“You… you weren’t unconscious?”
Qin Wang’s words were like a resounding slap across his face.
Li Chuan stood rooted to the spot, his face cycling through shades of pale and red, overwhelmed by the shame and humiliation of having his dirty intentions laid bare with nowhere to hide.
Qin Wang felt nothing about what Li Chuan had done.
It had been so long since the apocalypse began—those who survived were hardly saints.
At a critical moment, a person being a little selfish was understandable.
But his mistake was setting his sights on Qiao Xi.
“You helped me a lot back in Yunjing City, so I won’t pursue this matter further.”
Qin Wang gave him a long, hard look.
“But if you go after her again in the future, don’t blame me for forgetting old ties.”
With that, he turned and headed upstairs.
Li Chuan stared at his retreating back, his expression gradually turning vicious. His fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms.
The embarrassment and humiliation of being exposed moments ago had now transformed into thick, consuming hatred.
He hated that Qin Wang was better than him in every way. He hated Qin Wang’s condescending demeanor.
And he hated Qiao Xi even more.
If it weren’t for her, Qin Wang would have died long ago.
Now, who knew how they were laughing at him behind his back for his wishful thinking.
The more Li Chuan thought about it, the more he regretted it. He should have just killed Qin Wang outright when he was infected.
Better yet, he should have killed Qiao Xi too—that would have truly satisfied the hatred burning in his heart.
…
Qiao Xi sat on the large rock, draped in Qin Wang’s wet clothes, waiting for him.
But before Qin Wang arrived, a few strangers showed up first.
Someone even threw a stone at her.
She turned to look and found they were passing fishermen—four men carrying weapons and fishing nets, with bamboo baskets strapped to their backs.
She wondered if they had any fish.
“It’s a living person! Not a zombie!”
Someone shouted, then jogged over in her direction.
“It’s a woman! Damn! She’s gorgeous!”
Someone leaned in to get a closer look at her.
“Hey, what’s your name? How did you get here?”
Qiao Xi didn’t want to acknowledge him.
Seeing that she neither spoke nor moved, the man asked suspiciously, “She’s not a fool, is she?”
“If we take her back, we’d have to waste food feeding her.”
“So what if she’s a fool?” Another man stroked his chin as he looked her up and down. “I think she’s fine. Looks like a movie star.”
“Exactly. She’s so pretty, and if she’s a bit simple, we don’t have to worry about her running away, right?”
The group burst into laughter.
Qiao Xi had grown numb to scenes like this after the apocalypse.
She was in a bad mood right now, and her stomach was a little empty. She hadn’t dared to drink much of Qin Wang’s blood—just enough to take the edge off.
When she thought about it, she hadn’t had a proper meal in days.
Qiao Xi patted her flat, hollow stomach.
When one of the men reached out a hand toward her, her gaze suddenly turned icy cold. She raised her hand, ready to snap his neck—
Suddenly, a strike came down.
It sent the man flying several meters away, where he landed coughing up blood.
Startled, Qiao Xi quickly withdrew her hand and instinctively looked past the group.
From the other direction, Qin Wang strode over on his long legs.
He hadn’t yet changed out of his wet clothes.
A white bathrobe was draped over his arm, and he carried slippers and a medical kit in his hands.
The remaining three men tensed up when they realized he was an Ability User, but the moment they reached for their weapons, a Thunder Spirit Net wrapped around their bodies from the ground.
Thunder spirits crackled across their bodies. Their hair stood on end, black smoke billowed from their mouths, and they couldn’t move or make a sound.
Qin Wang didn’t spare them a glance. He approached, first wrapping Qiao Xi in the bathrobe, then crouching down to tend to the wound on her ankle.
His movements were gentle, as if afraid of hurting her.
Actually, Qiao Xi didn’t feel any pain.
But if you’re going to put on an act, you commit to it. When he touched the wound, she frowned, bit her lip, and sucked in a sharp breath, her body tensing or trembling slightly.
Sensing her trying to endure the pain, visible distress and self-blame appeared on Qin Wang’s face.
After bandaging the wound, a thin layer of sweat had formed on Qin Wang’s forehead.
He picked Qiao Xi up and started heading back.
As they passed the group, Qiao Xi tugged at his collar. “Qin Wang, I want to eat fish.”
He glanced at her, then at the men’s fish baskets.
He yanked one off and slung it over his back.
Qiao Xi hadn’t eaten human food in a long time since the apocalypse began.
Looking at the plump fish in the basket, her mood improved considerably.
“How do you think this fish would taste best? Steamed? Braised? Or in a stew?”
Qin Wang carried her back in silence, lost in thought.
After walking a stretch, he suddenly spoke out of nowhere: “Li Chuan said you’re a monster.”
The smile on Qiao Xi’s face froze. Her eyes flickered for a moment before she countered, “Do you believe him?”
Qin Wang gave no direct answer.
“I want to hear it from you.”
“Are you?” He looked into her eyes and asked again.
Qiao Xi: “What do you think?”
She tossed the question right back at him.
Qin Wang narrowed his eyes. “Want to find out? It’s actually quite simple.”
“Every base now has detection equipment and spray agents specifically for monsters and zombies. We’ll pass by a large base tomorrow—we can go get tested and find out.”
Qiao Xi was momentarily stunned. What agents and instruments? She’d never heard of such things.
More importantly, there was no large base nearby.
Qin Wang was most likely bluffing to test her.
Seeing her remain silent, Qin Wang raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s the matter? Scared?”
Qiao Xi sneered inwardly, but on the surface she feigned fragility and said, “Scared to death.”
Saying this, she took his hand and placed it over her heart.
“Feel it—is my heart racing?”
Her eyes held a hint of slyness and provocation.
Sensing her deliberate teasing, Qin Wang froze for a moment, then his ears flushed red.
She was the one who teased, and she was also the one who cried and begged him to stop.
He turned his face away with a light snort. “A coward in bed.”
Qiao Xi pressed her face closer to his chest.
She lowered her gaze, the smile fading from her eyes, and asked in a calm voice, “If Li Chuan wanted to kill me, would you help me?”
Qin Wang paused, then furrowed his brow.
“Why would Li Chuan want to kill you?”
“I said, hypothetically.”
He shifted her weight up in his arms. “There’s no such hypothesis.”
Qiao Xi said nothing more.
After a long silence, Qin Wang tightened his arms around her.
“Even if there were, I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
His voice was so soft that it scattered in the wind the moment it left his lips.
Qiao Xi looked at him with confusion. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”
For dinner, Qin Wang cooked himself—two fish, one steamed and one stewed into soup.
Chen Zhiang found a bag of rice in the storage room, which was an unexpected bonus.
Rice was a good thing; a single bowl of it could cook up a whole pot.
At dinner, Qin Wang sat to Qiao Xi’s left, placing boneless fish meat into her bowl.
One silently did the work, the other quietly ate.
Until Xia Manman slammed her chopsticks down with a clatter, glaring with wide, furious eyes at Qin Wang. “Qin Wang, what are you doing?”
“I’m your fiancée! What are you doing right now? Taking care of another woman right in front of me?”
The word “fiancée” silenced the once-lively dinner table in an instant.
Chen Zhiang’s mouth hung slightly open, his chopsticks frozen mid-air.
Li Chuan’s gaze at Qin Wang flickered with jealousy.
Qiao Xi looked up in confusion, only to see Xia Manman grab her chopsticks and hurl them at her.
“It’s all because of you, you shameless little vixen! After all these years, why do you still cling to Qin Wang?”
The chopsticks struck the soup bowl, splashing broth onto her hand.
Qin Wang’s face instantly turned cold.
“Xia Manman, have you lost your mind?”
“I didn’t even show up to the engagement banquet. How did you become my fiancée? Who’s the shameless one here?”
Xia Manman’s face flushed with humiliation and anger. She slapped the table. “Your parents were both there at the engagement! You think you can just deny it?”
“Then go find my parents. Why come to me?” Qin Wang said with utter impatience, handing Qiao Xi a tissue.
“You—” Xia Manman was choked speechless, her face red, and she stormed off in a huff.
Qiao Xi wiped the broth from her hand with the tissue, a scene flashing through her mind—
In a café, Mother Qin sat across from her, still wearing that gentle, polished smile. “A-Wang went to a concert with Manman. He didn’t want me to tell you because he was afraid you’d run over and cause a scene. He thinks sleeping with a girl like you is pretty low-class, and he was too embarrassed to break up with you directly…”
“That day your mother came to see me. I figured since you’d kept A-Wang company for so long, two million was fine to just hand over. Take the money, go somewhere else, live a good life—maybe you’ll even find a man of suitable status in the future. Don’t you think?”
Qiao Xi was lost in the memory, her grip on the tissue tightening, until someone tapped on the table in front of her.
“What are you spacing out about?”
She snapped back to reality, meeting Qin Wang’s slightly puzzled gaze, her mind filled with the hypocritical face of Mother Qin.
“Is your mother doing well?”
She suddenly asked out of nowhere.