Rebirth of MC

In the days following Long Zhanye and Huo Zaiyuan's news about the Sorcerer's cult and the black talisman, Long Haotian and the Head priest are swarmed with work. One contacts the other remaining safe zones in secret, ordering a covert investigation of the cult while the other concentrates all the knowledge and skills accumulated over decades to pull apart every aspect of this evil talisman.

After a few days of proper rest, Huo Zaiyuan has recovered fully. In addition, his mood is fairly good as he feels that he might just break through to the fifth level sometime soon. The fourth peach tree in the formation has already started to flower.

However, before he can bask in bliss longer, something happens. That morning, Zuo Hanyang rushed to inform them of an incident that befell one of A base's mercenary squad in A City's southeastern district. They were attacked in several evolved zombies in one of the fringe villages there. An entire veteran team of ten members now reduced to three who managed to escape, with one of the survivors infected and locked in a separate housing immediately after their return to the safe zone.

A safe zone's medical bay

Regarding these evolved zombies, the higher-ups feel it is a very important matter and thus, has to be handled by none other than Long Zhanye's newly established Long Yuan squad.

"What happened after you and your team entered the village?" Responsible for recording the verbal report, Zuo Hanyang asks as he puts his pen to paper.

Qin Jun is busy treating the injured man's wounds while Huo Zaiyuan and Long Zhanye standaside, silently listening.

Although this member of the mercenary squad was able to escape with his life intact, he sustained a serious fracture in his tibia after experiencing a rough tumble down a slope in the middle of evading the zombies. But after a day of medical attention, he has regained consciousness and is clear-headed enough to answer questions.

"Our squad accepted a mission issued by the safe zone to scavenge for food and other supplies. When we neared that village, the probe on our vehicle designed to detect life suddenly blared, indicating that there were still survivors in the village. Therefore, we immediately drove in, thinking that we might as well rescue them while completing our assignmentbut we were wrong. We shouldn't have let down our guards after seeing the probe displaying signs of life" The squad member becomes increasingly agitated as he begins to recount what happened.

Seeing this, Qin Jun immediately steps forward and presses firmly down on the man's chest to keep him lying flat on the bed. "You're wounded, so try to restrain your emotions. Becoming agitated will only worsen your current condition. Listen to me, focus on my voice. Take a deep breath, hold, and exhale slowly. Relax. Try to relax a little."

Under Qin Jun's soft directions, the emotional man takes a few deep breaths, calming down slowly before continuing. "In order to ensure everyone's safety, seven of us got down from the armoured car, leaving two of our best marksmen behind as both reinforcements and to protect the technician Only when we moved deeper into the village did we realise something wasn't quite right. The Taoist priest we recruited said that there was a layer of weird purple mist everywhere, but we thought it must be remnants of poisonous gases and so didn't pay it much attention. Our main priority is to rescue the survivors so we continued forwards Suddenly, we heard the technician shrieking in our earpieces, followed by an extremely terrifying roar A large swarm of zombies jumped out from all around. The Taoist was extremely quick in laying down a protective array, but it was easily ripped apart. Before we knew it, he was pierced through the chest by long, sharp claws"

"We've read the file of the Taoist priest in your squad. He was outstanding in every aspect. Arrays, barriers, talisman creation, experienced in real combat situations To be able to tear apart an array set by a first-rate priest and know to target said person firstthat zombie should be a higher ranked evolved," Huo Zaiyuan muses aloud, then turns to the casualty. "May I know if you noticed anything different about this zombie?"

"Nothingthere was no difference. It looked like a Rank 2 evolved undead. Greyish-green, cracked skin, long, sharp claws. It didn't have a mouthful of sharp teethwhich was why the priest determined it to be a low-ranking evolved," The man replies, shaking his head slightly.

"So there's only one possible explanation," Long Zhanye finally speaks, glancing around the room at the other occupants. "Even the lower ranked undead have increased in strength, just like common zombies in the initial stage of the apocalypse becoming more agile and much stronger as time passes."

"I have a question ah." Zuo Hanyang raises a hand.

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"What is it?"

"Why did the probe detect signs of life in the first place? If there were such strong undead within that village, there will definitely not be any survivors left ah."

"Un, that's true." Qin Jun frowns.

Everyone's face darkens as they ponder over this question.

"Baitsthere were living humans in that village. Those zombies didn't kill or eat them, but used them as bait to attract rescue teams," The squad member lying on the bed murmurs drowsily, before his eyelids slide close.

Now that he sustained serious injuries, his body feels so drained. On top of that, the death of most of his squad is a massive blow to his heart. He is just so tiredso, incredibly tired

When the man falls back asleep, the others leave the ward. Qin Jun informs another medic about the casualty's current condition before following Huo Zaiyuan, Long Zhanye and Zuo Hanyang out of the medical bay.

"Do you really believe the zombies are that smart? Using humans as baits?" Zuo Hanyang asks he scans through the notes in his hand.

"I'm not convinced. Even if the highest ranked evolved possesses some intelligence, it is not yet at the level of achieving cunningness needed to think about baiting." Qin Jun offers his opinion as he adjusts the strap of his medical kit.

"I don't believe it either. My intuition tells me that there is something strange about this incident, and it doesn't lie in the direction of an undead's intelligence." Long Zhanye waves a dismissive hand.

"Since everyone doesn't believe that explanation, then we can only go in and discover the answer on our own." Huo Zaiyuan chuckles softly. "Hmmjust as well I have a few experimental goods waiting to be tested. This will be a great opportunity."

"Little Yuan, please don't smile like that while saying such words. It's extremely creepy." Qin Jun shudders lightly as he mutters.

"Haha" Zuo Hanyang snickers in amusement as he stretched to loosen the kinks in his body. "When will we set off? I'll need to notify that bastard of a right adjutant."

"Today is as good a time as any. Since everyone is in such high spirits, we can set off after lunch. Unall of you, come to my unit. We'll have a feast." Long Zhanye declares as he wraps an arm around Huo Zaiyuan.

"All right! Ill go call the right adjutant!"

"Does that mean I'm also invited ah? A mercenary squad without a mechanic wouldn't be able to go far." A clear voice sounds from behind them as footsteps approach.

A green, camouflage-patterned, cloth baseball cap on their head conceals the top half of the person's face. Clad in a blue mechanic jacket and white shirt, the outfit is completed with a pair of green military camouflage trousers and black combat boots. All in all, this individual looks rather smart.

"Who are you ah?" Huo Zaiyuan asks the individual, eyebrows rising. "Do any of you know this guy?"

"Don't know." Long Zhanye shakes his head, a hard glint flashing across his eyes.

"Hmmisn't he just another mechanic from the factory?" Zuo Hanyang tilts his head to the side, biting thoughtfully on the cap of his pen.

The stranger's mouth thins in annoyance, angrily removing the cap from their head and chucking it towards the group.

"Goddamn you, you bunch of ingrates!!" Soft hair now longer than before, fair, flawless skin, a delicate face and large eyes now sparking with fury. If this isn't the Li Qing who vanished - read: imprisoned - in the factory for an entire month, who else could it be?

"Hahaexploding just like that." Long Zhanye laughs heartily.

"Hmph, I so happen to overhear my master saying you will be heading out on a mission without a mechanic. So I rushed all the way here to find you guys but apparently, you've all forgotten me!" Li Qing snorts, then turns and walks away. "Since you're not welcoming me, I'll take my leave. This elder will return to the factory and look for my master!"

"Little Qing." Qin Jun, who has kept silent all this while, finally steps forward and grabs his hand, stopping Li Qing from leaving.

The other three spectators decide to make themselves scarce right about now, no matter how they really want to stay behind and watch the drama unfold

As soon as the others disappear, Li Qing shakes off Qin Jun's hand.

"You don't care about me anymore, right? When I was locked in the factory for an entire month, you didn't even come and visit me once. Why are you stopping me now?" Li Qing's heart is extremely hurt by Qin Jun not showing his face all this time.

Heartbreak written all over his face, his eyes redden, tears hanging precariously from his eyelashes, threatening to fall at any time.

"Fool, who says I don't care about you anymore." Gaze fixed on that slender back, Qin Jun's heart feels as though something is squeezing it tight. Taking another step forward, he wraps his arms around Li Qing from behind. "The reason I didn't visit you is because I don't want you to become distracted."

"Liar." This familiar embrace, that familiar smell. For a whole month, this man haunts his daily dreams.

"I'm not lying. I know how a certain idiot never fails to stare at the factory's entrance at the end of every day and say "he didn't come again today"." As soon as the last word falls from his mouth, Qin Jun feels the person in his arms stiffen.

"Youhow did you know?" Raising his head to meet that warm pair of eyes filled with tenderness, Li Qing can only gape in astonishment.

"How do you think I know?" Mouth curling into a smile, Qin Jun leans in and kisses his lips.