“Curious about how I knew?” Yao Wuque immediately nodded. He leaned in mysteriously and whispered, “Do mutants have the ability to read minds?”
With Jiang Huan previously thinking they could teleport and Yao Wuque now speculating about mind-reading abilities, it seemed that the mutants’ range of powers was still too limited, unable to satisfy the rich imagination of humans.
“No, Jiang Tong told me,” Shen Shanwu leaned back in his chair. There was only a glass of water on the table in front of him, meant to replenish the fluids he lost last night. Yao Wuque immediately asked, “Speaking of Jiang Tong, why isn’t he down here for breakfast? Captain, should I go call him?”
“No need, um cough… he’s not here,” Jiang Huan swallowed a spoonful of hot porridge to soothe his throat, and Shen Shanwu naturally continued, “Jiang Tong was taken away by one of my companions.”
The news came too suddenly, and everyone else looked at Shen Shanwu in shock. Yao Wuque asked stiffly, “Your companion… also, um, is one of them? Why did he take Jiang Tong away? Does that mean Jiang Tong is…?”
“He should…” Shen Shanwu thought for a moment about his future identity, “not be, um. These past few days, I’ve been in contact with Jiang Tong because I was curious about this boy who looks similar to me. He told me he’s never seen the outside world before. So, I had my companion take him out for sightseeing and shopping.”
And he just went along like that? Xu Ye was astonished. This kid really has a bold heart. He’s not the least bit timid. The key point is that he didn’t even say goodbye to them and just followed a stranger mutant?
However, Captain, being the ‘father,’ didn’t say much, so they didn’t need to think too much about it. Xu Ye suddenly realized a question. Come to think of it, could this mutant in front of them be considered Jiang Tong’s… mother?
Or rather, his male mother.
After Shen Shanwu’s words fell, silence enveloped the dining table. Everyone stared at their breakfast, chewing and swallowing in silence. Shen Shanwu understood that his presence made everyone uncomfortable, so he took the initiative to speak, “Don’t pay too much attention to me. Whatever you were talking about earlier, just continue.”
“…” Zhong Yin didn’t want to embarrass their savior either, so she licked her lips and recalled, “We were just talking about the journey back.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Yao Wuque continued, “The others from the coastal base have already left. It’s just us now – six people and one car. I’m worried that we might encounter something on the way…”
His voice grew softer as he spoke, and he eventually closed his mouth altogether, because he finally realized belatedly why the Captain had suddenly ordered the delay of their return…
He’s an idiot, isn’t he?! It’s so obvious! Wasn’t it all for the sake of going back with this mutant? With a mutant around, what safety concerns were there? They could even be air-dropped into a horde of zombies without worry!
“I’ll provide you with a new route map later,” Jiang Huan said, “This time, we don’t have the restriction of reaching a resting point at night, nor do we need to scout the direction of the zombie tide. No need to assign night watches. Everyone can relax a bit. The only requirement is to keep your mouths shut and keep the secret.”
The remaining three individuals immediately mimed zipping their lips shut.
For the next two days, Jiang Huan declined any visits and took a short break. During the day, he wandered around the bustling Wuyou City, seeing everything as something Shen Shanwu might like. As a result, he ended up buying everything he saw, resembling a nouveau riche bursting into the city for the first time. In the time it took Shen Shanwu to drink a bowl of sweet soup, Jiang Huan could have piled up a mountain of things. In the evenings, the two of them would heap everything into a corner of their room and engage in playful antics, enjoying themselves to the fullest.
On the third day, when they set out to return to the coastal base, Jiang Huan was completely hoarse and couldn’t speak. He sat in the backseat of the off-road vehicle, holding a cup of hot water and resting his eyes. Shen Shanwu sat beside him, guzzling cold water, making one wonder if mutants were made of water.
“Captain, are you catching a cold?” The innocent-looking Yao Wuque showed concern, but he was promptly pressed back into his seat by the experienced Xu Ye, who was busy solving Sudoku puzzles.
The two drivers, both new additions to the squad and being formally trained by Jiang Huan, had been briefed by Xu Ye about the special passenger they would be carrying on this trip. When they first got in the car, they seemed quite normal, aside from giving Shen Shanwu a few curious glances.
However, as soon as they left Wuyou City and Shen Shanwu took off his sunglasses and gloves due to discomfort, the co-driver caught sight of those black-red eyes in the rearview mirror. Startled, he jumped up from his seat, only to be forced back down by the seatbelt, creating a somewhat comical scene.
“…Isn’t this too much like Jiang Tong?” Yao Wuque muttered under his breath, “Is he his son?”
“He can hear you,” Zhong Yin chimed in, not wanting to get involved in this risky topic.
Shen Shanwu smiled and said nothing. After the small incident, the vehicle continued smoothly. As they approached noon, they encountered a group of around a dozen wandering zombies by the roadside. The driver instinctively thought of shouting a warning, but to their surprise, the moment the zombies saw them, they ran faster than dogs.
But whereas they used to chase them aggressively before, this time they were avoiding them like the plague. Severed arms fell to the ground as the zombies frantically fled.
The co-driver looked back again in astonishment. Shen Shanwu was lazily yawning, engrossed in his mobile game. Their captain, as usual, was lost in thought.
The difference was that before, the captain used to gaze out of the window while lost in thought. This time, he was lost in thought while looking at the profile of the mutant, who was engrossed in his game.
They encountered several more groups of zombies along the way, all reacting the same way as the first, fleeing as soon as they saw the team. The off-road vehicle continued on without hesitation, and the driver had never had such an enjoyable ride.
However, when night fell and they gradually drove into the city following the map, the driver became somewhat anxious and asked, “Is this the right road, are you sure?”
Yao Wuque hadn’t slept on a spring mattress for many years. He excitedly patted the driver’s shoulder, “Drive! Drive boldly, take us to the kindergarten!”
Shen Shanwu leaned against the window for a while before finally selecting a hotel on the lakeside. He got out of the car and wandered around inside for a while. Instantly, the zombies fled, some jumping off buildings in their haste. Xu Ye and Zhong Yin, who had seen this kind of spectacle before, remained calm. The other three, who hadn’t seen such a sight, almost popped their eyes out of their sockets, especially Yao Wuque. He frantically patted Xu Ye’s back and said, “Lieutenant, you should suggest recruiting him into our squad! My goodness, this mutant is like a bug in the current world! I want to become a mutant too!!”
“Want to become a mutant? You need to become a zombie first,” Jiang Huan suddenly appeared behind Yao Wuque, “If you’re willing to challenge that one in a billion chance, you’re welcome to give it a try.”
“Besides, being a mutant isn’t all that great,” Shen Shanwu leaned out from the second-floor window of the hotel, “Not everyone can accept mutants as readily as you guys. Come on up!”
“Why can’t they accept it?” Yao Wuque was puzzled. After he went upstairs, he immediately asked, “Aside from the strange eyes, I don’t see any difference between Mr. Shen and us?”
“If only everyone could think like you,” Shen Shanwu replied before a mischievous idea crossed his mind. Suddenly, he asked, “Have you heard of the Saint Harmony Hospital 109 Massacre?”
“Of course! It must be a rumor, right? I really don’t know who started spreading such nonsense,” Yao Wuque, with his innocent and slightly biased mindset, had enjoyed a day of convenience and quickly leaned toward the mutant camp.
“No, it’s all true. My companions killed all the humans in the hospital with their own hands,” Shen Shanwu said, “If I had been there at the time, I would have participated as well.”
Yao Wuque: “…”
He returned to his room with a sense of existential questioning, his already not-so-large brain filled with countless social and philosophical dilemmas.
Jiang Huan was in the process of cleaning the dusty room. When he saw Shen Shanwu return, he asked, “Why did you tell him all those things?”
“We’ll have plenty of opportunities to interact with him in the future. It’s better not to leave him with too perfect of an initial impression. It’s scarier when he realizes it’s not all that it seems later on,” Shen Shanwu rolled up his sleeves as well, carrying out the thick duvets that were vacuum-sealed in the closet. Once everything was prepared, he gazed out of the window for a while before mentioning, “I’m going to find something to eat.” With that, he quickly disappeared onto the balcony.
Jiang Huan chuckled and walked over to close the window, waiting for the filter to turn green again.
In reality, he too had often wished to become a mutant. In that case, the obstacles between him and Shen Shanwu would certainly diminish, and he wouldn’t have to constantly reside within the confines of radiation protection. He could roam the world like a free mutant, unrestricted and unbound.
However, there was surely no such thing as a perfect world. It was precisely because of the challenges brought about by their respective identities, the obstacles they needed to overcome, that Jiang Huan found even more motivation to look forward to tomorrow and cherish the time spent with Shen Shanwu.
While Jiang Huan thought this way, an hour later, when Shen Shanwu returned with two large pomelos, a bag of Chinese dates, a small wild chicken, and a dozen wild mushrooms, he still felt a pang of jealousy, albeit quite shamefully.
Even though this was his own man, Jiang Huan couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous.
“I’ve never seen these mushrooms before. Are they poisonous?”
“No worries, it won’t kill you.” Shen Shanwu shamelessly reassured again, kicking open the kitchen door and rummaging through the dusty utensils. “Actually, I’d prefer to have spicy chicken, but I don’t have any seasonings on hand. We’ll have to make do with some soup.”
“It’s probably quite gamey.”
“No worries, I pulled out some wild ginger. Ah, if only I had asked the President for a bottle of wine to cook with before he left.”
“…”
Jiang Huan had a fire going, while Shen Shanwu set up a cooking pot in the hotel lobby, deftly preparing the chicken by cleaning and plucking it. Soon, the chicken was simmering in the pot, releasing a mouthwatering aroma that attracted several members of the team who thought they could join in for an extra meal.
Yao Wuque felt quite at ease. He philosophically realized that there were no purely good people in the world. Shen Shanwu didn’t seem like a bloodthirsty person at all, and there must have been hidden factors behind the Saint and Hospital incident. Besides, if he couldn’t trust the mutant, could he even trust his own team leader?
Since Jiang Han had a strong bond with the mutant, that mutant must be a good person. After coming to this realization, Yao Wuque happily went downstairs to join the meal.
A group of people left with high expectations, carrying their lanterns. They returned later, looking gloomy, as they saw Shen Shanwu happily indulging in the feast all by himself.
The fragrant and delightful aroma of the citrus was radiating with radiation levels more than a hundred times the standard limit. For humans, it was like a piece of arsenic laced with sweet syrup, just the scent alone felt like ingesting two tons of radiation.
The bubbling wild chicken and mushroom soup emitted an equally enticing fragrance, not to mention its radiation levels, completely embodying the concept of a thorny rose.
After Shen Shanwu had peeled and consumed most of a citrus fruit, he licked his fingers and asked, “…Why are you all still here?” Why were they still lingering? Didn’t they mind subjecting themselves to this torture?
“Eat it or not, but at least take a sniff?” Jiang Han responded on behalf of his teammates. He sat by Shen Shanwu’s side, enduring the torment of being up close to the enticing aroma of the food. Jiang Han understood why Shen Shanwu disliked compressed food blocks so much. If he could easily catch a couple of rabbits or chickens to feast on, he wouldn’t want to eat those unappetizing food blocks either.
Shen Shanwu finished an entire citrus fruit by himself and eagerly went to check on the stewed chicken. Jiang Han looked at the corners of his smiling lips and suddenly whispered, “I have a question. Why is the water you drink contaminated with strong radiation, but the urine you produce is radiation-free?”
“…Hmm,” Shen Shanwu paused for a moment, “Right? Why is that? …The Prophet never mentioned it.”
Jiang Han couldn’t help but let his fingers trail over Shen Shanwu’s shoulder, lingering with a hint of ambiguity. “The bodies of mutants are indeed filled with mysterious charm, no wonder so many people are so determined to get a hold of you.”
“You make it sound so serious, but why does it sound so suggestive when I hear it?” Shen Shanwu raised an eyebrow.
“The mind is suggestive, naturally everything sounds suggestive.”
“Who’s really more suggestive?” Shen Shanwu skimmed off the froth from the soup, and Jiang Han couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“I am, I’m more suggestive. Right now, I’m thinking, if you hold the soup in your mouth for a while, can you eliminate the radiation, and then I can drink it?”
“Do you have to be this greedy?”
“Greedy, mainly for you.”
“…”
Not far away, Yao Wuque was playing cards with other teammates, squinting his eyes as he looked at Zhong Yin, “What’s the relationship between the captain and Mr. Shen? Why does it feel a bit off?”
“You really are slow to catch on,” Zhong Yin shook her head, and Xu Ye on the opposite side winked and said, “Didn’t you notice that our captain almost sat on his lap?”
“Wow, are they really together? So our captain has a taste for that kind? Quite bold…”
“Sigh, why are you so clueless? Think about when you first saw the captain laugh.”
“…That time when we were saved from the zombie tide by the mutants! Oh, I see! I thought the captain changed his demeanor because he narrowly escaped death and decided to embrace life positively!”
“If they’re not in that kind of relationship, would mutants go out of their way to escort us back to the base?”
“Ah? I thought Mr. Shen was just kind-hearted.”
“…”
Zhong Yin gave Yao Wuque a look that said “you’re beyond help,” and Yao Wuque, like someone discovering a new world, discreetly looked up again at the two individuals sitting alone.
As he lifted his gaze, he witnessed Shen Shanwu taking a sip of soup, holding onto the back of Jiang Huan’s neck, and leaning in gently after holding it in his mouth for a moment.
The pure moonlight from above intertwined with the warm light below, and they exchanged an intimate and mysterious kiss.
After the kiss, Shen Shanwu’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the soup, ultimately not passing that mouthful of soup with unknown radiation levels to Jiang Huan. Jiang Huan licked the lingering moisture at the corner of his lips, exchanged a smile with Shen Shanwu, then stood up and smiled at the other teammates who were pretending to be oblivious.
“Get some rest, it’s an early start tomorrow. The road ahead is long.”
And indeed, the road was still quite long.
——End
