Chapter 38 — The Pretty Man Who Loved the Apocalypse
Luo Xun thought the car was getting harder to drive—especially with a man beside him who had just flirted with him. Yes, flirted! He was certain of it. Maybe the guy thought he was just joking around, but for someone who was already bent, that kind of joke was murder on the nerves.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly and focused straight ahead. The last thing he wanted was to engage. With someone who looked that good and enjoyed teasing people, reacting would only encourage him. Ignoring was safer. Besides, they were still in the middle of an escape!
This street was one they hadn’t taken before, but Luo Xun had carefully studied all possible routes back before the apocalypse. Even though this road didn’t have an overpass and would take a little longer, the elevated roads were now jammed with wrecks and debris anyway. The difference was negligible.
The main concern was that they might run into zombies—and it was already getting dark. If they couldn’t make it back to base before nightfall, they’d need to find shelter fast.
He glanced at the reinforced, weaponized front of the car—courtesy of Yan Fei—and figured they’d be fine for now. Best to keep driving and find a safe, isolated spot to camp for the night.
In his past life, he’d never been the one up front ramming through zombie hordes, though he’d always watched others do it with envy. Back then, he didn’t have a good vehicle, and no convoy would ever assign such a vital task to someone like him—a thin, background-less loner. What if he ran off with the supplies? So he could only watch.
But now? Now he could enjoy the ride.
The surge of adrenaline had him flooring the gas, forcing Li Tie’s group behind to push their cars to the limit just to keep up.
“Did you see that? Brother Luo’s car is dragging another one and still going that fast!”
“Yeah, look at those drifts! Damn, learn from him!”
“Shut up and drive!”
They turned another corner, heading away from residential blocks to look for a safe area, when suddenly—there it was: a massive group of zombies ahead, surrounding something!
The street looked like a small commercial area, with a convenience store to the side. The zombies were swarming around it.
As Luo Xun’s group came around the bend, they heard roaring engines—and saw three or four motorcycles bursting out of the horde. Each carried two people, the second rider clutching overstuffed bags and backpacks.
Luo Xun’s eyes flicked to the store that was still surrounded by zombies. He was about to speed up when something felt off. “Huh?”
“What is it?”
“Why aren’t the zombies chasing them?”
The people had already escaped, but the zombies stayed behind. That wasn’t normal—unless…
“There’s someone still inside,” Yan Fei said suddenly, pointing at the shop before the swarm blocked the view again.
Normally, some of the zombies would split off to chase after the fleeing humans, not stay entirely behind. Unless the one left inside was bleeding.
Before Luo Xun could finish that thought—boom!—a burst of blue-green wind exploded from within the horde, swirling outward like a tornado and blasting zombies in every direction.
A wind-type esper—and a powerful one at that!
Low-level wind espers couldn’t handle that many zombies at once; their early powers lacked offensive strength. Only someone with a high innate ability level, like Yan Fei, could do that.
Luo Xun instinctively glanced at Yan Fei, then tapped the brake lights to signal the group behind to slow down. Saving a survivor with such strong powers would earn serious base points. And besides, it was safer to approach carefully—someone in a berserk state could easily lash out indiscriminately.
When the winds died down, the lone figure at the center of the carnage came into view.
He wore casual clothes and looked rather thin. His left sleeve was torn open, revealing a well-built arm streaked with blood from a long gash.
Luo Xun sighed softly—Yan Fei caught the sound and, reading between the lines, came to the same conclusion: the man had been left behind on purpose to distract the zombies with his bleeding wound.
Some of the zombies hadn’t been killed outright, only blown aside by the gusts. The man swayed unsteadily, clearly close to collapse.
A few quick thwip-thwip-thwip sounds later, Luo Xun and Yan Fei had already dispatched the remaining zombies with crossbow bolts and metal powers before the creatures even noticed them.
Li Tie’s group pulled up behind them, watching as the two men got out of their car. Still unscarred by the apocalypse’s cruelty, the younger survivors were thrilled—they’d saved someone! And not just anyone, but a powerful esper!
The man they rescued passed out the moment they got him into the vehicle. Luo Xun, wearing a strange expression, began bandaging the wound while sneaking glances at the man’s face.
Sure, he’d confirmed that the injury wasn’t caused by a zombie bite, and yes, bringing a strong esper back would earn them rewards—and with Yan Fei in the group, there was no real danger—but still…
He honestly hadn’t expected his luck to blow up like this!
Who the hell is this guy?! Just looking at that pair of closed peach-blossom eyes made Luo Xun want to roar—wasn’t this the same demonic wind-type pretty boy, the second-in-command of Blaze from his previous life?!!! He could still remember, crystal clear, that scene where this man sliced through a whole crowd of admirers with a single gust of wind. He still had psychological trauma from that to this day!!
Yan Fei narrowed his eyes and suddenly gave a meaningful smile. He raised his hand and “gently” patted Luo Xun’s shoulder. “I’ll handle it. You drive and find us a place to stay for the night—this area isn’t safe.”
His voice was soft and gentle, but Luo Xun only felt a cold wind brush the back of his neck. He didn’t know why, but something told him that getting back behind the wheel was far safer than staying here tending this guy’s wound.
Without hesitation, Luo Xun climbed back into the driver’s seat, started the car, and drove off.
Meanwhile, Yan Fei squinted at the unconscious man whose looks could rival his own—his eyes narrowed again. So… he likes this type of face more than mine?
From childhood to now, Yan Fei had only ever thought of his own looks as troublesome. The only time they were useful was when dealing with elders or when, as a child, shopkeepers gave him discounts because of his face. Unfortunately, he’d never been short on money, so those “advantages” were meaningless—though he did admit it felt nice at the time.
But this face that had brought him nothing but hassle… now, standing before another equally handsome man of a different style, it somehow stirred a competitive spark inside him.
Should I just… scratch his face a little? he thought briefly. He’s unconscious anyway.
The thought flickered for a moment and disappeared. Despite the rather dark, indecent idea, Yan Fei didn’t actually do anything outrageous. He simply continued Luo Xun’s work—firmly wrapping the man’s arm in bandages to keep the smell of blood from leaking out and drawing those scent-sensitive zombies.
By the time the car was fully on the move, Yan Fei was still sitting in the small cargo compartment at the back with the unconscious man. Arms folded across his chest, he stared coldly at the figure lying among the boxes. The irritation bubbling inside him wasn’t really about the guy—it was because of himself, and Luo Xun. The reason? Obvious.
Yan Fei gave a low, derisive laugh, shot the man another look, and then, with a flick of his wrist, “opened” a doorway in the car wall. He stepped straight through into the driver’s cabin, scaring Luo Xun half to death. When Luo Xun saw it was just him “phasing through,” he muttered a few complaints and kept driving.
Yan Fei’s smile deepened. He reached out and patted Luo Xun’s head—and as his hand brushed down, his fingers deliberately grazed the side of Luo Xun’s face and earlobe. Luo Xun nearly sent the car drifting in another wild “S” turn.
This person—Luo Xun—was already his. No one else would touch him.
As for the guy in the back? Of course he wouldn’t really kill him. That would be far too tasteless. Yan Fei had full confidence in himself. Even if he felt a bit of threat, who would win faster—someone who saw Luo Xun once in a blur, or someone who lived with him every day, building rapport bit by bit? Luo Xun wasn’t the kind of fool who’d fall for every pretty face he saw. So why should he worry?
The rest of the journey wasn’t easy, but at least they didn’t run into any more zombie-infested streets that forced them to plow through.
Before long, though, darkness fell completely. Traveling at night in a world full of zombies was a terrible idea. Luckily, before the last light faded, they found a place to stay for the night.
They hid on the second floor of a beauty salon. The first thing they did was destroy the staircase so zombies couldn’t climb up. Tomorrow morning, they could climb down through a window—or Yan Fei could just make a temporary staircase for them.
When Li Tie and the others finally saw the man Luo Xun and Yan Fei had rescued, they were thunderstruck—as if lightning had hit them all at once.
Seriously, was this world even fair?! They already had one super-handsome guy, Yan Fei—tall, good-looking, powerful—and everyone had long accepted that with equal parts envy and resignation. Fine, they could live with that. But now, another one? Same level of beauty, same perfect body, and another top-tier ability-user?!
…What was this, an apocalypse that favored beautiful men? How were the rest of them supposed to live?!
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