Life is good when I kill people from time to time

After being tied up, this sullen young man had simply leaned against the wall without saying a word, making it impossible to tell if he was afraid or had something up his sleeve.

Taking a few steps forward, Ren Anhua suddenly pulled a pack of Chunghwa cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket and tossed them back.

His underlings skillfully caught them and quickly retreated.

With a crack, a sturdy stone pillar shot out from the wall beside the young man.

The pillar thrust forward with incredible speed, clearly capable of easily taking a life.

It was too late to retreat.

Ren Anhua raised his right hand to block it.

The hard stone pillar slammed into his body but strangely produced a dull, rumbling sound, followed by a wave of unbearable heat.

“I thought Zhang Yidong only sent useless ordinary people. I didn’t expect him to give me a surprise.”

The hot air current blew away the rubble and dust, revealing Ren Anhua’s upper body covered in strange, bright red patterns.

Starting from his right fist, they extended all the way to his chest, with a few even crawling up to his eye sockets, giving him a ferocious look.

The red patterns pulsed like blood vessels—and in fact, they were his blood vessels.

They surged with a heat and power no human could withstand, burning away half of the Hawaiian shirt he wore, its charred edges glowing with faint embers.

“How did you know Guo Hongyu was lying to you?”

“Hao Yu is my dearest friend, my brother. How could he possibly want to harm me?” Ren Anhua’s voice was exceptionally sincere.

He suddenly felt that lighting a cigarette would be appropriate right now, but unfortunately, he had already given them to his subordinate for safekeeping.

His ability was powerful, but it had its flaws.

For example, he couldn’t smoke while fighting, which Ren Anhua felt deprived him of a certain masculine romanticism.

“You already know we were sent by Zhang Yidong, so why bother with the charade?” the sullen young man asked with a hint of anger as he stood up.

The ropes binding him fell away on their own, but Ren Anhua was not surprised at all.

“Because I feel like it.”

“You’ll die by your own arrogance one day!”

The young man didn’t pause after standing. He raised his right hand, assuming an offensive stance to charge forward.

A dozen stone pillars shot out from where he had been sitting, but he himself abruptly turned and dashed for the window.

He knew very well he had no chance of winning a fight against Ren Anhua.

Escaping was his only path to survival.

Perhaps he should have pretended to be an ordinary person and let Ren Anhua throw him down, then take the opportunity to escape.

But he didn’t dare bet his presence concealment against Ren Anhua’s detection.

If he had to choose, he’d rather go down on his own terms.

“Making threats and then running away? You’re not playing fair, are you!” Ren Anhua’s voice sounded from behind him.

The young man’s hand touched the windowsill.

His ability was already activated. In less than a second, a protruding stone pillar would carry him away from this dangerous place.

Once he was out, he would not go back to work for Zhang Yidong.

He truly didn’t want to be enemies with someone like Ren Anhua.

With his ability, he could easily go to the Pingdingshan Base and seek refuge with the military, becoming an officer.

But he would never get that chance.

A stone pillar, glowing red from the inside out with intense heat, pierced through his chest.

“How… so fast.”

In the last second of his fading consciousness, he looked behind him and saw a monster covered in bright red, pulsating veins, wreathed in crimson flames, standing amidst a forest of stone pillars.

The pillars aimed at him had started to melt before they even touched him.

Ren Anhua stood his ground without any attempt to dodge, maintaining his throwing posture, and gave him a strangely cheerful smile.

He turned and walked out of the room, the intense heat on his body rapidly dissipating.

His expression was so relaxed and carefree that no one would have guessed he had just taken three lives a few minutes ago.

Only the charred scraps of cloth hanging from his body hinted at the intense heat and battle that had just occurred.

As the flames wrapping his body receded, a bare, well-built physique was revealed.

His solid muscles were covered with a mixture of various scars.

Ren Anhua hadn’t expected his body to change so much in just two months.

His domineering ability had certainly brought him many conveniences, but some aspects were a real headache.

He still couldn’t figure out how the fire-wielders in all those animes, comics, movies, and novels he’d seen managed to keep their clothes from burning up in high temperatures.

In any case, he couldn’t do it.

He spread his arms naturally as his subordinates brought him a fresh set of clothes—still a simple Hawaiian shirt, loose beach shorts, and a pair of flip-flops.

Ever since he first used his ability, this had been his attire.

Thankfully, due to his power, he didn’t fear the cold.

Superpowers, special abilities, the Awakened.

Whatever the name, Ren Anhua knew he had drawn a clear line between himself and ordinary people.

In this era, as a person with special abilities—especially one with a relatively powerful ability—Ren Anhua could get almost anything he wanted.

Powerful martial force could accomplish many things in this age, especially here in the suburbs, far from the military safe zones.

The officials had extended an olive branch to Ren Anhua, but he chose to be a local tyrant in this relatively dangerous place, living as he pleased every day.

But even so, there were some things he still couldn’t obtain.

Whenever he thought of this, Ren Anhua thought of Lin Aijing.

Her beautiful face, her curvaceous body, and her often melancholic eyes—every part of her captivated his attention.

Normally, it wouldn’t be difficult for a man like Ren Anhua to get a woman, but he just couldn’t have Lin Aijing.

Since the apocalypse began, Ren Anhua had once felt like he had become the protagonist of the era—all enemies vanquished, all beauties collected.

But after meeting Lin Aijing, he finally woke up.

In front of someone whose heart already belonged to another, everything you do is useless.

“Anhua-ge!” Meng Fanhai held up two fingers, mimicking the gesture of holding a cigarette.

Meng Fanhai’s eyes always held a look of worship, respect, and longing.

But Ren Anhua would rather the guy didn’t worship him so much, or even better, just be his enemy.

Because the person Lin Aijing liked was this very same subordinate who revered him so deeply.

But Meng Fanhai seemed completely oblivious, showing no reaction at all.

Ren Anhua had once considered talking to Meng Fanhai about Lin Aijing, but in the end, he never did.

Because he knew what would happen after that talk.

Meng Fanhai would definitely deliver Lin Aijing directly to his bed.

That wasn’t the result he wanted.

He genuinely liked Lin Aijing.

The thought of Lin Aijing being sent to his bed by the man she loved made Ren Anhua feel like his head and stomach were twisting together in knots.

He even felt that being the leader of these people was truly frustrating and that he should just quit.

Pushing Meng Fanhai’s hand away, Ren Anhua lit a cigarette only for himself.

“It’s fine to put on an act in front of outsiders, but why do it in front of me?”

He took a deep drag, the rich aroma filling his lungs, invigorating his spirit.

“You don’t even know how to smoke. You just hold a cigarette in your mouth to look cool in front of others, letting the smoke pass through your mouth without even daring to inhale. Seeing your eyes about to water from the smoke, even I feel bad for you. Even the best cigarettes are wasted on you.”

“Even the best cigarettes are wasted on you.”

Thinking of Lin Aijing, Ren Anhua inexplicably repeated the sentence.

“Hehehe, that’s Anhua-ge for you. I thought I was hiding it pretty well,” Meng Fanhai said, scratching his head. “Where are we going now?”

“To kill that bastard Hao Yu, of course.”

“Huh? Isn’t it Zhang Yidong?”

“Hao Yu is closer. Zhang Yidong is next. This way, we don’t have to take a detour, and we can make it back in time for dinner.”

“But didn’t you say Hao Yu was your dearest friend and brother…”

“I say the same thing to Zhang Yidong,” Ren Anhua said, flicking his ash. “Zhang Yidong couldn’t have done this alone. Confirming the grain location? He really tried to fool me. Is he short on food? What they want is most likely my head, and to get my head, those two have no hope unless they team up.”

“What a load of bullshit. Ability stripping… I wonder who came up with that story. Ever since Zhang Yidong heard about it, he’s been after me. It’s time to completely eliminate this hidden threat. I don’t like being constantly targeted by people.”

“As expected of Anhua-ge, nothing gets past you.”

Usually, such a remark would come from a sycophant, but Meng Fanhai’s genuine look of adoration made it impossible to associate with bootlicking.

But the more Meng Fanhai acted this way, the worse Ren Anhua felt.

And thinking of Lin Aijing made him feel even worse.

As they spoke, they had already reached the convoy of vehicles downstairs.

Flicking away his cigarette butt, Ren Anhua got into the back seat.

“Let’s go. Hurry up. Get it done and come back for dinner.”

An inexplicable agitation grew in Ren Anhua’s heart.

He thought about how he would have to vent his frustrations on that bastard Hao Yu later.

However, this road was a road of no return.