LCFM Chapter 42

When Kang Cheng arrived with his team, the skeleton monster that had fallen from the sky had already torn open the partition. Its fingers, covered with nothing more than a thin layer of skin, were mere millimeters away from the two people inside.

“Duck!” Kang Cheng’s voice rang out.

Fu Yan pressed Jiang Xinghuai down, burying him beneath the seat.

——A few deafening gunshots followed. The skeleton monster froze mid-motion, then lost all strength and collapsed backward.

Fu Yan kicked open the car door and half-carried Jiang Xinghuai out of the vehicle.

Jiang Xinghuai was panting heavily, his limbs weak. Even leaning against Fu Yan, he could barely stay standing.

“What’s with you? Scared like that?” Kang Cheng jumped down from the car, gun in hand, grinning as he reached out to ruffle Jiang Xinghuai’s head. But as he came closer, he noticed the unnatural amount of blood on both of them, especially on Jiang Xinghuai.

Kang Cheng’s eyes narrowed. His right hand swiftly moved toward his holster, while the other made a stop gesture to the teammates approaching from the vehicle behind. “Who got bitten?”

“It’s my nosebleed,” Jiang Xinghuai quickly explained.

“Relax. No one’s been bitten,” Fu Yan said with a frown. “Where is Academician Qian?”

“Academician Qian has already evacuated with the main group. We’re in charge of staying behind for the demolition.” Kang Cheng studied them for a moment, then holstered his weapon and stepped forward. Looking at Jiang Xinghuai’s face—pale, utterly devoid of color—he frowned. “What’s wrong with him? Why is he bleeding so much?”

“He suddenly started losing a large amount of blood. I can’t determine the cause,” Fu Yan replied, then added, “I need to see Academician Qian.”

“Captain! They’re coming!” someone shouted anxiously.

In the wind came the faint sound of something. It was the rapid, pounding footsteps of a predator closing in.

“Get in the car, now!” Kang Cheng barked an order.

Fu Yan scooped Jiang Xinghuai up in his arms and ran toward the bus.

The bus spun around and sped off wildly.

Kang Cheng climbed onto the roof, sniping at the mutants rushing toward the sound while shouting, “Faster! We’re running out of time!”

Running out of time for what? Jiang Xinghuai looked up at Fu Yan.

“Kang Cheng said they stayed behind to set off the explosives,” Fu Yan whispered to him.

It was too dark inside the vehicle to tell how many people there were. Jiang Xinghuai turned his head toward the window. The heavy rain hadn’t stopped. Behind that dense, pitch-black curtain of rain, elongated humanoid shadows flickered now and then, like bio-mutants straight out of a movie.

The bus sped on. Before long, the destroyed section of the electric fence came into view, along with a massive horde of the infected.

They were blocking the exit!

“Turn left!” Kang Cheng shouted, then leapt down from the roof, slammed the sunroof shut, and roared, “Hold on tight!”

The driver spun the wheel frantically and slammed down the accelerator. The engine roared as the vehicle surged forward again. Everyone’s backs were pressed hard against their seats, hands gripping the armrests with white knuckles, eyes wide open as the bus charged straight into the sea of corpses.

In that one second, time seemed to stretch, drawn out and slowed to an unbearable crawl.

Everyone could clearly see it: shattered limbs of the infected, and the murky yellow blood—soft and sticky like cream—splattering, smearing across the windshield right before their eyes.

The next second—! The car’s massive headlights burst out from the depths of hell.

“Bang!”

——The vehicle hit the ground!

Vomiting sounds came from the back of the bus. Before anyone could recover from the suffocating shock of the splattered corpses—

“One—two—” Kang Cheng shouted, “Three—! Heads down, eyes closed!”

In that instant, everyone’s ears went silent.

A blazing, fiery-red bloom erupted behind them with a thunderous boom. The bus kept speeding forward, riding the shockwave, quickly pulling away until that towering mushroom cloud was far behind them.

Jiang Xinghuai, stunned, turned to look back. Fu Yan reached over and pushed his head forward. “Watch your eyes.”

Jiang Xinghuai sniffed, then wiped at his nose. The bleeding had completely stopped.

He lifted his face, signaling Fu Yan to look.

They were very close. So close that Fu Yan misunderstood his intention and bent down, pressing a brief kiss to the tip of his nose.

Jiang Xinghuai: “!”

“Mm?” Fu Yan hummed when he didn’t move.

Gritting his teeth, Jiang Xinghuai shut his eyes and leaned up to kiss back. But the car jolted, and his lips landed on Fu Yan’s chin instead.

“The rain’s stopped,” Fu Yan said.

At his words, Jiang Xinghuai turned toward the window. The heavy downpour that had raged outside was slowly coming to an end.

The bus ride gradually began to smooth out. The dark clouds dispersed, and a soft, pale moonlight streamed in through the windows.

Now that they were far from danger, the inside of the bus was still silent. Even quieter than before.

No one spoke.

Kang Cheng cleared his hoarse throat, swept his gaze across the bus, paused for a long moment, then said solemnly, “…Who just threw up on my foot?”

“…I’m sorry, uncle.” A little boy in the corner timidly raised his hand.

“It’s fine.” Kang Cheng’s stiff expression slowly relaxed into a smile. “…Call me big brother.”

It was around nine in the evening. Continuing forward would be too risky, so the bus stopped near a farmhouse. After Kang Cheng and his team cleared out a few scattered infected in the area, he instructed the remaining survivors on the bus to rest where they were.

When Jiang Xinghuai got off and looked around, he saw about twenty people in total. Five soldiers and—

Jiang Liangyuan’s group.

That was when Jiang Xinghuai suddenly remembered. Kang Cheng had been sent to capture Jiang Liangyuan.

So they really did catch him.

Jiang Liangyuan got off the bus holding a woman by the hand, the other hand clasping a small boy’s. When he saw Jiang Xinghuai, he froze for a second. Then his gaze shifted to Fu Yan standing beside him. His brows furrowed, and he immediately started walking toward them.

“Alright! Everyone, gather here!” Kang Cheng clapped his hands. “I’ve got one good news and one bad news to tell you!”

Fu Yan also spotted Jiang Liangyuan. He lowered his eyes to glance at Jiang Xinghuai, then took his hand and led him toward the back of the crowd.

“Still feeling unwell?” Fu Yan slipped an arm around his shoulders and bent down, speaking softly.

Jiang Xinghuai shook his head. He was feeling much better now. Aside from a bit of weakness in his limbs, that earlier all-over discomfort had completely disappeared.

“The good news is, we’re temporarily out of danger. The bad news is, we’re heading in the opposite direction from the main evacuation group. But that’s fine. Since there are fewer of us, we can move faster. We should be able to catch up with the main force by around four o’clock tomorrow afternoon.”

After Kang Cheng finished explaining their situation, he gave a brief summary:  “Tonight, we’ll rest here. If you have any questions, raise your hand… Good! Aside from Comrades Wang Qinhai and Jiang Liangyuan, everyone else can find a place to rest! If you need to leave this building, you must file a report first. Though honestly, I don’t recommend anyone go outside tonight.”

The group of more than twenty people immediately dispersed in a commotion.

Their temporary shelter was a two-story farmhouse whose owners were long gone. The house was clean and spacious enough. But with so many people moving in, it still felt cramped. A few men and women on the second floor even started arguing over a room.

“Will noodles do?” Fu Yan asked as he entered the kitchen first.

“Add two eggs,” Jiang Xinghuai replied, leaning against the doorframe. His eyes were fixed on the living room, where Kang Cheng was speaking sternly to Jiang Liangyuan and Wang Qinhai.

“Although your president met with an unfortunate incident during the chaos, every one of you who participated in this project bears inescapable responsibility. The disaster you’ve brought upon the lives and property of everyone in the military district is immeasurable. Specific disciplinary actions will be determined once we regroup with the main force—”

Jiang Liangyuan’s face was stiff, saying nothing. Wang Qinhai, however, grew anxious and blurted out, “Captain Kang! Those mutants weren’t brought here by us! We had no idea it would turn out like this. We just wanted to shut the electric grid down temporarily! Who could’ve known—”

“Comrade Wang Qinhai, you have the right to defend yourself, but not now.” Kang Cheng frowned and cut off his raised voice. “For now, I need you to compile a complete list of everyone who took part in this project and hand it to me.”

“Captain Kang! I—”

“Taozi!” Kang Cheng called out loudly.

“Here!” Lei Pengtao, who had just entered carrying food, immediately straightened up and saluted.

“What’s all that noise upstairs? Go take a look!” Kang Cheng ordered, then turned his head, scanning the room before heading in Jiang Xinghuai’s direction. As he walked, he added, “Comrade Wang Qinhai, I still have something to deal with. If you need paper and a pen, ask that private over there, the one wearing only one shoe.”

Jiang Xinghuai tilted his head slightly, watching as Kang Cheng stopped in front of him and started rummaging inside his chest pocket.

“Itchy?” Jiang Xinghuai asked.

Kang Cheng glared at him, then finally managed, with great effort, to pull out a pack of beef jerky. He handed it to him and said, eyeing his pale, bloodless face, “You can barely stand, and you still have the energy to joke.” Then he asked, “What happened?”

“What do you mean, what happened?” Jiang Xinghuai took the jerky and casually stuffed it into the pocket of the suit jacket Fu Yan had draped over his shoulders.

“Your nosebleed,” Kang Cheng said.

“I don’t know either,” Jiang Xinghuai said, instinctively sniffing again. “It just started out of nowhere. I thought I was going to die.”

“Don’t worry. Academician Qian is the country’s leading expert in hematologic diseases. He’ll definitely be able to treat you,” Kang Cheng said.

“Yeah.” Jiang Xinghuai nodded, his gaze unconsciously drifting toward the living room behind Kang Cheng.

Sensing the shift, Kang Cheng turned to look back. It was Jiang Liangyuan’s family.

He turned around again, looked at Jiang Xinghuai, thought for a moment, then sighed softly. “We can’t yet confirm whether your father was involved in the project, but even just being aware of it and cooperating counts as a crime.”

“…Oh.” Jiang Xinghuai nodded.

“You—” Kang Cheng started to say more, but Fu Yan came over just then, carrying a steaming bowl of hot noodles.

“There was only one egg left, so I sliced a tomato into it for you,” Fu Yan said to Jiang Xinghuai, then nodded toward Kang Cheng in greeting. “Captain Kang, would you like some?”

“No, no.” Kang Cheng rubbed his nose. “You two go ahead and eat. I still have something to take care of.”

He turned and walked away.

“Eat while it’s hot,” Fu Yan said, lifting a bite of noodles with his chopsticks and holding it up to Jiang Xinghuai’s lips.

Jiang Xinghuai opened his mouth and took it, cheeks puffing up slightly as he chewed. Talking with his mouth half full, he said, “Where are we sleeping later? All the rooms have been taken already. Two people almost started fighting over one just now.”

“Don’t talk while eating. Open your mouth,” Fu Yan said, feeding him another bite.

“Could you beat them?” Jiang Xinghuai asked obediently, opening his mouth again.

“Beat who?” Fu Yan looked confused.

“The ones fighting over the rooms,” Jiang Xinghuai mumbled around the noodles.

“You—”

“Jiang Xinghuai, come here.” Jiang Liangyuan’s voice came from across the room.

Jiang Xinghuai swallowed his noodles, looking unhappy. “Knew he’d come looking for me.”

“I don’t want to see him,” Jiang Xinghuai muttered.

“Then don’t,” Fu Yan said.

“But the more I think about how much I don’t want to see him, the more I really want to see him,” Jiang Xinghuai said with a mischievous grin.

Fu Yan: “……………”

“Want me to go with you?” Fu Yan asked, wiping the bit of soup from the corner of his mouth.

“Are you afraid of him?” Jiang Xinghuai said.

“Mm?” Fu Yan was momentarily stunned.

“Don’t be. He doesn’t count as your father-in-law,” Jiang Xinghuai patted his shoulder. “I don’t feel like acknowledging him right now anyway.”

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