CH 53

TL: Moonlit

A few people got off the vehicle and saw poultry and livestock on two large trucks, their faces turning green.

“What the hell… Are you trying to take away all our mutated poultry and livestock?!” someone shouted incredulously.

Ningning and Tongtong opened their arms, blocking the people approaching the trucks. “These are our little animals.”

“Yours? All the mutated animals here are the property of our base! Where did your little ones come from?!” a man reached out to grab Tongtong. Tongtong remembered Wen Qingling’s instructions: no biting or scratching people, but bumping into them was allowed.

Tongtong took two steps back and rushed toward the man who was speaking.

The man exclaimed in pain and was pushed back several steps, holding his stomach and unable to get up. He couldn’t believe that a five or six-year-old girl had such strength.

Tongtong clenched her little fists and shouted, “These are the little animals we caught!”

Someone approached cursing, “Where the hell did these little monsters come from?!”

Tongtong angrily retorted, “You’re the monster!”

Ji Rong jumped off the truck and asked, “What’s going on? Bullying children?”

“As long as there’s an adult present, we won’t argue with the kids,” a man with a stubbly face approached. “You can’t take away these mutated poultry and livestock. They all belong to someone, and our base depends on them for survival.”

Ji Rong asked, “Which base are you from?”

The stubbly man had an unlit cigarette in his mouth. “This is the Nan Yan base.”

Ji Rong raised an eyebrow, “The one five kilometers away?”

The stubbly man nodded, “Yes, that’s the one. Have you been there?”

Ji Rong replied, “No, but I know about it.”

The stubbly man bit his cigarette, “Since you know, how dare you capture the livestock and poultry here so brazenly?”

Ji Rong glanced at the cages, “These are ownerless things. Why can’t we capture them?”

The stubbly man’s gaze turned fierce, “Let me say it again, these are owned things, all property of our base!”

Ji Rong sneered, “I’ll say it again too, unless you’re a livestock farm owner, these things are ownerless.”

The stubbly man grew angry, “Are you looking to die?!”

Just as he was about to reach for the big knife behind him, suddenly everything changed. He had already been taken down by Ji Rong, his arm twisted and pressed against his waist, unable to move.

Several vehicles raced over, and Mo Jing was the first to jump off. “Don’t do anything! We’re all on the same side!”

Ji Rong saw Feng Yi and Yang Mengyu also approach and guessed that this person must be Mo Jing, someone familiar to Wen Qingling.

Ji Rong stood up and let go of the stubbly man.

“What skill you have!” Mo Jing walked over and kicked the stubbly man. “Da Hai, weren’t you supposed to be gathering supplies in the small town? Why are you here?”

Da Hai moved his arm and grimaced, “Damn it, this guy’s a master. I didn’t even react before he took me down.”

Da Hai bent down and picked up the dropped cigarette from the ground, blew on it, and continued holding it in his mouth. “We saw someone driving away with a semi-trailer in the small town, so we followed to take a look and found them.”

Da Hai hurriedly complained, “Boss, take a look. They’ve captured so many livestock. They’re cutting off our escape route.”

Feng Yi and Yang Mengyu approached and were also surprised to see the mutated livestock on the two trucks. They had followed all the way here and didn’t even know they were coming to capture livestock, let alone capture so many. Were there so many livestock here?!

Mo Jing looked around and asked, “Where’s Wen Qingling?”

Ji Rong assessed him. The young man looked pretty good and straightened himself. “If you want to see him, you’ll have to wait. He went to capture mutated livestock.”

Da Hai shouted, “You’re still capturing them?!”

Mo Jing nodded, “Then I’ll wait.”

They didn’t have to wait long before Wen Qingling and his group returned. They carried metal cages with mutated cows and sheep, leading mutated pigs back.

All the people waiting: “…”

They really want to capture all the mutated livestock here!

Wen Qingling already knew everything that was happening here, and there were no major problems, so he didn’t need to come back specifically.

The others started loading the vehicles, and Wen Qingling walked over. “Are you looking for me?”

Mo Jing stared straight at Wen Qingling for a while before saying, “You’re still alive. That’s great.”

Ji Rong sneaked over to Xiao Hen’s side and whispered, “Holy crap, your love rival has appeared. This guy is staring at Dr. Wen with wide eyes. There’s definitely a problem!”

Xiao Hen elbowed him, “You should keep your mouth shut now and watch how things develop.”

Of course, he noticed. If a good-looking young man came to find Wen Qingling, he would definitely pay attention. Ji Rong’s reminder was unnecessary.

Ji Rong held his stomach and gestured, “Are you planning to get rid of your love rival?”

Xiao Hen sneered, “If you say another word, I’ll get rid of you first.”

Ji Rong: “…”

Ji Rong obediently shut his mouth and watched how things would unfold.

Wen Qingling had a tired expression. “You’re still alive too. That’s good.”

Mo Jing glanced at the others. “Are these your companions?”

Wen Qingling: “Yes.”

Mo Jing invited him, “My base is just ahead. Why don’t you come and visit?”

Wen Qingling didn’t reply, seemingly hesitant.

Mo Jing continued, “Do you remember those guys from the high school basketball team? They’re all in the base now. We established the Nan Yan Base together. It’s a bit remote here, with few people in the small town and not many zombies. It’s safe here, and our math teacher, Teacher Gao, is also in our base. There are quite a few people you know inside. Why don’t you come and take a look?”

Feng Yi’s gaze darkened. Mo Jing caught Wen Qingling’s attention because of his basketball skills. Wen Qingling loved watching Mo Jing play basketball, and he would definitely attend both big and small basketball games. Therefore, Feng Yi concluded that Wen Qingling had feelings for Mo Jing.

And now, Mo Jing brought up their high school basketball team, making his intentions quite obvious.

“Wait until we finish loading the vehicles.”

Wen Qingling unexpectedly agreed to go, surprising Xiao Hen and Ji Rong.

With the two trucks filled with mutated livestock, the group headed to the Nan Yan Base five kilometers away.

The Nan Yan Base could only be considered a small base with a few hundred survivors. It consisted of the town’s residents and many survivors who had sought refuge there. It wasn’t easy for them to survive until now.

The large trucks and trailers were parked outside the base. Mo Jing led Wen Qingling and the others inside, while Feng Bin, Wen Bo, and Old Zhou stayed behind to watch the vehicles. The rest followed inside, and Ningning and Tongtong, curious as always, went along. Jiang Lan held their hands and guided them inside.

It was the first time Jiang Lan and the two children visited someone else’s base, so they were quite curious.

Wen Qingling and Mo Jing walked in the front, with Xiao Hen and Ji Rong following behind. Jiang Lan walked with the two children in the third row.

Yang Mengyu smiled and struck up a conversation with Jiang Lan, “Auntie, how big is your base?”

Jiang Lan replied, “Compared to this place, our base should be considered large. Our base is clean, tidy, and very united.”

Yang Mengyu glanced at the weapon hanging from Jiang Lan’s body and asked, “Do all the people in your base have weapons? Why do even the children have them?”

Jiang Lan replied, “Oh, we have too many weapons and too few people, so it’s better to give them to the children for self-defense.”

Yang Mengyu: “…”

The survivors from the Nan Yan Base who overheard this: “…”

Where did this rich survivor come from? Do they have so many wooden barns that they can give them to children to play with?!

Yang Mengyu was also a bit speechless and decided to change the topic. “I heard it’s difficult to enter your base. What are the criteria? Can’t even people with abilities enter?”

Jiang Lan understood Yang Mengyu’s intention. “It’s indeed difficult to enter, and people with abilities can’t get in either.”

Yang Mengyu asked, “Then… who can enter?”

Jiang Lan thought to herself that as long as they were human, they couldn’t enter.

Jiang Lan advised, “Young lady, just settle down here and stay. Our base is not suitable for you.”

Yang Mengyu paused for a moment and then asked, “Is it true that Wen Qingling established that base?”

Jiang Lan corrected her, “To be precise, it was my son who built it single-handedly, starting from the city walls.”

Yang Mengyu: “…”

This was truly an exemplar of “built single-handedly.”

Several members of the basketball team approached, surprised and astonished when they saw Wen Qingling. Just from his appearance, they could tell he was doing well in the apocalypse.

They thought that being able to establish a base of such scale was already impressive, but when they saw Wen Qingling, all their superiority vanished instantly.

Several people tried to suppress their pride and someone asked, “I heard you also established your own base?”

Wen Qingling: “Yes.”

Classmate: “How big is it?”

Wen Qingling: “Bigger than here, cleaner than here, tidier than here. We are very united.”

Classmate: “…”

You’re pretending, and we give you full marks for it.

The classmate awkwardly laughed, “Where is your base?”

Wen Qingling: “Ling City.”

Classmate: “…”

Several classmates exchanged glances and confirmed that this was definitely a case of pretentiousness gone wrong. Even though they were far away, they had heard that a Level 8 evolved “General” appeared in Ling City, killing everyone within a hundred-li radius. Even without the “General,” Ling City was a gathering place for zombies, and it was impossible to establish a base there.

Looking at Wen Qingling’s attire, could it be that he changed into new clothes just to put on a show?

Another classmate, with a sarcastic tone, said, “Isn’t Ling City filled with zombies? Did you build your base in the middle of a zombie horde?”

Wen Qingling: “More or less.”

Well, it’s right in the middle of a zombie horde, isn’t it?

Another classmate, thinking that they had seen through Wen Qingling’s lie, patted his shoulder and earnestly said, “We are all classmates. If you have difficulties, just let us know. We will definitely help. How about our base? If you’re willing, you can bring your companions and join our base.”

Wen Qingling looked at him strangely, “No need.”

Feng Hui raised her voice, “Some people, as soon as they hear that someone has their own base, rush to flatter them without even investigating whether they really have a base or they’re just pretending. Now, look, clearly lying but still acting like it’s true.”

Yang Mengyu’s face turned red with anger. She did want to go with Wen Qingling, but now it seemed like whether he really had a base or not was a problem. Maybe he was just pretending for a show.

Mo Jing quickly intervened to save the situation and tried to salvage Wen Qingling’s reputation. “Alright, Wen Qingling said there’s a base, so there must be a base.”

Mo Jing said to Wen Qingling, “Come to my place and have a seat.”

The Nan Yan Base was in a small district not far from the town. The perimeter wall of the district had been reinforced and raised by an Earth element ability user, and the area had been cleared for survivors to live inside.

Wen Qingling shook his head, “No need. Let’s just wait here.”

“Wait for who?” Mo Jing suddenly realized. “Right, wait for Teacher Gao. Fang Zi, where is Teacher Gao?”

Fang Zi, a classmate, looked puzzled. “Didn’t Teacher Gao go to town? I heard he was looking for something and should be back soon.”

Wen Qingling and his group attracted the attention of many survivors, who were speculating whether these people would stay. If they did, Mo Jing’s side would become stronger.

Where there are people, there are conflicts, and it was no different within the Nan Yan Base.

Suddenly, there was a sound of a gun at the entrance of the district, startling everyone. Wen Qingling had already turned around and was heading toward the entrance.