Chapter 80: I Added a Little Something (Asking for First Subscription)

What a delicious witch! Chi Wannian stretched out her hand, reaching straight for Su Miao’s neck.

In hell, unless you possessed a power of awakening, any other ability was utterly at her mercy. Relying on her control over hell, Chi Wannian had already slain several powerful beings—some were human, others mutated beasts. No one could overturn her rule within hell, not even a witch!

Anyone who entered hell would become her next meal, and Chi Wannian was already salivating.

Su Miao was terrified to the extreme. Instinctively, she swung her silver umbrella, but Chi Wannian caught it easily and smiled wickedly. “Su Miao, do you really think this shabby umbrella can hurt me? A witch without magic is nothing but meat on the chopping block.”

“Your flavor has me simply unable to wait any longer…”

But before she could finish her sentence, Su Miao had, without anyone noticing, drawn a slender silver sword from the umbrella and slashed open Chi Wannian’s throat, stabbing straight through her brow.

The sword’s speed was faster than a blink of an eye, like lightning, like light itself. It made one wonder if Su Miao was even a normal witch. To draw, swing, and thrust a sword so swiftly—what kind of joke was this? Could any human move this fast? Normally, those with magic wouldn’t bother with close combat at all!

Chi Wannian was wracked with unimaginable pain. If she could, she would have immediately withdrawn hell and restored her full abilities—perhaps then she might still have hope.

“Ah! Su Miao, is your sword laced with silver?”

She forced herself to scream, enduring the soul-searing agony as her spirit seemed to burn.

Su Miao’s hand trembled slightly as she gripped the slender sword. “Are you asking about silver, platinum silver, cobalt silver, zirconium silver, or mythril? I added a bit of everything—just to help the sword channel magic.”

Seeing Chi Wannian’s body contorting in agony, Su Miao yanked out her sword and, in a flash, stabbed her again—this time at what looked to be her heart—before retreating at lightning speed.

“Witch, damn you…”

Chi Wannian’s eyes were locked on Su Miao, whose body still trembled. To kill her and then act so afraid—who was the mad one here?

Chi Wannian released her grip on the silver umbrella. She could feel the wounded area burning, and no matter what her body tried to do to save itself, the fire only spread. Especially her throat—the sword had already severed it completely, making it impossible for her to speak further.

The only thing she could do was keep glaring at Su Miao.

Chi Wannian’s head dropped to the ground.

Seeing the head still glaring at her, Su Miao stabbed it several more times for good measure.

Only when the eerie, scarlet mist around them began to dissipate and Chi Wannian’s body showed no further reaction did Su Miao feel sure that Chi Wannian was truly dead.

But that was not enough.

Su Miao raised her hand and sent two blue fireballs at the corpse, reducing it to ash.

What if she resurrected from the ashes? The thought struck Su Miao, so she took out some highly toxic, hallucinogenic potion from her magical space and poured it over the ashes.

That should be foolproof.

“Chi Wannian was too powerful—this still might not be enough.” After thinking for a moment, Su Miao took out the residue from her last failed batch of toxic potion and dumped it over the ashes as well.

Only then did she notice the swarm of mutated giant rats, beetles, and other unknown creatures gathering around the ruined villa.

Thanks to the lingering aura of the slain lynx and the explosion of the blue fireballs, these creatures, though eyeing Su Miao from time to time, still lacked the courage to rush in.

Time was of the essence.

Su Miao grabbed her silver umbrella, retracted the sword, and hurried to the area where Xia Xiaoan was hiding.

“I hope I’m not too late.”

Given the destructive power of that blue fireball, Su Miao had no idea whether Xia Xiaoan had managed to hide well enough or could even survive—but she had no other choice.

Su Miao activated her magical space array, quickly storing away the chunks of concrete and broken furniture scattered across the ground. About fifteen seconds later, she spotted a bloodied box.

“Xiaoan!”

She rushed over, quickly pried open the box, and found Xia Xiaoan inside, covered in blood.

She reached out—a breath, so faint it was nearly gone. A gentle touch revealed countless fractures in Xia Xiaoan’s bones.

There was no time to think. Su Miao immediately used her water sphere spell, enveloping Xia Xiaoan and pouring her magic into it, letting the healing waters flow through every injury.

Within moments, the healing water coursed around Xia Xiaoan’s body. Nearly two minutes passed before she suddenly opened her eyes, gasping for breath like someone rescued from drowning.

Alive!

Su Miao immediately dispelled the water sphere and pulled out a dress for Xia Xiaoan to wear.

Not far away, Su Miao saw a patch of corroded bedding on the ground—likely the result of Xia Xiaoan discarding the toxic potion before hiding. Thankfully, she had been smart enough to throw it away in advance—otherwise, only a pile of corroded bones would remain.

“Sister…”

Xia Xiaoan stared at Su Miao, then burst into tears—but after only a few seconds, she forced herself to stop. Only then did she notice the countless mutated rats and beetles surrounding them, watching hungrily from the ruins.

“Sister, did I die just now?” Xia Xiaoan asked, still shaken.

“Nearly,” Su Miao replied.

“Will I die this time?” Xia Xiaoan pressed.

Su Miao handed her a bottle of the toxic, hallucinogenic potion. “Those who survive catastrophe are destined for good fortune.”

Xia Xiaoan took the potion, glancing at Su Miao, whose body was still trembling. Somehow, the words didn’t seem so convincing.

There was nothing to be done—Su Miao was still deeply shaken by the recent battle.

Chi Wannian had truly been terrifying.

“Sister, what do we do now?” Xia Xiaoan asked. Though she looked better after Su Miao’s emergency treatment, her body was still badly injured; only her willpower kept her from crying out in pain.

“Xiaoan, are there any other survivors nearby?” Su Miao asked, forcing herself to appear calm as the mutated rats grew more restless.

“No,” Xia Xiaoan replied, her face pale.

“Good.”

Su Miao looked around, then handed Xia Xiaoan a gas mask and donned one herself. She activated the magical space array and released a cloud of pitch-black toxic mist she’d stored inside.

The moment the deadly fog spread, mutated rats and beetles downwind began dropping in droves, their corpses quickly forming a fan-shaped field of death extending up to eight hundred meters.

Witnessing this grim spectacle, the surviving mutant beasts retreated further away. They were mutated, but not mindless—especially the giant rats.

Yet, seeing so many corpses, they didn’t realize the bodies were poisoned—only that they were edible. Soon, they swarmed over to feast.

It wasn’t long before those who ate the corpses began dropping as well.

But even this wasn’t enough.

Su Miao and Xia Xiaoan were still surrounded by the mutant beasts; the situation remained perilous.

…

“Keep sending in the drones!”

After four drones had been destroyed, Qin Longzhang gave the order again.

They hadn’t brought much else on this mission, but they’d brought plenty of drones. Soon, another four drones soared toward the ruins of Villa 36.

Qin Longzhang remembered clearly—it had only been a few minutes, but when he saw the ruins again, it felt as if an eternity had passed.

The terrifying monster that had confronted Su Miao—the company’s demon boss, Chi Wannian—had vanished, replaced by a pretty, adorable little girl. The transformation was bewildering.

But none of that mattered.

What mattered was that Su Miao was still alive.

Nevertheless, seeing her surrounded by layers of mutated beasts was harrowing.

“Open fire on the mutant beasts—don’t worry about ammunition,” Qin Longzhang ordered. “Send out ten more drones and join the attack. Clear a path for Su Miao to escape!”

“Yes, sir!”

There were only ten operators left who could manage the drones; the rest were needed to defend the temporary safe zone from mutant attacks. Su Miao had to be saved, but so did the refugees here—this was Qin Longzhang’s resolve.

…

Fourteen drones now circled the villa ruins, raining ammunition like it was nothing, turning the ground into a bloodbath of mangled mutant beasts.

“Su Miao, this is Qin Longzhang. I’m here to rescue you. We’re clearing a path—please seize the opportunity and evacuate quickly.”

A drone equipped with a loudspeaker relayed the message.

Su Miao glanced at the drone, then at the corpses littering the ground. Was it really that easy to escape? There might be lingering mutants ready to bite—one wrong step could mean disaster. She had to think of something more.

She considered retrieving the lynx’s corroded body from her magical space, but with the drones overhead, she thought better of it.

Instead, she crouched down, pretending to search through the rubble, and covertly opened her magical space just enough to extract several handfuls of the lynx’s long whiskers.

As soon as the whiskers appeared, the already panicked mutant beasts became even more terrified. They had hesitated to approach the villa because of the lynx’s lingering scent; now, with the concentrated aroma of the whiskers, their fear intensified. It seemed this mutated lynx had been king of these woods.

“Xiaoan, take these,” Su Miao said, handing a bunch of whiskers to Xia Xiaoan and keeping some for herself. “Let’s go!”

They retreated together as they moved. With drones clearing the way and the lynx’s scent protecting them, no mutant beast dared approach.

Within ten minutes, Su Miao and Xia Xiaoan reached the landslide zone. Once filled with rushing water day and night, it was now clogged with mutant rat corpses from the toxic mist Su Miao had released. They simply walked across the bodies.

Once they crossed the landslide, the rest of the way was much easier.