Chapter 14 – Black History and Monster Talents
In winter, darkness fell early. By five or six in the evening, the corridor was pitch black after the power cut.
A group of people, clutching makeshift weapons, crept up the stairs step by step, panting heavily.
“Think anyone lives upstairs?”
“Doesn’t matter. We’ll check anyway.”
“There are still a few empty buildings over there… I say that guy’s probably already dead. Do we really need to—”
The leader glared back at the complainer. “Dead or not doesn’t matter. He’s got a gun.”
“Exactly. And if someone does live up there, maybe we can grab some food too.”
They groped their way up to the top floor. No zombies in sight, no sounds of movement.
No need to break in yet—just peeking through the peephole would tell them if the apartment was occupied, since the rooms were brighter inside than the windowless stairwell.
They’d learned their lesson before: the first place they broke into was empty, but the noise of kicking the door drew a zombie next door right to the entrance. They’d been stuck in a dilemma—open or not open—and constantly worried about a zombie bursting out.
After confirming the three apartments nearest the stairs were empty, one of them moved toward the last door to peek through the peephole—when suddenly a dog barked inside!
Everyone jumped in shock, instinctively backing away, only to bump into the others behind them. Someone who hadn’t caught on yet even yelped out loud.
The noise outside only agitated the dogs further. “Woof! Woof!” echoed nonstop, chilling them to the bone. And worse—there wasn’t just one dog inside.
“Retreat! Get out now!” The frenzied barking sounded exactly like the rabid dogs they’d seen in the streets earlier. They could still brace themselves to fight zombies, but those crazed dogs…
The group bolted downstairs in a panic, terrified that if they were even a step too slow, those rabid dogs would burst out and tear them apart!
As for the search? Forget it, the doors to those units were all shut tight—without a key, that man could never have gotten inside anyway.
Only after confirming from his balcony that everyone had cleared out of the building did Luo Xun turn back leisurely and switch off the recording. The little pup was still bouncing and yapping madly in its cage, wagging its tail so fast it was nearly a blur.
Rabid dog barks, zombie roars, scratching at doors, crashing noises… all those sound effects had been carefully downloaded by Luo Xun before the apocalypse “just in case.” And now, finally, they came in handy.
He opened the cage and let the little guy romp around. Ignoring how it immediately grabbed one of his slippers and rolled around the floor with it, Luo Xun left the pup to play and slipped on a spare slipper himself before heading upstairs.
Heavy curtains shut out the faint light from outside. On the nightstand, only a pale blue lamp was lit.
On the wide double bed lay a man. Even with his eyes tightly closed, a medicinal cloth on his forehead, and his face pale from blood loss and injury, his natural allure could not be concealed.
The tear mole at the corner of his eye, the fever-furrowed brows, the bloodless thin lips—every detail made it hard to look away.
Luo Xun stood at the bedside with the air of someone attending a funeral, tangled in hesitation as he stared at the man who could only be described as a “beauty” or even a “seducer.” If he’d known there was such a devastatingly attractive face hiding under that mask, Luo Xun might never have dared to drag him home…
As a man reborn from ten years into the apocalypse, Luo Xun was one of those pitiful nobodies whom hardship had quite literally “bent.” He hadn’t originally been gay. But in his last life, the brutal reality of survival had forced him into compromise. Women were scarce—desperately so. In the slums, aside from middle-aged women, there were hardly any young girls or wives to be seen.
Of course, there were women—powerful ability users, often found in elite teams—but they were far out of Luo Xun’s league.
There were beautiful women too, but most had long since been claimed or kept. Luo Xun never even had a chance to meet them.
Ordinary women existed as well, but they were so rare that even women like “Sister Feng” had sky-high demands. Their minimum requirement was “no ability, no marriage.” Ordinary men like Luo Xun couldn’t even strike up a conversation.
As for young girls, there were some—but their families guarded them fiercely. Most wouldn’t even let them step outside. Back during the chaos of the initial escape, babies and toddlers were often abandoned, especially girls. Why? Ha. The old preference for boys over girls hadn’t vanished even in the end times.
But once everyone settled in the base, they realized—girls were far rarer than men.
Luo Xun once had a good friend, or rather, a best buddy during the escape north after M City’s base fell. They were the same age, both ordinary men, not bad-looking but unremarkable. Half a month of living side by side, planning desperately for a future, encouraging each other onward—and one day that friend had laughed and said: “If we make it to City A and neither of us finds a partner, why don’t we just make do together?”
Luo Xun hadn’t objected.
They weren’t the only ones to think like that. Many such “pairings” weren’t born of passion, but of necessity. Humans couldn’t live alone. Even Robinson Crusoe had his Friday. Why not them?
Two men together didn’t have to mean intimacy, though sometimes they might help each other with needs. They teamed up for expeditions, shared daily life, and apart from not having children, it wasn’t much different from a normal couple once the initial passion had faded into comfort and reliance.
Reborn, Luo Xun had never once considered finding a girlfriend early and bringing her into his safehouse before the apocalypse. Human hearts were unpredictable—who knew if a woman would betray him once she realized her worth had skyrocketed?
Sure, there was true love in the world. But Luo Xun didn’t dare gamble on it.
As for boyfriends? He hadn’t thought about that either. But if someday he found someone reliable to share life with, he wouldn’t mind. If not… as long as the little pup stayed by his side and never turned into a zombie, that was enough.
But now, lying on his bed, was something he had never expected—a seducer.
Luo Xun had only ever seen one man he’d call a “monster beauty.” That was Blaze’s second-in-command, a powerful wind ability user. He’d only met him once, but he remembered those foxlike eyes with their half-smiles, and the bloody battlefield littered with admirers who’d died under his razor-sharp wind blades.
Such “seducers” weren’t for ordinary men to covet. Without overwhelming power, no one could keep such a person safe from the eyes of others. If Luo Xun ever got one, the only plan he could imagine was hiding him away at home, never letting anyone see.
But that was impossible—especially when this seducer had great power of his own.
So now Luo Xun was conflicted—should he just dump him back in the next apartment?
Those enemies had been scared off already, and he’d fed him antibiotics. If he was lucky, he’d survive. If not… well, maybe he’d died in Luo Xun’s previous life anyway. Better to let nature take its course.
Thinking this, Luo Xun bent down, intending to haul him up and return him next door. If he’d known this man would be such trouble, he never would have carried him upstairs to the bedroom!
Just as he leaned close, pulling one arm over his shoulder, he heard a low groan beside him.
He jerked his head up—only to meet a pair of slightly narrow eyes opening slowly. Their corners tilted upward with a seductive arc, and beneath the left one, that tear mole seemed to burn into him.
Those eyes held a trace of moisture, glimmering in the dim light, impossible to look away from.
Thump, thump, thump… Luo Xun felt like his heart was about to leap out of his throat. He’d already judged this man a “seducer” while asleep. But now—awake, with those eyes open—he realized this one was even more dangerously beautiful than the Blaze lieutenant he’d seen in his past life. Maybe it was just the effect of seeing beauty by lamplight…
Luo Xun’s mind was in a mess, thoughts scattering all over the place. Yan Fei’s eyes went from unfocused to slowly locking onto the figure before him; it took a good ten seconds. He blinked in confusion, still not quite lucid, and the quiet young man before him felt vaguely familiar.
“Water…”
Luo Xun snapped back to himself, a faint blush creeping up his cheeks from embarrassment—fortunately the lamp in the room was set to a pale blue glow, so it wasn’t noticeable.
He passed a cup of water over. Because of the chest injury, Yan Fei couldn’t sit up on his own, so Luo Xun had no choice but to half hold him up and feed him.
Those pale, bloodless lips—now moistened by the water—made Luo Xun avert his eyes at once. He cursed himself inwardly for being so shameless!
In his previous life he’d had such thoughts, yes, but he had died a pure and innocent virgin. After the apocalypse, plenty of people indulged, but with the poor living and medical conditions, Luo Xun had no intention of fooling around, and certainly didn’t want to risk disease. So he survived the entire ten years of the apocalypse with nothing but the diligence of his own left hand.
Reborn, he was mentally more mature now, but when it came to “that” he was still a total novice—so his fluster in this moment really wasn’t his fault.
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