Chapter 110: The Calamity of Ability Users
Lu Weiyi stepped out and walked closer, noticing broken glass windows upstairs and down. His sense of unease grew. “Something’s not right. Wait here—I’ll check it out,” he told the three who were currently too weak to fight.
Antonio immediately tried to get up, but Lu Weiyi stopped him. “I won’t be able to protect you. Stay here.”
Antonio paused, then gave a heavy nod. “Please.”
Lu Weiyi nodded back, shut the car door, and leapt through the window into the house.
Inside, there were no signs of a struggle. Even the food and gas canisters Lu Weiyi had left before were gone. He moved through several rooms—there weren’t even any blankets or bedding left.
Lin Yimu, who had locked the front door earlier, walked in and scanned the place. “They couldn’t have been kidnapped. There’s still gas in the car, and no one’s touched it. It must’ve been the wind and sand last night—they probably hid nearby without using the car. They must be close. Let’s search the area.”
“I’ll check the yard, you look around the rooms to see if there are any clues,” Lin Yimu said as he leaped directly from the second floor and disappeared into the backyard in the blink of an eye.
Lu Weiyi hadn’t even finished checking the rooms when he heard Lin Yimu shouting downstairs. He quickly ran over and heard him yelling, “In the cellar!”
Lu Weiyi followed him to the backyard, where he saw a two-meter square patch in the snow-covered yard that was noticeably thinner than the surrounding snow, as if it had been opened and disturbed repeatedly.
Just as they approached, the patch of ground was pushed open from below, revealing Xu Sa’s delicate face. He looked visibly relieved to see Lu Weiyi, her eyes red and filled with urgency. “Xiao Yi, we’ve finally waited for you. Liu Rui’s not doing well. He suddenly started having intense pain all over his body and is almost passing out from it. Hurry and check on him!”
With a thud, Xu Sa disappeared back into the cellar. If Lin Yimu hadn’t grabbed the cover, it would’ve shut completely. “Lu Xiaoyi, hurry up!” Xu Sa’s voice came from below, followed by a beam of light illuminating a ladder.
Lu Weiyi surveyed the area. The cellar was about two-persons tall and four to five square meters in size. A gas tank with a pot glowing red-hot sat in the middle. The rest of the people were crammed around it, filling the space tightly. He turned to Lin Yimu behind him and said, “Brother Mu, go inform the other three. See if there’s a room we can clean up and move into. This place is too small.”
Lu Weiyi grabbed the ladder and jumped down. After glancing around, he found Zhuang Mingxu. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. Go check on Liu Rui first,” Zhuang Mingxu replied with a smile, holding the sleeping Zhuang Ai Yi in his arms. He looked well.
Lu Weiyi tossed down a dozen thick sets of clothes for everyone to change into. Then he walked over to Liu Rui, placed a crystal core in his palm, explained several times how to use it, and waited until he saw the core shrinking—confirming Liu Rui was absorbing it—before turning to Xu Sa. “Seems like all the ability users are experiencing this. The other three in the car are already incapacitated. I’m not sure if this will help, but it’s worth trying.”
Xu Sa nodded, holding Liu Rui tightly and whispering in his ear.
“Lu… is David… upstairs?” Upon hearing that ability users were all experiencing this, Dean became restless. He threw on a down jacket and began climbing the ladder.
“Brother,” Lu Xi, wrapped in an oversized down coat, looked up at Lu Weiyi.
“Xiao Yi, how are you?” Zhuang Mingxu held Lu Weiyi’s hand and examined it with concern.
“I’m just feeling a little off, not serious,” Lu Weiyi replied, patting Lu Xi’s head.
Zhuang Mingxu let out a sigh of relief and asked about Ning Yuan and Li Zhuang.
“They’re okay for now. You all change clothes first, I’ll go see if we can fix up a room.”
“I’ll go with you,” Xiong Jie said, already dressed and handing a pair of shoes to Dean, who was about to climb out. “Put these on first. Don’t get sick again.”
“I’m going too,” Gu Qingzhi said, already ready.
“I’m coming as well,” Gu Qingyue added.
“I—” Xi Shi started, but was interrupted by Xiong Jie. “You stay and take care of the others.”
Xi Shi saw the other weaker ones nod and complied.
“I’ll help too,” Lu Xi quickly pulled on a pair of pants and prepared to follow.
“Just take care of Ai Yi,” Lu Weiyi said, concerned he’d catch another cold. Though they had medicine, without proper equipment, it was hard to feel secure.
Lu Xi looked at Zhuang Ai Yi curled up beside Zhuang Mingxu and nodded, backing down.
The moment Dean reached the top, he stumbled and ran straight to the front yard. By the time Lu Weiyi and the others caught up, he was already in the driver’s seat, hugging Antonio’s arm and pressing against him.
The howling wind and goose feather snow swirled around them. With no windows, the room was uninhabitable. Lin Yimu had originally wanted to dismantle a couple of beds to block the windows, but the beds had already been torn apart and used to line the cellar. He was now working on salvaging cabinets when Lu Weiyi arrived with help.
Lu Weiyi pulled out a few sets of cabinets from his space. Together, they quickly dismantled and used them to block a large bedroom window. Thick curtains were hung, and the wind from the gaps was significantly reduced. The group cleaned and reorganized the space, transforming the messy room into a neat and empty one.
Two beds were brought in and covered with thick cotton quilts from Yongping County. The generator powered two heaters, warming the room quickly.
Back in the living room, they blocked the windows and closed off other drafty rooms. The lighting dimmed, but the cold was no longer noticeable.
“I’ll go bring the others inside to rest,” Lin Yimu said, warming his red hands by the heater before heading out.
Xiong Jie and Gu Qingzhi followed to help, while Gu Qingyue swept up the broken glass in the living room and helped Lu Weiyi seal the curtains.
“Brother, do you have any cotton clothes that would fit Ai Yi? We can’t keep wrapping him like this,” Luo Xi asked, seeing that the adult clothes didn’t fit. Zhuang Ai Yi had been bundled in an overcoat and tucked straight into the bed.
“I think so…” Lu Weiyi covered his mental space with his powers, frowning. With so many things unorganized, it was a mess—he couldn’t find anything quickly. “I’ll look for it later. Let him nap in bed for now.”
“Okay,” Zhuang Ai Yi turned around under the covers, resting his head toward Zhuang Mingxu and lay quietly beside him and Ning Yuan, listening as Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Mingxu recounted what had happened in the past few days.
When they mentioned that Li Ji had escaped in the end, Zhuang Mingxu didn’t react, but Ning Yuan, who was gritting his teeth to stay conscious, clenched his jaw and said, “We said we’d kill him, and he got away…”
“It’s fine. He won’t amount to anything alone. You all worked hard. Wu Yue also did a great job holding things together alone,” Zhuang Mingxu said, touched by all that had happened in just over two weeks. Holding Lu Weiyi’s warm hand, he felt lucky—thankful that the one he loved was still alive and well.
“Xiao Yi, when will they get through this? How long will the pain last?” Xu Sa had been watching over Liu Rui the whole time. Even though Liu Rui had regained consciousness after Lu Weiyi gave him a core, Xu Sa felt like he hadn’t really improved.
Dean, who was squatting at the head of Antonio’s bed, also looked up at Lu Weiyi at that moment.
Lu Weiyi shook his head. “I don’t know. The duration is different for everyone. After I got through it, my ability seemed to have improved a lot, but… if you can’t endure it, you might die.”
“That thing you gave him earlier—do you have any more? Can you give him another one?” Xu Sa looked at Lu Weiyi with a pleading expression in his eyes.
“You can only use one at most. Using more won’t help, it might actually make things worse,” Lu Weiyi replied, moving closer to check on Liu Rui and the others. Though they were probably enduring inhuman levels of pain, they were all still conscious. “Try to stay awake. Once you push through, it’ll be over.”
“Is it really that painful?” Zhuang Mingxu didn’t know about the others, but he knew Ning Yuan well. For Ning Yuan to clench his fists until they bled and for veins to bulge on his forehead—it must be agonizing.
Lu Weiyi just smiled silently.
He didn’t know exactly how painful it was, but in his past life, he had stayed with Zhuang Mingxu as he endured it.
Back then, during a supply run, they had unexpectedly run into another group and ended up sheltering together. Zhuang Mingxu had passed out from the pain, and everyone assumed it was a good thing—that it might ease the suffering. But someone in the other group had also passed out and never woke up. Lu Weiyi thought Zhuang Mingxu was going to die too—but then he woke up.
When he did, he smiled and said, “I was afraid if I died, others would bully you.”
Lu Weiyi now lay across Zhuang Mingxu’s legs, eyes closed, thinking about those bitter, difficult days from their past life, full of emotion.
“How did you get through it alone?” Zhuang Mingxu asked, watching the current state of the others. He stroked Lu Weiyi’s hair gently, feeling a piercing ache in his chest as though a swarm of tiny insects were biting him.
“I had to. If I didn’t make it, what would’ve happened to you?” Lu Weiyi whispered. He didn’t say anything else after that.
Zhuang Mingxu froze for a long while, his eyes stinging with tears and his heart aching even more. He would rather Lu Weiyi still be the naive, innocent person from before the apocalypse—someone he could protect—than see the disabled version of himself become Lu Weiyi’s reason for fighting so hard to survive.
This was the person he had given up everything for—the one he held closest to his heart. How could he bear to become his burden?
“Am I… dragging you down?” Zhuang Mingxu murmured as he looked down at Lu Weiyi, who was sleeping soundly on his lap, and gently planted a kiss on his forehead.
After running around all day and worrying about Lin Yimu and Ning Yuan, Lu Weiyi had barely slept all night. Now that things had calmed down a bit, he quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.
The two small rooms were still busy with people coming and going. Even though everyone kept their voices down, it was still noisy for a superpowered individual with heightened senses.
Less than an hour later, Lu Weiyi woke up. Ning Yuan was already up and moving around, stretching in the living room, looking energized. He was happily pouring water into a pot, and when he saw Lu Weiyi awake, he beamed. “Weiyi, my ability’s gotten way stronger than before!”
Compared to the half-bottle of water he could produce before, he had now filled half a pot. Judging by his complexion, he wasn’t overly exhausted either.
“Congrats,” Lu Weiyi said, stretching as he walked to the window and listened for the wind outside—it seemed to have died down a bit.
I’m glad they were able to meet up again