Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 756 - 742: Visitors on a Snowy Night (Part 1)

"Hey Wang! What’s wrong? Not used to spicy food?"

Wang Qiang held his bowl and picked at the rice, as if he hadn’t heard Old Zhao’s question.

Tang Xiaoquan noticed this and nudged him with his elbow, smilingly saying, "Hey Qiang, Uncle Zhao worked hard to make us this feast. How can you be so unappreciative? Come on, try a piece of beef; it’s too good to miss!"

Before Tang Xiaoquan could finish his enticing offer, Wang Qiang set his bowl and chopsticks down on the table weakly and said, "I don’t have an appetite today, you guys eat!"

Both Old Zhao and Tang Xiaoquan understood the reason behind Wang Qiang’s behavior — it was the phone call earlier that triggered it.

Old Zhao had intended to use dinner as an opportunity to help Wang Qiang adjust, but it turned out this way, leaving him to silently lament the complex and fragile nature of young people’s romantic affairs.

With Wang Qiang causing a disruption, Tang Xiaoquan lost his appetite too, worried his good friend might end up suffering from depression over this.

The once anticipated "feast" ended hastily, and the atmosphere inside became unusually quiet.

Meanwhile, in the villa, Old Xu and Old Lin, after chatting over tea, quickly succumbed to fatigue and both leaned back in their chairs, falling asleep.

It was unclear how much time had passed when the door of the audio-visual room was knocked on urgently, causing Old Lin in his sleep to vaguely hear someone calling his name.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Old Xu? Is Old Lin here?"

"Here!" Annoyed but awake, Old Lin confirmed the voice wasn’t a dream, shouted in response, and promptly rose to head to the door.

His sudden shout and the noise he made startled Old Xu, who woke up abruptly, murmuring, "Huh? What’s the matter, Old Lin?"

The audio-visual room was pitch-dark, and Wang Zhongyu squinted at the person who opened the door, unsurely asking, "Old Xu?"

"It’s me, Zhongyu, I’m Old Lin!"

"Oh, it’s Old Lin!"

"Hmm? What’s up, Wang?" Hearing the other party was looking for him, Xu Renjie rubbed his neck and stood up, habitually tidying his sleeves.

"Well, it’s good both of you are here; I’ve been looking for you forever. The hand-held radio didn’t respond. Lei Tong issued a security alert upstairs, saying there’s a vehicle approaching the villa again."

"What?" Old Xu’s eyes widened; he was a bit drowsy at first but immediately became alert, his body already leaning out of the room: "You said a vehicle is approaching the villa? How long ago did this happen?"

Wang Zhongyu estimated a bit, "Lei Tong reported just now, only 1-2 minutes ago."

1-2 minutes... usually such a time span wouldn’t be much, but considering today’s weather and the dark night, it’s easy to infer that by the time Lei Tong spotted the vehicle through the binoculars, it might be just a stone’s throw from the villa.

And now because of his negligence, sleeping at such a crucial moment, he failed to promptly react to Lei Tong’s alert, wasting precious minutes. This is truly...

Old Xu blamed himself for his careless oversight, hurriedly urging Lin Junfu behind him: "Old Lin, quickly go upstairs to notify Liu Fugui to identify via the surveillance room."

"Do you suspect it’s his men?" Without waiting for an answer, Old Lin was already moving.

"Hopefully!"

Old Xu’s words echoed Old Lin’s thoughts; if the approaching were indeed men under Liu Fugui, at least a nighttime defensive battle could be avoided.

Given such weather and darkness, any conflict due to malicious intent could be extremely unfavorable for the villa.

Liu Fugui, awakened from his dream, was on the verge of fury.

Despite his usual calm demeanor, those who know him are aware he most dislikes being disturbed during rest, especially when in deep sleep.

Old Lin knew nothing of this, and besides, given the urgency, even if he knew, he’d still wake the other party without hesitation.

After five continuous door-banging calls, Liu Fugui suppressed his impending volcanic eruption and asked irritably, "What’s going on?"

"Mr. Liu, quickly open the door and come with me, there’s a situation!"

The other party was Old Lin, Liu Fugui heard clearly, so despite being immensely annoyed, he had to control himself. After all, he was surviving on someone else’s turf.

He slowly put on his coat, checked outside the window, the night sky was dead silent with white stars, while the fierce blizzard continued its wild dance across the sky.

"What happened, Mr. Liu, why so frantic?" As the door opened, Liu Fugui, like a chameleon, instantly adjusted to his best state, making it impossible for anyone to tell he was a raging bull mere minutes ago.

"Let’s talk while walking!" Without another word, Old Lin dragged Liu Fugui forward by the sleeve, explaining as they went, "Our lookout just spotted an unidentified vehicle approaching the villa, so we’re asking you, Mr. Liu, to verify if it’s your men. If not, we need to take appropriate defensive measures."

Oh, Liu Fugui’s first instinct was to find his hand-held radio, but upon reaching for it subconsciously and realizing it wasn’t there, he remembered that he left his radio in the car.

He quickly thought of borrowing Old Lin’s to confirm if the people were indeed his men but was ushered into the room before speaking.

"Here you are!" Old Xu didn’t even turn to look at the arrivals, just shouted, "Mr. Liu, check if this person is under your command!"

Liu Fugui stared at the monitors ahead in shock, remaining speechless.

His heart stirred, never expecting the team in front of him could develop to such a level amid chaos.

This far exceeded his expectations; they restored electricity, even though his factory achieved this long ago, but that was pre-apocalypse resources. What they did was genuine skill.

Old Xu, after waiting for a response from Liu Fugui, grew impatient. Though normally agreeable, in wartime, he became uncompromisingly stern.

He glanced at Liu Fugui’s dazed figure, urging impatiently:

"Hey, why aren’t you speaking, hurry up and identify, we can’t afford delays!" Old Xu’s tone was quite rude; given Liu Fugui’s status and reputation, few would dare speak to him like this.

But Old Xu cared little for such formalities; with the situation changing by the second, if they didn’t promptly ascertain the newcomer’s true identity, it could spell trouble. Liu Fugui was still absorbed in the shock of the scene before him.

He hadn’t noticed Old Xu’s change in tone but quickly realized his lapse, reaching out toward Bi Dahu’s keyboard, and deftly tapping a few keys.

Bi Dahu watched Liu Fugui’s seamless operation in surprise, observing as, after his moves, the monitor images began zooming in, becoming clear.

Though Bi Dahu could achieve this, his speed and precision paled compared to Liu Fugui. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation and monthly votes; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)