Chapter 34 The Psychic of Chaoyang Base

In fact, Cheng Zhiyu had noticed long ago that the male superhuman had been staring at them the moment he took out the eggs.

It wasn't that I was staring at them on purpose, but they looked like they were starving.

Cheng Zhiyu hadn't paid any attention to the other party since they hadn't made any moves, but he didn't expect them to come over now.

After hesitating for a long time, the other person walked towards Tian Qiao with a simple and honest smile on his face: "Brother, do you still want to eat this egg?"

Tian Qiao certainly wouldn't say she wouldn't eat. If she acted as if she didn't lack food, she would be too hateful. Moreover, it would easily arouse suspicion, since they only seemed to be carrying a few bags. Where they kept their things was something to think about.

So he didn't speak, but just frowned at the male superhuman, giving him a "you're talking nonsense" look.

"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it." The male superhuman still smiled and said, "I just wanted to say... I can trade something for it."

Upon hearing this, Tian Qiao became interested: "What is it?"

Seeing his interest, the man's smile widened: "Good stuff, good stuff."

His words made Tian Qiao even more curious: "Then take it out and let me see."

The other person pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and Tian Qiao was greatly disappointed: "What did I expect? I don't smoke."

Seeing this, the male superhuman quickly said, "Just because you're not using it doesn't mean you won't need it. You guys... you're probably going to the Chaoyang Base, right?"

Tian Qiao's mind raced, and she subconsciously looked at Cheng Zhiyu. To the male superhuman, his expression meant that she had guessed correctly.

Tian Qiao received Cheng Zhiyu's signal and simply went along with it, asking, "How did you know?"

"Don't be nervous." The male superhuman grinned when he realized he had guessed correctly. "I've encountered several groups of people on my way here, all heading to Chaoyang Base. After all, Chaoyang Base is an official base, established after the disaster. It houses a lot of people and is well-protected, unlike those small private bases."

Tian Qiao seemed a little more relaxed: "What does my going to Chaoyang Base have to do with your cigarettes?"

Seeing that the other person knew less than he did, the male superhuman became somewhat smug: "You don't know this, do you? These days, besides crystal cores being a form of hard currency, do you know what else is a form of hard currency?"

Tian Qiao glanced at him and said, "It's food."

Needless to say, food is always a valuable commodity.

The male superhuman said, "And another thing, is cigarettes."

Tian Qiao raised an eyebrow slightly: "Smoke?"

He was stunned for a moment, but quickly understood. Before the apocalypse, some people would smoke good cigarettes even if they had no money. One of his colleagues was particularly outrageous. He was reluctant to spend money on food every day, but he used the money he saved to smoke good cigarettes. This made Tian Qiao, who did not smoke, really not understand.

What's so great about smoking?

Cheng Zhiyu, who was listening nearby, was also stunned for a moment. He thought of the same thing as Tian Qiao. Although they didn't quite understand the thought process of these people, it didn't stop them from having seen this kind of person before.

Moreover, in the apocalypse, people are more focused on finding food and tend to overlook cigarettes, so cigarettes might not be easy to obtain.

If you happen to run into some smokers, you might actually get some good stuff in the exchange.

Tian Qiao coughed lightly, understanding what the other party meant: "So, you want to trade cigarettes for eggs with me?"

The male superhuman nodded: "Although you don't smoke, you'll definitely need it when we get to the base. Don't laugh at me, but I haven't eaten an egg since the apocalypse, otherwise I would really be reluctant to part with this pack of cigarettes."

The male superhuman was telling the truth; he really was reluctant to part with it. However, he didn't say that he had a lot of cigarettes in his bag. Although he felt bad about exchanging this pack, it wasn't too bad, mainly because eggs were also scarce.

Tian Qiao didn't speak, seemingly struggling with his decision. After a moment, under the man's anxious gaze, he nodded: "Alright, I'll trust you this once. You're going to the Chaoyang Base anyway, right? What if I find out I've been tricked..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the threat was unmistakable.

The male superhuman wasn't afraid; he hadn't lied to anyone. He quickly said, "Don't worry."

He happily took the eggs and went to find the female superhuman not far away, but she sneered, "I don't want to eat a single bite of your stuff."

The male superhuman looked helpless: "I know you're angry with me, but I couldn't do anything about it at the time. Xingxing had already turned into a zombie, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, the female superhuman, who had been keeping a cold expression, suddenly turned her head and glared at him fiercely: "Shut up! You did it on purpose, you killed her!"

The male superhuman seemed startled by him and didn't react for a while. By the time he came to his senses, the female superhuman had already sat down with her back to him, far away.

The male superhuman sighed helplessly, looked at the egg in his hand, and said, "This egg is cooked; it will go bad if you don't eat it."

The female superhuman ignored him, so he could only shake his head and silently eat the egg with red eyes.

Cheng Zhiyu and the others exchanged a glance, pretending not to have seen anything.

Unexpectedly, after a while, the male superhuman came over. He seemed to be in distress and had nowhere to talk to, so he told Cheng Zhiyu and the others, crying as he spoke: "I wasn't very skilled at using my superpowers at the time, and I didn't protect Xingxing well. She got bitten by a zombie. I watched helplessly as she turned into a zombie and tried to bite me, but she's my daughter, and I couldn't bring myself to do it!"

But she had already turned into a zombie, so even if I couldn't bring myself to do it, I had no choice but to take her down with my own hands..."

At this point, the male superhuman couldn't continue. He lowered his head, covered his face, and sobbed uncontrollably: "Mengting happened to be there at the time and saw me take Xingxing... I know she must hate me, but I had no other choice at the time. My pain was no less than hers..."

The female superhuman is named Wu Mengting, and the male is named Zhang He. Xingxing is their daughter, and Zhang He tells us that Xingxing is only five years old.

Cheng Zhiyu and the others listened in silence. If they could, what parents would have the heart to kill their own daughter?

But that was no longer a star. The real star died the moment it was bitten by the zombie; it was just a zombie virus controlling the star's body.

Tian Qiao patted Zhang He on the shoulder: "Sigh, I can only say that you really didn't have any other choice at the time."

Zhang He wiped away his tears: "I know it's normal for Mengting to blame me, and I also hate myself for not protecting Xingxing back then..."

Tian Qiao didn't know what to say. Tian Manman, who was standing next to her, was naturally not good at comforting people. Cheng Zhiyu didn't seem to have any intention of speaking either, not to mention Xiao Hei.

Tian Qiao could only sigh. She thought Zhang He had finished speaking, but then he started saying, "If I weren't worried about Mengting, I would have wanted to die. At least I could keep Xingxing company in the afterlife."

Tian Qiao said dryly, "...Living well is more important than anything else."

Zhang He had finally found someone to confide in, and once he started talking, he couldn't stop. He lowered his head again and said sadly, "Sometimes living is more painful than dying. Living actually requires courage."

Tian Qiao opened her mouth: "Ah..."

He wanted to comfort Zhang He, since the other party seemed very sad, but they had only just met and were not very familiar with each other, so he really didn't know how to comfort him. He looked to Cheng Zhiyu for help, but the latter shrugged.

However, Zhang He probably sensed Tian Qiao's embarrassment, raised his head again, and forced a smile: "Let's not talk about this nonsense, it's annoying to listen to."

Tian Qiao: "No, no."

Zhang He returned to his side, and Tian Qiao sighed, muttering to Cheng Zhiyu, "Sigh, this is too difficult."

Cheng Zhiyu was stroking the fur on Xiao Hei's head when he accidentally used a little too much force, and Xiao Hei grabbed his hand with a claw.

Looking down, Cheng Zhiyu met Xiao Hei's deep gaze, touched his nose, and suppressed a laugh: "Sorry."

It didn't seem sincere at all, and it gave the impression that it would do it again next time, but Xiao Hei still moved its paw away and didn't bother with it.

Cheng Zhiyu looked at Tian Qiao: "You replaced your eggs with something else. What are you going to do if you get hungry later?"

Tian Qiao took out a piece of bread: "It's okay, I'll eat this. I haven't had a chance to eat it before, so let's finish it now, it's almost expired."

Cheng Zhiyu didn't ask any more questions.

On the other side, Wu Mengting also took out a dry piece of bread that had been sitting for who knows how long, and numbly ate it. Ever since Xingxing's accident, she had become like this, with no smile on her face and her attitude towards Zhang He was terrible.

Zhang He sighed and brought up the matter of keeping watch: "Mengting, you must be tired from traveling today. I'll keep watch tonight. You should eat and go to bed early."

Wu Mengting didn't react much, continuing to mechanically gnaw on her bread, as if her eating had nothing to do with hunger, but was simply because she didn't want to starve to death.

"Mengting?" Zhang He called out a few more times, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Wu Mengting finally looked over, her expression somewhat eerie in the twilight. Zhang He swallowed hard: "Mengting, why...why are you looking at me like that?"

Wu Mengting didn't speak. She looked away, mechanically finished the bread in her hand, and carefully took out a small porcelain bottle from her bag. Her hand trembled as she gently stroked it. Inside were her stars...

Wu Mengting was filled with regret. She shouldn't have left home that day and left her daughter in Zhang He's care. She couldn't believe that Xingxing would die... it must be because of Zhang He.

Once she gets to the Chaoyang Base and finds the answer, she will definitely avenge Xingxing!

Zhang He looked at Wu Mengting, whose expression had become obsessive, with a helpless expression. Perhaps Mengting's inner conflict could only be resolved when they arrived at the Chaoyang Base.

The couple's situation didn't arouse Cheng Zhiyu and the others' curiosity. Tian Qiao, however, was curious for a moment, but quickly looked away. It wouldn't be polite to be too curious about other people's family matters.

"Let's discuss how we should arrange our night watch," Tian Qiao asked.

They were originally traveling at night, but now that they were in the suburbs, the road conditions were complicated and there were no solar streetlights like in the city. Traveling by motorcycle headlights alone was still somewhat dangerous, so they changed their plans and started traveling during the day.

Cheng Zhiyu said, "I'm not that sleepy yet, I'll stay here for now."

Tian Qiao didn't stand on ceremony and nodded, saying, "We'll each have three hours. Call me later."

Tian Qiao and Tian Manman returned to their tent to rest. Cheng Zhiyu, holding Xiao Hei, asked her, "If you're sleepy, you should rest too."

Xiao Hei yawned: "I'm not sleepy."

Cheng Zhiyu couldn't help but smile.

Little Black flicked its tail: What are you laughing at?

Cheng Zhiyu stroked his hair gently: "I'm not laughing anymore, I'm not laughing anymore."

Keeping watch was really boring, but luckily I had Xiao Hei to keep me company, and we could talk to each other from time to time.

Towards the end, the little black head started nodding, clearly unable to hold on any longer. After all, his body was still that of a cub, and he needed plenty of rest.

Cheng Zhiyu softened his movements, letting the little black head rest its head on his lap, and watched as the other slowly closed its eyes.

Cheng Zhiyu smiled and looked up again, only to see Zhang He not far away, staring at Wu Mengting's bag with a somewhat inscrutable expression in the night.

He glanced at Zhang He thoughtfully, then looked away.

Feeling sleepy in the middle of the night, Cheng Zhiyu didn't force himself to stay awake and asked Tian Qiao to get up and keep watch.

Tian Qiao was half asleep, her hair sticking up, yawning as she sat outside.

Seeing his expression, Cheng Zhiyu was worried: "Can you manage on your own?"

Tian Qiao waved her hand: "Don't worry, the cold wind will wake me up immediately."

Seeing this, Cheng Zhiyu returned to his tent.

It's definitely better for them to act alone. With Xiaoqiang in the treehouse and Xiaohei asleep, they're more vigilant and don't need to take turns keeping watch like this.

However, there's nothing they can do for now. They don't know the way to Chaoyang Base, so they can only travel with Zhang He and his group for the time being.

The next morning, they were woken up by Tian Manman and ate some instant noodles.

When Zhang He saw they had a lighter, his eyes lit up, and he came over to borrow it. Cheng Zhiyu thought the other man was also going to cook, but after getting the lighter, the other man couldn't wait to take out a cigarette, light it, take a puff, and return the lighter to Cheng Zhiyu: "Thanks, brother. I've been craving this for days, but unfortunately, my previous lighter is now useless."

Cheng Zhiyu didn't really like the smell of smoke, but he didn't show it. He reached out and covered Xiao Hei's nose in his arms, and took the lighter.

Zhang He: "How about it, want one?"

Cheng Zhiyu shook his head: "Thank you, I don't smoke."

Zhang He laughed and said, "It's good not to smoke. Cigarettes are no good. Sigh, I'm addicted and can't quit."

He glanced at the instant noodles cooking not far away, swallowed hard, and said, "Hey, can I trade some cigarettes for some instant noodles and water?"

Cheng Zhiyu glanced at Zhang He, thought for a moment, and said, "No need for cigarettes. Aren't you going to Chaoyang Base? It's on our way. We're not very familiar with the route to the base. Do you know the way?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang He immediately grinned and said, "Putting everything else aside, I guarantee I know the way well. We came here specifically for the Chaoyang Base, and I've asked around quite a bit along the way."

Cheng Zhiyu nodded and gave the other party two packets of instant noodles and two bottles of water as payment for leading the way.

Zhang He happily returned to his side with instant noodles, water, and a borrowed lighter. How long had it been since they had eaten a hot meal? Instant noodles, which were easily obtained before the apocalypse, now seemed incredibly precious.

"Mengting, Brother Cheng gave us two packs of instant noodles. Let's skip the dry bread and have this for breakfast." Zhang He said, swallowing hard.

Wu Mengting suddenly said, "The star went down there all alone, how can you still laugh? The star is gone, are you happy?"

Zhang He: "Mengting, you..."

Wu Mengting scoffed, "You eat it yourself, I can't eat it!"

Seeing her like this, Zhang He also lost his temper and said coldly, "If you don't eat, I will... You blame all the mistakes on me. Don't you feel any guilt about Xingxing's death? You are Xingxing's mother. Don't I, as her father, feel sad?"

Wu Mengting didn't speak, but instead laughed coldly, as if she had heard a joke.

Seeing this, Zhang He was speechless for a moment and hastily ate his breakfast.

After breakfast, they set off. Zhang He and his group also had transportation; after all, if they relied entirely on walking, who knew when they would arrive?

They were also on motorcycles. Everyone noticed that cars couldn't move at all in the apocalypse. They were constantly blocked by debris on the road. In the suburbs, it was even worse. Unless it was an off-road vehicle, it was impossible to move.

Motorcycles are still more convenient.

Zhang He regained his cheerful mood and chatted with Cheng Zhiyu and the others about motorcycles. He seemed to know a lot about motorcycles: "My motorcycle was very expensive before the apocalypse. It cost tens of thousands of yuan. I could only look on with envy. Now I can ride it."

Tian Qiao patted his motorcycle: "Mine is expensive too."

Zhang He: "Yes, yes, I know this brand, and it's not cheap..."

Tian Manman sat in the back seat of Tian Qiao, listening to their conversation. He couldn't understand some of it, so he looked at Wu Mengting in the back seat of Zhang He and met a pair of chilling eyes.

Tian Manman was already afraid of contact with people, and she immediately shrank back in fright, burying her head on Tian Qiao's back.

Oh...that's scary.

They didn't have any delays on their journey. That evening, Zhang He said, "I estimate we'll arrive at the Chaoyang base tomorrow. Once we get there, we can relax."

Tian Qiao nodded repeatedly. Traveling was not a pleasant experience, especially with outsiders around, making it difficult for them to bring out many of their belongings.

"By the way, what brings you guys to the Chaoyang base?" Zhang He asked, taking the initiative to speak.

Cheng Zhiyu chimed in, "Isn't Chaoyang Base always accepting people? We just happened to hear about this and thought we'd go there. In any case, it's better to join the base than to wander around on our own."

Zhang He nodded: "That's right, I always feel uneasy when I'm out there."

Tian Qiao: "Brother Zhang, when you go to the base, shouldn't you be treated the same as us?"

To everyone's surprise, Zhang He shook his head and looked at Wu Mengting not far away: "That's my idea for going to the base, but Mengting isn't... she wants to find a psychic."

"A psychic?" Tian Qiao asked curiously, as this was the first time he had ever heard of such a person in real life.

“That’s right, a psychic.” Zhang He clearly knew more, explaining, “After the apocalypse, weren’t there many more people with superpowers? Psychics are a branch of superpowers. I haven’t had any contact with them, I’ve only heard that they claim to be able to communicate briefly with the dead. This skill sounds useless, but…”

After the apocalypse, too many people died, and many of their relatives may not have even seen them one last time. Among them were people with supernatural abilities who wanted to say a final goodbye to their deceased loved ones, and thus, psychics came into being.

However, psychics themselves have no combat ability, but they can play an unexpected role in certain situations. Therefore, large bases will have some psychics who, in addition to serving the official authorities, also accept some private orders.

After listening, Cheng Zhiyu and the others roughly understood. This psychic sounded quite magical, but in the apocalypse, even superpowers existed, so they easily accepted it.

Zhang He sighed, "I don't understand why Mengting always thinks that I killed Xingxing, so she is determined to find a psychic. No matter how I explain, she wants Xingxing to tell her herself before she will believe it."

At this point, Zhang He's eyes welled up with tears: "Xingxing is also my daughter. How could I do such a thing? I've known Mengting for ten years and been married to her for six. I don't understand why she doesn't believe me."

Tian Qiao patted his shoulder and also felt that Wu Mengting was being a bit too obsessive.

Cheng Zhiyu glanced at Wu Mengting not far away and comforted her, "You didn't do those things, the psychic will prove your innocence."

He didn't want to comment on Wu Mengting's behavior; she was just a mother who had lost her daughter.

Zhang He paused, then slowly nodded: "Yes, that's why I'm also thinking of getting to Chaoyang Base as soon as possible. Mengting is like this all the time, and I feel bad for her too."

Zhang He really did work his way through the entire day.

In Zhanghekou, they also obtained a lot of other information about the Chaoyang Base, such as that the base now uses a points system.

All the basic necessities at the base—food, clothing, lodging, and transportation—require points. The money we used before is now practically worthless.

"What if we don't get any points when we go?" Tian Qiao quickly asked to find out.

Zhang He said, "That's simple. When we get there, we can exchange our supplies for things like... crystal cores. A level 1 zombie's crystal core is worth 200 points. Then there are medicines, and the prices of different kinds of medicines vary."

As far as I know, at Chaoyang Base, 10 points a day is enough to live comfortably, and 3 points can rent a single room.

So, the crystal cores of level one zombies are indeed quite valuable. However, most people wouldn't use them to exchange for points, since the apocalypse is all about power. Crystal cores can enhance the strength of superhumans, and superhumans who obtain them use them to improve themselves.

“Right now, the most common zombies are ordinary zombies, followed by level one zombies. Mengting and I encountered a level one zombie once before, which almost killed us. We were lucky to survive. As for level two zombies, we haven’t encountered any yet.” Zhang He said, then chuckled self-deprecatingly, “Luckily, we haven’t encountered any. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to sit here and talk to you guys.”

"How many points can I exchange for a level 2 zombie crystal core?" Tian Qiao asked curiously. He was just curious and didn't intend to exchange it, since the level 2 wind-element crystal core was already very valuable.

“500 points.” Zhang He said, then joked, “If I could get this, I wouldn’t trade it for any number of points. But some people get a level 2 crystal core that doesn’t match their ability attributes, and they can’t find someone to trade it for. In the end, they have no choice but to exchange it for points.”

After all, level 2 crystal cores are quite rare nowadays, and it's even harder to find someone with the same attributes to exchange for them.

Upon hearing this, Tian Qiao became somewhat worried, wondering if the level-two crystal core in Chengzi's possession could be exchanged for something else. However, he then thought that it wouldn't matter if it couldn't be exchanged, as perhaps one of Chengzi's plants might be useful.

With that in mind, Tian Qiao stopped worrying.

Zhang He carefully explained to them what he knew about the Chaoyang Base, most of which he had learned from other superhumans.

As for why Cheng Zhiyu and the others seemed completely clueless, Zhang He didn't think much of it. It was normal; after all, there was no internet back then, so it was difficult to communicate with the outside world and obtain information that one didn't know.

He was grateful to Cheng Zhiyu for the two packets of instant noodles and two bottles of water, and for lending him a lighter, which is why he spoke in such detail. Moreover, Cheng Zhiyu and his group seemed to be quite capable, so he also had a hint of flattery in his words.

The next day, they set off early again, and by the afternoon, they finally saw the sign for Chaoyang Base in the distance.