It was already evening, and more zombies had gathered outside—not ideal for traveling. They were heading toward a resort area according to the map.
The atmosphere in the vehicle was tense. For instance, that certain someone was dispatching zombies with excessive brutality, landing headshots with every single shot.
He Fangchen swallowed his instant noodles, then rummaged through the supply box and handed Yu Yao a soft pastry and a carton of milk.
"Captain, Xiao Cheng and I have finished eating. Let us take over the shift—you should rest for a bit."
Yu Yao didn't respond. He channeled his supernatural ability into the muzzle of his gun and blasted apart several zombies charging in from the east.
He Fangchen said, "You can skip meals if you want, but that young lady needs to eat."
Yu Yao paused.
He Fangchen took the gun from his hands and squeezed into his position. "Go to the back lounge and check on her."
The RV was divided into three sections. Besides the combat and storage space at the front, there was a simple bathroom, and behind a metal partition, a small lounge that held only a single bed. It was so cramped that someone of Yu Yao's stature couldn't even stand up straight inside.
Large RVs were much slower, so to reduce weight and maximize storage, they had converted a small cargo truck, using every available inch of space.
Yun Ying had been ignoring everyone since the afternoon, retreating to the back to rest and not coming out since.
Yu Yao knew she was angry. He picked up the pastry and milk and was about to slide open the partition when he felt resistance.
Yun Ying had locked the door from the inside.
Yu Yao let out a low chuckle. He applied sudden force and ripped the door bolt right off. Cheng Zainan and the others sitting up front wished they could go deaf—they pretended not to hear anything, shooting zombies and eating their meals as if nothing had happened.
He Fangchen coughed, figuring a fight might break out in the back soon, so he turned on the vehicle's sound system to drown out whatever was coming.
Yu Yao ducked inside. Yun Ying sat up from the bed and hurled a throw pillow at him. "Who said you could come in?!"
The partition slid shut. Yu Yao curved his lips slightly and sat down on the edge of the bed. "There's nowhere on this vehicle I can't go."
Bastard! Pervert!
Yun Ying leaned back. The already tiny space now held a man who was nearly 1.9 meters tall, making it feel even more cramped. She watched him warily.
Yu Yao shrugged off his tactical jacket, leaving only a loose black short-sleeve shirt that revealed the smooth, defined lines of his arms. With each breath, the thin fabric clung to his body, doing nothing to hide the muscle built through training.
The pressure and dominance Yu Yao exuded in the apocalypse were even more overwhelming than before.
Yu Yao didn't argue with her. He reached up, took down the small folding table from the upper shelf, and set it up in front of Yun Ying.
He tore open the pastry's packaging, inserted the straw into the milk carton, and placed both on the table.
"Eat something."
Yun Ying turned her head away. "I'm not hungry."
The words had barely left her mouth when Yu Yao heard a very faint growl from her stomach. It made Yun Ying feel embarrassed, so she pulled the blanket up to cover her face.
Yu Yao curved his lips, grabbed the edge of the blanket, and tugged it down. "Eat. Not eating won't change anything. Might as well get something out of it—eat my food."
Yun Ying shot him a glare. She hadn't eaten in over a day. After paying Song Huai's fine, she had barely any Credits left—just enough for one pack of instant noodles or a steamed bun per day.
Her last meal had been the instant noodles she ate yesterday afternoon.
Yun Ying grabbed the pastry from the table and took a small bite. The soft pastry was not like those somewhat hard breads, nor did it choke her—on the contrary, it was the sweet softness she had not tasted in a long time.
And milk was even more of a rare commodity in the apocalypse. One bottle could buy at least ten steamed buns. After the apocalypse, Yun Ying had never drunk milk again.
Yu Yao crossed his arms and leaned against the bedside watching her. Even after being hungry for so long, Yun Ying did not eat with urgency or lose her composure. She chewed her food in small bites, and every few mouthfuls she would warily glance at him.
Just like a squirrel.
It was really adorable.
Yu Yao's throat rolled as he watched Yun Ying's face.
Sensing his scorching gaze, Yun Ying could not be bothered with politeness anymore. She chewed the pastry and finished the milk in a few bites, stuffed the trash into Yu Yao's hand, pulled the blanket over herself, and covered her head.
"I'm done eating, I'm going to sleep!"
Yu Yao looked at the figure bulging under the blanket. The feeling of being rejected by the one he loved was truly unpleasant. An unnamed fire and frustration smoldered in his heart, yet he could not bear to vent his anger on her, so he could only find other ways to relieve the suppression.
The partition slid open. Yun Ying knew he had left, and then very quickly, the sounds of supernatural abilities exploding outside became more intense, and the roars of the zombies diminished accordingly.
Yun Ying lay under the blanket. It had been over half a year into the apocalypse, and for the first time she felt an extremely strong sense of crisis.
The influence Yu Yao had left on her was simply too great. When she was a young girl, what Yun Ying felt for him was more awe and admiration—he was an outstanding older brother.
Later, when that brother tore through the veil, the sister's admiration turned into rebellion and resistance. Yu Yao was simply too calculating. Someone who had never suffered a loss since childhood did not have a particularly gentle personality—he was covered in sharp thorns.
Yun Ying truly felt that if Yu Yao remembered her deception, he would probably hate her enough to tie her up and throw her to the zombies.
Deep night was not suitable for traveling. Ahead they had to pass through a small town, where there would only be more zombies, so they would not risk charging into a zombie horde.
The map showed that before the apocalypse, there had been a newly built resort area here. There had not been many guests at the time, and now there probably were not many zombies either.
The RV drove all the way to the entrance of the resort area. Lu Yao and the others quickly dealt with the zombies wandering over. He Fangchen just wanted to use his supernatural ability to break open the rusted iron gate when several beams of light shone over from the distance.
Cheng Zainan looked up and saw several people standing on the rooftop of a villa. The one in the lead was a woman, holding a megaphone and shouting at them: "Where are you from?"
Lin Xizhi raised her gun and was about to go out, but Lu Yao held her down.
Then He Fangchen got out of the car, picked up the megaphone from the vehicle, and shouted: "Just passing through, staying one night."
After a long silence, the people in the distance turned off their flashlights and asked no more questions. A man came over and opened the iron gate.
He Fangchen got back in the car and drove the RV inside. As they passed through the iron gate, he even rolled down the window and called out thanks to that guy.
This was a villa district. Not far from here was an artificial scenic area that had only been open for a few days before the apocalypse broke out. The zombies in the villa district had probably been cleared—every few steps, zombie corpses could be seen.
He Fangchen chose a villa farther away from that group of people. After parking the car, everyone got out one after another. Yu Yao also led down a reluctant Yun Ying. Not knowing whether there might still be hidden zombies here, he gripped her wrist tightly.
Cheng Zainan went to unlock the door, and the group entered the villa that had been abandoned for over half a year.
The place was very dusty inside. They cleaned up briefly. In the apocalypse, living scattered was somewhat dangerous, especially with another team also here. They only cleared out three rooms.
Yu Yao always slept alone, so he took the third floor by himself.
Of the two bedrooms on the second floor, Cheng Zainan and He Fangchen shared one, and the three girls shared the other. Apart from Yun Ying, everyone else split into two shifts to keep watch in turn.
They had fought for too long today. Lu Yao condensed several large buckets of clean water, one bucket per person. Yu Yao heated them all up and placed them in the two bathrooms. One by one, they went in to wash up briefly.
Yun Ying had been abducted by that bandit Yu Yao and had no spare clothes at all. She was worrying about it when Lin Xizhi walked over and handed her a set of clean clothes, complete from undergarments to outerwear.
"Got them from the mall before. I haven't worn them. They're clean."
Yun Ying had a very similar figure to hers. She hugged the clothes and smiled with pursed lips. "Thank you, jiejie."
Lin Xizhi walked to the living room with a blank expression. Lu Yao was sitting in the living room cracking sunflower seeds. Seeing her like that, she frowned.
"What's wrong?"
Lin Xizhi said, "She's so cute."
Lu Yao: "?"
Lin Xizhi looked at Yu Yao, who had just finished showering and was coming downstairs wiping his hair, and delivered a sharp comment: "You're such a dog."
Lu Yao: "…"
Yu Yao narrowed his eyes and didn't argue back. He rubbed his hair haphazardly with the towel, then rummaged around in the car and took out a set of things for the pretty girl.
Yun Ying had just finished washing up and stepped out wearing the clothes Lin Xizhi gave her. The moment she opened the door, she saw the person leaning against the wall across from her and was so startled she screamed and tried to close the door.
"You look at me like you've seen a ghost. Am I that ugly?"
Yu Yao frowned and held the door frame with one hand. Yun Ying pulled at the door with all her might, but it didn't budge an inch. Furious, she kicked him again.
The girl really had strength. In one day, he'd taken several kicks from her.
Yu Yao stared at her fair, slightly flushed face after her bath, her wet long hair wrapped up in a towel, revealing her slender neck, as she glared at him with a pair of dark eyes.
Yun Ying said angrily, "Let go!"
Yu Yao handed over a box. "I just came to give you something."
Yun Ying looked down. It was a basic moisturizing toner and lotion set. It wasn't actually a very good brand—what Yun Ying used before the apocalypse was much better than this—but in the apocalypse, this was already extremely hard to come by.
She was stunned for a moment. After the apocalypse, her only skincare product was the bottle of moisturizing cream she'd had in her bag when it all broke out. She basically used it sparingly, scooping out just a tiny bit each day.
Yu Yao frowned and said, "There are girls in the team. I grabbed this when we were searching for supplies at the mall. I don't know how good it is. Lin Xizhi and Lu Yao both have some. There was an extra set, so you use it for now. When there's time, I'll go find you some better ones."
He looked at Yun Ying's face, his throat bobbing, and his voice softened a great deal: "I have the ability to give you a better life. I know it's shameless to say this, but it's the apocalypse—surviving is what matters most. Forget your husb—ex-husband. Just pretend he never existed."
"There's no electricity here. Remember to dry your hair before sleeping."
Yu Yao left the toner and lotion set, didn't press her further, took one last look at the girl's pretty face, and turned to leave.
Yun Ying took the box of toner and lotion set back to her room.
Lu Yao had just finished changing clothes in the room. Seeing her return, she smiled and said, "Go to sleep early. When Xizhi and I switch shifts in the latter half of the night, we'll try to be as quiet as possible."
Lu Yao was very kind to her, and Yun Ying could sense her strong goodwill.
She didn't have to keep watch and enjoyed all the benefits. Unable to express her gratitude any other way, she could only bow to her: "Thanks for your hard work, thank you, sister."
Lu Yao was taken aback for a moment, watching her sit down at the table and stare blankly at the boxed skincare set.
…Honestly, she's really cute.
Helping her captain do such an inhuman thing, Lu Yao's conscience was heavily condemned, but in detail, following them was far better than staying by that incompetent husband's side. Although Yu Yao wasn't human, he truly had the ability to give Yun Ying a better life.
Lu Yao lifted the blanket and lay down. After a while, she felt someone beside her turn off the flashlight and lie down with their back to her.
After an hour or two, the villa fell silent.
Yun Ying heard Lu Yao's even breathing. Her hands clenched tightly. Thinking about what she was about to do, her heart pounded wildly, and the tension made it hard to breathe.
She carefully sat up. She had heard earlier that the first watch was Lin Xizhi and Cheng Zainan, and Yu Yao was asleep at this time.
When they entered the resort area, Yun Ying had seen the vehicle from Jiangcheng Base.
The person standing on the villa roof shining a flashlight at them was from the Ability User squad Yun Ying had followed before.
The captain was a woman, and Yun Ying liked her very much, because when she went out on missions with her team, she took very good care of the girls among the survivors, giving them food that wasn't dry bread but soft, fragrant steamed buns and ham sausages.
Yun Ying had helped that female captain before—actually, she had only chopped down two zombies for her when she was ambushed—but after that, the captain often brought Yun Ying along on missions and even invited Yun Ying to join her squad. It was just that Yun Ying had felt at the time that abandoning Song Huai, who had helped her, would be heartless, so she refused.
Going to find that captain now, she would help Yun Ying, or simply take her to a small base near Jiangcheng Base. This was probably Yun Ying's only chance.
Yun Ying quietly lifted the blanket and walked outside as softly as she could, carefully turning the door handle.
She really couldn't stay with Yu Yao. She knew Yu Yao's temper all too well. This person had had smooth sailing since childhood, and the biggest pit he'd ever fallen into was Yun Ying.
Before the apocalypse, it was still manageable—after all, there were laws to restrain him. The reason Yun Ying dared to come back for Uncle Yu's funeral was that Uncle Yu's people had promised to help her get away.
But now it was the apocalypse. There were no laws to restrain anyone; the strong ruled supreme.
Yun Ying had kicked him when he was preparing for the wedding, then blocked him, deleted him, and ran away—the whole routine. Yu Yao must have been holding in so much anger. If his memory recovered, she would absolutely not have an easy time.
Yu Yao was very fierce and had too strong a desire for control. An older brother three years her senior who had lived with her for far too many years—whether in daily life or in bed, Yun Ying was somewhat afraid of him.
Even if he hadn't recovered his memory now, she could completely see it in the way Yu Yao looked at her—as if he wanted to peel her skin off and eat her. He was still exercising some restraint now. One day, when he truly couldn't hold back anymore, Yun Ying would have only one outcome—
To be devoured clean by him. If Yu Yao didn't die, she would never be free.
She would worry about what came after leaving later. At worst, she could take fewer Credits and join that female captain's team as a handyman. The captain spent twenty-five days a month outside the base, and Yun Ying could follow on missions every day, avoiding the people in the base. If she died in the Zombie Horde one day, it would be a relief.
This wretched apocalypse world, living in fear every day, she had truly had enough.
Yun Ying knew Lin Xizhi and Cheng Zainan were keeping watch in the front living room. She had scouted the layout of this villa, so she tiptoed around to the back terrace. This was the second floor, with no direct way down, so she had to quietly climb over.
She glanced down; it wasn't too high. There was a pipe beside her that she could step on. Thinking of the freedom so close, she confidently climbed over the railing, gripped the bars, and stepped onto the pipe.
Screw that bastard Yu Yao. Returning to an unfamiliar base with him meant living the life she had desperately fled before the apocalypse, and she'd have to worry every day about whether he'd regain his memories. Yun Ying's vision went dark, and she wanted to pass out.
But Yun Ying had clearly underestimated the height of the floor and overestimated her leg length.
After descending a short distance by stepping on the pipe's protruding ridges, Yun Ying could no longer reach the railing's ledge with her foot.
She tentatively stretched her foot further down and stepped onto something hard. Delighted, she pressed down again—it was stable.
Indeed, heaven never seals off all paths.
Yun Ying shifted down, carefully jumped off, almost twisting her ankle. She grimaced but dared not make a sound, and quietly stepped back.
Her back bumped into something firm, scorching hot and tall. She caught a whiff of shower gel—the same one she had used earlier in the night when she bathed.
Yun Ying blinked, her throat tightening. She didn't even lift her head to look, and turned to run.
She had barely taken a few steps when footsteps closed in from behind. A lean, strong arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground.
Her feet dangling, she kicked wildly at him. "Let go, let me go!"
Yu Yao carried her with one hand and walked toward the villa, this time through the front door.
Lin Xizhi and Cheng Zainan, on watch duty in the living room, were startled and raised their guns. Shining the flashlight, they saw the people striding in… Yu Yao and Yun Ying?
"Yu Yao and Yun Ying?" Cheng Zainan said blankly, "Captain, what are you…"
Yu Yao said coldly, "Keep watch."
Lu Yao and He Fangchen, woken by the noise, came out of their rooms and saw Yu Yao storming up the stairs, with a footprint on his short-sleeve shoulder.
Yun Ying, held up by her waist, saw Lu Yao and immediately turned the blame around. "Sister Lu, save me! He's going to hit me!"
Lu Yao and He Fangchen: "?"
Yu Yao would hit a girl??
Yu Yao was so angry that he let out a chuckle. As he walked up to the third floor, he caught a glimpse of Lu Yao trying to step forward, and snapped, "If you can't sleep, go keep watch. Don't come up."
A wall of fire materialized out of thin air at the stairwell, blocking Lu Yao.
Yu Yao kicked open his room's door, carried in Yun Ying, who had kicked him a dozen times along the way, and placed her on the bed.
The moment he let go, Yun Ying rolled to the other side of the bed like a loach, watching him warily across the bed, as if she had practiced this a hundred times.
Yu Yao clenched his molars and looked at her. "Come here."
He looked ready to kill. If she went over now, she'd be an idiot!
Yun Ying said fiercely, "Why should I go over there? What right do you have to restrict my personal freedom!"
The room was quiet for a long time, and then Yu Yao spoke.
"What a treasure, always able to surprise me."
Yu Yao looked at her and actually smiled, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly wiped the smile away, his dark eyes fixed on her heavily.
"Fine, then I'll come over there."