For the first time, Li Weilan wanted to get a deeper understanding of her life.
But he clearly remembered that their previous conversations that touched on sensitive issues had caused her to disappear twice.
Directly asking was impossible, so he had to find a way to help her solve her problems.
With her gentle personality, it was highly likely that she was being bullied by others.
Earlier, there was a hint of a crying tone in her voice, indicating that something had happened before she came to see him. A twinge of secret pain passed through Li Weilan’s heart.
Did she not have any friends or family in her life?
Someone so gentle like her should also be treated gently.
On the screen, the little character turned to the sky outside the window, and a speech bubble and a shallow tone appeared together, “It’s raining today. The base is full of mud, and the temperature has dropped. In the cold rain, at least we have a roof over our heads. More people may have already died.”
“…” Geez, that’s such a depressing thing to say.
Maybe Li Weilan was trying to comfort her by saying that it’s good to just be alive, but thinking about his own aimless and mundane life, he couldn’t help but feel that…it was not even so bad that the doomsday came.
Li Weilan heard her long silence and hesitated for a moment. Finally, he made up his mind and asked softly, “Do you want to hear my story?”
“?” Shen Cheng widened her eyes.
On the screen, a new prompt popped up in the game:
[Li Weilan voluntarily opens up to you.
Do you want to view Memory Orb (No.1)?]
The little figure on the screen smiled at her without any shadow. Looking at his smile, which now even carried a hint of tenderness, Shen Cheng suddenly remembered the first time she saw him, when he was barely alive and tied to a cross.
Although Shen Cheng didn’t know what memories were in Memory Orb No.1, she hesitated for a moment before clicking “yes.”
The camera turned, and Shen Cheng’s screen switched to the real-life original drawing.
Her breath caught in her throat: everything she had seen before was the Q version of the little figure, and suddenly she saw the quality of the real-life version. Even though the cub’s facial features were softer at that time, there was no doubt that if he had always appeared in front of her with this face, she probably wouldn’t even be able to call him “cub”!
**
Li Weilan walked ahead, followed by a pair of completely unfamiliar man and woman.
The baseball bat in Li Weilan’s hand was already covered in blood and flesh, and his body was splattered with blood. He looked around cautiously: obviously, they had not yet escaped the danger.
Through the screen, Shen Cheng could see that there were still some slow-moving zombies wandering in the distance, in the lecture halls, dormitory building, and even the playground.
Compared to the Q version zombies she had seen on the game screen before, this time the zombies looked more realistic, but in terms of speed and sense of smell, they didn’t seem to have the strong attacking power of the zombies they had seen later?
Could it be that this memory was from the beginning of the apocalypse?
Li Weilan’s chest was slightly heaving, and he tried not to make too much noise. Shen Cheng followed his gaze and found that their destination seemed to be the school convenience store.
“Right! The apocalypse has just begun. They should collect supplies quickly while the zombies’ speed and attack power are not too terrifying yet,” said Shen Cheng.
Shen Cheng glanced at the backpack on Li Weilan’s back and guessed that he hadn’t activated his spatial ability yet.
She became a little worried. Although she knew that Zaizai had survived safely until they met, she wondered how he managed to survive.
Li Weilan pulled the couple behind a pole on the school playground and whispered to the man, “Xiao Gang, did you see the movement trajectory of that zombie?”
The man nodded. He was referring to the large zombie that had been hovering around the convenience store, wearing the school security guard’s clothes. One of its eyes had been gouged out, and it limped from left to right and right to left. When it turned its back to them, it was conveniently downwind. They could slip in at that moment to avoid intense fighting.
They all knew there was food in the convenience store.
Li Weilan didn’t want to come out yet. He wanted to wait a few more days, but if they waited, when the food in the convenience store was gone, they would have to take the risk of going to the supermarket, and it would be even more dangerous. After all, the school was on summer vacation, and there were fewer people around, and there were fewer people to compete with them.
He came, but looking at the decaying and unrecognizable large zombie, his heart was filled with fear: What if he became like this? What would happen to his father? What would happen to his mother? What would happen to Yan Yan?
Li Weilan didn’t notice the intense fluctuation in his heart due to fear. His attention was focused on the big zombie. The door of the convenience store was only slightly ajar. The plan was that they would rush over, close the door, pull down the iron gate, grab some food, and leave through the back door. As long as they had the first supplies, their chances of survival would be much higher.
“Count to five…” he observed the zombie’s movements and whispered, “Then we’ll charge together!”
He had his back to the couple and did not notice the trickery behind him, but Shen Cheng saw it all. The girl behind the man gently tugged at his clothes and pointed to Li Weilan, who was watching intently ahead, and mouthed, “Let him go first!”
Shen Cheng was almost instantly filled with anger. Why are there always such selfish people everywhere?
Li Weilan counted to five, and while the zombie was facing away from them, he quickly ran into the convenience store.
Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.
Just as he reached the store, he saw the zombie at the door suddenly turn around and sniff the air, nose twitching. As soon as it smelled the scent of humans, it pounced!
The stench of rotting flesh and the sight of its disembodied eyeballs getting closer and closer overwhelmed Li Weilan. He only had time to take a glance at the motionless clump of grass before he pulled down the shutter, sealing it shut.
As soon as the lock clicked into place, a strong smell hit him.
Shen Cheng couldn’t help but let out a low exclamation, “Ah!” as she looked at her phone. There was a zombie with intact limbs and drooling mouth just about to pounce on him!
Li Weilan was clearly caught off guard.
As he looked at the female zombie, his club also loosened slightly. He called out softly, “Boss lady!” and a hint of sadness flashed in his eyes.
Perhaps they knew each other before?
Is this female zombie the owner of the school’s convenience store?
The female zombie tilted her head slightly as if she were contemplating something, but the brief display of humanity was replaced by pure greed and hunger in an instant. The next moment, she pounced on Li Weilan and tried to bite him!
“Boss lady!” Li Weilan dodged helplessly.
The female zombie didn’t react at all. The zombies outside seemed to have heard the noise from inside and were pounding on the metal door with increasing urgency and speed. Li Weilan kept dodging and clutching his baseball bat, obviously hesitant.
The female zombie kept approaching, and finally cornered him against the wall. Suddenly, there was a cracking sound from the metal door, and a zombie security guard with a broken face appeared at the hole they made.
At this moment, Li Weilan was also worried. The words “decisive killing” were easy to say, but when you were in a familiar environment and saw all the zombies that used to be your acquaintances or friendly people, could you really do it?
But if you don’t fight back, by the time the metal door is broken and you’re surrounded on both sides, whether you can survive, let alone get supplies, is unknown!
Li Weilan realized this too. He borrowed some force from the ground, kicked the wall hard with his leg, and with a “thud”, the female zombie’s skull collapsed, and she fell silently beside the wall.
This blow had already exhausted most of his strength. Li Weilan gasped for breath twice on the ground, and his hand was so sore he couldn’t lift it.
There was no time to mourn or take a closer look. Li Weilan hastily swept some food into his backpack and fled out the back door!
The security zombie was still desperately pounding on the door, waiting to smell his scent from the other direction and “roaring” to pull his head off the door. However, halfway through, he got stuck, and after struggling for a while, his head finally came off, but Li Weilan had already opened up a distance between them and was out of reach.
Shen Cheng breathed a sigh of relief when she watched this part.
Li Weilan returned to a room in the dormitory with his backpack.
As soon as he opened the door, the couple who had appeared before followed him in.
Li Weilan raised his head slightly. The bloodstains on his handsome profile seemed to have turned from softness to a sharpness at this moment.
However, the two seemed oblivious. The man among them said with a grin, “Li Weilan, you gained quite a bit on this trip. Anything to share with us?”
Li Weilan’s response was to raise the baseball bat in his hand.
The corner of his lips curved slightly as he uttered only one word, “Get out!”
“You think you deserve a share without contributing? Get out!”
**
The screen went black.
The memory ended here.
Shen Cheng heaved a long sigh. It was only now that she realized what Zaizai wanted to tell her.
People need to learn to protect themselves, just like what Sister Ma had told her before. Being gentle is not a big deal, but there must be a bottom line.
His way of safeguarding what he had gained at the cost of his life was with a baseball bat, so what about her?
How could she protect her peaceful life?
Shen Cheng’s thoughts suddenly turned to the “spatial materialization” function.
Right, since her roommate liked to open her packages, what if she encountered something worse than the condoms again the next time? Would she still love to open them in the future?
Shen Cheng curved her lips into a smile, not even realizing it herself. In this moment, her sly grin carried with it a touch of the sternness that had just been present.
It was a style that set traps for others to fall into.
Shen Cheng’s thoughts had settled, and her earlier frustration and anger had dissipated. She only looked at the restored scene on the screen and sincerely said to her cub, “Thank you.”
To Li Weilan, he was only telling her what had happened to him — betrayal and oppression were common occurrences in the apocalypse, and that incident was the beginning of everything, as well as the beginning of his mental transformation.
He could tell that her emotions had stabilized, and this “thank you” was finally a little less indulgent and accommodating, and a little more respectful and equal.
There was also a bit more truth in his smile. “Don’t mention it. If I could help you, then that’s good enough.”
Thingyan: Ohhhhh what is Cheng Cheng thinking? Is she gonna take out zombie body parts or what? lol that’d be extremely terrifying for the roommate … and also for Cheng Cheng herself XD