Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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His practiced movements suggested it was all planned.
He deftly used a small knife to cut the vines binding them; without an ability user’s control, the vines were easily severed.
Wei Yu was stunned. While Lan Sheng rubbed his aching arms, looking at the child.
The child seemed unable to speak, probably mute. He gestured for a long time, but none of them could understand what he was gesturing. However, he opened the door, looked outside, and waved to them.
Lan Sheng looked at Song Jing and the others, tearing off the tape from his mouth: “He wants us to follow him?”
Song Fei also tore off the tape from his mouth; the tape was very sticky, pulling at his hair, making him gasp in pain: “This child seems to want to save us, should we follow him?”
He looked at Song Jing, who hesitated: “That’s all we can do now, better than waiting to die here, let’s go.”
The group cautiously followed the child. When they went outside, it was surprisingly quiet; there wasn’t even a guard. However, they could faintly hear lively sounds from not far away.
The child led them through a maze of winding paths, eventually leading them into a dark alleyway where even moonlight couldn’t penetrate. The night was cold; before, the ten of them had huddled in a small house, and the nights hadn’t been too bad.
Now, out in the cold, they gasped in shock.
Suddenly, the child took off running.
Lan Sheng hesitated for a moment, then quickly followed. The rest of the group followed suit.
At the far end of the alley stood an old woman holding a candle. Seeing them approach, she breathed a sigh of relief: “Come quickly.”
She took the child’s hand and patted his head.
“Who are you?” Song Jing asked, puzzled.
“Come with me, I’ll see you out,” the old woman said in a hoarse voice.
Wei Yu looked at the child and the old woman: “Grandma, how are you sending us out? Will you be in danger if we leave?”
“Don’t worry, I’ve sent many people away this way. They won’t know it’s me.” The old woman smiled: “If one day you are confident in dealing with the Radiant Base, come back.”
Hearing this, the child couldn’t help but tug at the old woman’s hand.
The old woman looked down at the child and said with a bitter smile: “I know, no one who leaves here ever comes back.”
Song Jing and the others exchanged glances, not understanding what the old woman meant. Lan Sheng looked at the child; in the dim candlelight, the child’s eyes were filled with disappointment. The child’s grip on the old woman’s hand loosened slightly.
The Radiant Base was located in a county town next to City A. The base was not large and was backed by mountains. The back of the old woman’s house was also against the mountain. Because the walls on the side facing the mountain were very dangerous, very few people would come to this alley.
“Come on, I’ll take you out,” the old woman said.
“Grandma, is there something wrong with this base?” Lan Sheng suddenly asked.
The old woman turned to look at Lan Sheng: “A problem? Of course there’s a problem, a huge one.” She shook her head and patted the child’s head.
“I, this old woman, don’t expect you to come back. But please, I beg you, take this child away?” Tears welled in the old woman’s eyes; though they couldn’t see clearly, they could hear them in her voice.
Song Jing glanced at Lan Sheng.
Hearing the old woman ask them to take him with her, the child immediately grabbed her hand and tried to hide behind her, clearly not wanting to leave.
“Grandma, can you tell us what happened?” Song Jing asked.
The old woman sighed.
Most of the people in this base were superhumans, and there were many ordinary people too, but basically, aside from the relatives of the superhumans, the others were just supplies.
The old woman was a local, and being elderly, these people hadn’t bothered with her. This child was her grandson, named Shu Ming. He was born mute.
But it was precisely because Shu Ming was mute that he escaped their clutches. Because they encountered someone like Lan Sheng, they could tie them up and have Shu Ming deliver food to them without revealing their presence.
Everyone who came to the base thought they were safe, unaware that they were being used as food supplies.
Apart from the old woman and her grandson, the ordinary people in the base, unrelated to the superpowered individuals, were completely unaware of their situation. The old woman couldn’t just rescue anyone.
People were disappearing from time to time, making the ordinary people even more fearful and afraid to leave.
Lan Sheng was shocked after hearing this. Thinking of those they had sent there, he felt a pang of bitterness. Those people had slandered them, yet they had rescued them from the jaws of death only to send them into the lion’s den.
As they spoke, the old woman led them to a low wall: “Just climb over here. There’s usually no one guarding the outside, and today is the weekly sheep slaughter; they’re all excited and won’t be watching.”
“Grandma, why don’t you come with us?” Wei Yu couldn’t help but ask. There were so many of them this time. If they were discovered, the old woman certainly wouldn’t survive.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” The old lady shook her head. “My old arms and legs are too weak to walk anymore. Where can I go? In the end, I might even be a burden to you. It’s my little grandson who’s causing you trouble.”
Shu Ming shook his head repeatedly, tears welling up in his eyes, and held onto the old lady tightly.
“Silly child, Grandma is old. You’re still young. Be good, listen to me, and go with them, okay? If you don’t go, Grandma will be angry.” The old lady looked at Shu Ming reluctantly, but her words were firm.
“Grandma, please come with us. If you don’t come, it seems your grandson won’t come either. He’s worried about you.” Seeing Shu Ming, Lan Sheng suddenly thought of Lan Zhi for some reason.
“I won’t go. I’m already an old woman. It’s not bad that I’ve survived this apocalypse for so long. Where can I go? My old man is still buried here. I’m not going anywhere.” The old lady stubbornly shook her head.
Seeing Shu Ming clinging tightly to her hand, her face immediately turned serious. She then ruthlessly shook off his hand: “Listen to me! If you don’t listen, if you don’t leave, I’ll kill myself right here!”
Shu Ming was startled and immediately pulled his hand back, staring blankly at the old woman, seemingly not expecting her to be so resolute.
The old woman closed her eyes: “Go, go, all of you go! Hurry up! If we’re discovered, none of you will be able to leave.”
Lan Sheng picked up Shu Ming. Shu Ming was very thin; although he was eleven or twelve years old, he felt like a six or seven-year-old when Lan Sheng picked him up. As Lan Sheng picked him up, seemingly out of consideration for his grandmother, Shu Ming didn’t refuse. But tears kept streaming down his face and he made muffled sobs.
Lan Sheng felt a pang of sadness and looked at the old woman: “Grandma, please come with us.”
“Yes, Grandma, if you don’t leave, your grandson will worry about you,” Song Jing couldn’t bear it and helped persuade her.
“I told you, this is my home, I’m not going anywhere! Are you leaving or not? If you don’t, I’ll call for help and tell them you’ve run away!” The old woman shouted anxiously, her voice slightly louder.
Everyone knew the old lady wouldn’t cry out, but they also understood she truly didn’t want to leave.
As for knocking her unconscious, no one could bring themselves to do it. After all, she was old; if she lost her balance, she might never wake up again.
Lan Sheng sighed, carrying Shu Ming as he climbed over the wall. One by one, the others silently followed suit. Only after everyone had left did the old lady breathe a sigh of relief, slowly walking back step by step, the candle in her hand already extinguished. But she knew this place very well; she could walk out with her eyes closed, and even without the candle, she seemed to be able to see.
Shu Ming’s tears streamed down her face, but he hadn’t uttered a sound since leaving the Radiant Base.
“I’m going to the D City base to find Lan Zhi, what about you?” When they were some distance from the Radiant Base, Lan Sheng broke the silence, looking up at Song Jing and the others.
Song Jing glanced at the others subconsciously, then opened her mouth, “I… I also want to go to the D City base. What about you guys?”
If it weren’t for how they’d been slandered by the people they’d rescued, Song Jing felt she probably would never have wanted to visit Lan Zhi.
But thinking about how Lan Zhi, even as a zombie, hadn’t harmed them, and those people— they were the ones who had saved them— and what had they done?
Pathetic, lamentable.
“Sister, I’ll go with you,” Song Fei said.
“Me too.”
“Me too!”
A slow smile suddenly appeared on Lan Sheng’s face. Although they’d gone through this ordeal, they hadn’t suffered much. Instead, it had made his teammates see some things more clearly.
Perhaps it wasn’t all bad?
“Okay! Let’s go to the D City base! Song Fei, go see if you can find a car. D City isn’t far, but walking is a long way.” Lan Sheng’s tone became lighter.
This group of people had gradually gathered together after the apocalypse. To be honest, Lan Sheng had deep feelings for them too, but he felt his younger brother was more important.
If they were to part ways, Lan Sheng would be sad, but he would have no choice but to accept it.
It was best that they were still together now.
“Okay, I’ll go now.” Song Fei nodded. “You guys rest here for a while. Lin Lizhong, you’re coming with me.”
Lin Lizhong scoffed, “So many people, and you only call me!”
“Are you coming or not?” Song Fei saw Lin Lizhong walking towards them, saying these resentful words. He was immediately amused.
“I’ll go. I didn’t say I wasn’t going. I’ll also see if we can find some food.” Lin Lizhong strode over and went with Song Fei to find a car.
“It’s been so long since the apocalypse; I think the chances of finding food are very low. Our previous supplies were all looted by the Radiant Base. Hopefully, we won’t starve on the way to the D City base,” Song Fei said.
After all, they were not like Fu Ke, who could walk through hordes of zombies unscathed.
D City Base.
Fu Ke had been gone for some time. At first, those people were terrified, afraid that Fu Ke would return. But after a few days, things calmed down, and the people in the base gradually became bolder.
Someone couldn’t help but complain privately, “I say they’re too cowardly. There are at least a thousand ability users in the base, right? I don’t believe that even if Fu Ke is powerful, a thousand or more ability users can’t take her down!”
“Exactly, I think so too. If everyone works together, how many people are there on Fu Ke’s side?”
“What a waste of Fu Ke’s treasure.” This person had eaten Fu Ke’s cooking before, and the thought of eating that kind of food every day with that treasure made their mouth water.
Qiu Yingying overheard their conversation as she passed by.
“Ha, so capable. Why didn’t you say anything when Fu Ke was around? Even if it’s a treasure, it belongs to Fu Ke. You have the guts to covet it, but why don’t you try to steal it?” Qiu Yingying had heard many such comments recently, and she felt particularly uncomfortable.
Last time, when Fu Ke unleashed her full power, everyone in the base was suppressed. And Xie Changyi, who started the incident, was still lying in bed.
These people should take a good look at themselves before they start gossiping.
“Hey, who’s this? One of those guys who’s talking up for Fu Ke? What, why didn’t Fu Ke take you with her when she left?” The person Qiu Yingying mocked was annoyed and said sarcastically.
“Yeah, this bootlicker got dumped here. Oh well, it’s a good thing, otherwise Fu Ke would have taken her as food, that would have been even worse!”
There were still quite a few water-type ability users in the base, so they weren’t afraid of offending Qiu Yingying. One after another, they mocked her.
“If you’re so good at talking nonsense, come and try your hand.” Chen Meijia cracked her knuckles.
Chen Meijia was a well-known female warrior in the D City base; most men in the base, unless they were ability users, couldn’t beat her.
Seeing Chen Meijia’s actions, the men’s expressions changed immediately, and they left dejectedly. They ran incredibly fast, as if afraid Chen Meijia would pull them aside for a fight.
“Are you alright?” Chen Meijia asked Qiu Yingying, looking at her. “What’s the point of talking to these people? Just fight them.”
Qiu Yingying shook her head. “Thanks, I’m fine.”
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