Chapter 41 - Differences & Similarities (Part 2-Last)
In fact, one of the main reasons why both, Chen He and Liang Peng, were furious with Qiao Long other than his inhumane mistreatment was because he had thrown several people alive to the zombies. To commit such a cruel act only six days after the world changed one needed to be extremely vicious and have a heart with no feelings for anyone in particular.
So what about what Bai Zemin had just done? They had personally seen him throw Qiao Long invalid to be eaten alive by the zombies. They heard his screams of terror and heart-wrenching pain every time a zombie scratched or bit him.
However, even when they were all shuddering in fear in the back, Bai Zemin had always been watching everything with indifference... From Chen He and Liang Peng's point of view, only a cruel person who had probably already killed in the past could kill another living being without compassion and without flinching. Of course, there could be other reasons as well... But it was always easier to think of the worst in people; this was a human quality after all.
While it was impossible for Bai Zemin to know the thoughts of the two men in front of him, considering that their eyes were somewhat erratic just like the look that 90% of the survivors were giving him at the moment, Bai Zemin could judge and get an idea of what they were feeling.
However, what surprised him remarkably was that the gaze in Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes had not changed as she looked at him. There wasn't even a hint of fear in those bright blue eyes... In contrast, there was even less disgust in her gaze.
Bai Zemin stood up and dusted off his knees before looking at her and asking with a raised eyebrow, "You're not scared of me?"
"Scared? Of what?" Shangguan Bing Xue looked at him dubiously before looking at Qiao Long's lifeless corpse and asking rhetorically, "I should be afraid of you for killing this scum? It's not like you killed an innocent person and just... You took out the trash. Is there something wrong with it?"
Bai Zemin was really shocked by her words. However, soon he shook his head softly before chuckling lightly and walking away, Unfortunately, before the thought 'this woman is interesting' appeared in his mind, Shangguan Bing Xue's voice stopped him.
"Wait a second."
With a dubious look, he turned around and looked at her, waiting to hear what she had to say. However, all Shangguan Bing Xue did was stretch a hand forward and stared at him.
Bai Zemin looked at her without imperfections white hand and then looked into her eyes as he asked with a slight frown, "What's wrong?"
For the first time in his life, Bai Zemin saw Shangguan Bing Xue smile when he asked that question. Her smile was beautiful to the point where it seemed to have the ability to freeze the entire world as no one would be willing to miss the chance to see it; in fact, all of Shangguan Bing Xue's overall beauty had easily increased by 100% just by smiling.
Unfortunately, Bai Zemin did not have much time to appreciate such a beautiful sight as the following words pronounced by Shangguan Bing Xue completely destroyed it.
"Don't you think you owe me a treasure? For better or worse, the reason you were able to take care of this Qiao Long trash was because I exhausted most of his Mana. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy and with his skill he could have run away."
Bai Zemin's face soured when he heard her words and that beautiful smile suddenly seemed to have transformed into the smile of a cunning little fox.
Indeed, what Shangguan Bing Xue had just said was true. If it wasn't because she drained most of Qiao Long's Mana and entertained him, Bai Zemin might never have discovered the true nature of his skill and if Qiao Long made any unforeseen attacks or wanted to flee it was very likely that Bai Zemin would not be able to stop him; after all, although Bai Zemin's Agility was high, with his Air Manipulation skill Qiao Long could exploit astonishing speeds for a short period of time.
Besides, Bai Zemin might also have been forced to expose more than he wanted to... Of course, if Qiao Long dared to approach Bai Zemin, no matter how good his martial arts were; in front of Bai Zemin, who was basically a special forces soldier after learning a roll of skills, he could easily crush him.
To Shangguan Bing Xue's surprise, Bai Zemin also smiled back at her. He stretched his hand forward and said 'kindly', "Sure. Here you go."
Shangguan Bing Xue took the dagger with a frown and looked at Bai Zemin bitterly. The dagger was a good item, but what she wanted was the necklace; even without knowing what it was, everyone knew that the accessories were especially valuable.
Without waiting for an answer, Bai Zemin went into the building under everyone's scared gaze. Every time he passed next to a survivor, that survivor would flinch and turn their eyes to the ground in fear.
"Tsk..." Shangguan Bing Xue clicked her tongue but still kept the dagger to herself. As she was preparing to enter the building and organize the remaining survivors as well as the supplies that were controlled by Qiao Long before, she noticed that Chen He was looking at her in a state of shock.
"Chen He, are you okay?" She asked with a frown.
"... I'm fine," Chen He forced a smile and nodded slightly.
"Is that so...?" Shangguan Bing Xue realized that something was wrong but her mood was not the best so she simply nodded and walked into the building without giving the matter too much thought.
Although Qiao Long had died and she had acquired a treasure for her efforts, the reality was that Chen He's lack of courage had bothered her a little. She knew that if he had not hesitated and really given it his all, Qiao Long might not have casually toyed with them; however, Chen He did not have the courage to shoot to kill, which gave Qiao Long the opportunity to capture her and, if not for Liang Peng, she might have been in trouble.
It was also for this reason that Chen He did not tell her what he was thinking and simply followed her with a gloomy face. After all, how could he not know about his mistakes?
However, what was bothering the talented archer more than his own personality was that the woman he loved since he was a child actually smiled at another man. To other people, this might not be a big deal, but Chen He knew that Shangguan Bing Xue's smiles were more valuable and scarcer than diamonds. The fact that she smiled, even if it was a smile with hidden intentions, was a big surprise to him.
Gradually, Chen He began to realize the differences and similarities Shangguan Bing Xue had with each core member of the group and, to his dismay, after recalling past events, Chen He realized that Shangguan Bing Xue and Bai Zemin, regardless of how much they disliked or doubted about each other, were the most alike from a certain point of view.