Chapter 18: For Your Boss?

  I stood on the slightly elevated flat mound, covering my eyes with my hand to block out the dazzling sunlight of October afternoon, and looked towards the ruins not far away. There was no sign of human activity over there, nor were there any signs of cars entering nearby. Su Haicheng and Ah Tian seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.

  Kaka Xi was holding a shovel, digging a drainage ditch around the tent. He inserted the shovel into the ground and shouted at me: "Si Yī Jiě, didn't I say on the way here that you look especially sexy in this outfit?"

  I put down my hand and turned around to look at him: "What do you know about sex appeal, you little brat?"

  "I've sneaked into those encrypted websites, seen enough sexy stuff, don't I know? Take a picture of you now, tsk tsk, it's really making me want to pounce on you and rip your clothes off."

  "Come over and take a look? You're the kind of person who gets out of breath after running a few steps. You're only suited to living in the online world, if you were transported back to primitive society, you'd either be made into soup or become someone's plaything."

  "Hey, I was just complimenting you on how pretty you look. Your features are so delicate and feminine, yet you're wearing this outdoor sports suit, in military green no less - isn't that just accentuating your weakness? You... never mind, it's your turn to lay out the carpet now. I'm dead tired."

  I walked down from the mound, and he had been talking for so long before finally getting to the point.

  When the two of us finished setting up our tent, Kakashi started cooking noodles. The boss also decided to go take a look at the situation on the ruins side. He said while putting on his equipment, "I'll go take a look, maybe Su Haicheng is in the stronghold. If we can't find him, then we won't have that key and will be at a disadvantage."

  "I'm going too!" I shouted, and also pulled a backpack from the car. There were three bags on the car, which Kakaxi had prepared according to the suggestions in the "Zombie Survival Handbook". They weren't heavy, but they were quite comprehensive. It had cost Su Haicheng a lot of money.

  Kaka Xi watched us two walk away, stirring noodles: "Remember to come back and eat the noodles, they'll get cold and sticky if you wait."

  This is our second time walking through this ruin, the black charred ruins no longer have the smell of fire that they once had. Nor do they have the stench of rotting flesh. In the fading light of day, we didn't even see any bodies under the rubble.

  I don't know if there are any bodies under these ruins. When we came in earlier, it was at night and we couldn't see very clearly. And the scene of a corpse standing up from the ruins always seems too fake, afterwards I would even doubt myself, wondering if it was just my eyes playing tricks on me or if it was caused by tension.

  And now, in the light of day, we have determined that there are no bodies in the ruins.

  I walked with my boss, one in front of the other, neither of us speaking. The scene was so heavy it felt like I had been filled with lead. But when I looked into the distance, I finally saw something that didn't quite fit this picture. "Boss, look over there!"

  I pointed to a not-too-distant place, where there was an obviously disturbed rectangular patch of soil. My mind asked itself the question: after we left, someone came in and dug here.

  I walked over with the boss, who was also surprised by this place. He whispered to me: "Is someone planning to grow crops here?"

  "It's not possible," I said. "So many people just died here, wouldn't the people who till the land be afraid? Moreover, the entire village is dead, who would still cultivate the land here?"

  The boss squatted down and rubbed the soil with his hands: "It should be for farming, the ash has already been mixed into the mud. This is a way to change the soil."

  "Ah!" Just then, Kakashi's sudden shout startled both me and the boss, and without thinking much, we turned around and ran back. My first thought was that Kakashi had encountered a snake. This guy is most afraid of snakes, his legs would go soft at the sight of one, even if he had a tool in hand, he wouldn't dare swing it at the snake. I've experienced this aspect of him before.

  It only took a few minutes to run from the village to our camp, but what we saw on this side of the camp made us all guess wrong. Kakashi shouted because he was facing not snakes, but guns!

  The man with the gun was Ah Tian, who sat on the hood of our car. And that incompetent guy, Kakashi, was respectfully serving him a bowl of noodles.

  Guns! Guns! They actually have guns! Could it be that what Su Haicheng said he was going to check on earlier, were those things placed in the back seat of their car? They're really too daring!

  "Ah Tian saw me and laughed, saying: "Hey girl, you've come after him so quickly? You're quite fond of Hai Cheng, aren't you? It's only been a day since you parted ways and you're already chasing after him. Don't mind if I join in on the fun and have a bowl of noodles with you guys."

  The boss walked over and asked directly: "Where is Su Haicheng?"

  A Tian put away his gun, took over the noodles, and there were no chopsticks here either. He casually broke off two branches from a nearby tree and started eating. "The two of us will act separately. He should still be wandering around that village now. But you guys made such a big commotion, I reckon he'll come over soon too."

  Kakaxi said discontentedly: "What's all the commotion about?"

  "We've already lit a fire and cooked noodles, isn't that a big commotion? Kid, do you know the first key point to avoid being discovered in the wilderness? Don't light a fire!"

  I watched as the boss let out a visible sigh of relief, able to find Su Haicheng, so his plan would also have a powerful helper. But what he wanted to do, was it really correct? Using that key to start the so-called "Ghost Gate".

  While waiting for Su Haicheng to appear, I chatted with Ah Tian for a few sentences. He said they had hidden the car in the woods over there and had also done some camouflage. Because this place might be monitored by someone, and that person is the one who concealed such a big event. For example, General Q. And now we drive the car in and even make a fire here, which would expose all of them.

  To put it simply, we disrupted their actions.

  Half an hour later, Su Haicheng indeed appeared. He still wore a duck tongue cap on his head, revealing only his chin and lips, but he really looked quite handsome.

  He lifted his head and looked at me. I averted my eyes, not daring to look him straight in the eye, and the scene of him kissing me before flashed through my mind again.

  "Back already, I scolded them. But since they've started a fire, let's take the opportunity to eat something hot too. Following you and just chewing on compressed biscuits is terrible."

  Su Haicheng walked up to Kakaxi's side: "I heard you can hack into the military's website?"

  Kakaxi heard this and immediately puffed out his chest: "I'm exceptionally good at this sort of thing."

  "This place, the satellite image for civilian use is unclear. Can you get a satellite image of this place from military data?"

  "As for satellite images, Google, Baidu..."

  "Hey, Kakaxi," I said. "Those websites' maps, for cities, you can see houses and cars. For county towns, you can see individual neighborhoods and roads. Rural areas are just mountains, I've tried it before. Don't pretend, last time we came, you hacked into the military's database to get satellite images. You should still have them."

  "Alright, give me five minutes. After you finish eating noodles, I can send the picture to you."

  Su Haicheng walked towards me, winking at me to follow him. I don't know if he was being deliberate or not, but he led me again to the back of the big tree where we first met. I don't know if he still remembers this tree, anyway, for me, this place is absolutely unforgettable.

  "He lowered his voice and asked: 'What are you doing here?'"

  "I... I came with our boss, not with you." I said firmly, he still wore his hat and I couldn't see his eyes, only his lips. Damn it's sexy, damn it makes me think of that kiss.

  "Now that we know this matter has a General Q behind it, his purpose, intention and methods are all unclear. You following him is risky, do you know that?"

  "I know, but the boss insisted on coming..."

  He cut me off before I could finish speaking: "For your boss? Yeah, you told me you liked him." He let out a long sigh, as if he was suppressing something.