Chapter 71
Though Qi Jingchen’s ability hadn’t awakened yet, if they just considered spiritual strength, he was much stronger than Nie Yi .
In Qi Jingchen’s last life, ability users had always a.s.sumed spiritual strength was just a tool for better utilising their ability . Qi Jingchen had also thought so, but now that he had only his spiritual strength and no ability, he could gradually sense the spiritual strength’s lesser known uses . But unfortunately, like how the ability users in his last life could only wait for their abilities to improve naturally at the beginning, he now could only wait for his spiritual strength to improve naturally, and had no way to cultivate it .
After an ability reached level two, they could gather their ability with the aid of an energy nucleus . However, spiritual strength was illusory . He had already tested a few methods, but his spiritual strength had no notable improvement .
Nonetheless, he had also learnt many uses for spiritual strength . For example, he could use his spiritual strength to observe his surroundings and perceive the energy for early warning; another example was that sometimes, he could even use his spiritual strength to attack or intercept an attack .
Upon sensing a wind ability user releasing a powerful, condensed wind striking towards Mu Yi, Qi Jingchen promptly used his spiritual strength to collide with it .
That ability user was estimated to already be at level two, but his spiritual strength was weak . The wind that had originally been condensed together was quickly dispersed .
A great gust of wind suddenly exploded from within the crowd by the city entrance, blowing things askew, but no one knew what had happened .
Mu Yi was a wind ability user, but as she was pregnant with child, her husband and the elders had never allowed her a chance to partic.i.p.ate in combat, and so she could not react in time to other’s attacks . Currently, not only did she not know to use her ability when met with a gale, she had even become blown into unsteadiness . Right then, someone suddenly b.u.mped into her .
Nie Yi suddenly appeared by Mu Yi’s side . A stream of water rushed out and chased away the surrounding people, then… He wanted to lift Mu Yi to the side like how he carried Qi An, but unfortunately, while Mu Yi may be a lot shorter than him, she wasn’t that easy to lift . He could only pull on the back of Mu Yi’s shirt and help her stabilise her posture .
“Be more careful!” Nie Yi said unhappily . If such a heavily pregnant woman accidentally fell to the floor in such a crowd, perhaps they would directly trample her . Even though Mu Yi would survive, something would definitely happen to the child in her belly .
Nie Yi’s former kindness had long been whittled away by the apocalypse . He would even distrust people aside from Qi Jingchen because of the one time he had suffered losses . Even so, he was still protective of his own people, and Mu Yi had long been put under that categorisation .
Naturally, Mu Yi did not know this . Seeing Nie Yi’s frightening and fierce words, she subconsciously retreated a step to the side, then recalled that Nie Yi had saved her . “Thank… Thank you . ”
“You’re still running around even while pregnant . Don’t you know you have to be careful?” Nie Yi looked at Mu Yi, discontent, and somewhat hated iron for not becoming steel .
“Nie Yi, what are you doing? Getting angry at a pregnant woman in my base?” When Sun Chengzhi came over, she just happened to see this and immediately spoke up coldly .
“There’s someone in your base that dares to kill a pregnant woman, why don’t you care about that? Instead, you think it’s wrong for me to save her?” Nie Yi said with a cold laugh .
“What?” Sun Chengzhi didn’t believe him at all, but after calling over a few people to question, she realised the previous matter truly was strange . It was probably the result of someone using their wind ability in the crowd .
There was a crowd gathering at the city gate, and to use an ability here… Though Sun Chengzhi wasn’t sure whether someone was genuinely aiming at Mu Yi, she knew that someone definitely wanted to do something . She then called over a subordinate to investigate thoroughly .
“What’s the point in investigating now? The attacker is long gone,” Nie Yi said .
“Do you think I shouldn’t investigate just because of that?” Sun Chengzhi scolded, and looked at Qi Jingchen . “Little hottie, it must have been frightening for you just now . Shall I get you a car?”
“Much appreciated,” Qi Jingchen said to Sun Chengzhi, then pointed at Mu Yi . “When the car comes, we’ll send this miss back first ba . In the end, she’s the one who suffered a shock . ”
Sun Chengzhi had gotten used to seeing dead people, and after a few months, she no longer had her sympathy from before the apocalypse . Therefore, seeing that there were no casualties just now, she only asked someone to investigate this matter but did not ask a single question about the state of Mu Yi and the others .
She did not care for this, but now that Qi Jingchen mentioned it, she promptly said, “That’s right, it should be so . Xiao Anzi, hurry up and get a car!” No wonder she took a fancy to this youth; he was extremely kindhearted, and attracted people to pamper him!
She liked precisely this type of kindhearted man; this way, he would surely help her take care of her older brother in the future… Sun Chengzhi was even more interested in Qi Jingchen .
When Nie Yi saw Qi Jingchen speaking with Sun Chengzhi, he became a little unhappy, but seeing Qi Jingchen give him a meaningful look, he abruptly thought of something .
Ze Tl’r teryjcv vlfv bearlvf atf yjrf ijra cluta, jcv rbwfbcf jaajmxfv Ze Tl ja atf rfmegf yjrf fcagjcmf abvjs… Qjr la ab mea boo atf gbba bo atf qgbyifw?
Ca atja alwf, atbeut Ze Tl mbeiv cba rqfjx bo tfg wjaafgr, rtf tjv bcmf wfcalbcfv atja tfg teryjcv tjv cba aegcfv lcab j hbwylf ja atf yfulcclcu . Rbk, kbeiv tfg mibrf gfijalnfr fcmbecafg vjcufg?
Last night, the energy Qi Jingchen sensed was probably emitted when Mu Yi’s husband’s skull had been cut apart and his ability nucleus had been taken . They wasted some time before going, and so the attackers had already left .
They originally a.s.sumed that the person who died was just a stranger and did not chase after the attackers, but after realising the deceased may have been Mu Yi’s lover, they were also a little regretful that they had not given chase at the start .
Back then, they could not save Mu Yi’s lover; now that they knew something could happen to Mu Yi’s close relatives, how could they be indifferent?
Sun Chengzhi brought back two electric cars .
Nie Yi had Mu Yi sit in the pa.s.senger seat of the first car while he and Qi Jingchen sat in the rear . After that, he shut the door on Sun Chengzhi before she could get in, then had Mu Yi direct them to her house .
Mu Yi and her family lived in a district that J City secure base specifically reserved for ability users . Upon reaching the entrance, Mu Yi got off the car, then thanked them . “Thank you for sending me back…” Because Nie Yi had acted quickly, she wasn’t hurt at all . She could absolutely continue standing there to wait for her husband, but since she had already returned, she’d first eat something and report her safety before returning to the entrance to take a look…
“I’ll send you up,” Nie Yi said .
Sun Chengzhi looked at Nie Yi in shock . Taking Mu Yi home was already treating her fairly, yet Nie Yi even wanted to escort Mu Yi into her house?
Could Nie Yi have fallen for this pregnant woman?
It also wasn’t Sun Chengzhi’s fault for misunderstanding, as even Ping Shengchao thought that Nie Yi’s behaviour was strange . Nie Yi suddenly said, “You guys come up with me too, I feel like something’s amiss . ”
Sun Chengzhi had wanted to ridicule Nie Yi for actually believing something like ‘a feeling’ when she saw Qi Jingchen get off the car . She promptly got off as well . “Good matters have to be seen to the end; sending her back home is also as it should be . ”
Nie Yi and the others were very enthusiastic, but Mu Yi wasn’t happy about encountering this situation at all . She couldn’t help but suspect that these people had other motives . However, she was familiar with Sun Chengzhi, so this idea only revolved around her mind but was quickly given up .
Sun Chengzhi was the daughter of General Sun, so why would she target a n.o.body?
As Mu Yi’s family had four elderlies, and they still had to do some manual labour, they had chosen the bottom floor with an attached yard to live in . When Mu Yi reached the entrance, she called out, “Mom! Open the door, I’m back!”
The house had no signs of activity .
For some reason, Mu Yi’s heartbeat suddenly quickened as she groped around her body for the key and opened the door, then stood dumbfounded .
Four bodies were lying in the house! The people who had told Mu Yi not to worry and to come back early to eat were now dead!
Mu Yi was somewhat unable to recover her senses and stood frozen at the door, but behind her, Nie Yi, pushed the door open and entered . He looked at the bodies, then said, “They’ve been dead for about three hours and didn’t seem to struggle or cry out for help . Perhaps the attacker was someone they knew . ”
The doors and windows to this apartment had no marks of forced entry, so it was possible that the attacker had entered openly .
This sort of locked-room murder case wouldn’t be hard to solve before the apocalypse . After all, with surveillance monitors and webcams, everything was recorded, and neighbours could also provide some clues . But it was the apocalypse now .
“Back in the city gate, that wind ability user targeted her . I believe she may have provoked an enemy, and now someone wishes to eliminate every loose end,” Nie Yi said .
“I don’t have enemies,” Mu Yi suddenly said as large droplets of tears tumbled down her cheeks . She grasped the doorframe beside her, and could not even feel it when the iron plate of the door lock cut her hand .
When her husband did not return yesterday, she felt extremely scared and frightened, but now that her parents and parents-in-law were all dead, she instead conversely felt an indescribable calm .
Mu Yi suddenly knelt before Sun Chengzhi . “Miss Sun, I beg you, please help me! I’m also an ability user, I’ll work extremely hard for you in the future…”
Mu Yi also knew that she was just a pregnant woman and truly had no skills to be looked upon . She could only emphasise herself as an ability user . “My ability is very powerful, even more so than other wind ability users!” As she spoke, a wind blade appeared from her and slashed at the wall, leaving a tear .
She had never killed zombies and had no combat experience,but she was probably the most leisurely of all the ability users in the nation .
She was pregnant with a child . Though the apocalypse came, her family still did not allow her to do anything, and she could not kill time with a phone or books . She could only start to secretly use her ability to play around . She had read a lot of novels, so wind ability naturally made her think of wind blades, and she began training in this direction and finally succeeded for real .
Nie Yi shot a glance at Mu Yi . He could finally find that previous feeling and figured out why Mu Yi would become like her future appearance .
Losing her entire family in a day, she would naturally have great changes in her temperament… No, perhaps she was even worse off in their last life . After all, if they hadn’t defended her and Mu Yi was pushed to fall in that crowd, she might not even have kept her child… the reason they hadn’t had two lives lost in a single corpse was most likely due to her being an ability user .
“Wind blade!” Sun Chengzhi was pleasantly surprised . Wind ability users had always been rather useless . Even though B City secure base had sent over a few directions for ability users to cultivate and mentioned that wind ability users could attack with wind blades, only a few in their base could occasionally produce them…
“I’m begging you! Please, I beg of you!” Mu Yi continued to implore .
“You get up first and properly explain your situation,” Sun Chengzhi said . An ability user who could use her wind ability—even despite being unable to be counted as a fighter for the time being due to her pregnancy—was still very valuable .
Moreover… Someone was killed in their base; this matter also needed to be addressed .
Mu Yi soon explained everything about her husband .
“I swear to you that I will investigate this matter,” Sun Chengzhi said .
“Thank you!” Mu Yi said, her face filled with grat.i.tude .
Right at this time, someone suddenly ran over . “Boss, the general asked you to quickly bring the guests over! And about Mrs . Zhang, the secure base will definitely give an explanation for this . The general said Mrs . Zhang can go live with the miss for the time being . ” Mu Yi’s husband was surnamed Zhang, and it could be a.s.sumed that General Sun had learnt everything about this matter by now .
“This is fine,” Sun Chengzhi nodded, then looked at Mu Yi . “You come with me ba!”
“I want to collect their bones . ” Mu Yi was taken aback for a moment, then responded .
“I’ll have them help you . When you’re done, come and find me,” Sun Chengzhi said, then brought Nie Yi ad Qi Jingchen to her father’s workplace .
While Sun Chengzhi was making a decision, Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen had watched at the side but did not meddle . This was J City secure base, and even if they wanted to help Mu Yi, it might not be as convenient as letting Sun Chengzhi help .
Nie Yi soon met General Sun .
General Sun had been stationed at the westernmost plateau for a very long time . Probably because of this, he looked extremely tan, and his face had many wrinkles . His entire person looked extremely serious .
Sun Chengzhi had a happy and laughing expression, but seemed to change into an entirely different person when she arrived before her father . It could be seen that she revered him greatly .
“General Sun, Nie Yi is here!” Sun Chengzhi didn’t even call General Sun father .
“h.e.l.lo . Since you came from B City secure base, did you have any instructions?” General Sun nodded at Sun Chengzhi and then looked at Nie Yi .
“General, my mission is to bring my people around to take a look and record the situation at each base . I brought no orders at all,” Nie Yi said, “I came to J City secure base this time and plan to stay for a few days, cultivate my team, and see if my subordinates have any acquaintances here . ”
Nie Yi and General Sun weren’t familiar with each other but the two of them were acquainted with Zhao Chengqi, and surprisingly became closer as they talked . In the end, General Sun even said, “I’ve heard a little of what happened in B City secure base . Your dad truly does not know contentment; you’re such a good son, yet he doesn’t know how to cherish you!”
Sun Chengzhi had always been standing at the side, and felt a stifled anger when she heard this . However, she dare not be antagonistic towards Nie Yi since she was in the presence of her father, and finally chose to secretly glare at him .
General Sun kept Nie Yi and the others for a meal, and as Nie Yi did not come for official business, he even openly said it was a family feast .
General Sun was the same as Nie Boyuan and lived in a villa at J City secure base . Their party had just entered when they saw a pale, young boy with faintly dark lips sitting in the living room .
“This is my son, Sun Huan,” General Sun introduced, and introduced Sun Huan to Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen .
“Nice to meet you,” Sun Huan smiled at Nie Yi .
“Nice to meet you,” Nie Yi also said . He knew from the start that General Sun had birthed a second child and had this daughter Sun Chengzhi because Sun Huan’s health was poor, and he might not live long . Now that he looked… This person genuinely seemed extremely frail .
Aside from General Sun, the Sun family villa had a few guards living there, and lunch was prepared by one of the guards . Presently, they had a scarcity of supplies and the guard wasn’t proficient in culinary skills . Consequently, the few dishes looked very so-so and the few vegetables dishes had even been sauteed together with some ham sausage or bacon . The bowl of luffa soup also had quail eggs that had been regarded as snacks before the apocalypse .
Nie Yi himself didn’t think much of this, but having to consider Qi Jingchen, said, “Are there any fresh ingredients? My lover isn’t in good health and can’t eat certain things . ”
“Lover?” General Sun furrowed his brows and looked at Qi Jingchen . “Was the news pa.s.sed from the secure base true, that you’re dating a man?” Back then General Sun had heard a lot of news about Nie Yi, but as Zhao Chengqi had once corresponded with him and said Nie Yi’s half-elder brother kept targeting him, he only treated those rumours as fabrication .
After he saw Nie Yi, he was even more certain that the rumours were fabricated excessively . When had Nie Yi carried his lover for the entire day? There really was a handsome youth beside him, but his eyes were upright and honourable, and was nothing like the foxy charmer from the rumours .
As a result… He had just been outraged by the injustice towards Nie Yi when Nie Yi actually called Qi Jingchen his ‘lover’, and even refused his food .
General Sun’s expression had become ugly, but Nie Yi still said, “Such is the case . ”
General Sun’s temperament immediately turned cold and he abruptly slammed the table . “Making trouble!”