When Li Yingxue woke up, Lu Yun had already left.
His consciousness had not fully returned yet. In a hazy state, he vaguely remembered Lu Yun’s low voice speaking near his ear, but it had been indistinct.
It seemed that he had said he left a water cup and food by the bedside, and had also reminded him not to wander around, saying he would return at noon or something along those lines.
At that time, Li Yingxue had been too sleepy to even lift his eyelids. He had only nodded vaguely on instinct before sinking back into a deep, dreamless sleep.
A familiar wave of dizziness washed over him. With his eyes still closed, he rested for a long while before groping toward the stool beside the bed. His fingertips touched the cold metal of a cup, and he carefully picked it up, unscrewed the lid, and took small sips of lukewarm water.
The dryness in his throat eased slightly, and he felt a little more comfortable.
He did not get out of bed. Instead, he sat quietly there, holding the cup. He did not feel hungry, and his mind was empty—so empty it felt as if all his thoughts had been swallowed by endless darkness, leaving only a blank sense of confusion.
Just as he was dazedly sitting there, he heard footsteps approaching from afar. There was more than one person, and their steps were messy.
At first, he thought it might be other survivors passing by the neighboring rooms. But that thought was quickly overturned—the footsteps clearly stopped right outside his door.
Knock, knock, knock.
A heavy banging sound echoed, followed by a coarse male voice.
“Hey, you inside, it’s meal time. Come out and get your food.”
Li Yingxue’s heart tightened. He immediately held his breath and made no sound at all.
He remembered clearly that Lu Yun had specifically told him to cover his face. Although he could not see, he was not foolish. He understood very well that his overly striking appearance could easily bring unnecessary trouble—or even disaster—in a lawless apocalypse.
The person outside grew impatient when there was no response. The knocking became heavier, and his tone turned threatening.
“Hey, are you deaf? If you don’t speak, I’m coming in!”
Li Yingxue panicked. “N-no—” he blurted out a short sound subconsciously.
But the people outside likely did not even hear it. The next second, a violent kick struck the door.
Li Yingxue trembled in fear and instinctively shrank back, tightly hugging the cup in his arms.
Strangely, however, the door seemed extremely sturdy. Despite such a heavy impact, it did not budge at all, not even the sound of the lock breaking could be heard.
“What the hell!” a furious curse came from outside. “What’s wrong with this door? Why won’t it open?”
“Are you sure that kid went out alone this morning? His woman must still be inside,” another voice said.
“I saw him leave alone with my own eyes. No mistake!”
Li Yingxue listened to their shameless conversation, his heart pounding violently in his chest. This so-called safe base… was not safe at all.
He bit his lower lip, his entire body tensing.
However, the expected stronger assault on the door did not continue. Instead, an eerie silence suddenly fell outside. The shouting and arguing stopped abruptly.
Li Yingxue strained his ears but could only hear his own heartbeat pounding like a drum. He remained tense, “looking” toward the door in vigilance, waiting for a long time. Yet no more sound came.
Had they… given up?
He slowly exhaled. His tightly coiled nerves loosened slightly, cold sweat soaking his back.
Had they left because they could not open the door and lost interest? He felt a flicker of relief. It seemed Lu Yun must have blocked the door with something before leaving.
Outside, the two men who had intended to break in were now staring wide-eyed in terror, their eyes bloodshot from extreme fear.
Their necks were stretched straight, yet no sound could come from their throats. Only their teeth chattered uncontrollably.
Just as they were about to crash the door again, an invisible but ice-cold force—like steel wires—suddenly coiled around their necks without warning.
That force did not tighten immediately to kill them. It simply clung to their skin, clearly conveying one message: death was right beside them.
They could feel the sharp edge of something unseen, as if their throats would be slit the next second.
Tremendous fear seized them. Their legs trembled violently, barely able to support their bodies. They wanted to beg, to scream, but could not even produce a sound, like fish dragged out of water, opening their mouths in vain.
Just when they thought they were surely dead—
Creeeak.
The door of the adjacent room suddenly opened.
A young man wearing a black baseball cap stepped out. His face was pale and refined. He merely glanced in their direction.
At the exact moment he appeared, the suffocating invisible force around their necks instantly receded and vanished without a trace.
The two men, having narrowly escaped death, gasped for air violently, their faces completely drained of color. They did not even dare look at the young man who had emerged, nor did they dare target the room again. They scrambled away in panic, fleeing in disgrace.
The young man did not look at their retreating figures. His gaze instead fell on the tightly closed door beside him, his dark eyes beneath the cap unreadable.
He recalled the tall, cold man he had seen at that door last night.
An ordinary water-type Supernatural Ability user?
Impossible.
That fleeting, terrifying pressure he had just sensed—though subtle—had been unmistakably real. That was not a power a C-rank water-type ability user could possess.
This was a deeply hidden powerhouse, far stronger than he had imagined.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Then he turned back into his room and quietly closed the door.
……
Lu Yun returned exactly at noon as expected.
When he pushed the door open, Li Yingxue was sitting on the bed with his knees drawn up. At the sound, he immediately lifted his head, his face still carrying lingering fear.
“Darling!” he called urgently.
Lu Yun walked to the bedside. Li Yingxue immediately fumbled forward, grabbing his arm, and quickly recounted everything that had happened that morning, his words rushed and slightly panicked.
Lu Yun listened quietly, his expression unreadable, but a trace of killing intent flickered through his eyes when he heard about the attempted door breach.
Of course he knew. Before leaving, he had already set a simple barrier with his spiritual power on the door.
“Mm, I understand,” he said. His hand lifted as if to pat Li Yingxue’s back in comfort, but paused midair before lowering again. “It’s fine now.”
However, Li Yingxue leaned directly into his embrace for reassurance and asked softly, “Darling… will they come again tomorrow?”
Lu Yun’s gaze briefly swept over the invisible livestream chat only he could see. It was filled with curses toward those two men and concern for Li Yingxue. He ignored it.
“Tomorrow, I’ll take you with me,” he said in a low voice.
Li Yingxue raised his face, worried. “Will the mission be difficult? Will I… hold you back?”
Mission?
Lu Yun sneered inwardly. So-called missions were nothing more than gathering scattered food supplies and energy crystals formed inside mutated species.
For him, it was effortless.
But what he said was, “It’s more dangerous to leave you here alone.”
Li Yingxue sighed softly at that, realizing he had no choice but to agree. He buried his face back into Lu Yun’s chest and muttered, “Alright…”
Lu Yun allowed him to cling to him like a small beast seeking comfort for a while before gently pulling him back by the shoulders.
Li Yingxue swayed his legs slightly in dissatisfaction, absentmindedly twisting the strands of hair that fell over his chest.
He had not originally had long hair; it had likely grown during the half-year he spent in hibernation.
Since waking up, he had either been fleeing or escaping zombies. There had been no time to care for himself. Now that they had a relatively safe place to stay, neglected details began to surface.
He fumbled for Lu Yun’s hand and asked, “Darling… can I take a bath?”
Then he guided Lu Yun’s hand to the top of his head, frowning slightly. “I feel like… I’m starting to smell.”
At that, Lu Yun stiffened slightly and looked away uncomfortably.
Smell?
Then what about that faint, unclear scent he had caught last night when they were close—like fresh snow after a storm, cold and clean, yet carrying a subtle sweetness?
Lu Yun forced himself to stop that thought.
Li Yingxue, unable to wait for an answer, lowered his head slightly and added softly, “It’s okay if I can’t…”
“Fine,” Lu Yun interrupted.
It was just a bath. As a water-type Supernatural Ability user, it was nothing difficult.
He looked around the room. Finding no proper container, he left briefly and returned carrying an old bathtub he had found in an abandoned bathroom.
He cleaned it, filled it with water, and used his ability to heat it. Soon, the bath was ready.
He guided Li Yingxue to it, then turned away to give him privacy.
Li Yingxue slowly undressed, feeling his way into the tub. He washed himself clumsily, more like rinsing a vegetable than bathing properly, then quickly stood up again, afraid of wasting time.
After drying off, he dressed awkwardly—wrong layers, crooked buttons—but did not notice. The cold air made him shiver.
“Darling… I’m done,” he called softly.
Lu Yun turned and saw him standing barefoot on the cold floor, wet silver hair dripping, thin clothes clinging to his body as he trembled slightly.
Lu Yun frowned and strode over, lifting him effortlessly into his arms and sitting him by the fire, holding him close.
“So cold…”
Li Yingxue leaned against him until warmth returned, then tilted his head and said, “You haven’t washed my hair yet.”
He nudged Lu Yun’s chin playfully with his damp cheek. “Darling, help me.”
Lu Yun stiffened again.
After a pause, he muttered a dry, emotionless “Mm.”
He drained the bathwater outside, refilled clean warm water, and brought Li Yingxue to the edge of the tub.
Li Yingxue obediently lowered his head, exposing his pale, fragile neck.
Warm water drifted up from the basin and soaked his silver hair. Lu Yun, clumsily but carefully, applied soap and lathered it into soft foam.
After rinsing, he used wind to dry the hair instantly, leaving it soft and fluffy again.
Li Yingxue touched it in delight. “Amazing…”
Then he happily leaned into Lu Yun’s arms again.
Lu Yun looked down at the “little troublemaker” who had taken up most of his day and silently added another note to his mental list.