Chapter 168: Stirring Up Trouble
“Mom—!” Deng Zhixuan burst into tears.
At that moment, Wen Yushu wanted nothing more than to strangle her son.
Did he think she didn’t know she smelled? Why did she smell? Because the water supply had long since been cut. The water they had stored beforehand, and what they later managed to buy from the supermarket—she and her husband had saved it all for the two children!
For her son to say something like that… not only was it humiliating in front of outsiders, it also chilled her heart.
Deng Tianyu was furious. “If you think we stink, then get out of the car!”
Deng Zhiqi, once again yelled at, muttered in confusion, “But I wasn’t wrong…”
Mu Lantu just kept driving. Xu Huazhang carefully polished his sword, tuning out the noise from the back.
Zombies blocking the road were crushed into pulp as the SUV roared past.
Two backpackers on the roadside waved for help, but Mu Lantu ignored them.
Suddenly, Deng Zhiqi sprang up, rolled down the window, and craned his neck out. Moments later, he shouted in excitement, “Stop the car! I see someone I know!”
Mu Lantu acted as though he hadn’t heard.
Deng Zhiqi panicked, reaching for the steering wheel. “Stop the car! I saw my classmate!”
Xu Huazhang rapped his knuckles with the pistol barrel.
Deng Zhiqi yelped and pulled back his hand.
“Grabbing the wheel is dangerous,” Mu Lantu said calmly.
Smack! Deng Tianyu slapped his son across the face. “How much longer are you going to make trouble? Do you not care about the lives of everyone in this car?”
Clutching his arm, Deng Zhiqi cried, “Dad, tell him to stop! That was my high school classmate just now! If we don’t save her, she’ll die!”
Mu Lantu sneered inwardly. There weren’t even zombies around them—how exactly would she die?
“Mind your own business!” Deng Tianyu was exhausted. He’d never hit his son before, but today he couldn’t hold back.
“You’re too cold-blooded, Dad!” Deng Zhiqi stared in disbelief.
Deng Tianyu closed his eyes.
Deng Zhiqi lunged for the wheel again. “Stop the car!”
Has he gone mad?
Mu Lantu gripped the steering wheel tightly.
“Deng Zhiqi! Enough of this nonsense!” Deng Tianyu roared, dragging him back with both hands.
Terrified, Deng Zhixuan forgot her crying and dove into Wen Yushu’s arms. “Mom, I’m scared!”
Wen Yushu held her tightly. “Zhiqi, it’s dangerous! Stop it!”
“If you don’t stop, I’ll keep going!” Deng Zhiqi howled. “I told you, that was my classmate! I can’t just watch her die!”
Mu Lantu was sorely tempted to knock him out. That would save everyone a lot of trouble.
He asked mildly, “Professor Deng, what do you think?”
Deng Tianyu couldn’t really throw his son out of the car. After some hesitation, he said, “There should still be space in the van behind us. Why not pick them up?”
Deng Zhiqi brightened instantly.
“Thanks, Dad!”
Mu Lantu frowned slightly but turned the SUV around.
“What now?” Zhang Xinshuo muttered as he drove, forced to follow.
The truck behind trailed along too, equally puzzled.
By the roadside, Duan Yafu and her father Duan Tao were about to give up after yet another failed attempt at flagging down help. When they heard the roar of an engine approaching, it was like the sound of heaven.
“Yafu!”
Duan Yafu stared in surprise at the boy leaping from the SUV, grinning as he ran toward her. “Deng Zhiqi?”
Chin raised proudly, Deng Zhiqi declared, “Yafu, get in the car. These people are here to take my dad to the Capital. Come with us. We’re old classmates—I’ll take good care of you.”
Duan Yafu, flustered, grabbed her father’s wrist. “Deng Zhiqi, this is my dad. I have to stay with him. Is that okay?”
Instantly standing straight, Deng Zhiqi looked every bit the polite young man. “So this is Uncle Duan. Hello, Uncle! No problem at all. You two can ride in the van—I’ll go with you.”
Deng Tianyu and Wen Yushu both felt a pang in their chests. Their son had never once shown them such politeness.
“No.” Mu Lantu got out of the car, smiling faintly at Deng Zhiqi. “Your classmate and her father can sit in the van. You stay in the SUV.”
“Why?” Deng Zhiqi sneered. “Are you ordering me around?”
“You’re unwilling?” Mu Lantu asked evenly.
“That’s right!” Deng Zhiqi grabbed Duan Yafu’s hand. “What’s wrong with me riding in the same car as her? Mu Lantu, remember your place! You were sent by the Capital’s leadership to fetch my dad. That makes you my dad’s bodyguard, his subordinate. Who are you to order me?”
Mu Lantu chuckled softly. “You’re not entirely wrong. I am your father’s bodyguard, his subordinate—but not yours. Satisfied with that answer?”
Feeling the tension rise, Deng Tianyu didn’t intervene. He didn’t let Wen Yushu intervene either. He even had the presence of mind to unwrap a small bun and eat it.
Deng Zhiqi’s handsome face flushed crimson. “You—!”
Duan Tao, realizing things were about to turn ugly, hurriedly said, “It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ll ride in the van. Young man, you should get back in your car. Thank you, thank you all!”
He pulled his daughter toward the van.
Deng Zhiqi scoffed and moved to follow.
Mu Lantu clamped a hand on his shoulder, still smiling. “Zhang Xinshuo, lock the doors. We’ve wasted enough time.”
“Got it!”
Xu Huazhang opened the SUV door. Mu Lantu gave a gentle push, and Deng Zhiqi stumbled inside. Xu Huazhang grabbed him and hauled him in.
“Deng Zhiqi, we haven’t gotten in yet!” Duan Yafu cried in shock.
Cold sweat broke out on Duan Tao’s forehead. “This… classmate Deng…”
Mu Lantu slammed on the gas, and the SUV shot forward.
“Mu Lantu! How dare you—!”
Deng Zhiqi tried the same stunt again, but Xu Huazhang tapped a point on his neck. Deng Zhiqi collapsed instantly.
“What happened to him?”
Startled, Deng Tianyu and Wen Yushu rushed to support him.
Xu Huazhang said calmly, “Relax. Just a pressure point.”
“Pressure point? Really?” Deng Tianyu asked doubtfully.
Mu Lantu smiled. “Don’t worry. He’ll just sleep for a while. When he wakes up, he’ll feel even better.”
Wen Yushu quietly checked her son’s pulse. It was normal.
“Old Deng, let him sleep. He’s been raising hell all day. If he’s not tired, I am.”
Deng Tianyu gave a bitter laugh and nodded. “Alright.”
Meanwhile, in the truck, Li Ziqiang told Song Hansheng, “Let them in.”
“Brother Qiang, you’re really bringing them along?” Song Hansheng asked in confusion.
“Idiot! Don’t you get it? As long as we keep clashing with those people, we’ll find an opening.”
“Got it!” Song opened the door with a friendly smile. “You two, we’re traveling with them. Want to hop in?”
Duan Tao quickly pulled Duan Yafu aboard. “Thank you, thank you!”
Watching this, Mu Lantu felt his guard rise a notch higher.
“The father and daughter got into the van,” Wen Yushu said softly. “That’s fine. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. As long as they don’t cling to Zhiqi, let them be.” She understood her son’s thoughts all too well. With the long road to the Capital ahead, it was better not to stir up more trouble.
You’re too optimistic, Mu Lantu thought.
Xu Huazhang said, “Professor Deng, Teacher Wen, we don’t know much about the people in the truck. To ensure Zhiqi’s safety, we won’t let him out of our sight. I hope you understand.”
“I understand,” Deng Tianyu said.
After seeing Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang’s skills firsthand, he trusted them far more than the people in the van.
*
At noon, the convoy pulled over.
Deng Zhiqi woke up, glaring hatefully at Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang as he remembered what had happened.
Mu Lantu ignored him, speaking respectfully to Deng Tianyu and Wen Yushu. “Professor Deng, Teacher Wen, please wait here a moment. I’ll go check into those people’s background. Once I’m sure it’s safe, you can get out and stretch.”
“Alright, you decide.”
Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang got out, locking the SUV doors.
Seething, Deng Zhiqi complained to his father, “Dad, I think they’re not here to escort us at all—they’re treating us like prisoners!”
If not for fear of another tantrum, Deng Tianyu wouldn’t have bothered replying. “I saw their credentials. I’ve seen that kind before, long ago. They’re real. Behave yourself.”
“Brother Qiang, Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang are coming over,” Song Hansheng warned.
Li Ziqiang touched his pistol. “They really aren’t afraid of death?”
Mu Lantu knocked on the door.
Li Ziqiang looked down at him. “What do you want?”
“Papers?” Mu Lantu asked bluntly.
Feigning confusion, Li Ziqiang said, “What papers? A driver’s license?”
“So none, then.” Mu Lantu lifted his gun. “Will you leave on your own, or should I kill you right here?”
Li Ziqiang exploded. “Aren’t you afraid my people will kill you first?”
Mu Lantu’s tone was cool. “Huazhang and I are confident in our marksmanship. Want to test it?”
His overwhelming aura made Li Ziqiang hesitate. Not out of fear, but because he wanted to think of a better plan.
“Mu Lantu, Xu Huazhang, is it? I’ll remember you. Let’s go!”
At his order, the truck roared back to life, angrily overtook both van and SUV, and disappeared down the highway within minutes.
Mu Lantu opened the SUV door with a smile. “Professor Deng, you can come out now. Rest a bit and eat something.”
The Deng family of four hurried out, eager to stretch after sitting all morning.
After moving around for a while, Wen Yushu prepared self-heating rice meals. They had rice, vegetables, and, if that wasn’t enough, canned goods too. Not as good as before the apocalypse, but far better than gnawing on dry crackers at home.
The family devoured their meals ravenously.
This time, Deng Zhiqi wasn’t completely stupid—he avoided the meat dishes and ate the vegetarian self-heating rice.
Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang ate heartily as well, pairing self-heating rice with spicy hotpot.
Zhang Xinshuo and the others got out too. Their food wasn’t as luxurious, but still decent—meat-stuffed flatbreads with canned goods.
As players, their lives were already precarious. Any dungeon mission could kill them. Whenever possible, they ate well.
Li Yangqiu even splurged on a bottle of cola, pouring each companion a small cup.
“This trip’s going pretty smoothly. If it keeps up like this, at our pace, we’ll reach the Capital in at most three days!” Ma Yueyue said happily.
Zhang Xinshuo cautioned gravely, “We can’t let our guard down.”
