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墨書 Inktalez
An hour later, Wu Wentao arrived at the highway with deep dark circles under his eyes. He briefly inquired about the situation from a few people and then silently squatted down in front of the bloodstains. After observing for a while, he furrowed his brow slightly, his gaze falling on two distinct tire tracks ahead of the bloodstains. After pondering for a moment, he turned back to look at the tires of the Roewe car.
Though not a police officer, Wu Wentao and his Field Duty team possessed basic tracking skills. Whether in the mountains or the city, while Song Jiu was completely in the dark, Wu Wentao could always find clues from the smallest details. Song Yao and Luo Yu had discovered the car in a high-incident area; aside from the wrecked vehicle, scattered debris, and chaotic tire tracks, there were no other significant findings. Reluctantly, they had to send Yang Xiaomeng and Jin Bo back again, leaving Jin Bo at the camp to hold down the fort while they pulled Wu Wentao out for what little rest he had managed to get. This matter was temporarily kept from others; it was still unclear, and discussing it further would only increase panic. Besides, everyone had been exhausted these past few days; there was no need to mobilize everyone until new discoveries were made.
Calculating the time that had passed, Song Jiu felt a deep fatigue settling in.
During those two days trapped in the cave, he hadn’t slept at all except for being unconscious. They left the cave just as dawn broke and returned to the ancient city late at night. After that, they rushed to the train station only to be hit by a devastating explosion. Following that chaos, they scattered and only managed to rest for two nights at an ancient temple. Not to mention that walking on foot consumed energy; with night shifts for guard duty, no one could get enough sleep. Now, not long after leaving the tunnel, trouble had struck again.
This was not the time to complain about lack of sleep; compared to physical exhaustion, mental fatigue was far more lethal.
Though reluctant to admit it, the facts were clear: Song Jiu's arrangements had indeed been poorly considered. At that time, their main group did not have a relatively safe place to settle down, and their itinerary had not been thoroughly discussed. Given the actual circumstances, there was no need to rush and send people out to find a car; even if they did need to go, it shouldn't have been just graduate students and Yuan An who took such risks.
Song Jiu hadn’t thought too much at that moment. They had traveled along National Highway where encounters with zombies were rare except near tunnel entrances; large hordes were even less likely. The geographical position of National Highway meant that zombies had little room to maneuver. Both individuals were armed and driving a vehicle with a full tank of gas; under normal circumstances, unless the car broke down unexpectedly, they shouldn’t have fallen into any significant danger.
However, assumptions remained just that—assumptions—while bloody reality lay before them.
Clearly, Song Jiu had only considered zombies without factoring in living people into his calculations. Days of relentless travel had dulled his vigilance as a leader; he mistakenly believed that once they left the ancient city and escaped the threat of the Blonde Woman, this team would encounter no enemies.
“Come here.” After staring at the ground for quite some time, Wu Wentao suddenly lifted his head and beckoned Yang Xiaomeng, who was standing nearby in a daze.
Yang Xiaomeng was still contemplating his chances of survival within this death squad when he heard Wu call him. He froze for a moment before hesitantly approaching with trepidation. He could tell that this stern-faced man belonged to a level akin to an executioner or enforcer within their group; seeing his grim expression made him certain that being called over couldn’t mean anything good.
It must be said that Yang Xiaomeng’s analysis was quite accurate; before he could get close enough, Wu Wentao stood up abruptly and without warning pressed a glinting Steel Saw Blade against his throat.
Song Jiu and the others were taken aback by his actions but quickly guessed his intentions. They exchanged glances but remained silent.
“Calm down,” Yang Xiaomeng’s scalp tingled as he realized that trouble was once again directed at him. His face filled with indignation: “This is unfair! I didn’t do anything!”
“Don’t be nervous; I’m just giving you a reminder.” Wu Wentao raised an eyebrow nonchalantly and said lightly: “If I find out this matter is related to you all, you should weigh the consequences yourself.”
“Whatever you say goes; do I have any room for negotiation?” After enduring several unexpected events throughout the night, Yang Xiaomeng no longer felt as fragile as before. It seemed this group had sudden tendencies toward violence; threats felt entirely normal now.
“There’s none.” Wu Wentao wasn’t interested in playing word games with him. In truth, he estimated that these individuals likely had nothing to do with this incident. His actions were partly meant as intimidation but largely served as an outlet for his pent-up frustration. Reflecting on past experiences during his mercenary days or as part of Field Duty or as a train conductor on Forward No., he had never been entangled in so many trivial matters before.
Truly it seemed like he wished to become a demon but was forced into becoming a Buddha instead.
Wu Wentao understood clearly that mingling with these people would eventually lead him down Ming Junwei's path. Being a caretaker wasn’t easy when cleaning up messes was so challenging; lamenting wouldn’t help either since he knew there was no turning back now. A poorly executed scheme had tied him to this group of misfits on one ship; since escape wasn’t an option anymore, he could only do his utmost to safeguard them from capsizing lest he be dragged down with them too.
Countless thoughts swirled in his mind, ultimately manifesting as a sigh.
Song Jiu noticed that Wu Wentao was unusually distracted. He maintained his threatening posture with the knife, but his gaze shifted repeatedly, as if his mind had wandered far away.
Yang Xiaomeng felt like crying without tears, deeply understanding the bitterness of being under someone else's roof. This was pure madness; he was treating me like a punching bag. Thankfully, I’m not a woman; otherwise, these people would have vented their frustrations on me.
“Ah.” Wu Wentao released his grip on Yang Xiaomeng's collar, furrowing his brow as he thought for a moment. “Song Jiu, come with me. The rest of you can go back and rest.”
“Alright.” Song Jiu didn’t ask further. Seeing Wu Wentao’s demeanor, it seemed he had something in mind.
Song Yao and Luo Yu ignored him. Upon hearing they were going somewhere else, they got into the car without hesitation, making their intentions clear.
“It’s just to check the situation; having too many people won’t help.” Wu Wentao sighed repeatedly, suddenly recalling the style of this team. He lamented, “If things go south again, we’ll all be half-dead. How can we fight?”
“Get in the car.” Song Yao remained unfazed and fastened her seatbelt.
Wu Wentao’s expression stiffened; he shook his head helplessly and squeezed into the car with Song Jiu and Yang Xiaomeng.
“Where to?” Luo Yu started the car, the headlights illuminating the winding road and revealing a faint outline of distant mountains against the night sky.
Wu Wentao pulled out a cigarette he had carried for a long time but never lit. He rolled it between his fingers and nudged Yang Xiaomeng beside him. “That Industrial Park—give directions.”
Yang Xiaomeng had mentioned this camp before. When Song Jiu and the others checked earlier, they immediately thought of that place but soon dismissed it as unlikely. According to Yang Xiaomeng, the Industrial Park was about twenty kilometers away—not too far but not close either. From any angle one considered, there seemed to be no reason to circle around this desolate place in the middle of the night. Such coincidences rarely occurred; how could they know that a group would come here at night and that graduate students and Yuan An would drive over alone?
It wasn’t just improbable; it was downright absurd.
They had been ambushed and two living people taken away, yet they left behind a highly valuable car.
That said, in these three years since the disaster, they had seen many illogical things. Given that the Industrial Park was their only lead now, they might as well treat it as a last resort. Moreover, from what they could see, it clearly had nothing to do with zombies; since the focus was on living people, the Industrial Park should logically be their primary target.
As if sensing their doubts, Wu Wentao exhaled slowly and patiently explained, “The other party has a vehicle; those two were taken away.”
Song Jiu nodded; this was evident. There were clear tire tracks near the bloodstains. Song Yao and Luo Yu had chased after them immediately but unfortunately realized too late and returned empty-handed due to lack of support.
“Hey girl,” Wu Wentao squinted at the rapidly changing night scenery outside the window and asked, “How much do you know about that Industrial Park? Have you been there?”
Yang Xiaomeng rolled her eyes, automatically ignoring his address. “I went there about half a year ago—not really went there; I just passed by.”
"Get to the point," Wu Wentao interrupted his rambling impatiently.
Yang Xiaomeng was momentarily taken aback, struggling to recall the details from the past. His expression turned a bit awkward as he said, "There's not much of a point, really. It's just the Industrial Park; there are a lot of industrial zones over there."
Wu Wentao's questioning style was too direct, and without any experience in fighting or killing, Yang Xiaomeng found it hard to grasp the direction of the questions. He thought for a while but couldn't figure out what could be considered important.
Song Jiu lit a cigarette and patted Yang Xiaomeng to help him relax. Changing the subject, he asked, "What were you doing there?"
"We came from that direction," Yang Xiaomeng steadied himself and organized his thoughts. "At that time, we hadn't discovered the camp here. We were hiding and running all the way from outside the province. A lot of people died in our original group, and eventually, we scattered. The four of us ended up here. We had run out of supplies, so we planned to go into the city and try our luck. The Industrial Park is on the outskirts of the city, so we naturally passed by."
"And then?"
"There were a lot of zombies in the park at that time. We got lost in the industrial zone with zombies chasing us, and we could only hide in a factory. That's when we ran into some people from across the way." Yang Xiaomeng's emotions stabilized as he recalled past events, a hint of pride appearing on his face. "There weren't many people we encountered; they were also chased in by zombies. If we hadn't opened the door for them out of kindness, they would have been in real trouble."
"While we were hiding there, we chatted for a bit. They said they had a base in the park. We helped them out, and after they escaped danger, they were willing to give us some food and drink but refused to let us join them and asked us to stay away from the park."
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