Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 349 - 75 Li Yans Response (Part Three)
Chapter 349: Chapter 75: Li Yan’s Response (Part Three)
Chapter 349: Chapter 75: Li Yan’s Response (Part Three)
“So…”
Afafu’s head was still reeling, unable to clear for a long time.
“It’s all over, Miss Afafu. The killer has been shot dead on the spot by the action team’s warriors.”
The doctor wearing a mask glanced at Qiao Xing, who was lying in a coma on the hospital bed.
“The patient needs a quiet recovery environment, and also, accepting reality takes some time.”
Afafu, holding her sleeping child, licked her pale lips and nodded, “May I spend some time alone with my husband?”
“It would be best not to take too long.”
The doctor gave a piece of advice before leaving with a lowered head.
Afafu brought her legs together and sat down. The continuous hum of machinery buzzed in her ears intermittently. She lowered her head, her cold fingers clutching Qiao Xing’s hand, disheveled hair veiling her profile. After a while, soft sobs finally filled the hospital room.
…
This outcome wasn’t too far from Zhuoma’s prediction.
“It’s all over.”
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She pinched her own arm.
“Boss, Wei Dan has been out for two days now, she should be back.”
“The one who took care of her, Yin Xiong, died at the Great Demon Lake a few days ago. It’s normal for her to be in bad spirits. Here’s what we’ll do, if she doesn’t come back today, send someone to find her tomorrow.”
Zhuoma said this, but her mind wandered to the man in the warehouse who had been full of life, “Mr. Jim.” Since the day he got into Qiao Xing’s car, he never returned, and that Colonel Qiao Xing ended up losing his legs.
She heard there had been a massive nuclear explosion there and didn’t inquire further.
Zhuoma was always a clever woman who knew her limits, yet occasionally she still thought of that man. Having met him just once, he had left a profound impression on her. It wasn’t about his strength but rather the uncontainable warmth and humor in his appearance, a strong sense of incongruity.
To be honest, it was quite a pity he died.
…
Liang Zhengyong had a good appetite today.
For lunch, he ate beef buns, stewed potatoes, and drank half a liter of liquor.
At forty-five years of age, he’d lived a disciplined life. His wife had died early, after which he never touched another woman. Liang Zhengyong usually abstained from alcohol, didn’t smoke, ate two meals a day without meat, and despite managing the cluttered affairs of the Sixth Army, still insisted on two hours of rigorous physical training every day. Even two years ago, when he officially joined the Operations Committee, he had not changed his ways.
A lunch request such as this was unprecedented since the establishment of the military canteen.
Liang Wei stood at the door of his father’s office, his gaze drying out as he saw the meal cart being pushed away.
The staff officer carrying documents came out and happened to see Liang Wei, “General, are you looking for the commander?”
Liang Wei quickly waved his hand, “I’ll come back another day.”
The female staff officer, donning a military cap, nodded, “The commander is on the phone with the committee, indeed…”
At that moment, a voice from inside the door called out, “Let him in.”
The female staff officer looked at Liang Wei, who reluctantly pushed the door open and entered.
A black square table stood upright with a tiny gold-colored medicine bottle the size of a finger. Liang Zhengyong was sitting behind the table.
As Liang Wei raised his head upon entering, Liang Zhengyong’s piercing gaze hit him.
“Commander, you wanted to see me.”
“How much responsibility do you bear for Qiao Xing’s incident?”
Liang Wei swallowed hard, his father’s abrupt question making it difficult for him to open his mouth despite knowing his temperament better than anyone.
“Two, three, thirty percent.”
Liang Wei breathed evenly, “The last time I met the outsider, the pressure he gave me… was no less than yours.”
Saying this, he noticed the muscles on his father’s face twitching slightly.
…
Liang Wei’s temples throbbed. He could remain at ease amidst encircling mutants and hostile factions but found it challenging to keep his composure at that moment.
“I’ll depart for the committee tomorrow, taking the Yak Zombies and this fifth-level medicine back.”
Liang Zhengyong finally spoke after a long silence, “During your stay in Zone B, no matter what happens, you must endure, control your anger, and even if you grind your teeth down, you will swallow them. Do you understand?”
Liang Wei looked up at his father, whose eyes were threaded with blood vessels.
After hesitating repeatedly, he couldn’t hold back any longer, “Dad, I think by today, no one would treat our family as a disposable mop. As for the Three-eyed Airship incident…”
“What Three-eyed Airship?”
Liang Zhengyong interrupted Liang Wei.
“…Nothing. I’ve got it, control my anger, endure, I won’t forget.”
“Go out.”
Liang Zhengyong closed his eyes, no longer looking at him.
Liang Wei stood up, turned, and left. After an extended period, Liang Zhengyong finally took a long breath. He chuckled, but there was no warmth.
He had a broad perspective and was bluntly honest. Most importantly, he was willing to make tough choices, which was the main reason Commissioner Qi appreciated and promoted him.
As for the incident at Golden Summit Square, it wasn’t as exaggerated as Liang Wei imagined. Such events had occurred before and might happen again. In fact, in the eyes of the committee, Liang Zhengyong was the best choice for dealing with these matters.
No one would touch Liang Zhengyong, and definitely, no one would dare to kick him out at a critical time like this.
Otherwise, at the age of forty-five, how could he have risen so smoothly through the ranks of the clan factions’ Black Star war chariot?
As for Liang Zhengyong, he too chose to accept it peacefully.
Contradictions, hypocrisy, refined egoism, perhaps.
Ramu Jue was just a religious leader with a penchant for self-destruction, and as for the majority he claimed were silent, Liang Zhengyong likewise met them with indifference, the only point on which he and Ramu Jue agreed.
Saving the world and saving its people were two different things, the world’s absurdity and the brutality of power were born from their silence and stupidity.
True beliefs aren’t that simple, they need to be forged with a massive toll of lives and blood.
“Even if it’s someone else’s blood.”
Liang Zhengyong muttered to himself, clutching a golden potion in the palm of his hand, revealing a distinctly angular fist.
…
Li Yan faced the harsh sun, retracting his left hand that was clenched tightly against the blazing sun.
He moved his fingers slightly and, to be honest, his left hand felt even stronger than before it had been broken.
At the moment, Li Yan was standing at the edge of a dilapidated alley, where spasmodic laughter from women occasionally drifted down from the buildings. The sandstorm was heavy, and the radioactive dust from the explosion at Golden Summit Square a few days ago just happened to drift over. Even the robustly radiation-resistant humans of winter mostly kept their doors and windows shut tight, leaving the streets much quieter than usual, with only black jeeps and the soldiers carrying assault rifles coming and going.
When the Tri-Aspect Bomb exploded on the mountainside, Li Yan jumped into the ravine at the last second—the same one into which Swollen Face and Black Rider Ghost had fallen. Even so, the tallying heat from a two million ton hydrogen bomb had managed to evaporate the entire river, consequently relegating Li Yan, who was already covered in wounds, to a fiery skeleton in the truest sense!
After receiving the Nine Phoenix Enhancements, Li Yan could stick his hand in a fire without feeling the slightest pain. Burns had become a rarity for him.
It was in this predicament that Li Yan endured the excruciating pain and crushed the Shunlian Pills to swallow them…
The sound of the wind mixed with a loud, clanging noise. Li Yan stared at a window of the hospital building, cloaked in a thick mantle, making it hard for anyone to recognize him at a glance.
Li Yan remembered that Afafu’s workplace was not far from here, perhaps five to six hundred meters away.
Directly across from Li Yan rose a steel-reinforced concrete building in the shape of a well, where the seriously injured Qiao Xing was currently lying unconscious in a second-floor room.
Naturally, the security here was tight for such a key facility.
In Li Yan’s view, all the security soldiers combined here could probably match the strength of two third-tier special operations squad members.
Li Yan smiled, but made no move. If he couldn’t find an appropriate opportunity to get close to Liang Zhengyong and exposed himself without gaining any Shunlian Pills, even if he survived, his journey through the winter would end fruitlessly.
Actually, what he needed to do was very simple; Li Yan was just waiting for night to fall.
A strong gust of wind tore the rope from the iron post, and the wooden sign whistled toward Li Yan. A girl with a boat-shaped hat poked her head out of the window, witnessing a tall, thin man outside, enveloped in a cloak, catching the wooden sign amid the wind.
“Sir?”
She called out.
Li Yan first stared at the two characters for “donation” on the sign for a long time, then his gaze swept over a gray, dusty yellow sticky note next to it, with a name written in dried-up ink.
“Sir?”
The girl called again.
Li Yan stood up straight and walked over, handing the sign back to the girl and pointing to the word “donation.”
“Thank you.”
“What is this for?”
The girl, without looking up, said, “The committee of the Black Star war chariot has funded the creation of an orphanage, seeking donations from individuals in area B. If you wish to contribute, you can write your name on the wooden sign.”
She spoke crisply and briskly, yet without much emotion, evidently worn out by repetition.
“It doesn’t seem very effective.”
The girl looked up, only seeing the man’s chin and a row of teeth.
“How much did this person donate?”
The girl didn’t answer, but instead opened a drawer beside her.
In the drawer, a shriveled metal coin lay forlorn, looking pitifully paltry.
Li Yan actually started to laugh, the more he laughed, the wider his smile became, as if he had heard a remarkable joke.
He fumbled in his pocket for a while and handed the girl a stack of banknotes, “Count me in as well.”
He spoke while continuing to laugh uncontrollably.
The girl took the money and pulled out a yellow sticky note from beside her.
“Sir, you can write down your wishes and suggestions for the future of B area. Your advice on the future development of B area will personally be reviewed by Commander Liang.”
The words spilled out of the girl in a light and rapid stream.
“No need, no need.”
Li Yan laughed while retracting his hand into his sleeve. Between his middle and index finger, there was clearly a metal coin, still with a grin plastered on his face.
The girl failed to notice the missing coin, and even if she had, she probably wouldn’t have cared much; she simply closed the drawer and handed Li Yan a pen.
“Then, at least write down a name.”
“Heh heh, no need for that either, just put it under the last person’s name, cough cough.”
Li Yan covered his mouth with the back of his hand, his shoulders still shaking with silent laughter as if he truly found something hilariously absurd.
“Sir?”
Li Yan no longer paid her any attention, turning to leave. His laughter gradually dissolved into the sandstorm.
