Chapter 41: She Should Give Xie Li a Title

"The world's greatest super-top?"

Jin Zhaoye looked at her, caught between laughter and tears, her voice hoarse from everything they'd done. "Why are you crying again?"

Xie Li had been pulled up into her arms. Her eyes were red, the tip of her nose was red, her little face pale, tears dampening her lashes—a picture that would move anyone's heart.

She didn't know why she wanted to cry either. Maybe she was just too happy, or maybe happiness had come so suddenly that she was a little overwhelmed.

Anyway, after spending the entire day in the room with Jin Zhaoye, unlocking all kinds of positions, she just really wanted to cry. So she cried.

"Jin Zhaoye..." Xie Li called her name through her tears.

"Mm, I'm here," Jin Zhaoye answered with a low chuckle, gazing at her with doting eyes.

"Jin Zhaoye..." Xie Li called her again.

Jin Zhaoye held her, stroking the back of Xie Li's head like petting a cat, soothing her bit by bit. "Stop crying, okay?"

"Mm." Xie Li pressed her cheek against her neck, nuzzling it insecurely.

She had so many things she wanted to say. She wanted to ask what they were to each other now, wanted to ask if Jin Zhaoye was her girlfriend.

But she didn't quite dare ask. She was afraid of getting another vague answer, even more afraid Jin Zhaoye would dodge the question entirely. She wasn't a very courageous person.

If she didn't ask, she could tell herself in her heart that Jin Zhaoye was her girlfriend. The two of them had already done the most intimate thing lovers could do—she belonged to her.

"Jin Zhaoye, I don't like this world. I really hate this world where people die every day," Xie Li's muffled voice sounded in the room. "But this world has you in it. So I feel like this world isn't so bad after all."

Jin Zhaoye's arm around Xie Li paused.

She thought this world was terrible—the worst kind of terrible.

The solar storm had damaged the atmosphere, and natural disasters would only keep coming one after another. Zombies roamed the cities, animals were undergoing unknown mutations, and human civilization had been destroyed overnight.

There would never be a time worse than now.

Yet this little Alpha said that with her here, the world wasn't terrible. A confession like that—it was romantic enough to die for.

Jin Zhaoye cupped Xie Li's cheeks, her fingertips drawing in slightly, squishing that tear-streaked face into a bundle.

She lowered her head and planted a kiss on Xie Li's puckered lips.

Jin Zhaoye made a decision in her heart: once they returned to the military base, no matter the cost, she would break off the engagement with Fu Yunsheng.

The engagement had been arranged by both sets of parents. Between the two of them, besides the bond of growing up together, there was nothing else.

Fu Yunsheng would never like an Omega like her, and she would never like an Alpha like Fu Yunsheng. Both their personalities were too forceful—they simply couldn't be lovers.

Before, there had been no better option, and she hadn't liked anyone, so the engagement hadn't affected her much. It was just a title—wear it if you wear it, it didn't get in anyone's way.

But now there was Xie Li. She no longer wanted to wear the title of Fu Yunsheng's fiancée.

If anyone's name should be attached to hers, it should be Xie Li's fiancée. She should give Xie Li a proper title.

Xie Li had no idea what the other person was thinking while they kissed. Anyway, if Jin Zhaoye kissed her, she'd just kiss back.

The two of them held each other's lips between their own, the kiss growing hotter and hotter, the flames of war about to reignite—when an uninvited guest arrived outside the door.

"You two—are you done yet?" Lan Ran knocked lightly on the door. "Want to get up and eat something? Xiaobao's hungry."

Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye froze simultaneously and glanced back at the tightly shut lounge door.

Jin Zhaoye pinched her lightly at the waist. Xie Li cleared her throat and said, "Coming, give us a minute."

Hearing her friend's hoarse voice, Lan Ran's expression turned a bit strange. She tossed out a "hurry up and come out" and walked away.

Jin Zhaoye patted Xie Li's bottom. "Get off me."

Xie Li obediently crawled up, first pulled on a pair of underwear for herself, then fetched clothes for Jin Zhaoye.

The top and pants had just been changed today, so those didn't need replacing, but the underwear...

Xie Li glanced at the pair in her hand. Better change them—the morning pair was soaked through. She quietly stored Jin Zhaoye's worn underwear into her space and handed her a clean pair.

By the time they were fully dressed and came out of the lounge, another ten-odd minutes had passed.

The fire bucket in the hallway was burning strong. Lan Ran and Xiaobao sat by it, and the water in the iron pot had already come to a boil, bubbling away.

Xiaobao, wrapped in a blanket and curled up beside Lan Ran, looked a bit more energetic than she had in the morning.

Hearing the noise, she turned her head to look at the two of them and called out in a milky little voice, "Gift-jiejie, pretty-jiejie."

"Good girl, Xiaobao. Has your fever gone down?" Xie Li sat down beside her, fished out a lollipop and stuffed it over. "Take your medicine first, then you can have the candy."

"Okay, Gift-jiejie. Ranran-jiejie said the fever's gone." Xiaobao clutched the candy stick, her smile much brighter now.

"The fever broke in the afternoon. After we eat, she'll take a bit more medicine and that should about do it," Lan Ran replied while tearing open instant noodle packaging and dropping the noodle bricks into the pot.

Xie Li picked up the seasoning packets, tore them open, and squeezed them into the hot water. A rich industrial fragrance filled the air.

Lan Ran stirred the noodles in the pot, her eyes drifting toward Jin Zhaoye again and again. That beast Xie Li—how had she chewed up her goddess like this?

Her whole neck was covered in red marks, and there were even teeth marks on her collarbone.

She silently looked away and glared at Xie Li.

This girl really had no fear of death. All you could say was, thank goodness for the apocalypse.

If this were before, forget the Fu family not letting her off—the Jin family probably wouldn't spare her either. She didn't even dare imagine how Xie Li would die.

Lan Ran couldn't help clicking her tongue a couple of times.

Xie Li looked up at her. "What are you tsk-ing about? You said we should eat ages ago, and all you've done is boil a pot of water. What if our Xiaobao starves?"

"Nothing. Shut up. Isn't your mouth tired?" Lan Ran snapped back at her with a thoroughly sour face.

Xie Li looked perfectly innocent. "Nope! Why would my mouth be tired?"

Jin Zhaoye kicked her discreetly. Xie Li instantly turned her head, looking at her with pleading eyes. "What is it?"

"I'm a bit thirsty. Go look around—see if there are any vending machines left in the building. I want a drink."

"What drink?" Xie Li asked, already on her feet.

"Lemon sparkling water. If not, Sprite," Jin Zhaoye said.

"Got it, wait for me."

Xie Li ran off on wobbly legs, not even thinking to ask Lan Ran what she wanted. In under two minutes, the sound of footsteps came back.

She appeared at the hallway entrance hugging several bottles, walked over to the fire bucket, and handed the drinks out one by one.

Besides Jin Zhaoye's lemon sparkling water, she and Lan Ran got cola, while Xiaobao got a box of Wangzai milk.

Lan Ran twisted open her cola, tilted her head back, and poured a big mouthful down, then burped in satisfaction. "Tsk, haven't had this in so long. That taste—amazing!"

"As long as you call me Mommy, I'll find you cola every day from now on!" Xie Li quipped cheekily.

"Get lost!" Lan Ran grabbed the stainless steel chopsticks, making as if to whack her.

Xie Li quickly ducked behind Jin Zhaoye and said in a faux-aggrieved, green-tea tone, "Dr. Jin, look at her. This person is so mean—she actually wants to hit her friend."

Jin Zhaoye gave her a sidelong glance and stepped in to smooth things over. "All right, no more fooling around. Eat your noodles."

The four of them sat around the fire bucket, pairing carbonated drinks with instant noodles, and enjoyed an unhealthy but quite delicious dinner.

Not long after the meal, the sky turned dark.

The city had died completely. Not a sliver of light remained outside the windows. Perhaps there were scattered survivors on the upper floors of some buildings, but very, very few.

That night, Xie Li didn't send Lan Ran off to sleep next door. All four stayed in the big office, taking turns keeping watch.

Lan Ran knew the two of them definitely hadn't slept during the day—otherwise where would all those red marks have come from?

She volunteered, "I'll take Xiaobao and keep the first half of the night. You two can switch in for the second half."

"Okay. Keep an eye on the fire. We're going in to sleep." Xie Li agreed readily and went into the lounge with Jin Zhaoye.

The moment the door closed, the two of them tumbled into bed in each other's arms, kissing like they couldn't bear to part.

Jin Zhaoye pinned down Xie Li's wandering hand. "Stop messing around. Rest properly. We still have to get up for watch later."

"I'm not messing around, I just want to kiss you." Xie Li pecked her cheek, kicked off her shoes, and lay down properly.

Within minutes of lying down, she fell into dreamland. Listening to her even breathing, Jin Zhaoye soon fell asleep too.

In the latter half of the night, Lan Ran pushed open the lounge door and woke them.

Xie Li sprang out of bed, rubbing her eyes, and climbed down with a head of messy hair. She took two steps out, then turned back to instruct, "Jin Zhaoye, keep sleeping. I can keep watch alone."

"Together." Jin Zhaoye rolled out of bed, put on her shoes, and walked out with her.

Xie Li found a spot by the floor-to-ceiling window, sat down, lifted a corner of the curtain, and gazed out at the pitch-black water.

Jin Zhaoye first went to the hallway to add some firewood to the nearly extinguished fire bucket, then returned to the office and sat down beside Xie Li.

Xie Li's hand hung at her side, groping in the darkness until it found the back of Jin Zhaoye's hand. Her fingers spread, threaded through the gaps between Jin Zhaoye's fingers, and interlocked tightly with hers.

The two sat quietly for a while. The faint light filtering in from the hallway barely illuminated their silhouettes.

Xie Li watched their two swaying shadows on the curtain and said, "Actually, I've stockpiled a lot of things. Food, drink, supplies, entertainment—everything. Even if we don't go to the military base, we could live comfortably for the rest of our lives."

"I want to get back to the military base, and not just to eat my fill," Jin Zhaoye said. "I want to find out the real reason this world changed."

Xie Li turned to look at her profile and didn't make a sound.

"I want to know why those of us who survived became stronger. What exactly changed in our bodies? What made our strength grow instead of turning us into zombies?"

"If this change can be quantified and replicated—if this is an evolution of all living things—then I hope I can contribute my small part. As long as we can push things forward even slightly on the road of evolution, let humanity move faster than those mutated creatures—just one step. If we're one step ahead, one step faster, human civilization won't be wiped out by this disaster."

Jin Zhaoye finished speaking and turned to meet Xie Li's gaze. "Can you understand what I'm thinking?"

Xie Li nodded. "I can. The harder and more bitter the times, the more someone needs to stand up."

In her eyes, Jin Zhaoye was like a lighthouse.

While everyone else fought desperately to survive, hoarded food, and thought only of muddling through day to day, what she thought about was how to let all of humanity live through today, tomorrow, and every day after.

"Jin Zhaoye, if you want to do it, you definitely can. You'll be the most dazzling beam of light in this world, shining across the four wilds."

The corners of Jin Zhaoye's mouth curved up as she teased, "You're so sappy..."

Xie Li pounced and covered her mouth. "You're not allowed to say that about me! The world's greatest super-top is saying sweet nothings to you—how can you call her sappy?"

Her mouth covered by Xie Li, Jin Zhaoye couldn't speak and could only make muffled "mmph mmph" sounds.

Her eyes curved into two crescent moons, the corners of her eyes and brows brimming with laughter—not the usual polite, surface-level smile, but one from the heart.

Xie Li was dazzled by her smile, and the force of her hand loosened slightly.

"Okay, okay, I won't call you sappy anymore." Jin Zhaoye raised both hands in surrender, her voice leaking out from between Xie Li's fingers. "Any longer and I'll suffocate."

Their playful noise got a little too loud. From the pitch-black water came a splashing sound.

It was as if something was approaching the building they were in.

Xie Li's hand froze. Jin Zhaoye stopped struggling too.

Both held their breath at the same time, maintaining their positions without moving a muscle. Xie Li half-knelt, her palm over Jin Zhaoye's lips; Jin Zhaoye leaned back, elbows propped on the mat behind her, not daring to move.

The splashing in the water drew a little closer, and denser—as if many creatures had gathered below the building.

Xie Li's hand slowly moved away and felt for the machete she carried. Jin Zhaoye groped for her own weapon as well.

The two held their breath, not daring to make a sound, staring motionlessly at the pitch-black window.

The water went quiet. Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye didn't dare make a sound. They didn't know whether the things outside had left, or had stopped—lying in ambush beneath the surface, or crawling up the building's walls.

They maintained this state of high alert, watching the pitch-black night outside the window slowly, slowly brighten.

Only when the sky had fully lightened did Jin Zhaoye and Xie Li finally let out a breath of relief, standing up to stretch their stiff bodies.

Xie Li stretched lazily, and while Lan Ran was still asleep, fished a small bag of rice out of her space, along with some dried scallops, conpoy, and pickled mustard tuber.

Breakfast was seafood congee with pickles. While eating, Lan Ran was rather surprised—this building actually still had rice and dried goods to be found.

Xie Li brushed it off casually, saying she'd found them at an office desk—probably some worker's online shopping delivery that never got taken home, lucky for them.

Lan Ran nodded. She often bought fruit and such online herself, so she believed Xie Li's words without a doubt.

After eating their fill, Xie Li stepped up onto the sofa and took down the three blades hanging on the wall.

The three blades were laid side by side on the table, arranged from longest to shortest.

The longest one had an extremely long hilt, taking up nearly a third of the whole blade. The jet-black hilt was wrapped in dark brown anti-slip cord, rough and solid to the touch.

Xie Li took a fancy to this one at first sight. She drew the blade and gripped it with both hands—the web between thumb and forefinger fitting right against the guard.

She actually couldn't tell the difference between a tangdao, hengdao, or miaodao, and hadn't studied cold weapons much. Things like blade curvature and forging technique were completely beyond her.

But she could tell this blade had been sharpened. Any blade that could cut down zombies and mutated creatures was a good blade.

Gripping the hilt, Xie Li walked over to the solid wood coffee table, planted her feet apart, sank her shoulders slightly, raised the blade, and chopped down hard.

The blade sliced through the air with a low whistling sound. The solid wood coffee table split in two on impact, the cut surface smooth and even, with barely any wood shavings to be seen.

"Whoa~" Lan Ran exclaimed, leaning in to examine the cut surface in amazement. "What kind of blade is this? So sharp?"

Jin Zhaoye casually picked up one of the others, drew it from its sheath, flipped her wrist, and twirled it in a flourish. The blade cut the air with a sound like a whistle.

"The one in Xie Li's hands should be modeled after a miaodao." Jin Zhaoye sheathed the blade and held it against her chest. "Long, curved blade, a hilt long enough for two hands—a classic miaodao. The other two are hengdao—straight-edged, single-handed, suited for close combat."

Lan Ran picked up the remaining one, drew it, and gave it a few practice swings. The blade was short and light, very handy to wield.

She grinned, showing two rows of white teeth. "If I use this to chop zombies, it'll be one cut per head, no jamming at all."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Xie Li slung the long blade across her back, the hilt jutting out over her right shoulder, rising a good stretch above her head.

She jerked her chin toward the door, her tone brimming with eagerness. "Let's go, up the building. Any zombies we run into are all yours to chop—good practice for you."

"Xiaobao wants to go too." The little girl poked her head out of the blanket, holding up her pale little hand, looking at them with pleading eyes.

Lan Ran crouched down and beckoned to Xiaobao. "How could the jiejies leave Xiaobao all alone here? Come, into the backpack."

Xiaobao stood up on her own, held onto Lan Ran's shoulders, and swung her two short legs into the backpack one at a time, sitting down inside with only her little head sticking out.

Lan Ran zipped it up to her chest, then stuffed a small plush toy into her arms, just enough to wedge the gap shut and keep the child from jostling around in the pack.

The three of them plus one backpack, all properly set, took their newly acquired weapons and began their great building expedition.

Sunlight streamed in through the windows, giving the building just enough light for them to search for supplies.

They spent the whole morning and found a great deal of food—a rich haul.

Food piled up to fill an entire table: a big bag of snacks, dozens of boxes of instant coffee, latiao, chips, cookies, chocolate—everything. Twenty-some cups of instant noodles in every flavor, plus all kinds of side dishes and sauces—enough to feed the three of them plus one backpack for nearly half a month.

Drinking water was no concern either. Basically every floor's pantry had stored jugs of bottled water—dozens of unopened ones. They couldn't be bothered to haul them, so they just brought the food back downstairs; when they needed water, they could just go up and carry some down.

After eating lunch downstairs and resting a while, Jin Zhaoye proposed, "Let's climb the building once more, up to the roof. Let's first figure out where we are now."

"Sure, let's go. Perfect—I didn't get enough zombie chopping this morning." Lan Ran stood up excitedly. The newly acquired tang hengdao really was easy to use—one swing and a zombie's head came off, no effort needed at all. She'd had a great time chopping.

Following the route they'd cleared that morning, the three plus one backpack climbed to the top floor.

Pushing open the iron door to the roof, the bright sunlight stabbed at their eyes, making them all squint at once. After so long in the dim stairwell, their eyes couldn't adjust to such brilliant sunshine right away.

Xie Li raised a hand to shield her forehead and walked out.

The wind on the rooftop was strong, carrying all sorts of chaotic smells from the water straight into their noses.

The group walked to the edge of the roof and gazed into the distance.

The whole city was soaked in water. Some buildings had already tilted, stuck slantwise into the water; others had collapsed, leaving only half a wreck behind.

Jin Zhaoye stood beside Xie Li, one hand holding down her wind-blown hair, the other raising binoculars to carefully observe the surroundings.

The binoculars were something Xie Li had sneakily taken out of her space and pretended to have found in the building—Lan Ran wouldn't suspect anything anyway.

When Jin Zhaoye lowered the binoculars, Lan Ran couldn't wait to ask, "Did you figure it out? Where are we now?"

"Jiangcheng. From Nancheng... a straight-line distance of about four to five hundred kilometers," Jin Zhaoye said.

"It's been about half a month since we left Nancheng, right?" Lan Ran muttered. "We've only covered this little distance? Where's the military base we're going to?"

Jin Zhaoye handed the binoculars to Xie Li. "We're heading to the Dapanshan Army Base. If we had an aircraft, it'd take about two or three hours. Given the current road conditions, I'm honestly not sure how long it'll take."

Xie Li took the binoculars, raised them, and looked around in every direction.

She wasn't familiar with this world. Whether it was Jiangcheng beneath her feet or the Dapanshan base Jin Zhaoye spoke of, it was all foreign to her.

She had the original owner's memories, but those memories were like reels of sealed old videotape—Xie Li had to actively open and flip through them to read their contents.

Every time she looked at the original owner's memories, Xie Li had a strange feeling, like peeking at someone else's diary.

Even though the original owner was gone, it still didn't feel right for an outsider like her to spy on another person's life.

So Xie Li rarely took the initiative to look. There was another, more important reason—she worried that if she looked too much, she wouldn't be able to tell anymore, wouldn't be able to distinguish which memories belonged to the original owner and which she'd experienced herself.

"You've been looking forever—did you see anything?" Lan Ran shoved Xie Li's shoulder.

"I saw something." Xie Li handed her the binoculars. "See for yourself."

Lan Ran took the binoculars, put them to her eyes, and swept a casual glance around, assuming Xie Li wanted her to look at zombies in the water.

Instead, she saw a scene shocking enough to stun her.

"Oh my god, how did that thing get all the way to Jiangcheng?" Lan Ran lowered the binoculars in disbelief and rubbed her eyes. "Dr. Jin, take a look."

Jin Zhaoye took them and looked.

At the edge of the horizon floated an enormous cargo ship. Even at this distance, a rough scan of the containers on its hull was enough to judge: this was a large freighter of over fifty thousand tons.

Jiangcheng was inland, with no sea on any side. The nearest port was nearly a thousand kilometers away.

How could this freighter appear here?

Jin Zhaoye lowered the binoculars. Her mind was like a machine running at high speed, piecing together every scrap of information from these past days.

"A tsunami," Jin Zhaoye said with certainty. "The earthquake and torrential rain a few days ago were probably all caused by a tsunami. If I'm not mistaken, an extremely terrifying tsunami must have hit the coastal regions."

"This freighter was carried inland by the tsunami."

The people on the rooftop fell silent. Xie Li and Lan Ran were digesting the news—neither could imagine just how terrifying a tsunami had to be to deliver a ship this big into the inland region.

Jin Zhaoye, meanwhile, was pondering where they should go from here.

Estimating by the worst-case scenario, the coastal provinces had been swallowed by the tsunami, and even Jiangcheng had become a city on water. Any travel from now on could only rely on boats.

That broken bamboo raft of theirs was fine as a temporary stopgap, but for real travel it would surely spell disaster. Being besieged by mutated creatures in the water—that truly left no way out alive.

Her mind made up, Jin Zhaoye decided, "We'll wait right here. From the looks of it, that freighter will get close by tomorrow. Then we'll find a way to board it. There should be usable boats on the ship."

Neither Xie Li nor Lan Ran had any objections, and Backpack-hero Xiaobao certainly had even fewer.

The group didn't linger in the sun on the rooftop and headed straight back downstairs.

It was still early, with nothing much to do, so Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye went into the lounge one after the other to catch up on sleep.

Lan Ran rolled her eyes at the pair's retreating backs, carried Xiaobao to the office next door to rest, and kindly pulled their door shut on the way.

In the lounge, this time Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye really didn't do anything.

The two of them just took off their jackets and lay down in bed together to catch up on sleep.

The latter half of last night had been a scare, and they'd been busy half the day today—climbing dozens of floors back and forth, hauling loads of things. Both of them badly needed rest.

After sleeping for over two hours, Xie Li woke first. Opening her eyes, her gaze fell on the woman sleeping beside her.

Jin Zhaoye asleep was very different from usual—lips slightly pursed, breathing light and soft, like one of those clingy little cats that loves to doze curled up beside its owner.

Xie Li reached out, her fingertips gently brushing Jin Zhaoye's lashes, and in her heart there was still a sense of unreality, like she was dreaming.

"Staring at me nonstop—what for?" Jin Zhaoye's voice carried the hoarseness of someone just waking. Her eyes weren't open, yet she was quite certain Xie Li must be staring at her.

Caught peeking, Xie Li didn't feel the least bit guilty.

She openly pulled the person into her arms, pressed her chin against the top of her head, and nuzzled lightly. "Looking at the beautiful Dr. Jin—is that not allowed?"

Jin Zhaoye's body softened as she nestled into her embrace and answered in a muffled voice, "Allowed. Look as long as you want."

"Is kissing allowed too?"

"Of course."