The next day...
When Xiaoyun and Leyan got to the administrative building, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.
"Geez, what took you two so long? Did you two pull an all-nighter?" Yuqi complained as she was already working in the office.
"Not my fault." Leyan innocently responded before looking over to Xiaoyun with a hint of anger.
"Yeah, yeah, it's my fault."
Xiaoyun murmured, accepting all of the responsibility as her face blushed red for a second, as what happened in the morning remained a secret.
---
After a few hours of working, someone suddenly knocked on the door. Xiaoyun quickly got up from his seat and opened it, revealing Yezi standing outside.
"What's wrong? Something urgent?" Xiaoyun curiously asked after noticing Yezi was already fully strapped with his rifles.
"No, but I want some resources and a few people to go outside with me... It's going to be just a bit more than just a scouting mission."
Yezi's answer instantly alerted all three of them, especially the two women who felt obligated to advise him not to go.
"Didn't you just get married to Huayi for less than a month? Are you sure you want to go out now?" Yuqi questioned.
"She knows I ain't the type of men who want to stay in a nest. I want to go out and take risks.
I am rotting in Luoping, staying in this town all day. I can't live like this anymore. I need to go out adventuring——"
"Where are you got a plan to go where?" Leyan questioned, interrupting him from rambling on.
"I can go scout the path to the casino since I know where it is... It'll be a fast back-and-forth mission. It's just scouting."
Yuqi and Leyan both turned their attention over to Xiaoyun, who nodded in agreement after thinking for a few seconds.
"I got no problem with it... How many resources do you need? And how many people again?" Xiaoyun asked.
"A few boxes of canned food and water should do. I want to bring Jixi and four people with me. It's only going to last less than a week."
"Sure, you can get the food from the store, and for the people you want, you need to go ask Yiming if he lets you.
But I'm sure Yiming wouldn't mind... Anything else?" Xiaoyun questioned as he handed him a piece of paper with his signature.
"That's all. Thank you!"
As Yezi happily left with the paper, the three went back to work until Xiaoyun decided to break the silence.
"Maybe I should go with him——"
Before Xiaoyun could even finish talking, the two of them instantly interrupted him.
"Hell no! You can't leave the town. The food situation can only last three days without you.
The farm is not even close to supplying enough food, and you are the mayor. You can't take a risk like that." Yuqi argued.
"Yezi is different. He's been to the city multiple times as well." Leyan added.
Seeing the pushback with them even walking up the door and locking it, Xiaoyun backed down and went back to his work.
"Fine, fine. I won't go outside."
Thirty minutes later...
As Yezi came back to the office with five people, they were standing before Xiaoyun with their gear and food ready.
"They are the ones I want," Yezi stated.
"You guys know the risk you are taking to go with him, right? This mission is much riskier than just a scouting mission." Xiaoyun warned.
"Yes, sir! We know the risk we are facing." The four of them replied at the same time, with Jixi staying silent in the back.
"Jixi, Yiming agreed to this?" Yuqi questioned.
"He said it's a good idea not to lose track of the outside world." Yezi instantly responded, almost as if he was expecting her to ask it.
After a short silence, Xiaoyun finally decided to release them before Leyan suddenly interrupted him with a question.
"Wait, have you guys said your last word to your family members yet? In case something goes wrong?" Leyan curiously asked.
"I picked them because they are all alone in the town," Yezi answered before they could say anything.
"Ahem, Godspeed, soldier!"
Xiaoyun saluted the soldiers, who saluted back before leaving the office as they quickly followed Yezi and Jixi out of the office.
---
"Geez, you guys don't have to make it as if it is the last time you guys see each other..." Leyan commented.
"It's hard to tell if that is going to be the last time we see them... so many people have lost contact with their friends and family,"
As Xiaoyun responded, memories of the past started flooding one's mind. The precious time he had spent with his friends were back in university.
"You're right..."
Leyan started looking out the window. Her mind thought back to her two best friends, who hadn't called since the outbreak started.
"Let's not get all sad. Just because they lost contact, it doesn't mean they're doomed. Maybe their phones had no battery left.
You know electricity is hard to get outside. How is anyone supposed to change their phone?"
Yuqi's comfort made both of them feel a little better. They knew the chances were slim, but it was better than nothing.
"Yeah, you're right. Maybe they're still out there... Let's get back to work." Leyan murmured.
Just as the three got back into the zone of working in the office, the door was suddenly slammed open.
It was Huayi standing there, her face full of anger as if she was about to break a desk or something.
"Where the hell is Yezi?" Huayi questioned out loud.
"Um... he just went outside on a mission for a week. He didn't tell you?" Xiaoyun curiously asked, realizing something was off.
"That bastard! I shouldn't have pushed him so hard in bed... I'm so sorry."
Seeing Huayi suddenly start crying, all three of them quickly realize Yezi hasn't told his plan to her wife at all.
"Don't worry. He had five people protecting him as well. And he had a car with him as well. I'm sure he will make it back fine."
Leyan quickly got up from her seat and brought Huayi to the sofa, gently patting her on the back and comforting her.
"I was even surprised he stayed at a desk job as co-mayor for an entire month. You know, he's an arms smuggler for a reason.
He wants to live life with risk... um, he will be back soon, don't you worry. If he doesn't come back, I'll go look for him."
Xiaoyun tried to reassure Huayi, but it only made her cry even harder as both Yuqi and Leyan rolled their eyes.
"Babe, you really don't know how to comfort people," Yuqi quietly whispered.
"My bad..."
As Xiaoyun fell into silence, Leyan quickly dragged the conversation back on topic.
"Huayi, what do you mean you pushed him so hard in bed?" Leyan curiously asked as Huayi slowly calmed back down.
"I-I heard that Nami said you guys are all already pregnant. I thought it would be a good idea to have a kid as well.
Especially since Yezi was already on the older side... But he didn't want to have a kid yet and kept avoiding me.
So I tried to beg him to do it raw last night... I-I got him to agree to it, but the next morning, he was gone from the bed."
Huayi started sobbing again as she spoke, showing zero signs of embarrassment despite the things she just said were extremely private.
"Oh."
Leyan went completely silent as her face blushed. Her mind was feeling a little guilty as they were the reason that the whole thing happened.
"Nami needs to shut her damn mouth... I'm going to teach her a lesson in privacy." Yuqi's face blushed as she clenched her fist in anger.
"Don't worry, Huayi. I will talk some sense into Yezi when he comes back. He's almost pushing forty.
He's going to want to settle down. His body isn't going to give him the choice to be so active. So don't you worry, okay?"
This time, Xiaoyun's reassurance finally worked as her sobbing slowly died back down before looking back at them with grateful eyes.
"Thank you... I guess I just need to wait for him to come back."
With Huayi leaving the room, the two girls turned their attention to Xiaoyun before letting out a hmph sound.
"So Yezi wasn't telling the full truth when he went out... I guess men really are a bunch of liars," Leyan commented.
"Yeah, who would have thought, saying she would be fine with it when she never agreed to let him take a risk like that," Yuqi added.
"Hey! That's his issue, not mine, okay? When did I lie to you guys when I went out?"
"Like a few days ago?" Leyan murmured.
"I told you I went outside and ran into Yiming. I wasn't joking... Whatever. You guys won't believe me, no matter what."
Xiaoyun rolled his eyes before the three went back to work. There wasn't much they could do with everything set in motion.
---
Back in the city...
"Yezi, are you sure we are driving the right way?"
Jixi raised his concern as he drove the car from the bumpy, broken road toward a dark alleyway.
"Trust me, I know the in and out of the city outskirts. We are just taking a safer route to avoid the zombies."
Yezi replied as he continued to direct Jixi on the passenger seat, pointing in the direction for the car to go next.
Almost ten minutes later, Yezi finally signaled Jixi to stop.
"We are here. Exit the car."
As the six of them got out of the car, all of the soldiers, including Jixi, looked a little confused as Yezi continued walking forward.
"I thought we were just scouting the paths, are we supposed to go deeper into the city?" Jixi questioned, raising his hand to stop the soldiers.
After a short silence, Yezi finally turned back around to face the five of them.
"Yeah, it still is a scouting mission. We aren't going inside the casino... Trust me, I'm not that crazy."
The soldier still hesitated for a second, but seeing Jixi walking up and following Yezi, they quickly joined in.
"Isn't this a little too quiet? There were no zombies on the street on our entire way through."
One of the soldiers pointed out quietly as they followed Yezi into another dark alley, which had nothing alive other than flies buzzing at overfilled trash cans.
"Maybe they all left for the rural side or inside the city... Usually, nobody comes here since it's mostly an old housing zone meant to be demolished."
As Yezi explained, he suddenly stopped by a small hotel. One that looked almost beyond abandoned as sunlight illuminated the insides.
"Isn't this just a hotel? What does this have to do with the mission?" Jixi curiously asked as they followed him inside.
"It is just a hotel... But do you think they would have a casino in plain sight? An illegal operation for everyone to see?"
Jixi didn't mind Yezi's attempt to throw shades at him as the place they entered started to look more and more sketchy.
"Everyone, be quiet."
All of the soldiers, including Jixi, fell dead silent as Yezi led the five of them past an abandoned hallway before arriving at the staircase.
As he tried to turn the doorknob, they all heard a sharp clunk sound, indicating it was locked.
"Shit. The door is locked... They probably stacked furniture behind it to block it."
Yezi quickly started looking around the hallway, only to find an elevator at the other side of the building.
Without any hesitation, her entered it, forcing the other soldiers to follow as he pressed the close button.
"How the hell is there still power here?" Jixi murmured the same question that all of the soldiers had.
Unforunately, Yezi doesn't explain it. Instead, he started warning them what not to do as he pressed the door to close.
"When we are down in the parking lot, don't use guns down there. It will attract way too much attention from the outside.
Use the bat on your back. There shouldn't be many zombies... If any zombies at all. This place should be pretty empty."
The five of them quickly switched their rifles into the bat, patiently waiting for the elevator door to open as they began to go down.
Every floor, it started making a cracking sound, making all four of the soldiers tense up a little as they tightly held onto their bat.
Meanwhile, Jixi and Yezi remained calm. They didn't flinch a single bit despite the grim atmosphere caused by the dim light of the elevator signs.
After what felt like forever, the elevator door finally opened.
Several zombies stood outside in the distance, wandering without a goal in mind. They all immediately turned around as the elevator noise echoed in the parking lot.
"Only use a gun as a last resort," Yezi warned again as he stepped out of the elevator with his own bat.
The rest of the soldiers quickly stepped out, smashing the zombie's head as they made easy work of the zombies.
"What are we here looking for?" Jixi curiously asked as Yezi stood by the pay booth of the basement parking lot.
"A remote... Here it is."
As soon as Yezi pressed the remote, the wall next to the elevator suddenly started to slide open.
"If I remember correctly, this is the emergency escape to the casino..." Yezi explained as they began walking towards it.
"How do you know all this, Mr.Yezi?" One of the soldiers curiously asked.
"You all probably know I used to be an arms smuggler. But I used to have a partner who got out of the Middle East at the same time as me.
He started a casino business to make a living while I retired and started having a habit of drinking at bars... Enough questions, everyone quiet."
The six of them began walking down the dark tunnel, with Yezi leading the charge with his flashlight illuminating the path ahead.
After walking just for a few steps down the tunnel, they encountered several dead bodies on the floor, all with stab wounds around their neck.
"What the hell happened here?" One of the soldiers murmured.
"They probably died from the infighting with the current boss and old boss... If I remember correctly."
Yezi replied as he thought back to the interrogation. His face darkened as they continued walking down the tunnel.
After walking for five whole minutes, they finally reached the end of the tunnel.
They were met with a solid metal gate door, one that looked straight out of the bank's safety vaults.
Right next to it was a body lying on the floor—a man wearing a suit with a bullet wound right in his head.
The blood had dried a long time ago, but the body hadn't decomposed too badly, as the tunnel barely had any oxygen flowing.
Just as the soldiers were about to ask what they were doing next, Yezi suddenly collapsed on top of the corpse as tears began to flow out.
"I am sorry, old friend... I should have been there. Fuck! This is all my fault."
As Yezi drowns in sorrow, all of the soldiers immediately realize the corpse Yezi held was the partner he was talking about earlier.
"Don't worry... I will get revenge for you."
Yezi slowly closed his friend's eyes before grabbing the keycard from his hand, walking towards the keycard reader with anger.
"He's the boss?" Jixi curiously asked.
"Yes, he's the old boss..."
Just as Yezi was about to scan the card, Jixi immediately ran up and tried to snatch the key away from him. But Yezi resisted, moving his hand as far away from him.
"This is a scouting mission, not an attack mission. Yezi, I'm sorry you lost your old friend, but we need to focus on the mission."
Jixi warned as he finally snatched the keycard away from him, putting it in his pocket. All of the soldiers immediately realized what was happening.
But none of them stepped up, as the two of them were their superiors. Although Jixi was their direct leader and the one they are more favorable towards.
"You guys can turn back... I'm going in no matter what. Give me the damn key." Yezi demanded as he lifted his rifle.
"Yezi? Are you really pointing a gun at me?"
Jixi was a little shocked. All the soldiers looked just as shocked after seeing how the situation had escalated.
"Give. Me. The. Damn. Key." Yezi warned again as he clicked the safety off, aiming his rifle right at Jixi's head.
"I know you want revenge for your friend, but we can plan for this. Let's all go back and do surveillance on the surrounding area first before going in."
Jixi pleaded as he adamantly refused to hand over the keycard, not backing down as he knew Yezi was not in his right mind.
"I know what I'm doing is irrational. But you don't know anything about us... You're just a bunch of soldiers who've never been into real combat."
Jixi fell into silence. Comparing his military training in relative safety to Yezi's active warzone in the Middle East, they were in child's play.
Still, he refuses to hand over the keycard, as doing so would only lead to an outcome that nobody wants.
"What do you think Xiaoyun would say about this?" Jixi questioned, trying to stall for time as he dug for a solution in his head.
"It doesn't matter. Quit stalling. Hand it over or else I'm getting it over your dead body."
As Yezi gives his final warning as he puts his finger on the trigger, Jixi finally backed down. But not before he gives his final message.
"Fine, but I hope you realize that if you die here, Huayi is going to kill herself... If that's what you wanted."
The moment Jixi threw the keycard over to Yezi and turned around, all of the soldiers hesitated for a second before following him towards the exit.
After quieter and quieter footsteps traveling down the tunnel, Yezi didn't scan the keycard in the end.
He quickly turned around, running out of the tunnel before seeing all five of them waiting right outside.
"You changed your mind?" Jixi asked, his face looking a little surprised by Yezi's return.
"Fuck. You are right... I need to be responsible for her. Let's go back to the scouting mission."