Chapter 109: He Must Survive Until He Sees Su Tao
Su Tao was momentarily stunned before she smiled and extended her hand for a light handshake.
“Captain Lei, happy cooperation.”
She withdrew her hand and said, “Since that’s the case, I can prepay half a ton of fuel on the day you arrive at Shou’an. Once you find Wu Zhen’s family, I will give you another half-ton of food. After successfully transporting them to Dongyang, I will arrange for their treatment. How does that sound?”
Lei Xing grinned.
“Perfect. Three days. I guarantee that we’ll find and rescue them within three days.”
That afternoon, the members of Leopard Path roared towards Shou’an on their modified cyber-bikes, dragging half a ton of fuel with them.
Standing on a mountaintop, Su Tao watched their vehicles disappear into the distance, leaving behind a trail of exhaust fumes. She could even faintly hear the deafening punk music they were blasting.
A bunch of crazy doomsday drifters…
But with them on the move, she could put one worry aside. She immediately called Wu Zhen.
The call was extremely unstable, filled with static and intermittent breaks. It took immense effort to understand anything—Shou’an’s network was on the verge of collapse.
Just as she began explaining the rescue plan, the call was suddenly cut off.
Both sides were left dumbfounded.
Wu Zhen frantically tried calling back again and again, but the connection wouldn’t go through. He was so frustrated he nearly smashed his communicator.
His wife, eyes hollow and dry from crying, held their sleeping son tightly. Her voice was hoarse, “Who was it? Someone named Su or Jiang? Why would they call? To ask if we’re dead yet?”
At that moment, loud bangs struck the door again, making the ground tremble. More cracks spread across the fragile walls.
Their son woke up in terror, holding back his sobs in silent fear.
Wu Zhen shoved a wardrobe against the door while saying, “It was Miss Su. We barely spoke before the signal cut off. I think she’s found someone to rescue us.”
His wife’s dull eyes flickered with a faint hope—only to quickly dim again.
“Impossible. Shou’an is a sea of corpses and flames. Anyone who comes here dies. They were probably just calling to apologize, telling us to fend for ourselves.”
Wu Zhen said firmly, “I believe in her.”
His wife scoffed, leaning against the wall and shedding silent tears.
Waiting for death was pure torment.
But that brief call gave Wu Zhen renewed determination. He channeled his powers, causing thick vines of tendon grass to grow wildly, covering the walls of their house and forming a sturdy protective net.
He must survive—until the moment he sees Su Tao.
Meanwhile, Su Tao made multiple calls, but none connected. She could only give up, her heart tightening with worry for Wu Zhen.
Hopefully, Lei Xing and his team would get there in time.
Before dinner, Zhuang Wan sent her a list of new tenants.
“Boss, there are nine people in total. Five are military family members, including a war widow. Her husband, two sons, and even her own brother and sister were all killed—she’s the only one left. When I visited her home, I saw a row of memorial photos… It was heartbreaking.”
Just hearing that made Su Tao sigh. “Take extra care of the war widow. If she needs anything, tell her not to hesitate to ask. The others seem fine. They can move in tomorrow or the day after. You should rest early too.”
Zhuang Wan sighed. “I have to head to Dongyang Hospital soon. Do you remember Lan Lingling? The one who broke her back arguing with her ex? She was kidnapped on her way home today and assaulted by multiple men. She’s in critical condition.”
Su Tao felt a chill down her spine. “I’m coming with you. Did they catch the attackers?”
Zhuang Wan shook her head. “Not yet. She’s still unconscious, so we don’t know the full situation. Her fiancé, Wu Feichi, is also missing—no contact at all.”
“I have a feeling this was done by someone who couldn’t move in recently, maybe out of resentment. They might also have a personal grudge against them…”
Su Tao clenched her teeth, rage boiling inside her. “What kind of monsters… Wait for me, I’ll have Zining drive us there.”
Upon arriving at the hospital, they rushed to the ward, where several police officers were speaking with Lan Lingling’s father.
Lan Lingling lay in the hospital bed, covered in tubes. Her face was marred with cigarette burns, and bruises covered her entire body.
Su Tao could barely stand to look.
As the police took statements, Lan Lingling’s father suddenly broke down, pleading, “Please arrest him! This must be Su Zhengqing’s doing! He threatened my daughter before—said if she kept living in Taoyang with Wu Feichi, he’d have them both killed! Her broken back last time was his warning! Officer, I, Lan Minghui, have worked as an engineer in Dongyang for decades! I dedicated half my life to this place, and now my daughter has been ruined like this—I, I—”
Before he could finish, he burst into tears.
Su Zhengqing?!
Su Tao was stunned. She stepped forward to look at Lan Minghui more closely.
She did recognize him. As a child, she had seen him at a banquet where her adoptive father, Su Jianming, was trying to curry favor with officials.
And Su Zhengqing—he had tried to marry the daughter of one of Su Jianming’s superiors in order to climb the social ladder. He had even applied for housing in Taoyang multiple times.
So he was after Lan Lingling all along?
What a cursed entanglement.
The police were helpless, explaining again that they needed solid evidence to make an arrest. They had to wait for the forensic results.
Lan Minghui collapsed, wailing, “By the time the results come out, he’ll have fled! If you won’t arrest him, I will! I’ll kill him myself! The entire Su family is rotten! I was blind to ever let Lingling get involved with them! I’m going to find Su Jianming—I’ll kill him!”
He was so agitated that two police officers had to restrain him.
Su Tao watched, dumbfounded, as he was dragged away. Then she snapped out of it and quickly called Pei Dong.
“Sister Pei, keep an eye out for a man named Su Zhengqing. If he tries to leave the city, arrest him immediately and hand him over to the police.”
Pei Dong didn’t even ask why—she agreed on the spot.
Su Tao hung up the phone, still in a daze. She looked at the unconscious Lan Lingling on the hospital bed and sighed.
Better to wait until she wakes up.
On the way back, Su Tao asked Zhuang Wan and Guan Zining, “Why would someone who used to be nothing more than a cowardly, selfish prankster suddenly have the guts to commit such a brutal crime?”
In her memory, Su Zhengqing was despicable but spineless—a total weakling. Back in school, when they were shown censored footage of zombie attacks, he couldn’t even bring himself to watch it.
And yet, this same person had dared to commit such horrific sexual violence against his former lover, nearly killing her.
Zhuang Wan and Guan Zining exchanged glances, immediately realizing she was talking about Su Zhengqing.
Guan Zining said, “There are two possible explanations. First, bad influences—he may have fallen in with the wrong crowd, and someone encouraged or manipulated him into doing this.”
“Second, he might have thought: ‘The apocalypse is coming again. Who knows how long I’ll live anyway?’ So he let the evil buried deep inside him take over, trampling on morality and the law without restraint. This kind of behavior became especially common after the first apocalypse. Many people who seemed decent and well-mannered before the disaster turned into complete monsters afterward.”
