Chapter 43: I'll Make You Unable to Get Out of Bed for a Week

"Xiaobao, shut up."

Xie Li was quick—she turned and clamped a hand over the little girl's mouth.

Xiaobao's mouth covered, only a pair of black grape-like eyes peeking out, looking innocently at the others.

Jin Zhaoye was a little annoyed at these two for being so unguarded in front of a child.

She swept a glance at Xie Li, the corner of her eye lifting slightly, tossed her a killing look, said nothing, and turned to walk into the office.

Xie Li watched Jin Zhaoye walk away without a word, wailing inwardly. Oh no, Dr. Jin is definitely angry.

"Oho—" Lan Ran gloated from the side, her voice full of excited anticipation of drama. "My goddess is angry. Gift, you're dead."

Xie Li released her hand and gently pinched the little girl's soft, fair cheeks.

"Three days of lollipops confiscated!"

Xiaobao blinked, all innocence: "Sister Gift, did Xiaobao do something wrong?"

Lan Ran smiled and picked her up: "No, come on, sister will take our Xiaobao to wipe that dirty little face, then sleep."

Xiaobao nestled into Lan Ran's shoulder hollow, wrapped her arms around her neck and waved at Xie Li: "Bye-bye, Sister Gift."

Xie Li was almost melted by the milky little voice, but she hardened her heart and snorted lightly. "Acting cute won't help. Your candy is gone."

Xiaobao pouted, a little wronged, didn't cry or fuss, just looked pitifully at Xie Li.

Lan Ran patted her head, walking and soothing as she went: "It's okay... your Sister Gift is just too stingy. Tomorrow Sister Ranran will help you get your candy back."

Xiaobao immediately cheered up again, wrapping her arms around Lan Ran's neck and acting cute: "Okay! Thank you Sister Ranran, Sister Ranran is the best."

Lan Ran was coaxed into beaming smiles by the little girl: "Of course Sister Ranran is the best. When Xiaobao grows up, will you take care of Sister Ranran in her old age?"

"Yes!"

The voices of the big one and small one gradually faded away. Xie Li watched their figures disappear, then turned to walk toward the office.

The rest room's door was ajar. Inside was pitch dark, only faint moonlight filtering through the blinds.

Jin Zhaoye sat on the edge of the bed, back to the door, wearing only a dark gray quick-dry shirt, her gaze fixed on the dark night outside the window.

Xie Li tiptoed over, crouched behind Jin Zhaoye, rested her chin on her leg, looked up at Jin Zhaoye's profile, and asked softly: "Are you angry?"

Jin Zhaoye ignored her.

"Really angry?" Xie Li moved closer, her cheek pressed against her abdomen, her breath warm, seeping through the fabric.

Jin Zhaoye's abdomen tightened slightly, as if burned.

Xie Li nuzzled against her abdomen: "I was wrong, don't be mad, okay?"

"Wrong about what?"

"I just was, that's all." Xie Li said, muffled.

Jin Zhaoye lowered her head, pinched her still slightly baby-fat cheeks: "You don't know what you did wrong, do you?"

"I do know."

"Then tell me in detail."

Xie Li propped herself up on the mattress, pecked her lips: "I was wrong not to go to the bathroom with you. It's so dark, no lights. How could I let you go alone?"

Jin Zhaoye looked at her sparkling eyes, sighed helplessly: "Xie Li, do you think kissing me once makes everything okay?"

Xie Li lowered her head, took her lower lip between her lips, gave it a gentle suck: "Will two kisses make it better?"

Jin Zhaoye couldn't help it, the corner of her mouth curved up.

"You smiled, smiling means you're not angry."

Xie Li threw herself on top, pushing Jin Zhaoye down onto the bed. Like a large canine, she sprawled over Jin Zhaoye, nuzzling her neck hollow, making Jin Zhaoye shrink back.

"Get off, you're heavy." Jin Zhaoye pushed at her shoulder.

Xie Li clung to her, acting spoiled: "No, I want a hug."

Jin Zhaoye lowered her head, looked at the fuzzy head on her chest, couldn't win against her, so she stopped pushing, her palm landing on the back of Xie Li's head, slowly rubbing.

"From now on, don't say these things in front of children. She's still young. Now that there are no schools, no one left to teach her about this world, everything you say and do is her standard for learning."

"You being so unguarded in front of her—she won't understand now, but she'll remember. When she grows up, she'll think these things can be said and done casually."

Xie Li lifted her head from her arms, the playfulness gone from her eyes, replaced by seriousness: "Mm, mm, mm, I understand."

"Jin Zhaoye, you're so good."

"Mm." Jin Zhaoye hummed, a little tsundere.

The two held each other for a while. Outside the rest room door came the voices of Lan Ran and Xiaobao—they had tidied up and come in to keep watch.

Jin Zhaoye patted the back of Xie Li's head: "Sleep, we have to get up later to keep watch."

"Sleep together." Xie Li clung to her, not letting go.

"Aren't I already with you?"

"You hold me while we sleep."

Jin Zhaoye was silent for a second. Xie Li really was the most spoiled Alpha she'd ever met.

She reached for the blanket, pulled it up over them both, her arm wrapping around Xie Li's shoulders, pulling her into her embrace.

Xie Li nuzzled in her arms, found a comfortable position, and contentedly closed her eyes.

"Jin Zhaoye..."

"Mm?"

"I like you."

"...Got it."

"You have to say it too."

"Are you going to sleep or not?"

"Please, say it."

"...Like."

Having gotten what she wanted, Xie Li grinned, contentedly closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

......

The second half of the night was Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye's shift. The two got up as usual, added firewood in the corridor, then sat by the floor-to-ceiling window in the office keeping watch.

Having learned from last night, tonight Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye sat together, neither speaking.

Both held weapons, their gazes fixed on the dark water outside the window.

An uneventful night.

When the sky began to pale at the horizon, Xie Li got up and went to the corridor, poured some rice into the iron pot, opened a pack of dried scallop meat and tossed it in.

Other meat she couldn't bring out for now, so she could only rely on these dried goods to supplement protein.

When the porridge was ready, Xiaobao and Lan Ran were both up. After a quick wash, the four sat together, drinking porridge with pickled vegetables.

After eating and cleaning up, the three and a bundle once again climbed up the stairwell they'd cleared yesterday, heading for the Rooftop.

After climbing a dozen or so floors, Xie Li suddenly stopped.

"What is it?"

"Shh—" Xie Li held up one finger, listened carefully.

The stairwell fell silent, no footsteps. They all heard it—a muffled sound from a distance, the steps beneath them seeming to vibrate.

"What's happening, another Earthquake?" Lan Ran whispered in alarm.

Jin Zhaoye: "Get to the Rooftop first."

The three quickened their pace, climbing two steps at a time, dashing up to the Top Floor in one go.

Reaching the Rooftop, Xie Li gazed into the distance.

That ten-thousand-ton cargo ship that yesterday had been just a small black dot on the horizon had today reached the edge of the city.

Its massive hull was like a moving wall of steel, advancing slowly with unstoppable force.

Buildings of reinforced concrete were fragile as paper before the giant ship, unable to withstand even the slightest impact.

Buildings collapsed one after another. Aside from a few scratches and dents, the ship's hull was barely affected.

Lan Ran gaped, finally squeezing out a cry after a long moment: "Is this a ship or a bulldozer?"

Jin Zhaoye raised binoculars to observe. Aside from containers, no moving figures on the deck—the ship likely had no survivors.

Beneath the water's surface, it was a different scene.

Countless black shadows moved rapidly beneath the surface, surging toward the ship from all directions.

The Zombies floating in the water were also roused by the massive disturbance. Gray-white heads surfaced one after another, their clouded whites of the eyes fixed on the ship.

Jin Zhaoye lowered the binoculars: "Let's go. While the mutant creatures in the water are distracted, we go down, pack up, and prepare to board."

The three immediately turned and went down, hurrying back to their temporary rest point, efficiently packing supplies.

Whatever could be carried, they took. What truly couldn't be carried, they left behind—perhaps the next survivors passing through could use it.

Once packed, the three shouldered their bags, weapons hanging from their bodies, carried the broken wooden boards they'd prepared in advance, and went down to the window they'd been using as a temporary dock.

The water level had dropped some. Yesterday's murky water that had submerged the window by over a meter had now receded below it. Between the windowsill and the water's surface, a stretch of water-stained mark was visible.

Xie Li pushed the bamboo raft out. It landed on the water, wobbled a few times. Jin Zhaoye and Lan Ran jumped on one after another. Once they were steady, Xie Li jumped on last.

All three held wooden boards serving as paddles, plunging them into the water and rowing hard toward the ship.

Less than two hundred meters out, dense splashing came from the left side of the raft. Many things moved not far from them, like countless hands slapping the water.

Xie Li turned to look and saw that the Zombies' movements had become much more agile. Their skin was no longer the swollen, rotting flesh from the past two days—a faint layer of gray-white scales had appeared on the surface.

"Jin Zhaoye, have these Zombies evolved too?" Xie Li asked in a low voice.

Jin Zhaoye's gaze swept the water, returned after a single glance, her expression barely changing, her voice steady: "I don't know, but we need to hurry. Get on the ship before they notice us."

No one looked again. The three rowed desperately, the raft's speed surging.

The ship grew larger in their field of vision, taller and taller—so large that as they drew near, it blocked out the sky above.

The sunlight was blocked by the massive hull. The raft entered an enormous shadow, the temperature dropping several degrees at once.

"Go around to the anchor chain, we'll board there." Jin Zhaoye directed.

Xie Li and Lan Ran adjusted direction at the same time, the boards paddling alternately on either side of the raft, rounding the bend and rushing toward the thick iron anchor at the bow.

The anchor chain hung down from the deck, extending all the way into the water.

As they drew closer, the mutant creatures in the water finally noticed the raft.

Beneath the water, a small portion of the black shadows turned, jaws full of sharp teeth, lunging at the raft. Gray-white heads poked up from the surface, claws swiping at them.

Xie Li dropped her board, drew her Miao Dao, gripped the blade with both hands, swept it sideways—swish, swish, swish—a string of heads fell.

"Gift, careful!" Lan Ran cried in warning.

Xie Li turned and slashed, the blade flashing cold light through the air.

A Mutant Flying Fish spread its wings, leaping from the water's surface, and happened to slam right into Xie Li's blade.

The blade cut into its body. The fish was split in two mid-air, and with two splashes, fell back into the water.

This was only the beginning. From the water, dozens of black shadows leapt into the air, wings spread, jaws gaping, lunging at the three on the raft.

"Lan Ran, keep rowing." Jin Zhaoye dropped these words, drew her blade, and defended alongside Xie Li.

Two long blades struck in alternation, defending with everything, not letting a single Mutant Flying Fish break through to them.

Lan Ran rowed desperately alone, her arms cramping from the strain, but she didn't dare stop. After a few minutes, the raft finally slammed into the ship.

Under the massive momentum, both Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye lost their footing, bodies pitching forward, feet slipping, nearly tumbling headfirst into the water.

Lan Ran grabbed one with each hand, hauling them back by sheer force.

Steadying herself, Jin Zhaoye struck downward, severing the arms of a Zombie clinging to the raft: "Lan Ran, you climb up first."

Lan Ran, with Xiaobao on her back, tied the raft's rope to the anchor, then began climbing up the thick iron chain.

Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye, backs against the ship's hull, faced the increasingly dense mutant creatures, their blades almost a blur.

"Xie Li, you go up."

"You first." Xie Li slashed a Mutant Flying Fish away, refusing: "Jin Zhaoye, you first. I'll cover the rear."

"Xie Li, listen to me."

Xie Li turned her head and shouted at Jin Zhaoye: "Get up there fast, I can protect myself, hurry, the raft is breaking."

Jin Zhaoye looked at her, chose to trust Xie Li, turned, sheathed her blade, and began climbing the chain.

She'd climbed barely two or three meters when the raft gave a sharp crack and broke apart.

Xie Li's feet slipped into empty air, her whole body dropping a stretch. She reacted fast, grabbing the chain in time, keeping herself from falling into the water.

But her legs had already sunk into the water.

The Zombies in the water grabbed her ankles, her calves—gray-white claws, like hands reaching from hell, trying to drag her down into that black water.

Jin Zhaoye looked down and saw Xie Li's figure hanging above the water, saw those gray-white arms wrapped tight around her.

Without a moment's hesitation, she let go of the anchor chain and, like a moth to a flame, threw herself down.

The moment her eyes met Jin Zhaoye's, Xie Li thought she was seeing things.

The woman who a second ago had been climbing up above her head—how could she fall from above like a dead leaf?

In that instant, time seemed to slow by ten thousand times.

In both their pupils, each other's figure was reflected.

Jin Zhaoye's expression was calm, nothing like someone falling into hell. The corner of her mouth curved slightly, her lips moved, silently forming two words.

Xie Li knew—Jin Zhaoye was calling her name. She wanted to stop Jin Zhaoye's fall, but she could do nothing.

She could only watch, helpless, as she kept falling.

The woman's body spread in the air, her long hair scattered by the wind, her form like an unsheathed blade, fearlessly stabbing toward the monster-filled water.

The instant Jin Zhaoye hit the water, her blade swept out, cleanly severing those gray-white claws gripping Xie Li's legs.

Her legs freed, Xie Li regained her freedom—but Jin Zhaoye was caught by those monsters. They dragged her down. She slashed desperately, but was still being pulled under.

Jin Zhaoye had saved her, thrown herself in to save her.

In Xie Li's mind, thunder sounded.

Not a sentimental metaphor—real thunder, deafening, like a thousand armies thundering through her mind at once.

White light flashed before her eyes, like a star exploding in her mind, a vast white expanse.

That light spread out from Xie Li's body, becoming a circle of transparent ripples, expanding outward.

The ripples were silent. Wherever they passed, the world fell silent.

The roaring Zombies opened their mouths, but no sound came out, their bodies stiffening as they sank into the water. The black shadows beneath the surface stopped swimming, floating up belly-up.

In an instant, the water within dozens of meters became a dead zone. All the Zombies, all the mutant creatures, fell silent.

At the center of the ripples, Xie Li panted heavily, light flowing in her eyes, a faint glow moving across her skin's surface, like an invisible armor.

Xie Li let go and threw herself into the water.

Water splashed up. The mutant creatures floating on the surface were pushed aside by Xie Li. She reached down and grabbed the figure tightly wrapped by Zombies, sinking toward the bottom.

Xie Li wrapped her arm around Jin Zhaoye's waist and forcefully pulled her free from those gray-white claws.

"Get up first, Xie Li." Jin Zhaoye hugged her back, her other hand gripping the blade's hilt.

"Can you hold onto me? I'll take you up." Xie Li asked against her ear.

Jin Zhaoye sheathed her blade, reached for the chain: "You go up first, Xie Li. I want to see you up there with my own eyes."

Xie Li didn't waste any more time, grabbed the chain and began climbing. Her arms shook, her legs shook, her head splitting with pain.

The power that had suddenly erupted had drained all her energy. Her vision kept going black, but she couldn't stop—there were still many mutant creatures in the water. She had to get to the deck.

She gritted her teeth and kept climbing, inch by inch.

Lan Ran on the deck reached out her hand, so worried she was nearly in tears, but helpless.

When Xie Li finally climbed up, Lan Ran grabbed her and hauled her up with all her might.

Over the rail, Xie Li collapsed onto her back on the deck, staring up at the clear blue sky, gasping for breath.

Lan Ran couldn't be bothered with Xie Li—Jin Zhaoye was right behind. Once she'd pulled her up too, Lan Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Jin Zhaoye stepped forward and crouched beside Xie Li: "Xie Li, how are you?"

Xie Li barely lifted her eyelids to look at Jin Zhaoye. Her vision wavered for a long while before slowly focusing on Jin Zhaoye's face.

She raised her hand, fingertips landing on her cheek, two fingers pressing in and pinching a small piece of soft flesh.

Jin Zhaoye was startled by the pinch, momentarily unsure what Xie Li was playing at.

"Jin Zhaoye, are you crazy? So many Zombies in the water, how could you dare to jump down?"

Jin Zhaoye grabbed her hand and, in return, pinched Xie Li's cheek: "You can protect yourself? Your idea of protecting yourself is getting dragged into the water by Zombies?"

"You dare pinch my face? You've gotten bold."

Xie Li's mouth was crooked from the pinch, but she didn't back down at all, bellowing indistinctly: "I dare!!!"

"Next time you do something this dangerous, I'll pinch you again. Not only will I pinch you, I'll f*ck you! F*ck you till you can't get out of bed for three days!"

The deck suddenly fell dead silent.

Lan Ran was startled by Xie Li's dangerous words. Quick-handed, she picked up Xiaobao who was watching from the side, tiptoed toward a corner, looking for the best viewing spot to enjoy the show.

Jin Zhaoye narrowed her eyes, her gaze dangerously fixed on Xie Li lying on the ground: "Say that again?"

"I said, I'll f*ck you! What about it!?"

Lan Ran crouched in the corner, eyes shining with excitement, wishing the two would just do it right there.

Xiaobao nestled in her arms, confused, tilted her head looking at one then the other, yawned, and asked in a tiny voice: "Sister Ranran, are Sister Gift and Sister Jin going to fight?"

"Shh, Xiaobao, don't talk. Let's just watch the show." Lan Ran covered Xiaobao's mouth, whispering back.

Jin Zhaoye laughed in spite of her anger and released Xie Li's cheek.

Xie Li thought Jin Zhaoye had given up. The corner of her mouth had just begun to curve up when, before she could smile, Jin Zhaoye pressed her shoulder down, flipped her over, and pinned her face-down on the deck.

"Jin Zhaoye, what are you—"

Before she could finish, a slap landed on her bottom.

Lan Ran sucked in a cold breath and quickly covered Xiaobao's eyes. This kind of scene really wasn't suitable for children—too stimulating.

"Jin Zhaoye!!!" Xie Li's face flushed red instantly, her limbs flailing like an overturned turtle: "You dare spank me, just you wait."

"So what if I spank you?" Jin Zhaoye's voice was cold, her palm coming down again: "The fact I didn't pull your pants down to do it is already great mercy."

A sharp crack.

"Ahhh, I'll make you unable to get out of bed for a week!" Xie Li was still talking tough, her voice angry and urgent.

Jin Zhaoye didn't even lift her eyelids, spanking again and again: "Since you love running your mouth so much, you don't need this bottom anymore."

"Everything I said is true. You, always putting yourself in danger—shouldn't you be punished?"

"Truth deserves even more of a beating."

After a few more slaps, Xie Li stopped flailing.

Her face was already lost. She simply buried her face in her arms, her voice muffled, still refusing to back down: "Jin Zhaoye, just you wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Wait till I recover. When that time comes, you'd better not be crying and begging for mercy."