Chapter 41 — Pitch Black and Hard
Wait! No! Now was not the time to evaluate Yan Fei’s physique! The issue was—“Why aren’t you wearing clothes?!”
That was the real reason for Luo Xun’s breakdown.
Yan Fei raised an eyebrow in feigned surprise, glanced down at the towel on his waist, and said, “My clothes are upstairs. And I am wearing something.”
Wearing something?! That barely counted as covered! The towel barely concealed anything—he could practically see the shape of everything underneath it!
“I—I’ll get your clothes.” Luo Xun wanted to yell at him to go upstairs and put something on, but he completely lacked the courage to do it face-to-face. His eyes kept darting—uncontrollably—toward that small, snow-white towel fluttering around Yan Fei’s hips. If he stayed one more second, he was going to lose all control and pounce like a starving wolf!
Didn’t he have it hard enough already? Two lifetimes as a pure, innocent virgin, and now he was being tempted like this?! He couldn’t touch, couldn’t even look properly—this was torture! He wanted meat! Forget sharing—he was eating all of the braised pork tonight!
Stomping upstairs in frustration, Luo Xun suddenly realized he’d made a huge mistake not telling Yan Fei he was gay back when he first took him in. If he’d said so from the start, at least Yan Fei might’ve been more careful and stopped walking around half-naked at home.
Then again… if he had said it, he wouldn’t be seeing this right now. What a pity.
He shook his head hard, chased away those dangerous thoughts, and hurried into the bedroom. Clothes! He needed clothes!
But when Luo Xun came back downstairs—Yan Fei was still lounging on the sofa, almost as naked as before. OTZ.
He wanted to tell him, “Could you please be a little more decent?” but how could he, when he hadn’t even told him he liked men? They were going to be living and working together for a long time, even sharing the same bed for days. What if Yan Fei got disgusted with him afterward?
He didn’t want to give up this daily visual blessing either… but the longer he hid it, the worse it would be later. A vicious cycle! He sighed—so this was what it meant that one lie led to a hundred more.
He tossed the clothes at Yan Fei, mumbled something about taking a shower, and fled toward the bathroom. But just before shutting the door, he couldn’t help glancing back—and saw Yan Fei standing up, back to him, reaching down to—ah. That curve. That bounce. That strength—
SLAM!
Luo Xun shut the door and leaned against it, nearly poking his own eyes out. The longer he waited to confess he was gay, the worse his spiritual suffering became. No, he had to come clean after this shower!
Halfway through washing, the bathroom door suddenly opened.
He spun around instantly, both hands clapped over his groin, eyes wide in horror.
Yan Fei blinked at his reaction, then said calmly, “The pressure cooker’s venting. And the porridge is boiling over.”
“Ah!” Luo Xun froze, then scrambled to answer. “Turn the meat to low heat for fifteen minutes, same for the porridge—I’ll be right out!”
Yan Fei nodded, then smiled faintly. “Want me to help you scrub your back later?”
“N-no need! Just watch the kitchen!” Luo Xun nearly fainted. This was too much stimulation for one day—worse than fighting zombies!
By the time he finally came out, he was completely drained. He glanced at Yan Fei—thank god, the man was finally dressed properly—and sighed with relief, though with just a hint of regret. He went into the kitchen. Food. Focus on food.
The meat was ready. He scooped out some, added the potato chunks, rehydrated eggplant and beans, and some glass noodles for a mixed stew. The rest of the meat he left in the pot for tomorrow.
Once it was nearly done, he plucked some surviving greens from the balcony garden, rinsed and chopped them, tossing them in last to keep their crunch.
The flatbread was heated, the porridge ready. Luo Xun dug in like a man possessed, scarfing down the stew like it had personally wronged him.
Yan Fei, sitting across from him with that half-smile, looked relaxed—but his chopsticks were lightning fast, snatching meat and vegetables into his own bowl.
Meanwhile, the little puppy—now full of dog food and feeling much better—lay miserably beside the table, gnawing on Yan Fei’s slipper in frustration. Its belly was too full to eat anything else, but the aroma from the table was so good… woo woo…
Stuffed and sleepy, Luo Xun ignored all his earlier turmoil. After cleaning up, the two brushed their teeth and went upstairs to rest.
Yan Fei deliberately followed behind, turning off the living room lights before heading up. When he entered the room, Luo Xun was already asleep—curled up, eyes closed, softly snoring.
Even Yan Fei, whose powers made him much stronger than an ordinary man, was feeling the exhaustion of the past two days. But he didn’t plan to sleep just yet—not before collecting a little “interest” from a certain someone first.
He walked over, gently lifted Luo Xun, pulled the blanket free, and climbed in beside him. Then he drew the blanket over them both, wrapped an arm around Luo Xun, and turned off the bedside lamp.
Luo Xun felt as if he were floating in warm water—weightless, relaxed, completely at peace.
In the dream, mist surrounded him. Slowly, a dark figure emerged—familiar, but not frightening.
When the fog thinned, he saw who it was.
Yan Fei.
Naked—no, wearing only a loose towel, damp hair framing his face, water glistening on his skin.
Luo Xun’s cheeks burned, his heart beating erratically.
Yan Fei walked toward him, step by step. Luo Xun wanted to back away, but his legs wouldn’t move. That faint smile—teasing, suggestive—made his breath catch. He tore his eyes away from Yan Fei’s face, only for them to slide downwards, tracing the lines of muscle, the curve of those mermaid lines disappearing under the towel—Then long, elegant fingers took his hand, guiding it toward that towel, that flawless waist, that forbidden temptation—Pull it down. Pull it down. Pull it down.
The thought echoed endlessly in his head. He felt like he was under a spell, desperate to see what was underneath.
Suddenly, his body jolted. Luo Xun’s eyes flew open, dazed and confused. He could still feel the warmth and smoothness from the dream on his fingertips—wait, no, that wasn’t a dream, was it?
He blinked, looked—and froze.
When had he rolled over next to Yan Fei?! And whose arm was under his head? And whose body was he holding against his chest?!
He yanked his hand back—the hand that had somehow snuck under Yan Fei’s shirt and was currently resting on his bare waist. His face went red, then green, then purple. Damn it, it really was just like the dream—smooth, firm, warm—NO, focus! The point wasn’t the texture! The point was to move away before—But before he could, Yan Fei shifted in his sleep. One strong arm came down across Luo Xun’s chest, one leg slid over his own—and just like that, Luo Xun was trapped.
He lay there, face twisted in agony, unable to move without waking the other man. Zero-distance contact with a sleeping beauty—his ultimate trial. Especially since, thanks to that dream, his “little brother” was wide awake and very enthusiastic.
Luo Xun could only stare at the ceiling, silently screaming inside. This was hell.
Luo Xun, struggling in agony, failed to notice the smug curve at the corner of a certain someone’s lips. Yan Fei, pretending to be uncomfortable in his sleep, shifted the arm and hand draped over Luo Xun’s body—adjusting his position just enough to hold the man in his arms more snugly and lie more comfortably. As he moved, the leg thrown over Luo Xun’s thigh also rubbed slightly—and accidentally brushed against… something?
Yan Fei’s eyes flicked open. Because he was positioned slightly higher than Luo Xun, the latter didn’t see the deep, unreadable glint in his eyes. Inwardly, Yan Fei was wondering whether he should just… take action right now, and eat him up. Honestly, “get on the bus first and buy the ticket later” didn’t sound like such a bad plan—it was quite practical, really.
What interrupted Yan Fei’s wicked thoughts and saved Luo Xun from fire and water was the sudden sound of the doorbell ringing downstairs. Both men froze for a second, then quickly pretended to have just woken up and sat up to get dressed.
When Yan Fei showed no unusual reaction to finding Luo Xun in his arms, Luo Xun felt both relieved and a little disappointed. He hurriedly threw on his clothes to cover up his overly “spirited” little brother before rushing downstairs to open the door.
“Uh… you guys aren’t up yet?” Seeing Luo Xun’s messy bird’s nest of hair, Li Tie and Han Li—who had woken up early out of sheer excitement—suddenly felt awkward.
“Ah, no worries, we’re up now. Are we starting work? Give us a sec, we’ll be right out.” Luo Xun replied quickly.
Outside, He Qiankun and the others were just as hyped, checking over the materials stacked in the hallway, sleeves already rolled up and ready to start.
Yan Fei followed Luo Xun downstairs; the two of them washed up, changed into work clothes, grabbed a few bites of breakfast, and headed out to work—without ever getting the chance to “discuss” what had happened that morning. One on purpose, the other by accident, both had conveniently pushed the issue aside.
Renovating a house was a complicated affair—especially when everyone involved was a total amateur. Apart from Luo Xun, who had at least some theoretical knowledge, the others were completely in the dark.
And Luo Xun himself hadn’t exactly prepared for the chance to renovate a house after the apocalypse, so he hadn’t done much research or downloaded any reference materials. He could only rely on experience and reasoning.
The first step in renovation was to check whether the building structure needed modification. For the students’ apartment (Unit 1601), no structural changes were needed—just simple finishing work. But Yan Fei’s apartment, in name his own, required a major operation: they needed to open a doorway through the wall connecting two rooms.
Unfortunately, that wall was a load-bearing one. If not for Yan Fei’s metal ability to reinforce it afterward, Luo Xun wouldn’t have dared consider such a reckless plan.
Once that was decided, they moved on to wrapping the exposed pipes. After inspecting both rooms, Luo Xun finalized the plan and led Yan Fei to Apartment 1603—time to tear down the wall!
Metal powers truly were a blessing, especially with reinforced concrete. Luo Xun watched as the wall before them began to vibrate within the area they had marked out. The concrete crumbled, the steel bars twisted and reshaped themselves into a sturdy metal door frame, perfectly reinforcing the opening.
“Let’s melt those steel plates into a proper door.”
Once Luo Xun confirmed the rest of the wall was stable and undamaged, he finally sighed in relief—he really didn’t want to bring the house down just because of one doorway.
In an instant, a gleaming new steel door appeared before them. Luo Xun couldn’t help marveling again at Yan Fei’s power—this ability would’ve made a fortune even before the apocalypse! Far more efficient than molding clay by hand!
After going over the room layout and design ideas, they got to work.
Unlike in 1601, where the five students had to do everything manually, Yan Fei’s apartment let them skip many steps thanks to his metal control—things like pipe casing and furniture construction could be done in seconds. Since his power operated through metal, the more metal items around, the better.
Tables, chairs, beds, wardrobes—all made of metal were ideal. Heavy as hell to move, sure, but the upside was obvious: if any thief broke in, they’d find nothing they could lift, and even the cabinets had no doors to pry open. Kick it, and you’d only hurt your foot.
For the flooring, though, Luo Xun decided to stick with wood—mainly because their scavenged metal wasn’t enough.
And besides, if they used steel plates for flooring, wouldn’t footsteps echo too loudly? Better to play it safe with wood.
Once they’d roughly shaped the partitions and fixtures, they moved on to plastering and flooring. The tiles they’d salvaged were just enough for two bathrooms and the kitchen—tiles were heavy, and most stores only kept samples on hand. But they’d gathered plenty of wooden flooring from multiple stores—enough for both apartments and then some!
With the plan set, they started plastering the small bedroom walls first. Neither had ever done this before, so practice was a must—otherwise, they’d end up with a lumpy, uneven mess.
Meanwhile, in 1601, Li Tie and the others were still waging war with the pipes—the room clanged and banged nonstop. Thankfully, Luo Xun and Yan Fei could skip that step thanks to his metal powers, leaving the leftover materials for the students to practice with. They were quick learners, and aside from breaking a few parts early on, soon got the hang of it.
Elsewhere, in Building 7, the elevator—operating only during scheduled power periods—carried a few shifty-eyed men up to the 16th floor. When one of them pressed the button, he realized with surprise that everyone else in the elevator was going to the same floor.
They eyed each other warily but quickly understood—they were all here for the same thing. Still, their plan was only to scout. If they happened to run into that powerful group from yesterday, they could always claim they pressed the wrong button or the elevator malfunctioned. But once they got back, they’d have to warn their teams—others had also set their sights on those people’s supplies, and whoever acted first would have the advantage.
Despite the crowded elevator, an eerie silence filled the air. When the doors finally opened on the 16th floor, several pairs of eager eyes turned toward the opening—and froze.
What the hell? Why was it pitch black?
Startled, they stared for a moment before one man quickly stuck his hand out before the doors closed again—touching something hard, cold, and solid.
The elevator doors slid shut and began descending again, stopping at a lower floor for someone else before continuing down.
By the time it reached the ground floor, the scouts exchanged uneasy looks and stepped out. Two of the sharper ones dashed to the neighboring elevator—maybe they’d seen wrong? Maybe that one wasn’t blocked?
They rode up again, hearts pounding. But when the doors opened at the top—there it was. That same smooth, pitch-black surface. Still there.
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
