My mind instantly went blank.
I didn't hear a single word that Suo Tian or the middle-aged man said afterward.
All that kept echoing in my head was the sentence from the middle-aged man: "Two people from Miss Chen's group got separated from us and haven't returned yet."
Two people? Which two people?
Shen Xue? Shen Feng? Yangyang? Xu Shu? Or Zheng Rongrong?
Once I processed what he said, I rushed forward and grabbed the middle-aged man, panicked and desperate as I asked, "Who? Who got separated? When did they get separated? Where did they get separated?"
The middle-aged man was clearly startled by my outburst.
Once he regained his composure, he glanced at me, then shifted his gaze to Suo Tian.
I shouted, "Why are you looking at him? I'm the one asking you! Answer me! Who got separated? WHO?!"
The man seemed to receive some sort of signal from Suo Tian, because only then did he return his gaze to me and calmly replied, "Your younger brother and that little girl."
In that moment, hearing his words, it felt like a thunderclap exploded right above my head.
I let go of the man's hand and instinctively took two steps back, staring blankly at him.
Everything around me suddenly felt surreal.
A wave of dizziness and disorientation rushed over me like a tide, spreading through my whole body.
I couldn't even tell anymore whether this was reality… or just a dream.
I couldn't get a single word out of my mouth.
In the distance, I saw Shen Xue, Xu Shu, Shen Feng, and the others running toward us from Building Six.
At first, their faces were lit with joy.
But the moment they reached my side and saw the look on my face, their expressions immediately shifted, the joy vanishing in an instant.
One by one, they stopped in their tracks, standing still without moving a step further.
I just stood there, silently, scanning everyone's faces.
I thought I was looking very carefully, but my mind was still completely blank.
The things my eyes were seeing didn't seem to register in my brain at all.
Yangyang and Rongrong were still out there—two kids separated from the group, wandering alone outside.
Yangyang didn't know how to drive.
Rongrong, even less so.
If they got separated, then they must be on foot.
In this dangerous world out there, filled with threats at every turn, how could two children possibly survive?
Shen Xue hesitated for a moment where she stood.
Then she took a deep breath, walked over to me, and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
"You must've had a rough time out there these past couple of days, huh?" she said.
I turned to look at her for a couple of seconds, but didn't answer that meaningless question.
My mind took a long time to start working again, and when it finally did, I asked, "Did you look for them?"
Shen Xue's face froze.
She turned to glance at Shen Feng and Xu Shu behind her but didn't answer my question.
My heart instantly sank.
I turned again and stared at the middle-aged man. "Did you even go out to look for them?"
"No." His answer was frustratingly concise, as always.
"Why?" I glanced at him, then looked toward Suo Tian, noticing how he kept looking in his direction.
I clenched my fists tightly, a surge of nameless rage shooting to the top of my head.
I couldn't hold it in anymore and snapped, "Why the hell are you looking at him? Can't even fart without your leader's permission? I'm asking you! Why didn't you go out and look for them?!"
The man didn't get angry.
His expression remained calm as he replied, "It wasn't our responsibility."
I froze.
The fire that had just flared up in my chest was suddenly extinguished.
Then, a wave of mixed emotions—ridicule, absurdity, helplessness, and sorrow—swept over me.
He was right.
It really wasn't their responsibility.
Yangyang and Rongrong had nothing to do with them.
Since they weren't connected, why would they risk their lives to go out and search for two kids?
"Chen Yang, calm down," Shen Xue said quietly, trying to comfort me.
"You and Suo Tian made it back safely. Yangyang and Rongrong will be fine too."
I looked at Shen Xue and forced a bitter smile. "You just said it yourself—they're just kids. Yangyang has never lived alone before, and Rongrong is still so little. Living out there... how could they possibly be fine?"
I glanced at Shen Feng and Xu Shu, who were standing not far away, and couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.
A few days ago, those hordes of walkers kept appearing in waves—without Suo Tian and his people helping, even if Shen Feng had wanted to go out and look, they probably wouldn't have had the ability to do so.
I swept my eyes across the crowd once more, then bit my lip, shook off Shen Xue's hand from my shoulder, drew my dagger, and turned to head back toward the main gate.
Since no one was willing to deal with this, I'd go find them myself.
They might not be obligated—but I am.
At first, Shen Xue didn't react.
When she realized I was heading out alone, she quickly rushed forward and grabbed my arm, her face full of panic. "Chen Yang, what are you doing?"
I tried to pull my arm back from her grip. "I'm going to find my little brother."
Xu Shu also ran up and grabbed the arm holding my dagger. "You don't even know which direction they went—how are you going to find them?"
Her words made me freeze.
And suddenly, I remembered something.
The reason Suo Tian and I were able to make it to this shelter was because he already knew about this place—not only did he know the route, but he also knew that the bearded man and the others were waiting for us here.
But the problem was, Yangyang and Rongrong didn't know that.
After getting separated from us, they were essentially like headless flies.
They had no idea where to go.
Realizing this, I quickly turned to Xu Shu and asked, "Where exactly did the two of them get separated from you?"
"I'm not really sure either," she replied.
"Things were just too chaotic at the time. The walkers came out of nowhere, and by the time we realized what was happening, they had already flooded the village. After we left Zhang Hongsheng's place, we searched for you for a while, but we couldn't find you. In the end, we had no choice but to fall back to the yard where we'd been staying. We thought you'd be there, but right when we arrived, another wave of walkers showed up. We couldn't hold them off, so we had to jump in the car and escape first. It wasn't until we got away from the horde and did a headcount that we realized you, Suo Tian, Yangyang, and Rongrong hadn't made it into the car."
"Then is it possible they're still hiding somewhere in that village? Like me, maybe they found a yard to hole up in?" I turned back to look at Xu Shu, a spark of hope suddenly flaring up in my chest.
But Suo Tian, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly spoke up, extinguishing that fragile spark of hope I had just grabbed onto:
"When I was searching for you, I already checked almost every other yard in that village. There was no one."
I didn't turn around to look at Suo Tian behind me—just hearing his words made my body tremble again, involuntarily.
They're not in the village… Yangyang and Rongrong aren't in the village…
If they're not there, then where could they be?
With so many walkers out there, where could they possibly hide?
"Chen Yang, it's already been several days," Shen Xue said gently, tugging on my arm.
"Even if you're set on going out to find them, you don't need to rush out right this moment. Come back with us first, figure out all the details, and then decide how to go about the search, okay? When the time comes, my brother, Xu Shu, Jun Di, and I—we'll all go out with you to look for them."
I knew she was genuinely worried that I might charge out recklessly and get myself into trouble.
"Sis Chen Yang, I understand how you feel right now," Jun Di added, stepping up with Shen Feng.
"But Yangyang knows how to protect himself too. And Rongrong's a smart little girl. There's a good chance they're holed up somewhere safe right now. Just take a breath, calm down a bit, and let's work out a plan to find them."
Shen Feng didn't speak—he just looked at me with deep guilt in his eyes.
That alone told me how remorseful he was for not going out to look for Yangyang these past few days.
I took a deep breath and slowly pulled back the arms Xu Shu and Shen Xue had been holding onto. "Alright. Let's figure out a plan first."
Just then, someone put an arm around my shoulder again.
Thinking it was Shen Xue, I sighed and tried to keep my tone steady.
"Xiao Xue, don't worry. I'm okay."
When I turned my head, I saw Suo Tian's face.
My thoughts froze for a moment.
Thinking about how Yangyang had been left behind, I instinctively transferred my frustration with the black-clad group onto Suo Tian.
My first reaction was to pull away from him.
But then I reconsidered.
Even Suo Tian himself had gotten separated, and the middle-aged man and the others hadn't gone back to look for him either.
How could I blame them for not going after Yangyang?
Besides, Suo Tian had stayed behind to look for me—that's what delayed him all these days.
Come to think of it, it was because of me that we went to Zhang Hongsheng's place to get involved in that mess in the first place.
That's what caused us to get separated from Yangyang and the others.
If not for that, we wouldn't have been so caught off guard when the walkers attacked.
In the end, I still followed them back into Building 6.
Since the elevators had long stopped working, it wasn't convenient to live too high up, so Suo Tian and I were assigned a unit on a lower floor.
Shen Xue wasn't too happy about it and protested, "Why can't Chen Yang stay with me and Xiao Shu?"
But she was quickly shut down by Bearded Guy's gruff response: "What nonsense are you spouting, you little brat? The boss's wife doesn't live with him—what, is she supposed to stay up all night with you counting stars?"
I didn't offer any opinion.
In everyone's eyes, I was already considered Suo Tian's woman.
And honestly… that was indeed the truth.
Most importantly, I still hoped that Suo Tian's people would be willing to go out and help search for Yangyang.
I truly didn't have much confidence in my own ability to find him and Rongrong.
Never mind the dangers we might encounter on the road—just covering such a vast area with only a few of us searching would already be an enormous task.
By staying with Suo Tian, maybe his people would be more willing to help out for his sake and agree to look for Yangyang.
I glanced at Suo Tian, who hadn't said a word all this time, and felt a swirl of mixed emotions.
In the old world, would this count as a kind of "unspoken rule"?
This building was quite different from the privately developed one we used to live in—each floor here could accommodate several households.
Suo Tian and I were staying next to the room occupied by the black-clad men led by the bearded guy.
Right beside them was the room where Xu Shu and Xiao Xue lived.
Shen Feng, Chen Pu, Jun Di, and two other black-clad men lived at the end of the hallway.
Uncle Gazi and his granddaughter were placed in Building 3, a designated shelter for other survivors.
According to Shen Xue, Zhang Hongsheng had also been placed in that same building.
There was a large sofa set in the living room of Suo Tian's and my room, making it a suitable spot for discussions.
After Suo Tian was called away by one of the black-clad men, I let Shen Feng and the others know to come over so we could start planning how to search for Yangyang and Rongrong.
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