Chapter 20 Desert Gas Station - 7 Meeting Tang Bufan...
Seeing Tang Bufan staring at the drab little supermarket, Lu Yi, who was grilling meat, immediately reminded him, "Let's eat first, and then I'll accompany you inside to shop after we finish eating."
Although Lu Yi had killed all the poisoners at the gas station, the oil field was nearby, where another group of poisoners were working, taking turns with the gas station poisoners. Lu Yi couldn't guarantee they wouldn't come back at night.
Moreover, wild animals from the desert might also sneak here.
Tang Bufan felt that he was being too protective of himself, but he still listened to him and obediently sat on the camping chair to continue drying his hair.
"So there really is something in that little supermarket?" Tang Bufan keenly noticed that Lu Yi had just used the word "browse".
"Yes, quite a few." Lu Yi had already checked every room. He said while roasting rabbit meat, "The other rooms are the dwellings of the poison people. The small supermarket is where they store their odds and ends. They are all quite intelligent."
After all, those sent out to extract and refine oil should all be intelligent, toxic people who have successfully mutated in that small town.
Tang Bufan suddenly remembered something: when he was captured by those poisonous people, he heard them mention "father" many times. So he put down the towel in his hand and became more serious.
"In that operating room, the old poisoner who stabbed me with scissors said that his father saved them. He must have been the one secretly experimenting on poisoners in the town." Tang Bufan's pale face was reflected in the red glow of the furnace fire.
He wondered if that father was the doctor he was looking for.
"Father?" Lu Yi stared at him with his golden-green beast eyes. "What else did they say?"
"He said Father was on the island." Tang Bufan didn't really want to recall that day, as it reminded him of that poor man whose limbs had been cut off.
“Islands?” Lu Yi frowned. “Humans are all underground, the Eastern Federation of Orcs is in the North China Plain in Asia, and only our Western Federation and Northern Federation have island cities.”
"He's not an orc, he's human," Tang Bufan stated firmly. "And from the resistance faction, those poisoners say..."
Tang Bufan carefully recalled and repeated what the Poison Man had said to him: "Father said that those who betray humanity should die. Father restored our sanity and is the savior of the Poison Man. But Father will not redeem me because I am a traitor, a traitor who fell in love with an orc."
“…Those must be researchers from the resistance faction, just like my mother.” Lu Yi frowned even more deeply, and asked suspiciously, “Could they be humans hiding in our Western Federation?”
After the start of the Contract Era, pro-beast human scientists, with the help of orcs, would come to the surface to collect samples and conduct experiments. This was one of the friendly exchanges between the dungeon and the orc federation. The Western Federation occupied the British Isles, which had many islands.
If that rebel human is indeed disguised as a beast-loving faction hiding in their Western Federation, he must report to his father immediately.
Lu Yi reached out and touched the black bracelet on his wrist, hesitating whether to turn it on or not, but if he did, Anderson would immediately be able to locate him...
Lu Yi thought about it again and again, and decided to give up. They were very close to the town of the poisonous people. Anderson should have already tracked them here. He decided to wait until he and Tang Bufan filled up their fuel tank and left the desert before he would use the AI to report to his father.
Lu Yi was thinking about the Western Federation, but Tang Bufan was thinking about the doctor. He was certain that the doctor was from the Eastern District Underground City, not only because of his Eastern appearance, but also because he had spoken to him in Chinese on the aircraft that day.
"Could they be from the East District Underground City?" Tang Bufan asked Lu Yi, noticing the air getting a bit chilly, so he moved his camping chair to sit next to the barbecue grill.
By this time, it was completely dark. In the vast desert, only their spot was still lit. The surrounding area was pitch black, with terrifying darkness just a dozen meters away. With the wind blowing, the gas station looked even more desolate and bleak.
Lu Yi handed the roasted rabbit meat to Tang Bufan, then walked to the clothesline and touched a thin jacket that was already dry, so he took it off and draped it over Tang Bufan.
"Thank you." Tang Bufan accepted his meticulous care, thinking to himself that it was no wonder Lu Yi was always worried that he would fall in love with him. Who wouldn't fall in love with him? Even a straight man like him would fall in love.
Lu Yi added some shrubs to the barbecue grill and continued talking to Tang Bufan about the mysterious resistance scientist.
"The Eastern Federation of Orcs has no island towns." Lu Yi tried hard to recall the current layout of the new cities on the ground. "If I had to name a famous island in the east, it would only be Penglai, which is close to Taicheng."
"Penglai?" Tang Bufan looked at Lu Yi curiously while eating rabbit meat, only to see that the orc boy's gaze towards him had become thoughtful.
Tang Bufan was startled and immediately lowered his head guiltily.
"Penglai Island, the last ground base where humanity fell, was built in ancient China. Don't you even know that, teacher?"
Tang Bufan inwardly groaned. He had never even experienced the Third World War, so how would he know anything about the Penglai Base?
"Of course I know, I just... couldn't remember for a moment." Tang Bufan pretended to be stupid and pointed to his head: "I often forget things after being poisoned."
He wasn't sure if he was hiding it well, so he didn't dare to look up at Lu Yi.
Lu Yi stared at Tang Bufan for a moment, then lowered his eyes gently and continued grilling the meat, without pursuing the matter further.
"Back then, the surface environment deteriorated rapidly. In addition to building underground cities, humans also built fully enclosed surface bases. After all, not everyone was willing to live underground. However, surface bases were not as stable as underground cities and were constantly attacked by poisonous people and wild beasts. So in the end, they all fell. Penglai Base was the one that held out the longest." Lu Yi explained considerately to Tang Bufan.
Tang Bufan understood, but fearing that he would expose his ignorance again, he buried his head in his meat, wanting to ask but not daring to.
Lu Yi continued to explain considerately to him: "The Penglai base is close to Taicheng. Humans from the Eastern Federation and the Eastern District Underground City should have all gone to the island to investigate the base ruins."
Tang Bufan did know about Taicheng, the central city of the Eastern Federation of Orcs, built around Mount Tai. Uncle Wolf and Eberon had mentioned it to him.
Since Mount Tai is close to Beijing, does that mean the Penglai base is the Penglai District of Shandong in the 21st century?
Tang Bufan recalled the map and pondered.
"Does the teacher think that father is from the East District Underground City?" Lu Yi asked Tang Bufan, carrying a camping chair with the roasted rabbit meat and sitting down next to Tang Bufan.
Tang Bufan hesitated for a moment, then simply told Lu Yi the truth: "The doctor I know is a human from the East District Underground City, and he is also from the resistance faction."
Otherwise, four years ago, he wouldn't have been so frightened by Wolf Uncle's RV that he turned around and left, abandoning him and Chen Fei in the ruins of Black Rain.
Tang Bufan harbored resentment. If that aircraft had descended just one more meter, they could have grabbed Chen Fei's hand and pulled him up, and the child wouldn't have gotten sick and died with him.
Lu Yi shielded Tang Bufan from the increasingly cold desert evening wind with his own body, staring at Tang Bufan: "What is the relationship between the teacher and that doctor?"
The firelight cast flickering light on Tang Bufan's pale face. He remained silent for a long time before whispering, "The reason I'm here is because of him."
Lu Yi was surprised. He looked at Tang Bufan, whose aura had turned gloomy, and tentatively asked, "Could you elaborate?"
Tang Bufan glanced at him indifferently: "No."
Then he lowered his head and continued eating the rabbit meat.
Lu Yi felt wronged. They had agreed to exchange information, but when he told Tang Bufan about his mother, Tang Bufan was evasive and wouldn't talk about his own affairs.
"Liar." Lu Yi lowered his head and ate his meat with a mournful expression.
Tang Bufan sensed his sorrow to some extent, so he chewed his meat in silence for a moment before speaking again:
"Although I can't tell you how I ended up here, I can tell you about Uncle Wolf and Eberron... I ran into them as soon as I got to the surface. They rescued me in the black rain and took me on a four-year journey."
Lu Yi became interested and turned to look at Tang Bufan: "And then? Why did the teacher kill them?"
Tang Bufan lowered his eyes, touched the silver collar around his neck with his left hand, and said in a murmur, "Because Uncle Wolf... wants to mark me."
"..." Lu Yi had actually guessed it vaguely.
"He and Eberon were partners for over thirty years, it's disgusting..." Tang Bufan's eyes revealed hatred: "Eberon is a fifth-generation sub-beastman, with a very low fertility rate, so she and Wolf Uncle had no children after more than thirty years of marriage. Later, she got cancer, so she and Wolf Uncle went on a journey, wanting to see the world in the last few years of her life. She never expected to find me by accident..."
Tang Bufan sighed deeply, looking at the fire in front of him: "They both treated me like a child and always took care of me. I am very grateful, but I don't know when it started, Uncle Wolf's eyes started to look at me strangely... That day, Eberron left the RV for a walk, and I was cutting meat in the RV. When Uncle Wolf came over, I didn't pay attention, and then he suddenly leaned down and kissed the back of my neck."
Tang Bufan's face was grim. He gripped the back of his neck tightly through the silver collar. "I was startled and immediately turned around. But the man I'd always considered a good uncle was right in front of me, blocking my way, reaching out to touch my face. The look in his eyes..."
Tang Bufan gritted his teeth, feeling a chill just thinking about it: "I was terrified and wanted to leave, but he wouldn't let me. He even tried to kiss me, so I desperately shrank back to avoid him. Then Eberlon came back, stood at the car door, staring at us menacingly, and shouted: 'What are you doing!'"
Lu Yi frowned, seeing Tang Bufan's face turn ashen, and wanted to comfort him but didn't know how to start.
Tang Bufan continued painfully, "Uncle Wolf and Eberon had a big fight. Uncle Wolf knelt in front of Eberon and said that he liked me. Eberon was dying of cancer and didn't want me to die too. But if he turned me into a sub-beastman, I could live and I would depend on him for survival... Eberon loved him too much. He was persuaded by Uncle Wolf. He wanted Uncle Wolf to have me by his side after he died, so he asked for my opinion. But I disagreed, so... Uncle Wolf kicked me out of the RV."
Lu Yi's pupils contracted slightly, and his hand clenched into a fist. Tang Bufan, a human being, was deeply poisoned; leaving the RV would only mean death.
Tang Bufan lowered his eyes, trying to control his emotions: "I survived alone in the wild for two days, starving and parched. To avoid being eaten by wild animals, I climbed up a tall tree at night and slept with my hands tightly wrapped around the trunk. Of course, I hardly slept. After being tired, hungry, and thirsty for two days, resentment arose in my heart. I fainted from hatred and woke up to find myself back in the RV. Eberlen apologized to me, while Uncle Wolf said to me in a sarcastic tone, 'See? You can't survive without me...' He aroused all the evil thoughts I had as a human being... I hate him."
Tang Bufan's eyes reddened. He turned to look at Lu Yi beside him, the red flames shining in his eyes.
“Before this, I thought I was a decent person, but after deciding to kill Wolfman, I became a monster. I looked at him every day, endured his gaze, and thought about how to kill him all the time. When I ate, I wanted to shove a fork into his mouth, and when I slept, I wanted to get up and stab him. I started to look around the whole RV, looking for any tool that could be used as a murder weapon, but I knew I had to succeed on the first try. If I failed, I would have to face Wolfman’s wrath.”
"You're not an evil spirit." Lu Yi couldn't help but grab Tang Bufan's hand, looking at him with heartache: "Teacher, you're definitely not a bad person!"
"I've already killed both of them, don't you understand?" Tang Bufan stared at Lu Yi with reddened eyes. "I even thought about killing you. I've been hiding a gun under my pillow..."
"I know."
Tang Bufan was stunned, staring at him with wide eyes.
Lu Yi met his gaze, her eyes softening: "I know, I think that's a good idea."
After he finished speaking, he turned his head to look to the side. The weapon case they had prepared was placed on the sand next to them, and it was very close. So Lu Yi leaned over, opened the lid, took out a pistol from inside, and then turned back and put the gun in Tang Bufan's hand.
"..." Tang Bufan lowered his head with red eyes. Lu Yi grabbed his hand, and his warm palm led him to grip the pistol tightly.
“If I make you uncomfortable, you can kill me anytime.” Lu Yi’s voice was calm and gentle as he looked at Tang Bufan earnestly. “But I assure you, I will absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not hurt you.”
Tang Bufan was speechless. At first, his throat began to feel sore, and then the grievances that had been suppressed were finally released. Suddenly, his tears fell.
The grievances he had suffered at Wolf Uncle's hands poured out instantly, and Tang Bufan lowered his head, feeling that he looked very ugly.
"Don't cry." Lu Yi reached out and gently wiped away his tears, whispering, "I know that teacher is very strong."
Tang Bufan covered his eyes with his hands, his body trembling. It was too ugly for an adult to cry like this in front of a child.
“I hate Wolfman, but I don’t hate Eberron.” Tang Bufan continued, his voice choked with emotion, “He found out I wanted to kill Wolfman, and finally decided to help me. He went to a nearby ruined market and traded his wedding ring for this collar for me. Then he told me to use sleeping pills, but he wanted me to promise him one thing: to kill him together and bury him with Wolfman… He and Wolfman met when he was 14, married when he was 18, and spent almost his entire life with him, so he wanted to die with him… To live… I agreed…”
Tang Bufan covered his eyes, tears constantly spilling from between his thin fingers and sliding down his pale cheeks.
“He gave Wolf Uncle sleeping pills, transferred all the RV access to me, and while he was resetting Kai, I was digging a hole in the dark with a shovel, digging desperately, afraid that Wolf Uncle would wake up… Then he carried Wolf Uncle into the hole I dug and told me to do it… I really did it… I shot and killed Wolf Uncle and then killed him… From that moment on, I knew my life was completely over…”
Tang Bufan trembled as he bent over, his head bowed low, his long black hair falling to cover his face, and crystal tears streaming down his face.
“That man…why did that man do this to me…” Tang Bufan didn’t understand: “Why did he bring me here…why did he turn me into this inhuman, ghostly state…my student…and why did my student die…I’m not reconciled…I want to know everything…I absolutely…absolutely have to find him…”
Tang Bufan suddenly raised his head as he spoke. His face was streaked with tears, his eyes were bloodshot, but his gaze was incredibly firm:
"I absolutely must go to the East District Underground City!"
Lu Yi met his gaze and finally realized where the powerful force emanating from Tang Bufan came from—it was hatred.
“Okay.” Lu Yi looked at Tang Bufan firmly and said, “I’ll help you!”
The two sat in the firelight, their eyes fixed on each other, completely unaware that a small white light had suddenly appeared in the darkness behind them.
"Oh~" The silver-haired man riding the motorcycle wore large-screen glasses. The AI magnified the image in the dilapidated gas station and looked at Lu Yi, who was tightly holding Tang Bufan's hand. The man smirked wickedly.
"Interesting," he murmured, then suddenly changed his mind about charging straight ahead. He turned off the motorcycle lights, slowed down, and changed direction under the cover of darkness.
We can't let the AI of that armored vehicle find us!
A note from the author:
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