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At this moment, Horn Ting stepped out of the car and said, "I'll join you guys going up. I haven't been tired on the way."
The modified car was driving quite slowly, and Horn Ting was considering switching with someone soon.
Tang Xuhai thought for a moment. Wen Zhaoming had special abilities, while the others were mutants. As long as they didn't encounter abnormal animals, their safety could be assured.
Moreover, discreetly glancing at Fu Shiwu, he felt that he seemed a bit tired. Always insisting on pushing through, Fu Shiwu was just like that himself.
In the end, Tang Xuhai, Fu Shiwu, and Horn Ting were the three who went up the mountain, while the others started a campfire to cook.
Horn Ting filled the pot with water and poured some for them to wash things before they left.
The path up the mountain was steep, roughened by years of rain and wear, full of uneven surfaces and potholes.
Tang Xuhai and Fu Shiwu were managing fine, but Horn Ting was wearing leather shoes, making it less convenient for him to walk.
Glancing at the high-quality shoes Horn Ting wore, despite them clashing with the clothes he found in Riaoxian Town, it didn't affect his demeanor.
Seeing his attire, Tang Xuhai couldn't help but recall the time when Fu Shiwu had come out wearing a pair of leather shoes during their escape.
Fu Shiwu had had the time to prepare back then but still chose to wear leather shoes. However, this Horn Ting shouldn't be so unaware; it was likely because things had developed suddenly without any preparation.
It took the three of them half an hour to reach the mountain village mentioned by Miao Jia.
The village was visibly not well-off, with a mix of old and new houses. Tang Xuhai searched around, directly kicking open one of the doors.
Inside, there was a small car with a tank. Tang Xuhai opened the tank, and it had a good amount of fuel.
"Get the hose," Tang Xuhai said, reaching out to Fu Shiwu.
Fu Shiwu handed the hose to Tang Xuhai, who swiftly siphoned the gasoline and put it into an empty container that Horn Ting was holding.
This empty container was found around there.
After emptying one car, the three found two more vehicles in the village and drained their gasoline too.
"With this amount of fuel, we can bypass Pingnan City," Tang Xuhai said satisfactorily, tightening the lid.
Fu Shiwu coiled up the hose, and Horn Ting volunteered to carry the gas canister as they headed back.
Truthfully, they were all hungry and eager to have their breakfast.
The descent was much easier than the climb. Before they realized it, the three had reached the fork in the road.
But the sight that greeted them stunned them; Horn Ting almost dropped the gas canister.
There was no one left!
Only a mess of bloodstains lay on the ground, along with tire tracks.
"What's going on?!" Fu Shiwu asked, bewildered.
Tang Xuhai's immediate thought was that these people had been captured by Shi Zheng's men.
"Wait! Let's stay calm!" Tang Xuhai raised his hand and said.
Then he started examining the marks on the ground.
After a while, Tang Xuhai stood up and cursed.
"Do you know where they went?" Fu Shiwu asked anxiously.
"No, they didn't leave voluntarily," Tang Xuhai pointed at the tire tracks on the ground, "These skid marks aren't from our car; they belong to a small freight vehicle."
Fu Shiwu looked at the shallow tire tracks on the concrete ground but couldn't discern anything different.
"It seems they suddenly drove over here," Horn Ting analyzed.
"Yeah, and there are guns too." Tang Xuhai picked up a bullet casing from the nearby bushes.
Fu Shiwu couldn't make sense of it all; he just felt the scene was chaotic, with scattered campfires and kitchen utensils all over the ground.
He closed his eyes and used his abilities to perceive, realizing a problem.
"There are other ability users," Fu Shiwu said in surprise, a three-dimensional image vividly forming in his mind, with residual traces of abilities lingering in the air.
Tang Xuhai looked at him in amazement. "What can you see?"
"Well..." Fu Shiwu said uncertainly, "There were probably 6 or 7 ability users who acted simultaneously. There are still traces of their abilities lingering in the air."
Horn Ting admired his ability; it wasn't something an ordinary person could do.
"From the bloodstains, it seems they weren't seriously injured. Their objective was to capture them," Tang Xuhai said solemnly.
Fu Shiwu's expression changed. "Was it Shi Zheng?"
"So, someone went to that location after midnight?" Horn Ting guessed.
"Not necessarily," Tang Xuhai shook his head, "Maybe someone stayed back to observe. Damn it! We were careless."
Shi Zheng was cunning; it wasn't implausible for him to have people watching this group covertly.
"How did he find us?" Fu Shiwu asked, puzzled. "Isn't this too fast?"
Tang Xuhai pondered, "He has many underlings. If they split up to search, it's not impossible."
"What do we do now?" Fu Shiwu asked.
"What do you think?" Tang Xuhai asked Fu Shiwu.
"Can we rescue them?" Fu Shiwu asked.
Tang Xuhai said emotionlessly, "If we try to rescue them, we might not succeed and could end up dead. I can't say about other things, but as long as they see me, Shi Zheng won't spare anyone accompanying me."
Seeing Fu Shiwu's expression change, Tang Xuhai continued, "Moreover, we have gasoline now. There are cars in the village up the mountain. If the three of us drive and ignore them, we can reach the military survival base in less than two days."
Horn Ting raised an eyebrow.
Almost without thinking, Fu Shiwu said, "We can't abandon them!" He was emotional, but he wasn't good at debating and articulating his thoughts clearly. "Absolutely not!"
Fu Shiwu stared earnestly at Tang Xuhai. "Aren't they our teammates?! How can we give up like this? We haven't even tried. How do we know we can't save them alive?"
Wen Zhaoming was a companion who had left Tianjing Park with them. Although he hadn't known the others for long, they had fought side by side.
"If we were in their shoes, if today, it was us in Shi Zheng's hands, Zhaoming and Miaojia would definitely try to save us!" Fu Shiwu emphasized fervently.
Horn Ting took a deep breath, nodding heavily. "We need to find a way to rescue them."
Tang Xuhai's expression became slightly intrigued; he said to Horn Ting, "Aren't you afraid of dying too?"
"We're a team, aren't we? We should endure hardships together," Horn Ting replied.
A small smile formed on Tang Xuhai's
lips. "Then let's go together."
"Huh?" Fu Shiwu was stunned; he thought Tang Xuhai opposed the idea. Why else would he mention the possibility of dying to Horn Ting and him? "You don't object?"
"I was planning that if you two went to the military area, I would go alone to Pingnan City," Tang Xuhai said seriously. "Since you both know this journey might be extremely dangerous, we must be prepared to face death, understand?"
"Yeah!" Fu Shiwu nodded.
"Good!" Tang Xuhai praised.
With a unanimous decision, the three returned to the village, poured gasoline into a car, and set off directly for Pingnan City.
Tang Xuhai drove, Horn Ting sat in the passenger seat, while Fu Shiwu and Tang Xuhai's huge sword were at the back.
"I plan to enter through the front gate and directly meet Shi Zheng," Tang Xuhai said calmly. "If he agrees to exchange me for them, it's best. I might have a chance to escape on my own."
"That's unlikely," Horn Ting shook his head. "Since you mentioned Shi Zheng as ruthless, even if you've fallen into his territory, how can you use yourself to trade for them?"
"If this were before the apocalypse, I could infiltrate," Tang Xuhai glanced at Horn Ting, saying, "But now, with alien landings at night, the guards will be tight, especially with them using ability users and mutants for surveillance. I'm not confident."
"If we go in directly, we won't be able to keep our weapons," Fu Shiwu thought aloud. "How can we ensure safety and rescue them later?"
"My ability is with metal, and Horn Ting's is water-based," Tang Xuhai said, "I can make a weapon out of almost any metal object, and Horn Ting's water gun is something they can't defend against."
"But don't forget, if they've seen something on-site, they'll know that among us is a powerful water-based ability user," Fu Shiwu pointed out.
Horn Ting also doubted that he could make them lower their guard. "Tricky."
Silence engulfed the car, indeed, it was a matter of life and death.
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