Chapter 199: I Like You
“Hold tight up top, we’re moving out,” Xu Sa reminded the people on the roof, then accelerated. As they neared, the people on top started attacking the zombies.
Teamwork was on full display among them. Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Mingxu looked out the window. Although they couldn’t see the powers in action, they could tell roughly who was attacking whom.
With several B-level zombies down, the team hadn’t just been practicing—they had felt some real combat.
After dealing with a few B-level zombies, the rest were just easy targets. Soon, all surrounding zombies were eliminated.
“I’ll go talk to them,” Ning Yuan clapped his hands. The moment Xu Sa stopped the truck, he jumped down with a friendly smile on his face.
Lu Weiyi was never good at dealing with outsiders. He sat by the window, holding a tablet and estimating their possible arrival time in the capital.
After a short while, Xu Sa opened the door and asked, “They’re not from the Linqi City base. There’s a small base here, mostly made up of people from this county. Should we go check it out?”
The nearby county was called Daixi County, and the base was simply called Daixi Base, located in a village near the outskirts of the county town.
“Let’s go, and trade some things—especially meat or live poultry.” In such a small town, the quality of jade and stones was generally poor. Even if there were wealthy people, their spending on this was limited. Lu Weiyi didn’t have much hope for it.
“Okay, I’ll go tell Ning Yuan and have them guide us,” Xu Sa said, turning and leaving.
Soon, everyone returned.
“Let’s head to the base,” Ning Yuan was the last to get in. He shut the door and said, “I think this might be a ‘local tyrant’ type of base. The leader of the group we just met is Liu Cheng, a B-level Earth-element user. They’re a small team under a wealthy squad.”
“The wealthy squad was founded by Liu Dali, the former richest man in this county. Nowadays, the base’s affairs are basically controlled by this wealthy family. There are eight B-level ability users and four large teams; Liu Cheng leads a small squad under one of these teams. They were pushed around by other squads and had no choice but to come clear out this shopping mall.”
“The base is about two hours away. I told them we’ll come over tonight, and the base charges about 150 kg of rice or flour per person.”
Lu Weiyi nodded. “Same as usual—camp outside the base, then go inside to trade. Try to finish everything in a day, and we’ll leave the day after tomorrow.”
“Alright, I’ll let them know and have them spread the word. Also, these local tyrants in small places aren’t very reasonable. We need to keep a low profile, or we’ll easily get targeted,” Ning Yuan warned.
The other side had at least eight B-level users plus small teams under them. If a real fight broke out, they might not lose, but they’d definitely take casualties.
“Yeah, everyone stay alert,” Lu Weiyi told the others, unexpectedly realizing trouble had come their way first.
That night, the group arrived smoothly at Daixi Base. The gate was no different from other bases—guarded by ability users. Outside was a familiar refugee area, but the number of refugees was roughly equal to that of a medium-sized base in Qingyuan City, indicating the base was rather strict inside.
While Ning Yuan talked to the team leader Liu Cheng, Xu Sa had already taken people toward the refugee area to gather information. The rest started setting up tents not too far away.
The weather was chilly now, and tents alone weren’t enough to survive the night. Three Earth-element users built a soil wall around the tents, even around the window areas. The walls showed no sign of collapse, demonstrating the stability of their powers.
“Daddy, I want to poop,” Zhuang Ai Yi said, looking up at Lu Weiyi from the pile of educational toys on the bed.
“Let’s go together,” Zhuang Mingxu said. He stayed cooped up in the truck all day except to use the bathroom and felt like he was in prison.
“Okay,” Lu Weiyi agreed, first getting out to bring the wheelchair, then lifting Zhuang Ai Yi down. He looked around for a place with fewer people. “I’ll take him over there. Want to come?”
Since they were on the road, people just went to the bathroom anywhere. Mingxu’s legs didn’t work well, so he sat on a hollowed-out stool, still needing help.
Lu Weiyi never allowed anyone to see Mingxu so helpless; he always personally took care of him.
Fortunately, Mingxu didn’t self-despite despite the initial awkwardness. As the team’s core, Lu Weiyi’s strength gave Mingxu confidence. Even though sometimes he had to stop suddenly because of medicine, he never felt like a burden. “I won’t go now, I’ll wait until tonight.”
“Be careful then,” Lu Weiyi looked around. The truck was parked close to the tents, and everyone in the team was nearby preparing stuff. If something happened, they could respond quickly. Only then did Lu Weiyi relax.
“Lu, the bed’s for me, go lay it out,” Dean called from the tent entrance.
“And kitchen tools,” Xi Shi added from the other side.
Lu Weiyi tossed the things they requested into a pile on the ground and walked a bit farther with Zhuang Ai Yi.
“Daddy, can you block me a bit? Big daddy said I can’t be seen naked,” Zhuang Ai Yi said.
Combining the good genes of Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Mingxu, Ai Yi was already very cute. After half a year of eating mutant fruits, his health was much better. His face was rosy and fair, a bit chubby, and wearing a bright red cartoon sweatshirt, he stood out like a little prince among the shabby, tattered clothes of the other children.
“Sure,” Lu Weiyi replied. He looked androgynous, wearing a long knit coat over a white thin sweater, slim pants outlining straight legs, and tall boots making him shine like a runway model.
The big and small pair were utterly out of place in the bleak, rundown tents, surrounded by dirty, noisy crowds—like people from another world. They attracted many stares from the refugee area.
Among the refugees, a fat man leered at them and said to the ability user behind him, “When did this kind of person show up at our base? How come I didn’t know?”
“Must be new, haven’t seen him around,” a sycophantic ability user behind him said. “Does Master Bei want me to… investigate?”
A group staring at Lu Weiyi exchanged various expressions, secretly glanced at Liu Bei, then at Lu Weiyi. They sighed silently, but no one dared say anything.
Liu Bei was the son of the base leader. Though he had no powers himself, he had ability users protecting him. He spent his time bullying others, especially women and girls, and no one dared offend him.
“Hehe,” Liu Bei’s eyes fixed tightly on Lu Weiyi as he chuckled quietly. Just as he was about to wave them off, he saw that Lu Weiyi had already found a place for Zhuang Ai Yi to poop.
To respect the child’s newly awakened sense of shame, Lu Weiyi pulled out a folding screen from his space ability, creating a private area for him, and gave him his little stool. Only then did he prepare a suitable place for the little master to relieve himself.
“There’s a space user.”
“He’s a space ability user.”
The crowd whispered quietly, thinking that if the person had powers, Liu Bei was less likely to take him away. After all, someone valuable was worth protecting by the squad.
“Master Bei, he has space ability,” said another ability user following Liu Bei named Zheng Huo. “Those with space powers are protected in the squad, so Master Bei better not…”
“What’s wrong with space? Our wealthy squad has no shortage of space users. At worst, we’ll give them another jade space. We’ll trade this guy to keep serving Master Bei. I’m sure they’ll be willing,” Wang Wu said arrogantly, but when he looked at Liu Bei, his face immediately softened into a flattering expression. His face changed so quickly it could have been a Beijing opera performance. “Isn’t that right, Master Bei?”
“That’s right. At worst, give them both of them,” Liu Bei felt pleased by the praise and commanded the flattering ability user, “Wang Wu, bring him over to me.”
“Alrighty!” Wang Wu grinned and headed toward Lu Weiyi.
Another ability user wanted to intervene but, thinking of his own situation, quietly stepped back without a word.
Meanwhile, Zhuang Ai Yi finished emptying his stomach. Lu Weiyi quickly cleaned up to avoid anyone stepping in it and carried him back.
After a few steps, a young man blocked their way, looking arrogant with his chin held high, almost to the sky. He said, “Hey kid, my master has taken a liking to you. Come with me.”
Lu Weiyi had lived two lifetimes but never heard such an arrogant sentence. He was momentarily stunned, then sized the man up from head to toe, bent down to pick up Zhuang Ai Yi, and bypassed the man, heading toward their temporary residence.
“Hey, I’m talking to you! You refuse the polite drink but accept the punishment drink!” Wang Wu followed Liu Bei closely. He was used to flattering many people, but when someone completely ignored him, he was surprised and then angry. Speaking angrily, he suddenly launched a water arrow attack at Lu Weiyi.
Lu Weiyi naturally sensed the change in energy and was about to counterattack when another fireball wrapped the water arrow. There was a sizzling sound as steam rose. Then a laid-back voice said, “Yo, it’s not even dark yet and the dogs are barking again.”
Lu Weiyi glanced sideways and saw a guy in his twenties, shaved head, hands in pockets, chewing a dry blade of grass, walking over with a swagger that showed no respect for anyone.
He reminded Lu Weiyi of the first time he met Li Zhuang, especially that kind of unprincipled vibe. Lu Weiyi raised an eyebrow.
Behind the guy were Liu Cheng, Ning Yuan, and Xu Sa and Liu Rui, who had gone to gather intelligence.
“No wonder the dogs are barking. Handsome guy, in these times, it’s really unsafe for someone as good-looking as you to be wandering alone. Didn’t get hurt, right?” the young man looked Lu Weiyi over and asked.
Lu Weiyi shook his head and looked at Xu Sa.
“He Kai, is this the guy Master Bei wants. You better think carefully before you protect him,” Wang Wu, seeing his expected glory blocked, glared furiously at He Kai but dared not come closer.
