Boundless – Chapter 55

After Shang Ci and Jiang Yao left, Lou Jiu checked Wen Qianshu’s back.

Wen Qianshu was lying prone on the bed when she heard her say, “Don’t do this again next time.”

Wen Qianshu feigned ignorance, “Do what?”

She suddenly felt some kind of liquid being poured onto her back and heard Lou Jiu say, “Brace yourself.”

Before Wen Qianshu could react, a sharp pain shot through her back. Lou Jiu had poured medicinal oil and was starting to rub away the bruises.

Wen Qianshu thought to herself that crying out in pain was indeed effective. Hadn’t she earned this?

She let Lou Jiu finish treating her, put on her clothes, and then watched as Lou Jiu packed everything away neatly.

As the other woman bent down to put away the medicine, the lines of her neck tensed. Wen Qianshu stared at that spot and suddenly asked, “Is it that bite mark?”

Lou Jiu froze, straightened up, and then nodded.

Wen Qianshu sat up, crossed her legs, and asked, “Did it hurt?”

Lou Jiu: “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Wen Qianshu: “Ah—so it did hurt before.”

She held out both hands and said, “Come here quickly. I’ll rub it for the past you.”

Lou Jiu: “That’s just twisted logic.”

But she still pulled her collar aside, revealing the bite mark on her shoulder. “It healed a long time ago.”

It was a solid imprint of teeth. From a distance, it had a slight aesthetic appeal, like a moon entwined with thorns. Up close, however, it was nothing but gruesome and horrifying.

Lou Jiu: “Is it scary?”

Wen Qianshu smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. “As long as a wound has healed, it’s not scary.”

Wen Qianshu moved closer to her and asked, “So, has it healed?”

It seemed like a redundant question. The old scar lay across her shoulder, looking for all the world like it had healed.

Lou Jiu lowered her eyes and said, “Probably.”

Wen Qianshu raised her arms and wrapped them around her neck. “Probably?”

Lou Jiu let her hug her, even lifting her up to place her further onto the bed. She got onto the bed herself, and seeing Wen Qianshu about to let go and lean back, she held the back of her neck and gently pressed her back into her embrace. “Don’t lie down, stay on your stomach. Don’t put pressure on your back.”

Wen Qianshu: “…”

She finally understood. In this day and age, the one with intentions could never win against the one without.

Wen Qianshu had thought Lou Jiu wouldn’t want to talk about it anymore, but to her surprise, after adjusting her position, Lou Jiu said calmly, “It’s probably healed. The more it heals, the more I hate him.”

Lou Jiu: “I don’t want to talk to him, I don’t want to acknowledge him. Sometimes, even when I see him drinking heavily, I don’t want to stop him. I just want to let him keep drinking—”

Until he drinks himself to death.

She didn’t say that last part out loud.

Zhou Qiming was a hero to countless people in the base. This was perhaps the last bit of respect she could afford him.

Sometimes she would stand beside Zhou Qiming, silently watching the drunken man, thinking how old he had truly become.

He was never very strong to begin with, and he could no longer grab her arm and drag her in front of that zombie like he did when she was a child, fanatically coaxing her, “Niannian, just one bite, it won’t be a problem—”

She had never been one to show her emotions, she didn’t cry or make much of a fuss, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t afraid.

She couldn’t even remember what that zombie looked like, only the gaping, bloody maw and the foul-smelling saliva that dripped onto her shoulder.

For a moment, her mind went blank.

In all her nightmares since, that zombie had Zhou Qiming’s face.

The face of her father, who used to buy her candy and diligently tutor her in math.

Wen Qianshu was silent, resting on her shoulder and looking at her. Lou Jiu’s gaze was fixed on the ceiling, her long lashes trembling. “And then I felt unwilling.”

Wen Qianshu: “Unwilling?”

“Yes,” Lou Jiu said. “Unwilling.”

She shifted her gaze back, her light-colored pupils looking at Wen Qianshu. “So I went to study medicine.”

“If the anti-zombie agent was paved with my life, with my mother’s life—then I hope it’s worth it.”

So she became a doctor, one of the few frontline doctors in the search teams. She had the highest grades in medical school, the highest cure rate.

Lou Yue’s death had pierced a hole in her heart. She needed to save many, many people, to use the many, many lives that should have been lost but were saved, to fill this hole.

Wen Qianshu leaned closer into her embrace and said, “Sister.”

Lou Jiu: “Hm?”

Wen Qianshu stared at her. “I’ll be with you from now on. You focus on saving people, and I’ll be in charge of fighting for you.”

Lou Jiu patted her on the side of her waist. “Just focus on healing your injury first.”

“That tickles!” Wen Qianshu shifted, then looked up. “By the way, do you know what’s really going on with Jiang Yin’s leg?”

“I’ve heard of Jiang Yin. She has trouble with her legs and uses a crutch all year round.” Lou Jiu shook her head. “But I don’t know the specifics. What’s wrong?”

Wen Qianshu: “Look into it when you have time. I feel like something’s not right.”

Lou Jiu: “Why do you say that?”

Wen Qianshu: “Because of Jiang Yao. Her attitude towards—”

She couldn’t find the right word for Zhou Qiming for a moment, but Lou Jiu filled it in, “My dad?”

Wen Qianshu: “Mhm, she used a term of respect.”

“She worships him.”

Jiang Yao believes whatever Zhou Qiming says. Given her current paranoid state where she’s suspicious of everything, would she trust someone so quickly?

Lou Jiu: “In the base, who wouldn’t worship the anti-zombie agent?”

Wen Qianshu: “But she came here with suspicion. If she didn’t suspect something was wrong, why would she break in?”

“Her attitude is too contradictory,” Wen Qianshu said. “And when I pressed her about Jiang Yin, she became extremely guarded.”

“Alright,” Lou Jiu said. “I’ll check tomorrow.”

Wen Qianshu smiled and tried to move, but Lou Jiu hooked an arm around her and pulled her back. “Watch your back.”

Wen Qianshu: “I’m just moving a little, it’s fine.”

“Besides, you can’t hold me down all night, can you?”

Lou Jiu pondered for a moment. “Sure I can.”

Wen Qianshu: “?”

2333 seized the opportunity to kick her while she was down. “Tsk tsk tsk, what do you call this? This is called shooting yourself in the foot.”

Wen Qianshu: “So there’s such a good thing?”

2333: “?”

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Shang Ci’s connections were indeed solid, and he worked very quickly, packing Wen Qianshu off to the training camp. And so, as a last-minute addition, she became—the only female in this batch?

As someone bent like a mosquito coil, Wen Qianshu was speechless, feeling like she had truly entered a den of “monks” this time. The trainees in the “monk” group were completely oblivious. They sized her up and said bluntly, “Great! Congratulations to our batch for having a girl. At least we won’t all be single now.”

Wen Qianshu smiled but didn’t reply.

2333 thought to itself, Brother, you’re overthinking it. You’ll be lucky if she doesn’t compete with you for girls.

But to be honest, the trainee leading the way was very handsome. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, thick eyebrows and eagle-like eyes, bearing a slight resemblance to Gao Bai.

The trainee said, “You’ve missed a lot of material, so you’ll have to catch up on your own after class. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask the instructor, or you can ask us too.”

After speaking, he even patted her shoulder. “Keep it up!”

Wen Qianshu subtly shifted her body away. “Okay.”

She smiled. “We’re all good brothers.”

The trainee: “Right, right—huh?”

Wen Qianshu: “Good sisters?”

The trainee: “Uh, no need, no need—Instructor Li!”

They arrived at the indoor section of the training camp. As far as the eye could see, there were all sorts of equipment and machinery: high-altitude frames, restraint ropes, shelter entrances and exits…

A person was standing in the center. Hearing them, he turned his head, originally with a smile, but he froze when he saw Wen Qianshu. “It’s you?”

Wen Qianshu: “Captain Li.”

It was the captain of Search Team 2, the same person who had come to pick up Team 5 before.

Li Shan looked her over and smiled. “So it’s you. I was wondering why Captain Flower Shang would come asking me for a favor. Oh, Captain Flower Shang is your captain’s nickname. You can call him that in the future too.”

2333: “…”

These guys were so mean.

The trainee who had led the way exclaimed in surprise, “Huh? Team 5 has already claimed her? What’s her role?”

Li Shan: “Scout.”

That trainee was astonished. “Why? Doesn’t Team 5 already have a girl?”

Li Shan: “Go and ask them if they’re willing to let Doctor Lou go. If they are, I’ll immediately issue you an outstanding graduate certificate and pull some strings for you. Forget just stuffing you into Team 5, I’d even juice you and pour you in.”

“Ha.” Li Shan clearly had an approachable style and blended in with the students, so much so that the trainee wasn’t afraid of him. “No way. If Doctor Lou left, who would still be willing to go to Team 5?”

Li Shan: “Hey, that’s not very ambitious.”

The trainee said righteously, “Doctor Lou is the ambition.”

“I know you like Doctor Lou the most,” Li Shan said. “Stop fooling around. Take the little lady to get familiar with the equipment.”

The trainee smiled and extended his hand. “Hello, my name is Song Zhicheng. The ‘zhicheng’ from ‘zhicheng zhixin,’ meaning utmost sincerity and faith. I’m also training to be a scout.”

Wen Qianshu glanced down at his hand, shook it, and then looked up with a smile—a very “amiable” smile. “Qin Shu. The ‘shu’ from ‘shuben,’ meaning book.”

Next, this terrifying woman named Wen Qianshu fully demonstrated her astonishing powers of observation and the results of her training in the Main God’s space. No matter how complex the equipment, after Song Zhicheng demonstrated it once, she could replicate it perfectly.

At first, only Li Shan was watching, but gradually, several assistant instructors gathered around, also looking up. Later, the trainees also gathered to watch.

Wen Qianshu leaped, her hand gripping the rope, swinging in a clean, beautiful arc to land steadily on the high-altitude frame. She stood up straight, let go of the rope, and looked down with a smile. “Like this, right?”

Song Zhicheng: “…”

“Yes, yes—” he asked with some difficulty, “Is this really your first time in a training camp?”

Wen Qianshu narrowed her eyes. “Of course.”

Shang Ci’s judgment was correct. A person like Wen Qianshu, had she entered the training camp through proper channels, would have been fought over upon graduation.

She was too strong.

Her memory, her acuity, her courage, allowed her to thrive in this kind of systematic training. While most people were still afraid of new equipment and needed assistance devices, she already dared to go on without any help.

At first, Song Zhicheng and the others were amazed, saying that as expected of a scout handpicked by Team 5, her agility was on another level.

But when it came to combat class, they couldn’t smile anymore.

Was this really a rookie?

Song Zhicheng raised his arm to block a kick from Wen Qianshu and asked sincerely, “Sister, do we have a grudge?”

Wen Qianshu: “I don’t think so.”

Song Zhicheng: “Then why are you only practicing with me?”

Wen Qianshu smiled. “You’re the only one I know.”

With that, she leaned back, her waist bending at a tricky angle, and swept her leg fiercely. The corner of Song Zhicheng’s eye twitched as he raised his arm and grabbed her ankle. “You—”

Before he could finish, she had already used the momentum to jump with her other leg, delivering a heavy kick.

Even though he was wearing protective gear, Song Zhicheng was still kicked back a step. Annoyed, he let go and pushed her, trying to make her fall. But she gracefully propped herself up with one arm, rolled on the ground to absorb the force, and stood up.

She even gave him a provocative smile.

Li Shan: “Not bad.”

Song Zhicheng’s face turned green. “Again!”

Wen Qianshu’s fighting style was hard to describe because she never had a fixed pattern. For the most part, she acted based on her opponent’s response. If her opponent restrained her, she would use the momentum to get closer. If her opponent pushed her away, she would use the momentum to create distance.

Everything was about going with the flow.

With her experience as Yan Chengshuang, her combat experience was incredibly rich. The number of counterattacks she knew was something Song Zhicheng couldn’t even imagine.

Moreover, Canglan Courtyard used water techniques, and Yan Chengquan loved to “use softness to overcome hardness.” Wen Qianshu had always paid attention to everything she could, and had long since studied Yan Chengquan’s methods inside and out.

Now that her strength was insufficient, she mimicked Yan Chengquan by using clever force, specifically targeting tricky and vicious spots, making it increasingly difficult for Song Zhicheng to defend himself.

2333 clicked its tongue twice as it watched her completely dominate the newbies in the training camp.

One day, two days, three days…

2333 couldn’t take it anymore. During Wen Qianshu’s break, it asked her, “Aren’t you going to ask about Jiang Yao’s situation?”

Wen Qianshu took off her restraint device, hung it on her ear, and tilted her head back to drink water.

A stray drop of water trickled down, tracing a path from her jaw, winding its way over the increasingly smooth lines of her neck and shoulders.

Wen Qianshu was actually very beautiful.

She had a sense of relaxation that was rare in the apocalypse. This had little to do with her identity as a repairer—after all, 2333 had guided other repairers and had seen how others behaved in the apocalypse.

This was a unique quality of Wen Qianshu’s. She always had a muddle-along, seemingly lazy attitude.

In contrast to this was her style of doing things—radical, fond of gambling, yet all of this seemed to rely on her nonchalance. Because she didn’t care, nothing mattered, and anything could be placed on the gambling table. Thus, the two aspects presented a strange harmony.

It was a kind of indifference tinged with madness.

It wasn’t as apparent when she was Yan Chengshuang, who could barely be considered aloof. But paired with Qin Shu’s face, it made her seem both innocent and wicked, both powerful and pitiful.

Very alluring.

2333 noticed several members of the training camp looking this way and sighed inwardly, thinking, What are you all hoping for?

Wen Qianshu put down her water bottle and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Isn’t Shang Ci with her?”

2333: “That’s different. Do you trust Shang Ci?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Wen Qianshu smiled. “He’s stronger than me, right?”

2333: “…”

Before 2333 could say anything to cover its slip, Wen Qianshu exclaimed in amazement, “No way, you think I’m reliable now?”

2333 felt it was doomed.

“2333,” Wen Qianshu smiled, pulled a cloth from her bag, haphazardly wiped the sweat from her face, and put the restraint device back on. “Have you guys realized that this world is real?”

2333: “What do you mean?”

Wen Qianshu smiled. She was on the training field now. She rolled her neck and began to stretch. “This world is real, and every person in it is real. They have their own pasts, their own presents, their own futures, their own joys and sorrows.”

“They are people, not puppets that you can control with the flick of a finger,” Wen Qianshu said. “Never think you can control anyone or any situation. That’s impossible.”

“All we can do,” Wen Qianshu said, “is go with the flow, and use our knowledge of the general direction to lend a helping hand.”

“You have to trust the original people of this world. The real path is still one they walk for themselves.”

After Wen Qianshu finished speaking, she had also finished stretching. Just as she was preparing to do her physical training, she saw a group of people gathered to the side drinking water. Song Zhicheng was in the middle, seemingly refuting something, “No way, the most beautiful is clearly Doctor Lou. One day I’m going to get her contact information—”

Someone next to him joked, “Once you’re not single anymore, don’t forget about us.”

Song Zhicheng: “Of course—”

Wen Qianshu smiled and walked straight towards them.

Song Zhicheng had his back to her and hadn’t noticed yet. He was nudged by the person next to him.

Song Zhicheng: “?”

“No, I didn’t mean you’re not good-looking—ah, I’m begging you, I don’t want to practice on the high-altitude frame—”

2333 repeated what she had just said in a sarcastic tone, “Never think you can control anyone or any situation. That’s impossible?”

Wen Qianshu: “Yeah, nothing wrong with that.”

“I just saw that he was too idle and wanted to train with him. This way, he won’t have time to think about other things.”

Wen Qianshu smiled, her tone sincere. “This is called unity and friendship, helping a fellow student.”

2333: “…”

As long as you’re happy.

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Author’s Notes:

OOC Theater:

Song Zhicheng: A person who tries to disco on the rim of Wen Qianshu’s vinegar jar.

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