107 The Information In Exchange

'He was my friend and commander'—Lin Qiao wrote on the paper. 

She felt that Long Qingying and Du Yuanxing might know Lin Feng, but couldn't tell for sure if they knew that he had a sister named Lin Qiao. Therefore, she didn't give them her own name, but lied to them that she used to be Lin Feng's friend and subordinate. 

It was reasonable enough for her to care about her old friend and commander. 

Long Qingying read the note, then looked at Lin Qiao and asked, "'Was'? Do you mean that before you became a zombie?"

Lin Qiao nodded. 

"It's hard for us to trust you at the moment," said Du Yuanxing abruptly. 

Lin Qiao crossed her arms before her chest. She didn't mind their negative attitude, but nodded in agreement with Du Yuanxing's words. If she were them, she wouldn't trust a strange zombie who suddenly showed up either. 

So, she continued writing—'You can choose not to believe me, but I'm willing to trade for their information with this.'

Finishing writing, Lin Qiao took out the zombie nucleus in her pocket. She was planning to do another treatment in the center of the lake in her space with this zombie nucleus, as she hoped that the third energy treatment would be able to erase the scars on her face. 

Seeing the blue zombie nucleus in her hand, both Long Qingying and Du Yuanxing had their eyes glowing. 

The blue color meant that this nucleus belonged to a level-four zombie. This zombie nucleus was enough to buy a great deal of food and water in the base, and a level-four zombie nucleus was exactly the purpose of their journey here. 

Lin Qiao wrapped the zombie nucleus in notepaper, then threw it to Long Qingying. The latter caught the paper wad easily. 

Du Yuanxing stared straight at the zombie nucleus in Long Qingying's hand, as if he could no longer see anything else. 

However, Long Qingying immediately stopped Du Yuanxing from saying any word, but said to Lin Qiao, "How can we know if you will try hurting them or not after getting their information? If you're going after them, we can't sell you the information."

Lin Qiao gave a faint smile, then wrote her another note. 

'You can choose not to tell me, but I can go ask other people. And, if you're not telling me anything, I'm gonna take that zombie nucleus back.'

It would be fine even if she failed to make a deal with Long Qingying and her team, because she could always ask other human beings. She had learned from the Long Qingying and Du Yuanxing' reactions that Lin Feng and his family were rather famous in this area, so it would be much easier for her to ask around about them. 

Long Qingying and Du Yuanxing glanced at each other, then both of their hearts sank. Lin Qiao was right. As long as she found another group of human beings, she would be able to learn about the current situation of Lin Feng and his families. And, whatever the zombie's purpose was, they couldn't stop it from happening. 

They couldn't stop the zombie now, as they were clearly no match for her.

Lin Qiao was sensing the changes of Long Qingying and Du Yuanxing' emotions. She wasn't able to detect their thoughts precisely, but could guess some of their thoughts based on their emotions. 

Earlier on, she thought that her mind-reading ability had grown stronger; but now, she felt that it wasn't working so well on these two human beings in front of her. She couldn't sense their thoughts clearly, and wondered if it was because both of them were level-five superpowered ones and had very strong awareness of defense. 

Afterward, Du Yuanxing turned his eyes away from the zombie nucleus to Lin Qiao, then said, "Lin Feng and his families were nice to us. So, if you're planning to hurt them, we can't possibly give you the information. You need to at least give us something to prove that you won't try harming them."

Lin Qiao thought for a moment. How should she prove that? She had no way to prove that…

As even a level-four zombie nucleus had failed to make them relax their vigilance, Lin Qiao guessed that it wouldn't be easy for her to get the information from them. In this case, she decided to use plan B.

The wrote on the notepad—'Since there's no deal, please give the zombie nucleus back to me. I'll go ask someone else. I saved you because it was convenient, so you're welcome.'

Then, she threw note to Long Qingying and spread her palm toward her. 

Long Qingying clenched the zombie nucleus, then turned back to Du Yuanxing. She couldn't make the decision. 

She didn't trust Lin Qiao, so she wasn't planning to tell her about Lin Feng and his families. However, she couldn't decide to give the zombie nucleus back to the zombie or not. After all, she had already been paid, and now, she was just doing her job. As the captain of the team, Du Yuanxing was the only one who had the right to decide. 

Du Yuanxing grabbed the zombie nucleus from Long Qingying's hand, gripping it and staring at it. After that, he raised his head to look at Lin Qiao, then at Long Qingying. The look in his eyes was constantly changing, as he seemed to be struggling. However, he gripped the zombie nucleus tight the whole time. 

Lin Qiao didn't rush him, but let him try convincing himself. 

Du Yuanxing hesitated for a while, then clenched his teeth and showed determination on his face. "I can only tell you that they're no longer in the Hades Base. Except for the Chief, the others are all alive. Is that good enough?"

"Du Yuanxing!" Seeing that Du Yuanxing had given out the information about Lin Feng and his family for the zombie nucleus, Long Qingying glared at him, her face turning cold. 

Du Yuanxing didn't respond to her, but stared straight at Lin Qiao. He wanted very much to see Lin Qiao's eyes, but the only thing he saw were the sunglasses which used to belong to himself. 

Lin Qiao nodded, sensing that Du Yuanxing didn't lie. Even though the information wasn't in detail, it was enough. She would verify it and collect more information by herself.

While thinking, she turned and walked to Qiu Lili, gently patting her on the back, then walking toward the outside. 

Qiu Lili turned back to glance at her, then at Du Yuanxing, Long Qingying, and the people who were still lying unconsciously on the beds. After that, she directly leaped out of the window and disappeared without a trace. 

Lin Qiao glanced back as well, then kept moving. She unlocked the door, then left the room. 'People who can do Qinggong always like to fly out of windows, like the ancient martial artists…' she thought while walking.

In fact, Lin Qiao never wanted to get that zombie nucleus back when she gave it to them. She only said that so that Du Yuanxing would tell her something about her family. Du Yuanxing and Long Qingying tried to defend her family, so she was willing to give the zombie nucleus to them.

Seeing the two zombies leave quietly and neatly, Du Yuanxing paused slightly. After that, he realized something on looking at Lin Qiao's straight back. 

She looked like a human being instead of a zombie from the back.

"Did you have to sell Chief's families for this zombie nucleus?" After Lin Qiao disappeared, Long Qingying asked Du Yuanxing. 

Du Yuanxing's face darkened as well. He responded with, "Don't make it sound so awful. I didn't sell Captain and his families. I just told the zombie that they're no longer in the base. He would be able to find out about it very easily, because everyone knows that. If we refused to give him any information, he'd give the nucleus to other people. So, why can't I take it? Do you know how much food can this zombie nucleus buy? And how many days it'll last us for?"

His words made a lot of sense, so Long Qingying didn't know what to say. She just stared at him, remaining silent.