Ning Xin was stunned for several seconds before realizing she had been deceived by him!
She never expected it, never thought he could be so cunning behind that cold exterior!
What should she do? Should she confess?
Ning Xin didn’t dare to make a rash decision. She decided to play dumb for the time being and figure out her next move later.
“What did you say? Why can’t I understand?” She tilted her face up, blinking innocently, looking utterly clueless.
Nie Ran sneered, “You’re still pretending at this point?”
“I really don’t understand. You must know your own affairs better than me. Why are you asking me? I’m busy, I’ll leave first.”
With that, she got up and started to walk towards the door, but Nie Ran reached out and grabbed her wrist.
Suddenly, she was pressed down on the bed by him.
His body was large and heavy, like a small mountain, making it hard for her to breathe.
Ning Xin thought she understood him well enough, but encountering this situation made her nervous and even stutter in her speech.
“W-what are you… doing?”
“Do you like him a lot?”
“Who?” She paused, as if reluctantly asking.
He hesitated before saying, as if unwillingly, “Him.”
“The other him inside my body.”
…Despite the completely different behaviours of the two personalities, Ning Xin had always treated them as the same person.
But now, it seemed that he didn’t feel the same way?
“I definitely prefer you.”
She smiled brightly, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
Nie Ran looked incredulous. “Why?”
“Because he’s silly, but you’re different. You’re smart and capable, of course I like you.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I tell you and you don’t believe it, yet you ask me why? Let me go, you’re crushing me.”
Nie Ran indeed released her, and Ning Xin sat up, rubbing her neck and giving him a reproachful glance.
Seeing him so troubled, she felt a bit worried.
“Are you feeling upset because of this? There’s no need. Even though you’re sick, you’re still my good friend. I won’t judge you for this.”
He glanced at her askew and said, “You probably never had a friend before.”
“Huh?”
“From the day we met until now, every word you’ve said, every letter, has been to achieve your own ends.”
Ning Xin froze, then stood up angrily after a moment, spat disdainfully.
“I don’t know a good person when I see one!”
After scolding him, she went back to her room, closed the door, and lay on the dilapidated hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Nie Ran was right. She indeed had no friends.
She was too busy, busy with sourcing goods, managing the store, and doing the accounts. Every meal was squeezed into her schedule, leaving no room for anything else.
Having lived in the city for over twenty years, she didn’t have a single trusted friend.
Including this time, when she died in a car accident, probably no one cared.
Was she successful or a failure?
She couldn’t figure it out, feeling a hint of soreness in her nose. She rubbed her eyes hard, forcing herself not to dwell on these questions.
Regardless, going back was crucial.
Her money, her dreams, they were all there.
The next morning, Ning Xin prepared a table full of food and even specially made a new sugar figurine. When she saw Nie Ran come downstairs, she immediately greeted him warmly.
“Are you hungry? Come and eat, I made a lot of delicious dishes.”
Nie Ran stood by the table, glanced down, and scanned the spread with his eyes.
“Are you doing this for me, or for him?”
“…Isn’t it the same?”
“It’s not.”
“Then can I do it for myself? Don’t interfere.”
Ning Xin brought the food over, but Nie Ran said, “You eat, I’m leaving.”
She asked in confusion, “Where are you going? We don’t need to search for food anymore, we have enough to last a long time.”
“All of that food is for you. Don’t bother me anymore.”
With that, he walked towards the door. Ning Xin only then noticed that he had a knife with him and was dressed neatly.
Her calm demeanour was suddenly disrupted. She hurriedly caught up and asked, “Are you going back to the cave? Why not stay here? We have food, clothes, water, and no need to worry about being attacked by zombies. What’s not satisfying here?”
He turned his face slightly, the morning light casting a dense shadow on his brow bone through the crack in the door.
“This place is good, but it doesn’t belong to me.”
Nie Ran opened the door and walked out without looking back.
Ning Xin grabbed the door and shouted, “Come back! Come back!”
The horde of zombies surrounded him, and his figure disappeared completely. He never looked back, leaving without hesitation, returning to the hellish world outside the greenhouse.
Ning Xin ran to the corner, pulling out all the Yan Ji grass. She wanted to chase after him.
But after running a few steps, she felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
What could she do if she caught up? Could she really cure his illness?
She wasn’t a nurse or a doctor. Even when she had a cold, she just drank more hot water. How could she hope to cure someone else’s mental illness?
It was ridiculous, wrong from the start.
She might as well cut her losses, just walk forward, walk to the edge of the world, where there might be a chance to escape.
She would leave now.
Ning Xin didn’t want to stay for even a second longer. She was eager to leave this seemingly safe but actually imprisoning asylum.
She packed a large bottle of water, some food, and all the Yan Ji grass she had gathered.
When she left, she hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to lock the door.
If she couldn’t find a way out this time, she didn’t plan on coming back.
But if she didn’t lock the door, the zombies would definitely get in.
Lock it. Perhaps Nie Ran would regret it. She could leave this safe place to him.
Ning Xin locked the latch on the outside door, took one last glance at the asylum, forcibly suppressing the reluctance in her heart, and walked forward without looking back.
Relying on the dozen or so Yan Ji grass plants, the zombies dared not approach her.
After eating well and sleeping soundly for the past few days, her physical strength was abundant.
She walked for more than ten miles in one go before her legs began to ache, and she had to slow down.
In front of her lay barren fields, with a village in the distance. Nie Ran probably already searched it, but she wondered if there would be any fresh food like dead zombies.
The image of Nie Ran gradually emerged in her mind as she thought of him.
He was feverish and unconscious in the cave, he called her sister when his personality split, and he was on the cliff edge ready to end his life…
Unknowingly, they had experienced so much together.
Upon careful reflection, she couldn’t think of anyone of the opposite sex who had been as intimate as him, even sharing the same bed.
What would happen to him when she left?
Would he continue to be trapped in this strange world, unable to live a normal life but unable to die either?
When the alter personality appeared, he would probably feel abandoned by her, wouldn’t he?
Ning Xin stopped in her tracks, looking back in the direction of the asylum, feeling a bit uncertain.
Should she go back? Or should she take him with her?
After much deliberation, she decided to give up. Everyone has their own fate, and her abilities were only enough to take care of herself.
She continued forward until it was dark, then stopped to rest for a while, eating something and drinking water before continuing on her way.
Ning Xin walked until it was dusk, feeling disoriented and blurry. The road ahead seemed endless.
She had looked at the map; she should have reached the edge long ago.
Could it be that the map didn’t depict all the terrain?
Water and food ran out, and the Yanyi grass began to wither.
Ning Xin was exhausted to the extreme, stumbling and falling to the ground with no strength left to get up.
The scorching sun hung high, making her dizzy.
She crawled under a nearby tree, feeling her life force slowly slipping away.
Unable to escape, unable to cure Nie Ran, why did they bring her into this world in the first place? It would have been better to die directly in the car accident.
As the Yanyi grass withered, its effect on the zombies began to weaken.
The sun rose and set, and set and rose again.
She lost track of time, not knowing how many days had passed, as several zombies approached her, their foul mouths wide open.
A hand grabbed her shoulder, sharp bones piercing her skin.
Ning Xin weakly lifted her eyelids, too weak to escape, closing her eyes and waiting for death.
It seemed like something was happening around her, the sounds of a struggle reaching her ears.
Soon, she was lifted into familiar arms, hearing a man’s voice amidst the chaos.
“It’s too early to die now,” Nie Ran said as he carried Ning Xin back to the asylum and placed her on the bed in her room.
The woman’s face was pale, her lips dry, with a wound about ten centimetres long on her shoulder, continuously bleeding.
He gazed at her quietly, remembering when he was unconscious in the cave, his face almost swollen from her blows.
Now that she was delirious, was it the right time for revenge?
He reached out and compared the size of her face with his palm.
Her face was barely larger than his palm, her neck and arms slender; a single slap might render her senseless.
Yet, despite her fragility, she had never shown cowardice in front of him.
He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, chuckling softly, then turned and went downstairs.
Nie Ran found rock sugar in the kitchen, boiled water, and dissolved it, then brought it upstairs to feed her.
Ning Xin’s mouth was too small, and he didn’t have a spoon, so after trying for a while, he only managed to wet her collar.
He wanted to wipe it with a towel, but Ning Xin suddenly whimpered with her eyes closed.
“I still… want to drink…”
“I still… want to drink…” Ning Xin repeated.
Nie Ran had no choice but to pick up the sugar water again and patiently, slowly feed it all into her belly.
Her complexion visibly improved, becoming a bit rosier. Nie Ran set down the bowl and reached for her clothes.
The wound on her shoulder was severe, and she wasn’t like him; it needed to be treated, or else it would worsen and lead to death.
Ning Xin was dressed just like him, in patient clothes taken from the warehouse on the first floor, button-up style, and slightly oversized.
He undid the top two buttons, revealing a patch of snowy white skin and slender collarbones.
What would be seen if he continued was easy to imagine, and Nie Ran hesitated for a good half-minute before finally undoing them all.
Carefully peeling away the fabric stuck to the wound, he absorbed the blood with a clean towel.
Ning Xin had been in pain when he removed her clothes earlier, but now she opened her eyes wide, resisting as she curled her body.
“Don’t touch, it hurts…”
“Endure the pain.”
Nie Ran’s tone was cold, but his movements were much gentler and quicker as he cleaned the wound thoroughly and started applying medication.
As Ning Xin gradually regained consciousness and looked down, she was stunned.
“You…”
Nie Ran glanced at her blankly, expressionless.
“Don’t overthink it.”
His hand rested on her chest, yet he told her not to overthink it???
Ning Xin was so angry that she pushed him hard, not harming him but inadvertently aggravating her wound, causing her to gasp in pain.
“If you don’t want to die, then just lie down obediently.”
Nie Ran waited for her to lie back down before continuing with the medication.
She felt embarrassed and ashamed, almost wanting to dig a hole and hide in it. Inadvertently, she caught sight of familiar surroundings, memories of before she passed out slowly flooding back.
Wasn’t she already unable to move, supposed to be eaten alive by zombies? “You… saved me?”
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