Rotting Land: Survive

The choice in front of Luo Baochun is simple. Either tell the truth, or flatly deny it.

This was a difficult task Old Xu intentionally gave to Luo Baochun.

He wanted to use this to test Luo Baochun’s mindset and accordingly consider how to deal with Luo Baochun next.

If the other side were honest, then depending on the circumstances, it might still be possible to forgive them.

But if the other side intentionally deceived and evaded, then Old Xu might not be able to let Luo Baochun off the hook.

After all, Dai Sha’s previous incident was right there, with the bodies of hundreds of survivors in Yuhuan Gymnasium not yet cold, and Old Xu didn’t want to experience being stabbed in the back again.

Therefore, placing it on Luo Baochun, he was truly in a dilemma at the moment.

Unable to figure out Xu Renjie’s thoughts, that expressionless square face revealed nothing.

Luo Baochun wanted to confess but was afraid that once he spoke, he would be kicked out of the team.

But at this point, he was not sure if lying would be effective.

Unable to determine how much Xu Renjie had confidence in, Luo Baochun was under enormous psychological pressure.

This was a decision, a decision concerning his future and fate, where a slight mistake could be fatal.

With both hands still tightly gripping his trousers, Luo Baochun looked at the yellowed notebook on the table, then looked at Xu Renjie, who was engrossed in drinking tea.

He didn’t mention the matter at the dinner table and had just sent others away, indicating that he probably didn’t want to embarrass me... Besides, my life was saved by them; deceiving them now... Sigh, Luo Baochun, you’re really something, living a repressed life for the first half, why don’t you change at this critical juncture! What good is trust gained by lying!

With intense, heavy breathing, Luo Baochun’s mental struggle intensified.

Old Xu observed all this, and this was the effect he wanted because only in this way could he confirm whether Luo Baochun’s response was sincere.

In such silent stalemate for 3 or 4 minutes, Luo Baochun, who had been dumbfounded, finally made a sound after a silent moment. He seemed a bit parched, coughed lightly twice, and then bowed his head, saying: "Your deduction is correct, the person mentioned above is me, and the one called Ma team is Ma Rucheng."

Old Xu was not surprised by Luo Baochun’s answer; he had already confirmed his suspicions in his mind.

However, Luo Baochun’s honesty did bring him some relief; to be honest, during the other’s silence, although Old Xu feigned drinking tea, he was no less nervous than Luo Baochun.

After all, Luo Baochun had been through life and death with them. If he had to deal with him because of this matter, Old Xu would indeed have felt a twinge of conscience.

Fortunately, at the last moment, Luo Baochun chose to confess, which undoubtedly allowed Old Xu to somewhat ease his anxious heart.

"Well, I’m glad you could answer me like this. Can you tell me why you appeared on that list of criminals? And why did you lie? Your encounter with Wen Quanxin wasn’t purposeful, right?"

With a series of questions, Old Xu’s aggressive approach appeared sharp.

This was a helpless tactic, as Old Xu saw it; only by administering a strong dose to force Luo Baochun to fully confess the truth could he make a final decision on how to handle the situation.

Upon hearing Old Xu say that he came to the base with ulterior motives, the sitting Luo Baochun immediately became agitated.

"No! No! Absolutely not! Old Xu, I came to you with absolutely no malicious intent, please believe me!"

Smiling and pressing his hands down, Old Xu said in a deep voice: "Don’t get excited. I’ve said it before; I came this time to understand the situation with you. I ask, you answer, you answer clearly, and the misunderstanding will naturally be resolved, right?"

Old Xu’s indifference made Luo Baochun quite uncomfortable, and he suddenly felt that the man in front of him was so unfamiliar, with none of the usual friendliness.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Is this the cost of lying? Am I going to be harshly judged and isolated again?

Luo Baochun suddenly felt a pain in his heart, and all sorts of past humiliations surfaced in his mind: his wife leaving, his parents’ disappointment, friends and family abandoning him, all flashing in front of his eyes as if watching a film.

Luo Baochun had experienced that kind of humiliation; he originally thought he could start a new life in this team, but...

No! No! I don’t want to go back to the past!

"I’ll tell you the truth, yes, I am the criminal on the list, and I did serve time in that jail, but my encounter with Xiao Wen and them really wasn’t intentional; they saved me, and I wouldn’t harm you."

Luo Baochun got increasingly agitated as he spoke, but Old Xu’s face remained unmoved: "Hmm, so what crime were you caught for?"

"Theft! I’m a gambler, got dragged into a village underground casino and gambled a few hands, then lost everything. To repay the debt, I robbed a gold shop, and before I could sell anything, I got caught."

"A gold shop!? Seems like you’ve got some nerve." Old Xu joked lightly.

"There was no choice, with a knife to my throat, I had no option. Back then, the casino was pressing hard, giving me a week; if I couldn’t repay, they would kill my whole family. So..."

"So you took the desperate risk to steal from the gold shop. Fine, let’s put this aside for now. Tell me about your experience at the police station. What did you go through? How did you escape? Please tell me in detail."

Undoubtedly, this was what Old Xu was most concerned about because only by this could he infer Luo Baochun’s true character.

"The day I got caught was exactly the day the apocalypse broke out. At that time, the station wasn’t too bad; there was one incident of Zombie biting someone, but it was quickly subdued by the police. Everyone instinctively thought it was due to an overdose, so they didn’t pay much attention. You know, this place is remote, with few people, so there wasn’t a large-scale mutation event initially. Not until the continuous reports from villages did the police station realize something was off. But by then, it was too late; the phenomenon of biting began appearing on a large scale in surrounding areas, and the police station here isn’t big; in fact, there were no more than 10 officers, and with low efficiency, they couldn’t handle the outbreaking crisis."

"Heh, obviously, otherwise, how could a detainee like you know so much?"

Hearing the obvious doubt in Old Xu’s words, Luo Baochun quickly explained: "Most of it was later told to us by Director Ma, ah, that is, Ma Rucheng. You know, by the end, there were hardly any survivors in the police station; they either didn’t return from initial rescues or were sent out to investigate later. So... don’t laugh, by the end, there were actually more prisoners than police at the station. It was during this time that Ma team would sometimes come and chat with us."

"Ha, this Ma team is quite something, able to communicate with prisoners like this."

"The situation demanded it; under the then circumstances, who distinguished between police and prisoner? Honestly, no one knew what tomorrow would bring; Old Ma probably came to us because he had no one else to talk to. But Old Ma is an upstanding guy; even during that time, he didn’t cut off our food. Yet... sigh, good deeds don’t always have good returns!"

(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)