Chapter 15 – The Patient and His Savior
After drinking, Yan Fei’s mind cleared a little. Remembering what had happened before he lost consciousness, he felt the softness of the bed beneath him. In a daze, he glimpsed the wardrobe and furniture around him—compared to the icy, punishing concrete floor he’d collapsed on earlier, it wasn’t hard to guess that he was now in this young man’s home.
“This is your place?”
The low, hoarse voice at Luo Xun’s ear snapped his drifting thoughts back.
“Ah? Yeah.”
Yan Fei closed his eyes again, his head dizzy as if he might pass out at any time. “I… my head’s spinning.”
Luo Xun steadied himself and sighed. “You’ve got a fever. There’s no way to reach a hospital right now, so I gave you some medicine earlier… Oh, by the way, someone came upstairs just now, looked like they were after you?”
Sure, he had saved this man—partly for investment in the future, to build ties with a useful special-ability user—but he didn’t want extra trouble. Better to ask clearly up front.
Yan Fei, eyes still shut, curved his lips in a cold smile. “They were probably after my life.” Forcing his eyes open, he looked at Luo Xun. “They didn’t give you trouble?”
Since that night, survivors had gone from panicked escape, to fighting over routes out of the city center, to looting and bloody conflict. Later, people were even brawling just because they didn’t like someone’s face. The speed of degeneration was frightening.
Yan Fei did not believe those people would pass up the chance to rob someone else’s home.
“They wanted to,” Luo Xun lied smoothly without blinking, “but my dog scared them off.”
Downstairs, the little pup happily gnawed away at the slipper Luo Xun had left it, oblivious that it had just been credited with saving the day.
Yan Fei’s mouth curved faintly. A dog that wasn’t rabid—quite useful. In these times, animals were more reliable than people.
Take that group he’d first met: polite and ingratiating at first. But once they learned he had weapons and powers, they clung to him. Later, because a few women in the group deliberately flattered him, the jealous men struck in the chaos, ambushing him inside this very neighborhood…
“Yan Fei.” He had never dared trust anyone, and believed interest-based ties were more reliable than sentiment. But now he had no one left to rely on—except this young man before him. Dependence… what a fragile, powerless word. But better powerless than dead.
Seeing Yan Fei extend his hand, Luo Xun blinked, then understood, quickly reaching out as well. “Luo Xun.”
Yan Fei closed his eyes again, took a few deep breaths, then forced them open once more. “I’ll be troubling you for a few days. Once I recover, I’ll find a way to repay you.”
With that, Luo Xun felt the weight vanish from the hand in his grasp.
Dead?!
Panicked, he checked for breath—thankfully, still alive. Just unconscious.
Wait—“a few days”? Luo Xun had just been thinking of tossing him back to the empty flat next door! And now this man was acting like he’d already decided to entrust everything to him?
Luo Xun stood by the bed, took several deep breaths, then reluctantly laid Yan Fei’s hand back down and pulled the quilt over him. He knew very well: if Yan Fei had stayed unconscious, tossing him back next door would’ve been easy. With his apocalyptic experience, he’d feel no moral burden.
But the problem was—he had woken up. And realized this was Luo Xun’s home.
If he had never regained consciousness, fine. But now, if he woke again to find himself abandoned on a bare cement floor… heh.
That’s human nature: if you give little from the start, expectations remain low and you can stop anytime. But if you help halfway, then suddenly withdraw—or give too much at the start—betrayal stings far worse.
This was exactly the trap Luo Xun was in now.
Since that was the case… he turned toward the bedroom door. His house had plenty of supplies, but he’d already taken precautions to hide things. Once Yan Fei recovered, he’d stick to his prepared excuse.
As for gratitude turning into resentment… Luo Xun’s eyes flashed. He didn’t mind investing a little in this early stage, especially in a metal-ability user who could be useful. But if the man ever turned treacherous—well, Luo Xun’s ten years of apocalypse experience weren’t for nothing.
Killing didn’t always require powers or guns.
Inside every base, beneath the surface of daily life, there were shadows—dark, bloody shadows. And sometimes, those were far deadlier than the zombies outside the walls.
When Yan Fei opened his eyes again, the warmth over his body and the soft comfort beneath him made him, for a moment, believe he was back in his own cozy apartment in the city.
Slowly turning his head, the sharp pain from his chest cleared his mind completely. He stared in confusion at the heavy curtains for a long while before his sluggish brain finally caught up—these weren’t his. True, they were equally good at blocking light, but he’d never liked dark red. He preferred pale green.
The front door opened. The bedroom’s soundproofing was excellent, which was why he hadn’t heard anyone approaching earlier.
He turned his head with some effort. Click. The ceiling light snapped on. Yan Fei squinted, unable to make out the figure right away.
Luo Xun entered, balancing a cup of hot water in one hand and a bowl of freshly cooked porridge in the other. He hadn’t expected Yan Fei to be awake yet, so his steps faltered before he walked in fully.
“You’re awake? Good, time for your medicine.” Giving pills to someone unconscious had been an ordeal—and Luo Xun had no intention of sacrificing two lifetimes of his first… cough cough. Besides, with someone this dazzling, who knew what kind of “colorful” private life he’d led? What if he had something contagious? Right, once he left, Luo Xun would sterilize everything he’d touched at high heat.
The voice was vaguely familiar. Yan Fei, now adjusted to the light, finally saw Luo Xun’s overly “expressive” face clearly.
The bedroom door wasn’t fully shut. Something was scuttling happily just outside, making a scraping sound as it ran about. Oh, right. He had a dog.
“That outside… is your dog?” Yan Fei’s throat was dry, like he hadn’t drunk in ages. His cracked lips stung after just a few words.
“Yeah.” Luo Xun answered simply. He hadn’t let the pup in for fear of germs. The little one was clever, circling in the hallway, chasing its own tail, and occasionally running headlong into the wall. Luo Xun set the water and porridge on the bedside table, then pulled out boxes of antibiotics and a first-aid kit.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Once you’re better, I’ll need your help with something too.” Best to say it in advance—after all, Yan Fei himself had promised to repay him. Otherwise, Luo Xun wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble.
Yan Fei raised his brows slightly, narrow eyes half-lidded, lips curving into an enticing smile. He didn’t mind at all. He was a businessman, after all, and firmly believed that every favor came with a price. Luo Xun wanting something from him only made his stay here more reassuring.
When Luo Xun looked up from placing the medicine, he was greeted by that almost-smiling face—so close, so devastatingly beautiful. Unsurprisingly, his face flushed red on the spot.
And unlike with the blue lamp earlier, the harsh white ceiling light left no mercy. His tomato-red face stood out even more, and his clumsy attempt to avert his gaze only made it more obvious. Yan Fei, who had endured countless confessions since youth, instantly picked up on it.
For Yan Fei—who wore masks not for smog but to fend off love-struck stares—this kind of expression was nothing new. The difference was, in the past, it was always women. Men with designs on him never looked shy; their expressions only brimmed with possessiveness. But this time, it was a boy blushing shyly at him.
And he’d said he wanted his help. Surely it wasn’t… lust? With a reaction like that? Who’d be lusting after who here, really?
The thought amused Yan Fei, and he couldn’t help but chuckle—only to tug at his chest wound and fall into another fit of coughing.
The pup outside froze, tilted its head, and poked its nose through the crack in the door, curiously sniffing at the noise.
“Careful.” Luo Xun frowned, quickly propping Yan Fei up and tucking two pillows behind him. Only when the coughing eased did he add, “I don’t know if you injured any internal organs. With all medical care collapsed outside, you need to be careful yourself.”
Good thing he didn’t know the real cause of the cough—or he’d have tossed Yan Fei back to the empty flat next door without hesitation.
Yan Fei steadied his breathing, pushed aside those stray thoughts, and after blinking a few times, asked, “How long was I out?”
“Three days.”
Three days… His eyes glinted faintly. Three days. If this man hadn’t brought him back, he might never have woken again.
“Take your medicine first.”
Yan Fei lifted his hand to take it, but the movement pulled painfully at his wound. He could only give a helpless smile. “Sorry, I’ll have to trouble you again…”
The blood and grime on his face had been wiped clean the day Luo Xun first carried him in. His skin was fair and fine, his lips bluish pale from illness but still beautifully shaped. From the first time Luo Xun clearly saw his face, he’d known this man’s looks rivaled the enchanting one from Blaze. And now, with that faint smile again, his beauty was blinding.
This time, though, Luo Xun stayed calmer. He kept his eyes lowered, brow faintly furrowed, refusing to meet his gaze. He pressed the pill to Yan Fei’s lips. “Medicine.”
When Yan Fei opened his mouth, Luo Xun, as if terrified of brushing against his lips, dropped the pill in too quickly—so fast that Yan Fei almost choked, nearly coughing it back out.
“Drink some water.”
***
Author’s note:
Luo Xun: Really want to throw that burden back next door, what do I do? Waiting online for answers!
Yan Fei: Dreaming would be faster.
Luo Xun: Somehow got 5,000 favorites overnight, what do I do? Waiting online for answers!
Yan Fei: Still faster to dream—sleep a bit longer and maybe you’ll gain a few more favorites too.
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
