Su Xiaoyaâs expression tightened as she faced Zhang Suâs cold interrogation, her small hands clutching the hem of her clothes, emphasizing that she was about to cry: "Uncle, uncle, what do you mean? I said, I spoke the truth."
"The truth?"
Zhang Su paused, just about to expose the little girl, when suddenly he heard a sound behind him.
"Hey, hubby, isnât this the little girl Wu Lue mentioned over the walkie-talkie earlier?"
Zheng Xinyu walked over with a bucket of freshly picked vegetables from the greenhouse.
"Thatâs right, Xinyu, you came just in time. Search her; thereâs a surprise!"
Zhang Su pointed at the little girl.
"I, Iâm just a little girl. Why, why are you doing this to me? If you really, really donât want to give me food, Iâll leave, boohoo..."
Upon hearing about the search, Su Xiaoya retreated several steps, sat down on the ground, and began to cry.
The sound of her cry attracted the attention of people busy here and there, focusing their gaze on the parking lot.
"Everyone, come and see, this uncle wants to touch me, to search me. Heâs so awful, kindhearted people, save me..."
Su Xiaoya saw seven or eight people surrounded her from all sides, cried even louder, and complained to the people around her, recounting Zhang Suâs misdeeds.
The complaint, however, made things worse. Everyone, previously feeling some sympathy perhaps due to the pathetic appearance of the little girl, found their expressions peculiar instead.
Itâs not uncommon for Zhang Su to do seemingly vile things, but the person he targets must surely pose a threat to the camp. The crowd didnât express sympathy for just an underage girl; after all, in todayâs world, even a five-year-old with a gun can kill!
Seeing the onlookers indifferent to her predicament, Su Xiaoya cried even louder, mixing in some incomprehensible mutterings, anyway mainly emphasizing the grievance of being bullied by a bad uncle.
"Stop shouting, young as you are, quite the actress!"
Zhang Suâs gaze chilled, if it werenât for Su Xiaoyaâs young age, she would have gotten a thorough beating by now.
"Stand up, search time!"
Zheng Xinyu would not spare her because she seemed pitiful; with a smile on her lips but cold eyes, she walked up to Su Xiaoya and signaled her to stand up.
"I, Iâll stand up, donât, donât hit me."
Su Xiaoya perhaps never anticipated that the only sympathetic person in the whole camp would be the big sister guarding the door, bitterly standing up, tightly pressing her legs together as if trembling.
"Brother Su, whatâs up with this girl?"
Yang Wenjie leaned towards Zhang Su, asking with confusion; as a female, her sympathy tends to be a bit more than males.
"Donât rush; youâll know soon!"
Zhang Su arms crossed, watching Zheng Xinyu perform the search.
"Raise your arms! Higher, good, turn around. Come on, spread your legs, no, wider, hey, if you donât cooperate, Iâll lose my temper! Quick!"
While Zheng Xinyu searched Su Xiaoya, initially she was quite cooperative, but when it came to checking her legs, she seemed awkward, tightly clamping them unwilling to separate, until, under Zheng Xinyuâs stern insistence, she reluctantly opened them.
Zheng Xinyu squatted down, searching Su Xiaoyaâs legs, her gaze intensified maliciously: "Whatâs in there, take it out now!"
Upon hearing Zheng Xinyuâs words, the onlookersâ expressions changed, is there really a situation?
Zhang Su wasnât surprised, still wearing a cold smile.
"Sister, I, I..."
Su Xiaoyaâs eyes reddened, covering the inside of her thigh, obviously unwilling to hand over what was hidden.
"Fine, if you donât take out the stuff, no problem. See that big camper there? The trunk has a few zombies locked up, go fight them; if you win, you can do whatever you want."
Zhang Su pointed at the Mercedes camper in the corner of the parking lot, actually, the zombies were long transported to the temple at the scenic spot, but as a scare tactic for the little girl, it was certainly effective.
Sure enough, hearing Zhang Suâs words, Su Xiaoyaâs face contorted with fright, her eyes rounded for a moment before she burst out crying again.
"Little brat not learning good things, playing spy games with us, whoever behind you must be insane!"
Zhang Su noticed this time Su Xiaoya genuinely cried, unlike her previous acting, yet he didnât feel pity due to her fear, nor did he intend to let her go.
"Brother Su, what should we do?"
Zheng Xinyu turned to Zhang Su; generally, only when peopleâs number were few sheâd use affectionate terms, amidst camp folks sheâd adhere to the common calling, separating public from private.
"Sheâs unwilling to hand things over? Easy, you help her do it!"
Zhang Su nodded his chin, signaling Zheng Xinyu to take action.
"Tsk..." Zheng Xinyu pursed her lips, muttering: "Why donât you let someone else handle it, really..."
Although she uttered a soft complaint, her hands didnât slow down. She pushed Su Xiaoya to the ground, pressed her nape, and swiftly pulled off Su Xiaoyaâs outer pants. She successfully found a shiny hairpin, a device resembling a walkie-talkie but flatter, and a packet of dark green powder, all taped to the inside of her thighs!
When these three items appeared in front of everyone, no one felt the slightest sympathy or compassion for the little girl. Clearly, Zhang Suâs suspicion was absolutely correct; this person was a spy sent by another faction!
And a very malicious spy at that; the bag of strangely green powder looked quite lethal!
The hairpin, however, was quite puzzling...
"Brother Su, here you go!"
Zheng Xinyu handed all the items over to Zhang Su, giving Su Xiaoya a cold glance!
"Hmm hmm..."
Zhang Su looked over the items in his hand, holding up the hairpin, saying, "If Iâm not mistaken, this is a wireless eavesdropping device, right?"
??
Everyone around exchanged confused glances; the little fellow had quite high-tech stuff on her!
Actually, many people didnât realize that the principle behind an eavesdropping device isnât very complicated. If you only intend to eavesdrop on sounds within thirty to fifty meters, as long as there are electronic components and some related knowledge, you can tinker one together.
Seeing Su Xiaoya sitting silently on the ground, Zhang Su shook the device resembling a walkie-talkie, saying, "This should be the eavesdropping receiver. Impressive, huh? Are you really treating yourself as an MI6 elite? Kid, youâve got capable people behind you, so tell us, who were you planning to eavesdrop on?"
Zhang Su walked over to Su Xiaoya and pulled her up from the ground.
Su Xiaoya frowned, completely clueless about how to respond. Her mind raced, thinking of a way to escape...
"I think I asked a rather silly question. Since you came here with an eavesdropping device, you obviously mean to eavesdrop on our campâs vital information. Here, Luezi, take it and study it!"
With that, Zhang Su handed the eavesdropping device and receiver to Wu Lue, then picked up the packet of green powder, which was only palm-sized and very light, less than an ounce. He shook it in front of Su Xiaoya and asked, "Whatâs this stuff for?"
Su Xiaoya remained motionless, her eyes vacant like a powered-off doll.
"Still thinking of bluffing your way through?"
Noticing Su Xiaoya was still pretending, Zhang Su felt a sudden surge of anger. He opened the plastic bag and walked toward her, saying to those nearby, "Old Jia, Dachao, come hold her down; I want to see what this stuff does!"
Jia Shiqin and Guo Dachao looked uncomfortable; they were reluctant to harm a little girl who couldnât even fight back, but what she had done was undoubtedly wicked. Besides, they couldnât let Zhang Su be the only bad guy.
The two pinched their noses and walked forward, but before they could act, Su Xiaoya let out a scream.
"No, I donât want to eat that, thatâs..."
Su Xiaoya was forced back by Zhang Su until she hit the wall of Wangshan Inn and stopped.
"Letâs not talk about its composition and effects; you tell us, what were you planning to do with this powder?"
Zhang Su looked down at Su Xiaoya, shaking the plastic bag in his hand.
"Eat, give, give you guys to eat it..."
Su Xiaoyaâs gaze darted about, speaking uneasily, her voice barely a whisper.
Luckily, Zhang Su had exceptional hearing; those in the distant crowd couldnât hear a thing.
"Give us to eat. Very good. Honest. Now, tell us whatâs in this? Whatâs its effect?"
"I donât know whatâs in it... the person who gave it to me said it causes diarrhea."
Seeing Su Xiaoya cooperate a bit, Zhang Su didnât press further.
"OK, let me guess where youâre from, West Camp Village? Survivor Alliance? Cyan Dragon Corps? Hmm?"
Meanwhile, Zhang Su observed Su Xiaoyaâs facial expressions closely. With his extraordinary eyesight, not a single subtle change escaped him, but the result was surprising; it seemed she wasnât from any of those three places?
"Heck, she must be a damn brat sent by the Cyan Dragon Corps. Brother Su, feed her to the zombies!"
Lu Yubo appeared out of nowhere, joining the commotion with a shout.
"Exactly, man, we canât be too soft-hearted. The zombies weâve captured have been starving for days. Send her to them!"
Zhao Dezhu chimed in, eager to terrify Su Xiaoya.
"Wah..."
Su Xiaoya cried again, her face streaked like a melonâs insides.
"I, Iâm not, not from any of those places, I, I..."
Before finishing her sentence, Su Xiaoyaâs eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the ground, fainting.