Eaten Ch.26.1

Chapter 26.1: The Same Kind

Wu Heng thought he must be dreaming.

Food had actually delivered itself to his door.

He didn’t speak, only quietly gauging the strength gap between himself and Xie Chongyi.

A bit too wide.

Xie Chongyi jumped down from the cargo crate. “Why are you here?”

“And you?”

“If I said we were trapped here, would you believe me?” Xie Chongyi’s expression was casual.

“No.” Wu Heng looked at him and found no trace of anxiety or embarrassment on his face that would come from being trapped.

Xie Chongyi always liked leaning in close when speaking to Wu Heng. “Good. Don’t believe it.”

“…”

“I came to the mall with Mengzhi to grab some supplies and then head to the school to meet you, but I forgot about the reptile house inside the mall.”

Wu Heng frowned. He had never liked bugs much, and now that aversion had inexplicably grown stronger.

Xie Chongyi caught the key point. “And where’s your Mengzhi?”

“Got separated.” Wu Heng wasn’t too worried deep down. Lin Mengzhi had fire abilities—fire was practically the natural enemy of almost every living creature. With Wu Zhi following him, it was actually safer than being with himself.

Looking at the warehouse, Wu Heng judged the space wasn’t large enough to hide people, so he pressed further: “Monitor, did you come alone?”

“No, but we got separated too.”

Xie Chongyi pushed Wu Heng aside, pressed his ear against the door, then let his gaze fall on Wu Heng’s face as he lowered his voice: “They’re still outside.”

Wu Heng instinctively held his breath.

“What kinds of crawlers did you see just now?” Xie Chongyi asked.

Wu Heng lowered his eyes, thinking. “Lizards, woodlice, katydids—but each katydid was a different color. The rest I didn’t recognize.”

“The reptile house on basement level one is over two thousand square meters. Aside from what you mentioned, there should also be spiders, centipedes, millipedes, and snakes.” Xie Chongyi spoke slowly. “They haven’t eaten in a long time.”

Wu Heng was puzzled. “They’re not the same species—why can’t they prey on each other?”

“You think I’d know?” Xie Chongyi’s tone faltered for a beat.

Wu Heng instinctively wanted to nod, but before his head could dip, Xie Chongyi’s fingers lifted his chin.

“I don’t know.” Xie Chongyi gave a faint smile.

“Oh.” Wu Heng turned his head away. “When did you guys get here?”

“Yesterday.” Xie Chongyi moved away from the door, hopped back onto the cargo crate, and even let out a yawn. “Yesterday we came in together, only to get chased and bitten by a bunch of lizards. Liu Dongming was torn into pieces by two mutated giant geckos. We’d planned to wait until they fully returned to their nests before sneaking out quietly, but then you people showed up. Now they probably won’t go back down to basement level one so easily.”

Wu Heng vaguely remembered that there was indeed a boy named Liu Dongming in their class, but he couldn’t recall his face. After a pause, he asked, “Aside from Liu Dongming and you, how many others are in the mall?”

“Six or seven, maybe.”

“They all have powers?”

“Two of them don’t.”

Wu Heng said nothing more.

Xie Chongyi stretched out on the crate as if it were a bed. “I’m going to sleep first. Call me if anything happens.”

“…”

Wu Heng didn’t sit on the crate. He chose the floor instead, his mind alternating between images of those mutated bugs from earlier, and the thought of whether Xie Chongyi’s taste in his mouth would match the scent he gave off.

For now, though, hunger could be set aside.

Back in high school biology class, the teacher had once had them observe insects under a microscope, and the internet had no shortage of close-up images magnified hundreds or thousands of times, showing the mouthparts and limbs of crawling creatures. At normal size, such insects were nothing to fear. But once their bodies grew larger—even larger than humans—they became truly terrifying.

…

Meanwhile, in the storage room of another brand store on the same floor—

Lin Mengzhi had run into the same situation as Wu Heng—only, where Wu Heng faced just one, he was surrounded by a whole group.

“Haha, haha, I’m Lin Mengzhi. That’s my little sister behind me. And you guys—what should I call you?”

In the apocalypse, Lin Mengzhi wouldn’t trust anyone except Wu Heng. As he spoke, he shielded Wu Zhi behind him.

“Dou Lu.” The girl swung her knife casually.

“Xue Shen.” The boy pushed up his glasses.

“Du Yaoyuan! I’ll never change my name or surname!”

“Huang Shan.”

“Li Shu.”

“Shen Ping’an.”

“How are you all here too?” Before, running into a group of people anywhere wouldn’t have been surprising, but now—in the apocalypse—Lin Mengzhi and Wu Heng had barely seen a handful of survivors.

Dou Lu scratched her hair. “We came in looking for food. Didn’t expect this place to be a nest full of bugs. I’m terrified of bugs.”

“When did you guys get trapped here?” Lin Mengzhi asked again.

“Yesterday,” Li Shu answered. “Why’d you come into the mall?”

Lin Mengzhi admitted sheepishly, “My childhood friend wanted to grab some supplies. I just wanted to wear brand names.”

“…” Dou Lu gave a derisive snort, lifted her chin, and decided this purple-haired boy must be the same type as Du Yaoyuan.

It was only then that Lin Mengzhi noticed the girl’s clothes—a school uniform from Hanzhou No.1 High School, the same red-and-black color scheme as the uniforms Wu Heng often wore.

In fact, while the designs and colors of Hanzhou’s various high schools differed, their ugliness was uniformly high. If Wu Heng hadn’t worn it before, Lin Mengzhi would never have recognized it.

“You guys are from No.1 High?”

“You too?” After Dou Lu lost interest in replying, the one who answered was Du Yaoyuan.

“I’m not. My childhood friend is.”

Du Yaoyuan: “What’s your friend’s name?”

“Wu Heng.”

The group of people, whether sitting or lying down, all lifted their heads at once to look at Lin Mengzhi.

“Wu Heng?! You mean that—” Du Yaoyuan bounded up to Lin Mengzhi in two steps, waving his arms dramatically. “That effeminate pretty boy who can’t squeeze out a fart even if you beat him with three sticks?”

“Unbelievable. He’s actually still alive? I thought people like him would be the first to die in the apocalypse.”

The excitement of finding a kindred spirit instantly cooled on Lin Mengzhi’s face. Expressionless, he stared at Du Yaoyuan.

“Watch out!” The silent Xue Shen suddenly barked.

In an instant, a burst of flame lit up everyone’s faces in the warehouse. Before Du Yaoyuan could react, Xue Shen kicked him aside, then raised his hand—a water shield over a meter wide solidly blocked everyone behind him.

Du Yaoyuan lay on the ground, wide-eyed, staring at the clash of fire and water.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lin Mengzhi glanced at him and flicked a fireball his way with one hand.

A blur too fast to see clearly shot past, landing another kick squarely into Du Yaoyuan. With a string of curses, he went flying, sprawling against the wall with limbs splayed. Right where he had just been lying, a smoking black crater had appeared.

Lin Mengzhi’s gaze met the boy’s in front of him. Behind the glasses, the other’s eyes were calm, his expression relaxed.

Lin Mengzhi didn’t think he was overwhelmingly strong.

He only knew one thing—he was stronger than him.

Lin Mengzhi lowered his hand, and the water shield before Xue Shen dissipated as well. Xue Shen hooked his lips into a smile. “Fire ability? Not bad.”

“Mind your own damn business. Don’t meddle.”

Lin Mengzhi wasn’t stupid. He could tell at a glance that after he struck, the looks in this group’s eyes had shifted significantly. The world had changed—whether that was good or bad, he couldn’t say.

But right now, he didn’t feel like thinking too deeply. He turned his gaze toward Du Yaoyuan, who was sitting in the corner wiping blood from his nose. “Stupid yellow-head—watch your mouth next time.”

Though still resentful, Du Yaoyuan didn’t talk back again.

Beside them, Dou Lu laughed, gloating at his misfortune.

Lin Mengzhi took Wu Zhi to sit in the farthest corner from the others. Wu Zhi hadn’t spoken a word—she just kept glaring at Du Yaoyuan until Lin Mengzhi snapped his fingers in front of her eyes.

“Scared?” Lin Mengzhi asked.

Wu Zhi shook her head. “I’ve been here before. I even recognize some of the bugs. I gave lots of them names—Little Red, Little Black, Little Green, Little Purple…”

“Brother Mengzhi, I miss my brother. Do you think something will happen to him?” Wu Zhi lifted her eyes, gazing at Lin Mengzhi pitifully.

“…I don’t know.” Lin Mengzhi knew Wu Heng was strong, but there were so many bugs outside they could drown a person. His skin was still crawling with goosebumps.

Wu Zhi lowered her head, gave a couple of sniffles. The X that had been perched on top of her head felt a little unsteady, stood up to readjust its nest, then sat back down.

“Don’t cry. Drink some cola. I’ll open one for you.” Lin Mengzhi pulled a can of soda from the shopping bag Wu Zhi had been holding onto this whole time. He hooked a finger under the tab and pulled—pssst—the hiss of carbonation filled the warehouse.

Immediately, the people across from them all turned their gazes toward the two, eyes burning.

They hadn’t eaten or drunk anything for a whole day.

Lin Mengzhi rolled his eyes and handed the cola to Wu Zhi.

—

As the sky gradually darkened, the chirping and screeching of insects outside never stopped. They hadn’t returned to their nests.

Wu Heng lay on a makeshift bedding of sweaters spread on the floor. Using his arm as a pillow, he had dozed off and woken several times. When he woke again, the little window in the warehouse wall showed nothing but darkness outside.

Night had fallen.

The boy sat up, his stomach aching with hunger.

Instinctively, his eyes searched for Xie Chongyi.

At some point, Xie Chongyi had already woken. His figure was no longer atop the cargo crate. Wu Heng frowned, scanning the space—and when he turned his head, the other was already leaning back, seated very close to him.

“We need to head out.” Xie Chongyi had waited until Wu Heng woke before finally speaking.

“Now?” Wu Heng got up from the floor.

“Let’s go check the situation.” Xie Chongyi ran his fingers along the ground, picked up a kitchen knife. “Don’t forget your knife.”

“…”

Wu Heng took the blade. “You—”

“Stay behind me.” In the darkness, Xie Chongyi turned his back. All Wu Heng could make out was the vague, broad outline of his shoulders.

Wu Heng gripped the kitchen knife, wondering if he should just do it now.

Click.

The warehouse door opened a crack. Outside, on the three stone pillars, countless pairs of glowing red eyes flickered.

Xie Chongyi quickly shut the door again, turned back. “Or do you want to go first?”

“…”

Wu Heng had the sudden urge to chop him down on the spot.

Sensing the hitch in Wu Heng’s breath, Xie Chongyi spoke in a voice tinged with amusement: “Just kidding.”

With that, he stepped out of the warehouse.

Wu Heng didn’t linger either, following close behind.

The two moved lightly between rows of clothing racks. Knife in hand, Wu Heng noticed the floor was sticky in places. He crouched carefully, touched some with a vine—cold and wet.

The vine, utterly disgusted, darted frantically into a nearby pile of clothes, rubbing itself dry again and again.

“Right, you probably don’t like bugs either,” Wu Heng muttered.

“Wu Heng, keep up.” Xie Chongyi noticed the boy falling behind, his tone impatient.

Wu Heng retracted the vine, caught up to Xie Chongyi, and whispered: “Monitor, what kind of bug leaves behind something slimy like this when it crawls past?”

“Snail?” Xie Chongyi’s voice held doubt.

“There are snails in the reptile house?”

Before Xie Chongyi could answer, Wu Heng realized the truth the very moment the words left his mouth.

Across from the two of them, a snail half the height of a person was rustling its way around the corner. It carried an enormous brown shell on its back, two pairs of feelers swaying in every direction. When it finally came face to face with them, its antennae froze mid-movement.

Wu Heng’s gaze slid from the mutant snail’s shell down to its soft, snow-white belly.

Would this taste good?

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