Chapter 37: Choked
When Chu Yang’s eyes lingered on a piece of beef tripe, Jiang Jue would dip it into the bubbling broth for him and pass it over; when Chu Yang’s bowl was running low, Jiang Jue would silently refill it with the shrimp paste the boy loved. Every now and then, he would pass over a cup of warm water, a quiet signal for Chu Yang to eat slower.
Watching from across the table, Lin Xiao clicked his tongue. Snagging a piece of tripe from the spicy side of the pot, he mumbled around his food: “Man, Brother Jiang, you spoil Third Brother way too much. Waiting on him hand and foot like this, he’s going to start acting like he runs the place.”
Su Mubai took a sip of his clear broth. Hearing the remark, he chimed in softly, his tone gentle and warm: “Chu Yang took a serious hit today. It’s only right that someone looks after him.”
“Exactly! You tell him!” Chu Yang immediately jumped on the defense, happily seizing the opening to shovel the freshly cooked shrimp paste Jiang Jue had just served him into his mouth. His eyes crinkled in pure satisfaction as he mumbled, “I’m a wounded soldier! I demand the premium treatment!”
Watching Lin Xiao eat heartily from the spicy pot—his face flushed and sweating, yet clearly enjoying every bite—Su Mubai felt a sudden, irresistible craving. Giving in to temptation, he reached over and fished a piece of tripe from the bubbling red broth.
But the very second the tripe—slick with chili oil and coated in pepper seeds—hit his tongue, a violent, explosive heat rocketed straight up to his brain!
Su Mubai choked instantly. Slapping a hand over his mouth, he doubled over, coughing violently. His face flushed bright red, tears streamed uncontrollably down his cheeks, and he gasped desperately for air.
Catching sight of him out of the corner of his eye, Lin Xiao reacted on pure instinct. He dropped his chopsticks, grabbed his nearly untouched glass of warm water, and shoved it into Su Mubai’s hands. At the same time, his other hand naturally moved to pat Su Mubai’s trembling back, helping him catch his breath.
His tone held a hint of scolding, barely hiding the underlying panic: “If you can’t handle spicy food, why act tough?! Nobody was forcing you to eat it!”
Chu Yang panicked as well. Before he even finished swallowing his own food, he blurted out hastily: “Little Bai, hold on! Don’t panic! I’ve got milk in my space; milk cuts through the burn way faster!”
Frantically searching his spatial storage, he materialized a carton of milk and practically shoved it across the table. “Drink this, quick! It works a hundred times better than warm water!”
Su Mubai was burning up so badly he couldn’t form a single word. He took the water glass, gulping down several mouthfuls just to suppress the searing fire in his throat, then grabbed the milk Chu Yang offered, tore open the carton, and took two deep swallows.
The rich, mellow creaminess neutralized the capsaicin, finally bringing a wave of cooling relief to his scorched throat.
Lowering his head, tears still clinging to his eyelashes from the brutal physical reaction, he whispered hoarsely, “Thank you…”
Chu Yang waved it off, still visibly rattled. “What are you thanking me for? Just stay far away from the spicy pot from now on. If your body can’t handle the heat, why torture yourself?”
Looking down at his own bowl, piled high with perfectly cooked meats and vegetables, Chu Yang then glanced at the bowl in front of Jiang Jue, which was practically untouched. A pang of guilt hit him. He gave Jiang Jue’s arm a gentle nudge with his elbow. “Brother Jiang, you need to eat too! Stop feeding me and feed yourself—you’ve barely touched anything!”
“Mm,” Jiang Jue murmured softly. He picked up a few leafy greens, chewing them slowly. Yet the serving chopsticks in his hand didn’t stop. With precise movements, he picked out a tender, boneless piece of fish, swished it through the mild broth, and placed it directly onto the rice in Chu Yang’s bowl. His tone remained perfectly calm, yet completely non-negotiable: “Eat more fish. The protein is good for the wound.”
Lin Xiao took in the entire exchange. Leaning close to Su Mubai’s ear, he dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, giving a deliberate wink: “Tsk… look at those two. Don’t you think they’re a little too close? The way Brother Jiang hovers over Third Brother makes them seem tighter than us, and we’ve been brothers for years.”
Hearing this, Su Mubai’s gaze fell to Jiang Jue’s hands as he methodically arranged the food in Chu Yang’s bowl. A complicated look flickered through his eyes, tinged with a faint, quiet envy. “Yeah… he really is incredibly attentive.”
Once dinner was finished, Su Mubai cleared away the bowls, Lin Xiao stepped outside to secure the perimeter, and Jiang Jue gently supported Chu Yang back to the bed.
“I’m really okay,” Chu Yang protested weakly, trying to shift his waist. Though it still throbbed, the sharp, tearing agony had faded considerably. “Let me walk around a bit. Lying down right after a huge meal is terrible for digestion…” He reached up, trying to push Jiang Jue’s arm away, but his wrist was immediately caught and pinned down with firm, inescapable strength.
“Sleep,” Jiang Jue commanded simply.
He guided Chu Yang back against the mattress, tucked the edges of the heavy duvet tightly around him, and pressed a light, calming finger to his shoulder. His tone left zero room for argument, yet carried absolutely no aggression.
Chu Yang pursed his lips. Knowing perfectly well that Jiang Jue was only looking out for him, he finally gave in and closed his eyes.
Between the exhausting travel, the terrifying ambush, and the severe blood loss, he was utterly drained. Coupled with the strong painkillers kicking in, a heavy wave of drowsiness washed over him. Within minutes, the steady rhythm of his breathing filled the room as he sank into a deep, dreamless sleep, the lingering tension completely melting from his brow.
Jiang Jue sat quietly in the chair beside the bed. Bathed in the cold, pale moonlight filtering through the dusty windowpane, he watched Chu Yang sleep.
In the soft, silvery light, the young man’s cheeks looked remarkably gentle. His long lashes rested against his skin, and the faint, lingering trace of a smile curved his lips, as if he were wandering through a particularly pleasant dream.
Jiang Jue reached out, his fingertips hovering a millimeter above the thick white gauze wrapped around Chu Yang’s waist. After a moment of hesitation, he brushed it lightly. Confirming that no fresh blood had seeped through the bandages, a quiet breath of relief escaped him, and he withdrew his hand.
Once he was certain Chu Yang was completely under, Jiang Jue stood up soundlessly. Picking up his long blade from where it rested in the corner, he had barely reached the doorway when Lin Xiao’s voice called out from behind him, thick with sleep.
“Brother Jiang, where are you heading?”
Jiang Jue glanced back to see Lin Xiao sitting up on his mattress, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and looking at him curiously.
“Going out for a sweep. I’ll be back shortly,” Jiang Jue replied, keeping his voice pitched low to avoid waking Chu Yang. “Keep an eye on him for me.”
Lin Xiao nodded, let out a massive yawn, and flopped back onto his pillow. “Be careful out there,” he mumbled, already half-asleep again.
Jiang Jue stepped out of the room and into the freezing night. The biting winter gale snapped sharply against his dark coat, carrying the bitter chill of the wasteland.
The industrial park was relatively remote, meaning the zombie population was sparse. However, Chu Yang needed a massive influx of crystal cores to upgrade his spatial capacity, and farming ordinary zombies one by one was far too inefficient.
Keeping that goal in mind, Jiang Jue planned to use the cover of darkness to venture into the nearby county town. He intended to hunt down higher-tier infected, securing a dense supply of premium cores so that by the time Chu Yang recovered, the boy could upgrade his space without a hitch.
Retrieving the armored RV from its hidden spot, Jiang Jue drove straight for the heart of the town.
The heavy vehicle cruised through the pitch-black streets, its high beams cutting through the gloom. A few stray zombies lunged from the shadows, but they were crushed effortlessly beneath the reinforced tires.
The population density in the town was far higher than the industrial outskirts. The moment he killed the engine and stepped out, several infected caught his scent and shambled toward him with stiff, jerky movements and hollow, dead eyes.
Jiang Jue’s expression turned to ice. His straight blade slid from its sheath with a metallic whisper.
With a few blinding flashes of silver light, the approaching monsters were cleaved down before they could even groan.
Crouching with practiced efficiency, he cracked open their skulls, retrieved the cloudy cores, wiped them clean against a rag, and dropped them into a leather pouch at his hip.
Suddenly, an abnormal, chilling presence drifted into the air.
From the deep shadows of an alleyway, a towering zombie stepped into the moonlight. Its eyes glowed with a sickening, eerie luminescence, and its movements were fluid and agile—a terrifying departure from the clumsy shambling of ordinary infected.
“A Tier 2,” Jiang Jue murmured, narrowing his eyes as his grip tightened around the hilt of his blade.
