Chapter 28 Get Out
Bai Chenzhu wasn't really keen on going either. He hadn't had a proper rest these past few days, so he naturally wouldn't refuse this rare opportunity to relax.
But to his surprise, after only half a day of sleep, he woke up to find that Jiang Ye and Bai Tao did not look well.
"What's wrong?" Bai Chenzhu slowly took a sip of water. "Were you bullied? Robbed? Did you see a dead person come back to life?"
"No." Bai Tao glanced at Jiang Ye's dark face. "Brother, you might really have to go this time."
She described the scene in detail.
Last night, Bai Chenzhu pointed them in a general direction, and they followed the direction and actually found a strange luxury residential area.
This neighborhood is mostly composed of detached villas, with mountains, water, lakes, and gardens—it's absolutely beautiful. There isn't a single zombie in sight. There are security guards at the entrance, and teams of people patrolling the area; it looks exactly like it did before the disaster.
When they arrived, they could only see mutated dogs being dragged out, killed in an open space, and cremated. The crowd gathered around did not look well. The leader was a masked young man dressed in all black, including black sunglasses and a black mask.
Jiang Ye said, "Sister Zhuohua, do you know Xiao Jie? You know, the kid who used to chase after you crying with snot bubbles in his nose when he was little."
Zhou Zhuohua thought for a moment, "Oh! You mean Tang Jie, right? The one who clung to your leg, crying and begging you to take him on his adventures!"
Wandering the martial world? What's that? Bai Chenzhu pointed at the table to make his presence known, "Bai Tao and I are still here. Who can translate your encrypted language?"
Zhou Zhuohua said, "It's like this, Jiang Ye's family is quite special, well... after all, he's the eldest son, and his parents' work is a bit sensitive. Once, his father brought him here on business, and I remember that a leader from Fuyun City specially hosted a dinner for them at his home. That leader had a young son, Tang Jie, who took to Jiang Ye at first sight and then kept pestering Jiang Ye to play."
She looked at Jiang Ye with a smile, "He was chasing after Jiang Ye with a toy gun, and after getting beaten up, he inexplicably started to call him his older brother."
"I got to know him through this, and every time Jiang Ye came to Fuyun City, the three of us would get together for a while."
Upon hearing this, Bai Chenzhu felt his position as the 'number one henchman' was in jeopardy. He asked warily, "What, you've run into him?"
“I didn’t see him, but I recognize that villa. It’s in the middle of the villa area, and there are many people coming and going, but I didn’t see him.” Jiang Ye fell into deep thought. “And the people in the villa area have a clear division of labor, which is very strange.”
"Maybe they just moved away?" Bai Chenzhu speculated.
"Move away?" Jiang Ye paused, his expression strange. "To be precise, that area belongs to his family. All the villas are built around the central villa."
"This is tricky." Bai Tao struck a classic Conan pose. "We know that the two big brothers killed a crazy old man, but we don't know his identity. Then the body was taken away, and after they went back, they burned the mutated dog. They also have a leader."
"This looks like a feud, especially since they're so close to us. Are we supposed to just run away with our tails between our legs?" She pouted, clearly annoyed.
"As the saying goes, if you can't solve the problem, solve the person who caused it. How about we strike first?" Bai Tao made a throat-slitting gesture very seriously.
Although she already knew what kind of person Bai Tao was, Zhou Zhuohua's eyelids still twitched when she suddenly heard this. She pressed down Bai Tao's restless hand and said, "Stop messing around and behave yourself."
Unexpectedly, Jiang Ye nodded, "That makes sense."
Bai Chenzhu felt like he was in deep trouble. He looked at the three of them expressionlessly, wanting to hear what other outrageous ideas they had.
After Zhou Zhuohua and Bai Tao left, he patted the edge of the bed. Jiang Ye sat sideways to follow his movements. "What's wrong? I noticed you were distracted just now."
“While Bai Tao’s reasoning is somewhat flawed, it’s not the main reason. More importantly…” Bai Chenzhu raised his eyelids and glanced at him, his eyes clearly seeing through him, “What happened here before?”
Jiang Ye didn't react and let out a questioning sound through his nose.
“Your complexion isn’t quite right, ever since you mentioned that Tang Jie. Also, I remember the original ‘you’ came to Fuyun City…” Bai Chenzhu then recounted what he knew.
When Jiang Ye and he reviewed the information, they found that the two knew almost the same thing.
In the original timeline, Jiang Ye would have arrived in Fuyun City a year and a half later, where he would have met Tang Jie, who was disfigured and blind in one eye. At that time, Tang Jie was depressed and handed over the base that he had worked so hard to build to Jiang Ye before disappearing.
And at the heart of that base lies a luxurious residential complex nestled amidst the city's urban center. Compared to an entire city, the complex, though small, is fully equipped.
After accepting the manpower of Fuyun City and Tang Jie, Jiang Ye quickly built up his own power and expanded it to the surrounding areas. It can be said that everything Jiang Ye had in Fuyun City was based on Tang Jie.
The second fragment, too, was originally left behind by Tang Jie at the base.
Tang Jie is an important clue.
But now, they haven't seen Tang Jie.
Bai Chenzhu rested his index finger on his chin: "No wonder I felt such chaotic mental energy yesterday. It turns out they were going to burn their mutated pets. If they knew about the mutated creatures, why didn't they burn them before?"
Jiang Ye explained to him, "Superpowered individuals like that madman are rare these days. So, he must have held a high position while he was alive; perhaps he was the one who proposed the captivity of mutants. And after he died..."
Bai Chenzhu continued, "After he died, someone took his place. As far as we know, Tang Jie is definitely still in the community."
The two exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Let's go find Tang Jie."
Bai Chenzhu was stunned, never expecting that the two of them could be so in sync. He said, "It seems that I have no choice but to go this time. In that case, wait for me for two days? I can't leave or run away now, and I can't help you even if I go."
He wasn't worried about those people coming after him.
When Bai Chenzhu realized this thought, he suddenly became cautious: Had he unknowingly become so confident in these people? But they clearly hadn't encountered many incidents before.
"No need to wait. Just wait for us outside the community and use your mental powers to guide us." Jiang Ye paused here, feeling he had to explain further.
"Hmm... Actually, I've always been able to sense your mental energy. Although we don't have any communication tools available right now, you can still communicate with me using your mental energy over short distances."
"Exchange?" Bai Chenzhu wondered if he had misheard a word. Otherwise, why could he recognize each word individually but not understand it when they were put together?
Jiang Ye made a few vague gestures, raising his hand as if to grab something in the air, but grasped nothing.
Bai Chenzhu noticed that the spot where he had grabbed empty air was exactly where Bai Chenzhu's spiritual energy had passed. His gaze sharpened, and he asked urgently and uneasily, "Wait, can you still sense this thing?"
He always thought that Jiang Ye could only sense things when his mental energy was strong enough, just like when he unconsciously used all his mental energy to attack Jiang Ye last time—that was a very rare occurrence.
But they never expected that Jiang Ye's sensitivity to mental energy would be so precise.
You have to understand that spiritual power doesn't have a physical form. Bai Chenzhu asked incredulously, "Then you can sense Bai Tao too?"
Jiang Ye looked disgusted. "Who wants to pay attention to her?"
If Bai Chenzhu's spiritual power is like a cool spring breeze, leaving only a lingering, refreshing coolness, then Bai Tao's spiritual power is like a knife. If you don't pay attention, it's fine, but if you do, you can 'see' that her spiritual power only causes you pain.
Bai Chenzhu looked at Jiang Ye with a face full of surprise.
Jiang Ye waved his hand in front of him in confusion. Bai Chenzhu snapped out of his daze, his gaze subtle. "So, actually, you've always been able to sense it, haven't you?"
This includes, but is not limited to, the things he does when he gets angry, such as letting his mental energy run wild and binding people in a mess.
Of course, he just can't see it, but he's not without feeling. Every time he feels a cool sensation on his body, Jiang Ye knows whose mental energy has come to haunt him.
Bai Chenzhu was like an octopus, occasionally using his unseen tentacles to entangle people. Jiang Ye chuckled twice, resting his chin on his hand, "Well, which answer do you want to hear?"
"You!" Bai Chenzhu squeezed the quilt repeatedly, with such force that he almost tore it apart.
The subtle feeling of being exposed for doing something wrong made it impossible for him to dwell on it. He thought about it over and over again in his mind, but he couldn't find the words to move on. So he pretended to be calm and nonchalant, saying, "Jiang Ye, I'm going out. You should go to sleep."
Jiang Ye brushed the stray hairs from his shoulder and calmly corrected him, "It should be, 'You go out, I'm going to sleep.'"
Confused and disoriented, Bai Chenzhu grabbed Jiang Ye's wrist with her other hand to stop him. Her dark phoenix eyes flickered, and her voice was low and slow, containing a hint of pleading and helplessness, "Jiang Ye, stop playing around."
"Okay, I can't see anything." Jiang Ye's lips curled up slightly as he stood up. "You get some rest. I'll go talk to them first, and we'll go together tomorrow."
Bai Chenzhu stared at his tall back, feeling rather embarrassed and speechless.
His mental energy has always been unruly—if it were more obedient and could be fully controlled, his body wouldn't be so weak.
Therefore, in Bai Chenzhu's eyes, his disobedient mental energy secretly followed up and secretly slapped Jiang Ye on the back twice.
Jiang Ye stopped in his tracks.
Bai Chenzhu's heart pounded wildly as he tried to control those embarrassing strands of spiritual energy and bring them back. This single effort exhausted all his strength, and his face turned slightly pale.
“Actually, being more active is a good thing. Trying to control doesn’t mean trying to restrain. You can even consider making peace with them.” Jiang Ye turned to the side, raised his hand and touched the spiritual threads that still lingered around him, his fingertips seeming to touch the cool spring water.
He rubbed his fingertips, which seemed to touch something yet also seemed to touch nothing, and said with a smile, "Quite cute."
After saying that, Jiang Ye opened the door and went out.
Bai Chenzhu was left staring at the spiritual beings around him who were dancing with joy because of the praise. He grabbed at the air in frustration but couldn't grab anything. He rubbed his temples, his head aching. "Come back here, all of you."
These uncontrollable mental threads are just like naughty children.
The next day, Bai Chenzhu, who was shaken awake and pulled out of bed, finally learned what Jiang Ye meant by "talking to the two of them".
The SUV in front of him was packed full from top to bottom. He gestured to Zhou Zhuohua not to help him, hopped on one foot and walked around halfway to take a look, and finally looked up at the three of them, "Are you planning to move?"
Bai Tao slammed her fist on her palm and said confidently, "Isn't this killing two birds with one stone? If it works out, we'll be living in the upscale neighborhood. If it doesn't, it'll be easy for us to escape!"
"It's quite convenient." Bai Chenzhu looked so weathered that he wanted to light a cigarette to calm down. "I thought I could stay at the hotel for a few more days."
Zhou Zhuohua said, "Actually, it's because last night, Jiang Ye discovered signs of a search in People's Park. He suspects that group is looking for us. We're so close, it's only a matter of time before they find us. Rather than sneaking around and hiding, we might as well go directly to their door. Besides, we also need to find Tang Jie."
Jiang Ye had already gotten into the car and was waiting. When he turned around and saw the three of them still there, he impatiently patted the car door and said, "Get in, get in."
At this time, the sky was just beginning to lighten, the air was cool, and the sun had not yet risen.
As they passed through roads, they occasionally saw shops with their doors broken open, and some people sneaking out in the early hours of the morning to loot supplies.
Greedy eyes would occasionally peek out from the shadows, watching the SUV drive away.
“Humans are inherently lazy creatures.” Bai Tao sipped her lollipop, somewhat nostalgic. “A month ago, I would have already finished a set of practice questions and started my morning reading.”
Zhou Zhuohua was resting with her eyes closed when Bai Tao nudged her shoulder. "Sister, what do you think if I could still take the college entrance exam, I should study medicine?"
"What are you studying medicine for? Don't come here, run!" Zhou Zhuohua was suddenly jolted awake by her words and almost screamed for her life.
Bai Chenzhu glanced at the two of them in the rearview mirror and suddenly said, "If you want to get rich, don't study literature."
"Oh~" Jiang Ye glanced at him, "So you used to study literature?"
He showed great curiosity about Bai Chenzhu.
Bai Chenzhu shook his head, recalling the past, and said heavily, "You hate the job you do."
Jiang Ye chuckled, while Bai Tao in the back seat was seriously considering what other majors she could apply for.
The residential area is very close to their hotel, just a ten-minute walk around the corner. The outer perimeter is planted with greenery and lawns, with sparse greenery interspersed with a continuous wire mesh, and occasional inconspicuous iron gates peeking out.
From the outside, they look like a few ordinary villas with occasional tall, tower-like decorations. At first glance, they seem to have some money, but it's still within the realm of common sense.
Bai Chenzhu instructed Jiang Ye to park the car near the back door, saying, "This is good. It'll be convenient for you to go in."
Jiang Ye and Bai Tao got out of the car.
Zhou Zhuohua was unusually domineering, "Come back safely, and don't get hurt anywhere."
"I understand." Jiang Ye shrugged. He stared at Bai Chenzhu until Bai Chenzhu nodded to him before turning around, feeling as if he were covered in frost.
Jiang Ye suppressed his urge to explore, and easily pried open the lock and opened the door in a few quick movements. Bai Tao seemed unable to resist and slipped inside like an eel, keeping a distance.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Ye asked, puzzled.
"Eek!" Bai Tao twitched her nose at him, then leaned back. "It's so strange, you smell like Brother Bai. Whenever I'm not looking at you, I always mistake you for him!"
"Oh?" Jiang Ye wasn't too concerned; what bothered him more was the other meaning behind the words, "You can already recognize people using your mental power?"
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