Chapter 54: Men and Women in Chaotic Times
The two of them hugged an old aluminum pot and kept moving through the city.
Qi Xia had never imagined that a city without lights could be even darker than the wilderness.
After just over ten minutes of walking, the sky became as quiet as if ink had dripped into it.
The rustling sounds of insects echoed all around, making Qi Xia restless and irritable.
"Lin Qin, are you still here?" Qi Xia asked.
"I'm still here," Lin Qin replied. "Walk slower, be careful not to fall."
"We can't go any slower." Qi Xia glanced at the sky. "We can barely see the road now. We need to get to the convenience store as soon as possible. Grab hold of my clothes."
Lin Qin nodded and reached out to grab Qi Xia's clothing.
Relying on their memory, they walked for another twenty minutes before finally arriving at the plaza where they had first descended.
Fortunately, the area was open and they could roughly make out the outlines.
Entering the plaza and heading east, they saw a store with a fire burning inside.
That should be the convenience store.
"They made a fire..." Lin Qin was puzzled. "How did they find a source of fire?"
As she finished speaking, she understood. There was a female clerk in the store. When the group first met her, she was already cooking a fire, so they probably borrowed the fire source from her.
The two advanced toward the firelight in the pitch-black darkness and finally arrived at the convenience store entrance.
What struck them as strange was that the restaurant across from the convenience store, which had originally been guarded by a bull-headed figure, was now empty.
"Officer Li, Lawyer Zhang, are you in there?" Lin Qin cautiously called out. "Xiao Ran? Dr. Zhao?"
There was clearly some noise coming from inside, but no one answered.
"What's going on?"
Just as Lin Qin was about to go in and check, Qi Xia grabbed her.
"Stay back, I'll go first," he whispered to her.
Accompanied by the rustling insect noises, they entered the store.
But the moment Qi Xia stepped through the door, a wooden board came flying straight at his face.
Fortunately, Qi Xia was on guard. He quickly dodged backward, narrowly avoiding the deadly blow.
"Ah...!" Lin Qin gasped and quickly steadied Qi Xia. "Are you okay?"
Only then did they see that the person wielding the wooden board inside was none other than Dr. Zhao, followed by Xiao Ran.
Dr. Zhao looked at Qi Xia, then at Lin Qin, and squeezed out a forced smile. "Oh! It's you two... I thought it was someone else..."
Qi Xia carefully studied them, a hint of confusion on his face.
Dr. Zhao was naked under his white coat, not even wearing shoes. He had wrapped the white coat around himself like a trench coat, his expression very unnatural.
Behind him, Xiao Ran had disheveled hair and messy clothes, her makeup smudged.
They were clinging together like a young couple who had been robbed.
Qi Xia could roughly guess what was going on, but he didn't know why it had happened.
"Qi, Qi Xia, don't misunderstand..." Dr. Zhao said with an ingratiating smile. "Xiao Ran said she might be injured, so I was checking her over."
"What are you explaining to him?!" Xiao Ran jabbed Dr. Zhao with her elbow. "Stammering like that, are you even a man?"
Qi Xia shook his head. "I don't want to get involved in your affairs. Where are Officer Li and Lawyer Zhang?"
"Ah..." Dr. Zhao put on an embarrassed smile again. "They went out during the day to scout the area, and they still haven't come back."
"What?" Qi Xia frowned. "Still haven't come back?"
The sky was now completely dark. Officer Li had said he would investigate the nearby area, so it was unlikely the two would stay out overnight.
If they hadn't returned yet, could they be dead?
Or perhaps... these two were lying?
Qi Xia slowly walked into the room and looked around.
Although the floor was still very dirty, there was no fresh blood or signs of a struggle.
A weak campfire burned inside, and not far away lay Han Yimo's corpse, making the atmosphere both ambiguous and eerie.
Qi Xia turned back to the two who looked guilty, and slowly asked, "Aren't you a team? The two of them haven't returned after dark, and instead of worrying, you're here playing around?"
"Well... worrying won't help," Dr. Zhao said. "It's so dark, we can't go out and search. 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 employee break room and gently pushed the door open.
Inside, the female clerk was crouched in the corner, facing the wall, mumbling something to herself.
It seemed she had been there the whole time and hadn't moved.
Qi Xia closed the door and turned back to Dr. Zhao, who was at least somewhat reasonable.
"Is the 'Dao' still here?" Qi Xia asked.
"Well..." Dr. Zhao's expression was clearly guarded. "Qi Xia, why exactly are you here?"
"I'm here to borrow the 'Dao'," Qi Xia said. "The 'Dao' that was left here during the day. I want to borrow it for a while, and I'll repay it double later."
"Borrow the 'Dao'?" 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 'Dao'? And that thug and prostitute?"
"They have names," Lin Qin suddenly spoke up. "Don't call them that."
"Oh..." Dr. Zhao nodded perfunctorily.
"What a hypocrite..." Xiao Ran wrapped her clothes tighter and stepped forward. "They didn't go participate in a game and die, did they?"
Qi Xia's face was heavy, and he nodded slightly. "Something like that."
"Ha!" Xiao Ran laughed angrily, a mocking look on her face. "Weren't you so confident about collecting three thousand six hundred 'Dao' to leave here? Now that you've gotten your teammates killed, you come to borrow our 'Dao'?"
Qi Xia raised his eyelids and looked at the woman, speaking indifferently. "While that is indeed the situation, I suggest you stop right there."
Dr. Zhao quickly stepped in to mediate. "Alright, alright, let's 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 'Dao' with him..."
"Took it?" Qi Xia paused.
"That's right." Dr. Zhao pointed at the restaurant across the street. "After you left, they went there to participate in a game. It seems they won. Then they went somewhere else."
Qi Xia followed Dr. Zhao's finger and quickly spotted a problem. "What do you mean 'it seems they won'? You're so close, and you don't even know if they won or not?"
"Well..." Dr. Zhao wrinkled his face and let out a dry laugh. "Originally, Xiao Ran didn't want them to take the 'Dao' out, but Officer Li insisted on checking it out... They had a disagreement and argued. We couldn't exactly go ask, so we just let them go. After all, who would want to go on a suicide mission with them?"
"Let... them go?"
Qi Xia's eyes widened instantly. He grabbed Dr. Zhao by the collar with considerable force.
"Hey?!"
Xiao Ran was stunned and immediately lunged at Qi Xia. "What are you doing?!"
Qi Xia sidestepped and stuck out his foot, tripping Xiao Ran, who fell flat on her face, landing a perfect "dog eating mud" in the filthy dirt.
Qi Xia took a deep breath and said fiercely to Dr. Zhao, "I've been treating you politely out of respect for Officer Li, but you actually went and split up?!"