Chapter 29
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For the next dozen minutes or so, explosions continued to rumble from the direction of City A.
Several of them sounded frighteningly close to where Xie Xishu and Qi Wu were standing. They could feel the ground begin to hum and tremble beneath the force of the blasts. The faint smell of gunpowder soon began to mingle with the air.
A few tiny black specks drifted slowly across the azure sky.
Though he knew it was dangerous, Xie Xishu could think of nothing else at that moment. He pressed almost his entire face against the glass, narrowing his eyes as he stared fixedly at the distant specks. Something was dropped from above. Then came more flashes, more explosions, and more clouds of black smoke billowing into the sky.
Gray smoke began to spread continuously over the city.
Perhaps it was only his imagination, but every so often Xie Xishu felt as though he could hear the monsters’ ceaseless wails drifting over from the direction of the explosions.
He covered his mouth with one hand, his body beginning to tremble.
Anyone who didn’t know better would think a war was being fought—
During the New Year celebrations, many people in City A spent enormous sums on all kinds of fireworks, setting them off in unison toward the sky. After the flashing lights and rising smoke were recorded and posted online, Xie Xishu often saw comments like that.
At the time, he had thought those comments made perfect sense. Only now did he realize how utterly mistaken he had been.
The terrifying power of weapons and the fireworks ordinary people used to celebrate were two entirely different things.
Just then, Qi Wu’s expression abruptly changed.
“Look out—”
He hooked an arm around Xie Xishu’s shoulder and forcefully pulled him away from the living-room window. Then, pressing a hand against the back of Xie Xishu’s neck, he shoved the young man down behind the heavy leather sofa.
Several dozen seconds later, the unmistakable roar of aircraft passed slowly overhead.
Every muscle in Qi Wu’s body was taut. Almost instinctively, he pulled Xie Xishu more tightly against his chest.
Fortunately, as he held his breath and waited, the explosion he had expected never came.
Instead, a somewhat muffled announcement drifted through the air:
“Citizens of City A, please pay attention. The human mutation outbreak has now been brought under preliminary control. If you are a survivor, please remain calm and listen carefully to the following instructions. Explosions and ground-clearing operations are currently underway…”
“The southern end of Yellow Sea Avenue, the entire length of Liberation North Road, the entirety of First Ring Road, the entirety of Second Ring Road, and the western section of Tianqiao Road have now been rendered basically safe.”
“Once the current clearing operation is complete, please proceed immediately to the designated shelters established by the government… We repeat: once the clearing operation is complete, please proceed immediately to the designated shelters…”
“At this difficult moment, we ask everyone to remain united and patient… The government will do everything in its power to ensure the safety of every citizen and work to restore the city’s normal order…”
Then came a rustling sound from outside. Struggling, Xie Xishu poked his head out from Qi Wu’s arms and happened to see countless leaflets fluttering down outside the window in the wind—
There was no time to spare. He did not even know where he found the strength, but he managed to pry away the arm Qi Wu had wrapped around his waist.
Staggering and crawling, he rushed out through the front door.
As though sensing his urgency, a leaflet came spinning through the wind at the very instant he dashed out beneath the porch, landing neatly in his palm.
The contents of the leaflet were quite simple.
The written message was much the same as the announcement broadcast from the aircraft, but the leaflet provided more detailed information, including the precise locations of the shelters and maps of City A and the surrounding areas.
Several dedicated supply-drop points were marked as well.
As long as they followed the markings on the map, the survivors struggling through the mutant apocalypse would soon be able to find a survivor base and receive the nation’s powerful assistance.
“It’s the government!”
Xie Xishu murmured the words, only realizing after he spoke that his voice had become choked with tears.
“The government is clearing out the monsters!”
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Before he knew it, Xie Xishu’s eyes had filled with tears.
“The outside world hasn’t completely fallen yet! The country has come to save us! Once all those monsters are dead, everyone can survive…”
As he spoke, his voice gradually became hesitant and faint.
He noticed that Qi Wu, standing beside him, had not said a word.
Aside from the surprise caused by the first two explosions, there was no other emotion to be seen on the young man’s face.
“Qi Wu?”
The flush of overwhelming joy slowly drained from Xie Xishu’s cheeks. He turned toward Qi Wu’s dark expression, and his heart suddenly sank.
He had been so excited that he had actually forgotten that the companion who had lived beside him day and night had undergone a fundamental transformation from the very beginning of the mutation.
Qi Wu was no longer human. He was a monster—one of the creatures the military was now hunting down.
The porch suddenly fell utterly silent.
It was so quiet that Xie Xishu could almost hear his own heartbeat.
“You want to go back?”
After they had stared at each other for a long while, Qi Wu raised an eyebrow and asked the question.
Xie Xishu hesitated for a very long time.
No…
That was not right.
It wasn’t only Qi Wu who had a problem.
If his earlier suspicions about his own origins proved true…
Then it would be impossible for him to return to the human world. If he truly could attract monsters, and if he was genuinely connected to this epidemic, then returning rashly to human society would only bring immense danger to those innocent and precious ordinary people.
Yet the thought of continuing to wander through this strange and uncanny apocalypse made Xie Xishu’s chest constrict. The pain was so great that he could barely speak.
“No. Not yet.”
He heard a faint whisper escape his lips.
“I…”
I’m afraid there really is something wrong with me.
Xie Xishu blinked, intending to calm himself, but the instant his lashes trembled, tears surged uncontrollably from his eyes.
Nothing was more painful than gaining hope only to be forced to give it up.
It was even harder to accept than remaining in darkness forever without ever receiving hope at all.
Xie Xishu had assumed Qi Wu would take up the thread of his words.
Whether it was the possessiveness of a monster toward its prey, or the absurd so-called feelings of love at work, Xie Xishu had already vaguely sensed, even before Qi Wu’s confession, that the young man possessed an extraordinarily strong desire to keep him exclusively for himself.
Several times before, when Xie Xishu had wanted to find human companions, Qi Wu had met him with veiled mockery and opposition. Now there was an entirely legitimate reason: the two of them would have to stay away from other humans, away from the world they had once known…
“If it’s making you this miserable, why not go back to City A and take a look first?”
At that moment, Xie Xishu heard Qi Wu sigh helplessly.
“There’s no need to decide from the beginning that something must be wrong with you. What are you crying for?”
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“If you’re worried that there might be a problem, why don’t we go back to your house first? Didn’t your mother leave a whole stack of work documents in the study? If you really are some kind of experimental subject, she should have left traces in her research records. And if we confirm that you truly have some special ability that attracts monsters, then just stay with me. It’s not as though I’d let other monsters eat you… If you don’t, then, well…”
Qi Wu’s voice grew quieter, and his expression became somewhat stiff.
The corners of his mouth twitched. Several seconds later, he added half-jokingly, “…Then you can decide for yourself.”
Xie Xishu stared at him in surprise.
He had no time to concern himself with Qi Wu’s awkward, peculiar expression, nor did he have the energy to dwell on the young man’s final words.
Qi Wu’s reminder suddenly brought back the memory that his mother did indeed often bring work materials home. That was precisely why she had always strictly forbidden him from entering the master bedroom or the study without permission.
But…
How did Qi Wu know that?
A flicker of doubt passed rapidly through Xie Xishu’s mind, but he was so troubled that he could not spare any thought for such strange details.
“Go back to City A…?”
Xie Xishu repeated the suggestion involuntarily. He still had other concerns and suspicions, but a single sentence from Qi Wu swept them all away.
“The area has already been cleared. We shouldn’t encounter too many monsters on the way back. And you want to go home and take another look, don’t you? Maybe your parents went back there at some point and are waiting for you.”
Qi Wu shrugged and spoke softly.
He knew perfectly well that neither he nor Xie Xishu would believe the last sentence.
They had fled the school step by step, and when they left City A, they had personally witnessed the entire city being completely overrun by monsters. Under such circumstances, unless Xie Xishu’s parents were immortals, there was no way they could suddenly descend upon their home from abroad.
“Even in the worst case, your house might have been bombed. But whatever happens, don’t you still have me by your side?”
At those words, Xie Xishu could not help looking at Qi Wu.
The young man spoke so naturally when discussing their return to City A, as though he had never considered that, now that human troops had entered the city, it might be even more dangerous for him—a monster—than when the streets had been overrun by monsters.
Xie Xishu’s heart felt as though an invisible finger had gently kneaded it. In that moment, it became sore and numb.
“You… You’re really wonderful, Qi Wu.”
“Huh?”
“You really are a good person.”
“Of course I am… Hey, wait. Take that back. Why does it sound so ominous when you say it?”
*
Since they had decided to turn around and return to City A, they naturally needed a reliable means of transportation.
Qi Wu had suggested driving. During his previous “monster hunts,” he had accumulated quite a collection of car keys, including the keys to several luxury cars.
“A more expensive car will definitely drive differently from the last one—”
He had argued his case to Xie Xishu with absolute confidence.
However, after staring at him for several seconds, Xie Xishu calmly rejected the proposal.
“A car is too conspicuous, and there’s only a short stretch of road we could actually drive on. The whole of City A has been bombed, so the condition of the roads is far too uncertain.”
That was what he explained, very wisely concealing the real reason he did not want Qi Wu behind the wheel again.
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