Approximately 30 to 40 minutes later, the group of four led by Bai Zemin finally returned to walk back into the small courtyard they had previously received when they first arrived at the base.
When the survivors living in wooden huts saw the group walk into one of the few buildings in "good condition" of the area, envy and caution glittered in everyone's eyes. No one dared to cause any trouble and each survivor focused only on saving as much energy as possible.
"Oh! You're ba- Uh? Who is this lady and this little young lady?" Nangong Yi looked towards the door expecting to see the duo of Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue return, but was surprised to see that there were two people who were not with them when they departed almost two hours ago.
Bai Zemin walked to the kitchen and put down the cooking utensils he had bought earlier. Then, he returned to the room that was supposed to be the living room and calmly pointed, "The adult woman is Yi Fang. The little beauty next to her is named Xiang Feng. They are joining us from today."
Yi Fang looked at the two people inside the room cautiously. She was secretly surprised to see such a beautiful woman together with a man around her age here as she unconsciously thought that Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue were alone.
"A pleasure to meet you all. My name is Yi Fang and this is my little daughter Xiang Feng." She quickly bowed and reintroduced their names.
"Hello, Yi Fang. My name is Nangong Yi and this is my younger sister Nangong Lingxin" Nangong Yi nodded with a polite smile before looking with a gentle smile at the little girl, "Hey little beauty, how are you?"
Xiang Feng seemed a bit shy as she immediately sought shelter behind her mother while looking at Nangong Yi and Nangong Lingxin with her head half-hidden. Still, the girl seemed to be quite sensible as she said in a small gnat-like voice, "Hello big brother. Hello big sister."
"So cute!" Nangong Lingxin seemed to be delighted with Xiang Feng. She made a sweet smile and as she waved her hand she offered, "Little Xiang Feng, do you want to take a nice shower with hot water? This big sister even has fruit and honey-scented soaps!"
Xiang Feng's eyes immediately lit up at the mention of "shower" and "hot water" as well as rich-smelling soaps. It had been a long time since she had last had the luxury of enjoying a comfortable shower since the wooden hut they lived in had only a straw bed and nothing else. She looked at her mother, who nodded with a small smile.
"Go. Mama will soon join you too." Yi Fang looked at Nangong Lingxin with gratitude.
Soon, Nangong Lingxin took Xiang Feng to the shower and not even five minutes later, the girl's giggles began to be heard all over the house.
"Really... I don't know how to thank you enough." Yi Fang looked at Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue, who was now revealing her beauty in full, with eyes filled with gratitude.
The life the mother and daughter pair led in comparison to the life they could now begin to enjoy was like wanting to compare the pure white clouds floating in the sky to the dirty mud that smudged the earth. Yi Fang knew that all this was given by the young man and the young woman in front of her.
Bai Zemin sighed and shook his head, "You may soon no longer thank me. The peaceful life you want won't be possible... At least not yet. Not until I complete my goal."
Yi Fang's heart tightened when she heard this. The amount of supplies Bai Zemin had were simply too much, and the beauty of Shangguan Bing Xue and the other woman inside this house was too dazzling. How could people like this live in this shantytown? They definitely had a hidden agenda. Although she already knew it in her heart, she still hoped that it was just an illusion of hers.
Nangong Yi also frowned slightly. He looked at Bai Zemin cautiously, "Kin-"
"Just call me Bai Zemin or Leader. We'll be fighting shoulder to shoulder for a long time." Bai Zemin interrupted and waved his hand lightly, "Only those who do not know me or have no dealings with me should use that word."
"... I see." Nangong Yi nodded and somehow felt that he was beginning to understand a little of the kind of person the young man in front of him was. Being a mature and straightforward man, Nangong Yi didn't beat around the bush, "So, Bai Zemin... Don't you think that bringing two people with no power is a bit... Considering what we are going to do..."
Yi Fang stood to the side as she listened to the strange conversation between the two men. Leader? Fight shoulder to shoulder? What they were about to do? Suddenly, she realized that things were even more complicated than she originally estimated.
"Let's talk about it later." Bai Zemin looked at Yi Fang and said calmly, "You should go with Nangong Lingxin and your daughter to take a shower. We can talk while we eat once you girls are done."
"Th-that's fine." Yi Fang nodded knowingly and while holding the clothes that Bai Zemin had bought for her, she retreated towards the bathroom.
Once Yi Fang left, Nangong Yi's expression turned serious and whispered, "You two noticed it too, didn't you?"
"As if a little rat could sneak away from us." Bai Zemin smiled calmly and walked toward the kitchen.
"It's been following us ever since Bai Zemin showed how much stock he has." Shangguan Bing Xue replied as she looked outside the house as if she could see beyond the walls. Then, she smirked and followed Bai Zemin into the kitchen.
Nangong Yi followed the two young people into the kitchen and when he got there he saw that the two had begun to busy themselves.
While Bai Zemin was preparing the ingredients, Shangguan Bing Xue was cleaning the bowls and pots they had recently bought. Strangely or not, they seemed to be quite in sync with each other's every action without getting in the way of each other's movements.
If Nangong Yi were a young man, he might even have thought that the two of them were actually a loving engaged couple. However, by carefully observing the look in Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes, Nangong Yi easily noticed that while they seemed to be in harmony, they both looked like having erected a barrier of indifference around themselves.
Nangong Yi put aside the useless thoughts and asked with a frown, "But there is something I don't understand. Why would you show the resources in public?"
As the leader of a camp with over 2000 survivors, Bai Zemin not only needed to be strong but also needed to be someone smart. Otherwise, he would have died a long time ago. So, Nangong Yi could not understand how a smart person did such a foolish thing.
In fact, from the first moment Bai Zemin revealed the contents of his bag to the first merchant when he bought clothes for Yi Fang and Xiang Feng, he noticed how a man dressed as a policeman followed them from afar. Although the man was well hidden among the people and followed them from a considerable distance, how could a normal human escape the senses of Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue, who had already taken the first step to leave their mortal shells?
While putting a pot of hot water on the small gas furnace, Bai Zemin wiped his hands and calmly replied, "We are moving in two days at most."
"What?!" Nangong Yi, who was resting with his back against the wall, jumped up from his position and even with his age couldn't help but exclaim loudly.
Bai Zemin looked at Nangong Yi and slowly began to narrate all the things they saw and experienced during the brief but at the same time heavy walk around the base.
While washing the rice with her small hands, Shangguan Bing Xue listened to everything with apparent indifference and it was hard to tell what her true thoughts were.
"I see..." After hearing everything Bai Zemin said, Nangong Yi sighed audibly.
"I had no idea... While my sister and I were here, we never saw the need to come to this area of the base so we didn't know the situation was so bad." He shook his head lightly.
Nangong Yi really didn't know that the survivors were in such a miserable condition. Were it not for Bai Zemin telling him everything he saw today and were it not for the fact that with his strength he didn't need to deceive him, Nangong Yi wouldn't know any of this or would simply find it hard to believe unless he saw it with his own eyes.
"Then..." Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue, who had already finished her task and was now looking at him, and calmly asked, "What do you think about it? Enough observation? Or are you still not satisfied?"
Shangguan Bing Xue looked him straight in the eyes without saying anything for a few seconds before finally looking out the broken window and said, " It's enough. The faster we put an end to these scum, the better."
"Happy that we think alike." Bai Zemin smiled slightly and walked out of the room as a chill flashed in his black-as-night eyes.
In fact, Shangguan Bing Xue was as much, if not more angry than Bai Zemin with the people in charge of this base. Even if they were short of rice, they would have to have plenty of meat to feed the survivors. Yanqing District was rich in forests and the number of beasts was plentiful; even if they were difficult to hunt, just a couple of beasts could provide the base with tens of kilograms of meat while the bigger ones could provide hundreds or even thousands!
With the mutated meat a soup could be made and distributed among the survivors. The amount of nutrition in this soup would undoubtedly be far greater than the "gruel" they were distributing to the survivors right now.
Even if killing First Order beasts was difficult for the high leaders and soul evolvers of the North Camp, killing Unclassified beasts should be a fairly simple matter.
So why didn't they feed the survivors well? It was probably because they believed that all of them were not worth it!
While Shangguan Bing Xue might not be a saint and was quite cruel when the situation called for it; at least she had some human conscience in her being. This was precisely the source of her irritation.
As for Bai Zemin, his thoughts were simpler than those of Shangguan Bing Xue. He was irritated that helpless children had to suffer because of the cruelty of adults. So, since he was planning to wipe out the opposition and take complete control of this base anyway, why not speed up his plans a bit? In any case, Shangguan Bing Xue was already disappointed with the government of this camp so there was no need to delay any longer.
"If you have already made your decision then there is nothing more to say. I will support you." Nangong Yi nodded towards Bai Zemin as he walked beside him, to which he responded with a faint smile before leaving the kitchen.
Before leaving, Nangong Yi looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and couldn't help but say, "You haven't noticed yet?"
"Em?" Shangguan Bing Xue, who seemed lost in her own thoughts, frowned slightly and looked at him in confusion. Didn't she previously say that yes, she noticed the person who tracked them here before disappearing?
Seeing this, Nangong Yi sighed again and shook his head before walking away, leaving a few words behind, "If you haven't noticed yet, then it's okay. Although I'm afraid you'll regret it in the future, it's not my business to meddle in other people's business, let alone considering your higher position."
* * * * * * *
Thanks a lot to all those who use their Golden Tickets to vote for BW <3