The man had long legs and walked with powerful strides, moving quickly.
Ning Xin tried her best to chase after him, but she couldn’t catch up. Seeing that she was about to lose him, she quickly shouted, “Don’t go! I have water!”
In this post-apocalyptic world, clean water resources must be scarce, right?
Sure enough, the man stopped and looked back, his gaze cold as frost.
Unconcerned, she hurried to him, panting, and said, “Thank you for saving me just now…”
“Saving you?”
His voice was deep and resonant, as if emanating from his chest.
Ning Xin nodded. “Yes, if you hadn’t killed those zombies, I’d still be stuck up in that tree.”
The man suddenly realized, but then he said, “I just found them blocking the way.”
“…”
Ning Xin laughed awkwardly. “Anyway, you’re my lifesaver. What’s your name?”
She tried to get close to him with the same enthusiasm she used when negotiating with her landlord to lower the rent, wishing they could become sworn siblings right away.
Unfortunately, the man seemed uninterested, giving her a once-over before asking, “Where’s the water?”
Ning Xin hesitated for a moment before digging it out of her bag and holding it out to him.
“I only have half a bottle left. You must be in need…”
The story wasn’t finished. The man reached out, snatched the water bottle, then turned and walked away.
She was stunned, but a few seconds later, she hurried to catch up.
“That’s my water!”
At least leave her some!
“I’m your lifesaver, as you said.”
The man paused for a moment, then walked even faster after speaking.
Ning Xin was speechless. But the fact that he dared to walk alone in such a dangerous world, strolling through a horde of zombies as if he were in a garden, meant he must have some skills.
As long as she stuck to him like glue, at least she wouldn’t be bitten by zombies.
He needed to eat too. Once she found food by his side, she could make other plans.
Thinking this, she quickly caught up, staying close by his side.
After walking for a few minutes, the man glanced at her sideways, grunted coldly, then suddenly jumped onto a tree.
Such a tall tree! Did he have springs in his feet?
Ning Xin was astonished, but she didn’t have time to be surprised. She immediately started climbing the tree too.
But having been out for so long, she had only drunk half a bottle of water, and her strength was limited.
After climbing for quite a while, she only made it halfway up the tree, while the man had already jumped to the next big tree from this one.
The dense foliage partly obscured his figure, and she could easily lose sight of him.
When Ning Xin finally climbed to the treetop, she saw only branches swaying gently in the wind, with no sign of the man.
Damn it! She had been ditched…
She didn’t have the ability to jump between big trees like him. Planning to climb down and find him, she looked down, only to see several zombies gathering below, eyeing her menacingly.
Ning Xin sat down with a thud, hugging the tree trunk, feeling like crying but unable to shed a tear.
Now it’s really over, she’s doomed.
Time passed second by second, and soon it was dawn.
As the sun rose, the temperature soared. Despite the shade of the leaves, it was still hot enough to make one sweat profusely.
She licked her dry, chapped lips, longing for the half-bottle of water that had been snatched away from her.
Thinking about it ignited a flame of anger within her.
“What kind of person doesn’t leave me a single drop? It’s outrageous!”
But despite her hundred or thousand curses, the man was still nowhere to be seen, as if everything was just her imagination.
This couldn’t go on. She didn’t want to die.
Ning Xin pinched her thigh forcefully, forcing herself to gather her spirits, looking around for a way to escape.
The tree she was under was several meters away from the nearest one, but it was large, and the branches and leaves intertwined. She didn’t know if it could bear her weight.
She wanted to try. She stood up, swaying unsteadily, and started moving forward.
After manoeuvring for a while, she finally grabbed hold of a branch from another tree, but she didn’t have the courage to step out onto it.
“…”
The zombies followed her movement, right beneath her feet, their foul breath almost making her faint.
She couldn’t afford to be bitten by the zombies! She had to make it!
Ning Xin gritted her teeth and gave it her all to jump forward.
Her toes barely grazed the target branch as her body plummeted straight down.
The zombies seemed as if they had spotted a pie falling from the sky, eagerly opening their mouths wide.
Ning Xin thought she was doomed, closing her eyes, but to her surprise, she came to a halt halfway down. The branch in her hand made a creaking sound, probably reaching its weight limit.
She felt elated, not daring to linger, and pushed herself to climb up.
A few minutes later, she sat on the branch, smiling happily.
It was great; she wasn’t that weak after all. If she kept moving like this, she would surely find an opportunity to escape.
If she found that man, she would definitely… definitely…
Definitely be even more eager to cling to his thigh!
After resting for a while and regaining some strength, Ning Xin transformed into a monkey and continued swinging through the forest.
Having a target made it less unbearable, but her mouth grew increasingly parched, her throat sore.
This was supposed to be a forest, why weren’t there any fruits?
She picked a leaf and examined it carefully, but lacking experience in this area, she gave up after a while.
With such a lush forest, there should be water sources nearby, right? But where?
Ning Xin swung around for another half-day and arrived at the edge of the forest by evening.
She climbed to the highest point and looked around. The small building was no longer visible. Instead, there were several continuous mountains ahead, with zombies roaming around.
The evening glow spread across the sky, and it wouldn’t be long before nightfall.
By then, the zombies would become more active, and she didn’t know how long she could hold out with her limited strength.
Ning Xin crouched on a branch, observing. When there were fewer zombies around, she clenched her fists and leaped down, sprinting forward.
The zombies followed closely behind. She ran into a mountain hollow and glanced back.
To her surprise, the nearest zombie was only a dozen steps away from her!
Her scalp tingled as she ran forward regardless, suddenly spotting an entrance to a cave. Without thinking, she dove straight in.
The cave was pitch black, she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.
Ning Xin regretted entering as soon as she did. If there were zombies inside too, wouldn’t she be walking into a trap?
But the zombies chasing her were already at the entrance, searching for her scent. Going out would be death as well.
She didn’t hesitate anymore. She grabbed some mud from the ground and smeared it on herself, attempting to mask her scent. She then pulled up her collar to cover her nose and mouth, tiptoeing deeper into the cave.
She kicked something on the ground, and it rolled, seeming round.
She squatted down and felt it with her hand, her breath catching in her throat.
The irregular sphere had several holes of varying sizes on it. Based on the familiar pattern, it seemed to be a human skull.
If the head was here, where was the body?
She dared not dwell on it, pretending she hadn’t seen anything, and continued forward.
The cave was deep, and after a few minutes of walking, she saw light ahead.
Golden-red light spilled from a fissure in the cave roof, looking almost dreamlike.
Wait, what was that?
In the corner lay a person, tall and wearing black clothes, but completely motionless, as if asleep.
He looked familiar. Ning Xin approached cautiously, unable to resist taking a closer look, and couldn’t help but gasp.
It was the man from before!
Encountering him again, she wondered where he would try to escape to this time.
Clearing her throat, Ning Xin prepared her words, intending to persuade him with her tongue.
However, after a couple of sentences, she realized something was wrong.
“Hey, wake up.”
The man was as still as a stone, as if not even breathing.
A certain possibility crossed her mind, startling her. Hastily, she checked his breath.
Thankfully, he hadn’t stopped breathing, but his breath was scorching hot, and his skin was alarmingly warm, as if he had a fever.
“Hey, wake up, don’t die.”
If he died, where would she find another thigh to cling to?
She shook him forcefully by the cheeks, noticing a plastic water bottle on the ground nearby. She quickly grabbed it, intending to splash some water on his face, but the bottle was empty.
Her gaze fell on the man’s body, and Ning Xin frowned, rolling up the pant leg of his left leg.
His slender calf had a wound several inches long, split open, oozing pus, and already beginning to ulcerate.
Seeing such a severe wound made her cringe. Was he feverish because of an infection from the wound?
Thinking back to the scene of him defeating the horde of zombies the previous night, she couldn’t help but admire him.
This guy really was as strong as an ox.
“Wake up, come on, wake up.”
With no other options, she desperately slapped his face, hoping he would wake up.
The man had a face mask on, which was a hindrance. Ning Xin removed it, taking a moment to look at his face after seeing it clearly.
This person… was quite handsome.
With sharp eyebrows and eyes, a high nose, and thin lips. Even with his eyes closed, his bad temper was evident.
But being handsome didn’t put food on the table; waking him up was more important.
Ning Xin continued to slap him, left and right, over a dozen times.
Just as she was getting into it, his eyelashes trembled, and he lifted his eyelids, revealing his pitch-black eyes.
Smack!
Her slap sent his face to the left, immediately angering him.
“Stop it!”
His voice was too soft due to just waking up, and Ning Xin didn’t notice. She followed up with another slap.
Having had enough, he grabbed her wrist and simultaneously picked up the broadsword beside him. In the blink of an eye, the blade was against her neck.
“Do you want to die?” the man gritted his teeth, his face turning ashen.
Ning Xin was initially startled, then pleasantly surprised.
“Great, you’re not dead!”
The man: “…Are you crazy?”
She knew he misunderstood, so she quickly grabbed his hand to explain.
“Don’t get agitated, listen to me. I saw you burning up with fever, so I had to wake you up. Look, you’re awake now, aren’t you?”
The man looked at her suspiciously, still unwilling to lower the blade.
Ning Xin pursed her lips, intending to continue explaining, but she heard footsteps approaching from behind.
A zombie was coming in!
The sound grew closer, and she looked at him pleadingly for help.
“What should we do? I don’t want to die here. Do you know where there’s an escape route?”
“Escape?”
He snorted coldly, still holding the sword.
“In my dictionary, that word doesn’t exist.” With that, he faced the zombies, swinging the sword with a flash of gold.
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