The Little Merman in the Apocalypse 13
Qi Yu wasn’t comfortable leaving Su Luo to keep watch alone, so they formed groups of three, rotating every five hours.
It was late at night.
The knife-like wind carried icy snowflakes, bringing a chill that seeped into the bones.
Time dragged on in the tense atmosphere, each second feeling like an ordeal.
By the garage door.
Su Luo’s tense body began to tire, and his vision blurred.
The cold wind had turned his cheeks slightly red, and the persistent drowsiness kept creeping in.
The dim streetlight cast a halo, making the boy’s skin appear almost translucent.
The other two men had fallen completely asleep about fifty meters away.
Su Luo yawned, his peripheral vision casually drifting to the distance.
The next second.
His pupils contracted sharply, and he immediately covered his mouth, fearing to make any sound.
In the knee-deep snow, a zombie, reduced to a skeletal frame, appeared silently.
Strangely, it passed by the two sleeping men without a glance.
Yet it headed straight for Su Luo.
The zombie had a limp, moving very slowly.
Its head was barely attached to its neck by a layer of withered skin.
Its growl was low and frightening.
“Huh.”
Its eyes were fixed solely on the boy, ignoring the two men entirely.
If Su Luo didn’t know zombies lacked thought and intelligence, he might have suspected it was deliberate.
Ignoring the easy prey, it insisted on scaring the boy from afar.
Su Luo shakily raised his gun, aiming as Sister Zhao had taught him.
“I’m not afraid, not at all, I still have to complete the quest.”
He didn’t notice Pei Yue watching him from the second floor.
The man’s high nose bridge and pale face were cold and emotionless.
He simply watched the frightened, stiff boy without any intention of helping.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Su Luo waited several minutes, and the zombie remained at a distance, only making terrifying growls, moving very slowly.
As if it was deliberately trying to scare him.
How could that be? Zombies were mindless creatures.
The boy took a step back, stumbled, and fell into the snowdrift.
His backside didn’t hurt, but the thick clothes made him look like a clumsy, chubby ball, taking a while to get back up.
He grasped the gun again.
Su Luo, nerves stretched to the limit, suddenly heard a low chuckle from behind.
Then a gust of icy wind and snow filled his nose, and a cold embrace pressed against his back.
The boy’s slender neck was damp with sweat, his lips bitten pale.
“Pei Yue, why didn’t you make a sound and scare me?”
The limping zombie, as if receiving a signal, suddenly changed its slow pace, charging madly at Su Luo.
The zombie drew closer, but with a human wall behind him, the boy couldn’t run, trembling too much to speak.
“Why aren’t you calling me Mr. Pei anymore? Ha, look at your courage.”
Despite having a courage smaller than a walnut, he dared to keep watch.
Under Pei Yue’s black shirt, his arm had the mature lines of a man, with faintly visible veins.
The man grasped the boy’s slender, porcelain-white hands from behind.
“Come on, shoot.”
Upon hearing this.
Su Luo closed his eyes, his crow-feather-like eyelashes dusted with snowflakes, still trembling.
The boy’s breathing was erratic and broken, having never killed anyone, including zombies.
He made a difficult mental preparation, both adorable and pitiful.
“Mr. Pei, I’m a little scared.”
Pei Yue’s deep gaze locked onto the boy’s small, constantly moving Adam’s apple, even the fine sweat on his forehead was clearly visible.
As Su Luo pulled the trigger, the man unexpectedly pulled him into an embrace.
The boy was startled.
“What… are you doing!”
“It’s already gone, shift change time is here, let’s go back and rest.”
Su Luo looked incredulously at the snowy landscape, the terrifying zombie long gone.
How strange…
Roaring inexplicably at him, then disappearing just as inexplicably.
Waking up in the morning, the faint light cast on Su Luo’s slender waist, a tuft of unruly hair sticking up.
He leaned sleepily against the headboard, rubbing his eyes, preparing to put on his shoes.
Pei Yue, unafraid of the cold, wore a well-fitted black shirt, outlining his tall, upright figure.
Seeing the boy awake, he walked over slowly.
The distance between them closed, mere inches apart.
The boy’s pretty face scrunched up, leaning back, clearly resisting the other’s approach.
The man lifted his eyelids to meet his gaze, his thin lips parting slightly.
“What are you avoiding? I’m not going to kiss you, give me your hand.”
The sleeves of Su Luo’s fleece-lined jacket were designed too long, often hiding his hands inside.
Pei Yue rolled up the cuffs twice, revealing a section of his fair wrist.
The boy’s legs dangled off the bed, swinging unconsciously, still in a dreamy state.
Taking advantage of his drowsiness, the man had already helped him put on his shoes and socks.
“Want a hug?”
This question startled Su Luo awake, making him shake his head frantically.
“I’m not a child, I don’t need it.”
After saying this, he quickly jumped off the bed, walking over to the team readying to depart, listening to their conversation.
The potion Wang Wu was developing still needed a special ingredient, which they had to find at Qingzhou Hospital on the outskirts of the city.
So they had to leave today.
The paint on the pickup truck’s exterior had gradually peeled off, exposing the metal beneath.
It looked rusty, but it was currently their only means of transportation.
With too many people, they had to sit separately.
Su Luo sat with Sister Zhao on his left, and the seat to his right was still empty.
A male player chewing gum, the one who had given the boy a gun yesterday, approached with long strides, ready to sit down.
Unexpectedly.
His shoulder was suddenly bumped, causing him to stagger and nearly lose his balance, a curse almost escaping his lips.
Pei Yue, who had taken his seat, lowered his eyes, his demeanor cold and sharp, his expression calm and indifferent.
He wore a gentle smile, appearing courteous and polite.
“Sorry, this seat is taken, please find another.”
The words sounded polite, but the low pressure unintentionally released made one’s scalp tingle.
The gum-chewing man sensed something unusual.
He couldn’t afford to provoke Pei Yue in front of him.
Swallowing his curse, he could only mutter under his breath and move to the front row.
Su Luo curiously watched the scenery outside.
Beneath the vast expanse of snow lay countless dangers.
Those unseen threats were like hibernating beasts, waiting for the moment to break through the ice.
The vehicle moved slowly, occasionally bumping over stones.
Inside the cabin, everyone remained silent, their faces etched with fatigue and worry.
Each person harbored their own thoughts and fears.
The air was filled with the scent of tobacco, sweat, and a faint hint of engine oil.
Half-asleep.
Su Luo heard intermittent whispers, piercing his eardrums and reaching deep into his mind.
“My… baby…”
The seductive voice made the boy take a deep breath, looking around.
Sister Zhao, thinking he was hungry, popped a cream cookie into his slightly open mouth.
Su Luo chewed with a “munch munch,” his cheeks puffing slightly, wondering if it was an illusion.
But the next second.
The companion sitting beside him suddenly vanished, and he himself plunged into the depths of the ocean.
Countless seaweeds stretched their branches, blocking out the sky, tightly encircling the little merman.
Through the refraction of the seawater, he saw a deep, inky world.
Boundless, the end unreachable.
Su Luo’s eyes were wet, filled with confusion.
His legs had transformed once again into a light blue tail, swaying and creating ripples.
Lost and helpless.
The boy couldn’t believe the scene before him.
He sniffled, his soft voice tinged with a sob.
“Sister Zhao?”
“Pei Yue? Mr. Pei… where are you?”
Transparent bubbles escaped Su Luo’s mouth, but no one responded to his call.
A sense of danger loomed, a shadowy figure speeding toward him, too elusive to see clearly.
Wherever it passed, the light was swallowed, disappearing into the shadows it cast.
The boy’s heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly swam away with his unfamiliar tail.
No time to think about what kind of monster it was.
After all, he couldn’t fight it…
Su Luo weaved through the dense seaweed, hoping to find a safe place to hide.
Busy looking back to see if the creature was following, the little guy’s forehead collided heavily with a man’s chest.
His fair skin turned red, his head dizzy.
Su Luo looked up, only able to see the sharp lines of the man’s jaw.
His gaze traveled down, observing the man’s back muscles rising and stretching, shaped like a taut bowstring, filled with the power of an aquatic predator.
But his eyes were dark, like the deep ocean currents, ready to pull someone in and shred them with the slightest misstep.
Su Luo noticed the ink-colored tail that could easily encircle him, seemingly recalling the other’s identity.
“You’re… that male merman?”
A307.