Apocalypse: Why did you provoke her? She's a cultivator.

Chapter 140: Kill as Many as They Come
Inside the small building, the dim light shone on the faces of Chu Qingyang, Nan Shaohua, Shen Yujie, and Fang Jun, revealing the solemnity between their brows.

On the low table in the living room, there was still water left, with fine beads of water clinging to the glass, much like the tense nerves of the four people at that moment.

A faint smell of burning lingered in the air, the smell of rocks struck by Chu Qingyang's lightning, mixed with the dampness from Fang Jun's water evaporation and the grassy smell left by Nan Shaohua's broken vines, all intertwined into a complex atmosphere, indicating the brief but dangerous confrontation that had just taken place.

Chu Qingyang's fingertips still felt numb from the electric current.

He tapped the table with his finger, his voice muffled: "When that one-eyed guy ran away, the way he looked at us was strange, like he was holding a grudge."

Fang Jun had just washed his face with cold water, his hair still wet and sticking to his forehead, when he continued, "He lost most of his men, so he's definitely not willing to accept it."

Moreover, judging from their equipment and modus operandi, they don't seem to be a lone group; they likely have someone backing them.

Shen Yujie was checking his healing energy, a pale green halo flickering in his palm: "In the fight just now, their teamwork was rough, but they were fearless and it didn't seem like they were just trying to grab supplies."

Nan Shaohua remained silent, his fingers unconsciously rubbing his cuffs, which were still covered in mud brought back by the vines.

He looked up towards the second floor. The light at the top of the stairs was cut off by shadows, creating a slanted line. It was so quiet that he could hear the whistling of the wind blowing through the bare branches outside the window.

"I'll go tell Sister Ye." He stood up, his voice carrying a reassuring power, a composure unique to wood-type ability users. "We need to tell Sister Ye about everything that happened tonight."

The three nodded, and Chu Qingyang hummed in agreement: "If those people dare to come again, we will definitely kill them without leaving a single one alive."

The stairs are an old-fashioned wooden structure, making a slight creaking sound when you step on them, which is especially clear in the quiet night.

Only a small nightlight was on in the second-floor corridor, casting a dim light. Ye Qiumian's door was ajar, letting in a slightly brighter light.

Nan Shaohua paused at the door, then gently knocked twice: "Sister Ye?"

"Come in." Ye Qiumian's voice came from inside, calm as a deep pool of water, without any ripples.

Pushing open the door, I saw Ye Qiumian sitting in a wicker chair by the window, holding an old book in her hands. The night light from outside the window wafted in, casting a faint outline on her profile.

The white porcelain cup on the table was still steaming, clearly indicating that the tea had just been brewed not long ago.

Nan Shaohua walked over, his gaze sweeping across the window.

This vantage point offers a clear view of the most intense fighting that took place downstairs.

His heart skipped a beat, and he vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

"Sister Ye." He spoke carefully, briefly recounting what had just happened.

The one-eyed man's surprise attack, how the four coordinated their counterattack, the enemy's retreat after suffering heavy losses, and their concerns that the enemy might come back.

"...Those people came in aggressively, they didn't seem to be just passing by. I'm worried that they have powerful backers, and something bad might happen tonight."

After he finished speaking, he waited for Ye Qiu Mian's response, but when she closed her book and looked up at him, there was a knowing smile in her eyes.

"I know." Ye Qiumian's voice was soft as her fingertips traced the warm rim of the cup. "I was watching from here just now."

Nan Shaohua was taken aback, but then he realized what was happening.

That's right. The second-floor window faces the open space. With such a loud fight just now, how could Sister Ye not have noticed?

He suddenly remembered that during the battle, he seemed to have caught a glimpse of a figure by the second-floor window out of the corner of his eye, but he had been too focused on dealing with the enemy to think about it properly. "You..." he stammered, "Then how did you..."

“Because you handled it very well.” Ye Qiumian interrupted him, her tone filled with undeniable certainty. “Qingyang’s lightning control was precise, Shaohua, your vine blockade was timely, Fangjun’s water-based coordination was flawless, and Yujie’s healing was also up to par. The four of you formed a perfect formation without a single flaw. It seems you are becoming more and more in sync.”

She stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open a crack to look out into the darkness.

The night wind was exceptionally cool, blowing the stray hairs around her ears.

“Those people look fierce, but their abilities are mixed and their coordination is loose. The four of you working together should be enough to handle them.” Her gaze darkened in the night. “If I were to intervene, it might disrupt your rhythm.”

As Nan Shaohua watched her retreating figure, he suddenly felt that his earlier worries were somewhat unnecessary.

Sister Ye is always like this; she seems calm, but in reality, everything is under her control.

Her perception was far sharper than they thought. Standing on the second floor just now, she probably saw clearly even the look in those people's eyes as they retreated and the injuries of their men.

"What if...they really come back with even more people?" Nan Shaohua still voiced his concerns.

Ye Qiumian turned around, a faint smile playing on her lips, but a sharp glint in her eyes: "No matter how many come, kill them all."

She raised her hand, her fingertips brushing across the windowsill, where a tender green bud had appeared, swaying gently in the night breeze. "This building isn't so easy to break into."

Nan Shaohua felt a sense of relief; his tense nerves, which had been soaked in warm water, gradually relaxed.

He nodded: "I'll go down and tell them."

"Go on." Ye Qiumian sat back down in the wicker chair, picked up the old book, and said, "Let everyone take a break and recharge. Tonight... is definitely not going to be peaceful."

Footsteps echoed down the stairs again, and the lights on the second floor remained quietly on.

Ye Qiu turned the pages of the book, but his gaze fell on the impenetrable darkness outside the window.

She knew that those people were just the outpost; the real storm was yet to come.

But it doesn't matter, she and her people have never been afraid of any storms.

Nan Shaohua went downstairs and told them that Ye Qiumian already knew about the sneak attack.

"Now that we know, let's hurry up and recover our abilities," Chu Qingyang said.

The battle just now depleted everyone's superpowers. We need to recover all our superpowers as soon as possible before those people come back.

The others nodded, each taking out a few crystal cores, then sitting cross-legged on the sofa in the living room, closing their eyes to absorb the energy from the crystal cores.

Just as Shen Yujie was about to close his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a wound on Nan Shaohua's wrist out of the corner of his eye.

"How did you get a cut on your hand?" Shen Yujie asked, frowning.

Nan Shaohua raised his hand and glanced at it, saying nonchalantly, "Hey, I just got hurt. I didn't even notice until you mentioned it."

"Let me heal you." Shen Yujie released his healing ability, smoothing the scorch marks on Nan Shaohua's wrist that had been grazed by stray bullets during the battle.

The living room suddenly fell silent, with only the rustling of the wind through the trees outside the window.