Chapter 90: The Question of Staying or Leaving
Taoyuan Base, the second day.
Sang Chu and Lu Min Feng were already waiting in the meeting room. When Xia Han arrived and saw only the two of them, his heart skipped a beat, and he instantly swallowed the words that were about to come out.
Gao Qiu was the first to express his stance: “Sister Sang, Brother Feng, I’ve discussed it with my parents, and we are all willing to stay. My parents said their cooking skills are quite good, and if Sister Sang agrees, they can help in the kitchen.”
After Sang Chu nodded, she looked at the others: “What about you all?”
Ma Ya Ru: “My parents and younger brother all agree. We will not leave, nor will we do anything that betrays the base or shows disloyalty.”
Zhao Xiao hesitated a bit. Seeing that no one else was speaking, An Hao asked, “Sister Sang, if we are to leave, will Brother Yi be the one to escort us out?”
Lu Min Feng: “Brother Yi is busy with something, I will escort you out.”
Hearing him say this, An Hao fell silent, while Xia Han lowered his head in terror.
Zhao Xiao: “Then please, Brother Feng, take the trouble to escort our family out.”
An Hao: “And my grandfather and I.”
Sang Chu: “Min Feng, please go to the trouble of sending them back. Those who are staying, follow me.”
After speaking, she turned and left. Zhao Xiao hadn’t expected Sang Chu to agree so readily, but thinking of what his sister had said, the seed in his heart began to stir again.
Zhao Xiao’s family, along with An Hao and his grandfather, followed Lu Min Feng away.
Lu Min Feng led them down towards the mountain hollow. Zhao Qian asked, “Brother Feng, why is this different from when we came?”
Lu Min Feng patiently explained, “Because the Peach Blossom Tree planted on the mountaintop poses a danger to people. It’s safer to go down towards the mountain hollow. There’s a road leading outside here, and our vehicles are usually parked here.”
He opened a door, revealing several vehicles parked inside. An Hao’s grandfather’s eyes flashed with a hint of greed, but Lu Min Feng, who had his back to him, didn’t notice.
“My car is over there. Get in, I’ll take you back.”
After getting into the car, An Hao’s grandfather looked at the window and said, “Min Feng, could you open this window? I, I’m feeling a bit stuffy.”
Lu Min Feng smiled and said, “Of course. An Hao, help your grandfather open it.”
After saying this, he started the car. It was precisely An Hao’s grandfather’s action that made him realize something was wrong. This An Hao was someone he had found in the underground basement of Zhao Feng’s base. He had originally thought he wouldn’t leave,
but now it seemed that what they had investigated might not be comprehensive.
Lu Min Feng turned on the car headlights. On the dark road, only a faint light illuminated the way, and the surrounding scenery was completely unclear.
The entire way was through dark, deep, and very narrow passages, which made people feel a bit irritable.
Lu Min Feng: “Everyone, please bear with it. This place is a bit dark, but it will be fine once we pass this section and get outside.”
The three of Xia Han followed Sang Chu to Zone 2 inside the cave.
Looking at the words “Zone 2” on the wall, Ma Ya Ru suddenly realized why her younger brother, Ma Si Yu, had been so eager for them all to stay.
They had been walking for about ten minutes, and all along the way were these row-house villa-style dormitories, and it felt like walking in an air-conditioned room, warm and cozy.
“This is a bridge connecting to another mountain. This is the lock, and this is the key.”
Sang Chu held a circular ring in one hand and a key in the other. In front of them, she pressed it against a spot without any pattern. The keyhole automatically popped out, and she then used the key to open the door.
“This is a specially made lock and key. The doors have identity cards on them, indicating someone is living there. Unoccupied rooms are not locked, so if you find anything unusual, you can immediately place your hand on the peach blossom on the door and give it a firm pat. The room will be instantly locked, and the air and oxygen inside will be instantly evacuated, causing anyone inside to fall unconscious, like this.”
She walked to a door, closed it, and gave it a gentle pat: “Try attaching your vines to the door.”
Ma Ya Ru was the first to act. Among those present, besides Sang Chu, her supernatural ability was the highest. However, as soon as her vines touched the door, they immediately turned back.
“The inside has already been evacuated?”
Sang Chu smiled: “Yes.”
Afterward, she opened the room door. Everything inside was fine. If Sang Chu hadn’t asked them to check the state of the room, no one would have imagined that such a method existed in the apocalypse.
Sang Chu: “I know that due to the base’s rules, you are all very uneasy and might wonder what kind of place this is. In fact, I am also uneasy. I wonder if you are worthy of my trust?
But I want to take the first step and show you my trump card. The fact that you still decided to stay after seeing that manual was unexpected for me. At least more people stayed than I anticipated.
As you can see, building such a large-scale base in the apocalypse is not an easy task. Therefore, I don’t want my family to be in danger. I’m sure you feel the same way. But we can’t just shut ourselves off in the apocalypse; that’s unrealistic. So, before we develop, we need to trust each other.”
Ma Ya Ru: “As long as you don’t treat me as a blood bag, I will not betray the base.”
Sang Chu: “Of course. If you’re still worried, I can take you to see our breeding farm now.”
Gao Qiu: “Sister Sang, wood element supernatural ability users are treated as blood bags everywhere. I escaped from another base and was saved by Brother Yi. Actually, I feel the same as Ma Ya Ru. As long as you don’t treat us as blood bags, I won’t betray you.”
Xia Han looked at the two of them: “The way you’re speaking makes it sound like I would betray you. Sister Sang, please rest assured. Since we’ve chosen to stay, we’ve already made up our minds to treat this place as our home!”
Sang Chu: “Okay, I’ll take you to see the breeding farm.”
Just as she was about to leave, her steps paused. A radio transmission came from her optical computer: 【 A Chu, come to the underground breeding farm. An Hao’s grandfather is a Level Seven supernatural ability user mutated zombie! 】
Sang Chu’s expression changed drastically. She immediately turned and said to Ma Ya Ru, “Here’s the key. Go to Zone 1 and find either Bao Yu or Mu Xue. I need to leave for a bit.”
Seeing her distressed expression, the three exchanged glances and nodded repeatedly.
After giving the key to Ma Ya Ru, Sang Chu used her instantaneous step and vanished in a flash.
Xia Han: “Wh-what happened?”
Gao Qiu and Ma Ya Ru had their own ideas. They suspected that there was a problem with the people being cleared out, but they would keep this matter to themselves and never speak of it.
Looking at the silent two, Xia Han said speechlessly, “So, what do we do now?”
Ma Ya Ru: “Let’s go back first and then talk.”
The three returned the way they came. Passing by the canteen, they saw Xia Ru and others busy in the kitchen. Grandmother Lin, Mu Xue, Bao Yu, and his mother’s group were all there.
Ma Ya Ru: “Bao Yu, Sister Sang just gave us the key and said to have you take us to see the breeding farm.”
Xia Han saw his older brother and quickly pulled him aside to tell him about what had just happened. However, his brother, like Gao Qiu and the others, seemed to instantly grasp something, and his expression turned very grim.
Fine, they were all smart people, and he was the only idiot!
