Chapter 23 - Chief Nie
Nie Yi’s words were ruthless.
He would do his utmost to defend Qi Jingchen’s safety, and also made it clear to the surrounding people of Qi Jingchen’s importance towards him. After all, it wasn’t likely for him to be able to stay by Qi Jingchen all the time.
Therefore, he had already made a decision long ago, wanting to use Yan Zhe to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys… If it weren’t this way, he would have secretly gotten rid of this person long ago— For him, who had returned from the later stages of the end of the world, he hadn’t the slightest barrier against killing people, and was even less fond of keeping a scourge by his side.
Him killing Yan Zhe in public right now was in order to let those people he had saved to see the facts clearly, and also in order to let Ping Shengchao, Shao Zhenglan and the rest know what they should and shouldn’t do.
Perhaps other people would feel that he was too cruel to Yan Zhe, but Nie Yi didn’t feel that way at all. If it wasn’t because there were too many people here that he dreaded scaring to breaking down, he wouldn’t even mind letting Yan Zhe suffer some more…
Speaking of, if Yan Zhe was a bit more content with his lot, he could give him a good time, but in the end, Yan Zhe had actually wanted to harm Qi Jingchen… Allowing him to die this quickly was already letting him off lightly.
Nie Yi’s maneuver of killing a chicken to warn the monkeys emerged with results that were truly pretty good.
After Shao Zhenglan puked one round, she then heard Nie Yi’s words and her face whitened. She had seen Nie Yi’s previous behavior towards Yan Zhe, and she could never have imagined that Nie Yi would actually be this heartless.
However, regardless of whether Nie Yi was heartless, she now understood many things, and confirmed her decision to never provoke Nie Yi from now on, and more so to Qi Jingchen. Even if it was a silent curse, it was best if she didn’t have any.
Shao Zhenglan thought this way, and of course, Xu Nan and the rest had also thought so. Initially, there were no small amount of people among them who looked down on Qi Jingchen, but now… If Nie Yi was around, how could they dare to look down on Qi Jingchen? Promptly making a decision, in the future, they had to be very respectful towards Qi Jingchen.
They weren’t willing to die and were even less willing to have Nie Yi retaliate against them.
After these people secretly made their resolve, they calmed down and saw Qi Jingchen’s appearance of being just as relaxed as before. Not only that, but… previously, when Nie Yi was killing Yan Zhe, he seemed not to have even blinked? After recalling Qi Jingchen’s previous practices, they were frightened into letting out cold sweat, as they were incomparably glad that they hadn’t done any idiotic things that were targeted at Qi Jingchen.
Even though Qi Jingchen always let people carry him, but he had previously walked as well, so it definitely wasn’t that he didn’t have mobile capabilities. Since it was like this, when he had seen Yao Jialong throwing himself over and didn’t move, seen Yan Zhe killed and was indifferent- perhaps it wasn’t because he couldn’t move, but because he was calm.
Someone who could be that calm at such a time, could they be a simple person?
Xu Nan suddenly called to mind, he had initially guessed that this Qi Jingchen was very powerful… he didn’t know if his guess was right, but he had already made a decision. In the future, towards this Qi Jingchen, he must be even more respectful than he was towards Nie Yi.
“Ge! Wah…” Right at this time, Qi Yaoyao, who was scared stupid, finally regained her wits and threw herself over at Qi Jingchen.
That Yan Zhe had actually wanted to kill her brother, her brother almost died! Not thinking as much as Xu Nan and the others, at this moment, Qi Yaoyao only thought of having her brother comfort him.
Qi Yaoyao’s movements of throwing herself over could be said to be quick, but Nie Yi’s movements were even quicker.
Reaching out, Nie Yi then caught ahold of the back of her neck. “You’d better know your place!”
Qi Yaoyao recalled the previous scene of Nie Yi killing someone and was frightened stiff on the spot, not even daring to move.
“Yaoyao, I’m fine,” Qi Jingchen gave a smile in Qi Yaoyao’s direction.
In truth, he had long guessed that Yan Zhe would pull a dirty trick. Even though he didn’t know what it was, he had intended to use this dirty trick to kill himself.
He was a dark ability user, so he was especially sensitive to dark energy. Because the smell on Yao Jialong’s body was odd, he had become aware of it much earlier. The fact that Yao Jialong looked down on him, he was also aware, and he later discovered that Yan Zhe was hiding something on himself.
Yan Zhe wanted to kill him, so naturally, he had to cooperate a little. Even though he wouldn’t die from being injured by a zombie, maybe those people who had turned into zombies could bite him to death? Or if Yao Jialong bites him, the others would beat him to death?
He had already cooperated with these people a lot. Looking on as that person was about to become a zombie, he had Nie Yi find somewhere to settle down, then he sent Nie Yi and a bodyguard away…
Pity, that he didn’t succeed in the end… of course, this wasn’t unexpected to him at all— he knew that he had to guard against Nie Yi, so obviously Nie Yi was even clearer on this.
Most likely, when he was thinking about dying just now, Nie Yi had always been watching from outside…
Qi Jingchen glared at Nie Yi, had him let go of Qi Yaoyao, then closed his eyes again.
When Nie Yi saw this manner of Qi Jingchen, recalled his face of pity when Yao Jialong was killed, his heart was both angry and distressed.
There was anger in his heart, but it was impossible for him to release it on Qi Jingchen. He could only turn around and call for Xu Nan and Ping Shengchao, then continue to save people. That is to say, use the zombies outside as an outlet.
Nie Yi brought people away again, but those family dependent were still anxious, and some of the children had even cried unceasingly.
Xu Nan’s wife, Zhao Qiuyue, hugged her child as she softly coaxed her. The elderly at the side moved closer to her as they held their own child, unable to help saying, “That person killed someone in front of children. The children are all terrified, how could he be this-”
“Now, it isn’t the past anymore. Those zombies don’t care about whether you’re a child or not when biting… Letting our children experience it themselves is still better than raising our child to become like that,” Zhao Qiuyue quietly said, then glanced at where Yao Jialong was.
Yao Jialong had already turned into a complete zombie. Now, the two bodyguards were about to throw him out from the window, but the Yao parents hated to part with their son and wanted to block them, but also didn’t dare to actually block them, only wiping their tears and pleading beside them.
The elderly who grumbled at Zhao Qiuyue saw this and immediately fell silent. In the past, when they saw anything the slightest bit unhealthy on tv, they would all want to scold the television, but now… The ways of this world were already no longer the same.
They could protect their children for a time, but could they protect them for their whole life? If they couldn’t, in the end, it would leave them with the same outcome as the Yao parents…
At this time, the Yao parents were still crying. “We only have this son, even if he became a zombie, he still shouldn’t be thrown like this…”
“Give the body to us, we will dig a grave for him…”
“My family’s Jialong ah, we don’t even know which bastard harmed you!”
…
While the Yao parents were complaining tearfully, their resentful gazes had fallen on Shao Zhenglan quite a few times.
“Heh… Always hiding at the back, yet your son had turned into a zombie. Maybe he really was harmed by someone,” Shao Zhenglan laughed coldly. She had vomited too much before this, then was menaced by Nie Yi. Therefore, she didn’t follow Nie Yi to kill zombies, staying behind instead.
“Who on earth was it that had harmed him?” the Yao parents asked frantically, looking at Shao Zhenglan with hate.
“In any case, it wasn’t me. Why would I harm this useless guy for no reason? Instead, it was that Yan Zhe, who had something from a zombie on him, who knows if your son had come into contact with him before.” Shao Zhenglan pointed at Yan Zhe’s body. She was still feeling unwell right now, and she detested the Yao parents. However, the education she had received since childhood still allowed her to subconsciously make out some correct choices, such as shifting the Yao parents’ hatred towards someone else.
When the Yao parents heard this, they really did recall that their son had once mentioned that Yan Zhe was a good person who had helped him pack up…
Previously, this Yan Zhe had clearly looked down on them, yet suddenly he had helped their son pack…
Mother Yao abruptly threw herself at Yan Zhe’s corpse, kicking and hitting as she cried, “Was it you who caused my son to die, was it you?!”
The Yao parents dare not question Nie Yi and his people, so naturally, they vented their rage on Yan Zhe’s corpse. Upon seeing this, the two bodyguards first dealt with Yao Jialong’s body, then Yan Zhe’s body that was beaten by the Yao parents was also thrown out.
When Yan Zhe died, he hadn’t turned into a zombie. Not long after he was thrown out, the flesh that could still be considered fresh had attracted two zombies; they caught his body and tore at it…
After two people died in the troop, the general mood in the troop had changed. No one fought over things or caused trouble anymore, and when Nie Yi brought more people in, there would be someone who would immediately go and explain the circumstances of this troop.
Nie Yi was still someone who was pleasant to interact with, who would protect them, but the precondition was that everyone was respectful to Qi Jingchen.
“In the end, who is this Qi Jingchen?” a young newcomer asked, puzzled.
The person next to this youth then gave him a slap on his head. “Don’t ask around recklessly! You only have to know that you must be careful when facing him and view him as more important than boss Nie!”
That youth had wanted to ask a bit more, but seeing the grave expression on the person scolding him, he wisely shut his mouth.
During the apocalypse, it’s still better not to ask too much.
With Nie Yi’s beating, no one dared to cause trouble during the rest of the journey. Another day later, they saw the secure base of B city.
The secure base of B city was enormous, but it wasn’t expanded yet, so it was much smaller than in Nie Yi’s impression.
Over twenty days had passed, and a wall had been constructed outside the secure base. As for the buildings and trees near the secured base, they had all been cleanly disposed of with explosives. On the one hand, it was for the convenience of observing for nearby zombies, on the other, it was because the secure base would definitely be expanded.
The land cleared out by explosives was very vast, and in front of this land, some large or small areas were enclosed with barbed wire. This was the registry area for people who want to enter the secure base.
For everyone who wanted to enter the secure base, they first had to go to a place and use the water mixed with disinfectant to wash away any possible infected stains. Then, they had to go to those areas encircled by barb wires and wait for four hours.
Generally, after four hours, even if the people hurt by zombies didn’t turn into a zombie, their hands would begin the zombification. When they entered the base, the doctors who were responsible for examining hands would immediately be able to spot it.
Of course, some people carried the special golden identity card of the secure base, and they could walk in directly without waiting outside, or even without being checked. As for people with a silver identity card, they could go through the express channel. There, someone will have them suck on an experimental strip which had been recently developed; as long as the test paper didn’t turn black, it proved that they weren’t injured by zombies, so they could immediately enter the safety zone.
In those days, Nie Yi had a golden identity card. Of course, his identity information wasn’t inputted yet, so he had to wait at the gate like the rest.
Initially, they had over a hundred people, and in the past two days, the people that they had successively saved were also over a hundred. Because they were all new, they were allocated to an isolated area.
Two hundred of them were crammed to the brim in an isolated area, and surrounding them was areas segregated by barbed wiring. Inside, there were also a lot of people sitting or standing as they waited.
Everyone waiting to enter were carrying many things, but the cars were taken away by the people in the secure base. Of course, each vehicle could be exchanged into a vehicle card. On it, the size of the vehicle was written, so if they wanted to leave in the future, they could use the vehicle card to receive the corresponding vehicle.
Compared to those small-scaled secure bases, the management of the large-scale secure base was still more comprehensive.
Nie Yi’s appearance was neat and clean, unlike the others who were waiting to enter the base. It was extremely eye-catching, but it was incomparable to Qi Jingchen.
In any case, Nie Yi was wearing army boots, long-sleeved clothes, and other clothes that were suitable for the apocalypse. However, Qi Jingchen was wearing a white t-shirt and white sneakers, and the bottoms of the sneakers were even clean without a single trace of dust.
That’s right, everyone could see the soles of his shoes, because Nie Yi had taken the initiative to bring him a rattan chair, allowing him to lay on it comfortably.
These encircling barb wire fences made it so that soldiers would always be patrolling back and forth near the isolated area. Every time they passed by, they couldn’t help looking at Qi Jingchen…
Even the registrar, who came to register their name while they were waiting, had their attention attracted to Qi Jingchen first, then looked at Nie Yi.
It was at this time that there was a sudden disturbance at the side, and constant cries like ‘save us’ filled their ears— The isolated area next to this one had someone turn into a zombie!
The people in that isolated area probably hadn’t experienced a fight against zombies. After the person beside them turned into a zombie, they actually didn’t know that they had to fight back, instead only running away. Fortunately, the one who turned into a zombie was a child only about seven or eight. After he became a zombie, he continued to bite at the very first person he had caught, so there weren’t any grave consequences for the time being.
Right then, with two bangs, the patrolling men had already shot the zombie and the person it was gnawing at on the spot. They also divided three people to enter. Two of them dragged out the corpses, while the remaining one discharged calcium oxide at the area polluted with bloodstains.
Nie Yi was long used to the sight, and didn’t find it odd at all; however, the other people were all frightened. It was right at this time when Mother Yao suddenly rushed out. “People’s Liberation Army! People’s Liberation Army! I want to report a case! Help!”
The Yao parents spoke with an accent, and also had called them slightly strange names, but the patrolmen still stopped.
“He killed someone on the road! PLA, he killed someone on the road! He burnt someone to death!” Mother Yao pointed at Nie Yi as she yelled. Even though she guessed that it was probably Yan Zhe who had harmed Yao Jialong, but if there wasn’t Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen, then that Yan Zhe wouldn’t hurt anyone… Mother Yao still bore a grudge against Nie Yi.
On the road, she was extremely fearful of Nie Yi, afraid that she would burn to death, so she daren’t say much at all. But now that she saw that those patrolmen had guns, she regained her confidence and planned to denounce Nie Yi.
“On the journey, he forced us to kill zombies! He even killed someone!” Father Yao also hurried to speak.
When the men patrolling heard Mother Yao’s words, they actually felt amused, but still stopped and looked at Nie Yi.
When Nie Yi heard the Yao parents denouncing him, he didn’t defend himself. He only felt around his chest to pull out his credentials, then gave it to the registrars. “My name is Nie Yi. After I received an exploration mission, I came here. Those are all the people I saved.”
“Nie Yi!” Previously, that registrar had felt that Nie Yi was familiar. Now, there was no doubt. “Mr. Nie, Chief Nie has been waiting for you! You don’t have to wait here. I’ll immediately bring you and your team to meet Chief Nie.”
“Alright.” Nie Yi nodded, then looked at Qi Jingchen.
At long last, Qi Jingchen stood up and went to stand next to Nie Yi. Shao Zhenglan and the rest showed a happy expression, and also went over. Qi Yaoyao was at a loss, but with a pull, Ping Shengchao had pulled her over.
That registrar opened the door at the barbed wire fence and let Nie Yi and the rest walk out. The patrolmen had even timely barred the rest of the people, then closed the door.
“Who is that Chief Nie? What’s their relationship to Nie Yi?” Mother Yao perceived that something was wrong and worriedly asked.
“The chief of this secure base has the surname Nie, so that person is probably his son,” someone from the patrol said, looking at Mother Yao in disdain.
When this troop arrived, they all could see it. The entire crew was just collected by chance. There were elderly and children, and all of them were regular citizens with no fighting abilities. To be able to come here, it’s likely because they had relied on the protection of the people who had just left. Fine, these people didn’t know gratitude, whatever, but they even went in the opposite direction and denounced them for murder… it truly ridiculous.