right at his doorstep.
As we got out and walked into the courtyard, I scooped up Tingyun and gave her a kiss on the cheek, smiling as I asked, "Little one, were you scared all by yourself?"
Tingyun probably hadn't been treated so affectionately by anyone other than her grandpa in a long time.
For a moment, she seemed a little embarrassed.
She wanted to look at me but was too shy, so she just lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers, occasionally sneaking a glance at me—thinking she was being stealthy, though it was obvious.
When Uncle Gazi saw his granddaughter, all the unhappy things from earlier seemed to vanish instantly.
After closing the gate, he laughed heartily as he took Tingyun from my arms and gave her a couple of loud kisses on the cheek.
Then he turned to me and said, "Well, girl? Ain't my granddaughter well-behaved? I wasn't just braggin', was I?"
I waved my hand with a smile and said, "Uncle Gazi, what are you saying? The moment I laid eyes on this little one, I could see she's full of spirit. When you first told me about her, I already felt she was smart and sensible."
Honestly, Wang Tingyun really surprised me today.
Back when Uncle Gazi praised his granddaughter, I didn't think much of it—but now that I've seen her with my own eyes, it really does feel unbelievable.
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