Chapter 138: Human Desires |
Bai Mu locked eyes with the vagrants. The two homeless men froze, their footsteps halting in an instant.
The relaxed, slack expressions vanished from their faces, replaced by vicious and hostile glares. They looked like snarling wild dogs, warning an outsider to mind their own business.
They were armed. One clutched a kitchen knife, while the other gripped an iron pipe. Exchanging a brief glance, they adopted a ruthless, all-or-nothing demeanor and moved to encircle Bai Mu.
It seemed they believed that in a two-on-one fight, the advantage was entirely theirs.
Neither side spoke a word, but the exchange of glances and body language made their stances perfectly clear.
In the city today, one or two deaths were no longer a big deal. People were dying everywhere, and there simply wasn't enough official manpower to handle every single incident.
At best, the personnel from the Emergency Center merely went around collecting corpses and telling citizens to stay vigilant.
These two vagrants had clearly realized this. They knew the laws and order of the past no longer existed. Even if they committed murder and arson, no one would come to stop them.
Or perhaps they thought Bai Mu, appearing in the dead of night, was a Doppelganger. Deciding to eliminate the monster together, the kitchen knife and iron pipe in their hands glinted coldly in the firelight.
It happened in a flash. He drew his gun and fired, two bullets bursting from the dark muzzle.
Bai Mu didn't hold back just because his opponents were fellow humans. These were two home-invading robbers and arsonists who had just tried to kill him.
Accompanied by two sharp cracks, bloody holes appeared in the center of the vagrants' foreheads one after another. The bullets pierced straight through their skulls, and they collapsed onto the lawn with a heavy thud.
Their deaths were simple. They didn't even have time to utter a single last word.
It was hardly surprising; they were just two vagrants. Cowardly and despicable, they had likely observed the house for days, choosing it as their target precisely because they knew only three children lived inside.
They didn't even dare to rob houses with adults, only daring to prey on the weak and bully those more vulnerable than themselves.
Sparing their lives would only allow them to harm others. Once they robbed a place, they would do it again. As soon as the biscuits in their hands ran out, they would inevitably choose another target.
This time, perhaps due to some faint shred of conscience, they hadn't immediately killed the three children, choosing instead to set a fire to erase their tracks. But as long as they lived, they would only grow worse over time.
Human desires were like boulders rolling down a high mountain—once they started, they would never stop.
Today, they robbed for food. Tomorrow, they would break into houses with women.
Bai Mu didn't spare the corpses another glance. He stepped over the vagrants' bodies and rushed toward the burning house.
Choking black smoke drilled into his nostrils. The front door hadn't caught fire yet. Bai Mu strapped on his gas mask to filter the air and charged inside.
He moved fast, but the flames spread faster. The relentless heat turned everything dry and highly combustible.
Bai Mu scanned the living room. This house was much larger than his own, boasting two floors and numerous rooms.
Through the thick black smoke, Bai Mu spotted the silhouettes of three children. They were bound to the sofa with thick ropes, their mouths gagged with strips of cloth.
Two of them were boys, looking to be around ten years old, while the girl was slightly younger.
The suffocating smoke from the fire had already caused the little girl and one of the boys to pass out. Only one boy was still awake, but the ropes were tied too tightly. He struggled with all his might, yet could only watch helplessly as the flames crept toward them, his small face already flushed crimson from the intense heat.
Bai Mu dashed through the dense smoke, pulling out a small knife to slice through their bonds, and yanked the gags from their mouths. "Cough, cough... Mister... please save Sam and Katie first..." the conscious boy coughed violently, barely able to speak.
"Don't be afraid. I will get all three of you out of here," Bai Mu said softly.
He first slipped his gas mask over the unconscious little girl's head. Lifting the two boys onto his shoulders, one in each arm, he then summoned the Hand of Walrider to securely place the girl onto his back before carrying them all toward the exit.
By now, the fire had ignited the sofa, and the flames swelled instantly. The strong winds outside were fanning the inferno, the howling hot air feeling like the breath of a ferocious monster.
The front door had also caught fire. Bai Mu had no choice but to run to the left, darting up the stairs to the second floor and stopping by a window.
The boy trembled violently, clinging tightly to Bai Mu's arm. He couldn't stop coughing, his small face turning a deep, purplish-red.
Behind them, the flames gave chase. Bai Mu leaped down from the second floor. The boy squeezed his eyes shut as, with a heavy thud, Bai Mu landed steadily on the grass.
The height of the second floor was nothing to him. His strength was already more than twice that of a normal person, and the Dance of Elvis drastically enhanced his body control. If his physical fitness during his first Script was merely at the peak of human capability, then as an E-Grade Player, his various attributes practically made him a miniature superman.
Even while carrying three children, his body felt incredibly light as he jumped, unburdened by the extra weight. Upon landing, he didn't even twist an ankle. The quality of the Murkoff Special Combat Boots was exceptional; beyond their system stats, they provided excellent shock absorption upon impact. The resilient, high-friction soles allowed him to maintain perfect balance.
Bai Mu glanced back. The fire had completely engulfed the house, illuminating the surroundings as brightly as day. Embers and fiery debris danced into the night sky.
Bai Mu walked a little further away before gently setting the children down.
He retrieved a bottle of mineral water from his inventory, unscrewed the cap, and carefully fed them some water. Then, he took out three Health Potions, using the water to help the two unconscious children swallow the medicinal candies.
After eating the fruit-flavored candy, the boy's complexion improved. He gulped down large breaths of fresh air, his eyes complex and sorrowful as he stared at his home, looking as though he was on the verge of tears.
But in the end, he didn't cry. He simply held his younger brother's and sister's hands in silence. His gaze turned resolute, as if he had aged several years in that single instant.
"Let's go to my house," Bai Mu said. "You can rest there for now."
"Okay," the boy said, standing up. "Thank you, Mister."
It seemed he no longer needed Bai Mu to support him. Bai Mu scooped up Katie and Sam, then headed toward his own house.
The boy walked by Bai Mu's side, turning his head to look back at his home every few steps.
But he could never return there. With a deafening crash, the blazing house collapsed entirely, reduced to nothing more than a pile of charred ruins.