Chapter 587: New Year, Old Streets

Xia Qing nodded. “Tang Zhengrong is really going to let him run?”

If his little brother is a fugitive, how can Tang Zhengrong stay comfortable as vice commander of the Base? Or does he plan to run with him?

But it’s pretty unlikely that Tang Zhengrong would run too. All their family and roots are in Hui Three.

Yang Jin let out a cold laugh, keeping it short and clear. “Tang Zhengrong’s worked hard to distance himself. Of course, he wants Tang Zhengsu to go to prison to keep up his shining reputation. Tang Zhengsu agreed on the surface but had one condition: hand Su Feng over to his son, Tang Rui.”

“Tang Rui might look like a playboy, but don’t be fooled—he’s ruthless. Tonight, our primary goal is to take out Su Feng’s main team that’s helping Tang Zhengsu escape. The secondary goal is Tang Rui himself. Take them both out and Tang Zhengrong loses his grip on power.”

If you want to get rid of the weeds, you need to pull out the roots. Qinglong wants Su Feng wiped out. Killing only Tang Zhengsu isn’t enough.

Xia Qing nodded. “Got it.”

After laying out the detailed plan, Yang Jin reminded her, “The main force from the Military and Qinglong needs to be out in the open tomorrow night, and we have to stay in the Inner City. Otherwise, Tang Zhengsu won’t dare to escape. Tomorrow, you’ll join as a Sniper. Make the other side believe Luo is already here, slow down their escape, and hold out until Luo and I catch up with the team. Victory will be ours. Just remember Su Feng’s main force is tough. Don’t underestimate them.”

“Understood!” As a member of Hui Three’s First Combat Team, Xia Qing knew just how strong these people were. She wouldn’t make a reckless move. Otherwise, she’d be the first to die. She pressed further, “Are we supposed to take Tang Zhengsu alive?”

Yang Jin gave a definite answer. “He needs to die. If he lives, too much could go wrong. He’s only out on bail—step outside the Safe Zone and he’s a fugitive. We can take him out by law.”

So, to legally kill Tang Zhengsu, they had to wait until he left the Safe Zone.

Time was tight. Yang Jin, who still had to get back to the Safe Zone before nightfall, got up and held out his fist to Xia Qing.

She stood as well, smiled a little, and bumped her fist against his.

Victory tomorrow night. No doubts.

At seven the next morning, Xia Qing was bundled up in her new thermal undershirt and snakeskin jacket, with Yan Ning’s camo protective gear over the top. Sniper rifle on her back, she hopped onto the military truck with her teammates, heading out for Hui Three Safe Zone.

There were two squads in the truck, twenty people total. According to the info Xia Qing got, these were all Evolved fighters—sixteen men, four women. The squads were well-balanced for combat.

Right now Xia Qing was taking Yan Ning’s place—Sixth Squad’s Level-5 Vision Evolution Sniper. The records said Yan Ning’s sniping skills were above average, physical fitness was decent, hand-to-hand skills were middling—just a typical, solid Sniper.

But with Xia Qing wearing Yan Ning’s skin, her fitness was above average, her fighting was decent, and her sniping skill was excellent—almost at the very top.

If she wasn’t, she’d never have been trusted to pose as Luo Pei and distract the enemy’s Snipers. She couldn’t help the small smile tugging at her lips.

The truck followed the Barrier along Section One of the North, leaving the main territory and rumbling into a dense stretch of the Evolved Forest, finally reaching the decaying ruins of a town swallowed up by the forest.

Xia Qing closed her eyes, straining her ears for any sounds outside. She heard her squadmates’ chatter, the crunch of tires over snow, the wind howling through the trees… somewhere off the roadside, two crows were fighting a blue magpie. From the sound of it, the crows were winning—angry calls ringing out, while the magpie’s cries were weak. It probably lost plenty of feathers already.

A sudden blast of wind rattled dead vines and leaves against broken walls, and then… Xia Qing’s eyes snapped open. Someone was crunching on instant noodles!

“What’s wrong? Something up?” The female soldier sitting across from Xia Qing jumped as she opened her eyes. The others gripped their weapons, all looking Xia Qing’s way.

She shook her head slightly, hugged her rifle, and closed her eyes again.

After three months of tasks together, her squad was used to Yan Ning’s quiet ways. Seeing her shake her head, they relaxed and went back to chatting.

The truck jolted through the ruined town. Xia Qing didn’t hear those crispy crunches again, but she knew—someone, maybe an adult with a child, was hiding in one of the abandoned towers, sneaking peeks at their military truck.

Instant noodles were a pricey staple and snack in the Safe Zone. Xia Qing never bought them herself, but she knew that sound—her roommate Feng Wen loved them, her brother always brought some on holidays.

How did some squatter in the ruins get food you could only buy in the Safe Zone?

Did they steal it half a year ago off Zhong Tao’s supply convoy and still have leftovers? Or is there something else?

She suddenly remembered that flashy snack bag in the trash at the Idol’s office yesterday while delivering New Year’s gifts to Territory Seven.

Another tiny smile curled at Xia Qing’s lips.

Staying indoors, snacking on instant noodles without a mask told her all she needed to know—whoever was holed up in the ruins felt safe and apparently ate well.

When the military truck rolled up to the Safe Zone gates, they were waved through after a quick check—never even stepped off the truck—straight through the Outer City and straight on to the barracks in the Inner City.

Xia Qing joined her squad as they jumped down and marched into the barracks. After a quick rest, patrol duty began. It was New Year’s Eve on the old lunar calendar—crowds overflowed into the streets, so patrols had their hands full.

By pure coincidence, Xia Qing’s patrol route today would pass right by the regular Evolved fighter dorms in the Outer City—the same place she’d lived for five years.

Wearing Red Eleven Military’s camo uniform and her protective mask, Xia Qing rode in the patrol car, gazing out at streets she knew like the back of her hand.

On both sides of the street, bright red lanterns hung from the lamp posts. The megaphone blasted a cheery song anyone could hum along to. But those huddled in rags along the sidewalk, faces sickly and thin, showed no joy.

Some stretched out frostbitten, filthy hands, eyes fixed on the patrol car—begging for food; others glared with hatred, as if everyone’s misery was because of the people in these cars—they looked ready to tear the soldiers apart. Some stared blankly at the blood-red lanterns, lost in memory as tears left muddy tracks down their cheeks; others hid deep in the cold, dark alleys, busy with secrets the daylight could never touch.

Nothing had changed since Xia Qing’s time here. Not one thing.

But before, she always had to walk this stretch. However exhausted or miserable she was, she’d keep a cold, blank face, heavy machete either slung on her back or clutched in her hand.

She’d been robbed here for supplies, and she’d fought, even saved people. She’d walked this same road for five straight years.

The patrol car crept along, passing a weathered old six-story apartment block sealed off by iron mesh fencing. Xia Qing’s eyes climbed the facade, over the fence, to the third-floor window on the edge of the building—the room she called home all those years.