The Trembling World
chapter-170

TL: xDh20, LifeisaJourney

ED: Oz

A special Thank you to those who have sponsored TTW before: Eric Spencer, Derrick Teal, Anthony Huynh, Michael Allen, and Joseph Watt. Enjoy!

The yacht was gone!

How is this possible? Such a large yacht — it was still there before he turned to look at Zhou MingLiang. It couldn’t possibly have disappeared into the river after the last chain he had unhooked and thrown aboard the yacht, right? Wasn’t this all too strange?

Not only did the yacht disappear, the other two overturned boats tied to the dock had also disappeared.

“Zhou MingLiang? Expert Zhou? Are you there?” Xu ChangHui felt a chill run down his spine as he turned around again. If Zhou MingLiang didn’t follow him onto the boat, it would’ve been acceptable had the boat still been present. Now that the yacht was missing, it would be impossible for him to escape alone!

It can’t be that ghost, right?

Xu ChangHui was anxiously walking back up the steps. In such a precarious situation, he could only sneak back into the lobby, find Zhou MingLiang, and then make up a story to deceive Wang DeCheng. On the contrary, he could hide. However, once Liu gan gets wind of the fact that he tried to steal the yacht, no stone would be left unturned on the island in search for him. With Liu Gan’s aggressive temper, who knows what sort of consequences would lie in store for him?

Walking all the way up to the top of the stairs, he met a person. He stopped moving. It wasn’t Zhou MingLiang. Xu ChangHui’s facial expression changed, shocked deeply.

“What are you doing here?” Xu ChangHui yelled at the countryside girl in front of him.

“I missed you, so I came here looking for you. What, I can’t?” the countryside girl said to Xu ChangHui loudly.

She was Xu ChangHui’s countryside wife. When Xu ChangHui arrived at NinJing City, he met another lady in a hair salon. Soon after, he lived together with this new lady friend, and abandoned his countryside wife and daughter. When his countryside wife had arrived in the city, she had caused much havoc, but she was beaten into submission by him and went back to the countryside. The two of them had never communicated ever since.

“Impossible! It can’t be you! How can you enter into the city? I was with Zhou MingLiang, but he is gone, and there you are! There is definitely something wrong! Are you a ghost? Or is this my hallucination!?” Xu ChangHui shook his head frantically. Knowing the prior experiences of what had happened to Zhou JingJing and Lee Miao, he wouldn’t let himself be fooled so easily.

“I am me. For these past two years, did you enjoy having fun with that rotten woman? I gave birth to your daughter, and I wasted ten years of my youth and feelings on you. Do you think you can get away that easily?” The countryside woman turned violent. Suddenly, she was wielding a sharp knife and repeatedly slashed at Xu ChangHui with it.

Xu ChangHui was shocked. He snapped out of it the moment her sharp knife was swinging at him, quickly dodging the attack. From his own waist, he pulled out a dagger and stabbed at the countryside female.

The countryside female got stabbed and went even more crazy. She was cursing and using her knife to slash at Xu ChangHui. He used one of his hands to hold down her wrist, stabbing at the her chest with his other hand, and plunged the dagger into her stomach multiple times. Only when she was a bloody mess and ceased resistance did Xu ChangHui let up.

In a flashing moment, Xu ChangHui felt something was wrong. His brain was telling him something, but he couldn’t comprehend it. A buzzing sound pervaded his brain, ‘Om’! Suddenly, he remembered. He looked down only to perceive how the person laying on the floor wasn’t his countryside wife, but his pal, Zhou MingLiang.

“Why did you attack me?” Zhou MingLiang spat out blood as he asked Xu ChangHui.

Zhou MingLiang saw that Xu ChangHui was finished with unraveling the chains and stood in place on the dock, dumbfounded. Zhou MingLiang walked over to ask if Xu ChangHui was regretting leaving. However, Xu ChangHui stared blankly into empty space, not responding to any questions. So once again, Zhou MingLiang repeated his question, reminding him that, if he regrets now, they can both return to the lobby and pretend finishing up with the bathroom break. So Zhou MingLiang proceeded to walk up to the top of the stairs.

After a while, Zhou MingLiang discovered Xu ChangHui actually followed along, whereupon he turned around and called out to him. Upon seeing Xu ChangHui’s expression and his staggering gait, Zhou MingLiang hesitated for a moment before walking back down the steps to assist him. He didn’t think Xu ChangHui would ferociously assail and stab him like that.

Zhou MingLiang wasn’t able to dodge it in time. Out of all the dozen stab wounds on his body, the most fatal one had struck his chest. He was beyond saving.

“I didn’t mean to kill you… I was just… I was…” Xu ChangHui was racked with remorse. He was consciously aware that he had been caught in a hallucination. How could he have fallen for this trick. He only wanted to avoid her slash, but he ended up striking back, and Zhou MingLiang paid the price in blood.

Zhou MingLiang didn’t speak another word. Blood spilled from his mouth and every wound on his body.

Xu ChangHui trembled as he laid down Zhou MingLiang’s corpse. He turned and looked at the river. There was the yacht! Clearly, the sight from earlier had been a delusion conjured in his head after he heard the buzzing sound of ‘Om’! Everything the Variant Zombie generated with the hallucinations disappeared. Xu ChangHui bit down his teeth as he prepared to board the yacht to leave solo. Right at the top of the stairs, however, two individuals stood, one being Liu Gan and the other Yin He.

Xu ChangHui saw the two of them and suddenly went ghostly pale. Both his feet were stuck to the ground. He knew that, today, he wasn’t going to escape. Even though he wielded a dagger, he knew of Liu Gan and Yin He’s fighting capabilities. He was no match for them.

Liu Gan rushed down and grabbed the dagger in Xu ChangHui’s hand, subduing him shortly after. Yin He rushed over to the waterside, frenetically stabbing at something in the water with the bamboo spear in her hand. The water surface revealed bubbles and a spiral, as if something was quickly submerging into the river.

Yin He chased a few steps, but she didn’t enter into the water. It was impossible to continue chasing it further.

“Why are you two here?” Liu Gan looked at Zhou MingLiang’s bloodied corpse as he questioned Xu ChangHui.

“It was Expert Zhou… He… He wanted to look around. I was worried that something might happen to him, so I accompanied him…” Xu ChangHui stammered as he explained to Liu Gan. Since Zhou MingLiang was dead, Xu ChangHui could say anything and no one could confront him on it.

“The chains on the yacht are untied. Did you two think about escaping yourselves? So everyone here can remain on this island? Were you planning to screw everyone over?” Liu Gan saw through Xu ChangHui’s attempt.

“NO! Elder Liu! It was all Expert Zhou’s idea. I was forced by him to come! I didn’t want to make another mistake, so I killed him…” Xu ChangHui kept adding on to his lies.

“Considering Zhou MingLiang’s temper, would he truly force you to do this? Do you think I’m that gullible?” Liu Gan would have none of Xu ChangHui’s lies. He instructed Yin He to tie down the chains of the Yacht again, and then, like a mother chicken carrying her chicks, he grabbed Xu ChangHui by the neck and dragged him back to safety within the high walls.