Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 255: Car Keys (Part 4)


Wang Qiang inexplicably turned his head, somewhat sheepishly responding, "Huh?"

Tang Xiaoquan didn't rush to reply. Instead, he cautiously glanced at the door. Only after confirming that Zhao Huilong's footsteps had faded did he approach Wang Qiang closely and continue in a low voice, "Qiangzi, let me ask you, what do you think of Zhao Huilong as a person...?"

"Hmm?" Wang Qiang was clearly surprised by the question, but he quickly gave his answer, "He's okay, I guess. Why? Why are you asking?"

Ignoring his brother's doubts, Tang Xiaoquan pondered for a few seconds and then promptly pursued, "During your interactions with him, did you ever...?"

Tang Xiaoquan's fingers instinctively waved twice in front of him, seemingly searching for the right words to express his thoughts. After repeating "did you ever" three times, he finally forced out the rest, "Did you ever notice anything off about Zhao Huilong? Like... strange behavior or incoherence?"

With a raised eyebrow, while Wang Qiang was thick-skinned, it didn't mean he was stupid. How could he not understand what Tang Xiaoquan was implying?

But Wang Qiang never liked talking behind people's backs, so he immediately and bluntly scolded his brother, "What do you mean? You really should try to be more positive! If you truly thought Zhao Huilong was problematic, why did you save him yesterday?"

The barrage caught Tang Xiaoquan off guard, and he awkwardly tried to explain, "No, Qiangzi, that's not what I mean. What I mean is..."

Before Tang Xiaoquan could finish, Wang Qiang's expression darkened, and he impatiently interrupted by waving his hands forcefully, "Enough of 'what I mean.' Let's put it this way; I can't answer your question. If you're truly concerned about young Zhao, turn left when you exit and ask him yourself!!"

With that, Wang Qiang walked out of the room without looking back, leaving Tang Xiaoquan standing there with his mouth half-open in shock.

Watching his brother's departing figure, Tang Xiaoquan shook his head with a bitter smile.

Indeed, as Wang Qiang said, the questions he asked were indeed because he didn't feel at ease about Zhao Huilong.

After all, to someone like Tang Xiaoquan, who has delved into many psychology books, it was hard not to be suspicious of someone like Zhao Huilong, who had been confined alone in a sealed chamber for nearly two months.

Because past reality has shown countless instances where people in solitary environments easily exhibit symptoms like claustrophobia, and the longer it lasts, the more apparent these symptoms become.

So, even if Zhao Huilong seemed no different from ordinary people at the moment, Tang Xiaoquan had reasons to believe that his subconscious mental state might have undergone changes that differed from normal people.

And this unknown change posed an extreme danger to the team he was part of.

"Sigh~" Tang Xiaoquan, who stood foolishly for a moment, inexplicably let out a long breath, and an old saying suddenly floated into his mind:

"The world is at peace, but foolish people disturb themselves."

Indeed! It was already a problem for them to escape the City Management Bureau alive. Why waste energy pondering Zhao Huilong's reliability? Wasn't this clearly creating trouble for himself?

Thinking of this, Tang Xiaoquan helplessly smiled: fine, rather than wasting time on these meaningless issues, it's better to consider the real problems.

Quickly exiting the room, Tang Xiaoquan soon arrived at the staircase entrance. He wanted to go down to check the situation with the zombies outside the iron gate, hoping it might give him some "inspiration."

And just as he was about to reach the bottom of the stairs, a shadow lurking in the darkness suddenly poked its head out.

"Old Lin!"

The words slipped out instinctively, and at this moment, Lin Junfu also spotted Tang Xiaoquan in the hallway.

The two exchanged a glance, and Old Lin quickly waved Tang Xiaoquan over.

Once they gathered, Tang Xiaoquan got straight to the point, "How is it, Director Lin? Is there any improvement outside?"

After a moment of silence, Old Lin pointed to the door, "The banging and hitting have stopped, and the zombie horde is gradually dispersing, but most of them are still gathered in the yard. If we try a head-on rush, I'm afraid..."

Old Lin shook his head in defeat, not needing to finish his sentence. Even a fool could understand what he meant.

"If our supplies can hold out a while longer, perhaps these beasts will leave on their own."

But perhaps was just perhaps; Old Lin himself understood that what he added after the pause was just wishful thinking.

Tang Xiaoquan looked indifferently outside at the zombies, who were aimlessly wandering in the sunlight. Their leisurely demeanor starkly contrasted with the team's hesitation.

And it was often at times like these that Tang Xiaoquan would have a strange thought: Is living as a "human" in this world truly more fortunate than being a zombie?

Maybe he would soon know the answer, because if the breakout failed, only two roads awaited him:

One, being torn apart and devoured by the zombie horde;

Two, being infected and mutated by the virus;

Of course, compared to being torn apart, Tang Xiaoquan clearly preferred the latter since turning into a walking dead seemed more "fortunate" than dying without an intact body.

"Hey! Hey, Xiao Tang, are you alright?" Sensing something off about the person next to him, Lin Junfu asked worriedly in a low voice.

This question brought Tang Xiaoquan out of his daze immediately. He glanced at Old Lin, then sheepishly laughed, "No, I'm fine, hehe, just zoned out for a moment!"

Returning his thoughts to the task at hand, Tang Xiaoquan began to seriously reconsider the purpose of his trip.

Indeed, this was something he had considered countless times and discussed with others multiple times, but he, stubborn as ever, still had a different opinion about the so-called "going down fighting" proposal.

Are they truly left with no other choice but to risk their lives?

Scanning the area randomly, Tang Xiaoquan didn't know what he was searching for. He was only hoping to find a way to disperse the zombies outside the gate.

Whether it was by killing or luring, as long as they could reduce the number of zombies at the gate, they would have a fighting chance.

Broken glass lay scattered at the gate, reflecting in the sunlight with tiny bursts of light.

Suddenly, Tang Xiaoquan's wandering gaze paused. He felt like he had grasped something, but just as he was about to unravel the mystery, a series of light and subtle footsteps came from the stairwell.

When he turned to look, he saw Zhao Huilong's hurried figure slowly descending.

Moments later, the three were gathered together, and Old Zhao shared something that made both Tang Lin and him surprised and excited, "I think I found the keys to the City Management Bureau's vehicle."

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