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Chapter 7: Can’t you be kind?
Bai Qingqing raised her head to look over Fu Chen’s shoulder; this group turned out to be the same they had encountered a few days earlier in Jiang City’s grocery store. Sure enough, they were headed to Yaoyang Base.
When the leader Zhang Qiang realized it was Fu Chen and Bai Qingqing, his face broke into a murderous smile.
“What a coincidence, I have been looking for you and here you are!”
Zhang Qiang had led his men to gather supplies when they had first bumped into Fu Chen and Bai Qingqing. Because of the girl’s beauty, he had tried to have them join his group; his plan had been to trick them into getting in their car, beat up the man first, and keep the woman to enjoy. He could even have used the man as a shield if they had run into danger.
Unfortunately, there had been an accident and the rest of their group had attracted a horde of zombies. Overwhelmed by the undeads, they had fought their way out and had not been able to grab any provision.
Zhang Qiang’s lecherous eyes lingered on Bai Qingqing and Bai Tiantian, and his men had the same greedy looks, their nasty thoughts far too obvious.
After the outbreak, women and children had become even more vulnerable than before, and evil men had become worse. This group of people had no conscience at all and they pointed their guns at the Thunder Squad: “Put down your weapons, take off your coats and walk over there.”
Shen Mingxuan had been particularly irritable these last few days and this group of men was not even concealing their intentions. He directly threw their way a few ice cones and the air became chilly.
“Boss, be careful!” The shortest man put both hands on the ground and a wall of soil rose up to block the attack.
Zhang Qiang, as the leader, realized the Thunder Squad’s members had powers and were not one to be trifled with, and his attitude changed in an instant.
“Brother, no need to get angry.” He smiled sarcastically, “This is all a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?” Liang Zhiyu pushed back the glasses on the bridge of his nose and said coldly: “As soon as you arrived, you pointed guns at us.”
Zhang Qiang replied: “I had my reasons.” He pointed at Fu Chen and Bai Qingqing, “We met at the supermarket last time and there were some issues. But you all escaped so fast and I lost several of my men. It’s good to clear misunderstandings.”
The leader glanced at the warehouse and asked: “Is there food left there? There are more than ten people on our team, including women and children in the car. If we don’t find any food, they will starve to death.”
Bai Tiantian showed a worried expression and answered: “There is some, you can go get it.”
“Thank you.” The opposing group rushed to the warehouse. As soon as they entered, a few younger members gathered around and said: “Boss, those people have abilities, they are not easy to provoke.”
“Do you think I have not noticed?” Zhang Qiang spat, “Let’s take a look at the situation first.”
Since the end of the world, they had explored around and when they would meet weak survivors’ groups, they would snatch supplies and women from them; they had always succeeded and it was the first time they had come across people with abilities.
Bai Qingqing and the others returned to the car. Liang Zhiyu and Bai Tiantian went to the kitchen while the others went to do their own things in the living room.
She looked outside the window; the other group had two off-road vehicles and a military truck. After they got out of the warehouse, they released the three women and two children who were in the truck. The women were dressed in rags, their exposed skins showed many bruises and marks, and their mental states were obviously very bad, while the children were all sticks and bones.
Bai Qingqing withdrew her gaze, this was not her fight. She was not the bodhisattva who saved the world and everyone in it, it was already hard to survive when responsible only for herself. Bai Qingqing sat back on the couch and looked at Bai Tiantian who was busying herself in the kitchen. According to the plot of the novel, Bai Tiantian would cry when she would see the current situation and ask the Thunder Squad to go save them.
Unfortunately, the opposing group had a total of eleven combatants, four or five of them with powers, including the leader. Due to Bai Tiantian’s demands and coupled with Zhang Qiang’s greed for Bai Tiantian’s beauty, the Thunder Squad had fought and the result had been tragic; all members had been injured, the worst being Shen Mingxuan who had been knocked off a cliff by a special ability and almost died in the mountains.
“Brother, have you eaten yet?” A person from the other group came over and shouted from outside of their RV, “If not, come down and eat with us.”
Xiao Yang poked his head out and said: “Thank you for your kindness but we all had dinner already.”
The man grinned: “There are no zombies around here, it’s too boring to stay in the car. Come down and have some fun.”
Xiao Yang looked at Fu Chen on the couch to ask for his opinion. Bai Tiantian used this moment to speak: “It’s not easy to meet people, let’s go have a look. I also want to get some fresh air.”
At present, most of the team’s supplies were in her space. If she insisted on going out, the men had to follow to protect her. However, Bai Qingqing did not want to go with them; what the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over 1 .
“Brother, I am tired.”
Fu Chen leaned forwards and lowered his head to whisper in her ear in a slightly magnetic voice: “Stay in the car and don’t come out. Go upstairs to upgrade your space.”
He was so close to her she could smell his faint fragrance; she couldn’t help but praise that Fu Chen was definitely a clean man, washing every day even during the apocalypse.
“Yes, brother.” She smiled obediently and Fu Chen rubbed her head lightly before getting out of the car.
Bai Qingqing looked at their back, went to the second floor, and took out the crystal core. She chewed it like candy and it was instantly absorbed, turning into gentle energy flowing in her veins. She felt a rush of heat continuously warming her body until exhaustion took over and she fell asleep.
She didn’t know how much time had passed but she woke in a bed of green grass, fresh air, and the smell of rain washing the earth on the tip of her nose. She looked up at the blue sky and stayed in this position for a few more seconds before she sat up. A gust of wind lifted her long black hair, just like a beautiful painting.
Bai Qingqing looked around and realized she was in her space; the materials she had grabbed these last few days were scattered in a big pile of mess about a hundred meters away.
[Congratulations to the host for upgrading your space. Your space is currently level 3.]
Unexpectedly, Bai Qingqing had skipped the second level and directly reached the next one. Her portable space had become so much larger, she couldn’t help but be very surprised.
She glanced around, stretched her hand to caress the grass on the group, and felt its softness. Could she plant in her space? It would be amazing if it was a possibility.
[Host, you can now grow any vegetation. In this space, you are the creator and you can control the flow of time.]
Bai Qingqing had some doubts: “Can all spaces do that?”
[No, only yours can achieve creation.]
Bai Qingqing kept asking questions: “Am I still in a spiritual body?”
[Yes, you need to upgrade to level 5 to be able to enter your space with your physical body.]
“I see.” Bai Qingqing closed her eyes and began to organize her space; mountains and trees, bridges and flowing water, flowers and gardens, and an area to store all of her supplies. Everything appeared just as she wanted, just like the paradisiac picture in her mind.
***
When Bai Qingqing finally came out of her space, she realized a day had passed. She went downstairs and found the other team members gathered in the room.
Bai Tiantian took the initiative to greet her: “Qingqing, come eat.”
Bai Qingqing’s brows furrowed a little, she was surprised Bai Tiantian would actually approach her, knowing that she had been avoiding her like the plague lately.
Since her injury was not healed, Bai Qingqing took a spoon and ate slowly until she noticed that the atmosphere was a little stiff; sure enough, something must have happened. Bai Tiantian’s eyes were red like she had cried and it was probably related to the women and children of the other group.
The Thunder Squad’s strength was currently quite strong but Bai Tiantian had not really thought about whether they would be able to save those five people or be able to take care of them afterward. In this kind of crisis, her Virgin Mary halo couldn’t let her make rational decisions; there were still two thousand kilometers until they reached Yaoyang Base and no one could know what kind of situation they would encounter on the road.
Bai Tiantian really wanted to save the women and children from the opposing team. She had gone to chat with them last night and had found out the women were used and abused. She had to find a way to rescue them.
As soon as she had gone back to their car, she had asked for everyone’s help, and while Shen Mingxuan and Cheng Rui had immediately agreed, Liang Zhiyu and Xiao Yang had chosen to wait for Fu Chen’s answer.
Fu Chen had ruthlessly rejected Bai Tiantian’s request. He was aware the opposing group had a few abilities and while the Thunder Squad would win in the end, they would suffer too much loss. It was a risk he wasn’t willing to take, especially when he knew these three women were actually voluntarily following this group, paying for safe passage with their bodies. In his past life, the Thunder Squad had saved them but not only weren’t they grateful, but they had also sold information to the enemy, causing them to end up in a trap and almost die in a small village.
Bai Tiantian had not expected Fu Chen would be so cruel; at the beginning, the Thunder Squad had saved both sisters without asking for any rewards, how could they be unwilling to rescue others? She had felt aggrieved and had cried and begged a few more times in vain; Fu Chen had not agreed in the end. Fortunately, they were still near the other team and she had time to think of another solution.
Bai Tiantian stared at Bai Qingqing; if she had a trace of humanity left in her, she would definitely agree with her and ask the Thunder Squad to save the others.
After dinner, they went out and Bai Tiantian sneakily pulled her into a more discreet place.
“Qingqing.” She pointed to the women in Zhang Qiang’s team who were cooking and flattering the men, “Look at them.”
Bai Qingqing glanced at them and asked: “What’s wrong?”
“These women are forced to follow this group of animals.” Bai Tiantian replied with an indignant expression, “Those men are no humans at all. They are raping and beating them.”
She gritted her teeth and added: “They are too pitiful, go tell the captain we need to rescue them, okay?”
“No.” Bai Qingqing refused right away. No way in hell was she going to bother Fu Chen with that.
Bai Tiantian didn’t expect to be rejected again and looked at Bai Qingqing, baffled.
“Don’t you have any compassion? They are living so miserably, don’t you want to help them?”
“…”
Bai Qingqing’s eyes became cold and she said: “If you can’t bear it, why don’t you go save them yourself?”
“I…” Bai Tiantian looked weak and sad, “If I could, I would have done so a long time ago. Qingqing, you go tell the captain he needs to help.”
Bai Qingqing didn’t want to waste time with her and keep talking nonsense. She was an injured patient and already a burden on her own, why was this Virgin Mary trying to drag her to go save people?
“It’s useless to ask me.”
Bai Tiantian stared at her in anger: “Qingqing! How can you be like this?? Can’t you be kind?”
“…”
Bai Qingqing had a headache and didn’t want to talk to her anymore. She turned away to go back to the car but was blocked by two men.
“Little beauty, don’t go, let’s talk.”
Bai Tiantian was startled and her body moved before her brain could connect, hiding behind Bai Qingqing from this pack of wolves. These men had been looking at the two women with greedy eyes for a while now but weren’t sure their own team would let them trade.
Sensing something was wrong, Shen Mingxuan jumped out of the RV with a cold expression and asked: “What are you trying to do?”
“Brother, we are just joking around.”
“Boss Zhang went to look for your captain, we have an offer to make you.”
The group had gathered around the table behind them, and the bald man was embracing a blond woman.
“Team Fu, how about it? Let’s trade your two women for the three of ours.”
Fu Chen darkened and a thunderous storm gathered in his eyes. The other members of the Thunder Squad also had terrible expressions.
The bald man acted as he was unaware of the tense atmosphere, and feeling the blond woman in his arms, he continued: “This is the best stuff, are you sure you don’t want to?”
“Get lost!” Fu Chen said in a cold voice.
The group then pointed their guns at Fu Chen and the others.
“I’m exchanging three of my girls for the two of yours and you say no. You truly refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit 2 .”
Zhang Qiang then gave an arrogant smile: “I know, you guys have some abilities but so does our team. It really won’t help anyone in this fight. Amiability makes you rich 3 , how about we just trade for one night?”
“Shameless!” Bai Tiantian shouted with anger, her eyes full of tears, “Don’t even think about it!”
“Oh.” Zhang Qiang whistled and said nastily, “This is pretty exciting.”
A cone of ice struck at him and was blocked by steel that appeared out of thin air. The bald man hasn’t been hurt but the mood became even tenser and dread permeated the air. Zhang Qiang’s face became cold in his turn.
“Alright, you won’t give us some face, then don’t blame us!”
Bai Qingqing didn’t know what was happening and the two sides fought. Amidst the chaos, a man came closer and tried to grab her. She did not want to drag anyone behind; she turned around and ran. But after only a few steps, her ears started to buzz, a fierce pain hit her head and she fell to the ground on her knees.
Mental attack!
The pain lasted only a few seconds and Fu Chen ordered her from a distance: “Quickly return to the car!”
Bai Qingqing got up once more and kept on running. As soon as she reached the door, a fireball was thrown her way and exploded on the RV in a deafening noise. She avoided it and tried to find somewhere else to hide.
The battle between gifted men was even more terrifying than she had imagined. Bai Qingqing was impressed at the heroine for being so powerful she could trigger fights at any time, yet rather scared.
“Kill them all!” Zhang Qiang roared: “Kill the men and grab the girls!”
Bai Qingqing saw Bai Tiantian running to her and she had a bad feeling. The next moment, Shen Mingxuan darted forward and pushed Bai Tiantian out of the way, leaving Bai Qingqing alone to be hit by the incoming attack. Bai Qingqing was thrown in the air and just before passing out, she flipped the bird to Shen Mingxuan in her mind.
眼不见为净 (yǎnbùjiànwéijìng): what remains unseen is deemed to be clean / what the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over (idiom)敬酒不吃吃罚酒 (jìngjiǔbùchīchīfájiǔ): to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit / fig. to hesitate to do sth until forced to do even more和气生财 (héqìshēngcái): amiability makes you rich (idiom)/ harmony brings wealth