Chapter 44: Want a Hug

[44]44 (Deep water update from the one who has everything in their dreams): Want a hug.

Jin Zhaoye lowered her eyes to look at the back of Xie Li’s dark head, her lips twitching as if she wanted to laugh but held it back.

She let go, sparing her.

‘Fine, I’ll wait. I really want to see how exactly you plan to make me beg for mercy.’

After waiting for a while without seeing Xie Li climb up, Jin Zhaoye looked down and realized the girl had already fallen asleep right there on the deck.

Lan Ran, who had just finished watching a good show, leaned over and lowered her voice: ‘Goddess, it seems Gift has fallen asleep.’

‘She must be exhausted.’ Jin Zhaoye stood up. ‘You watch them here; I’m going to check the surroundings.’

‘Understood, Goddess, please be careful,’ Lan Ran whispered.

Jin Zhaoye nodded, took her blade, and carefully inspected the deck.

She was in luck; the cargo ship’s containers were filled with supplies, likely having arrived at the port before they could be unloaded.

Following the markings left on the containers, Jin Zhaoye found the one containing clothing, opened it, and rummaged out several sets of clean T-shirts and sweatpants.

Returning to the deck with the clothes, she handed a set to Lan Ran: ‘Change into some dry clothes first.’

‘Okay.’ Lan Ran took the clothes and, being sensible, took Xiaobao and walked away.

Since the Goddess had specifically brought clothes for her, she was obviously going to change Gift’s clothes; naturally, she shouldn’t be watching such a scene.

Jin Zhaoye picked up Xie Li, entered an empty container, and began to change her clothes.

After stripping off the soaked pants, Jin Zhaoye looked down at her bottom. Despite having taken so many slaps earlier, not a single red mark remained.

‘You little brat, you’re getting bolder by the day.’ Jin Zhaoye raised her hand and gave her another slap.

Xie Li let out a muddled groan, showing no sign of waking up.

Jin Zhaoye shook her head with a wry smile, took a dry towel to wipe the water off her, changed her into dry clothes, and wiped her dripping hair until it was half-dry.

Once Xie Li was settled, she changed into dry clothes herself and carried the girl out of the container.

Jin Zhaoye placed Xie Li beside Lan Ran: ‘Lan Ran, you stay here on the deck and rest with them. I’m going into the ship’s cabin to check things out and see if the engine is still usable.’

Lan Ran advised: ‘Goddess, isn’t it too dangerous for you to go alone? Why not wait for Gift to wake up and we can go in together? If Gift wakes up and finds out you went in alone, she might get angry again.’

Jin Zhaoye thought for a moment and ultimately stayed behind, not venturing into the cabin rashly and only moving about on the deck.

She didn’t stay idle; she first checked the ship’s lifeboats, confirmed that most were still usable, and then returned to check the containers one by one.

She picked and chose, marking all the useful supplies, just waiting for Xie Li to wake up so she could sweep them all into her Space at once.

After all that busy work, it was already afternoon.

Having slept for half the day, Xie Li finally woke up. She sat up rubbing her head and, without even opening her eyes, started complaining of hunger.

Jin Zhaoye opened two cans of beef and handed them over. Xie Li took them and stuffed them into her mouth, her cheeks bulging like a hamster—truly the image of a starving ghost reincarnated.

Lan Ran watched from the side, muttering to herself: ‘Gift, didn’t we eat this morning? Why are you so hungry? Could it be that you were grabbed by a Mutant Zombie and are about to mutate?’

‘Nonsense, I just…’ Xie Li swallowed a large chunk of beef, almost choking herself to death.

‘Drink some water.’ Jin Zhaoye unscrewed a bottle of Mineral Water and handed it over.

Xie Li took it, gulped down two large mouthfuls, and patted her chest: ‘I just used too much force this morning, so I got hungry faster?’

Jin Zhaoye recalled the scene on the water earlier. Although she didn’t know how Xie Li had done it, it must have been a huge strain on her body.

She opened another can of fruit and handed it over: ‘Energy doesn’t come from nowhere. If there’s consumption, there needs to be replenishment. If you’re hungry, eat more; there are plenty of supplies on this ship.’

Xie Li didn’t refuse anything, eating seven or eight cans in one breath, dry-chewing five packs of instant noodles, and drinking two bottles of water, barely managing to fill her stomach.

Lan Ran looked at the pile of empty cans on the floor, her tone excited: ‘Gift, do you remember that movie we watched together? The protagonist was parasitized by an alien creature, and after waking up, they ate frantically and then became a superhero.’

Xie Li retorted cheekily: ‘Then what are you waiting for? Acknowledge me as your mother now, and from now on, I’ll be your real mother, your backing wherever you go.’

‘Pah.’ Lan Ran spat at her: ‘With my Goddess here, what kind of tricks could you possibly pull?’

‘Hmph, you have eyes but fail to recognize Mount Tai; I’m the real thigh to hug!’

Jin Zhaoye interrupted the two with a laugh: ‘Stop wasting energy bickering. Come into the cabin with me and see if we can start the engine. If we wait any longer, this cargo ship will plow Jiangcheng flat, and it would be a pity if the cabin gets damaged and starts leaking.’

Xie Li stood up immediately upon hearing this, and Lan Ran took Xiaobao into her arms, ready to move together.

‘Lan Ran, you and Xiaobao wait outside.’ Jin Zhaoye stopped them: ‘The deck is relatively safe for now, but this ship came from the sea, so there might be dangers inside.’

Lan Ran didn’t insist; it was indeed inconvenient to take a child into danger. She carried Xiaobao into a container to hide from the sun.

Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye walked together through the gaps between the containers, collecting supplies as they went. This ocean-going cargo ship had everything one could want for eating, drinking, and entertainment, greatly replenishing their reserves.

There was even a container full of small toys. Jin Zhaoye hadn’t originally marked this container, but Xie Li had sharp eyes and, while she wasn’t looking, swept them all into her Space.

After collecting all the supplies, another hour had passed. If it weren’t for her Mental Field having expanded significantly, Xie Li might not have been able to withstand such high-intensity consumption.

Arriving at the entrance of the cabin, they pushed the door open to find it pitch black inside.

Xie Li pulled two headlamps from her Space and handed one to Jin Zhaoye. Putting on the lights, the two walked inside with light steps.

The light swept over the metal stairs, revealing dark marks, interspersed with deep and shallow scratches, as if made by some sharp claws.

Jin Zhaoye stopped and whispered: ‘There are Mutant Zombies in the cabin, the number is uncertain. Forget it, let’s just retreat; don’t take the risk.’

Xie Li felt reluctant; a cargo ship this large must have plenty of diesel stored inside.

In the future, diesel would definitely be the most sought-after resource. Her Space was filled with all sorts of supplies, but she didn’t have a single drop of fuel.

‘How about we go in and take a look? We can go to the bottom hold, grab the diesel, and leave?’

Jin Zhaoye looked at Xie Li. She had never been someone who retreated when facing danger.

But just now, she had subconsciously chosen to avoid it, simply because she didn’t want to let Xie Li take risks; she wanted her to be safe.

Xie Li thought she didn’t want to go and persuaded her: ‘Jin Zhaoye, we definitely can’t drive this big cargo ship around. The speedboat needs diesel, and when we get back on land, the cars will need it too. If we miss this ship, finding fuel later will be a headache.’

Jin Zhaoye pondered for a moment and relented: ‘We take the fuel and leave. No doing anything else along the way, and absolutely no causing extra trouble.’

‘Deal.’ Xie Li agreed immediately.

The two adjusted their formation, with Xie Li, who held a long weapon, taking the lead.

The interior of the cabin was extremely spacious, with stairs extending downward. Even though the two kept their steps light, slight noises still echoed.

In this quiet, empty space, even the smallest sound was amplified countless times.

Walking down level by level, Xie Li stopped when they reached the fourth floor.

With her concentration highly focused, she sensed something approaching.

This perspective was quite peculiar, as if she had eyes on the back of her head. She had become a 360-degree, no-blind-spot camera, taking in the entire space.

In her Mental Field, things were crawling from all directions.

Jin Zhaoye pointed to the ceiling, and Xie Li looked up in the direction she indicated.

The light swept over a fresh, dark mark that snaked from the ceiling into the ventilation duct, with wet, sticky mucus hanging on the edge, about to drip.

‘Go!’ Xie Li breathed out the word and quickened her pace, running downward.

The further down they went, the more humid the air became, and the temperature dropped as if they had entered a cellar, with a chilly, damp mist clinging to their skin.

Large patches of blood, long since dried and blackened, covered the metal walls.

Turning a corner, the door to the bottom hold appeared before them.

Standing in front of the door were over a dozen blood-red, humanoid blockers.

They had no skin; their entire bodies were blood-red, with dark red muscle tissue exposed directly to the air. A layer of mucus covered their surfaces, making them look like skinned human specimens. Their blood vessels were knotted and pulsing on the surface of their muscles, and their mouths were split to their ears, revealing rows of jagged, sharp teeth.

Their footsteps startled the creatures, and over a dozen heads turned to stare at Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye.

‘Blood Zombies!!?’ Xie Li was shocked by the crossover. ‘No, they’re Crawlers!!!’

‘Run!’ Jin Zhaoye grabbed Xie Li’s hand, turning to flee.

The dozen or so Zombies moved simultaneously, crawling on all fours like spiders, alternating between the floor and the walls, their speed several times faster than ordinary Zombies.

‘Too fast, we can’t outrun them.’ Xie Li didn’t retreat. She held her blade with both hands and charged toward the sea of blood-red figures.

The moment she moved, the dozen Zombies before her seemed to have been put in slow motion.

With her Mental Field fully expanded, the movement trajectories of the Zombies appeared clearly in Xie Li’s mind.

She could see every single attack path.

She swung her blade in a horizontal slash, and the blade swept past, cutting the two Zombies rushing at her in half at the waist.

Their upper bodies maintained their lunging posture as they moved forward, while their lower bodies and internal organs spilled all over the floor.

Xie Li turned her blade and backhanded it toward the one lunging from the wall on the right, the tip of the blade shaving off half its skull.

Inside the remaining half of that Zombie’s skull, something crystalline seemed to flash past.

Xie Li didn’t have time to look closely; she retracted her blade and twisted her body, clearing the way.

Jin Zhaoye flashed out from her side, swinging her blade forward, the tip piercing through a Zombie’s head.

Every strike she made landed on the Zombies’ fatal points—joints, necks, or skulls.

Every strike was lethal, without wasting a shred of effort.

A Mutant Zombie lunged from behind Jin Zhaoye. Just as Xie Li was about to call out a warning, Jin Zhaoye had already turned and struck, the blade piercing out from under her armpit and landing squarely in the creature’s eye socket.

The two worked with perfect synergy, their long blades sharp and peerless. In less than half a minute, the dozen Mutant Zombies were hacked into a pile of minced meat.

Jin Zhaoye retracted her blade, flicked her wrist to shake off the blood, and scanned the surroundings vigilantly: ‘Open the door, get the fuel.’

Xie Li snapped out of that strange mental state, and her legs suddenly went weak.

She shook her dizzy head, flicked her blade, and pried a small, transparent crystal from a Zombie’s skull.

Picking up the crystal and stuffing it into her pocket, Xie Li ran to the door of the bottom hold, gripped the wheel with both hands, and used all her strength to turn it, opening a crack in the door.

‘Jin Zhaoye, get in first.’

Jin Zhaoye faced the deep, dark cabin, backed up to Xie Li’s side, and the two slipped inside together, working together to seal the watertight door shut again.

Behind the door was a whole row of massive, sealed oil storage tanks.

The gauge on the dashboard showed that more than half the fuel remained.

Xie Li circled the storage tanks; the entire structure was airtight, with no valves or ports.

‘Why isn’t there an opening? How does this ship usually refuel?’ Xie Li asked, puzzled.

Jin Zhaoye leaned against the door, holding her blade and watching her: ‘There are dedicated intake and outlet pipes. Do you think this is a gas station where you just use a nozzle to fill it up slowly? With storage tanks this big, you could fill it for three days and three nights and still not be done.’

Xie Li was amused by the image she described and chuckled.

‘Don’t just stand there giggling. Try to see if you can take the oil. If not, we need to hurry up and get out of here.’

‘Got it.’ Xie Li responded, walked up to the storage tank, pressed her palm against the metal plate, and closed her eyes to feel it carefully.

In her senses, large masses of pale yellow liquid were stored behind the steel plates, swaying slightly with the ship.

Xie Li tried to draw the oil through the tank, and a massive amount of diesel was drawn by her will, extracted from the sealed tank, and entered her Space.

She threw that mass of oil into the very top of her Space, isolating it from the other supplies by a vast distance.

Jin Zhaoye stood guard by the door, watching Xie Li’s profile as she closed her eyes to collect the diesel. This little Alpha was truly becoming more capable and reliable, just as she had claimed.

Ten minutes later, Xie Li opened her eyes; the diesel in the storage tank had been collected, not a drop left.

She ran to Jin Zhaoye, shook her palms, her eyes full of smiles: ‘Guess how much oil I collected?’

‘Five hundred tons?’ Jin Zhaoye guessed casually.

‘Wow, Jin Zhaoye, how are you so smart?’

Jin Zhaoye glanced at her spread fingers and smiled dotingly; the silly girl had practically written the answer on her face.

‘Guessed right, there’s a reward, you know. After we get up there…’ Xie Li leaned into her ear and whispered, the last two words so quiet they were almost inaudible.

Jin Zhaoye’s ears heated up, and she shot her a glare, too lazy to deal with her, and turned to open the watertight door.

The two walked up the way they came. The corpses they had hacked apart earlier were gone, and the floor was covered in drag marks.

Xie Li felt a bit regretful; she had intended to take another look to see if the other Mutant Zombies had crystals in their brains.

According to her past experience with novels, the things inside the heads of such Zombies were definitely useful—maybe related to some superpower, or at the very least, could be used to upgrade her Space.

‘Be careful.’ Jin Zhaoye reminded her.

Xie Li nodded, gripped her blade, and expanded her Mental Field again, covering a five-meter radius around her.

The two took long strides, covering two or three steps with every stride.

After climbing a few levels, the sound of dense crawling came from behind them again.

Xie Li looked back; the pitch-black cabin was full of red figures. A rough glance suggested at least a hundred.

‘Run!’ Xie Li pushed Jin Zhaoye to the front. ‘I’ll cover the rear.’

The two swapped positions, with Jin Zhaoye clearing the path ahead and Xie Li responsible for intercepting the pursuing Zombies.

Xie Li’s perception was fully open, her concentration at its peak. As her blade swung, Mutant Zombies were decapitated one by one, and she picked up any crystals she could collect along the way.

Jin Zhaoye reached the top of the stairs, opened the cabin door, and shouted back at her: ‘Xie Li, hurry!’

Xie Li fought while retreating, the floor under her feet piled high with Zombie corpses, all hacked to pieces by her.

From Jin Zhaoye’s perspective, Xie Li’s blade technique was chaotic, as if she were hacking wildly.

Yet those Mutant Zombies seemed to have lost their minds, crashing into her blade from all sorts of bizarre angles.

When she retreated to the cabin door, only the last few Mutant Zombies remained in front of Xie Li.

They each occupied a corner, pushing off the walls with their hind legs and lunging simultaneously, sealing off all of Xie Li’s movement space from top, middle, and bottom.

Xie Li didn’t retreat but advanced instead. With one step, she crouched and rolled, her long blade sweeping from bottom to top, piercing through all three.

The three corpses were strung together like candied hawthorns on her snow-white blade, thick blood dripping down the metal.

Xie Li braced her palm against the floor, performed a kip-up to rise, flicked her blade to toss the three heavy corpses aside, and turned to take a step up the stairs.

Jin Zhaoye grabbed her hand and pulled her out with force.

The two worked together to close the cabin door and slide the bolt into place. Still worried, Jin Zhaoye grabbed a nearby crowbar and wedged it horizontally across the door handle, locking it tight.

Soon, rustling sounds came from behind the door as the Zombies surged toward it, perhaps fighting over the flesh of their own kind.

Xie Li leaned against the cabin door, panting heavily. She wasn’t clean anywhere, with filthy blood mixed with sweat dripping down her chin onto the deck.

She turned her head to look at the woman beside her, curling her lips into a wild, arrogant smile: ‘Jin Zhaoye, we’re amazing!’

Jin Zhaoye met her gaze, a hint of a smile flashing in her eyes.

She raised her hand and used her sleeve to wipe the blood off Xie Li’s face bit by bit until that face returned to its original complexion.

She lowered her head and pressed a kiss to Xie Li’s lips.

A light, fleeting touch, separated as soon as it met.

Xie Li was stunned by the kiss, only reacting after the warm sensation had pulled away.

‘Why did you only kiss me for that little bit?’

Jin Zhaoye pulled back slightly, looking down at her, her voice very soft and carrying a hint of allure.

‘Panting like this after killing a few Zombies… and you still want to make me beg for mercy?’

Xie Li was so choked up she turned bright red and opened her mouth to retort: ‘I’m not weak; it’s just a new skill I just learned, and I don’t know how to use it yet, so it’s a bit draining.’

‘Mm-hmm, I know, I know.’

Jin Zhaoye nodded perfunctorily, her tone like she was teasing a child: ‘I heard from colleagues at the institute before that some Alphas get weak as they age, but I didn’t expect our little student Xie… to be this weak at twenty.’

‘Jin Zhaoye!’

‘I’m right here.’ Jin Zhaoye responded nonchalantly, pinched the back of Xie Li’s neck, and lowered her voice: ‘Shouting so loudly, do you want to lure all the Mutant Zombies out of the cabin so you can hack them to pieces to prove you aren’t weak?’

Xie Li felt her whole body go soft as her sensitive spot was pinched, her legs turning to noodles, making her look even weaker.

Lan Ran poked her head out from a gap in the containers, holding Xiaobao, her eyes shining as she looked toward the two.

‘Um… can I come out now? Or are you two planning to have a fight first?’

‘No fighting.’ Xie Li shouted fiercely: ‘In your dreams, I wouldn’t let you watch even if we did.’

‘Don’t be fierce.’ Jin Zhaoye patted her head as if disciplining her own disobedient puppy.

‘It’s okay, Goddess, I’m fierce to her all day too.’ Lan Ran ran over holding Xiaobao and asked: ‘It’s getting dark, are we staying on the ship tonight?’

Jin Zhaoye scanned the sunset on the horizon: ‘No, let’s change places. There are many Zombies in the cabin, it’s not safe to stay on the ship.’

‘Are we going straight to the lifeboats?’ Lan Ran asked.

Jin Zhaoye nodded.

Lan Ran: ‘Actually, I was worried too. This ship keeps drifting into the city and hitting buildings. If it leaks and sinks in the middle of the night, we’ll be in trouble.’

‘So we leave as soon as possible before it gets completely dark.’

As they spoke, they walked to the ship’s rail.

A row of orange lifeboats hung from the rail, along with a single speedboat.

Xie Li leaned over the rail to look down; the water was still murky, and occasionally one or two gray-white arms would reach out from the water, grabbing at the air aimlessly.

‘Stop looking. These things are fine to hack, but they’re truly creepy to look at.’ Lan Ran covered Xiaobao’s eyes and muttered.

Xie Li withdrew her gaze, and the group worked together to lower the only speedboat.

When the boat hit the water, the Mutant creatures were attracted and quickly swarmed toward it.

The three waited on the deck for a while. The Mutant creatures circled the speedboat a few times, found no prey, and quickly lost interest, dispersing as the water returned to calm.

During the wait, Xie Li slipped away and secretly stuffed several lifeboats into her Space, just in case there were more rainstorms and floods later; they might come in handy.

Jin Zhaoye noticed Xie Li’s small movements, and after she finished collecting the items and returned, she said: ‘Keep your movements light. We’ll go down together. Lan Ran, give Xiaobao to me.’

Lan Ran handed the bag containing Xiaobao to Jin Zhaoye. Xiaobao only had her head poking out of the backpack, her eyes darting around, curiously observing everything.

Jin Zhaoye carried the bag on her chest, climbed over the rail, and descended the rope ladder.

Lan Ran and Xie Li followed, grabbing the rope ladder to climb down. There were many ladders, so there was no need to queue.

Successfully reaching the speedboat, Xie Li had just steadied herself when the water surface suddenly exploded.

A Mutant Zombie covered in scales lunged out from under the water, its sharp claws aimed straight at Jin Zhaoye, who was bending over to start the speedboat’s engine.

Too late to draw her blade, Xie Li kicked out, the sole of her boot landing squarely on the creature’s face with such force that the speedboat shook.

The Mutant Zombie was kicked backward, falling back into the water and splashing water a person’s height high.

‘Sit tight.’ Jin Zhaoye reminded them.

Xie Li and Lan Ran lowered their centers of gravity and squatted in the speedboat.

The engine roared, the propeller spun, churning up a large spray of water, and the speedboat shot forward.

The water surface boiled as if it had been brought to a boil, and countless Mutant creatures were startled, lunging at the speedboat from all directions.

Jin Zhaoye steered the boat with Xiaobao on her back, the speedboat weaving through the water. Xie Li and Lan Ran held steady in a horse stance, holding their blades in defense.

Whenever a Mutant creature lunged, they would slash it down; if a Zombie’s claws grabbed the side of the boat, they would slash that down too.

Water and blood splashed in the twilight, and the inside of the speedboat was soon stained red.

After running on the water for five or six minutes, the pursuing Mutant creatures gradually thinned out.

Their speed was ultimately no match for the speedboat, and they were left behind.

Xie Li and Lan Ran sheathed their long blades and sat down.

Both of them were almost soaked through, red blood dripping down the hems of their clothes.

Lan Ran took off her clothes and wrung them out, her face full of disgust: ‘Once we get ashore, I must take a hot shower and change into clean clothes.’

Xie Li: ‘Where would we get hot water?’

‘Then a cold shower, I’m not picky.’ Lan Ran threw away the dirty clothes and walked to the bow of the boat wearing only a sports bra: ‘Goddess, give Xiaobao to me.’

Jin Zhaoye unbuckled the backpack and handed the little girl over.

Lan Ran held Xiaobao and asked at the top of her lungs: ‘Goddess, where are we going now?’

Jin Zhaoye looked down at the simple compass that came with the speedboat and identified the direction: ‘It should be the direction of Dapan City. There might be some deviation; we’ll see specifically once we get ashore.’

Xie Li followed Lan Ran’s lead, grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulled it over her head, balled it up in her hand, and used the T-shirt like a rag to wipe the blood off her body.

Jin Zhaoye caught a glimpse of her movements from the corner of her eye, and her brows furrowed involuntarily.

Xie Li was wearing only a short sports bra, revealing a toned waist and abdomen with six-pack abs clearly visible, splashed with a few streaks of blood, adding a touch of wildness and sexiness.

Jin Zhaoye’s gaze lingered on that waist and abdomen again and again. This silly dog, who is she trying to seduce by taking off her clothes in public?

‘Xie Li, there are clothes in the backpack. Put them on; don’t catch a cold.’

‘Lan Ran took hers off too.’

Xie Li muttered, pulled a vest from the backpack, and put it on: ‘I wanted to change after I showered. If I put clothes on now, they’ll just get dirty again.’

Lan Ran rolled her eyes, taking in the interaction between the two, her face full of the expression of someone who had just witnessed a ship sailing.

‘Oh my, why am I seasick? You guys talk… I’m going to sleep for a bit.’ She yawned affectedly, closed her eyes, and pretended to doze off with a smirk.

Xiaobao poked her head out from her shoulder, looked left and right, blinked in confusion, and mimicked Lan Ran’s tone: ‘Xiaobao is sleepy too, time to sleep-sleep.’

Xie Li shook her head, finding the pretending-to-sleep pair quite amusing.

She moved to the bow and stood side-by-side with Jin Zhaoye, whispering into her ear: ‘Do you believe that Lan Ran is definitely pricking up her ears to eavesdrop on us?’

‘The engine is too loud; she can’t hear.’ Jin Zhaoye responded flatly.

Xie Li tilted her head to look at her, keenly sensing that something was wrong: ‘Why are you suddenly unhappy? Are you hungry? Do you want me to find you something to eat?’

‘No need. Go sit in the back and rest; don’t bother me here.’

‘It’s okay, I’ll keep you company.’ Xie Li sat down by her leg and looked up at her: ‘It’s so boring for you to drive the boat alone. At least I can talk to you if I’m here.’

‘If you’re going to sit here, stay quiet. I don’t want to have to shout to talk to you.’

Xie Li shut her mouth, listening to the hum of the engine and the splashing of the waves against the boat.

The last trace of sunset faded from the horizon, and the sky entered a brief blue hour.

After watching quietly for a while, it turned completely dark.

Xie Li shifted her body, hugged Jin Zhaoye’s leg, and buried her cheek into her lower abdomen: ‘Do you ever feel like the sky looks better than before when we’re together?’

Jin Zhaoye steered with one hand and rested the other on Xie Li’s head, stroking it gently: ‘To nature, humans are very small, but it is also humans who can cause terrifying destruction to nature.’

Xie Li rubbed against her palm, her face full of ‘so what?’

Jin Zhaoye smiled and added an explanation: ‘Without the industrial pollution created by humans, the sky naturally looks better. Your feeling isn’t an illusion, nor is it because the sky looks better just because you’re watching it with me.’

Xie Li: ‘…’

Once again conquered by the scientific mind of a STEM girl.

‘However—’

Jin Zhaoye changed the subject: ‘The scenery does change with one’s mood. If it were before, I definitely wouldn’t be able to look at the stars on such a foul-smelling water surface. But with you… it doesn’t seem so hard to accept.’

Xie Li raised her head proudly and closed her eyes to pretend to sleep. It’s too late to coax her now; she has a temper too.

Jin Zhaoye stroked her head with one hand, focusing on driving the boat.

…

The speedboat ran through the night for several hours, and finally, the faint outline of mountains and forests appeared in the distance.

Jin Zhaoye slowed down, and the speedboat slid forward for a distance before the hull scraped against the sand and gravel, jolting violently and waking everyone who had been dozing off.

‘Are we there?’ Lan Ran rubbed her eyes and asked vaguely.

‘We’re here.’ Jin Zhaoye picked up her blade, jumped off the boat first, and turned back to pull Xie Li and Lan Ran down. ‘I don’t know which city this is, but at least we’re back on land.’

Standing on solid ground again, all three felt a sense of relief. They were land creatures, after all; they felt danger everywhere when they were on the water.

There was a moon and stars tonight, and the faint light spilled down, barely illuminating the surrounding environment.

Jin Zhaoye turned her gaze to observe the surroundings and found a country path hidden in the bushes: ‘Walk forward; if there’s a road, we should be able to find a house to spend the night.’

‘Okay.’ Lan Ran responded, carried Xiaobao on her back, and followed behind Jin Zhaoye.

Xie Li deliberately lagged two steps behind. Taking advantage of the fact that the people in front weren’t paying attention, she quietly swept the speedboat into her Space before hurrying to catch up.

The three walked on the path for over ten minutes, and a cluster of low-rise residential houses appeared on one side of the road. Most were two or three-story self-built houses standing in the night. It was unclear if any survivors lived there; it was unnervingly quiet.

Xie Li pulled two flashlights from her backpack and handed one to Jin Zhaoye: ‘How about we use a flashlight? Even if there are Zombies, we can handle them. It’s too creepy to sneak into the village in the dark like this.’

Jin Zhaoye took the flashlight and turned it on, the snow-white beam illuminating the road ahead.

After walking a distance along the path, Jin Zhaoye stopped, her gaze falling on a house closest to the village entrance: ‘Let’s stay here. You two wait at the gate; I’ll go in and check.’

‘Lan Ran, you take this.’ Xie Li stuffed the flashlight into Lan Ran’s hand and quickly followed Jin Zhaoye: ‘I’ll go with her.’

Pushing open the courtyard gate, they found a somewhat cluttered farmhouse courtyard. The clothes drying rack in the center of the yard had fallen, and the laundry was scattered all over the ground.

Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye crossed the courtyard and pushed open the door to the main room.

The moment the door opened, a fishy wind rushed out.

Jin Zhaoye reacted extremely quickly; a flash of blade light, and the ambushing Zombie was decapitated, its head rolling until it hit the corner of the wall and stopped.

Xie Li shone the flashlight over; the Zombie was an elderly person with gray hair and shriveled, blackened skin on their face, looking quite old.

Jin Zhaoye went into the house to check carefully, and when she came back out, her expression was a bit unpleasant.

‘It was an elderly person living alone; there’s no one else in the house.’

Her strike just now had been a purely subconscious reaction, but looking at the elderly person now lying there, head separated from the body, she felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

She had killed so many Zombies in the apocalypse without hesitation.

But looking at this elderly person lying on the ground, wearing a faded, old-fashioned floral shirt and handmade cloth shoes, she felt a pang of sadness.

An elderly person who lived alone, hoping every day for their children to return, had not waited for their children to come home, but instead waited for the end of the world.

Xie Li patted her shoulder and comforted her softly: ‘They were already dead. Tomorrow morning, we’ll dig a hole, bury them, and set up a tombstone so they can rest in peace.’

Jin Zhaoye nodded: ‘I’m fine. Go call Lan Ran in.’

Xie Li walked to the courtyard gate, called Lan Ran in, and closed the gate, sliding the bolt into place.

Unloading their luggage, the three went into the kitchen together.

There was a traditional wood-burning stove in the kitchen with a large pot on it, and a pile of chopped firewood was stacked neatly in the corner.

‘You two start the fire first. There’s a hand-pump well in the yard; I’ll go get some water for us to shower later.’ Xie Li picked up the bucket in the kitchen and walked out.

Carrying the bucket to the well, Xie Li gripped the long handle of the pump and, after pumping a dozen times, the groundwater was drawn up, flowing into the bucket with a splash.

The moonlight fell into the bucket, shattering into pieces.

Xie Li filled a bucket, carried it into the kitchen, and went back and forth several times until the large iron pot was filled to the brim.

While Jin Zhaoye and Lan Ran were burning the fire in the kitchen, Xie Li returned to the main room, bent down to move the elderly person’s remains out, placed them in a corner of the courtyard, and picked up the scattered clothes from the ground to cover them.

‘Sorry for the intrusion. We’re borrowing your home for the night; I hope you won’t be angry, and please don’t get up in the middle of the night to knock on our door.’ Xie Li muttered to the elderly person.

She didn’t expect a response, and walked to the well to continue pumping water. If the person really sat up and spoke, Xie Li wouldn’t dare stay here and would have to leave overnight.

After pumping a few buckets of cold water, Xie Li carried them into the bathroom. She set the buckets down, checked the lock on the bathroom door, and returned to the kitchen.

The water in the pot was already steaming, white vapor escaping from the gaps in the lid.

Xie Li walked to the pot, lifted the lid, and used a ladle to scoop out a bucket of hot water: ‘Jin Zhaoye, you go shower first.’

Jin Zhaoye didn’t decline, picked up the hot water, and walked out. Xie Li followed behind her, also carrying a bucket of hot water.

The two walked one after the other across the courtyard and into the bathroom.

Xie Li put down the hot water, took out the flashlight, turned it on, stood it on the windowsill, and adjusted the angle so the beam could illuminate the small space.

‘Everything is ready for you. Don’t worry, I’ll be guarding the door.’

Jin Zhaoye stood silent for a moment, then stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Xie Li’s waist, pulled her into her embrace, rested her chin on her shoulder, and rubbed her cheek against her warm skin.

‘Want a hug.’