Chapter 84: Military Shield Makes a Move
As soon as the door closed, Ning Yuan’s expression immediately changed. “They want to make a move against us.”
Lin Yimu knew who was responsible for this, so he had nothing to say. Antonio had already decided to follow Lu Weiyi, so naturally he wouldn’t say bad things about him in front of his two subordinates. Gu Qingji just needed to follow Gu Qingyue. Besides, what was the point of complaining about anyone after it had already happened? In the end, only Li Zhuang remained, saying casually and helplessly, “Isn’t that obvious?”
“Then what do we do? Should we leave early?” Ning Yuan frowned, looking worried.
“Let’s discuss it together,” Li Zhuang said, leading the way to the room.
As soon as they entered, Lu Weiyi, pushing Zhuang Mingxu who was still on an IV drip in the first-floor bedroom, came out. He had been listening to their conversation since someone knocked on the door. Although he didn’t quite understand what it meant, with Zhuang Mingxu beside him to “translate,” Zhuang Mingxu immediately understood their intentions.
Before Lu Weiyi could reveal himself to ask, Zhuang Mingxu asked first, “We heard someone knocking.”
“Mmm,” Ning Yuan replied, concisely explaining the purpose of the visitors and his own speculation, asking if they should leave early.
“There’s no need. Since others want to make a move against us, they’ll do it no matter when we leave. And they’ve definitely guessed that one of us is a space ability user, so they won’t let us go,” Zhuang Mingxu said. Combining the guesses he got from Lu Weiyi, Zhuang Mingxu added, “Exchange the supplies with them, prioritizing vegetables, eggs, and meat first, then rice, flour, cooking oil, seasonings, and medicines, followed by various vegetable and fruit seeds and seedlings, then generators and gas tanks, then solar panels and lights, and finally clothes.”
“Since they want to make a move, they probably won’t care too much about the price. The higher the price you set, the better. It’s best if we can encourage most people to come to us to exchange water tomorrow, make as much noise as possible.”
“Mingxu, are you crazy?” Ning Yuan cautiously sized up Zhuang Mingxu. “Leaving aside whether we can take so many things, just saying… do you really have that much water?” He looked at Lu Weiyi.
“It’s okay,” Lu Weiyi said this time, very modestly.
“Then how will we leave? Even if we really have guns and abilities, we probably can’t take on an entire base, right?” Ning Yuan looked complicated, feeling a bit uneasy.
“They definitely won’t make a move inside the base. They’ll have to wait until we leave the base, let everyone see it, so that if anyone investigates later, it won’t involve them,” Ning Yuan understood his meaning when he heard this, but he still thought their situation wasn’t optimistic.
In contrast, Zhuang Mingxu was very calm. He slowly took out a tablet and single-handedly zoomed in on the map of Yongping City. “I looked at the route just now. If we go normally, we should pass through Xiangning County and then Lin County. This is the closest route. However, if someone chases us and blocks us, it’s best if we detour through Qinyuan County or Ningping County. The roads from Yongning City to these two directions both pass over bridges. We can cross the bridge and then blow it up directly. After that, we can circle back to Lin County. This way, although the journey is longer, it’s safer.”
“Now there are two things to do. One is to inadvertently reveal our intention to go through Xiangning County, so that some people will go there to ambush us. The other is that someone needs to scout the roads tomorrow to see if the two bridges in Qinyuan County and Ningping County are passable.”
Zhuang Mingxu handed the tablet to the others, asking them to look at the routes, and said at the same time, “But no matter which way we go, there will definitely be risks. Everyone should tell each other and consider it carefully. If anyone is unwilling to go with us, they can drive away tomorrow morning under the pretext of looking for supplies. Little Yi will prepare the corresponding supplies for everyone.”
This matter was caused by Lu Weiyi, so Zhuang Mingxu would definitely bear it with him. Lin Yimu and Ning Yuan would definitely not leave at this time. Xu Sa didn’t need to be asked, and Liu Rui followed Xu Sa. The remaining ones were Antonio and Xiong Jie, Gu Qingji and his brother, and Li Zhuang.
Lu Weiyi sat on the sofa on the side in an unladylike sprawl, looking up at Zhuang Mingxu’s IV drip and yawning, seemingly not caring at all about what they were saying.
None of the people present spoke. What Zhuang Mingxu said was true. This matter was very risky. After all, it was a team of people fighting against one or even two forces. Without using strategy, it would be impossible to leave safely.
Li Zhuang glanced at the map, then turned to look at Lu Weiyi and smiled, “Little Young Master, if I follow you and end up crippled or disabled, you’ll have to take responsibility for taking care of me.”
Lu Weiyi yawned again, tears welling up in his eyes, made an OK sign, and didn’t say anything.
“I’m following Lu,” Antonio had already made following Lu Weiyi his principle. However, he also knew that this matter was indeed risky, so he said, “If something happens to me, please take care of Dean.”
Lu Weiyi wiggled his OK hand without putting it down.
“David, don’t talk nonsense,” Dean frowned, very unhappy. Antonio smiled, hugged him, kissed him, and whispered, “Don’t worry, baby, I can’t bear to leave you alone.”
Gu Qingji could take risks himself, but he didn’t want to drag Gu Qingyue along. He thought for a moment and said, “I’ll ask my brother, tomorrow morning…”
“No need to ask. We two will follow Weiyi. We’ve gotten through this period safely together. If we die here, we’ll just consider it bad luck,” Gu Qingyue came out of the kitchen, said it casually, and looked at Gu Qingji. “We only have each other to worry about. Whoever is left, please take care of them.”
“I definitely won’t let anything happen to you,” Gu Qingji stood beside Gu Qingyue and took his hand.
Gu Qingyue smiled and patted his head, not saying anything.
Finally, everyone looked at Xi Shi. Xi Shi had just finished making pancakes, and his body still carried the fragrant smell of pancakes. He rubbed his hands and hadn’t answered yet when Li Zhuang said for him, “Brother Xi, ask Brother Xiong before deciding. Let’s discuss the details first.”
The few of them roughly confirmed the details, briefly assigned tasks, and went back to their rooms to sleep.
Back in the room, Lu Weiyi settled Zhuang Mingxu on the bed, hesitating to speak.
“What’s wrong?” Zhuang Mingxu tucked the quilt around himself and looked at Lu Weiyi by the light of the mini flashlight.
“Actually, it doesn’t need to be so troublesome. My mental power can shield others’ vision for a while. We can pretend to go out to find supplies, let the others hide in the car, and once we leave the base, we can just drive away,” Lu Weiyi thought of this when Zhuang Mingxu was giving his long speech calculating the routes. They could completely use the excuse of going out to find supplies, drive a big truck, and then hide all the remaining people in the truck bed. If someone patrolled when they left the base, he could use his mental power to cover them up, and once they were out of the base, they could just run away without needing to be so complicated.
“How does your mental power shield things?” Zhuang Mingxu hadn’t completely understood the use of this mental ability yet, and he often couldn’t clearly understand Lu Weiyi’s occasional ideas.
“It’s the same as shielding my own movements. Cover the things you want to shield with mental power, and others won’t notice them. For example…” Lu Weiyi shook the flashlight at the mahogany table in the corner, “If I want to shield that table, as long as I use something the same color as the wall to block it as much as possible, and then cover it with mental power, others will think it’s the wall unless they specifically walk over and touch it. Generally, they won’t notice.”
Zhuang Mingxu was silent for a moment, suddenly understanding what others meant by “golden finger.” However, this would easily expose Lu Weiyi. “It sounds feasible, let me think about it again.”
“Okay, good,” Lu Weiyi replied, placing the small flashlight by the bed. “The flashlight is here. I’ll be in the next room. You can call me if you need anything in the middle of the night. I can hear you.”
“You…” Zhuang Mingxu was clearly stunned. “Aren’t we sleeping together?” Ever since they had become intimate, they had never slept in separate rooms unless they were away on a business trip.
In an instant, Zhuang Mingxu thought of his legs…
No, Zhuang Mingxu dismissed the impossible thought from his mind, a bitter smile in his heart. So, a person really would inadvertently use their own shortcomings to guess others’ behavior. He had always tried to pretend not to care, but subconscious thoughts wouldn’t betray a person. He really cared about these legs a lot.
“Will I press down on you when I sleep?” Lu Weiyi remembered that he seemed to be particularly restless when he slept, he asked uncertainly.
“No,” Zhuang Mingxu could feel a sense of relief in his heart. “You’re always very quiet when you’re asleep, and… I’m a little unaccustomed…”
Zhuang Mingxu didn’t continue, but Lu Weiyi saw his gaze inadvertently glance towards his legs.
This somewhat vulnerable Zhuang Mingxu was something he had never seen before. In Lu Weiyi’s memory, even when Elder Zhuang drove Zhuang Mingxu out of the family and he left the Capital with him in a forced and disheveled state, he was like a sharp blade about to be unsheathed, so sharp that there was no sign of bowing his head. But now he was actually compromising…
It had to be said, Lu Weiyi really felt sorry for him.
He leaned down and hugged Zhuang Mingxu. “Just bear with it a little longer. Someone will be able to heal you in the future.” Actually, the first time Lu Weiyi said his legs could be healed, Zhuang Mingxu thought Lu Weiyi didn’t know how serious it was. The second time he said it, Zhuang Mingxu thought he was comforting him. But after knowing that Lu Weiyi knew some things about the future, Zhuang Mingxu no longer thought that way.
“Little Yi, really… can they be healed?” Zhuang Mingxu tried his best to suppress his emotions, not wanting his eagerness to embarrass Lu Weiyi.
“Mmm,” Lu Weiyi nodded, extremely solemnly. “It will be fine.” If Qingyuan couldn’t heal him, they would go back to the Capital. The country was so big, there were so many bases, there would always be a place that could heal him.
This was no less than a promise. Zhuang Mingxu felt relieved. He reached out and hugged Lu Weiyi, the worry, fear, and unease that had been suppressed in his heart finally released at this moment.
In the end, Lu Weiyi didn’t leave, and the two slept in each other’s arms as they had before the apocalypse.
He slept until midnight when Lu Weiyi was suddenly covered in the mouth and nudged. He woke up with a start and was about to attack when Zhuang Mingxu’s low voice came from his ear, “Little Yi.”
Lu Weiyi relaxed his strength and turned his head to look at him. It wasn’t like before the apocalypse when there were streetlights everywhere, and even the house would have some light and shadow. The pitch-black surroundings only allowed them to see outlines.
“Someone came in,” Zhuang Mingxu said first before Lu Weiyi could ask.
“Hmm?” Lu Weiyi wondered, simultaneously spreading out his mental power. He immediately “saw” that eight people had sneaked into the villa’s courtyard. They were exchanging some information with gestures. Lu Weiyi watched for a long time, feeling that they were probably assigning rooms to search. They didn’t seem to plan to attack them, but to kidnap.
As for the target of the kidnapping, it was obvious without even thinking – the weakest one, Zhuang Ai Yi.
It’s so sweet they have bonding moments