Yan Bubu knew this was a tiger. He had seen one at the zoo. Only that one was depressed and lazing around in its enclosure, not aggressive like this at all.
Feng Chen just put the dagger into his backpack, which he had tossed to the very back row of the bus. It was too late for him to get it now and there was nothing close by. Seeing the tiger was almost inside, he hurriedly grabbed the iron pot close by and smashed it down on the predator’s head.
After a series of impacts, the tiger let out a roar of pain and tried to lunge inside. Feng Chen braced the bottom of the pot against its head and tried to push it out.
“Go get my dagger, it’s in the backpack.” Feng Chen pushed back hard against the tiger and loudly ordered Yan Bubu, who was standing there blankly.
Yan Bubu abruptly returned to his senses, his panicked gaze searching around for the backpack.
“At the back of the bus.” Feng Chen yelled.
The tiger kept trying to squeeze inside, Its sharp claws scratched the body of the bus like nails on a chalkboard. Feng Chen put all his strength behind the iron pot and braced his feet against the handrail on the other side. The veins on his neck bulged.
Yan Bubu found the backpack and frantically pulled out the dagger. In the panic, he tripped when he turned around.
He climbed up without a second’s delay and rushed towards Feng Chen with the dagger. “Here, Young Master!”
Feng Chen couldn’t free a hand to catch it. As soon as he let go, the tiger would pounce inside.
“Stab, it.” His face turned red as he squeezed two words from clenched teeth.
The handrail his feet were on creaked, already seeming looser than before. Feng Chen did not dare to slacken, once again struggling to say, “Don’t, be, afraid. Stab, it.”
Yan Bubu didn’t hesitate. Although his lips trembled and his legs threatened to give out, he still obeyed Feng Chen’s order. With a loud scream, he plunged the dagger with both hands into the tiger’s paw on the carriage.
The tip pierced the paw, but only just due to his insufficient strength. Still, the tiger was provoked. It tried even harder to get inside.
“Keep going!” Feng Chen yelled as he fended the tiger off. “Stab it hard.”
Yan Bubu’s face was a ghastly white, but he pulled out the dagger as he was told and stabbing the tiger’s paw again and again while screaming shrilly.
“Go away, go away, go away! Bad tiger, go away! Awubengga Adawuxiya, go away…”
Blood gushed out from the tiger’s paw, instantly staining its yellow fur and dripping down the carriage walls.
The tiger could not stand the pain any longer. Since it was unable to get in after so long, it finally gave up and slid down the side of the bus with a thud, limping out of the parking lot.
Watching it disappear in the distance, the iron pot fell with a clang from Feng Chen’s hands. He stumbled back and collapsed to the floor.
Yan Bubu was still standing in place like a statue, both hands clutching the dagger. He cried while going to check on Feng Chen on wobbly legs.
Feng Chen leaned against the foot of the seat, his whole body soaked with sweat. He wanted to reach out to Yan Bubu, but his arms were too sore and weak to even lift. He could only smile and pant out, “Come here.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Wuwu…” Yan Bubu shuffled over step by step.
“Uea atf vjuufg jkjs.”
Tjc Deye atgfk atf vjuufg bcab j cfjgys rfja. Llr ybvs kjr ralii rkjslcu ilxf j qfcveiew.
“Jbwf rla cfza ab wf.”
Tjc Deye rja vbkc yfrlvf Mfcu Jtfc jcv ijamtfv bcab tlr jgw, j rclnfiilcu wfrr. Mfcu Jtfc ibbxfv ja atf mbkilmx bc abq bo tlr tfjv jcv ktlrqfgfv, “Gbc’a mgs. Snfgsatlcu’r olcf cbk.”
Yan Bubu gradually calmed down and stopped crying. He leaned against Feng Chen and sniffled even now and then.
“You did a good job just now.” Feng Chen said.
Yan Bubu peered up at him. Although his cheeks were covered with a mixture of tears and sweat, his dark irises began to glitter.
“I did a good job?” He asked hoarsely.
Feng Chen nodded. “Yes, you did great. You obeyed orders, responded in a timely manner, and acted decisively.”
“I wasn’t scared of it. I could handle two more tigers.” Yan Bubu instantly bounced back. His voice stopped wavering too.
“I just used a little bit of magic, not too much. If I used any more it would be dead. Actually, I could’ve kicked it. See, like this! I just don’t use this move easily…”
He stood up as he spoke and began to show off his moves.
Feng Chen watched him quietly without making any comments, He waited until he had almost recovered before getting up and packing his backpack.
“We need to get out of here as soon as possible before that tiger comes back for round two.”
Feng Chen worded it in a very vague way. In truth, he knew that tiger must have eaten a lot of corpses and maybe even live humans. The corpses had rotted significantly at this point, difficult to choke down even for a tiger. It would eventually come back with a vengeance for the two of them.
Yan Bubu was still excitedly showing off how he would’ve dealt with the tiger until he heard this. He froze, his eyes widening nervously.
“Get your cloth bag and fill it with water bottles. We’ll leave now for the Institute to change our IDs, and then enter the underground settlement.”
It was already evening. The sun and the moon both hung in the sky, one to the east and one to the west. It was impossible to identify whether daylight or moonlight was shining down on them right now.
The temperatures were still high. The two of them were drenched in sweat by the time they passed by that well. They got some well water and drenched down from head to toe. The slightly cool well water took away some of the heat. Yan Bubu shook the water from his head like a puppy. “Pour more on me, Young Master!”
Feng Chen wiped the water off his face and pumped another bucket of well water to take along. “Let’s go, we can’t dally any longer.”
It wasn’t far from here to the Institute, but it would still take several hours by foot. The two walk for a while before taking another rest and pouring well water on themselves again.
Although the well water’s temperature also slowly rose and it was no longer cool, it still made them feel better for a few moments afterwards.
The sun completely set at last as pale moonlight shrouded the entire ruined city. Everything was dead silent.
Yan Bubu tightly held the corner of Feng Chen’s clothes and followed him close. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was peering at him from the depths of those shadowed ruins.
Feng Chen lit up the gas lamp, illuminating the surrounding area. From time to time, he reminded Yan Bubu quietly to pay attention to his feet.
Awooo…
In the distance came the howling of some animal, making Yan Bubu’s hair stand on end.
“Young Master, what’s that?”
“Nothing, it’s just a dog.”
Feng Chen’s tone carried a calm certainty, but his dagger was always at the ready in his right hand.
Around 9:00pm, they finally arrived at their destination, an industrial area near the outskirts of the city.
The terrain here was wide open. All the tall factories in sight had collapsed, except for one ten-story building that stood quietly amidst the wreckage.
Feng Chen took Yan Bubu to the entrance of that building.
Under the light of the gas lamp, the building appeared relatively sturdy aside from a few longitudinal cracks and large patches of peeling wallpaper.
The fence around the perimeter was gone, so the two walked directly to the gate. Feng Chen took out his tools from the backpack and began to pick the electronic lock.
Yan Bubu carried the gas lamp and asked while surveying the surroundings, “Young Master, can we really change our identities here?”
Feng Chen said without raising his head, “Yes. The Eastern Union Army had already withdrawn before the earthquake, but they could only take a portion of important items with them. The instruments for modifying biochips weren’t even considered important. They were surely left behind.”
The electronic lock was picked open with a click. A cold stream of air blew out from the open door. Yan Bubu felt very refreshed, but at the same time chills ran down his spine. Goosebumps rose all over his body.
“Come on, let’s go inside.” Feng Chen carried the gas lamp and walked in. Yan Bubu hurriedly wrapped his arms around the teen’s waist and shuffled along.
“Let go. How am I supposed to walk like this?” Feng Chen stopped and looked down at him.
Yan Bubu had to let go and hold a corner of his shirt instead.
The lobby was a mess. Unimportant documents were scattered all over the floor, showing the hurry the Eastern Union Army was in during their retreat. The elevator didn’t seem to work, so they had to take the stairs. Fortunately there were only ten floors so it wasn’t too bad.
The following floors were just like any ordinary research institute, with labs and dispensing rooms etc. However, when they reached the fifth floor, tightly closed metal doors blocked the upward staircase.
The electronic lock on the door was still powered for some reason. The green keypad was eerily bright. Apparently this building had an independent limestone generator. As long as the unit wasn’t destroyed by the earthquake, the limestone could supply power to the building for the foreseeable future.
“I came here with my father once. I remember the password.” Feng Chen said as he entered a few numbers on the keypad. The metal doors opened smoothly.
Yet as soon as they stepped foot into the fifth floor’s staircase, the metal doors closed behind them as the surrounding lights all came on.
Yan Bubu’s eyes stung from the sudden change in light. He squinted. When they adjusted, he found that instead of more stairs, they were actually in a small empty room with only a small door on the opposite wall.
[Foreign intruders detected. Please show proof of access immediately.]
An electronic voice suddenly sounded in the room, cold and flat like a machine. Yan Bubu looked around in a panic but couldn’t find where it was coming from.
[Foreign intruders detected. Please hold your proof of access in front of your chest or face consequences.]
As if he didn’t hear, Feng Chen strode towards the small door and pressed the button next to it. A screen appeared on the wall. He immediately started tapping away on the keyboard below.
[Foreign intruders have failed to show proof of access. Now counting down from ten.]
As the electronic voice fell, Yan Bubu discovered to his horror that small holes had suddenly appeared in the surrounding walls. Red lights came through those holes and shone straight onto the middle of their foreheads.
“Young Master, what are these?”
Feng Chen let a red dot rest on his forehead, his hands flying across the keyboard. “Infrared targeting devices.”
[Ten, nine, eight–]
Yan Bubu reached up to shield his forehead. “What’s an infrared targeting device?”
“The name is self-explanatory.” Feng Chen was as perfunctory as ever.
Yan Bubu went ‘oh’ as if he understood, but he couldn’t help but continue to ask, “Then why’s there a voice counting down?”
Feng Chen’s hands didn’t stop. His eyes darted across the screen. “When it finishes, it means we’re about to…”
[Seven, six, five–]
“About to what?” Yan Bubu felt nervous for some reason. He subconsciously held his breath.
“We’re about to…”
The light of the display was projected on Feng Chen’s high nose and sharp eyes. Although a bead of sweat quietly trickled down the side of his forehead, his demeanour remained calm.
[Four, three, two–]
As Feng Chen hit the enter key, the electronic countdown abruptly ended. The red dots on them disappeared, and the small door in front opened without a sound.
Feng Chen sighed deeply and continued forward. “It means we’re about to enter the secret institute.”
That was close😱
So cool, just amazing
Thank you for your translation 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
So close. Lucky Feng Chen still remember the password. If not 😱
Thanks for the chapter
Too close…👀
Iron frying pans are the mightiest weapons of all times ~
For how secretive this place is, the security is pretty lacking if a kid can remember the passwords lol