Chapter 28
Chapter 28
No one spoke. No one even exchanged glances.
Everyone gathered around the dining table, and for a while, the only sound in the living room was the quiet slurping of noodles as they kept their heads buried in their bowls.
After a bowl of hot noodle soup, their frayed nerves finally eased a little.
Zhou Shaocheng set down his empty bowl and let out a long breath. The lingering fear had yet to fade from his face as he murmured, “That was… absolutely terrifying. Those lunatics… It was like there was no end to them.”
Before he had even finished speaking, An Xiaolin, who had been silently eating with a stony expression beside him, gave a short, cold laugh.
“Hmph.” She looked up, her gaze stabbing toward Ji Feifan across the table. Her voice overflowed with barely restrained resentment. “If someone hadn’t gone looking for trouble and decided to show off by firing a couple of warning shots at them, would we have ended up trapped in the car and nearly crushed into paste?”
Chen Yuhui had been sipping her noodle broth. Startled, she looked from An Xiaolin to Ji Feifan, whose expression had abruptly darkened. “What do you mean?”
Speaking rapidly, An Xiaolin recounted with biting hostility how Ji Feifan had secretly fired his crossbow at the couple outside the convenience store, only to enrage them and cause their frantic screaming to draw even more lunatics.
When she finished, she stared at Ji Feifan with a mocking curl of her lips. “Impressive aim, Master Ji. You failed to hit anything vital with that bolt, but you nearly sent every last one of us to our graves.”
Exposed and condemned in front of everyone, Ji Feifan’s facial muscles tightened, making his usually impassive features look even more rigid. He did not defend himself right away, but the hand hanging at his side quietly clenched into a fist.
He had never expected An Xiaolin to see what he had done. He had always assumed he had been discreet enough.
Several gazes settled on him, some scrutinizing, others disapproving. Most importantly, Qingshui had also raised her eyes. Her perpetually calm gaze held no emotion as it rested on him, yet it brought the greatest pressure of all.
Ji Feifan knew that any attempt to defend himself would only make things worse. His throat bobbed, and he lowered his eyes to avoid Qingshui’s gaze. After a long silence, he finally forced out in a tense, deliberately subdued voice, “…I’m sorry. I acted impulsively. At the time… I just thought those two would attract trouble sooner or later if they kept screaming, so I… took action.”
Qingshui’s expression remained unchanged after hearing him out. She had already guessed most of what had happened, but she had not expected Ji Feifan to act without permission. She did not reprimand him. She merely said in an even voice, “There won’t be a next time.”
Within this group, acting without permission, especially when it could endanger everyone, was a line that could never be crossed.
The atmosphere turned stagnant. Even the steam rising from the instant noodles seemed to fade.
“Um…” Fang Shuyao spoke at just the right moment, her voice gentle but clearly worried as she broke the uncomfortable silence.
She told them about the woman who had come seeking help earlier that day. “There’s something wrong with that group. Maybe… we should make some preparations.”
With the subject shifting to an external threat, the tension within the group temporarily eased.
Qingshui nodded and looked at Chen Yuhui. “Have you finished taking inventory?”
Chen Yuhui hurriedly set down her bowl and pulled out the small notebook packed with notes. “Yes. At our current rate of consumption, the food and water should last about twenty days if we’re careful. But…” She paused, her voice dropping. “We don’t have many crossbow bolts left. Fewer than twenty. And we’ve used up a lot of gasoline too.”
Qingshui’s gaze swept over the lingering exhaustion on everyone’s faces. After so long under relentless pressure and pushed beyond their physical limits, they all needed time to recover.
“Understood.” She made her decision. “Wei’an and I will take the first watch tonight. We’ll switch shifts in two hours. Everyone else, get as much rest as you can.”
No one objected. They silently dispersed, each finding a relatively comfortable or secure corner where they could close their eyes and rest.
Qingshui sat quietly in the shadows beside a window. Through a gap in the curtains, she stared out at the unnaturally silent mountain resort, her mind churning with countless thoughts.
She saw the situation clearly. Every one of them, whether it was An Xiaolin, who had confronted Ji Feifan tonight, Ji Feifan, who had restrained himself and apologized, or even Zhou Shaocheng and his wife, instinctively looked to her whenever they felt frightened or lost. They depended on her. They expected her to make the decisions and lead them to safety.
But she wasn’t a god.
Her experience from her previous life made her calmer than most and gave her a better understanding of the brutal laws of survival. That did not mean she could foresee everything, always make the right choice, or fight this insane world all by herself.
She needed a team. A real team whose members could support one another and compensate for each other’s weaknesses, not a scattered group that depended entirely on her.
Ji Feifan… He was intelligent, reasonably capable in a fight, and able to maintain some composure at critical moments. But he was too self-centered. His judgment was easily clouded by emotion or overly utilitarian thinking, and he lacked the absolute obedience necessary during team operations. Tonight had proven that. He could be a useful blade, but she would have to keep a firm grip on the hilt at all times, or the blade might turn and cut its wielder.
Chen Yuhui and Li Wei’an were highly adaptable and observant, and they learned quickly. They could also summon courage when it truly mattered. But both of them… were missing something.
They lacked the ruthlessness needed to survive in extreme circumstances.
An Xiaolin… Her will to survive was exceptionally strong, and when backed into a corner, she could be ruthless. However, she was emotionally unstable and easily consumed by fear or driven to extremes.
Zhou Shaocheng and his wife had survival instincts and a strong sense of responsibility toward their child, but their combat ability and mental fortitude were clearly lacking. Lin Hao… His technical skills were useful, but he was likewise… inadequate.
As teammates, their prospects were not encouraging. Forging people with such different personalities, abilities, and backgrounds into a coordinated and trustworthy team would be almost impossibly difficult.
But she had no choice. A lone wolf might enjoy greater freedom, but they would never survive for long. She had to do this. She had to try to bring them together and guide them, no matter how much friction and pain the process entailed.
Just as her thoughts grew heavier and heavier…
Thud!
A sudden, muffled impact struck the window beside her.
Qingshui’s pupils contracted. She instantly snapped out of her thoughts, every muscle in her body tensing as her sharp gaze locked on the source of the sound.
Then…
Thud! Thud! Thud-thud-thud…!
More and more impacts sounded against the villa’s windows facing the interior of the resort. The noise was erratic but unrelenting. This was no accident. Someone was deliberately throwing things at them!
Rocks? Or something else?
Everyone who had just fallen asleep or was trying to do so sprang upright at the barrage of knocks.
“What’s happening?!”
“What is that?!” Alarmed whispers rang through the darkness.
“Don’t move!” Qingshui barked, stopping them in their tracks. Remaining concealed in the shadows so she would not be exposed to anyone outside, she cautiously scanned the area beyond the windows.
The relentless impacts came again, setting everyone’s nerves on edge.