Chapter 54: Lovers in Chaotic Times
The two of them carried an old aluminum pot, constantly weaving through the city.
Qi Xia had never imagined that a city without lights could be even darker than the wilderness.
After walking for just over ten minutes, the sky had sunk into silence like ink dripping into water.
The rustling sounds of insects around them echoed back and forth, making Qi Xia restless.
"Lin Qin, are you still there?" Qi Xia asked.
"I'm still here," Lin Qin replied. "Walk a little slower, be careful not to fall."
"We can't afford to go any slower." Qi Xia looked at the sky. "We can barely see the road now. We need to get to the convenience store as soon as possible. Grab my clothes."
Lin Qin nodded and reached out to grab Qi Xia's clothes.
Relying on their memory, the two walked for another twenty minutes or so before finally arriving at the square where they had first descended.
Luckily, the area was open with a clear view, so they could roughly make out the outline.
Entering the square and heading east, they saw a shop with a flickering fire inside.
That should be the convenience store.
"They started a fire..." Lin Qin said doubtfully. "How did they find a source of fire?"
As soon as she said that, she understood. There was a female shop assistant in the store. When the others met her, she was already starting a fire to cook. They probably borrowed the fire source from her.
The two advanced through the darkness toward the light and finally arrived at the entrance of the convenience store.
What struck them as strange was that the bull-headed man who had been standing at the restaurant across from the convenience store was now gone.
"Officer Li, Lawyer Zhang, are you here?" Lin Qin tentatively asked. "Xiao Ran? Dr. Zhao?"
There was clearly movement coming from inside the store, but no one answered.
"What's going on?"
Lin Qin was about to go inside when Qi Xia pulled her back.
"Stay back. I'll go in first," he said to her in a low voice.
Accompanied by the rustling sounds of insects, the two entered the store.
But just as Qi Xia stepped through the door, a wooden plank came flying straight at his face.
Fortunately, Qi Xia was on guard and quickly dodged backward, narrowly avoiding the deadly strike.
"Ah...!" Lin Qin gasped and quickly steadied Qi Xia. "Are you okay?"
Only then did they see that the person holding the wooden plank was none other than Dr. Zhao, with Xiao Ran standing behind him.
Dr. Zhao looked at Qi Xia, then at Lin Qin, and squeezed out a faint smile. "Ah! It's you two... I thought it was someone else..."
Qi Xia studied the pair carefully, a look of confusion on his face.
Dr. Zhao was wearing nothing but a white lab coat, not even shoes. He had wrapped the lab coat around himself like a trench coat, his expression extremely unnatural.
Behind him, Xiao Ran had disheveled hair and messy clothes, her makeup smudged.
The two of them were clinging tightly to each other like a couple that had just been mugged.
Qi Xia could more or less figure out what was going on, but he didn't understand why it had happened.
"Qi, Qi Xia, don't misunderstand..." Dr. Zhao said with a fawning smile. "Xiao Ran said she seemed to be injured, so I was helping her check."
"What do you need to explain to him for?!" Xiao Ran elbowed Dr. Zhao. "Stammering like that, are you even a man?"
Qi Xia shook his head. "I don't want to get involved in your business. Where are Officer Li and Lawyer Zhang?"
"Ah..." Dr. Zhao put on another awkward smile. "They went out during the day to survey the surrounding area and haven't come back yet."
"What?" Qi Xia frowned. "Still not back yet?"
The sky was now completely dark. Officer Li had said he would investigate the nearby area, so it was unlikely they would stay out overnight.
If they still hadn't returned, could they be dead?
Or... were these two lying?
Qi Xia slowly walked into the room and looked around.
Although the floor was still very dirty, there were no signs of fresh blood or signs of a struggle.
A faint campfire burned inside the room, and not far away lay Han Yimo's corpse, giving the atmosphere a strange mix of intimacy and eeriness.
Qi Xia turned back to look at the two who looked guilty, and slowly asked, "Aren't you a team? It's already dark and they haven't come back. Instead of worrying, you have the leisure to fool around here?"
"Well... worrying won't help either," Dr. Zhao said. "It's so dark, we can't go out to look for them. We'll have to wait until dawn..."
"What business is it of yours?!" Xiao Ran shouted angrily. "When did the people in our team become your concern?"
Qi Xia didn't answer. He walked over to the staff break room and gently pushed the door open.
Inside, the female shop assistant was squatting in the corner, facing the wall, mumbling something to herself.
It seemed she had been there the whole time without moving.
Qi Xia closed the door and turned back to look at Dr. Zhao. After all, Dr. Zhao was still somewhat reasonable to talk to.
"Is the 'Way' still here?" Qi Xia asked.
"Well..." Dr. Zhao's expression clearly showed guardedness. "Qi Xia, what exactly did you come here for?"
"I came to borrow the 'Way'," Qi Xia said. "The 'Way' that was left here during the day. I want to borrow it for a while and I'll pay it back double afterward."
"Borrow the 'Way'?" Dr. Zhao thought for a moment, then looked at Qi Xia's even dirtier clothes, stained with a few traces of blood. "What about your own 'Ways'? What about that gangster and the prostitute?"
"They have names," Lin Qin suddenly spoke up. "Don't call them that."
"Oh..." Dr. Zhao nodded perfunctorily.
"What a prude..." Xiao Ran wrapped her clothes tighter and stepped forward. "Don't tell me they went to participate in a game and died?"
Qi Xia's face darkened, and he nodded slightly. "Something like that."
"Ha!" Xiao Ran let out an angry laugh, her face filled with mockery. "Weren't you so confident about collecting three thousand six hundred 'Ways' to leave this place? Now that you've gotten your teammates killed, you come to borrow our 'Ways'?"
Qi Xia raised his eyelids and looked at the woman, saying flatly, "That may be the case, but I suggest you watch your mouth."
Dr. Zhao quickly stepped in to mediate. "Alright, alright, let's all talk nicely..."
He then turned to Qi Xia. "It's not that we don't want to lend it to you, but Officer Li took the 'Way' with him..."
"Took it?" Qi Xia paused.
"That's right." Dr. Zhao pointed at the restaurant across the street. "After you left, the two of them went there to participate in a game. It looks like they won. After that, they went somewhere else."
Qi Xia followed Dr. Zhao's finger and soon noticed a problem. "What do you mean 'it looks like'? You're this close, and you don't even know if they won or not?"
"Well..." Dr. Zhao forced a few dry laughs. "Originally, Xiao Ran didn't want them to take the 'Way' out, but Officer Li insisted on going to check it out... They had different views and had a fight. We couldn't exactly ask them, so we just let them go. After all, who would want to join them in such a suicidal venture?"
"Let... them go?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Xia's eyes flew wide open. He grabbed Dr. Zhao by the collar with great force.
"Hey?!"
Xiao Ran was stunned for a moment, then rushed at Qi Xia. "What do you think you're doing?!"
Qi Xia sidestepped and stuck out his foot, tripping Xiao Ran. She fell flat on her face into the filth on the ground.
Qi Xia took a deep breath and said to Dr. Zhao through gritted teeth, "I've been polite to you out of respect for Officer Li, but you two actually split up?!"