RIACMET chapter 212

 

“…”

Gao Xuyang glanced at them all, moving slightly stiffly. His gaze settled on Yang Kai. To be honest, he looked a little creepy.

But Yang Kai wasn’t afraid, and his teammates remained calm as they observed.

“…”

After a while, Gao Xuyang pressed his thin fingers against his chest and slowly said two words in a stiff voice.

“Yang… Kai.”

“Yes! It’s me, Teacher Gao. You—”

Yang Kai stepped forward joyfully but then heard Gao Xuyang continue slowly.

“The rest… I don’t remember.”

He had been in a daze, only recently regaining his awareness. His head was a chaotic mess of information, and the only thing he clearly remembered was the name of the person in front of him—Yang Kai. He had no memory of anything else or anyone else.

Moreover, his limbs, mouth, and other body parts now moved sluggishly. There seemed to be a disconnect between his brain and body, making coordination difficult. He clearly needed time to adjust and recover.

“It’s alright. You don’t need to think too hard. Just relax. We’ll help you remember everything…”

Yang Kai stopped, feeling a bit disappointed. Still, this was the best possible outcome.

Gao Xuyang didn’t reply. Instead, he turned to Jiang Nian and said,

“I don’t like your superpower. Don’t use it.”

Jiang Nian raised his hand and nodded.

“Alright, alright. I won’t use it as long as Teacher Gao doesn’t throw us into another illusion.”

Gao Xuyang nodded stiffly, then fell silent for a moment. He struggled to put together a sentence.

“We were having dinner. Would you like to join us?”

With that, he opened the doors wide and walked in. Yang Kai followed close behind.

“There’s no need, Teacher Gao. We have to leave this place soon…”

His teammates carefully scanned the surroundings as they followed.

“Is this polite of the zombie king?”

Huang Qian was surprised—and a little unsettled.

Was this some kind of outlier for the zombie king group?

Or was their impression of “zombie kings” just too stereotypical?

Maybe this devout “former zombie king” was just a rookie who hadn’t figured things out yet.

Liao Yu chimed in softly:

“Sister Qian, I’m telling you, this kind of zombie king is exactly the kind of character you’d find as the lead in a movie, drama, or novel.”

Huang Qian gave him a look.

“The young master’s hobbies really do span a lot of genres.”

Liao Yu nodded proudly.

“Exactly. Ever since the apocalypse hit, options have become limited. I became omnivorous. I’ve read all kinds of Mary Sue novels[mfn]A “Mary Sue novel” is a story where the main character is a Mary Sue. A Mary Sue is a character who is overly idealized or perfect, often without realistic flaws or weaknesses. They are usually extremely talented, beautiful, or admired by everyone, and the story often bends in their favor.[/mfn]—titles so long that you forget how they start.”

“… ”

Huang Qian’s face twitched, and she glanced at Zhao Lei with an expression that defied description.

Zhao Lei wisely chose to stay silent.

Tang Ji whispered nervously,

“Even though Teacher Gao is still handsome and polite as a corpse, I think Brother Kai should be careful…”

Jiang Nian replied calmly.

“It’s fine. I’m here. As long as your neck doesn’t break, it’s not a big deal. I can treat the infection. If you’re really injured, Brother Chu’s place has a lab. They’re bound to have high-end first aid gear.”

Chu Yi didn’t deny it. He admired how Jiang Nian could calculate everything so clearly in just one line.

Suddenly, Jian Cheng had an idea.

“But what if they, you know, get intimate?”

“Shut it!”

Before he could finish, Cheng Jing cut him off and warned,

“If Yang Kai ever uses his superpower to wipe that mouth of yours off your face, I won’t be responsible.”

This guy was seriously dumb!

Lu Ningzhou learned to mend the knife with a flat mouth on the side.

“A platypus?”

Cheng Jing: “…”

Now, it was Zhao Lei’s turn to look at Huang Qian. She pursed her lips and said,

“All right. Let’s not say dumb things about each other.”

“My bad, Brother Cheng. I was just worried about Brother Kai. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Jian Cheng rubbed his nose and closed his mouth. Tang Yi and Zhou Rongbin, who also enjoyed the team’s gossip sessions, shot him two regretful yet encouraging glances.

For these three single guys, hearing rumors about their teammates had become one of the daily joys.

“…”

Behind the door was a large, specially renovated room.

In the middle, a group of women and children in tattered clothes sat on fraying, dirty straw mats. Each person had a meal in front of them—either bread or instant noodles soaked in cold water—and large cardboard boxes for trash beside them.

Behind them, near the wall, stood three massive barrels of water. In the dimly lit corner, there was a makeshift toilet with a curtain.

There were no beds or furniture. Two low-powered fans blew faintly. Compared to the heat above ground, it was relatively cool in here, but there was still a faint sour stench in the air.

As soon as they saw what was inside, the people eating looked up with numb, wary eyes and instinctively reached for their food to guard it.

“Eat…they won’t take it.”

Gao Xuyang, sitting in a far corner away from the group, spoke up. The tense people relaxed slightly and continued eating.

Huang Qian, the only woman in the squad, took the initiative to ask about the situation.

There were 28 survivors in total: 16 women, three of whom were pregnant, about five or six months along. They were painfully thin, and their stomachs were just starting to show under their worn clothes.

There were also 12 children, five girls and seven boys between eight and ten years old. They were pale and skinny like little monkeys.

The women were not related to the children. Locking them together like this made it easier to manage and monitor them without worrying about any of them endangering the children.

When they learned that Huang Qian and the others were from an official rescue squad, a flicker of hope returned to their dull eyes. Then, overwhelmed with joy, they began to cry. They put down their food, embraced each other tightly, and cried with all their might.

Hearing their sobs, everyone present felt deeply uncomfortable. Jiang Nian quietly took stock of the situation and noticed that something was off. He asked:

“Weren’t there supposed to be thirty normal survivors? Where are the other two?”

As they wondered if the two missing people were Qi Lao’er’s wife and child, a pregnant woman wiped her tears and spoke up.

“Teacher Gao said that Qi Lao’er and his gang aren’t coming back. We killed his wife and son and piled their heads with the zombies.”

A short, skinny woman picked up where she left off.

“Qi Lao’er and his gang did horrible things. His wife and child benefited from it but still stirred up trouble. They never treated us like humans. They had it coming.”

“… ”

Others followed, recounting the cruel crimes of Qi Lao’er’s group. Every word was filled with gritted teeth and undisguised hatred.

Even the children’s once-innocent faces showed clear disgust and burning resentment.

Everyone—except Gao Xuyang and the children—had participated in killing Qi Lao’er’s wife and son. There wasn’t any particularly noble reason.

It was simply because of Qi Lao’er.

Qi Lao’er and his men had murdered their loved ones—partners, siblings, and friends—and locked them in here. They used the victims as bait however they pleased.

To prevent the women from menstruating, they were given pills and injections.

Besides being used as bait, the child was treated like food for those beasts.

The three pregnant women were locked in a special room. Qi Lao’er promised their unborn children as “treats” to a perverted couple to “try.”

In truth, many others had been imprisoned here before. Some were eaten, and some took their own lives, unable to endure the humiliation.

The survivors, including the children, had no choice but to cling to their hatred, hoping that one day they could take revenge with their own hands. Or die like Second Brother.

So, when Gao Xuyang began hunting those with superpowers, they were elated.

So what if Qi Lao’er had given them food?

He and his crew were rotten to the core!

When Gao Xuyang told them that Qi Lao’er and his accomplices would never return, they destroyed the room where his wife and child were staying and killed them. Gao Xuyang never stopped them from beginning to end.

With Gao Xuyang’s help, they took all the food from Qi Lao’er’s storage.

There were still many supplies left in the warehouse.