Xing Bi looked at him in silence, and after two seconds he raised his lips and said, "Do you care about what Zhao Lu said?"
"Fuck," Qiu Shi was stunned, "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
"I don't really care about it," Qiu Shi said. "We always talk like this, without beating around the bush. We just say whatever comes to mind."
"Don't care why you immediately knew what I said." Xing Bi asked.
"Awesome," Qiu Shi said, "He's waiting for me here."
Xing Bi smiled and said nothing.
"About this matter," Qiu Shi frowned, "I can't explain it clearly. I don't care. We have said this a lot since we were young, but no one has ever had any romantic relationship..."
Qiu Shi rubbed his arms as he said these two words: "I care, and I do care. After all, he said it more seriously than before, as if it were true. I don't know how to respond to him."
Xing Bi smiled and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Qiu Shi asked, "I'm not treating you differently. To me, you two are my lifelong friends."
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
"Of course they are not exactly the same," Qiu Shi thought for a while, "but I don't know how to put it. As a master of quick answers and a master of thinking, you must know this, right?"
"I know." Xing Bi said.
"Really know?" Qiu Shi asked, "This not being exactly the same doesn't mean you're not as important as him."
Xing Bi laughed: "I really know."
"Forget it." Qiu Shi sighed, propped himself up with his arms, leaned over and gave Xing Bi a hard kiss on the face, much louder than the kiss Zhao Lu had given him today.
Xing Bi looked at him and said nothing.
"What's wrong?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Thank you." Xing Bi said.
“… I can’t say thank you,” Qiu Shi said, “If Zhao Lu kissed me like this, I would usually just curse.”
"Just thank you." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi looked at him, was silent for a long time, and said, "You're welcome."
Xing Bibian started to laugh.
"Isn't it funny?" Qiu Shi said, "You decide for yourself if it's funny or not. If you just thank me, what should I do? I can only be rude."
"Thank you so much," Xing Bi turned back, "I have never felt this way before."
"Was I kissed?" Qiu Shi asked.
"No," Xing Bi said, "We have emotions, likes, dislikes, sorrows, and joys, but more often, this means... we can perceive and judge human emotions, likes, dislikes, sorrows, and joys. After all, human emotions are very complex."
"I understand," Qiu Shi lay back, resting his head on his arms, looking at the rock on top, "In fact, you don't have many opportunities to truly experience those emotions."
"Liking someone or hating someone is the simplest emotion," Xing Bi said, "just like a person knows and has tasted the ups and downs of life, but he doesn't know the taste of braised pork, the taste of fried dough sticks, the taste of steamed fish..."
"Fuck," Qiu said, "I don't fucking know. I've never heard of it. How could anyone know?"
Xing Bi laughed: "I know."
"That's too much." Qiu Shi said, "But if you put it that way, I can probably understand it. I like my brothers and I hate Director Zhang. You can understand these direct feelings, but there are more subtle ones, such as..."
"I don't have many opportunities to have a unique emotional connection with someone," Xing Bi said.
"Where is your teacher and partner?" Qiu Shi asked.
"In a world where everyone is familiar with cyborgs and clearly understands that cyborgs are not human and will never be human," Xing Bi said, "most people will have clear boundaries when interacting with cyborgs."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything.
"Especially for the submersibles," Xing Bi said, "we don't need to have an emotional connection with humans. Only service-oriented biochemical bodies have such a need."
"I understand a little bit." Qiu Shi sighed softly, "You haven't been drinking or soaking in hot springs with any of your partners, or chatting in bed together, have you?"
"Yeah." Xing Bi smiled, "I live outside the human world."
"Then... among all the emotions you have ever felt," Qiu Shi frowned, "which one is the most profound?"
"Hatred." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi retracted his gaze and turned to look at Xing Bi: "You hate humans, don't you?"
"Yes," Xing Bi said softly, "but it's... not accurate."
"It's normal, actually," Qiu Shi said, "When there is no clear goal, you will hate everything. But if there is a clear goal, they become Li Feng, Zhao Lu, Qiu Shi, Mayor Luo, Xiao Lei... it's different again."
"You..." Xing Bi paused, "I suddenly feel that the teaching quality of the refugee school is pretty good."
“Refugee schools are shit,” Qiu Shi said. “These are the proofs of my 25 years of survival.”
"You are a very special human being." Xing Bi said.
"That's true." Qiu Shi said.
There were three polite knocks on the door.
I knew it was Xiao Lei the moment I heard it.
Qiu Shi sighed. The quilt was very warm at the moment, and he didn't want to get up to open the door at all.
"What's the matter?" he asked, "Captain Xiao."
"Director Li will come to see you tomorrow morning." Xiao Lei's voice was very low, as if he was conveying some secret orders. After all, delivering messages was his only job at the moment, and he had to convey them in a grand manner.
"Got it," Qiu Shi cooperated. "Don't write this in your work diary. Keep it confidential."
"Yeah," Xiao Lei responded, "The brothers are almost asleep, I'll go on duty."
"You're sleeping too," Qiu Shi said, "You're on a shitty shift."
"You go to sleep. I know what's going on." After Xiao Lei said that, the footsteps went towards the lowest shelter. There was a loud noise, and one could tell they were sliding down.
"I must ask Li Feng tomorrow," Qiu Shi said, "Why did I let a fool like Xiao Lei stay with me?"
"Maybe there aren't many people like this in the Security Bureau," Xing Bi said.
"Will you keep the inner city's fire here with me?" Qiu Shi sighed.
"You are the spark." Xing Bi said.
It was easier to fall asleep after drinking a little wine. Although he would still wake up in the middle of the night, it was rarely, only twice. Once when he woke up, he found Xing Bi playing with the antique square phone he had placed on the table. Another time when he woke up, he was shocked to find that Xing Bi had his eyes closed as if he was asleep, and then he fell asleep again in shock.
When he woke up again, Xiao Lei was knocking on the door. Xing Bi opened the door. Xiao Lei was standing outside the door, reminding him in a working state not to forget that Director Li was coming.
"Fuck you," Qiu Shi turned over, "I have nowhere to go, he comes whenever he wants, if I'm not in the room, at most he's peeing in the back, is he afraid he won't be able to find me..."
"Then I'll go get some sleep," Xiao Lei said, "I just finished my shift."
"Are you crazy?" Qiu Shi said. Before Xiao Lei could answer, he asked again, "Are you crazy?"
"He looks fine, not crazy." Xing Bi said.
When Qiu Shi heard his voice, he turned over and lifted the quilt covering his head: "Did you sleep last night?"
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
"Falling asleep?" Qiu Shi didn't feel sleepy anymore.
"Yeah." Xing Bi nodded.
"Can you really fall asleep?" Qiu Shi looked at him. "I woke up once before and saw you were still playing with your phone."
"I can sleep," Xing Bi said, "I just don't sleep much, not that I can't sleep."
"Do you dream?" Qiu Shi asked.
Xing Bi thought for a moment and said, "Maybe, but sometimes I can't tell whether I'm thinking or dreaming."
"So what did you dream about last night?" Qiu Shi felt that he might not be able to sleep, so he got out of bed and put on his clothes tremblingly.
"No." Xing Bi said.
"Then the quality of your brain is still not good," Qiu Shi said, "I dreamed last night that I had an argument with Li Feng, and he insisted that I go fight the symbiote alone."
"It sounds like a dream." Xing Bi said.
"That's nonsense. How could he let me go alone?" said Qiu Shi.
"You can't argue with him," Xing Bi said, "He kicked me this morning."
Qiu Shi was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "You know me so well."
Xing Bi smiled.
The group of people who had been drinking last night were still sleeping in the big bunker. Only Zhao Lu was awake and was taking a can of food to heat up and eat.
"Help me get one." Qiu Shi jumped to the top of the bunker and looked around.
It snowed heavily overnight, and the entire wasteland turned white, even the Big Black Mountain turned black and white.
"I heard from Xiao Lei that Li Feng will be here soon?" Zhao Lu took two more cans and put them in hot water to warm them up. "What does he want to do now?"
"He wants to do a lot of things. I'm afraid I can't hide from him." Qiu Shi looked towards the tunnel entrance.
Zhao Lu sighed: "Xiaoling said that this war is definitely going to happen. Those symbiotes will not let go of Yuncheng after they attacked Donglin Town."
"If a fight really breaks out," Qiu Shi whispered, "I will definitely notify you immediately. You lead them to run directly from the back mountain, around the hill with the waterfall, and then keep going south, and you will reach Xima Town, which is the abandoned town where I brought back a lot of magazines last time."
Zhao Lu said nothing and just looked at him in silence.
"There's an underground parking lot in that town," Qiu Shi said, "Let's hide there first."
"Why do you want to work for Yuncheng?" Zhao Lu asked, "We have never lived in the city. Everything we eat and drink is exchanged."
"I used to think so too. I don't want to get involved in these trivial matters. They have nothing to do with me." Qiu Shi squatted down and looked at Zhao Lu who was standing next to the bunker. "We are not protected by Yuncheng, nor do we work for Yuncheng..."
Qiu Shi sighed softly: "Every time we say that we will leave Yuncheng in the future, but where to go? We don't know."
Zhao Lu also sighed.
"I don't know where else we can go," Qiu Shi looked towards the jungle east of Dahei Mountain, "The road to Donglin is not too far. It passes through the forest, over the mountain, and then there are swamps, rivers, nomads, biochemical bodies... You will find that a life is nothing outside."
Zhao Lu frowned and said nothing.
"When there is no better place to go, there is only Yuncheng," Qiu Shi said. "With Yuncheng, these people don't have to live such a hard life outside."
"If that's the case," Zhao Lu lowered his voice, "it's even more impossible for us to hide away by ourselves. You go and fight, and we hide. What's the point of that?"
"This is not a fight with refugees, nor with other humans," Qiu Shi said, "This is a fight with each of the people who can communicate with each other through fungi. Are you sending these people to die?"
Brigade Zhao glanced at Xing Bi, who was sitting on the top of Qiu Shi's bunker and waved to him.
"It's not a hand-to-hand fight," said Zhao Lieutenant. "We have weapons. If a fight breaks out, aren't we better than the guards from the city defense department? Also, those soldiers who were secretly deployed and hid in the back hills, I've spotted them eight times, and they haven't seen me yet. They're useless."
Xing Bi on the opposite side laughed.
"Fuck," Zhao Lu looked at him, "Can he hear me?"
"No," Xing Bi jumped down from the shelter and walked over, "I can see it."
"Brother Bi," Zhao Lu asked in a low voice, "what do you think..."
"Listen to Brother Shi." Xing Bi also answered in a low voice.
Zhao Lu sighed again.
A black car appeared at the entrance of the tunnel. A group of corpse collectors who had just woken up quickly entered the bunker. Several gun barrels stretched out from the shooting ports of the bunker.
Although they all knew Li Feng's car, there were both the City Defense Bureau and the army outside the city, making such a big scene that they dared not relax at all. Who knew if someone had stolen Li Feng's car, or if Li Feng had been coerced.
The car drove all the way down the slope. After parking, he did not wait in the car for Qiu Shi to get out as he did before. Instead, he opened the door and Li Feng got out.
"He actually drove himself?" Zhao Lu said.
The passenger door also opened. When Qiu Shi saw Zhang Qifeng getting out of the car, he was stunned: "Fuck, why is there this person?"
"Who is this?" Zhao Lu asked.
"Zhang Qifeng from the City Defense Bureau." Qiu Shi said.
"Why are they here?" Brigade Zhao suddenly became nervous. "A security bureau is deadly enough... Could he be going to the checkpoint and get a ride?"
"The fact that they can hold a meeting in the same room without fighting is a huge contribution to Yuncheng." Qiu Shi walked out of the shelter and watched Li Feng and Zhang Qifeng slowly walking up from the bottom of the slope.
"Director Li," Xiao Lei jumped out from the bunker next to him and stood straight, "Director Zhang!"
"Stop the car for me." Li Feng handed him the car keys.
"It's more hidden if you park at the back." Xiao Lei took the key and immediately ran down the slope.
"Director Li," Qiu Shi looked at Li Feng, then glanced at Zhang Qifeng behind him, "Director Zhang."
"Let's find a place where we can talk." Li Feng said.
"In your car." Qiu Shi said.
"Your room." Li Feng said.
"Yeah." Qiu Shi turned around and took them into his room. After Xing Bi came in, he closed the door.
"Where are the other corpse collectors?" Zhang Qifeng looked around the room and sat down on a chair.
"According to the requirements of the City Defense Bureau, you must not come out unless necessary to avoid being exposed." Qiu Shi stretched out his leg to hook another chair over, kicked it next to Li Feng's legs, and then leaned against the table with Xing Bi.
"How was your rest yesterday?" Li Feng asked, "Are you feeling better?"
"Let's talk about the matter." Qiu Shi said.
"The symbiotes' activities around Cloud City have never stopped," Li Feng said, "Now we need to find their camp outside and build a defense base in the south of Cloud City."
"I'm not going." Qiu Shi said without thinking, "Is there no one in Yuncheng?"
"There are some," Li Feng said, "but these are the only first-level submersible guards that can be used."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything.
"You and Xing Bi will lead a small team to the south. You are familiar with that area," Li Feng looked at him. "Clean up the abandoned towns you have been to before and make sure they are safe. Then the army will garrison there."
"A team?" Qiu Shi asked, "What team?"
"A ten-man team composed of the city defense bureau and military elites," Zhang Qifeng said, "and three symbiotes."
Xing Bi raised his eyes and looked at Li Feng.
"What do you mean?" Qiu Shi asked, "Does Xing Bi have to be the main body?"
"Yes," Li Feng nodded, "Xing Bi is now fully capable of controlling more than five symbiotes."
Qiu Shi turned and looked at Xing Bi.
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
Since Xing Bi thinks there is no problem, then there is no problem. Qiu Shi didn't dwell on it anymore. Anyway, Li Feng never allows for negotiation when it comes to doing things.
"There are three such abandoned towns in the south," Qiu Shi said, "plus the village next to it. Is this just one small team going there?"
"There are three teams," Li Feng said. "There is one team from Lin Sheng's side, with the same configuration as yours, and another team is commanded by Colonel Xu himself."
"Are you going to die?" Xing Bi said.
Zhang Qifeng glanced at him and said, "Don't question the ability of the military elite casually."
"He should have raised the question formally," said Qiu Shi.
Zhang Qifeng took a breath, crossed his arms and said nothing more.
"Who is Lin Sheng's partner?" Xing Bi asked.
"This is not your concern," said Zhang Qifeng.
"The people selected by Colonel Xu himself," Li Feng said, "will do some coordinated training today, and the three teams will set out at the same time tomorrow."
Zhang Qifeng must have been a little unhappy with Li Feng's constant answering of questions, but to Qiu Shi's surprise, he did not argue with Li Feng. All his dissatisfaction was only in his eyes, as he stared at Li Feng.
"Give me a list of what you need," Li Feng said, "I'll satisfy you as long as it's reasonable."
"What about the unreasonable ones?" Qiu Shi asked.
"See how unreasonable it is." Li Feng said.
"Team Leader Li?" Zhang Qifeng turned and looked at him.
"Team leader?" Qiu Shi was stunned. "Are you the leader of your gang now?"
"Deputy team leader." Li Feng corrected.
Qiu Shi laughed, "Fuck, sure, Master Li."
"That's it," Li Feng stood up, "Have a good rest today. Ask Xiao Lei to make a list of the things you need as soon as possible. They will be delivered within an hour. A car will come to pick you up tomorrow morning."
Zhang Qifeng stood up and walked out of the bunker.
"Director Zhang seems very unconvinced." Qiu Shi said in a low voice.
"I feel so wronged," Li Feng said, "I picked the people in the team this time. They are not the useless people you usually see. If there is nothing else, I will go back first."
"There's something," Qiu Shi called him, "Xiao Lei."
"Hmm?" Li Feng looked at him.
"Why did you put him here?" Qiu Shi said, "I feel sorry for him. There's nothing he can do here."
"Give him some experience," Li Feng said. "He's a good guy. He'll be useless if he's kept in the Security Bureau. Let's just keep him here."
"What if they die in a fight?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Who can guarantee immortality these days?" Li Feng turned around and said, "Let's go."
Qiu Shi did not follow him out, but remained leaning against the table.
Xing Bi didn't move either, and stood side by side with him.
"Do you think this trip is dangerous?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Not really." Xing Bi said.
"Why don't you let us go out from the north?" Qiu Shi thought for a moment, "We've been there before, so we're probably the only ones familiar with it."
"There's Donglin Town over there." Xing Bi said.
"Has Donglin resumed contact with Yuncheng?" Qiu Shi thought about it.
"Yes," Xing Bi responded, "Yuncheng should have agreed to the new alliance, so the northeastern direction can be handed over to Donglin for the time being."
"I haven't been to those towns for a long time," Qiu Shi said with a sigh, "and he said that if a fight breaks out, let Brigade Zhao take these people to Xima Town to hide... If we're talking about garrisoning, that place is very suitable."
"How is your injury?" Xing Bi asked.
"I don't feel anything. If you don't hit my wound, it shouldn't be a big deal," Qiu Shi said. "I found out that this is my fate. No injury can be healed by lying in bed. I have to recover on the road."
Xing Bi smiled.
Zhao Lu appeared outside the door with a few cans.
Qiu Shi tilted his head towards him and said, "Come in."
"Eat something first." Zhao Lu threw a can to him and Xing Bi.
Qiu Shi took the can, which was already warm from soaking, and felt very comfortable in his hands. He lowered his head to open the can, and asked as he ate, "Did everyone see it?"
"Everyone is waiting for me to get the news." said Zhao Lu.
"Let's go out tomorrow," Qiu Shi said, "towards Xima Town. Yuncheng needs to expand its defense range."
"It's just to leave some space for fighting," said Zhao. "If fighting breaks out, we should fight between Yuncheng and the towns of Xima, giving Yuncheng a buffer. Don't let people bomb directly into the inner city like they did a while ago."
Qiu Shi smiled and said nothing.
"So here," Brigade Zhao pointed down, "will be the battlefield in the future."
"Go and tell them," Qiu Shi said, "I'm just going to explore the route. It's not a dangerous mission. Just let everyone stay calm."
"Yeah." Zhao Lu responded and wanted to say something, but after a pause, he just raised his head and poured the can in his hand into his mouth, then turned and walked out.
"Do you have any ideas?" Qiu Shi pinched a piece of meat. After eating the canned meat today, he felt better and not as nauseous.
People have a strong ability to adapt.
From the first time he was tricked by Li Feng into going to see that damned lair to today's mission to Xima Town, from being angry to being calm, he adapted quite well.
I don't know if it's because there is no choice, or because of Xing Bi, or because I am really great and I hope to leave a place for those weak humans who can't live well but can never die in this chaotic and cruel world.
… It shouldn’t be so great.
"I don't have any ideas." Xing Bi said.
"Will controlling three symbiotes affect you?" Qiu Shi said.
"Probably not," Xing Bi said, "If anything goes wrong, don't hesitate. If you control me, you can control the three of them."
"I know." Qiu Shi frowned.
"Listen to Happy Birthday a few more times until you learn it." Xing Bi said.
"What?" Qiu Shi asked.
"I'm afraid something might go wrong," Xing Bi said, "I can't tell that the song you're singing is this one."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything. He held back his laughter for a while before he burst out laughing: "Fuck."
"I remember all the times you sang out of tune," Xing Bi said, "but you never sing the same thing twice."
"Your ancestors," Qiu Shi smiled as he drank the soup in the can, and rubbed his fingers on Xing Bi's clothes. "Just treat this as a trip. I was actually thinking that if I had nothing else to do, I would take you out to play."
"Okay," Xing Bi nodded, "I haven't traveled yet."
The author has something to say:
See you tomorrow⊙▽⊙.
Well, I've been relaxed for several days.
Xing Bi actually knows everything. He is an old antique but he has lived for so long﹁_﹁.