Chapter 109.2: “I have something to say”
Outside, the blazing sun bathed the base in a glaring white light.
Wu Heng found Xie Chongyi by a small pool. The water from the tap trickled out like a thin thread.
As Wu Heng approached, Xie Chongyi had already sensed him, watching calmly without any outward movement.
“When the zombie tide is over, I have something to say to you,” the boy said suddenly.
Xie Chongyi paused, then almost couldn’t suppress the corner of his mouth from lifting. “Then we can exchange content at that time.”
Wu Heng nodded. “When I bloom, the flowers will still be for you.”
To Xie Chongyi, this was almost a direct hint. The corner of his eye lifted, and he glanced at Wu Heng sideways, the bright sunlight flickering across his eyelashes. “Or did you want to give the flowers to someone else?”
Xie Chongyi’s beauty had always been impeccable. Wu Heng used to think that was why he looked so tempting, but now Xie Chongyi could no longer be eaten. Still, looking at that face made Wu Heng’s heart skip a beat.
The boy looked away, confused. “But you’re the only one who wants my flowers.”
Xie Chongyi handed over a small handful of water he had carefully collected. “Drink.”
Wu Heng was about to lean down when the poppy beat him to it, extending its vine and sucking the water dry in one go.
“……”
Xie Chongyi’s expression was even more baffled than Wu Heng’s. “Will it sleep in the middle of us from now on?”
Wu Heng pulled the vine back. “Sleep next to us, then.”
—
“It’s eight o’clock. I’m heading out to find my brother.”
“Take me with you! Take me! I want to find my brother too!” Xue Qi kept waving his hands.
The group had been gone all night, and outside the alarm sirens had not stopped once. The birdsong, growing closer and closer, sounded eerily unsettling. The ability users who had left the hotel to provide support hadn’t returned either.
Wu Zhi looked at Xue Qi, then at Ruan Silian. “It’s better if you stay. Bringing you along will be inconvenient. You and Sister Ruan should stay in the hotel. It’s very hot outside, you’ll be uncomfortable.” Plus, it would be especially troublesome.
Xue Qi sensed her reluctance. “Alright then… just be careful.”
Before leaving, Wu Zhi filled every cup in the room with ice.
She instructed Ruan Silian, “Sister, before we get back, you both shouldn’t leave the hotel.”
“Alright, alright. I’m still here anyway,” Xue Qi said, letting Wu Zhi leave with peace of mind.
Wu Zhi nodded, slinging her small backpack, humming as she left.
As the door slowly closed, the relaxed smile on Xue Qi’s face disappeared. He struggled to move from his wheelchair to the bed. Seeing this, Ruan Silian moved to help him, but he forced a smile. “Thanks, but I want to try myself.”
By the time he reached the bed, Xue Qi was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily, and roughly flopped his two weakened legs onto the mattress.
“Xiao Zhi always talks like that. She doesn’t mean any harm, don’t take it to heart,” Ruan Silian said, securing the wheelchair without curiosity about the shriveled, darkened areas below his knees.
“I’m not mad at her. I’m mad at myself,” Xue Qi said, his eyes already glistening.
Ruan Silian watched him quietly for a moment, then suddenly said, “Your hair has grown. Do you want me to help trim it? But my skills might be a little worse than Shen Ping’an’s.”
Xue Qi cared about both his legs and his face. He nodded, and Ruan Silian went downstairs to borrow scissors from the owner. Sitting on the bed, she carefully trimmed his hair, little by little.
Xue Qi and Xue Shen actually shared the same face, but few people ever confused them. Xue Shen was serious and rarely spoke, his words often sharp and coarse, his gaze always piercing. Xue Qi’s temperament was much sunnier; his face constantly carried a bright smile, and even when he looked stern, it was more like a playful puppy’s pout—nothing like Xue Shen.
As Ruan Silian trimmed his hair, she spoke softly, “Don’t be too sad over things that are already lost. If they can’t be changed, try to accept them, and find a little happiness. After all, none of us knows how long we’ll live, right?”
“At least your brother is still here, your father is still here, and you have friends around you. You can even spit out some toxic threads,” Ruan Silian gently blew away the hair clippings that had fallen onto Xue Qi’s face. “Each of us has a pocket. The pocket is never full. If you only care about the part that isn’t filled, the pocket feels empty. If you care about the part that is filled, the pocket feels full.”
The sadness and bitterness of being left behind in the hotel surged uncontrollably in Xue Qi’s heart. He lowered his head and cried quietly.
Ruan Silian set down the scissors and leaned in to hug him gently, patting his back.
Knock.
Knock knock.
“I’ll get the door.”
Ruan Silian went to the door, gripping the handle. Before turning it, she peered through the peephole, holding her breath as she observed outside.
Two women were standing there, one tall and one short, one thin and one plump. The tall, thin one looked like a skeleton; the short, plump one looked like a ball of flesh.
“Can you open the door?” the short, plump one asked in a shrill voice.
“Who are you? What do you want?” Xue Qi called out loudly.
Hearing the male voice, the two women exchanged suspicious glances. The tall one then said it was nothing and hurriedly pulled the short one away.
Ruan Silian released the handle. She paused for a few seconds behind the door, then as if remembering something, hurried to the window, parting the curtain slightly to peek outside.
Two men were just walking out of the hotel. They were in their early thirties—one tall and thin, the other short and plump. The tall, thin one looked like a skeleton; the short, plump one looked like a ball of flesh.
Ruan Silian felt a chill run through her heart. Coming back to her senses, she hurried to the door and locked all the bolts, silently praying that the others would return soon.
—
Wu Zhi bought a can of cola. Using her ability, she quickly cooled the already-warm drink in her palm. Her white hair shone brightly under the sun, drawing everyone’s attention as she boarded the shuttle inside the base.
She found an empty seat and sat down, pulling the tab of the can. Fsssh, she inserted the straw and took a sip.
“Are you heading out to fight zombies too?” a middle-aged man sitting nearby asked.
“No,” Wu Zhi replied seriously, meeting his gaze. “I’m going to find my brother.”
“Where’s your brother?”
“He’s working for your base.”
“That’ll be hard to find, then. I heard last night the outer city was chaos—infected people, mutated birds, and even mutated plants went out of control and attacked the base guards. Many died,” the man shook his head, sighing. “It wasn’t until this morning, when Mr. Mo Xie intervened, that the situation stabilized enough for us to come out.”
Wu Zhi’s mouth opened slightly, her pale face turning even paler. Infection, birds, out-of-control plants, and this “Mr. Mo Xie intervened”—
Infection? Nothing to worry about. Her brother absolutely wouldn’t get infected. Mutated birds? Hardly a threat—might even serve as snacks for him.
Mutated plants… most likely that damned poppy. Wu Zhi had thought it restless from the start. Besides, as long as the poppy was around, the other mutated plants wouldn’t cause much trouble.
“What do you mean ‘Mr. Mo Xie intervened and the situation stabilized’? That’s ridiculous! My brother is the strongest,” Wu Zhi said, startling the others. She stormed to the last row and sat down with a scowl.
But once seated, worry and concern for her brother quickly made her bite her nails until they bled.
—
At that moment, Wu Heng was dozing lightly at the rest station.
He was a light sleeper, so he stayed in the duty room at the very end of the hallway. Each duty room was equipped with several sets of bunk beds, even more like a dormitory than a hotel room, so the few of them could rest together.
Shen Ping’an was sleeping on the top bunk. Halfway through the night, he got down to use the bathroom. On the way, he tugged on Dou Lu’s clothes, rolled down Wu Heng’s pant leg, picked up Xue Shen’s glasses that were about to fall, placing them neatly on the desk against the wall, and gave Lin Mengzhi—who was wearing only his shorts—a disdainful glance.
He tiptoed out and, turning around, saw a guard leading Wu Zhi over.
“Ping’an!” Wu Zhi shouted as soon as she saw him, then turned to the guard. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
The guard, seeing that she had found the person she was looking for, nodded and turned to leave.
Shen Ping’an raised a finger to his lips and strode toward her.
“What are you doing here? Xue Shen said you shouldn’t go out,” Shen Ping’an frowned.
“I was worried about my brother… and you guys,” Wu Zhi glanced behind Shen Ping’an. “Where’s my brother?!”
“Sleeping,” Shen Ping’an indicated the door behind him. “Go in quietly. They hardly slept at all last night.”
Wu Zhi, full of excitement, almost rushed into the room, but Shen Ping’an stopped her, lowering his voice. “So right now, it’s just Xue Qi and Ruan Silian in the hotel?”
“Yes.” Wu Zhi didn’t see a problem with that.
Shen Ping’an didn’t comment on her behavior and said instead, “Go find an empty bunk in the duty room to rest. Wait until they wake up and then see how to arrange things. I’ll return to the hotel.”
“Okay!”
When Wu Heng woke up, the first thing he saw was Wu Zhi’s large white eyes.
“…”
“Brother.” She leaned on the edge of the bed. In the instant Wu Heng woke, she sensed his displeasure. No matter how happy she was, she didn’t dare speak loudly.
“What are you doing here?” Wu Heng, feeling hot, got off the bed and poured a large glass of water, drinking it down.
Wu Zhi blinked. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have left Xue Qi and Sister Ruan alone in the hotel, but brother… I was really worried about you.”
The water in the kettle was gone, and Wu Heng put down his cup.
Lying back on the bed, he closed his eyes.
The boy didn’t care what Xue Qi and Ruan Silian were doing in the hotel. Likewise, he didn’t care about Wu Zhi—so no matter what she said, his answer was always: “I’m going to sleep a little longer. Call me if you need me.”
After Wu Zhi appeared, those in the duty room who were still asleep inexplicably felt much cooler.
When he woke again, it was already afternoon. The stench in the air was at least three times stronger than in the morning, and the high daytime heat was melting the zombies outside.
But the duty room remained pleasantly cool, even a little cold.
Wu Zhi was sprawled across Dou Lu’s bed, fast asleep, limbs stretched in all directions. The others were no longer on the beds.
Wu Heng sat up, kicked aside the pair of stinky boots Xie Chongyi had given him, and used pure water from his space to clean his body twice, washing away the blood on his head.
He had no intention of dealing with the zombie horde again—it was repetitive, tedious work with low reward and no future.
He planned to leave today, find a base that suited his taste and move in. If the owner willingly stepped aside, great; if not, he’d find a way.
But before leaving, he still wanted to tell Xie Chongyi. As for everyone else, it didn’t matter.
Xie Chongyi returned to the rest station, reeking from outside, and just happened to bump into Wu Heng stepping out of his room.
The boy had somehow cleaned himself perfectly, wearing flip-flops, a tank top, and shorts. His slender arms and legs were exposed—delicate in bone structure but not weak, sharp and upright like swords.
Compared to school days, he had changed a lot. Even with the same gloomy, silent demeanor, he was impossible to ignore.
“You came at the right time,” Wu Heng said, a faint smile appearing on his face as he saw Xie Chongyi.
Xie Chongyi met his gaze. “What’s the right time?”
Wu Heng held the kettle, feeling a strange sensation, but continued, “The right time to tell you—I’m leaving.”
———————————————————————————————
Author’s note:
Xie Chongyi: I have something to say.
Wu Heng: I also have something to say.
(Xie Chongyi: mutual pursuit [droopy-eared bunny head])
awnoooo