Chapter 55: Leaving
Translator: Letty / Editor: DarkGem / IceTea
“No problem.” Qing Shui nodded, “Take good care of yourself.”
As he spoke, he approached Ling and gave her a hug, and he looked at the others as he passed around the question.
“Where do you want to go?” Chang didn’t answer the question himself and instead asked Jing first. “Although you’re still young, you should know that this decision is critical and important. Take your time to consider whether you’re leaving with Qing Shui or staying in the base.”
“I’ll go wherever you are going,” Jing stepped forward and said determinedly.
“You don't need to…”
“I’m going to follow you wherever you go.” This was the first time that Jing interrupted Chang; she repeated the exact same words stubbornly.
“Alright,” Chang read the emotions in her eyes and gave a long sigh. He pulled her over and then patted on Qing Shui’s shoulder and said, “We are following you.”
“Are you sure?” Qing Shui hesitated and asked again.
“We are sure.”
“Good, then I will let the Colonel know that four of us are leaving for Zhengzhou.” Qing Shui took another glance at Lin. He turned away from everybody as he opened the door, and soon he was surrounded by those soldiers. He explained to the Colonel with lively gestures. After the Colonel nodded, most of the soldiers were dismissed except for 2 soldiers who were guarding the door and the window.
Qing Shui didn’t leave until everyone went away, and then he threw his hands onto Chang and the others and said, “That’s it.”
“When are we leaving?” Pang Zi asked.
“Tomorrow, early in the morning. It’s a bit too late if we leave today. We will go along the Zheng Kai Avenue at sunrise. The Zheng Kai Avenue is about 75 km long, and including the smaller paths, it’s about 80 kilometers in total.” Qing Shui counted the number with his fingers as if it could make a greater impression of these numbers to the others. “It will take about an hour and a half to get to Zhengzhou if we could still drive. I’ve also went there before by bike, and it took me about 4 hours. If we were to walk to Zhengzhou, the time we need would be more than double. But fortunately, it’s summer right now, which means that there’s daylight for more than 14 hours. We’re all stronger than before the red fog, so although the journey is going to be tough as we won't really have a flat and wide path to walk on, if we keep our pace at a certain rate and leave early in the morning, we should be able to get to our destination before it gets dark.”
“I see; then we need to prepare as much as we can.” After listening to Qing Shui, Chang knew that this trip was not only going to be alarmingly dangerous, but also rough. If they couldn't get to Zhengzhou before sunset, then they would very likely die on the road.
After all, the jungle at nighttime was too dangerous.
“Jing, there will be a troop of soldiers accompanying us. You only need to stay with me at that time. Don't call out when you notice danger around us; just tell me with a low voice and I will inform everybody.” Chang hunkered down and looked at Jing, and then carefully exhorted Jing again. “If the situation isn’t urgent, don't let others know that you are an EM, because when we get to Zhengzhou, we don't know what we are facing. Do you understand what I am saying?”
“Understood.”
“Alright. Tonight, we can have as much food as we want, as we can’t bring these with us anyway, nor can Lin finish all the frog meats in a few days.” Qing Shui pointed at the barrels. “We can cook the frog meat today, since the military knows we have food already, and we don't need to worry about being discovered.”
At the same moment that everyone cheered up, the door opened again. The captain brought another soldier in the room.
“I brought you someone.” The captain coughed to get their attention, and put his right hand on this young soldier’s shoulder. He seemed lean and robust, “The colonel referred him to me; he said this young man is one of the best EMs in our base, and it is said that he has had a greater degree of evolution than others after the Deadly Evolution period. He is strong and powerful. The colonel has already put him in the troop; I am just sending him here so that you guys can get to know each other in advance.”
“Hello everybody, I am Ming Yi Shen.” As the captain made an introduction, the young man smiled ingenuously. He seemed like an honest and trustworthy person.
“I see, please say thank you for me to the Colonel and his subordinates.” Qing Shui also grinned at that young soldier and nodded to the captain.
“Sounds good!
After sending the captain away, Qing Shui went to the kitchen with that young soldier – apparently, he wanted to become closer to this highly evolved individual and at the same time, he also wanted to ask for some useful information – this was going to be beneficial to the group.
And more importantly, this young man’s mission was not limited to getting closer to Qing Shui and others, but also to watch over them. Therefore, it would be impossible to leave this young man behind, even though they didn’t plan to do so.
In this way, both parties carried out their own purposes and walked into the kitchen.
“Jing, what is his index?” Chang was at the end of the group when he carefully asked Jing with concern.
“9, it is a high index; that captain didn’t lie to us; he is definitely one of the best EMs in this base,” Jing whispered.
“Got it.” Chang stared at the back of this lean man, but he still couldn't figure out how this body was stronger than the giant wolfhound he ran into. Somehow, he started to compare that man to himself – if he were to fight this young man, who would win?
Could he withstand the power of a pistol? How fast he could run and how high could he jump?
His questions would be answered tomorrow, so Chang left his concerns behind and put a smile on his face to have the last great meal in Kaifeng.
During dinner time, everyone was highly satisfied because of the cooked food, and since the atmosphere was harmonious, they got to know a little about this young soldier’s background.
The highly evolved soldier was only 19 years old, and came from a small village from the north. He just enrolled in the army when the red fog was already there, so he couldn't use guns deftly. He was only sent to protect Qing Shui because he was a high level EM of the physical category.
Qing Shui and Chang loosened their guard after knowing that this young man didn’t hold bad intentions. They went back to the dorm together after dinner. Chang spent almost 2 hours packing before going to bed – he left his giant backpack beside his pillow and hugged his crossbow in front of his chest.
The colonel sent an officer to wake them up before sunrise. Soon, they saw about 20 soldiers being brought over, led by the colonel.
“These men have been carefully chosen from my division to escort you to Zhengzhou; I kept the size of this troop relatively small as the effectiveness of escorting isn’t determined by the number of people you have. But don't worry, they are elite soldiers.” The colonel asked the four to come out of the room and pointed at the row of soldiers. “Their physiques are stronger than others in my division, and they are experienced with weapons and fighting, so they can definitely ensure your safety on the way to Zhengzhou.”
“Thank you, Colonel,” Qing Shui bowed to the Colonel.
“No worries, I got this order from above, so you should say thank you to those people instead of me.” As the Colonel spoke, he glanced at everyone one by one and said, “Are you ready? Do you have any other requests?”
“We are pretty much ready to go, but I have one last request.” Qing Shui reopened the door and pointed at the doctor as he said, “I wanted her to come with us, because my friend Lin is staying in this dorm, and the doctor happened to had argument with us. I’m concerned about her safety since she will be here all by herself.”