In the dead of night, Nie Ran woke up from his slumber.
The wounds on his body had completely healed, and the energy he had expended before had returned.
He clenched his fists, feeling the abundant strength in his body, yet he felt no joy, only numbness.
The pile of corpses outside the window had disappeared at some point, and the zombies had returned to their usual state, wandering around like malevolent ghosts searching for living beings in this world.
They were searching for him, but they couldn’t defeat him.
They could only torment each other day after day, year after year.
Tap, tap, tap, someone knocked on the door.
Before he could answer, the person outside pushed their head in.
“Oh, you’re awake. Hungry?”
He glanced indifferently, ignoring them, and carefully wiped his knife.
Without needing to ask, Ning Xin knew it was definitely the primary personality who had returned, or else there would have been a lot of chatter about sisters.
“Um, I made some food, but I can’t eat it. Do you want to try it?”
Seeing him remain silent, she immediately said, “Not objecting is consenting. Wait here, I’ll go get it now, don’t leave.”
After several reminders, Ning Xin turned and rushed downstairs, running the whole way. Soon, she returned panting heavily.
“Here, try it.”
Nie Ran turned away, not wanting to look at her.
She stubbornly followed him, even using her hand to lift his face.
“Don’t be shy, just try it.”
Finally, he was annoyed and impatiently raised his head, ready to erupt. However, when he saw what was in the plate, he froze in place.
Ning Xin quickly picked up the item and held it in front of his eyes.
“I spent a long time shaping this. Do you know what this is? It’s a Kunpeng, part fish, part bird. It looks particularly cool, right?”
The syrup was clearly overcooked, presenting a murky burnt black color, indicating it probably didn’t taste very good.
The shape was also horribly rough; you could barely make out a fish shape, with two uneven wings, making the Kunpeng look disabled.
She used rock sugar instead of the flexible maltose, so after cooling, it had a hard texture, almost like glass, which could be painful to eat.
Nie Ran silently stared at it, and a long time passed without him saying a word.
Ning Xin proactively pushed it towards him, “Don’t just look, eat.”
“Why did you make this?”
He lifted his head, his eyes showing traces of bloodshot veins.
“Just bored, thought it would be fun.”
“Tell me the truth.”
She pursed her lips and shrugged.
“I want to improve our relationship. You’re the only living person around me, and I really don’t want you to pull a knife on me every now and then.”
Nie Ran took the figurine, which could be described as ugly, and placed it on the bedside table.
“I won’t kill you anymore.”
“Really?”
Ning Xin didn’t expect such a good effect. She happily sat beside him and hooked her arm around his.
“So, are we friends now? If you encounter any difficulties, you can tell me, and I’ll definitely help you.”
Nie Ran lowered his eyelids, staring at her hand on his arm, his gaze sharp as a knife.
She quickly pulled back, giving a nervous laugh.
“As long as you understand in your heart. It’s not just about daily difficulties, you can also tell me about your past sorrows. We’re in this together.”
Nie Ran had a look as if he was seeing a pervert, so Ning Xin patted his shoulder and slipped out of the room.
Just a figurine made him promise not to kill her anymore. That was a great deal.
She needed to hurry up and make the shuttlecock.
Shuttlecocks, being inexpensive and fun toys, were something Ning Xin had played with a lot in the past.
Though she had never made one herself, she knew shuttlecocks were traditionally made with chicken feathers.
She didn’t have any chicken feathers, as she hadn’t seen any birds in the woods last time. So, after some consideration, she decided to use paper as a substitute and cut it into feather-like shapes.
There were no scissors in the asylum; the only usable tool was a kitchen knife.
She rummaged through the warehouse and found a stack of medical records. Sitting in the living room, she focused all her attention on making them.
After some time, Nie Ran came downstairs and saw a pile of soil by the window, along with plants growing in it. He stopped in his tracks.
She glanced at him and said, “I’m smart, right? No flower pots can’t stop me. I just brought the soil inside and planted directly in the house.”
He looked down at the lush plants for a while without saying anything.
Ning Xin was curious about something. “Do you know what these plants are called? I’ve never seen them before.”
Nie Ran’s thin lips moved slightly.
“They’re called… Yan Ji.”
Yan Ji? Why did that sound familiar?
She couldn’t remember for a moment and gave up, then called out to him, “Come and take a look. Does this look like a shuttlecock?”
Nie Ran walked over, and she held up the thing in her hand for him to admire.
The paper-cut feathers were ugly, varying in size and clumsily bundled together, with small stones wrapped in cloth at the bottom.
He coldly asked, “What are you making?”
“Let’s play together. There’s nothing to read here, and it’s so boring just sitting around all day.”
“Not interested.”
He said and headed towards the door. Ning Xin hurriedly asked, “Where are you going?”
“Just going for a walk.”
“Remember to come back, or else I’ll come find you. You broke the door, and it’ll have to be fixed sooner or later.”
Without looking back, he left, shouldering his dawn, and pushed open the plank to walk out.
There were zombies outside, so Ning Xin rushed to block the plank again. Seeing the “resurrected” zombies pause for a moment before continuing their activities, she remembered seeing the change in the pile of corpses first-hand while at the window.
So many bodies disappeared in an instant, like a map refresh in a game.
Not long after, new zombies came from a distance, and the outside returned to its original state.
By now, even if she were dull, she could sense that this world might not be a true “world” in the literal sense.
People could disappear at will, Nie Ran could recover from such serious injuries unscathed, and zombies could refresh themselves.
It was like running a dungeon in a game. She was probably trapped here.
In games, defeating a boss is often necessary to progress to the next level.
Here, Nie Ran was that boss.
Would he come back?
Ning Xin looked at the distant mountains and forests, surprisingly not worried at all.
She decorated the shuttlecock a bit more, making it look more presentable.
Then she started washing and cutting vegetables, preparing a table full of food, and sat at the table waiting for Nie Ran to return.
The food cooled, the night grew late, and the outside was filled with eerie shadows.
Bang!
The plank was pushed open, but the first thing to come in wasn’t a person, but a thick tree trunk.
Already dozing off with her head supported, Ning Xin was startled awake, looking at the man who followed closely behind.
“What are you doing?”
“Fixing the door.”
He answered bluntly, dropping the tree trunk to the ground and picking up dawn to start cutting.
Dawn was very sharp, cutting through iron like mud, and dealing with wood was even easier.
He cut it into several thick wooden boards, comparing them in size to the door and then assembling them accordingly.
With no nails at hand, he sharpened the edges of the wood scraps into long, sharp points and drove them into the wooden boards, securing them tightly.
During this time, the door remained wide open, with zombies trying to enter.
Without even looking up, he casually swung his knife and chopped off their heads.
Ning Xin was already calm when facing corpses, even warmly greeting him amidst the scene.
“Stop messing around and take a break. Let’s eat first,” she said enthusiastically.
Nie Ran ignored her and continued working on the wood.
She picked up a piece of potato and walked over, trying to sneak it into his mouth.
Nie Ran furrowed his brows, about to get angry, but then he chewed and swallowed it.
“Is it tasty?” Ning Xin asked expectantly.
He put down the wooden board in his hand, leaned the dawn against the wall, and sat on the stool, extending his hands.
Ning Xin was momentarily stunned, then she realized and handed him the bowl of rice and chopsticks.
Nie Ran started eating hungrily.
At first, she was happy.
“Eat more, don’t be shy. I made plenty, there’s still plenty left,” she encouraged.
But after fifteen minutes, she sensed something was off.
“Hey, slow down a bit, leave some for me!” she exclaimed.
Nie Ran devoured half of the food in the blink of an eye.
Ning Xin hadn’t even taken a single bite, fearing she might go hungry. She quickly sat down and started eating.
Luckily, she reacted in time, resorting to her wits to grab some food and barely fill her stomach.
But Nie Ran seemed insatiable, repeatedly asking her for more.
She looked at the empty pot and said, “There’s nothing left, really, not a single grain.”
His expression darkened, clearly unhappy.
Ning Xin resignedly said, “I’ll go make more, alright? Geez, you’re eating like there’s no tomorrow.”
Nie Ran set down his bowl and continued working on the wood. Both of them were on the first floor, one repairing the door and the other cooking, and surprisingly, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
When she finished preparing the second meal, Nie Ran’s new door was also completed.
He stood the door upright and slid it into the frame, testing it out. It fit perfectly.
The door was solid, with a thickness of two to three inches, clearly sturdy, and even had a thick bolt for security.
Ning Xin went over and gave it a push, then gave a thumbs up in satisfaction.
“Alright, not bad craftsmanship,”.
Nie Ran snorted disdainfully before sitting at the table.
She immediately served him the meal, and they resumed eating. During the meal, she curiously asked, “Have you not had a proper meal in a long time? What did you eat when you lived alone in the cave?”
Nie Ran, uninterested in answering, was irritated by her persistence and finally uttered two words. “Didn’t eat.”
“Nonsense, you had potatoes hidden in the cave,” she retorted.
His cheeks reddened slightly, thankfully obscured by the darkness of the night. “That was when I was really hungry.”
“But you didn’t have a pot, so how did you eat? Did you just gnaw on them raw?” she pressed on.
He remained silent, essentially confirming her guess.
Ning Xin clicked her tongue sympathetically. “Poor thing. From now on, with big sister around, you won’t go hungry anymore.”
“Sister?” he scoffed. “Who’s sister?”
She smiled knowingly. “That… is a secret.”
Hmph, let him grumble all he wants. When the personalities switch again, he’ll end up following behind her anyway.
After eating their fill, Nie Ran got up to go upstairs.
Ning Xin tapped the table with her chopsticks. “I cooked, shouldn’t you wash the dishes?”
He was speechless. “I fixed the door.”
“That’s what you should do since you broke it,” she retorted.
“…,” he remembered her earlier words, “You want to improve our relationship, so you wash.”
Ning Xin sneered. “Improving a relationship requires mutual effort. It’s not all on one person. I cook, you wash dishes. Doesn’t that seem fair?”
Nie Ran took a deep breath, nearly losing his temper. Suddenly, he remembered something and suppressed his anger.
“What should I wash?” he asked.
“All of these, and these, and those…” Ning Xin piled up all the dishes by the well, instructing him, “Wash them properly. If you clean the pots and pans well, the food I cook will taste better.”
In the dim moonlight, Nie Ran crouched down to wash the dishes.
He clearly wasn’t very skilled, and his sleeves quickly got wet.
Ning Xin watched for a while, then gleefully went upstairs, lying on the bed and patting the pillow. Finally, she could have a peaceful sleep.
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