The two of them carried an old aluminum pot, continuously navigating through the city. Qi Xia had never thought that a city without lights could actually be darker than the wilderness. After walking for just over ten minutes, the sky fell silent and turned as dark as a drop of ink.
The rustling chirps of insects echoed all around, making Qi Xia feel restless and agitated.
"Lin Qin, are you still there?"
Qi Xia asked.
"I am still here," Lin Qin replied.
"Walk a bit slower, be careful not to fall."
"We cannot go any slower."
Qi Xia looked at the sky.
"Right now we can still barely see the road. We need to hurry to the convenience store while we can. Grab onto my clothes."
Lin Qin nodded and reached out to grab Qi Xia's clothes. Relying on their memories, the two walked for about another twenty minutes before finally arriving at the plaza where they first arrived. Fortunately, the view here was wide open, and they could generally make out the outlines of things.
Entering the plaza and walking east, the two of them saw a store lit by firelight. That should be where the convenience store is.
"They started a fire..."
Lin Qin was a bit puzzled.
"How did they find a way to start a fire?"
Right after she said that, she understood. There was a female clerk in the store. When the group met her, she was starting a fire to cook, so they probably borrowed the fire from her.
The two of them walked toward the firelight in the pitch darkness and finally reached the entrance of the convenience store. What the two found strange was that a bull-headed man had been standing at the restaurant across from the convenience store, but now he had completely disappeared.
"Officer Li, Lawyer Zhang, are you there?"
Lin Qin asked tentatively.
"Xiao Ran, Doctor Zhao?"
There were obvious noises coming from inside the room, but no one answered.
"What is going on?"
Lin Qin was just about to go in and take a look, but she was held back by Qi Xia.
"Stand back, I will go in first," he whispered to Lin Qin.
Accompanied by the rustling chirps of insects, the two entered the store. But just as Qi Xia stepped through the door, a wooden plank came flying right at his face. Fortunately, Qi Xia was prepared.
He immediately dodged backward, narrowly avoiding this fatal blow.
"Ah!"
Lin Qin let out a cry of alarm and hurriedly held Qi Xia.
"Are you alright?"
Only then did they clearly see that the person holding the wooden plank inside the room was none other than Doctor Zhao. Following behind him was Xiao Ran. Doctor Zhao looked at Qi Xia, then looked at Lin Qin, before forcing a smile and saying, "Ah!
So it is you two... I wondered who it was..." Qi Xia carefully examined the two of them, his face showing a hint of confusion.
Doctor Zhao was naked underneath his white coat and was not even wearing shoes. He wrapped the white coat around his body like a windbreaker, his expression looking extremely unnatural. Behind him, Xiao Ran had messy hair and disheveled clothes, and her makeup was smudged.
The two of them huddled tightly together like a young couple who had just been robbed. Qi Xia somewhat understood the situation before his eyes, but he did not know why this was happening.
"Qi, Qi Xia, do not misunderstand..."
Doctor Zhao said with an apologetic smile.
"Xiao Ran said she seemed to be injured, so I was examining her."
"Why are you explaining things to him?!"
Xiao Ran nudged Doctor Zhao with her elbow.
"Stuttering like that, are you even a man?"
Qi Xia shook his head.
"I do not want to meddle in your business. Where are Officer Li and Lawyer Zhang?"
"Ah..."
Doctor Zhao showed an awkward smile again.
"The two of them went out to check the surrounding area during the day and have not returned yet."
"What?"
Qi Xia frowned.
"They have not returned yet?"
By now the sky had turned completely dark. Officer Li had said he would investigate the nearby area, so it was highly unlikely for the two of them to stay outside overnight. If they still have not returned by now, could it be that they are dead?
Or perhaps... these two are lying? Qi Xia slowly walked into the room and looked around at the situation here. Although the floor was still extremely dirty and messy, there appeared to be no fresh bloodstains, nor were there any signs of a struggle.
A faint campfire was burning in the room, and not far away lay Han Yimo's corpse, making the atmosphere feel both intimate and eerie. Qi Xia turned to look at the two guilty-looking people and slowly asked, "Are you not a team? The two of them have not come back even after dark.
Not only are you not worried, but you actually have the free time to fool around here?"
"Well... worrying is useless," Doctor Zhao said.
"It is so dark, we cannot go out to look for them either. We can only wait until dawn..."
"Is it any of your business?!"
Xiao Ran shouted angrily.
"Since when is it your turn to worry about the people in our team?"
Qi Xia did not answer. He walked over to the staff break room and gently pushed open the door. Inside the room, the female clerk was crouching in the corner, facing the wall, muttering something to herself.
It seemed she had been here the whole time without moving. Qi Xia closed the door and turned back to look at Doctor Zhao. After all, Doctor Zhao was still somewhat possible to talk to.
"Are the Dao still here?"
Qi Xia asked.
"This..."
Doctor Zhao's face clearly showed he was on guard.
"Qi Xia, what exactly are you here to do?"
"I came to borrow the Dao," Qi Xia said.
"The Dao left here during the day, I want to borrow them for a bit. I will return them double later."
"Borrow the Dao?"
Doctor Zhao thought for a moment, then looked over Qi Xia's clothes, which were even dirtier and stained with streaks of blood.
"Where are your own Dao? Where are that thug and the prostitute?"
"They have names," Lin Qin suddenly spoke up.
"Do not call them that."
"Oh..."
Doctor Zhao nodded casually.
"Stop acting so righteous..."
Xiao Ran wrapped her clothes tighter around herself and also stepped forward.
"Those two did not happen to participate in a game and then die, did they?"
Qi Xia's face was heavy. He nodded slightly.
"Something like that."
"Hah!"
Xiao Ran gave an angry laugh, her face full of mockery as she said, "Did you not swear you were going to collect three thousand six hundred Dao to leave this place? Now you got your teammates killed, and you come to borrow our Dao?"
Hearing this, Qi Xia raised his eyes, looked at this woman, and said calmly, "Although the situation is indeed like that, I advise you to stop while you are ahead." Doctor Zhao hurriedly came up to smooth things over at this time.
"Forget it, let us talk nicely..."
After saying that, he turned his head to look at Qi Xia again.
"It is not that we do not want to lend them to you, but Officer Li took the Dao away..."
"Took them away?"
Qi Xia paused.
"That is right."
Doctor Zhao pointed at the restaurant across from the door and said, "After you left, the two of them went there to participate in a game, and it seems they won. Afterward, they went somewhere else." Qi Xia followed Doctor Zhao's finger and looked over, quickly spotting a hole in the story.
"What do you mean it seems they won? You are this close, and you do not even know if they won or not?"
"Well..."
Doctor Zhao frowned and let out a few dry laughs.
"Originally Xiao Ran did not want them to take the Dao out, but Officer Li insisted on going to take a look... They had different ideas and got into an argument, so we could not go ask. We just let them do what they wanted. After all, who would want to join them in this kind of suicide mission..."
"Let... them do what they wanted?"
Hearing this, Qi Xia instantly widened his eyes. He grabbed Doctor Zhao's collar, using a great amount of force.
"Hey!"
Xiao Ran stared blankly for a moment, then hurriedly rushed at Qi Xia.
"What are you doing?!"
Qi Xia stepped to the side and immediately stuck out his foot to trip her. Xiao Ran instantly fell flat on the ground, taking a hard faceplant right into the filthy floor.
Qi Xia took a deep breath and spoke fiercely to Doctor Zhao, "I was being polite to you out of respect for Officer Li, but you motherfuckers actually split up?!"