sorry.
Qiu Shi said these three words to Xing Bi, because he was in danger and couldn't escape.
But he didn't want to hear Xing Bi say these three words to him.
Especially after knowing those memories of Xing Bi, even if it was just a small part, occupying only a few minutes of Xing Bi's one or two hundred years of life.
Saying these three words meant that he had to recall once again the pain that was unavoidable and seemed to never fade away with the passage of time.
And this time when Qiu Shi was injured, it was undoubtedly another precise cut on his wound.
"Don't be sorry," Qiu Shi held his hand, "There is no apology."
Xing Bi didn't say anything, but just tightened his arms.
The face pressed against the back of his neck also turned over, and her eyes rubbed his neck lightly twice.
"Are you wiping your tears on my neck?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded with a slight nasal tone.
"If I get wet, I'll have a short circuit." said Qiu Shi.
Xing Bi smiled, and soon fell silent. Then Qiu Shi heard very low crying. He even suspected that if he had not been strengthened, he would not be able to hear the crying that was suppressed to the extreme. He would not have known that Xing Bi would cry so sadly.
"Don't cry," Qiu Shi rubbed his hands, "You are old, a man of your ancestors, I don't know how to comfort you."
Xing Bi's tears slid down his neck, bringing with them warmth.
Qiu Shi sighed softly, said nothing more, and just patted his hands gently.
He had been hanging out with that group of brothers since he was a child. They had seen the wasteland outside the city, the sandstorms, and the dead. They all lived a rough life and seemed to have no tears. The only one who loved to cry was Hu Xiaoling, and Zhao Lu would always go to coax him. Zhao Lu's way of coaxing was very simple: "I'll beat you if you cry again."
He never thought that Xing Bi would cry, a secret guard who ate screws with gasoline, a person he thought was powerful enough to be omnipotent.
However, Xing Bi's crying time was very short. When tears slid down Qiu Shi's neck for the fourth time, he raised his head.
Qiu Shi turned his head and asked softly: "Where are you hiding now..."
Something touched the back of his neck, something wet, soft and warm.
Qiu Shi was stunned. It was Xing Bi's lips.
"They are usually on the hillside over there." Xing Bi said.
"Is the old man still here?" Qiu Shi came back to his senses and asked.
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
"Didn't you hide with him?" Qiu Shi turned around.
"He talks too much," Xing Bi said. "He keeps talking."
Qiu Shi smiled and said, "Did I bother you?"
"A little bit." Xing Bi said.
"Come to my room for a while, it's too cold." Qiu Shi looked around, "Do you want to deal with the bodies of those guys?"
"Just push it down the slope over there," Xing Bi said. "It will be buried if the snow gets heavy."
After dealing with the bodies, Qiu Shi pulled up Xing Bi's scarf and said, "Cover your face. Go back to the dormitory. The facilities in Xima Town should not be able to find you now."
"They have handheld detectors," said Xing Bi.
"But you can hide." Qiu Shi walked towards the supermarket.
"Yeah." Xing Bi followed him, "But Lin Sheng might already know I'm here."
"It's okay." said Qiu Shi.
They walked through the market in silence, passed the turret, stepped on the bloodstains that had not yet been washed off, and entered the supermarket.
The team members were exhausted from the long journey and were now resting on the first floor. The second floor was left for Qiu Shi, the three biochemical bodies, Lin Sheng and Liu Wu.
Liu Wu should be resting, but Lin Sheng was standing on the stairs.
Qiu Shi and Xing Bi turned around and saw him at a glance.
It was obvious that Lin Sheng was waiting here. Just as Xing Bi had expected, he already knew that Xing Bi was here and guessed that he would come back with Qiu Shi.
"Where is your partner?" Qiu Shi walked up the stairs and asked in a low voice.
"Asleep." Lin Sheng said.
"What is your mission this time?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Help the second team when necessary," Lin Sheng said, "assist in defense."
"I haven't found Xing Bi yet." said Qiu Shi.
Lin Sheng glanced at Xing Bi who was standing behind him: "Yeah."
"Thank you." Qiu Shi said and walked into the room reserved for him.
Xing Bi followed him in and closed the door.
Then, Lin Sheng's footsteps were heard outside, slowly walking towards the corridor.
The room was very warm; the garrisoned troops had excellent heating equipment. There was a ball emitting a dark red light in the corner of the room, and one could feel the warmth coming towards him.
Qiu Shi took off his heavy coat and threw it on the ground beside him.
Xing Bi glanced at the coat on the ground.
"What's the matter?" Qiu Shi said, "Just throw it there and dry it."
Xing Bi didn't say anything, took off his coat and threw it on the ground next to his coat.
Qiu Shi smiled and opened the closet next to him. He saw his bag in the closet. It was probably brought up by his teammates. There were two sets of clean clothes hanging next to it. It was obvious that they were specially prepared for him by the garrison personnel. The service was very thorough. I wonder if it was because Zhao expressed dissatisfaction with the bloodstains that were not cleaned up when he got off the car.
He took out a set and handed it to Xing Bi: "Do you want to change into it?"
"Yes." Xing Bi took the clothes.
"Is this outfit you're wearing the old man's? It's a bit ugly, change it." Qiu Shi took off his clothes and felt his neck was still a little wet, so his hand paused.
"That's not saliva." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi looked at him.
"I kissed you, not licked you," Xing Bi said.
“… I can tell the difference,” Qiu Shi said, “These are your tears.”
Xing Bi raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said nothing more.
When Qiu Shi was about to take off his pants, he found that Xing Bi had not changed his clothes, but was just looking at him.
"What's wrong?" Qiu Shi asked.
Xing Bi came over, took his hand, and gently pinched his wrist twice.
"It's fine now." said Qiu Shi.
Xing Bi didn't say anything and just kept pinching it.
"Why?" Qiu Shi didn't want to ask now, but Xing Bi obviously didn't want to avoid it, so there was no need for him to endure it.
"There were still infected people outside at the time," Xing Bi said, "The main body could take back control at any time. If I fell, they would kill you and everyone."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything.
"I didn't have time to explain to you," Xing Bi's hands were shaking slightly, "I could only make you completely unable to move and control me, and I was also very scared at the time."
"I'm fine now. After I strengthened myself... I recovered quickly," said Qiu Shi.
"You won't die. Why?" Xing Bi looked at him, and stroked his body lightly with his fingers, each stroke accurately landing on the wound that had healed to the point where it was barely noticeable.
Seventeen cuts, Xing must remember the position of each cut.
"Why? Why am I not dead?" Qiu Shi was stunned.
"You won't die, you don't need to be strengthened," Xing Bi said, "Why should I strengthen it? Did Li Feng lie to you?"
"Not really," Qiu Shi sighed and hesitated, "but it will take a long time for me to recover, and I may not be able to recover to my previous state."
Xing Bi looked at him.
"I'm just afraid that time will pass too long and I won't be able to find you again," Qiu Shi said, "or I won't be able to be your partner anymore."
"You know..." Xing Bi said.
“I know,” Qiu said, “that strictly speaking, I am no longer a human being.”
He said this casually, but Xing Bi kept frowning.
"It's actually not that bad. Director Wu wanted to replace my body at first, but Li Feng stopped him," Qiu Shi said as he took off his pants and put on a new set of clothes from the closet. "He felt quite sorry."
"Are you feeling unwell?" Xing Bi asked.
"No," Qiu Shi changed his clothes and fell on the bed, "I'm fine. My injuries healed quickly, and I don't get tired easily. I can hear more clearly and see farther. My strength and speed are stronger than before... Do you want to lie down for a while?"
Xing Bi stood there without moving.
"I know you don't need sleep that much," Qiu Shi said, "even if we want to chat, it would be awkward for you to just stand there."
Xing Bi took off his clothes and lay down on the bed.
"This bed is smaller than the one I had in the bunker." Qiu Shi moved in.
Xing Bi pulled his hand over, placed it on his chest, and gently pinched his wrist.
"I wanted to control you that day," Qiu Shi rested his head on his arm, "I didn't think too much about it. I just felt that I was going to die, and I couldn't let you chase them before I died. There were five of them, and you couldn't beat them."
"Yeah." Xing Bi held his wrist, held it for a while and then began to pinch it.
"Can you beat him?" Qiu Shi asked.
"We can't beat five of them together," Xing Bi said, "They are five level one."
Qiu Shi frowned: "I thought they were retreating."
"He wants to lure me out and find a chance to kill me." Xing Bi said.
"Then why are you going?" Qiu Shi couldn't help but raise his voice.
"At least we can force them to leave Xima Town," Xing Bi said, "Even if we can't defeat them, it doesn't mean we'll be killed on the spot."
Qiu Shi paused and laughed.
Xing Bi turned his head and looked at him.
"Sang Fan said you had an order to protect me," Qiu Shi said, "When did you give this order?"
"No order was given." Xing Bi said.
"Hmm?" Qiu Shi was stunned. "Is what Sang Fan said trying to comfort me? Am I being too sentimental?"
"When I controlled them," Xing Bi said, "it was an imprint of my consciousness that remained in their memories."
"As a student at a refugee school," Qiu Shi said, "how should I understand this sentence?"
"This is what I think about all the time," Xing Bi said. "When I control them, it is imprinted in their minds and is considered part of the order."
"Fuck." said Qiu Shi.
Suddenly I felt a little sour in my nose.
When Xing Bi cried so sadly before, he held back and didn't cry along with her, but now he couldn't bear it anymore.
He turned his head and pressed his eyes against the pillow to relax.
"Does it hurt?" Xing Bi asked.
"It hurts," Qiu Shi said, "The most painful thing is your step on me. It hurts more than if he stabbed me a dozen times."
Xing Bi sighed softly.
"That subject," Qiu Shi said, "do you remember who he is?"
"Yeah," Xing Bi responded, pausing for a moment, "Zheng Ting."
"Li Feng showed me a memory of yours," Qiu Shi said softly, "Do you mind?"
"About Zheng Ting?" Xing Bi said, "And my teacher."
"How did you guess it?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Li Feng is so smart, would he show you something that has nothing to do with this incident?" Xing Bi said, "No need to guess."
"A short section." said Qiu Shi.
"Don't mind," Xing Bi said, "I'll tell you when I remember it."
"Have you remembered everything?" Qiu Shi looked at him.
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
"Then according to their understanding," Qiu Shi lowered his voice, "you are out of control, partner."
"Yeah." Xing Bi nodded.
Qiu Shi didn't say anything else.
"My teacher," Xing Bi said, "is a very good person."
"I can see that," Qiu Shi said. "You can tell at a glance that this is not a refugee school. They have taught you very well."
"Just like dad." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi turned over and lay on his side with his arms as a pillow.
"What does it feel like to be like your dad?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It's just... you feel you can rely on him and trust him," Xing Bi thought for a moment, "whenever you encounter something, you will want to find him. With him around, you will feel more at ease."
"Really?" Qiu Shi thought.
Xing Bi was silent for a while before speaking: "What are you thinking about?"
"Aren't you good at answering questions quickly?" Qiu Shi said.
Xing Bi smiled and said, "I don't dare to grab this."
Qiu Shi sighed.
"It's different." Xing Bi said.
"It was still snatched!" Qiu Shi said. "Emotions are much more complicated than words can describe," Xing Bi said, "They may sound similar, but the actual feelings are different."
"But what's the difference?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Then call me dad." Xing Bi said.
"Go away!" Qiu Shi immediately raised his head and looked at him, "You haven't taken advantage of me enough."
Xing Bi laughed: "Isn't this different?"
"Okay," Qiu Shi sighed and lay back on the pillow, "But I do... I feel safe when you're around, and I panic when you're not around."
"Me too." Xing Bi said.
"Will you feel safe?" Qiu Shi asked.
"I will panic." Xing Bi said.
"Your ancestors," Qiu Shi was stunned, "so you are afraid that I will die."
Xing Bi turned his head and looked at him.
Qiu Shi felt that what he said was a bit sensitive, so he reached out and patted Xing Bi on the face: "It's okay, you won't die, I'm..."
This seems a bit sensitive.
"I have a strong life," Qiu Shi said. "Zhao Lu and his men thought I was going to die every day, but I never died."
Xing Bi also raised his hand and touched his face.
"If any of those people dared to touch me like that," Qiu Shi said, "I would kick them out."
Xing Bi smiled and took his hand back.
"They are very important to me, like my brothers," Qiu said. "You are also important to me, but not in the same way. Do you understand me?"
"Well," Xing Bi said, "You and the teacher are both important to me, but equally important."
Qiu Shi looked at him and didn't speak for a long time.
Feeling that he was beginning to feel a little sleepy, he asked, "Have you ever liked anyone?"
"Before?" Xing Bi asked.
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
"No." Xing Bi said.
"Where is your partner?" Qiu Shi asked.
Xing Bi glanced at him and said, "For my former partner, flying a kite was just a job."
Qiu Shi sighed softly.
"Not to me," he said, "I like you very much."
Xing Bi looked at him without saying anything.
"I used to like a sister at the refugee market," said Qiu Shi.
"How old were you?" Xing Bi asked.
"About ten years old." said Qiu Shi.
"You are twenty-five now," Xing Bi said, "Did you like someone before when you were ten?"
"That's ridiculous," Qiu Shi said, "You're almost an idiot, and you didn't even have a favorite before."
Xing Bi laughed: "You continue."
"The time was very short. I didn't like it after a few days, but Brigade Zhao saw it," said Qiu Shi.
"Is he so powerful?" Xing Bi said.
“So when he said that last time,” Qiu Shi said, “I thought… it should be correct.”
"Qiu Shi," Xing Bi thought for a moment, "Do you know the suspension bridge effect?"
“… What the hell is that?” Qiu Shi asked.
"That is, when a person crosses a suspension bridge, he or she may feel scared and nervous, and his or her heart rate may speed up," Xing Bi said. "If someone crosses the bridge with you at this time..."
“Fuck,” Qiu Shi interrupted him. “Got it.”
Xing Bi looked at him.
"You mean to say that because we always do missions together and experience those scary and nervous things," Qiu Shi said with a sigh, "I misunderstood myself. If I'm not in this environment one day, I won't have this feeling anymore."
Xing Bi said nothing.
"That's troublesome," Qiu Shi said. "There's no day in this world that's not exciting or scary. If you don't open your eyes in the morning, you can't be sure whether you're dead or not. People live on that suspension bridge, and there's nowhere else to go."
Xing Bi laughed: "You are really... cute."
Although Qiu Shi felt that he was not easily tired or sleepy after the strengthening, he didn't know whether it was because Xing Bi came back, but he felt relaxed all of a sudden.
We lay on the bed and chatted for a while, and I fell asleep without knowing when.
He didn't wake up until the middle of the night when Xing Bi pulled him out of bed. Then he saw the flickering lights on the street outside the window.
"What's wrong?" He jumped out of bed and walked to the window.
The garrison soldiers patrolling below were running towards the town entrance.
"There are infected people." Xing Bi said.
"Are you being controlled?" Qiu Shi quickly grabbed the clothes and started putting them on.
"No," Xing Bi said, "I didn't feel it."
"I'll go down and take a look." Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi and found that he had changed his clothes. "You... come with me, cover your face and hide the information."
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
When I was going downstairs, a garrison soldier just happened to enter the supermarket.
"What's going on?" Zhao Yi and the others also got up.
"There are infected people," the soldier said, "but they are probably not under control."
"That means one kill with one sword?" Zhao Yi said.
"It's a bit strange," the soldier looked at Qiu Shi, "so I wanted to ask Captain Qiu if he has similar experience."
"Speak." Qiu Shi said.
“Usually, those randomly wandering infected people move around randomly,” the soldier said, “but these today kept walking in one direction.”
Qiu Shi was stunned. He had never seen such a situation before.
"Don't clean up," Xing Bi said from behind him, "Don't disturb them."
Several members of Team 2 turned their heads and looked at Xing Bi.
"We will handle it, and you guys prepare the defense around the town." Qiu Shi quickly took over the conversation. Fortunately, the garrison officers had never seen Xing Bi, let alone heard his voice.
"Okay." The soldier nodded, turned and ran out.
After Zhao Yi and the other man ran away, they pointed at Xing Bi in shock: "Xing Bi..."
"We haven't found it yet," Qiu Shi interrupted him. "We haven't found it yet."
Zhao Yi looked at him, then glanced back at a few equally shocked team members, then nodded: "We have to find another... two or three days?"
"Almost." said Qiu Shi.
"What about now?" Long Hao asked.
"Let's go check out what's going on. Apply the inhibitors," Qiu Shi said. "Xiao Zuo and Xiao You stay behind with Lin Sheng to guard the town. Sang Fan will go with us. Zhao Yi, Long Hao, and Lu Yu will go together. The others will stay behind to assist in the defense. Notify me if anything happens."
In order not to alert the infected people, they did not drive but ran towards the town entrance.
Qiu Shi climbed onto the roof of the house next to him and followed them from there.
Two teams of garrisoned soldiers have gathered at the entrance of the town. Several swaying black shadows can be seen on the snow in the distance, and their footprints can be seen in the moonlight, extending straight to the northwest.
"Where did you come from?" Qiu Shi asked, opening the map at the same time.
You can see more than a dozen bright spots on the map, scattered around, but their directions of movement are indeed very consistent, which is different from previous infected people.
"The first few came through town from the east," the captain of tonight's patrol replied, "and some were refugees from the villages outside, who were newly infected."
"All of them?" Qiu Shi asked.
"No, some of them," the captain said, "those who were not infected fled into the town and have been quarantined."
"Guard the perimeter of the town," Qiu Shi said, "Let's go over and see what's going on."
"Do we need to send a team to follow?" asked the captain.
"No need." Qiu Shi said and led his men out of the town.
It snowed only in the first half of this evening. Now the snow has stopped and the moonlight is still bright, making it seem even quieter than when it was completely dark.
It didn't take long for them to catch up with the infected people, and they dispersed and kept a certain distance from these people.
Xing Bi’s bright spot cannot be seen on the map, but if you turn your head you can see Xing Bi, about twenty meters behind him.
"What's in the northwest?" Zhao Yi asked in the team channel.
"Small hills," Qiu Shi said. "Further north are the mountains extending from Dahei Mountain. There are fewer of them here."
"What's the attraction of these hills?" Zhao Yi was a little surprised. "These infected people are really just moving towards that place."
"Pay attention." Qiu Shi looked back.
At this time, Xing Bi behind him quickened his pace and quickly caught up with him.
"What's going on?" Qiu Shi turned off the team call.
"Nothing," Xing Bi said, "See you keep looking back."
Qiu Shi turned his head again: "I have a stiff neck."
Xing Bi didn't say anything. After a while, he asked, "Aren't you going to report to Li Feng that you found me?"
"I haven't thought about it yet." said Qiu Shi.
"Hmm?" Xing Bi looked at him.
"I don't know how much I can trust Li Feng's words," Qiu Shi whispered, "but in the eyes of others, you are always a danger and a hidden danger."
"Yes," Xing Bi responded, "Since the day biochemical bodies appeared, we have been a danger and hidden danger to many people."
"This time," Qiu Shi said, "my mission is to find you and bring you back."
He turned to look at Xing Bi and said in a low voice: "But no one wants to know whether you are willing to go back."
The author has something to say:
To be continued tomorrow.