Chapter 119: Familiar Ground

"Why would you say that?" He Ying blinked.

I've been suspicious from the start; we were clearly hiding well, so why were we so easily discovered, and our exact location and number were obvious—this clearly wasn't something he noticed by chance; it must be an ability.

"Just like Sun Yuan?" He Ying asked.

"That's possible; besides, I just remembered a detail." Chen Mu narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"Before I launched a sneak attack on Yangbu'an, Zhaotong had already stepped aside, as if he'd seen through my intention."

"Mind reading?" He Ying exclaimed.

"Probably not; if it were mind reading, I wouldn't have won so easily, and at first he didn't even see us—how could he read our minds?"

Chen Mu paused, then continued: "But it's probably close—perhaps some kind of perception ability: once someone within a certain radius feels hostility, he senses it."

"That sounds good." He Ying's eyes lit up.

Chen Mu nodded: "If that's the case, it makes sense—we were hiding there at first and he didn't notice us, but after a while, when we formed the idea of knocking them out, Zhaotong sensed it, and my sneak attack on Yangbu'an being detected beforehand also fits."

"That's got to be it!" He Ying clenched his fist, feeling the thrill of solving a case.

"Since he himself has little combat ability, he left the situation entirely to Yangbu'an, and after Yangbu'an lost, he pretended to be magnanimous in letting us go; otherwise, according to what he said earlier, that storeroom is so important to Qingbei—how could he just let us walk away?"

"Really sly!" He Ying felt like he'd been tricked.

"Actually, it doesn't matter; we weren't planning to be enemies with Qingbei anyway, and even if we'd found out on the spot, we couldn't have done anything to them."

"All things considered, we still lost out." He Ying sighed, then added somewhat relieved: "Good thing you didn't expose yourself."

Chen Mu chuckled: "What's the difference? Once he goes back and describes it to Song Yu, he'll be able to guess about eighty or ninety percent."

He Ying froze, then sighed: "Looks like we went through all that trouble for nothing."

"That's not entirely true—there's a big difference between guessing and catching them in the act; next time we meet, we can still pretend nothing happened."

"With your thick skin, you could probably pull it off, but I'm not so sure." He Ying muttered.

"Thanks for the praise." Chen Mu gave an embarrassed smile.

The five of them walked and chatted casually.

The topic kept circling back to Qingbei—for instance, why they needed so much rice, given the storage conditions on the field, it's impossible to store enough to finish eating.

Speaking of rice, Lu Shanshan asked: "What exactly should we be looking for food-wise?"

"Flour is best; if not, rice is acceptable, but for other things, to be honest, I haven't figured it out yet."

"Huh?"

"Foraging naturally involves uncertainty." Chen Mu smiled: "Besides, this time I mainly wanted to check out Yi Zhong."

"Why would the people of Yi Zhong be hostile toward us?"

"I don't know."

Chen Mu shook his head: "But it's likely related to Qingbei; according to normal logic, people holding an exchange event on the field, even if they shrunk, would first choose to unite and cooperate, since there's hardly any conflict of interest."

"But the facts aren't like that."

"Hmm." Chen Mu nodded: "This is also what I want to figure out—after all, we're caught between their two major forces, and if we one day become cannon fodder through confusion, that would be unjust."

"Makes sense." Lu Shanshan nodded.

"Besides, I also want to see how others survive—food, water sourcing, shelter—if possible, we could learn from them; Qingbei's whereabouts are unknown, so we can't do anything, but regarding Yi Zhong, He Ying has scouted it."

Chen Mu finished speaking and looked at He Ying.

He Ying nodded: "Their main base is in the dining hall of the cafeteria; apart from tables and chairs, there's hardly anything else."

"That's also a strange place—by rights, such an open space shouldn't be used as a base; they only have a few dozen people, a storage room like ours would be enough, and it would be better for concealment and defense."

When saying that, even Chen Mu himself couldn't offer any possible guess.

"So should we go straight to the cafeteria?"

"Yeah, we'll decide when we get there."

"Won't they spot us?" He Ying, still wary from past incidents, said: "I used to think the cafeteria was enough, believing that if I was careful I could avoid Yi Zhong's people, but I've been discovered several times—I don't know if it's bad luck or something else."

"Maybe they have someone with that ability?" Lu Shanshan asked.

Chen Mu shook his head: "But the last time we went, we only met a bunch of ordinary people out looking for food, with zero combat ability."

Time flew by as they walked and talked.

About an hour and a half later, the five finally reached the vicinity of the cafeteria again.

Lu Shanshan and Xue Xu were here for the first time since the apocalypse, while He Ying was revisiting old ground; from afar he saw the old distribution box he'd once stayed near, and felt a twinge of nostalgia.

"So what now?"

"First find a safe spot for Lu Shanshan and Xue Xu to hide..."

As they spoke, the five had already arrived at the cargo ramp beside the cafeteria side door.

Last time we passed here, Wei Dalei was also pushing a handcart; this time there are just more people.

However, after just a few steps up the slope, they heard a strange hissing sound from not far away.

The source of the sound seemed to be below the side of the slope.

They had already climbed a certain height; due to the angle, they couldn't see the ground below, so they walked two steps toward the edge and peered down.

With no railing, this height feels a bit nerve‑wracking.

Wei Dalei simply wouldn't dare get near the edge of the slope, even though it isn't that high.

Chen Mu had just stuck his head out when he immediately pulled it back.

The scene below far exceeded his expectations.

It was a long line of vehicles; at first glance, there seemed to be about a dozen.

Various sizes and colors.

Sedans, minivans, pickups, and even a police car.

Chen Mu almost thought he had returned to his original world.

But upon closer look, he suddenly understood.

They were all toy cars.