Chapter 189: The New Xiangning Base
“What other medicines do the others need? Some have nausea, vomiting, and fever. Some even dug out the bee stingers themselves and only got simple dressings,” Su Yan asked Gu Qingyue.
Gu Qingyue named some medications. “Give those to them first. I’ll come over as soon as I finish here. It won’t take long.”
“Doctor, will my sister be okay? She was just stung—it’s not a serious injury, right?” Zhou Cong stared at Gu Qingyue, afraid to hear bad news.
“The injury isn’t serious, but I don’t know how strong the mutant bee venom is. I increased the dosage of her medicine. Hopefully, she’ll be fine,” Gu Qingyue said.
“Please, please, Doctor,” Zhou Cong hurriedly bent down to thank Gu Qingyue, not forgetting to thank Lu Weiyi as well.
Lu Weiyi and Su Yan and Zhou Cong left the room. Lu Weiyi handed over the medicines Gu Qingyue mentioned and explained how to use them. The three stood guard at the door.
“Was the flood in Qingyuan City a while ago okay? Why did I hear from Wang Ming that you came specially to look for Xu Yi?” Su Yan asked.
“The base was flooded. More than half died,” Lu Weiyi replied. “How about you?”
“Half a year’s work ruined,” Su Yan smiled bitterly, sitting directly on the floor by the door. He looked nothing like the vigorous and resolute person from their last meeting.
“Better that people are alive,” Lu Weiyi replied awkwardly, handing over some tasteless chicken soup.
Less than twenty minutes later, Gu Qingyue called out from inside. Zhou Cong rushed in first. “Doctor, how is she? Is my sister okay?”
Zhou Yan on the bed was now in deep sleep, no longer moaning. The anesthesia was still effective, dulling her pain. She was covered with ripped clothes barely concealing her sensitive areas, making it easier to see the many swollen patches on her arms, back, and legs.
One swollen patch was half the size of a fist and couldn’t be fully bandaged. Gu Qingyue had applied topical medicine to the wounds and covered them with gauze, leaving the rest exposed.
“The wounds have been cleaned. Now we wait to see how the medication works,” Gu Qingyue tidied the bloody surgical tools. On a small tray were several black needle-like objects thicker than toothpicks and a pair of curved knives.
“She was not only stung by the bees’ stingers but also bitten. These might be mandibles from the bee’s mouthparts, which stayed lodged inside. The wounds are bigger and could get infected. We need to watch carefully. I’ll check on the others now.”
“Okay, come with me,” Su Yan led the two out, telling Zhou Cong, “Stay with your sister. Call me if anything happens.”
“Got it, brother-in-law,” Zhou Cong stared at Zhou Yan without looking away.
The neighboring rooms were filled with others who had been attacked. After treatment, many were much better. Gu Qingyue redressed those who had tried to dig out the stingers themselves without proper bandaging. For the rest, it was left to fate.
The three left the room and returned to the government hall, where Lin Yimu pushed Zhuang Mingxu over.
“How is she?” Lin Yimu asked.
“Captain, she’s… okay,” Su Yan had someone bring chairs and they all sat in the hall. Su Yan leaned against the wall and sighed deeply. “You look like you’re doing well, Captain. How’s Li Qing?”
“…Doing okay. The military suffered little loss and is rebuilding now,” Lin Yimu said. “What happened with you guys? Wang Ming said you were attacked by mutant bees. What was it like?”
“They’re like normal bees but bigger—each about the size of a fist. The venom seems strong. They attack in swarms with no warning. We were totally unprepared,” Su Yan said, sighing deeply. Since the base was being rebuilt, he had been anxious to find supplies and establish power but had neglected safety, resulting in heavy losses. He looked dispirited.
Knowing they wanted information, he forced himself to continue, “We went out today to gather supplies. Around a hundred kilometers away, in Xiayuan village, we found some things. At the village center was a beehive. Someone on the team hadn’t seen it before and didn’t recognize it, thought it was a honeybee hive, so they wanted to collect honey. But it was all mutant bees…”
Su Yan smiled bitterly, “As soon as the mutant bees appeared, everyone sensed something was wrong. Still, a few people were badly stung and bitten and died soon after. The rest got injured to varying degrees. I… it was still Zhou Yan who took the blows for me…”
“Did you see the queen bee? Did they only sting and bite people?” Lu Weiyi asked.
“No, we didn’t see the queen. It wasn’t just that—some mutant bees have abilities,” Su Yan nodded toward the injured inside. “Some people were hurt by their powers, like ice needles that pierced through their arms.”
“Mutant bees have abilities now?” Gu Qingyue murmured in disbelief.
“You all should try to avoid that area. Although those things are small, there are just too many of them,” Su Yan said. Then seeing Zhuang Mingxu’s leg, he remembered something. “Oh right, you’re going to look for Xu Yi, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, do you know how he disappeared?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
Su Yan shook his head. “When the flood happened, everyone evacuated in a hurry. It was chaotic. When we regrouped, Xu Yi was already gone. No one knows if he’s alive or dead. Xu Sen was busy settling survivors and sent people to search, but apparently they found nothing. Whether there’s some inside story, I can’t say. Do you want to ask around?”
“Yes!”
“No!”
Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Mingxu answered simultaneously.
Seeing Lu Weiyi frown, Zhuang Mingxu smiled, “Since he’s already gone, we won’t waste time on that. Let’s just go directly, saves time.”
“Maybe asking around will give us some clues,” Lu Weiyi said.
“Even if there are clues, we won’t go looking. Let’s just assume he’s dead and follow our plan,” Zhuang Mingxu said firmly. Since they decided to go to the Capital, he didn’t want to waste time looking for Xu Yi who was missing.
Lu Weiyi was silent for a moment, then nodded.
“Where do you plan to go?” Su Yan asked.
“The Capital,” Zhuang Mingxu answered.
“Why go so far? I see your squad has quite a few people. You can survive by finding any base nearby. Or come to ours—newly established. All the squads there are reshuffling; it’s a good time to build momentum. A place like the Capital is full of hidden experts—it’s hard to get ahead there,” Su Yan said sincerely, especially since his team leader was here.
“My home is in the Capital. I have to go back,” Zhuang Mingxu didn’t say anything else.
“I see.” Going home, there was nothing more to say.
They chatted casually for a bit. Seeing Su Yan worried about Zhou Yan’s condition, they took their leave.
Zhou Yan’s condition was unstable, and several others with fever and vomiting needed close monitoring. Lu Weiyi kept Gu Qingyue with them; fortunately, their resting places were close enough that any calls for help could be heard.
They had planned to leave the next day, but Zhou Yan still hadn’t woken, and another injured person had died.
Gu Qingyue took care of seven patients overnight, acting as both doctor and nurse. Though others helped, some things had to be done personally. Even as an ability user, he was utterly exhausted by morning.
They needed a doctor for emergencies on the way back. At Su Yan’s request, they had to make another trip.
Early morning departure; after three hours, the group arrived at the new Xiangning City base.
The new base had been renamed Hope Base, symbolizing that surviving means hope. It was located in a fairly large township, surrounded by tall walls. Just looking from outside, it already had the prototype of a base.
“Want to go in and rest for a day? At least let me show some hospitality,” someone at the base gate said while inspecting vehicles and personnel. Su Yan spoke to the group parked nearby.
“No need to waste supplies,” Lu Weiyi said. “One person in equals one person’s supplies; a day is not insignificant. Since Su Yan is paying, there’s no need to waste so much. I’ll go in with Gu Qingyue. Anyone else want to look around?”
“I’ll go,” Gu Qingji answered immediately—he definitely wouldn’t let Gu Qingyue out of his sight.
The others shook their heads, uninterested. A newly built base wasn’t much to see.
“Can we ask Brother Xi to do it…” Ning Yuan winked at Lu Weiyi, hinting. Others immediately looked hopeful.
A bunch of big rough guys trying to act cute—somewhat cringe-worthy.
Lu Weiyi controlled Little Green Branch to place a small tank of mutant fish into the truck bed, tossing in some normal meat as well.
“Since we’re here, you might as well ask Xu Sen about Xu Yi,” Su Yan suggested.
Lu Weiyi agreed immediately and looked at Zhuang Mingxu, “Do you want to come along?”
“No,” Zhuang Mingxu declined. With his condition, any trouble would only slow them down. He knew better than to cause trouble. “If he’s around, you can come get me later.”
“Alright, I’ll be back by noon.” The personnel checking entry had given the all-clear. Lu Weiyi finished speaking and headed with Gu Qingji toward Su Yan’s vehicle.
After handing over supplies for three people for a day, they entered the base smoothly.
Inside, besides the original buildings, most residences were built by earth-element ability users. There were no fancy rooms or halls—just simple one-room houses, similar to the ones in Qingyuan City: a few floors, like pre-apocalypse employee dormitories.
The Hope Base leadership’s main camp was gathered on a mountain. Su Yan introduced the base situation as they went straight to the hospital.
While they talked, they arrived at a two-story building marked “Hospital.” The partial “Hospital” sign seemed cut from the original “Somewhere Hospital.” Used to seeing “People’s Hospital” or “Private Hospital,” the plain two characters felt a bit awkward.
Gu Qingji followed Gu Qingyue, who was handing over patients to doctors inside the hospital. Su Yan sent Wang Ming to take Lu Weiyi to find Xu Sen.
Inside the base, construction was ongoing, and ability users worked in coordinated fashion everywhere. Humans are a tenacious species, able to keep hope alive in any circumstance.
