51: This person is acting strange.

“This is still a minor injury?” Gu Xiheng raised his voice, slightly angered.

Ai Yue was bewildered. “This is a minor injury to me. Why are you getting angry?”

Realizing he had lost his composure, Gu Xiheng blinked, reverted to his stern demeanor, and changed the subject: “How dare you come to such an isolated place all by yourself?”

“Big guts!” Ai Yue replied nonchalantly.

“And why are you here?”

“On a mission.”

“A mission? Looking for survivors?”

Gu Xiheng saw her curious expression and incessant questioning, sighing inwardly: “It doesn’t hurt to tell you. The group that was just wiped out were all death row inmates from the prison before the Apocalypse who escaped after it started.”

“They were bold enough to rob our military vehicle transporting weapons. Since the robbery, I've been searching for them, but couldn't find a trace until last night in Yungang City, where we spotted two of the death row inmates. We tried to capture them alive, but those two were slippery as eels. Fortunately, some kind soul helped us intercept one of the fugitives, which allowed us to successfully locate their lair.”

After speaking, he gave Ai Yue a meaningful look.

Ai Yue's heart skipped a beat. Holy crap, what was going on? Was he the protagonist of the gunfight last night? And were those two people on motorcycles who desperately tried to use her as a shield actually part of the same faction as the people who just attacked her?

Does the world have to be this small? Yesterday she messed with two of their small fries, and today she voluntarily showed up only to be cornered and shot by their “main force”?

Although she was confident that even without Gu Xiheng, she could have guaranteed her safe retreat.

But it still felt surreal that the related parties were meeting again here.

Ai Yue laughed dryly, “Is that so? Then you guys are really lucky, haha...”

“Oh right, aren't you going into town to look for the missing weapons? Hurry up and go.” Ai Yue said, clutching her arm. She didn't want to argue with him anymore. She needed to quickly send them away so she could take out tools from her space to clean her wound, otherwise, it would get infected if left too long.

Gu Xiheng, however, said, “We have a military doctor. Come with me.”

“Ah! Huh? Go with you?” Ai Yue immediately refused after realizing what he meant. “No, I can handle it myself. I don't want to trouble you.”

Gu Xiheng didn't even glance at Ai Yue, acting as if he hadn't heard her refusal, and told the two people beside him: “Take her! Hand her over to Doctor Tang.”

The two men in camouflage uniforms heard the order and immediately stepped forward to take Ai Yue away.

Ai Yue was shocked. My god, take her away? Treating her like a criminal? Besides, Gu Xiheng, didn't you hear me say “no”?

“Gu Xiheng! Thank you for your kindness, but no.” Ai Yue waved her hand to stop the two men trying to take her away, emphasizing each word to Gu Xiheng.

“Since I was the one who brought you into the Safety Tower, I have the responsibility to protect your safety.”

Ai Yue... took a moment to adjust her breathing, then continued: “You've brought many people into the Safety Tower. Are you responsible for protecting the safety of every single one of them?”

Gu Xiheng looked at Ai Yue and said seriously, “I have only brought back your family of three. Therefore, ensuring the safety of your family of three is enough. Right now, only you are in front of me, so I will protect your safety.”

Holy crap, what's happening? Something is off about this person!

Ai Yue instantly grew suspicious. This guy wasn't known for being kind-hearted. Why was he insisting on keeping her by his side?

Ignoring Ai Yue's objections, Gu Xiheng ordered someone to take her to Doctor Tang to have the bullet removed and the wound bandaged.

Ai Yue realized she couldn't escape it, so she had no choice but to follow.

Half an hour later, without anesthesia, Ai Yue was held down tightly as Doctor Tang painfully removed the bullet from her flesh.

The pain caused her to constantly curse Gu Xiheng in her heart. She clearly had her own anesthesia and could have had the bullet removed painlessly, but Gu Xiheng had detained her here to endure this agonizing pain. She even suspected this guy was retaliating against her for having removed a bullet from him while he was conscious.

After the bullet was removed, Ai Yue felt even weaker. She really wanted to scoop out a bowl of chicken soup from her space... Ai Yue sat on the ground leaning against the vehicle, looking at the people around her, and closed her eyes in despair. What should she do? All her food was in her space, and now she didn't dare to eat anything.

Suddenly, Ai Yue felt a dark shadow fall over her. She opened her eyes and saw it was Gu Xiheng.

With a stern face, he reached out and handed her a sausage and a hard vegetable patty. Seeing Ai Yue staring blankly at the vegetable patty, Gu Xiheng waved the food in front of her, and she finally snapped back to reality.

She reached out, took it, and thanked him.

“We leave in ten minutes.”

Ai Yue stopped her movement of biting the patty and suddenly looked up: “Well, you don't need to take me along. You look quite busy, and I have my own things to do. Let's part ways here.”

“You are still injured and cannot drive. You should stay with us for now.”

“I can drive with one hand!”

Gu Xiheng gave her a 'Are you kidding me?' look and ruthlessly rejected her: “You are injured. Traveling alone is very dangerous.”

“I...”

Gu Xiheng lowered his head to look at the mechanical watch on his wrist, interrupting her: “You have eight minutes left.”

Ai Yue choked, glared at him, and took a fierce bite of the patty in her hand. Gu Xiheng saw her puffed-up, angry look and couldn’t help but let a slight smile curl his lips, though it vanished quickly.

The patty was too hard, and it hurt Ai Yue's throat. She was so annoyed she didn't want to eat anymore, so she tucked it into her pocket and stood up, walking toward her vehicle.

Gu Xiheng, who was constantly watching Ai Yue, saw her movement and walked straight toward her.

“I'll drive,” Gu Xiheng said to Ai Yue.

Ai Yue didn't say a word, got into the car, and leaned back in the passenger seat to rest her eyes.

Gu Xiheng followed her in, prepared to start the car, but found that the vehicle was out of fuel.

Hearing the movement, Ai Yue opened her eyes slightly and said leisurely, “The car is out of gas, and it runs on diesel, which you probably don't have! I'm telling you, this car is my precious baby. Where it is, I am. Honestly, why don’t you just stop worrying about me and go on your own?”

Ai Yue advised earnestly.

Gu Xiheng ignored Ai Yue, opened the door, jumped out of the car, and waved to a man, giving him a couple of instructions. In just a moment, the man returned carrying a tin bucket filled with diesel fuel, which he poured into the marauder’s fuel tank as instructed by Gu Xiheng.

Ai Yue secretly cursed Gu Xiheng in her heart, calling him an annoying pest she couldn't shake off.

Resigned, she pulled the hard patty from her pocket and took a fierce bite.

Only Ai Yue and him were in the entire car. No one spoke, only the sound of Ai Yue constantly chewing the patty.

The fueled-up marauder finally started moving. Neither of them spoke during the drive.