Chapter 58
As the sky grew dark, a cold wind blew over and Bai Jing shivered. Seeing that people had begun to cook, he could not sit still and looked into to the distance.
“Young Master Jing, come over and warm up.” Tan Jiabing smiled as he spoke, still holding a pile of dry firewood in his hands. Although he was not an ability user, he still tried to help everyone out in his own way.
Bai Jing nodded and did not refuse – he did feel a little cold. It was now freezing, and he was really afraid that they would have to spend the night here. To tell the truth, he didn’t like sleeping in the wind at all. Only, if they left and it snowed tonight, it would be more difficult to get the nuclei tomorrow.
“Where’s Xiao Sa?” Bai Jing asked. Some discontentment was rising in his heart as he had already come out a long time ago without seeing his shadow.
“Brother Sa went to help. It was getting colder and colder, and the earlier we finish the earlier we can leave.” Tan Jiabing’s good-natured reply was not affected by Bai Jing’s attitude at all. In any case, they all knew that Young Master Jing had a bad temper.
Bai Jing pouted and looked around, feeling a little ashamed as he suddenly discovered that besides the comatose Yu Yue, he seemed to be the only idler. Even Little Meng, the eight year old, was helping people to do things, and his little figure could be seen gathering firewood everywhere.
Bai Jing knew himself very well; he didn’t enjoy rough or tiring work. People had already taken over the dirty work, and he didn’t want to find trouble for himself. Looking around, it seemed like they would have to stay here for a long time, so he also didn’t stay idle, finding a place where the ground was flat to begin setting up a tent and bringing out some sleeping bags and quilts. The weather was too cold, and since they were out in the open, he would try to give everyone a comfortable environment.
After a long time, when the food was already ready, and everyone began to drool over the hot food that they hadn’t had in a long time, Xiao Sa and others came back. They were covered with mud, and it seemed as though their shoulders and hair were caked with layers of ice and snow. The snowfall seemed heavier now, and in the distance, the snow had already begun to pile up.
Bai Jing filled a bowl with hot soup and went directly to Xiao Sa, ignoring other people’s gazes. “For you.”
“Thank you!” Xiao Sa took the bowl and drank it all. He looked at Bai Jing’s red cheeks and felt that this soup seemed to warm him all the way to the bottom of his heart.
“You’re welcome.” Bai Jing pretended to be casual, and angrily scolded himself internally. Just now, hadn’t he still been angry at him?
Others were also hungry, and they went up one by one to get their share and eat. The fire had been burning the whole time, but the weather was so cold that they all felt that if they didn’t hurry up to finish their meal, it would turn cold within a few minutes.
“Zhou Ji hasn’t returned yet?” After eating, Xiao Sa looked up at the heavy snow falling from the sky, his brows wrinkled into a deep frown.
“Yes, Cao Lei and Qin Yi haven’t returned yet either.” Bai Jing replied. He was a little anxious. He would not look down on an opponent that could trap them and set up the situation they had just encountered, even managing to accurately make use of the zombies. The longer they were gone, the more dangerous it would be.
As he was thinking, sounds came from the distance. Bai Jing listened and his face showed a trace of joy, “They’re back.”
They watched as Cao Lei and his party returned with two bloody men who obviously had had their arms broken.
“They are?” Bai Jing’s eyes were cold as he turned his head in their direction.
Cao Lei and the others came closer, then he kicked the two men to the ground with one foot before saying, “We ran into them on the way. They are two ability users, but they were damned tight lipped and refused to tell the truth, so we simply brought them back. It was cold outside, and everyone wasn’t feeling great.”
Xiao Sa’s face was calm as he indifferently looked at the two people on the ground. Others also came over and crowded around in order to take a look.
Liu Wei opened his mouth and began to curse, “Lao Tzu is the best interrogator, damn it, see if I don’t peel off their skin. I almost lost my life today, and if I can’t get my revenge back, I won’t be able to get over it.”
“Zhang Bo, Wang Hongwei -” Liu Hui cried out in surprise as she clung tightly to Yang Chonghui’s hand.
The two people on the ground raised their heads, feeling like they had found a saviour now that they had met with old acquaintances. One of the men quickly opened his mouth and spoke, “Liu Hui, Yang Chonghui, how did you end up here? They caught us as soon as we escaped. You recognize me, right? Tell them we are innocent! This had nothing to do with us.”
The other man also called out: “Save us! Zhang Bo and I were just passing by. Really, really! We are fellow townsmen, and you know what I’m like. Help us!”
Liu Hui and Yang Chonghui exchanged looks, and there was some hesitation on their faces. Their gazes as they looked towards Xiao Sa held some pleading, but in the end they did not speak any words of imprecation. They were still not considered members of the team, and they knew they didn’t have the qualifications to open their mouths and speak up. It had been too dangerous today, and they had caught some suspicious people. If anyone else had been in their place, they would definitely not be willing to let them go so easily.
“Closed mouthed? Looking for a savior?” Bai Jing walked over with a gun, pressing the cold muzzle against one of the men’s cheeks.
Zhang Bo’s face was very calm. He knew that the call for help had been ineffective and immediately went silent. Only, he was inwardly anxious, not knowing when their big bro would come to save them.
Wang Hongwei was panicked, but forced himself to pretend to be calm. Having met acquaintances, it seemed that there was now a gap in his defences and he kept pleading, “Yang Chonghui, I remember your father. At that time, before he turned into a zombie, I even gave him a steamed bun, and it wasn’t until we dispersed later that he was killed. I wanted to go save him, but couldn’t make it in time. We know each other from before; you can’t just watch me die without stepping in!”
“Speak. Tell us who sent you here, and I can consider not killing you.” Bai Jing smiled faintly. His chin was slightly lifted, and his arrogant expression made it seem as though he was looking at two ants on the ground. In fact, he really wanted to know who it had been that had plotted against them so early.
Zhang Bo took the lead. He opened his mouth to say, “We were just passing by. If you don’t believe us you can ask Yang Chonghui. We are from the same county, and we’ve all seen each other before.”
Wang Hongwei nodded his head and agreed. It seemed that Wang Hongwei obeyed Zhang Bo’s orders.
Cao Lei spat on the ground and kicked them again as he cursed, “These two people are full of nonsense. They are both fire power users. When we caught them, they still had the smell of gunpowder on their bodies and only subsided when we broke their arms.”
Bai Jing nodded, and Han Yan fired two shots even before he could make a move. “Bang! Bang!” Zhang Bo’s two legs were broken just like that as he continued cruelly, “Throw him out to feed the zombies. Let’s see if you can be more honest then.”
Zhang Bo’s forehead was full of sweat, but he was still tight-lipped as he spoke, “Do you think you are the law? Indiscriminately killing innocent people… We just happened to pass by, and did not do anything bad…”
Xiao Sa was too lazy to continue the interrogation. He turned to Liu Hui and Yang Chonghui and murmured, “Tell me about their origins.”
Yang Chonghui hesitated for a moment, but spoke up soon after: “Wang Hongwei and I once knew each other in school. Later on, we were both caught and brought to the Research Institute. Zhang Bo was someone I met there, and we had run away together back then, but the scene was too chaotic back then and we scattered. They…”
Liu Hui coughed and Yang Chonghui swallowed back his plea for mercy.
Bai Jing raised his eyebrows and looked at Liu Hui. “You tell us.”
Liu Hui also hesitated and clenched her teeth, but since they had decided to follow the team, even if she couldn’t help, she should still do her best. Besides, she had no friendship with Wang Hongwei. After careful reflection, she said, “I don’t know if it’s correct, or just a little speculation in my heart, but I remember hearing Zhang Bo saying that if he had known what would happen, he would have learned from others and become a bandit. I don’t know if it’s related.”
Yang Chonghui suddenly also recalled this sentence. Associating it with the explosives that blocked their way today, his face turned ugly instantly.
Even though Zhang Bo was in a bad position, and was writhing on the floor in pain, he still insisted that such a thing had never happened.
Wang Hongwei was sweating all over, and trembling with fear.
Bai Jing put everything together, and immediately understood the answers to some questions, though how they had become targeted was still a mystery. He coldly glanced at Zhang Bo and ordered: “Take him out and execute him. Don’t dirty up the place.”
Zhang Bo’s expression was indifferent. He seemed to be both relieved, yet somewhat unwilling to die.
“No, don’t kill me.” Wang Hongwei hurriedly cried out, fearing that he would be next.
Xie Minhang and Liu Hua picked up Zhang Bo and went far into the distance.
Bai Jing’s icy voice followed after them. “Don’t kill him, just take off all his clothes and toss him into the snow to freeze over. Death would be too good for him.” Zhang Bo’s thoughts had been obvious. At this point, if he answered he would die, and if he didn’t answer he would also die, so he had gone ahead and chosen to keep silent. Only, death was not so easily achieved.
“What do you think?” He turned his head towards Wang Hongwei. The fierceness in his eyes was obvious.
“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you everything, just don’t kill me.” Wang Hongwei was originally timid. Just now, he had relied on Zhang Bo for support. But then he saw how Zhang Bo was going to die, and his courage had been broken down long ago. As long as he could stay alive, there was nothing he wasn’t willing to do.
Xiao Sa answered him lightly, “Agreed. I won’t kill you.” As for what the others would do, it was none of his business.
Wang Hongwei could see for himself who had the final say in this group of people, so he tremblingly made another demand: “And you cannot break my legs.” Otherwise, if he can’t run, he’s still dead.
Bai Jing sneered. He had not thought that this little coward would still have so much sense. “Be honest, and quickly speak up. If you dare lie, I won’t kill you, I’ll just feed you to the zombies.”
“I’ll speak, I’ll speak.” Wang Hongwei glanced over at Liu Hui and Yang Chonghui quietly, and then began, “We met the boss when we ran away from the Institute. He is a level one ability user, and he had a few others with him. Zhang Bo and I only obey orders. You guys, don’t kill me…”
“Stop rambling. We already said we won’t kill you, so we won’t kill. Hurry up and continue! Otherwise, we’ll execute you anyway.” Han Yan was very impatient. He wanted to kick the man, but was blocked by Zhou Ji and finally reluctantly brought his foot back, giving Wang Hongwei a hard look.
The ‘boss’ that Wang Hongwei mentioned was also a man from their county, and a criminal. After his powers appeared, he learned that the military was capturing people, so he organized the power users and raided the police station during the chaos to seize a large number of firearms. Then, armed with guns and other firearms, he used living people to attract zombies to attack the military base. A few nights ago, when the zombie infection suddenly spread in a large area, and many people in the army were also affected, they took the opportunity and occupied the base. These were clearly chaotic times.
The night before yesterday, they met a woman who was by herself. She was beautiful, but had no powers. They had originally wanted to kill her, but the woman said that she knew where weapons and arms could be found. The boss kept her alive, which led to the events that transpired here.
Him and Zhang Bo were only ordered to light the explosives, and were not core subordinates of the boss, so they really don’t know too much about the plan.
Everyone went quiet when the woman was mentioned. Naturally, they all knew who she was, and the few people who had asked for mercy back then all turned pale. Cai Lei hurriedly looked over at his lover. He had also never thought that this would be the result of their actions. Seeing Wang Xuebing suddenly stop speaking, his heart ached. If he had known it would be like this, he would not have brought the two men back and instead forced their confessions immediately. He didn’t believe that he wouldn’t be able to get it done; only Zhang Bo’s mouth had been closed up too tightly, and he had wanted to directly kill the two of them when he saw them.
“Use living people to attract zombies? What do you mean? Lin Zhifei was timid, and he haltingly brought up a question.
Wang Hongwei trembled. His eyes were full of fear, and he stammered as he choked out: “First… First they stabbed them a few times with a knife until they were bleeding all over, and then threw them out. Not… not long after, the zombies would come…”
“Damn, are they still human?” Liu Wei cursed. Even if he bragged that he was from the triad, he never thought that people would be so cruel that they could use other living people fodder. They were even inferior to animals!
Li Yi was full of self-reproach. When he let the woman go, he had not expected that it would cause so much trouble after. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t thought of Little Meng, I would not have been so sympathetic.”
“It’s not your problem. It’s my fault.” Wang Xuebing was very clear in his heart. Although he did not understand why, he could feel that the young master attached great importance to him. If he had not asked for leniency, he believed that the young master would never be merciful.
“Enough. It’s not your fault. Back then, we didn’t even know if the woman would live on or not. Who could have thought that she would go and find a backer.” Cao Lei did not agree with them and spoke the facts. They had not killed that woman because firstly, they had been sympathetic, and secondly, because they had not wanted to be the ones to kill her. Nobody had thought that the woman could still be alive after being left alone under those circumstances.