The dog’s whole body was rotten, giving off a heavy stench. It wasn’t very big, probably hadn’t grown up yet. Its surface was intact with no bite marks, so it must have mutated directly when the apocalypse broke out. Mutant dogs were fast, with keen senses of smell, and among creatures of the same level, mutant animals were much harder to deal with than zombies. The mutant dog leapt left and right, always targeting the ones it sensed had weaker attack strength. In just a moment, it had bitten two people who had no abilities.
Seeing that the rest had already scrambled into the open-door minivan, someone shouted: “Yanzi, you go with them first!” As he spoke, he pushed Yanzi into the van, urging them to drive off. Realizing the danger, the people in the car didn’t argue. After knocking down a few zombies in front of the vehicle, they drove off first.
The engine noise and the scent of human flesh stimulated the surrounding zombies, who answered with low growls. Now only Brother Li, Tang Ke, and Qi Yue were left. Qi Yue had been in another car, meant to cover their retreat. Seeing the two stuck in combat with zombies and the mutant dog, unable to break free, he got out and joined the fight.
As Brother Li chopped at a zombie from the front, the mutant dog darted in, jaws wide, aiming for him. Seeing this, Tang Ke released his binding ability to stop the attack, but the dog dodged it. He then rapidly released wood spikes and ice spikes—puchi puchi—and one of the wood spikes jabbed into the dog’s belly. With a sharp awoo, the dog collapsed to the ground, struggling, unable to get back up.
The earthen wall in front of them had been slapped open by zombies, a huge crack spreading across it.
“Tang Ke, hurry! The wall’s about to fall!” Zombies around the car had already been cleaned up by Qi Yue and Brother Li. Calling out, Qi Yue walked over, blade in hand, ready to dig out the crystal core. Brother Li got into the driver’s seat and started the car. Tang Ke guarded Qi Yue as he approached the zombie dog.
Qi Yue bent down, lifted his blade, just as it was about to fall, the mutant dog suddenly surged up, jaws gaping viciously, and pounced on him, knocking him to the ground.
“QI YUE!!” Tang Ke screamed, voice ripping from his throat. “Watch out!!”
Qi Yue lay flat on his back, arms spread wide, motionless, the mutant dog was on top of him. Tang Ke froze at the sight, even his breathing stopped, eyes wide with disbelief. He didn’t dare imagine the outcome. His heart seized painfully, bone-deep grief.
Then movement.
Qi Yue shoved the mutant dog off him with both hands and lay there, panting hard. A chopstick was embedded in the dog’s lower jaw, piercing upward through its head. Qi Yue tilted his head toward Tang Ke, bared his teeth, and gave a sudden grin.
A plunge from despair straight into joy.
“Quit dawdling, get in the car,” Brother Li snapped them out of it. The earthen wall had already been smashed open by the zombies. The hole was getting bigger. Through it, they could see countless zombies, enough to make one’s scalp tingle.
Qi Yue dug out the crystal core from the mutant dog’s head and put it into his pants pocket. Blue, very good. An ice-type core. Tang Ke could use it.
Tang Ke dragged Qi Yue into the car. Just as the door shut, a loud crash rang out, the wall collapsed. At least several hundred zombies were behind it, swaying as they surged forward. Brother Li slammed the car into reverse, turned sharply, and sped out of the village, leaving the swarm behind. Truly terrifying. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. Seeing they were safe, he checked the rearview mirror at the two in the backseat. Both were exceptionally attractive, both courageous.
But… why were they hugging so tightly?
Probably brothers? Their relationship must be very good.
In the backseat, Tang Ke wrapped both arms around Qi Yue, pressing his head tightly to his chest. His heart pounded violently. Was a single crystal core really worth risking his life? More than anything, guilt gnawed at him, he should never have let Qi Yue go. Tang Ke knew he was done for. Only he knew how terrified he had been in that instant. He had really fallen for Qi Yue, liked him, liked him desperately. Their time together was short, but he just liked him. Very, very much.
Qi Yue had no idea what was going on. What was Tang Ke doing?? He was being hugged so tightly he couldn’t breathe! He pushed with both hands, prying Tang Ke off him, staring in confusion, occasionally scooting toward the door to put distance between them. Seeing Tang Ke’s pale face, he wondered, ability exhaustion? He thought for a bit, then reached into his shirt and rummaged around. He pulled out something, grabbed Tang Ke’s hand, and placed it in his palm.
Tang Ke opened his hand, a tea egg. Qi Yue gave him an expectant look. Tang Ke pressed his lips together, wiped his hands on his clothes, peeled the egg, and ate it.
Seeing Tang Ke eat it, Qi Yue turned away, looking ahead. Brother Li was staring at him blankly like he’d just seen something ridiculous. Qi Yue smirked, palms up, shrugging innocently, only had one, and now it’s gone.
Please, he barely knew these people. Like he’d share his food with them.
Tang Ke happily ate the “love-filled” egg. But what was this feeling? The same sensation as in the car earlier after eating the tea egg. Normally, after spiritual abilities were drained, he had to rely on meditation to recover. The higher the ability level, the shorter the meditation time needed. But now, his spent spiritual abilities was… rising? Recovering? Why?
To avoid being chased by zombies or mutant animals, they took a long detour before returning to the small base at Yuejin Village. Yanzi’s car had already been back for a while. They learned that one person who had safely boarded earlier had been scratched by the mutant dog during the chaos without noticing. On the way back, he mutated and died. There were ten people when they left; only six returned.
After distributing supplies, the deceased’s family received double the share. Brother Li originally told Tang Ke’s group to take a third of the supplies, they had contributed the most, and the mutant dog was also killed by them. But Tang Ke refused, taking only a little. Brother Li was very touched. After all, he had a family to support, and supplies meant everything to them.
By afternoon, after returning home, Tang Ke asked Qi Yue to prepare dinner while he carried the supplies and went out again. The first floor had a hall where villagers gathered to exchange goods and information. Tang Ke traded five packs of instant noodles for a large wooden barrel suitable for bathing, then used the remaining supplies to get clean clothes for Qi Yue. Even though Qi Yue carried a big backpack, it seemed he had no clothes in it, he had been wearing the same outfit for days. He didn’t need to trade for cooking pots, Qi Yue had said he had plenty in his space. Once he finished exchanging items, Tang Ke headed back.
When he returned, Qi Yue was ecstatic to see what he brought. He could finally bathe. He hadn’t washed in days or changed clothes, he smelled like zombie rot himself. He took out the biggest pot from his space, a huge steamer pot for dumplings, buns, etc and a small gas stove. After everything was set up, he looked at Tang Ke. Understanding the signal, Tang Ke stepped forward, released his ice ability, and dropped several big chunks of ice into the pot. Qi Yue lit the stove, heating the water.
After boiling several rounds of water, the wooden barrel was full. Qi Yue stood beside it awkwardly, unwilling to undress, his peach blossom eyes darting at Tang Ke again and again.
Tang Ke arched a brow. “Little Yueyue, do you want to take a lovers’ bath with me?”
He teased: “Too bad… the bucket’s too small. Should’ve gotten a bigger one.”
Qi Yue’s face exploded red. “Who wants to bathe with you! Dream on!”
He shoved Tang Ke out the door without hesitation. Please, after what Tang Ke did last night, how could he dare bathe in front of him? He didn’t dare even remember what happened. He had been drunk, otherwise he would never have responded to him like that! Yes, he must’ve been drunk!
Outside the door, Tang Ke leaned against the frame, head lowered, smoking as he listened to the sound of splashing water. He imagined the scene inside. The smooth, delicate skin he’d touched the night before, his fingertips almost tingling with memory.
After a while, the door opened. Qi Yue’s hair was dripping, his body giving off the clean scent of a fresh bath. Tang Ke didn’t dare let his imagination wander, his lower body was threatening to react.
Qi Yue, oblivious, felt refreshed after washing and changing clothes. He carried out the used bathwater, dumped it outside, then returned to heat more water for Tang Ke’s bath. Once the barrel was full again, it was Tang Ke’s turn. Tang Ke said Qi Yue didn’t need to leave, he didn’t mind being seen. Qi Yue, flustered and angry, called him a pervert and fled outside. Once outside, he immediately regretted it. Why say pervert?! That was something women said in flirty arguments. He silently vowed never to say it again.
After the bath, it was feast time again! Qi Yue kept convincing himself: Today was exhausting. I deserve a reward. It’s not because I’m greedy. Then he pulled out dish after dish: pork belly with potatoes, shredded pork with Beijing sauce, crispy sweet-and-sour pork, and a huge plate of meat buns.
Time to eat!
The moment Tang Ke took a bite that feeling came again. The same sensation he had when eating the tea egg in the car, his depleted spiritual abilities was recovering.
“Your cooking ability, besides giving you a kitchen space, does it have any other special effects?” he asked.
“I dunno. Haven’t felt anything.” Qi Yue tilted his head. Then added, “But… after cooking for a long time, I do feel my spiritual abilities dropping, like it gets consumed.”
“How does your ability level up?”
“Eh… I dunno. Uh, what color crystal does a kitchen-type ability use?” This pig-headed boy never thought about leveling up. He only wanted to hug someone’s thigh and cling as tightly as possible. Upgrading his ability? Never even crossed his mind.
“Maybe you level up by cooking?” Tang Ke reasoned. “Also, when I eat your food, I feel my drained spiritual abilities recovering.”
“Ah—right! That seems true! Yeah!” Qi Yue nodded fiercely.
So the recovery of spiritual abilities was thanks to Qi Yue’s food. His ability was only level 0 now. If food he made at level 0 already restored spiritual abilities, what would happen if he leveled up?
Tang Ke was still thinking when Qi Yue suddenly remembered something.
“Here, this is from that mutant dog today. For you to use.” He dug out the level-one ice crystal core from his dirty pocket and handed it over.
Tang Ke put it away, planning to absorb it before sleeping. With it, his ice ability could level up too.
