Chapter 26 Desert Gas Station - 13 Tang Bufan...
After Tang Bufan finished eating and washing the dishes, he took a broom and a wicker basket and got out of the RV. In the darkness, Lu Yi was clearing away rubble at the collapsed gas station, and had already placed several cans of gasoline next to him.
Tang Bufan planned to clean the bus and pick up some trendy trash. Kai Ge hadn't turned on the roof spotlights, but Tang Bufan immediately turned them on after he went outside.
"No need to turn on the lights for me, save some electricity," Tang Bufan said to Kai Ge through the light-screen glasses.
"Xiao Tang, the RV hasn't been driven for the past few days, so the battery is fully charged. It's alright." Kai's gentle electronic male voice came from the light-screen glasses.
Hearing this, Tang Bufan walked towards Lu Yi under the headlights of the RV, carefully stepping over the pebbles scattered on the ground.
Seeing Tang Bufan approaching, Lu Yi stopped what he was doing and called out to him from a distance, "Teacher, don't come any closer. The stones are loose in many places and it's unstable."
"You keep digging, don't worry about me." Tang Bufan carefully climbed over a gravel slope and walked smoothly to the few barrels of gasoline. Like a gossipy aunt, he picked up a broom and basket and peeked inside before turning back to the abandoned bus.
Anderson sat on the roof of the bus with his knees bent, raising his wrist. He also had a personal AI, and the bracelet projected a virtual screen in the air.
"Tang Bufan, an elementary school teacher in District 86 of the Eastern Underground City, a member of a long-hidden resistance faction, was accused by students' parents of privately promoting the theory of orc oppression to children. He jumped out of the vehicle late at night while being escorted to the Eastern Federation of Orcs. Bounty: 10,000 Federal Credits."
Tang Bufan was startled and looked up, while Lu Yi, who was digging for oil, also looked over.
Anderson looked down at Tang Bufan, a smirk playing on his lips, his eyes full of mockery: "Is this what you used to be like, Teacher Tang?"
A wanted poster appeared on the screen. The man in the photo had short hair, fair skin, almond-shaped eyes, and red lips. Even though he looked haggard in prison clothes, he was still a handsome young man.
Anderson was somewhat intrigued by Tang Bufan's running appearance in the evening, and upon investigation, he discovered that Tang Bufan had actually been quite good-looking before.
Tang Bufan was a little stunned. Uncle Wolf had checked for him in a ruined market with internet access before, and he learned that he was wanted by the Eastern District Underground City and the Eastern Federation of Orcs, but this was the first time he had seen his wanted poster.
Looking at the young man in the photo, who seemed both familiar and unfamiliar, Tang Bufan was so frustrated that he couldn't help but laugh.
"No, I don't look like that." Tang Bufan could tell at a glance that the photo was fake, probably digitally composited, and only about 70% like him.
Anderson raised an eyebrow: "Isn't this the one who's wanted?"
Tang Bufan thought for a moment, then said evasively, "They do want to arrest me, but the photo is fake."
His name, age, and occupation all match Tang Bufan's, but he is not an elementary school teacher in District 86 of the Eastern Underground City, nor has he ever promoted the theory of orc oppression.
Anderson didn't believe him and sneered, "Then who is this man in the photo?"
With his fair skin, black eyes, and rare classical charm, he clearly resembled Tang Bufan from before.
Tang Bufan had never been arrested, so how could he possibly be wearing prison clothes and holding a sign for this photo? But there was no way to explain it, so he ignored Anderson and walked into the abandoned bus.
The bus was rusty, all the windows were broken, and a dozen or so plastic chairs covered in dust stood there, but overall it was relatively clean.
Tang Bufan put the basket on a chair and began sweeping in the dark.
A man bent down and crawled through the car door; it was Anderson.
Tang Bufan glanced at him indifferently and continued sweeping.
“Being marked by Little Louis will allow you to return to your former self. Aren’t you tempted?” Anderson walked to Tang Bufan’s side, leaned over and tilted his head to look at him, smiling broadly: “Don’t hesitate, you’re definitely winning out if you’re with him. You’ll go from a wanted criminal to a lady envied by thousands!”
A male wife? How ridiculous. Tang Bufan buried his head in sweeping the floor.
Seeing his cold expression, Anderson raised an eyebrow: "You really don't want to be the First Lady?"
First? Tang Bufan stopped sweeping and looked at Anderson with a puzzled expression.
Anderson thought he was tempted, so he immediately took out a small spray bottle and put it in front of Tang Bufan: "I still have aphrodisiac spray. If you want, you can sleep with Little Louis tonight."
Tang Bufan's eyes flickered, and he reached out to grab the spray, but Anderson immediately withdrew his hand.
The silver-haired, silver-eyed orc looked at him with a smile. Tang Bufan thought for a moment, then his expression became furtive.
“Give it to me, and I’ll secretly give it to Lu Yi.” Tang Bufan leaned closer to him and lowered his voice. “You’re being too obvious. I don’t want Lu Yi to mark me with a sense of rejection. I want him to think that he has developed feelings for me.”
Anderson was stunned, completely unexpected that Tang Bufan would suddenly say these words.
"You...you really like little Louis?" His smile vanished, and he looked at Tang Bufan suspiciously.
"Didn't you see it all? We're so affectionate." Tang Bufan put on a stern face and belittled him: "Only a fool would be as straightforward as you. It only makes people rebellious. You have to play hard to get, understand?"
After saying that, he clenched his withered fist at Anderson, his face full of determination: "I want not only Lu Yi's body, but also his heart! Whatever I say goes then!"
Anderson paused for a moment, then remarked, "You're quite ambitious."
But I believed it a little, thinking it was something a crazy resistance faction would do.
If Anna had his level of awareness, she wouldn't have jumped from the tower.
"So don't delay my business." Tang Bufan scolded him seriously, then suddenly noticed Lu Yi walking towards them, and anxiously urged Anderson in a low voice.
"Quick! Give me the spray. Lu Yi is coming. We're leaving in our RV tomorrow. If you don't give it to me now, you'll miss your chance!"
Anderson turned his head and met Lu Yi's gaze outside the car. Tang Bufan squeezed behind him and tickled his hand with a small gesture. Anderson was urged and tickled by him, so he let go of the fingers holding the spray. Tang Bufan immediately grabbed it.
"Hey bro, help me stop him. I'll hide the spray in the basket." Tang Bufan whispered behind him.
"..." Anderson's mind was occupied by his "good brother" and he walked to the car door to block Lu Yi. A few seconds later, he suddenly smelled the fragrance of the spray.
As if waking from a dream, Anderson quickly turned around and saw Tang Bufan standing next to the broken bus window, unscrewing the cap of the spray bottle and pouring all the liquid inside onto the sandy ground.
"Lu Yi, don't come in! There's medicine here!" Tang Bufan shouted, throwing the empty spray bottle far away.
Lu Yi, who had already reached the car door: "..."
Anderson, who was blocking the car door, was speechless.
Tang Bufan shook his hands in the evening breeze, then breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the broom again.
"You!" Anderson was furious. He finally realized he had been tricked and tried to walk towards Tang Bufan with a fierce look on his face, but Lu Yi immediately grabbed him by the neck from behind.
"Be gentle with humans." Lu Yi forcefully dragged Anderson out of the car, unable to suppress a laugh: "That's what you taught me since I was little, Anderson."
Anderson was dragged away by Lu Yi. Tang Bufan was still a little scared, so he took a broom and walked to the car window, shouting at Anderson, "Good brother! A small act of impatience can ruin a big plan! Don't kill me now, it's all a ploy to lure me in!"
"Still trying to coax him?" Anderson laughed in exasperation, realizing he had truly underestimated this human man.
Feeling Lu Yi still gripping his neck tightly, Anderson patted his arm impatiently: "Alright, let go, I won't kill him."
Lu Yi hesitated for a moment before letting go of him.
Anderson's neck was red from being gripped so tightly. He sneered in the darkness, thinking of revenge, and said to Lu Yi in a sarcastic tone, "He just said he wants not only your body, but also your heart."
Lu Yi had excellent hearing and had actually heard it vaguely. Now that Anderson had pointed it out and said it again, a blush involuntarily appeared on his still somewhat youthful and handsome face.
Looking at him like this, Anderson was silent at first, then raised an eyebrow and smiled with narrowed eyes.
"Love me then, love me then," he said viciously. "You'll suffer sooner or later."
After saying that, he returned to his motorcycle under the headlights of the RV.
Tang Bufan continued sweeping the bus. He relaxed when Anderson didn't come to settle accounts with him. After sweeping away all the dust, he picked up a wicker basket, put on his light-screen glasses, and rummaged through several piles of rubble. He then began searching for useful small pieces of trash at the site of the former supermarket.
Lu Yi pulled the last can of gasoline from the pile of rubble. When he looked up, he saw Tang Bufan squatting there, shaking an iron can with his hand, listening to the sound inside, and finally opening it with force, and a bunch of paperclips fell out with a clatter.
Disappointment showed on the man's thin face. He tossed the tin can aside and continued to rummage through the gravel with his withered fingers.
Lu Yi smiled slightly, finding Tang Bufan's rummaging through the trash rather cute. Then she thought of Tang Bufan's wanted poster; he looked haggard but not yet weakened, and quite handsome.
Suddenly, the line Tang Bufan used to bluff Anderson popped into his head:
I want not only Lu Yi's body, but also his heart.
As Lu Yi felt the desert evening wind blowing, his face became slightly hot again.
Afterwards, Lu Yi returned to the RV, carrying a heavy toolbox. He hesitated for a moment at the bus door before covering his mouth and nose with his arm and getting on the bus.
After taking a quick sniff and finding no strange smell, Lu Yi felt relieved and opened the toolbox to start disassembling the plastic chairs.
Tang Bufan boarded the bus carrying a wicker basket. Wearing his light-screen glasses, he bent down and peered over to examine Lu Yi's face closely. Seeing that Lu Yi's expression was normal and he was not affected by the drug, Tang Bufan breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the dirty chair next to him.
"This bus is used by the toxic people to travel between gas stations and oil fields, right?" Tang Bufan asked Lu Yi, looking around at the rusty bus.
“Yes, the poisoners in the town said they rotate every two weeks,” Lu Yi replied. “The poisoners at the oil field probably don’t know this place has been destroyed yet, and they’ll probably go back to that town later.”
Tang Bufan couldn't help but think of that poisonous child, so he hesitated for a moment and tentatively asked Lu Yi:
"The father and son drug addicts we encountered when we first entered the town..."
“I don’t know where my father went. I’ve probably killed him. I didn’t kill the child.” Lu Yi knew what Tang Bufan wanted to ask: “Anderson must have encountered it and found out the direction we left in, otherwise it wouldn’t have caught up with us so quickly.”
Upon learning that the poisoned child was still alive, Tang Bufan felt somewhat relieved. He leaned back in his plastic chair and remarked with emotion, "I hope the poisoned people from the oil field can take good care of him after they return to the town."
Lu Yi glanced at him with some concern: "Will the teacher blame me for the bloodbath there?"
“No, those mutated poison people hate orcs and pro-orc humans, and they are a threat to you.” Tang Bufan said in a jumbled voice, leaning back with his head held high, looking at the rusty ceiling, and idly raising his hand to scratch the dusty window.
"They are like hyenas in the desert, in packs, threatening other creatures. I would find baby hyenas cute, but I also understand that other creatures kill their packs in order to survive."
Lu Yi felt relieved and looked tenderly at Tang Bufan, who was sitting there. She thought the way his slender fingers gently traced the window was very beautiful and alluring.
Lu Yi lowered her head and continued disassembling the chair, while sincerely praising him: "Teacher, you are very fair-skinned."
"Come on," Tang Bufan said idly, tracing the window with his finger. "It's all turned deathly pale."
"No, it's really beautiful," Lu Yi said earnestly. "It's like moonlight."
Tang Bufan's heart stirred, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
Lu dismantled all the plastic chairs and threw them out, emptying the entire interior of the bus. He also moved all 11 barrels of oil onto the bus.
Kai drove the RV over, and Lu Yi used a chain to secure the bus to the back of the RV. Kai tried to drive forward and successfully dragged the bus out of the collapsed gas station.
Tang Bufan was very happy. With these 11 barrels of oil, their journey would be much smoother. Lu Yi took off the light screen glasses from Tang Bufan's face and put them on his own face to check the time. It was already 11 p.m., so he urged Tang Bufan to go back to the car and sleep.
"I'm going to take another shower," Lu Yi said to Tang Bufan. "Teacher, go back to the car and sleep first."
Tang Bufan was indeed sleepy, so he carried the basket full of small trash he had collected that night back to his car. As he was pulling the curtains by the car window, he saw Lu Yi had already walked to the water pump. In the darkness, Lu Yi raised his hand and took off his vest, revealing his strong yet youthful and slender back.
"..." Tang Bufan lowered his head and eyes, and drew the curtains.
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