Daily Life of Being Turned Gay by the Male Lead After Transmigrating into an Apocalypse – CH3

Chapter 3: Jiang Jue

The three of them gathered in the alley, brushing the dust off their clothes while discussing their next move. Suddenly, Su Mubai pointed toward the corner of the back wall, his voice filled with suppressed excitement. “Look over there!”

Following his finger, they saw a small convenience store tucked deep into the shadows between the rear boundary wall and the adjacent building. Its faded, crooked sign was worn beyond recognition, but the silver metal shutter was only half-drawn. Through the gap, they could faintly make out shelves that still held scattered goods.

“No way! We actually caught a break!” Chu Yang almost sprinted forward, but slammed the brakes after two steps. He ducked into a crouch and whispered urgently, “Careful! Don’t draw any of those monsters over!”

Lin Xiao furrowed his brow, scanning both ends of the alley. Once he confirmed the coast was clear, he signaled for them to move.

The three slipped under the shutter. The interior was an absolute wreck, clearly ransacked by multiple waves of survivors. Shelves lay overturned on the floor, and discarded wrappers and crushed plastic bottles crackled under their shoes.

Even so, several overlooked items remained scattered on the linoleum: a few crushed packs of individually wrapped fruit candies, open bags of spicy gluten strips and fruit jellies, along with three sealed bottles of mineral water resting in a dusty corner.

“Heaven is finally looking out for us!” Chu Yang’s voice trembled with sheer delight. He dropped to his knees, grabbed a packet of fruit hard candies, tore it open, and tossed two directly into his mouth without caring about the dust.

The sweet, artificial fruit syrup melted across his tongue. For a starving man who had spent the entire day running for his life, the rush of sugar brought a sudden prickle to his nose, making his eyes water. “Oh man… it’s so sweet I could cry. My first piece of candy in the apocalypse!”

Lin Xiao remained far more practical, though his hands moved just as quickly. He scooped up loose snacks and shoved them into his coat pockets, keeping his voice low. “Third Brother, quit standing there tasting it! Pack as much as you can. Who knows when our next meal will be? Grab everything!”

Su Mubai was also crouching, gathering loose sweets from the floor, but his pockets were far too small. He filled them within seconds and looked down at the leftovers with clear frustration. “If only I had grabbed a backpack before we left… Besides, these are all just sugary treats. They won’t keep us full for long. I wish we could find some proper bread.”

“Having anything to eat is a miracle right now, buddy!” Chu Yang’s pants and jacket pockets were already bulging, and he had even stuffed two bags of spicy strips into his hoodie. He gave his stuffed jacket a proud pat. “Sugar means pure calories! It gives us the energy to run so our legs don’t give out from starvation. Don’t be picky—take every scrap you can carry!”

Just as they were combing the floor, wishing they could carry the whole store away, a shrill, desperate scream shattered the silence outside. The woman’s voice was high-pitched, raw with terror, and approaching fast: “Help! Is anyone there? Somebody help me!”

Lin Xiao’s face darkened instantly. He shot to his feet, listening intently. “Damn it! She’s screaming at the top of her lungs—she’s going to draw every zombie nearby!”

Before he could finish, a woman with tangled hair and torn clothing sprinted past the mouth of the alley, her eyes wide with unhinged panic.

Right behind her came a dark, surging horde. A quick glance was enough to tell there were at least twenty to thirty of them stumbling forward.

“Are you kidding me?!” Chu Yang stared in disbelief, his jaw dropping. “Does she have a built-in siren or what? Where did she dig up so many of them? She must have pulled half the district behind her!”

There was no time to hesitate. Guided by pure survival instinct, the three gripped their baseball bats and bolted out into the lane.

Being young and in good shape, they quickly overtook the exhausted woman.

Seeing them rush past, the woman treated them like a lifeline, a desperate hunger for survival blazing in her eyes. She pushed herself to match their pace, panting hoarsely, “Wait! Don’t leave me! Help me!”

As the horde closed in and the foul stench of rot filled the air, a cruel glint flashed across her face.

The moment she drew level with Su Mubai, who was trailing slightly behind, she reached out and seized the hem of his jacket.

“I-I’m sorry! I can’t keep going!” she stammered, offering a quick apology before violently yanking him backward with all her strength.

Caught completely off guard, Su Mubai lost his balance and stumbled hard, nearly crashing face-first onto the pavement.

Lin Xiao reacted in a flash. He grabbed Su Mubai’s arm, hauling him forward with a sharp tug. “You alright?! Did you get bitten?”

“I’m—I’m fine! Keep moving!” Su Mubai was white as a sheet, his heart in his throat. Knowing there was no time to talk, he pushed forward with everything he had left.

Using the moment of confusion to propel herself ahead, the woman spent the last ounce of her strength sprinting down the path. She rounded the corner and vanished into the maze of alleys, leaving the entire horde behind to bear down on the boys.

Having lost its original target, the swarm shifted its focus straight onto them. The nearest monsters let out wet, raspy hisses, clawing forward until their rotten nails nearly grazed their jackets.

Seeing how bad the situation was, Chu Yang suddenly spun around and swung his wooden bat with full force, slamming it into the temple of the leading zombie. The dull strike tilted the creature’s head and disrupted its charge.

Taking advantage of the narrow street, Chu Yang bellowed toward the junction ahead, “We’re too big a target together! Split up! You two head left! I’ll take the right and lead them away!”

Without waiting for a response, he veered sharply into the narrow right-hand lane.

Through the chaos, he caught a quick glimpse of Lin Xiao gripping Su Mubai’s wrist, the two of them sprinting full-tilt down the left path.

Chu Yang ran like his life depended on it, his heart pounding in his throat until he tasted the faint copper of blood on his tongue. But the heavy, dragging footsteps and guttural wheezing behind him refused to fade.

Suddenly, his foot caught on something soft and squishy in the road, instantly throwing him off balance.

He crashed hard onto the damp pavement. The candies stuffed in his pockets spilled across the asphalt, and the baseball bat flew from his grasp, clattering loudly against the concrete several paces away.

It’s over…

The impact left him seeing stars. Watching the nearest monster dive toward him with open jaws, Chu Yang squeezed his eyes shut in despair, a single ridiculous thought flashing through his mind: If I die here, do I get to transmigrate again?

Yet the agonizing bite never landed.

Instead, a heavy thud echoed beside his ear, followed by the clean hiss of steel slicing through the air and the wet splatter of liquid hitting the ground.

Chu Yang nervously cracked one eye open. Standing before him was a tall, straight silhouette.

The man held a sleek, unadorned straight blade, dark blood slowly dripping from the tip. The creature that had nearly torn Chu Yang apart lay decapitated on the asphalt, its severed head resting a few feet away with milky eyes staring into nothing, while its motionless torso slumped like dead weight.

Chu Yang lifted his soot-covered face in a daze as the man turned his head slightly. His expression was completely blank, his eyes deep, dark, and utterly devoid of warmth.

Chu Yang froze, momentarily captivated.

The man was strikingly good-looking. His features were sharply defined—straight brows, deep-set eyes, a high nose bridge, and thin, firmly pressed lips. Every line of his face carried a crisp, detached perfection, paired with an intensely cold aura that practically dared people to stay away.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and lean. Even dressed in simple dark clothing in the middle of a ruined cityscape, his presence remained strikingly sharp.

In all his twenty-three years, Chu Yang had never seen someone who looked so effortlessly cinematic in real life. He outshone every celebrity on television and looked better than the hero of any novel.

“Are you going to get up or not?” Jiang Jue looked down at the boy staring blankly at him, a faint frown touching his brow. His voice was cool and crisp, carrying a subtle hint of impatience.

“Ah? Right! Up, getting up right now!” Chu Yang snapped out of his trance. Ignoring the scrapes and bruises on his body, he scrambled up, grabbed his fallen bat, and gripped it tight.

Jiang Jue didn’t spare him another glance. Turning cleanly, he swept his blade in a smooth arc, neatly decapitating two more approaching zombies before their bodies even hit the ground.

By the time Chu Yang fully gathered his wits, he found himself instinctively trailing behind the stranger down a quiet, winding side street.

“H-Hey, man!” Chu Yang panted, jogging to keep up so he could express his gratitude. “Thank you so much back there! If you hadn’t stepped in, I’d be dead meat by now. What’s your name? Where are you from? That blade work was incredible—are you martial arts trained, or are you ex-military?”

Jiang Jue kept walking, entirely ignoring the barrage of questions as he scanned the alleyways with cold vigilance.

Chu Yang didn’t let the silence deter him and kept talking. “Hey, surviving a horde together basically makes us brothers through thick and thin! Let’s introduce ourselves properly. My name’s Chu Yang—Chu like the ancient kingdom, Yang like the bright sun! I always pay back my debts, and I’m very easy to get along with. Boss, what should I call you? I’ll follow your lead from now on. I can carry supplies, pour water, keep watch—whatever you need!”

Jiang Jue stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, fixing Chu Yang with a flat, icy stare.

The look felt as sharp as a blade, chilling Chu Yang to the bone. The rest of his chatter caught in his throat, and he wisely shut his mouth.

Alright, so he’s the quiet, dangerous type with zero patience for small talk.

Chu Yang kept quiet and followed obediently a few steps behind, though his mind was racing. This guy is insane. Good looks, incredible fighting skills—he’s the ultimate carry for an apocalypse! I have to stick close to him no matter what.

The sky darkened steadily as gray clouds gathered overhead. A cold, light drizzle began to fall, dropping the temperature even further.

Jiang Jue moved with complete familiarity through the maze of old alleyways. Eventually, he led the way into a worn, six-story residential building and smoothly unlocked a third-floor apartment door.

The moment he stepped inside, the gloomy atmosphere in the room shifted, and several voices piped up with eager greetings: “Brother Jiang! You’re back!”

“How are things looking outside? Are the streets crawling with them?”

“Did you find any supplies? We’re running dangerously low on food…”

Chu Yang peeked in from behind. Inside the modest living room sat three young men in their early twenties, dressed in casual T-shirts. Though they looked tired, they were clearly in decent shape—fellow survivors.

They quickly crowded around Jiang Jue, their faces filled with undisguised respect and reliance. It was immediately clear that Jiang Jue was the undisputed leader of this small group, the one whose decisions were final.

However, the moment their eyes landed on Chu Yang standing behind him, their smiles vanished, replaced by suspicion and hostility.

“Brother Jiang, who’s this guy?” A young man with bleached yellow hair stepped forward, eyeing Chu Yang critically with an unfriendly frown.

Feeling the cold weight of their stares, Chu Yang quickly offered a warm, self-deprecating smile, trying to smooth things over. “Uh, hey everyone! Nice to meet you, I’m Chu Yang. I’m… well, I’m a friend of Brother Jiang! I ran into a bit of trouble outside, and Brother Jiang saved my life. We’re sticking together now—looking out for each other, helping out where we can, haha…”

Not a single person responded. Their eyes shifted back to Jiang Jue, who was quietly wiping his hands after setting his long blade on the table, waiting for his word.

Jiang Jue paused his movements for a fraction of a second. Without looking up, he answered in a flat, indifferent voice: “Picked him up on the street.”

With that, he walked over to the window, lifted the edge of the curtain, and stared silently out into the rainy street, completely detaching himself from the room.

The smile on Chu Yang’s face froze. Caught in an awkward silence, he had nowhere to look and could only scratch the back of his head sheepishly, feeling thoroughly out of place.

Hearing the phrase picked him up on the street, the three men turned even colder, their glares making it abundantly clear that an extra mouth to feed was the last thing they wanted.

Chu Yang’s stomach dropped. He had no idea where Lin Xiao and Su Mubai had ended up, or if they had made it out safely. It was dark, raining, and the streets outside were infested. If these guys decided to throw him out, he wouldn’t last the night alone in the rain with nothing but a wooden baseball bat.

Keeping his head down, Chu Yang quietly edged into an empty corner of the room. He pulled his knees to his chest, clutching his bat tightly to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible, offering himself a silent pep talk.

Just lay low and endure it for now… At least there’s a roof over my head and four walls keeping the rain out. It beats being outside in the dark, serving myself up as dinner for zombies. One step at a time. I’ll figure out what to do once the sun comes up…

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