LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 8 - Collaboration.
Whether Yu Qing did it on purpose or not he knew that his impression of him in Song Xinqi’s mind was probably the same as that of the original host.
“Who’s there? Come out.” The bearded man’s voice drew closer.
There’s no point in hiding any longer. The two of them emerged from under the bridge, facing the bearded man who looked alert.
The bearded man’s eyes flickered over the helmeted Yu Qing, then shifted to Song Xinqi. The machete was back in Song Xinqi’s hand, still stained with green blood that hadn’t been cleaned off, dripping from the tip.
Neither spoke, and as the bearded man’s gaze moved to the backpack behind Song Xinqi, the atmosphere became tense.
Yu Qing, caught between the two tense parties, felt a shiver down his spine and wanted to do something. So he spoke up, “What a coincidence, you guys here for water too?”
The girl in the nurse’s uniform looked over belatedly. Seeing the young man in the helmet, whose delicate and pretty face couldn’t be hidden even by the helmet, she exclaimed in surprise, “Didn’t expect there to be other survivors here.”
The girl tried to approach but was stopped by the bearded man’s arm. A scrutinizing gaze came from the other side, and the nurse was scared back by Song Xinqi’s expressionless face. Instinctively, she looked at Yu Qing, who seemed the least threatening.
Yu Qing blinked and had a sudden realization: she’s a good person!
Although he hadn’t interacted much with society, he had a strong sense for people. He could tell who had ulterior motives and who genuinely wanted to interact with him. His instincts told him this girl had no ill intentions.
“I don’t think they mean any harm.”
Two voices spoke simultaneously. The tense Song Xinqi and the bearded man both looked at the person who spoke out of turn.
Yu Qing shrank his neck and turned his helmet so Song Xinqi couldn’t see his face. As long as he couldn’t see him, he couldn’t feel his deadly stare.
The bearded man sighed and told the girl not to cause trouble, and the tense atmosphere inexplicably dissolved.
“We mean no harm, but given the circumstances, we can’t let our guard down,” he explained. “I see you have plenty of supplies, so you probably won’t do anything to us. We’re heading to City A. What are your plans?”
Coincidentally, Yu Qing looked at Song Xinqi to see what he had in mind. They were also heading to City A, so they could hitch a ride. More people would be safer.
Song Xinqi said, “We’re going too.”
“I’m Wu Zhenhu. We received a signal from City A on the radio. The government has sent troops there and is calling for survivors in the area to head there for protection. If you trust us, we can take you along, just share some food with us.”
He opened his palm, and a red flame rose from it. Yu Qing’s eyes widened as Wu Zhenhu continued, “I have fire powers. I found that zombies are vulnerable to fire; I can drive them away with my power. Besides me, Chen Yi in our team also has powers. He can sense the number of zombies within a certain range. It’s very safe to travel with us.”
They were indeed short on food, otherwise…
It wasn’t necessary to reveal all their resources. They had plenty of supplies to last until they reached City A. Song Xinqi agreed to the arrangement.
Wu Zhenhu sighed in relief and glanced at Song Xinqi’s backpack. “So…”
Song Xinqi put down his hiking bag and took out a pack of instant noodles. The girl, who had been hungry all day, couldn’t help but swallow.
Wu Zhenhu said, “Tu Xiao, go call Chen Yi. We’ll eat here now.”
The girl quickly nodded and ran off to find Chen Yi. When they hurried back, the others were already cooking noodles over the fire.
Tu Xiao ran over, eagerly waiting for the noodles to cook, while Chen Yi glanced at Yu Qing and Song Xinqi without saying anything. He took a dirty-looking oil can to the stream to clean it and fill it with water.
The advantage of fire abilities was that there was no need for firewood or lighters; they could cook on the spot.
The group quickly exchanged basic information. Wu Zhenhu was overjoyed to learn they also had abilities. Yu Qing’s shrinking ability wasn’t very useful at the moment, but Song Xinqi’s mental abilities were powerful, allowing him to control zombies to fight each other.
The downside was that their abilities were unstable.
Yu Qing took off his helmet and squatted next to Wu Zhenhu, watching him boil water in his palm. “Uncle Wu, do your hands feel hot when you use your fire abilities?”
He shook his head. “No, my ability doesn’t hurt me. Also, I don’t feel cold when the temperature drops, which is quite convenient.”
Yu Qing marveled, “So you could wear short sleeves in winter?”
Wu Zhenhu laughed. “Yes.”
Yu Qing was very interested in abilities. He didn’t dare talk much with Song Xinqi due to his bad temper and couldn’t control his own ability well. Now that he met Wu Zhenhu, he couldn’t help but ask a few more questions.
Fortunately, Wu Zhenhu was much more approachable than Song Xinqi, so there was no pressure.
He stared at the obedient flame in Wu Zhenhu’s palm. “Can I touch it?”
Wu Zhenhu said, “It’s best not to. I can’t control it perfectly yet, and it wouldn’t be good if you got hurt.”
Song Xinqi, after cleaning the blood off his machete, put it away and found a spot to rest. With more people around, it got noisy, which gave him a headache.
Tu Xiao introduced herself, “I’m Tu Xiao, an intern nurse. I was just about to become permanent when the zombie outbreak happened. All my plans were ruined, but luckily, I met Uncle Wu. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be alive.”
Yu Qing said, “I was lucky to meet Song Xinqi too.”
“Both Aunt An and I were saved by Uncle Wu. Chen Yi joined us on his own. He said he could sense zombies and could avoid them safely with Uncle Wu.”
Hearing her name, Aunt An, who was washing the oil can at the stream, nodded.
Yu Qing, sensitive to people’s emotions, asked, “Is Aunt An unhappy?”
Tu Xiao whispered, “Aunt An’s husband turned into a zombie. We arrived too late to save him.”
Seeing her hunched over, silently washing the oil can, Yu Qing thought of his own family. They probably thought he was dead and were surely heartbroken.
Chen Yi didn’t stand on ceremony with Aunt An. After giving her the oil can, he found a place to sit and rest. Tu Xiao continued talking with Yu Qing.
“Because Chen Yi is in a cooperative relationship with Uncle Wu, he has always been very dissatisfied with Aunt An and me being in the team. He thinks we are just dead weight without any abilities and doesn’t really like us.”
Yu Qing nodded understandingly. In the apocalypse, being useless is a cardinal sin, and it’s hard to blame others. People like Uncle Wu, who are kind-hearted, are rare.
Many are struggling just to survive, let alone save others. It’s understandable that Song Xinqi dislikes him, so it’s best not to take it to heart and accept being a burden openly.
He also tried to make himself appear more useful, although the effect was minimal.
Before long, the noodles were ready, and Wu Zhenhu called everyone over to eat. Even plain noodles without any seasoning were enjoyed with relish.
With the food problem solved, he started to talk to Song Xinqi while eating, “Let’s exchange the information we know about the recent strange events. How much do you know?”
Song Xinqi said, “We first encountered zombies in a small town a week ago. We don’t know exactly how the zombies came about. Some are ordinary people who suddenly mutated, but most transformed after being bitten by zombies.”
Wu Zhenhu responded, “We have the same situation. This morning, we received an official alert from the government on the radio.
They said the zombie outbreak is due to a highly contagious virus. Once bitten by a zombie, it can take up to an hour or as little as instantly to get infected and turn into a zombie.”
Tu Xiao added, “This virus doesn’t just spread among humans. Many stray cats near our hospital have also turned into zombie cats.
They are even more terrifying than zombies, moving quickly and being very agile, making them very difficult to defend against.”
Wu Zhenhu noted, “However, zombies move very slowly. As long as ordinary people have weapons, they have a chance of surviving one-on-one encounters. With so many of us here and two abilities, we should be able to reach City A successfully.”
Song Xinqi frowned, “But the zombies we just encountered moved much faster. Not only are they more agile, but their attack and defense capabilities have also increased.”
Wu Zhenhu was stunned and had a foreboding feeling. This zombie crisis might be worse than they imagined.
After filling their stomachs, the group tidied up and returned to the truck. It was a large cargo truck. Yu Qing had been worried about whether there would be enough room for everyone, but it turned out it could fit six people easily, and even ten more would not be a problem.
Wu Zhenhu went to the driver’s seat, Chen Yi sat in the front passenger seat, and the others climbed into the spacious cargo compartment. Despite the large space, there were almost no supplies inside; not everyone had time to prepare in advance like Yu Qing’s group did.
The compartment was semi-open, with fences around the sides and the top. Aunt An and Tu Xiao sat on one side, while Song Xinqi sat on the other. They intentionally left a spot next to Song Xinqi, assuming Yu Qing would sit with him since they were together.
However, when Yu Qing climbed up, he sat down next to Tu Xiao instead. Song Xinqi didn’t even glance in his direction, leaning back against the compartment wall with his eyes closed.
Yu Qing knew that Song Xinqi had always disliked him. Previously, with only the two of them, Song Xinqi had to keep an eye on him to prevent any accidents.
Now, with more people around, there was no need to constantly stay within sight, which avoided being a nuisance.
Tu Xiao observed the unfriendly dynamic between Song Xinqi and Yu Qing and quietly asked, “Are you two not on good terms?”
Yu Qing replied, “It’s more like he dislikes me.”
“Really?”
Yu Qing admitted, “I always cause him trouble.”
She was even more confused. She had assumed they were companions, but if Song Xinqi found Yu Qing troublesome, why did he still keep him around?
Looking at his face, which was even more attractive than Chen Yi’s, she hesitated before asking, “Are you guys showing off your love?”
Yu Qing was stunned, “What?”
Her voice was not quiet, and Song Xinqi’s sharp gaze shot over, “Yu Qing, what nonsense are you telling people now?”