It was a tiring day, going up and down mountains and crossing rivers. After warming up by the fire, Qiu Shi quickly fell asleep.
But he didn’t sleep well. The sleeping bag was wet, and even if he wasn’t worried about being attacked, he couldn’t sleep well on the bare ground. The dirt was embedded with stones, and dampness seeped up, making it uncomfortable no matter how he lay.
Qiu Shi woke up many times during the first half of the night. Xing Bi hardly slept, sitting and staring at the fire. Twice, Qiu Shi saw him go into the bushes to collect branches.
Finally, exhausted, he fell into a deep sleep without dreaming in the latter half of the night.
When he woke up, Xing Bi hadn’t called him. Qiu Shi was awakened by the sunlight piercing his eyes.
Even in his groggy state, he felt something was off. They were on a tight schedule, and Xing Bi should have woken him early to continue the journey. Now the sun was clearly up…
Qiu Shi didn’t move, lying still.
There was no significant noise around, but he could hear the environment differently from last night—the sound of the river, the wind rustling through the bushes, and breathing close to his left above his face.
Qiu Shi kept his eyes closed; the sunlight was too bright.
Fortunately, his right hand was close to his leg.
With his eyes closed, he drew his gun and lifted it, pressing the muzzle under the chin of the person squatting by his head before they could react.
“Don’t,” the person quickly raised their hands.
Qiu Shi didn’t relax, keeping the muzzle pressed against him, flipping over and standing up, avoiding the sunlight to see the man still squatting on the ground.
The man looked about his age, wearing goggles, with sunburned skin and a panicked expression.
But his instinct told him this man was about as threatening as Xiao Lei, not much of a danger.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
In his peripheral vision, he saw a vehicle not far away and people running towards them. The one in front, judging by speed and running style, was not Xing Bi.
Without thinking, Qiu Shi drew his other gun and fired in the direction of the approaching man.
The bullet hit the ground right in front of the man, and he stopped.
“Qiu Shi,” someone called out, walking quickly from behind the man.
It was Xing Bi.
Judging by Xing Bi’s condition and the man who seemed as threatening as Xiao Lei, there didn’t seem to be any danger. Qiu Shi slightly raised the gun barrel.
The man quickly jumped up, still holding his hands up, and said in a flurry, “It’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding…”
“Shut up,” Qiu Shi said.
The man immediately complied, running back to the vehicle as soon as Xing Bi arrived.
“What’s going on?” Qiu Shi holstered his gun, speaking in a low voice.
“People from Donglin Town, here to pick you up,” Xing Bi replied quietly.
“What?” Qiu Shi was stunned, looking over to see two people under the vehicle and another one inside, “Are they all human?”
This question made him feel a bit awkward. During his years in Yun City, although he didn’t believe the city’s claim of being a pure land free from bioroids and all that nonsense, he hadn’t thought that one day his first reaction upon seeing strangers would be to determine their species.
“Three humans,” Xing Bi said.
“Are there any others hiding?” Qiu Shi touched his arm and opened the map.
“No,” Xing Bi replied.
Indeed, the points of light on the map only indicated the people currently present, with no other anomalies.
“When did they arrive?” Qiu Shi glanced at him. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“Your body temperature was high all night,” Xing Bi said.
“High?” Qiu Shi touched his forehead. “Did I have a fever?”
“I couldn’t wake you up this morning,” Xing Bi said.
“And you just stopped trying?” Qiu Shi asked. “Didn’t you think to check if I was just hard to wake or dead?”
“You wouldn’t die right under my nose,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi gave him a look.
“We’ll take the car later,” Xing Bi glanced at the car and the people over there.
“Doesn’t it seem a bit odd?” Qiu Shi asked. “Deng Yeye and her people took Xiaoling, arrogantly flaunting their words, everyone thinks coming to Donglin is almost like walking to our deaths, and now they send people here to greet us?”
“It is strange,” Xing Bi admitted.
“Then why take the car?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Should I kill them and take the car instead?” Xing Bi suggested.
Qiu Shi was silent. There was no need to go that far.
“I remember the way to Donglin,” Xing Bi said. “If we go wrong, I’ll notice. These three people have no combat power. You alone could handle ten of them…”
“Why send such weak people to greet us?” Qiu Shi pondered. “Any wanderer we’ve encountered before could wipe them out easily.”
“Very thorough,” Xing Bi looked at him. “Partner.”
“I can’t help it. My partner’s brain is waterlogged and not functioning well,” Qiu Shi said.
“Taking the car can save a lot of time,” Xing Bi said. “If things go wrong, we can get off. Whatever Deng Yeye’s purpose, they need you to reach Donglin Town. There won’t be any danger from them until then.”
“Can you see what they’re talking about?” Qiu Shi watched the two people conversing over there.
Xing Bi looked over for a while. “They’re discussing whether we should sit in the back seat or the rear compartment, and what to do if we refuse to disarm.”
“Disarm my ass,” Qiu Shi said. “They think they’re worthy of asking us to disarm?”
Xing Bi chuckled.
“Alright then,” Qiu Shi frowned. This conversation sounded foolish, mainly because he really didn’t want to walk. “I’ll pack my things.”
“Mm,” Xing Bi responded.
The fire had already gone out, and the clothes they had dried last night were mostly dry, but the sleeping bag was still wet. Qiu Shi stuffed everything into the bag anyway. He didn’t need it, so it didn’t matter.
However, he hadn’t left Yun City for too long. Whenever he went out to find things for Li Feng, he didn’t need to pack much, just throwing some food in the car. Now packing a backpack was making him a bit irritable.
The bag wasn’t even full, but now taking things out and putting them back in, they didn’t fit.
He pulled out the sleeping bag and threw it aside.
“Not taking it?” Xing Bi asked.
“Mm,” Qiu Shi responded.
“Put it in my bag,” Xing Bi squatted down.
Xing Bi’s bag was quite empty, either because he had fewer things or was better at packing.
Probably fewer things, since Xing Bi didn’t need much food. On the ground was a silver soft bottle, likely something Xing Bi had eaten in the morning, a supplement.
Qiu Shi picked it up and examined it. Inside was a black, slightly sticky substance.
“Want to try it?” Xing Bi asked.
“And you said it had no taste?” Qiu Shi frowned. This smell seemed oddly familiar, something he had definitely smelled before.
“It has no taste when eaten,” Xing Bi said.
“Can humans eat it?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Yes,” Xing Bi replied.
“Forget it,” Qiu Shi stood up and grabbed his bag. “Canned food may not taste great, but at least it assumes people have taste and smell.”
They walked towards the car, and the three people got out, opening the car door.
“What did you do over there by the car?” Qiu Shi asked, still uneasy about Xing Bi’s previous sudden madness. Any of Xing Bi’s actions without notifying him made him a bit wary.
“Fixing the car,” Xing Bi said.
“…Seriously,” Qiu Shi looked at him. “Three weaklings driving a broken car to pick us up?”
“Yun City still has its advantages in this regard,” Xing Bi said. “Otherwise, why do so many refugees want to go there?”
“You really can fix cars,” Qiu Shi remarked.
“It’s a bit more complicated than skipping stones,” Xing Bi said.
“Aren’t you usually quite steady,” Qiu Shi said. “What, skipping stones made you drift?”
Xing Bi chuckled but didn’t respond.
“Qiu Shi, right? Hello,” the person Qiu Shi had pointed a gun at earlier approached and extended his hand. “We’re here to take you to Donglin Town. My name is Gao Shan.”
Qiu Shi looked at him, silent and without shaking his hand.
Gao Shan didn’t mind, smiling as he introduced the other two. The bearded man was the driver, Da Shi, and the other middle-aged man was Zhao something, Qiu Shi didn’t catch the name, but Gao Shan called him Lao Zhao.
“Get in the car,” Lao Zhao said, glancing at Qiu Shi’s gun. “This…”
Qiu Shi ignored him, got in the car, and lay down in the back seat, looking at him. “What?”
“The journey is long. You can rest and sleep,” Gao Shan said with a smile.
Qiu Shi turned his head to look out the window.
This car was about the same size as the one Li Feng usually drove. It was quite spacious and comfortable in the back, but not as luxurious as Li Feng’s car, and the heating wasn’t as good.
Qiu Shi quickly glanced inside the car. It looked very ordinary, and he didn’t find anything suspicious.
Xing Bi got in and sat next to him, placing a pill in his hand. “Take it.”
“What is it?” Qiu Shi put the pill in his mouth, chewed it, and took a couple of sips of water.
“A fever reducer,” Xing Bi said.
“I probably don’t have a fever anymore,” Qiu Shi said. “I don’t feel anything.”
“Mm,” Xing Bi felt his hand to check his temperature. “It’s fine.”
“This water is too cold,” Qiu Shi said. “If you get a chance, you should soak in the hot springs behind the mountain. It’s nice.”
“Donglin also has two hot springs,” Gao Shan turned his head, trying hard to join the conversation. “They’re quite…”
“Is Hu Xiaoling in Donglin?” Qiu Shi interrupted him.
“…We were just ordered to pick you up,” Gao Shan said with an awkward smile. “Someone will explain the situation when you get there.”
“Is he alive?” Qiu Shi asked.
“We don’t kill people casually,” said Lao Zhao, who was sitting in the back row.
“He better be,” Qiu Shi continued to look out the window. “Because I kill people casually when I’m in a bad mood.”
The car fell silent, with only the sound of the engine remaining.
Sitting in the car was indeed more comfortable, especially since most of the road on this side of the river was muddy, with only a few stones that didn’t affect the people in the car much. This level of shaking was very hypnotic for Qiu Shi.
He slid down a bit and glanced at Xing Bi.
Xing Bi had his arm resting on the car door, supporting his head with his hand, and was looking at him. “Mm.”
“Mm what?” Qiu Shi mouthed.
“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Xing Bi asked.
“Mm,” Qiu Shi responded.
“Then why ‘mm’?” Xing Bi asked.
Qiu Shi closed his eyes and laughed silently.
There were five people in the car, and no one spoke. He didn’t know how the other three felt, but Xing Bi certainly wouldn’t feel awkward. He was always like that, and Qiu Shi didn’t feel awkward either. With everyone quiet, he could sleep.
He didn’t know what the situation would be like when they reached Donglin. Although these three seemed harmless, who knew? Li Feng always seemed kind, even when taking a corpse collector hostage.
These past few days, this was probably the most sound sleep he had had. The temperature was comfortable, the rocking was gentle, and he didn’t have to worry about being ambushed.
And he had a very comfortable pillow.
…A pillow?
Qiu Shi was a bit confused in his drowsiness.
He opened his eyes slightly and saw the car’s ceiling. The ceiling had the Donglin Town emblem printed on it.
He was still in the car. Where did the pillow come from?
He reached under his head to feel what he was resting on. As soon as he touched the pillow, someone grabbed his hand and put it back on his body.
“…Shit.” Qiu Shi lifted his head and saw that he was lying on the back seat, one leg bent on the seat, the other stretched out on the driver’s seat backrest.
And under his head was Xing Bi’s leg.
Xing Bi was leaning against the car door, looking down at him.
“Did I sleep that deeply?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Mm,” Xing Bi replied.
Qiu Shi frowned, pulled his leg back, and sat up, then looked at Xing Bi’s leg.
Xing Bi rubbed his leg.
“Numb?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Mm,” Xing Bi kept rubbing his leg.
“Come on,” Qiu Shi said. “My head isn’t that heavy.”
Xing Bi smiled and glanced out the window. “Want to move around a bit?”
Only he and Xing Bi were in the car; the others were gone. The car was parked next to a grassy slope.
“Where is this?” Qiu Shi glanced at the map and saw three light spots behind the grassy slope, which should be the people from the car. “What are they doing hiding back there?”
“Taking a piss,” Xing Bi said.
“…Couldn’t they just say they’re going to the bathroom?” Qiu Shi opened the car door and jumped out.
Although sleeping on Xing Bi’s leg was quite comfortable, his back was still a bit numb from the pressure.
“Where in the wild is there a bathroom for you to use?” Xing Bi followed him out of the car.
“Stop copying me,” Qiu Shi laughed.
“You keep giving me the opportunity,” Xing Bi glanced at the slope. “It’s safe now. Want to take a piss?”
“Yeah.” Qiu Shi ran up the slope and saw the three men who had apparently finished but were still standing there talking.
When the few people looked up and saw him, they felt somewhat embarrassed. Gao Shan said, “We’ll go over there, you stay here…”
“No need to be polite.” Qiu Shi unzipped his pants and started peeing down the slope.
These were the people who had kidnapped Hu Xiaoling, taken his brothers as hostages, and made him travel all this way to his death. Without Xing Bi, he wouldn’t have even been able to make it to Donglin Town to die.
As he finished and was preparing to head back down the slope, Xing Bi came up.
“Watching?” Qiu Shi said. “You’re late.”
Xing Bi chuckled.
“You…” Qiu Shi looked at him. “Need to use the bathroom?”
“Bioroids have metabolic processes too,” Xing Bi said.
“Oh,” Qiu Shi responded.
Xing Bi looked at him. “Want to watch?”
“No,” Qiu Shi said.
As he was about to walk away, two small black dots appeared in the distance.
They were too far away to show up on the map. Qiu Shi turned and asked Xing Bi, “Is that a car?”
Xing Bi glanced back, then turned away. After a while, he zipped up his pants and said, “It’s a car, sent to escort us.”
“How do you know?” Qiu Shi asked softly.
“They said so,” Xing Bi also whispered. “The escort car has arrived.”
It was impossible for just these three to take them to Donglin. If it were that peaceful, Donglin wouldn’t have lost contact.
“The next stretch of road might be a bit rough,” Xing Bi said. “Don’t sleep too deeply.”
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” Qiu Shi said.
The escort car was about the same size as the large black car from Yun City but was camouflaged.
Honestly, this area was too open. Unless it was an invisible car, you could see it no matter what color it was painted.
When the two cars entered the map range, Qiu Shi realized they must have some jamming device because the map didn’t show the people inside the cars.
“Let’s go,” Gao Shan shouted up the slope. “Time to move on. The next part isn’t too safe. This is an armed escort car from Donglin Town.”
While sorting out his weapons, Qiu Shi sent a voice message to Li Feng.
He and Xing Bi got back into their car, which was now sandwiched between the escort cars, and they continued their journey.
The two escort cars had no interaction with the people in their car, but the previously relaxed atmosphere became tense and oppressive due to the heavily armed escort cars.
“Are these escort people from Donglin Town? I’ve heard their defense isn’t great, but their cars look good,” Qiu Shi said.
“These are…” Gao Shan hesitated. “Our new members.”
“Are you a native of Donglin?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Yes,” Gao Shan nodded. “I came to Donglin Town with my parents when I was four and have been here ever since.”
“What’s your relationship with Deng Yeye?” Qiu Shi continued.
“Deng Yeye?” Gao Shan glanced back at him. “I don’t know her.”
Qiu Shi didn’t ask any more questions. Gao Shan didn’t seem to be lying. Deng Yeye had always stayed in Yun City. If she wasn’t a planted spy, she was a converted one.
He didn’t bother thinking about it anymore. He left these things for Xing Bi to ponder. He only cared about whether Hu Xiaoling was still alive, but these people refused to say.
He should have pissed on their heads earlier.
.
“Aren’t we breaking the rules by coming here?” Xiao Lei asked, scrambling up a small hill behind Zhao Lü, slipping and sliding as he went.
“Go back to the bunker and sleep with your rules,” Zhao Lü said, taking out binoculars and looking into the valley ahead.
This was the edge of the usual activity area for corpse collectors, marked by Qiu Shi. If anything happened, as long as they weren’t as dumb as Xiao Lei, they could make it back to the bunker in time before Yun City’s defense net opened.
There were military deployments all around, but no soldiers were visible. Only the city defense bureau’s people could be seen on the surface. The valley was where the city defense bureau had set up a checkpoint. Refugees could no longer directly enter the outer city through the tunnel; they had to pass the checkpoint and meet the requirements first.
“Is the security bureau short of labor?” Zhao Lü looked over there. Today, a group of twenty or thirty refugees was waiting to enter the outer city.
“What’s going on?” Xiao Lei asked.
“Use your eyes, or I’ll add more food for the brothers tonight,” Zhao Lü said. “All of them are young men. There are no women or older people.”
“I’ve been to the farms and plantations,” Xiao Lei said. “It’s not just young men there.”
“What about other work? So many people have gone into the inner city and never returned,” Zhao Lü said. “Would Li Feng let a small fry like you see it when he’s being ruthless?”
Xiao Lei sighed.
Zhao Lü watched those people for a while, adjusted the binoculars, and then clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“What’s wrong?” Xiao Lei quickly picked up his binoculars too.
“I feel like something’s off about a few of them,” Zhao Lü said.
“What’s off?” Xiao Lei adjusted the focus and looked at each refugee one by one. “I can’t see anything.”
“There’s really something wrong,” Zhao Lü patted Xiao Lei. “Let’s go back. We might need to contact Li Feng.”
When Zhao Lü ran back to the bunker, the twenty or thirty refugees were already following the city defense bureau’s car towards the tunnel entrance. He shouted, “A few of you, come out!”
A bunch of people came out of the nearby bunkers. He tossed the binoculars to He Jiang next to him. “Look, see if there’s anything wrong with those people.”
“Today’s refugees entering the city?” He Jiang said. “All strong laborers? The security bureau is sending people to their deaths again?”
A group of people looked for a long time, but no one saw anything wrong.
Zhao Lü pulled Xiao Lei into Qiu Shi’s room and closed the door.
“None of them saw anything wrong,” Xiao Lei whispered.
“Now I know how hard it is without Qiu Shi here,” Zhao Lü said, lowering his voice. “Contact Li Feng, right now. These people can’t enter the outer city. There’s an infected person among them.”
“Is there?” Xiao Lei was shocked. He took out his pet to contact Li Feng while asking, “They all look normal.”
“Can’t explain,” Zhao Lü said. “If Qiu Shi were here, he’d definitely see it.”
Xiao Lei put an earpiece in Zhao Lu’s ear, and Li Feng’s voice came through: “I just got some time to sleep…”
“Li Feng, it’s Zhao Lü,” Zhao Lü said.
“Qiu Shi is fine, alive,” Li Feng said. “He’s on the car now…”
“That’s good.” Zhao Lü breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m going to sleep,” Li Feng said.
“That’s not why I’m contacting you,” Zhao Lü snapped back to attention. “Stop the group of refugees entering the city now! There’s an infected person among them!”
Li Feng paused. “Don’t tell me the city defense bureau can’t even recognize an infected person.”
“They haven’t shown symptoms,” Zhao Lü said.
“These people have been observed at the checkpoint for more than half a month,” Li Feng said. “If they were infected, they would’ve shown symptoms by now.”
“I don’t know why they haven’t, but some of them look suspicious!” Zhao Lü lowered his voice.
“What’s your basis for this judgment?” Li Feng asked.
“Intuition,” Zhao Lü said.
“…You really grew up with Qiu Shi,” Li Feng said. “Intuition? You want me to go tell Director Zhang that a corpse collector’s intuition says these people can’t enter the city?”
“Yes,” Zhao Lü said.
“You’re fu*king kidding me…” Li Feng cursed.
