In the military compound, Gong Xiangyi held a desert eagle in her hands and sat on the sofa with a solemn expression. In her last life, she and Gong Lixin waited for more than ten days at the bottom of a car. Gong Father finally found them after ten days. She believed that this time, the well-prepared Gong Father would come to her rescue first.
Sure enough, the apocalypse started only a dozen of hours ago but in the late night, the roar of propellers rang outside of the house. The helicopter that was sent to rescue them had arrived and slowly landed on the tarmac not too far away. Soon after, sounds of gunshots were heard, probably from the soldiers killing zombies that were attracted by the sound of the propellers, and the two parties fought head on.
The military compound in the military area had very strict management. There were few outsiders coming in and out and those were cleaned up by Gong father in advance. There were not many zombies left, most of them were Song officials who didn’t listen to her father’s warnings. The servants’ families were not harmed.
After the gunshots rang out, everything went quiet. A few minutes later, a series of uniform footsteps approached the Gong family’s residence and the bronze door was immediately knocked on.
"Miss Gong, Young Master Gong, we were sent by the head of the Gong family to rescue you. Please come out with us." The soldiers outside knocked on the door and expressed their duty.
"Let’s go!" Gong Xiangyi opened the door while still clenching her gun and nodded at the four armed soldiers.
The four soldiers saw her walk forward. They quickly followed behind and walked a few meters until one soldier felt something was wrong and hesitated before asking, "Miss Gong, how come there’s only one person? Where’s Master Gong?"
Gong Xiangyi didn’t turn around and indifferently said, "He’s gone. How are we going to find him in a sea of people? Let’s go, let’s first meet with my father and see what he decides."
When everyone saw Gong Xiangyi entering the helicopter, they all greeted the other with a grateful attitude. When people above them told them the news at the beginning, they were still as confused as Gong Father was initially. Now, when they thought about it, they were deeply grateful for their loyalty towards the higher-ups and the wisdom their higher-ups held.
Gong Xiangyi faintly nodded in response and sat in the empty space someone had made space for. She looked at the dark night outside of the window with no expression and without a thought.
"Gong Xiangyi, how is your Gong family so selfish! Only telling this kind of big news to officials of the other factions, do the other people’s life and death not matter? My husband and my children are still outside and I don’t know if they are still alive!" A woman who was crying in a corner saw Gong Xiangyi coming up and suddenly became violent, trying to scratch Gong Xiangyi’s face.
The two soldiers who were accompanying them in the aircraft for safety reasons, quickly got up and wanted to pull the woman away, but didn’t expect the desert eagle in Gong Xiangyi’s hand was already pointed at the woman’s temple.
"Shut up! Song family sent officials, and my father went and greeted them one by one three days ago! Don’t make me believe that your husband didn’t go home afterwards and didn’t mention anything to you! You didn’t believe it yourself, and probably even laughed at the information. Now when things come to head, you want to blame our Gong family. Who’s despicable?! My Gong family has done everything for you. If you still feel dissatisfied then just give your life up!" Gong Xiangyi gave her the cold hard truth.
The barrel was aimed straight at the woman’s temple.
In addition to the roar of the propeller in the cabin, no other sounds could be heard. Everyone looked pale and stared at the cool and calm Gong Xiangyi, feeling strange and fearful. The woman was shivering, tears streaming down her face as she muttered apologies. She was still afraid of death, afraid to be thrown away by Gong Xiangyi.
"Hey! Tell me the truth, you don’t want to die!" Gong Xiangyi moved her gun away and closed her eyes. When everyone saw her tired look, they all kept quiet. Gong Xiangyi’s ruthlessness and the unsettled emotions of the six parents in the helicopter left an undeniable impression in their hearts, which led them to stay far away from Gong Xiangyi in the future.
The four helicopters carried the surviving military personnel to the garrison battalion before flying back to pick up the rest of the people. After repeating this five or six times, they finally saved everyone from the military compound. The military soldiers gathered around the tarmac, reunited with their families and wept in each other’s arms. Some family members were so sad that they couldn’t stop crying. In short, the first night of the apocalypse was destined to be a sleepless night.
Gong Xiangyi scrunched her eyebrows and walked through the crowd without a care. She walked towards the edge of the area and looked for Gong father, Old Lin, Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran.
When she came alone, she felt cold and ruthless. Now, there was some drumming in her heart. She kept thinking about how to deal with the suspicion surrounding Gong Lixin’s disappearance.
Sure enough, Gong Yuanhang, repeatedly looked behind her but did not find his young son’s figure and the smile on his face disappeared. His voice was a little off-pitch as he asked: "Xiangyi, Lixin?"
Song Haoran fists clenched tightly. A pair of sharp eagle eyes stared at Gong Xiangyi’s expression. Lin Wenbo had already put away the joy on his face and supported grandfather Lin’s arm. The two looked at Gong Xiangyi and waited for her answer.
In the face of eyes full of doubts, Gong Xiangyi’s throat became dry and her mouth hung open for a long time but she couldn’t say a word.
"So, we’re talking about your brother? Well? Didn’t I tell you to take care of him before leaving?" Seeing his daughter’s expression of resentment, Gong Yuanhang stepped forward and hurriedly urged her. An ominous feeling arose in his heart.
"Younger brother, he’s lost. I just went into the space to sort out the materials for a while, but when I came out, he disappeared. The eclipse was about to begin and I didn’t dare go out and look for him. Sorry Dad!" Gong Xiangyi’s eyes were red. She deeply bowed her head and didn’t dare look at Gong Father’s expression.
"You...didn’t I tell you to tell him about the apocalypse? Didn’t you promise? How would he dare to go out alone at a time like this if he knew about the apocalypse?" For a long time, he had held the upper position and had seen many things, Gong Father’s heart was screaming in sorrow, but still he immediately noticed something. The way his daughter spoke about Gong Lixin seemed off.
Gong Xiangyi wasn’t aware of this. After a short period of silence, she replied in a small voice: "I am sorry, Dad, I forgot to tell my brother about it. I always thought that I’ll wait for the eclipse to begin before telling him and it won’t be too late. I didn’t think he would go out when you are out and not tell me."
"How can such things be forgotten? Is organizing your supplies more important than having your younger brother? Ah? You just stare at immobile things, but lost your own brother, so don’t tell me you’re sorry!" Gong Father loved and treasured his son, Gong Lixin. His expression was heavy knowing he had lost him. Gong Xiangyi glared without changing her expression as the other raised his hand to slap her, but put it down only to raise it again. Finally, his eyes rolled over and he fainted.
Gong Yuanhang was already old and he had been working hard for a long time and had experienced many difficult battles. Yet now, he was so stimulated to the point his heart could not take it.
Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran didn’t care about anything else. They quickly lifted Gong Father and brought him to the medical office. Grandfather Lin glared at Gong Xiangyi before following the others out. He couldn’t help but rejoice that Wenbo and her wedding was canceled. Although Gong Xiangyi’s expression held remorse, but the coldness in her eyes couldn’t escape his eyes. He detested people who gave up on their loved ones! He didn’t know if his grandson saw any value in her anymore, but she wouldn’t give him any great grandchildren if he had anything to say about it.
After determining that Gong Father was alright, just over-stimulated and would wake up in a few hours, Song Haoran didn’t bother asking Gong Xiangyi and hurried back to his room to get dressed. He got ready to gather people to go out and find Gong Lixin.
He rigorously checked his guns and ammunition that were on the table with no visible emotion on his beautiful face. His pair of dark and deep eyes had two raging fires condensed within that wanted to burn everything.
"Are you going to go out and search for Xiaoxin at night?" Lin Wenbo had followed him back to his room and watched him move in an orderly manner, quickly moving a gun and a knife and putting them away on his waist, calves and military boots.
"Yes. And not a second later, Lixin is in danger." Song Haoran said without lifting his head. He put a silencer on his pistol and calibrated it. The sound was unprecedentedly cold. "I should have known that Gong Xiangyi could not be trusted. Since she had that inexplicable prophecy and gained her space ability, she has become colder, only having eyes for her supplies. And you know what? I almost just pointed a gun at her head and was tempted to ask her, "In the end, which is more important? Her supplies or her loved ones?” [2]
He then finally looked up, his scarlet eyes looked deeply into Lin Wenbo, there was a hint of compassion for his friend. Gong Xiangyi was not the original Gong Xiangyi and, at this point, his friend should be clearer about this than him.
Lin Wenbo closed his eyes. His eyes were also stained with blood as he said, "I will go back and get dressed. Let me go with you."
"Hurry up, gather in front of the first hangar." Song Haoran urged coldly as he tucked one final military dagger into his belt while walking towards the door.
Lin Wenbo didn’t need to be told twice and immediately returned to his room to get dressed. He pushed the door open only to see Gong Xiangyi quietly sitting by the window, full of grievance and sadness. [3]
"Wenbo! Believe me, I really didn’t mean it. I didn’t expect my brother to go out so suddenly." Seeing Lin Wenbo coming in, Gong Xiangyi immediately stood up and pulled his arm to explain.
Lin Wenbo silently pulled his arm away from her grasp and picked weapons to bring and tucked the weapons away on his body, all while turning a deaf ear to her words.
Seeing him not responding, Gong Xiangyi kept trying to convince him, trying to keep the gentle and considerate image her fiancé kept in his heart. After her father was over-stimulated, she was shocked. She had been too eager to get rid of Gong Lixin. During the apocalypse, she would’ve had plenty of opportunities to get rid of Gong Lixin quietly instead of facing the same suspicions and blame. She was really dumb this time!
Gong Xiangyi was annoyed right now. In her last life, she was a small woman dependent on Lin Wenbo. She didn’t take part in any of the politics.
"Are you done?" Lin Wenbo finished getting ready and turned to face Gong Xiangyi. His voice was dull, devoid of any emotion, the kind that lost any feeling in their heart. "Xiangyi, I know your character. I know you really value materials. If you forgot to tell Xiaoxin about the apocalypse because you were busy sorting supplies, I would understand. But the fact you let Xiaoxin leave the house alone, in this case, do you think uncle Gong and I, Lin Wenbo, would believe such a thing? When collecting materials, you wouldn’t even let a button get lost. If you really were optimistic about keeping Xiaoxin safe, Xiaoxin would have never have left your sight. Unless you deliberately did not care for him. Am I right?"
Seeing the fire in Lin Wenbo’s eyes, Gong Xiangyi shrank a little and unconsciously bowed her head, but quickly lifted it up. She forced herself not to avoid the other’s scrutiny. Lin Wenbo was too gentle in front of her and she was too arrogant to the point that she almost forgot the man’s true nature - suspicious, strong, sharp-eyed and good at machinations.
Seeing her suspicious action, Lin Wenbo’s eyes darkened and he leaned closer to her ear. He slowly enunciated, "Xiangyi, let me tell you. If there’s something wrong, I will never forgive you." Now, he deeply despised Gong Xiangyi. After saying what he wanted, he strode away.
"Wenbo, wait! Have you forgotten? A month ago, Lixin also had signs of fever. Maybe he has become a zombie now!" Gong Xiangyi screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Was it because you were afraid that he would become a zombie, so you deliberately concealed the fact that you let him leave?" Lin Wenbo paused and asked, his tone uncaring. Gong Xiangyi just thought of this, but he thought of everything revolving around this matter in an instant.
What was the difference between Gong Xiangyi’s action and deliberate murder? And the victim was even her own brother. Just because she wanted to protect herself? Thinking of this, Lin Wenbo was finished with Gong Xiangyi and was filled with sorrow. Was the woman in the room the Gong Xiangyi he once loved? In order to survive, she could even sacrifice her relatives without hesitation. Why had she become like this?
Even though his heart was chaotic, Lin Wenbo still muttered, "No matter what Xiaoxin becomes, whether he’s dead or alive, I have to find him. I got to ask, how long ago did he leave and what kind of clothes was he wearing when he left?"
Gong Xiangyi had the heart to remedy her mistake. She did not even think about it when she replied: "When he left, he was wearing a pure white T-shirt and light blue jeans. He left 50 minutes before the eclipse broke out."
Lin Wenbo back stiffened at her words. After a long silence, he slowly opened. "So, you saw him leave with your own eyes!" Otherwise, how could she know the clothes he wore when he went out. After his words fell, he turned and glanced at Gong Xiangyi with a sullen expression as he yelled his words before he left.
In the room, after Lin Wenbo left, Gong Xiangyi immediately fell back on the chair by the window, her face covered in dense cold sweat.
Just now, Lin Wenbo clearly deliberately trapped her and she even fell into the trap. She really remembered Gong Lixin’s back when he left, so pale, as if he would evaporate due to the sun at any given moment. Therefore, she did not even think about it and described his outfit. The last look Lin Wenbo gave her before his departure was deep and emotionless, as if he was staring straight into her soul and saw her selfishness. Right now, she regretted her sloppy decision that now had her father, Lin grandfather, Haoran and Wenbo distrusting her.
What to do? What should she do? Gong Xiangyi repeatedly asked herself that over and over again. In the end, she could only secretly pray that Gong Lixin became a zombie. That he was found by Wenbo and Haoran, and died in their hands. At that time, no one would blame her. After all, she was only a woman and scared about facing a family member who was about to transform into a zombie.
[1] AutumnBreeze: Aren’t you just dumb all the time?
[2] CrazedCookies: Honey, I was tempted to punch her in the face.
[3] CrazedCookies: Bi***! If you were going to feel bad about it, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place!
CrazedCookies: Surprise! An extra bonus chapter today! Thank you Anon, Tonbo, Nyurr and Jessie for your Ko-Fis!