Si Nan hung the tag back around his neck, speaking hoarsely: “I just want to know how he died.”
“I was wrong, I truly didn’t mean it. After 118’s disbandment, they gave us new dog tags, and I kept the old one as a lucky charm. One night, during the chaos, I somehow lost it… Hey, Si Xiaonan, listen to me, do you want water? Let me tell you a joke. Once there was a mute person, he…”
Si Nan’s rationality snapped.
Yan Hao screamed as he was pressed to the ground, Si Nan gripping his neck, saying coldly, “You’re about to become a mute yourself.”
Chun Cao and Ding Shi each held one of them, using tremendous effort to rescue Yan Hao from Si Nan’s grip. Si Nan was exasperated, holding the dog tag and shouting, “If you’re White Eagle! I’ve already broken your leg! And you!
“
Chun Cao quickly hid behind Yan Hao. Si Nan demanded, “Who said Yan Hao was dead? Your eighteenth birthday gift is gone!”
Chun Cao immediately protested loudly, “You only asked if Big Ding was alive. How would I know why you didn’t ask about Yan Xiaohao! And you never planned to give me an eighteenth birthday gift anyway!”
Si Nan knew he was in the wrong and sat back down, a hand pressed against his throbbing temple.
“Okay, okay, don’t be angry,” Yan Hao suppressed his laughter and tried to mediate, “Dog tags are supposed to be worn on the chest. It’s normal to think I was eaten by zombies and it fell to the ground… By the way, Si Xiaonan, I didn’t know you didn’t want me to die. I heard you talking on the tree and was really, really touched…”
“Too late,” Si Nan said coldly. “I cried holding your dog tag in the camp for half an hour, but you couldn’t hear it.”
Yan Hao was instantly stunned, his face showing “What did I miss?!”
Si Nan ignored him, pulling out a waterproof layer from his soaked backpack and firing a signal flare into the sky: “Let’s go. Find a place to hide nearby and wait for the main force.”
Chun Cao recounted their encounter with Tang Hao and his escape by falling into the river. Everyone began to pack up their pitiful temporary camp. Si Nan’s assault rifle had also fallen into the river. “
The former 118 squad had never been this poor, like Yang Bailao being chased by a landlord, their situation was miserable.
Fortunately, Si Nan’s backpack still had some water-soaked dry rations, hand grenades, rope, and a first aid kit. He distributed the remaining supplies, and they used machetes to cut through waist-high bushes, heading deeper into the forest’s concealed areas.
“We’ll meet up with Rong Ge and then look for Tang Hao,” Yan Hao said, holding a knife in one hand and gnawing on a compressed biscuit. “He deliberately wanted to lure Si Nan to that cave. There’s probably something inside we should investigate.”
“Do you think he’s related to the zombie night attack?” Chun Cao asked.
They looked at each other. After a moment, Yan Hao said, “No, I don’t think so. If he wanted to kill everyone, he should have run first. But Tang Hao did fight until the end, and his shock and anger at the time didn’t seem fake.”
“However,” Yan Hao’s tone changed, “if we find evidence that he’s responsible for the total annihilation, we’ll definitely tear him apart to avenge everyone.”
The sun was directly overhead, and the surroundings were quiet. The zombies’ intermittent roars were now distant, mixing with the wind, echoing through the valley.
They stopped in the shade of a towering ancient tree, leaning together, eating, chatting, analyzing the valley’s terrain, and guessing where the antibodies might have fallen.
Ding Shi anxiously asked Si Nan about his little Jin Hua. Si Nan cleverly skipped the part about holding a gun to Jin Hua’s head, only saying she had specially requested to assist the rescue plane’s flight and personally expressed hope that Ding Shi would return alive.
Ding Shi was immediately moved: “I knew little Jin Hua could do anything, even flying a plane. She was always the most beautiful and clever girl in our village…”
Chun Cao looked at him with a pained expression.
Si Nan sat cross-legged in the grass, propping his chin, silent. He seemed to have suddenly shed an invisible and heavy shackle, becoming internally calm, even feeling a slight sense of relaxation and comfort.
Si Nan closed his eyes as drowsiness washed over him. Suddenly, there was a rustling sound nearby, with a large group of voices approaching.
Chun Cao listened carefully, then suddenly stood up: “It’s the rescue team! Rong Ge and the others are here!”
Undeniably excited, everyone immediately got up, shouting as they walked back, soon hearing the rescue team members’ responses from the signal flare location.
“Where’s Si Xiaonan?” Zhou Rong’s roar came through the forest: “Don’t tell me he ran off again!”
Si Nan laughed, having just walked a few steps with his teammates, then suddenly stopped. He pressed down his messy short hair, lifted his shirt to wipe sweat from his face, and bent down to tuck his camouflage pants into his boots.
He had never deliberately stopped to tidy himself before meeting someone, but just as he was about to stand up, the tree canopy rustled, and something heavy whooshed down.
Bang!
—It was a person!
Si Nan was in a one-knee kneel, unable to react before being pinned and rolled. The next second, a gun barrel was pressed against his temple, and a rough, scarred arm from behind choked his throat, forcibly lifting him off the ground.
Ten meters ahead, Yan Hao suddenly turned back, shouting, “Let him go!”
Si Nan’s expression slightly changed, hearing Tang Hao’s tired but resolute voice from behind:
You can’t go, come with me.”
Chapter 81
Footsteps rushed from behind the bushes, Zhou Rong led over ten search and rescue team members and instantly arrived, shouting: “Si Nan!
Si Nan, who had strangled so many people’s throats, was experiencing for the first time being nearly choked to death. His face instantly turned blue, his lungs spasming, grabbing Tang Hao’s elbow. Within seconds, he was losing strength due to oxygen deprivation.
Zhou Rong took an uncontrolled step forward, then forced himself to stop: “Let him go, Tang Hao. What exactly do you want to do?”
The scene instantly became tense. Si Nan was only ten meters from Zhou Rong, but it felt like an impassable chasm. Zhou Rong stared directly into Tang Hao’s eyes, secretly signaling a “sniper ready” gesture behind his back to the search and rescue team members. But before the special forces at the back could quietly reposition, Tang Hao sneered: “Want to snipe? Useless. The visibility here is poor, with many obstacles. Are you really not afraid a shot might kill both me and the antibody carrier?”
The snipers instantly froze.
“…Let go a bit, or you’ll choke him to death,” Zhou Rong almost squeezed the words out between his teeth: “Calm down, Tang Hao. Tell me who sent you. Rommel? Or other A-country people? What conditions did they provide? Did you know about the zombie night raid on the camp in advance?”
Tang Hao did not answer: “Throw the gun over.”
Zhou Rong shouted harshly: “Tang Hao!”
“—It’s the antibodies,” Yan Hao suddenly and abruptly said.
Everyone’s gaze turned, and if one paid careful attention, they would notice Tang Hao’s eye corner twitching slightly.
Yan Hao asked: “Something’s wrong with the antibodies, isn’t it?”
This time, Tang Hao paused for several seconds under everyone’s watchful eyes before shaking his head: “No need for more nonsense. Count to three, everyone throws their guns over. One, two…”
Zhou Rong threw his assault rifle with a slap, followed by a chorus of gun-throwing sounds.
Si Nan gritted his teeth and struggled, with the gun barrel clicking into place against his temple: “Don’t move. I can still complete my mission with your corpse.”
