Tang Tang stumbled out of his arms with a few lingering sobs.
She felt so embarrassed.
She had cried so loudly just now.
She had even prepared an answer.
If Pei Xianzhi asked why she was crying, she could simply say that she had had a terrible nightmare.
But Pei Xianzhi asked nothing.
His voice remained clear and cool.
The back of his slightly cool hand rested against her smooth forehead. It was not overly intimate. He kept the perfect amount of distance.
“You don’t have a fever anymore. Does your head still hurt?”
Tang Tang shook her head slightly. Her reddened eyes looked like those of a little rabbit. A trace of tears still clung to her eyelashes as she gazed at him pitifully.
“I ordered some food. Are you hungry?”
He brought over a delicate little bag from the living room. Inside was Tang Tang’s favorite chocolate.
Tang Tang unwrapped a piece and popped it into her mouth.
The rich sweetness and smooth texture immediately filled her with happiness.
And with Pei Xianzhi by her side, the fear from her previous life and the uneasiness brought on by this so-called world inside a book no longer seemed quite so frightening.
Seeing the smile finally return to her face, Pei Xianzhi’s lips curved up slightly as well.
His peripheral vision swept over the redness at the corners of Tang Tang’s eyes. A startling darkness filled his gaze.
He would never let what happened in his previous life happen again.
No one would be allowed to hurt her.
Tang Tang looked at the dark living room and asked softly, “They still haven’t come back?”
Pei Xianzhi rolled up his sleeves and poured her some water. The bones of his wrist were sharply defined and strong like bamboo joints. The pale blue veins beneath his fair skin were clearly visible. His movements were not particularly graceful.
“Mm. They’re both out.”
Tang Tang held the glass in both hands and looked at him with watery eyes.
“Call them and ask them to come back early. I had a really scary dream just now, so I’m a little worried about them.”
Pei Xianzhi’s gaze fell to the corner of her lips.
His fingers curled slightly. He instinctively wanted to wipe away the moisture there.
His eyes flickered before he ultimately restrained himself.
“Okay.”
He would never refuse a request from Tang Tang.
Even when it was something he did not want to do.
“It’s me.”
The call connected.
“What’s up?”
Meng Xingyuan was fighting for a purple doll amid a surging crowd.
Through the reflection in the glass, Pei Xianzhi saw Tang Tang eating fruit. His voice immediately turned cold as he spoke to Meng Xingyuan.
“There’s something I need to discuss. Come back early.”
On the other end, Zhu Jiawen was hugging the hard-earned purple doll. She raised her delicate brows and parted her red lips.
“The fireworks show hasn’t even started. Why should we go back?”
Meng Xingyuan relayed the question. “What exactly is going on?”
“Be back before ten.”
Pei Xianzhi did not want to say more to them and directly hung up.
Zhu Jiawen gave a soft snort. The beauty mark at the corner of her eye looked vivid and lifelike.
“It must be that brat Tang Tang who wants us to go back early.”
Meng Xingyuan handed her another pink doll. “Yeah. It must have been that brat’s idea.”
Zhu Jiawen clicked her tongue and gave him a light glare.
“You think you can call her that?”
Here we go again.
Whenever the two of them argued in the past, he would always join in and curse Tang Tang with her.
But every time, their anger ended up being redirected toward him.
Meng Xingyuan hurriedly apologized. He was so practiced at it that it was almost pitiful.
“Yes, yes. Please calm down, Your Highness.”
Zhu Jiawen gave a soft snort. “That’s more like it.”
Tang Tang licked her moist lips.
She was still a little hungry.
“What time are they coming back?”
“Before ten.”
Pei Xianzhi’s tone toward other people was completely different from the way he spoke to her.
Tang Tang had only just noticed this.
When he talked to her, his tone was practically that of someone coaxing a little child. Toward everyone else, he always seemed so distant and untouchable.
But they had been in the same club during their freshman year. Pei Xianzhi had been the one to approach her first.
Tang Tang shook her head, her lively and clear eyes sparkling like scattered diamonds.
She leaned against the window and looked outside.
The lights from the streets were reflected in her watery eyes.
The bustling streets were packed with people and traffic flowed endlessly. There was not the slightest sign of the Apocalypse.
What a pity…
She turned her head and glanced at Pei Xianzhi.
By coincidence, she met his gentle and deep gaze.
This time, she would do her best to protect herself.
She would not become his burden again.
A server knocked on the door and silently brought in the dishes. After setting everything out, he only said, “Enjoy your meal,” then quietly closed the door and left.
“It smells so good.”
Tang Tang slowly tore apart the garlic bread.
A faint smile rested on Pei Xianzhi’s face as he placed the steak he had cut into pieces in front of her.
By the end of the meal, Tang Tang was completely stuffed.
Pei Xianzhi finished the food she had left behind.
However, as the clock continued to move, Tang Tang pressed her pink lips tightly together. The uneasiness in her eyes grew increasingly intense.
She was very worried about Zhu Jiawen and Meng Xingyuan.
So many things could be affected by the butterfly effect. If her rebirth had caused the timeline to move forward and resulted in Zhu Jiawen and Meng Xingyuan dying, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life.
“What’s wrong?”
When Pei Xianzhi came out after taking a shower, he saw her pacing back and forth in the living room. She looked restless and anxious.
He glanced at the clock on the wall.
Eight-thirty.
“They still haven’t come back.”
Pei Xianzhi dried his slightly damp hair.
When she looked at him, Tang Tang wore an unconsciously aggrieved expression. She looked like a little cat that had been bullied and was complaining to its owner.
He settled Tang Tang onto the sofa.
While choosing a cartoon for her, he dialed Meng Xingyuan’s number.
Pei Xianzhi asked coldly, “Where are you?”
Meng Xingyuan glanced at his girlfriend sitting beside him with an icy aura around her, then looked at the endless traffic ahead.
He was feeling a little annoyed himself.
“We’re stuck in traffic.”
That Pei Xianzhi had used them as an excuse to coax Tang Tang out to have fun.
Once he had gotten what he wanted, he had simply thrown them aside.
He really did summon them whenever he wanted and dismiss them whenever he pleased!
“How much longer?”
Pei Xianzhi put on an episode of Garfield.
“Before ten, probably.”
Pei Xianzhi frowned slightly and urged him to hurry.
He was not worried about them.
He simply did not want Tang Tang to remain anxious.
The hands of the clock continued turning.
Tang Tang had not wanted to watch cartoons at first, but Pei Xianzhi kept her on the sofa and would not let her leave.
In the end, she became completely absorbed in the cartoon and did not even hear the knocking at the door.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
A series of urgent knocks sounded.
Tang Tang stared intently at Garfield on the screen.
Pei Xianzhi opened the door.
Two tall figures rushed inside.
“Close the door!”
Only then did Tang Tang notice the commotion at the entrance and tear her attention away from the television.
They were back!
Neither of them looked good.
Zhu Jiawen sat down on the sofa with her brows tightly furrowed.
Tang Tang glanced at the time.
9:55 p.m.
Without the background noise from the television, sharp and eerie howls immediately flooded the room.
Tang Tang’s face instantly turned pale.
She knew that sound all too well.
The endless screams and the low growls of zombies awakened the fear buried deep inside her.
Tang Tang instinctively moved closer to Pei Xianzhi.
“What the hell is that thing outside?”
Zhu Jiawen gasped for breath. She still felt shaken by the experience of being face-to-face with a monster in the underground parking garage.
The television screen automatically switched to a news page.
A blood-soaked scene appeared on the screen.
A woman was pinned to the sidewalk and being bitten. The person holding her down was missing an arm. His skin was grayish blue, and dark red blood spread wildly from the wound. Yet he continued tearing into the woman as if nothing else mattered.
The crowd on the street soon erupted into another wave of screams.
It was not just that man.
One by one, the people who had fallen got back up and began crazily chasing others.
The camera angle rose.
The once prosperous streets had now become a living hell.
The low growls of zombies and the sounds of flesh being torn apart also began coming from outside the door.
There was no longer even a news anchor on the broadcast. Only several lines of bright red text remained, reminding everyone to stock up on food and stay indoors.
Meng Xingyuan took out his laptop. His long fingers flew rapidly across the keyboard before his expression turned grave.
“Look.”
The real-time trending searches were filled with titles such as “Real-Life Train to Busan,” “The Apocalypse Has Begun,” and “Massive Infectious Outbreak.”
One headline caught Tang Tang’s attention.
“Someone Once Posted About the Coming End of the World.”
Meng Xingyuan opened the article.
The post had been published in the early hours of two days ago.
It described in detail what would happen when the Apocalypse erupted. It explained how the zombie virus would spread and how humans would awaken supernatural abilities, along with many other details.
Tang Tang frowned deeply.
Every piece of information written by this person was completely accurate.
Unless this person possessed the ability to foresee the future.
Otherwise, there was only one possibility.
They were also a reborn person.
Unfortunately…
The comments under the post from before tonight were without exception filled with ridicule.
“Bro, how many dishes did you have to drink this much?”
“2012 was supposed to be the end of the world too. And you’re still alive.”
“Tell me where you are in Hai City. I’ll bring some peanuts and come find you.”
Yet just now, the tone of the comments had undergone a complete 180-degree reversal.
Every single comment now contained a home address and a desperate plea for the poster to save them.
In a residential community somewhere in Hai City, a thin man stared at his computer screen and let out a long sigh.
Meng Xingyuan closed the post and opened another webpage.
It displayed a high-resolution national traffic map.
He looked at Pei Xianzhi.
“Are we leaving tonight?”