Chapter 131 (1/2)
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
They had traveled slowly and leisurely on their way to the Capital, but on the way back, they were anxious to return to Jing Sa City as soon as possible. Once they left the Capital Base, they traveled at a quick pace, and there was barely any moments of rest.
It wasn't that they weren't tired; although everyone was seated in comfortable cars and they had abundant supplies, the s.p.a.ce was still cramped, and it was impossible for them not to feel uncomfortable and weary. Despite this, n.o.body was able to suppress the impulse in their hearts. It was like an unprecedented force seemed to drive them forward. Everyone was eager to reach their destination and see their future home.
The Jing Sa City that Bai Jing had described was so beautiful that people couldn't help but yearn for it. How lucky it was to have a place to call their own in this chaotic world! Even if the place wasn't big, even if the furnis.h.i.+ngs weren't complete, it was still home. How long had they gone without a home? Everyone was really looking forward to it and were willing to push on day and night for the sake of this goal.
Only Li Ran was slightly depressed. There had been no news about his brother in the Capital. The mission to find his brother had hung there in the mercenary union for over two months, and the reward had gone up from one hundred nuclei to two hundred, then up again to five hundred kilograms of grain, but everyone who came up to try and obtain the reward had only delivered him endless deceptions. He had gradually fallen from initial expectation to disappointment. Although he hadn't held out much hope right from the start, he still couldn't help but suffer in his heart when faced with the final result. All the way up to the time they left the Capital, he still hadn't smiled once.
Xu Feng had watched this child grow up. How could he not know what he was thinking about? He patted Li Ran on the shoulder, ”Don't worry. If there's news in the Capital, they will send us a telegram. No news is also good news - at least you still have hope.”
Li Ran pulled his lips up into an ugly smile that looked worse than crying. In fact, they all knew that his brother had most likely encountered some ill fate, but he also had no choice but to comfort himself this way now. Perhaps no news really was good news. Wasn't it like this before too? As long as he hadn't heard verifiable news of his brother's death, he refused to believe that his brother had pa.s.sed away.
Xu Feng sighed again and said nothing more. Li Ran was a child who liked to split hairs, but having some hope was better than none. Any comforting words now would be superfluous - Li Ran would have to think this through on his own.
“Brother Xu, I'm alright. Don't worry. I just feel a little sad. In fact, I was already really lucky to be able to meet up with Brother Sa and Young Master Jing. I won't let elder brother down and will definitely live well. I believe that it's the same for elder brother. He must be living in another corner of the world, and I just can't find him right now.” Li Ran's black eyes were firm and confident as he spoke. That kind of unadulterated purity made others unable to doubt him, as though what he said had to be the truth.
Zhou Hua smiled and held Li Ran's hand, a trace of heartache flas.h.i.+ng through his eyes. ”I believe you.”
Li Ran raised his head and showed his first sincere smile since he'd arrived at Capital Base. ”Thank you, Brother Hua.”
Wei Binyi rushed over and separated their hands. His usual calmness couldn't be seen as he cried out in discontent, ”Thank you is thank you, why do you guys have to touch?!” He quickly caught Zhou Hua and brought him into his arms as though afraid that he'd be s.n.a.t.c.hed away by others.
Li Ran burst out into laughter, and his mood relaxed a lot. He understood that Brother Wei was just joking around in order to amuse him, and watched as the two of them started to show off their affection for one another once again. He was really happy for them. Brother Wei and Brother Zhou were so dedicated to each other and had never given up on each other even through the hardest times during the end of the world. Now, it was like they had gotten the reward that they deserved; since Brother Zhou's legs could be cured, there should be hope for his elder brother right? Weren't miracles always taking place? Even zombies could be friendly towards humans. What else was impossible?
Li Ran's thinking had gone off in a strange direction. Perhaps his brother was a zombie now, but it was fine as long as he was living on, and he might even be trying his best to find him now …
Zhou Hua looked at his lover helplessly. Ever since his legs had been healed, this fellow had started acting so shamelessly. Didn't he feel embarra.s.sed?
Wei Binyi didn't care about that at all as he gently rubbed his head against his lover's earlobe. Every day was like a dream for him now, and he was afraid that he might wake up someday and find out that this wasn't real. He could only feel at ease when he held his lover in his arms.
Zhou Hua's heart clenched slightly, filled with a bittersweet kind of pain as he allowed his lover to act as he liked. He understood that his lover just couldn't feel fully rea.s.sured; ever since his legs had been broken, although his face had been fine, at the bottom of his heart, he had always felt like he was dragging Yi back and had unconsciously distanced himself away from him. It had been Yi who had ensured that he could live until today, so what harm could it do to let him act more willfully? Wasn't it just hugging? Wasn't it just getting stared at by everyone around them? He just needed to get used to it.
However, he didn't realize that his Yi's expression was cunning, his eyes bright as he buried his face against his neck. It wasn't clear who was scheming against who, but it was fine as long as they were both happy.
Time pa.s.sed by imperceptibly, and over ten days pa.s.sed in a twinkling of an eye.
The journey was suspiciously smooth. Over the past half a month, other than the occasional mutant plants, they didn't even see the shadow of a zombie.
Their original urgent mood settled down, and everyone became more cautious and alert.
Li Ran's heart was extremely tense. He always kept in mind that he was the mental scout for the team - as a psychic ability user, his role wasn't only to explore the way, but to also have a keen intuition in the face of danger. Five days ago, he had felt very wrong, as though something that shouldn't be there had gotten mixed in.
Xiao Sa and Bai Jing also became cautious, but they weren't psychic abilitt users. While they could sense something, they couldn't find any trace of it.
They wanted to ask if anyone else had noticed something strange, but even after gathering the few psychic ability users in the team together for a discussion, they still weren't able to figure out the reason. Some people thought that perhaps they were thinking too much and were imagining things, but others felt that something must be wrong, and they should prioritize caution. However, if they were asked why, they weren't able to come up with a concrete answer.
Li Ran felt very depressed and could only lament that his abilities weren't high levelled enough to be of help to Brother Sa, and things could only remain like this for the time being. After several days pa.s.sed while the strange feeling lingered, Xiao Sa finally couldn't sit still anymore. It wasn't that he was impatient, but he was unaccustomed to anything not being within his control. Since waiting hadn't borne fruit, he might as well take the initiative to attack.
That evening, they located an abandoned hotel to stay in. If anything was truly wrong, it would naturally come up then. If they had all just thought too much, well, everyone had been rus.h.i.+ng along for so many days and must be tired. They should take a rest anyway after having remained in the car all day and night; even though he was also anxious to return, taking a little extra time didn't matter in the long run.
After the team had settled in properly, the sky was already dark. Bai Jing frowned slightly - he had constantly felt like they were being tracked, and the feeling of having a thorn pressed against his back just wouldn't go away.
After dinner, everyone separated to do whatever they needed to do. Everything was how it should be, and other than the night watch, everyone went to their own rooms to rest.
It was a quiet evening, and everyone spent the night safely.
The next day, Xiao Sa did not relax his vigilance as expected. Compared to what could be seen on the surface, he believed more in his intuition. Since he had doubts in his heart, he no longer pushed ahead at such a hard pace over the next few days ,and they would always find a place to spend the night. He refused to believe that he wouldn't be able to catch the fish trailing behind them after revealing such a big flaw.
On the fourth day, people gradually relaxed their vigilance, the weather became hotter, and everyone sweat through their clothes during the day. They found a resort to rest in that night, and wind ability users were responsible for cleaning while the water ability users took advantage of their powers to manipulate water from the river beside them and fill up the swimming pool. Everyone was comfortable after was.h.i.+ng up and then happily fell asleep.
The group of researchers that were returning with them were amazed. They could swear that they had never felt so great even while in the Capital and started feeling much less regret over leaving. To tell the truth, they were stuck in middling positions at the Capital, and they were much better off now with Bai Jing. Other than the awkward discomfort of traveling hard for the past few days, they couldn't find any fault at all with the food or necessities they were provided with. There wasn't even a hint of danger in sight, and if wasn't for the desolation on the road and the lack of any signs of human inhabitation, they couldn't help but wonder if the apocalypse had really happened.
That night…
“Ah--” A sad scream pierced the night sky.
Bai Jing woke up immediately and flipped up from the bed.
Xiao Sa put on a coat and rushed out the door.
”Pop! Crack! Pop!” The spotlights that had been prepared long ago were switched on, and many people were gathered together in the hall a few moments later.
“It's Yao Yao's voice.” Sang Min's expression was worried. It wasn't that she didn't want to go over and take a look, but she was worried that her abilities were too low and might cause more trouble. Anything that could bypa.s.s the night guard without putting them on alert definitely couldn't be easy to deal with.