Chapter 73: A Pleasant Surprise

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: A Pleasant Surprise

Hao Wenli looked at He Yu’an again.

He Yu’an didn’t like Hao Wenli, but just as Xiao Sa had said, having the two men draw away most of the enemies while the women ran out the front door was too risky.

’What if the enemy doesn’t fall for it?’

’Wouldn’t we all get caught?’

’It’s better to let these fools take the risk.’

’Besides, the Migratory Clan has no idea how many people are in the building. After they capture this group, they’re unlikely to conduct a massive search, since they’ve already been through here before.’

’As long as we hide well, we’ll surely get away with it.’

"I’ve decided to hide with Wenli!" He Yu’an declared.

"Suit yourselves." Brother Xiao didn’t think much of the two women, so he didn’t press the issue. "The two of us will go down now to draw the enemy’s attention. Chen Xing, you take the others and make a break for it. There’s a car parked around the corner to your right. Here are the keys. After everyone’s safe, we’ll meet at the rendezvous point!"

After following Hao Wenli here yesterday, he had already prepared an escape plan.

He had found a car to use in case of an emergency.

Chen Xing took the car keys, calmly accepting Brother Xiao’s plan.

’This is a good chance to see what Brother Xiao is capable of. That way, I’ll feel more at ease entrusting Xiao Ru to them.’

’Xiao Ru and I were brought together by fate, in a way. I hope she can find a safe haven in this life.’

Brother Xiao didn’t hesitate, immediately heading to the basement with Ding Yiyu.

Hao Wenli and He Yu’an gave the other girls a look as if they were idiots, then left the lobby to find their own hiding spots.

About two minutes later, the Migratory Clan members stationed out front quickly ran toward the parking garage, leaving only a few guards behind.

At the entrance to the parking garage, a black car was blocked at the exit.

The windows were tinted black, making it impossible to see inside.

Just as the twenty-odd men were about to smash the windows, a roar echoed from the darkness.

Startled, they immediately backed away, but it was too late.

A tiger, standing nearly one and a half times the height of a man, suddenly appeared from the shadows and lunged, jaws open.

A path cleared in front of the black car, and Brother Xiao slammed on the gas, bursting out.

Seeing that the black car had broken through the encirclement, Meng Hu stopped attacking the men and chased after it.

"Two teams, go after them!" Secretary Qi, who had been standing at the corner between the main entrance and the parking garage, only dared to issue the command after Meng Hu had run off. "You six, guard this gate! The rest of you, follow me into the building to catch them!"

He believed Chen Xing and her group were using a feint. They were using the black car to draw his attention while most of them were still hiding in the building.

By the time he led his men from the basement to the first-floor lobby, the building’s main doors were wide open, and the few subordinates who had been guarding them were already lying on the ground.

Secretary Qi was speechless. ’...Could my calculation have been wrong?’

’These people are too cunning!’

"Leave two people to guard the building! The rest of you, spread out and give chase!" Just after giving the order, Secretary Qi glanced upstairs. His eyes narrowed as if he’d thought of something, and the corners of his mouth curled up as he yelled, "Everyone, come back!"

His subordinates, who were about to give chase, had no choice but to return. "Secretary Qi, we’re not going after them?"

"What’s the use of chasing one or two people?" he said, pointing smugly upward. "If I’m not mistaken, those broads definitely didn’t run. They’re all hiding in here! Trying to pull a feint on me? They’re still too green for that!"

’Taking down a few of my men... wasn’t that just to make me think they’d all escaped?’

’I’m not stupid enough to fall for that.’

Meanwhile, Chen Xing and the others had it easy. There were no pursuers at all.

’Did they all go after Brother Xiao?’

’Good thing I had Meng Hu go with them.’

After waiting at the rendezvous point for a while, they finally saw the black car approaching, followed by the swaggering figure of Meng Hu.

Seeing that everyone was okay, Brother Xiao finally let out a sigh of relief. "Only two cars were chasing us. We thought they had all gone after you."

"No cars chased us!" Xiao Ru’s chubby little face finally broke into a smile when she saw Ding Yiyu return safely.

A smile touched Chen Xing’s lips.

’They didn’t chase us, and they didn’t go after Brother Xiao... so does that mean Hao Wenli and He Yu’an, the ones who stayed behind, are screwed?’

’Heh... what a pleasant surprise!’

"Where do we go now?" Brother Xiao asked for everyone’s opinion.

They had been in such a hurry to escape that they hadn’t thought about what to do next.

Now that they were safe, it was time to consider their next move.

"It’s not very safe out here, especially within Hualai City’s limits. The Migratory Clan shows up frequently."

Sister Feng looked at everyone and repeated what she’d said before: "I have to find my son and my husband!"

"Where are they?"

"I don’t know!" There was a hint of helplessness in Sister Feng’s voice. "When the zombies suddenly appeared, I was in the next city over. By the time I went through hell and back to get home, my husband and son were gone. I could never get through to his phone, and I lost my own phone a long time ago."

Brother Xiao paused. "..." Though he felt he shouldn’t, he asked directly, "Are you sure they’re... alive?"

Sister Feng nodded with absolute certainty. "They have to be! My husband and I used to watch disaster movies and joke about it. We said that if the apocalypse really happened and we got separated, we would do everything in our power to survive. As long as we’re both around Hualai City, we’ll find each other again!" This belief was what had kept her going.

Even though Hualai City was dangerous, she didn’t want to leave unless it was absolutely necessary.

With the Migratory Clan running so rampant now, she figured she’d avoid the risk for a while and come back after things quieted down.

"I don’t really want to leave Hualai City either!" Qiao Qiao was an orphan who had never left Hualai City in her life; she always felt the outside world was even more dangerous.

Seeing that no one had a definite destination in mind, Brother Xiao suggested, "Then let’s find a hidden, safe place just outside Hualai City to lie low for now. We can figure things out from there."

"I know a place we can stay for the time being," Chen Xing said without much explanation, and she drove the group directly to the old lair of a motorcycle gang.

The place was built to defend against zombies, so its security was not an issue.

As for other humans, no one was likely to target it for the time being.

After all, the motorcycle gang had a reputation. Besides, the factory compound’s defenses were solid; if not for Song Yiguo’s army, it wouldn’t have been easy to breach.

Most importantly, the news that the motorcycle gang had been completely wiped out hadn’t spread.

The inside of the compound looked much the same as when Chen Xing had left; it seemed no one had been inside since.

The bombed-out main gate was on the edge of a mountain forest where cars rarely passed. It just needed some repairs.

"This place is great, but it’s too big!" Brother Xiao had been a soldier before and knew a thing or two about security. "Without a few hundred people, it would be hard to run this place effectively."

If they had enough manpower and a detailed plan, this factory compound would be an absolutely perfect place to stay alive and safe.

"We definitely don’t have the manpower for now, but... you can hide here first, so the Migratory Clan can’t find you." A plan was already forming in Chen Xing’s mind. "There’s a secret warehouse inside. Even if someone finds this place, as long as you hide there, they’ll never find you!"

When they entered the warehouse, which was tens of thousands of square meters, the others were dumbfounded.

’If this place were filled with supplies, we wouldn’t have to worry about our future at all.’

Chen Xing then opened the secret warehouse hidden in the wall. "If anyone from the Migratory Clan comes looking, hide in here. It’s completely safe!"