Chapter 363: Follow An Ran
Chapter 363: Follow An Ran
An Ran looks at the cars. The first is driven by Zhang Boxun. As it speeds past, he glances at An Ran, then drives straight through the roadblock, chasing after Tang Jianjun’s vehicle. The two cars behind follow just as urgently, as if racing to reincarnate.
An Ran stands on tiptoe, holding Doll in one hand and the flower pot with the cactus in the other, trying to see if Zhan Lian might be in the last car.
No! Zhan Lian isn’t there.
So what’s going on up front? Why do Zhang Boxun and his men return, but there’s no sign of Zhan Lian or Luo Feifan?
An Ran grows anxious. Zhan Lian might be her ex-husband, and they no longer have a relationship, but he’s still Doll’s biological father. If Doll asks about him one day, is she supposed to say her mother left him behind in a pile of mutant cats and mice and ran away?
“Don’t worry. We’re holding our ground here to act as a buffer. Zhan Lian and Captain Luo are both capable people—nothing will happen to them.” Yun Tao sees the look on An Ran’s face and pats her shoulder in reassurance.
From the direction of Tiesi Village come scattered shouts of fear, while the screeches of mutant cats and mice from the county town grow louder and more frenzied.
Yun Tao adds, “If I’m right, that car that went ahead earlier was to deliver a warning. Zhang Boxun probably came back to delay the copper-skinned zombies. Zhan Lian and Luo Feifan stayed behind to hold off the mutant cats and mice—to buy time for everyone else to retreat.”
“That’s just like him.” An Ran gives a faint, helpless smile.
What can she say? She’s always known Zhan Lian is that kind of person. What can she say? She herself once benefits from being protected by him—she’s also one of the people he stays behind for.
But just because she isn’t speaking doesn’t mean she can’t act.
Holding Doll in one arm, she lowers her head and steps out past the roadblock, searching along the side of the national highway as she walks.
Zhao Ru watches her in confusion and glances at Yun Tao.
Yun Tao picks up Hengheng and goes back to gathering supplies. Little Mint is resting in the truck—Zhao Ru has just removed her IV—and Zhao Qianrong sits quietly in the warm sunlight.
Liang Ziyu approaches with two men and asks Zhao Ru, “What now? It looks like An Ran doesn’t plan on leaving Tiesi Village.”
“Follow An Ran,” Zhao Ru replies, raising her eyebrows before stepping forward.
She and An Ran have already exchanged secrets. Zhao Ru knows An Ran is a wood-type ability user, and to show her sincerity, she reveals her own secret: she’s a water-type ability user. In Tiesi Village, water-types are more valuable than wood-types. After all, agriculture isn’t a priority in the apocalypse, but people can’t survive without water even for a day.
So comparatively speaking, following An Ran is actually a safer bet than sticking with Tang Jianjun. Besides, Zhao Ru still has to take care of her great-aunt during this apocalypse, and those copper-skinned zombies are chasing Tang Jianjun’s main force. With her aunt’s advanced age, she could easily become a burden that Tang Jianjun might abandon at any time.
It’s safer to go with An Ran, because An Ran has more humanity.
Having made up her mind, Zhao Ru feels more at ease. When she sees An Ran step onto a patch of dirt by the roadside, she leaves Liang Ziyu behind and walks over.
“You’re not planning to run. So what are you looking for here?”
All around them are either woodlands or rocks, with just a few scattered houses nearby. Could it be… is An Ran searching for treasure buried in the ground?