Chapter 132: Your Doomsday Has Been Delivered (15)

The campfire in front of Jiang Xunchu had completely died out. The entire world was immersed in the night, devoid of the slightest sound. Jiang Xunchu sat upright, his spine straight as a rod; he held this posture as still as a statue. In his arms leaned a person, who was fast asleep. At first, she had only been resting against his shoulder, but by now, she had nestled completely into his embrace. Since she was already asleep, Jiang Xunchu could not push her away. Thus, he could only keep his body rigid, serving as her pillow. Although the temperature dropped at night, it was still somewhat warm, and with someone tucked against him, it was even more so. Jiang Xunchu found an object and began to fan the person in his arms to cool her down. As she slept, she began to slide downward, and Jiang Xunchu eventually had to use his hand to steady her. He let out a slow breath and looked out of the convenience store, his gaze deep and dark, though his thoughts remained unreadable.

…

An Changjing woke up in the middle of the night to take his turn on watch. Seeing Ling Qiong leaning in Jiang Xunchu’s arms, he was slightly taken aback. This was the first time he had encountered such a scene along their journey. However, thinking that they were siblings, it didn't seem like much. "Hey, you get some sleep, I'll take the watch," An Changjing offered, trying to let Jiang Xunchu rest. Jiang Xunchu acknowledged him, but he did not move, remaining seated where he was. Seeing that he wouldn't sleep, An Changjing tried to strike up a conversation to pass the time, only to be stopped by Jiang Xunchu, who whispered, "Don’t wake her."

"Uh… alright then." An Changjing shifted further away. With nothing to do, he couldn't help but observe Jiang Xunchu and Ling Qiong. At first, he didn't feel anything was amiss, but the more he looked, the more he felt something was off. What could it be? An Changjing pondered for half the night, but he couldn't figure it out.

…

The night passed without incident. The next day, they continued toward the county town. Although they had two canisters of gasoline, it was far from enough, and they needed to find more to sustain them until they reached H City. The county town was not large, and its buildings were either collapsed or burned. The shops along the streets, regardless of what they sold, had all been ransacked. Anything useful had long since been taken, leaving only the junk behind.

Ling Qiong was quite lucky; she walked straight into a street of gold shops. However, it seemed this area had already been looted, and she didn't find much. Adhering to the principle of scavenging every bit of equipment she could, Ling Qiong searched the area once more. "This stuff is useless now," An Changjing said, digging a gold necklace out from under a counter. "Why do you want this?" In the current age, money was completely worthless. Food, water, and weapons were the most urgent necessities.

"Collection."

"Collection?" An Changjing asked, puzzled.

"Is that not allowed?"

"..." An Changjing handed her the gold necklace. "It is. Here you go." Girls, after all, liked pretty things... and she lived her life with such exquisite taste, so he could understand. But why did she only want gold? He thought girls preferred diamonds and jewelry. Gold was a bit too vulgar.

Exiting the gold shop, Ling Qiong and her companions didn't run into any zombies, but instead bumped into a group of people. This group had been running in a panic from a side street and, upon colliding with Ling Qiong’s party, were forced to stop. Someone peered over, and suddenly, a voice shouted from the crowd: "Little Jiang!"

The crowd stirred for a few seconds. "It’s him, I think!" "He’s still alive..." "Who is that with him? Why is she dressed like that?" Ling Qiong drew attention wherever she went.

"Let's go over and see," a few of them said, heading toward them and waving at Jiang Xunchu. "Little Jiang, Little Jiang, it’s us!"

Ling Qiong glanced at the person beside her. Jiang Xunchu’s gaze toward those people was very faint, as if they were a problem he had solved a thousand times over, incapable of stirring a single ripple in his heart.

"Do you know them?"

"I suppose so."

Ling Qiong pondered for a moment and figured out who these people were. They must have been the ones who had held Jiang Xunchu captive previously.

"Little Jiang, thank goodness you're alright!" The men quickly closed the distance. They first scrutinized Jiang Xunchu, then cast their eyes over Ling Qiong and An Changjing. Perhaps because they felt that while Ling Qiong looked a bit strange, she appeared gentle and harmless, they didn't pay her much mind. Their focus remained on Jiang Xunchu.

"Are you all right now?" The speaker looked him up and down, lingering on his legs for a few seconds. "It’s good that you’re fine. I told you, a lucky guy like you is destined for good fortune."

"Hahaha, indeed! If it were anyone else bitten by a zombie, how could they possibly still be alive?"

"You’re something else, kid! You were bitten for days and still came out fine. I knew you were different, so we never gave up on you; we kept you with us the whole time."

The men spoke over one another, as if Jiang Xunchu were truly a long-lost companion they were overjoyed to have found.

An Changjing: "???" He listened, completely lost, with question marks popping up over his head. Bitten by a zombie? Isn't he perfectly fine? Isn't this just nonsense?

Ling Qiong was playing with a string of gold beads that looked like prayer beads. She turned her gaze to Jiang Xunchu; the little cub had indeed lied to her. When she had asked him how long he had been bitten, he had told her one day. Hearing this now, it had clearly been several days even back then. Jiang Xunchu happened to be looking at her as well. Their gazes met, and feeling guilty, Jiang Xunchu looked away first.

"Little Jiang, let's go together. We all know each other, it's better to have companions, and there's safety in numbers." The group finished their 'reunion' and got to the main point.

"No need." Jiang Xunchu refused flatly. At this point, he hadn't yet experienced the betrayal of these men, nor the plot where they captured him for experiments. However, Jiang Xunchu had already been suspicious of their actions before.

"Little Jiang, what are you doing? Do you think we’d harm you? Didn't we take care of you when you were injured before?"

"Exactly! Little Jiang, is this your new companion? It's fine, we can all go together. We’re all survivors, we should help each other out."

"Right, right, it’s not safe here. Let’s get out of here first."

The men chattered like a crosstalk act, giving no one a chance to interject, forming a semi-circle as they tried to lead them away. Even as dim as An Changjing was, he realized something was wrong. These were Jiang Xunchu’s former companions? This didn't look like an invitation to travel together; it looked more like a kidnapping.

"Hey, is this car yours?" Someone noticed the vehicle parked beside them. He touched the hood, finding it still hot to the touch. "This car looks pretty good." The man reached for the car door.

Ling Qiong’s fingers, which were fiddling with the gold beads, paused. She warned him, "You really shouldn't touch this car."

The man looked back at Ling Qiong. "Why?"

Ling Qiong smiled and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Because you’ll have bad luck."

The man laughed, clearly not taking her words to heart, and pulled the door open. The interior had leather seats, was clean, and carried a faint fragrance. Because the air conditioning was running, it was cool and incredibly comfortable. Compared to those foul-smelling vehicles, it was far better. His heart leaped with joy, and just as he was about to get in, a dull pain struck the back of his head, and his vision went black. The last thing he saw was the young girl, still playing with her gold beads, leaning over slightly to look at him. "I told you that you’d have bad luck. Why didn't you listen?"