Whenever Ye Xihe acted spoiled, Ye Huizhou had no way of resisting her. He pinched her nose and snorted, which counted as agreement.
“Then our next destination is F City. Does anyone have any objections?”
Naturally, Gu Zhuoye had no objections.
As for Xu Wen, whatever Captain Ye said went.
“Xihe, thank you.” Su Nian looked at Ye Xihe sincerely.
The entire world was covered in gray fog now. There were no beautiful maple leaves left to admire. Ye Xihe had only used that excuse because she wanted to help her.
Ye Xihe’s eyes curved into crescents as she gave Su Nian a sweet smile.
Su Nian felt as though her heart had been struck.
Watching Ye Xihe’s expression, Gu Zhuoye quietly rubbed his fingertips together.
“Okay! Next stop, F City!” Xu Wen struck a dramatic pose full of energy.
Lin Xue, who had been sitting quietly to the side, stared at Ye Huizhou’s handsome profile, her gaze gradually becoming entranced.
She got up and delicately sat down beside him.
“Big Brother, thank you for saving me.”
The moment her sickeningly sweet, affected voice sounded, the lively dining table seemed as though someone had pressed the mute button.
Silence fell.
Ye Huizhou turned his head, his deep black eyes settling on Lin Xue’s face.
Meeting his gaze, Lin Xue’s heart pounded wildly.
Such a handsome man.
If only she were the one being cherished by his side.
After a long moment, Ye Huizhou let out a mocking laugh.
“The one who saved you was my Little Sister. Why are you thanking me?”
Lin Xue’s face flushed red. After holding it in for a long time, she finally squeezed out a sentence.
“Thank you, Sister.”
Ye Xihe blinked.
Sister?
Unable to hold back, she asked directly,
“I’m nineteen this year. Are you a minor?”
Xu Wen immediately burst out laughing.
Lin Xue: …
She wasn’t. She had simply thought acting that way would make her seem more deserving of protection.
These people were powerful.
She wanted to attach herself to them.
That girl clearly looked like she had no combat ability at all, so why was she allowed to stay in the team while everyone treated her so well?
Looking at Ye Xihe, a trace of darkness appeared in Lin Xue’s eyes.
Noticing the look she was giving her, Gu Zhuoye narrowed his eyes.
“If you look at her like that again, I’ll gouge your eyes out.”
Lin Xue jumped in fright and hurriedly waved her hands.
“I wasn’t… I wasn’t…”
“You’d better not have been.”
With a flick of his wrist, Gu Zhuoye sent his chopsticks straight down into the wooden table.
Lin Xue hurriedly stood up and returned to where she had been sitting before. Lowering her head, she concealed the jealous darkness in her eyes.
Although they were staying in a village where the zombies had already been cleared out, the group remained vigilant and arranged shifts to keep watch through the night.
Ye Huizhou had originally not wanted Ye Xihe to take a watch shift.
He could easily cover her portion himself. But Ye Xihe refused.
She wanted her brother to get some proper rest as well.
At first, Brother Hu and his mother, tied up in the corner, kept making noise and disturbing everyone’s sleep.
One glance from Ye Huizhou was enough.
Xu Wen immediately received the signal and walked over, delivering two loud slaps across Brother Hu’s face.
“Make another sound and I’ll chop you up.”
After that, the pair finally behaved.
Ye Huizhou dreamed again.
At an amusement park, Ye Xihe held a cotton candy in one hand and dragged him forward with the other until they reached the line for a roller coaster.
“Big Brother, there are so many people! I want some lemonade~”
Accepting his fate, Ye Huizhou went to buy lemonade for his sister.
After what felt like forever, it was finally their turn.
He placed their belongings in a storage locker.
But when he turned around again, Ye Xihe’s smiling face rapidly withered away.
She collapsed weakly into his arms, pale and emaciated.
“Big Brother… it hurts.”
Ye Huizhou jolted awake.
Breathing heavily, he sat upright.
It just so happened that Ye Xihe and Gu Zhuoye were on watch duty. Hearing the movement, she quietly came over.
“Big Brother, what’s wrong?”
Concerned, Ye Xihe raised a hand and pressed her palm against his forehead.
Ye Huizhou stared at her for a moment before suddenly pulling her into his arms and hugging her tightly.
“Xihe, don’t be afraid. Big Brother will protect you.”
Caught completely off guard, Ye Xihe found herself enveloped in Ye Huizhou’s broad embrace.
She was so small that his frame completely covered her.
Although she had no idea what had happened, it looked as though her brother had suffered a nightmare.
Ye Xihe raised a hand and gently rubbed the back of Ye Huizhou’s head.
“With Big Brother here, Xihe isn’t afraid.”
Hearing her voice, tears welled up in Ye Huizhou’s eyes.
A quiet sob escaped him.
Ye Xihe: …
Just what kind of dream had frightened her brother to the point of tears?
Was it really that terrifying?
Hearing the commotion, Gu Zhuoye turned around to look.
He raised an eyebrow, then calmly turned his head back around.
After a while, Ye Huizhou composed himself. Seeing that dawn was beginning to break, he pulled Ye Xihe to her feet.
“Big Brother?” she asked in confusion.
“Zhuoye, keep watching a little longer.”
Gu Zhuoye seemed to know what they were planning and simply nodded.
Ye Huizhou brought Ye Xihe to an open area.
It was still early morning, and the concentration of gray fog was noticeably higher than during the day.
“Xihe, use your power and see if you can purify the gray fog.”
After speaking, he stepped back several paces so he could observe more clearly.
“The gray fog… probably can’t be purified, right?”
Although doubtful, Ye Xihe still condensed a healing light sphere in her hand.
Ye Huizhou clearly saw the gray fog within a three-meter radius centered around Ye Xihe gradually becoming thinner.
“Stop the light sphere.”
Ye Xihe immediately complied.
Without the healing energy serving as the center, the glow around her body disappeared, but the difference in the fog’s density remained visible.
Ye Huizhou’s heart slowly sank.
Perhaps this had been the true cause of Xihe’s death in his previous life.
But none of it showed on his face.
Returning to her side, he shook his head.
“Looks like it can’t.”
Ye Xihe lowered her hand.
“It’s alright. Xihe is already amazing.”
Not wanting her to feel disappointed, Ye Huizhou reached over and ruffled her hair.
By the time they returned, the rest of the team had already woken up.
Ye Huizhou washed his hands and prepared to make breakfast when someone suddenly knocked on the door.
Xu Wen opened it.
It was a group of villagers from yesterday.
“We’ve decided. We’re taking our supplies and heading to the safe zone.”
Ye Huizhou nodded.
The safe zones had been established by the government after the disaster, so the villagers would be fine there.
“When are you planning to leave?”
“We all think the sooner the better. We’re planning to leave tomorrow.”
As he spoke, the leading villager stepped forward.
“Could you… escort us part of the way?”
That was the real reason they had come.
This group had easily subdued Brother Hu and the others. They were powerful Ability Users, while the villagers consisted mostly of the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the injured. They had no idea how many dangers awaited them on the road to the protection zone.
Unfortunately, the nearest protection zone and F City lay in opposite directions.
Xu Wen turned to look at his teammates.
There was no need to ask Su Nian. She definitely wanted to reach F City as soon as possible.
Gu Zhuoye remained expressionless.
Ye Xihe looked at her brother.
Ye Huizhou shook his head.
He was not a saint.
He had no particular desire to save strangers.
More importantly, the longer they delayed on the road, the more variables there would be.
The villagers left disappointed.
“Do you think Big Brother is being cold-hearted?” Ye Huizhou lowered his head and looked at the sister who was helping him wash vegetables.
Ye Xihe looked surprised.
“Why would Big Brother think that? We have no obligation to protect them.”
Not to mention that those same villagers had tried to scheme against them yesterday.
If their team had not been strong enough, she would have become the next Lin Xue.
Ye Huizhou lowered his gaze to the vegetables in his hand, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.