Chapter 61

About ten days after Xue Ling left, Wen Jiuze returned to the base.

He went straight to his residence but didn’t find Xue Ling. He then went to Wen Yi’s laboratory, but it was locked, and Wen Yi wasn’t there.

A bad feeling immediately settled in.

Sure enough, he discovered that Xue Ling was not at the base and had gone to the northwest with the team. Furious, he kicked over the conference table in the meeting room.

The plain wooden table’s leg snapped, hitting the wall.

Captain Shen Zhang, who had come to inform him, was stunned by the sudden outburst.

When Wen Jiuze first arrived at the base, although he seemed difficult to approach, he was known for being emotionally stable and dependable.

There had been some friction in the team heading to Donghai City. Some people had said unkind things in front of him, but he hadn’t gotten angry.

It had made people think that although he looked tough, his temper was actually fine.

Now, Captain Shen Zhang realized that it wasn’t that Wen Jiuze had a good temper—it was just that no one had touched his breaking point.

“I understand your feelings, but rest assured, no one coerced Xue Ling. She volunteered to go,” Captain Shen Zhang explained.

Hearing the word “volunteered,” Wen Jiuze grew even angrier. He stiffened like a statue, then pulled a strange, cold smile on his face, as if his expression could freeze.

But he didn’t take any further action. Instead, he sat down on a bench, coldly glaring at Captain Shen Zhang.

Captain Shen Zhang had seen Wen Jiuze’s abilities and was now breaking into a cold sweat behind his back.

He cursed internally. Just after returning, General Hao had asked him to explain the situation and talk to Wen Jiuze.

But what could he do? He couldn’t have the old general handle this tough issue.

Captain Shen Zhang tried to reason with him, but Wen Jiuze was no longer listening. He sat there, quietly calming himself. Once his anger subsided, he stood up and said one thing:

“Give me a vehicle. I’m going after them.”

“Don’t worry. The car’s ready, and the guide is already arranged. You can leave as soon as you’re ready,” General Hao said, walking in as if he hadn’t noticed the broken table.

He signaled to the guard, who handed over a letter. “Almost forgot, this is a letter from Xue Ling for you.”

Wen Jiuze took it and tore open the envelope with a rip. A polaroid photo fell out.

In the photo, Xue Ling was holding her old, battered handwriting board with the words “Don’t be angry” written on it.

Even through the photo, her nervousness and apprehension were clear, as if she were taking a mugshot for the first time.

After staring at the photo for a while, Wen Jiuze put it away and stood up to leave.

Seeing him calm down, Captain Shen Zhang couldn’t help but smile bitterly and asked General Hao, “Why didn’t you have me deliver this letter earlier?”

General Hao, leaning on his cane, waved his hand. “Young people have tempers. Sometimes they need to let it out to calm down. Only after seeing the letter will he cool off.”

He was quite experienced. Back when he was younger, he’d been stationed with his old comrades under harsh conditions, and part of his job had been to handle the emotional concerns of military families.

When military wives got upset, it was terrifying. No matter how much you tried to persuade them, they could become fierce. The young ones today couldn’t even imagine it.

General Hao himself had nearly been torn apart by their wrath at the time.

Compared to those days, Wen Jiuze wasn’t that difficult to deal with.

When Wen Jiuze reached the vehicle General Hao mentioned, he found it was part of a convoy, specifically for transporting supplies.

The previous team had left in such a hurry that they hadn’t prepared everything, and this was the second batch heading to the northwest. Even if Wen Jiuze hadn’t requested to join, this team was about to depart anyway.

In the end, it turned out that Wen Jiuze was just an addition to the plan.

Wen Jiuze: “…”

It felt as though everything had been arranged in advance, which only made him more frustrated.

Captain Shen Zhang and his team were also assigned to this convoy.

As General Hao put it, they had already worked together once, so they were familiar with each other now.

If Wen Jiuze took off in his own vehicle, they would still be responsible for the safety of this convoy.

Captain Shen Zhang watched Wen Jiuze stand motionless in front of the vehicle for a while,  and was worried that he might flip it over in anger.

But Wen Jiuze simply took out the photo again, looked at it for a moment, and then climbed into the car.

General Hao came to see them off. With a slight smile on his stern face, he said, “You must believe that our families understand the bigger picture. They may be upset now, but they will still think about our soldiers.”

Captain Shen Zhang asked, “Is he considered part of the military family?”

General Hao replied confidently, “Xue Ling is one of our good comrades. She’s already joined us and participated in many tasks. Her partner is, of course, considered part of the military family.”

Captain Shen Zhang asked, “I mean, isn’t he considered a soldier?”

General Hao’s gaze sharpened. “He may be Xue Ling’s soldier, but he is not one of ours.”

However, this isn’t a big issue. With Xue Ling around, he wouldn’t pose any harm to them.

Xue Ling is an earnest and good person, and this young man knows how to assess the situation.

The experienced General Hao didn’t let this landmine explode in the base and smoothly sent the person off.

……

Xue Ling sat in the car, often looking back at the road they had come from.

The road was barren, with only dust, but she couldn’t help looking back.

Wen Yi noticed and said, “Stop looking. Even if Wen Jiuze is coming, it wouldn’t be so soon. They probably haven’t finished their mission in Donghai City yet.”

“You two haven’t been apart for long. Is it really necessary to think about him like this?”

Xue Ling nervously grabbed her pants and explained through her tablet, “It’s not that I miss him. If possible, I’d rather he stay at the base and not chase after us… I’m a little scared of him coming and throwing a tantrum.”

Wen Yi: “…”

Putting down the materials in her hands, Wen Yi curiously asked, “What did he do when he got angry with you before, to make you so afraid?”

Xue Ling: “I don’t think he’s ever gotten angry with me.”

Wen Yi: “…”

Xue Ling: “It is because he’s never been angry with me, that I’m afraid that if he does get angry, it’ll be terrifying.”

She had bravely accepted the mission earlier, but now she was scaring herself.

Wen Yi: “So what’s the point of your relationship? You can’t even do what you want, always worrying about the other person’s feelings.”

Xue Ling thought for a moment and explained, “I have many issues, and so does he. When we are together, we solve some old problems and create some new ones, but overall, the problems are fewer, not more… I guess that’s the point.”

Wen Yi: “Got it, solving old bugs, creating new bugs, but overall getting better—your relationship is like a version update.”

Xue Ling: That’s such a Wen Yi explanation, completely lacking any human warmth.

After chatting for a bit, Xue Ling, holding her tablet, looked at the dust rising behind the convoy and asked:

“Why aren’t we using planes? If we did, we could fly to the northwest quickly, solve the problem quickly, and get back quickly.”

Maybe they’d even get back to the base before Wen Jiuze finishes his mission.

“Don’t even think about planes for now,” Wen Yi said. “The global communication system went down, and navigation and radar have collapsed. More importantly, due to the distorted magnetic fields, there’s unknown interference, and planes in the air are at risk of crashing.”

“People at Beizheng Base are researching this, but communications haven’t been restored yet, so restoring air transport will take time.”

Xue Ling was disappointed. She had been hoping that someone would teach her to fly a fighter jet during the previous mission. No wonder the captain had said there was no chance for now.

No choice but to drive on the ground obediently.

Their team was on a life-saving mission, traveling day and night, rotating drivers, never stopping, rushing to the northwest as fast as possible.

Xue Ling’s fear of Wen Jiuze catching up and getting angry didn’t come true, and they arrived early at Long’an Ancient City.

The journey had been so rushed and exhausting that even the iron-clad soldiers were looking pale, and Wen Yi’s research staff, who weren’t in the best of health, had all lost a lot of weight. Wen Yi herself couldn’t eat anything, surviving only on glucose, looking much more haggard.

Among this weary, lifeless group, Xue Ling the zombie, was still lively.

Finally, they saw the outline of Long’an Ancient City, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But before them were zombies wandering the road and a horde of zombies lingering outside the ancient city.

They had arrived after dark, and without any lights in the ancient city, they could only see shadows, giving the place a very heavy, Chinese-style horror atmosphere.

“How can there be so many zombies here?”

“Nearby is Long’an City, which was a well-known tourist attraction before the apocalypse, so many tourists came here. Now, most of the zombies from the city have come to this area.”

With so many people in their group, it was like shining a bright light in the dark, attracting the zombies’ attention. Even though the convoy was temporarily stopped here, some zombies had already smelled them and were coming over.

It wouldn’t be easy to enter Long’an Ancient City. For safety’s sake, it was better to take it slow, but Professor Ji Shiping’s situation was critical, and they couldn’t afford to waste time.

The final plan was for Xue Ling to drive the medical vehicle into Long’an Ancient City first, contact the people inside, and deliver some supplies.

Xue Ling put on a hat and gloves, climbed into the medical vehicle, waved to the hopeful crowd, and started the engine.

The map was drawn by the soldier who had come to deliver the message. It marked the location of Professor Ji Shiping and his team when he left.

They were hiding in the famous Li family mansion in the ancient city.

From the city gates to the Li family mansion, it was quite a long distance.

The roads in the ancient city were narrow, paved with bricks. The car wheels made uneven noises as they passed over the rough patches.

There were many alleys, and zombies often sprang out suddenly from the dark alleys.

Xue Ling drove carefully, but she was still startled when zombies pounced on the car’s hood and windows.

The ancient city, with its old buildings, and the zombies appearing suddenly, felt like a classic horror movie scene.

Startled, Xue Ling instinctively stepped on the gas, sending the zombies that had jumped on the car rolling under the chassis.

Xue Ling: … It’s not my fault. They scared me first.

For the dozen or so people huddling in the Li family mansion, it was a gloomy night, and almost everyone had fallen into despair.

The soldiers escorting Professor Ji Shiping had dwindled to ten, each one dark and emaciated, having gone for long periods without proper food.

Even the few bullets left in their guns had become a rarity.

Professor Ji Shiping, who had originally led a team of more than ten people, now only had two researchers left, both of them gaunt.

Their main pillar, Professor Ji Shiping, had been unconscious for two days. He had been able to wake up occasionally and give them instructions, but today, he could no longer even take a sip of water.

His face was so pale that it seemed like he could lose his breath at any moment.

They had no medicine, no food, and only a little water left.

The people who had gone out to ask for help hadn’t returned, and neither had the ones searching for food. They probably all perished in the zombie horde outside.

Several soldiers discussed their options and decided to wait until daybreak to find a way out and send someone to seek help nearby.

Everyone understood that going out could mean death, but they had no other choice.

There were thirteen people in total, all gathered together in the dark, listening to the roars of the zombies outside.

In the suffocating silence, a soldier suddenly stood up and asked in a hoarse, trembling voice, “Do you hear the sound of a car outside?”