Hey! This guy changes his face faster than flipping through a book.
Yesterday he was pestering her, calling her sister, and today he acts like he doesn’t know her?
Ning Xin’s anger surged up from the bottom of her heart, “Open your eyes wide and look carefully, do you recognize your sister?”
Perhaps startled by her momentum, Nie Ran hesitated for a moment, but quickly regained his composure and grabbed the knife placed at the end of the bed, pressing the blade against her neck.
“Confess honestly, or it’s a dead end!”
“…Big brother, do you have amnesia? It’s me, Ning Xin, the one who brought you back from the cave to take care of your injuries.”
Hearing this, he seemed to have a faint recollection, but still didn’t let go.
Ning Xin observed his expression and eyes, suddenly having a premonition.
“You wouldn’t…”
Has the alter personality returned?
That would be great!
Nie Ran carefully surveyed the surroundings, seeing no danger and finding the person in front of him non-threatening. He then stood up and walked towards the door.
Ning Xin rubbed her neck and followed behind him, saying, “You’re lucky to have met me. Not only did I nurse your wounds, but I also fed you. If you had stayed in the cave alone, you would probably have died long ago.”
She kept talking, but Nie Ran remained silent, making his way downstairs on his own. When he reached the door, he reached out to undo the latch.
Ning Xin was startled and quickly grabbed his hand, blocking the door with her body.
“What are you going to do? There are zombies outside.”
Nie Ran didn’t even glance at her, coldly saying, “Get lost.”
She noticed the food on the table and immediately said, “Aren’t you hungry? The food’s ready, let’s eat together.”
Nie Ran glanced back, showing little interest. He pushed her aside and opened the door, walking out.
Ning Xin shouted anxiously, “Hey! Wait!”
He didn’t look back, walking forward without a glance. As a few zombies approached, he effortlessly dealt with them and quickly disappeared from sight.
Ning Xin was a step too late, staying behind the door.
Because there were too many zombies, she didn’t dare to go out, so she could only peer through the crack in the door, watching the direction he left in.
She couldn’t believe it. She thought the capable personality had returned and could help her more. But he just left like that!
Was he going back to his cave? What was he thinking?
She pondered for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. Her stomach growled, so she sat alone at the table and started eating.
Hmph, it’s better that he left. The remaining food only needs to be shared between herself and the old lady.
Ning Xin tried hard not to feel too disappointed, but she knew deep down that Nie Ran’s departure was definitely more harmful than beneficial to her.
Because of her worries, the food she painstakingly made didn’t seem as tasty.
She absentmindedly finished two bowls of food and went back upstairs to sleep.
Habit is a terrifying thing.
For the past few days, she had been followed around by Nie Ran, and now suddenly it was quiet, which made her feel uneasy.
Ning Xin looked at the sky outside the window, unable to sleep. She decided to go downstairs again and check the food supplies.
With Nie Ran gone, the food would last for about half a month if she and the old lady were frugal.
During this half month, she didn’t want to idle. Every day, besides mealtime, she climbed to the rooftop to observe the surroundings of the small building.
As the saying goes, knowing oneself and knowing one’s enemy leads to victory in a hundred battles. If she found a way out and understood the distribution pattern of the zombies, she might be able to escape.
However, reality is always harsher than imagination. Despite her daily observations, even after finishing the last bit of food, she still had no clue.
In the distance, there were only continuous mountains and forests. The distribution of zombies was always random, wandering aimlessly without a target, making it impossible to find any patterns.
Ning Xin sat on the rooftop for half a month. Apart from her skin getting darker by a couple of shades and her eye irritation worsening, she gained nothing.
The beans she brought back earlier had sprouted neatly after being watered.
She plucked all the bean sprouts that had grown to about half a palm’s length, made a final dinner, divided it into two bowls, and brought them upstairs. She sat by the window, chewing together with the old lady.
There was still plenty of seasoning left, so she added a little extra, giving it a spicy and numbing taste.
Ah, spicy hotpot.
Ning Xin remembered its taste and regretted not eating more of it before.
The old lady seemed uninterested and only took a few bites before setting down her bowl.
Ning Xin persuaded her, “Grandma, eat a little more. This is the last food we have. We’ll be hungry again starting tomorrow.”
“Can you bear it?”
Ning Xin smiled bitterly, “If I can’t bear it, is there any other way? I’ve brought back everything edible from that little village. Going back there won’t help.”
The old lady seemed to ponder something.
“If that boy hadn’t left, I would have known of another place.”
“What?”
She pointed in a direction, “Walk about three or four kilometres in that direction, there’s another village.”
Ning Xin: “…”
This old lady must have some issues!
She squatted in front of the old woman, holding her knees with both hands, and earnestly looked at her weathered face.
“Grandma, we’ve been living together for so long, you should know my character. If you trust me, can you tell me the truth? Who are you really?”
The old woman looked down at her, and in her cloudy eyes filled with tears, it seemed like there was a hidden door, behind which lay secrets.
Ning Xin stubbornly squatted, refusing to give up.
Sighing, the old woman looked out the window and said, “Alright, I am the director of this lunatic asylum.”
Ning Xin: “!!!”
“I have a map here that marks all the buildings within a hundred miles.”
“Really?”
“It’s in the bedside cabinet. You can take it if you need it.”
Ning Xin remembered that she had previously searched through the bedside cabinet and found nothing.
Half believing, Ning Xin opened the drawer and found a neatly stacked map inside.
She took it out and unfolded it. centred around the lunatic asylum, it marked out the surrounding forests, mountains, rivers, and villages, including the one she and Nie Ran had visited before.
“So…you should know a lot about this place, right?”
The old lady said, “The lunatic asylum has been established for many years, but due to mismanagement, all the patients escaped. I stayed here in the hope of finding them and continuing their treatment.”
“Where did the patients escape to? What’s the deal with the zombies outside? And why did I end up here?”
One question resolved, yet more questions arose.
Ning Xin felt like she had fallen into a swamp, the harder she tried to climb out, the deeper she sank.
The old lady opened her mouth, seemingly about to answer her.
She waited eagerly, but ten seconds passed, half a minute passed, and the old lady lowered her head, emitting a faint snoring sound from her nose.
…Was she pretending? How despicable!
Ning Xin almost wanted to shake her awake, but seeing her with her head full of white hair, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead, she went downstairs to study the map.
After nearly half an hour of examination, based on her experiences from her previous outings, she concluded that the map was likely genuine, and the marked locations were accurate.
The second village mentioned by the old lady was about four kilometres away.
The route was flat, no need to climb mountains or cross rivers. It would take about an hour to walk, probably half an hour if she ran.
The only obstacle would be the zombies along the way. Judging by their density, she would probably encounter at least a few hundred.
With Nie Ran gone, she couldn’t rely on her old rusty knife alone to survive the journey back.
Should she go there to find food?
Her strength was still there now, but if she went hungry for a few more days, even without zombies, she probably wouldn’t be able to make it that far.
With resources in hand and hope in sight, she had to give it a try.
Ning Xin thought of the plant and quickly found it. Unfortunately, after being picked for so long, it had dried up like pickled vegetables, completely devoid of vitality.
She ran to the window, dangling it in front of a zombie’s nose with a rope.
The zombie took a bite, chewed for a moment, then spat it out with a “ptoo” before continuing to wander.
Ning Xin closed the window, frowning.
It seemed that if she wanted to go to that village, she would have to first gather more plants by the forest for self-defence.
As the sky darkened, she took a bath with well water and went upstairs to sleep.
The next morning, Ning Xin got up early and went to the old lady’s room, hoping to extract some more secrets.
But to her surprise, the old lady wasn’t in her wheelchair today. She was lying in bed, weakly waving her hand.
“I have a headache and can’t hear you clearly. Could you help me get a glass of water?”
Ning Xin fetched a glass of water, which the old lady drank before promptly falling asleep without another word.
…Ning Xin was speechless. She simply said, “I’ll be out for a while at noon,” before returning to her own room.
The zombies seemed to fear the heat, so around noon, when the sun was at its strongest, their numbers were usually lower.
Taking advantage of this time window, Ning Xin armed herself with clothes and blankets, grabbed her long-handled knife, and hid behind the door, waiting for a moment when there were no zombies passing by before dashing out.
The area where the plants grew was about half a mile from the asylum. Initially, things went smoothly, but halfway there, the number of zombies gradually increased.
Ning Xin quickened her pace, but several zombies appeared ahead, blocking her path.
She tightly gripped the knife in her hands, focusing on one of them, giving herself encouragement, and then swung fiercely…
The knife struck the zombie’s scapula, getting stuck inside. She instinctively pushed it down with the long handle, not daring to linger, and didn’t have time to pull the knife out before running away.
She didn’t stop until she couldn’t see any zombies nearby, then leaned against a tree to catch her breath. When she looked back, she realized she was back at the spot where she had previously gathered the plants.
The plants grew densely along both sides of the path, with leaves resembling spinach and pale yellow flowers blooming.
Having learned her lesson from before, Ning Xin was cautious this time. She wrapped layers upon layers around her hands and covered her mouth and nose with fabric before carefully picking the plants.
This time, she made sure to pull them out with roots and soil attached. This way, even if she didn’t use them all at once, she could plant the extras to avoid risking her life again next time.
She picked over thirty plants, filling her backpack until it was heavy. Ready to head back, she noticed a figure standing on the hillside, watching her.
The person was dressed in a patient’s gown, carrying a large broadsword wider than his waist. Without needing to guess, Ning Xin knew it was Nie Ran.
What was he looking at? She could survive just fine without him.
Ning Xin averted her gaze, hoisted her backpack, and headed back to the asylum alone.
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