Chapter 267 - Stay behind with Me

Chapter 267 Stay behind with Me

Before Chu Tiankuo could speak, the crowd already heard Tang Xia’s voice, then there was an uproar.

“Is it true that Mr. Chu has the serum?”

“Then why hasn’t he used it before?”

“But that girl doesn’t look like she’s paying lip service.”

“Could it be that Mr. Chu really has had the serum in his hands but has been merely hiding it all along?”

“…”

Having lived to this day, these survivors more or less personally experienced the pain of leaving their relatives or friends after they were bitten by a zombie. Now that they heard that Chu Tiankuo had the serum, they looked at him differently.

When Tang Xia saw the reaction of the people around her, she then realized that other people in the castle did not know that Chu Tiankuo had the serum. She was inevitably shocked and could not help looking at Chu Tiankuo with an increasingly puzzled expression. Why did he hide the fact that he had the serum?

Axon did not expect Tang Xia to openly mention that Chu Tiankuo had the serum. His face changed instantly and he hurried forward to interrupt Tang Xia. “What nonsense are you talking? Why would Mr. Chu have the serum?”

When the crowd heard Axon speak, their expressions changed again and they looked at one another with confused looks on their faces. For the time being, they were unsure of who they should believe.

Tang Xia managed to not react to this and she looked at Axon strangely before she looked at Chu Tiankuo. “He obviously…” Chu Tiankuo obviously had the serum. Previously, it was also Axon who took them to Chu Tiankuo. Why would he say this now?

Before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Axon again. When Axon saw that Tang Xia was not cooperating, his expression became serious and his tone of voice was a lot stronger. “Mr. Chu does not have the serum. Tang Xia, are you so anxious that you became confused for a moment?”

While he spoke, he secretly gave Tang Xia a look.

Tang Xia was stunned, but when she saw the anxious look on Axon’s face as well as how Chu Tiankuo was staring at her coldly, she was forced to change her words to go along with what Axon said. “Yes, I was confused for a moment.”

Axon finally heaved a sigh of relief. When Axon realized that the survivors around them continued to watch Tang Xia and Chu Tiankuo suspiciously, he gestured to the patrol team to dismiss the onlookers.

“The zombies are about to be executed soon. In order to avoid accidental injuries, it is better for everyone to excuse yourself for the time being.”

Although this reason was a bit far-fetched, they could not care so much about it for now. Thanks to the efforts of Axon and the patrol team, the crowd gradually dispersed and the area was quiet again.

After the execution of the zombies, Axon wiped his sweat away and watched Tang Xia as he reprimanded her harshly. “There were so many people present just now. How could you thoughtlessly leak the news that Mr. Chu has the serum?”

“I …” Tang Xia also knew that the way that she dealt with the situation earlier lacked consideration. Her expression dimmed as Axon lectured her, but when she remembered the lives of the dozen or so people who were executed, she still couldn’t quite understand. “You clearly had the serum. Why didn’t you save them? They merely became zombies and they can still be saved if we use the serum in time.”

Tang Xia looked at Axon and Chu Tiankuo fervently. She did not understand why they hid the fact about their possession of the serum from the survivors. Wasn’t this place supposed to enable more people to live on? Now, they clearly could save the lives of more people and yet they did not do so. Wasn’t that against their original intention?

As this thought crossed Tang Xia’s mind, her tone of voice also became more agitated.

Upon hearing Tang Xia’s interrogation, Axon sighed, but before he could speak, Chu Tiankuo’s face darkened and he suddenly stepped forward and dragged Tang Xia out.

As he didn’t control the force of his hands, it hurt Tang Xia and her face twisted in pain. “What are you doing?” As she said that, she tried to break free from Chu Tiankuo’s grip but she could not seem to do so no matter how she struggled.

Chu Tiankuo did not say a word and merely strode forward as he dragged Tang Xia. He only stopped walking when they reached their room. He then shook her hand off and his face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost. “Take a look for yourself.”

Tang Xia finally managed to break free from his clutches, and she complained while she rubbed her swollen wrists. When she lifted her head up and saw Chu Tiankuo’s displeased expression, she then looked in the direction of his gaze and she only saw a safe in front of him. For a moment, she does not understand what Chu Tiankuo meant, so she asked in a puzzled way, “What is this?”

Chu Tiankuo snorted coldly and opened the safe as he said in a cold voice, “The serum you wanted.”

Tang Xia looked over and saw that there was only one single box of serum in the small safe. She was stunned for a moment before she then asked in disbelief, “Is that all?”

“What do you think then? Did you think the serum is produced in unlimited quantities?”

Chu Tiankuo sneered coldly and his voice was full of sarcasm and mockery. “There are only so many serums left in the entire world and everyone wants to survive. Who do you think you should give it to?”

Tang Xia suddenly understood why Chu Tiankuo concealed the fact that there was still some serum left. When it was doomsday, the existence of serum would be equivalent to an extra life. It would be good if one did not know about it. But once they knew, it would be enough to drive some people crazy.

In the face of life, human nature was fragile and incapable of withstanding tests.

When Tang Xia remembered the expression of the survivors after she had said that Chu Tiankuo had the serum, she could not help feeling afraid. If it wasn’t for Axon’s timely response, there could have been a real mess.

“Sorry, I was too naive.” Tang Xia was not a person who could not see the situation clearly. After she realized her mistake, she sincerely apologized to Chu Tiankuo. Tang Xia still understood the principle of owning up to one’s mistake when one was at fault and to tell the truth even if one had to be beaten.Access v ip novel

When Chu Tiankuo heard Tang Xia apologize, his expression eased slightly and he closed the door of the safe again.

Just when he closed the door, Tang Xia suddenly noticed that there was a syringe box at the innermost side of the safe. It looked similar to the serum but the color was different. The serum was blue while the box inside was yellow.

“What was that?” Tang Xia made the link to the syringe that was half-exposed from Chu Tiankuo’s pocket earlier and her expression inevitably turned serious. Her instincts told her that Chu Tiankuo had to have some secrets that he was still hiding from her.

“Remember, don’t be reckless. If the survivors break out into a riot, no one can protect you.” Chu Tiankuo closed the door but he did not notice the change in Tang Xia’s expression and he continued to reprimand her.

Tang Xia lowered her head without speaking. Her mind was full of the image of the box of yellow serum and the fact that Chu Tiankuo went out with a syringe. Now, she then associated it with Chu Tiankuo’s list of names, on which everyone’s name except for hers had been crossed out. The answer was almost shouting out to her: “Chu Tiankuo must be planning something in the dark!”

While Tang Xia pondered this, Chu Tiankuo suddenly changed the subject and pulled Tang Xia back from her daze. “Now, it’s time to talk about you and me then.”

“What?” Right after Tang Xia snapped back to her senses, she met Chu Tiankuo’s deep eyes and she was inevitably stunned.

“Don’t pretend to be a fool, Tang Xia. I think I have made myself clear enough.” When Chu Tiankuo saw Tang Xia’s shocked response, he continued to speak rather impatiently.

Tang Xia recalled his previous confession as well as the various emotions that he has been unable to conceal since they met this time. She gradually reacted to the situation, and her cheeks felt as if they were burning slightly. She then replied with some hesitation, “You should know…”

“I know we are not from the same world,” Chu Tiankuo interrupted her straight away and looked at Tang Xia with a fervent and sincere expression, “but I don’t care.”

“But I care,” Tang Xia’s heart screamed and before she could think of a way to reject him, she heard Chu Tiankuo speak in an overbearing manner. “Stay behind with me. I will give you everything you want.”

“But this is unreal after all.” Tang Xia looked dazedly at Chu Tiankuo’s look of confidence and eventually could not stop herself from interrupting him.

Chu Tiankuo was stunned for a moment, then he smiled indifferently. “What’s the difference? We have everything that you have outside, we even have better things here.”

As he spoke, there was a look of longing on his face. It was as if he had already had the blueprint of life planned out after Tang Xia stayed behind. As he brought up something that he was excited about, Chu Tiankuo grabbed hold of Tang Xia’s hand eagerly and reiterated, “Stay behind with me. We will be very happy.”

The shocked Tang Xia allowed him to hold on to her, and only managed to react to the situation a second later. She hurriedly pulled her hand away and there were only three words in her mind. “You are crazy.”

She said it out loud without any embellishment or euphemism, and it showered Chu Tiankuo from head to toe like a basin of bone-chilling cold water.

Chu Tiankuo’s expression froze like that. “What did you say?”

His words were spat from his mouth one by one as if they were also frozen.

Tang Xia looked at him with a complicated expression. She did not want to continue to give him any hope. “I said that you’re crazy. Didn’t you hear? Then let me repeat it again. You are crazy. You are crazy. You are crazy…”

As if Tang Xia wanted Chu Tiankuo to see and accept the fact completely, Tang Xia repeated it thrice until Chu Tiankuo’s expression slowly darkened.

“Shut up!” Chu Tiankuo interrupted Tang Xia’s words angrily, and the blue veins on his forehead were on the verge of rupturing. “This is your reply?”

He asked rhetorically. There was a barely detectable look of hurt on his face, which looked like he was at the peak of his anger.

He had done the maximum that he could for the sake of Tang Xia and had even subverted himself constantly. Yet that was the reply that he received.

“Yes!” Tang Xia replied through gritted teeth, then she said firmly, “I can’t stay here. No matter how good it is here, it is still unreal.”

After Tang Xia said that, she paused for a moment and ultimately, she still said the most hurtful sentence, “That includes you. You are also unreal. To put it plainly, you are just a bunch of numbers.

“So how could I be with a virtual character?” As if she did not see Chu Tiankuo’s hurt expression, Tang Xia sneered coldly and clenched her fists secretly. Having exerted too much force, her nails dug into her palms and made marks in them.

“Now that I’ve said so much, he probably won’t continue to tangle with me, right?” Tang Xia carefully looked at Chu Tiankuo. Under the dim light, his expression changed constantly.

“Boom!”

A sudden loud noise could be heard. Chu Tiankuo had slammed his fist violently against the wall beside Tang Xia. Tang Xia’s face turned pale and she saw Chu Tiankuo’s enlarged face appear in front of her.

He stared fixedly at Tang Xia. There was a chilling expression in his eyes that made her shudder with fear. Along with his handsome face, he looked like an asura from hell. “Wishful thinking!”

His thin lips parted and his voice was deep and somber as though it came from the depths of hell. “I will make you stay, regardless of whether you’re willing to or not.”