“I’m Xu Yin.”
As Xu Yin spoke, he helped Li Nianqin raise his arm, taking off the black T-shirt he was wearing.
After taking it off, he glanced at the man’s body, then lowered his eyes to help Li Nianqin tie the bandage.
Perhaps it was the environment, but the man’s physique was much stronger than in the previous two worlds. Every muscle was well-defined, and his abdominal muscles disappeared into his pants, set off by his wheat-colored skin, which was simply bursting with hormones.
If it were any other time, Xu Yin would have been very interested and would have appreciated it, but unfortunately, his attention was focused on the hole in the man’s left shoulder, and he had no interest in anything else.
Upon hearing Xu Yin’s name, Li Nianqin’s eyes flickered.
He knew he had never heard this name before, but deep down, he seemed to be very familiar with it.
He subconsciously raised his hand, wanting to touch the young man’s head. However, when he noticed the scrutinizing gaze from the passenger seat, he snapped out of it, cleared his throat, withdrew his hand, and then stared at it, looking puzzled.
While he was in this state of confusion, he heard Xu Yin ask, “And you, what’s your name?”
“I’m Li Nianqin,” Li Nianqin replied.
“I’m Yu Dong, and this is Dr. Lu,” Yu Dong said as he drove, his voice still a bit hoarse. “Where are you from? Is it okay for you to just hop into our car like this?”
“I was hitchhiking to Base B in B City earlier. I rested not far from where you are and came over when I heard some noise. What about you? Where are you headed?” Xu Yin finished tying the bandage and then took scissors from his bag to trim it.
With that, Li Nianqin’s wound was properly cleaned up.
After Li Nianqin got into the car, the pain actually came back, but he never showed his feelings on his face, so he remained calm.
However, at this moment, whether it was his illusion or the numbness of the wound, he really didn’t feel any pain.
Or…
He glanced at the spray medicine in Xu Yin’s hand, then looked deeply at Xu Yin and said in a low voice, “We are also planning to go to Base B.”
Xu Yin nodded. “That’s quite a coincidence.”
In fact, when he heard this guy’s name, he more or less guessed it.
In the original host’s memory, the creator of Base B in B City was surnamed Li.
Although there are many people surnamed Li in the entire country, Xu Yin just had a kind of intuition that his Lao Gong was from Base B—this intuition probably also came from the special bond between the two.
He packed everything up and asked softly, “Is it still painful?”
This kind of question might seem too intimate for strangers, but Li Nianqin didn’t reject it at all, nor did he feel any discomfort.
His gaze became even softer, and he said softly, “It doesn’t hurt anymore, thank you.”
Xu Yin breathed a sigh of relief—good, the instructions on this bottle of medicine said it would stop the pain immediately, and fortunately, it seemed to be working significantly.
Of course, Xu Yin knew that using something that didn’t belong to this world could cause trouble, but when it came to Lao Gong, he wasn’t afraid or concerned.
As long as the pain was gone.
With the injury taken care of, he finally had the mind to ask about what happened earlier, “Was that person who turned into a zombie your companion?”
Yu Dong’s mood turned gloomy, and Dr. Lu adjusted his glasses and spoke for him, “We encountered a wave of zombies during the day, and he was probably injured then, but he kept it hidden until he fell ill just now.”
Because he was afraid his teammates would abandon him, so he hid it?
When the illness truly struck and he couldn’t hide it anymore, he stabbed his teammate in order to escape?
The process is not difficult to infer, and the human heart in the apocalypse is indeed fragile. When you really think about it, this person named Huazi is quite pitiful.
However, Xu Yin’s sympathy is limited. His rekindled love for the world doesn’t mean he loves everyone in the world.
So, he just nodded after listening, treating it as an understanding of why Lao Gong was injured.
Dr. Lu, on the other hand, was very interested in Xu Yin and asked, “Are you a tri-elemental ability user?”
Xu Yin’s spatial and ice abilities, they had already witnessed.
Ice abilities are often evolved from water abilities and rarely exist independently
Xu Yin raised an eyebrow, indifferent to others noticing this. Yu Dong had already exclaimed, “Tri-elemental abilities?! Wait, is there also another water ability?”
He was amazed, glanced at Xu Yin through the rearview mirror, and exclaimed, “That’s amazing! I’ve only met two people with tri-elemental abilities so far. They’re talents! You must come back to Base B with us. Talent must be recruited!”
Li Nianqin lowered his head and looked at Xu Yin.
The young man was beautiful and delicate, making it hard to imagine how such a person could survive alone in the apocalypse.
But if he had three abilities, it would be easier to understand.
With such power, even without the protection of companions, he could survive on his own.
Noticing Li Nianqin’s gaze, Xu Yin turned his head.
Their gazes met.
Xu Yin’s eyes were gentle, reflecting the figure of the man beside him.
Even though the light inside the car was dim, Li Nianqin still felt an incredibly gentle feeling from these eyes.
His heart in his chest started beating faster, and he couldn’t help but look away first, his ears turning slightly red.
Xu Yin chuckled.
This guy’s shyness was still the same as always.
Dr. Lu watched the movements of the two with interest, and couldn’t help but curl his lips—interesting. He hadn’t known Li Nianqin and these two for long; they had only met about half a month ago. However, Li Nianqin’s character was easy to figure out.
Stoic, serious, and rarely smiling.
However, at this moment, Li Nianqin was showing a subtle… fondness towards a suddenly-appeared handsome young man?
After the apocalypse, he had lived alone in the signal tower for a year and a half, dull and lonely. Now, finally, something interesting has happened.
With this in mind, Dr. Lu smirked and said, “Since that’s the case, Xu Yin, you should just come with us. Li Nianqin’s father will surely be happy to see you too.”
“Sorry for the trouble,” Xu Yin nodded.
On the other side, Li Dongxiang and Ren Lan noticed shortly after Xu Yin left, that the “scarf” around their necks had finally disappeared. Both shocked and delighted, they boldly tried driving away and, upon realizing that nothing happened, stepped on the gas and fled.
*
The SUV sped along the highway.
On the highway, it was often a long distance between abandoned cars, and there were hardly any zombies wandering around. Therefore, after getting on the highway, the car pulled over to the side and stopped.
They planned to rest for the night and set off again in the morning.
During the drive, Xu Yin also learned more things.
For example, Li Nianqin, Yu Dong, and the deceased Huazi were originally setting off from Base B in City B to pick up Dr. Lu in City F—Dr. Lu was stationed at the signal tower in City F and had been there for over half a year. His companions had died one after another due to zombies.
He is a biologist with some knowledge of computer programming, but he is not very familiar with it.
However, he was a renowned genius doctor before the apocalypse. Through self-study, he managed to repair the damaged signal tower and successfully contacted the base in City B.
In this year and a half, Dr. Lu has gained some knowledge about zombies and has some ideas about vaccines. As such an important talent and the head of Base B, Li Nianqin’s father naturally would not miss him, which is why he sent his own son to pick him up.
The journey had been relatively smooth until tonight…
However, those who have survived in the apocalypse until now are accustomed to life and death. Therefore, even Yu Dong did not let the sadness linger for too long. He just rubbed his shriveled belly, looking a bit wilted.
To travel faster, they didn’t collect much along the way, and they had run out of water and food.
They expected to reach the base by tomorrow evening at the latest. They just needed to hold on a little longer. When they arrived at the base, he must…
Just as he was thinking this, Xu Yin took out three sandwiches, three bottles of water, and a bucket of KFC from his spatial storage.
When he saw the sandwiches and water, Yu Dong was surprised and moved. It’s well-known that spatial ability users often carry many treasures in their personal space, but most people are reluctant to take them out. Therefore, the three of them never thought about prying into Xu Yin’s space, but they didn’t expect Xu Yin to take them out voluntarily!
And they were chicken and ham sandwiches—with meat!
When Xu Yin took out the bucket of KFC, the aroma of fried chicken filled the entire car. Yu Dong was stunned, trembling slightly all over. Looking at Xu Yin, his eyes were devout, as if he were seeing him as a god.
Even Dr. Lu, who had always maintained a professional and astute image, and Li Nianqin, who was serious and solemn, couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.
Xu Yin calmly explained, “My ability appeared early, so I put some food in there while it was still easy to find.”
Yu Dong touched the paper box of the bucket and slurped his saliva, exclaiming, “It’s still hot! Damn, Xu Yin, you’re my idol from now on!”
In bases where equipment and supplies were abundant, it wasn’t so difficult to eat meat. However, most of the meat available now was from mutant animals. The texture of such meat was always strange. For example, the meat from mutated chickens was much tougher than before, and the pork was so pungent that it made people want to vomit.
Eating a normal piece of meat was too difficult!
Moreover, they could only store bread and biscuits in their car. Even though they had been running all the way, they hadn’t eaten any meat, not even from mutant animals, for a month!
Therefore, this bucket of KFC from Xu Yin was undoubtedly a Godsend for Yu Dong and the others.
“Damn, it tastes just like I remember. I might cry. You’re amazing, Xu Yin!” Yu Dong grabbed a piece of the original recipe chicken and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling unclearly as he ate, giving Xu Yin a thumbs up.
In Xu Yin’s space, there were only two buckets of KFC in total. Taking out one so quickly was undoubtedly for Li Nianqin. Of course, he could have waited until there were only the two of them left before sharing, but Xu Yin wasn’t that stingy.
Seeing Yu Dong devouring the food, Xu Yin whispered to Li Nianqin, “Eat quickly.”
Li Nianqin glanced deeply at Xu Yin and said, “Thank you.”
With that, he elegantly picked up a chicken leg and started eating. He seemed to be eating slowly and gracefully, but in reality, he was eating quite quickly, one piece after another.
Xu Yin let out a soft sigh, feeling a sense of satisfaction in feeding Li Nianqin.
…
The next day, before setting off, Xu Yin helped Li Nianqin change the gauze.
As he opened the gauze, Xu Yin leaned over. This time, Yu Dong and Dr. Lu weren’t paying as much attention to the movements in the back seat as they were last night. Still, just in case, Xu Yin covered it up.
Li Nianqin lowered his head and looked at the wound on his left shoulder. He paused, then his eyes turned to Xu Yin, deep and profound.
His wound had healed more than half.
Yu Dong and Dr. Lu hadn’t carefully examined his wound last night, so they might not be aware.
But Li Nianqin was the one who knew best.
Huazi’s stab had been decisive, the blade penetrating his shoulder and injuring his bone. Yesterday, Li Nianqin could hardly lift his left arm and needed Xu Yin’s help to take off his shirt.
He had even prepared himself to lose his left arm, knowing that even if he returned to the base with doctors and medical supplies, it might not be possible to restore his left arm to its original state—In the apocalypse, the medical standards of bases, no matter how high, were far inferior to those of hospitals in the past. Many people with serious injuries were almost as good as disabled.
However, now, the hole in his left shoulder had healed more than half, with flesh already growing out. Only the skin remained unhealed, and if you didn’t look closely, you would think it was a relatively serious abrasion.
Li Nianqin tried moving and felt that his left shoulder had completely regained function.
Xu Yin just exchanged a glance with him, calmly took out the medicinal spray, and sprayed it on the wound before bandaging it.
Li Nianqin’s eyes flickered slightly, but he didn’t ask anything.
The two of them remained silent, one tending to the wound, the other obediently leaning against the seat.
When Xu Yin finished bandaging, the man suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Have we met before?”
His voice was deep, tickling his ear.
The man still hadn’t put on his shirt—indeed, there was no need to wear that torn shirt anymore—his muscles were clearly visible under the daylight.
With the wound taken care of, Xu Yin naturally regained his interest in admiring his “old attacker’s” body, especially with this deep voice, it was simply a double enjoyment of sight and sound.
In response to Li Nianqin’s question, he smiled and said, “Why do you ask?”
Li Nianqin leaned back, staring at Xu Yin, and said, “I just feel like we’ve met before.”
Of course, they had met before.
They had once cuddled and lingered together countless days and nights, the most familiar people to each other.
Xu Yin, of course, couldn’t say that, so he just smiled meaningfully and said, “Perhaps in a dream?”
Li Nianqin: “…”
Feeling like he was being flirted with, he blushed and said seriously, “Then why are you so good to me?”
“Do I need a reason for that?” Xu Yin smiled, collecting everything into his space. “As long as I want to, I’ll do it.”
Li Nianqin was slightly stunned.
Before he could respond, Yu Dong suddenly shouted, “Hey, isn’t there someone ahead?”
The group looked out through the car windows.
Ahead at the service area, a disheveled woman ran out, crawling and stumbling. As soon as she saw their car approaching, she ran towards them, with a zombie chasing behind her.
Xu Yin took a closer look and realized, “Oh, isn’t that Ren Lan?”
The zombie behind her, judging from the clothes… was Li Dongxiang?
Ren Lan was nearly out of her mind!
After they escaped last night, they drove quickly onto the highway and arrived at this service area. Li Dongxiang was really tired, so they stopped to rest—They didn’t plan to go inside, as they had enough supplies and didn’t need to take such risks!
She never expected that when she woke up groggily just now, she heard strange sounds coming from the driver’s seat.
Turning around, she was shocked—Li Dongxiang’s whole body was convulsing, and half of his body was already rotten! He was turning into a zombie!
Ren Lan immediately thought it was probably due to the injuries he sustained yesterday at the service area.
The process of turning into a zombie varied for each person who was scratched or bitten by a zombie, but Li Dongxiang had been dormant for too long. If she had woken up a little later, wouldn’t she have been bitten by Li Dongxiang in her sleep?
Ren Lan was both terrified and panicked. She didn’t even remember picking up a stick and smashing Li Dongxiang’s head, then she crawled out of the car, trembling.
However, she didn’t expect that Li Dongxiang had also completed the transformation into a zombie. He was not wearing a seatbelt while driving, and he lunged at Ren Lan, chasing her all the way out!
The SUV stopped, and Ren Lan fell to the ground, crying for help.
The next moment, an ice blade flew past, cutting off Li Dongxiang’s head!
—The shape of the ice blade was something Xu Yin had figured out after watching Li Nianqin’s ability last night.
The door opened, and Ren Lan, with a dusty face, looked up and was stunned when she saw the handsome and tall man sitting on the outermost side, her heart skipping a beat.
—Before the car stopped, Li Nianqin had wrapped himself in the thin blanket that Xu Yin had given him last night to avoid awkwardness.
When Ren Lan saw Xu Yin, who was smiling mysteriously next to the man, again…
Ren Lan froze.
She stammered, “You, you, you, how come you’re here?”
“I told you I was going to B City, didn’t I?” Xu Yin said calmly.
“Do you know her?” Li Nianqin asked.
“I hitched a ride with them before,” Xu Yin shrugged.
Ren Lan was taken aback, took a few breaths, and tears streamed down her face.
Since she had put on the “collar” yesterday, she had been on edge. After finally resting for a night, she woke up in broad daylight to the shocking news of her boyfriend turning into a zombie. Her mind was really at its limit.
She opened her mouth and cried out in despair, “It’s all because of you! You and Dongxiang went in together yesterday, but you didn’t protect him at all, you caused him to get hurt! Was it intentional? You were threatening us yesterday too! We kindly took you with us—”
Li Dongxiang was dead, and Ren Lan’s mental support was completely gone!
Her outburst made Yu Dong and Dr. Lu look at Xu Yin.
Li Nianqin frowned slightly.
Xu Yin’s fingertips moved slightly, and in an instant, hundreds of ice shards gathered around Ren Lan’s neck again.
Ren Lan had been crying and pounding the ground, shaking her head and body. This time, however, she was frozen in place as if paralyzed, her eyes wide with shock, and her words abruptly stopped.
Xu Yin didn’t want to interact more with someone who seemed mentally unstable. He turned to the other three and asked, “Should we take her?”
Dr. Lu’s response was intriguing, “Do you want to?”
Xu Yin thought carefully.
Ren Lan: “…”
Ren Lan’s face changed drastically. “Please, please don’t leave me here! I beg you, please take me with you! Please!”
Xu Yin was surprised. “But didn’t you think I harmed your boyfriend? Are you sure you want to stay in the same car with me? Don’t force yourself.”
Ren Lan was speechless!
Her accusations and cries were all reflexive, instinctive. She was dumbfounded when she heard Xu Yin’s words. She knew how ruthless Xu Yin could be when he wanted to. Immediately, she turned to Li Nianqin, tears in her eyes, and begged softly, “Please, take me with you. I’ll do anything you ask…”
Xu Yin slammed the door shut for Li Nianqin.
Li Nianqin, after coming back to his senses, calmed down and gently patted Xu Yin’s hand, looking at him carefully.
Xu Yin had a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
Outside the car, Ren Lan stood in shock for a moment, then immediately started shouting and threw herself at the door, “No, no, no! Please, don’t leave me! Xu Ge, please take me with you! I’m begging you!”
Feeling a bit sorry for her, Yu Dong said, “Well, let’s just take her. She can’t do anything alone anyway.”
In the apocalypse, anything could happen to a woman alone outside…
Xu Yin chuckled.
Yu Dong, Dr. Lu, and Li Nianqin all shivered, feeling a chill in the air inside the car.
After laughing, Xu Yin lowered the window again.
Ren Lan immediately crawled up and pleaded at the window, “Please…”
“Did you know that your boyfriend was planning to abandon you in the supermarket yesterday?” Xu Yin raised an eyebrow and asked.
Ren Lan was stunned.
“When I got off, he had turned around and was planning to run towards the entrance,” Xu Yin said slowly. “You don’t know anything, but yesterday afternoon when your boyfriend came to find me, you knew what he was planning to do, right?”
Ren Lan shifted her gaze, feeling guilty.
Yu Dong and Dr. Lu looked at each other subtly.
Xu Yin’s words were simple, but in the apocalypse, they had seen all sorts of things. With just a few words, they could tell it was probably another story of ingratitude.
Li Nianqin thought of more in an instant, frowning. “What did her boyfriend do to you?”
“He couldn’t do anything,” Xu Yin stared at Ren Lan. “I just wanted to remind her that in this world, it’s best to stay alert. If it were someone else who encountered you yesterday, you might have all died when your boyfriend attacked me.”
Could she still act crazy and cry out like before?
Ren Lan’s face first turned red, then pale. Under the three scrutinizing gazes, she felt ashamed and wanted to hide.
But she didn’t want to be abandoned in the wilderness, so she could only grit her teeth and say, “I-I know I was wrong, really, I’m sorry, please…”
Xu Yin withdrew his gaze calmly and threw a piece of clothing to Li Nianqin from his space.
Li Nianqin caught the clothes, “…………”
Yudong was puzzled, “Why didn’t you give Nianqin clothes earlier?”
Nianqin has been naked all night and morning!
Although it’s summer now and the weather is hot, it’s not like you can’t wear clothes, and there’s also a thin blanket at night…
Xu Yin raised an eyebrow.
He was willing to just give a blanket, what’s the big deal?
Yudong: Alright.
Li Nianqin, with slightly red ears, cleared his throat, put down the thin blanket, obediently put on the clothes, and exchanged a glance with Yudong and Dr. Lu.
In the end, he opened the car door.
Ren Lan was overjoyed and was about to get into the car when Li Nianqin raised his chin and said, “You sit in the back seat and be quiet.”
Ren Lan looked embarrassed, and then reluctantly glanced at Li Nianqin’s face.
Xu Yin didn’t even lift his head. “You can take another look.”
The icicles around Ren Lan’s neck moved directly in front of her eyes.
Ren Lan was so scared that her scalp went numb, and she immediately closed her eyes. “I won’t look, I won’t look, I was wrong!”
She quickly curled up in the back row, not daring to move like a quail, not daring to say a word, and not daring to look around.
This time, Xu Yin’s reaction made Yudong and Dr. Lu both turn their heads back, looking very curious.
Ren Lan’s ears grew even redder.
There were still supplies in Li Dongxiang’s car that had been collected from the service area. After transferring the items, everyone got back in the car.
Ren Lan had been shrinking in the back row, very afraid of Xu Yin, and kept startling at Xu Yin’s actions.
Xu Yin remained indifferent, paying no attention.
As the car started, Li Nianqin looked at him carefully and gently patted his hand again.
Xu Yin said nothing, crossed his arms and closed his eyes, as if intending to rest.
Li Nianqin leaned a little closer, offering his left shoulder to Xu Yin…
Xu Yin chuckled. “Is your shoulder fully healed now?”
Li Nianqin: “…”
He should have switched places with Xu Yin when the car stopped.
