From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 184 - 175: It’s Cold at the Top

Late at night, in the dark depths of the earth.

Wei Heng looked at the newcomer and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "It’s you?"

Zhou Jing tossed aside the combat shovel in her hand, glanced at him silently, and said nothing.

Wei Heng narrowed his eyes, staring at her warily. "What are you doing here?"

Leaning against a nearby stone wall, Zhou Jing snapped, "What do you think? Besides saving you, what else would I be doing here? ’Just felt like digging in the dirt in the middle of the night?’"

She rubbed her aching arms and looked around. "Nice stone prison you’ve got here." ’He sealed himself in so tight it took me half the night to dig my way to this place.’

"How did you know I was here?" Wei Heng asked, his eyes fixed on her.

Zhou Jing activated her personal terminal, projecting the Light Screen directly onto the window for Wei Heng to see. "The guards outside will discover the anomaly in ten minutes. It’s up to you whether you leave or not."

Wei Heng gave her a cautious look but said nothing.

Clearly, he didn’t trust Zhou Jing.

Zhou Jing deactivated the Light Screen. ’I only have ten minutes. If I can’t get Wei Heng out of here and claim this favor, I’m afraid Zhou Jinyu won’t let me off the hook.’

’They say even the most vicious tiger won’t eat its own cubs, but Zhou Jinyu...’ Zhou Jing lowered her gaze and turned to leave.

As for whether Wei Heng would follow her... ’I’m sure the former deputy captain of the Special Service Team is smart enough for that.’

’Besides, it’s not like he has any better options, right?’

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Wei Heng was quietly following her.

"You seem very familiar with the terrain here," Wei Heng suddenly asked on the way.

A faint rustle sounded up ahead. Zhou Jing glanced back at him, then turned without a word and opened another underground passage.

Wei Heng followed in silence.

An hour later, Zhou Jing suddenly stopped and turned to Wei Heng. "Someone’s waiting for you five kilometers north of here..."

Wei Heng frowned slightly, but Zhou Jing had already vanished into the dense woods.

...

Wei Heng didn’t get back to the Central Base until evening.

The moment he walked in, Qi Xiang startled him. "You’re..."

"What are you standing there for? Go wash your hands," Qi Xiang said, setting a pot of chicken soup in front of him. "Gu Xi specifically asked me to make this for you before she left. She said it would help you get your strength back."

Wei Heng frowned hesitantly.

’...With Miss Qi’s culinary skills, who on earth gave her the confidence to set foot in a kitchen?’

Wei Heng coughed twice, trying to change the subject. "Where’s Gu Xi?"

He had contacted Gu Xi after getting his personal terminal that morning, so he was a little surprised that she wasn’t here now.

"The lab people just called her away." Qi Xiang pushed the steaming chicken soup closer to him and arched an eyebrow. "Hurry up. It won’t be good cold."

Wei Heng: "..." ’Looks like there’s no getting out of this.’

After mentally chanting ’don’t waste food’ ten times, he could only hold his breath and down it with tears in his eyes.

Then... he began to have a reasonable suspicion that Gu Xi had made up an excuse to leave just to avoid drinking this soup.

Only after he had finished the entire bowl of soup did Qi Xiang look him up and down with satisfaction. "Are you okay? Did they abuse you at all while you were locked up?"

"..." Wei Heng calmly pushed the empty bowl aside, picked the biggest strawberry from the fruit bowl, and stuffed it into his mouth to get rid of the taste. "When is Gu Xi coming back?" he asked, his voice muffled.

"I don’t know." Qi Xiang glanced regretfully at the empty bowl pushed to the corner, then briefly recounted the events of the last few days for Wei Heng.

The main point, of course, was the three words "holding us back."

Wei Heng frowned. ’No wonder they only trapped me there instead of killing me. They didn’t even ask me a single question from start to finish.’

’So they were using me as a bargaining chip to threaten Gu Xi.’

Qi Xiang stood up and patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Don’t think too much about it. It’s lonely at the top, as they say... All the overt and covert attacks are bound to be aimed at us, right?"

’But open attacks are easy to dodge, while hidden ones are hard to guard against...’ Wei Heng’s expression darkened as he recalled what that person had said in the afternoon.

Just then, Gu Xi pushed the door open and walked in. "You’re back?"

Qi Xiang let out a visible sigh of relief. "Gu Xi, you’re finally back." ’The look on Wei Heng’s face just now was terrifying.’

She took a few steps forward, grabbed Gu Xi’s arm, and gestured toward Wei Heng with her chin.

"Are you okay?" Gu Xi sat next to Wei Heng and handed him a strawberry from the bowl. "What happened that day?"

Wei Heng took the strawberry, cradling it in his palm, and slowly shook his head. "I’m fine."

He paused. "That day, I was about to leave for the airport to meet you guys, but then I saw Lin Xiaoxiao appear at the Superpower Union Building..."

Wei Heng felt something wasn’t right, so he followed her.

He didn’t expect to see Lin Xiaoxiao get into Chen Lu’s car.

Qi Xiang shot him a look. "And you just followed them?" ’Weren’t you afraid it was a trap?’

She paused. "If I remember correctly, that Lin Xiaoxiao had bad intentions the last time she came looking for you, didn’t she?" ’Men... when it comes to certain things... hah.’

Wei Heng kept his head down and said nothing.

It was precisely because he suspected Lin Xiaoxiao was up to no good that he had followed her.

He followed them all the way outside the city, but then...

When he fell silent, Qi Xiang couldn’t resist asking, "And then what happened?"

’With Wei Heng’s skills, there’s no way he would’ve been captured alive, right?’

Wei Heng looked up at Gu Xi and said slowly, "Later, Chen Lu’s car stopped at the foot of a mountain, and then... I saw Gu Xi..."

"Impossible," Qi Xiang blurted out instinctively.

She and Gu Xi exchanged a look. They had been together that entire morning, right up until the news of Wei Heng’s disappearance arrived.

Gu Xi, however, looked thoughtful. "A Transformation Ability?"

Wei Heng nodded. "...It must have been." ’But that day, when I suddenly saw ’Gu Xi’ in Chen Lu’s clutches, I didn’t think. I just followed.’

Later, he found the imposter, but he never expected that the moment they met, she would use some kind of drug on him.

By the time Wei Heng realized something was wrong, it was too late.

He had originally planned to use his earth-burrowing ability to escape, but they were prepared; the entire secret base was surrounded by thick plates of a special metal buried underground.

With no other choice, Wei Heng could only find a hidden corner and build himself a sturdy turtle shell.

He couldn’t get out, and the people outside couldn’t get in.

The stalemate lasted for several days, until Zhou Jing appeared...

"Are you an idiot? You can’t even recognize Gu Xi?" Qi Xiang exclaimed, finding his story unbelievable. "You saw Gu Xi out in the middle of nowhere, and you didn’t think to call or send a message to confirm?"

Gu Xi, however, defended him. "Since they were so well-prepared, they probably had a signal jammer activated in advance."

Wei Heng glanced at her.

He hadn’t been able to contact Gu Xi at the time, and he had already faintly sensed that something was off.

But as the saying goes, concern clouds judgment...

"The person you saw—did she look a lot like me?" Gu Xi suddenly asked.

"Not ’a lot like’," Wei Heng said, slowly shaking his head. He thought for a moment before continuing. "I should say... she was completely identical."

Qi Xiang was incredulous. "Even if her face was identical, what about her height? Her eyes? Her aura? They couldn’t all have been the same, right?"

She gave Wei Heng a suspicious look.

Wei Heng: "..."

He hesitated for a moment before looking up at Gu Xi. "Without seeing her up close, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. At least, not right away."

"Are you serious?" Qi Xiang said, stunned.

Among all of them, Wei Heng had been the first to meet Gu Xi. If even he couldn’t tell the difference, what would happen if any of the others ran into the imposter?