Chapter 67: Suspicions, the Sneaky Duo (First Update)

“Huh?” Bian Changxi was startled.

She had been unnerved by the way Gu Xu was looking at her, worried he might have seen right through her. Even though she was truly innocent in this matter, she couldn’t explain the whole thing clearly. If she said anything, the farm would be completely exposed. She hadn’t even figured out how to face Gu Xu in the future—why should she let him know her ultimate secret?

She was a stubborn and conflicted person. She didn’t understand how things had gotten to this point, didn’t know how Gu Xu saw her, or what her own feelings for him really were. But one thing was absolutely clear: the farm could never be exposed.

This was a line she would defend at all costs.

Having died once before, she was especially sensitive about this.

So, she decided to lie to the end.

She asked, “You mean a lot of people got injured while out on a mission in the city?” She glanced at her watch. “It’s already past one in the morning. Even if they needed help, they wouldn’t wait until now, would they?”

She thought to herself, judging by the timing, Gu Xu had just come back from the 4S shop and immediately got this news. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he’d just come back from some important meeting.

Uh, could it be he was just pretending to have major news from a meeting, using it as an excuse to come see if she was around?

At that thought, her gaze darkened.

Gu Xu loosely gripped his flashlight, turning it gently so the beam flickered. He glanced into the room, his expression calm and unreadable. “There’s nothing to be done. Earlier, the health department and military doctors probably thought they could handle it, but now the medicine is running out and the situation is getting worse. Just over ten minutes ago, the last batch of people was rescued, so the pressure on the medical team is even heavier now.”

Bian Changxi nodded. Was it really true? “Then I’ll go take a look.”

Still full of doubts, she turned to leave, but was caught off guard when he grabbed her arm. “Changxi…”

“Hiss!” Bian Changxi sucked in a sharp breath, immediately tensing up. She shook off Gu Xu’s hand. “What are you doing?”

“You’re hurt?” Gu Xu’s gaze changed instantly. A moment ago, he’d been calm and probing, but now his eyes were sharp and piercing—an aggressive look that was so uniquely his.

She hated that look. It made her feel pressured and panicked. But she knew this was just his nature—he could see through everything, control everything. In her previous life, why had she refused to be his partner? Because she knew that if she stayed too close to him for too long, her world would be swallowed and changed. Her future would become inseparable from his, her past—including Bai Heng—would become insignificant, and he would occupy every important place in her life.

That was simply unbearable.

It was laughable that in this life, because fate had changed, he’d become gentler and more restrained, and she’d let her guard down. During the day, she’d even let herself get flustered by him, having thoughts she shouldn’t have.

Yes, her willpower was too weak. She couldn’t blame anyone else. It was time to leave this dangerous source behind.

At this moment, she finally made up her mind.

“You’re that person, aren’t you?” Gu Xu pressed on.

Bian Changxi’s eyes turned clear and cold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Under the 4S shop, those two laptops—you were helping me. Why hide it?”

“Sorry. I really don’t understand.”

“I sensed your presence.”

“Then did you see me?” Bian Changxi sneered, suddenly pulling a gun from behind her waist. “Captain Gu, you’ve crossed the line.”

Gu Xu looked down and realized that at some point, he’d already stepped inside her room, just past the doorway.

He looked up again—straight into the dark barrel of her gun.

Bian Changxi’s face was pale, but her eyes were bright. Sweat glistened beneath her messy hair. Her right hand, holding the gun, trembled ever so slightly—whether from tension or gripping too hard, he couldn’t tell.

She still smelled faintly of blood, and her wounds were more than just one.

Gu Xu’s face was expressionless. She was definitely the one.

Bian Changxi said coldly, “Captain Gu, everyone has their own boundaries. Many times, those boundaries aren’t open to outsiders.”

A thousand thoughts flashed through Gu Xu’s mind. Taking down Bian Changxi would be effortless—she was too weak, her slender body looked like it could snap at any moment. Even if she fired right now, he could dodge it easily. In an instant, he’d already thought of more than ten ways to attack.

And if she wouldn’t talk, that was fine too. He had plenty of truth serums, originally meant for their targets, though they’d never been used.

But all these thoughts passed in a flash. Under Bian Changxi’s fierce glare, he slowly raised his hands and stepped back out the door. “Sorry, this is important. I was too impulsive and overstepped.”

Bian Changxi let out a silent sigh of relief, her eyelids drooping ever so slightly. When she looked up again, she saw that Shadow and Lin Rongrong had arrived at some point, and even the Chen family was watching nervously from the stairs. She glanced at the gun in her hand, a bit incredulous—she’d actually drawn it.

She wasn’t confused about why she’d done it, but surprised she could go that far.

She’d declared her boundaries, made her stance clear, and set her resolve.

After tonight, she and Gu Xu were probably finished.

It felt like she’d set down a heavy burden, but she also felt a faint sense of loss.

She put down the gun. “Was the rescue mission you mentioned real?”

Gu Xu nodded.

“Then let’s go.” Bian Changxi went back to pack her bag and strap on her weapons. Luckily, she didn’t have much gear, and anything that belonged on the farm was never left out for others to see. She was ready in just a few moments.

She wouldn’t be coming back here.

When no one was looking, she reached behind the headboard and pulled out Milky the fat rat from the farm, unwrapped the vine from its body, then took out the heavy sniper rifle and handed both it and her handgun to Gu Xu. “Here, you take these. I can’t keep this rat anymore, and this gun—I’m returning it to you.”

No matter where this rat came from or who it was helping, that was between it and Gu Xu. She was just a middleman who’d been played for a fool.

Of course, since she’d gotten some weapons out of it, she and the rat were even.

“Wuwu…” Milky had been tied up for a long time, its limbs stiff. But its intelligence lay in its human-like emotions and perspective. It sensed the atmosphere was off and called out to Bian Changxi.

Gu Xu took the rat, giving her a complicated look, but didn’t take the gun. “What’s given away can’t be taken back. Let’s go.”

He said to Shadow, “You stay here. I’ll go relieve Qiu Feng so he can rest.” Shadow still needed to guard those two computers.

Shadow glanced at Gu Xu, then at Bian Changxi, and nodded.

Bian Changxi nodded back at Shadow in farewell, then waved to the worried Lin Rongrong. “Go back to sleep.”

When they got downstairs, they found two soldiers waiting.

They saluted Gu Xu, then said to Bian Changxi, “You must be Miss Bian. The situation is urgent. Please come with us.”

“I’ll go with her,” Gu Xu said, leading the way to a car parked nearby. Bian Changxi paused, then followed.

Once inside, she saw there were already two people in the car—a man and a woman. The woman was fiddling with a cigarette, the tip flaring red before dimming, smoke swirling in the car. She brushed her hair back, her face obscured by the dim light, but her large earrings clinked together, and the air was heavy with perfume. “You guys are so slow. If I’d known I’d have to wait this long, I could’ve walked here already.”

No one replied. Bian Changxi glanced at her—an afro, revealing tank top and leather pants, a sultry face. Before the apocalypse, she’d have been a classic delinquent girl. The woman sized up the two newcomers, and when she saw Gu Xu’s face in the car’s light, her eyes lit up and she leaned over flirtatiously. “Hey, handsome…”

Gu Xu shot her a look out of the corner of his eye, and she shivered, quickly waving her hands. “Nothing, nothing.”

As for the man, he shrank into the corner, silent.

The car started moving. Sure enough, it was only a ten-minute walk to their destination—the train station.

By now, the train station was no longer the headquarters for the new district’s management. The military command center wasn’t here anymore; instead, the place had been cordoned off and guarded by soldiers, serving as a site for handling various affairs.

The “infirmary” was among them, set up in a large open area to the left of the main hall.

Several diesel generators rumbled in that area, with lightbulbs tied to bamboo poles, nailed to walls, or hung from vehicles, flickering dimly. The air was thick with the smell of blood, creating a tense, chaotic, almost stormy atmosphere.

Before she even entered, Bian Changxi saw stretchers being carried out, each one bearing a corpse shrouded in white cloth. As for the infirmary—well, it was more of a medical zone, partitioned with bamboo poles, cloth strips, and vehicles. Each section had a few “beds,” with people in white coats rushing about.

A doctor and two nurses were arguing heatedly with several people, faces red with anger, a badly injured patient at their feet. Others seemed used to the chaos and ignored it. Bian Changxi even saw a few wood-type ability users helping the medics, channeling energy to treat the wounded. But watching their techniques and sensing the fluctuations of their abilities, she shook her head inwardly. At this level, they could only heal superficial wounds. Serious injuries were beyond them, and minor ones didn’t really need treatment—it was practically useless.

She’d been at that “useless” stage in her previous life, but later she’d worked hard to train and finally reached an above-average level, earning a place in the medical system. Unfortunately, her powers were damaged later, stalling her at level six, and she was soon left far behind by others, fading into obscurity.

That was her eternal pain. If not for that, Zhu Yunhua might not have been so ruthless in destroying her. No matter the time or place, or who was by her side, personal strength was always the most important thing. Thinking of this, the dull ache from “breaking up” with Gu Xu again seemed insignificant.

Just then, one of the nurses, nearly dragged into the argument, spotted them and called out, “Are they new ability users? Maybe they can save someone!”

PS:

Ugh, I’ve tried uploading this N times and it still won’t go through."