AFTCKCTCKATD - Chapter 9
Chapter 9
"Cry, After You’ve Cried Enough, Don’t Cry Anymore.”
Ignoring the pain emanating from their bodies, a group of people quickly moved through the urban jungle of buildings.
As the commotion created by the Corpse King grew louder, more and more zombies began to converge in that direction.
Throughout their journey, they narrowly escaped encounters with zombies several times, even once colliding head-on with them. Fortunately, Ji Yanqing’s reactions were swift, allowing him to quickly eliminate the threat before any more noise could attract further danger.
They ran without stopping for nearly forty minutes, only slowing their pace when the dense urban landscape ahead started to thin out, revealing glimpses of green vegetation unlike the steel and concrete buildings they had left behind.
The city’s edge lacks the bustling prosperity found in its center; the buildings are old, low-rise, and have narrow facades. Even the not-so-wide streets have stalls that used to sell breakfast propped up on them.
The streets were teeming with zombies, and not just a few.
A group member who had scouted ahead returned and silently gestured towards a row of buildings on the left, indicating there were fewer zombies there.
Ji Yanqing glanced lightly at the zombies wandering on the streets, leading the group towards them.
After dashing across the street to reach the building on the left, Ji Yanqing continued forward and ran more than five hundred meters in one go, arriving in front of a building on the very edge of the town. However, instead of leaving the town directly, he sought a nearby place to hide.
In the repair shop, where the door stood wide open and an in-progress car had been left in pieces, several people were gasping for breath while peering outside from the doorway.
To the left of the repair shop is a road, and across the road lies farmland that stretches all the way to the foot of a mountain range about two miles away.
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The virus outbreak has lasted for over half a year now, leaving the farmlands long abandoned. Overgrown with weeds, they now appear as a lush green expanse as far as the eye can see.
In what should have been a scene brimming with life, there now lies an eerie atmosphere that makes one’s scalp tingle. The familiar rice plants that once thrived in the fields, serving as their livelihood, had grown taller than a person, resembling corn stalks.
The rice stalks at the top, as thick as an adult’s arm, grew branches eagerly before even maturing, blooming clusters of white, powder-like flowers.
Between the gaps of the rice plants, it seemed as though something immensely dangerous was lurking, making one feel timid at just a glance.
That was definitely not the rice they were familiar with.
“I’ll go check nearby to see if there are any other paths.” A tall and muscular bald man from the team headed towards the road between the repair shop and the farmland.
The space between the city and the mountains was entirely covered in farmland. Unless they could find a direct path from the city into the mountains, they would have no choice but to cross through the farmlands.
If they could, they would rather not venture into that rice paddy. Who knows what lies within?
“Be careful.” Ji Yanqing gently advised.
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Watching the bald figure leave, a group of people started to examine the wounds on their bodies.
They were all more or less injured, previously they had only managed to hastily stop the bleeding.
After quickly checking himself, Ji Yanqing inspected Ji An and the other child.
Ji An was very well-behaved, obediently allowing Ji Yanqing to gently stroke his little head and then his small tummy.
The other child was very nervous. Upon seeing Ji Yanqing gently approach him, he immediately tried to back away, but being placed inside a backpack, he had nowhere to escape to. Realizing he couldn’t escape, he tightly shut his eyes.
After confirming that both little ones were unharmed, Ji Yanqing let out a sigh of relief.
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Lan Zi was seriously injured; her right hand was dislocated. Running all the way, she was drenched in sweat and her lips were completely void of color.
“Hold on a bit.” Xia Shen Shu grabbed Lan Zi’s hand.
Xia Shen Shu didn’t ask whether Lan Zi would accept or not; and she simply gritted her teeth and turned her head away. She had no other choice.
Xia Shen Shu acted immediately the moment Lan Zi turned her head.
He indeed had some skills. He managed to relocate her wrist smoothly, although Lán Zǐ was in so much pain that she curled up into a ball on the ground.
“Alright then...” Xia Shen Shu glanced at his hand, feeling quite accomplished and even a bit nostalgic.
Ji Yanqing glanced over, and thought that Xia Shen Shu didn’t resemble a doctor at all. After all, doctors wouldn’t carry guns, right?
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At this moment, the bald man entered through the door.
Everyone turned their heads to look.
The bald man shook his head, “There is a road by the town’s entrance, but it seems to be a national highway, crowded with cars...”
The apocalypse descended, and the first instinct of the city dwellers was to drive away. However, with the streets flooded by both people and vehicles, many couldn’t escape the city in time and were trapped on the roads. This immediately turned highways and national roads into some of the most dangerous places, second only to schools, hospitals, and the like.
“Tsk,” the bald man cursed.
“Which direction is the reservoir in?” Ji Yanqing looked towards Xia Shen Shu.
Xia Shen Shu pointed towards the farmland across the way.
Ji Yanqing frowned lightly as he looked over.
Walking on the ridges between the fields might be possible, but it’s not much better than taking a shortcut directly across the fields.
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“Are you going to Shengfeng Reservoir?” The man previously saved by Ji Yanqing outside the school was full of surprise.
“Do you know it?” Xia Shen Shu raised an eyebrow.
He quickly figured it out and continued, “I’ve been there before. I can lead the way for you all. The reservoir is very deep; there should still be water in it.”
Ji Yanqing and Xia Shen Shu exchanged a glance, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Though they had saved the person and even allowed them to flee alongside them to this place, deciding whether to let the individual join their group and whether to rescue someone were two separate matters.
People like Sun Haifeng are never in short supply.
The person noticed the hesitation among the group and also recognized that the core of the team was Ji Yanqing, whose face under the goggles was startlingly beautiful. He immediately said to Ji Yanqing: “I’ve been to the reservoir area for a barbecue with friends before. The place is quite far from here; it takes more than two hours to get there by car. If you’re walking, even if you stick to the main roads, it’s easy to take a wrong turn without someone to guide you.”
“You’d better really know the way,” Ji Yanqing said lightly.
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The reservoir now, even if there’s still some water left, surely won’t have much—it might just be down to the bottom. In such a case, it would definitely be challenging for them to find it on their own, especially since they’re out of time.
It was already nearly one o’clock, the hottest part of the day had passed, and the air was no longer oppressively hot. Yet, the water they had lost wouldn’t return.
Their lips were chapped, and their throats burned with an unbearable pain.
The worst-case scenario might be that they both can’t make it until noon tomorrow.
“Rest assured!” The man sighed in relief, “My name is Zhang Guxian.”
Ji Yanqing gave him a quick glance and took the lead in rolling down his trouser legs and sleeves, “Try not to expose your skin.”
After tucking the smaller child into the backpack and properly securing Ji An’s pant legs and cuffs, Ji Yanqing gently led the way to the rice plants that towered over them by a considerable height.
Ensuring that everyone was ready, he led the way into the fields.
The rice plants stood tall, and they had to tilt their heads back just to see the tops as they walked among them. The farmland’s ground was already dry and cracked, resembling a parched desert.
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The rice underwent a mutation, its roots as thick as fingers intricately winding along the ground. Leaves half the height of a person continuously brushed against their clothes, creating a rustling sound, while the heads of wheat swayed with their movement, pollen dancing at the tips.
The air was stagnant, unbearably stuffy and hot.
Everyone was completely focused, on guard for anything that might spring out at them. Due to the intense tension, nearly everyone had beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.
However, they walked nearly two miles in one breath, crossing the entire stretch of farmland to enter the forest at the foot of the mountain, and yet, they didn’t encounter any danger.
With the tension suddenly relived, everyone exchanged glances and let out a long sigh of relief.
“Keep going.” Ji Yanqing didn’t give everyone time to rest, leading the way up the mountain. They were still not far enough from the city.
No one spoke; everyone just gritted their teeth and followed.
The world had already crumbled, much common knowledge was no longer applicable, and this was true for the mountain forest as well.
This forest, originally not far from the city and supposed to be fairly sparse, has grown to the scale of a thousand-year-old forest in just half a year. Within the woods, there were only the towering ancient trees that require several people to encircle them.
Between the trees, the gaps were too narrow, and many trees were engulfed by their neighbors before they even had the chance to grow tall.
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From a distance, it wasn’t clear if it was all in their minds, but the trees caught in the devouring grip seemed like people screaming in agony.
The surroundings were utterly silent. Instead of relaxing due to the distance from the bustling city, the eerie environment made everyone’s nerves even more taut.
Gritting their teeth and pushing forward, they walked for more than an hour, until everyone was completely drained, with their throats so dry that even breathing became painful. Only then did Ji Yanqing finally suggest taking a rest.
Upon hearing Ji Yanqing’s words, “Rest here,”, everyone deflated like punctured balloons, unceremoniously collapsing to the ground without any regard for appearances.
No one spoke; the only sound in the forest was that of collective breaths being caught.
Ji An had been carried for a while by Xia Shen Shu, and the moment the group stopped, he hurried towards Ji Yanqing, seeking to be close to him.
Upon seeing this, Xia Shen Shu couldn’t help but murmur at the figure slumped on the ground, “Little heartless cub.”
Ji Yanqing found a spot to sit down and, after taking the child out of his backpack, he pulled out some red dates and dried mushrooms he had found earlier and tossed them to Xia Shen Shu to distribute.
Upon spotting food, Xia Shen Shu quickly got up from the ground. Seeing that there were merely two packs of dates and dried mushrooms, which hardly appealed to his appetite, he felt listless and disheartened.
“Here, eat these,” Ji Yanqing gently handed them the small bread and two little packets of fish tofu he had previously shared with Ji An and the others.
Ji An glanced at Ji Yanqing before accepting the fish tofu.
Seeing the bread, the other child’s Adam’s apple moved uncontrollably, yet he didn’t dare reach out to take it.
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Ji Yanqing made no effort to force the issue, directly placing his little bread and fish tofu on the ground, which belonged to him.
“How long had you been there?” Ji Yanqing asked Ji An softly.
When asked, Ji An, who was holding his fish tofu so tenderly as if he couldn’t bear to eat it, pondered for a moment and then held up five dainty, slender fingers.
“Five days?” Ji Yanqing was slightly surprised.
“That kid has to be delirious...” The bald man chuckled while eating red dates, “One would have died of thirst in five days already.”
Under such scorching temperatures, going without water for five days, let alone a three-year-old child, even a group of adults couldn’t withstand it.
“Really...” Ji An became somewhat anxious, he could count, he had already been able to count up to a hundred.
The bald head appeared in sight.
Ji An was immediately so frightened that he dared not speak, hiding behind Ji Yanqing.
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Ji Yanqing’s thoughts abruptly drifted to another child, remembering the blood and holes on their clothes—clothes he had swapped out under the cover of darkness, unbeknownst to others.
“What’s your name?” Ji Yanqing gently looked towards the other child.
The child remained silent, merely gazing at Ji Yanqing and his group with fear.
“Why were you there?” Ji Yanqing asked again.
“My mom told me to wait for her there...” This time, before Ji An could speak, the child said, his words tinged with urgency as he spoke and simultaneously turned his head, trying to look around.
Realizing his mother was nowhere to be found and the surroundings had become unfamiliar, his lips puckered up, on the verge of crying.
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If he were to leave, his mother would not be able to find him when she returns.
The thought of his mother possibly not being able to find him made tears stream down his cheeks in large drops, filling him with a sense of grievance.
The bald man pursed his lips, having absolutely no patience for children. Yet, in the end, he didn’t say anything, because the child, just like Ji An, was only three years old and even afraid to cry out loud despite clearly wanting to cry.
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The child looked at Ji Yanqing with tearful eyes, his tears falling even more fiercely. He tried hard not to make a sound, his sobs making his chest heave dramatically, a sight that tugged at the heartstrings.
“She’s fine, you’ll be able to see her very soon,” Ji Yanqing said softly.
The child clutched fiercely at the T-shirt Ji Yanqing had dressed him in, his sobs becoming increasingly ragged as he struggled to catch his breath. His small chest heaved rapidly, as if the sadness and grievance inside him were too vast to be concealed.
Ji Yanqing’s voice softened to a whisper, unable to comprehend why his attempts at consolation only led to more tears.
Ji Yanqing was mulling over what to say next when the thoughts in his mind suddenly took a sharp turn. He came to a sudden realization; the reason why the child had been crying incessantly might not be because he couldn’t find his mother, but because he had understood the heartbreaking truth that he would never see his mother again.
He already knew—he had been discarded.
Before they were found, he and Ji An had been hiding in that building for several days. Although they were still young, that lengthy period had already been enough to allow them to understand many things.
Ji Yanqing felt a bitterness in his throat.
He reached out, pulling the child into his embrace and holding him close to his chest.
“Cry, cry as much as you need this time, and then, let there be no more tears.” Ji Yanqing paused gently, “From now on, you’ll be known as Ji Le.”
Held in an embrace, he felt the warm and comforting strength in Ji Yanqing’s gentle arms. Hearing theAr3 y0u r34ding th1s 0n https://rottentledits.blogspot.com/ ? If n0t, 1t's b33n st0l3n! C0m3 r34d 0n th3 OG s1t3. N0 ads, 4nd 1t k33ps m3 m0t1v4t3d~ words whispered right into his ear, the child ultimately couldn’t hold back and burst into tears with a loud “waah”.
In the silence of the forest, the air was filled with his heart-wrenching cries.
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