Chapter Thirty-Five: Full of Hidden Meaning

Finding a comfortable corner, Fang Xia settled down and lay quietly. Now, he could only wait until daylight before moving again.

He wondered how Bai Xing and the others were faring.

Throughout the night, Fang Xia didn't dare fall into deep sleep. If a zombie happened to wander in while he was sound asleep, he might end up as a hapless victim.

Bai Xing, too, was restless in the hotel, tossing and turning on the bed. She had grown accustomed to Fang Xia’s presence; with him nearby, she felt a rare sense of safety in this apocalyptic world.

Winter nights were long—darkness descended early and dawn arrived late. It was not until after seven that Fang Xia finally emerged from the warehouse. If you ask him how he knew the time, there were plenty of new phones in the mall’s storage; he simply took one apart and checked the clock.

Clearing out all the zombies on the first floor of the mall not only avenged the anxiety he’d suffered last night, but also earned him several first-tier upgrade crystals—a profitable venture.

Zombies on the streets were growing more numerous. Today marked the sixth day since their appearance. In two days, there would be no more midnight zombie rain; likewise, the airdrop rain would cease.

In the previous life, when the zombie rain stopped, humanity rejoiced. As long as their numbers didn’t increase, it was only a matter of time before they could wipe them out.

But soon after, when they realized the airdrop rain had ceased as well, panic returned—those boxes were humanity’s hope for survival.

However.

Half a month later, at the end of the first month of the apocalypse, the sky once again unleashed zombie rain and airdrop boxes.

The next day, survivors discovered a multitude of second-tier zombies.

This cycle repeated six times, and with each ending, even stronger zombies appeared.

Before Fang Xia died in his previous life, the highest-tier zombie he encountered was already at the eighth tier, while the strongest known survivor in Dawn City was only seventh tier.

Fortunately, that eighth-tier zombie was some distance from Dawn City, and for reasons unknown, it merely guarded its own territory.

In his past life, before his death, that eighth-tier zombie never entered Dawn City.

All this was still far from the Fang Xia of now; for the moment, he simply wanted to hurry back to the hotel.

After a night away, he hoped Bai Xing was safe.

As for the other female students, at present they were not so important to Fang Xia—if lost, he could find others. It wasn’t a major concern.

When Fang Xia returned to the hotel, Bai Xing was sitting on the sofa, lost in thought.

She had barely slept all night; her eyes were red. She didn’t even look up when she heard the door open, assuming it was Liu Rui or Li Xiaochun.

“What’s wrong? You look so downcast.”

A familiar voice sounded beside her, and Bai Xing looked up in surprise.

Fang Xia—he was back.

Tears of grievance spilled down her cheeks like broken beads, and Bai Xing threw herself into Fang Xia’s arms, choking back sobs.

“Why… didn’t you… come back… all night…”

Fang Xia gently patted her back with his left hand, and held her tightly with his right.

“I ran into a bit of trouble, but it’s all settled now.”

For now, Fang Xia wouldn’t tell anyone about his supernatural abilities—not even Bai Xing.

The commotion outside stirred Liu Rui and Li Xiaochun inside the room; they opened the door to find Bai Xing crying in Fang Xia’s embrace.

After more than two years together in the dormitory, this was the first time they’d seen Bai Xing cry—she had always been the famed ice beauty of the school.

Still, they were glad Fang Xia had returned. In this apocalypse, having a strong man around was a blessing, especially one who seemed to possess decent character.

Liu Rui wasn’t a naïve girl; she had always enjoyed post-apocalyptic novels. Though exaggerated, she believed that if the end times truly arrived, human nature would be even more extreme.

From the start, Fang Xia’s gaze toward her and Li Xiaochun had never revealed any strange desires. Even after leading dozens of women, he had made no untoward moves.

Perhaps Fang Xia might act differently in the future, but Liu Rui believed that by then, she would have some ability to resist.

Head lowered in thought, Liu Rui glanced up at Fang Xia, just as his gaze met hers.

Their eyes met midair; Fang Xia smiled meaningfully, then looked down at Bai Xing in his arms.

[What does his smile mean? I’m behaving perfectly normal. Maybe I’m overthinking—it’s just an ordinary smile.]

She failed to notice the faint, elusive smile on Fang Xia’s lips as he lowered his head.

After crying in Fang Xia’s arms for a while, Bai Xing remembered there were two others in the room.

Under the teasing gaze of her friends, Bai Xing’s pretty face flushed, and she hurriedly wiped her tears and pulled away from Fang Xia’s embrace.

“Do you still have the strength to go out with them today?”

“Yes!”

As a first-tier combatant, a sleepless night wouldn’t affect her much, and besides, Bai Xing had slept—just not well.

“Then keep going out with them today. Remember, prioritize the airdrop boxes.”

In two days, the airdrop boxes would stop appearing briefly; they needed to gather as many as they could now.

Fang Xia had already envisioned the scene to come—crowds of survivors scouring the city for airdrop boxes.

With the zombies lacking reinforcement, the humans of White City would inevitably kill them off—only a matter of time.

“I’ll take them out first. Here’s the data I compiled yesterday—leave it here.”

Liu Rui stepped forward and placed a notebook on the table.

“Alright, go ahead.”

Knowing Fang Xia was safe, Bai Xing regained her usual composure—a cold goddess once more. Only in Fang Xia’s presence did she become a docile girl.

Ah, Liu Rui certainly had her own ideas.

Fang Xia also realized something: except for their first meeting, when Bai Xing asked the others to call him Brother Fang, she hadn’t called him that again. Li Xiaochun, though, addressed him affectionately.

Shaking off these thoughts, Fang Xia considered that as long as Liu Rui remained indifferent, all was well. If she ever developed certain intentions, he might have to take drastic measures.

He skimmed the notebook—a total of six airdrop boxes found yesterday, yielding seventy-four first-tier upgrade crystals, with not a single casualty.

Strength in numbers—no flaw in that logic.

And these were just ordinary humans, women at that.

Thinking about it, that survivor team must have found countless airdrop boxes daily; no wonder they could later establish Dawn City.

First-tier upgrade crystals—without question, Bai Xing must have stored them in her spatial gear. Had he known they’d collected so many yesterday, he would have had Bai Xing upgrade to second tier before heading out.

He still had forty-one himself, having slain plenty of zombies yesterday.

As they were heading out, Fang Xia quickly rose and followed.

At that moment, they were clearing zombies in the lobby. Bai Xing didn’t join the fight; instead she supported the others, stepping in only when danger arose.

He wondered how Liu Rui trained them; just the day before, they were fragile girls, yet in a single day, they could now face zombies without fear.

Though their teamwork was still a bit rough, the results were impressive.

“Bai Xing.”

Seeing the battle nearing its end, Fang Xia beckoned to Bai Xing.