Living with My Aloof Ex-Wife After the Apocalypse - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: I Can Use a Gun.

The rifles were too conspicuous, so Xing He hid them under the back seat, keeping only two pistols for herself and Qing Meng. Before getting into the car, Xing He intended to teach Qing Meng how to use a handgun so she could defend herself in an emergency.

“I know how to use a gun,” Qing Meng said.

Xing He looked at her skeptically. Was she actually proficient, or did she just want to avoid close contact?

Seeing the doubt, Qing Meng gave a demonstration. She flicked the safety, inserted the magazine, chambered a round, and pulled the trigger (miming the action) with a fluid, practiced ease that left no room for instruction.

“My father taught me,” Qing Meng added flatly.

That made sense. Since Qing Baishu’s greatest wish was for his daughter to succeed him and serve the country, giving her a head start wasn’t surprising.

Xing He climbed into the driver’s seat, satisfied. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Qing Meng continue to handle the weapon. Qing Meng’s hands were slender with well-defined knuckles—the kind of hands suited for a hand model. Even a mundane series of movements looked refreshing when she did them.

She pressed the magazine release, caught the magazine as it slid out, pulled the slide to eject the chambered round, and flicked the safety back on. To Xing He, this process was second nature, something she had seen thousands of times. Yet, watching Qing Meng felt different. It was like plucking a lute string or picking a dew-kissed petal—a magical display that made Xing He’s heart skip a beat.

The evacuation point wasn’t far—a medium-sized park. The government had chosen it for its large area and fences that could act as a barrier against zombies. Xing He expected the place to be deserted by now, but as they approached, she realized something was wrong.

The park gates were locked. A few corpses lay scattered nearby, but there were no zombies—likely because they had been cleared. Xing He reached an immediate conclusion: people were here, and not just a few.

Was it a rescue team? No. The corpses at the gate showed no signs of zombification; they had clearly been killed by other humans. Xing He immediately shifted into reverse, prepared to leave.

Qing Meng also noticed the anomaly. She silently observed the gate, sensing the tension. Just then, the sound of chains rattling came from the gate. Someone was unlocking it.

Xing He paused her retreat. The Jeep’s windshield was custom high-strength bulletproof glass; it could withstand small arms fire for at least a minute, giving them plenty of time to escape if things went south. She wanted to see what these people wanted first.

Seconds later, a group of men armed with clubs walked out.

“Hey, you in the car! Get out!”

They were clearly up to no good. Xing He was about to floor it when she spotted a figure in a white lab coat busy working inside the park through the open gate. It was Jiang Ping’an, Qing Meng’s close friend.

Jiang Ping’an should have been on her way to North City with the main military force. Why was she still here? The men at the gate were unrefined and lacked any military discipline; there was no way they could have disrupted an official military transfer. That meant Jiang Ping’an had been left behind.

Qing Meng saw her too, her face full of shock. “Is that… Ping’an?”

“Don’t worry,” Xing He said, patting her hand. “Let’s go down and see.”

They stepped out of the car. The leader of the thugs, Liao Hongfa, stepped forward to size them up. “What are you doing here?”

“Just passing through,” Xing He replied calmly. “We don’t want any trouble.”

Liao Hongfa sneered. “Looking for a place to hide, aren’t you? Just say it.”

Since Jiang Ping’an was inside, they had to go in. Xing He played along. “Fine. We’re here to join you.”

Liao Hongfa grew arrogant, his eyes wandering over the two women. “And what makes you worth keeping?”

In times like these, men like him viewed women as tools for labor or desire. Despite the grime from the ventilation ducts and the oversized bulletproof vests they had scavenged, the striking beauty of Qing Meng and Xing He was still apparent. The men’s gazes became increasingly predatory.

For Xing He, who grew up in the military where gender was secondary to survival, these looks were meaningless. But Qing Meng, never having been treated like a piece of meat, felt a surge of discomfort.

Xing He stepped forward subtly to block their view, reaching back to grab Qing Meng’s hand. She gripped it tightly, as if trying to pull her into her own shadow. Qing Meng’s heart fluttered, the discomfort of the thugs’ stares melting away under the warmth of Xing He’s hand.

Xing He remained expressionless. “We know a place with a lot of supplies.”

She was dangling bait. These men were clearly low-level lackeys. If she could use the “supplies” to get to the person in charge, saving Jiang Ping’an would be easier.

Liao Hongfa laughed mockingly. “Supplies are everywhere, but nobody else is brave enough to take them. Everything around here belongs to us.”

A man with dyed yellow hair chimed in with a leer, “Forget the talk. Why don’t you two play with us for a bit, and we’ll let you stay to do our laundry and cooking?”

“No thanks,” Xing He said. There was no reasoning with the brainless.

She turned to lead Qing Meng away, but the thugs weren’t letting them go. “Too late. This isn’t a place where you come and go as you please.”

Liao Hongfa reached out to grab Qing Meng’s clothes while the others swarmed forward.

BANG—

Before anyone could see her move, a shot rang out. Xing He held her pistol in one hand; the bullet had grazed Liao Hongfa’s hair, missing his scalp by a fraction of an inch.

The thugs shrieked and scattered. Xing He didn’t let any of them go, systematically aiming for their legs. In less than a minute, everyone except Liao Hongfa was writhing on the ground, incapacitated.

Xing He calmly reloaded, radiating a lethal, decisive aura. She looked at Liao Hongfa as if he were already a corpse.

Liao Hongfa stood frozen, his legs shaking uncontrollably.

“Sorry,” Xing He said, flicking the safety back on. “The gun went off. Can we talk civilly now?”

Liao Hongfa swallowed hard. “Y-yes.”

Xing He smiled, seemingly satisfied with his new attitude. “How many people have you kidnapped?”

“Two,” he stammered.

“Who?”

Liao Hongfa pointed a trembling finger toward Jiang Ping’an. “A doctor… she’s over there sweeping. And a soldier, the boss is keeping an eye on that one.”

Following his finger, Xing He saw Jiang Ping’an sweeping the ground, muttering something to herself. She looked unharmed. “What have you done to them?”

“Nothing! Nothing!” Liao Hongfa waved his hands frantically. “The woman is a doctor, she’s useful, so we didn’t touch her. And the boss told us not to touch the other one.”

Not allowed to touch the soldier? Xing He noted that. “How many of you are there? What weapons do you have?”

Liao Hongfa hesitated. Xing He wordlessly raised her gun to his temple.

“Twenty people! We have guns!” he blurted out.

“Are they all here? How many guns?”

“Seven went out. There are two guns in the base right now.”

Xing He tapped his face with the butt of her pistol. “Your people definitely heard the shot. If I find out you lied to me, you’ll die before I do. Understand?”

“I swear! I wouldn’t dare lie!”

Xing He had the intel she needed. It was time to meet the “Boss.”

“Take me in.”

Liao Hongfa, looking like he was heading to his own funeral, led them toward the main camp. Jiang Ping’an looked up and saw her friends. She was horrified, thinking they had been captured. Because of the angle, she couldn’t see the gun Xing He was holding against Liao Hongfa’s back.

She frantically made faces at Qing Meng, trying to signal the danger. But Qing Meng just looked at her, clearly not getting the “code.” Jiang Ping’an was busy weighing her chances of knocking Liao Hongfa out with her broom when Qing Meng waved her over.

Is she crazy? Jiang Ping’an checked Liao Hongfa for a reaction, and then she saw it—the muzzle of a gun pressed against the small of his back.

Jiang Ping’an grabbed her broom and ran over. “How on earth did you get in here?!”

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