Chapter 4

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Chapter 4: Reality

【One】

Wu Zhi did not remember how he was brought away by that person, or how he was settled down. After he was brought there, he had a high fever, and when he woke, he was completely befogged. He did not know why that person showed up in front of him; he did not know how he survived the virus; he did not know what exactly this world had become.

Do not think. Do not look. Do not listen. As if Wu Zhi was living in a dream, everything around him turned into a distant blur. That person took care of him very well. All of his wounds were perfectly cleaned by him. His meals were fed by him. His showers were taken with his help. Everything around him was taken care of by him. Wu Zhi was like a nonautonomous puppet letting anybody move him about.

Until one day, Wu Zhi suddenly woke up. There were no signs. Just like that, he abruptly roused from his dreams. Then, reality was placed so clearly in front of him, with the same cruelty as before.

“…… Ye…… Qingling……”

Wu Zhi spoke in broken phrases. Because he had not spoken in too long, his voice was extremely hoarse. Ye Qingling gazed at him calmly, pouring a cup of water for him. Wu Zhi reached for the cup, but caught sight of his own exposed arm as the sleeves slipped down. It was paper-thin and paler than before. Dark red lines formed a picture on his skin. It looked like a mark of a demon and exuded an odd bewitching beauty.

Ye Qingling moved past Wu Zhi’s hand hanging in the air, bringing the water naturally to Wu Zhi’s lips. Used to being tended to, Wu Zhi reflexively drank the water, his actions as natural as if they were one being in the first place. Seeing Wu Zhi smoothly drink the water, Ye Qingling’s pale lips seemed to arch upwards. He reached out with his slightly transparent nails, and before Wu Zhi could react, he gently cut open Wu Zhi’s clothes. Wu Zhi looked down instinctively, and realized that it was not just his hands. His entire body was filled with red blood lines, as if someone had drawn a blood sacrifice curse on his body with a red marker.

“I cut open your dermis and damaged a great portion of capillary blood vessels to expel the virus,” Ye Qingling explained softly, his fingertips sliding down along the red lines on Wu Zhi’s body without genuinely touching his skin. “Because it was your dermis layer that was damaged, it left behind some scars.”

Ye Qingling raised his eyes, meeting Wu Zhi’s gaze earnestly. “I’m sorry.”

All of a sudden, Wu Zhi could not quite meet Ye Qingling’s overly serious gaze. Even when blocked by his glasses, there was still a fiery sense to it. Wu Zhi lowered his head to button up his clothes and evade his gaze. He worked to ensure his voice sounded completely indifferent.

“What’s there to apologize for? A man’s scars are a symbol of his accomplishments.” Wu Zhi touched his own face. “Speaking of which… If I go out now, will I destroy the beauty of the city landscape?”

Ye Qingling looked at him with a very odd gaze. Those peerlessly bright, black eyes seemed to swallow up all the light. The spot where the sclera and iris met emitted a faint red light.

“No, you won’t.” Ye Qingling chuckled softly. Wu Zhi could not find words to describe the gaze Ye Qingling looked at him with.

Wu Zhi was suddenly curious about his current appearance. As usual, Ye Qingling was good at understanding others. He reminded him softly, “There’s a mirror in the bathroom.”

“Oh.” Wu Zhi did not think much of it, putting down his legs to get up — he got to his feet in the very normal manner like before. This was an action that could not be any more ordinary, but Wu Zhi could not complete it. Reality gave him a depressing blow. Even if Wu Zhi was gently caught by Ye Qingling before he could hit the ground, he could still only stare dumbly at the void where his left lower leg should be, unable to return to reality.

His house— a big fire— Wu Yuan— Zombies— His lower leg—

He was abandoned. Wu Zhi suddenly wanted to laugh. His parents were only willing to bring his sister on their journey and left him to struggle in this godforsaken world

“Wu Zhi.” Beside his ear was someone’s gentle whisper that carried a cold aroma. “Look up.”

Wu Zhi raised his head as if he was a robot that someone had pressed a command switch. He dumbly stared at that similarly stunned figure. The reflection in the mirror could no longer be called a teenager. Wu Zhi did not know how long he had lived in a daze. He could only stare at the youth in the mirror in dismay. The slightly chubby chin during his teenagehood had turned sharper. The eyes on his face were smaller than before, but looked more vigorous. What astonished Wu Zhi was that there was not a single red scar on his face. All of the red lines had stopped their tracks at his neck.

Behind him, Ye Qingling, who had carried him here, supported him with his chest. His hand stretched out from under Wu Zhi’s arm to touch the mirror. His palm pressed against the lips of the person in the mirror.

“It won’t change.” Ye Qingling’s hand had covered his own reflection in the mirror, so Wu Zhi had no way of seeing his expression in the mirror. He listened in wonder as that person repeated and emphasized his words for the first time. “It won’t change.”

“Oh…” Other than this word, Wu Zhi did not know how else to respond to him. Standing was a very strenuous task for his leg which had been unused for a long time. This was all the more so as he had to balance his entire body on his left leg. Wu Zhi could only carefully lean his weight on that person behind him. He suggested rather awkwardly, “Uh… Let’s go back into the room first?”

Ye Qingling felt Wu Zhi’s slightly nervous weight on him. His lips curved, and he tightened his arms around the person in his embrace.

“Alright.”

Back in the bedroom, a strange silence spread between the two. Ye Qingling was never someone talkative. Even if he spoke, he would be as brief and concise as possible. In most of Wu Zhi’s previous interactions with him, Wu Zhi was the one leading the conversation. But this time, perhaps it was because there was too much he wanted to ask, too much he wanted to know, and too much he wanted to understand, Wu Zhi did not know where to start. In this moment, the side-effects of being detached from reality for a while was glaringly apparent. The wordless Wu Zhi could only stare at the person in front of him, and began to be lost in thought.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Wu Zhi felt that Ye Qingling’s skin had improved. His facial features had become even more delicate. In short, Ye Qingling became even prettier now. Wu Zhi could not help shuddering at his thoughts. Although using the word “pretty” to describe a boy was slightly inappropriate, Wu Zhi’s dumb brain could not think of a better word. Ye Qingling’s facial features were extremely delicate in the first place. However, now that he had matured, he was even more handsome and pretty. His black hair seemed to be soaked in ink, with a faint purple refraction. Under the light, his skin looked just like faintly glowing white jade. It gave one the urge to reach for it and confirm its softness and refined texture.

Wu Zhi could not help pressing on his temples. He must be still half-asleep. What nonsense was he thinking! But Ye Qingling’s biggest change was not his exterior, but his aura. In the past, Ye Qingling had exuded a fragility like that of a small, sick animal, but even still, he had appeared indifferent to everything in the world. As such, he emitted a sense of condescension as if he looked down at everyone. This had given Wu Zhi an urge to protect him, but at the same time, an urge to bully him too. At the very start, Wu Zhi was also one of those people who disliked him. But the two of them did not interact much, and thus, naturally, no conflict ever arose between them. In the few years of having “shared history”, Wu Zhi, who had no grudge against Ye Qingling at all, started finding Ye Qingling a familiar presence, and unintentionally grouped him into his own clique. Whenever he caught Ye Qingling being bullied, he would even step in immediately to deal with the problem.

And now, although Ye Qingling looked even more beautiful, beauty did not equate harmlessness. Wu Zhi could faintly sense it. The strength contained in that beautiful youth in front of him. Just like the king of beasts, with its beautiful and extravagant fur. Although it cautiously hid its claws away, its entire body exuded unquestionable strength and power to rule.

A part of Wu Zhi even wanted to ask: Who… are you?

You, who wore Ye Qingling’s skin, who are you?

“Ye Qingling…”

“Mn?” Ye Qingling pushed his glasses, earnestly looking at Wu Zhi with his slightly red-tinted black eyes.

Wu Zhi realized that Ye Qingling had always gazed at him earnestly. With his ears attentive, eyes unblinking, attitude attentive — almost greedily — he looked at him. To prevent another strange adjective from popping out in his mind, and to progress the conversation, Wu Zhi started questioning Ye Qingling, “Back then, with the zombies, how did you…”

Wu Zhi stopped. He did not want to finish it with the word “survive”. It would sound as though he wished for Ye Qingling to die there with the zombies. Once he thought of this possibility, Wu Zhi realized that he was actually in so much fear that he was holding his breath. Wu Zhi was puzzled at first, then, he understood. In this hopeless world, it was such a blessing and blissful thing to have someone he knew right in front of him.

“I don’t know.” Ye Qingling could always follow up Wu Zhi’s words appropriately. He gently shook his head, his purple-tinted black strands swayed along with the movement. “When I regained consciousness, I was the only one left.”

Wu Zhi did not suspect it. Or rather, he had a sort of groundless confidence — he simply believed that Ye Qingling would not deceive him. In this world, Ye Qingling absolutely would never harm Wu Zhi. Such a thought was completely baseless, but Wu Zhi believed it wholeheartedly.

Ye Qingling continued with that usual indifferent voice as if he was narrating another person’s matters, “When I woke up, I seemed to have mutated. Perhaps it was the virus, or the antibodies that were produced from it. They altered my body.” That person lowered his head, looking at his overly beautiful hands. Wu Zhi could not be sure if he saw a smile on Ye Qingling’s lips. He could only describe it as an odd curve of lips.

“Wu Zhi.” Ye Qingling spoke so, so softly. “I wouldn’t be a burden to you again.”

Complicated emotions swelled up in him. He awkwardly pulled back his crippled left leg — the one who became a burden now was him, right? Just as Wu Zhi was about to move, Ye Qingling already pressed a hand on the limb that Wu Zhi wanted to hide. Wu Zhi had a strange feeling. His every action seemed to be magnified in Ye Qingling’s eyes. Even his slightest tremble would not be missed. If he were to describe it more vulgarly, it was like the moment a person named Wu Zhi stuck his ass out, Ye Qingling would know if he wanted to shit or piss. The feeling of being seen through made Wu Zhi extremely uncomfortable, and even a little fearful.

Ye Qingling excelled in understanding Wu Zhi’s emotions. It had always been the case. Just like right now. Before Wu Zhi felt repelled, he diverted Wu Zhi’s attention with his words. “I found you, and then chose this place as our hideout.”

Wu Zhi’s attention had been diverted, and forgot that Ye Qingling’s hand was still on the place that made him feel embarrassed and weak. “Where are we?”

“Yezhi Hotel.”

The city Wu Zhi was in was Yezhi City. Yezhi Hotel which had the same name was situated in the city center. It was the biggest top-rated hotel in the entire city. Wu Zhi was flabbergasted for a moment before he asked, “Were we always here? What’s going on outside now? What about… the others…”

When eyed by Ye Qingling’s endlessly deep, black eyes, Wu Zhi suddenly felt his throat a little dry, and his voice also gradually weakened. An abrupt, unpleasant thought hit him. An extremely unpleasant one. Ye Qingling stood up and walked to the full-length window covered firmly by the curtains. As his hands pulled on that red cloth, the pale white hands formed a sharp contrast with the scarlet cloth.

Ye Qingling turned his head slightly, strands of hair resting on his spectacle rims.

“Wu Zhi.” He gently called Wu Zhi’s name. “Welcome back to Yezhi City five years later.”

With a shoosh, the curtains were thrown open. Sunlight harshly infiltrated the room. Wu Zhi reflexively squinted his eyes. Then, he saw it. Even under the embellishment of the brilliant sunlight, the ashen, old state of the city could not be missed. That person murmured the words softly in the sunlight. With his white shirt and black pants, he looked as clean and pure as an Angel ascending to Heaven.

“The Yezhi City with only the two of us.”

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