Chapter 15 Subtlety

"Xiaoyi!" Long Yilan immediately stepped forward to help Xiaoyi up, her eyebrows wrinkled, and her tone was worried, "Are you hurt?"

Although Xiaoyi had no injuries, her knees and calves were bruised, and even her ankle was sprained. She was shaking with pain, but she still tried to endure the pain. She didn't want to worry the adults, and forced a smile: "It's okay, I just fell down."

"Just now, I killed a corpse crow with my own hands!" She said excitedly, her voice unconsciously became high-pitched, and her eyes flashed with excitement.

Long Yilan touched Xiaoyi's head, then reached out her hand and gently tidied her hair, praising her sincerely: "Xiaoyi is great!"

After that, she picked up Xiaoyi and said softly: "Now, let's go apply the medicine first, okay?"

These words seemed like a gentle breeze, gently soothing Xiaoyi's frightened heart.

Jiang Yunqi raised his head, looked at the sky, sighed deeply, a smile flashed through his eyes, but also revealed a faint sadness. Xiaoyi

is cute, well-behaved and sensible, and has a stubborn and unyielding tenacity. People can't help but feel sorry for this girl and love her at the same time. No wonder Long Yilan, who always dislikes children, can be gentle to her.

It's not without reason that she hates children.

Long Yilan once raised some pets and treated them as her family members, but was cruelly abused to death by the youngest son of the Long family. Her father, the head of the Long family, doted on his youngest son. When she went to question him, he said casually, "They are just a few animals. As long as your brother is happy."

He even scolded her for not being an Alpha and spending her days playing with toys.

In response to such partiality and indifference, Long Yilan completely moved out of the Long family and joined the front line to fight against the Zerg.

Since then, she no longer raised any pets and hated all children, leaving a scar in her heart that was difficult to heal.

He was quite grateful to Xiaoyi. Her appearance seemed to slowly heal Long Yilan's pain.

"When did you meet her?" Gu Bingchen approached Jiang Yunqi and asked in a low voice, "I haven't heard you mention it before."

The two were close to each other, and their heights were almost the same. The hot air from his nose sprayed on his neck, and the tip of his ears turned lightly red.

Jiang Yunqi tilted his head slightly and moved his feet to the side: "I have known her for many years. I didn't mention it before, and I didn't know if I could meet again."

Gu Bingchen: "Oh."

Then, the communication between the two stopped abruptly, and they walked in silence on the small dirt road in the countryside. There was only the faint sound of the breeze blowing through the treetops around them, and the atmosphere was a bit subtle.

"I have a deal to discuss with you, do you want to hear it?"

Just before entering the house, Gu Bingchen spoke up to break the strange atmosphere in the air.

Jiang Yunqi turned around, wondering, "What deal?"

Under the osmanthus tree, the bright moonlight shone through the gaps between the leaves onto Gu Bingchen's handsome face. His long eyelashes cast a faint shadow, and his deep phoenix eyes stared at Jiang Yunqi, with complex emotions in his eyes, like an unfathomable lake, calm but with undercurrents.

He seemed to feel that his attitude towards Jiang Yunqi was different.

But he couldn't say what it was.

Gu Bingchen pursed his lips, closed his eyes, hid this strange feeling, and said: "You call that lady."

Then, he strode towards a small pavilion in the yard, and his back looked like he was running away.

Jiang Yunqi frowned, feeling a little puzzled.

......

"What do you want to trade with us?"

In the pavilion, Jiang Yunqi and Long Yilan sat opposite Gu Bingchen, and it was Long Yilan who asked the question.

Gu Bingchen's face was solemn, and he spoke slowly: "These villagers cannot stay here. You saw what happened in the evening. Even if there is no siege by zombies, there will still be sneak attacks by zombie animals and mutated creatures."

"You are powerful, but you can't protect them forever. The best way is to find a shelter for them."

"The Anyang base, the largest and safest in the country, is far away, and their physical condition does not support them to travel long distances."

Having said this, Gu Bingchen paused for a moment. Under the small stone table, Jiang Yunqi's leg accidentally touched his knee, and the slight touch made him dazed for a moment.

"To sum up, your best choice is the Meicheng base."

Long Yilan nodded in approval: "You are right, so what do you want to do?"

The analysis is so thorough, there will be no trap, right?

She narrowed her eyes slightly, and while agreeing with Gu Bingchen, she began to be alert in her heart. A sharp light flashed in her beautiful peach blossom eyes, as if to see through his true intentions.

"I don't mean anything else, you don't have to be nervous." Gu Bingchen didn't mind Long Yilan's wary eyes. He casually put the map on the table, took out a desk lamp, and pointed his bony fingers at the route between Ningcheng and Meicheng.

? !

Do people here also have space buttons?

It was the first time that Long Yilan had seen someone who could suddenly conjure up an item like them in the first few days.

Gu Bingchen measured the distance between the two cities on the map and said, "The distance between Ningcheng and Meicheng is 400 kilometers. It used to take four or five hours to get there by driving on the highway. Nowadays, most highways are broken or full of abandoned cars, making it difficult for cars to pass."

He pointed to another road: "So, in most cases, people will choose to take a detour. Once you take a detour, the journey will take longer."

"If everything goes smoothly, it will take at least a day and a half."

Long Yilan understood after hearing this. Now that they have collected enough crystal cores to enter the city, they are facing the dilemma of having no means of transportation.

It takes more than a day and a half to drive there, and if you walk, it will take about ten days to half a month.

This is just under ideal conditions.

"So... you have a car for us?" Long Yilan's mind worked quickly, and she immediately understood what the deal was that Gu Bingchen was talking about.

Gu Bingchen got up and walked out of the pavilion, and parked the minibus that he had driven in the morning on the open space: "I have a car."

Jiang Yunqi understood and asked: "How is the price calculated?"

"The rental fee is 10 crystal cores per day." Gu Bingchen held the car key in his palm and smiled, "The vehicle is fully fueled, and an additional 15 crystal cores are required. Since you are Yunqi's friend, the villagers don't have to charge extra."

"Is this price acceptable?"

For those who had been cheated by him and lost half of their family assets, this transaction was almost a charity.

Otherwise, he would be called a profiteer. Gu Bingchen almost calculated that with all the crystal cores in Long Yilan's hands, minus the necessary expenses to enter the base, the money for renting a car was far from enough.

Long Yilan gritted her teeth and nodded in agreement: "OK, I'll rent it."

Let's take a part of the entrance fee first, and we can save more on the way there.

"Long Yilan." A familiar voice came from behind the three people, and Long Yilan turned around to take a look.

It was Ji Heng who was walking with a cane. He walked to her with difficulty, grabbed a handful of crystal cores from his pocket and stuffed them into Long Yilan's hand.

"You are..." Long Yilan quickly held up the crystal core with both hands, a trace of surprise flashed across her peach blossom eyes.

"What are you looking at! You are allowed to be a good person, but I am not allowed to do good things?" Ji Heng turned his head away and snorted coldly, but his remaining eyes were secretly observing Long Yilan's expression.

Long Yilan counted and found that there were exactly 35 crystal cores. She put the crystal cores into the space, looked up and looked at Ji Heng: "No, it's just that, why did you suddenly..."

Ji Heng lowered his head and stared at his feet. He muttered: "No reason, don't ask too much."

"And you." He raised his head and looked directly at Gu Bingchen and Jiang Yunqi. Facing these two adult men who were much taller than him and had unfathomable strength, he did not show any retreat or embarrassment in his eyes. Instead, he ignited the urge to refuse to admit defeat. "Sooner or later, I will surpass you..."

Jiang Yunqi had met many children like Ji Heng before, so he did not care about his words that were almost like a declaration of war. Instead, he was looking forward to his growth and breakthrough.

Gu Bingchen raised his eyebrows: "Hmm, waiting for you."

This carefree and casual attitude is really annoying sometimes. Ji Heng rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned to leave.

When he was about to walk out of the yard, he stopped and said in a slightly hoarse voice: "I'm sorry." His tone was serious and sincere.

Long Yilan looked at his back and smiled: "Just like those bastards before."

Gu Bingchen glanced at her, thinking about the plan for tomorrow morning, and seemed to mention the urgent gasoline inadvertently.

"We have a car, but not enough gasoline." Gu Bingchen frowned, as if he was a little embarrassed, "Although the minibus is full of gas, no one can be sure that the amount of gas can support you to the Meicheng base."

Long Yilan thought, yes, if there is no gas, there is no use having a car.

However, she didn't know where there was a gas station.

She scratched her hair in annoyance and began to miss the high technology of the interstellar era. The suspended car did not need to be refueled or powered. It used light sources. As long as there was light, the car could keep running.

"How about this, I will go to the gas station with my team tomorrow. If you need it, we can go together." The smile on Gu Bingchen's face became deeper and deeper, as if he had dug a pit and was waiting for Long Yilan to jump in.

Who knew that the next moment, she refused.

The curve of Gu Bingchen's lips slowly disappeared: "Why?"

Long Yilan frowned slightly, with a hint of worry lingering on her face: "The villagers are currently very xenophobic, mentally unstable, and easily swayed by emotions. I'm worried that they will do irrational things like they did yesterday."

"Then let Wanyue and Xiao Tang stay. They both have gentle personalities and strong strength. On the one hand, they can protect the safety of the villagers, and on the other hand, they can keep an eye on them. How about it?"

Without Chu Wanyue and Tang Yichao knowing it, they were temporarily seconded by their boss to serve as bodyguards and nannies.

Gu Bingchen had already said this, and it would be inappropriate to refuse. Long Yilan hesitated for a moment, and finally agreed: "Okay, then when do we leave tomorrow?"

"At dawn."