The little rabbit had no conscience

Tang Cheng lowered his voice. "Then we..."

Zhao Quan said, "Wait and see. Right now, we need their protection. Tang Yi, spend more time around them. If you can't hook Gu Cheng, someone else will do."

Tang Yi was reluctant. "But I'm only interested in..."

"Shut up!" Tang Cheng snapped under his breath. "Listen to Uncle Zhao."

Tears welled in Tang Yi's eyes. "I understand."

Standing not far from them, Xia Yue overheard their conversation and silently curved her lips into a mocking smile.

Some people really didn't know their own limits.

Those three were the very definition of people who couldn't rest until they'd brought disaster on themselves.

After lunch, they cleared the table, and Gu Cheng spread a map across it.

Gu Cheng said, "Let's see where we should go next."

Fang Ci said, "We need to scout again. Split into two teams and take different roads."

Yu Jingjing raised her hand. "I don't recommend splitting up. It's too dangerous."

Lu Jiayi yawned. "I don't recommend it either. There are plenty of roads out of City H, but we'll have to pass through a lot of cities. We need to plan carefully."

Li Rang said casually, "No opinion from me. I'll follow the boss."

With that settled, the others turned their eyes to Ye Ruan.

Ye Ruan tapped a route with his finger.

"This looks like a national highway. It's pretty far from the city center. We could check it out."

"I know that road. It goes straight through Zhelin District. There aren't as many people as in South City, but there are several schools and supermarkets over there. It's dangerous!"

They looked toward the voice and saw Tang Yi and Tang Cheng approaching.

Tang Cheng tucked his hands into his pockets. "Captain Gu, my home is in this area. I could help you."

Tang Yi smiled brightly. "Captain Gu, can I sit beside you?"

Her intentions were far too obvious.

The others said nothing. Ye Ruan disliked both Tang Yi and her brother, Tang Cheng, intensely. He lowered his eyes without a word.

Gu Cheng glanced around and said honestly,

"Sorry, there aren't any chairs left. Why don't you see if anyone's willing to get up and let you sit?"

Ye Ruan sat on Gu Cheng's left, and Yu Jingjing on his right.

Tang Yi's wrist still ached faintly where Ye Ruan had gripped it, so she didn't dare ask him to get up.

That left only Yu Jingjing.

"Oww..."

Yu Jingjing pounded on her leg and put on an act. "My leg's a little sore. Maybe I strained it chopping trees today?"

Tang Yi's mouth twisted with anger.

A strained leg?

Was she chopping trees with an axe clamped between her legs?

Gu Cheng's violently shaking shoulders gave away the fact that he was laughing his head off without a sound.

In the end, Fang Ci gave the pair a way out.

"You're saying there are a lot of zombies on this road too?"

Tang Yi nodded. "Possibly. This area is pretty densely populated too."

Fang Ci sighed and looked at Gu Cheng helplessly.

Gu Cheng rested his fingers on the table without speaking.

Ye Ruan suddenly asked, "Captain, do we still have much gasoline?"

Gu Cheng paused. "Not much, I think. We collected plenty before we met you, but what we have left is enough to get us out of City H."

"But all kinds of unexpected things are bound to happen along the way, and we'll keep adjusting our route."

Ye Ruan's voice remained soft, his words unhurried.

"That'll use up gasoline. Maybe we should conserve it and choose one road to take us straight out."

"The zombies keep changing. We'd better not delay any longer."

Tang Yi suddenly interrupted,

"Aren't you being a little too careless with our lives? What if we rush out recklessly and run into danger?!"

Yu Jingjing bristled and rolled up her sleeves, ready to teach her how to watch her mouth, when Ye Ruan spoke again.

"Doesn't your wrist hurt anymore?" Ye Ruan looked over, his expression perfectly friendly.

Gu Cheng ruffled the young man's silver hair and said evenly,

"We've been protecting the survivors and escorting them all this way. When there's danger, we're the ones on the front line."

"So your concerns are rather unnecessary, Miss Tang."

When Gu Cheng was displeased, he spared practically no one's feelings. He appeared to be smiling, but the curl of his lips was closer to contempt.

Tang Yi and Tang Cheng shut their mouths and said no more. The little bit of arrogance they'd arrived with vanished completely.

After a lengthy discussion, the team voted by a show of hands to have everyone set off again in two days.

As for the route, they chose the one Ye Ruan had pointed out.

"This road really is suitable. It's a bit of a detour, but it's less dangerous than the other routes."

Gu Cheng followed behind Ye Ruan.

The rabbit had just taken a shower in the makeshift tent Li Rang and Yu Jingjing had put up.

A large bucket filled with warm water had been suspended overhead, with holes poked in the bottom. The flow was a little weak, but just right for a shower.

Ye Ruan sneezed and wrapped Gu Cheng's jacket around himself, his hair still wet.

"Look at you. Your fever only just broke, and you went off to shower without even drying your hair."

Exasperated, Gu Cheng pushed him into the vehicle and helped towel his hair half-dry.

Ye Ruan narrowed his eyes, a lollipop in his mouth. He didn't pull away, letting Gu Cheng rub his hair every which way.

Yu Jingjing walked over. "Little Ye Ruan, let's go up on the roof and look at the stars!"

With no electronic devices to use, they were bored out of their minds.

The rabbit and the cat opened the sunroof and scrambled up in a couple of quick movements.

Still holding the towel, Gu Cheng laughed and scolded, "You ungrateful little thing. Off you go without a second thought."

Fang Ci looked over. "Captain, you're pretty good to Ye Ruan."

Gu Cheng raised an eyebrow. "With that face of his, he looks like such a poor little thing. Isn't it perfectly normal for me to favor him a bit?"

Fang Ci smiled as he wiped his dagger.

"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I keep feeling like he's hiding something from us."

Gu Cheng looked at him. "Such as?"

"He played with a few of the children this afternoon. I noticed he was especially attentive to Li Tuantuan."

"Li Tuantuan? General Li's illegitimate son?"

The little toddler who was as round as a ball.

Gu Cheng remembered Ye Ruan rubbing his cheek against Li Tuantuan's little face while holding him.

The two pale little dumplings nestled together had looked like a pair of white tangyuan.

Fang Ci nodded. "Yes."

Gu Cheng chuckled and stroked his chin, his tone casual. "Do you really think that child is just an illegitimate son?"

Fang Ci froze. "You mean..."

Gu Cheng said evenly, "That illegitimate son doesn't look anything like General Li."

Fang Ci fell silent as an unpleasant thought settled over him.

Up on the roof, Ye Ruan and Yu Jingjing chatted on and off without a care in the world.

Yu Jingjing munched on the snacks Ye Ruan had given her and mumbled,

"Ruan, when we get back, can I go home with you to meet your mom?"

Ye Ruan looked puzzled. "Why?"

"I really admire your mother. A special ops magazine said she once took down a hundred highly skilled mercenaries single-handedly on a mission."

"Oh," Ye Ruan said. "That time, she drugged the enemy. Those hundred-plus mercenaries were knocked unconscious."

Yu Jingjing said, "..."

"How could you do this..."

Yu Jingjing protested, "My idol..."

Ye Ruan laughed silently for a while.

Then Yu Jingjing remembered something else and suddenly asked,

"Oh, right. The magazine also said your mother made an enormous contribution to reproduction."

Yu Jingjing hadn't noticed that Ye Ruan had gone rigid beside her.

"What does that mean? Was she researching special person reproduction and embryo cultivation?"