Famine

Chapter 53

I sat up, and Yu Zheng sat up almost at the same time, pressing his lips to his mouth and listening alertly.

Amidst the monotonous sound of the air conditioner, a dragging sound passed over the ceiling above our heads.

Yu Zheng has a fierce aura, and not only that, she is also an extremely lucky person.

I don't understand what kind of evil spirits would dare to come to my door... Besides, it doesn't just feel like evil spirits, there's also a strong poisonous smell, like disinfectant.

I know this explanation sounds strange, but that's how it feels and smells.

The dragging sound seemed to circle around, hesitant and uncertain. After a while, the dragging sound slowly drifted towards the ceiling of the next room.

Yu Zheng jumped up, yelled "Damn it!" and was about to rush out.

"Yu Zheng!" I quickly grabbed her.

"Let go!" she roared. "That thing is going to eat the people next door!"

…Will you be okay if you expose his intentions?

Yu Zheng was still struggling with me when, with a loud bang, the air vent above our heads shook, and a pair of terrifying eyes were staring at us through it.

He was wary of Yu Zheng, but his eyes were greedily fixed on me; I could even hear him swallowing.

Yu Zheng glared at him defiantly, then stretched out her arm to shield me behind her, and for a moment, they were locked in a stalemate.

In the end, his appetite overcame his fear. He roared, ripped the air vent railing aside, and jumped down as if tearing off a piece of paper.

For a moment I was confused. Because I couldn't figure out what it was.

I've seen so many strange things, and although I've never actually seen a zombie, I still have some idea of what one is. But this one in front of me... it might look and act a bit like one, but it's actually something different.

Rather than a zombie, he was more like a Frankenstein's monster, and he was incredibly hungry, craving flesh and blood. His eyes followed me frantically, and I hesitated whether to call upon the Desolate One… I cautiously peered closer and discovered that she seemed to be in a cocoon-like state, which should not be disturbed.

I want to get the slingshot, but it's inside the coat on the other side of the bed. If I want to get it, I'll have to get past this strange zombie.

The zombie tentatively roared at Yu Zheng, who angrily told him to get lost. The zombie crouched down in fear, drooling, and circled around him little by little.

Perhaps I could rush over and grab the slingshot? Yu Zheng isn't very good at controlling her primal spirits yet, and besides, since I destroyed her talent, who knows if she can still use it? But this stalemate isn't a solution, and without a weapon, I feel really uneasy.

Seeing him watching Yu Zheng, I lunged forward to grab the slingshot. But to my surprise, he was more agile than a monkey, leaping onto the wall and using the momentum to pull me down. I screamed and rolled away, and Yu Zheng angrily kicked him, sending him flying to the windowsill, and dragged me behind him.

Although she was so brave, beads of sweat had already soaked through her clothes. I was also covered in cold sweat; this kind of mental pressure is the most torturous…

In the silence, the windowpane suddenly shattered, and Yu Zheng and I both screamed.

The zombie looked back, only to be sent flying against the wall. A man, who appeared out of nowhere, dusted off the shards of glass and punched the zombie so hard that its brains splattered.

The zombie could still walk, leaping onto the ventilation shaft, but the man pulled it down, smashed a water bottle, bottle and all, on its head, shouted a few times, and made a strange hand gesture. The zombie slumped down, opened its mouth wide, and turned into a pool of blood.

My English is really bad, I couldn't understand much. But Yu Zheng understood. As expected of the Queen, she could remain calm even in such a bizarre and strange scene.

“Jesus is not the savior.” She looked up at the man. “Are you the legendary Knights Templar?”

The man looked at her in surprise. His face was sharply defined, strong and cold; someone walking down the street might mistake him for a wanted criminal.

But when he smiled, that feeling disappeared, replaced by a gentle warmth like a spring breeze.

“No,” he denied. “I was just a passerby.”

...Passing by the window on the twelfth floor at four in the morning?

"This is the most flimsy excuse I've ever heard." Yu Zheng pointed to the pool of blood and looked at him. "Could you please explain?"

"These are weapons from a certain country," the man shrugged. "Manipulating life and death, disobeying God's will. But it is God's people who suffer."

They stared at each other, and I was worried they would catch fire.

Finally, Yu Zheng made a gesture of invitation, "Thank you. But we need to rest now."

He bowed politely, then walked towards the window. He paused, turned back to look at Yu Zheng, and asked, "May I ask your name?"

"If we meet again by chance, I'll tell you." Yu Zheng raised his head.

A strong sense of admiration appeared in the man's eyes. "There's a chance."

After he went out the window (…), I knelt down and realized that my legs were weak.

The next day, when we left the hotel and mentioned the glass and ventilation holes to the front desk, they said that someone had already compensated us.

But Yu Zheng insisted on going back.

"...Then we'll have to miss each other." Although I was almost scared out of my wits, it was rare to see such a man who met Yu Zheng's standards. I never thought I was so deeply influenced by Huang E that I even had a gossipy spirit.

"No way! There's no such thing as a free lunch!" Yu Zheng angrily dragged me to buy tickets. "God's been so kind to me, sending the man I want falling from the sky? This must be a carefully crafted trap! That guy's either gay or a monk or something. Even if he's neither gay nor a monk, looking at his muscles, his...things must be tiny... I'm not falling for it! I'd rather go back and wait to see the new senior at the research institute; I can at least test drive him first..."

No matter how much we tried to stop her, we couldn't get her to stop making such inappropriate remarks. We could only listen to her rambling "comments" with our heads down.

I even wanted to crawl under the floor for her.

What's with the arrogance, Your Majesty?

"Who's being arrogant!" she glared at me and scolded.

…I forgot that our emotions can be deeply ingrained, and I was thinking too loudly.

We rode back together. She propped her chin on her hand, glaring angrily out the window. I sighed. She came so inexplicably, and she left just as inexplicably.

“…Keep moving forward,” she said abruptly.

Why did she suddenly offer such a generous gift from out of nowhere?

“I still have to keep moving forward. No matter how unfair God is, always throwing soft-bodied creatures at me, I still have to fight Him to the end. I can only keep moving forward. As long as I keep moving forward, there is hope…” She paused, “Sometimes, when I’m about to be defeated by loneliness… I also think about going back to Xiao Chen’s side.”

My eyes widened.

"But isn't this going too far?" she growled. "Knowing full well that this is the worst combination, and I'll leave sooner or later anyway, why would I use Xiao Chen just because I'm lonely? How can I respect myself? If I can't even respect myself, what's the point of living?! Listen to me, Hengzhi. Even I have weaknesses, so what are you afraid of? Thinking about it isn't a crime... just don't actually do it! Please, please, don't let loneliness, this lame excuse, defeat you!"

She swung her fist fiercely, as if to crush loneliness to pieces. "Try it like this!"

…I was very moved by her courage, but I…I didn’t have the guts to do it on a crowded train…Just being glared at by her was quite scary, so I reluctantly raised my fist.

“…Are you a lucky cat? You can’t even throw a punch?!” she exclaimed.

"..." Miss, who can be as shrewish as you? That takes talent.

My station has arrived.

After I got off the bus, Yu Zheng looked at me, waved, and then pumped her fist to cheer me on. I smiled awkwardly and watched her beautiful face gradually disappear into the distance.

Looking at my hands, I tried to make a fist. Pfft, I didn't have that kind of presence.

Find my phone. I've had it off ever since I met up with Yuzheng. Don't ask me why, I don't even know what's bothering me.

I turned on my phone, hesitated for a few seconds, and dialed Tang Chen's number. "Hello?" I asked tremulously.

"You..." Tang Chen's voice sounded very angry.

I quickly interjected, "Tang Chen, I'm back."

He didn't speak for a while. I nervously gripped my phone, feeling my palms sweaty.

"...Where are you?" His voice was tense.

"At the station," I said softly.

"I'll come pick you up," he said, and then hung up the phone.

He must be furious; he just ran away without a trace. But I've decided that no matter what he yells at me, I'll listen obediently. It was my fault.

How many more times can he afford to curse us? Not many.

But I've decided, let it be. Shuo is right, where there is gathering, there is parting; if not separation in life, then separation in death. However, the time we spend together is so short, while the separation seems endless. Should we not cherish the time we have together and laugh as much as possible, or should we cry until the very end?

Keep moving forward. Just like Yu Zheng said. Keep moving forward. If we don't move forward, who knows what kind of people we'll meet? Maybe if we keep moving forward, we'll reunite after all the separation. The world's affairs, after a long period of unity, will inevitably divide, and after a long period of division, will inevitably unite.

These words of self-encouragement vanished when I saw Tang Chen appear at the station entrance. He looked at me, and I looked at him, about ten steps apart.

I think Tang Chen will definitely have a wife and children in the future, and he will definitely be a good husband and a good father. Our separation is inevitable.

I stiffly opened my arms and, before my courage disappeared, rushed into his embrace, bumping my nose in the process.

But now, right now. He's just Tang Chen, someone I've risked my life for.

He stood upright for a few seconds before bending down to hug me, unable to utter a single word.

After that? Then we went home. Of course, he scolded me a bit, but only a few words, not a really harsh one. He even asked me nicely if I had fun going out with Yuzheng.

That's a difficult question to answer.

It was supposed to be fun, but I was exhausted and felt like my bones were about to fall apart, plus there was a zombie horror movie. But it wasn't exactly fun either.

“Uh…” I scratched my head and blurted out the thing that impressed me the most, “Yu Zheng has a really good figure.”

He stared wide-eyed for a long while before stammering, "...Are you two going to date?"

"Tang Chen, are you crazy?!" I started yelling.

Just the week before summer vacation, Yu Zheng wrote a casual letter saying that she had a boyfriend number thirty-seven.

"His job is washing windows in buildings, at least on the surface. But Hengzhi, I need to correct my previous mistake. A muscular man doesn't necessarily have a small penis. So far, I'm quite satisfied with my test drive... it can make those soft-bodied guys unable to see the taillights..."

My face flushed red as I stuffed the letter into the closet drawer.

Does the word "subtlety" even exist in the Queen's dictionary? I'm really puzzled.

Summer vacation has arrived. But Huang E won't be back until the end of summer vacation.

That's the beginning of another story.

(The gathering and the parting are over)

(The End of Calamity III)

Wasteland IV

One of the demons, young Ai

I just got home from Tainan with Shuo, and I collapsed on the bed because of motion sickness and couldn't move.

The funniest thing wasn't the train motion sickness, but the short taxi ride. I'm truly saddened by my own frail health.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard a cheerful voice call out, "Hengzhi!"

I jumped up and rushed to the front balcony to look. Tang Chen, still outside the ornate iron gate, was waving frantically and trying to open it.

"Tang Chen!" I screamed, then rushed downstairs, opened my arms, and he and I hugged each other happily, patting each other's backs frantically, then holding hands and laughing and jumping.

Finally, I helped him carry his bag, he put his arm around my shoulder, I put my arm around his back, and we chatted as we went inside.