Chapter 17

Luo Xun turned off the bedroom lights and turned on the small bedside lamp. His mood had improved, no wonder people said – if you feel sad just say something and spread it to everyone!

Seeing other down was the most effective way to buoy one’s own mood! This way Luo Xun’s sadness at being unable to shove the guy back next door had completely dissipated. Luo Xun suddenly remembered something and smoothly pulled an object from the drawer to put on the side table.

“Here, your gun”

Yan Fei paused for a moment and looked perplexedly at Luo Xun.

Luo Xun leisurely turned away while on the bed. To him, the threat of a gun in Yan Fei’s hand was equal to that of his metal powers He had come across many guns in his life, not to mention there were only two bullets left. There was nothing to be greedy about.

If one really wanted to kill someone, there was no difference between a gun and a crossbow.

Yan Fei did not touch the gun and instead closed his eyes, his mouth quirked up. The two metre bed sunk slightly under the weight of two men sleeping peacefully side by side without touching.

Yan Fei adjusted after a while, trying to distract himself from uncomfortable sensations.

He asked, “What’s the current situation like outside?”

Luo Xun kindly avoided teasing Yan Fei’s nerves, “Army vehicles passed by yesterday, cleared the road of zombies and helped stabilize the populace. Today the soldiers combed the neighborhoods to clear out remaining zombies. Tomorrow they will come again to clear up zombies inside buildings and count the survivors.”

His room had been prepared for visitors, nothing to be concerned about

Luo Xun also added, “This is a new district with few inhabitants. It’s estimated that everything will soon be cleaned up with the nearby troops. I heard that there is no way to recover old homes if absent. If new survivors are rescued in the future, the army will probably use these empty homes. You should take a room now otherwise you might not have a place to live.”

In reality, Luo Xun only wanted to say the last sentence but was afraid of offending the other party. Letting Yan Fei leave of his own initiative would be best.

Yan Fei had dealt with people who were far more experienced than Luo Xun. Even if Luo Xun had lived two lifetimes, he could be considered a defensive counter-attack type. His movements were used to block others murderous intentions and ensuring his relative safety and privacy

On the other hand, Yan Fei was very different. He grew up in high society social circles and was forced to observe and be observed.

After all, the best defense is a good offense. Keep your opponents busy, never let them relax and naturally they could not afford to deal with you. He had understood this from the age of 10.

“Occupy an apartment?”

The room next door? Yan Fei’s eyebrows quirked in understanding, if this had been his own home, he would also not have been willing to let a stranger stay but…

Luo Xun went to close the curtains. Yan Fei turned to the side, raised a hand to cover his chest and coughed.

“What’s the matter? Where does it hurt?” Luo Xun was distracted.

The cough got cut short so the that the fake cough did not become real – though there was some chest pain upon taking a deep breath.

“That…it’s fine, wait until your injury is healed. Anyway I already dealt with the home next door.”

“Handled?” Yan Fei asked doubtfully.

“Ah, put a peephole and changed to door locks.”

In this building peepholes were only installed after finding a tenant. The peephole meant that the apartment had an owner. Thus why it and the locks were changed.

Luo Xun had bought the lock as a standby before the apocalypse. In case someone broke the door, otherwise he would not have any replacements.

Yan Fei’s mood inexplicably relaxed hearing that Luo Xun was no longer urging him to move next door. His eyes narrowed and his lips curled. He did not want to depend on Luo Xun like this, eating his food and using him. What kind of guest was he?

He was not a gigolo. Even with the apocalypse, with brains and brawn, nature would find a way to live. Of course Luo Xun’s help would be rewarded.

However he did not want to leave now, not at all. In more than 20 years he had not had such an easy or comfortable time talking with anyone.

Yan Fei sighed in relief. “When I was fleeing I could not contact my family, don’t know if they…if I can find them I’ll figure out where to live, maybe my family is okay.” His voice was a bit hoarse, probably because he had been lethargic and did not drink enough water.

Hearing that low mellow sound shook the heart like an earthquake.

Luo Xun was caught in a wave of sympathy, even if he previously wanted Yan Fei to leave, to get rid of him quickly while remaining cordial. Luo Xun’s parents had died while he was in high school and only left their house to him. Due to their death his college entrance examinations admitted him to a third tier university.

After he only attended two years because of expensive tuition, a school atmosphere not conducive to learning and irresponsible professors. With Luo Xun’s reluctance to continue his studies, he simply worked until the apocalypse.

“Where does your family live?”

Yan Fei’s mouth curled into a sneer, “Downtown Xi Cheng district. I was going to go find them but there was a car accident halfway through. I had temporarily evacuated to the southwest area with some others because there were too many zombies in the area.”

Xi Cheng district was one of the most densely populated areas in the city, along with the other urban areas would be hit hardest the midnight of the apocalypse.

“…The army has been dispatched so as long as your family closed the door and stayed inside, they should be saved soon.”

Luo Xun was well aware of the dangers of densely populated areas. He had barely escaped from F-city the first time, which had a much lower population density versus A-city. He then came to A-city base and experienced a number of zombie sieges.

How many of the zombies in the sea of corpses had been people from the city?

Search teams combed the city to collect all sorts of resources after the base had stabilized. Any encountered zombies would be dealt with, but the enemies were endless. It was possible that Yan Fei’s family was already dead.

“Well, so long as there is a chance, we’ll meet again somehow.”

Yan Fei decided to switch topics and asked, “What about your family? I haven’t seen anyone else so far?”

Luo Xun sighed, “They died my sophomore year.”

Yan Fei was stunned, he thought Luo Xun lived with his parents. The room was well furnished, Luo Xun was rather young without a city accent. He looked like a stay home college student.

“My condolences…”

“It is fine, it has been years.”

Luo Xun faintly smiled and found with the lights off he could speak to Yan Fei like an ordinary person, almost like friends.

“Sorry.” Yan Fei sincerely apologized, his intention had been to stir up compassion, let Luo Xun feel guilt at moving him away.

Of course Yan Fei would not depend on him forever, but teasing Luo Xun was interesting. He did not think his words would poke at another’s weak spots.

“It’s fine, if need be I will also help you inquire about your parents.”

Even if it was difficult to get good news.

Yan Fei opened his and wanted to say, “No, with their selfish personalities they will find the safest, most protected area immediately when something goes wrong.”

Afterall, the home may be located in the Xi Cheng district but the people almost never lived there. Each had a lover’s nest built in the city, the three did not need each other to live well.

With some difficulty and movement pain he lifted his left hand. Yan Fei placed his hand between the two on the blanket. It seemed he wanted to pat Luo Xun but due to pain could not complete the action.

“Yes?” Luo Xun turned in confusion and looked at the beautiful eyes and mole.

“Don’t bother looking. They will live well, must be very good.”

Luo Xun paused then stretched out his hand, Yan Fei’s skin was soft but he was not powerless. These two days when Luo Xun helped him go to bed, eat food and take medicine, Yan Fei’s seemingly thin body had strength. When poked the supposedly soft body had flexible muscles. In contrast to Luo Xun’s chicken limbs, Yan Fei’s hand was tough and strong even when injured.

Luo Xun felt depressed but quickly pushed the thought away. “Well nothing to worry about.”

There was no awkwardness holding hands. Both men were comforting each other and neither wanted to let go first. In the dark room, others could not see and they had not realized.

In December, the north wind whistled outside, without heating the rooms would have been freezing. However Luo Xun had planted crops in advance to transform the balcony, terrace and nursery into greenhouses. Coupled with some powerful solar batteries, several rooms were unexpectedly warm.

It did not feel cold, even with a hand outside the blanket. The two men fell asleep finding nothing odd.