Chapter 67
The group kept up their quick pace, only eating a few pieces of bread each for lunch. The sky grew darker and darker, and only when Xiao Sa saw that the people who had not yet developed abilities were frozen stiff, their bodies almost turning blue, did he finally order them to find a place to rest.
Fortunately, houses were very easy to find even if they were soon to be flooded by heavy snow; they just needed to clean it a little to stay there. People were full of energy knowing that there was a place to rest. The first thing Bai Jing did upon entering the house was to take out the generator. Rushing on the road and yesterday’s playing was different. Riding on the sledges with the biting cold wind coming in, although there was a windshield, how could such a small area manage to block the cold coming in from all sides?
Bai Jing firmly believed that it was impossible to make the horse run without letting it eat grass. There was still a warmed up house in the evening, thick quilts, a bowl of hot soup, and a few small dishes and rice. Everyone sighed in appreciation, thinking of the days before where they had only been eating dry food. Once Young Master Jing woke up, their quality of life has risen sharply, and it simply could not be compared. In everyone’s heart, their respect towards Bai jing rose again.
Leng Han and Sister Lian only discovered now that the group in front of them had originally been divided into two groups. In addition to the people on Xiao Sa’s side, Bai Jing’s forces also could not be underestimated. Although he did not have many people by his side, each and every one of them were ability users, and they had all had backgrounds as highly trained bodyguards.
Sister Lian’s heart sank. She had originally never intended to underestimate them, but now she was even more cautious. Although the world was now in chaos, the government system had not collapsed, and the military and political forces had already joined hands. This made her think of Bai Jingcheng, who was also an important figure of the country no matter how one looked at it. With this kind of support, and adding on the weapons they had in their grasp, she and Wenhua would be unlikely to be able to gain any advantages against them.
Sister Lian tossed and turned all night, and the next day everyone continued on the way. At noon, they arrived in Pingyuan County. Sister Lian hurriedly said goodbye to Xiao Sa, the meaning in her words clear. She claimed to need to discuss things with her husband, but the softening of her tone could not be missed.
Xiao Sa’s indifferent nod and uncaring attitude made Sister Lian rather more anxious. Leng Han saw this and raised his brows. After getting along with him yesterday and today, he could be certain that his investment this time had been the correct choice.
After Sister Lian left, Xiao Sa did not find a place to rest, but directly took people to the high security prison. Pingyuan County was as its name implied – L Province had always had many plains. The high walls of the prison and the severe and solemn buildings were very conspicuous, and could be seen at a glance even from a distance. Even if everything was covered in a thick layer of snow, it still attracted people’s attention.
No matter how many people’s hopes had been destroyed by this prison, or how many prisoners had been detained and how many people’s freedom had been taken away and locked up in this prison, at this moment, it appeared like an excellent fortress to everyone.
Xiao Sa pointed into the distance, his voice calm and powerful, and his dark, icy eyes flashed with an inevitable determination. He gave everyone a subconscious feeling of confidence and strength as he said, “See there? In the future, that place will be the home we are going to build.”
“Yes!” Everyone began to shout, and it was as though they had been infected by his mood. Their blood in their hearts was boiling, and even Leng Han who had just joined their group felt his heart turn hot. Although they had enough to be self-sufficient these days, who would not like to have fewer worries and be able to have a stable life?
“Now, we’ll start to make our move. Yu Yue, scan to check out the situation inside. Little Jing, bring some people and find somewhere to live. Everyone else, come with me to install monitoring around the perimeter.” Xiao Sa gave commands in an orderly fashion; he knew their own strengths and weaknesses. At present, there were too few of them, and he did not want to work hard in order to benefit others. They had to first eliminate the threat of other humans before talking about anything else.
Bai Jing also did not enjoy heavy work, and was very happy to accept his orders. He left behind a pile of electronic cameras, took Wang Xuebing and Cao Lei with him, and drove away in a sled.
There were not many houses around the prison, and because it was in the countryside, they had to visit quite a few places before finding a decent residence, a two-storey farmyard.
“Wait a minute.” Wang Xuebing was on alert even before they opened the door. He had been a scout before, and could naturally see that there were traces of people living here. Although they were very faint, and it was as though they had been intentionally wiped out, he was capable of discovering even fainter traces.
Bai Jing frowned, but then his expression relaxed. Who cared if there were people or not, it was enough if they could snatch it. The weather was freezing cold now, and he did not believe that the people inside were this place’s original residents.
Cao Lei took the lead and lightly opened the lock on the door. As soon as the door opened, he was pulled into a bear hug. Cao Lei’s heart had been anxious, and his actions were as fast as lightning. Any opponent who could sneak up to him without him noticing was definitely not simple. He quickly counterattacked and grabbed the person’s arm, using force as he twisted it back.
“Ouch, hurts, hurts, shit! Big-head Cao, hurry up and let me go.” The person cried out loudly in pain. If he had been on guard, he would not have been so easily captured. This little brat Cao Lei was so vicious, it hurt, what the heck!
“It’s you. Why are you here?” Cao Lei was shocked and quickly released him. Instead of joy at meeting his friends, his face became covered with black lines.
“Didn’t you call for Young Qiang and them to come over?” The people who had come spoke as though it was a given.
Cao Lei’s expression was dark. His evildoer face showed a rare expression of disgust. “I didn’t call you.”
“That’s all right. It’s enough that somebody else called, right? Xuebing?”
Wang Xuebing nodded and looked at them in amusement. What was the big deal? He had not expected that Cao Lei would still be upset about it till now.
“Big-head Cao? Huh?” Bai Jing was very interested. As soon as he spoke, he found that Cao Lei’s face turned even uglier. Wang Xuebing held back his laughter, but the other man’s expression was looking for trouble, and his personality was candid. He proudly stated, “Sounds good, right? I came up with it. It’s simple, memorable, and prestigious.”
Bai Jing understood now. No wonder Cao Lei was not happy. He was usually so narcissistic, but he had been given such a title. Not killing the other person was already proof that he was in a good temper.
Seeing his lover’s temper change, Wang Xuebing quickly laughed and diverted the topic, “Right, are you the only one here? Where are the others? And your parents are now…”
“Come on, we’ll talk inside. Everyone will definitely be happy knowing that you guys have come. Is this your employer? You two boys are lucky.” Chen Dawei sighed, and the joy of reunion was washed away, leaving only a strong feeling of sadness.
Reading the situation, Cao Lei turned silent. Needless to say, everyone could understand that the current situation could not possibly be good.
“Big brother Dawei, who was that just now?” A little boy’s voice sounded out. Seeing them enter the room, his expression turned uncertain and anxious, and it was not until he saw that Chen Dawei was familiar with them before he relaxed.
“I knew you guys would come. Good fellows, you guys didn’t make us wait in vain.” Someone called out in surprise, and everyone in the room looked up. One glance showed their precautions were more in-depth than expected. The room that originally only held six people, suddenly held eight more as they came out from behind the sofa, the roof, behind the door, and even under the window, and other random places. Three of them were people Cao Lei knew.
Bai Jing glanced around and suddenly felt ashamed. He found that compared with others, their own guard was very lax. Professionals were really different. However, it seemed that besides the attempted robbery, they had not encountered any danger on their journey over. He had to wonder why these people were so cautious.
Meeting old friends away from home was one of the several major happy events in life. Wang Xuebing and Cao Lei greeted everyone happily and introduced them to Bai Jing one by one.
Chen Dawei lightly talked about the past. There was grief, sadness, but also the tenacity unique to soldiers. They originally had a group of 38 people, but only these people were left by the time they arrived here. Having only three ability users, they suffered from insufficient weapons, insufficient food, cold weather, and the suppression of other forces. If not for the fact that they believed Cao Lei would come, to tell the truth, Chen Dawei did not worry about himself, but he was afraid that the child that was following him would not be able to persist.
“They are?” Bai Jing was frowning, but he did not mind that much. Even if they did not have abilities, he had the spring water. Only one point was important – he had to ensure their loyalty. He did not want to raise up anyone that would turn around and switch sides.
Chen Dawei was slightly nervous. From Cao Lei and Wang Xuebing’s attitude, he could tell that this young man should have the final say. Although most of them had good skills, they did not have any abilities. They also had wounded, three children under ten years old and two fifteen-year-old middle school students. Under such circumstances, he was very clear that most people would be apathetic towards others they were unfamiliar with. “These children’s relatives are dead, sacrificing themselves in order to give us an opportunity to get away. Only Yu Qian is a local. She was dying when we met, but it was thanks to her help that our group could find somewhere to settle down.”
These words were spoken very simply, but there was an unspoken heaviness within. Bai Jing saw them looking anxiously at him, and a crow flew over his head in the awkward silence. “What are you looking at me for? By the way, are there any more houses near here? You guys came early and should be more familiar with this area. What other forces are there?”
Chen Dawei felt relieved and secretly blamed himself for being too careful. Cao Lei would not have contacted everyone if he wasn’t sure about the situation. “When we came, the weather wasn’t so cold. A group of people killed their way out of the prison, and occupied a town in the nearby county. There is another force that seems to have just arrived from somewhere else. As for the rest, except for some small contingents, there are only a few surviving local residents. There are not many of them, and they’re mostly hiding in the cellar and don’t usually come out. This child Yu Qian…”
“Alas!” Chen Dawei sighed: “Yu Qian is a girl. Her parents were afraid of wasting food, so they brought her brother away and locked her in the house. Fortunately, she escaped the disaster. Otherwise…”
Bai Jing didn’t speak, his expression distant. Such things were not uncommon after the apocalypse, but it was good for them to have a local, even if it was a 10-year-old child.
Then, Bai Jing asked about the number of people and strength of the various forces around the area.
At the end of the day, soldiers were different. Chen Dawei hardly needed to think before answering, “There are more criminals in the county town next to us. They have about 300 people. Besides the original prisoners, there are many refugees who have come to depend on them. Now, they have already formed a small base that is about 30 kilometers away from us. The other side arrived only a few days ago. As for the other group, they only arrived a few days ago and are living a short distance away from us. They had sufficient firepower, and started to fight with the county town forces. After their first battle, quite a few teams came to rely on them, and up until now, their numbers have been increasing non-stop.”
Bai Jing thought about it slightly and realized that the team Chen Dawei was referring to should be led by Sister Lian’s husband. Only, based on the current situation, it would be very difficult to bring them in. The other side’s situation was too optimistic, and they definitely would not give in easily.
Cao Lei obviously thought of something else, and asked, “How many ability users do they have on that side? When is Young Qiang coming over? How many more people do we have?”
“The weather is uncertain now. We communicated five days ago, and Young Qiang had not made up his mind yet. I only heard that Huang Jian has left the army, but we don’t know where he’s at now.”
Wang Xuebing opened his mouth, but finally did not ask about why Huang Jian left the army. These days, hadn’t they seen a lot? For a soldier of the national army to leave and become a private soldier for someone in power… It was probably a good thing to leave…
