Chapter 244: Zhuang Family’s Situation
“The Zhuang family…” Lu Xiao sighed. “The old master awakened an earth-type ability, but the rest of the situation is not good. Most of your father’s generation are ordinary people. Among your peers, Mingwen and Mingwu have awakened—one water-type, one fire-type. The third branch has more awakeners, and they’ve taken control.”
The Zhuang family was a major family even before the apocalypse.
Old Master Zhuang, a founding general of the country, naturally held an extraordinary status.
He married three times and had four sons and one daughter. Currently, the only survivors are Zhuang Mingxu’s grandfather and the patriarch from the third branch, who was born to the second wife, along with the youngest, born to the third wife, several generations younger.
Before the apocalypse, the eldest son (Zhuang Mingxu’s grandfather) was the head of the family. Among his children:
Zhuang Chengye, Lu Xiao’s superior, served in the military.
Zhuang Chengli, Zhuang Mingxu’s father, went into politics.
A daughter, Zhuang Chengyan.
The third branch had a similar structure but held little power.
After the apocalypse, the second generation mostly lacked abilities, leaving the third generation to shoulder the responsibility. Except for Zhuang Mingxu, none of the first branch’s third-generation members stood out. The third branch quickly gained the upper hand and took leadership.
“You’re still under my uncle’s command?” Zhuang Mingxu asked. (Lu Xiao served under Zhuang Chengye.)
“Yes. Though on the surface, the military appears unified, in reality, the factions are already at odds,” Lu Xiao said, clearly exhausted by the family’s infighting.
“What about the other factions? What’s the situation now?” Zhuang Mingxu continued piecing together the political landscape.
“Zheng and Zhao families are the same as ever. Their people are former allies from before the apocalypse. The standout is really the Hunter Guild,” Lu Xiao replied.
The Hunter Guild consolidated all hunting teams. It was founded by Luo Qi, a non-powered man whose daughter, Luo Fei, awakened a healing ability. With this, he attracted a group of ability users and steadily recruited more healing-types. The number of hunting teams under him grew rapidly.
“A few months ago, after Xu Yi arrived, their strength surged—especially with Li Ji at his side…”
“Who?” Ning Yuan asked, startled.
“Li Ji? You know him? Muscular, scarred face,” Lu Xiao described.
The group exchanged glances.
“If he came from Qingyuan, then it’s almost certain… he’s a mortal enemy,” one said.
“…” Lu Xiao was speechless. Enemies everywhere, always stirring up hatred.
“He came with Xu Yi?” Lu Weiyi asked.
“Yeah.” Lu Xiao nodded.
Lu Weiyi gestured toward the door, and Ning Yuan understood, rising to leave.
“He’s pursuing Luo Fei. Not sure if they’re officially together, but they’re involved. Luo Qi seems to approve… Can you let it go?” Lu Xiao suggested.
“We killed all his teammates. Around forty or fifty of them,” Lu Weiyi replied casually, spreading his hands.
Lu Xiao slapped his own forehead, at a total loss for words. After a long silence, he said, “How about… you guys run? I’ll cover for you here. You leave quietly.”
“We’re going to the Capital for surgery,” Lu Weiyi glanced at Zhuang Mingxu.
“His leg was broken by Li Ji. If we wait any longer, it’ll atrophy.”
Lu Xiao glanced at Zhuang Mingxu and ruffled his hair. “The Zhuang family can’t protect you. Right now, out of all the factions, the Zhuang family is the weakest. The other groups all have healing-type ability users. We’re the only ones without one, and the Third Branch is still trying to curry favor with Luo Qi.”
What Lu Xiao feared most was that with all the resources they had taken, the Zhuang family might end up selling them out.
“As for the medical facilities in Pingjin…” thinking about the situation there, Lu Xiao simply went silent. Compared to the Capital, the other bases really didn’t have the same strength or distribution of talent.
During the brief silence, Lu Xi woke up.
He turned his head and, upon seeing Lu Xiao, immediately burst into tears.
Lu Xiao went forward and helped his son up, the two of them whispering to each other softly.
After a moment of silence among the group, Lu Weiyi was the first to speak. “No one knows we’ve taken the supplies yet. We travel through the night to the Capital and arrive before the news spreads. We’ll do the surgery immediately and leave right after. What do you think?”
With Li Ji now in the Capital, the situation was far from ideal—especially given their deep-seated enmity. Lu Weiyi had to consider everyone’s safety.
As for giving up, after surviving this long in the apocalypse, it wasn’t something he could easily do anymore. It had become a belief, an obsession.
“I’m in,” Li Zhuang was the first to support the plan.
Antonio shrugged, indifferent, though his gaze frequently drifted toward Dean, who was playing with Zhuang Ai Yi.
With these two powerhouses on board, the rest agreed as well. Lu Weiyi let out a long sigh of relief and added sincerely, “I’ll do everything I can to keep everyone safe. If something does happen…” he stood and bowed to everyone, “I apologize in advance.”
Zhuang Mingxu was deeply moved. Lu Weiyi had never bowed to anyone, and to go this far for him—even if he died in the Capital—he felt it would be worth it.
*
After discussing things with Lu Xiao, the latter also expressed his support.
“I’ll do my best to delay everyone,” Lu Xiao said, ruffling his son’s hair and slinging an arm around Lu Weiyi’s shoulders. “Xiao Xi is in your hands.”
“Dad?” Lu Xi looked up at him.
“Uncle, why don’t you bring your squad and come with us?” Lu Weiyi offered. Once they left, and if the stolen supplies were discovered, all the anger might be directed at Lu Xiao.
“No need. There are four major factions here—no one would dare move openly. But once I return, things could get messy. You’d best take advantage of the time difference,” Lu Xiao said. He didn’t ask how they’d taken the supplies. He just clapped a few of them on the shoulder—who knew when they’d meet again.
“Our base is on an island east of Pingjin, near the coastline. You’ll see it as soon as you get close. If anything happens to you, Uncle, you can head straight there,” Zhuang Mingxu advised Lu Xiao.
“Got it. Pack up and get ready to go.” Lu Xiao’s hand still rested on Lu Xi’s head.
“Why don’t you sit with Lu Xi for a bit? I’ll go look for Xu Yi,” Lu Weiyi offered. He intended to bring Xu Yi with them—he was a ticking time bomb and keeping him close would be safer.
Outside, Ning Yuan had already gotten the story from Xu Yi.
After Li Ji escaped, he knew exactly who had attacked him. He had no plans to return to Qingyuan. Dragging a broken leg, he returned to Dongshan only to find his base destroyed. After that, he wandered solo, hunting zombies to boost his abilities.
When the flood hit, Xu Yi survived under the protection of bodyguards. After running into Li Ji, he offered to heal his leg in exchange for killing two of the guards. The two then set off for the Capital together.
“I didn’t know he had a grudge against you,” Xu Yi said as Lu Weiyi approached, quickly distancing himself. His severed arm had stopped bleeding due to healing, but he still hoped to reattach it. It wasn’t fully healed, and even without touching it, the nerves still spasmed in pain.
“Mm,” Lu Weiyi stood and glanced around.
Each faction was clearly demarcated, sitting around their respective bonfires, cooking food. All kinds of curious stares drifted their way.
The closest group was Lu Xiao’s team. Not far away was Zhuang Mingze, looking down at Lu Weiyi with a condescending gaze, as if evaluating a cheap, low-tier product.
He was the second grandson from the Third Branch of the Zhuang family. Arrogant and full of himself, he’d suffered quite a bit under Zhuang Mingxu in the past life.
Next to him was the Zheng family’s squad. Their leader, Zheng Yi, was a metal-type ability user. In the previous life, he had been powerful and was the Zheng family’s chosen heir, cultivated with all their resources. He and Zhuang Mingxu had once been fierce rivals in the military.
Seeing Lu Weiyi’s glance, Zheng Yi gave him a small nod.
Lu Weiyi felt he owed him some thanks. After all, if he hadn’t taken Zhuang Mingxu away, Zheng Yi’s rise wouldn’t have been so smooth.
Beside him stood Zhao Qiang, leader of the police faction, from the Zhao family. He was disabled, only about 1.5 meters tall, and had been a nearly invisible figure in the Zhao family before the apocalypse.
Later, he awakened earth-type powers and worked relentlessly to rise up. He was the kind of person who would do anything to become stronger. In Zhuang Mingxu’s past life, he had said: “He’s someone worth associating with—as long as you don’t get in the way of his strength.”
Lu Weiyi thought his “plant crystal cores” might have found a buyer.
A faint smile appeared on his face, lips curled subtly in a reserved and youthful way. Amid the crowd of ragged, ashen survivors, he stood out like a pure, untouched lotus.
The crowd watching him followed his gaze to Zhao Qiang. The latter blinked in confusion but nodded politely.
Further away was the Hunters’ Guild. Among the top-ranked teams present were:
Smiling Buddha-like Sun Laiqian of the Madmen Hunting Team, Bald spiked-club wielder Su Wei of the Wild Wolf Hunting Team, The alluring “Sister Mei,” leader of the only all-female team—the Queen Bees.
As for the bespectacled man, he was Luo Qi’s strategist—Li Xiuyin.
Lu Weiyi’s gaze swept across these familiar yet unfamiliar faces, quickly aligning them with the intelligence from his memories.
“Long time no see. Let’s take a walk,” Lu Weiyi said to Xu Yi, who was locked in a silent stare-down with Xu Sa.
Xu Yi didn’t want to move. He used to think Zhuang Mingxu was crazy. Then he met Antonio and thought that guy was a lunatic. Now, seeing Lu Weiyi, he finally realized—none of these people were normal.
Lu Weiyi raised an eyebrow. Xu Sa immediately stepped up and pulled Xu Yi to his feet.
“Little Daddy?” Zhuang Ai Yi peeked out from the carriage door, Dean holding his hand behind him. “He needs to pee.”
“I’ll take him, you go back,” Lu Weiyi said, glancing at Antonio. Antonio placed a hand on Dean’s shoulder and nodded slightly.
At a time when healing-type abilities were so hotly contested, Dean was essentially walking prey—he had to be protected at all times.
“Captain!” Several guards greeted Lu Weiyi.
“Thanks for your hard work,” Lu Weiyi replied, then smiled and patted Lin Tian’s shoulder when he noticed the earnest look in his eyes. “Can’t do without you.”
“Thank you, Captain!” That meant they had gained a lot. Even if Lin Tian didn’t get to eat the roast lamb, he was still happy.
Lu Weiyi carried Zhuang Ai Yi slowly up the slope, with Xu Sa and Xu Yi following behind. After scanning the surroundings, he chose a slightly elevated spot under a tree farther away. “Let’s go over there.”
Glasses-wearing Li Xiuyin came over again and asked Xu Yi, “Mr. Xu, need any help?”
Xu Yi didn’t reply. Electricity was already crackling faintly. When faced with a choice between dying now and revenge later, Xu Yi unhesitatingly chose the latter. He had regained his haughty demeanor and shook his head. “No need.”
