RHWHEG – Chapter 33 Two Camps

Whether Lin Luyi understood or not, they set off for their next destination.

Yu Qunqing had been redrawing the map.

The university town was arranged like an “O,” and with Dong Changxin’s attack trajectory, it formed an infinity symbol, “∞.” She attacked the inside of the circle, effectively cutting the university town’s campuses in half.

So, what was on the other side?

“I didn’t see anyone from the other side trying to cross over today,” said Dong Changxin, her back aching after a long day’s work. She put the iron box to the side. “They were very well-behaved.”

Many people surrounded her, making the air thick and stuffy. The rabbit meat she had requested was quickly brought to her. The slices were cut very thin so they could cook in an hour of sun exposure. There were only two or three slices on the plate. Food was precious now, and even though they had raised many rabbits, mice, and frogs, it was better to be frugal.

This was the dormitory area of the medical university. The medical university wasn’t well-known and its campus was small, but it was new and sturdy. The outer ring was an overpass, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Students from several universities had gathered here.

Dong Changxin took a few bites, interrupting their praise to ask, “Where’s student Yue?”

Someone told her she was upstairs. Dong Changxin took her meal and went up, and soon others followed her. This place was like a swamp; no matter where she went, eyes watched her. She pretended not to notice.

Student Yue sat in a chair, her face pale, her wrists frighteningly thin. She turned her head and saw Dong Changxin.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Dong Changxin showed her the rice box. “Do you want some?”

Student Yue said, “You’ve already finished the meat; what’s left for me?”

Dong Changxin just leaned against the doorframe and silently ate her rice.

Student Yue frowned. “Why aren’t you leaving yet? You’re blocking the light.”

Dong Changxin gripped her spoon, mumbling, “None of your business.”

Dong Changxin used the reflection of the spoon to see that the people who had followed her had moved away. Only then did her face show its true expression: wooden and lost.

Neither of them spoke, like close friends sulking.

Light shone past Dong Changxin’s shoulder into the room. Student Yue pulled up her sleeve, revealing a pale arm with the words “Run away” written on it in black oil-based pen.

Run away, Dong Changxin. Don’t come back for me again.

Dong Changxin’s face looked even more lost, or perhaps she was facing immense pain without realizing it.

Chewing her food, she suddenly shook her head violently. She pointed to the windowsill, meaning “the other side.”

Then she drew her thumb across her throat, meaning “it’s over.”

She lowered her head, stuffing large mouthfuls of food into her mouth, no longer looking at Student Yue’s expression.

“Student Changxin,” someone broke their silent communication. “Time for the meeting.”

Dong Changxin said okay, and left immediately without looking back. As she left, a copper wire was left behind by the sole of her shoe, as if she had accidentally stepped on it and left it behind.

When no one was around, Student Yue lunged for the copper wire. Her ankle was abnormally swollen, so she could only crawl on her knees. She retrieved the wire and put it in her small box. The box opened to reveal a half-finished loudspeaker.

She would never cry over her pain; she would make them pay for the blood debt!

“Student Changxin is here? Welcome, welcome.”

The top floor dorm was being used as a meeting room, and it was now packed with people. Dong Changxin instinctively stood in a corner, hoping no one would notice her.

The president, Mr. Qi, who was giving an important speech in the center of the room, expressed his concern for Dong Changxin before continuing his talk:

“We’ve been here for four months. The collapsed overpass protects us from the monsters, so they can’t get in.”

“And our medical university has raised animals. Everyone has tightened their belts, but we can still manage a meat meal once a week.”

Everyone let out a friendly laugh.

“I heard that in the official shelter, it’s very difficult to get meat. There are tens of thousands of people there—how could their lives be as good as ours?”

“Our system is also well-established. This place will soon be a utopia. If an outsider comes in through a gap, it will truly be like ‘entering a narrow cave that barely admits a person, but then it opens up to a vast, bright landscape.'”

Someone used a literary quote, and the air was filled with cheer.

“We just need to deal with the people on the other side,” someone suggested. “They’re taking in outsiders from Shangyuan City. Our resources aren’t abundant as it is, so why are they pretending to be rich? They insist on everyone suffering together… they’re foolish, but we’re not. Not to mention they even want to blow up the overpass and go outside together!”

Everyone agreed. Someone reminded them, “We can’t let them know that our gaps are actually quite large. We should go and block those gaps sometime.”

They continued to discuss how to block the gaps, and the lively atmosphere was like a vegetable market. This was the 66th time Dong Changxin had heard them discuss it, but each time, they could only block a tiny part of the bridge. Everyone was too afraid of the outside world, and they wanted to bury their heads in the sand whenever they encountered a problem.

After a while, President Qi brought up the main topic. He was a president, but what kind of president no one was quite sure. He never said, only hinted for everyone to address him by his title. Over time, the people around him changed, and when they heard he was the president, they assumed he was the leader and went to him for everything.

“We’ll soon be able to drive out that group from Shangyuan City. If those guys from the agricultural university insist on stopping us, we don’t need to worry about our friendship as classmates.” President Qi’s reason was very righteous. He said, “If they all insist on resisting, their end will be miserable… After all, we found this!”

He revealed the silver box behind him, his eyes fixated on it as he opened it. A green potion lay in the center on a soft cloth.

“A potion that can upgrade to LV2,” President Qi said with satisfaction, scanning the room and eliciting a chorus of gasps.

“Currently, all the people we’ve heard about on the radio are LV1s. I can be sure that no LV2s have emerged yet. If our ability users get this injection, we’ll be far stronger than anyone else and can stay here with peace of mind.”

He promised a beautiful future, and everyone was excited. President Qi then began discussing how to select the lucky person who would get the injection, and everyone offered their suggestions.

Dong Changxin yawned in her corner, knowing full well it would never be her.

She knew the power of the ability users present. If someone upgraded to LV2, the group on the other side would surely have no chance.

But was upgrading to LV2 and staying in the university town a good thing? What was the outside world really like?

“Medical, science and engineering, finance, nursing…”

“So the other side should be Jiangbei Normal University, Agricultural University, Fine Arts Academy, and Industrial University.”

Sun Min helped to identify the locations on the map, drawing the biggest circle around the Agricultural University. “The Agricultural University is the best and largest school here. It has a large experimental field, a big botanical garden, and a specimen exhibition hall.”

There were also a three-story gymnasium and a memorial hall for famous people. It sounded better than his own residential community.

Yu Qunqing recalled his vague memories of university life and began to adjust his radio. A well-equipped university should have relevant talent. Thinking of Ms. Nan, who also graduated from an agricultural university and propelled the technological development of their entire community, he wondered, “Are all university students this competitive now?” He asked casually, “Do you all know how to use wireless radios?”

Sun Min rejected the stereotype. “I don’t.”

Lin Luyi sighed in relief. “What a coincidence.”

Sun Min silently poured a cup of water for her teammate, Lin Luyi. It’s always good to drink more water.

Yu Qunqing suddenly asked She Lulang, “Do you want some?”

She Lulang clearly didn’t expect to be included. He looked at them confusedly before realizing what “some” meant. “I have water,” he said. “I don’t need it.”

Yu Qunqing: “Oh.”

Yu Qunqing continued to adjust the reception frequency. The radio produced static, then their community’s broadcast, then the official shelter’s, and finally:

“This is the English listening channel of Jiangbei Agricultural University—”

Some foreign words that Lin Luyi couldn’t understand were heard, followed by:

“Next, we will play the song ‘Good Luck Comes.’ We hope all the students on campus have a good day, and those who aren’t, surrender quickly!”

The cheerful song played on the radio. They even had entertainment!

Yu Qunqing was truly envious.

He could only listen to the background music from his puzzle game.

The radio suddenly made a loud static sound.

“Next, we are broadcasting a donation notice. The Qu family from Shangyuan City is in urgent need of a bag of food. We hope kind-hearted students can lend a hand voluntarily. We will get through all kinds of difficulties together. The apocalypse is heartless, but people have heart…”

Inside the Agricultural University’s broadcasting room, the announcer was reading a note that had been suddenly handed to her.

Outside, people were still arguing:

“Why did you only hand him a note and not me? Yes, I’m uneducated, not as good as you university students. My handwriting is ugly, and I’m dirty, but you can’t discriminate against us! We need help from kind students too!”

Someone simply lay on the ground, throwing a tantrum. “Don’t save me and then abandon me! I came here from Shangyuan City. My home is gone, my money is gone. I’m really hungry, I want meat! Didn’t you say we would share the good times and the bad? You’re not keeping your word.”

Crying and shouting echoed in the hallway. The people throwing tantrums were a group of adults. At first, they were docile, but later, they realized the true nature of these students and started acting like bosses. The other group, who still had the naiveté of students, clearly didn’t know how to respond. They had been here for too long and were even more afraid of making a mistake.

“No food? How can there be no food?” the tantrum-thrower’s voice was strong. “I’m not targeting you. Did the people from the science and engineering university steal our food? Then let’s fight back! Our people were beaten up a few days ago.”

“That’s not the same thing!” A student finally exploded, and there seemed to be a scuffle in the hallway.

The announcer secretly clenched her fist. Soon, she heard the familiar voice of someone trying to mediate outside and couldn’t help but sigh into the microphone.