Chapter 25: The Body Just Moved

One guy fired five magazines, and that was it—Xiao Qiang called an end to the outing. "Go back and reflect," he said. "Next time, we’ll do it again." Then he leaned over to Xue Bin. "You shot so well—you should teach the rest of us."

Xue Bin just blinked, completely lost.

Well, crap. Xiao Qiang’s words were wasted on him. The kid could shoot, sure—but why he did it that way? No idea. Xiao Qiang was fuming. Was this what people called a *special buff*?

The van slowly rolled back toward the orphanage. Xiao Qiang turned to the group. "I saw you all lose interest after just a few shots. Hands shaking, couldn’t even hold the guns right. You need serious training. We’ve got a bunch of bulletproof vests back from last time—give one to every adult. Stick some iron plates inside to add weight. Li Mama, sew little vests for the kids, fill them with sandbags. Every single one of you is gonna practice my fitness routine. If we ever go out there, we’d look like a bunch of shrimp soldiers—pathetic."

He smirked, then suddenly—*slap!* A cabbage leaf smacked him right in the face.

"You talkin’ nonsense! You’re not even better than us!"

Xiao Qiang peeled the leaf off his cheek and saw Old Wang glaring at him. His anger deflated instantly. "Right… right. All about progress. Progress!" He chuckled nervously.

Then he turned to Yingzi. "Hey, you’ve got a driver’s license, right? Can you drive?"

Yingzi hesitated. "A little… but I haven’t driven much."

Xiao Qiang grinned. "So you’re a *mashang*, huh? Fine. My Elora—go take it out for a spin this afternoon."

With that, he and Old Wang piled into the pickup and left.

Today’s mission into town was still focused on the Security Depot. They needed more ammo. Most of the townspeople had already gotten radiation detectors, so they weren’t tagging along anymore. On the city roads, Xiao Qiang saw a lot of unfamiliar faces—probably folks from other towns. At one depot they picked, they even crashed into another group—same goal: guns. No choice but to switch targets.

This time, they hit a bigger depot. Two corpses, untouched by anyone else. Old Wang worked on the safe while Xiao Qiang wandered around, scanning for anything useful. Sure enough, he found a pair of handcuffs on one body—and the key was still on the corpse.

He was fiddling with them when, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw the other corpse twitch.

He froze. Turned slowly. The body lay perfectly still. Probably just sleep-deprived. Eyestrain. Nothing more.

"Xiao Qiang, come up here!" Old Wang called.

Xiao Qiang scrambled upstairs. "What’s up?"

Inside the room, the safe was open. Five handguns, three submachine guns, twenty-plus boxes of ammo. And nearby—a bulletproof vest, three helmets. But none of that mattered.

Old Wang was pulling out a long, narrow box. Xiao Qiang always looked for safes that had already been opened, but he’d never noticed this one before. It matched the others in color and material. Same lock. That was weird.

They studied it for ages. Finally, after two hours of prying at the bottom, they cracked it open. Inside was another box—green, sleek, high-end. Like something straight out of a military warehouse.

They pulled it out. No lock. Opened it.

Xiao Qiang’s eyes went wide.

Inside, neatly arranged, were parts of a sniper rifle. Long suppressor. Massive scope. This wasn’t just a weapon—it was a battlefield game-changer. One shot, and your head was gone.

He ran his fingers over the pieces. On the barrel, stamped clearly: **88**.

This was the legendary 88-style sniper rifle.

Xiao Qiang’s heart pounded. He had to study this thing later.

Father and son packed up their loot and drove back to the orphanage. After dinner, Xiao Qiang sat in the basement, poring over the contents of the box. Xue Bin sat beside him, still fiddling with his gun—already skilled, but couldn’t stop turning it over and over.

Xiao Qiang opened the case. Xue Bin leaned in. His eyes locked onto it—couldn’t move.

Xiao Qiang pulled the box slightly toward himself. Then felt a tiny head shift too. Glanced sideways—there was the kid, staring at the box like it was a treasure chest.

He moved the box a bit farther. The kid’s head followed.

"Huh. That’s funny."

He asked, "You know what this is?"

The kid shook his head.

Xiao Qiang sighed. Right—kids in the orphanage didn’t see sniper rifles. But the shape? Yeah, they’d seen it in cartoons. Even though it was broken down into parts, the form was unmistakable.

"Like it?" Xiao Qiang asked.

The kid nodded furiously—like a chicken pecking grain.

Xiao Qiang groaned inwardly. So he wanted *my* thing. After a moment of hesitation, he shrugged. “Fine. It’s yours.”

The kid’s eyes lit up like stars. He grabbed the box and wouldn’t let go.

"Alright, I said it was yours. Not stealing it."

For once, the kid smiled—really smiled. Then he sat down and started gently touching each piece.

Xiao Qiang yawned. Tired. Laid down and fell asleep.

In his dream, he saw *her* again—the woman from before. Heart racing. Couldn’t make out her face, but the feeling was electric. Just as he was about to… *you know*…

“**AHHH!**”

He jolted upright, fell off the bed with a thud. Cold sweat soaked through his shirt. He blinked, steadied himself.

And there she was—Yingzi, standing at the top of the stairs, mouth wide open.

"What the hell was that? You scared the crap outta me!"

Angry, Xiao Qiang half-expected to be permanently… *off*. Then he noticed Yingzi staring past him—down into the basement.

His blood ran cold.

His jaw dropped. He could’ve fit two eggs in that gap.

There, in the dim light, stood Xue Bin—holding a long rifle, aiming straight at the basement entrance.

Wang Xiao Qiang’s brain short-circuited. He rubbed his face, stood up, walked over.

The box was empty. Only bullets remained. The instruction manual lay open on the table.

He got it now.

Even if Xue Bin couldn’t read all the words, he knew the pictures. The kid wasn’t just smart—he was *genius-level*.

Xiao Qiang scooped him up. "You built it yourself?"

Xue Bin nodded.

"Can you take it apart again?"

After a pause, Xue Bin started working. Xiao Qiang watched. The kid flipped through the manual, studied each part, compared diagrams. An hour passed. Then—perfectly disassembled. All pieces back in the box.

Xiao Qiang burst out laughing. Loud. Deep. The whole room vibrated.

"Kid, you’re a *prodigy*! Okay, maybe not quite as good as me… but seriously, I gotta find you a real teacher. Otherwise, this talent’s gonna go to waste."

He ruffled Xue Bin’s hair hard. The kid squealed.