Chapter 57 — Recovering from Illness
“…He was just going crazy.” Yan Fei didn’t know how to explain it. He had never encountered such a weird situation before – a man pretending to be ambiguous with him in front of another man… Just thinking about it made him feel like his brain cells would die miserably, okay?
Luo Xun didn’t say anything, but suddenly leaned into his arms, wrapped his arms around his waist, and after a long while, a muffled voice came out from his chest: “You are mine, right?”
“Of course!” Yan Fei answered firmly. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he didn’t directly question him. He pulled him back to the bedroom on the second floor.
Luo Xun followed obediently all the way, even ignoring the little one who jumped up and down to be petted and rolled around on the ground. After entering the bedroom, Yan Fei suddenly pushed him onto the bed and hugged him tightly. Then he suddenly spoke again, looking at Yan Fei with a complicated expression: “Just now, after opening the door, you two were together…”
Yan Fei quickly raised his hand and swore: “He came over suddenly… You know him, a little… crazy.” He really couldn’t describe Zhang Su. They were both outstanding in appearance, but he could not simulate Zhang Su’s brain circuits no matter what. He had no way of predicting when he would suddenly go crazy… and release his hormones.
Luo Xun shook his head: “I know, I just saw you two together and suddenly felt that… you are a good match.” After saying that, he lowered his head with some inferiority, “You two are both so good-looking… I…” If he went out with Yan Fei in the future, he would definitely be looked down upon by others. This was the biggest reason why he always supported Yan Fei wearing a mask when going out.
Yan Fei choked. He suddenly felt like his brain was no longer compatible with his lover’s. Were straight men and gay men really that different? How could a naturally straight man like him guess what these gay men were thinking? Why did his brains seem even stranger than women’s?
Putting his hands on both sides of Luo Xun’s head, Yan Fei said to him seriously: “Do you think I am a person who pays attention to other people’s appearance?” If he really thinks so, then please explain why he is willing to be with him, who has a plain and handsome appearance?
Luo Xun blinked, looked straight at Yan Fei above him, and suddenly laughed. He raised his hand, hooked it around his neck, pulled his ear to the side of his face, and whispered, “Let’s do it.”
Yan Fei was stunned for a moment, almost thinking he’d misheard. But Luo Xun had ignored his question and jumped right in, still shaking him. But no matter what… this first time he’d been waiting for so long was finally here! While he wasn’t sure how his brain worked, or why he’d suddenly skipped so much and jumped to this point, Yan Fei was a man who was very good at seizing opportunities.
His hand slid down to Luo Xun’s waist and he whispered in his ear, “Are you sure?”
Luo Xun felt his face burning through, and the area he touched suddenly felt sore and limp. He didn’t say anything, but nodded slightly, his hands still clasping Yan Fei’s neck. Luo Xun needed confirmation, confirmation that Yan Fei loved him, that he and he were compatible.
Yan Fei might not understand Zhang Su’s personality, but Luo Xun, who had been reborn from the apocalypse, understood it better. Although Zhang Su was now physically safe, he felt a profound emptiness within. He had been betrayed by someone he once trusted, and while he had some peaceful neighbors around him, they were still just neighbors.
They didn’t know his past, didn’t know his true personality. The most natural and direct ways of fighting, plundering, and killing others outside the base were completely forbidden within the base. This peaceful life, suddenly pushed to the brink, forced to resort to bloody means to plunder others to survive, was suddenly restricted again by arriving at the base.
The repetitive yet completely different life rules, unfamiliar environment, and strange people make people feel at a loss.
Zhang Su could only use this seemingly crazy attitude to tease himself and Yan Fei, who seemed to be of the same kind. Because Li Tie and the others were too pure and had not yet been tainted by darkness, this attitude could only be vented on himself and Yan Fei. Otherwise, if it continued for a long time, Zhang Su might develop mental problems.
This was a situation he had encountered before in his previous life. After the apocalypse, he’d initially fled in panic, but then, forced by life’s pressures, he’d been forced to emerge, reluctantly uniting with other survivors and fighting his way out.
They had just escaped to a safe place, but not long after the peace came, the place collapsed again.
If I hadn’t arrived at the A City base later and the people around me had already adapted to post-apocalyptic life, and if everyone, even those in the base, had not lived by the same rules and attitudes, I might have been driven crazy.
But even so, he would rather live alone in the basement than seek out others for warmth. It wasn’t until he could no longer bear the loneliness that he decided to use all his savings to find a companion – a child with a strong and adaptable personality, a child who could only survive by relying on himself, wholeheartedly relying on himself.
He slowly closed his eyes, feeling Yan Fei’s warm breath spraying on his neck and face, and feeling those big hands wandering over his body, igniting one flame after another.
Luo Xun could understand Zhang Su’s actions, but Yan Fei was his. Since they had decided to be together, they must persevere and continue on this journey together. With his understanding of the apocalypse and Yan Fei’s powerful and practical abilities, they could find a path that best suited them both.
The scene he witnessed today had unleashed a wave of his hidden inferiority complex. Looking at the two enchanting faces so pleasing to the eye, he suddenly wanted to confirm for himself whether he and Yan Fei were a good match. Could he, a straight man who had just been turned gay, be compatible with Yan Fei…?
The two of them could slowly adjust and understand each other in the small and large details of life, but some aspects required actual experience and compatibility. Previously, Luo Xun had been avoiding it, unwilling to face it too quickly, but now, he urgently needed proof that he and Yan Fei were compatible, and that Yan Fei’s actions would demonstrate his need for him. So even though their current positions and actions indicated that Luo Xun was destined to be on the bottom tonight, he didn’t show any resentment or resistance.
Yan Fei successfully took off the last layer of cloth from Luo Xun’s body, placed his hands on both sides of his head, and looked at him quietly.
As if sensing Yan Fei’s gaze, Luo Xun slowly opened his eyes. Suddenly, Yan Fei smiled, his eyes filled with a gentleness that could melt anyone. He slowly leaned over and kissed Luo Xun’s lips devoutly and firmly: “Relax, I’m going in.”
Luo Xun’s body tensed up at first, then he slowly relaxed his tense muscles. Although he had never actually done it, he had secretly studied it in his previous life after his life became stable. He knew the preparations that the recipient needed to make and what was about to happen.
To facilitate Yan Fei’s movements, Luo Xun even took the initiative to lift his legs and hook them around Yan Fei’s waist. He leaned close to Yan Fei’s face and whispered in his ear, panting slightly, “Come on.”
A wave as deep as the sea appeared in his eyes, and Yan Fei lowered his waist firmly.
—
Even his fingertips seemed to be sore. Luo Xun struggled to open his eyes and tried to swat the alarm clock, but when he did, he saw Yan Fei’s arm reaching over his head, pressing down the alarm clock.
“Have a good rest at home today. I’ll bring you lunch at noon.” After turning off the alarm, Yan Fei kissed Luo Xun on the forehead.
“Huh?” Luo Xun raised his eyelids in confusion. He felt a splitting headache and was completely unable to understand what Yan Fei meant.
After giving him another gentle kiss on the cheek, Yan Fei placed his forehead against Luo Xun’s, “You still have a slight fever. You can sleep. I’ll bring breakfast.” Then he lifted the quilt and walked towards the door.
Luo Xun was confused and thought that he saw Yan Fei had changed out of his pajamas, but when did he get up?
Luo Xun’s mind finally came back to normal after Yan Fei came up again. His waist, hips, and some unspeakable part of his body were either sore or swollen and painful. It made him feel… cough cough, uncomfortable.
“You said you wanted to go by yourself?” Luo Xun staggered to sit up, but felt as if his waist was about to break. Yan Fei quickly put down what he was holding and came to help him.
“Well, I’ll go by myself today. You can rest at home.”
Luo Xun’s face darkened, then turned red again, and he protested awkwardly, “I’m fine, I’ll be fine in a while.” Asking for leave just because of a bed scene… That’s really unmanly, okay?
Yan Fei gritted his teeth and poked him on the forehead: “What do you mean nothing? He still has a low-grade fever.”
“Fever?” Luo Xun looked at him blankly, “Why do I have a fever?”
Yan Fei also stared at him and gritted his teeth for a long time, and finally had to look away, blushing and said: “It seems to be because of last night…” Although he helped Luo Xun clean up after they were done last night, because it was his first time, and he was a pure straight man before… cough cough, in short, it seems that he was too anxious and hurt him inside, so it is normal to have some minor inflammation and fever.
Luo Xun was stunned for a long moment. Okay, he’d never heard of someone getting a fever from sex. Maybe it was because they’d been too intense last night, sweating profusely, and kicked the covers in their sleep? In his past life, he’d never heard of anyone in the base getting a fever from prostitution. Of course, it probably had something to do with how well they were used to it.
After asking several times, and finding out that he seemed to have hurt himself, Luo Xun thought for a moment and told Yan Fei to bring him a box of anti-inflammatory medicine.
“If it’s not a big problem, I should be able to go with you tomorrow. Today, take your backpack — my big crossbow is inside. Keep your hand-crossbow strapped to your arm just in case. Bring all the crystal cores we have at home; don’t be stingy with them. And if things get dangerous, don’t wait until your ability’s completely drained before using them…”
He hurriedly gave every instruction he could think of. His already hoarse voice grew even rougher, making Yan Fei’s heart ache — he almost wanted to take a day off just to stay home and look after him.
Thankfully, once Luo Xun was fully awake, his spirits were much better. After breakfast, his temperature was normal when he checked it again. Only then did Yan Fei, after planting a kiss on each of his cheeks, reluctantly head out the door — truth be told, he had never before felt this kind of reluctant, worried feeling for anyone.
Locking the door behind him, Yan Fei drew a deep breath. Although last night had ended with some unexpected developments, he was still very satisfied with their first time together. Of course, he’d be more careful next time. When he got home at noon, he planned to check the laptop and see whether he’d ever downloaded any “educational” reading on male-male relationships.
Li Tie and the others, including Zhang Su, had all come out of their houses by then. Recently, they always went downstairs together, with Yan Fei the last one to lock up.
When he appeared, Zhang Su raised an eyebrow, a teasing grin spreading across his face. “Oh my, look at that glowing spring-morning expression of yours. So… you did it?”
Yan Fei didn’t even spare him a glance, heading straight toward the iron gate.
Not understanding what Zhang Su meant, the innocent He Qiankun asked blankly, “Brother Yan, where’s Brother Luo?”
“He’s got a bit of a fever, so he’s staying home today,” Yan Fei replied patiently — he was much gentler with this group of young men.
Hearing that, Li Tie and the others quickly asked whether the fever was bad, if they had medicine at home, and offered to have one person stay behind to look after him if needed.
Behind them, Zhang Su suddenly snorted out a laugh. When Yan Fei’s sharp glare finally landed on him, Zhang Su just spread his hands innocently. “Tsk, tsk — does he have any anti-inflammatories at home? Has he taken them yet?”
Yan Fei ground his teeth but chose to ignore the man enjoying the show.
Li Tie scratched his head in confusion. “Why would you take anti-inflammatories for a fever?” But then again, Zhang Su really was a doctor… wait, though — he was a surgeon. Did surgeons even treat colds?
Wang Duo’s eyes suddenly widened. He looked from Zhang Su to Yan Fei, who was locking the door with a very stiff face, and then wisely swallowed back his question — better not to ask. Once he asked, he might enter a “brand-new world,” and there’d be no going back to his pure, innocent days!
When his gaze met Zhang Su’s, who was leaning lazily against the railing with his peach-blossom eyes slightly curved, the man gave him a knowing raise of the eyebrows. Wang Duo immediately covered his nose with one hand and lowered his head, face grim — was Zhang Su confirming his suspicion, or… was he actually flirting with him?
Whatever the truth, Wang Duo would never know.
The group went down the stairs and piled into the vehicle. Since Luo Xun wasn’t there today, Yan Fei took the driver’s seat. They didn’t use cars much inside the base, so everyone had pooled the remaining fuel and left it for Yan Fei and Luo Xun’s use when they needed to travel.
They drove to the military camp, where they split up after entering the gate. Seeing that Yan Fei had come alone, the captain — who had worked with them for a while — immediately asked after Luo Xun. When he heard Luo Xun was sick, he promised to find some fever medicine for Yan Fei to take home later.
It couldn’t be helped — compared to the quiet, powerful, and slightly aloof Yan Fei, the more ordinary-looking but friendly and talkative Luo Xun, with his constant warm smile, was much more popular with everyone.
Once they knew Luo Xun wasn’t coming, the captain assigned one soldier to stay by Yan Fei’s side for protection, and they all set off toward the base’s main gate.
In the car, the captain pulled out a bag. “Here — forty-five crystal cores. That’s five more per person than yesterday. If we get more today, we’ll divide those up too.”
“Captain, why so many today?” one of the metal-ability users asked curiously as he took the bag.
The captain’s smile was faint and a little bitter. “Yesterday afternoon, another large group of zombies appeared outside the base. They were almost all cleared out by dawn, but some even made it inside the outer wall.”
The situation last night had apparently been serious. Several extremely fast zombies had broken through one of the gates — it was said every soldier stationed there had been killed…
Everyone fell silent. More crystal cores were good, of course, but each one was soaked in blood. No — more than that — every single core came from a human who had turned into a zombie. In other words, every crystal core represented at least one human life lost.
—
Meanwhile…
Luo Xun lay on his back in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
The white, spotless ceiling had a large, simple circular light fixture — easy to clean, plain and practical, perfect for the post-apocalyptic world.
Since his rebirth, even before the apocalypse when he’d been preparing his supplies, Luo Xun had never been this idle.
Because of the dull ache in his lower back — and, well, in certain other places — plus the lingering fatigue from his mild fever, he was currently in no condition to move much. A man who hadn’t stayed in bed a single day since his rebirth was now being forced to rest — and strangely, it left him feeling empty inside. Had life really turned him into a workaholic who couldn’t sit still without something to do?
Thinking back, how had he used to pass time when he didn’t need to go out? Oh, right — he used to take odd jobs crafting or polishing small tools and weapons for others.
Running a hand through his hair, he groaned aloud, “Ahh—I can’t just lie here anymore!”
He shot up from the bed — and immediately regretted it, as pain shot through his waist, nearly knocking him flat again. Supporting himself with one hand on his back and the other on the wall, Luo Xun slowly made his way to the door. “Sigh… those people who make a living with their bodies really have it hard. I’ve done it only once, and I’m already like this. How do they manage every day…?”
His thoughts drifted wildly, even connecting his and Yan Fei’s domestic intimacy to those who literally sold their bodies for a living. If Yan Fei ever found out what was going through his head, what kind of expression would he make?
First, he checked the terrace — all the plants were doing fine. Step by step, he made his way downstairs. Their little pet, hearing movement, wagged its tail and ran to the stairway. Seeing Luo Xun, it bounded up to him, circled his legs, then dashed back down — up and down, over and over — until Luo Xun finally reached the first floor and sank down onto the couch.
Honestly, he was just bored out of his mind. The fever was gone, and the soreness wasn’t unbearable — as long as he didn’t move too much. So, after confirming the plants were fine, he flopped onto the sofa, grabbed his phone, and started playing Bubble Shooter.
Because they still had power for now, and because he knew how to make use of it efficiently, Luo Xun had downloaded plenty of offline apps and games before the apocalypse — useful for maps, notes, and passing time.
The little dog, thrilled that its owner was staying home, jumped onto the sofa, climbed up his legs, and lay across his stomach.
“Easy, easy! My back…” Luo Xun grimaced, trying to push the chubby half-grown pup off. But it was already strong and heavy enough that he couldn’t really budge it.
Defeated, Luo Xun gave up and let it lie there. The dog rested its head on its paws, its ears twitching every time the phone made a popping sound from the game.
As Luo Xun played idly, a faint broadcast suddenly drifted in from outside the neighborhood — the base’s loudspeakers were announcing recruitment for various construction tasks.
A vehicle carrying the loudspeaker even drove around their complex once before leaving. From the message, Luo Xun learned they were also looking for people to help with cleaning — probably because the base had collected a lot of fabric materials, but they were worried those might be contaminated. And with limited power, even having washing machines wouldn’t be much help.
He pondered this while his game character died again. Sighing, he put the phone down and reached for a novel to pass the time — but at that moment, the little dog lying on him suddenly sat up, both ears pricking sharply.
“Huh? What’s wrong?” Luo Xun asked, puzzled.
The pup gave him a quick glance, tilted its head, listening intently to something. Luo Xun also focused, trying to hear — and just then, the dog abruptly leapt off him.
“Ow—my ribs! Right on target…” Luo Xun groaned, clutching his side. The pup’s paw had landed squarely on one rib — and, of course, with all its weight behind the jump.
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