CHAPTER 84 PART 2

Immediately, everyone obediently lined up. No one dared to speak out of turn, and no one walked around disrupting everyone. The soldier saw that although the line was crooked, they were at least obedient.

“Follow me.”

Just like that, Yuan Zhuo and his family followed the soldiers to the residential area they had just left. “There are still some vacant houses in this area. Now I’ll call out names. Those whose names are called, come forward, understand?”

The soldier began to call out names, at least two people, at most a family of six. After the people whose names were called came forward, the soldier would give them a key. A small tag hung on the keyring, the number on the tag was the house number assigned to them.

When it was Yuan Zhuo’s family’s turn, they were the only ones left. The soldier placed the last key in Yuan Zhuo’s hand. “This is yours. Remember, the house is provided for free by the military. You must maintain hygiene and cleanliness, and remember to pay the water bill! For those who haven’t found a job yet, there will be a meal delivery cart downstairs every day at noon and night, providing everyone with basic food.”

After saying that, the soldier left. Yuan Zhuo and his family looked at each other with the key in hand. They didn’t expect to have their own house today. Although this residential area was really shabby, at least they didn’t have to sleep in that disgusting place.

However, the house they were assigned was on the first floor…

Yuan Zhuo looked at the interior. Apart from the basic tables, chairs, benches, and beds, there was nothing else. “Why is it so empty? Do we have to work to get other necessities?”

Yuan Zhuo: “There’s no other way.”

Jiang Meng: “Husband, why don’t we try finding Liu Zhongyuan again? After all, we gave him his life, it’s not too much to ask for something occasionally, right?”

“As long as we speak nicely, he can’t possibly attack us, can he?”

Yuan Zhuo thought about it. “Then it’s decided. But not today, tomorrow.”

Jiang Meng: “Okay.”

But when they waited until the next day to find Liu Zhongyuan, they were informed by Xia Liansheng, who happened to pass by, that Liu Zhongyuan’s team had left the stronghold on a mission and wouldn’t be back for several days.

Indeed, Liu Zhongyuan had taken his team to the military base again. They wanted to transport as much ammunition as possible before winter arrived.

As for Qi Yue… he didn’t come along this time. He had previously cooperated with Gao Siyang’s plan and the mission was quite successful. He was now providing air cover for other task forces.

After all, among the flying beastmen, he was the only one with combat capabilities so far. And they had traveled between the stronghold and the military base several times, there wouldn’t be any danger.

So Qi Yue stayed at the stronghold, while Liu Zhongyuan took Qin Jiulin, along with Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui, to the military base. All the semi-beastmen inside the military base had been cleared out. They came every few days, so their scent lingered here.

During the days they were away, no animals dared to occupy the base as their nest, so the ammunition transport went very smoothly, and they could return the same day.

They were all Variant beastmen, and after eating their fill, they could go without food or sleep for several days. As for drinking water, it wasn’t a problem to find a river along the way.

They had nothing to worry about, but Qi Yue, who was left alone in Modu, was now in a bit of trouble. Qi Jinglan, who had been constantly observing Qi Yue, finally found an opportunity when he was alone. Such an opportunity was too rare, so she acted impulsively…

Qi Yue looked at the person blocking his way, a little impatient. “Is something the matter?”

After Qi Jinglan came back to her senses, she also realized her current behavior was inappropriate, but she didn’t want to give up. After all, she was already here and had already stopped him. “I… I don’t have anything particular, just… just saw you alone here, so I came to say hello.”

Her voice became softer and softer, as if she was a little embarrassed.

Qi Yue didn’t want to get entangled with her now. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

Qi Yue: “Don’t call me that.”

Qi Jinglan was startled and took a step back. “I… I… I’m sorry, Ayue… I, I might not be able to change that way of addressing you for a while…”

Qi Yue became even more impatient. Qi Jinglan must have seen that Brother Qin and Brother Liu weren’t around, so she found an opportunity to talk to him. He had just been on a mission with Captain Gao and was now thinking only about rest. He was truly too tired.

Not only did he have his own mission, he also needed to protect his teammates while on missions. Recently, some birds had been attacking them. Fortunately, there were no regressed animals among them, otherwise, he might not have been able to protect all his teammates.

There were still some bandaged wounds on his body. Although they didn’t hurt much anymore, the numerous small wounds made him very irritable. He wanted to go back and rest properly.

Qi Yue: “I’m leaving.”

He walked around Qi Jinglan with large strides, his brows furrowed, looking very displeased. Qi Jinglan gritted her teeth and finally ran after him.

Qi Yue felt a tug on his clothes, his impatience reaching its peak. He slowly turned around and saw Qi Jinglan…

Qi Jinglan was looking down, perhaps not daring to look at him. It was precisely this angle that allowed Qi Yue to see the bruises on the back of Qi Jinglan’s neck, and the hand that reached out to grab his clothes…

There were also bruises on her exposed wrist, even some bloodstains. Was she beaten? By Duan Qiufeng? Or by someone else?

Qi Jinglan probably also noticed the bruises on her wrist and quickly withdrew her hand. She nervously took two steps back. “Well, I… I’m fine, I’ll be going now!”

She turned around nervously and ran forward, not very fast. Qi Yue watched her retreating figure, stood there for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, and then turned to leave.

Qi Jinglan’s actions just now seemed as if she deliberately wanted Qi Yue to see her injuries. He didn’t know what her purpose was, but Qi Yue was certain that those injuries were real.

Lying in bed after returning to his accommodation, Qi Yue was still thinking about Qi Jinglan’s purpose. Was it to make him sympathize with her? Or even believe that her previous actions were all due to Duan Qiufeng’s coercion?

Now that she was no longer useful, she was discarded?

Qi Yue shook his head. He felt something was wrong with his thinking. Was Qi Jinglan just asking for his help? He got up irritably, got dressed, and went to the canteen.

He was a little hungry. Perhaps it was due to excessive energy consumption and insufficient nutrition, causing his mind to be a bit slow. He’d better eat first and then think.

This time, Qi Yue took a different route than usual. He was afraid of encountering Qi Jinglan again, so he chose another way. This route happened to pass by the canteen for ordinary people.

As he passed the road in front of the canteen, he was called out before he could go far. It seemed someone was calling his name!

Qi Yue turned around in confusion and unexpectedly saw Xia Liansheng, along with his two team members, Xi Sihan and Cheng Tianxiang. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen them for a while.

It was Xia Liansheng who had called him.

Xia Liansheng said with a smile, “Hello, Qi Yue.”

One doesn’t hit a smiling person. Qi Yue nodded at him. “Hello, Captain Xia. Did you call me for something?”

Xia Liansheng shook his head. “Nothing much, I just thought I saw someone who looked a lot like you, so I called out. I didn’t expect it to really be you. Why are you here?”

Those who frequented this area were generally ordinary survivors, and of course, those who could eat here were people with proper jobs, such as those who worked in the fields.

Qi Yue: “Just passing by. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

Xia Liansheng: “We’re just about to go to the canteen. If you’re going too, let’s go together?”

Qi Yue couldn’t refuse him directly. After all, he was indeed going to eat. If he denied it now, wouldn’t it be awkward to meet at the canteen later? It was just going to the canteen to eat together, not something shameful.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Cheng Tianxiang made a playful face at Qi Yue from behind Xia Liansheng. Qi Yue twitched the corner of his mouth, almost laughing, but he managed to hold it back.

Xia Liansheng: “Why are you alone at the stronghold? It seems Liu Zhongyuan and the others are out on a mission?”

Qi Yue almost blurted it out, but caught himself at the last moment and quickly changed the subject. “I have my own things to do.”

Xia Liansheng didn’t intend to pry further, it seemed like he was just asking casually. “I see, that’s true. Sometimes a team needs to split up for missions. But then, aren’t you quite vulnerable?”

Qi Yue thought to himself that it was indeed a bit dangerous, and the wounds on his body were still a bit uncomfortable, but it was nothing serious. They would heal before Brother Qin and the others returned.

Xia Liansheng: “I smell a bit of blood. Are you injured?”

Qi Yue: “Minor injuries, nothing serious. By the way, Captain Xia, haven’t you had any missions recently?”

This question hit a nerve. Since Xia Liansheng had sided with Zhou Lie, he hadn’t seen Gao Siyang, and that included Xi Sihan and Cheng Tianxiang, none of them had seen Gao Siyang.

“We’ve had quite a heavy workload recently.”

Qi Yue didn’t know if his previous question was intentional. “That’s true, I smell semi-beastman blood all over you three. You’ve been working hard.”

Xia Liansheng: “It’s not hard work, it’s what we should do.”

Was this a sarcastic remark about him only being able to take on these ordinary missions?