Zuoshandiao and his gang led the convoy along the dirt road and entered behind the wall where they had hidden before.
Behind the wall is a street. Although the road surface has been weathered beyond recognition, the width of the street and the scale of the buildings on both sides are obviously larger than those in Xima Town.
"What is this place?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Who are you asking?" Zuo Shandiao glanced at him, "Do you have any manners?"
Qiu Shi was very shocked. How could he be polite to such a person
He looked at the mountain eagle and was silent for a while before he spoke: "Eagle, where is this place?"
This time it was Zuoshandiao's turn to be shocked. Even through his helmet, his body language showed it: "What the hell did you call me?"
"What do you want me to call you?" Qiu Shi said, "Zuo'er?"
"Call me Master Diao!" A man holding a gun nearby immediately threw the gun in front of him, raised it and thrust it at Qiu Shi's face.
"Fuck you!" Qiu Shi grabbed the gun barrel, raised it up and knocked it into the man's face, "Your ancestors!"
The man's nose bled as he kept the gun in his hand.
"Oh." Zuoshandiao looked at Qiu Shi in surprise, "You are not an arms dealer, are you?"
"I'm a corpse collector." said Qiu Shi.
Zuoshandiao looked at him without saying anything. After a while, he waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
Qiu Shi caught up with him.
"This is the suburb of Benquan City," Zuoshandiao clapped his hands as he walked, "This is not a shabby place."
A building next to the street suddenly lit up with lights as he clapped his hands twice.
Four spotlights shine upward from the four corners of the house, and there are light strips that wind along the vines from upstairs to downstairs, flashing colorful lights...
I have to say that Qiu Shi felt quite shocked the moment the lights came on. After all, it was pitch black for dozens of miles around, and suddenly a brightly lit building appeared in this place.
But this light from bottom to top, the strings of lights flashing in alternating red, yellow and green, give this building that is lit alone in the dark night a strange sense of horror.
"Please park your car outside the door and line it up neatly," Zuoshandiao said, "I will check the goods later."
"Just tell me what you want," Qiu said. "You can't check this stuff."
"Wow," Zuoshandiao looked at him, "Is this your first day out here? You don't seem to know the rules."
Xing Bi's voice came from the headset: "Give him some bullets, many of their guns are empty."
Qiu Shi stretched out his hand, Ji Sui walked over with his head lowered and put a box of bullets in his hand.
"What kind of rules?" Qiu Shi slapped the bullet on Zuoshandiao's chest, "Fill the guns for the brothers first."
Zuoshandiao took the bullet, looked at him, then looked down at the bullet, and finally tilted his head: "Come in first."
The first floor is like a pub, and its layout is very similar to Dayan, except that it is larger. The tables and chairs are much more elegant than those in Dayan, which are made by splitting logs and nailing them together, and they are all very neat.
There are four pillars at the four corners of the house, which don’t look like they are built into the house but were installed later.
A man with his head lowered was tied to one of the pillars. His body was covered in blood, which had turned black and hardened.
This made the already tense atmosphere even more weird. This was not even a hidden black shop, it was a black shop with the word "black shop" clearly written on it.
After Zuoshandiao entered the house, several people ran down from upstairs.
"Master Diao is back."
Qiu Shi suppressed his displeasure at this inexplicable situation and sat down next to the table. Xing Bi and Ji Sui stood behind him. Probably to avoid trouble, the other biochemical bodies did not come in.
With the help of the light in the room, Qiu Shi could see these people clearly. They were all young, about the same age as Hu Xiaoling, around twenty years old.
But after Zuoshandiao took off his bulletproof vest and helmet, Qiu Shi was a little surprised.
Zuoshandiao looks younger than those who call him "Master". Although there is a long scar on his face running from left to right across the bridge of his nose, he still looks childish.
"Your people can rest on the second floor," Zuoshandiao said, "I won't touch your goods before we have an agreement. You don't need to send anyone to guard them."
"I don't trust you." said Qiu Shi.
Zuoshandiao was obviously very dissatisfied with Qiu Shi's lack of trust, and his face was very gloomy, but perhaps he could tell from the box of bullets that this group of people were indeed powerful, so he did not get angry.
"Want to eat? We have canned and fresh food, the prices are different," Zuoshandiao said, "and wine, too."
"What's new?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Meat," said a servant nearby, "We just brought back some pigs today. If you come at another time, we won't have any meat left. There's not even enough for us to eat."
"Then you can keep it for yourselves," Qiu Shi said. "Canned food."
The henchman threw over a few cans, which were bigger than those in Yuncheng, but looked very old. They must have been found in some prehistoric warehouse, and they were antique cans with a shelf life of a hundred years.
Maybe it was stolen from someone else. Qiu Shi saw blood on the can.
Zuo Shandiao also saw it, took the can, wiped off the blood with his sleeve casually, put it in front of Qiu Shi, and looked at Xing Bi and Ji Sui behind him: "Don't they want to eat it?"
"I don't want to eat it." Qiu Shi picked up the can and looked at it.
"It's edible, it's not bad, and it smells delicious. Aren't they hungry if they don't eat it? Or..." Zuoshandiao suddenly pounced on the table from the opposite side with a gun in his hand.
Before his gun could point at Qiu Shi's forehead, Qiu Shi had already pulled out his gun and pointed it at his head.
"That's too much movement, Zuo'er."
"Biochemical?" Zuoshan Diao insisted on finishing his lines. "You go out with two biological beings, who the hell are you?"
"Sit down." Qiu Shi said.
Zuoshandiao sat back reluctantly and kicked the table in annoyance.
"Don't be so surprised, we are just passing by," Qiu Shi opened the can and smelled it. It was actually fragrant. "We will leave at daybreak."
"Don't smell it, it's luncheon meat, good stuff." said Zuoshandiao.
To be honest, Qiu Shi had never eaten luncheon meat. He scooped out a piece with the can lid and tasted it. It was surprisingly delicious. He even wanted to take the can back to Li Feng. The Security Bureau has been producing three flavors of canned food for a hundred years. It’s time to change the formula.
"Are you going east?" asked Zuoshandiao.
"Well," Qiu Shi nodded while eating, "Is there a bridge?"
"You haven't walked here, right? Who walks on that bridge now?" said Zuoshandiao.
"Then how do we cross the river?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Walk on the bridge." said Zuoshandiao.
Qiu Shi looked at him without saying anything.
"There is only one road," Zuoshandiao said, "If you had come a month earlier, you could have crossed it. Now the bridge has been occupied and blown up, so you can't cross it. If you..."
He looked at Xing Bi and Ji Sui and shook his head: "Biochemical bodies won't work either."
"Who occupied it?" Qiu Shi asked.
Zuoshandiao glanced at Xing Bi and Ji Sui behind him without saying anything.
"Biochemical body?" Qiu Shi asked.
"A monster bio-body," Zuoshandiao said, "the kind that can control the infected. Have you heard of it?"
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded, and looking at Zuo Shandiao's expression, he added, "They are not."
"It's hard to say," said Zuoshandiao, "you can't tell at ordinary times."
"Can you see him usually?" Qiu Shi asked.
Zuoshandiao said nothing, but looked at him and said, "What are you asking about? Do you think this is a news station?"
"Fuck, we can just chat. If you don't want to chat, just walk away," Qiu Shi said, "I don't have to find anything to talk about."
Zuoshandiao glared at him, stood up suddenly, turned around and left. His followers immediately followed him out of the back door. Only Qiu Shi, Xing Bi, Ji Sui and the man tied to the pillar were left on the first floor.
"Did I mess it up?" Qiu Shi asked in a low voice while eating the canned food with his head down.
"No, there are biochemical activities and symbionts nearby." Xing Bi said.
"According to Qu Shen's map, there are cables on the other side of the bridge," Ji Sui said, "This may be where they plan to build a camp."
Donglin’s defense line had just been built, and unlike Xima where the entire town was filled with biochemical creatures and troops, it was a relatively weak position.
"What should I do next?" Qiu Shi asked, "I still need to talk to him. He is wary of biochemical bodies."
"Talk about something he's interested in." Ji Sui said.
"For example? Why is he called Zuoshan Diao? This name is definitely not something he came up with, right?" Qiu Shi said, "There is no such thing as a carving in my mind, and what mountain is he sitting on? Which mountain is he sitting on? Did he read this in some old antique book?"
"Smart," Xing Bi said, "Talk to him about Lin Hai Xue Yuan."
"What the hell?" Qiu Shi couldn't help but look back at him.
Just as he was about to ask a few more questions, a henchman walked in and said, "Master Diao said you can stay in the three rooms on the second floor. If there are not enough rooms, then I will leave you alone. You can find a way to squeeze in."
"Thank you." Qiu Shi said, "Where are the others?"
"Something happened." The follower said and then stood there motionless, as if waiting for them to go upstairs to stay.
Qiu Shi stood up and walked out with Xing Bi and the others.
"Those soldiers need to rest, let them go to the room upstairs to rest," Xing Bi said, "The biochemical body is in the car."
"Did the big eagle say anything?" Sang Fan asked.
"There are symbiotes nearby," Xing Bi said, "We tried our best not to alarm them when crossing the bridge, but the bridge was destroyed... That eagle should know another way. Let's see if Qiu Shi can talk it out with him."
"I'll go beat him up and tell you." Sang Fan said.
"I'm afraid you will beat him to death." Ji Sui said.
"No." Sang Fan said and walked into the store.
"I'll go and fight," Qiu Shi held her back, "I know how to fight."
Qiu Shi went up to the second floor with several soldiers. The first floor looked relatively clean, but from the three rooms on the second floor it was clear that no matter how hard Zuo Shandiao tried to hold on, they were still living in this difficult world.
The furnishings in the room were very simple. There were a few boards on the floor, with some things thrown on them that were not sure whether they were clothes or pieces of cloth. There were a few quilts, but they were torn and dirty.
The accommodation conditions here are not as good as those of the refugees in the outer city. The bunkers are considered luxurious compared to here.
"If not, let's just go back to the car," said Qiu Shi.
"It's okay, the car is crowded," said a soldier, "just rest for a night, and it will prevent them from getting suspicious and causing trouble."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded and could hear someone talking at the back of the building.
He walked to the window, leaned against the wall and looked down.
Downstairs, Zuo Shandiao and several of his followers were surrounding a woman who seemed to be crying.
Just when he was about to take another look, Zuoshandiao suddenly raised his head and glanced towards the second floor. Qiu Shi had no time to dodge, so he did not move and looked at him.
Then the lights outside the building that illuminated a building went out, and these people suddenly returned to darkness.
Qiu Shi walked out of the room: "Xing Bi, can you hear what they are saying?"
"I can't hear clearly," Xing Bi's voice came from the headset, "I only know that he called the woman sister, and he didn't agree with the woman going somewhere."
"I see," Qiu Shi said, "I'll go take a look."
Before he could go out the back door, Zuo Shandiao had already come in and blocked the door: "What are you looking at?"
"Are you in trouble?" Qiu Shi asked, "We are just passing by. If there is any trouble, please don't let it get to us."
Zuoshandiao seemed to be in a bad mood. He just sneered and said nothing else.
"Do you have any wine?" Qiu Shi walked to the bar in the corner and sat down, looking at the empty wine cabinet, which would probably collapse in two months.
Zuoshandiao came over, took out a small metal flat pot from a leather bag hanging on his waist and placed it in front of him.
Qiu Shi unscrewed the bottle cap and smelled the aroma of wine before he drank it. He moved closer to smell it. In Yuncheng, only people at Minister Liu's level could drink this wine. Director Li had no chance of drinking it before he seized power.
"I haven't drunk it yet, why the hell are you smelling it?" Zuoshandiao said, "If you think it's dirty, leave it alone."
Qiu Shi glanced at him, put the wine back on the bar and screwed it: "If you had dared to talk to me like this two months ago, you would have been lying on the ground before you even finished the first sentence."
"Very impressive," Zuoshandiao glanced at him, then glanced at the door, "I believe this, you are from a prominent family."
"We can't let you check the car, but we want to ask something. I ask, and you give a price and answer. That's all," said Qiu Shi.
After Zuoshandiao finished talking to the woman behind him, he no longer had the same forced arrogance as before. After hearing what Qiu Shi said, he didn't say anything, but just took the wine jug and took a sip.
"You want to cross the bridge?" he asked.
"Well," Qiu Shi leaned his arm on the bar and tilted his head to look at him, "Do you have any way to get through?"
"If you didn't have these cars, I would have a hundred ways to get you across," Zuoshandiao frowned, "but if you want to get across by car, you can only go on the bridge."
"How serious is the damage to the bridge deck?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It's as long as two cars," Zuoshandiao said. "Two long cars like yours, not two ordinary cars."
"That's more than ten meters," said Qiu Shi.
"Yeah." Zuoshandiao looked at him. "Is anyone guarding it?" Qiu Shi asked.
"There's no one guarding it, and the monsters are staying some distance from the bridge," Zuoshandiao said, "but there are infected people, and they are near the bridge."
"Why do you want to break the bridge?" Qiu Shi found that Zuoshandiao was not familiar with his business or something, and seemed to have forgotten about charging fees. He took the opportunity to ask.
"When they came over here, someone was chasing them over there." said Zuoshandiao.
Someone actually chased the symbiote so hard that it blew up the bridge to hide? Qiu Shi raised his eyebrows.
"Any idea who's chasing them?"
Zuoshandiao didn't say anything, but raised his eyebrows. I wonder if he remembered that he should charge the fee.
"Tell me, what do you want?" Qiu Shi asked.
"You have a lot of questions?" asked Zuoshandiao.
"Yeah." Qiu Shi waited for him to open his mouth too high before putting his head on the bar to bargain.
"This is for you." said Zuoshandiao.
"For me?" Qiu Shi was stunned. This was an answer he did not expect.
"It's for you. You can probably get the answers to these questions by beating up any homeless person," Zuoshandiao said. "I can take you across the bridge for a fee."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything. Could Zuo Shandiao and his bunch of stupid followers send a convoy across a bridge that was blown up by a symbiote
I'm afraid this is not an attempt to cheat.
"Don't disbelieve me," said Zuoshan Diao, "I have been here for five years. If I say I can let you pass, I will definitely let you pass. If you don't believe me, go ask around. I, Zuoshan Diao..."
"Where can I go to find out?" Qiu Shi said, "You're the only shady shop on this street."
"You'll see people at daybreak," Zuoshandiao said, "They just don't dare to come out at night. There's no one on the street. Some are running away, some are being caught, and some are dying. There are still many houses over there near Benquan City."
Qiu Shi didn't bother him with these questions: "How are you going to get us there?"
"Don't worry about it," Zuoshandiao frowned, "You have to help me finish the job first."
"Speak." Qiu Shi said.
"Your weapons are pretty good, right?" asked Zuoshandiao.
"It's okay." said Qiu Shi.
"I'll just give you a box of bullets," Zuoshandiao said, "It's not a makeshift job. Only you can do this."
"Let me hear what it is about first," said Qiu Shi.
"Go out of this street and there is a small prison at the end," Zuo Shandiao said, "Go there and kill someone."
Qiu Shi was silent. Murder
"What? You've never killed anyone?" Zuoshandiao looked at him with contempt.
"Are these conditions equal?" Qiu Shi also looked at him.
"We sacrificed our lives for you to cross the bridge," said Zuoshandiao.
Qiu Shi was stunned by these words. After a while, he spoke: "Are you willing to exchange one life for another to kill this person?"
"Yeah." Zuoshandiao nodded.
Qiu Shi looked at him for a while, then glanced outside: "Xing Bi."
Xing Bi got out of the car outside and entered the store.
"Who?" Xing Bi asked.
"Bastard." Zuoshandiao squeezed out these two words viciously from between his teeth, "If he doesn't die, everyone here will die."
"What did he do?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Since he came here, he has killed people, robbed women, and opened a brothel. The women he took away did not survive more than a month," Zuoshandiao said. "He has about a hundred people in prison and plans to send them to the monster bio-body."
"To be honest," Qiu Shi propped up his forehead and looked at him, "I thought you were the one who did the first half."
"I'm doing a legitimate business," Zuoshandiao slapped the table, "I'll provide you with services based on the price you give me, including food, drink, shelter, and safety!"
"Calm down." Qiu Shi said.
"My sister is going to go to him," Zuoshandiao's eyes suddenly flashed with tears, "If he doesn't die, my sister will die!"
"Your sister?" Xing Bi said, "The woman just now?"
"Yeah." The eagle responded.
"My biological sister?" Qiu Shi asked. Nowadays, not many people of this age have brothers and sisters.
"No, I admit it," said Zuoshandiao, "Why are you asking so many questions?"
"Killing people requires background checks," Xing Bi said, "You have never come into contact with a killer, right? We need to investigate both the target and the employer."
"It sounds like the truth," Zuoshandiao said with a look of dissatisfaction, but he still cooperated and added, "This store belonged to my brother-in-law. He's dead, and there are no women in this area now. If my sister doesn't go, everyone in this store will die."
Qiu Shi understood why Zuoshandiao's bluffing temperament was completely incompatible with the business in this store.
"How did you get the scar on your face?" Xing Bi asked.
"Block the knife for me!" A female voice came from the back door.
Qiu Shi looked back and saw a woman in her thirties, not pretty and a little thin, but with sharp eyes.
"What's your name?" Xing Bi looked at Zuoshandiao.
"Stavern Eagle." said the Stavern Eagle.
"Greetings, Third Master." Xing Bi said.
Zuo Shandiao was obviously startled for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "You..."
"Real name." Xing Bi said.
"Li Rui, I have the same last name as my sister," Zuoshandiao said, "My sister gave me this name. I didn't have a name before."
"Lead the way." Xing Bi said.
"What?" Li Rui was stunned.
"Murder." Xing Bi said.
Xing Bi's decision was a bit unexpected for Li Rui, but Qiu Shi was not surprised. Xing Bi asked those questions just to confirm whether what Diao'er said was true.
But even if no one asked, even someone like Qiu Shi, who was educated in the quality of refugee school education, could see that Li Rui was telling the truth.
"Do you think he can really lead us across the river?" Qiu Shi glanced at Li Rui who was leading the way in front and asked in a low voice.
"He should have a way." Xing Bi said.
"I feel that what he meant was that someone would die if he used this method," said Qiu Shi.
"If there really is a way, we can do it. It won't necessarily result in casualties." Xing Bi said.
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
After walking for a while in the dark along the ruined alleys behind the houses on the street, Li Rui stopped.
Qiu Shi could already see on the map that there were many small bright spots gathered together ahead. They were all humans. Li Rui was not lying. There were indeed quite a few people imprisoned in this prison.
"He's usually on the top floor," Li Rui whispered, "How do you get up there? They're heavily guarded."
"Are you sure of his location?" Qiu Shi asked.
"That's for sure," Li Rui said, "The guy tied to the pillar in the store is his subordinate."
Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi.
"Wait for us here." Xing Bi said and went forward.
Following behind him were Ji Sui, Feng Zhi, and Sang Fan.
"Are they just four?" Li Rui asked.
"Have you ever seen a biochemical body?" Qiu Shi asked, "Four is too many for this shabby place."
"I've seen it." Li Rui said.
Qiu Shi didn't say anything else. He could see that Xing Bi and the other three had gone around to the back of the prison and then went in. Their speed was almost the same as if they had walked directly through the door.
The two bright spots on the map that looked like guards disappeared, and then Sang Fan's small bright spot entered the building.
In less than a minute, the top floor exploded violently, with a bright flash of fire and a loud bang.
Soon after that, I heard chaos over there and there were gunshots, but not many.
Sang Fan's voice came from the headset: "The leader is dead."
"Keep everyone under control." Xing Bi said.
"Communications have been disrupted." Ji Sui followed with another sentence.
"I'll go to the prison downstairs to release him." Feng Zhi said.
"Kill him." Qiu Shi glanced at Li Rui.
Li Rui turned his head suddenly: "What?"
"You killed the person you wanted to kill," Qiu Shi said, "and now they are going to release him."
"So simple?" Li Rui was shocked.
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
"They are the legendary... hidden guards, right?" Li Rui asked.
The author has something to say:
To be continued tomorrow⊙▽⊙.
Ah, I didn’t notice that the time has passed. I haven’t even decided on a chapter title yet, so I’ll leave it blank for now╰_╯.