"Many monsters."
Pei Si's questions did not receive any useful answers. The people here had been hiding for too long, and they had gone from being fearful at the beginning to becoming numb and desperate.
Yu An glanced at Pei Si, who was frowning, then at the survivors who were like walking corpses, and slowly asked, "Are you hungry?"
No one answered.
Only the little girl with pigtails timidly said, "I'm hungry."
Yu An breathed a sigh of relief.
He unloaded the bag he had been carrying onto the ground. Then, he called out, "Come and eat. It's the old sow I slaughtered last night."
Actually, it was Xiao Jiu who did the killing, but he took the blame for it.
A group of people: "..."
Everyone, including Pei Si, was so shocked by the old sow in the pocket that they couldn't speak for a long time.
Yu An laboriously carried the pork to the pot, and said somewhat awkwardly, "I can't cook. Can you cook for yourselves?"
"Yes, yes, that's fine!"
Someone suddenly came to their senses and stared at the pork with shining eyes.
The group of people, who had been listless, were now all staring at the pork. One of them, who knew how to cook, quickly started preparing it on the spot.
Despite the harsh conditions, the chef still managed to caramelize the sugar and make braised pork!
Comforted by the braised pork, the survivor, who was usually so quiet he wouldn't utter a sound, finally became more talkative: "Some of us have been up there, so we can't go out at night."
"The whole city becomes terrifying at night."
"Of the group of us who went, only one came back covered in blood. He said that Yucheng at night is a ghost town."
"There's one more thing—"
The survivor who had spoken looked up at them and said, "The city gates here are for entry only, not exit. Fellow soldiers, I'm not trying to jinx you, but it won't be easy for you to leave."
Pei Si smiled and said, "We can get out."
With the help of these survivors, Pei Si retrieved the map of the city. Besides that, there were several other places where he could hide.
An hour later.
Yu An followed Pei Si out. The rest of the team were incredibly impressed with Yu An, having obtained so many clues all at once.
"No wonder Brother Pei calls his wife 'Little Lucky Charm.' Without her, we'd probably still be groping around aimlessly right now!"
"You can tell! My sister-in-law is so capable; she even knows to bring pork when she goes out!"
"Hmm, is the pork for Father Xie?"
Yu An heard her teammates' teasing, but she rubbed her ears and pretended not to hear.
The little white mushroom in his pocket didn't react either, after all, he knew that his older brother and the guy surnamed Xie were just a misunderstanding. Even if he had a sister-in-law someday, it wouldn't be Xie Chiyuan.
Time passed little by little.
By the time they went outside, it was already dark. The city was quiet; the lizard that had been in a frenzy just hours before was nowhere to be found.
Yu An looked around and faintly smelled a foul stench.
The thick darkness seemed to have a physical form, flowing through the air. The streetlights cast an eerie red glow.
"Pat, pat."
The red streetlights were oozing foul-smelling blood.
Yu An dodged, feeling like he had stumbled into a horror movie!
Yu An wasn't afraid of zombies or mutants, but he was afraid of ghosts. He'd forgotten who showed him a horror movie back in the research institute, but it scared him so much that he didn't dare turn off the lights to sleep for days.
The blood-dripping streetlights seem to float in the air.
Yu An could barely see the people around him. He shuddered and called out in a trembling voice, "Pei Si?"
No one answered.
Yu An looked around and realized that everyone around him had disappeared sometime during the day!
Even the little white mushroom in my pocket has been lost again.
"Xiao Jiu!"
The baby she had finally found was gone. Yu An's eyes widened, and she could no longer be afraid.
He walked along the road, calling out to Xiao Jiu cautiously and carefully.
After an unknown amount of time, a figure suddenly flashed by in front of him. It was Xiao Jiu, who had shed her juvenile form, running towards him in human form.
"Big brother!"
Xiao Jiu rushed over happily. Yu An stood there, being embraced tightly, but the next second, Xiao Jiu, resting her chin on his hand, suddenly opened her mouth.
Yu An noticed quickly and pushed him away, saying, "You're not Xiao Jiu!"
Xiao Jiu hasn't recovered yet!
Xiao Jiu, having been exposed, disappeared on the spot while laughing and joking. Not long after, Yu An saw the other kids again.
One baby after another.
Yu An rubbed her eyes, feeling both longing for her child and indignant.
I'm so angry.
I don't know who's behind this, pretending to be a little kid to mess with him. A few of the imposters even tried to bite him, and two of them were in so much pain that their faces were contorted after they were bitten.
Even a soft persimmon will burst if you squeeze it too much.
Having been deceived, bitten, and disliked, Yu An's face hardened completely and her fists clenched when she saw Xie Chiyuan walking out from not far away.
"Yu An?"
The imposter was quite convincing; he looked at Yu An with surprise and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Yu An remained silent.
As Xie Chiyuan approached, Yu An raised her eyes and asked coldly, "Are you really Xie Chiyuan?"
Xie Chiyuan observed him discreetly, also on guard. He nodded slightly, his tone natural: "Of course I am."
Yu An remained unmoved by his answer.
Their eyes met, and Yu An continued her interrogation: "Then tell me, are you my husband?!"
Everyone misunderstands his relationship with Xie Chiyuan, thinking Xie Chiyuan is his husband. If there were an imposter, they would definitely misunderstand too!
As long as he answers yes, Yu An grinned his little sharp teeth and decided to take a big bite out of him right away!
--------------------
Author's Note:
Xie Chiyuan remained silent: Should I take advantage of this opportunity or not...?
Chapter 19
The thick, eerie darkness seemed to float in the night.
Xie Chiyuan looked at the boy a few steps away, and for once fell into deep thought. He had a lot of experience being called "father," but this was the first time he had been called "husband."
When Yu An saw that he didn't answer, she thought he had stumped him.
"Answer me quickly!" Yu An was on high alert, already suspicious of the big-headed man in front of him, and now all that was left was the answer.
So he asked again, his tone more aggressive than before: "Are you my husband or not?"
The boy's clear, youthful voice, when calling out "husband," was clearly meant to sound fierce, yet it still managed to stir one's heart.
With the wicked thought that "only a fool wouldn't take advantage of a good deal," Xie Chiyuan raised an eyebrow and uttered a single word: "Hmm."
Having already taken advantage of the deal, Xie Chiyuan hadn't even figured out what was going on when the young man barged in.
Xie Chiyuan caught the full load, and belatedly realized that Yu An had designs on him. He really shouldn't have taken advantage of her just now.
Before Xie Chiyuan could regret it, his arm was grabbed in the next second.
"hiss--"
The pain in his arm made Xie Chiyuan hiss softly.
He looked down and saw Yu An biting his arm hard.
Yu An might not have fully transformed into a zombie, so his zombie-like fangs weren't sharp enough. Unable to bite Xie Chiyuan's arm, he resorted to grinding his teeth against it.
Just as he was biting, Xie Chiyuan grabbed him by the back of his collar and lifted him up.
"Let me go!"
Yu An struggled, then blurted out, "I already know you're the imposter! What kind of monster are you? Are you so ugly you can't show your face, so you have to pretend to be someone else!"
Yu An's words made Xie Chiyuan, who was originally about to attack him, hesitate.
Not only did Yu An distrust Xie Chiyuan, but Xie Chiyuan was also scrutinizing Yu An to see if he was genuine.
After a few moments of fussing.
Yu An looked at Xie Chiyuan, who was still holding him, with a blank expression.
strangeness.
The previous imposters couldn't last this long, so why hasn't this big fake disappeared yet?
A few minutes later.
Xie Chiyuan had made up his mind. Yu An was put down again, and he looked at Xie Chiyuan who was staring at him, not knowing what to say.
"Follow me."
Xie Chiyuan said calmly, "I was just teasing you. You were quite fierce, biting and not letting go."
Yu An: "..."