CH 10

❤❤❤Frozenmirage

Li Hongxi ordered the convoy to stop and rest for ten minutes. By the way, he also checked whether the people in each vehicle were injured. These mutated ants were poisonous, and if the wounded were not treated in time, they might even lose their lives. 

Li Hongxi deliberately went to Car 4521 to see the child’s situation. A 10-year-old boy whose parents were all dead and had been quietly and sensibly following everyone, now was treated by Li Yunxi. He did not expect this kid to have an accident this time. 

Li Yunxi gave him another anti-inflammatory medicine after treating the wound. She told him to rest and then ran over to Li Hongxi. “Brother, I want to go to the back to see Zhou You. He was in the last car and I worried about him.”

Li Hongxi frowned. “He’s a big man, what are you worried about? This time we’re lucky, not many ants were chasing us. What could happen to him?”

“He’s so weak, what if the ants bite him too?” There were indeed people in other cars who had been bitten by ants, but Li Hongxi was not very concerned. If an adult couldn’t even cope with an ant, better not survive in the last days just to waste food. 

“Then I’ll contact the person in charge of his car to find out.” Li Hongxi turned on the walkie-talkie and asked, “Car 3256, do you hear me?”

The walkie-talkie rang loudly for a while before someone replied, “3256 here! Captain, what’s the instruction?”

“Go and see if the young man in your car, called Zhou You, is injured.”

“Zhou You? Is he the small, dirty guy with a dirty face?” The Car 3256’s captain remembered the young man sitting on the roof of the car, and this person was a newcomer, it was the first time he heard his name. 

“Yes, it’s him.”

“Okay, hold on a second.” The captain stepped out of the car in a confused state. Could this bastard be a relative of the captain? Was it too much for him to point a gun at him?

He pulled the tarp of the car and shouted, “Zhou You, come out!… Zhou You! Zhou You! Where is he?… Hey, Zhan Cheng!”

The man who handed the tobacco leaves to Zhou You in the morning squeezed all the way over, smiled and asked, “What’s the matter, Brother Ning?”

“Where’s the guy in the car called Zhou You?”

“Who is Zhou You?”

“The new young man.”

“Oh, he seems to have gone out just now. I didn’t pay attention.” Zhan Cheng kicked a man by the door and asked, “Didn’t he sit next to you before?”

The man muttered, “It seems so, I haven’t seen him for a while.”

Ning Xufeng was stunned and wondered, could he have fallen off the roof and been eaten by ants? That’s probably not even slag left. 

He picked up the walkie-talkie and was about to report the incident, when he heard a calm voice coming from behind, “Are you looking for me?”

Ning Xufeng looked back, it was indeed the young man who had climbed to the roof of the car before. He was covered in mud all over his body, as if rolling through the mud. His face was still dirty, his breath was uneven, but his eyes were very bright. Although thin, he looked like an energetic boy, no wonder he dared to climb the roof of the car. 

“Where the hell have you been?” Ning Xufeng blurted out, and remembered that he was the one the boss cared for, changed his tone and asked, “Are you okay? Where did you go just now?”

Zhou Yu wiped the sweat off his head and said with a frightened face, “Just now I saw an ant climb up. When I shot the ant, the car shook and I fell. Fortunately, it was not far, otherwise I would not be able to come back.”

Due to the uneven road, occasional crashes occurred during the car’s driving, not to mention when the time to escape, Ning Xufeng didn’t pay much attention. 

“Then are you injured? The injured can go to Vice Captain Wu to apply for medicine.”

“No, no, it’s just a little bruise. It’ll be fine in a few days.” Zhou Zhou rolled his sleeve and showed him the bruises on his arm, which happened to be in line with the fall of the car. The skin under the sleeve was very white, and the bruise was particularly conspicuous. 

Ning Xufeng’s eyes stared at his pale skin for a long time. In these days, women were more precious than gold and they couldn’t be touched casually, so, many single men live a sexless life. 

The boy in front of him looked more pleasing to his eyes. Apart from the dirty face, his facial features were very nice. If the skin on the face was the same as the skin on the hand, then…

Ning Xufeng had a hard time swallowing his saliva, then coughing and said with disdain, “Well, don’t do those dangerous things in the future.” After that he reported his condition to Li Hongxi. 

Ten minutes later, the convoy continued on the road. Ning Xufeng sat on the passenger seat and his mind was full of Zhou You’s white arm. 

He wondered whether the boy would be the captain’s lover. Otherwise, how could he suddenly care about an ordinary person? 

“Brother Ning… Brother Ning… what are you thinking? Hey, I’ve called you several times.” The driver turned his head to ask him. 

Ning Xufeng hurriedly retracted his thoughts and responded casually, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“The captain said that we won’t stop to rest today, where will we spend the night?”

“This forest is too big, and the road is difficult. We will definitely not find any human ruins tonight. Maybe we will find a flat place to camp.”

“It’s time to sleep in the open air again. When will this day end?”

“The original plan is to reach Yangcheng in a month, but you have also seen the situation on the road, there are too many variables. Fortunately, we have walked halfway through the road. If things go well, we will be able to reach Yangcheng in half a month.”

But the word ‘go well’ was so rare. Since embarking on the road to escape, everyone had understood one thing: accidents are everywhere. 

For the next half-day, the team did not encounter any major problems. The armored car was very strong in defense and equipped with sufficient firepower. With it, as long as it was not a very strong mutant beast or an extremely large number like the ants, it could generally fight. 

“So, your name is Zhou You. Do you know Brother Ning?” Zhan Cheng chased away the man beside Zhou You and sat down. 

“Brother Ning?”

“He is the captain of our car, also a member of the Chenxi Exploration Team. Each car has a captain who is responsible for the safety of the people in the car.”

Zhou You was more curious. “What is the exploration team? Was it organized by Captain Li himself?”

Zhan Cheng looked at him suspiciously and asked back, “Which base did you live in before? Did your base have no expedition team?”

“Our base is too remote and cannot communicate with the outside world.” Zhou You replied casually.

Zhan Cheng didn’t ask too much, and explained, “The exploration team is a non-governmental organization that the state allows martial warriors to set up spontaneously. Only individuals who have reached the level of martial warriors can apply and the recruited team members must also be martial warriors. 

“They can take on some tasks issued by the government or private to earn points. For example, this large-scale migration, if everyone finally arrives in Yangcheng, the Chenxi Exploration team will receive a large bonus from the government.”

“But I heard that many people died on the road.”

Zhan Cheng sighed, his mood was not as good as just now. “Yes, people will die every day. If we are unlucky and meet large beasts, there will be more deaths. You know, mutants in the sea are more terrible. They can easily overturn ships. Once falling into the sea, there will be no bones left. There are a lot of people who died at sea. 

“Fortunately, our team has Captain Li, an advanced-level Martial Artist. Everyone said that when he gets to Yangcheng, he will be able to break through the Martial Master realm. At that time, he can open a sect.”

“Open a sect?” Zhou You was very surprised, he didn’t expect Li Hongxi to be so powerful, if only he had the chance to fight with him!

“Naturally! I have once seen Captain Li’s fight. At that time we met a one-eyed wolf king as big as a car. The hair on the whole body is silver and the speed is so fast that ordinary weapons can not hurt it at all. Finally Captain Li fought it alone and he punched it off the cliff. That battle was really thrilling.

“Old Qiao Tou always said that his son is a young genius, but his son did not even enter the Martial Apprentice threshold. Not to mention comparing with Master Shikong of Shaolin, Senior Sister Han Xi of Emei, and Junior Leader Zhang Huaisen of Wudang. 

“Even now, there are many teenagers in our team who are stronger than him, and they will all have a promising future in the future.”

“Shaolin? Emei? Wudang?” Zhou You clearly felt he crossed to another world. Of course he knew these sects, but haven’t they all become tourist attractions?

“Yes, in the second year of the end of the world, the story of Master Shikong punching down a mutated tiger spread all over the world. When Southern Shaolin was still there, many families sent their children to learn martial arts, but unfortunately a tsunami destroyed the coastal cities, and one year later, someone saw a group of monks go to Northern Shaolin and heard that it was the masters who escaped from Southern Shaolin. 

“In the third year of the end of the world, female warrior Han Xi of Emei Sect guarded the gate of the Southwest Base with a long spear all alone. Although the mutant beasts at that time were not as evolved as they are now, she was facing a large group of mutant animals alone. From then on, people knew that the only way to survive in the last days was to learn martial arts. 

“For a time, many previously declining sects have emerged, opening sects, recruiting disciples, charging high tuition fees. Many of those sects which are unheard of, and scammers are rampant. It is impossible to tell which one is true and who is false. 

“What’s more, the ambition of these sects is getting bigger and bigger. Some people begin to seize power. The traffic around the country is paralyzed, and the connection between bases is almost broken. Not to mention the central government, the army has no control over their base. 

“Those years were really chaotic. There were fights on the streets every day, killing people is not against the law, internal friction was serious, and the life of ordinary people was even more difficult. 

“Until the fifth year of the end of the world, Marshal Shao led a special force to patrol. He picked out all the sects that caused trouble, and threw them into the forest to feed the beasts. The rest of them were sent to the army to open up wasteland. 

“The special force was very powerful, only one thousand people, but everyone had the same skills as Captain Li, while Marshal Shao was way stronger. I heard that he had privately found several masters to compete, but no one had won him. 

“In that year, the country ushered in a new era and set the first year of Dawn. In the same year, the Martial Arts Association was established, issued a series of laws and regulations, classified martial arts levels, and stipulated that only martial arts practitioners can apply for organizing an exploration team, only martial warriors can apply for founding a sect, and accept the supervision and management of relevant government departments. In case of danger, they should also accept the military dispatch as soon as possible. 

“The government still cares for the people, gives us ordinary people the greatest protection, and provides us with learning opportunities and jobs. Otherwise, who cares if the ambitious people take over the government?”

Zhou You’s heart pounding after hearing this. It turned out that not only did he successfully practice martial arts, but there were also so many experts. It turned out that the world outside was so exciting. “Then it’s now five years since Dawn?”

“Yes, it’s been five years since Dawn, and the order in the major bases has basically stabilized. Otherwise, we will not only face the beast attack, but also encounter a large number of bandits all the way north.”

“That Marshal Shao… what kind of martial warrior is he?”

“This…” Zhan Cheng hesitated, moved closer to him, looked around and whispered , “I’ll tell you secretly, don’t tell anyone, I heard… Marshal Shao and his special forces are not martial warriors, they are mutants transformed by the Central Research Institute!”

Zhou You opened his eyes wide in horror. “How can it be?” Was it possible to cultivate martial arts by transformation? Besides, they were all soldiers. How many people did they have to sacrifice in order to succeed?

“Shh…” Zhan Cheng said exaggeratedly, “Their group was very powerful. At that time, how could they find a thousand powerful warriors? I heard that Marshal Shao could pick things from space, and his arms would be covered with a layer of scales when fighting. So everyone speculated that they were transformed by the research institute, and maybe they were integrated with the gene of mutant animals. Isn’t it the case in many post-apocalyptic novels and movies before?”

“That, not necessarily.” 

Zhou You was still reluctant to believe that the state will use military personnel for experimentation. It looked very powerful, but who would dare to think about the misery in the laboratory?

“Anyway, that’s a big shot that we can’t get in touch with. It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not. When we get to Yangcheng, I will apply for the Engineer’s Certificate. You can’t see it, but I used to be a senior engineer.”

Zhan Cheng was not even forty years old now. If so, the thirty years old him ten years ago was already a senior engineer. Zhou You approved of his skill. “Then you can definitely find a good job in the future.”

“I’ll make a living with my profession. After all, I’m all alone, I won’t get hungry.” Zhan Cheng’s face dimmed. He took out a piece of tobacco leaf and put it in his mouth to chew. He also lost the strength of the conversation he had just had. 

Zhou You took him as a kind person, so he asked, “What was the help you said before? I may not be able to help, but we can work something out together.”

Zhan Cheng shook his head and did not tell Zhou You what it was about. 

Author note:

Marshal Shao: “I heard that I became a mutant? Why didn’t I know?”

Translator note:

Oh ML!!!!! Oh, you only appear at a tiny section….

❤（っ＾▿＾）❤