AFTCKCTCKATD - Chapter 38

Chapter 38

 He Began To Wonder If He Had Fed Feng Yimo Too Much.

Feng Yimo, who had already turned into a small dot and was about to disappear into the forest, disappeared for a moment, then ran back.

Seeing that approaching figure, Xia Shen Shu breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, the corners of his mouth twitched. “Didn’t you notice that the direction was a bit off?”

Feng Yimo looked at him with cold, bewildered eyes.

Xia Shen Shu’s lips twitched again. He gave up. It was a miracle Feng Yimo could survive until now.

“Follow me closely.” Xia Shen Shu tightened his grip on his gun. After saying that, he hurriedly added, “Ji Yanqing is this way.”

Feng Yimo, who was about to rush forward, paused, and then followed.

Lan Zi had already disappeared into the forest. Xia Shen Shu looked back at the others, and then quickly chased after her with Feng Yimo.

They were very fast, and in an instant, they disappeared into the forest.

Seeing their figures disappear, the people left behind looked at each other.

“…Should we go?” Li Pingsen murmured.

“Are you crazy?” Xia Chen looked at him with a pale face.

“Do you want to go back and die?” Xia Chen raised his voice, as if trying to persuade Li Pingsen, or perhaps trying to persuade himself.

They had just been running for their lives. His heart was still pounding. Go back now?

They had barely escaped. Going back now was no different from seeking death.

Li Pingsen’s lips moved. He looked at the faces of the people behind him. In the darkness, everyone was pale, and everyone was looking in the direction Xia Shen Shu and the others had gone.

His lips trembled. He tried to say something, but he couldn’t speak.

After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and followed Xia Shen Shu and the others.

Seeing him turn back, the silent crowd stirred. They looked at each other.

He didn’t know who took the first step, then the second, the third… soon, more than half the team was following Li Pingsen. They were going back to find Ji Yanqing.

Seeing the majority of the team starting to move, looking at the dark forest ahead, which concealed countless dangers, Xia Chen, whose face was pale and whose heart was pounding, felt the muscles in his face twitch. But the next moment, he still followed.

“Are you guys crazy?” The man from Xue Gang’s team who had been kicked by Xia Shen Shu, the one with the gun, couldn’t help cursing when he saw that they were actually going back. “Are you all sick in the head?!”

No one responded to him. Li Pingsen and the others only gritted their teeth, their faces pale, and slowly moved forward.

They only had two guns left. Xia Chen had one, and Su Luo, the youngest, had one. And the one Su Luo had was only a pistol.

As for the others, at most they only had machetes or homemade spears.

With a lineup like theirs, if they encountered that Awakened zombie again, or the other thing in the mountains, they would surely die.

Understanding this clearly, their legs couldn’t help trembling. Their hearts were in their throats, and their steps were incredibly cautious. They felt like they were walking on thin ice.

They gritted their teeth and walked for almost five or six minutes. They had only gone a little over a hundred meters.

“Rustle…”

Someone stepped on dry leaves, and a faint sound rang out in the silent darkness.

The sound was like a clap of thunder. The group, whose nerves were already stretched to their limits, immediately turned to look.

Meeting those pale faces, the person who had stepped on the leaves looked like he was about to cry.

Meeting his expression, the others swallowed, their scalps tingling. They became even more cautious and fearful, goosebumps erupting all over their bodies.

Fear gripped everyone's heart, yet no one dared utter a word about turning back. Despite trembling hands and feet, they pressed onward. They might not have known Ji Yanqing for long, but one thing was clear: he was a good person. In this brutal new world, Xue Gang’s ilk was the norm. Even in Xue Gang’s shoes, they doubted they could have acted with more decency—perhaps even worse. 

They couldn't guarantee their own goodness in peaceful times, let alone when danger lurked. Turning back to distract an Awakened zombie, sacrificing themselves for the group's survival… such a feat was beyond their imagination. 

They knew themselves, and they knew their companions. That’s why they clung so tightly to Ji Yanqing. He was their only hope; no one else would risk their own life for theirs.

Li Pingsen, leading the way through the oppressive darkness, swallowed nervously. The sound, amplified in the silence, startled even him. As he fought to control his ragged breathing, a faint noise drifted from up ahead. He froze, his scalp prickling with fear, and instinctively looked towards the source. The others, equally terrified, followed his gaze. 

Xia Shen Shu, noticing Li Pingsen and the others trailing behind, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. He quickly understood their motive but chose to remain silent. Recognizing Xia Shen Shu, and seeing Lan Zi and Feng Yimo carrying Ji Le, Li Pingsen and the others felt a wave of relief wash over them. They hastened their pace, eager to join the group.

Meanwhile, Ji Yanqing raced back towards the spot where he had left Ji An. The forest was a black void, swallowing both hiding both monsters and children alike. He darted from tree to tree, his heart pounding in his chest. Suddenly, a small figure materialized in the darkness ahead.

The boy was slight, his clothes hanging loosely on his thin frame, his movements clumsy. Ji Yanqing recognized Ji An instantly, and his heart leaped into his throat. He sprinted towards the boy, scooping him up without a word and carrying him to the nearest tree for cover. 

Once they were hidden, he scanned their surroundings, ensuring their safety before turning to Ji An, whose mouth he had instinctively covered. “Didn’t I tell you to find the others?” he whispered, a hint of anger in his voice. Ji An had disobeyed him.

Recognizing Ji Yanqing, Ji An burst into tears, his small arms wrapping tightly around his neck, almost choking him. Feeling the pressure, Ji Yanqing swallowed his reprimand. He’d been wrong to leave Ji An alone in the forest. 

He and Ji Le were usually so mature, it was easy to forget they were only three years old. In the heat of the moment, all he could think about was creating a diversion, buying them a chance to escape. He hadn’t considered the terror Ji An must have felt, abandoned in the strange, dark forest, surrounded by unseen dangers.

He hugged Ji An close, gently stroking his back. 

“Sorry…” Ji An mumbled, his voice muffled against Ji Yanqing’s shoulder, trying to keep it down. He knew he'd been disobedient and caused worry.

Ji Yanqing's heart ached at the boy's tearful apology. He was about to offer his own when a faint sound reached his ears. He instantly tensed, picking up the gun at his feet.

“Ji Yanqing?” a hesitant voice, barely louder than a mosquito's hum, emerged from the darkness.

The voice was distorted by the distance and the darkness, but Ji Yanqing recognized Lan Zi instantly.

With Ji An in his arms, the axe in one hand, and the gun in the other, he moved swiftly towards the sound. After sprinting for over 100 meters, he spotted Feng Yimo and the others behind a tree. Relief flooded him. His gaze shifted, landing on Li Pingsen and the others clustered behind Xia Shen Shu’s group. Surprise flickered across his face.

He hadn’t been surprised to see Feng Yimo, Xia Shen Shu, and Lan Zi return for him. But Li Pingsen and the other thirty-odd individuals were unexpected.

“Papa…” Ji Le, who had been unusually quiet in Feng Yimo’s arms, could no longer contain himself at the sight of Ji Yanqing. The fear and worry he’d been holding back finally erupted. 

Ji Yanqing handed the gun back to Li Pingsen and gently cupped Ji Le’s face, wiping away his tears. “Don’t cry,” he murmured.

“What’s that…?” Xia Shen Shu’s gaze had been fixed to their right since they arrived.

Ji Yanqing followed his line of sight.

About 15 meters away, a patch of dark upturned soil stood out against the white snow. It looked as though a large animal had been thrashing there for a considerable time.

That size… It had to be the Awakened zombie.

The sight of the disturbed area, several meters wide, sent shivers down their spines. The brief respite they’d felt at being reunited evaporated, replaced by a chilling dread. 

“Did you see another Corpse King in the forest?” Ji Yanqing asked Ji An, who was still nestled in his arms. Ji An had been running towards him from that direction.

Ji An shook his head vigorously, his eyes wide with anxiety. He hadn’t seen another one. Could there really be another Corpse King lurking in the forest?

Feng Yimo's dark eyes narrowed as he stared at Ji An. The boy might not have seen it, but he had. 

“Ji Yanqing,” Lan Zi's voice was sharp, laced with anger.

Ji Yanqing met her gaze.

“Do you have any idea how worried we were when we realized you’d gone back? That’s an Awakened zombie! Practically a Corpse King! You could have died!” Lan Zi struggled to keep her voice low, but her anger was palpable.

“If something had happened to you—” She bit back the rest of her sentence. She knew the reason for Ji Yanqing’s reckless actions.

Even if he’d told them his plan, they would’ve likely tried to stop him, then watched helplessly from a distance. Frustrated, she fell silent. Ji Yanqing was taken aback for a moment, then a smile touched his lips.

Lan Zi was worried about him. She was like a protective older sister.

Ji Yanqing’s delicate features, his clear eyes, high nose bridge, and soft pink lips, framed by his fluffy hair, were striking even when he wasn’t smiling. Now, in the darkness, his genuine smile captivated the thirty-odd onlookers.

Xia Shen Shu also smiled, his expression bright but his eyes cold. He hadn’t intended to bring this up now, but since Lan Zi had started, the impromptu intervention had to continue. 

“We’re a team now, a large one,” he stated firmly. “We face everything together. No one shoulders the burden alone.”

He looked around at the group. “And don’t forget, you’re the captain of this survival team. Anyone else can die, but you can’t. If you die, this team falls apart.”

Li Pingsen’s lips twitched at Xia Shen Shu's words. They didn't want to die either! But Xia Shen Shu was right about one thing. 

If Ji Yanqing died, their team was finished. 

If it had been anyone else left behind, they wouldn't have risked their lives to return. If it had been anyone else, they wouldn't have acted as a distraction against the Awakened zombie.

“Sorry,” Ji Yanqing said, taking a deep breath.

He hadn’t thought that far ahead. There hadn’t been time.

Feng Yimo's gaze locked onto Ji Yanqing, his dark eyes unreadable.  “Stay close to me from now on. Don’t run off,” he commanded. 

Everyone stared at him in stunned silence. 

Meeting his cold, serious gaze in the darkness, they held their breaths. 

How dare Feng Yimo speak to Ji Yanqing like that?

Feng Yimo frowned, sensing the sudden shift in the atmosphere. Had he said something wrong?

Ji Yanqing rubbed his forehead. “Let’s go. We need to leave this place.” 

Without further ado, he led them in the direction they’d been heading before, as far away from the disturbed site as possible. They didn’t know what lurked in these mountains, where the other creature—the potential Corpse King—had disappeared to, or if the Awakened zombie would return. 

The longer they lingered, the greater the danger. 

With renewed determination, they pressed on. Within minutes, they had put considerable distance between themselves and the unsettling scene.

After navigating the forest for about ten minutes, they spotted a group of people in the distance—the twenty or so survivors from Xue Gang’s team. They had taken the opposite path when Li Pingsen and the others had left.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, they turned around. Seeing Ji Yanqing and the others, realizing that Li Pingsen and his group had rejoined them, surprise registered on most of their faces.

Few had expected them to survive.

Ji Yanqing ignored them and continued leading the group forward at a brisk pace.

The three men with guns from Xue Gang’s team exchanged glances. The man Xia Shen Shu had kicked earlier was the first to react. “Let’s go,” he urged, and they quickly caught up, falling in behind Ji Yanqing’s group. 

Ji Yanqing glanced back but said nothing. Escaping this place was the priority.

The mountain range stretched far, connecting to the mountains near the county town. They had been moving away from the town earlier and had already covered a significant distance. After regrouping, they continued their trek. Two to three hours later, they finally reached the edge of the mountains.

Below, a dark expanse of wasteland stretched out before them, dotted with shrubs of varying sizes.

The shrubs were the Awakened zombie’s domain. They were reluctant to venture back into that treacherous landscape, but they had no other choice.  

After confirming their direction, Ji Yanqing set his jaw and led them down the mountain, back into the wasteland.

They abandoned their previous plan of following the railway tracks. Instead, Ji Yanqing guided them parallel to it, pushing deeper into the wasteland. 

The sky had begun to lighten when they descended from the mountains. After another two hours of traversing the wasteland, the sun rose fully, casting a harsh light over the desolate landscape.

After four or five hours of relentless running, their pace began to slow. This was especially true for the members of Xue Gang’s team who had already endured days of being pursued by the Awakened zombie. Many lagged 20 to 30 meters behind the main group.

Ji Yanqing, observing his team, considered finding a place for a brief rest when Feng Yimo, running to his left, suddenly focused on the shrubs to their right.

He followed Feng Yimo's gaze. At first, he saw nothing but a dense cluster of shrubs. But as they continued for another 20 to 30 meters, a familiar, massive figure emerged from a narrow gap between the bushes. 

The Awakened zombie was only about 100 meters away, to their right. 

It was huddled on the ground, curled into a ball, whimpering, its tail clutched in its hand.  

After descending from the mountains, it too had chosen to flee in the opposite direction, putting it on the same path as the group.

Ji Yanqing's breath hitched. His heart, already pounding from exertion, felt as though it had stopped beating altogether.

He quickly glanced back at the others. They hadn't noticed the Awakened zombie yet. He turned back and made a gesture for vigilance. 

The others, exhausted and struggling to breathe, paused at the signal.  

Then, they swiftly scanned their surroundings.

Ji An, cradled in Ji Yanqing's arms, had already spotted the Awakened zombie. He couldn't help but gulp. 

The Awakened zombie looked ferocious, but it also looked…delicious.

He remembered the sweet juice he'd tasted when he bit its tail and discreetly touched the pocket of his coat where he'd hidden the scales he’d plucked from the creature.

The scale didn’t have the sweet juice, but it was fragrant and crunchy.

The memory of the juice’s sweetness and the scale's satisfying crunch made him swallow again. He wished he’d grabbed a bigger handful of them.

“Hm?” The Awakened zombie, its tail tip bare and marked by a clear bite, sensed something and abruptly looked up. 

It towered over the shrubs, and its sudden movement caught the attention of Xia Shen Shu and the others running behind Ji Yanqing.

Their hearts leaped into their throats.

Instinctively, they dove behind the nearest shrubs for cover.

“Grr…” The Awakened zombie scanned its surroundings, then, not daring to linger, quickly fled, putting as much distance as possible between itself and whatever had frightened it.

Ji Yanqing and the others, their hearts still pounding, cautiously peeked out from behind the shrubs. They watched its retreating figure, exchanging bewildered glances.

Ji Yanqing looked back at the mountains, and the others followed suit.

Gazing at the distant mountaintop, still faintly visible, shivers ran down their spines.

What was hidden in those mountains?

What could terrify an Awakened zombie, one on the verge of evolving into a Corpse King, to such an extent?

The close call spurred them on. They pushed aside their exhaustion and forced their legs to move, desperate to escape the wasteland. 

But the wasteland was far larger than they anticipated. 

They continued in the same direction for hours after leaving the mountains, the sun beating down relentlessly.  

By midday, the heat was unbearable. Their skin felt as if it were on fire. Ji Yanqing had no choice but to call for a temporary halt.

They found refuge in a long corridor formed by two large clusters of shrubs. The branches overhead provided some shade from the scorching sun. The space was cramped, but it was a welcome respite from the heat.

As soon as they entered the corridor, they collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. 

The combination of the high temperature and the internal heat generated from their exertion was suffocating. It was more than just heat; it was pain.

Once he’d caught his breath, Ji Yanqing looked over at the ten or so members of Xue Gang's team, who sat huddled together, apart from the rest. 

When they had reunited, there had been twenty-two or twenty-three of them. Six, including Xue Gang and Baldy, had perished in the mountains, leaving only sixteen.

Three were armed with guns; the remaining thirteen were ordinary team members.

“What are your plans?” Ji Yanqing asked, breaking the silence.

His question caught the attention of the group. They had been on the run for days, lacking sufficient food and water. Their condition was dire; their faces gaunt, their eyes hollow. They looked as though they were on the verge of death.

Their eyes, filled with a chilling emptiness, swept over Ji Yanqing, but none of them spoke.

Exhaustion had robbed them of the ability to think. Xue Gang’s sudden demise had left them rudderless. 

After so long under Xue Gang’s thumb, they could barely be considered human anymore. They were nothing more than laborers, acquired at a low cost. They had felt anger and resentment, but what could they do?

Leaving Xue Gang’s team meant losing access to the meager rations that kept them alive. They had become numb to their circumstances. 

Now, Xue Gang was dead, and they were free, but they also had nothing.

“Do you want to join my team?” Ji Yanqing asked, getting straight to the point. Their initial goal in venturing this way had been to expand their numbers.

His words, deliberately low and cool yet with an underlying warmth, stunned the group.

The man Xia Shen Shu had kicked earlier was the first to recover. “Your team?” he echoed, his eyes scanning the people around Ji Yanqing, a calculating glint in his eyes.

Ji Yanqing ignored him and focused on the other thirteen ordinary team members.

Under his steady gaze, their minds slowly began to engage. They looked at Ji Yanqing, then at Li Pingsen and the others.

They knew that Ji Yanqing knew them. He had been with Xue Gang’s team for a while, and they had all been part of it.

“Okay,” the man who had been kicked by Xia Shen Shu said.

Ji Yanqing looked at him expectantly.

The man met his gaze with a forced smile. “We’ll join.”

The other two men with guns shot him a look, clearly displeased that he was assuming a leadership role in Xue Gang's absence. But they remained silent. They didn’t have many options.

As for the thirteen ordinary team members, they didn’t care about them at all.

Ji Yanqing’s gaze swept across the faces of those thirteen people. After not receiving any objections, he stretched out his hand towards the man who had just spoken. “The gun.”

The smile on the man’s face instantly froze. He looked at Ji Yanqing’s fair palm. “What do you mean?”

“Since it’s my team, of course I’m the one who decides how the supplies are distributed,” Ji Yanqing said, his voice strong. “If you don’t want to, you can leave now.”

Hearing his forceful words, looking at his hand, which he didn’t retract, the man’s face quickly darkened.

The other two’s faces also turned ugly.

When they were in Xue Gang’s team, they had always been the ones who stayed by Xue Gang’s side. They were above the other ordinary team members. They were the exploiters.

It went without saying that they knew what the ordinary team members in Xue Gang’s team thought of them. If they had the chance, those people would definitely kill them.

The reason they were still alive was because they had guns.

Everyone in Ji Yanqing’s team now was from Xue Gang’s team. If they really handed over their guns, the others would definitely make life difficult for them.

“Have you decided?” Ji Yanqing retracted his hand. His intention to drive them away was clear.

He could accept the ordinary team members from Xue Gang’s team. But if he could, he really didn’t want these three. He was eager to expand the team, but it didn’t mean he would accept any trash.

He wasn’t that kind.

“Sigh…” One of the three took a deep breath and leaned back against the shrubs, looking up at the clear blue sky.

Two seconds later, with a pale face, he threw the gun in his hand at Ji Yanqing’s feet.

Ji Yanqing looked at him.

The man smiled, a smile uglier than crying.

“Sorry.”

He didn’t know if he was apologizing to the other two who had guns, or to the others in the corridor who had been in Xue Gang’s team.

Ji Yanqing asked, “What’s your name?”

“Mo Xian. Xian as in ‘to steal a moment of leisure’.”

His parents had given him this name hoping that his life would be carefree and comfortable. But things had turned out quite differently.

He had also wanted to be a principled person. But just staying alive was exhausting enough.

Ji Yanqing nodded and put the gun aside.

He didn’t say anything to tell the others not to hold grudges. If you dared to do something, you had to be prepared to bear the consequences. And since Mo Xian had dared to give up this gun, he believed he could survive without it.

Although the price might be heavy.

Seeing Mo Xian hand over his gun, the other two looked at each other. Hesitation appeared on their faces.

Xue Gang was dead now. Their former survival team no longer existed. And they didn’t have many bullets left. Their food and water had also long since run out.

The man who had been kicked by Xia Shen Shu had a dark expression, and no one knew what he was thinking.

“We’ll join.” While the two were still hesitating, the expressions on the faces of the thirteen ordinary team members next to them changed.

They didn’t have any other choice.

The fact that Li Pingsen and the others had risked their lives to go back and find Ji Yanqing had also made a deep impression on them.

They and Li Pingsen’s group had no real friendship, but they had been in the same survival team.

They believed that if the person who had been left behind had been Xue Gang, even if someone had held a gun to their heads, they would never have been willing to go back.

But when Ji Yanqing had been left behind, they had all gone back.

Ji Yanqing nodded.

At the same time, he looked at Li Pingsen. “Give them some water and food.”

After being busy all night and all morning, they were exhausted, and everyone’s throats were parched.

Hearing this, Li Pingsen and the others quickly turned around and opened their backpacks.

Seeing the food and water being taken out and placed on the ground, Mo Xian and the others couldn’t help swallowing.

They hadn’t eaten for a long time, especially water. Their throats were parched, and their eyes were fixed on that water.

Li Pingsen quickly received a portion of food and water from Xia Shen Shu, who was in charge of distributing rations, and turned to hand it to one of the thirteen people who had just joined their team.

Seeing the food and water handed to him, the person wiped his dirty hand on his clothes and quickly took it.

Holding the food and water, he swallowed, his throat aching. He couldn’t wait to share it with the other twelve people.

Seeing this, Li Pingsen reminded him, “That’s for one person.”

The other twelve who had come over to share, and the person holding the food, were all stunned, and they looked at Li Pingsen.

Being stared at, Li Pingsen straightened his back unconsciously.

He spoke again, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “That’s one person’s portion.”

As he was speaking, he took another portion of food from Xia Shen Shu and handed it over.

He handed the food to the second person, looking at his shocked and surprised expression. His heart, which had been filled with exhaustion and fear, was now filled with something solid, heavy, and satisfying.

He couldn’t help but add, “We don’t do things the way Xue Gang did in our team. If there’s food to eat, we all eat together. If there’s no food to eat, we all starve and thirst together.”

After saying that, Li Pingsen couldn’t help looking back at the others. Meeting their straight backs and faint smiles, he suddenly understood the heavy, satisfying feeling in his heart.

It was pride.

Although it was a little ridiculous, he was truly proud at this moment.

This was their team, Ji Yanqing’s team. It was different from Xue Gang’s team.

He took a third, a fourth portion of food from Xia Shen Shu, and handed it to the third, the fourth person… Thirteen people in total, until everyone had a portion of food and water in their hands.

When the fourteenth portion was handed to him, Li Pingsen looked at Mo Xian, who was opposite him. After a moment of hesitation, he handed it to him personally.

Some things happened, and that was that. He couldn’t treat Mo Xian the same way as the others. But just as he had said, in their team, in Ji Yanqing’s team, they didn’t do things the way Xue Gang did.

“Tha—” Receiving the food and water, Mo Xian was stunned. He stared at it, unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

“Putting on an act,” the man who had been kicked by Xia Shen Shu said with a sneer.

Li Pingsen glanced at him, not interested in arguing with him at all.

It was the same for the others. They weren’t even interested in talking to him.

The other man with a gun stared at the food and water in the hands of the others. He hesitated, but he still couldn’t bring himself to give up his gun.

After everyone received their portions, they started eating.

The amount of food and water they received wasn’t enough to fill their stomachs at all. It was even a little pitiful for those who had been hungry and thirsty for so long. But to them, it was already enough.

Ji Yanqing didn’t pay attention to the distribution of rations. His attention was on Ji An and Ji Le.

He hadn’t noticed it before, but now that they were eating, he discovered a dark greenish stain on the corner of Ji An’s mouth. It looked like he had secretly eaten something and hadn’t wiped his mouth clean.

Ji Yanqing wiped it with his finger. It had already dried on his face. He had to take out a tissue and dampen it with water to carefully wipe it off.

“You can’t just eat things randomly. You’ll get a stomachache,” he warned after throwing away the tissue.

Ji An licked his lips, his eyes involuntarily following the tissue that had been thrown away.

He couldn’t eat any of the food Ji Yanqing gave him except for the water. Although Ji Yanqing and Ji Le watched him and made him eat every day, the hunger only accumulated, and sometimes he even felt weak from hunger.

He had been resisting thinking about it, but now he realized why he couldn’t eat and why he still felt hungry even after eating: it was because those things weren’t meant for him.

He was about to become a zombie. Zombies didn’t eat human food. They ate zombies and humans.

Ji An looked away from the tissue and looked at Ji Yanqing.

He didn’t want to eat people because then Ji Yanqing would definitely hate him, and he didn’t want to be hated by Ji Yanqing.

So he had decided. He would only eat zombies in the future. He would be a good zombie.

The image of a zombie’s pale, decaying, and ugly face appeared in his mind, and he frowned slightly. He would only eat good-looking zombies in the future.

If he also became ugly, Ji Yanqing would definitely hate him even more.

“Eat up.” Ji Yanqing finished the food in his hand, and seeing that Ji An hadn’t touched the food in front of him, he urged him worriedly.

Ji An nodded obediently and took a small bite of a biscuit. The sweet smell of butter filled his nose.

He couldn’t help but swallow, but not because of the biscuit. All he could think about was the Awakened zombie from before.

He touched the pocket where he was hiding the scale.

“Gege…” He was thinking about the Awakened zombie when Ji Le, who had finished eating, came over.

Ji An looked at him.

Ji Le’s little head moved next to his face and sniffed. He couldn’t help swallowing. “It smells so good…”

Ji An’s hand froze, and his flushed cheeks instantly turned pale.

“Gege…” Ji Le obediently sat down next to him, his long eyelashes fluttering. His soft voice was full of ingratiation.

He knew that everyone only got one portion of food. He couldn’t steal Ji An’s. But Ji An smelled so good…

Ji An looked at the biscuit in his hand and held it up to Ji Le’s pink lips.

Ji Le took a small bite. He tasted the sweet biscuit, but he frowned slightly. It wasn’t this.

The good smell on Ji An wasn’t this.

Ji An’s face turned even paler. He glanced at Ji Yanqing, who was drinking water and hadn’t noticed them. He carefully reached into his pocket and took out a scale from the Awakened zombie’s tail.

He made a fist and quickly waved it under Ji Le’s nose.

Ji Le’s wet eyes instantly lit up. It was this.

“Gege…” Ji Le grabbed Ji An’s hand and whined.

Hearing that soft voice, feeling the pressure on his hand, Ji An’s mind went blank, and his hands and feet felt as cold as if they had been soaked in ice water in the middle of winter.

Ji Le thought it smelled good. Was Ji Le also going to become a zombie?

Ji An turned around and hugged Ji Le.

“Gege?” Ji Le, who had been attracted by the good smell, was stunned.

Being hugged, he suddenly came back to his senses and remembered that he had shamelessly asked to eat Ji An’s food. His fair little face instantly turned red.

Everyone only had one portion. How could he be so bad?

If he ate Ji An’s food, what would Ji An eat?

Ji An would go hungry.

“I’m not hungry. I was just smelling it. I wasn’t going to eat it…” Ji Le knew he was bad, and his ears were red with shame.

“Don’t tell Papa.” Ji An covered his mouth.

Unable to speak, Ji Le looked at him anxiously. He was afraid Ji An would be angry with him, afraid that Ji An would think he was bad.

What if Ji An hated him…

Just the thought made his chest ache.

If Ji Yanqing was the best papa in the world, then Ji An was the best gege. If he was hated by Ji An, he would definitely cry.

“I’ll give you some more to eat tonight.” Ji An glanced at Ji Yanqing cautiously and whispered in Ji Le’s ear, “Papa is very busy and tired. He has to lead the team and take care of us. We can’t make him worry.”

Ji Le knew that Ji Yanqing worked very hard. Although he didn’t understand what Ji An was saying, he nodded obediently.

Ji An uncovered his mouth, touched his head, and hugged and nuzzled him.

His face was full of seriousness and sadness. Even if they both became zombies, he would take good care of Ji Le.

Ji Yanqing finished his water and turned around to see the two little ones snuggling. His heart softened. He rubbed their heads. “Go to sleep.”

It was too hot, so hot that their minds were muddled. Whether they slept or not made no difference. It was more comfortable to actually fall asleep.

After having the two little ones lie down next to him, Ji Yanqing didn’t lie down. He stayed awake, watching over the team.

They hadn’t slept well last night, and they had been running all the way, so most of the team was exhausted. The ten or so people who had been in Xue Gang’s team were even more so. After eating, they quickly fell asleep.

After everyone fell asleep, only Ji Yanqing and Feng Yimo were still awake.

In the silence, Ji Yanqing looked at Feng Yimo sitting opposite him. With his smooth, straight black hair, high nose bridge, and thin lips… Feng Yimo was completely different from the haggard people around him. He didn’t even seem to belong in this world.

He was closing his eyes, resting, but Ji Yanqing just knew he was still awake.

Ji Yanqing looked away before Feng Yimo could see him looking, and looked at the two little ones who were sleeping next to him.

He didn’t look at Feng Yimo, but Feng Yimo was looking at him.

Ji Yanqing didn’t look up, but he just knew that Feng Yimo was watching him.

Something fell from the sky, landing on his leg. It was a small pack of biscuits.

Ji Yanqing looked at Feng Yimo. His dark, deep eyes were staring at him.

He ignored him and continued looking down at Ji An and Ji Le next to him.

Two seconds later, more food fell from the sky.

Ji Yanqing caught it before it could fall. He looked up at the man opposite him who was trying to feed him and wondered if he had let Feng Yimo eat too much. Why did he have so much food left?

Ji Yanqing didn’t let everyone sleep for too long. After the two hottest hours of the day passed, he woke everyone up.

It was too dangerous here. They had to get away as soon as possible.

After sleeping for two hours, everyone’s spirits were much better. As they started moving again, their speed was still slow, but it was much faster than before.

They continued walking in a straight line. They ran and stopped throughout the afternoon. It wasn’t until the sun set and evening approached that they saw a field of flowers in the distance.

The moment they saw the field, everyone couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. Seeing the field meant that they had run out of the wasteland, out of that Awakened zombie’s territory. It also meant they had escaped yet again.

They had deviated from their original route, but not by much.

In the setting sun, everyone looked at the flower field in the distance.

It wasn’t a wildflower field. Although they had grown wildly for over half a year, with many of them already growing onto the field ridges and the road, the square layout was still clearly visible. It must have been planted by humans.

The flowers in the field seemed to be lavender.

The purple flower spikes swayed in the evening breeze. If they ignored their mutated, almost human height, it could be considered a vast sea of purple flowers, so beautiful that one wanted to call it a fairyland.

That lavender must have been planted by the flower farmers in the village ahead to extract essential oils. This kind of planting usually wasn’t on a small scale. They would usually plant it in all the farmland around the entire village.

“Should we go around?” Xia Shen Shu looked at Ji Yanqing.

After their experiences with the rice and the mountains they couldn’t get out of, they didn’t dare underestimate any mutated plants anymore, let alone something on such a large scale.

Fortunately, the lavender field was still very far away when they discovered it. Otherwise, if there was a problem with it, they definitely wouldn’t be able to escape.

“Let’s go around to the side, then immediately find a place to camp and rest,” Ji Yanqing said.

They were all exhausted. Every step they took felt like their feet were being torn apart. If it weren’t for the fact that lying down now would mean death, they would have already collapsed.

Hearing that they would be able to rest soon, everyone’s spirits were lifted, and they cheered.

Their bodies, which had been tense to the extreme and were now suddenly relaxed, became weak. Several people almost stumbled and fell.

“Let’s go.” Ji Yanqing led the way to the left.

Turning around, he was met with a familiar figure, someone who looked seven parts like him, but with a clear戾气 and gloom in his brows.

“Dad…” Ji Yanqing’s pupils contracted. His hands and feet, which had been nimble, suddenly felt heavy, as if they had been filled with lead. He felt as if he was in an ice cellar.

Seeing that man walking towards him with a dark expression, his body instinctively backed away before his mind could even react. But only after he moved did he realize that he couldn’t move at all.

“Run…” he seemed to come back to his senses and wanted to warn the others, but by the time the word left his mouth, he couldn’t even move his lips anymore.

They hadn’t smelled any fragrance. They were still

very far from the flower field. But whether the mutated lavender field still emitted a scent was a question.

Perhaps they had already entered its area of effect before they even saw it. Perhaps they had already been affected before they started congratulating themselves for spotting it early.

Before collapsing, he instinctively looked towards Ji An and Ji Le, who were further back. Feng Yimo was very close to them. He had to tell Feng Yimo to take them and run…

“Eh… this town… It looks like my hometown…” Before Lan Zi could finish speaking, she collapsed.

As she fell, the sound of more than ten other people collapsing came. Out of their team of over forty people, less than five were still standing.

“Damn it! Cover your mouths and noses! There’s something wrong with the flowers…” As Xia Shen Shu was falling, a figure quickly ran towards him. He instinctively reached out, but the person caught Ji Yanqing, who was about to collapse, instead.

Xia Shen Shu watched the hem of the windbreaker brush past him, and then his head smashed into the axe that had just fallen from Ji Yanqing’s hand.

He didn’t lose consciousness. Stuck face down on the ground, he couldn’t move at all, but his mind was incredibly clear.

From his angle, he could clearly see Feng Yimo carefully holding Ji Yanqing after catching him.

Seeing this scene, the corner of his mouth twitched under his paralyzed face. Over forty people had collapsed, and Feng Yimo only helped Ji Yanqing. Couldn’t he have a little team spirit?

If he kept acting like this, someone would definitely put a sack over his head!

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