When Gu Lin was about to kill the man in front of him, Li Shu silently stopped him, and the man seized the opportunity to escape.
Knowing who was behind it, Gu Lin didn’t send anyone to pursue. These people had been ruthless in their attempts to kill him. Many people were killed along the way, including a significant number of high-level evolvers.
At this point, any evolver beyond level three could be considered powerful. While most people were still at level two, those people were already sending several level three and even level four evolvers just to prevent him from returning to the capital.
This was a testament to how much they feared Gu Lin’s strength. They were afraid of his return because they knew if he came back, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Keeping him outside forever was in their best interest.
Amidst the chaos, Gu Lin’s gaze darkened. He had endured up to this point not out of fear, but to ensure that Li Shu could return to the capital and reunite with his family as quickly as possible. Otherwise, he would have made those people pay.
After a brief cleanup, the team spent the night in rough conditions. The next morning, they set off early, and by evening, they had arrived at the capital.
True to its status as the political and economic center, after the apocalypse, the capital quickly took shape as a safe base. Now, it was shedding its old identity and transforming into a base suitable for the post-apocalyptic world.
To improve living conditions in the base, the capital had sent out military forces to clear out a wave of infected early on. At that time, the infected weren’t difficult to deal with, and ordinary people still had the power to fight them. The military successfully completed the task. Gu Lin had also been part of the army then. As one of the first evolvers, he quickly rose to a high position, only to be betrayed and brought down.
Standing in front of the capital’s gate, Gu Lin felt a moment of emotion. The disgrace of his departure seemed like a distant memory, and everything that had happened in this city felt like it belonged to another lifetime.
Li Shu stood beside Gu Lin, and the people passing by cast glances their way. The capital was considered the safest place, and it welcomed many people from other areas every day. Some traveled alone, while others came in groups. But it was the first time anyone had seen a group of this size.
Moreover, aside from the one standing next to the leader, all of them were evolvers, with the weakest being at level two. The entry of such a powerful force into the capital was sure to cause a major stir.
To enter the city, they first had to go through a screening to ensure there were no hidden infected among them. After several incidents involving hidden infected individuals, this screening became mandatory. Those unwilling to undergo the check wouldn’t be allowed into the capital.
With so many people, the screening process took a considerable amount of time. Gu Lin and Li Shu were among the first to complete the check, so they entered the city ahead of the others.
Before arriving at the capital, Gu Lin had already sent people to inquire about Li Shu’s family. Both Li Shu’s father and his eldest brother had awakened as evolvers. After Gu Lin was forced out of the center of power, the Li family took advantage of the reshuffle of forces in the capital and quickly secured a place. They now held considerable influence.
It was because of this that Gu Lin’s men quickly gathered information.
The Li family had never given up on searching for their youngest son, Li Shu. However, the apocalypse had caused too much disruption, and the place where Li Shu and Lin Xuan had gone was too far from the capital. Despite offering rewards, they had still not received any promising leads after several months.
Not knowing Li Shu’s current situation or whether he was still alive, Father Li regretted countless times testing the two children back then. If he had just agreed, would his youngest son still have left the capital at such a dangerous time?
Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret.
“Any news? Still nothing?” A well-maintained, beautiful woman brought in freshly brewed tea, her brows furrowed with worry.
The middle-aged man sitting on the sofa didn’t speak. They had heard the same answer countless times. They knew all too well that the longer time dragged on, the dimmer the hope became. They had sent people to search all the places Li Shu might have gone more than once, but the reports were always the same.
By now, everyone in the capital knew the Li family was looking for their missing youngest son. The reward they offered grew increasingly generous, attracting more and more evolvers to take on the task.
Another group returned, and Father Li received them without much hope. The result was as expected—nothing. He looked at the faint light in his wife’s eyes and found himself at a loss for words.
They knew deep down that the chance of finding Li Shu was slim, but neither of them was willing to accept it.
His silence said it all, and the light in the beautiful woman’s eyes slowly dimmed. The men in the family had all become evolvers, and they clung to the hope that perhaps Li Shu had also awakened as an evolver. If he had, he might have a better chance of survival. After so many disappointments, they knew that even this possibility was now nearly nonexistent.
Father Li pulled the beautiful woman into his arms and said in a solemn voice. “Don’t worry, we’ll find Xiao Shu.”
“You think… Xiao Shu, he… could he…” Her voice choked with sobs, and the woman couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence. Just thinking about that possibility was enough to break her heart.
“No,” the man patted her shoulder, comforting her. “Communication has been difficult since the apocalypse. Finding someone is no easy task. Don’t worry.”
Sitting on the sofa with the beautiful woman in his arms, Father Li whispered comforting words
“Dad, Mom, something big happened outside the city today.” A handsome man walked in as he removed his coat.
“What happened?” To distract his wife, Father Li followed his eldest son’s lead.
“Gu Lin has returned, and he’s brought a lot of people with him—all evolvers. Everyone knew there was something fishy about what happened back then, but no one said anything. Who would have thought Gu Lin would come back in one piece? Now, some people are going to have headaches,” The Li eldest son said.
The incident involving Gu Lin had occurred two months after the apocalypse began. Officially, it was said he went missing while on the mission, but anyone who paid attention could see the suspicious series of events that followed. They claimed he disappeared during the mission, but who knew what really happened?
Those people probably never expected that not only did Gu Lin fail to disappear as they had hoped, but he had returned in full force and with a large group of followers.
The Li family had risen to power during the political purge that followed Gu Lin’s fall. Now that he was back, if there had been any hidden schemes behind his disappearance, he surely wouldn’t let it go. The power center in the capital was about to see some action.
Father Li: “The Ye family isn’t what it used to be, instead, it is the Gu family that has been showing weakness, only Old Master Gu is holding it together. Even with Gu Lin back, it won’t change much in the short term, right?”
In the capital, the strength of the Ye family was far beyond what it used to be. Those who were close to the Gu family had all been pushed out of the center of power. Now that Gu Lin had returned, what could he possibly change?
“You can’t say it like that,” the Li eldest son said as he sat on the other side of the sofa. “I heard that Gu Lin brought back a lot of people, all of them are evolvers, and most are at level three, with a few level four ones. He himself seems to be a level five evolver.”
A level five evolver was something else entirely. Currently, there were only a few level five evolvers in the capital, and any faction would eagerly recruit someone like that.
“There’s something else. I heard there’s an ordinary person by Gu Lin’s side who’s very well protected. Everyone who saw him said that person looked nothing like someone who had gone through the apocalypse,” Brother Li thought about this news and found it rather intriguing.
They all knew a little about Gu Lin’s situation. After all, he had once been a major figure in the capital, part of the first wave of evolvers and one of the most powerful. Before that incident, he had a lot of halos around him. It was only because the Ye family had worked tirelessly to suppress him that the topics about him had quieted down in the capital.
This man made great contributions in clearing out the infected around the capital.
Brother Li talked a little more about Gu Lin. Now that he had returned in such a high-profile manner, everyone who needed to know already knew. Even if the Ye family wanted to do something, they could only give up the idea for the time being.
Under the intentional guidance of the Li father and son, the beautiful woman finally set aside the sadness in her heart. She knew her husband and son were talking about all this to divert her attention.
Seeing his wife comforted, Father Li let out a sigh of relief. His wife’s health had been getting worse due to her frequent concerns about her youngest son. He was really afraid that something might happen to her.
In the apocalypse, ordinary people were just too fragile.
The Li family’s current residence was no longer in the same location. Gu Lin had already inquired beforehand and led Li Shu directly to the new destination.
The two got out of the car outside a standalone villa. The guards were new and didn’t recognize Li Shu. After learning that they were here to see Mr. Li, they immediately reported it to their superiors.
After receiving the message, Father Li was very puzzled. He couldn’t figure out why Gu Lin would come at this time.
Meeting his wife’s questioning gaze, Father Li explained, “It’s Gu Lin. They said Gu Lin brought a young boy and wanted to see me.”
For some reason, Mother Li’s heart started beating violently. She suddenly stood up, her expression somewhat agitated. “Old Li, do you think the boy Gu Lin brought could be Xiao Shu?”
Father Li was about to refute when he heard his wife continue, “Didn’t they say Gu Lin just returned to the capital? Why would he come to our house first? If you think about it, he must have come straight here after entering the city. Old Li…”
After hearing his wife’s words, Father Li couldn’t help but think—could it really be that Xiao Shu had returned?
He had Gu Lin brought to the guest room and said to his wife, “I’ll go take a look.”
Even if there was only a slim chance, he didn’t want to miss it.
Brother Li also said, “I’ll go too. Mom, you wait here for us.”
It wasn’t that they didn’t want Mother Li to come, but they feared the emotional impact would be too much for her to handle.
Li Shu and Gu Lin were led to the guest room, and before long, the two heads of the Li family arrived.
When they saw the young man softly talking to Gu Lin, the two men couldn’t hold back and their eyes immediately turned. They hadn’t held much hope, but to their surprise, the young man was indeed Li Shu.
“Xiao Shu!” Unable to restrain themselves, they both called out in unison.
Li Shu immediately stood up, his eyes reddening. “Dad, Big Brother, I’m sorry for making you worry.”
“As long as you’re back, that’s all that matters.” Seeing Li Shu in the flesh, they felt an overwhelming sense of disbelief. After so long without any news of their youngest son and brother, they had thought they might never see him again.
Who would have thought that within just a few short minutes, Li Shu would appear before them? It felt like a dream.
