Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Came Right to the Door on His Own!

Lin Xin knew that Bai Hanyue had left with the girl named Qin Xi.

In truth, he was somewhat regretful now, lacking a bit of courage last night to express his desire to join them as well.

Who could have expected that today he would run into a gang of people completely opposite to that seemingly cold yet decent brother-and-sister duo!

While interrogating Wu Dongyan’s group, that crew also split off a few men to search the entire factory.

Fearing discovery, he didn’t dare stay inside the factory any longer.

Right now, however, it was pouring rain, and low-lying areas near the factory were already pooling with water.

The accumulated water was very deep, and he couldn’t get across at all.

Yet outside was far too dangerous. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

There were zombies as well as mutated animals.

He didn’t dare stay outside, so he had no choice but to sprint up the mountain.

At the same time, he prayed in his heart that he would bump into the brother and sister again—at least he could gain a bit of a sense of security.

Perhaps he could even use this information to trade for a chance to become teammates!

The trip from the foot of the hill to the mountain summit usually took roughly an hour on foot, but Lin Xin—alternating between running and walking—reached the mountain peak in just over half an hour.

Standing at the intersection on the mountain summit, hands resting on his knees, he panted heavily with raspy breaths, yet in the very next instant, his gaze came to a sudden halt.

On the road directly facing the downward mountain pass, a black car suddenly appeared.

Driving deep down the road. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Looking at the direction, it was heading toward the nursery stock base.

A surge of joy instantly washed over his heart!

Although he couldn’t be entirely certain that the people in the car were Qin Xi and Qin Song, he had a subtle gut feeling that it was them!

After all, among the village folk, aside from those who fled down together in a panic yesterday and those who turned into zombies, most of the rest were elderly people who lacked the physical ability to run outside at all!

With that thought in mind, Lin Xin caught his breath for a few moments and hurriedly continued chasing in the direction the car had driven.

Meanwhile, Qin Xi and her group of four had already arrived outside the nursery stock base.

This was a cultivation area situated half on a mountain slope and half on flat ground.

Just like the tomato seed industry base, the main entrance faced the office building directly, featuring a security guard booth at the main gate. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The elderly security guard inside the booth had already turned into a zombie; seeing the four people outside the gate, he pressed excitedly against the window pane, smashing through the glass headfirst in an attempt to rush out.

However, his body was blocked by the chest-high wall beneath the frame!

This conveniently made things easy for Qin Xi.

Stepping forward, she raised her blade and brought it down on the zombie’s head; the elderly zombie collapsed inside the security booth in an instant.

She yanked her blade back.

Entering the base courtyard and walking closer, they saw that the door to the office building was closed tight.

It was hard to tell whether people had already left work when the zombie outbreak occurred during the night, or if there were people inside who failed to escape.

Either way, Qin Xi had no intention of stepping inside the building. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The four bypassed the office building, quickly entering the cultivation plots.

Following the old routine, they paired up into two teams.

Only this time, digging up tree saplings was not as fast as digging up vegetable seedlings earlier.

Saplings were tough to dig out, the rain was heavy, and the downpour brought gusts of wind; every short while, they had to wipe the rainwater off their faces.

After working busily for a good while, the four had dug out fewer than ten trees.

Qin Xi straightened her body, catching her breath. The shovel in her hand was taken over by Qin Song beside her as the two swapped roles.

Right at that moment, however, her and Qin Song’s eyes tensed up almost simultaneously as they turned to look toward the small path coming from the office building.

A black human figure was standing quietly at the far end of the path, facing their direction without moving a muscle! Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The torrential rain poured down beneath a gloomy, suffocating sky, with a black human figure standing motionless at the end of the long path.

This scene—resembling a shot straight out of a horror film—gave even Qin Xi, who had experienced countless thrilling situations during the apocalypse, a sudden jolt of alarm!

She and Qin Song exchanged a look, uncertain for a moment about the far-off figure’s intentions.

Right then, Qin Xi suddenly remembered that she had bought two pairs of binoculars at the wholesale market earlier.

Hurriedly pulling one out, she held it to her eyes and looked toward the figure. Upon seeing the person’s face clearly, she let out a sigh of relief, though her confusion deepened even further!

“It’s that boy named Lin Xin from last night!” Qin Xi said.

Hearing her words, Bai Hanyue let out a surprised cry right away:

“Lin Xin? Why did he come back up the mountain?” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

She and Lin Xin were both locals from this village on the mountain.

Not only were the two the same age, but they had also been in the same class during middle school, so they were fairly well-acquainted.

Hearing Qin Xi’s words now, curiosity piqued, Bai Hanyue subconsciously wanted to step over to take a look.

Taking just one step, however, seeing Qin Xi and Qin Song beside her remain unmoving, her steps came to a firm halt.

It was still best to see what Qin Xi and Qin Song intended.

Qin Xi didn’t know what Bai Hanyue was thinking; she was equally curious as to why Lin Xin had suddenly appeared here.

Heading up the mountain was one thing, but running specifically to this exact spot where they were located was another.

While the group was pondering, Lin Xin had already begun running over toward them. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Waving his hands as he ran.

Now things were crystal clear.

He had come specifically for them.

Qin Song stepped in front of Qin Xi, taking the lead to walk in the direction Lin Xin was coming from.

Before long, the five came together.

Lin Xin brought his steps to a halt, leaning over uncontrollably with both hands resting on his thighs as he panted heavily with raspy breaths, yet immediately relayed the situation at the foot of the mountain to the group:

“Brother Qin, Miss Qin… down… down at the foot of the mountain, a gang of people arrived. They seem to be looking for you, but… but they don’t look friendly at all! Someone has already… told them the news that you’re up on the mountain…”

Finishing his sentence, Lin Xin exhaled a long breath, his breathing becoming a bit smoother. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

He then continued:

“Also, the leader of those people seems to be called Brother Liang!”

Qin Xi’s spirits jolted upon hearing this!

Brother Liang?

She turned her head rapidly to exchange a glance with Qin Song.

To be called Brother Liang and hold a grudge against them—who else could it be but Chen Liang!

At that thought, Qin Xi couldn’t help but find it somewhat amusing. She had been worrying over how to track him down in a city as large as Jiangcheng after he escaped that night!

Who could have expected that he would come right to the door on his own! Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Meanwhile, Qin Song had already considered a more practical issue. Looking at Lin Xin, he asked:

“Roughly how many of them are there?”

Lin Xin shook his head, stating uncertainly:

“I didn’t see clearly, but judging by the noise, I feel there are at least a dozen people, and almost all of them are men.”

As his words fell, he recounted the information he overheard in rough detail to the four people before him.

Qin Xi was quite surprised after listening!

She hadn’t expected that in just a little over a day’s time, Chen Liang had actually managed to gather so many people together.

If it were just an ordinary post-apocalyptic survival squad, so be it. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Yet judging from Lin Xin’s account, this gang had already begun preying on ordinary people right at the onset of the apocalypse.

If they were allowed to grow and expand, there was no telling what they would turn into!

At the very least, to Qin Xi, it would be a ticking time bomb.

However… she raised her eyes to look at the boy standing opposite her with a face full of concern, voicing the doubt that had existed ever since the boy appeared:

“Even though I ought to thank you for rushing over to deliver this message, I want to know why you came to report this to us.”

“How can you prove that what you’re saying is true—or how can you prove that you aren’t an accomplice of theirs coming to trick us?”

• Brother Liang (良哥 – Liáng gē): An honorific address used by gang members or subordinates, combining a person’s given name with “Brother” to show deference or denote leadership status within an informal hierarchy.