AFTCKCTCKATD - Chapter 64

 Chapter 64

“I Like You Too, More Than He Does.”

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Listening to Feng Yimo’s lowered, slightly hoarse voice, feeling those dark, bottomless eyes fixed directly on him, Ji Yanqing felt something slam violently against his ribs. The next instant, he looked away, flustered, and took two hasty steps back.

Feng Yimo started to follow, but Ji Yanqing raised the axe he still held, pressing the flat of it against Feng Yimo’s chest, barring his approach. Talking was one thing, but why did Feng Yimo have to get so damn close?

“Captain?” From behind, Bai Haoxuan and his men rushed over, guns raised, their expressions fierce. But as they rounded the front of the vehicles and saw Feng Yimo, the two children, and the dog standing before the convoy, they all froze, bewildered. They had braced for many possibilities—humans, zombies—but Feng Yimo’s group was the last thing they’d expected.

“How did you…” Bai Haoxuan’s face was a mask of astonishment. Although their own group had backtracked for a stretch and stopped to resupply, they had spent most of their time in the vehicles. How had Feng Yimo and the others managed to get ahead of them? Bai Haoxuan and his men glanced behind Feng Yimo; there was no sign of another vehicle on the road.

“Get in the trucks,” Ji Yanqing said, turning and heading towards one of the vehicles himself. Confirming they weren’t under attack, Bai Haoxuan’s group cast another long, questioning look at Feng Yimo’s trio before returning to their own trucks.

Ji Yanqing climbed back into his previous vehicle. He reached for the door, intending to close it before Feng Yimo and the children could board. But as he turned, he was met by three pairs of dark, mournful eyes staring directly at him. Ji An and Ji Le’s eyes were swollen and red from crying, now shimmering with fresh tears, and full of anxiety as they watched him nervously. Feng Yimo’s eyes weren’t red, but he looked just as pitiful.

Ji Yanqing’s mind blanked for a fraction of a second. In that brief lapse, Feng Yimo and the children slipped into the vehicle. Ji Yanqing paused, about to speak, but the engine roared to life, and the truck lurched forward. He sank back down into his seat.

Feng Yimo and the children sat opposite him. Ji An and Ji Le’s eyes were swollen like walnuts, tear tracks stark on their small faces; they had clearly been crying just moments before. Seeing him again, there were no joyful smiles, only a profound caution and fear in their expressions. Looking at their uneasy faces, Ji Yanqing felt as if someone had taken his heart and brutally crushed it - sharp, agonizing pain flooding his entire chest. This was the second time he had abandoned them. The weight of it made it hard to even meet their eyes. He knew, with painful clarity, how deeply abandonment affected them.

Ji Yanqing’s lips moved, words forming and dying on his tongue several times before he finally closed his eyes, feigning rest. Seeing Ji Yanqing wasn’t going to say anything, Feng Yimo, who had brazenly followed him onto the truck, secretly let out a small sigh of relief.

“Woof…” The black beast flopped down with a sigh of its own. Feng Yimo glanced at it, a faint look of disdain in his eyes. The black beast, still dazed, met that gaze, understood the distaste, and twitched its muzzle in a very human-like grimace. It wanted to explain itself, to argue that Feng Yimo never seemed to think he was the one with the problem, but it swallowed the words. It closed its eyes and resumed its favorite pastime: plotting its escape.

Inside the truck, Bai Haoxuan and his men, who had been curiously observing Ji Yanqing and Feng Yimo, waited for a conversation that never came. After a moment, they exchanged disappointed glances and looked away.

The convoy picked up speed, rumbling along the highway. Aside from those on watch, the rhythmic swaying and the stuffy, close air soon lulled everyone into a drowsy state. Since their victory against the Awakened Zombie, the atmosphere within the team had shifted palpably. The heavy, oppressive gloom that had clung to them for so long had begun to dissipate, replaced by smiles and a burgeoning confidence. This change in mood improved everyone’s sleep. Within half an hour, the cabin was filled with the soft, almost inaudible sounds of breathing.

Ji Yanqing listened to the wind whistling outside, also feeling a heavy drowsiness creep over him. As his consciousness began to fray, just on the verge of succumbing to sleep amidst the stifling heat, the truck, which had been speeding along the highway, suddenly slammed on its brakes.

This time, the braking was even more violent and abrupt than before. The vehicles following behind had no time to react, crashing one after another into the truck in front.

CRUNCH… BANG… SCREEECH…

A chain reaction of collisions sent a wave of pained cries through the convoy. The sudden stop and the subsequent pile-up threw everyone around violently. Many were flung forward by inertia, slamming hard into the front bulkheads of the trucks.

“Ugh…” Ji Yanqing, dazed, blinked his eyes open, looking at the tangle of bodies piled on top of him. He had been sitting near the front of the truck, and the force of the impact had pinned him against the interior wall, crushed beneath a heap of his sliding teammates. His hands throbbed, and his lungs and stomach felt painfully compressed.

“Are you alright?” Feng Yimo, who had remained alert, had reacted instantly at the first screech of brakes, managing to avoid being thrown in the pile-up. Bracing himself, he immediately moved towards Ji Yanqing, pulling the people off him one by one.

“Thank—oof!” Bai Haoxuan, still dizzy, was in the process of thanking whoever was pulling him up when the grip on his back suddenly loosened, sending him sprawling face-first onto the floor in an undignified heap. The “thank you” died in his throat. He looked up. Didn’t Feng Yimo realize he was practically begging to be ambushed and stuffed into a sack with moves like that?

“Ji Yanqing?” Feng Yimo carefully helped Ji Yanqing to his feet.

Peering out the window, Ji Yanqing started to ask, “What—” His words were cut short. As his head emerged from the window, he immediately saw the problem. The trucks were sinking.

The five vehicles, which had been traveling in a line, were now a mangled wreck. The lead truck’s entire front end had plunged into the ground. Of the vehicles behind it, one had veered left after impact, while the other three were scattered—two swerving right, one wedged in on the left. Beneath them, the supposedly solid asphalt and earth had turned as fragile as paper. Cracks radiated outwards from the tangled convoy like a grotesque spiderweb, and from these fissures oozed a black, viscous sludge that carried the distinct, foul stench of stagnant water.

“Captain!” The driver of their truck, head bleeding, leaned out his window, his voice laced with panic as he looked at Ji Yanqing. “We’re sinking fast! The front wheels are completely under!”

Ji Yanqing shook his head hard, trying to clear the dizziness, and fought back a wave of nausea. “Get to the roof of the truck, now!” he yelled. Even in the few seconds he’d taken to assess the situation, their truck had sunk noticeably deeper.

Having warned the driver, Ji Yanqing shouted at the top of his lungs to the occupants of the other vehicles, “The ground’s giving way! Get out of the trucks! Now!” He quickly added, “Don’t step on the ground directly yet!”

The black sludge bubbling up from the cracks looked innocuous enough at first glance, but if it could corrode solid asphalt into becoming fragile paper, it was undoubtedly far more dangerous than it appeared.

Hearing Ji Yanqing’s urgent warning, those in the other trucks, dazed and bruised from the collision, struggled to their feet. Many peered out their windows. Seeing their predicament, watching the trucks visibly sinking, panic contorted their faces.

Ji Yanqing quickly made his way to the rear of their vehicle. As the front end sank, the rear was tilting upwards, making the floor treacherously slippery. Reaching the back, he scanned the highway behind them. The long-disused road, washed clean by rain and snow, clearly showed their tire tracks from before. The skid marks stretched from further up the highway, leading directly to their current position. The immense force of their sudden stop had caused fish-scale-like cracks to appear in the paper-thin ground in several places, but these marks also indicated where the ground was still relatively solid.

Ji Yanqing turned back into the truck, quickly located his axe – which had been thrown to the front by the impact – then, steadying himself against the windows, made his way back to the now sharply angled rear of the truck. He used the heavy axe, weighing 40-45 kilograms, to tap the ground below. The surface yielded like soft toffee, but seemed to hold the axe’s weight.

Ji Yanqing jumped. The ground swayed slightly under his feet, like stepping onto a giant, wobbly piece of candy with a liquid center. He lifted his foot, checking the sole of his boot. The asphalt, at least here, hadn’t immediately corroded it.

“Don’t step on the black sludge! The road surface itself is still mostly intact! Get out, quickly!” Ji Yanqing shouted, his voice ringing out.

Aside from those too severely injured to move, most had recovered enough to understand the situation and were looking out. Hearing his command, they began to scramble out of the trucks.

“Captain! Captain Ji…!” A voice, tight with anxiety, called out from the very front of the convoy.

Ji Yanqing immediately looked. Their truck had been the second in line. The one in front of them had plunged into the mire first and then been hit by the subsequent vehicles. Its entire front end was submerged, only the top of the windows and the roof still visible. There were still people in the driver’s cabin, rapidly being engulfed by the rising sludge.

Ji Yanqing sprinted across the roof of his own truck, then took a running leap onto the roof of the lead vehicle. The occupants of that truck’s cargo bed were already cautiously stepping onto the soft ground, making their way towards safer footing.

Ji Yanqing ran along the roof of the sinking truck, quickly reaching the area above the cabin.

“Captain…” The men trapped inside saw him, and their trembling voices steadied somewhat.

Ji Yanqing quickly scanned the situation. The mud beneath was clearly soft and would be incredibly viscous. Pushing the doors open from the inside would be nearly impossible. He might still have time to break the windows from the outside, but once the windows shattered, the sludge would pour in. They still didn’t know the exact nature of the mud; if it was highly corrosive…

There were two men in the cabin.

Ji Yanqing took a deep breath, looking at their panicked faces. “I’m going to break the glass. When I do, don’t rush. I’ll pull you out one at a time. Don’t let your skin touch that stuff. And strip off any clothes that get contaminated as soon as you’re out.”

They both nodded.

“Don’t rush,” Ji Yanqing repeated firmly. The window opening was small. If they both tried to scramble out at once, neither would make it.

The two men inside exchanged a look, then nodded again. In truth, the moment they saw Ji Yanqing arrive, a sense of calm had settled over them, like swallowing a potent sedative. His mere presence was often enough to reassure them.

Ji Yanqing was about to raise his axe when a figure appeared beside him. He looked over. It was Feng Yimo.

Feng Yimo took the axe from his hand. “Your hands are injured.”

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Ji Yanqing started to reclaim his axe, but Feng Yimo swiftly raised the cloth-wrapped weapon out of his reach.

“Careful with your eyes!” Ji Yanqing quickly warned the two men still inside the driver’s cabin. As they shielded their faces, Feng Yimo brought the axe down.

Crack… He’d used considerable force. The vehicle’s specialized safety glass didn’t shatter outright but spiderwebbed, then buckled inwards, the entire concave sheet falling onto the trapped men.

“Hand!” Ji Yanqing extended his arm towards the cabin. One of the men quickly reached up. Feng Yimo, reflexes lightning fast, grabbed the man’s hand and, with a powerful heave of his torso, hauled him cleanly out.

“Hand!” Ji Yanqing, having missed his chance to grab the first man, called out again, simultaneously stepping back to give Feng Yimo more room by the narrow window. The second man inside reached up. Feng Yimo seized his hand and, with another swift, strong pull, lifted him out. The entire rescue took less than two seconds.

Once on the roof, the two rescued men didn’t even glance around before frantically stripping off their outer clothes. They could already smell a charring odor – it was coming from the parts of their clothing that had touched the sludge. The fabric was visibly and rapidly disintegrating, as if doused in strong acid. Tearing off their coats and outer pants, they scrambled towards the relatively stable highway surface behind the convoy. The truck they’d been in was now two-thirds submerged, only its roof remaining above the mire.

With the men safe, Ji Yanqing stood on the truck roof, looking back at the rest of the convoy. The drivers and front-seat passengers of the other four vehicles had already managed to evacuate. Most of those in the rear cargo areas had also retreated safely. Bai Haoxuan was organizing a frantic effort to salvage supplies from the three rearmost trucks, which were in slightly better condition. All their provisions were loaded onto those vehicles. If they did nothing, just watched everything sink into the muck, they would be left with absolutely nothing.

“Papa…” Ji An’s anxious voice called out a warning.

Ji Yanqing glanced at his feet. The truck was sinking faster now as mud poured into its rear compartment. Taking a two-step run-up on the narrow roof, he leaped across to the adjacent vehicle. Seeing Ji Yanqing land safely, Ji An and Ji Le breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“Forget it! Don’t go back in!” Bai Haoxuan shouted, seeing black water bubbling up through the fish-scale cracks in the ground. He quickly stopped the last few people who were attempting to retrieve more supplies from the trucks. The remaining salvagers dodged the overflowing sludge and hurried back to the safer zone.

Ji Yanqing jumped down from the truck, quickly traversing the fractured ground to reach solid asphalt. Feng Yimo landed beside him a moment later.

Standing firm, Ji Yanqing and the others turned to look back. Of the five vehicles, only three were still partially visible. The other two had vanished completely beneath the surface. The paper-thin, cracked asphalt and the ground beneath it were already beginning to settle, miraculously smoothing over in places, as if nothing had ever happened.

“Was it… quicksand?” someone muttered.

“What kind of quicksand corrodes things like that…?”

A heavy silence fell over the group. This world presented them with far too many incomprehensible things. They were past anger or outrage; they barely had the energy for it. Simply being alive was a stroke of luck.

“How much did we manage to save?” Ji Yanqing turned to survey the salvaged goods.

On the sun-drenched asphalt, about a dozen boxes and backpacks lay scattered, looking as battered and forlorn as the survivors themselves. They had restocked only yesterday, with enough provisions on the trucks to last another six or seven days. But the disaster had struck so suddenly that they’d managed to rescue less than a tenth of it. They now had barely enough food for a single meal. Faced with this grim reality, everyone’s spirits visibly deflated.

“As long as everyone’s okay, that’s what matters,” Ji Yanqing said, his voice steady.

The others, though weary and disappointed, silently began gathering the salvaged backpacks and consolidating what little they had. With the vehicles gone, they would have to carry everything on their backs.

Ji Yanqing searched through the supplies and quickly found his own backpack. It contained their maps. He’d been too preoccupied with the rescue to think about it, but he knew Bai Haoxuan or Gu Wenmo wouldn’t have forgotten. He retrieved the maps and, after a couple of minutes of study, made a decision. “We’ll backtrack a bit and head for the city to our right.” That city hadn’t originally been on their route; since they’d just resupplied, the plan had been to bypass it.

No one spoke. Those uninjured and able to move quickly shouldered their packs. Ji Yanqing also moved to pick up a load, but before he could grasp a backpack, it was lifted away. Feng Yimo had taken his pack and slung it onto his own shoulders.

Seeing this, Ji An and Ji Le rushed forward, wanting to carry something too, but they were too small; the filled backpacks were taller than they were. Gu Ranran and Gu Wenmo, amused, gently took the packs from behind them. Unable to help, the two little ones instantly drooped, their heads hanging low. Their dejected expressions were so adorable that several people couldn’t resist stepping forward to pat their heads. Patted, the two children covered their heads, looking up at Ji Yanqing with red, swollen eyes, their faces pictures of misery. Ji Yanqing couldn’t bear that look and quickly averted his gaze.

Their remaining supplies weren’t extensive; about thirty people were enough to carry everything. The rest immediately went to tend to the injured. The chain-reaction crash had left quite a few people badly bruised. It had been a long time since the team had traveled on foot; ever since their numbers had grown, it had been too inefficient, so they’d relied on vehicles. Now, with the trucks gone, a somber silence settled over the group as they began the trek.

The city wasn’t far from where the accident had occurred – about an hour’s drive. On foot, however, they walked from just after nine in the morning until three in the afternoon, a grueling four-hour march. When Ji Yanqing finally called a halt to make camp, with the city visible in the far distance, the entire group was exhausted, their bodies limp with fatigue.

“Don’t just sit there like idiots. Find a place to set up camp,” Bai Haoxuan grumbled, dropping his own pack and nudging the packs of a few nearby stragglers with his foot. With pained groans, they pushed themselves up and began scouting the surroundings for a suitable campsite.

They were currently about a kilometer from the city. The area immediately surrounding the city was a ring of cultivated fields. Beyond that lay a stretch of uneven, low-lying hills, which eventually gave way to the barren, rocky ground where they now stood. Behind them loomed a small mountain, about ten meters high. It had clearly been quarried for stone; the side facing them was a sheer, precipitous cliff, as if a massive slice had been carved away. The loose scree underfoot was debris from the quarrying.

Wary of rockfalls from the steep cliff face, they chose a spot at the base of the mountain, off to the left side of the sheer cliff. A few stunted, mutated tree-like plants grew there, just tall enough to string up some cloth for a makeshift windbreak and snow shelter for the night.

The uninjured members helped the wounded into the sheltered area, settling them down to rest. Then, they instinctively gathered around Ji Yanqing, who was standing atop the quarried section of the low mountain, gazing towards the distant city. Feng Yimo and the two children had, of course, followed him up. Ji An and Ji Le mimicked Ji Yanqing, peering into the distance, while Feng Yimo’s attention was fixed solely on Ji Yanqing, lost in thought.

The hill was too low to offer a panoramic view of the entire city. However, from what they could see, it appeared to be quite large, with a clear distinction between a newer, modern district and an older section. The city center boasted numerous high-rise buildings, while the architecture on the outskirts was considerably older, with some areas even showing dilapidated brick and tile houses from a bygone era. A city like this, Ji Yanqing knew, was highly likely to harbor Awakened Zombies, Corpse Kings, or even both.

“Later, send a few people into the city to scout the situation and look for a supermarket,” Ji Yanqing said, pointedly ignoring the three persistent shadows trailing him. “We’ll rest here tonight. Enter the city tomorrow morning.”

Bai Haoxuan nodded. Although they’d escaped the morning’s disaster without fatalities, many had been injured in the crash and needed to rest. Having made the decision, Bai Haoxuan quickly selected twenty armed individuals who were relatively unscathed to form an advance scouting party. Finding a supermarket was one objective; assessing the zombie situation within the city was another, equally important one.

After the scouting party departed, everyone except a few posted sentries returned to the makeshift camp. Doctor Wang checked on the more seriously injured, then approached Ji Yanqing. “We’re running low on anti-inflammatory and hemostatic drugs.”

Ji Yanqing wasn’t surprised. Medicine was always scarce. Usually, only severe injuries warranted its use; minor wounds and illnesses were left to heal on their own.

After a pause, Doctor Wang added, “We still have a decent supply of painkillers and disinfectant. If we run into other survivor teams, we might be able to trade these for other necessities.”

“Good,” Ji Yanqing acknowledged, making a mental note.

“Let me go into the city with the team tomorrow too. Some medicines can be substituted with others. The range of what we might find is too broad; I can’t make a specific list.”

“Alright.”

Doctor Wang gave Ji Yanqing a complex look before turning and walking away. Ji Yanqing and Bai Haoxuan had slightly different management styles. Bai Haoxuan tended to oversee every detail himself, whereas Ji Yanqing preferred to delegate. He had entrusted weapons and general supplies to Bai Haoxuan, and medical supplies to her, rarely interfering unless absolutely necessary. Initially, Doctor Wang hadn’t entirely agreed with this approach; it seemed to leave too much room for error or even betrayal if someone had ulterior motives. But over time, her perspective had shifted. Ji Yanqing’s method made her feel valued, trusted. It also, unexpectedly, spurred her to think more proactively.

Before, she wouldn’t have given much thought to their remaining medical supplies. Bai Haoxuan would handle it; if medicine ran out, Bai Haoxuan would find a solution. If even Bai Haoxuan was stumped, there was certainly nothing she could do. Now, however, she found herself habitually considering how to replenish their stock, how to make the most of what they had, even if her individual contribution felt minuscule. She even began to think critically about the medicines entrusted to her, how to utilize them with maximum efficiency.

Watching Doctor Wang leave, Ji Yanqing decided to inform Bai Haoxuan about the need to prioritize resupplying medicines in this city. He scanned the camp for him. In one of the makeshift shelters, Bai Haoxuan, having finished his immediate tasks, was hunched over a pile of papers, carefully examining them one by one. The papers seemed to be of great importance to him; when he confirmed they were all present and accounted for, a look of profound relief washed over his face. He let out a long breath, but the relief was quickly replaced by an expression of conflicted hesitation.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Yanqing approached. Feng Yimo, Ji An, and Ji Le tagged along.

Bai Haoxuan started, looking up quickly. He was surprised to see Ji Yanqing suddenly appear, and then sighed with resignation at the sight of Feng Yimo’s trio, who had become Ji Yanqing’s little (and not so little) tails.

Ji Yanqing glanced at the papers in Bai Haoxuan’s hands – they appeared to be blueprints for some kind of machinery. “Doctor Wang said we’re low on medicine. We’ll need to hit a pharmacy tomorrow. Take her with you; she can see if she can find any usable substitutes among whatever’s left.” Medicine was important, but not every type was essential. Survival teams primarily needed wound treatments, disinfectants, and the like. Other medications were largely useless to them and would likely have been left behind in abandoned pharmacies and clinics.

Bai Haoxuan made a note. “Got it.” He then hesitated, looking like he wanted to say something more.

“What is it?” Ji Yanqing prompted.

Bai Haoxuan stared at Ji Yanqing for a moment, then hesitantly handed the stack of papers to him. Ji Yanqing took them and began to look through them. As soon as he saw what was depicted on the topmost blueprint, his expression turned serious.

Bai Haoxuan had given him a design for a crossbow, or more accurately, a vehicle-mounted crossbow – a modified truck. The construction was relatively simple: a small truck with a crossbow launcher mounted in the rear cargo bed, along with a supply of bolts. The crossbow itself was larger than standard, and the bolts were fitted with numerous barbs to prevent easy removal. The tail fletching was designed in two variations: one with an attached chain, and one without.

Ji Yanqing glanced at Bai Haoxuan’s anxious face, then continued flipping through the subsequent blueprints. There were about ten sheets in total, some incomplete. Most of the finished designs involved weaponizing vehicles: one featured sharp lances mounted on the front bumper, another a large chainsaw blade, and there were even designs for mounting various rocket and cannon-like contraptions.

When Ji Yanqing finished looking at the last blueprint, Bai Haoxuan’s already uneasy face flushed a deep, embarrassed red hue. He immediately regretted showing the designs to Ji Yanqing. Ever since the apocalypse began, ever since he’d first witnessed Awakened Zombies and Corpse Kings, these ideas had been rattling around in his head. He’d quickly dismissed them as absurd, knowing they were almost certainly impossible to realize. Leaving aside whether he could even find the necessary materials and conditions to build them, these contraptions felt more like fantastical toys, a joke, than practical weapons.

“How confident are you that you can build these?” Ji Yanqing finally asked.

Bai Haoxuan stared, dumbfounded. “Huh?”

“Don’t you want to make them?” Ji Yanqing was puzzled. Why did Bai Haoxuan look so surprised?

Bai Haoxuan’s face, already a deep shade, turned an even more alarming red. Blood rushed to his head, making his ears ring.

“Well?” Ji Yanqing pressed, increasingly bewildered.

“Yes… I want to. But I never had the chance…” Bai Haoxuan finally managed to stammer out.

Ji Yanqing looked through the blueprints again. He wasn’t surprised; none of these looked like something that could be built in a day or two. “The more complex ones are out of the question for now. Just finding the parts would take too long. You can start with something simpler.” Ji Yanqing paused, then pulled out the design for the vehicle-mounted crossbow he’d seen first. “You could try this one to begin with.” He handed the blueprint back to Bai Haoxuan.

Bai Haoxuan, his face still flushed, took it with a dazed expression.

“If you can build it, and if it can actually penetrate the bodies of those Awakened Zombies and Corpse Kings, it might be possible to immobilize them,” Ji Yanqing mused. He’d had similar ideas before, way back when he first started hunting Awakened Zombies with Xia Shen Shu’s group – thoughts of traps, of specialized weapons. But they’d remained just thoughts; he lacked the technical expertise.

“Can you do it?” Ji Yanqing asked directly.

Bai Haoxuan shot to his feet, his face still beet red, speechless for a long moment. Finally, he choked out, “Yes! I can!” His voice was loud, drawing glances from several people in the nearby shelters. “I used to do this kind of work before – welding, repairs, that sort of thing. I modified the team’s buses myself,” Bai Haoxuan explained, an irrepressible, goofy grin spreading across his face. “So, should I have someone start gathering materials tomorrow?”

Ji Yanqing nodded as recalled the converted buses. The modifications had been crude, but undeniably practical.

Bai Haoxuan’s face lit up with elation. He grabbed the blueprints and was about to rush off to find a pen and paper to make a list when he stopped, turned back, and asked, almost hesitantly, “You… you really think it’s possible?” Ji Yanqing’s matter-of-fact attitude was so disarming it made him feel a little dazed, as if his wild, fantastical blueprints weren’t just laughable dreams, but something genuinely useful, genuinely achievable.

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Ji Yanqing’s subtle surprise quickly morphed into understanding. He finally grasped the reason behind Bai Haoxuan’s unusually high spirits and fervent excitement since their earlier conversation. He repeated the words he had once shared with Lan Zi, words that now seemed equally fitting for Bai Haoxuan: “If you believe it can be done, then do it. This is your survival team too.”

Bai Haoxuan froze, the wide, excited grin vanishing from his face. His eyes, which should have been sparkling with elation, rapidly reddened. He looked away, embarrassed, forcing a crooked smile, then a tighter one, before abruptly turning his back on Ji Yanqing, unable to face him. “Yeah,” Bai Haoxuan managed, his voice thick with unshed tears, before walking away.

Watching Bai Haoxuan’s retreating figure, Ji Yanqing felt a complex mix of emotions. Bai Haoxuan and his group might not possess the sharp intellect of Xia Shen Shu, nor Lan Zi’s innate talent for marksmanship, nor even Lu Qing’s diverse skills. But they weren’t useless. They had their own strengths, their own ways of doing things. Given the chance, they would, like mutated plants in fertile soil, absorb every available nutrient, grow wildly, evolve, and perhaps, eventually, become formidable in their own right.

After leaving Ji Yanqing, Bai Haoxuan immediately found a quiet spot and began meticulously listing the materials they would need, eager to get started. Others, who had noticed the intense discussion earlier, quickly gathered around him, curious to know what was happening. Bai Haoxuan hesitated for only a moment before deciding to share his designs, no longer concealing the pile of blueprints. He handed them over.

Seeing the detailed drawings, learning of Bai Haoxuan’s plan to construct the vehicle-mounted crossbow, a wave of excitement swept through the gathered crowd. Many among them had harbored similar, ambitious ideas, but they’d lacked the opportunity, the resources, and often the technical expertise to even attempt them. Now, with a tangible plan and a chance to contribute, a lively discussion erupted, voices overlapping as they offered suggestions and debated possibilities. Listening to their enthusiastic input, Bai Haoxuan’s face, already flushed with excitement, glowed an even deeper shade of crimson.

Ji Yanqing didn’t join in. He watched from a distance for a while, then withdrew his gaze. He was about to step outside to see if the scouting party had returned from the city when he turned and found himself face-to-face with four pairs of dark, intense eyes—one large, two small, and one canine. Feng Yimo and the others had clearly overheard his conversation with Bai Haoxuan.

Ji An’s wide, innocent eyes were slightly wider than usual, a look of profound unease, almost pain, on his face. He clearly imagined being hit by such a contraption would hurt. A lot. Ji Le’s eyes were also filled with fear; he had no desire whatsoever to be impaled. Feng Yimo’s dark gaze was characteristically unreadable, yet held a hint of innocent bewilderment, tinged with a subtle, wounded look. Beside them, the large black dog mirrored Feng Yimo’s expression perfectly.

A mischievous impulse sparked within Ji Yanqing. He deliberately let his gaze sweep back and forth between Feng Yimo and the black dog, as if seriously contemplating whether the proposed weapon could indeed skewer them both. Noticing Ji Yanqing’s speculative stare, the black dog bared its teeth in a silent snarl. Feng Yimo’s expression grew even more innocently aggrieved, like a large, bullied dog that dared not bark but was clearly suffering. Seeing Feng Yimo like this, Ji Yanqing felt a perverse sense of satisfaction.

His gaze instinctively shifted to Ji An and Ji Le. The two little ones, witnessing his pointed scrutiny of Feng Yimo and the dog, had turned deathly pale with fright. Seeing their terrified expressions, Ji Yanqing’s heart instantly softened, a pang of remorse striking him. How could he even think of treating them so callously? He opened his mouth to speak, to reassure them, but the words caught in his throat. He had, after all, just tried to send them away. How could he now pretend nothing had happened? He looked away again and headed towards the shelter entrance.

He had just stepped outside when two figures rushed towards him, clearly intending to enter.

“What is it?” Ji Yanqing asked.

“There are people in the city,” Gu Ranran reported, her voice urgent.

Ji Yanqing was surprised. “A survivor team?”

“Yes…” Gu Ranran struggled to explain, then decided to start from the beginning. “Not long after we entered the city, we found a lot of bodies – zombies, and humans too. At first, we thought a survivor team had fought with the zombies. But when we got closer, we realized the humans had been killed by gunfire.”

“Gunfire?”

“We were about to head back to report when a small group approached us. They said they were being hunted by people from Sunward.”

Ji Yanqing stiffened. “You brought them back?”

“Yes.” Gu Ranran’s expression was grim. She turned and led the way out of the main camp area. Ji Yanqing immediately followed.

Gu Ranran’s group had returned with nearly twenty people. They hadn’t brought them directly into the camp, but had left them about fifty meters away, guarded by a few of their own team members. The newcomers looked utterly haggard and desperate. None of them were armed, and only two or three carried backpacks. Ji Yanqing hesitated for a moment, then walked towards them.

Up close, their condition was even worse. It was clear they hadn’t eaten or had water for a long time; their lips were cracked and bleeding. Many bore visible, untreated wounds. As Ji Yanqing approached, before he could even speak, one of the men in the group suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud. “Please, I beg you, save us!”

“Please!” Others quickly followed suit, kneeling and pleading.

Ji Yanqing instinctively took a step back. The first two to kneel were men, one in his forties, the other in his twenties. Their desperate pleas spurred the rest of their group to also fall to their knees, voices rising in a chorus of desperation.

“Please, help us…”

“We don’t want to die…”

Ji Yanqing glanced at Gu Ranran and her scouting party. They had clearly faced this same desperate scene earlier, which was why they’d felt compelled to bring the group back.

“What happened? Explain clearly,” Ji Yanqing said, his voice cold, cutting through their pleas.

Hearing the commotion, Bai Haoxuan and others emerged from the shelters, guns in hand.

“It’s people from Sunward!”

“They’re trying to wipe us out…”

“They’ve chased us through two cities already! Our team started with hundreds, and now… now it’s just us. But even now, they won’t let us go! They’re still in the city, hunting for us!”

“Please… we beg you…”

Hearing their explanations and choked sobs, the smiles vanished from the faces of Bai Haoxuan’s group, replaced by grave expressions. They remembered what Zhang Yang had told them about Sunward hunting down other survivor teams.

“Why are they hunting you?” Ji Yanqing asked.

A sudden silence fell over the kneeling group. Many of them looked towards the older man, the one who had knelt first. The man hesitated, then, as if steeling himself, said, “Before… people from Sunward took over a military base. Our team leader… he led us to try and… and trade for some supplies with them. The Sunward members refused. Then… then a fight broke out.”

“Our team lost. But those Sunward members wouldn’t let it go! They kept hunting us down, killing our people.”

“I know we were in the wrong, but it wasn’t something we could control! It was our leader’s decision! We couldn’t stop him…”

“That’s right! It wasn’t our fault!”

“They’re being too cruel! They already killed our leader and the others, but they still won’t spare us! They’re bullies, going too far!”

Bai Haoxuan’s group exchanged uneasy glances. This matched what they’d heard from Zhang Yang.

“The ones hunting you, are they still in the city?” Ji Yanqing asked.

“Yes. A bald man is leading them.”

The image of Hei Long flashed in Ji Yanqing’s mind, but he quickly dismissed it. Hei Long didn’t seem like the type to do something like this. Hei Long’s personality… he probably wouldn’t even dare to kill someone, let alone hunt them down relentlessly. Even when betrayed and robbed of all his supplies and weapons, the most Hei Long had done was pick a fight, and he’d ended up losing that and getting beaten up.

“Captain?” Gu Ranran looked at Ji Yanqing. Bai Haoxuan and the others also turned to him. Zhang Yang had warned them: if anyone dared to shelter those Sunward was hunting, Sunward would eliminate them too. Taking these people in meant directly confronting Sunward. But if they did nothing, these people wouldn’t survive the night.

“Please…”

“Sob…”

Listening to their desperate pleas, seeing the raw fear and despair on their faces, a heavy weight settled in Ji Yanqing’s chest. He still couldn’t bring himself to believe that Xia Shen Shu and the others could have become like this. He could believe them killing with purpose, but not indiscriminately slaughtering innocents. Xia Shen Shu and Lu Qing might be indifferent to the lives of strangers, but Lan Zi and Li Pingsen… they would surely have stopped them.

Thinking this, Ji Yanqing let out a silent sigh. Perhaps the Sunward he knew no longer existed. At the very least, he had never heard of this “Swift Dragon” squadron.

“Give them some food,” Ji Yanqing finally said.

At his words, a flicker of joyous relief lit up the faces of the kneeling group. Behind Ji Yanqing, however, the expressions of his own team members grew even more serious. If they took these people in, it meant direct conflict with Sunward.

Ji Yanqing glanced at Bai Haoxuan, then turned and walked back towards one of the shelters. Bai Haoxuan immediately understood and followed him. Feng Yimo, Ji An, and Ji Le also trailed after them, apparently determined to be Ji Yanqing’s permanent shadows, following him wherever he went.

Inside the shelter, Ji Yanqing said, “Find a separate place for them, and post extra guards. Keep a close watch.”

Bai Haoxuan, though slightly surprised, didn’t question the order. “Understood,” he nodded immediately. Ji Yanqing had been about to offer a brief explanation, but since Bai Haoxuan didn’t ask, the words remained unspoken.

“What about the city?” Bai Haoxuan asked.

The question made Ji Yanqing rub the bridge of his nose wearily. If what these people said was true, and Sunward members were still in the city, then a confrontation was almost inevitable. They had to enter the city to resupply.

“We’ll deal with that when it happens,” Ji Yanqing said after a moment, then added, “Try to avoid conflict with Sunward if at all possible.”

“Right.”

When Bai Haoxuan returned outside, some of his team members were already distributing food to the newcomers. Their own supplies were severely depleted after the truck accident, so they couldn’t offer much. Even so, the refugees ate ravenously, with desperate gratitude; it was clear they hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for a very long time. Watching their wretched state, many of Bai Haoxuan’s team members looked uneasy.

Targeting the opposing team’s leader and those directly involved in a conflict was one thing, understandable even. But hunting down and slaughtering every last survivor was excessive. Sometimes, people didn’t have a choice about which survival team they ended up with. Once they joined, leaving was often not an option.

Though they disapproved, no one voiced their objections aloud. They weren’t fools. All their current information came from Zhang Yang and these few desperate refugees. Who knew how much of it was true and how much was fabricated?

Bai Haoxuan watched until the newcomers had finished eating, then led them to the innermost shelter, instructing his own people to keep a vigilant watch on them. He had just finished making these arrangements when someone came rushing into the camp from outside – one of the sentries posted on the nearby hilltop.

“Where’s the captain?” The man didn’t see Ji Yanqing in the main area and immediately hurried towards the other shelters, calling out, “Captain!”

Bai Haoxuan instructed someone to keep an eye on the refugees and quickly followed the sentry outside to see what was wrong. He had just stepped out when, in the far distance, at the edge of the city, he saw a group of figures approaching their camp. A knot of unease tightened in his stomach; a bad premonition washed over him.

Before he could even reach the shelter Ji Yanqing was in, he heard voices from inside. “…should be people from Sunward.”

Bai Haoxuan’s jaw twitched. So soon?

The faces of the other team members in the camp also turned grim.

---

“Did they see you when you brought those people back earlier?” Bai Haoxuan urgently questioned Gu Ranran and her group.

“Absolutely not,” Gu Ranran stated, her expression the grimmest of them all.

“Are you sure?” Ji Yanqing emerged from the shelter.

“One hundred percent certain,” Gu Ranran affirmed. If she hadn’t been completely sure, she would never have brought those people back.

“Then how did they find us?” Bai Haoxuan’s brow furrowed. In the short time they’d been talking, the group at the city’s edge had already advanced four or five hundred meters towards them. Their camp was only about a kilometer from the city; the approaching group had closed a significant portion of that distance in moments. This rapid advance sent a fresh wave of tension through Bai Haoxuan’s camp, and many instinctively raised their weapons, preparing for the worst.

Ji Yanqing gazed towards the approaching figures. There were over fifty of them. From this distance, he couldn’t make out their individual features, but it was clear they were heavily armed. The gap between the two groups was closing fast; in another few moments, they had advanced another five or six hundred meters. The shrinking distance intensified the already palpable sense of urgency in Ji Yanqing’s camp. Many of his team members nervously aimed their weapons, ready to react at a moment’s notice.

“What do we do?” Bai Haoxuan looked to Ji Yanqing.

Ji Yanqing remained silent, his gaze fixed on the approaching party. After advancing another hundred meters or so, the group halted. Then, about twenty individuals detached themselves from the main body and began walking towards them, waving their hands in a clear gesture of non-aggression.

“Are they… trying to make contact?” Bai Haoxuan swallowed hard.

“Let’s go meet them,” Ji Yanqing said, taking the lead and walking towards the approaching figures. As soon as Ji Yanqing moved, Feng Yimo, Ji An, and Ji Le immediately fell into step behind him. Ji Yanqing, sensing them, turned back. “You three stay in the camp.”

Ji An and Ji Le looked at Ji Yanqing with wide, pleading eyes, their expressions radiating a desperate fear that he would abandon them again. Feng Yimo mirrored their anxiety, his dark eyes moist and vulnerable, like a large dog terrified of being left behind by its owner.

A muscle twitched at the corner of Ji Yanqing’s mouth. He shot Feng Yimo a stern look – if you don’t listen, I’ll leave you behind for good! Seeing his serious glare, Feng Yimo immediately became docile. Satisfied, Ji Yanqing turned and continued towards the approaching group. Bai Haoxuan, seeing this, quickly selected a few men to accompany him.

The group from Sunward advanced about four hundred meters further, then stopped in the open space between the two camps, making no attempt to get closer. Seeing this, the tension on the faces of Bai Haoxuan’s group eased slightly. At least they were observing basic protocols.

Ji Yanqing’s gaze remained locked on the individuals leading the Sunward party. Initially, the distance had obscured their features. But as they drew nearer, their faces gradually came into focus. They varied in age, from men in their forties to some in their early twenties. They were all complete strangers to him.

Looking at them, Ji Yanqing could see that Sunward had changed drastically. Almost every one of them wore a bulletproof vest, and their gear was plentiful and well-maintained. Among the twenty or so who had come forward to make contact, at least five carried heavy machine guns, weapons with far greater firepower than standard rifles. The others also carried high-quality firearms, and each man had at least two extra ammunition clips. Their trouser pockets bulged ominously – likely grenades, judging by the shape.

Seeing no familiar faces among them, Ji Yanqing felt a wave of indescribable emotion wash over him. His chest ached, as if enveloped by something sour and constricting, leaving him feeling drained and weary.

As Ji Yanqing approached, his face, strikingly handsome compared to most, caused the Sunward group to pause for a moment, a flicker of surprise in their eyes. But they quickly looked away.

“Sunward,” the leader of their group, a man with a square face, thick eyebrows, and an inherently fierce look, stated. His tone was somewhat brusque, but his attitude seemed reasonable enough.

Ji Yanqing looked at him, momentarily unable to speak. His heart had hammered in his chest when their eyes had briefly met, but they had quickly averted their gazes. They didn’t recognize him.

“Light Chasers,” Bai Haoxuan interjected, speaking for their group.

Hearing this name, the expressions of the Sunward members turned strange. “Facing the sun, moving toward the light,” was the origin of their own team’s name. Every one of them knew it, and this team’s name’s similarity didn’t pass unnoticed. Though their faces registered surprise, they showed no overt displeasure.

The square-faced leader looked at Bai Haoxuan. “We’ve been in the city for a while now. We haven’t seen you before. Are you new arrivals?”

“Just arrived today,” Bai Haoxuan confirmed, a small sigh of relief escaping him. They didn’t seem to know for sure that the refugees were with his team.

“You’d best not enter the city.”

“Why?”

“There’s a Corpse King in there. We made some noise earlier and disturbed it. Now it’s rampaging all over the city. Very dangerous.”

Bai Haoxuan’s expression turned peculiar. The square-faced man spoke of the Corpse King as if it were merely an agitated dog. There was no trace of fear or alarm on their faces. Bai Haoxuan carefully studied the faces of the Sunward members behind their leader. Such calm composure wasn’t easily faked, and no matter how closely he looked, he couldn’t detect any sign of pretense. The Sunward group genuinely didn’t seem afraid of the Corpse King.

Seeing Bai Haoxuan remain silent, the square-faced man continued, “Have you seen a group of about twenty people?”

“No,” Bai Haoxuan replied without batting an eye, already prepared for the question.

“Are you sure?”

“Certain.”

The square-faced man’s gaze shifted to the other members of Ji Yanqing’s party. They too had been prepared and met his stare unflinchingly. Seeing nothing amiss, the Sunward leader nodded. “Thanks, then.” With that, he turned and began leading his men back towards the city.

“Why are you looking for them?” Ji Yanqing, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.

The square-faced man stopped and turned back to Ji Yanqing. “A private matter.” Seeing he wasn’t going to elaborate, Ji Yanqing didn’t press further. He watched them rejoin their main force.

When survivor teams encountered each other, they usually maintained a cautious distance, wary of turning their backs on a potentially hostile group. But the Sunward members seemed unconcerned. They clearly possessed the confidence that Ji Yanqing’s smaller group wouldn’t dare to make a move against them.

“Captain?” Bai Haoxuan looked at Ji Yanqing. Ji Yanqing had been acting strangely since the encounter began – his face was pale, and he hadn’t said a word. After staring at the retreating Sunward group for another long moment, Ji Yanqing turned and started walking back towards their camp.

---

The square-faced leader spoke to the men beside him, his expression unreadable. “Have someone keep an eye on them. Those people are with their group.”

The men beside him looked surprised for a moment, then quickly turned to glance back at Ji Yanqing’s retreating party.

“Huh?” one of them asked, clearly confused.

“When we asked if they’d seen anyone, their immediate reaction, without even thinking, was ‘no,’ and they were so certain about it,” the square-faced man said, his brow furrowing. “Normally, when asked a question like that, people would first ask what’s wrong, why we’re looking for them.”

The others around him exchanged knowing glances, then looked back again. It was true. When questioned, the other group had all displayed an unwavering certainty that they hadn’t seen anyone.

“Then why didn’t we just attack them directly?”

“Yeah, exactly!”

“We’ve been searching for over a week already. If we don’t find them soon, Boss is going to lose it.”

At the mention of their captain, a collective gloom fell over the group. Even the square-faced leader’s brow tightened. “Boss’s temper… if we really lose track of those people, we’ll definitely be in for it…”

“Speaking of which, that leader from the other survivor team just now was actually pretty good-looking.”

The remark only deepened the already bitter expressions on their faces. They were scouring the world for their captain, yet most of them, having joined later, had never even seen him. All they knew about their mysteriously vanished leader were three things: he was exceptionally handsome, a formidable fighter, and he had two young children with him. Because of this, they had already accosted nearly every good-looking man with kids in every survivor team they knew of. If this kept up, strange rumors were bound to start circulating among the survivor communities.

---

Back at their camp, Ji Yanqing looked at Bai Haoxuan. “Don’t let those people out of the shelter. Sunward knows they’re here.”

Bai Haoxuan, who had just started to relax, froze. “Huh?” He immediately looked back towards the city. The Sunward group had rejoined their main force and were now walking towards the city, talking amongst themselves. They showed no sign of knowing the refugees were hidden in his camp. Bai Haoxuan felt a flicker of doubt, but then he looked at the certainty on Ji Yanqing’s face, and his doubt quickly faded. Ji Yanqing wouldn’t joke about something like this. They must have given themselves away somehow. While quickly instructing the others, Bai Haoxuan wracked his brain, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what their mistake had been.

After giving his instructions to Bai Haoxuan, Ji Yanqing let out a long, slow breath. He turned, and immediately found himself face-to-face with Feng Yimo. Seeing him return, and terrified he would try to leave again, Feng Yimo and the two children had eagerly trotted after him. Ji Yanqing ignored them, moving to bypass them and enter one of the shelters.

The trio immediately scurried after him. Ji An and Ji Le even eagerly pulled aside the shelter flap for him.

Ji Yanqing stopped and turned to face Feng Yimo. “What exactly do you want?”

“To follow you.”

“Follow me for what reason?”

“Following you makes me happy,” Feng Yimo stated with utmost seriousness. Ji An and Ji Le immediately nodded their small heads in fervent agreement. Being with Ji Yanqing made them happy too.

“What if I get married? Will you still follow me then?” The words were out before Ji Yanqing could stop them. He inwardly groaned, blaming Feng Yimo for all the strange, unsettling things he’d been saying lately.

“Why can’t I follow you if you get married?”

Ji Yanqing was momentarily speechless. An image flashed in his mind: himself, asleep in bed, with Feng Yimo peeking out from a nearby wardrobe, half his face visible in the darkness, watching him. A surge of irritation rose in Ji Yanqing. “You just can’t! When people get married, only the two of them can be together.”

“Then marry me.”

Ji Yanqing’s breath hitched.

“Do you want to marry Lu Qing instead?” Feng Yimo’s tone was laced with a distinct sourness.

Ji Yanqing was baffled. Lu Qing? Why on earth would he want to marry someone whose brain was entirely consumed by zombies?

“I like you too,” Feng Yimo declared. “More than he does.”

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qq words I'm scheduling this to post on Aug 29th, I think 2 or 3 chaps a month isn't impossible, I just gotta stay focused... Later edit: I have sworn abstinence from manhwa, I got till chap 68 ready. ;a; May 4 chapters a month be in our future...