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Chapter 36: Fu Chen went crazy (2-in-1)
Since Bai Qingqing had been almost crushed by the collapsing ceiling of the villa in Wucheng, she had triggered her plant control ability and the little purple weed in her space had automatically protected her. After she had woken up, she had realized she could control it to either protect her or attack, and while it was not as powerful as other elemental abilities, as long as she upgraded the purple plant, it could become more and more powerful.
And she wanted to use it on an ordinary person currently, she would be able to control her opponent.
“Bread and water?” Bai Qingqing pretended to be interested and her eyes were full of longing.
Seeing her reaction, the smile on the man’s face deepened and he showed the goods: “Do you want some?”
He then added: “Even if you enter a base, you cannot get a lot of food if you don’t work hard. But if you haven’t eaten for a long time, you can get these.”
Trading food was a common surviving method. Once people were afraid of death, everything could be used for trading.
“You would give it to me?” Bai Qingqing asked innocently.
The man chuckled: “It’s hard to talk through the window, how about you get out first?”
Bai Qingqing lifted her blanket and opened the door of the car.
The man became anxious and said: “But those are team resources, I can’t be seen giving them to you. Come with me.”
“Oh, okay.” Bai Qingqing walked with him to the gas station’s bathroom.
There was some distance between them and Bai Qingqing observed the man with a lewd expression: “Brother, will you give it to me now?”
“Not yet. Resources are so rare at the end of days, you have to pay a price first.” The man couldn’t wait anymore and touched her face.
Bai Qingqing was about to teach him a lesson when a silver light flashed across the air and the man let out a cry, clutching his bleeding hand.
“What! Who did that?” The man yelled.
A figure appeared in front of them. Cheng Rui’s handsome face looked fierce and his big hands clasped the man’s neck mercilessly, a breath away from breaking it.
Bai Qingqing was slightly startled; this was the first time she saw this angry side of Cheng Rui. He looked terrifying, like the God of Death.
“Let go of him!” Wang Feifei ran over and begged for mercy, “Handsome, let go of my boyfriend!”
Not only did Cheng Rui not let go but he also increased his strength. He couldn’t hide the murderous intent in his eyes and shouted: “You dare touch her? You dare? You deserve to die!”
The man was turning blue and his eyes dimmed. He struggled to breathe and his wounded hand bled all over the ground.
Wang Feifei understood immediately what had happened and she quickly begged Bai Qingqing: “Tell him to let my boyfriend go! He is going to kill him!”
The commotions caused Zhou Hang, who was resting over there, to walk over with his girlfriend and the long-haired uncle.
Bai Qingqing shouted: “Cheng Rui.”
Cheng Rui’s face was dark and he directly threw the person to the ground in a loud noise. The man lay down and coughed embarrassedly, trying to catch his breath. Wang Feifei knelt beside him and kept asking if he was alright
Zhou Hang and Yang Li both frowned. Wang Feifei’s boyfriend, Wu Chi, had a Tier 2 ability but wasn’t able to fight back against Cheng Rui. How terrifying was the strength of this man?
Cheng Rui glanced at them coldly, grabbed Bai Qingqing’s hand, and returned to the car. The girl was stuffed into the vehicle and looked at the man’s face discreetly. His lips were pressed into a straight line, his eyebrows were furrowed and his whole body was in a state of anger.
Cheng Rui was indeed very angry. She didn’t care if other women came to harass him! And when he had come back after dealing with the other girl, Bai Qingqing had not been in the car and he felt like his heart had stopped, fearing she was in danger.
When he had found her in the corner, with this man trying to touch her with his dirty hands
 he hadn’t been able to control his anger and had wanted to kill the man instantly.
“Cheng Rui.” Bai Qingqing stretched out her hand and pull at his sleeve, “Don’t be angry, okay?”
Cheng Rui turned to look at her and asked in a deep voice: “Why didn’t you stay in the car?”
Bai Qingqing lowered her eyelashes and answered aggrievedly: “You left with a woman, I was afraid you were in danger. He said he could take me to find you.”
Cheng Rui felt distressed, it turned out it was all his fault. He swallowed his Adam’s apple, held her hand, and pulled her into his arms: “I’m sorry, I felt you alone.”
Bai Qingqing was buried in his embrace and the corners of her lips slightly rose. Of course, she knew he wanted to see if she was jealous or not! Then she had to do it, but Cheng Rui had to fall into her trap too.
“It’s okay if you know.” Bai Qingqing pushed him away and stared at him with wet eyes, “Next time you leave me, I won’t care!”
Cheng Rui looked at her and apologized: “I won’t.”
Bai Qingqing snorted: “Why if she comes again?”
Cheng Rui’s eyes flashed with disgust and didn’t want to answer her. He turned away and say: “Weren’t you tired? Go to sleep.”
Bai Qingqing yawned lazily, wrapped herself in a blanket, and said: “My sleeping face is weird, you are not allowed to peek.”
A very faint smile flashed in Cheng Rui’s eyes: “Okay, I won’t peek.”
But before she fell asleep, Bai Qingqing mumbled: “I hope we will find my brother at the base tomorrow.”
Cheng Rui pursed his lips and replied indifferently: “The captain will be there.”
He barely slept all night, occasionally waking up to check the surroundings and cover her with the blanket.
***
The next day, the two teams left for Yaoyang Base. After driving for most of the day, they reached one of the major bases before sunset.
Bai Qingqing looked at the base not too far away through the window and realized that Wucheng was a world away from a real survivor base.
The procedure to enter the base was the same. They had to get out of the car and go through repeated inspections and scans to confirm they were not infected before being allowed to enter. They also had to be quarantined for a period of time after entering before they could move freely.
The group formed a long line and could watch teams occasionally leave the base to go on missions.
When Zhou Hang’s girlfriend, Yang Li, passed the security check, the detector suddenly made a siren sound, and everyone around her backed away.
“I am not infected, I am not
!” Yang Li cried out in fear and despair.
Zhou Hang squeezed out of the crowd to protect her and said anxiously: “You must be mistaken, she has an ability! She definitely can’t be infected!”
Bai Qingqing looked at Yang Li when she heard the sound and noticed red pimples on her face. Her blood went cold and the hair stood on the back of her neck.
Mutation.
***
The day they were separated, the Thunder Squad worked together to kill the mutant plant and went back on their tracks to search for Bai Qingqing and Cheng Rui. But no matter how long they searched, they could not find them nor a clue.
Bai Tiantian was very worried and scared. There had been so many zombies, what of Bai Qingqing and Cheng Rui had been bitten? She hid and cried secretly a few times just thinking about it.
The professor and his wife were also shocked and did not urge the team to rush to the base despite the dangerous situation.
Another day passed and another, and the team was exhausted looking for their missing members. Not even the shadow of Bai Qingqing and Cheng Rui could be found.
Bai Tiantian’s eyes were swollen from crying and she said in despair: “Will Qingqing become a zombie?”
“Quiet!” Fu Chen looked at her darkly.
“Of course not.” Shen Mingxuan answered the girl and protected her behind him, “Captain, Tiantian is just worried. Don’t lose your temper.”
“We have been searching for a few days now and haven’t found them. Both of them either turned or headed to Yaoyang base.” Liang Zhiyu pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and looked at Fu Chen with a tired face through the lenses.
Fu Chen was angry and going crazy looking for Bai Qingqing. And it was most likely not because of her spatial ability.
The team couldn’t keep going like this anymore but he wouldn’t head to the Yaoyang Base without finding her. It had been almost a week now and it was a waste of time to keep looking there.
They had found three other survivors with no fighting ability; if they encountered another wave of zombies and mutated plants, they might not survive.
“We will leave for the Yaoyang base tomorrow.” Liang Zhiyu said.
“Are we really leaving Qingqing?” Xiao Yang’s eyes were red and his tone was aggressive, “She might be waiting for us to rescue her!
“Xiao Yang, be sane! Is Bai Qingqing more important than everybody else?” Shen Mingxuan shouted coldly.
Xiao Yang lowered his head. He hadn’t protected her and his heart couldn’t help but hurt.
At that time, nobody knew whether Bai Qingqing was with Cheng Rui or not. But if she weren’t, would she stand a chance?
Liang Zhiyu looked at Fu Chen: “Captain, you need to make the decision.”
Fu Chen’s handsome face was abnormally cold and he said indifferently: “You go to the base first.”
“Captain, you want to stay here?” Bai Tiantian’s eyes were full of worry.
Shen Mingxuan’s expression was dark, he didn’t expect Bai Qingqing had already such a great influence on Fu Chen that he would actually want to stay in such a dangerous place.
Would Fu Chen just die if he didn’t find her?
“Captain
” Liang Zhiyu said.
“I have made a decision.” Fu Chen interrupted.
Fu Chen returned to the bedroom and sat on the bed. Bathed by the light of the moon, he stared at the hairband in his hand.
Bai Qingqing loved switching them and he always had one on his wrist. But now she wasn’t there and only this had stayed with him.
Fu Chen’s eyes were dark and his slender fingers rubbed the hair tie.
He would find her.
He would.
TL note: Back to updating after covid! Yayy! Missed you all!
TL second note: IABIWAOD readers, I have to apologize; I wanted to post both novels’ updates today but I just realized there is a missing paragraph in the middle *insert facepalm*. 10000% percent sure this chapter has been translating during a fever, lol. Anyway, the two updates will be posted tomorrow but it won’t affect the two scheduled for next week! Like a bonus that you are totally owed, amirite? I’m just too lazy to fix it tonight.