Eaten Ch.37

Chapter 37: “…I want to hug you”

Wu Heng and the other two had just arrived at the school, so they didn’t have much to pack.

While everyone else was sweating buckets, busy with packing, flustered, nervous, and even despairing about the future, Dou Lu wiped the sweat off her face, slung a snakeskin bag over her shoulder, and stepped into the hallway. When she turned her head, every muscle in her face twitched all at once.

“Damn!”

Wu Zhi was dressed in a girlish outfit completely out of place with both the crowd and the setting—pink here, white there, lace upon lace. She was still clutching her stuffed monkey doll and following closely behind Lin Meng.

“My brother still loves me,” she said. “He bought me new clothes, but he didn’t buy you any.”

“I’m not a fool.”

“Your mouth is going to rot.”

“No, no, wait—is this real?” Dou Lu rubbed her eyes.

Ruan Silian smiled. “All little girls love to look pretty.”

“I’m a little girl too!” Dou Lu waved at Wu Zhi as she walked past, but when she turned back to Ruan Silian, her smile vanished without a trace.

“Ruan, are you sure you want to follow the class monitor to Jingzhou? Jingzhou’s so far, and who knows how much danger lies along the way.”

A trace of sorrow surfaced on Ruan Silian’s face. “My parents are gone, and I have no other relatives in Hanzhou. All of you have awakened abilities, but I haven’t. So following the class monitor and the others to Jingzhou might be my best choice—and my only choice.”

Dou Lu thought for a while but said nothing more. “I still need to go home once, see if my parents… are still there.”

“If they’re not, then we’ll go together.”

Wu Heng had been napping on his desk for over half an hour. When Lin Mengzhi shook him awake, his face was as pale as paper.

“You don’t look well.” Lin Mengzhi’s eyes were full of concern. “Did you not rest properly last night?”

“Maybe.” Wu Heng didn’t tell Lin Mengzhi the truth. He glanced outside the classroom. “Time to go?”

“Yes. There are three people who aren’t coming with us, and they’re not going home either—they want to stay at the school,” Lin Mengzhi said. “I overheard them talking for a while. Aside from Xie Chongyi, Xue Shen and his younger brother, and the three of us, only two students are willing to go to Jingzhou.”

“Which two?”

“The one who’s really good at cooking—Ruan Silian. And that strength-type ability user, Li Shu. I think the two of them might be…” Lin Mengzhi lowered his head, his expression looking somewhat conflicted.

Wu Heng thought he’d uncovered something like a spy in their midst and asked, “What?”

In a hushed voice, Lin Mengzhi said, “They seem to be a couple.”

“…”

Wu Heng’s face froze for a moment. He had never been the gossipy type, and when it came to matters of emotion, his sensitivity was practically negative. He had no interest in such things at all. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a single, feeble word:

“Wow.”

Lin Mengzhi: “…”

“Let’s go downstairs.” Xue Shen’s voice suddenly came from the front door.

All sounds vanished in an instant.

The view inside and outside the teaching building was completely different from before. Most people’s faces were shrouded in gloom and heaviness. As the moment of parting drew closer, the tension in the air thickened. When they stepped out the main entrance of the teaching building, an indescribable chill surged in from all around.

At the school gate, Xue Shen let go of Xue Qi’s wheelchair and smiled as he firmly shook each person’s hand. “Till we meet again, till we meet again.”

The main avenue where No. 1 High School was located was clear, but at the far end of the road, on another street, a considerable number of zombies wandered. They were blocked only by an iron fence.

“Monitor, are you really not going to send us back?” Du Yaoyuan tugged hard at his hair. “Anyway, you’re going to Jingzhou—it’s not like you have to rush right away.”

“Yeah, I live so far away. There are so many zombies on the road, and what if we run into a mutated beast…”

They said “what if,” but everyone knew perfectly well—the chance of running into a mutated beast was nearly one hundred percent.

Just like humans, each animal’s mutation took an uncertain path. Some only grew larger in size while keeping their temper gentle. For example, not long ago they had run into a human-tall squirrel clutching a bundle of pinecones, dashing and leaping madly down the street. The moment it caught sight of their group, it was so startled that it immediately darted into a shop by the roadside.

Xie Chongyi didn’t answer their questions. Instead, he simply said: “Let’s go.”

The others were left behind at the school gates, watching them walk farther and farther away.

Wu Heng felt a bit drowsy again. He lowered his head and looked at his palm—the petals of the poppy flower were still curled at the edges.

Going to die. Useless.

They split into several groups. Before leaving, almost everyone still wanted to go home and check.

Xue Shen pushed Xue Qi. “We’ll head back first, pick up some things.”

Li Shu also looked at Ruan Silian. “You follow the monitor. I’ll be right back.”

With just three of them gone, the remaining people fell into silence. Ying Liuquan scratched his head. “Aren’t you all going home?”

Wu Heng shook his head.

The brother shook his head; the sister followed suit.

Lin Mengzhi said, “Not going. Teacher, you’re not going either?”

“My hometown is in Luocheng. I’m not going back—it’s too far.” Ying Liuquan replied.

But Xie Chongyi said, “I need to go somewhere.”

He turned to Wu Heng. “You’re coming with me.”

Lin Mengzhi immediately became alert. What was he planning?

Wu Heng didn’t think too much about it and nodded. “Okay.”

—

Forty minutes later, Ying Liuquan was speeding along in his used Volkswagen, charging into the empty lot of the Hannan District police station.

In the open space, a few zombies still wearing police uniforms were wandering aimlessly. When they heard the noise, their heads swiveled, and they began shuffling toward the car.

“Teacher, good thing you’re here,” Lin Mengzhi said from the back seat. “Otherwise we’d be stuck riding in Xie Chongyi’s car. But… why are we coming to the police station?”

Ying Liuquan’s face was already pale. The road had been full of zombies, and there were even mutated plants that suddenly launched attacks at them.

His perfectly fine car was now a wreck—not only was it splattered inside and out with foul blood, but rotting flesh was wedged into the tires, and the body of the car was battered with dents and craters.

“Gaaah!” X flapped its wings, its eyes bloodshot at some unknown point.

Wu Heng turned his head to look outside the window—zombies were already pressed up against the glass.

He grabbed the kitchen knife, pushed open the car door, kicked one zombie to the ground, stepped on its chest, and brought the blade down, splitting its skull open.

The other zombies howled and lunged at him.

From inside the car, Xie Chongyi blew out the heads of several zombies in rapid succession.

Ying Liuquan clutched the steering wheel with all his strength, swallowing hard over and over. It was too terrifying.

“Fortunately, the zombies outside didn’t manage to get in. The police station probably only has a few on duty—it should be easy enough to handle.” Lin Mengzhi got out of the car. “So… why are we at the police station?”

“To pick up something.” After getting out, Xie Chongyi headed straight inside. As soon as he stepped through the door, a shriveled zombie with its bare scalp exposed came staggering toward them.

Xie Chongyi’s blade pierced through its brain, and before it even hit the floor, he had already dug out the energy core.

Lin Mengzhi held onto Wu Heng. “A’Heng, doesn’t this count as assaulting a police officer?”

Wu Heng gave him a speechless look. Meanwhile, Wu Zhi tugged at Lin Mengzhi from the side. “Brother Mengzhi, you’re too big—don’t drag my brother along. He’s really tired.”

None of them were familiar with the layout of the police station. Along the way, they ran into quite a few zombies. Wu Heng and the others kept their expressions steady, but Ying Liuquan walked while crying.

“How did it turn out like this? Why hasn’t anyone come to take control yet? Where are the special forces?”

No one spoke—because no one had an answer to that question.

“Duty room…” Xie Chongyi murmured as he read the sign on the door. “Then it should be close.”

He stopped in front of a door. It was locked, but he twisted it open with ease.

What appeared before their eyes was the police station’s armory.

Lin Mengzhi instantly understood. “Holy crap, we’re robbing the place!”

Ying Liuquan rubbed his hands nervously. “Won’t someone come after us for this later…?”

Wu Zhi snatched up a handgun in one grab. “I like this one!”

Wu Heng leaned against the doorframe, watching as everyone grew excited. Only at the very end did he glance toward Xie Chongyi—right as Xie Chongyi raised a rifle, its black muzzle aimed squarely at him.

“Don’t move.” Xie Chongyi narrowed his eyes, his voice carrying a dangerous warning.

Wu Heng instinctively felt that Xie Chongyi wouldn’t actually pull the trigger, but still cooperated by raising his hands.

When Lin Mengzhi turned around, delightedly holding two rifles, the sight that greeted him was his childhood friend being held at gunpoint.

Without thinking, he pointed both guns directly at Xie Chongyi. “Xie Chongyi, have you lost your damn mind?”

Wu Heng rolled his eyes—very restrainedly—and lowered his hands. “Childish.”

Once everyone put their guns down, Ying Liuquan finally started to nag.

“Forget about the fact that owning guns is illegal—how can you treat them like toys? What if one misfires and a classmate gets hurt? You’d regret it when it’s too late. There aren’t any doctors anymore—you can’t afford to get hurt, and you’d better not get sick either. Humanity is evolving, and those germs and viruses must be evolving too.”

Xie Chongyi tossed a tactical vest to Wu Heng, then handed him a semi-automatic rifle.

Wu Heng put on the vest, hefted the rifle, and from the box in the farthest corner, picked up a triangular bayonet. This was much better than a kitchen knife.

Following his example, Wu Zhi also took a bayonet for herself.

After loading the trunk and every corner of the car with bullets, they finally drove away.

Not long after getting back into the car, Wu Heng fell asleep on Wu Zhi’s shoulder. He was exhausted—so exhausted that even the strength to walk was steadily slipping away. He needed rest. He even wished he could find a cave somewhere and hibernate.

—

Du Yaoyuan fought his way through hordes of zombies, several times nearly getting bitten, but the thought of seeing his mother at home kept giving him endless strength.

Thanks to Xie Chongyi constantly sending them out to fight zombies these past days, Du Yaoyuan had become not only steady, precise, and ruthless in stabbing through zombie skulls, but also far more agile. His muscles had toughened and grown stronger as well.

In truth, the class monitor really was quite responsible—no wonder everyone trusted him. If his mother weren’t still in Hanzhou, Du Yaoyuan figured he’d probably keep following Xie Chongyi too.

“Mom!” Du Yaoyuan shouted as he charged up the stairwell, calling out even before reaching the door of his apartment.

But his eager steps froze the moment the door opened.

The zombie inside was already completely rotted, its eye sockets nothing but gaping holes, only a few patches of scalp left clinging to the skull. Its body was shriveled, skin dried and wrinkled tight against the bones.

The knife in Du Yaoyuan’s hand slipped to the floor, his backpack falling with it. “Mom?”

The zombie tilted its head, a guttural growl swelling in its throat as it lurched toward him.

Less than ten minutes later, Du Yaoyuan stepped out from the apartment, sobbing uncontrollably. His chest was soaked in black blood. Behind him, in the entryway, the zombie lay collapsed and lifeless.

—

Wu Heng remained asleep the whole time. He had been gently laid down across the backseat of the Volkswagen, a blanket covering him.

The doors of the 4S car dealership had all been locked tight, while outside, herds of zombies swarmed.

So as not to disturb Wu Heng’s rest, the others kept their voices low when speaking.

Lin Mengzhi whispered, “Why is A’Heng so tired? He slept last night too.”

Wu Zhi looked at her brother with aching heart, thinking to herself that it was because the others weren’t strong enough. If they were stronger, her brother wouldn’t have to be this exhausted.

Xie Chongyi sat on the hood of a Land Rover, lazily saying, “Maybe he snuck out to play in the middle of the night.”

“Snuck out in the middle of the night?” Lin Mengzhi scratched his head. What would Wu Heng sneak out for at night—looking for food? “Teacher, what are you doing?” he then craned his neck curiously toward Ying Liuquan behind the counter.

Ying Liuquan, making do with the store’s pen and paper, replied, “I’m making a list of supplies we need to pick up at the supermarket before we leave, and also figuring out which route is both the safest and fastest.”

Lin Mengzhi said the national highway would be good.

“I’d recommend taking the expressway. From Hanzhou to Jingzhou, the road conditions in Cangchuan Province are terrible along the national route. And if the weather turns bad, the risks on the national highway only increase.”

“The apocalypse started at five in the morning. By then there shouldn’t have been too many cars on the expressway, so a traffic jam is unlikely.”

Xie Chongyi wasn’t really listening. Propping up his chin, he gazed into the backseat of the Volkswagen. Wu Heng’s hand rested on a blanket, with a vine having slipped out at some point to hook around his little finger. He was so thin that even the vine was thicker than his finger.

Just then, the zombie horde outside suddenly grew restless.

Yet the area around them remained utterly calm.

Until a knife came whistling from afar—Du Yaoyuan stood at a distance, the blade moving under his control, piercing through the skulls of an entire row of zombies.

Lin Mengzhi pressed himself against the door in awe. “That’s awesome, that’s awesome—I want that.”

Du Yaoyuan came running over. After letting him in and quickly shutting the door, Lin Mengzhi watched as Du Yaoyuan, carrying a schoolbag, called out “Class Monitor” once, then slumped into a corner sofa and sat in silence.

“Did he always have abilities?” Lin Mengzhi leaned toward Xie Chongyi and asked.

“No.”

“I remember he said he wasn’t going to Jingzhou?”

“He’s not.”

“Then why did he come?”

“No idea.”

“You seem colder to me than to Wu Heng. Are you close with him?”

“Not close with you.”

“……”

—

Wu Heng was dreaming again. Ever since fusing with the plants, he rarely dreamt, yet tonight he saw Wu Shiming and Zeng Like once more.

In the dream he couldn’t feel pain, so when Wu Shiming kicked him over and over, he felt nothing. Only his lashes clumping together with tears, his eyes unable to open—that feeling of suffocation, nothing else.

“Wu Heng? Wu Heng?” Someone patted his face, calling him back.

Wu Heng opened his eyes. After just one sleep, he looked even thinner.

“You had a nightmare.” Xie Chongyi crouched outside the car, touched his forehead. “And it feels like you’ve got a fever.”

Wu Heng’s gaze was hazy. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have swallowed two energy cores all at once this morning.”

“Forget it, it’s fine.” Xie Chongyi’s eyes traced his face inch by inch. “You’ve already apologized once. Besides, you didn’t wrong me. No need to say sorry.”

“Alright.” Wu Heng closed his eyes again. “How long until we set off?”

“Half an hour. They’re test-driving the cars.”

Wu Heng’s breath hitched, and he opened his eyes. “Who’s driving?”

“The teacher. And Shen Ping’an.”

“Shen Ping’an?” Wu Heng not only didn’t know what he looked like—he didn’t even recognize the name.

“He’s a repeater, has a license. We’re planning to take three cars.”

“And the last one?”

“Me.”

Wu Heng closed his eyes again. “Then I’ll ride with Teacher Ying. I’m someone who respects teachers and values the Dao, I wouldn’t want Teacher Ying to feel neglected.”

“……”

Xie Chongyi stood up from beside the car. Inside, the others were already seated on the reception sofas.

There were more people than expected. Aside from those who had first said they were going to Jingzhou, Du Yaoyuan, Shen Ping’an, and Dou Lu had also joined. The three wore the same vacant expression born of grief, and everyone could more or less guess what they must have gone through, so no one tried to break the silence with words.

“I’ll start by saying what we need to prepare before leaving Jingzhou,” Xue Shen sat on the coffee table. “Food, water, medicine—those three are essential.”

“So we’ll split into three groups. I’ll go with the teacher to get medicine, Shen Ping’an will take people to haul water, and Old Xie’s car will be loaded with food.”

Li Shu listened in shock. “Class Monitor, you can drive?”

“No.”

Li Shu, who had been about to flatter him, instantly shut his mouth and quickly said, “Then I’ll ride with A’Ruan in Shen Ping’an’s car.”

“What about Wu Heng? I don’t see him anywhere.” Ruan Silian looked around.

Wu Zhi immediately answered, “My brother’s asleep.”

“He’s still sleeping at a time like this?” Li Shu was incredulous. “He’s useless among the useless.”

Xie Chongyi’s casual gaze narrowed slightly onto Li Shu’s face. “Li Shu, watch your words.”

Xie Chongyi had never liked intimidating classmates with brute force. What he excelled at were threats and indifference.

When Xue Shen and Ying Liuquan finished announcing the next stages of the journey, he wrapped up with his characteristic joking tone:

“Ugly words first. I don’t owe anyone here any unbreakable obligation to stick together. The fact that we’re companions today is fate—but how long that fate lasts is up to me. So, I don’t want to see b*llying of classmates or ability-related oppression on this trip. If it happens, I’ll personally send that person away.”

“Send away… where to?”

“Hell. Or the underworld.”

—

Wu Heng woke up to find himself in Xie Chongyi’s car.

How did he get in? Did he pass out before boarding?

“Brother, you’re finally awake! You just fainted—we couldn’t wake you no matter how we called!” Wu Zhi’s face was streaked with tears in the backseat. Beside her sat Lin Mengzhi and Dou Lu.

Wu Heng looked toward the front. He didn’t see the chaotic weaving and wild swerving he’d expected—instead, the ride was surprisingly steady.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Xie Chongyi seemed to sense Wu Heng’s gaze. “I pick things up quickly.”

Wu Heng let out a quiet “Oh,” then shifted into a comfortable position against the seat.

After some distance, the sunlight grew dim and then vanished entirely.

Dark clouds rolled over the city. Boom—fat raindrops began pounding down in a relentless downpour.

“Why is it raining again? I’m allergic to rain now,” Dou Lu muttered, touching the window glass, her eyes vacant.

“Me too,” Lin Mengzhi said. “That rainy season earlier really traumatized me.”

Wu Zhi added, “How about we wait until the rain stops before moving on?”

“What if it doesn’t stop?” Lin Mengzhi asked.

The car fell silent again as Xie Chongyi drove straight up to the entrance of the supermarket, with Shen Ping’an’s vehicle close behind.

“So cold!” Lin Mengzhi sneezed as he got out. “Heaven’s doing this on purpose to torment us!”

Dou Lu, holding on to Wu Zhi, wore a face full of gloom. “If I’d known, I might as well have stayed with my parents and died at home.”

With the rain pouring down, the zombies on the streets looked like ghosts. At the sound of human voices, they immediately staggered toward the noise.

Once inside the supermarket, Wu Heng headed first to the clothing section. None of the clothes there could be called fashionable, but that didn’t matter anymore. He grabbed a down jacket for Wu Zhi and one for Lin Mengzhi, pulled one on himself, and stuffed a few extras into his spatial storage.

“Mengzhi, find Wu Zhi a base layer and a sweater, a skirt too, and pack a few pairs of winter boots. I’ll go pick out some food.”

His storage space had grown a little larger—just a little, almost imperceptibly so. But because it was his space, he could sense the change.

The snake meat inside was still nearly untouched, unspoiled, its surface crystal-clear.

Wu Heng crouched in the corner by a shelf and devoured half of it in one go. Only then did the weakness and dizziness ease somewhat.

Maybe he’d fainted earlier simply from hunger.

At Xie Chongyi’s feet sat a delivery cart meant for supermarket stock. He tossed a few sacks of rice and flour onto it. Dou Lu, struggling with an armful of egg cartons stacked half her height, could barely move. Wu Heng walked over and relieved her of half the load.

“Thanks.” Dou Lu’s eyes were still a little red.

“I’ll grab two barrels of oil.” Wu Heng didn’t bother to pick carefully—he just looked at the price tags and carried off the most expensive ones.

Xie Chongyi glanced at him. “Cold?”

“A bit.” Wu Heng nodded. “When are you going to change clothes?”

“Later—after we’ve loaded everything onto the cars,” Xie Chongyi said as he flipped through the vegetables in the produce section. All of them were wilted and rotting, with fingernail-sized mosquitoes buzzing overhead.

“Class monitor.” Wu Heng walked beside him and, somewhat formally, called out to him.

“Hm?” Xie Chongyi’s expression was indifferent.

“Can I hug you? I want to hug you.” Wu Heng wasn’t feeling well, which only made him want to lean closer to Xie Chongyi.

Xie Chongyi didn’t ask why. He simply said no.

Wu Heng, however, was the first to ask why.

“You don’t listen. Why should I let you hug me?” Xie Chongyi gave a slight smile—a smile that, to Wu Heng, felt especially cold and thin. “Besides, didn’t I say before? You have to trade me an energy core if you want a hug.”

Wu Heng said quietly, “I’m injured right now. I can only give you some zombie energy cores.”

“I don’t want zombie ones. I want D-grade.”

Wu Heng fell silent, lowering his eyes.

He didn’t feel deeply hurt, but he did feel a little lost. He could sense that Xie Chongyi’s refusal wasn’t entirely a refusal—it was more like holding back, a push-and-pull. But he didn’t know what he should do or say to make the other agree right away.

At last, Xie Chongyi discovered a bag of dirt-clad yams under the rows of baskets. He squatted down to check whether they’d spoiled.

Wu Heng squatted down too and gave Xie Chongyi’s arm a little tug.

Xie Chongyi turned to look at him.

The boy pressed his palms together, cheeks faintly red on a face that had never once begged or acted spoiled before, his expression awkward and unpracticed. “I’m begging you, please… please.”

At first, Xie Chongyi still had a smile, but once Wu Heng finished speaking, his expression shifted to complete blankness.

His gaze landed squarely on Wu Heng’s face without the slightest concealment—unwavering, not even the angle of his lowered eyelids changing by a fraction.

Wu Heng thought he had failed. He was already planning to ask Lin Mengzhi for advice.

But just as he was half-rising, his wrist was suddenly seized. Looking down, his body was yanked off balance and pulled straight into Xie Chongyi’s arms.

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