Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 925: Section 608: Winter Departure (Part 2)

Chapter 925: Section 608: Winter Departure (Part 2)

Tiptoeing, Meng Quyi approached a small building on the edge of the town, which had a relatively intact fence and a fairly complete door. On the sandy ground, she tried her best to make her footsteps inconspicuous. Earlier, she had killed a rabbit and removed some of its leg meat before throwing it onto a distant street—the zombies were chasing her, and this was a move to lure them.

Compared to her own scent, blood was more easily detected by the zombies’ sense of smell, and when they smelled blood, these creatures would turn into the most terrifying hunters.

Therefore, keeping a good distance became the top priority.

Placing her hand on the door, the young girl who had just lubricated the rusty door bolt with a spell gently pushed open the door without making much noise. She raised her silenced pistol—this was a protective weapon specially prepared for combat mages, equipped with a silencing magic array on the extended barrel, offering a more effective experience than a regular silencer, nearly truly silent, allowing more than one combat mage to escape successfully from behind enemy lines filled with monsters.

The muzzle first pointed to the right side of the door as it opened; when opening the door from the left side, this was the first place that could be confirmed clear. The fact that it was empty under infrared vision made Meng Quyi pause for a moment. She looked up at the space above the door to ensure safety before continuing to gently push it open as if it were being blown by the wind.

The wind masked her footsteps, and a zombie that was back-facing her crouched motionlessly in front of a broken window, only the red in vision confirming it was still alive.

Stepping inside the door, Meng Quyi threw a stone to attract the zombie’s attention, then drew her dagger. The young girl approached from behind the zombie and plunged the dagger into its occiput, triggering the Enchanted Weapon: Fire Effect. As the zombie’s body fell, its wound was destroyed by the high temperature, no blood flowed out.

The Mage’s Hand closed the door, and Meng Quyi quickly snuck into the shadows. With the Mage’s Hand by the window, hearing the commotion from the zombies downstairs, the zombies saw a shadow leap out of the window—a rough effect brought by the Mage’s Hand with a flurry of snowflakes, but the zombies, devoid of thought, jumped out the window straight after.

Meng Quyi released control of the Mage’s Hand, then summoned another to block the window with a bookshelf.

The zombies banged against the wall for a while, seemingly reluctant to give up. Meng Quyi sent the Mage’s Hand upstairs and through it, confirmed there was a zombie pup in the corner. After some thought, she had the Mage’s Hand grab the pup and crawl out of the house through the window. As the pup’s screams grew distant, Meng Quyi could hear the cries of the zombies outside fading away as well.

And it seemed as if the entire city came alive with it.

Using the fossilizing mud spell to seal the chimney and Activating Vine to seal several rooms, Meng Quyi finally had a chance to rest. She sat on the stairs and, after cleansing with Holy Water, cut open her pant leg. Her leg was now swollen and turning black from the break. She took out the issued Holy Water, placed a small basin made from petrified stone under the wound, cut open the injury, and cleansed it with Holy Water while a Vine forced a Healing Potion down her mouth.

Once no more tainted blood flowed from the wound, Meng Quyi used the Enchanted Weapon: Fire Effect on the dagger, and the Activating Vine turned into a wooden stick she clutched in her mouth. Meng Quyi gritted her teeth and pressed the side of the dagger against the wound.

High heat was never the best way to treat a wound, but desperate times called for desperate measures—especially since, in the current situation without an emergency kit, Meng Quyi really had no other way to tend to the wound.

After treating the wound, Meng Quyi calmed her emotions, released the stick from her mouth, and looked at the scar on her leg with a bitter smile—this time, another large scar added to her leg; no wonder her mother always said she would regret becoming a War Witch... Yes, indeed, she did have some regrets. As a girl, how could she wear short skirts in the future.

However, thinking of the injuries on her father’s body, and the tearful expression of her mother, Meng Quyi felt that as a woman, if she couldn’t share life and death with her loved one, there was no point in hiding safely behind. If you don’t even have the courage to die with your love, then what kind of love is that?

Putting the dagger back into its sheath, Meng Quyi set several traps on the first floor, then went upstairs. The second floor was unexpectedly clean, perhaps it was used as a nursery?

Finding a corner, she laid down a blanket. Meng Quyi heard screams from outside the window. The Activating Vine had opened a slit for its master, and she saw a group of zombies heading towards the direction where the young ones had just gone.

Further away, shrieks and howls were continuously heard.

It looked like Chaos and the zombies were fighting each other.

Sitting on the blanket, Meng Quyi took out a can from her only shoulder bag which had not been ripped apart.

As part of a safe scouting mission, Meng Quyi had brought along a medical kit, an ammunition bag, and a ration bag. When she was attacked, something resembling a short spear nearly cut open her waist. It seemed like luck, but in reality, it slashed the strap of her backpack. Consequently, the medical kit fell directly into the center of the city, traveling some distance, and the ammunition bag started falling. She had to dive to catch the ammo bag, thus getting hit by ground fire, barely surviving the ordeal.

Despite many misfortunes, luckily, her ration bag was still intact.

Inside, there were two whole wheat breads, two meat cans, two tubes of high energy condensed milk paste, and a compressed energy bar.

The last two are very sweet, usually eaten with bread as a supplement.

Meng Quyi now needed some meat to fill herself up, then carefully plan for the remaining food. She knew someone was bound to come look for her, so only after the battle between Chaos and the zombies in the North concludes would she leave this place—her ultimate destination being the Bell Tower in the town center, where she intended to leave a mark so that those looking for her would surely find she was alive.

People always want to leave something for each other to remember by, whether it was her father, Lulu, or... perhaps some elusive hero.

Someone would always come, Meng Quyi firmly believed in this.

.........

Putting on her goggles, pulling up her collar, and properly wearing her thick wool hat, she sat on the left seat of the combat airship; Rhodes continuously traced the Goddess of Fortune’s Holy Emblem in front of him. Although he didn’t believe in her, the young man still felt sometimes it’s not bad to believe in her, especially since he and his brothers were about to ascend in this chunks of iron.

"Is this contraption Lord Malin’s newest weapon?" Carmen shouted from the other side — the engine was so powerful that speaking softly nearby meant nobody could hear you.

"Yes, I heard it’s some sort of prototype, having thrown several big fellows called bombs, blowing up our guests’ pots several times," Sudel said beside Rhodes.

"So we’re using this to go there this time, not the track motorcycles?" a question came from behind from Halsan.

"Boys, don’t use those slow poke things that even kindergarten kids dislike, let uncle take you flying!" The gnome uncle said while pulling the control stick.

"Hmm, not bad, it actually can lift off the ground," Rhodes exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, it can actually take off, truly a magical engineering marvel, is this the legendary flying machine? It’s incredible, Lord Malin truly is a legendary craftsman," Halsan, completely gushing, made even Carmen a bit embarrassed — because this guy had praised everything he intended to praise.

"Haha, do you guys think it can only fly like this?" the gnome uncle asked with a laugh.

"How else could it fly?" Sudel asked, regretting this question the most afterward.

Because the next second, the battle airship accelerated, and the four youngsters strapped in their seats involuntarily screamed at the top of their lungs due to the high-speed flight.

......

Lulu stopped walking, and Lady Malin who had just attended a service in the Temple area noticed the young man who had called out to her, previously always following Meng Quyi like a shadow, what was up now.

"Is there something wrong, Sir Havin?" Lulu recalled for a moment, confirmed his name, and then smiled.

"Miss Meng has gone missing during this morning’s operation, respected Lady Lulu, please could you contact Lord Malin, as only he can help Miss Meng in such extreme conditions." The young man’s face showed genuine anxiety and unease, Lulu thought for a moment and nodded.

"Thank you very much, lady." The young man placed his hand on his chest, then quickly retreated.

Lulu watched as he disappeared at the end of the corridor, slightly furrowing her brows in confusion — she also had only just found out about Meng’s disappearance, despite having just prayed to the deity for the safety of her friends.

But why did this guy think of finding Malin... Is he truly wanting Malin to rescue Meng, or is he wondering if Malin will come back.

Should she contact Malin?

Lulu pondered, ultimately deciding to make the contact — at least, those soldiers were all waiting for him.

Thinking this, Lulu started heading home, left the Church, got onto the coach, and was about to contact Malin when she noticed the coach had stopped.

"Why did we stop?" Lulu stuck her head out just in time to see a tall, slim young man standing by the road, who smiled and greeted the Coachman, then walked over to the door, stepped on the footboard, and kissed Lulu on the cheek.

"You’re back." Lulu joyfully opened the door letting her lover into the coach.

"I’m back," Malin said smiling, then glanced around inside the coach: "By the way, where’s your little tag-along?"

"Ah, her..." Lulu quickly related the matter of Meng, hearing of her disappearance at the front, Malin shook his head: "Have they found her body?"

"No, but the bodies of the two novices she was leading were found, that area is a decaying city, full of zombies and Chaos, I heard that Elite troops have been sent to rescue, someone asked about you, wondering if you could make a move."

"They ask me to make a move? More curious if I’m even coming back, it seems. Looks like everyone is confident about defeating Chaos though, no worries, I’ll take a look, and if Meng Quyi’s luck holds up, I’ll surely bring her back alive." Malin’s words tremendously cheered Lulu, who kissed Malin, then looked at him: "You’ve grown taller."

"Yep, because being a bit taller gives me an advantage when cursing someone out in the South," Malin replied with a laugh.

The answer made Lulu laugh heartily, she patted Malin’s hand: "And in the North?"

"I’d get a bit smaller, so I don’t have to bend down when I’m smashing someone’s knees." Malin answered.

Lulu laughed so hard she collapsed into his arms.