Chapter 28 p2
After shooting the rabbits, they practiced their stance for a while to ensure that everyone was familiar with the process of shooting. Accuracy was secondary. After they got the feel for it, the group went back. At this time, three hours had already passed.
Everyone had gotten over the excitement of holding a gun and was exhausted and cold.
When they went back, the master chef heard the noise and came out to greet them enthusiastically. When he saw the rabbits, he was so happy. The natural disaster had made most of his skills rusty. He immediately pulled them to have a late-night snack: rabbit meat hot pot, roasted rabbit, plus some potatoes and sweet potatoes.
A group of young and strong people, all with big appetites. Ten rabbits were directly finished, which made the master chef’s heart ache for his dishes.
At about twelve o’clock, after they had eaten and drunk their fill and taken care of their physiological hygiene, the group got back on the car and continued to set off.
The two drivers in the front took turns driving. The others continued to stay in the car. When they were sleepy, they would just find a place to lean on.
Ji Yang was a step slower. She looked left and right and found that there was not enough space. If she wanted to sleep comfortably, she could only lean on the person next to her. But she was a little awkward and not used to these things. After hesitating for a while, she finally decided to continue to sleep while hugging her hiking backpack. Suddenly, someone approached. She hesitated for a moment and didn’t move. Her shoulder was touched.
Xie Muzhi got up and made a spacious space. He pointed to that side and said softly, “You go and rest there.”
Ji Yang raised an eyebrow. “What about you?”
Xie Muzhi: “I’ll lean on this guy to sleep.” With that, he pointed to a boy next to Ji Yang.
Ji Yang felt that it was feasible and immediately curved her eyes. “Thanks.”
She went over directly. The seat had been extended. The position on Xie Muzhi’s side was just right for her to curl up and lie down. It was a little cramped, but it was much better than sitting and sleeping.
She put her hiking backpack in front of her, which could also block her and prevent her from falling if she fell asleep.
Ji Yang smiled in satisfaction and closed her eyes.
When it was time to sleep, she would sleep. Since she dared to come on a mission, these were all teammates. At least for now, by Xie Muzhi’s side, there was no need to be vigilant. This guy was actually more alert than anyone else.
And Xie Muzhi, who had sat in her position, looked at the person who was already lying down, and a smile flashed in his eyes.
He always felt that this girl seemed to be very calm no matter what she encountered. The most important thing seemed to be eating and sleeping.
Her mentality was too good.
—
Early the next morning, more than half of the journey had been completed. After breakfast, Xie Muzhi once again took the group to practice shooting. This time, the light was better, and the performance of the few of them was also better.
Ji Yang didn’t waste time and bullets. Yesterday, she had already let them know that her accuracy was okay, so she hid behind and was lazy.
At the same time, she looked around.
She didn’t quite understand. In this icy and snowy world, where did those few rabbits from yesterday come from?!
They set off again at ten in the morning and arrived near Yun City at four in the afternoon.
After that, the group changed cars.
Xie Muzhi took the lead and got on an off-road vehicle. “Ji Yang, you sit here. Liang Yuan, you’re here…”
After a round of arrangements, Xie Muzhi began to issue the mission. Everyone was divided into two groups. The group led by Xie Muzhi would disguise themselves as an ordinary merchant caravan and come to sell goods. The goods were the latest results of the research institute—cold-resistant potatoes and sweet potatoes, as well as a small amount of rice seeds.
The purpose was to get a batch of firearms or ammunition.
The reason was very legitimate. They were buying and selling everywhere, which was very dangerous. They were often robbed, so they needed some powerful stuff to hold the fort.
Yun City was close to the neighboring country, and it just so happened that the neighboring country did not have a ban on guns and had many unofficial gun-wielding forces.
While listening to Xie Muzhi, Ji Yang looked around. She noticed that the people in this group outside were all the ones who had been quiet in the car before. The only one who had spoken was the one with the poisonous mouth, Meng Jin.
After looking, she turned her head and heard that her mission was actually to rescue the two big shots with Xie Muzhi. Liang Yuan was their ‘uncle’, and the two of them were following their elders to see the world. Liang Yuan was the head of this merchant association, and Feng Yexing and the others were the subordinates. Zhou Baoping and the others were in charge of gathering information.
They didn’t even know where the laboratory was now.
They didn’t know the mission of the other group.
It was probably to provide support.
After the arrangements were made, they all got on their respective cars. Zhou Baoping was familiar with everyone. After they separated, he even deliberately went over to say goodbye to the other team. Gao Yan thought for a moment and also went over. At least he was the good uncle who had given him meat to eat.
Zheng Shancheng, on the other hand, seemed to be in a much better mood at this moment. Seeing Gao Yan come over, he patted his shoulder with a smile. “Don’t be afraid. Follow the boss closely and live a good life.”
Gao Yan nodded vigorously. “You too. After the mission is completed, I’ll treat you to meat when we get back to the base.”
Zheng Shancheng’s eyes were slightly red, but he still smiled. “Okay, I’ll be waiting.”
When the car started, Ji Yang looked back.
In the rearview mirror, she could see that they had driven away in one off-road vehicle and two trucks. This meant that the remaining two off-road vehicles were driven away by the second group. As for how they and the government officials were allocated, it was not clear. It was just… wait, she seemed to have seen the ammunition from the big truck she had been on before being moved away?
As the car moved forward, the remaining group of people in the rearview mirror gradually became smaller. Everyone was busy with their own things. Only Meng Jin seemed to have been looking this way all along. Her scarf and goggles blocked her face, so it was not known what her expression was.
About half an hour after the car had moved forward, they arrived at the entrance of Yun City. Ji Yang saw through the car window that Yun City seemed to have built an ice and snow wall. As far as the eye could see, there was only one entrance.
Following the road to this entrance, they were stopped.
As usual, it was to collect a toll.
In the current situation, it was too common. Unless your fist was very hard, you could only hand it over. The government was too busy to take care of itself. Even if they killed a batch, a new group would emerge. They were all at the end of their rope, but they didn’t want to go to the base to earn points. So, they simply became bandits like in ancient times.
It couldn’t be stopped.
The matter of the toll was negotiated by the other two people in the team. So, when the car was stopped, the two of them immediately went down with a smile, took out a cigarette and handed it over. Zhou Baoping said with a bright smile, “Brother, we’re going over to do some business. Can you do us a favor?”
The person who came over also accepted it without any politeness. He took a puff of the cigarette and said, “It’s convenient, but you all have to get down for a check. This is the rule. Without a pass, you’ll be hunted down if you’re found in the city. Let your people all get down.”
Zhou Baoping was puzzled. “What is this for? We didn’t get out of the car for a check when we came over before.”
“What else could it be for? It’s probably because the government officials are here,” he said with a meaningful smile, and the gun in his hand was pointed at the car. “Cooperate, and we’ll all be fine.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll go and tell my boss,” Zhou Baoping said with a fawning smile. He turned his head, and his heart pounded. We’re going to die. He knew that Yun City was strict about these things, but he hadn’t expected it to be such a big deal just at the entrance.
He quickly ran over and reported the situation to Liang Yuan with a bow. After Liang Yuan heard it, he looked at Xie Muzhi’s side and nodded, knowing that he had to cooperate. So, he opened the back door. Xie Muzhi glanced at Ji Yang, and the two of them also opened the front door and got out. The people behind also got out one after another.
Seeing this, the few people at the gate said, “All of you, move aside. We’ll check what kind of goods you have.”
The crowd did not delay and made way. As they turned around, Ji Yang’s peripheral vision swept over this group of people. Sure enough, she saw someone inside carefully sizing them up. The person was not young, with sanpaku eyes, and was thin and dark. Just the exposed eyebrows and eyes looked particularly gloomy.
On the other hand, the few people who were checking the car were just going through the motions. After about a few seconds, the person looked at the person who was sizing them up. Seeing the other party nod, he finally relented. “Alright, hand over the grain, get your pass, and go.”
“Alright!” Zhou Baoping replied loudly. “Brother, you’ve worked hard!” As he spoke, he stuffed a pack of cigarettes over.
After settling things, they handed over the toll, got the pass, and the group smoothly drove into the city. The city here was also covered in ice and snow. At a glance, it was no different from Changnan City, but a careful comparison would reveal that there were far fewer people here.
Judging from the flow of people, it was about one-twentieth of Changnan City.
Although Yun City had always been sparsely populated, when the disaster came, it was actually during the New Year period. Many people would come here for the winter. The winter temperature here was only in the teens, and it was a holiday destination. Yun City was also a provincial capital, so there shouldn’t be few people.
Looking at the appearance and state of this group of people on the road, it could be roughly seen that their situation was not very good.
That was true. If that group of people were normal people, they wouldn’t have committed crimes to be arranged in the prison here.
When this group of people saw the vehicle coming, their first reaction was not to surround it and try to force it to stop and rob it like in Changnan City, but to scatter and hide.
They didn’t dare to go forward at all, and their eyes were filled with terror.
Feng Yexing’s brows were tightly furrowed. “The people here look much thinner than those in Changnan City, and there are far fewer of them.”
The others nodded one after another. Zhou Baoping said softly, “They are very afraid of cars. It is estimated that the people who drive here are not good people.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd fell silent.
Those who could afford to drive were definitely the leaders here, that is, the mountain kings.
In fact, if it weren’t for those mountain kings, with the current disaster only a year old and without having experienced floods, if they worked hard to survive and were not unlucky enough to be targeted by robbers, it would be completely fine to survive.
Just like Jiang Jing in Changnan City, she was able to survive alone with a daughter who was just over a year old. Not only could she save up enough points to go to the base, but she could also give her some jade from time to time. However, the later Ji Yang did not take it for free and exchanged it for supplies.
But the situation here was different.
It could only be said that this group of people was too abominable, but for the time being, the government was too busy to take care of itself because of the natural disaster.
Seeing the situation of the ordinary survivors in Yun City, the car was very quiet for the rest of the journey. Feng Yexing and the others were not in high spirits.
It wasn’t until Xie Muzhi found a house that looked vacant and parked the car.
The two people in charge of scouting immediately got out of the car to check the situation. After confirming that there was no one and that the house was habitable, Xie Muzhi drove the car to the door. The group got out of the car, leaving two to guard the car, and the others found a place to rest.
The sky was getting dark. They hadn’t rested well yesterday, so they definitely had to sleep well today.
There were many things in the truck. Ji Yang followed the instructions and went to move them down. She found that there were tents, sleeping bags, charcoal basins… everything was there. The preparation was very complete. No wonder Luo Laosan had told her not to bring a tent and the like.
At this time, they definitely couldn’t go to the room to rest, so everyone just set up their tents in the living room and rested in groups of two. Ji Yang and Feng Yexing were in one tent.
Feng Yexing was exceptionally diligent. She was the first to take the charcoal basin, and she was also the first to start the fire. Ji Yang didn’t have to do anything at all. “You rest. After sitting for so long, your back must be sore. You can lie down for a while. I’ll call you when it’s time to eat.”
Ji Yang was silent. Seeing her so insistent, she didn’t bother to argue and really went to lie down and rest.
About half an hour later, a mouth-watering fragrance slowly wafted to her nose, and she couldn’t lie down anymore.
When she walked out, she saw Xie Muzhi stir-frying something with a sizzling sound.
Zhou Baoping was cooking noodles.
Ji Yang went closer to see and found that it was minced meat. The large iron pot was operated very skillfully by Xie Muzhi. The fragrance of the minced meat in the pot became even more enticing as she got closer. Especially when he was adding seasonings, the fragrance became even richer after stir-frying!
Ji Yang was not hungry at first. She had eaten a lot at noon and hadn’t used much energy sitting in the car all afternoon. But as she watched, her stomach began to protest. On her expressionless face, her eyes had completely betrayed her.
Xie Muzhi’s culinary skills seemed to be really quite good.