It was close to noon, and the blazing sun burned harshly overhead.
Lu Yun found a shaded spot and set Li Yingxue down, intending to rest briefly.
Li Yingxue groped around and sat on a relatively flat stone.
Lu Yun handed him a water cup and a roasted sweet potato from the previous night. The sweet potato was large, soft, and fragrant after being roasted, and it happened to suit Li Yingxue’s taste quite well. He actually liked eating it.
He took small bites of the sweet potato, tilting his head upward as if “looking” toward the sky, though everything before him remained pitch black.
He did not know how long this journey would continue. Lu Yun had said they had to follow the road and look for usable vehicles; otherwise, on foot alone, the road ahead would be endless, and hope would be slim.
He also did not know whether he would ever see his father and older brother again. Hopefully he would not run into some “dragon-overpowered protagonist” halfway and get reduced to cannon fodder.
Their rest did not last long, and they set off again.
Li Yingxue lay on Lu Yun’s back, exhaustion and the steady motion making him drowsy. Just as his consciousness was about to drift away, Lu Yun’s low voice sounded beside his ear, startling him awake.
“Mm?” Li Yingxue responded blankly. He had not caught what Lu Yun had said earlier.
Lu Yun repeated calmly, “There are living people ahead.”
Li Yingxue immediately woke up. He instinctively straightened his neck, then remembered he could not see anything, and reluctantly slumped back onto Lu Yun’s shoulder, asking hopefully, “We… have we reached the safe base?”
Lu Yun answered, “Not sure.”
Confused, Li Yingxue asked, “What do you mean?”
While they spoke, Lu Yun had already carried him to a tall earthen wall. His spreading psychic sense detected that inside was a small enclosed settlement—likely a self-formed survivor gathering point, far smaller than the “S Base” Shen Zhuonian had mentioned.
He followed the base of the wall to the left and soon found a narrow, sturdy-looking iron door. Unexpectedly, before they even approached, the door was pulled open from the inside.
Two burly, wary men stepped out, their eyes scanning Lu Yun and the person on his back.
“Where are you from?” one of them asked gruffly.
Lu Yun had not seen this marked location on Shen Zhuonian’s map, but that was not surprising.
Half a year into the apocalypse, small survivor-built bases like this had sprung up everywhere like bamboo shoots after rain. It was impossible to record them all.
Continuing to wander aimlessly was not a solution. Since they had encountered it, even if it was small, Lu Yun decided to investigate.
He did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned his head slightly and lowered his voice to Li Yingxue.
“Hide your face. Don’t look up.”
Li Yingxue, hearing unfamiliar voices, became nervous and obediently buried his face into Lu Yun’s neck. His white hair fell down, covering his entire face.
Only then did Lu Yun step forward.
“We are passing survivors, looking for a safe base to settle.”
The two men exchanged a glance. One asked, “Any supernatural ability?”
Without wasting words, moisture in the air rapidly condensed into a floating water sphere, then dispersed.
“Water-type Supernatural Ability,” Lu Yun said briefly.
“And him?” the man’s gaze shifted to Li Yingxue, who remained motionless on his back.
“He doesn’t have one,” Lu Yun answered directly.
The men exchanged another look, weighing their decision.
“Ever been injured by zombies?”
Another round of questioning followed—standard security checks.
“No,” Lu Yun said calmly.
Even so, they did not immediately let them in.
“Wait here. We need to report to our leader,” one of them said before turning and walking inside.
Lu Yun stood quietly at the gate with Li Yingxue on his back.
Not long after, the man returned with a noticeably softened attitude.
“You can come in. Our base is short on water-type ability users.”
Lu Yun nodded and stepped over the narrow threshold with Li Yingxue on his back.
Inside the high wall were self-built houses typical of the pre-apocalypse era, though arranged somewhat chaotically.
The wall itself had clearly been constructed by an earth-type supernatural ability user, enclosing a relatively small area.
As soon as they entered, they attracted attention from the residents. People who had been hiding inside houses peeked out curiously at the newcomers.
A few bolder ones even stepped outside to follow at a distance.
The two men leading them walked on while probing casually, “Which direction did you come from?”
Lu Yun casually named a nearby city, obscuring their real origin.
Most of the surrounding gazes lingered on the figure on his back—the person with long, rare white hair curled quietly against him.
Someone finally could not resist and stepped closer.
“Hey, bro, the person on your back… what’s your relationship?”
Lu Yun paused briefly before replying.
“My lover.”
That answer made the curious gazes intensify, all landing on the long white hair. Murmurs rose quietly among the crowd.
Lu Yun stood tall and cold. Even without speaking, he carried a naturally intimidating presence.
The onlookers who had wanted to ask more questions suddenly felt a chill run down their spines as his icy glance swept over them, as if an invisible blade pressed against their throats. They immediately fell silent and dared not speak further.
Lu Yun withdrew his gaze and followed the two burly guides to a row of simple houses, stopping in front of one relatively plain room.
“This place is unoccupied for now. You can stay here,” one of them said formally. “But we don’t support idle people here. If you want to stay, you must complete assigned tasks every day in exchange for food and shelter.”
Lu Yun replied calmly, “Alright.”
Seeing no objection, the two men left without further words.
Only when their footsteps faded did Li Yingxue carefully lift his head from Lu Yun’s neck and call softly, “Darling.” His voice still sounded slightly muffled.
Lu Yun set him down gently, steadying him as he stood.
A low voice sounded beside his ear. “This safe base is too small, and its defenses are average. We won’t stay long. We’ll just rest temporarily and see if there’s anything we need.”
Li Yingxue naturally trusted Lu Yun completely now and nodded. “Alright. I’ll listen to you.”
They did not go out. Instead, they simply tidied the room. It was small and sparsely furnished, but at least it had a roof and solid walls.
As evening approached and the sky dimmed, Lu Yun heard the sound of a door opening in the neighboring room. He walked to the door and slightly opened a crack to look outside.
He saw a man wearing a black baseball cap standing with his back to him, opening the adjacent door.
Perhaps sensing the gaze, the man paused and turned around.
In the last light of sunset, Lu Yun saw his face clearly.
He was a young man, likely in his early twenties, with delicate features but an unnaturally pale complexion, lacking any trace of blood.
Most striking were his eyes—completely black, bottomless, calm and unreadable.
He glanced at Lu Yun briefly, without curiosity or acknowledgment, then withdrew his gaze and entered the room, closing the door behind him.
Lu Yun stood still, his eyes lingering on that closed door for a moment.
Then he shut his own door and returned inside.
Li Yingxue was sitting quietly on the bed, “looking” in his direction.
Lu Yun lowered his voice. “Tomorrow I may need to go out very early.”
Li Yingxue tilted his head slightly, indicating he was listening.
“You stay in the room. Don’t go outside.”