The three left the small secure Base feeling rather dismal. Although they knew there was no real reason to be angry with those people, having rushed to their rescue only to be slandered in return—accused of intentionally directing the Mutant Beast Group and Mutant Bird Group to Attack the Base—left them unable to simply let it go and move on.
Therefore, as they continued on their way, they deliberately avoided other secure Bases while seeking out zombies and mutated creatures, to avoid any chance of a repeat misunderstanding. After all, their primary purpose for this expedition was to gain experience and Cultivate; there was no need to become overly involved with other survivors.
Their search along the journey did uncover several Zombie Groups and hiding places for Mutant Beasts. However, unless the Mutant Beasts were attacking humans, there was no need for them to proactively eliminate them. Thus, their focus remained on hunting down the Zombie Groups.
In this manner, they proceeded, hunting zombies by day and, come night, finding secluded areas where they could retreat into Qingmu Spiritual Mansion to eat and sit in meditation for Cultivation. Due to their swift pace, by the next morning, they had already reached the vicinity of Beishi City.
This place was once Bai Ye’s hometown. He had lived in Beishi City for over twenty years, and his attachment to it ran deep. If it hadn’t been for the Bai Family’s and Zhao Qiankun’s persecution, he might still be at the Beishi Base, earnestly completing tasks and hunting zombies, instead of having led others to leave their hometown to establish their own Base in the distant Long Province.
Returning to the vicinity of Beishi City, the three inevitably reminisced about the unpleasant experiences they had once had here. However, considering that they now had their own Base, which they had developed into a paradise amidst the apocalypse, their spirits lifted uncontrollably, and the bitterness of the past could no longer shake their mood.
Fang Yuxin asked Bai Ye, "Do you plan to go back and take a look?"
Bai Ye shook his head. Those who were meant to leave had already followed them; as for the rest, they had nothing to do with him anymore. What was there to see?
Fang Yuxin then glanced at Fang Yuyang and asked, "Brother, do you want to take a look?"
Just like Bai Ye, Fang Yuyang shook his head too. He wasn’t a native of Beishi City; he had only been at the Beishi Base for a few days, and the memories there were all unpleasant. And as for the Qu Family, he had never considered them as relatives!
Fang Yuxin sighed, "When we left, Zhao Qiankun’s power was already strong enough to rival the Bai Family. He even had dirt on them. The other powers posed no threat to them. Now that it’s been over three months, who knows what the situation here is like now."
After saying that, she looked at Bai Ye and Fang Yuyang, "If I want to take a look and you guys don’t plan to, then..."
Her words were cut off as both men said in unison, "No way! If we go, we go together!"
Then, Bai Ye, somewhat discontented, asked her, "Xinxin, why do you want to check out the Beishi Base?" As he asked, his mind suddenly filled with thoughts of Zhao Qiankun, who had designs on Fang Yuxin. This thought immediately soured his mood even further!
Fang Yuxin smiled at the two, "Have you forgotten? Zhao Qiankun holds a significant trump card in his hands. He could very well have control over some technologies that don’t belong to this era. I just want to see what new things he has come up with. If there’s truly something, we can collect it and take it back to the research institute for analysis."
The moment Bai Ye thought of Zhao Qiankun, intelligence seemed to flee his mind until he heard what Fang Yuxin had in mind. His mood immediately improved, and he no longer tried to dissuade Fang Yuxin, saying, "Then I’ll go with you."
Fang Yuyang was even more straightforward: "I’ll go too."
Fang Yuxin had already known they would agree and stated, "There are bound to be many in the Base who recognize us. We can’t just walk in directly; we need to use a disguise."
Bai Ye puzzled, "How do we disguise ourselves?" He was well aware of disguises; in the past, as a mercenary, he would often disguise himself for various missions, and different tasks required different disguises, so he was quite skilled at it. But now, in the apocalypse, with all sorts of bizarre superpowers, the old methods of disguise wouldn’t suffice, and he didn’t have any equipment on hand.