Chapter 13 - A Small Trial Knife

Wu Ye apparently didn't expect Qin Wuhua to say that, but after thinking over his words, he realized that what Qin Wuhua saw was reasonable. This made Wu Ye wonder whether the way he thought of everything was too simple? He had taken a big gamble by confessing his secret to Qin Wuhua, but his reaction was beyond his expectations. This made him feel estranged.

Qin Wuhua took Wu Ye's expression in his eyes, patted him on the shoulder, put the salts in his backpack, and said nothing more.

After dinner, Ou Chen took advantage of the darkness to come to Ji Yun's house with a large canvas bag. In addition to the tablet computer Wu Ye wanted, he also brought other electronic products. As Wu Ye listened to his hype, he looked over the stuff he brought and found that Ou Chen also brought a bunch of software and data packages. Seeing these, Ji Yun's interest was piqued, and he began picking out some suitable products and equipment. Meanwhile, Ou Chen surveyed Ji Yun's room filled with electronic equipment and concluded that he was a knowledgeable person. Also, seeing the slum area where they lived, Ou Chen knew that they had little money, hence, he immediately gave them a fair price of 65 crystal nuclei for the total payment.

Wu Ye did not have a crystal nucleus in him, but he didn't want to ask Qin Wuhua for some, so he asked Ou Chen, "Can I trade something with you?"

"What is it?" Ou Chen said, "Let me tell you something first, I will only accept food if you have something to trade." Times were tough on everyone nowadays. Except for food and weapons, nothing was easy to sell, and what he sold was not very profitable. As a professional peddler who lived on buying and selling things, Ou Chen didn't want to do a losing business just like all businessmen.

"I don't have any food, but I have salt."

Hearing this, Ou Chen's pair of eyes sparkled. "How much? You can sell it to me as much as you want. We'll negotiate the price."

Wu Ye kept his cool and spoke, "What are you saying? If I had so much salt on my hand, would I have to squeeze in this shack with my friends?"

"How much do you have? I wouldn't trade these things without at least a kilo of salt."

Now, according to market price, 1 kilo of salt was worth 100 nuclei. With his small stall, Ou Chen certainly couldn't afford such a high price. He certainly wanted to use this opportunity to earn a little, so he did not demand an exorbitant price from them.

Wu Ye nodded very quickly in agreement, and said, "Ji Yun, you collect your things. I'll go next door and get him some salt."

"Alright!"

After a while, Wu Ye came over with a bag of salt. Ou Chen opened the bag and checked it on the spot. Finding no problem with the goods, he put the things away, and asked Wu Ye, "Is there really no more? If there is, we can negotiate the price again."

Qin Wuhua, who had been quietly sitting next to him, suddenly opened his mouth and said, "The deal is over, you can leave."

"Big brother…"

Qin Wuhua did not speak further but let string of electric current crackle on top of his palm, startling Ou Chen. Hastily, he said, "Excuse me, sorry, I'll go right away." Man, how ability users still live in such a broken place? I'd definitely judged things wrongly. If I had known earlier, I would have asked for a higher price.

Once the tablet was on his hand, Wu Ye rushed home, sat in bed, and played the game that he had not finished in the morning.

"I died again. This game is too difficult to play." Wu Ye was playing the single-player version of Star Wars game. He found the clear and sharp graphic display of the game attractive. Its unique gameplay could easily hook people into playing. Wu Ye was not only a web-novel reader, he was also an online gamer. Although he had always been a RMB player, he had boasted of his good gaming skills as well. Unexpectedly, his illustrious reputation had fallen head first in this small single-player games.

"Stop playing. We're going out early tomorrow morning." He did say that he was 23 years old, but his actions clearly showed that he's an underaged child. Qin Wuhua shook his head silently in his heart.

"Let me play for one last time tonight! After I clear this stage, I will close the game." Afterwards, the game's superb soundtrack started to play again. And in a short time, Wu Ye's machine armour was gnawed by a ferocious giant cockroach, and the screen displayed a big KO.

Suddenly, the prince's chubby face appeared through the bottom of the screen. With an adorable smile it said, "Come on Master, you can do it! you can clear this stage!"

"One last round! Don't you think I, your father, can't kill you!

"Give it to me."

(⊙_⊙)?

Qin Wuhua snatched the tablet from him and clicked on the 'start' button to begin the stage again. Wu Ye was dazzled. Only in a few moments, Xiao Qiang*, who had abused him 800 times before, just burst open with a bang, splattering green mucus on the screen as if it's about to spill out.

*The giant cockroach from the game

Ok, I'm tired.

"Sleep," Qin Wuhua switched off the tablet and put it inside the bedside drawer.

"Oh." Wu Ye was still in deep thoughts over the fierce attack made by the machine armor just now. He lay in bed and switched off the light. It was silent for a while before he asked, "You know how to play games?"

At that time, the light penetrated through the window, and Qin Wuhua could clearly see Wu Ye's disbelieving, round eyes.

Really, so foolish but so adorable.

"This is an old game that I used to play when I was a kid. Okay, go and sleep now." Qin Wuhua said, losing his usual cold voice and revealing a helpless tone in it.

Although his pride was a bit hurt, Wu Ye suddenly drew closer to Qin Wuhua. It felt great to finally realize that this outstanding man was also human.

"I can't sleep." Wu Ye's voice showed a hint of excitement, unknown whether it was because of the game just now or because of the unknown risk he was about to take tomorrow.

"Close your eyes and count sheep."

"..."

Wu Ye obediently closed his eyes. But instead of counting sheep, he tried to see whether he could practice the Basic Breathing Technique while lying down. As he silently meditated on those obscure words, a small force rose within his body, slowly flowing along and around his body's meridians, over and over again.

Before dawn, Wu Ye was awakened by Qin Wuhua. Still dazed and half-asleep, Wu Ye heard a cold and magnetic voice saying, "Wake up, it's time to get up."

Out of habit, Wu Ye burrowed himself under the thin blanket and said, "Three minutes, let me sleep for three more minutes."

For the past 20 years of his life, Qin Wuhua had never anyone who dared play tricks on him. Hearing Wu Ye's words, his face turned black. His rational self could actually wrap this person like a silkworm and throw him outside or pour a basin of cold water to wake him up. However–

"Only three minutes, if not, you won't go out with me today." With that said, he went to wash himself.

Wu Ye was actually awake, he was just used to staying in bed. As he crawled out of the blanket, he thought, Qin Wuhua is not as 'cold' as he looks. Compared from his mother and father, he was actually easier to talk to. If it were his old lady and old man, they would already pick him up by the ear.

With an inexplicably lightened mood, he whistled a tune, put his clothes on, and casually unzipped his pants right next to Qin Wuhua to take a p**. After brushing his teeth and washing up, Wu Ye ate breakfast at Ji Yun's house next door before hopping into the truck they had rented. On the road, Wu Ye discussed the game he played the night before with Ji Yun, before they arrived at the Zombie Hunter Union.

The Hunters Union was built near the trading area, together with the other chaotic offices in Lan Cheng. It had a total of three floors, each floor measuring no less than 3,000 square meters. Red bricks lined its walls outside, while the wall stood bare inside, with no decoration at all. Even before it turned 6 A.M., the union floor was already full of people, as an ultra-thin LCD screen on the wall flashed with various tasks. Qin Wuhua headed there to look for a task after asking Ji Yun to help Wu Ye with registration as a zombie hunter.

Qin Wuhua happened to see the collection task that Wang He's party had failed to return from. According to the union's records, the number of failures for this task had exceeded 50 attempts, while the number of successes remained in single digits. This task's level had long been upgraded from the original E rank to C rank, raising the reward correspondingly. In addition to the fixed 2000 Level 1 nuclei reward, the task participants would also receive base contribution points, ranging from 200 to 1500, depending on the degree of task completion

Base contribution points could substitute for crystal nuclei and gold, its purchasing power equal to one Level 1 crystal nucleus. It could be used to buy equivalent goods in the store managed by the base and also to deduct various taxes and rents. When the base contribution point had accumulated to a certain amount, it could even be used in exchange for permanent residence that have base reward of a high-end apartment, and a variety of other stuff that was too much to be mentioned individually.

After Qin Wuhua took the task, he left a notice for a temporary formation of a team, including the number of team members needed and the meeting place. Once that was done, he left the mission hall.

Not long after he went out, several groups of people came over to inquire of him. Obviously, there were many people who were interested in this task.

Qin Wuhua's insight was quite sharp. After probing each person's strengths, he was left with three men and two women, and a team was fixed. All of them were evolved people who complement each other's strengths. They also had their own cars and were well-equipped. There was a woman who he didn't want to take into this temporary team, but the other two men said that they wouldn't join the group if he didn't take her in.

This woman had a rare healing ability, and the team was adamant that he took her in, so he had to give in. After all, Wu Ye and Ji Yun were just ordinary people.

Sure enough, when Wu Ye and Ji Yun came out of the union, these evolved people couldn't help but sneer at them.

"Oh, to actually refuse Zhang Ling when he only had two ordinary people in his team. Ha! They're even worse that Zhang Ling!" Zhao Guo Qiang was as hot tempered as his fire ability. He was the first person to jump in and fought for Zhang Ling. The pimples on his face were bright red, making his ordinary face uglier than normal.

Most of the beauties in the world were similar one way or the other. Looking at Zhang Ling briefly, Wu Ye thought her face and temperament vaguely resembled Lianyu. But before he could form a good impression of her, he heard Zhang Ling spoke, "Zhao-ge, my ability is truly poor. Qin-ge is right so don't take it to heart. Besides, although Qin-ge's friends are ordinary people, he still picked them into his team so there must be something remarkable about them, right, Qin-ge?"

Another woman from the other team sneered and gave a vague look at the man beside her, his complexion somewhat unsightly.

After all, this Zhang Ling was already cozying up to a man while she's still in another man's bed in front of knowing public. Who would be happy about that?

Wu Ye was not fool. How could he not detect the flattery in Zhang Ling's words? He liked Lianyu not only for her looks but also for her pure character. A woman like Zhang Ling was no good.

"I'll be responsible for their safety," Qin Wuhua said coldly.

The atmosphere immediately froze a little, so Ji Yun took the initiative to smooth things over. After some introductions, the color of the sky had almost turned bright. Everyone got on to their vehicles, ready to go.

Before getting on to their respective vehicles, Yang Li Na suddenly spoke, "Qin Wuhua, there's still an empty seat in your car, can I join you?"

Yang Li Na's facial features could be considered elegant at most. Her imposing air coupled with her tall, plump, and exquisite figure, outlined by her tight shirt and combat pants, exude a special charm.

Luo Yang expression turned dark as he said, "Li Na, stop making trouble."

With an aggrieved expression, Zhang Ling said, "Li Na-jie, are you still angry with me and my eldest brother?

Zhao Guo Qiang chimed in and said "Yang Li Na, how many times had Zhang Ling apologized to you? Can't you be considerate and forgive her already?"

Yang Li Na sneered, "I really can't compare to you Zhao Guo Qiang. Ok, Zhang Ling, who are you acting for in this place? You have climbed on to my fiance's bed, but I don't even have the right to be angry? When we finish this task, we will go our separate ways."

Wu Ye and Ji Yun looked at each other in astonishment. The amount of information spilled was just too much ah.

Qin Wuhua frowned slightly and instinctively knew that the task would not go smoothly. But at this point, many zombie hunters had already formed teams and finding replacements would not guarantee the same quality as the team he already has, he could only make do with this team for now.

Yang Qi, who had not spoken up to this point, suddenly spoke, "All right, talk less. If you have any problems, wait for the task to be finished. We'll solve them when we return. Let's go." Yang Qi was Yang Li Na's cousin, the eldest in the group and also the strongest ability user in the team. His words carried a considerable weight, that as soon as he spoke everyone stopped and got on board.

Yang Li Na and Wu Ye were on the same car. Ji Yun drove while she took the co-driver seat. After a while of silence, she apologized to Wu Ye and others saying, "Sorry, I got a little too excited. I shouldn't have said so much just now."

Wu Ye calmly consoled, "If you have pent-up feelings in your heart, you should vent it out rather than hold them in your heart. It would affect your performance. That kind of man should have been kicked out a long time ago. The next time anyone asks you to forgive her, just wish him to be eternally stuck together with his mistress, like glue.

"Why?" Yang Li Na was stunned as she looked at Wu Ye incredulously.

Wu Ye smiled triumphantly, revealing his small tiger teeth. "Haven't you heard that whores match well with sluts? They stick together so well like glue and paint." Wu Ye seemed to look like he's fooling around, but he was in fact, heavily influenced by his parents. He placed great importance on relationships and family responsibilities. From deep within his heart, he looked down on homewreckers.

Yang Li Na laughed, "You're so funny, little brother."

"…" Little brother…little your head!

Ji Yun saw Wu Ye's green expression through the rearview mirror, and it was hard for him to hold back his laughter. Qin Wuhua smiled slightly and patted his back to console him.

HEXIE: Enjoy~