Twenty-seven

“No rush.” Bai Qing walked to the door, tilting his face slightly. “When the time comes, she’ll be told.”

Jiang Wen chuckled softly and stubbed out her cigarette with force.

Spring had arrived before anyone noticed, and everyone at the farm was busy again. Zhuo Chenglan still kept mostly to himself, while Feng Ying led the soldiers in helping with the farm work. These sturdy men were industrious, efficient, and full of humor, quickly blending in with the farmfolk. They called each other uncle, aunt, and little brother so sweetly it was almost more intimate than family.

Though the air was still bitingly cold, no one felt it as sweat poured down their backs in the fields; quite a few wore only a single layer and worked away. Feng Ying, ever the bold one, stripped off his shirt entirely, baring his strong, well-shaped muscles, much to the fascination of many women who couldn’t take their eyes off him.

“Hey, it’s freezing out—put your shirt back on.” Ye Yin, unable to watch any longer, “considerately” addressed a few of the soldiers—whether they were working or showing off was unclear. “This wind cuts to the bone. A cold is nothing to laugh about.”

“No worries. Back in the army, we took cold showers in the dead of winter,” replied a young soldier, grinning with white teeth, his expression as endearing as a golden retriever.

Ye Yin wasn’t sure if he was genuinely naive or just pretending, so she could only turn away in mild annoyance. As soon as she returned to her office, she noticed a white rose in her glass cup—she hadn’t seen fresh flowers in ages, and it delighted her. She bent down to take in its scent.

“Do you like it?”

Ye Yin turned to see Bai Qing standing there.

“I love it. Did you grow it?”

“Yes, the first bloom of the year.” Bai Qing approached and dropped a small pill into the water. “They say it lasts longer this way.”

“But it will wither eventually.” Ye Yin rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the delicate flower. “Nothing lasts forever—no one enjoys a thousand days of happiness, and no flower blooms for a hundred days.”

“True,” Bai Qing replied. “Nothing is eternal.”

Ye Yin began to suspect he hadn’t given her the flower for no reason. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Bai Qing was direct. “Yes. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“Where to?”

“The third base.”

The base Ye Yin had long wondered about was finally taking shape. Rumor had it the government and a certain expert had reached an agreement to establish an official third base in the southern outskirts of W City, a place with excellent geomancy, to shelter refugees, train new troops, and revive production. Even without asking, Ye Yin knew the expert must be Master Floating Cloud. The new base was already taking form, so leaving now was reasonable.

“Do you have a plan?” Ye Yin usually disliked prying into others’ affairs, but for some reason she asked.

“I’m going to meet someone.”

With that, Ye Yin knew not to press further. “Safe travels. If there’s anything I can help with, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Take good care of yourself,” Bai Qing said. “We may never meet again.”

At that time, Zhuo Chenglan needed someone to contact the main military district at the base, so Bai Qing bid farewell to everyone and left with a few soldiers.

The ones who cried hardest were the diehard fans, while Old Guo felt the most dejected. The couple everyone thought would be most affected—Aunt Pan and her husband—along with Ye Yin, remained unruffled, much to Old Guo’s annoyance.

“Honestly, Yin Yin, you went too far this time,” Old Guo grumbled. “I thought he’d be the farm’s son-in-law, but you just let him leave? And those two—didn’t even try to stop him! The world’s a mess out there.”

“You’ve got it wrong. We’re just friends,” Ye Yin replied, a little embarrassed. “Aunt Pan is his aunt, not his mother. And I didn’t make him leave—he chose to go, what could I do to stop him?”

“Boyfriend isn’t just a friend, is he?” Old Guo said. “Why couldn’t you stop him? Would saying ‘don’t go’ cost you your life? Maybe he was feeling down and wanted to see if you’d try to keep him. But you agreed so quickly, it was like you were sending off a plague!”

“You overthink things.” Ye Yin was amazed by Old Guo’s imagination. “He’s not that kind of person.”

“You! Sometimes you’re sharp as a tack, sometimes you’re hopelessly dense!” Old Guo rolled his eyes, looking at her as if she were a hopeless case, then stormed off with his daughter, leaving Ye Yin standing confused at the security room door.

“Good riddance.” Feng Ying popped up from who knows where, grinning. “These days, good looks won’t fill your belly. If you’d gotten together with him, who’d be protecting who?”

Ye Yin jumped. “When did you get here?”

“I’ve been here a while. Saw you deep in thought—didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Wait, what did you mean by that?” Ye Yin sensed something off. “How could I possibly protect him?”

“Don’t play dumb. We all know.” Feng Ying looked at her with mock contempt. “That day when we were moving firewood, Master Deng twisted his ankle—who slung that huge pile over her shoulder like it was nothing, like she was picking up a chick?”

Ye Yin was mortified. She’d only been trying to help, and everyone at the farm had long grown used to her unusual strength, so she hadn’t bothered to hide it.

“Heh, I did some weightlifting as a kid, haven’t practiced in ages, though.”

“Come off it, you’re an Awakened, aren’t you?” Feng Ying said. “The higher-ups care more about espers these days—they’re not interested in us Awakened anymore, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. Besides, there are seven or eight in our squad alone. Don’t get too big a head.”

Ye Yin rubbed her nose, thinking how tactless he was. How had he managed to keep his job as deputy? If she were his superior, she’d have fired him first.

Feng Ying, oblivious to her thoughts, continued, “Ever since the Awakened and espers started showing up—and with the losses in the big military districts—the army had to completely reorganize. It’s a new era.”

Ye Yin was intrigued. “How so?”

“They split everything into three main military districts, each with seven to ten divisions, and each division has short and long squads,” Feng Ying complained. “Now it’s just squads and teams—the old regiments, brigades, and battalions are all for show.”

“More streamlined is better,” Ye Yin said. “In times like these, as long as it works, why bother with all the useless bureaucracy?”

“You’re really something, you know that?” Feng Ying gave Ye Yin a soulful look. “Forget it, you wouldn’t understand even if I explained.”

Then don’t say anything at all… Ye Yin wished she had a cow pat to shove in his mouth.

“Haha, mad now?” Feng Ying burst out laughing. “By the way, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“That witch on your farm—who is she, really?” Feng Ying’s easygoing manner vanished, his caution making Ye Yin unconsciously serious as well.

“I’m not sure, but she’s certainly got some skills.”

“Then… do you think she could take a look at our boss’s evil illness?”

Zhuo Chenglan’s room was in the innermost part of the two-story building in the ordinary district. Besides Feng Ying, no one else usually went in, so it was Ye Yin’s first time there.

Just approaching the door, she felt uneasy, hesitating before stepping inside.

Ye Yin finally understood the phrase “a world of ice and fire.” Outside, the wind howled and froze her eyes nearly shut; inside, the heat was suffocating, as though dozens of braziers were burning.

Zhuo Chenglan lay nearly naked on the bed, and for Ye Yin’s sake, Feng Ying had thoughtfully draped a pillow towel over his most important parts. His physique, the result of long training, was impressive—uniform or no, he was striking to look at. If not for the terrifying black worms writhing under his skin, his sculpted body could have rivaled a Greek statue.

“How long has he been like this?” Ye Yin quietly formed a hand seal and sent a ball of spiritual light into Zhuo Chenglan’s body, probing his condition.

Feng Ying sighed deeply and recounted the whole story.

Before coming to the farm, they’d stopped in a small town called Zaoji. The place had no real defenses and wasn’t especially well-situated, yet somehow the zombies outside never got in. The residents were all rosy-cheeked and greeted them warmly, offering food and hospitality.

Zhuo Chenglan sensed something was wrong, so while acting agreeable on the surface, he secretly sent people to investigate. But everyone who went out disappeared without a trace, and his own men kept vanishing daily—a force of several hundred was cut in half.

At that point, it was clear there was no point in solving the mystery—survival came first. Zhuo Chenglan decisively led the survivors to flee in the night, but they were discovered by the townsfolk, and a fierce battle ensued, costing even more lives.

Yet that bloody fight finally revealed the fate of the missing soldiers: the normally docile villagers turned into savage beasts at the sight of blood, baring fangs and devouring corpses and wounded alike, intestines and viscera strewn everywhere in a scene of sheer horror. Zhuo Chenglan spotted an old woman standing behind the crowd, hunched over a cane, her face wrinkled like a ghost’s. She didn’t eat, just watched the carnage with a look of grandmotherly affection, as if admiring her livestock.

Trusting his gut, Zhuo Chenglan tried to shoot her, but the old woman just smiled, pointed at him, and vanished.

The moment she pointed, he felt as though something crawled into his right eye, and a wave of unbearable pain hit him. Even with his legendary willpower, he blacked out from the agony…

Ye Yin’s face shifted through a spectrum of colors. Feng Ying thought she was frightened and sighed repeatedly. “Sure, there’s always been cannibalism in great disasters, but those beasts at least cleaned up and cooked the meat! You didn’t see it—yanking things out raw, necks half-severed with the windpipe still attached, and the poor guy still blinking…”

“Enough, stop.” Even thinking of the scene made Ye Yin nauseous. “I’ll talk to the witch and see if she can help.”

Feng Ying was deeply grateful. “You’re a good one. If you save our boss, we brothers will do anything to protect your farm—walk through fire, climb mountains, no hesitation!”

“Remember you said that.” Then another thought struck Ye Yin. “After what you’ve been through, didn’t you feel uneasy when you first met us?”

“That’s different. You folks have it all in order here—the fields and livestock are well-kept, and while no one’s starving, people still look a bit peaky from eating rough grains. Most of all, your eyes are clear and bright—not at all like those possessed people.” There was one thing Feng Ying didn’t mention: by then, they’d been so hungry that even if the food was drugged and they were killed after eating, they’d have eaten first and worried later.

“You’re shrewd, I’ll give you that.” If Zhuo Chenglan’s group had been trigger-happy after their ordeal, this place would have been their grave.

Author’s note: Been busy moving these past two days, so updates have slowed a little. Please forgive me! ~><