“No.”
Pei Xianzhi’s jaw tightened.
Tang Tang could tell that he had some concerns.
“I’m afraid a lot of people will leave the city overnight. It’ll be too easy for accidents to happen on the road.”
“Let’s get a good rest tonight and leave first thing tomorrow morning.”
Pei Xianzhi quickly came up with a plan. For safety, they locked the doors from the inside and had two people share each room. That way, if zombies broke through the door, they could look out for each other.
Meng Xingyuan nodded and worked with him to push the refrigerator against the door.
After being roommates and partners for a year, Meng Xingyuan had never doubted Pei Xianzhi’s abilities.
Tang Tang looked at Zhu Jiawen, who had remained silent. She was just about to ask her to sleep in her room when Pei Xianzhi spoke calmly.
“Tang Tang will sleep in the same room as me.”
“Ah, okay.”
The young girl looked at him innocently and obediently returned to her room to get her skincare products.
Although she did not want to attract too much attention, she still had to maintain her appearance.
After all, was that not why she had worked so hard to collect supplies? So everyone could live a little better.
Tang Tang hugged her bottles and jars as she thought.
By tomorrow morning, some people would awaken their Abilities.
She could pretend that hers was a Space Cheat Ability. That would make collecting supplies much more convenient in the future.
Pei Xianzhi waited in the room for quite a while, but the girl still did not come over.
Just as he was about to go to her room to look for her, he saw her walking over with her slender, fair arms full of things.
Pei Xianzhi reached out to take them.
“Give them to me.”
“You have to be careful. The packaging on these is very delicate.”
Pei Xianzhi nodded.
He could tell.
They were as delicate and precious as their owner.
“Aren’t you going to sleep with me?”
Tang Tang hugged the pink doll Zhu Jiawen had thrown at her and sat comfortably on his bed while watching him bring over a blanket to make a bed on the floor.
Her big, watery eyes seemed to be accusing him.
She knew he would never actually sleep in the same bed as her.
She was just teasing him.
There was no need to take responsibility for a few words.
In her previous life, they had never officially gotten together either.
But whenever everyone assigned rooms, they would automatically assume that the two of them were a couple. Yet no matter how exhausted Pei Xianzhi was, he never slept in the same bed as her. He would always make do with a bed on the floor.
The most intimate contact between them had only ever been a hug.
Could it be that he was incapable of doing it?
Tang Tang narrowed her eyes suspiciously and stared at him.
Pei Xianzhi was the type who looked slim when fully dressed but had a muscular body underneath.
He usually dressed too conservatively for it to be obvious.
His sleepwear at night was much more casual.
He wore a sleeveless undershirt and sweatpants.
The bedside lamp illuminated the room with a warm glow. As he made the bed, the muscles bulging from his arms were clearly visible.
His body was lean yet powerful.
Probably not, right?
Pei Xianzhi finished making the bed and looked at the girl sitting on his bed.
Her delicate features were both fragile and beautiful.
No one could remain unmoved when she looked at them like that.
Pei Xianzhi’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but all he swallowed was air and the restlessness burning inside him.
He did not meet Tang Tang’s eyes.
“Don’t say things like that.”
The warm yellow light surrounded the two of them.
A faint fragrance drifted through the air.
Tang Tang secretly breathed in twice.
She could not describe exactly what the scent was. She only knew that Pei Xianzhi carried the same fragrance.
It was like a man’s unique scent mixed with the cold, crisp breeze after a late-autumn rain, with damp moisture in the wind and a faint fragrance of osmanthus.
Tang Tang wrinkled her nose and sniffed the scent like a little puppy.
Before long, she began yawning and feeling sleepy.
She had been physically weak since birth. On ordinary days, even running a few more steps made her feel as though she might collapse from exhaustion.
Today, just to collect supplies, she had walked nearly forty thousand steps.
“I’m going to sleep.”
Tang Tang crawled under the blanket. After finding a comfortable position, she closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep.
“Good night.”
Pei Xianzhi looked at the small mound beneath the blanket, his peach-shaped eyes filled with tenderness.
Fortunately.
Everything was still in time.
Pei Xianzhi pulled her head out from beneath the blanket.
His long fingers gently arranged her soft hair, then lingered involuntarily over her delicate skin.
His deep gaze moved from her long eyelashes downward, passing over her slightly pouting lips before settling on her slender, fair neck.
The girl’s brows were relaxed as she had already fallen deeply asleep.
She was completely unaware of the feelings of the person beside her.
The desire inside Pei Xianzhi roared wildly. In a moment of helpless resignation, he covered his eyes with the back of his hand.
Then he propped himself up and solemnly pressed a kiss behind her ear.
The next morning, Tang Tang was awakened by a phone call.
“Uncle!”
Tang Tang sat up in bed. “You finally called back.”
On the other end, Shao Anyan sounded extremely anxious.
“Tang Tang, are you okay? Are you safe right now?”
She looked at the sleeping Pei Xianzhi.
“Mm. I’m with Zhu Jiawen and the others right now.”
“Good. Listen to me. The situation is extremely serious. I’ll send a team to Haishi to bring you back.”
Tang Tang was very tempted by the suggestion.
Her uncle had the most elite troops in Huaguo under his command.
But other people’s lives mattered too.
She knew how many dangers they would encounter along the way.
Although the Apocalypse had consumed all of her kindness, she was not willing to step over other people’s lives just to secure a chance for herself to survive.
“Uncle, don’t worry. I’ll protect myself. I promise.”
Shao Anyan continued trying to persuade her, but one of his subordinates reminded him outside that he had an emergency meeting. He could only give up for the time being.
“All right. You must be careful. I’ll call you again later.”
After Tang Tang hung up, she noticed that something was wrong.
“Pei Xianzhi?”
She crouched down and called softly.
But Pei Xianzhi’s brows were tightly furrowed. No matter how many times she called him, he did not wake up.
“Pei Xianzhi? Pei-Pei?”
The moment Tang Tang called him by the teasing nickname, Pei Xianzhi suddenly opened his eyes. The intense darkness in his eyes startled her.
She had never seen such a frightening expression on Pei Xianzhi before.
No.
There had been one time.
In her previous life, right before she was pushed out of the vehicle and had her skull bitten through by a zombie, Pei Xianzhi had rushed toward her with exactly the same expression.
“You’re awake.”
“Mm. Did I scare you?”
Tang Tang shook her head. “No. Did you have a nightmare?”
“Yes. I had a nightmare.”
Tang Tang was busy pouring him some water and did not notice the murderous rage surging in his eyes.
She appeared to be pouring ordinary water.
In reality, she was secretly channeling Spirit Spring Water into the cup.
She watched Pei Xianzhi drink it, but his expression remained completely normal.
Strange.
He did not seem to feel that it was especially effective.
Could it be that only someone with a weak body like her would notice the effects of Spirit Spring Water?
Tang Tang nodded silently, convinced that her theory was correct.
She walked out of the room and happened to run into Meng Xingyuan and Zhu Jiawen opening their door.
“How did it go?” Meng Xingyuan asked.
“How did what go?”
Suddenly, a bamboo shoot emerged from the carpet. Looking closely, it turned out to be made of earth.
Meng Xingyuan explained, “According to what that post said, my Ability should be an Earth-type Ability.”
Tang Tang nodded.
She noticed that Zhu Jiawen’s expression was even more unpleasant than usual.
She secretly exchanged a glance with Meng Xingyuan.
What’s wrong?
Meng Xingyuan shook his head.
Don’t provoke her.
“I have a Metal-type Ability.”
Pei Xianzhi casually manipulated a metal plate.
“But I also have a Space Cheat Ability.”
Tang Tang stared at him in shock.
How did he steal her line?
In her previous life, Pei Xianzhi had indeed been a dual-Ability user. But the combination of his Metal-type Ability and Lightning-type Ability was far more powerful than a Space Cheat Ability.
Meng Xingyuan was also somewhat astonished.
“This is too fantastical. It’s magic.”
Meng Xingyuan felt as though his entire worldview had collapsed overnight.
The zombie virus could still be explained with some degree of logic.
But controlling earth, manipulating metal, and even making objects disappear and reappear out of thin air directly overturned everything he had learned over the past decade.
“What about you, Tang Tang?”
Tang Tang spoke with slight disappointment.
“I don’t have an Ability.”
In reality, she had discovered that she possessed a Water-type Ability when she washed her hands.
Well, a Water-type Ability that could wash her hands.
Judging from Zhu Jiawen’s expression, she could probably guess that Zhu Jiawen had not awakened an Ability either.
Her own Ability had zero offensive power, so she might as well pretend it did not exist.
Besides, Pei Xianzhi already had a Space Cheat Ability, so she would keep hers a secret for now.
After all, he was the male lead and had the protagonist’s halo. If people targeted her, she could easily end up dead.
Zhu Jiawen rolled her eyes.
“What’s so great about that? I don’t have an Ability either.”
Tang Tang smiled at her. Her expression was serious and adorable.
“It’s okay. I can protect you.”
“You little shorty. Stay behind your big sister and hide. Protect me? Grow for another two years first.”