But Bai Li had already sensed his move. Her eyes flashed, and she smiled slightly as he entered her attack range. As someone who had been a retired soldier for many years, her instincts for danger had not gone dull at all. In fact, they were still as sharp as ever. She could feel the change in pressure, the way Ren Mingju’s body shifted, the way his shoulders tensed before the grab. She dodged to the side almost at the same moment, and with the force of his attack carrying her hand into motion, her right arm cut across in a fast, clean slash toward his chest.

The blade moved so quickly that there was almost no time to react. Ren Mingju had not even finished his grab before the kukri had already landed. Blood splattered out at once, staining Bai Li’s clothes in red. Ren Mingju’s eyes widened in shock, his whole body freezing for a brief second as if he still could not believe what had happened. Then Bai Li kicked him hard, and he flew backward a considerable distance, crashing away from her with the force of the blow. The whole thing happened in a breath. The ones who had been talking so loudly just a moment ago were now left staring at the result, and the confidence on their faces had begun to crack.

The atmosphere in the room turned even more tense after that. The air felt heavy, like a storm was about to break loose. Bai Li stood there with her kukri in hand, blood on her body, and a look in her eyes that made it clear she was not finished. Yan Cijin, still holding her phone, looked on with a face that was cold and steady, though her heart was not calm at all. She knew very well that these people had chosen the wrong target. They had pushed too far, and now they were going to pay for it. In a world already falling apart, there were still some things people should not touch. Their greed had crossed that line, and Bai Li’s blade had answered for her.

Lin Da was scared out of his mind when he saw Bai Li really go for it. His face went white in one second, and he ran back in a total panic, his legs moving faster than his brain could even keep up with. He did not even dare to look back at Ren Mingju, let alone go over and help him. The words burst out of his mouth in a shaky mess. "Damn it, she, she really dared to use a knife."

Lin Da was still shaking hard as he stumbled all the way back, like he had just seen a ghost. His whole body looked stiff, and his breathing was rough and messy, like he could not get enough air. Bai Li only stood there and looked at the group of people a dozen steps away with a cold, flat face. Her eyes were calm, but that kind of calm made people feel even more scared, because it did not look like fear or regret at all. Then her gaze moved over and landed on Ren Ming, who was lying on the ground and twisting in pain.

Ren Ming was hurting so much that the veins on his neck and arms were bulging out. He pointed at Bai Li with a trembling hand, his fingers shaking so badly he could barely even keep them up. "You, you really dared to do it, Dean Wang, it hurts, it hurts, help me, help me..." His voice was broken and thin, and every word sounded like it was being dragged out of his throat by force. He looked like he wanted to crawl up, but the pain kept smashing him back down again.

Dean Wang was also shocked when he saw that Bai Li had actually done it for real. His eyes widened, and for a second he froze in place like he had no clue what to do. Then he suddenly got up from his chair and quickly hid behind Lin Da and Zhang Fan, acting like they could somehow block everything for him. He had no real courage at all, only a mouth that liked to talk big when nothing happened. At the same time, Nurse Peng Xiao saw Ren Ming lying on the floor and still wanted to step forward to help. Her face was pale, but she still reached into the drawer in her office and pulled out some medical gauze, clearly trying to do some first aid first and ask questions later.

Bai Li looked over at her and said in a cold voice, "My knife is stained with zombie blood. I just hit him, and I don’t know if it will cause a mutation. Don’t blame me for not warning you."

Those words landed in the room like ice water. The air seemed to freeze for a second. Nobody dared to move much after that. The idea that zombie blood could cause a mutation made Peng Xiao’s hand stop in the middle of her movement. The gauze was still in her grip, but she did not dare go any closer. No one knew whether Bai Li was bluffing or telling the truth, and that made everyone even more afraid. They could see Ren Ming hurting badly, but they also did not dare gamble with their own lives.

Without waiting to hear what the others might say or how they might react, Bai Li sat back down again. Her movements were calm and firm, like she had just finished doing something small and not something that had shaken everybody else to the core. She placed the kukri beside her. Blood was still dripping from it, drop by drop, and the sound of it hitting the ground or maybe the desk was enough to make people’s hearts tighten. The blade looked dark and cold, and the sight of it alone made Lin Da and the others swallow hard and take another step back.

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TO BE CONTINUED.