Lu Yun had not gone far. He had been circling around the area, and he actually managed to find some sweet potatoes that were still edible.
Li Yingxue was set down by Lu Yun. Lu Yun told him that he had discovered a patch of sweet potatoes nearby that might still be safe to eat, and he was going to dig some up.
“Wait here. Don’t wander around,” Lu Yun said.
Li Yingxue obediently nodded at first, then realized that he was about to be separated from Lu Yun. A trace of panic rose in his heart, and he called out, “Darling.”
Lu Yun’s voice was soft.
“I’ll be right back.”
Li Yingxue opened his mouth again, wanting to ask Lu Yun to take him along, but this time Lu Yun did not respond.
He stared ahead, trying his best to distinguish the direction in which Lu Yun had left.
He heard Lu Yun’s footsteps.
One step, two steps…
As the distance increased, the sounds gradually faded until they nearly blended into the wind.
At the same time, another sound—a chilling sound—came clearly from behind him.
It was dragging and sticky, as though something was scraping across the ground. Mixed within it were low, inhuman growls.
A zombie.
“Lu Yun!” he shouted loudly.
He did not turn around and did not dare to. Relying only on memory and instinct, he staggered forward in the direction Lu Yun had gone, trying to catch up.
The sound behind him grew closer and closer.
It felt as though the stench of rot was already breathing down the back of his neck.
“Lu Yun, there’s a zombie!” he shouted again, raising his voice. “Lu Yun, where are you?”
“Roar—”
A hoarse roar exploded from directly behind him.
It was terrifyingly close.
Li Yingxue trembled all over.
His survival instincts overwhelmed everything else. Without caring about anything, he lifted his feet and ran.
He did not run fast. In fact, he staggered.
Before him was endless darkness, and beneath his feet lay unknown obstacles. He could only run while futilely calling Lu Yun’s name.
Had Lu Yun already gone far away?
Could he no longer hear him?
Would those claws seize his collar in the next second?
Despair filled Li Yingxue’s heart.
But Lu Yun had not gone far.
He was standing barely a dozen meters away, calmly watching everything unfold.
He watched Li Yingxue, like a frightened and lost fawn, fleeing desperately through the darkness toward what he believed was the right direction. His pale and delicate face was filled with helplessness and fear.
Lu Yun’s gaze passed over Li Yingxue and landed on the thing chasing him.
It was indeed a zombie, but it was hardly a threat.
One of its legs had practically rotted into mush and dragged uselessly behind it. Half of its body appeared to have been gnawed on by some mutated beast, exposing stark white bone and blackened, decaying flesh.
Its head hung crookedly.
Its one remaining cloudy eye was fixed greedily on the food ahead.
It moved slowly, limping along at a pace even slower than Li Yingxue’s clumsy run.
Just as Li Yingxue, overwhelmed by fear and exhaustion, was about to collapse, a breeze swept past.
A body carrying a cool trace of sweat, yet exuding a unique and faintly sweet fragrance, crashed directly into his arms.
The wind seemed to stop at that moment.
Time itself appeared to slow.
Instinctively, Lu Yun reached out and caught Li Yingxue steadily.
The person in his arms weighed very little.
Still trembling from fear and exertion, he breathed in small, shaky gasps.
The cold, sweet fragrance lingering around Li Yingxue became clearer and richer than ever due to their close proximity and heightened emotions. It invaded Lu Yun’s senses so forcefully that he was momentarily distracted.
His psychic power spread outward.
The zombie that had stretched out its rotting arm was instantly frozen in place.
It remained stuck in a lunging posture. Its cloudy eyeballs rolled about while unwilling growls emerged from its throat, yet it could not move even an inch.
Lowering his gaze, Lu Yun looked at the person in his arms.
Li Yingxue’s eyes were tightly shut.
His long, thick eyelashes were damp with tears, glittering like shattered diamonds beneath the light.
The red tear mole beneath his left eye appeared even more striking through the misty moisture.
Lu Yun could clearly feel the frantic heartbeat beneath that slender chest, thumping against him through the thin fabric.
He was a snow-white, beautiful, yet fragile person who had thrown himself into his arms carrying a cool chill.
Lu Yun realized that he did not dislike it.
In fact…
He somewhat enjoyed seeing this little thing curl up in his embrace with complete dependence.
The thought struck even him as absurd.
Li Yingxue wrapped his arms tightly around Lu Yun’s waist and buried his face in his chest.
“Darling… something was chasing me… behind me…”
Lu Yun’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
Suppressing the strange feeling within him, he responded with a low hum.
“Mhm.”
He raised a hand and gently rested it on Li Yingxue’s thin, trembling shoulder.
“Wait here.”
He released Li Yingxue and turned toward the immobilized zombie.
He could not even be bothered to use his Supernatural Ability.
Casually lifting his foot, as though kicking aside an annoying stone, he drove it into the zombie’s chest.
The zombie was sent flying by the tremendous force.
It slammed heavily into the ground and never moved again.
The loud impact was crystal clear to Li Yingxue.
With an unchanged expression, Lu Yun returned to his side.
“It’s dealt with.”
Li Yingxue subconsciously tilted his head toward the direction where the zombie had made noise and where it had ultimately fallen, though all he saw remained endless darkness.
Confusion and uncertainty appeared on his face.
“It’s… over?”
Just like that?
It seemed…
Far too easy.
He murmured to himself.
The terror in his heart gradually subsided, but a subtle suspicion surfaced quietly like a hidden reef beneath the water.
After being frightened like that, Li Yingxue refused to leave Lu Yun’s side no matter what.
He clung tightly to the corner of Lu Yun’s clothing.
So Lu Yun took him along while digging up the sweet potatoes.
Li Yingxue obediently squatted nearby, listening to the rustling sounds of soil being dug up.
Tilting his face toward Lu Yun’s direction, he suddenly asked softly,
“Darling… did you hear me calling for you earlier?”
Lu Yun continued working without pausing.
“No. When I reached the sweet potato patch, I felt it was a little too far away. I wasn’t comfortable leaving you alone, so I came back immediately.”
Li Yingxue lowered his head and listened quietly.
His long white hair fell down, covering most of his face.
Lu Yun glanced at him, unable to see his expression clearly.
But soon, Li Yingxue lifted his head again.
A smile spread across his face as he looked toward Lu Yun.
“Mm! Good thing Darling was worried about me and came back in time.”
Though words of gratitude left his lips, his fingers unconsciously tightened around the corner of his clothing.
Something wasn’t right…
There had to be something wrong.
After digging up the sweet potatoes, Lu Yun cleaned them briefly and packed everything away.
“Let’s go. We should continue on our way.”
Once again, Li Yingxue climbed onto Lu Yun’s back.
Traveling in fits and starts, three days passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, they indeed encountered zombies several times.
During the day, Lu Yun always managed to narrowly avoid them with Li Yingxue in tow, or he would expend some effort to eliminate them.
The most dangerous encounter happened at night.
Li Yingxue was awakened from sleep by Lu Yun shaking him.
Leaning close to his ear, Lu Yun lowered his voice.
“There are zombies. A lot of them.”
Li Yingxue instantly became fully awake, his heart pounding wildly.
This time, more than one roar echoed outside.
The zombies had gathered around them.
Their noisy growls filled the surroundings, causing Li Yingxue’s head to begin aching faintly once more.
That night, Lu Yun carried him through an abandoned building, running and hiding.
Using the terrain to his advantage, he maneuvered around the horde.
The process was both exhausting and difficult.
Only when dawn was nearly breaking did he finally shake them off.
Both of them were utterly worn out.
Li Yingxue, having been frightened and forced to flee, looked even paler than usual.
Lying on Lu Yun’s back and feeling his breathing—now slightly more hurried from exertion—Li Yingxue let out a quiet sigh in his heart.
Lu Yun’s Supernatural Ability…
It really did not seem very strong.
In that case, if it was only the two of them, safely reaching that distant safe base would likely be a journey filled with immense difficulties.