Global Evolution

Chang categorized food and weapons into different backpacks, the heaviest of which he carried on his back. The other four were evenly distributed to Zhizhi and Sanpang. He then hunkered down, gently patting the kids on their backs. "Come, I’ll carry you. "

"We can walk by ourselves," one of them said. "We may be weaker than you, but we are just as capable as a normal adult in physical strength. We’ll follow along."

"How about..." Chang turned his head and tried to think of a way to persuade them, but then he realized these kids were actually Qing Shui himself. "Alright," he finally agreed.

Chang nodded to Jing. "You aren’t responsible for any backpacks, so keep an eye on the kids. They are all well-behaved, so it shouldn’t be too troublesome."

"No problem." Jing smirked and asked the boys, "Can you follow closely after me?"

"We can," the boys answered in sync.

While Jing sat down trying to get to know the boys, Chang, Sanpang, and Zhizhi conducted a throughout check of the bar to make sure they didn’t miss any critical items.

"Where are we going?" Jing asked, holding on to the boys’ hand.

"I don’t know exactly where..." Chang shook his head. "I thought Qing Shui was going to come along, but I am lost now when he withdrew from our plan..."

Chang spoke of Qing Shui with an unconscious pathos. In the past years, he ignored the distance growing between them deliberately. Just as he was told, Qing Shui had never done anything disloyal to their friendship, and he had been continuously providing help that he didn’t even ask for; he treated him as a family member, yet Chang himself began to avoid conversations...

Now, Chang was leaving with his clique, and Qing Shui decided to stay. They would never meet each other again, given what Qing Shui was going to confront.

Qing Shui wasn’t even a well-matched opponent to the Willow, regardless of intelligence or physical capability. Chang doubted he could ever stop the Willow. Even if he could, Chang didn’t think that Willow would ever skip obtaining one of the most brilliant minds on this planet.

He may become one of the millions, and he may also become one of the Willow’s favorite.

Therefore, although Qing Shui was capable—since his encephalon mutation four years ago, he could snap off Zhuo’s neck effortlessly—Chang had no idea what he had become now. The only thing he learned from their last conversation was that Qing Shui had been faking his confidence.

Qing Shui never panicked, neither felt uneasy about any situation they faced, even with Zhuo.

However, when he said goodbye to Chang, it was his first time making a definite promise, guaranteeing that he would stop the Willow for three years.

His promise sounded like a slogan more than anything practical. Qing Shui would never do that unless he no longer possessed his confidence

Thus, his death was something already predicted.

Thinking of this, Chang’s chest congested with sorrow. He couldn’t say anything, his mind overtaking with nostalgia. The others sensed the weight in the air, but they failed to notice the reason for it, and hence they started pressing him.

"Hey! Say something!" Zhizhi shook his arm.

"Yes." Chang took a deep breath to stabilize his emotions from leaking out from his eye sockets. He knew time didn’t wait for anyone, and it certainly wouldn’t stop to give time for his sorrow. "We should head north. We can go the North Eastern part of China, or even to Russia! After all, the Willow is in the south now, and there is no way we’ll head down.

"In the east, there is the ocean, which is too misery and dangerous now, and the west won’t be a wise choice since the land there is too complicated. All the way to the north, it’ll be freezing over there. But at high altitudes, there will be fewer species, and that means safety! What do you guys think?"

"I think this is a good idea. My grandfather was from the North East, and I’ve always wanted to visit but never went there." Sanpang was the first to agree on this proposal. "It should be our safest destination as long as we stay away from the coast."

"But... Isn’t it too far?" Zhizhi was more considerate regarding realistic thinking. "The distance from Henan to the North East is more than a thousand kilometers, and we also need to pass through an enormous jungle, how will we get there?"

"Zhizhi is right! Four years ago, the company of soldiers was annihilated in just eighty kilometers from Kaifeng to Zhengzhou. We can’t make it to the North East, can we?" Jing was also worried. "And don’t forget that we are walking..."

"We’ll figure it out on the way... There are plenty of mega-cities along the way. Tianjin, Beijing, Shijiazhuang, where we should find large bases of survivors. We can set one of these cities as our goal, and we can stay there for a while to see if there is any more migration. If there is, we’ll flee with them to the North East," Chang said. "The North East or Russia is our ultimate goal. For now, we’ll head to the north, and make sure we have sufficient compasses."

"I guess this is the only way out." Zhizhi nodded in agreement. "We still have a lot of compasses left, as well as flashlights and goggles."

"Sounds good. So we’ll leave right away before the cities evacuate." Chang sighed. "Sometimes it’s good to have people leave altogether, but when the crowd is too big, it becomes a mess. This is perfect timing when people are still hesitating. We’ll leave as soon as the birds clear up."

"We’ll do as you say." Zhizhi sniffed the air. "The density is decreasing, and we can leave soon."

"All right, while we wait, let’s recheck our resources. Make sure things like compasses aren’t left behind. Otherwise it’ll be hard to come back once we depart."

"Got’ya."

The others returned to their rooms.

Chang himself strolled to the bar chair and sat down. There they were, the same old desks, the counter, the ceiling, the liquors, and candles. But Chang gazed at each of them, staring.

The marks and imprints of his four-year peaceful life were about to be abandoned for an indefinite duration. Memories of Jing bawling, the cigarette gifted by Qing Shui, and that wild laughter of Zhizhi silently deepened Chang’s despair in this doomed world.