Chapter 98
Chapter 98
Night fell.
“Sister Guan.”
The short-haired woman turned to the middle-aged woman carrying two packs. “Go keep watch. Find some higher ground and keep an eye on the way we came.”
Sister Guan answered with a quiet acknowledgment. She unfastened the pack strapped across her chest and gently set it on the ground, keeping only the one on her back.
Then she took a pair of binoculars from the woman with the low ponytail beside her.
Without another word, she nodded to the short-haired woman, turned around, and began scrambling up the slope on all fours.
The remaining members of the group briefly glanced at Qingshui and Song Yunqing, who were huddled in a corner.
There was no obvious hostility in their gazes, but certainly no welcome either. It was more an assessment. After studying them for a moment, they each looked away.
The ponytailed woman cradled her rifle and leaned against a rock that sheltered her from the wind, then closed her eyes.
The Big Guy laid his pointed shovel across his knees. His massive body was like a wall as he sat facing the route they had taken up the mountain.
The other man sat silently beside him.
Rest had done nothing to truly ease the tension.
Huddled beside Qingshui, Song Yunqing began showing signs of nervous agitation. She was no longer as completely numb as she had been while walking. Her eyes darted anxiously through the darkness, scanning their surroundings. Her breathing quickened, and her fingers unconsciously clawed at the damp earth beneath her.
Qingshui’s low fever had left her mind foggy and her senses dulled, but Song Yunqing’s behavior was far too obvious to miss.
She could guess what Song Yunqing was thinking. This place was not far enough from the road below, yet it was still much too far from the summit.
If they were surrounded from below, the route uphill would be steep and long, making it practically a dead end.
They were in an awkward position.
The short-haired woman had been leaning against a boulder, staring absently at the pitch-black sky, her thoughts unknown.
Perhaps Song Yunqing’s agitation was simply too palpable, because her gaze suddenly shifted toward Qingshui and Song Yunqing.
“You know how to keep watch, right?” she asked abruptly, her voice low and direct.
As soon as the words left her mouth, she seemed to realize how foolish the question was. She gave her forehead a light, self-mocking slap. “Tch. What a stupid question…”
Anyone who had survived this long in such conditions could hardly be ignorant of the most basic sentry duty.
Her gaze lingered on Song Yunqing’s deathly pale face. “You take…”
Despite Qingshui’s best efforts to remain alert, she could not hide the feverish flush or weakness on her face. The short-haired woman paused, then shook her head. “Forget it. When the time comes, you two can do it together.”
Qingshui lacked the strength to say more. She merely gave a brief grunt of acknowledgment.
The short-haired woman seemed to want to ease the rigid, oppressive atmosphere. She pointed to herself. “Wen Lianfeng.”
Then she gestured toward the rifle-toting woman resting with her eyes closed. “Chu Jingchu. The one up there is Guan Yuzhen.”
Her finger moved to the Big Guy. “That Big Guy is Wu Wujie.”
Finally, she pointed at the silent man. “And that’s Quan Lin.”
It was an exceedingly concise introduction.
Qingshui replied, “Qingshui.”
Several seconds passed before Song Yunqing murmured in an extremely low voice, “Song Yunqing.”
“Qingshui?”
Wen Lianfeng repeated the name. The darkness concealed much of her expression, but the trace of surprise and curiosity in her voice was unmistakable. “You’re a damn good shot. Military? Qingshui’s a strange name for a person.”
Qingshui looked at her, too exhausted to keep up any polite pretense, and simply pressed her lips shut. Chu Jingchu, who had been resting with her eyes closed, suddenly gave a derisive chuckle and opened them.
“Hmph.” Amusement colored her voice. “Military? Even a soldier might not be able to shoot as well as she did back there.”
Her knife-sharp gaze raked over Qingshui’s weakened body before settling on her face. Her teasing tone shifted into a statement of near certainty. “Don’t tell me you’re… a Mercenary.”
It was not a question.
To ordinary people, that single word called to mind shadowy dealings and unchecked violence.
Wu Wujie and Quan Lin did not move, but both seemed to hold their breath for an instant.
A faint smile tugged at Wen Lianfeng’s lips, yet her gaze remained hooked on Qingshui, watching closely for the slightest change in her expression.
These two old hands were openly probing her.
Qingshui lowered her eyes, her long lashes casting shadows beneath them. “I’m not… a criminal.”
Wen Lianfeng immediately let out a soft laugh. She waved a hand as though dispersing the tension that had suddenly pulled taut in the air. “All right, all right. Sorry. I’m a criminal police detective. Occupational habit. You’re pretty young, though. And…”
She paused. “Who cares whether she’s a Mercenary or not? In times like these, does that even matter? As long as someone can stay alive and kill Madmen, they’re one of us.”
When Qingshui did not respond, seemingly uninterested in the subject, Wen Lianfeng propped herself up and tried another angle, continuing her questions-or perhaps simply satisfying her own curiosity. “Your surname is Qing? That’s a very rare name.”
Qingshui was silent for several seconds before finally answering in an extremely low voice, “…Chen.”
“Chen… Qingshui?”
Wen Lianfeng repeated the name, her brow easing slightly as though her curiosity had finally been satisfied. “Now that makes more sense.”
Her attention shifted to Song Yunqing. The girl’s gaze kept drifting, and her body was trembling faintly. When Wen Lianfeng spoke again, her tone was no longer as intimidating as before. Instead, it carried a hint of reassurance. “Kid, are you really that scared? You’re as pale as a sheet.”
Song Yunqing seemed startled by the sudden question. She stiffly turned her head toward Wen Lianfeng.
Her pupils were dilated in the darkness. They looked hollow, reflecting no one’s image. She did not answer Wen Lianfeng’s question.
She merely stared straight at her. Combined with her bloodless complexion and vacant expression, the flickering shadows and howling wind made her look especially unsettling.
At the sight, Wen Lianfeng sighed softly. Rather than continuing to reassure her with words, she offered a judgment based on the facts. “Don’t worry. There aren’t any Madmen nearby.”
“The plants and trees around here are intact. There are no signs of anything trampling through or snapping them on a large scale.”
Yet Song Yunqing did not seem capable of taking comfort in that. The corner of her mouth twitched as she said haltingly, “Madmen… can hide… They’re… evolving…”
Wen Lianfeng raised a hand and thumped her stiff neck, realization and resignation creeping into her voice. “So that’s why you two… ended up in such a sorry state. You were ambushed by Madmen.”
It was a statement, not a question. From Qingshui and Song Yunqing’s condition, Song Yunqing’s reaction, and what she had just said, it was not difficult to infer part of what had happened.
“It can’t be helped,” Wen Lianfeng murmured, as though speaking both to herself and everyone present. “There are fewer and fewer humans, and we’re getting better and better at hiding. If the Madmen didn’t evolve, they’d probably… be nearing the end of the road themselves.”
She paused, her gaze seeming to pierce the darkness and settle on some unknowable point in the distance. Her voice held the calm of someone who had nearly resigned herself to fate. “What good does being afraid do? The Madmen are evolving, and no matter how frightened we are, we can’t stop it. If we run into them, all we can do is call it bad luck. We’re not superheroes. We don’t have X-ray vision that lets us see through every trap.”
If we run into them, all we can do is call it bad luck.
Those words dropped like a cold stone into the murky lake of Qingshui’s mind.
That was right. They truly had been unlucky.
They had walked down so many seemingly endless roads and crossed so many danger-ridden forests… only for everything to come to an end on that bridge, when hope had seemed just one step away.
An Xiaolin, Chen Yuhui, Zhou Yaping, Ji Feifan, Lin Hao… and Song Yunting’s team, whom she had met only once.
It was as though everyone’s luck had run out at that exact moment.
“Every day you survive is another day gained.”
Wen Lianfeng’s voice rang out once more, slightly louder than before, as though emphasizing her point-or trying to rally the group. “Anyone who’s survived this long can’t be all that unlucky. Maybe… our luck will hold a little longer.”
“Sister Wen,” Wu Wujie suddenly called out in a low voice after remaining silent all this time.
Perhaps he felt that she should not reveal too much in front of the newcomers.
Wen Lianfeng immediately came back to herself and gave a self-deprecating smile. “Sorry. I started rambling again. Old habit.”
She took a deep breath. The cold night air sharpened her senses, and her expression turned stern once more.
“Since you’re joining us and traveling with us,” she said, sweeping her gaze over Qingshui and Song Yunqing, “there are a few things I need to make clear from the start. You follow my orders. When I tell you to do something, you do it. No running off on your own, and no giving up without a fight.”
Seeing that both of them were listening, Wen Lianfeng continued in a slightly gentler tone. “From now on, all you two need to do is stay with the group. Keep watch when it’s your turn, rest when you can, and give it everything you’ve got when a fight breaks out. You don’t need to worry about anything else for now.”
Once she finished, it was as though she had finally exhausted the last of her strength. The habitual curve at the corner of her lips vanished in an instant.
She said no more, leaning back against the rock and closing her eyes.
Qingshui let out a breath and slowly closed her eyes as well.
Discomfort and exhaustion surged over her like a tide, nearly swallowing her whole. Wen Lianfeng’s words buzzed in her ears, then quickly sank into the depths of her consciousness.