As the kiss ended, Qi Yanxuan panted heavily, limp in Shen Yanqing’s arms.
Shen Yanqing gazed down at the person in his embrace, eyes brimming with tenderness. “A-Xuan, I like you. I don’t know when it began, maybe the first time I laid eyes on you, maybe every night you burrowed into my arms, or maybe somewhere along this journey we’ve shared. Be with me, alright?”
“Yes!” Qi Yanxuan clutched the person beside him tightly, his heart so sweet it felt as though honey had been poured into it. He finally had a lover of his own.
In the past, watching others pair up, he too had longed for a boyfriend, but he’d never met anyone who made his heart flutter and he refused to settle. Now that he’d found the one, he would protect him no matter what. Even in the apocalypse, with his space, he would never let him suffer hardship.
That night, the two who had bared their hearts to each other fell asleep in each other’s embrace.
The next day
Everyone packed their belongings early and set out. Today they would finally walk out of the desert, and it was as if wind-fire wheels had been strapped to everyone’s feet, they hurried along at a feverish pace.
This desert had truly frightened them all. Scorpions, sandstorms, even quicksand, afraid they might run into some other bizarre danger, everyone tacitly quickened their steps.
As the sun slanted westward, they finally emerged from that man-eating desert.
Looking back, some quietly shed tears. Their loved ones had been left here forever, without even a tombstone to mark their passing. They now deeply understood just how brutal this flight from famine was. Perhaps they themselves didn’t know where they might fall, but life had to go on, and no one could afford to stop…
They made camp in a rocky area, and the crowd scattered in search of water.
The village chief struck the bronze gong. “Everyone except those staying behind to guard the camp, go look for water! Whoever finds it, come back and let the villagers know!”
“Dad, you stay here and rest. A-Xuan and I will go find water,” Shen Yanqing said, looking at Shen Yanshan.
“Alright, you two go ahead. I’ll set up the tent here.” Shen Yanshan waved them off.
Qi Yanxuan and Shen Yanqing came to a pitted, uneven stretch of rock, riddled everywhere with small hollows. Before the drought, these would have held water, but with no rain for months now, they had long since dried up.
“Brother Shen, how about I show you a magic trick?” Qi Yanxuan looked at Shen Yanqing with an enigmatic smile.
Shen Yanqing regarded him with confusion.
“Come here!” Qi Yanxuan took Shen Yanqing’s hand and led him to a large hollow.
While Shen Yanqing was still basking in the sweetness of Qi Yanxuan holding his hand, he saw Qi Yanxuan crouch beside the pit and extend his right hand, palm facing down. Water came pouring endlessly from his palm, filling the hollow.
It was water Qi Yanxuan was channeling from the small river with nothing but his mind.
Shen Yanqing stared at him, stunned. He knew Qi Yanxuan’s bag always seemed to hold things he’d never seen before, but he had never imagined Qi Yanxuan could conjure water out of thin air.
Once the shock wore off, worry took its place. If anyone with ill intentions learned of this ability, they would surely drag Qi Yanxuan away.
At any time, in any era, water and grain were what mattered most let alone in a famine year like this.
Shen Yanqing dared not think any further. He pulled Qi Yanxuan into his arms, his hands trembling slightly. “That was a beautiful trick. But from now on, you mustn’t perform it for anyone else, okay?” Shen Yanqing murmured softly into Qi Yanxuan’s ear.
“Okay! Only for you!” Sensing the unease in the other’s heart, Qi Yanxuan soothed him in a gentle voice.
He knew Shen Yanqing was worried he’d fall into danger if discovered. Though Shen was overthinking it no one in this world was a match for him; even an entire army couldn’t stop him from coming and going as he pleased. A Level 6 ability wasn’t something ordinary people could contend with.
But he was still deeply moved. He had always been alone before. So this was what it felt like to have someone care about him, it was wonderful!
Qi Yanxuan pulled out of Shen Yanqing’s embrace, the emotion in his eyes nearly overflowing. “Go notify the villagers to come fetch water. I’ll fill two more pits.”
“Alright! Here’s the water pouch, there’ll be a lot of people soon, so fill it up first.” Shen Yanqing handed the pouch to Qi Yanxuan, then reverently kissed his forehead as if kissing some rare treasure, before turning back to inform the villagers.
About an incense stick’s worth of time later, more than thirty villagers came walking over one after another. It turned out the village chief had worried that if the whole group knew, it would cause a scramble, so he’d arranged for thirty-odd people to fetch the water and then distribute it among the villagers. You had to admit, the village chief thought things through quite thoroughly.
“Yanxuan, you two are amazing! We went out searching and found nothing, but you and Yanqing found water right away!” Shen Kui said to Qi Yanxuan with a hearty grin.
Youqing nodded in agreement. “That’s right! Yanxuan’s just lucky. If it weren’t for him, none of us would have made it out of the desert safely. Otherwise our village would’ve ended up like the other groups, who knows how many people would have died!”
The others all agreed, chattering away as they ran off to fetch water.
“Ah-Xuan really does have good luck. People praised his luck ever since he was little. When I visited his home as kids, every time we went out together he’d always end up picking up money,” Shen Yanqing explained to everyone with a perfectly straight face.
Qi Yanxuan rubbed his nose and said nothing, thinking to himself that Big Brother Shen was quite the storyteller.
Once everyone had filled every container that could hold water, they left. Each pit still had a little less than half remaining, but Qi Yanxuan didn’t bother with it whoever found it could count themselves lucky.
Back at camp,
Grateful villagers came one after another bringing gifts: a handful of flour from one household, a handful of pickled vegetables from another. The offerings weren’t much, but they represented everyone’s heartfelt gratitude. No one wanted their efforts to be taken for granted.
For the past few days in the desert, no one had dared waste water on cooking and had eaten everything raw. Now that they had water, they could finally eat cooked food, and everyone set about preparing meals.
Five days later, the group reached the official road.
The road was packed with large groups of famine refugees fleeing, with many corpses lining both sides. Swarms of green-headed flies buzzed overhead, and maggots wriggled densely over the bodies. (The scene is too gruesome use your imagination.)
“Ugh ”
“Ugh”
“Ugh”
The sounds of retching rose and fell one after another as everyone was so disgusted by the sight that they doubled over vomiting.
Qi Yanxuan hurriedly called out to the villagers: “Quick, cover your mouths and noses with cloth! Don’t touch the corpses. Anyone with wounds, wrap them up with cloth, don’t let the flies get near any open wounds!”
With that, he reached into his backpack and pulled three masks out of his space, handing them to Shen Yanqing and Shen Yanshan, showing them how to put them on properly.
Hearing this, everyone covered their mouths and noses with cloth and wrapped their wounds.
“What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with these corpses?” a woman asked.
“I’m not sure, but this many bodies rotting out in the open, with all these flies and maggots, who knows how long they’ve been dead. I’m worried there might be a plague. Better to cover up, just to be safe,” Qi Yanxuan replied.
At the mention of plague, everyone grew tense.
***
Seeing everyone grow nervous, the village chief stepped forward to reassure them: “Yan Xuan only said it was possible. Let’s just do as he says cover our mouths, noses, and wounds, and hurry through.”
After hearing the village chief’s words, the crowd gradually calmed down. The chief led the villagers onward at a quick pace.
Moving swiftly, they soon merged into the large group ahead. No one dared to look at the corpses by the roadside anymore.