Ji Chaoxi leaned against the cold wall as one hand clamped around her throat.
It tightened.
Her breathing immediately became labored.
She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, her expression calm, as though she had long accepted death’s sentence.
Ye Jiming lowered his gaze to look at her. In his eyes flickered a cold, destructive glimmer that seemed capable of annihilating everything.
The strength in his hand gradually increased. Her fair face slowly flushed red from lack of oxygen.
Her soft lips remained tightly closed, and her lowered eyelashes trembled faintly.
She did not struggle.
She did not resist.
She truly wanted to die.
The scene of her standing with her back to the endless rain of ice arrows flashed through his mind. Smiling at him, she had said:
“Go.”
Yet the gentleness in her eyes had been relief at death.
It had not been for him.
A sharp pain inexplicably pierced Ye Jiming’s chest.
He could not describe the feeling.
The force around her throat suddenly loosened.
Ji Chaoxi could not help coughing, but his hand still restrained her neck, preventing her from bending forward. She could only let out quiet, painful coughs.
Her breathing was rapid, and the corners of her eyes were tinged red.
Ye Jiming’s dark eyes were as cold as a glacier hidden beneath the sea. His voice was even colder, chilling her to the bone.
“Death is the easiest thing. It’s also the fastest way to escape everything. Ji Chaoxi, do you know why I didn’t die? Because only by living could I watch those who humiliated me suffer a fate worse than death.”
“Ji Chaoxi, you want to die, but I won’t allow it. From this moment on, your life belongs to me. If I don’t permit you to die, then you cannot die. Otherwise, your companions, your friends, everyone you know, will be buried alongside you.”
Before the words had fully fallen, he suddenly lowered his head and sealed her softly panting lips that seemed to invite him deeper.
Like a beast, he bit and ravaged them, venting the emotions that had been rampaging inside his chest.
Ji Chaoxi allowed him to take whatever he wanted.
She could not even remember whether she truly had any friends or companions.
But she still could not bear the thought of others losing their lives because of her.
A sharp pain shot through her tongue.
Ye Jiming looked displeased. When he noticed her gaze finally focusing on him, the kiss became even fiercer.
As though he wanted to swallow her whole.
A long time later, the dishes on the table had completely lost their warmth.
Outside, a refined-looking young man walked over and lightly knocked on the door.
“Chaoxi, open the door.”
Inside the room, Ji Chaoxi immediately looked toward the door.
Ye Jiming paused in the act of biting her neck.
The knocking sounded again.
Ye Jiming’s eyes darkened. He opened his mouth and bit down hard.
Hearing her muffled cry of pain, he finally magnanimously released her.
He withdrew his hand from beneath her clothes and straightened her slightly rumpled outfit.
Their eyes met for a moment.
Ji Chaoxi turned her head away.
Ye Jiming pinched her chin and forced her to look at him.
“Ji Chaoxi, remember this. I am your husband. I was before, and I will be in the future.”
Ji Chaoxi remained stubbornly silent.
Ye Jiming lowered his head and kissed her tightly pressed red lips.
“Not saying anything?”
Outside, the young man continued knocking.
“Chaoxi, open the door.”
The two remained locked in a standoff.
Suddenly, Ye Jiming bent down and lifted her into his arms, carrying her toward the bedroom.
Startled, Ji Chaoxi immediately thought of what he might do.
She instantly gave in.
“Ye Jiming, I remember.”
She was not afraid of death.
But she was still afraid of humiliation.
The man outside was Feng Ruijie.
Before the apocalypse, he had been Ji Chaoxi’s senior schoolmate.
The original Ji Chaoxi had once harbored feelings for Feng Ruijie. However, due to a business marriage arrangement, she had married Ye Jiming instead.
Ye Jiming was the second son of the Ye family, a commercial giant, yet also the least valued among them.
Ji Chaoxi had despised him immensely.
After marriage, they had lived separate lives.
When the apocalypse arrived, Ji Chaoxi’s soul had been replaced. For the sake of collecting the system’s corruption points, she had spent two years suppressing and humiliating Ye Jiming.
Ye Jiming stopped walking and looked down into her eyes.
“You really remember?”
Ji Chaoxi nodded.
Ye Jiming curled his lips into a smile.
“Kiss me.”
Ji Chaoxi frowned.
Ye Jiming said, “A wife kissing her husband is perfectly natural.”
Hearing the continued knocking at the door, Ji Chaoxi turned her head and pressed a kiss to his lips.
She remained there for two seconds before pulling away.
Ye Jiming did not detect any reluctance on her face.
Reasonably satisfied, he decided not to make things difficult for her anymore.
Ji Chaoxi climbed out of his arms.
She glanced at him before walking over and opening the door.
Feng Ruijie still had his hand raised to knock.
When he saw her, he smiled.
“Did you fall asleep? Why did it take so long to open the door?”
Ji Chaoxi simply asked,
“What do you need?”
Feng Ruijie smiled.
“Won’t you invite me in for a sit?”
Ji Chaoxi was silent for a second before stepping aside and making room.
“Come in.”
She released the doorknob and left the door open.
Turning back, she saw that Ye Jiming had already removed the cold dishes from the table.
The two sat facing each other at the table.
Feng Ruijie studied her.
They had not seen each other for only a few days, yet he felt the girl before him had become even more beautiful.
Her expression was indifferent and lazy, like a graceful flower in full bloom.
“I heard you and Zhen Zhong accepted a mission involving a Rank-5 Mutant Beast. You weren’t injured, were you?”
“No.”
Ji Chaoxi was not particularly interested in chatting.
“What did you come here for?”
Feng Ruijie was about to answer when his gaze suddenly landed on her fair neck.
A fresh circle of bite marks was plainly visible.
He froze slightly.
His brows knitted together.
“Who bit you?”
Ji Chaoxi raised a hand and touched the side of her neck.
A faint sting greeted her fingers.
“That’s none of your business. If there’s nothing else, you should leave.”
Feng Ruijie looked at her unnaturally red lips.
Suddenly, he turned toward the figure standing by the kitchen doorway.
Ye Jiming stood there.
His tall, straight frame was nearly as high as the doorway itself, carrying a sense of oppression that could not be ignored.
Feng Ruijie felt the cold danger hidden in the other man’s gaze.
It forced him to look away.
A chill crawled up his spine.
After a light cough, he said,
“There is an escort mission. We’ll be transporting something from Longcheng Base to Yuzhou Base, two hundred kilometers away. The trip should take around five to seven days.”
Oil had already been completely exhausted within the past two years.
Even if fuel still existed, vehicles could no longer safely travel through the wilderness as it now stood.
Ji Chaoxi asked,
“What are we escorting?”
“It’s an instrument that can improve the purity of alien-substance removal agents. It has to be used together with research materials from Yuzhou.”
“How many people are going? Who’s involved?”
“It’s a highly important mission. Captain Dai Qianning from our squad will lead it. If you agree to join, there will be seven people in total.”
The base contained many permanent Ability User Squads.
Some people had even secretly ranked their combat strength.
Dai Qianning’s squad ranked third.
Dai Qianning herself was a fifth-rank fire ability user.
She possessed a famous nickname—Fiery Chili Pepper.
With a stunning figure and an explosive personality, she inspired both admiration and fear in many people.
As a mutated wood ability user, Ji Chaoxi had received invitations from many Ability User Squads.
They all wanted her to join.
However, the system had informed her that joining a squad meant carrying out squad missions, which wasted too much time and prevented her from focusing on collecting corruption points.
As a result, whenever she needed supplies, she would temporarily join a team, complete a mission, and obtain the necessities of life.
Ji Chaoxi did not think much about it.
She nodded.
“Okay, I’ll join.”
Two hundred kilometers.
A round trip would take ten days to half a month.
If possible, she could simply stay there.
Ye Jiming watched the slender figure with his dark eyes.
The moment he heard that Feng Ruijie had come to recruit her for a mission, he already knew she would agree.
As expected, she agreed without hesitation.
She wasn’t obedient.
She wanted to escape.
Gray-black mist rapidly churned within his pupils.
Feng Ruijie brought up the old topic again.
“Chaoxi, join our squad. If you join us, we’ll be teammates.”
If they became teammates, they could accept missions together.
They would spend much more time together.
Ji Chaoxi shook her head and refused.
This time, it was because she might remain in Yuzhou permanently, making it inappropriate to agree to join the squad.
Feng Ruijie had expected the answer.
He sighed.
“Alright then. Are you free right now? Let me treat you to a meal.”
Ji Chaoxi refused once again.
Left with no choice, Feng Ruijie departed.
After walking quite a distance away, he suddenly punched a large tree by the roadside.
With a loud crack, the tree snapped in half.
“What the hell is wrong with me? I was actually afraid of that useless trash…”