Chapter 471: Past Failures
Chapter 471: Past Failures
“No need to say anything,” Zhan Lian also turns his head, looks at An Ran, and smiles. “No point bringing up a failed past.”
It’s embarrassing to have been so close to finding someone, only to miss them by a step—better to leave it unspoken.
The two look at each other in silence, until Luo Feifan’s voice cuts through the moment: “Let’s head to the community where Uncle Tang is, meet up with him, and see if we can destroy this evil.”
“Okay.”
With a swish, Zhan Lian straightens up and flings a spinning throwing knife, hitting the spot on the map that marks the Jiahe Supermarket. They’re already here, and since this whole disaster originates from something An Ran is involved in, Zhan Lian can’t just walk away. Even if it means spending the rest of his life in Xiangcheng, he’s determined to clean up this mess for her.
Once the decision is made, the group mobilizes quickly. Everyone gears up and climbs into the vehicles. Those tasked with clearing the path continue ahead, those responsible for collecting crystal cores do their job, some pull radishes, and others prepare the soil for planting—everyone resumes their roles like clockwork.
After a night of rest, the team is re-energized. Even Zhang Boxun, who has been sluggish, perks up and follows Zhan Lian with renewed determination.
By midday, they reach the entrance to the community where Tang Jianjun is believed to be.
The area outside is completely overrun with vines, resembling a dense primeval forest. Just looking at it makes their scalps tingle. The inside seems deathly still, devoid of life. Amid the tangled vines, a gate can be vaguely seen, and upon it bloom vivid red mutant lilies.
Zhang Boxun, following close behind Zhan Lian and the others, lets out a breath of relief. He swings his knife to clear the sweeping vines and charges straight into the vine-covered sea.
The others move quickly as well. Before long, they clear the area outside the gate, creating space for An Ran’s friendly vines to grow in.
The gate is soon covered in snake-like vines, and the entire community feels eerily silent and unnervingly deep, like something ancient and waiting. There is no sound from within.
Everyone feels a sense of dread.
Had they come too late? Had Tang Jianjun and the thousands of people inside already been consumed?
But just as the gate opens, Tang Siluo suddenly bursts out.
Zhang Boxun, overjoyed, rushes forward to greet her.
Tang Siluo brushes past him and runs straight to Luo Feifan. With tears in her eyes and arms wide open, she cries out emotionally, “Brother Feifan! I knew you’d come to save me!”
“If Zhang Boxun hadn’t insisted, I wouldn’t have come.”
Faced with Tang Siluo’s overflowing emotion, Luo Feifan is clearly uncomfortable. He sidesteps her embrace, circles around her, and goes to stand beside Zhang Boxun instead.
He means what he says. His feelings for Tang Siluo faded long ago. He no longer has any romantic interest in her—only a brotherly affection. So he says what he does on purpose.
While he truly wants to save Tang Jianjun and Tang Siluo, Tang Siluo’s self-absorbed behavior makes him push the credit to Zhang Boxun instead.
When she hears this, Tang Siluo looks stricken. Standing stiffly in her long-sleeved military uniform, she stares at Luo Feifan with tearful eyes and asks bitterly, “Brother Feifan, must you really say that? Don’t you know my dad is dying? From now on... I only have you. Do you really have to treat me this way?”