CH 34.2

Chapter 34.2 – Out of the City

It was late afternoon when the alert ended, and the broadcast came with good news from Lu Tinghan. It was a great victory, the infected swarm was crushed to a point of utter defeat.

They were already hungry when they left the basement, so they went together to the food distribution office to receive bread.

They came out early, the long street was still empty.

The good news of the big victory just came, and it was no different from before the peak period. Everyone’s emotions were high, and the depression just now was swept away.

“We can still win!” Tracy jumped up and down, cheering. “General Lu is the best! Soon, we will be able to act for Ms. Isabella again!”

Qin Luoluo walked in a coquettish and swaying style, quarreled with Cheng Youwen about whether her hairstyle was good or not, and said that Shi Yuan would make the final judgment, while Tracy danced around in joy and was dragged back by Wolfgang.

Xia Fang fanned the flames at Qin Luoluo for a while, and teased Tracy for a while. Seeing that the situation on both sides had escalated, he laughed very happily.

The young man who had just been talking about the past in the basement was gone, without even realizing it, and he was beaming.

As for Shi Yuan, Tracy took out the snacks at the bottom of her box and gave him a pack of dried sweet potatoes—

Shi Yuan hadn’t eaten it before, so he concentrated on tasting it. When he looked up, he saw the vivid expressions of everyone, some were laughing and some were smiling, but all their eyes were bright. Looking at the familiar grass and trees on the street, posters of the troupe posted on the wall, and the smell of bread and potato soup floated from a distance. Pedestrians came out, twos and threes, as if nothing had changed, as if the old days could last forever.

After dinner, he will go home before the curfew like any ordinary person, turn on the bright yellow lights and wait for Lu Tinghan to come back.

The hustle and bustle, sadness and happiness, a sense of belonging.

This moment seemed to go back to the time when he first entered the city, Lu Tinghan took him to the bustling pedestrian street and invited him to eat grilled sausage. There were so many people rubbing shoulders and heels, it was so lively that even his eyes were illuminated by the light.

After that, he saw the theater, the narrow sanctuary, the snow and the sea of flowers, and the endless golden wheat fields.

—He came from the wasteland to see the world.

Now, he was also a part of it.

Late that night, Lu Tinghan pushed the door open, went in, and was surprised to see that the light in the living room was still on.

Shi Yuan fell asleep on the sofa.

On the table was “General History of the Alliance Military”. He hadn’t finished reading it for several months, and it was still in the first one-third. The progress was really unsatisfactory.

Lu Tinghan took off his gloves and tie, and sat beside the sofa.

He silently looked at Shi Yuan’s side face.

Shi Yuan was always a particularly fast and heavy sleeper, a trait only available to those who are not bothered by anything.

After he fell asleep, he was very quiet, with the fragrance of bath liquid in his hair, his eyebrows stretched, and the tip of his tail curled up a little bit, forming a subtle arc.

… Just looking at him would make people feel wonderfully happy, as if the waves in their hearts had been ironed out submissively.

Lu Tinghan worked hard and rarely let go of his thoughts.

Now he paused.

He would usually watch the battle situation and statistics, but now… watching Shi Yuan sleep, it was very interesting.

If Shi Yuan was woken up, Shi Yuan would definitely open his eyes and smile, and rush into his arms to tell him what he had seen and heard all day.

When did it start?

Leaving the battlefield of blood and fire, leaving behind the treacherous wasteland, and the long streets in the middle of the night, there was someone waiting for him to go home.

Lu Tinghan wanted to grab the tip of Shi Yuan’s tail, wake him up, and let him go back to his room to sleep. He stretched out his hand but stopped again and bent his leg instead.

He picked up Shi Yuan and walked towards Shi Yuan’s room.

Shi Yuan, half asleep and half awake, grabbed his collar and protested vaguely, he couldn’t hear what he was muttering, anyway, he was reluctant.

So, Lu Tinghan walked to the bedroom on the second floor, this time, Shi Yuan was at ease.

When Lu Tinghan took a shower, changed his clothes, and returned to the room, Shi Yuan had already woken up, wrapped in a quilt into a fluffy ball, looking at him with jet-black eyes.

“Did I wake you up?” Lu Tinghan asked.

“No, I woke up by myself,” Shi Yuan said.

Late at night, they shared a bed and performed an important ritual once a day: rubbing Shi Yuan’s head.

Shi Yuan asked: “Lu Tinghan, do you like this city? Purr, purr, purr.”

“Why do you ask this?” Lu Tinghan continued to rub Shi Yuan’s head.

“I just want to know about, purr, purr, purr.”

In the darkness, Lu Tinghan seemed to be smiling: “Of course, I like it.”

“…ah,” Shi Yuan said. “I like it too.”

He seemed to have made up his mind.

A week later, a Level II warning sounded and people fled to the shelter.

This time, Shi Yuan did not join them.

He dodged a group of patrolling soldiers at the corner, and walked cautiously towards the south gate of the city. Fortunately, the army was busy rushing to the front line, so no one took notice of him.

In this way, he came to the gate of the city smoothly.

A metal door tens of meters high stood in front of him, with layers of mechanisms and locks, and the weight of millions of tons was unshakable. There were many soldiers on the gates and walls of the city, and the searchlights shone on the wasteland, even Shi Yuan could feel the heat.

In this case, it was impossible for him to leave the city.

However, he must go.

Shi Yuan lived on the dividing line.

He likes humans and sees monsters as his own kind. In the refuge, he was at a loss for what to do while listening to the weeping and whispering of people and the screams of monsters in the distance. He often thought, if only he was as smart as Lu Tinghan, he would definitely know what to do.

So, he made up his mind that night: he would out of the city and kill the monsters.

He had killed the empress bee of the purple light bug. If he found another monster attacking the city, killed it, and brought it back to Lu Tinghan to prove his ability, maybe Lu Tinghan would be able to figure out a way to defend the city.

—That’s the plan.

But in fact, Shi Yuan was at a loss.

First of all, Shi Yuan didn’t know if he could kill other monsters. After all, he had only ever been in contact with the empress bee, and maybe it was a lucky accident.

Secondly, he didn’t know how Lu Tinghan, who had killed countless monsters, would react when he discovered his identity—just imagining it made him feel so scared that his tail was about to tie into a knot again; he didn’t know, if humans really asked him to kill all monsters and end the end times, what should he do, could he really kill so many of his kind? Should he really do it?

If the monsters were gone, would that really mean the end of the end times?

He couldn’t get answers to many questions, and he had a hundred reasons to shrink back.

However, he couldn’t hide it from Lu Tinghan for the rest of his life.

However, he wanted to save this city loved by countless people.

His thoughts went back to a particular day’s performance, he was tending his cypress tree costume backstage, and accidentally caught a glimpse of the newspaper.

It was a review from the New Moon newspaper.

[I think that the setting of the God of Salvation in “The Martyr” is quite surprising. He is not only Leo’s inner demon, but he also has a devil appearance… However, it is this kind of conflict that makes the whole play have a unique appearance. The dramatic sublimation makes people think: Is that really the God of Salvation? If he is a monster, can he really save the world? Or, all of this is just Leo’s fantasy, and the God of Salvation never existed?]

After playing so many times as the God of Salvation and saving the world so many times, maybe it’s time to really perform.

Even if this time, there would be no flowers and applause.

Standing in front of the steel city wall, Shi Yuan took a deep breath, just like the day he performed on stage for the first time—

If you are a little braver, you may be able to understand human beings better, understand their love, hate, sorrow, and joy.

If you are a little braver, you may be able to tear out a ray of light on this desperate curtain of doom that is like an eternal night.

Shi Yuan walked towards the city wall, and every time he took a step, thick black mist gushed out from his body.

*

At the same time, the Gleaning City Headquarters.

The red light flickered on the holographic screen, shining on everyone’s face, like a hellish scene.

Xing Yifeng got up in a hurry and walked through the underground corridor.

Passing through layers of guards, Lu Tinghan was in the containment room at the end—he could perceive the thoughts of monsters and capture things that ordinary people couldn’t touch, which was why he went to the front line frequently: the closer he got to the monsters and observed their behavior patterns, from the opening and closing of their mouthparts to the vibration of their feathers, the more accurate his inferences became.

In the containment room were three mutant wolves transported back from the front line.

When Xing Yifeng came to the containment room, the mutant warrior with antlers was at the door and opened the door for him.

As soon as he entered the door, Xing Yifeng’s breathing stagnated.

Black blood covered the walls, smeared from the feet to the ceiling. The containment cage was opened, and the black wolf fell to the ground. One of them made a whine before it died, and its throat was cut neatly.

The table had been overturned, leaving only the solitary chair in the middle of the room. Lu Tinghan was sitting on a chair, holding a saber in his hand, his cuffs rolled up, revealing the distinct lines of his forearms.

Xing Yifeng: “You…”

“Tried their instinctive reaction, especially before death,” Lu Tinghan said lightly. “Some strategies need to be changed.” He looked at Xing Yifeng. “What do you want to report?”

Only then did Xing Yifeng come back to his senses: “General, a distortion value exceeding Level I has been observed at the south gate of Gleaning City.”

He swallowed, his voice became dry, and he continued with some difficulty: “…After comparison, it was confirmed that it was the infection wavelength of Abyss No.0.”

Lu Tinghan didn’t answer.

A long half minute passed.

There was blood splattered all around, but he was the only one who was spotless, as if the broken throat, scattered brains, and crushed hind leg bones were not his fault. Lu Tinghan was always well-dressed, and his emotions and anger were not displayed. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, it would be hard for anyone to imagine that he could be violent when he moved his hands.

He just sat there in silence until the eyes of the last mutant wolf lost their luster, until a drop of black blood dripped from the tip of the knife.

Tap! It splashed light a flower lightly.

“…Okay,” Lu Tinghan nodded, “I see.”