Chapter 161: Changing Cars?

Qin Yu took an unhurried step backward, then crossed her arms and let out a soft acknowledgement. She lowered her head slightly, her long, unstyled bangs casting a shadow over her eyes, concealing the hidden meanings within them.

Feng Fei seemed completely oblivious to Qin Yu's coldness. She took two steps forward, clutching her chest with a frail and delicate expression.

"Sister Qin, do you think you could let Sister Zhao switch cars with me?" Feng Fei asked, her face full of eager anticipation.

Qin Yu glanced at her and said indifferently, "Why?"

Feng Fei's smile froze slightly. She took a half-step back, wearing an expression that seemed to say, "How could you possibly ask such a question?" This exact scene happened to be caught by Hu Ke, who had just walked over.

Hu Ke frowned, casting a dissatisfied glare at Qin Yu. In his eyes, Qin Yu and the others were blatantly bullying Feng Fei—couldn't they see how pale the poor girl's face was?

He stepped forward and demanded of the group, "What's going on here?"

Feng Fei cast a cautious, timid glance at Hu Ke, playing the part of someone who had been wronged. Trembling slightly, she spoke up, "Captain Hu, it's like this. I wanted to switch cars with Sister Zhao, but Sister Qin... I just genuinely wanted to bond and build a closer relationship with Sister Qin."

Hearing this, a look of utter annoyance crossed Hu Ke's face. To him, stopping and wasting time over such a trivial matter was completely brainless. And this Qin Yu as well—what was the big deal about switching cars? Why dilly-dally like this?

"Zhao Juan, switch cars with Feng Fei, and let's get moving immediately! Let's see if we can find a village before dark to rest and resupply." Hu Ke glared impatiently at Zhao Juan.

Zhao Juan grew anxious at those words. She took a few steps forward to stand beside Qin Yu, crossing her arms in a haughty posture.

"Why should she get to switch just because she asks? All vague and beating around the bush—who knows what kind of ulterior motives she has? Xiao Yu and I are on the same team, and we are not switching!" Zhao Juan retorted, her face equally filled with annoyance.

Feng Fei bit her lip, raising tear-filled eyes to look at Hu Ke before sweeping a glance over the others. Then she lowered her head once more, looking entirely helpless.

Aside from Qin Yu's team members and Zhang Yang, the rest of the onlookers suddenly formed a much poorer impression of Qin Yu and Zhao Juan. Zhou Zhou, in particular, wore a cold expression, eyeing them both with undisguised contempt.

A wave of irritation surged through Hu Ke upon hearing Zhao Juan's refusal. He looked at them coldly and said, "I wasn't aware you had formed your own little clique. What? Don't want to finish the mission with us anymore?"

"You know very well that's not what I meant!" Zhao Juan said angrily.

"If that's not what you meant, then what is? Hurry up! Switch cars with Feng Fei and let's go! Dragging your feet like some wild vagrants!" Hu Ke barked in an authoritative and furious tone.

Zhao Juan stepped forward, intending to retort, but was stopped by Xia Cheng from behind. Xia Cheng patted Zhao Juan's shoulder, shielding her behind him. Then, wearing a polite smile, he looked at Hu Ke and said, "Captain Hu, Xiao Juan didn't mean any harm. It's just that she and Qin Yu have grown up together since they were kids, so asking her to leave Qin Yu so abruptly makes her a bit unaccustomed to it. Besides, everything was going smoothly, but as soon as Miss Feng stopped us, she demanded a car change..."

Xia Cheng trailed off, leaving his words unfinished to stir up endless imagination in the listeners. Hu Ke glanced at Feng Fei, who was still putting on a pitiful act, and the approval in his eyes turned into suspicion.

Right at that moment, Zhang Yang spoke up. "She threw up inside our car, and the smell is absolutely awful."

At this, the way the crowd looked at Feng Fei instantly shifted. All talk of wanting to bond was clearly a guise for malicious intent. She had vomited in her own vehicle and wanted to switch to another car just to keep vomiting there? In the dead of summer, that stench was unimaginable. Did she really take them all for fools?

Feng Fei shook her head helplessly, taking a frightened step backward. She looked at Hu Ke and parted her lips.

"Captain, it's not like that. I really just wanted to talk and connect with Sister Qin..." Feng Fei said pitifully.

But this time, Hu Ke wasn't buying it. He cast an irritated glance at Feng Fei. The clothes that had been drenched by the heavy heat and rain felt all the more miserable under the blazing sun.

Without sparing Feng Fei another look, he turned on his heel and walked away, shouting over his shoulder, "Get back to your respective cars! Move out!"

Seeing Hu Ke stride away, Zhou Zhou glanced at Feng Fei, said nothing, and quickly followed. If he fell behind and Captain Hu ordered him to ride in Feng Fei's car, he wouldn't be able to stomach it!

Hearing Hu Ke's command, the others climbed back into their vehicles. Feng Fei stamped her foot in frustration, glaring with bitter resentment at Qin Yu's back—only to be caught red-handed when Qin Yu suddenly turned her head.

Feng Fei froze, clearly not expecting Qin Yu to turn around so abruptly. Realizing her ferocious expression had been exposed, she dropped the act entirely, staring daggers at Qin Yu with eyes full of venom.

Qin Yu smiled back at Feng Fei, then turned and got into her own car.

Confused by the intent behind that smile, Feng Fei stood there in a daze until an impatient Zhang Yang shouted at her to get in.

Once inside, Feng Fei noticed that both Zhang Yang and Li Jiao wore blank, expressionless faces, their gazes devoid of any warmth as they looked at her. She bit her lip, her hatred for Qin Yu deepening by another notch.

"Roll down the window to air out the smell. The zombies around here seem to be of fairly low levels, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem," Zhang Yang suggested.

Li Jiao nodded and rolled down the window on Zhang Yang's side. As for the window on Feng Fei's side, it remained tightly shut.

Seeing that her window was still sealed, Feng Fei immediately panicked. The wretched weather was making the lingering odor ferment rapidly, and her stomach began to churn violently.

"Why aren't you opening my side too?" Feng Fei asked, her tone dripping with grievance.

Zhang Yang glanced at her indifferently and said coldly, "If you can guarantee you won't get caught by zombies."

Feng Fei was taken aback, but pressed on with a self-righteous attitude. "Aren't you here? Are you saying you won't protect me?"

Zhang Yang let out a scoff of derision and said sarcastically, "Feel free to test that theory."

Meeting Zhang Yang's gaze, Feng Fei let out a cold snort. She refused to believe that Zhang Yang would truly let her fend for herself, so she reached out and cranked her window open herself, confident in her own assumption.

Zhang Yang glanced at her, closed his eyes to rest, and said nothing more.

Believing that Zhang Yang had no way of dealing with her, Feng Fei smiled triumphantly, resting her head against the window frame to breathe in the outdoor air—which, though somewhat stifling, was still fresher than the trapped stench inside the vehicle.

Li Jiao caught Feng Fei's actions in the rearview mirror and promptly looked away. He appeared entirely focused on driving, though what thoughts ran through his mind were known only to him.

They hadn't driven much further before they were ambushed by zombies. Although Hu Ke and the others had eliminated the vast majority of the horde up ahead, a few stragglers still slipped through and headed straight toward the vehicle carrying Feng Fei and the others.

Spotting a zombie mere inches away, Feng Fei shrieked in terror. Instinctively grabbing whatever object happened to be closest to her, she smashed it blindly at the zombie's head.

The rapid momentum of the car combined with the collision of the hard object allowed Feng Fei to narrowly escape the creature's clutches.

Shaken to her core by the close call, Feng Fei hastily rolled up the window, her face frozen in lingering horror.