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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Ninety-Two: Air Raid Shelter Tragedy
Cao Liang and the others crouched among the Artemisia Bush, watching as the dust kicked up by Cherokee dispersed into the wind, the dim red taillights gradually fading away until they vanished from sight.
Toothless Kid wisely kept quiet, huddling like a quail beside them, eyes fixed on his comrades as they passed by.
"What time is it?" An Zheng asked, frowning.
Cao Liang instinctively glanced at his wrist, finding it bare except for some scratches.
"It's almost ten," Luci said, checking Toothless Kid's wrist with curiosity. "What could they be doing this late?"
"Could it be Jiang He and the others?" Cao Liang shot a glance at Toothless Kid, who appeared dazed, staring intently in the direction Cherokee had gone. He murmured, "Nantang Township..."
"What?"
"They went to Nantang Township," Toothless Kid swallowed hard, a hint of fear in his voice as he looked at Cao Liang. "This country road leads to Nantang Township."
"What’s there?"
"Another group of people."
"Where did you leave the kids?"
"At the intersection."
The four of them, along with two animals, trudged through the Artemisia Bush onto the dirt road, following the tire tracks out of the wilderness. The so-called intersection was an asphalt road cutting through the fields, devoid of any signs. It was pitch dark around them, and behind them, the Artemisia Bush swayed in the wind, rustling softly.
Luci turned her head and scanned the surroundings, whispering, "I have a feeling someone is following us."
Cao Liang handed the rope to Luci and turned back to check the area. "There's no one here."
They arrived at the location mentioned by Toothless Kid, but all they found were a few distinct footprints on the ground, with no sign of the boy.
Cao Liang grabbed Toothless Kid by the hair, forcing his head around to face him, with a dagger pressed against his neck. "Where is the child?"
"I... I don't know," Toothless Kid stammered, looking up at Cao Liang from below, his body contorted in an awkward angle.
An Zheng crouched beside the footprints, frowning deeply. "He was taken away."
Yellow Dog walked over to her side, sniffing curiously. The dog looked around in confusion before trotting over to a tree to lift its leg.
"Don't kill me! I didn't harm that kid; Liang Bao made me do it," Toothless Kid pleaded, sensing the hostility in their expressions and feeling a surge of panic.
An Zheng remained silent, her shoulders trembling slightly. After a moment, she raised her tear-streaked face. "Could it have been the vehicle we passed earlier that took him?"
"They never take children," Toothless Kid tried to assert his cooperation with what he thought he knew, but it clearly wasn't appropriate.
"Hide!" Cao Liang exclaimed suddenly, pulling everyone down into the Artemisia Bush as another Cherokee came barreling toward them from a distance.
The vehicle sped through the bumpy terrain, bouncing violently as if it might flip over at any moment. In the pitch-black wilderness, it hadn't even turned on its lights; if not for the roaring engine, they might not have noticed it at all.
The Cherokee quickly surged over a dirt embankment, launching high into the air before crashing heavily back down. Fortunately, its suspension system held up decently; otherwise, a regular sedan would have likely stalled right there. The group hidden in the bushes was bewildered as they glanced back but saw nothing terrifying pursuing them.
The frenzied Cherokee soon ended its reckless behavior as the driver steered it into an abandoned irrigation ditch. The right wheels sank into the weeds and grass, spinning helplessly for a while before finally sputtering out and dying.
"Whatever is missing will come," Cao Liang said with a hint of joy on his face. "Let's drive after that car in front; maybe the child has been taken away."
An Zheng and Luci nodded in agreement. This place likely had no people even before the Cataclysm. According to Toothless Kid, the boy had been left by the roadside and was still unconscious when he was abandoned. Even if he woke up, it was unlikely he could run away without a trace. This made it much more probable that he had been taken by the car ahead.
Before Cao Liang could approach, the door of the Cherokee opened on its own, and a small figure jumped out, kicking the tire in frustration.
"Eh?" Luci leaned out, her expression strange. "Wheat?"
"Huh?" An Zheng was taken aback at her words and was about to get up to check when Cao Liang, hidden in the Artemisia Bush, suddenly lunged out and tackled the figure to the ground.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!!" Wheat screamed in terror, completely unprepared for an ambush from the bushes. In her panic, she flailed her arms and legs, eyes shut tight as she scratched and clawed.
Cao Liang took a few slaps before hurriedly letting go, both surprised and delighted. "Wheat? Stop hitting me! It's me!" He then stood up and shouted, "Come quick! It's Wheat!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Wheat opened her eyes in confusion. She saw Cao Liang crouching beside her, still holding a sharp dagger. Overwhelmed with emotion at seeing her teammate, she jumped up and hugged Cao Liang tightly, bursting into tears.
An Zheng and the others rushed over and were momentarily taken aback by the scene before them.
"Don't cry, don't cry," Cao Liang said awkwardly, patting Wheat's back to comfort her. "It's okay; we're all here."
"Sister Qianqian," Wheat sobbed as she clung to Luci, choking on her words. "I killed someone."
The group exchanged glances, shock evident in their eyes.
Toothless Kid trembled with fear, thinking to himself that he must have run into some serious bad luck to encounter such people.
"It's okay; it's okay. We killed someone too; don't be afraid. Those people deserved it," Luci said, still struggling to shake off her own trauma from killing someone. She forced herself to be calm and comfort Wheat. The two girls whispered to each other for solace while Cao Liang and An Zheng shared a bittersweet smile at one another.
"How disgusting." Wheat vented for a while, intermittently sharing her first kill with a few people. "I didn't mean to; I just wanted to blind him and escape. Who knew it would catch fire?"
"Enough, little sister. Don't say any more. I still have the image of a head crushed by a wheel in my mind," Luci interrupted Wheat's description, a wave of nausea rising in her throat.
"It's fine, Old Cao. I'll help you push the cart; let's hurry and chase after them," An Zheng said after checking Wheat over. Aside from a patch of hair singed by the fire, she seemed to have no other injuries.
"I'll drive," Luci said as she opened the car door and jumped in, the smell of burnt hair and flesh filling her nostrils.
Toothless Kid didn't need prompting; he quickly moved to one side to help out. He understood that none of these women or children were easy to mess with.
The car was back on the road, with Cao Liang and An Zheng sitting on either side of Toothless Kid, while Luci drove and Wheat focused on breathing fresh air. When asked how she managed to drive the car into the ditch, Wheat shyly admitted, "I don't know how to drive; I just fiddled with this." She held up a book from the dashboard titled "Driving School Basics."
"By the way, I heard them say something happened down below. They mentioned something about deaths; I wonder if it's Brother Ming and the others," Wheat said, her emotions shifting quickly. Being around familiar faces relaxed her considerably.
"They might be fine; a car just left earlier. Did you see it?" Cao Liang said as he lifted Yellow Dog off his lap to make room.
"I saw it—a man and a woman, they looked very hurried," Wheat nodded, her foot brushing against a plastic bag under the seat.
"By the way, what's this?" Wheat pulled out a ping pong ball and handed it back to Cao Liang.
"Oh?" Cao Liang tossed the ping pong ball in the air, looking puzzled. "I don't know; is there something inside?"
Toothless Kid nearly panicked and hurriedly squeezed closer to An Zheng. "Big brother, put that down! It might explode!"
"Who are you trying to scare?" Cao Liang shot him a sideways glance before tossing it out of the window.
"Boom!"
A loud explosion echoed down the street, followed by a dazzling flash of light.
"Damn it!"
Everyone jumped in shock. Luci, who was driving, nearly lost control and veered off the road. The Cherokee swerved wildly before narrowly coming to a stop at the side.
Cao Liangxin, still shaken, pulled his gaze away and involuntarily trembled as he dropped the ping pong ball he had been holding. Wheat curled up in his seat, fearful that the bag of "bombs" beneath him might go off.
"This is Dynamite; we can't mess around with it," Toothless Kid said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he pressed himself against An Zheng. An Zheng shrugged him off and curiously picked up the bag, asking, "How did this happen?"
With no zombies on the road, the group decided to take a moment to collect themselves. A few of them gathered around the car with the bag, carefully counting—there were over sixty ping pong ball bombs.
"I know you can make dirt bombs with urea, but what's the deal with these?" Cao Liang, a former outdoor expert, had some knowledge about various tricks but was genuinely stumped by these small ping pong balls.
Toothless Kid and Yellow Dog squatted side by side. Hearing their questions, Toothless Kid eagerly chimed in, "Liang Bao taught us this. He used to work as a lackey in Wenzhou, where gangsters used these for fights!"
"Get to the point," Cao Liang shot him a glare.
"Oh, right." Toothless Kid looked embarrassed and explained, "It's pretty straightforward. You poke a hole in the ping pong ball with a cigarette butt, stuff it with medicinal cotton, fill it with gunpowder and glass shards, then seal it with candle wax. It's powerful enough to blow off a hand if you hit your target right."
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