AFTCKCTCKATD - Chapter 41
Chapter 41
Two Little Traitors.
In the wasteland, behind the trees, the two huge beasts lay on the ground side by side, their tails tucked between their legs, staring blankly at the mountains in the distance.
Neither of them brought up the subject of tails again.
Seeing that the sun was about to set, the larger Beast Corpse King, covered in black fur, got up.
“Guur?” The other, smaller one looked up at it.
The black beast took a deep breath, and as it took a step forward, it roared, its voice shaking the mountains. “Roar!”
It couldn’t just wait here and do nothing. It had to break through as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would always have to hide from Feng Yimo.
Its golden eyes looked at the mountains. It was so powerful that it could vaguely sense the presence of Awakened zombies over there.
Ordinary human zombies were meaningless to a creature at its level, even if it ate a lot of them. It needed to hunt Awakened zombies and Corpse Kings.
Having made up its mind, it quickly ran towards the city on the other side of the mountains.
The two sped across the wasteland, one after the other, disappearing into the mountains.
On the straight road that stretched to the horizon, the red truck sped forward like an arrow piercing the air.
After shouting, yelling, and feeling the wind to their hearts’ content, they finally pulled down the canvas on the roof of the truck to block the scorching sun and the wind.
The sun was too strong. It was uncomfortable, and the strong wind quickly dehydrated them, making them even more thirsty.
Aside from switching drivers once in the middle, the truck didn’t stop.
It was already past two o’clock when they set off. After driving for more than four hours, it got dark at six o’clock, and they continued driving for another hour until eight o’clock, when it started snowing heavily.
They rested in the truck that night.
The truck was big enough to hold seventy or eighty people, but that was if they were all sitting or standing. There wasn’t enough space for everyone to lie down and sleep at night.
This made them uncomfortable, but it was still much warmer and more comfortable inside the truck, sheltered from the wind and snow, than being exposed to the elements.
The next day, they didn’t set off at dawn as usual. Instead, they rested where they were until a little after seven, when the snow on the road had mostly melted. Only then did they set off again.
They had always been traveling on foot before. With snow all over the ground and having to be vigilant while walking, the distance they covered in three or four hours could be covered by the truck in less than half an hour.
At about eight ten, the speeding truck suddenly stopped.
Sensing the sudden stop, the people in the back poked their heads out from under the canvas.
They were about to ask what had happened, when they saw a village up ahead, to the right of the road.
They had arrived at the next village.
This village was different from the previous one. It was only two or three hundred meters from the highway. There were even two houses right next to the highway.
The village was in a basin, surrounded by hills. Between the hills and the village was farmland, full of weeds and mutated crops. From a distance, they could see quite a few figures in the farmland and the village.
Everyone quickly got out of the truck.
After glancing at the village from afar, Ji Yanqing had the driver reverse the truck about a hundred meters to behind a hill to conceal their presence.
As he was watching the truck back up, making sure it was completely hidden behind the hill, Li Pingsen, Xia Chen, and the others who had guns were already ready to go.
“We’ll go check out the village first,” Li Pingsen said to Ji Yanqing.
Ji Yanqing walked towards the truck to get his axe.
Seeing this, Ji An and Ji Le, who were still in the truck, hurriedly picked up his axe from beside them and carried it to him.
“It’s fine to let them go,” Xia Shen Shu said, leaning against the side of the truck.
Ji Yanqing looked at him.
“The team will get bigger and bigger. We need more people who can handle things. You can’t do everything yourself,” Xia Shen Shu said.
Li Pingsen, who was ready to go, smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ve managed to survive for over half a year in this apocalypse. It’s just a small village. Nothing will happen.”
Hearing their words, the others nodded.
Ji Yanqing was a good fighter, but he was also human. He needed to rest and recuperate.
And since he had given them guns, they hoped they could put them to use, instead of just having them as decorations.
Seeing their insistence, Ji Yanqing looked at the small village in the distance and didn’t insist.
After saying goodbye, Li Pingsen led the group of more than twenty people towards the mountains next to the truck. They were going to take a detour through the mountains, to the vegetable fields not far from the village, and then enter the village from there.
They were very fast, and in about ten minutes, they reached the vegetable fields.
After quickly crossing the vegetable fields, bent over, they entered the village. Upon reaching the village entrance, they quickly and silently dispersed, each heading in a different direction to explore.
Their movements were still a little clumsy, but they were already quite experienced in dealing with zombies.
Half an hour later, two people from the team returned to report the situation.
“It’s the same as the village before. It’s been looted countless times. There’s not even any food or water. Even the roofs have practically been torn off,” Xia Chen said.
Hearing this, the other thirty or so people who were waiting by the truck couldn’t help sighing.
Fortunately, they had saved quite a bit of time on the way here. Even if they didn’t find any supplies today, they still had enough for another two or three days.
“Li Pingsen asked me to come back and ask if we need to get more gas,” Xia Chen looked at Ji Yanqing, waiting for him to make a decision.
They didn’t have much gas left in the truck. If they didn’t replenish it, they would have to abandon the truck and walk after a while.
If they wanted to continue driving, they would have to drive through the village. The village was too close to the road, and the noise and size of the truck, as well as its speed, would definitely attract many zombies.
It was a risk, a gamble.
Everyone looked at Ji Yanqing.
He looked at the village in the distance.
Under the scorching sun, the village was quiet and full of danger. The moment there was any sign of movement, those strange figures wandering aimlessly would go into a frenzy.
Ji Yanqing nodded. “Be careful.”
“Okay!” Xia Chen and the other person who had come back to report exchanged glances, and then hurried back to tell Li Pingsen the news.
Seeing them disappear into the forest, Ji Yanqing turned and looked at the others, telling them to find something to reinforce the truck.
The truck they were currently driving only had metal bars on the sides and top of the cargo bed. Although the canvas could block the sunlight and wind, it offered practically no protection if they were attacked.
They would be driving past the village, which would definitely attract zombies. They had to reinforce the walls of the truck.
Given something to do, the anxious group immediately took action.
Xia Shen Shu led a group into the mountains and cut down some vines and branches. Lan Zi led another group and wove the vines and branches onto the metal bars on the sides and top of the truck.
Ji Yanqing took this opportunity to take out his map and spread it out on the truck, studying their next route.
Before, their team had been small, and they had been staying near urban areas, so they hadn’t dared to use a vehicle.
Now, the situation was different. Their team now had almost fifty people. Perhaps they really should find a vehicle to drive.
Although driving through villages and towns would cause some trouble, it could also save them a lot of energy and time.
Especially time. With more time, they could go to more places, further away, and have more opportunities to obtain supplies.
As he was thinking about what kind of vehicle would be more suitable, he noticed that Ji An and Ji Le, who were hiding from the sun in the forest, seemed to be eating something secretly.
He was stunned, and then put down his pen and entered the forest.
Faintly hearing footsteps, Ji An quickly stuffed the remaining scale back into his pocket.
Seeing this, Ji Le hurriedly swallowed the delicious scale in his mouth. He was in such a hurry, and so guilty, that his face turned red.
His skin was fair, and a pink blush appeared under his skin. He looked so soft and cute that one wanted to pinch his cheeks.
His black eyes were also filled with tears from excitement.
Ji Yanqing squatted down in front of them. “What are you eating?”
Ji Le immediately shook his head, feeling guilty. Ji An had said they couldn’t tell Ji Yanqing. Although he felt like such a delicious thing should be shared with Ji Yanqing, Ji An disagreed.
“Open your mouth.” Ji Yanqing held his chin and gently pried open his mouth. There was nothing inside.
He looked at Ji Le’s mouth as well. There was nothing there either.
Not seeing anything in their mouths, Ji Yanqing relaxed a little. “Don’t eat random things. You’ll get a stomachache.”
Ji An and Ji Le quickly nodded obediently.
He rubbed their heads, feeling both heartbroken and helpless.
They were at an age where they needed to get enough nutrition. This would affect their development for the rest of their lives. But he couldn’t even let them eat their fill.
He glanced at Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi, who were working nearby, and went back to the front of the truck to calculate their next route even more carefully. He had to make sure it was an efficient route.
Their priority had to be finding food. After all, only by staying alive could they think about anything else.
In the forest, seeing him go back to the front of the truck, Ji An and Ji Le both breathed a sigh of relief.
“Gege…” Ji Le looked at Ji An anxiously. “Are we really not giving any to Papa?”
That thing was so delicious, fragrant, and crunchy. And even just a small piece made his stomach feel warm and full.
Having such a delicious thing but not giving any to Ji Yanqing, he felt guilty.
Ji An looked at Ji Le with sadness. Ji Le didn’t know anything.
But it was fine. He would take good care of Ji Le.
He imitated Ji Yanqing, who often touched their heads, and touched Ji Le’s cheek.
Imitating his tone, he said in his childish voice, “No. Papa would be angry if he knew we were eating this, and if he was angry, he might not want us anymore.”
Hearing that they might make Ji Yanqing angry, that they might be abandoned, Ji Le’s eyes widened. His eyes were filled with anxiety.
“Then…” He wanted to say that he wouldn’t eat it anymore, but when he thought about its fragrant taste and how it made his whole body feel warm after eating it, he couldn’t say the words.
This made him feel even worse. He was bad. He wasn’t obedient.
Ji Yanqing was so good to him, and he actually had something delicious that he wouldn’t share with him.
“Where’s yours?” Ji An asked.
He had just given a scale to Ji Le.
“I ate it.” Ji Le pouted. Ji Yanqing had suddenly come over and startled him, so he had swallowed it whole without even chewing it.
Ji An took out his scale from his pocket. He hadn’t eaten it yet.
It was translucent, greenish-blue in color, only about the size of his thumb. It looked like jade, and it was also cool to the touch.
He had plucked a big handful before, but now there were only a few pieces left. It was delicious, and after eating it, he wouldn’t feel hungry anymore, so he couldn’t help but want to eat it.
He was about to eat it when Ji Le peeked at him from the side.
Being caught, he quickly looked away, but he still couldn’t help swallowing.
After a moment of hesitation, Ji An handed him the scale.
Ji Le’s eyes instantly lit up.
He reached out to take it, but retracted his hand just before he touched it. He turned and ran out of the forest, towards Ji Yanqing.
One piece for each person. He had already eaten his. He couldn’t take Ji An’s. If he ate Ji An’s, Ji An wouldn’t have any left.
Running over, he hugged Ji Yanqing’s leg.
Ji Yanqing, who was looking at the map, sensed the movement and looked down. He touched Ji Le’s head. “What’s wrong?”
Ji Le shook his head, only calling out in his soft, childish voice, “Papa.”
Ji Yanqing rubbed his head and continued looking at the map.
If they drove, they could probably reach the town by the canal they were planning to go to the day after tomorrow.
In less than half an hour, three solid walls had been built on the truck. Lan Zi even led some people to cover them with canvas, so that even if zombies jumped onto the truck, they wouldn’t be able to get in for a while.
By the time Xia Shen Shu, Lan Zi, and the others were done, there was finally movement from Li Pingsen’s side. They began carrying gas back.
Seeing this, Lan Zi and the others who had finished modifying the truck also went into the forest. After they carried the gas to the forest, they helped carry it back to the truck.
They had found quite a bit of gas in the village. After filling the truck’s gas tank, they still had half a bucket left.
They sealed the half bucket of gas, put it in the truck, smelled the gasoline in the air, looked at the strangely modified truck, and smiled. Their eyes seemed to have lit up.
After making preparations, they went into the forest to rest.
It was ten o’clock, the hottest time of the day.
Li Pingsen had also found some food in the village, but it wasn’t even enough for five people to have one meal. The village had been looted clean.
Ji Yanqing had people take out their food and water to distribute.
After receiving their rations, he returned to the two little ones and sat down.
He gave them their usual portions of food, then took some from his own portion and added it to theirs.
Ji An and Ji Le looked at each other. Seeing more food in their hands than usual, they both felt a pang of pain.
Especially Ji An. Ji Le only felt that it didn’t taste good, but he had already reached the point where it was difficult to swallow.
Ji Yanqing was about to eat when a bag of biscuits was shoved into his arms.
He looked over. It was Feng Yimo.
“Papa, eat mine.”
“I’ll give you mine too…”
Ji An and Ji Le, who had been staring resentfully at the food in their hands, saw Feng Yimo and immediately stood up, getting between him and Ji Yanqing. They shoved all their food into Ji Yanqing’s arms, then hurriedly took Feng Yimo’s biscuits and gave them back to him.
They didn’t want his food. They could take care of their own papa. They could feed him until he was full!
They even glared at Feng Yimo, as if to say, Don’t try to steal Ji Yanqing away like this!
Feng Yimo couldn’t steal Ji Yanqing away from them!
Ji Yanqing was baffled for a moment by their fierce attitude, then he couldn’t help feeling amused. He looked at Feng Yimo. “What did you do to them?”
Feng Yimo picked up the biscuits that had been shoved back into his arms and glanced at their little faces. They were his subordinates, but they were calling Ji Yanqing “Papa.” They should be listening to him, but they actually dared to dislike him.
Little traitors.
After finishing their food, Ji Yanqing watched the two little ones drink some water, then had them lie down next to him to sleep.
Seeing that he was done, Xia Shen Shu walked over.
He sat down beside him. “We only have three doses of hemostatic and anti-inflammatory medicine left.”
Ji Yanqing looked at him.
“Most people have some kind of injury, and many of the wounds are infected,” Xia Shen Shu said.
The medicine Ji Yanqing had brought back before had seemed like a lot, but after taking out the packaging, there hadn’t been that much medicine. And they had almost died several times during this time. Practically everyone had been injured. Even though they had been using the medicine sparingly, they didn’t have much left.
Ji Yanqing nodded. He had seen it all.
“We have to get a doctor for the team,” Xia Shen Shu said.
Ji Yanqing didn’t say anything. He would if he could, but where would they find one?
Many people had died in the initial outbreak. People were dying every day. By now, there weren’t many people left, and the probability of there being a doctor among them was very low.
And even if there really was a doctor, the other survival teams would have already taken them in and either protected or confined them. They wouldn’t let them run around.
Xia Shen Shu understood this and didn’t say anything more.
They were silent for a while when the sound of laughter came from the distance.
Ji Yanqing looked over. Several people in the forest were talking about something, and every now and then, someone would run a short distance.
It was the hottest time of the day. Even though it was relatively cool in the forest, the temperature was definitely not lower than fifty degrees. Normally, everyone would be lying on the ground, barely alive. It was rare for anyone to still have the energy to play around at this time.
“They’re practicing running,” Xia Shen Shu said.
Ji Yanqing looked over. Practicing running in the middle of the day?
Hadn’t they run enough?
Xia Shen Shu smiled. “It seems like they think you prefer people who can run fast. You gave guns to the fastest people in the team before.”
It took Ji Yanqing a moment to understand what he meant. He couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.
Xia Shen Shu definitely had some hand in this. He was always one to stir up trouble.
Ji Yanqing looked at those people who were busy practicing. He thought about it, but he didn’t say anything in the end.
Although their guess was wrong, it wasn’t entirely incorrect. He did favor people who were physically fit.
Because only for those people would guns not be a burden, and only those people would have the energy to look after others after getting a gun.
After watching them for a while, he closed his eyes, planning to take a nap.
Xia Shen Shu watched for a while, then got up and patted his butt, getting ready to go over and give them some pointers.
Ji Yanqing sensed the movement, opened his eyes, and looked at Xia Shen Shu, who was practically wagging his tail like a fox. He was speechless, but he didn’t say anything.
Everyone rested in the forest for two hours. At half past twelve, when the sun was no longer so scorching, they pulled themselves together and got into the truck.
After everyone got in, and Xia Shen Shu, who was driving, and Lan Zi, who was responsible for protecting him, were also ready, Ji Yanqing took a deep breath and gave the order to depart.
The truck sped up and moved forward quickly.
Less than two hundred meters after the truck rushed out of the hills, the zombies in the fields outside the village noticed them. They immediately charged towards them.
The truck didn’t stop and continued speeding forward.
When it reached the two houses near the road, many zombies had already reached the side of the road. The zombies at the edge of the village had also been alerted by the commotion and were rushing out.
Inside the truck, everyone gripped their weapons and sticks, on high alert.
If they fired their guns, all the zombies in the entire village would be attracted, so they wouldn’t shoot unless it was absolutely necessary.
As the truck passed those two houses and drove alongside the village, the number of zombies that had discovered them was close to two hundred. From a distance, they could see frenzied figures all over the fields to their right.
Some zombies up ahead ran onto the road. Xia Shen Shu floored the accelerator and slammed into them.
The truck easily knocked those zombies away, and the tires ran them over, making popping sounds like bubble wrap.
Xia Shen Shu whistled, as if he found the sound pleasant.
Lan Zi, who was sitting beside him, holding her gun, twitched her lips.
“Thump!” A zombie leaped onto the wall of the truck.
The hearts of the people in the back, whose nerves were already tense, leaped, and they all looked over.
They had reinforced the walls of the truck. The canvas and the vines and branches effectively stopped those zombies from getting into the truck, but it also prevented them from attacking the zombies outside.
The zombies started climbing onto the roof.
Ji Yanqing glanced at the back of the truck. Li Pingsen and a few others were using sticks to knock the zombies trying to climb in down.
“Thump…screeech” There were footsteps and scratching sounds coming from the roof.
Ji Yanqing looked up at the canvas, which was being pulled and shaken.
He quickly moved to the back of the truck, grabbed the ceiling of the truck, and swung his body outwards. Using the momentum, he quickly flipped over and jumped onto the roof.
There were already four or five zombies on the roof. Some were tearing at the canvas, some were moving towards the back of the truck, trying to jump into the truck.
One was on the roof of the cab, getting ready to attack Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi inside.
Ji Yanqing’s axe swung, quickly knocking away the two zombies rushing towards him. He headed towards the front of the truck.
The truck was leaving the village, heading further away, but the zombies didn’t stop. More and more zombies were alerted and chased after them, onto the road.
Ji Yanqing looked back from the roof of the truck. The dense crowd of zombies, their frenzied desire to bite them, made his scalp tingle.
He had just cleared the zombies off the roof of the truck when more jumped up. He was about to swing his axe when he saw the traffic jam down the slope ahead.
The entrance to the village wasn’t where they had parked the truck before, but here.
After the virus outbreak, many people had returned from outside the village, and many people had also tried to leave. But they hadn’t been able to escape before they died at the village entrance.
This had resulted in more than ten vehicles being piled up, practically blocking the entire road.
Seeing the traffic jam, Ji Yanqing’s first reaction was to run towards the back of the truck.
Approaching the back, he squatted down, grabbed the roof, jumped down, and threw himself inside the truck. At the same time, he shouted, “Grab onto something!”
If someone else had been driving, the truck might have stopped when they saw the traffic jam. But the one driving was Xia Shen Shu.
Sure enough, almost the instant his warning rang out, there was a crashing sound as the front of the truck hit something.
The truck had already picked up speed, so the force of the impact and inertia tossed everyone inside into a jumbled mess, like dumplings being thrown into water.
Feng Yimo, who was standing at the back of the truck to prevent zombies from getting in, grabbed Ji Yanqing amidst the shaking and kicked a zombie that was trying to climb in because of the truck’s brief deceleration.
Xia Shen Shu had no intention of stopping at all. He slammed into the pile of vehicles, using brute force to push them all aside. A small car on the right was sent flying, taking down more than ten zombies with it.
Lan Zi clutched her gun in one hand and the handle above her head in the other. She had already buckled her seatbelt, and her lips twitched.
Xia Shen Shu, beside her, was grinning.
The truck had a lot of horsepower. Although its front was dented, it quickly smashed open a path. The sound of metal clashing traveled far, but the truck successfully got through.
After passing the traffic jam, the truck sped forward.
The people in the truck, who had been tossed around, got up from the ground dizzily. They wanted to kill someone. But they also knew that it was impossible for them to stop and clear the road in that situation.
Ji Yanqing threw himself onto the roof of the truck again to clear away the zombies. Inside the truck, Li Pingsen and the others quickly returned to their positions at the back.
There were even more zombies in this village than in the last one. Coupled with the fact that they were driving right past the village, the zombies chased after them for a good ten minutes before they finally shook them off.
After confirming that there were no zombies around, everyone collapsed inside the truck, rubbing their sore spots, and at the same time, smiling.
Ji Yanqing climbed down from the roof. He looked at the corner at the very back.
Ji An and Ji Le were squatting on the ground, clutching the truck, their faces pale with fright.
“It’s okay now.” Ji Yanqing went over to them.
After leaving the village, the truck continued forward. At about three in the afternoon, the truck stopped on the side of the road to switch drivers.
When Xia Shen Shu returned to the back of the truck, there was still a hint of excitement on his face.
Lan Zi’s face was pale, and she staggered a little as she walked.
Seeing Xia Shen Shu enter, everyone in the truck stared at him.
They couldn’t beat Feng Yimo in a fight, but they could still put a sack over Xia Shen Shu’s head and beat him up.
There were no other villages after this one. They passed through a mountainous area and soon entered a plain.
After it got dark at six, they drove for another hour. At seven o’clock, they found a relatively sheltered spot on the plain and stopped to rest.
They all got out of the truck and, before the snow started falling, stretched their bodies, ate a little, and then quickly got back in to sleep.
The next day, they didn’t set off immediately. Instead, they continued to rest until a little past seven, when the snow had melted and the road was passable. Only then did they set off again.
Many of those who wanted to get a gun didn’t know how they had been misled by Xia Shen Shu, but they seemed to really believe that Ji Yanqing particularly liked people who could run. During their rest in the morning, a bunch of people ran laps around the area.
The scene was both funny and exasperating.
If he could, Ji Yanqing would definitely equip everyone with a gun.
The truck was faster than he had expected. He had originally thought it would take them until the third day to reach the town they were planning to go to. But at a little after six on the evening of the second day, they saw buildings in the distance.
As soon as they saw the town, the driver quickly stopped the truck.
That town was too big. If they just drove up to it brazenly, they wouldn’t be able to escape this time.
They all got out of the truck and looked at it from afar in the darkness.
The town was much bigger than they had expected. In the darkness, the buildings on the horizon were vast and layered. Just from its area, it might even be bigger than the county town they had been to before, big enough to be considered a city.
“What should we do? Should we go over now?” Lan Zi looked at Ji Yanqing.
According to his original plan, they should have arrived during the day, so they would have had plenty of time to prepare and could enter the town fully prepared.
Cities at night were different from the wilderness. They had dared to travel in the dark in the wilderness because they were sure there were no zombies. But there were at least tens of thousands of zombies in a city, maybe even hundreds of thousands.
The town before them probably didn’t have a population of several hundred thousand, but it definitely had at least fifty or sixty thousand.
Ji Yanqing hesitated for a moment before saying, “Let’s rest first, and go in tomorrow. A town this size probably already has Awakened zombies.”
Hearing those two words, everyone became incredibly alert.
Xia Shen Shu took some people with him and walked around the road to find a suitable place to camp.
Lan Zi took another group and got a little closer to the town, wanting to find out how many zombies there were at the edge.
Although they had spotted the town early and had stopped the truck far away, since they could see it, it could also see them. Who knew if there might be some zombies with particularly good eyesight?
Xia Shen Shu quickly returned. He had found a forest not far away. The forest wasn’t very secluded, but it was still much better than the middle of the road.
Li Pingsen drove the truck off the road and into the forest.
After entering the forest, they all quietly got busy. Some checked their weapons and prepared for the night watch, and others distributed food and water.
Lan Zi still hadn’t come back.
Ji Yanqing climbed onto the roof of the truck to take a look. The plain ahead wasn’t flat. He could only see a cluster of low hills.
“She’s smart,” Xia Shen Shu said, handing him his and Ji An’s food and water rations.
Ji Yanqing wasn’t really worried that something would happen to Lan Zi. Just as Xia Shen Shu had said, she wasn’t stupid. And there hadn’t been any gunshots in the darkness. He was just wondering why she hadn’t come back.
He got off the truck and distributed the things to Ji An and Ji Le. They were almost done eating when there was finally movement on the plain ahead. Lan Zi and the others had returned.
She had taken five or six people with her, and they were all walking quickly.
Hearing the movement, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over.
“What’s wrong?” Ji Yanqing asked.
“There are people inside the city,” Lan Zi said.
Everyone was stunned. Ji Yanqing as well.
He had heard similar words many times along the way, but most of the time it was people telling him that there were zombies or Corpse Kings ahead. This was probably the first time he had heard someone tell him that there were people ahead.
“People? Living people?” Xia Shen Shu raised an eyebrow.
“Living people.” Lan Zi’s tone was very serious.
Xia Shen Shu didn’t say anything, and he looked at Ji Yanqing.
Ji Yanqing put down the water he was about to feed to Ji An and Ji Le and stood up. “What’s going on?”
Lan Zi paused for a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking. “After we got a little closer, we saw that there seemed to be words written on the wall of the buildings facing us. At first, we thought it was some kind of advertising slogan and didn’t pay attention. But after we got a little closer, we saw that the words were written by people, so we got closer to take a look.”
“Those words were left by the people in the town for those outside. They said that there was an aid station in the town, and people from outside were welcome to go there.”
“There’s also a date on the wall, written with the month and year after the virus outbreak. The latest one is from this month.”
The fact that they could update the date meant there were indeed living people in the town.
There were survivors in the town. This was good news. But the fact itself made everyone feel a mixture of surprise and complex emotions.
The virus outbreak had been half a year ago. At the time, it had been like a flood breaking through a dam, surging and fierce.
Three days. In just three days, before most people even understood what was going on, the apocalypse had arrived.
Three days later, an even more hopeless second apocalypse had come, with bombs raining from the sky, the earth’s crust shifting, the world mutating. Not only humans, but the entire world had begun to collapse.
Amidst that collapse, they had desperately fled, surviving countless near-death experiences.
It wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen any so-called aid stations during that time. But those aid stations, which had collapsed almost as soon as they were established, had practically become everyone’s nightmare.
Countless people had flocked to those aid stations, making them, along with supermarkets and schools, the places with the most zombies. They were hells that everyone avoided.
The forest was silent.
Finally, someone spoke.
“What should we do? Should we go?” someone asked.
Everyone looked at Ji Yanqing.
They were already used to him making decisions. They had also accepted him as their captain, even though they hadn’t been together for very long, even though he had a face that was too beautiful.
“Anything else?” Ji Yanqing asked Lan Zi.
Lan Zi hesitated for a moment. “They might have already discovered us.”
Ji Yanqing frowned.
“There seems to be a lookout in the town,” Lan Zi said. “Our truck is probably already in their field of vision.”
Humans were different from zombies. Zombies didn’t think.
As long as zombies hadn’t clearly seen their truck moving, even if a truck suddenly appeared on the road, they wouldn’t notice. But humans would think about things that suddenly appeared, analyze them, and make judgments.
Everyone’s expressions darkened. They didn’t know anything about the situation in the town, but the other party had probably already figured them out.
Although they had almost fifty people now, what if the other party had a hundred, or even two hundred?
“Should we turn back?” Li Pingsen looked at Ji Yanqing.
“I don’t think we have the chance to turn back,” Xia Shen Shu said.
Ji Yanqing looked over. Xia Shen Shu pointed in the direction of the town.
A beam of light appeared in the sky above the town, which had been shrouded in darkness before. Someone was shining a flashlight into the sky. The light flashed off and on in a dizzying display.
Anyone who had lived through the apocalypse knew that you couldn’t turn on lights at night, unless you wanted to die. The other party couldn’t possibly be doing this just because they were feeling happy.
They had been discovered.
“Morse code?”
“It must be.”
“They’re telling us to go over,” Xia Shen Shu said.
“You already deciphered it?” Lan Zi looked at him.
He shook his head. “No.”
Lan Zi was speechless. “Then how do you know?”
“What else could it be?”
She was speechless again. But thinking about it, there really was nothing else it could be.
The other party wouldn’t take the risk to do this at this time unless they wanted to contact them.
They couldn’t possibly be asking about the weather. Lan Zi looked at the heavy snow swirling around them. Well, the weather wasn’t good.
“What do you say?” Xia Shen Shu looked at Ji Yanqing with a smile, his eyes full of anticipation.
Ji Yanqing sighed and looked at the faces of the people staring at him.
Anxiety was written on their faces, and there was also tension in Ji An and Ji Le’s eyes. Only Feng Yimo’s eyes were dark and serene, as if he hadn’t even noticed their current situation.
His eyes were so indifferent and fearless that they made him unconsciously relax.
“Let’s go take a look,” Ji Yanqing said, making a decision.
They were already in a passive position.
Even if they got in the truck and left now, if the other party wanted to do something, it wouldn’t be that easy to escape. And they only had one day’s worth of food and water left.
Xia Shen Shu’s smile widened. “Then let’s send a team over?”
Ji Yanqing glanced back at the beam of light that was still flashing Morse code, and nodded. He turned to get his axe.
Xia Shen Shu stopped him. “You shouldn’t go.”
Ji Yanqing’s hand, which was reaching for his axe, paused.
“You’re the captain of our team. In this situation, you should let the lower-ranking people go first. You have to maintain your authority. We can’t let them look down on us. And what if they’re setting a trap?” Xia Shen Shu said, his eyes shining with excitement. He was itching for action.
Ji Yanqing didn’t say anything. He had a feeling that Xia Shen Shu was trying to stir up trouble. He was that kind of person.
He even had the feeling that Xia Shen Shu’s highbrow-sounding words were just an excuse he had come up with on a whim.
Lan Zi took a deep breath, ignoring Xia Shen Shu. Although she also felt that he had ulterior motives, his words did make sense. “We’ll go. If anything happens, you can come and save us.”
If Ji Yanqing went, no one would be able to save him if something happened.
If they went, and if something happened, she believed that he would definitely rescue them.
Ji Yanqing thought about it, and nodded. “Be careful.”
Having made up their minds and received permission, Lan Zi ignored Xia Shen Shu, who was itching to go, and quickly chose people from the team.
They only had about fifty people. They couldn’t take twenty or thirty with them. But sending too few would be unsettling. And the question of how many people should have guns…
After a moment of hesitation, she chose ten people. Besides her and Xia Shen Shu, the only other gun-wielder they only took was Li Pingsen.
“Look fierce when you see them, killing intent in your eyes…” Xia Shen Shu began instructing them.
Lan Zi ignored his existence and led the group into the snow.
Ji Yanqing watched her leave until their figures disappeared into the snowy darkness.
After they left, the others who were left in the forest looked at each other, losing their appetite. They were all distracted as they sat in the truck, counting the time and waiting.
Half an hour later, Ji Yanqing climbed onto the roof of the truck to take a look. As far as he could see, there was still no one in sight.
He got down from the truck and shook his head at the people staring at him, then returned to where he had been sitting before.
Ji An and Ji Le were already sleepy. Their heads were nodding, and their eyes couldn’t stay open.
Feng Yimo, who was on his other side, was closing his eyes, resting, completely unfazed by the tension in the truck.
After sitting down, he pulled the two little ones to lie down on his lap and sleep. They had already been incredibly sleepy, and fell asleep as soon as they leaned against his legs.
He smoothed their clothes, keeping the cold wind out.
They had gained some weight and were no longer so bony, although they were still thin. Their warmth seeped into him.
After he was done, he looked up to meet a pair of cold, dark eyes.
Feng Yimo still remembered what Xia Shen Shu had said. If the people on the other side dared to touch Ji Yanqing, he would kill them all.
Another half an hour later, the person who had been keeping watch outside got up and said excitedly, “They’re back! They’re back!”
The people in the truck, who hadn’t been able to sleep at all, immediately looked out.
Ji Yanqing carefully put the two little ones, who had fallen fast asleep, in a corner, and got out of the truck.
Ten minutes later, Lan Zi and the others returned, braving the wind and snow.
After entering the forest, Lan Zi didn’t wait to be asked and said, while patting the snow off her body, “We met them. There weren’t many of them, only twenty or so. Men, women, old, and young.”
Hearing that there were only twenty or so people, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At least, they had the advantage in numbers. They didn’t have to worry about the other party killing them and taking their things.
“All twenty of them have guns,” Lan Zi added, as if guessing what they were thinking.
The smiles on everyone’s faces instantly disappeared.
“They all do?” Ji Yanqing asked thoughtfully.
“Yes.” After patting the snow off her body, Lan Zi clumsily tried to climb onto the truck. Her hands and feet were numb from the cold.
Seeing this, the people in the truck hurriedly helped her up.
Xia Shen Shu, who was walking at the back, looked intrigued.
After everyone returned to the truck, Lan Zi, who had finally warmed up, spoke again. “They all have guns. They’re well-fed and well-clothed. They look healthy.”
After a pause, she added, “The town really is very large. It used to be a trading and fishing town. The town is right next to the canal. There’s a large wharf and a bridge by the canal. The town has already been looted, and looted clean. There’s probably no food left.”
“The one who greeted us was a young man in his twenties. He’s the leader of those people. He was very polite, and he had a gentle personality. He said we should enter the town first and find a place to rest, and then talk about everything else tomorrow.”
“There aren’t many zombies in the town. But there are no Awakened zombies or Corpse Kings.”
After hearing her words, everyone in the truck started discussing in low voices.
Things were a little different from what they had imagined. It didn’t seem so bad.
“Oh, and they said the water in the canal is drinkable after being purified,” Lan Zi added.
This made everyone in the truck look at her. Surprise and excitement filled their faces.
“The water in the canal is still drinkable?” Xia Chen stood up excitedly.
They had been fleeing for half a year. The thing they lacked most was water. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had been able to drink his fill.
“They said it needs to be purified, but it is drinkable,” Li Pingsen, who had gone with them, said excitedly.
Just that one river of water… they could die happy.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go now!” Xia Chen said.
Everyone looked at Ji Yanqing.
They all wanted to jump into the river and drink their fill, but Ji Yanqing was the captain. He was the one who made the decisions.
“What do you think?” Ji Yanqing, his face devoid of any smile, looked at Xia Shen Shu.
“There’s a problem.”
Li Pingsen and the others, who were still excited, were stunned.
“A problem? What problem?” Li Pingsen asked.
It wasn’t Xia Shen Shu or Ji Yanqing who answered. It was Lan Zi, who was rubbing her hands to warm them. She said, “There are only twenty or so of them, and there are old and young among them. How could such a small number of people get so many guns?”
“And the supplies in the town have long since been looted. Even if the water in the canal is drinkable after being purified, do they just drink water all day without eating?”
After a pause, she added, “They all look healthy. Although they’re not exactly plump, they look much better than us.”
Although she wasn’t as strong as Ji Yanqing, and her mind wasn’t as quick as Xia Shen Shu’s, she still had her merits.
She was observant, detail-oriented, and intelligent.
Xia Shen Shu liked to stir up trouble, but Lan Zi was steady and reliable.
That was why Ji Yanqing had agreed to let her lead the team to contact the other party.
“There must be quite a few survival teams who had the same thoughts as us. Those survival teams must have given them a lot of food and weapons over the past half year,” Xia Shen Shu said.
The people in the truck, who had been excited, calmed down, and their faces darkened.
They weren’t actually stupid. It was just that hearing that there was endless drinkable water had gone to their heads. Now, thinking about it carefully, they understood.
“There are probably many people who would ignore everything else when they hear there’s drinkable water,” Li Pingsen said wryly. For example, they had been like that just now.
Hearing that there was unlimited water at a time like this… the temptation was comparable to winning a hundred million yuan in the lottery before the virus outbreak.
No, it was even more exciting than winning the lottery, because winning the lottery wouldn’t kill you. But not having water to drink would.
“What do we do now?” Xia Chen looked at Ji Yanqing.
“Get ready. We’re going into the town.” Ji Yanqing got up and went to wake Ji An and Ji Le.
Hearing that they were going into the town, everyone was surprised again.
Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi weren’t surprised, and they both got up to pack their things.
“Should we drive there?” Xia Shen Shu asked.
“Let’s leave it here. There are many zombies near the town. It wouldn’t be easy to drive away later,” Lan Zi said.
Xia Shen Shu nodded.
Ji Yanqing woke the two little ones up, put on his backpack, and after Feng Yimo, who was sitting beside him, also got up, he looked at the others. “Let’s go.”
They quickly put on their backpacks, got out of the truck, and, led by Lan Zi, headed towards the town.
As they walked towards the town in the snow, Li Pingsen, Xia Chen, and the others asked Ji Yanqing what his plan was. Since they knew there was a problem, why were they still going?
“We need water,” he said. That alone was enough for them to take the risk.
“Even if they’re planning something, they wouldn’t just shoot at us. There are quite a few zombies in the town,” Lan Zi said.
Xia Shen Shu seemed to think of something, and he turned around with a smile. “Didn’t you guys want guns?”
“And they’ve been here for so long. They should know a lot of useful information,” Ji Yanqing looked at Xia Shen Shu.
Xia Shen Shu’s smile was incredibly wide. It was clear that he had ulterior motives.
This time, however, Ji Yanqing was thinking the same thing as him.
They needed guns, and the other party had them.
This was the apocalypse. Laws and rules no longer applied. The other party weren’t good people, and they had ill intentions. So he wouldn’t feel guilty even if he took their things.
He was willing to be kind to those around him as much as possible, but it didn’t mean he would be kind to everyone.
He turned around and picked up Ji An and Ji Le. The wind and snow were too strong, and the two little ones, wearing oversized clothes, were almost being snatched into the night.
He couldn’t let his two little ones be blown away.
Feng Yimo’s back was straight, his windbreaker flapping in the wind, but he seemed to be unaffected by the cold wind.
The forest was a considerable distance from the town. Coupled with the heavy snow and the difficult road, it took them almost fifteen minutes to reach the edge of the town.
As soon as they got close, before they could even reach the town, someone came out from a corner on the left side of the town, facing them, and sent a signal.
It was a young girl, who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old. She was wearing a white tracksuit and a white knitted hat, and she looked healthy.
Ji Yanqing and the others quickly approached her.
There were two or three other people in the alley: a man in his forties with a weathered face, and a teenager, seventeen or eighteen years old, with red cheeks from the cold. They were all holding guns.
After meeting up, the three didn’t say anything, and just led them into the town.
They were very familiar with the town. They knew exactly where there were zombies and where it was safe.
Soon, they were led to a huge church.
Outside the church doors was a pile of junk that had been dragged over to block the view and to tie barbed wire to. The doors and windows of the church were all boarded up from the inside, and there was a reinforced metal latch behind the door.
The chairs in the main hall had been moved to the sides. Now, in the middle of the hall, were tables and chairs for eating, a generator, and a water purifier. There was even a set of fabric sofas at the very back of the hall.
About ten people were standing in the room, men, women, old, and young, including the polite young leader that Lan Zi and the others had mentioned.
A bonfire had been lit at the very back of the hall. The warm, flickering fire blocked the wind and snow, and just the sight of it made one feel warm.
After they entered, the three people who had led them in hurriedly closed the door.
“Rest first, and we’ll talk tomorrow.” The young man in his twenties, who was the leader, smiled and asked someone next to him to bring an electric kettle and cups, preparing to pour them some water. Their faces were already blue from the cold.
As the water was poured out, seeing the steam rising from the cups, they realized that the water was actually electrically heated.
They exchanged glances, trying to suppress their surprise. The last time they had had electrically heated water was before the virus outbreak.
For a moment, they even had the illusion that they had returned to those days.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing that they weren’t touching the water, surprise appeared in the young man’s eyes.
“Thank you.” Ji Yanqing put Ji An and Ji Le down, but didn’t touch the water.
Hearing that, the young man looked at him. Seeing his face, he was stunned again.
Under the firelight, Ji Yanqing’s hair and clothes were still covered in snow. The cold wind had made his face pale, and his lips were even lighter in color, almost purple, but it also made his snow-dusted features even more delicate.
He looked like someone who had walked out of a poster, so clean and beautiful that he didn’t belong in this desolate world.
“You’re the captain?” He seemed surprised.
“Mhm.”
“Sorry.” The young man looked away, seeming a little embarrassed for judging by appearances. His ears reddened slightly, making him look even more gentle.
As if to hide his embarrassment, he looked at the others. “Why aren’t you all drinking—”
He suddenly came back to his senses and smiled, taking one of the cups, blowing on it, and taking a sip.
After drinking most of the cup, he smiled and said, “If you’re not sure, I can take a sip from every cup.”
Li Pingsen and the others swallowed, but still didn’t move.
Ji Yanqing glanced back at them, and then they quickly went over, each taking a cup and blowing on it.
Having just come in from the snow, they were all shivering from the cold. Suddenly holding a warm cup of water, the expressions on their faces relaxed.
The young man smiled, seemingly very happy to be of help.
“Have you always been here?” Ji Yanqing asked.
“Sort of. We arrived here one after another, and then we all stayed,” the sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl who had led them in said with a smile.
The young man clapped his hands, interrupting their conversation. “Okay, stop chatting. Xiao Kang, after they finish their water, take them to rest. We’ll talk about everything else tomorrow, after they’ve gotten some rest.”
The girl, Xiao Kang, stuck out her tongue playfully and walked away.
Seeing this relaxed atmosphere, the wariness in the eyes of Li Pingsen and the others eased a little.
Even though no one wanted it, the hardship they had endured was still unconsciously revealed in their expressions. They had rarely seen such smiles.
The water was a little hot, so they drank it slowly.
After standing there for a while, the young man looked at Ji Yanqing again and said, “Are you also going north?”
“North?”
Seeing his confusion, the young man looked surprised. “No? Then how did you end up here?”
“We’re just passing through.” Ji Yanqing didn’t tell him their real purpose. “What’s going on in the north? A lot of people are going there?”
The young man was speechless. He looked at Ji Yanqing, sizing him up.
Seeing that he really didn’t seem to know anything, he said, “You must have heard about that powerful Corpse King in the north, right?”
Ji Yanqing nodded. “I heard that he killed a lot of Corpse Kings.”
The young man smiled and shook his head, a hint of bitterness in his eyes. “It’s more than just killing a lot of Corpse Kings. He practically slaughtered all the Corpse Kings in the north, not even sparing Awakened zombies.”
Ji Yanqing was speechless. He hadn’t heard of this.
“He practically kills wherever he goes. If he were human, it would be an understatement to say that where he steps, blood flows like rivers, that he’s cruel and insane. He’s killed so many that the other survival teams even gave him a nickname, the Grim Reaper.”
“But some people call him the New King.”
“You must have heard about how the Corpse Kings are fighting each other to establish a new order, right? Many people think he’s already the strongest among all the Corpse Kings, that he’s the future New King of this world.”
The young man smiled and brought the topic back to the Corpse King. “I don’t know how zombies communicate, but it seems like many Corpse Kings know about him now and are avoiding him. Anyone who can run has already run away from the places he’s been.”
“Because of this, the north is practically the safest place in this apocalypse now, since there aren’t any Corpse Kings.”
Ji Yanqing began to understand.
The young man pointed to the left side of the sofa. “Across the canal is the territory that Grim Reaper slaughtered his way through.”
Ji Yanqing frowned. “Isn’t it dangerous over there?”
The young man smiled wryly. “Awakened zombies, Corpse Kings, the Grim Reaper… is there a difference for us?”
Li Pingsen and the others were speechless.
Indeed, for them, there was no difference between those three. They were all existences that would kill them if encountered.
Compared to the more numerous Awakened zombies and Corpse Kings, being in the territory of a sole Grim Reaper might actually be less terrifying.
“There’s a bridge behind our town. Many people who think the north is safe come here first and then cross the bridge. Our town is quite famous among survival teams. I thought you were also here for that,” the young man said.
His words contained too much information. For a moment, even Ji Yanqing, Xia Shen Shu, and Lan Zi, who were trying to hide their thoughts, couldn’t help but look surprised.
Feng Yimo, behind Ji Yanqing, lowered his eyes and looked at his sword.
Even when he had been on the other side of the canal, he hadn’t sensed the Grim Reaper’s presence, hadn’t even sensed his aura. This creature truly was a terrifying existence.
He might not be able to defeat him.
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