Chapter Forty-Three

A silver-white light suddenly gleamed in Lin Youwei’s eyes. She lightly tapped her toes and gracefully soared into the air, her long black hair cascading like a waterfall, flowing behind her with her movements.

Raising her hands slowly above her head, her slender fingers wove a delicate floral gesture, from which strands of shimmering white light spiraled. A soft moonlight immediately enveloped her entire body.

At that moment, the pillar of golden light collided with the silver radiance. The clashing of gold and silver erupted in a fierce blaze, illuminating the entire underground shopping mall.

The intense light pierced like arrows into the eyes; Li Luyan instinctively closed his eyes. When the light source finally faded and he opened them again, Lin Youwei had descended from the air, seemingly unharmed.

Not quite—Li Luyan squinted and noticed Lin Youwei staggering a few steps, a mouthful of fresh blood spilling out.

Gao Zheng, too, was no better off. The man knelt halfway on the ground, his face pale as if enduring immense pain.

A smirk curved Gao Zheng’s lips. “Your purity is indeed high… but daytime belongs to the sun!”

With that, he suddenly surged forward, golden blades of light condensing once more in his palms. Although dimmer than before, the energy radiating from him was formidable.

“It’s so hot,” Yu Yue shielded her face with one hand while aiming a pistol at Gao Zheng with the other.

“Bang!”

The bullet sped toward Gao Zheng but was deflected by the glowing shield surrounding him just before impact.

Yu Yue’s pupils contracted sharply—this was bad.

She swiftly rolled to the side, narrowly evading the ricocheting bullet.

My goodness, she almost got hit by her own returning bullet.

Li Luyan took a swift step to Lin Youwei’s side, steadying her unsteady frame.

Blood still stained the corner of the girl’s mouth, and the silver glow in her eyes dimmed somewhat.

Li Luyan whispered, “Are you confident?”

The divine power was indeed formidable. If even Lin Youwei couldn’t hold her own against him, none of them would survive today.

Gao Zheng’s golden flames blazed brighter, and the temperature within the underground mall soared rapidly. Everyone felt as if trapped inside a giant oven.

The little demon forcibly suppressed its urge to protect them. Its mission was to kill Li Luyan, preventing him from awakening and reclaiming the divine scepter. After all, as a divine creation, only a god could kill it; a mere divinity was no threat.

If Li Luyan and the others died, it could return to report back.

“Ha ha ha—” Gao Zheng laughed wildly, manifesting two dazzling golden light swords in his hands. “What’s purity worth? The moon’s gentleness will never surpass the sun’s brilliance!”

Before he finished, a shadow abruptly fell from the ceiling.

“Bang!”

Concrete fragments scattered as a figure dressed in a black trench coat landed steadily before Gao Zheng.

Li Luyan’s pupils constricted sharply—it was Li Lujun—or rather, Liu Qingye.

Without a word, he raised his hand and fired a shot. The silver bullet bypassed Gao Zheng’s defensive shield and struck his shoulder directly.

“Ah!” Gao Zheng cried out in pain, his golden flames flickering chaotically.

“What kind of creature are you, daring to lay a hand on my sister?”

The man in black looked at Gao Zheng with disdain, then turned to Li Luyan with a faint smile. “Sister, how pitiful you look without me around.”

Zhang Min also recognized Liu Qingye’s face. She stepped forward to support Gao Zheng, then stared directly at Li Luyan, raising her voice: “Li Luyan! We can talk.”

“Don’t let your brother kill Gao Zheng.”

She admitted that she still harbored feelings for Gao Zheng. In the final two years of the apocalypse, at least before she died, it was Gao Zheng who stayed by her side. Fine, she’d save him once more—after this, they would be even.

Zhang Min lowered her tone, “Lin Youwei wasn’t severely injured…” She glanced at Lin Youwei’s blood-streaked lips but swallowed her words abruptly before continuing, “The guns were indeed brought by Gao Zheng. We’ll give them to you—just don’t kill him.”

Upon hearing this, Li Luyan couldn’t help but laugh—it was utterly ridiculous. Why not say that from the start? Yet, they showed no sincerity at all.

She stepped forward slowly, the sounds of her boots and clogs clicking against the ground.

Sensing the shift, Pei Siying’s palm suddenly crystallized with icy spikes. “Li Luyan, you—!”

Zhang Min waved gently to signal Pei Siying to retract the ice, her expression sincere as she faced Li Luyan. “Shall we talk?”

Li Luyan crossed her arms, fixing Zhang Min with a piercing gaze. Finally, a smirk curled her lips as she asked, “Talk? How exactly?”

Zhang Min breathed a sigh of relief. If they could talk, things would be manageable. She had feared that Li Luyan’s brother had been killed by the mist demon, but unexpectedly, he had returned—armed with a gun of unknown material. In her previous life, she had struggled through three years of apocalypse and never seen such a weapon.

“Hand over the guns and supplies, then let us go.”

“Hand them over to us?” Li Luyan snorted. “What do you mean, hand them over? Are they labeled with your names?”

She lightly flicked Zhang Min’s chin with her revolver, raising an eyebrow. “If we’re talking, bring some sincerity.”

“You were spared last time. This time, if you don’t show sincerity—”

Li Luyan suddenly stopped, staring intently at Zhang Min.

Zhang Min realized she couldn’t back down this time; there was no escape without losing face. But the apocalypse had just begun, and she lacked any valuable assets—her only domain pearl had already been used by Li Luyan.

Seeing Zhang Min remain silent, Li Luyan feigned disappointment. “Ah… looks like we can’t talk after all…”

The next moment, Liu Qingye’s pistol aimed squarely at Zhang Min’s forehead. A cold sweat broke out on her back, and her face turned grim.

“We can talk!” Zhang Min blurted out. Gao Zheng even managed to get a gun; perhaps he had been reborn earlier than her and possessed many good things.

Li Luyan beckoned to the little demon, who eagerly scampered over.

With a flash of golden light, the little demon transformed behind Li Luyan into a dazzling golden chair.

Li Luyan sat down smoothly, crossing her legs and fixing Zhang Min with a teasing gaze. “Alright, how shall we talk—”

She deliberately dragged out the tone, but to Zhang Min, it sounded like a death knell.

“Gao Zheng! Hand over the good stuff,” Zhang Min commanded, looking at the groaning man on the ground.

Gao Zheng chuckled.

Seeing his expression, Zhang Min frowned. “What are you laughing at in this situation?”

“I just didn’t expect you to still care about me, Minmin.”

He winced, accidentally aggravating the wound on his right shoulder, grimacing in pain.

Zhang Min’s anger flared. “You’ll die from the pain if you don’t hurry up and hand over the good stuff.”

“All right, all right, Minmin, don’t be mad.”

With a gesture of surrender, Gao Zheng withdrew his smile and pulled something from the inner pocket of his jacket.