Chapter 73: The Price Is Clearly Displayed

“In that case, are there many volunteer rescue teams in X City University?” Ling Mo curiously asked.

Lin Luanqiu nodded her head and said, “Yes, the largest teams have around 200 people. But, there are limits to the school’s resources. I reckon a majority of the people are thinking about how to escape, however, there’s just too many zombies. We had a pay a huge sacrifice before we managed to escape with 10 people. Now, s.h.i.+ Bin and I are the only ones left.” She paused for a moment before she said with some astonishment, “Looks like you’re dead set on going to X City University, but even if you guys have outstanding strength, getting in would still be difficult, let alone coming out once again. The school isn’t a suitable place for prolonged periods of stay.”

“I have my own methods, but thanks for your reminder.” Ling Mo smiled. After which, he said without any regret, “It’s a shame your body isn’t well, you probably wouldn’t be able to lead us there in the state you’re in.”

s.h.i.+ Bin somewhat angrily interrupted and said, “What kind of stunt are you trying to pull? She’s already so weak and you’re still planning on bringing her along?!”

Ling Mo couldn’t help but feel a little fed up after being repeatedly interrupted by s.h.i.+ Bin. He was only voicing his thoughts, he didn’t really intend to bring Lin Luanqiu along.

Ling Mo didn’t know whether s.h.i.+ Bin was truly incapable of understand what others were saying or whether he was particularly displeasing to look at, causing s.h.i.+ Bin to pick to nitpick on him. Ling Mo cast a sidelong glance as he asked with a sneer on his face, “You seem very concerned about her.”

s.h.i.+ Bin’s face immediately took on a faint shade a red. If he didn’t have a black eye, this gigolo would have had a rather dignified and righteous air about him as he said, “Of course! I held back in the past, but now, she and I are comrades. And, if she hadn’t protected me last time, I wouldn’t be standing here now. My concern for her now is only natural.” After saying that, he even took the effort to straighten his back as he stole a glance at Lin Luanqiu.

“Oh…” Ling Mo dragged out the last syllable of his sentence before he abruptly stood up and coldly said, “Then what have you done for her? Place her under house arrest as you wait for her to die?”

“What did you say?!”

s.h.i.+ Bin furiously jumped up and was about to send out a punch, but was immediately stopped by Lin Luanqiu’s shout, “Don’t do anything stupid!” After saying that, she turned to Ling Mo once more and said, “He has a one-track mind, but you shouldn’t have provoked him and used it as an excuse to beat him up either…”

Following that, she glanced at Shana and Ye Lian once again. After coming into this room, these two girls kept their distance from the rest of them, seemingly unwilling to interact with strangers.

But when s.h.i.+ Bin tried to make a move, Shana’s hand immediately went to the hilt of her long saber, tightening her grip around it, while Ye Lian’s eyes took on a faintly cold l.u.s.tre.

Lin Luanqiu had no doubt in her mind that if she hadn’t stopped s.h.i.+ Bin in time, he would have been beaten up till he looked like a pig’s head even if Ling Mo didn’t take action.

Putting aside Shana for the time being, how could Ye Lian be so strong? But thinking about it, her knowledge of the campus belle was limited to mere rumours and hearsay. And from what she heard, Ye Lian kept a relatively low profile. Who knows, she might have even been a martial arts pract.i.tioner in the past.

The repercussions that these two girls hinted at had increased Lin Luanqiu’s evaluation of Ling Mo.

Different from s.h.i.+ Bin, she didn’t think that Ling Mo was forcing them to stay by his side. If that were really the case, why were they focusing their attention on Ling Mo all the time?

“As for being under house arrest…you yourself have seen it, I’m in poor health. This is just preparing for any eventualities.” Lin Luanqiu sighed as she explained.

But Ling Mo vaguely felt that things might not be so simple. Even if she went through a traumatic incident of being harmed by a survivor, that didn’t mean she had to hide in a small warehouse like this. Thinking back to s.h.i.+ Bin’s overreaction, Ling Mo felt that things were even fis.h.i.+er.

But these were other people’s personal matters, which Ling Mo had no intention of prying into. After glancing at Lin Luanqiu, he said, “Can you help me draw a map…”

“No,” Lin Luanqiu gave Ling Mo a profound look before she abruptly said, “I plan to go with you guys to X City University.”

“What?!”

This cry of surprised originated from s.h.i.+ Bin, but before he even got the chance to say anything else, Lin Luanqiu cut him off and said, “I’ve been here for many days, but I still haven’t gotten any better. In fact, my illness is getting even worse. I don’t plan on dying just yet, at least not from this illness.” Lin Luanqiu’s tone was calm, but s.h.i.+ Bin’s face was flushed with embarra.s.sment upon hearing it. He’d just been questioned by Ling Mo, and now, after hearing what Lin Luanqiu said, he felt as if both sides of his face were being slapped in succession, to the point where it was swelling.

Looking at s.h.i.+ Bin silently purse his lips, Lin Luanqiu revealed an apologetic smile before she turned to Ling Mo and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t drag you down. s.h.i.+ Bin can take care of me. In return, I’ll show you the way to school. I’ll even brief you on the situation within the school. I only have one condition: you have to let me come along with you guys to the school’s infirmary.”

“What, you don’t plan on going back to your team?” Ling Mo unintentionally glanced at Shana when he questioned her. At first, Shana insisted on going back to Third High as well, which resulted in her being harmed by Lu Xin and turning into a mutated zombie.

Lin Luanqiu shook her head, “What can I do even if I do go back? With the state I’m in, they might even drive me out the second I step past the entrance. I only plan on going to the school’s infirmary to find some medicine, it beats waiting to die. Don’t worry, I won’t slow you down. You’ll be able to save lots of time with me leading the way. I can find the most appropriate route for you regardless of where you plan to go. Seeing as your group seem to be pretty strong, I’ll place my trust in you guys, and I hope that you’ll trust me too.”

What she said was filled with confidence and that had indeed moved Ling Mo.

With someone who knows the way leading, he could cut down on the amount of time used. Based on Lin Luanqiu and s.h.i.+ Bin’s abilities, safely arriving at the school’s infirmary was a pipe dream. Making such a decision for the sake of her survival was the most natural decision.

What satisfied Ling Mo the most was that this intelligent girl understood the meaning of equivalent exchange. Although what she said might make others feel like she was being arrogant, Ling Mo felt that her way of displaying her own worth was very appropriate.

The only thing that Ling Mo wasn’t satisfied with was s.h.i.+ Bin’s presence, but Lin Luanqiu’s health was truly ailing. Although Ling Mo allowed her to lead the way, that didn’t mean he was willing to be her nanny and take care of her.

This was why Ling Mo nodded his head after thinking for a while and said, “That’s fine. But I want to make it clear that if you cause any trouble along the road and put us in danger, my first priority would be the safety of my people.”

“Rest a.s.sured, I won’t cause any trouble” Lin Luanqiu seemed to be in a good mood after hearing Ling Mo’s agreement, to the point where she even joked about herself as she said, “With the way I am, what kind of trouble could I cause?”

s.h.i.+ Bin m.u.f.fled voice sounded out, “Everything’s fine as long as you guys don’t try anything funny.”

“When do you plan to leave?” Lin Luanqiu asked once again.

Ling Mo rubbed his nose and said, “We probably won’t be able to set out today. I was originally planning to find a place to rest here before slowly finding out about the circ.u.mstances further in.”

“Then just stay here for the day. Although it might be small, there aren’t any zombies around…” Just as Lin Luanqiu finished speaking, s.h.i.+ Bin added in a gloomy tone, “There weren’t any before this, but two zombies suddenly appeared today. What rotten luck!”

There was some underlying implication to his words, but Ling Mo had no intention of responding to him. He little nodded his head and said, “That works.”

Lin Luanqiu revealed a look of astonishment when she found that two zombies had actually appeared within the pub. But since she confined herself to this room, she wasn’t familiar with the circ.u.mstances on the outside, so she didn’t harbour any suspicions.

Likely due to her renewed hopes of living on, Lin Luanqiu was rather spirited as the two of them sat and talked for a while.

After settling upon their cooperative relations.h.i.+p, Lin Luanqiu didn’t conceal her knowledge anymore and told Ling Mo everything that she knew about the current situation.

Although Shana and Ye Lian didn’t cut in, they still “earnestly” listened on. They didn’t look as if they understood everything that was being said, but the two zombie girls were still very interested when someone spoke to Ling Mo. Shana, in particular, was being especially attentive.

Ling Mo had some understanding of the situation within X City University after listening to Lin Luanqiu’s explanation.

There were many volunteer rescue teams like hers in X City University. After all, 3000 survivors wasn’t a small number.

She wasn’t clear about the situation of the other volunteer rescue teams, but two factions existed within her own team.

One faction wanted to hold fast within the school, while the faction that Lin Luanqiu was in wanted to escape as soon as possible. They believed that the possibility of holding out till the nation’s help arrived would only exist if they were on the outside.

There were also others who’d completely given up hope and felt that both the act of holding out and waiting for help was a pointless affair. This group of people was the ones giving Lin Luanqiu a headache. In the course of talking with Ling Mo, Lin Luanqiu herself started to feel that these people were akin to trash.

If they’re trash…then aren’t they vermin? From the looks of it, vermin existed everywhere.

Apart from survivor camps like Song Tian and w.a.n.g Lin’s, all the other survivors were likely cl.u.s.tered in this area, lacking the restraints of both proper organization and regulations.

With such a structure, the volunteer rescue teams falling apart was a given.

But while Lin Luanqiu had spoken at length with Ling Mo, she didn’t touch upon the “accident” that had happened to her in the past in detail. She only vaguely mentioned it by saying that her current health and her past “accident” were closely related.

“Oh right, what do you think is the proportion of psychics to normal humans? And, just how many psychics are there within this city?” Lin Luanqiu suddenly asked.

This question had truly stumped Ling Mo. In his heart, he thought, ‘How the h.e.l.l would I know?’ He was constantly on the move, but the survivors he’d met up to this point hadn’t been many, and amongst them, the number of psychics he encountered was just 2. One was w.a.n.g Lin’s useless ability that required her to be close to her target, while the other was a formidable ability that was ironically in the hands of Lin Luanqiu who had a weak body. Ling Mo even felt some regret in his heart and thought that he really did have some luck. On top of that, he was fortunate enough to keep Ye Lian by his side because of his ability. Shana was included as well…