Chapter 24 Desert Gas Station - 11 Tang Bufan...
Tang Bufan watched Lu Yi disappear, and he breathed a sigh of relief. But what followed was the question of how to face that madman alone...
Anderson was staring at him. Tang Bufan could feel his gaze. He felt the cold desert evening wind blowing, and helplessly put on the light screen glasses in his hand, then bent down to pick up the sniper rifle on the ground.
Anderson did not stop him at all; he clearly did not care that Tang Bufan had a gun.
"Are you an idiot?" Anderson sat up from the ground, looking at Tang Bufan with puzzled eyes through his bloodshot silver eyes: "Do you know that every unmarried sub-beastman in the entire Western Federation wants to marry him?"
This human man let such a great opportunity to travel with little Louis slip away?
“Lu Yi doesn’t want to get married.” Tang Bufan looked at him, no longer pointing the gun at him. Lu Yi didn’t want Anderson to die, and Tang Bufan knew he couldn’t kill him.
Anderson sneered, sitting leisurely on the ground covered in dust, and carefully sized up Tang Bufan.
A dim light shone in the RV, illuminating the area in the thick darkness through the windows and doors. Tang Bufan was wearing loose shorts and a brown long-sleeved shirt. His body was as thin as a skeleton, his thighs thinner than his kneecaps, and his skin was pale and bluish, with the veins clearly visible underneath.
"Do you know you're about to die?" Anderson said coldly. "If you don't mutate into a sub-beastman, you won't live more than six months."
"I know." Tang Bufan glanced at the time on the screen glasses; it was already 10 p.m., and he would usually be asleep by then.
Seeing Tang Bufan's calm expression, Anderson raised an eyebrow and his gaze fell on the silver collar around Tang Bufan's neck.
“Your protest faction has quite the backbone.” Anderson got up from the ground. His nosebleed had stopped, but there was still a lot of blood on his face, so he reached out and touched his face before walking towards the RV.
Tang Bufan's heart tightened, and he immediately reached out to stop him.
Anderson looked down; the man was barely up to his chest, his head held high, looking wary.
"What are you doing?" Tang Bufan asked him in a deep voice.
“I’m just going upstairs to wash my face, you little human.” Anderson casually reached out and lifted his chin.
Tang Bufan frowned and pushed his hand away. After hesitating for a moment, he finally had no choice but to let the orc get into the RV.
It was frustrating, but there was nothing he could do. Tang Bufan, with a stern face, picked up his sniper rifle and got into the car.
Anderson walked to the kitchen sink, turned on the tap, and splashed water on his face. Tang Bufan stood by the window, silently watching him, holding a sniper rifle.
After washing his face, Anderson glanced at the trunk where things were scattered everywhere and spotted a freshly washed gray vest. He stepped over the debris, reached out and pulled out the vest, then held it up to himself.
"Those are Lu Yi's clothes." Tang Bufan was furious. He had finally managed to find a few clothes that Lu Yi could wear from Uncle Wolf's old clothes, but he didn't expect this man to take them away.
“I changed Louis’s diapers when he was a baby, so what’s wrong with lending him a piece of clothing?” Anderson said with a sneer, ignoring Tang Bufan’s cold gaze, and took the gray vest into the bathroom.
Tang Bufan now knows what it feels like to have a robber break into your house.
"Little Tang, the orc's heat cycle lasts about 3-7 days." Kai Ge's gentle electronic male voice sounded, comforting Tang Bufan: "We'll wait for Lu Yi here. Eat and drink as you please. Taking care of yourself is the most important thing."
Tang Bufan held the sniper rifle in silence for a moment, then sighed.
"You're right." Tang Bufan, having given up all hope, put down the sniper rifle, bent down to pick up the bedding he had washed that day from the corner of the bed, spread it out on the bed, and decided to ignore that lunatic.
Anyway, judging from his appearance, he didn't intend to kill me.
After making the bed, Tang Bufan took off his thin coat and lay down on the bed, feeling very sleepy. He slowly fell asleep amidst the sounds of the shower in the bathroom.
If there's any benefit to being poisoned, it's that you fall asleep easily. No matter how many worries you have on your mind, they will be suppressed by overwhelming sleepiness.
Tang Bufan curled up on the iron bunk bed, his thin body wrapped tightly in the quilt. Kai Ge considerately turned off the car lights, and the desert, which had been noisy all night, fell into complete silence and darkness.
Anderson emerged from the bathroom, still damp, and saw the human man sleeping soundly on the bed. He raised an eyebrow and looked towards the driver's seat, where the electronic camera, flashing red light, was watching him in the darkness.
Even though Anderson knew it was just an artificial intelligence, he still gave Kai the middle finger and, under its gaze, arrogantly walked to the opposite side of the iron bunk bed, pried off the folding chair on the wall, sat down, and began to examine the RV in the darkness.
It's very old and worn, with a lot of modifications, but you can tell it's a vehicle from the Northern Federation.
Anderson then looked at the sleeping Tang Bufan. Based on his observations tonight, he thought Tang Bufan would take the opportunity to have Little Louis mark him, since he seemed to like Little Louis, and most importantly... he was about to die.
Unexpectedly, this human slapped little Louis on the head twice, waking him up.
Tsk, is it that they'd rather die than be an orc? That's quite similar to that woman, Anna.
But...maybe this is better. Anderson stared at Tang Bufan in the darkness, his narrow eyes narrowing, and a smirk appeared on his lips.
Love is purgatory; everyone should experience it at least once. Anderson leaned lazily against the car wall, yawned, and closed his eyes.
***
When Tang Bufan woke up, it was already broad daylight. His head was dizzy and heavy, and his body felt very uncomfortable.
Especially my back, my spine hurts whenever I move it, ugh... what's wrong with me?
Tang Bufan let out a deep groan, sat on the bed and tried to straighten his back, but a sharp pain came, making him frown and twitch, and he wanted to lie back down on the bed.
But he resisted the urge to go back to sleep and forced himself to stay awake. The first thing he saw was a messy carriage with all sorts of things scattered on the floor.
Tang Bufan was taken aback. He remembered that yesterday, the orc named Anderson had chased after them and, together with Lu Yi, had destroyed the gas station. Lu Yi had also been poisoned and escaped.
“Oh no…” Tang Bufan slowly sat up, his slender feet landing on the ground. He straightened his back and rubbed his head, “I’ve forgotten something again.”
"Xiao Tang, the antidote is in the white medical kit next to the refrigerator," Kai Ge told him in a gentle electronic male voice. This wasn't the first time Tang Bufan had experienced temporary amnesia after waking up.
Tang Bufan turned his head and saw the white box in the messy corner of the kitchen. He then walked over, his hand on his back and his body tense.
There were still many things stacked on the medical kit. Tang Bufan moved them one by one, and with great effort put the medical kit on the freezer. He opened the lid with a stiff back.
The antidote came in small, brown bottles, very rudimentary, but given the productivity of those mutated poisoners, this was the limit of what they could produce. Tang Bufan found a syringe, drew out the transparent liquid, raised his left arm to find a vein, and slowly injected it in.
The injection site caused an indescribable soreness. Tang Bufan closed his eyes and frowned, when he suddenly heard a stranger's teasing.
"When little Louis comes back, ask him to mark you."
Tang Bufan opened his eyes and turned his head, only to see Anderson standing outside the RV, peering at him through the window. The desert sun made his silver hair shine brightly.
Tang Bufan pulled out the syringe, endured the discomfort, rinsed it under the tap, then put the protective cap back in the medical kit.
Turning around, Tang Bufan leaned against the freezer and stared intently at the lunatic.
Why don't you kill me?
“Killing you would be pointless.” Anderson grinned at Tang Bufan through the window. “Although you’re ugly, your stubbornness is quite like Anna’s.”
Tang Bufan could easily guess that Anna was Lu Yi's mother.
"You want to cause Lu Yi pain?" Tang Bufan vaguely understood his purpose: "You know Lu Yi doesn't want to get married, do you want to force him to mark me?"
Anderson didn't answer, but instead smiled wickedly: "I know you're in the resistance faction, but don't bother struggling. You two were clearly very affectionate at the gas station yesterday."
"Sorry, that's just your imagination. Lu Yi is a good kid, and I treat him as a student, nothing more." After saying that, Tang Bufan had no intention of chatting with Anderson anymore and began to bend down to pick up the things on the ground.
Ugh, my back hurts so much… Tang Bufan had no choice but to kneel down and straighten his body to tidy up.
Seeing that Tang Bufan was no longer paying attention to him, Anderson narrowed his eyes and left the window.
Tang Bufan spent from 10 a.m. to evening cleaning up the messy RV. During that time, he only briefly fried a piece of meat on an induction cooker and ate it wrapped in lettuce.
Anderson didn't bother him again. In the afternoon, Tang Bufan saw him clearing rocks in the collapsed gas station, turning over the hand-cranked water pump, and drinking water there.
After he left to go hunting, Kai drove the RV over and asked Tang Bufan to refill the RV with water.
Tang Bufan took out a bucket and a water pipe, connected one end of the water pipe to the water purifier in the kitchen, and placed the other end in the bucket. He used all his strength to shake the water, panting heavily from exhaustion.
Anderson dragged a hyena back, saw it, sneered, and said sarcastically, "You're quite good at taking advantage."
Tang Bufan hadn't even said anything yet. Yesterday, he used so much water in his car to take a shower. After refilling the water tank, he immediately had Kai Ge drive the car away.
The two spent the day peacefully. Anderson cleared a spot next to the water pump to camp, and didn't get back into the RV. His black motorcycle, with its streamlined, cyberpunk design, was parked next to him, which made Tang Bufan take a few more glances at it from inside the RV.
He's handsome, but his RV is still the best.
After two consecutive days of hard work, Tang Bufan's body was in a lot of pain, especially his back, which he couldn't bend over at all. So he went to the driver's seat, turned his back to Kai Ge, lifted his shirt, and asked Kai Ge to take a picture of him. He found that there was a large black patch, and almost half of his back was bruised.
"Take a rest in bed tomorrow," Kai suggested to Tang Bufan. "If Lu Yi is fast, he might be back tomorrow."
"Hmm." Tang Bufan responded softly, feeling very sad. He was in so much pain, but only an artificial intelligence was comforting him.
But could he really reach the East District Underground City smoothly? Tang Bufan lay on the bed, lost in thought. Although he firmly said that he must, he must, many things cannot be achieved simply by saying "I must."
He has at most a year to get there. Even with the antidote delaying his death, he'll probably die.
Tang Bufan sighed, missing Lu Yi and hoping he could return soon so they could get back on their way.
However, Lu Yi still hadn't returned on the third day. Tang Bufan climbed onto the RV to organize the vegetables in the incubator. Afterward, he sat on the incubator in the twilight, holding a vegetable basket, feeling the desert wind blowing, and looking at the distant, rolling mountains with longing eyes.
"Little Louis may be dead."
On the fourth day, Anderson leaned against his motorcycle and made sarcastic remarks to Tang Bufan.
“A beastman’s defenses are weakest during his mating season. He’ll be delirious and vulnerable to attacks from wolves or hyenas, where they’ll eat his flesh and gnaw on his bones.” He described it vividly, then suddenly pointed at Tang Bufan: “And the person who killed him is you!”
"..." Tang Bufan wanted to shoot him with a sniper rifle, but he climbed onto the roof of the RV with a livid face and continued to sit on the plant cultivation box to wait.
Just as night was about to fall and the wind was getting colder, Tang Bufan, with a sullen face, was about to go back to his car when he suddenly saw a small figure appear on the horizon.
Tang Bufan's eyes lit up immediately, and he abruptly stood up from the plant cultivation box.
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