Chapter 184: Wu Heng in High School
Wu Heng struggled his way from the back seat to the front passenger seat. Shukui consciously made a bit of space for him and held onto him tightly with its paws.
Staring straight ahead, Wu Heng saw that the car carrying Xue Shen and the others was bouncing so violently that it could be jolted half a meter into the air, the entire vehicle even lifting off the ground. If it weren’t for the ability users reinforcing the car, it probably wouldn’t have made it halfway before being smashed apart by the rocks.
But what Wu Heng was watching wasn’t how rough the road was—he was watching the thread-like strands on the wheels, which kept falling off with the jolts yet somehow continued to multiply.
Finally, a harsh scraping sound came from beneath the chassis of their vehicle, followed by black smoke.
Wu Heng pushed aside the dog’s head and stretched his hand out of the window. A faint green mist visibly spread from his palm, drifting farther and farther away until the fungal threads clinging to the jeep’s body withered one by one and all dropped to the ground.
Plop.
A streak of green suddenly fell from above, landing on his arm like a damp towel.
?
Wu Heng looked closely—it was a caterpillar.
Its head and tail still dangled in the air, wriggling, while its strong suction pads clung tightly to his body.
Wu Heng’s stomach churned. The instinctive nausea and disgust made him want to tear the creature to pieces. But before he could act, Shukui suddenly lunged forward and bit the caterpillar’s head in one gulp, splattering fluid everywhere.
After shaking off the bug, the greyhound spat out what was in its mouth and turned back to stick out its tongue at Wu Heng.
“Remember to rinse your mouth later,” Wu Heng said, thoroughly disgusted. He patted Shukui’s head and returned to the back seat.
Even after sitting down, the tingling numbness on his arm wouldn’t fade. He moved a little closer to Xie Chongyi and rubbed his arm hard against Xie Chongyi’s waist.
Xie Chongyi wrapped an arm around him, at first thinking Wu Heng was throwing himself into his arms, only to hear him mutter, “Disgusting bugs.”
Xie Chongyi immediately reached out and pinched Wu Heng’s cheek, narrowing his eyes as he looked down at him, his tone unfriendly.
“Who does gege hate?”
“…” Wu Heng fell silent for a moment, then decided to simplify things—he suddenly wrapped his arms around Xie Chongyi and buried his head in the crook of his neck. “Don’t be mad at me, okay?”
Xie Chongyi had always been susceptible to this move, though he never liked to show it. If Wu Heng realized he could manipulate him so easily, that would be a problem. So he pushed him away a little—though not completely. “You’re not allowed to say you hate bugs anymore.”
“?” Wu Heng lifted his head, trying not to bump into Xie Chongyi’s face amid the constant jolting. “Plants naturally hate bugs.” Especially since he was currently in his flowering stage.
“But bugs like plants. They help with pollination, reproduction… carrying on the line.”
Every hair on Wu Heng’s body stood on end. “I don’t need that.”
Xie Chongyi didn’t respond. Instead, he reached behind Wu Heng’s ear and brushed his fingertip across the stamen of the most fully bloomed, largest flower there.
Wu Heng’s pupils trembled. His fingers instantly tightened around Xie Chongyi’s waist, and half his body flushed with heat.
“Don’t need it?” Xie Chongyi raised the fingertip dusted with pollen in front of Wu Heng’s eyes. “Then what is this… of yours?”
The poppy growing from him had black petals and pale yellow stamens, so the pollen was naturally a fine, moist yellow powder.
Wu Heng’s breathing grew rapid and uneven as he turned his face away in embarrassment.
“We’re here.” Shen Ping’an’s emotionless voice came from the front. He turned off the engine. “We need to check for vehicle damage. You can get out and get some air.” With that, he stepped out of the car.
Xie Chongyi wasn’t disturbed in the slightest. He turned Wu Heng’s face back toward him and gently smeared the pollen on his fingertip across Wu Heng’s lips.
Before Wu Heng could fully process what was happening, those seemingly indifferent eyes drew close in his vision—then his lips were captured, and the pollen on them was slowly licked clean.
That was why the two of them were the last to get out of the car. Meanwhile, Dou Lu was being led by Ao She as they inspected and repaired the damage inside and outside the vehicles.
Looking back at the stretch of road they had just passed, it was already completely covered in fungal threads—even the exposed rocks weren’t spared. From above, the giant trees were still dropping caterpillars. Once the caterpillars touched the ground, there was no escaping anymore.
“What time is it?” Xue Qi suddenly asked.
“Two in the afternoon.”
“Then… what’s the date?”
“New Year’s Day is almost here…”
“Oh.” Xue Qi scratched his head. “Then let’s get moving. If we can take down Deathlands before New Year’s, we might still make it back to our base in time to celebrate.”
“Where did Lin Mengzhi go?” Xue Shen walked over from the trunk, holding several bottles of water, which were quickly snatched up and shared.
“Taking a leak,” Dou Lu said expressionlessly.
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Mengzhi came running out of the woods, drenched like he’d been caught in the rain. He shouted as he ran, “That was terrifying! Those little plants were wrapping around my legs!”
“Are you sure they were just wrapping around your legs?”
Lin Mengzhi didn’t catch the implication at all. His gaze stuck to Wu Heng as he let out an “Eh?” and walked over. “A’Heng, why are there so many flowers blooming on your head?”
The others had already noticed the change in Wu Heng, but they hadn’t asked—if he wanted to explain, he would. Though honestly, with how he looked now, there wasn’t much left to explain.
Wu Heng felt irritated. He had never liked being the center of attention.
“No idea.”
Leaning against the car door, Dou Lu thought for a moment before speaking slowly, “Wasn’t the last rainfall an energy surge? This is the second rain—so the energy has increased again on top of that. Wu Heng has dual abilities, and it’s spring now. It’s normal for mutated plants to start blooming like crazy.”
“Then how long is this going to last?” Lin Mengzhi rummaged through his pockets. “Too bad I don’t have my phone, or I’d take a few pictures of you.”
“…”
“No wonder the animals and plants have gotten even more vicious lately. Even the zombies seem fewer,” Xue Zhi said thoughtfully.
“Exactly, exactly—so let’s hurry and get back on the road!” Xue Qi urged.
Wu Heng walked behind Xie Chongyi. As he walked, he reached back and felt behind his ear, running his fingers from the petals all the way down to the base. When Xie Chongyi turned back to check if he was keeping up, Wu Heng happened to pull hard—tearing the flower off.
“Class Monitor…” Wu Heng clenched the flower in his hand. The world spun before his eyes, and in the midst of Xie Chongyi’s suddenly stern voice, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
—
All the way along the journey, Xie Chongyi tried to figure out how to put the flower back onto Wu Heng, but he couldn’t even find the spot where it had been attached. Wu Heng also showed no signs of waking up.
By the time they reached Meizhou Base, Wu Heng was still unconscious—Xie Chongyi carried him off the vehicle on his back to undergo safety screening.
Meizhou Base wasn’t as strict as other bases. As long as someone wasn’t infected, they were allowed in, so the inspection was quick—though it took a bit longer when it came to Wu Heng.
Because Wu Heng not only looked pale but was also covered in flowers and unconscious, the guards switched between several machines and ran multiple scans before confirming that he was merely a rare plant symbiote, then let them pass.
Compared to Hanzhou, Meizhou Base was far more desolate. The streets and buildings had yet to be properly repaired, but there were still plenty of people coming and going, their faces filled with the exhaustion of struggling to survive out in the wasteland.
After settling on a place to stay, Xie Chongyi laid Wu Heng on the bed. He bent down to take off his shoes and socks, and as he did so, he casually squeezed his foot. The temperature was higher than normal. Only after holding it for a while did Xie Chongyi let go. He tucked the blanket around Wu Heng, sat there for a moment, then went to wash his hands and face before bringing water back to wipe Wu Heng’s face.
“Um,” the door was open, so Yang Ao came straight in, holding a flowerpot. “Class Monitor, where should I put this?”
“Just put it on the windowsill.”
“Okay.” Yang Ao carefully set the flowerpot down, then turned back. After hesitating for a while, he asked in a low voice, “Class Monitor… are you dating Wu Heng?”
“You figured it out?” Xie Chongyi tossed the towel into the basin and dimmed the bedside lamp a little.
Yang Ao showed a baffled expression. “I saw you two kissing in the car.”
“Then why are you asking?”
“I just wanted to confirm,” Yang Ao said. Even though he had seen it with his own eyes, he still found it hard to believe. “It’s just… kind of unexpected.”
Xie Chongyi curled his lips slightly. After tucking Wu Heng’s blanket more securely, he casually sat on the edge of the bedside table, idly playing with the flower Wu Heng had pulled off. He made no move to send Yang Ao away.
“Oh? Then tell me—why is it unexpected?”
Yang Ao wasn’t afraid of Xie Chongyi, though he did keep a certain distance. He went to sit at the far end of the bed. “You two barely talked back in school. And Wu Heng has a bit of face blindness—he took two whole years just to remember what I look like. As for the rest of the class, he doesn’t know what any of them look like.”
“Going by that, Wu Heng probably still hasn’t remembered your face,” Yang Ao added, stroking his chin, clearly pleased with his own analysis.
“…”
Xie Chongyi accidentally tore a small slit in the flower petal in his hand.
Yang Ao continued, “Wu Heng didn’t really have any friends in school—no close classmates at all. Even though I was his desk mate, I was just that… a desk mate. I just knew a little more about him than you guys.”
“For example?” Xie Chongyi’s expression turned unusually friendly. He leaned forward slightly, looking quite willing to listen.
“For example, he used to doze off in class, but teachers never noticed. Whenever he was about to fall asleep, he’d sit perfectly straight, and the pen in his hand wouldn’t even drop.”
“He’s also kind of a loner and doesn’t really have hobbies. Stuff like gaming or sports—we’re into that, but he’s not interested at all. Every day after school, he just went straight home.”
“Anyway, I used to find it hard to imagine him dating anyone. It felt like he’d never be the kind of guy to make a girl happy—and no one could really make him happy either.”
“But after seeing you two today… you actually seem pretty well-matched.” Yang Ao genuinely felt happy for Wu Heng.
Xie Chongyi nodded. “Yeah, we are.”
Yang Ao rubbed his knees, trying hard to recall. “Actually, it’s not like no one ever confessed to Wu Heng before. There was a junior student who bought him a lot of snacks. But in the end, Wu Heng still couldn’t remember what he looked like. Haha.”
Yang Ao laughed to himself for quite a while before realizing the class monitor wasn’t laughing along. Instead, he was just quietly watching him. The longer he was watched, the more uneasy Yang Ao felt.
Xie Chongyi, on the other hand, merely curved his lips slightly with restrained composure. “You can go now.”
