Chapter 49 — Between Neighbors
Hearing Luo Xun’s protest, Yan Fei chuckled softly against his neck. “And how exactly am I supposed to behave?” he murmured—and something very not well-behaved pressed against Luo Xun’s stomach.
Heat shot through Luo Xun like boiling water. He trembled, frozen—because, embarrassingly, he was starting to react too. If this guy noticed, he’d definitely do something indecent! Until Luo Xun could be sure he’d win any “battle,” it was safer to avoid that situation entirely.
But his rising body heat and increasingly unsteady thoughts betrayed his resolve.
Then Yan Fei, in an unusually serious tone, suggested, “Why don’t we… help each other out?”
He couldn’t eat the meal yet—but there was no reason not to claim some benefits first. He’d been holding back long enough.
“Mutual assistance, mutual satisfaction,” Yan Fei’s eyes said. “Win-win.”
Their gazes locked. Yan Fei leaned in and kissed him. Before Luo Xun’s mind went blank, a faint thought flickered—didn’t this guy say last night we should take things slow? What happened to restraint?
But then again, Luo Xun wasn’t a woman. Why bother with restraint? Better to take advantage while he could.
With that realization, he struck first—his hand sliding down Yan Fei’s smooth back, tugging off those damned little shorts he’d hated for days…
***
The next morning, Luo Xun felt refreshed—brushing his teeth faster than usual. Glancing at Yan Fei, who was wrestling playfully with the little creature over a slipper, he thought maybe he’d waited too long to confess last time. Still, maybe that had been for the best—if he’d said something earlier, before Yan Fei developed feelings, it might have gone worse.
He smiled proudly at the thought of having such a handsome, powerful boyfriend… until he remembered that devastatingly beautiful face—Zhang Su’s.
Right!
He spat out his toothpaste, rinsed, and rushed upstairs.
Yan Fei looked up, confused, as Luo Xun rummaged through drawers in the bedroom, then came running down holding several white masks. “Here. For you.”
“Hm?” Yan Fei accepted them, puzzled.
Luo Xun coughed, trying to sound serious. “You usually wear masks when you go out, right? These are backups. The one you’ve been using is old.”
Yan Fei’s original mask had been stained with blood, impossible to clean completely, and set aside. He’d since used his spare—his last one.
But thinking of that dangerously pretty face, Luo Xun frowned. What if Yan Fei went out maskless and attracted a whole flock of admirers? Even if Yan Fei didn’t care, he would be irritated. Better to cut off the risk at the source!
Just then, sounds came from the hallway—Li Tie’s group was up. Luo Xun shoved the masks into Yan Fei’s arms, ignoring his teasing, knowing look, and hurried to the door.
The five of them were bursting with excitement, heading straight to Zhang Su’s place to help. The beautiful man’s face twitched visibly before reluctantly letting them in. Honestly, if those five boys didn’t look so clean-hearted and harmless, he’d never have agreed.
Like Yan Fei, Zhang Su had been pestered plenty before the apocalypse by both men and women coveting his looks. Unlike Yan Fei, he didn’t have status, strength, or presence to protect himself—and he’d suffered more than a few situations he couldn’t easily escape.
And after the world ended, things had only gotten worse. Betrayals, ambushes, assaults… trusting anyone was now the most dangerous thing of all.
The night before, Li Tie and the others had already finished applying putty to one of the bedrooms. Today, two of them were working on the second room, while the other three were tackling the large living room.
After breakfast, Luo Xun and Yan Fei came over to watch the commotion. They had provided some renovation materials to support Zhang Su—that was already generous enough. As for actually helping with labor? Cough, neither of them was exactly the self-sacrificing, public-minded type. Besides, they could tell that Zhang Su himself was very guarded. If not for the students’ overwhelming enthusiasm, he probably wouldn’t have accepted their help at all.
At the moment, Zhang Su was in the living room examining a bucket of putty. When the two entered, he nodded to them in greeting.
Luo Xun looked around. In one of the rooms, bedding was neatly folded in a corner, along with several bottles of water—some full, some half-empty. Clearly, Zhang Su was being careful. Having just come from the outside world, he knew how precious clean water was, and he was still wary of contamination, unwilling to use tap water directly.
Noticing the simple water purifier in the kitchen, Luo Xun kindly reminded him, “That purifier alone isn’t completely reliable. The water you collect should sit for at least half a day first. Then skim off the top layer, drop in purification tablets, and finally distill it before using.”
“Distill?” Zhang Su frowned and glanced toward the kitchen, where there was nothing but an empty faucet. “How do you distill water?”
Waving his putty knife, Li Tie shouted, “I’ll show you later! It’s written in that book I gave you yesterday—it’s super easy!”
Luo Xun didn’t steal his chance to play teacher, only added with a smile, “Even distilled water should be boiled before use, just to be safe.”
Zhang Su nodded in understanding. “People outside only dare drink unopened bottled water. We’ve heard rumors that someone turned into a zombie after drinking tap water.”
Yan Fei raised a brow. “Was the water really contaminated?” The base had issued water safety warnings as a precaution, but he’d never heard of anyone actually turning into a zombie from drinking tap water.
“No idea if it’s true,” Zhang Su shrugged with a cold smile, “but once people heard it, everyone started playing it safe. These days, people fight over anything—bottled water, food. But the ones looting water are even crazier than those after food. You can last a couple days without eating, but go without water and you’re dead in no time.”
Before arriving at the base, Zhang Su had come with nothing but the clothes on his back. If he hadn’t been a doctor—and a wind-ability user at that—the base wouldn’t have gone so far as to arrange a private room for him, even after he’d injured three people at the hospital.
Luo Xun wandered around. The supplies assigned to Zhang Su would last him about a week—maybe two if rationed carefully. He had a small water purifier, a tiny milk pot, a stainless-steel bowl, bedding, and a sleeping bag.
So, the base did treat valuable people better, but not luxuriously. Once Zhang Su’s injuries healed, he’d have to start working for the base—or else he’d be left to fend for himself.
“I remember the wound on your arm was pretty deep,” Yan Fei said, glancing at him. “What caused it?” The cut had been clean and sharp—obviously from a very keen blade. Seeing that his lover wasn’t staring too much at this slightly androgynous beauty, Yan Fei’s hostility faded.
The corner of Zhang Su’s mouth curled, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes. “A scalpel,” he said flatly. “Mine.”
So they stole his scalpel and then used it to injure him? Yan Fei raised an eyebrow—life outside really was “stimulating.”
“I told you those people were bad news!” He Qiankun, overhearing them, rubbed his nose and left a streak of white putty on it.
“Yeah, Brother Zhang, if those guys ever show up at the base, just tell us—we’ll grab a sack and beat them up for you!” Wu Xin chimed in.
Zhang Su actually laughed, his peach-blossom eyes curving into crescents. “No need. If I ever see them again, I’ll take care of it myself.”
Luo Xun, just coming out from a quick look around, happened to see that smile—and shivered involuntarily.
After a brief chat, he told Li Tie and the others that he and Yan Fei were heading back to modify their front door—they were planning to merge their two apartment entrances into one—and then took his leave.
There were still plenty of metal materials piled up in the hallway. In addition to the water-resistant steel, Yan Fei selected a pile of scrap metal that he had previously fused together and couldn’t identify anymore, then condensed it into a solid “door.”
He fused the doorframe with the rebar and concrete in the walls, anchoring it deep inside. Unless someone could break the reinforced concrete itself, there was no way they’d get through this small “entryway.”
The so-called entryway was the little wedge-shaped space between the two original doors. Luo Xun removed the electronic peephole from his own door, replaced it with a spare, and installed it. Yan Fei shaped a matching hole in the new metal door, fitted the peephole, and then fused it seamlessly into the door—it was impossible to remove.
They also wired the doorbell to this new outer door.
After finishing, the two had another idea—Unit 1604 had toughened glass windows, but Unit 1603 still had the original builder’s windows, which could be smashed with enough force.
“Let’s add iron bars,” Luo Xun suggested brightly. “That way, even if we mount the solar panels outside, no one can steal them!”
“We could add bars to 1604’s windows too,” Yan Fei nodded. “Even tempered glass can be broken—an extra layer of protection wouldn’t hurt.”
They still had plenty of leftover metal from the floor-heating project, so they decided to use it for reinforcement—turning their two apartments into an unbreakable hamster fortress.
Yan Fei linked the iron bars directly to the rebar in the walls, creating an extremely solid framework. He even reinforced the wall structure using stored metal to support the extra weight of their gear. If he’d had more metal and stronger mental power, he probably could’ve condensed an entire building out of metal—no earthquake would ever bring it down.
They worked so enthusiastically that by lunchtime, Yan Fei had overexerted his mental strength and collapsed onto the sofa to rest. Only one slipper remained beside him—the other had apparently been hidden somewhere by the little creature.
Meanwhile, Luo Xun arranged the balcony crops and mounted several solar panels on the new outer bars—the bottom layer was solid metal, so nothing would fall. The bars were wide enough to double as drying racks for plants.
“I’m going next door for a bit—you rest,” Luo Xun said, holding two heads of lettuce.
“Wait, come here.” Yan Fei beckoned him closer. When Luo Xun leaned down, confused, Yan Fei grabbed his collar and kissed him lightly. “For faster recovery.”
Luo Xun blinked, then bit him back, hard, before leaving.
“Wow, you guys are fast—already almost done?” Luo Xun exclaimed upon entering the neighboring apartment. They’d only just started that morning, but now most of the place was finished.
“Of course! I’m telling you, if we can’t find other work later, we could start a renovation business!” Han Li said, laughing.
“Brother Luo, what’s that you’ve got?” Li Tie’s eyes instantly lit up at the sight of green, and even Zhang Su looked startled—it had been ages since he’d seen fresh vegetables.
“Lettuce,” Luo Xun smiled, handing it to Wang Duo, who was closest. “Before the apocalypse, I’d planned to grow some herbs on the balcony. I’d already bought seeds from the supermarket, so when everything went down, I started growing these.”
The students howled in delight. Li Tie rushed forward, eyes shining. “Brother Luo, when your lettuce seeds mature, could we have a few?” It was far too dangerous outside now to look for seeds.
Luo Xun took a small plastic bag from his pocket—inside were paper-wrapped seed packets. “Not much—lettuce, cabbage, cilantro, chili, scallion. Wait till it’s warmer before you plant.”
“Ohhhh!!”
“When we finished our door, we also added a layer of bars outside the window. If you want, once Yan Fei recovers, he can help you set some up too.”
“Ohhhhh!!”
The group rushed to the window and leaned out—sure enough, the neighboring balcony was now enclosed in sturdy metal bars, with space to store things inside.
“Brother Luo, do you guys have enough metal?”
“Bars don’t use much—we should have enough,” Luo Xun replied. They weren’t doing this out of pure goodwill or neighborly spirit, nor did they plan to form some kind of “stable community team.” But since only three groups lived on this floor, it made sense to keep everyone secure. If Li Tie’s group got wiped out, who knew what kind of people might move in next?
Better to reinforce everyone now—it was an investment in their own peace of mind.
“Thanks a ton!” Han Li said, grabbing Luo Xun’s hands and shaking them enthusiastically. “We’ll bring back any metal we find later and give it to Brother Yan!” Having a metal-ability neighbor in the apocalypse was a real blessing—those bars looked indestructible!
“Brother Luo, don’t let Brother Yan tire himself out with house repairs. We’ll help finish the place. He just needs to handle the ironwork.”
Living on the top floor was risky—theft rates were always highest on the ground floor and the top floor. Thieves could rappel down from the roof, and now with the solar panels, their apartment was an even bigger target.
Zhang Su’s peach-blossom eyes curved in amusement. “If any of you end up in the hospital needing surgery, I’ll throw in a few extra stitches for free.”
…Who the hell wanted extra stitches for free?!
Luo Xun’s mouth twitched, but he wisely kept quiet. Heaven only knew when this beautiful, dangerous man might turn violent—and with his own powerhouse boyfriend not around, Luo Xun decided it was safest to keep his distance.
So, no—Yan Fei really didn’t need to worry about anyone “stealing” his lover. Luo Xun was currently avoiding the newly arrived seductive beauty like the plague.
—
“Targets have been eliminated. Proceed with the mission.”
“All vehicles, stay alert and continue forward. Maintain perimeter defense.”
A convoy of vehicles rolled slowly southward through streets that had long since turned to ruins.
“Report! We found more of these things inside the heads of the zombies we just finished clearing out.” A soldier rushed up to the command vehicle, holding a plastic bag containing several crystal-clear objects that sparkled like diamonds.
The officer in charge glanced at them briefly. “Put them together with the rest. Leave one vehicle to check if there are more of these things. The rest, continue the operation.”
“Yes, sir!”
The onboard safe was opened — inside were six or seven similar small bags, each filled with those glittering “gems.”
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