After getting into the car today, Ruan Ning deliberately avoided her original seat and sat alone in the very back row.
She leaned against the seat and closed her eyes, planning to rest for a while longer. But because of the irritation weighing on her heart, she could never fully fall asleep. In the end, she could only give up on catching up on sleep, open her almond-shaped eyes, and stare blankly out the window.
Suddenly, she felt someone sit down in the seat beside her.
At first, Ruan Ning thought Jiang Jingyang had come onto their vehicle, so she did not pay much attention.
Until she heard that person speak.
“Ningning, are you feeling unwell? Why have you looked so listless from morning until now?”
Hearing that familiar voice, Ruan Ning froze. A bad premonition rose in her heart. She turned her head and looked over, only to see that the person sitting properly beside her was not Jiang Jingyang as she had thought, but the very Big Boss Gu she least wanted to see right now.
“…”
What was going on? Why wasn’t Gu Yicheng sitting in the front seat with the wide view? Why had he come over here to squeeze in beside her?
After seeing this person sit beside her, Ruan Ning was instantly frightened awake. How could she possibly sleep now?
Ruan Ning had not slept well yesterday, so today, her whole state was a little off. She also did not have the habit of looking in the mirror often, so she did not know just how bad she currently looked.
Her palm-sized little face was full of worry. The corners of her eyes drooped slightly, and she looked completely lacking in energy, like a flower deprived of nutrients. Although it did not damage her beauty and instead made her look even more pitiful, her abnormal state was still obvious at a glance.
“I’m fine. I just… didn’t sleep well last night,” Ruan Ning said hesitantly.
Could she say that it was because she had suspected yesterday that he had improper intentions toward her, causing her to toss and turn all night unable to sleep, and that was why she did not dare face him today and had deliberately avoided him?!
Of course not.
Ruan Ning was not stupid. Something that damaged the male lead’s wise and heroic image had to be covered up tightly. Whether it was true or not, she was afraid that if she said it out loud, the person beside her would throw her out of the car.
“Why didn’t you sleep well? Was it too cold sleeping in the tent?” Hearing her reply, the smile in Gu Yicheng’s eyes disappeared. He frowned slightly, suspecting that she might have caught a cold, which was why she seemed so listless. As he spoke, he reached out to touch Ruan Ning’s forehead and check whether she had a fever.
Ability users had stronger resistance than ordinary people, but they would still feel very uncomfortable after getting sick. Healing abilities could only treat external injuries and were not suitable for illnesses like colds and fevers.
Ruan Ning noticed the movement of the person beside her. Right now, how could she dare have any physical contact with him? She dodged extremely quickly, panicked, and hurriedly said, “Brother, I’m fine. I’m not feeling unwell. It’s just that what happened on the university campus yesterday was too scary, so I had nightmares last night and couldn’t sleep properly.”
Hearing this, Gu Yicheng paused. His dark eyes stared at the person beside him for quite a while. Perhaps because Ruan Ning already had something hidden in her heart, his gaze made her scalp tingle. She kept feeling as though her little thoughts had already been discovered. But when she looked carefully, he did not seem any different. His eyes and expression were still as calm and composed as ever.
There were no seat belts in the last row. Just as Ruan Ning was struggling over whether she should say something else to salvage the silent atmosphere, the car had only driven out for a short while when they encountered several zombies that suddenly rushed out from the side of the road.
The person driving today was Lin Yang. When he saw the zombies coming, he turned the steering wheel and made a sharp turn.
Because of inertia, and because Ruan Ning was not in the right state of mind and was thinking about other things, she did not grab the seat in front of her in time. Her whole body rushed straight into the male lead’s arms.
And because she was afraid of getting hurt, she even subconsciously reached out and tightly hugged the person beside her.
The entire sequence of movements made it look as though she had actively thrown herself into his arms.
But Ruan Ning could swear to the heavens that this was really just an accident!!
“Did you hit anything?” he asked.
“No.” Ruan Ning had found a cushion in time, so of course she had not hit anything. On the contrary, under the force of her crashing over, Gu Yicheng, who had originally been sitting steadily in his seat, had his left shoulder slam into the car door.
The sound of bone hitting the door made Ruan Ning feel pain on his behalf just from hearing it.
Ruan Ning regretted it so much her intestines were almost turning green. Why had she not just sat properly in the front and fastened her seat belt? Why had she come to the last row? Fine, she had come here, but why had she not watched the road carefully? Before the apocalypse, the traffic manual’s insistence that people must wear seat belts really had a reason.
Serves you right for changing seats. Serves you right for not wearing a seat belt. Serves you right for not paying attention. Great, now the situation had become even more awkward.
And yet she was the only one struggling internally. The male lead beside her looked completely fine. Whether it was his words, actions, or tone, he was exactly the same as usual toward her. It couldn’t be that the male lead had been harbouring improper thoughts toward her from the very beginning, right?
Sigh. So wasn’t this just her making trouble for herself?!
Sure enough, excessive imagination was an illness. It needed treating.
Just as Ruan Ning was overwhelmed with regret, Lin Yang’s voice came from the front row.
“Brother Gu, Sister Ruan Ning, we ran into a little situation just now. A zombie hit the front of the car. Are you two okay?”
“I’m fine. Brother, he…” Ruan Ning had already returned to her seat. She looked at Gu Yicheng beside her with concern and guilt, her expression becoming even more dispirited.
Gu Yicheng steadied himself, glanced at Ruan Ning, and rubbed her hair with his left hand. “Look, I’m fine. Don’t overthink it.”
Ruan Ning was still in a guilty, self-blaming state because of what had just happened. How could she still remember something like avoiding physical contact? This was not the first time he had patted her head anyway. Once she got used to it, it was just like that. Besides, she had now fully convinced herself that she had overthought things, so she had no intention of dodging.
Gu Yicheng noticed this scene, narrowed his eyes, and a dark, unreadable look flashed through them. In the next moment, they returned to calm.
Half an hour later, they drove into a residential compound.
This was a high-end residential area with good surrounding facilities in every aspect. Jiang Jingchao and Jiang Jingyang’s parents usually lived in one of the duplex apartments here.
The situation in this high-end compound was somewhat similar to the one Ruan Ning had lived in near the school when she first transmigrated here.
Only, the flow of people around this compound should be lower than that of her previous one. After all, her compound had been within the second ring road, close to the city centre. At the beginning, there had been fewer zombies there only because there were fewer people inside the compound. If she had stayed longer, more zombies would still have gathered.
A lower flow of people here meant fewer zombies, and it was also more suitable for survivors to hide at home while waiting for rescue.
They drove the car downstairs to the building where the Jiang parents lived. Ruan Ning did not go up with them. More accurately, only Jiang Jingchao, Lin Yang, and a few others went up together. Even Jiang Jingyang, who was anxious to see his parents, was left in the car by Jiang Jingchao because of his injuries.
One hour later.
Jiang Jingchao brought the others down from upstairs, but there were no unfamiliar faces beside them. The same number of people had gone up, and the same number came down.
Jiang Jingchao’s expression did not look good. “We didn’t find anyone in the apartment. We searched the whole building too, but didn’t see them. They’re not here.”
If he could not find his parents at home, then he could only go to Base Three. If he still could not wait for his parents there, it would mean that the hope of finding them in this apocalypse would become even more remote, even if they were still alive somewhere in B City.
Not finding his parents at home made Jiang Jingyang look dejected and disappointed too. But then he suddenly thought of something and hurriedly said, “Right, I remember now! I know another place where we might be able to find them!”
Then, following the location he mentioned, the Morning Light Squad arrived at an escape room club only a few hundred metres away from the residential compound.
“This is the place.” Jiang Jingyang looked at the escape room club in front of him, which occupied both the first and second floors, and said, “This was opened by a friend of our parents. It’s been open for less than a month, so maybe even you didn’t know about it, Brother.”
“Why would Uncle Jiang and Auntie Jiang be here?” Ruan Ning was genuinely curious, so she asked.
What exactly was special about this place? Wasn’t it just an ordinary club? Generally speaking, hiding in a supermarket would be better than hiding in this club. Why was Jiang Jingyang so certain that his parents might be here?
Before Jiang Jingyang could say anything, Gu Yicheng opened his mouth and answered Ruan Ning’s confusion.
“Many escape room clubs have double-layered walls. The doors and windows here are also much sturdier than those installed in many ordinary homes. With the current attack strength of most zombies, they probably wouldn’t be able to break in. Some escape room clubs even have basements. If there’s enough food inside, staying in a place like this for one or two months wouldn’t be a problem at all.”
Jiang Jingyang nodded. “Yes. The owner of this club is also a camping enthusiast. The place is fully equipped, and there are usually all kinds of compressed foods stored inside. So if they aren’t at home, there’s a very high chance they came here.”
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