Don’t Leave Me Behind
Chen Gu1 never thought he would end up on a bus with this group of S University students he disliked. It was all because they suddenly found a common topic: badmouthing those S University giant babies2 together.
Well… it wasn’t really badmouthing. They were just recounting all the shitty things those giant babies had done.
“I’m telling you, that Li Jie3 used to follow Fan Juntian4 around like a lackey back at S University! Fan Juntian and Ren-xuezhang5 didn’t get along at all! So Liao Lan6, who’s good friends with Li Jie, definitely doesn’t have a good relationship with Ren-xuezhang either! Mu-xuejie7 was deceived!”
“Damn it! Those guys are disgusting. Just wait until I get back, I’ll beat the crap out of them!”
“Yeah, beat ’em up! We want revenge too! They were cruel enough to take all our water and food. Those bastards8 were trying to kill us!”
“Those bastard giant babies are heartless! We had a teammate named Sun Jia who isn’t here today. You know why? Because she got injured. And the reason she got injured was to save an S University student named Dong Ting9. Those giant babies got greedy and went near the base to hunt a couple of mutated wild chickens, but they were suddenly attacked by zombies. Our Xiao Jia was passing by and heard their cries for help. To save that Dong Ting, a zombie nearly bit her entire arm off. And what did Dong Ting do? While our Xiao Jia was being bitten by the zombie, she turned around and ran away with the other giant babies! If we hadn’t been nearby and heard Xiao Jia’s screams, I’m afraid she would have died in that zombie’s mouth!”
“What’s even more disgusting is that we went to find those bastards afterward and told them to get some injury medicine and anti-inflammatory medicine from Fan Juntian for Xiao Jia, but those bastards didn’t want to take responsibility for her. What did those white-eyed wolves10 say? That they never asked Xiao Jia to save them; she did it on her own. And that Dong Ting had the gall to say with a straight face that she never even asked for help, that Xiao Jia was the one who rushed over and provoked the zombies…”
Tsk, these people are truly disgusting! Song Xin11, Chang Ling12, and the others clicked their tongues as they listened in amazement. “Sure enough, in the apocalypse, people’s hearts only get worse, never the worst…”
“What about Mu-xuejie? Isn’t that Fan Juntian guy crazy about her? If Mu-xuejie asked him, he wouldn’t refuse, right?”
“Fan Juntian does like the Boss, and he’s willing to give her injury medicine, but there’s a condition! That tm13 dog cunt thing14 wants the Boss to be his girlfriend!”
“Holy crap15! He really is a piece of shit! Compared to him, Ren-xuezhang is so much better. It’s just a pity…”
“Brothers, don’t worry. We have espers too. We’re not like those giant baby white-eyed wolves who just sit around and do nothing. Your teammate’s medicine was used by Mu-xuejie on Xi-jie, so tomorrow, we’ll go with you to the neighboring city to find more!”
Yang Xiangrui’s16 words finally managed to raise Chen Gu and his group’s opinion of them a little. But speaking of finding medicine, they all sighed heavily again.
“It’s not that easy to find… These days, most pharmacies have already been looted. Besides, with Xiao Jia’s injury… a little bit of injury medicine isn’t enough, but at least it can alleviate her condition and stop the wound from getting worse, right?”
“Hearing you say that, Xiao Jia has been bitten for several days? Is she not an esper? Otherwise, with an esper’s constitution, the wound should heal pretty quickly. How could it still be getting worse?”
“We don’t know either. We used so much medicine on it, and it looked like it was about to heal, but then it split open again for some reason. And Xiao Jia was bitten by a zombie of a higher level than her. Although an esper’s body automatically produces an antibody to fight the zombie virus, the virus from a wound inflicted by a higher-level zombie isn’t so easy to clean out. So the wound keeps acting up, and it’s showing signs of getting worse…”
“The virus from higher-level zombies is harder to clean out? We’ve never seen zombies of a higher level than us before. It was only when we got close to H City17 and its suburbs that we encountered a 4th-order mutated leopard and so many mutated wolves…”
“Speaking of mutated leopards, we ran into a 4th-order mutated leopard before, too. I don’t know if the animals are mutating again, but when we killed it, its whole body was oozing oil! So gross!”
“Yeah, the animals have probably started a new mutation, right? Some of the mutated wolf corpses from just now were greasy too!”
While the topic of conversation on the bus had inexplicably shifted to the greasy corpses of mutated beasts, inside the van, Mu Ning had already finished treating Ren Chenxi’s wound, sprinkling medicinal powder on it and bandaging it up. After carefully draping her own clean jacket over Ren Chenxi, Mu Ning didn’t let go. She just half-embraced Ren Chenxi, leaning against the back seat of the van, gently stroking her cheek again and again as she stared infatuatedly at the familiar face.
Yes, it’s just too familiar. This face—the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, and even the tiny little mole at the corner of her right eye—is exactly the same as Ren Muhui’s18! If I hadn’t accidentally seen a certain private area while treating her wound, and if the softness unique to a girl wasn’t so real, with no surgical scars on it, I really would have thought that this Ren Chenxi was Ren Muhui, who had gone abroad for gender reassignment surgery over the summer, changed his name, and reappeared.
But… even though I’ve confirmed Ren Chenxi’s identity as a girl, I still have doubts about the story she told me. She said she’s Ren Muhui’s twin sister, but even twins have their differences, let alone dragon-phoenix twins19 like you? How could a sister and brother look so alike, as if they were carved from the same mold?
Could it be that the Ren Muhui who chased after me every day at S University was a girl all along?
As soon as this thought emerged, Mu Ning’s gaze softened as she looked at Ren Chenxi’s profile in her arms.
No wonder. Back when I had no feelings for Ren Muhui, I never paid him much attention. But as he started appearing by my side more and more, and my attention was finally drawn to him, I felt that this boy, who many girls secretly acted like a flower idiot20 over and praised as handsome, was actually a bit too delicate. Compared to handsome, ‘beautiful’ would have been a more fitting description.
It’s a pity that even though I was already attracted to Ren Muhui back then, the fact that he treated pursuing me as a way to prove his own charm always filled me with a strong sense of disgust. At that time, my eyes would follow him involuntarily, yet I felt a strong resistance towards him. It got to the point where I even saw his overly exquisite beauty as being effeminate21.
But now that I think about it… Mu Ning raised her hand and gently touched Ren Chenxi’s slightly cold cheek.
That’s right. If Ren Muhui was actually a girl, then that exquisite beauty would make perfect sense, wouldn’t it? But why? Why did she have to pretend to be a boy to pursue me? Was she afraid I don’t like women? Then… why did she boast to others about her charm?
But, no matter the reason…
Mu Ning lowered her head again, gently tracing Ren Chenxi’s features with her eyes as she whispered, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, and it doesn’t matter what your purpose was for being so good to me back then… In short… you’re not leaving me behind again…”
I’ve already… I can’t go through that agonizing despair again!
From ecstasy to despair… from heaven to hell, it really only took a single breath…
The hand stroking Ren Chenxi’s face trembled slightly. It wasn’t until her palm slid down to rest against the side of Ren Chenxi’s neck, feeling the faint warmth of her skin and the beat of her pulse, that her racing heart finally began to calm down.
Mu Ning would never forget the ecstasy she felt when, after frantically calling Ren Muhui for days, the call was suddenly answered and she clearly heard that familiar voice on the other end. But in the next second, before she could even ask where he had gone or why he hadn’t returned to school, a loud crash came from the other side, like the sound of a phone hitting the ground. After that, no matter how many times she called out, there was only a dial tone.
In that moment, Mu Ning felt as if her own heart had stopped beating. In that moment, she felt as if she had been plunged into hell. In fact, the entire world had been plunged into hell along with her. The sky went dark, the earth shook and the mountains swayed, students all around her collapsed one after another, and a torrential downpour poured from the overcast sky…
When everything seemed to calm down, the world had undergone a change that overturned heaven and earth22. Many people around her said that Ren Muhui was dead, or that he had become one of the monsters wandering the school grounds. But she never believed it. She always held on, determined to find him! Based on a single sentence from someone else, she had searched from S City23 to H City. For two years, she had traveled to nearly every corner of H City, but she could never find a trace of him.
Only after losing him did I understand. Unknowingly, I had completely fallen for Ren Muhui’s gentleness, like a frog boiling in warm water24. But by the time I realized it, it seemed like it was too late…
No! That’s not right! It’s not too late! Because this person is right here beside me now. She didn’t leave, and she didn’t die. This time, I will hold onto her tightly.
Mu Ning carefully found Ren Chenxi’s left hand, which was resting peacefully on her chest. She gently pried open the slender, closed fingers, squeezed her own fingers in, and turned her hand to clasp theirs, their fingers tightly intertwined.
This is nice. We’ll never be separated again.
Holding Ren Chenxi’s hand, half-embracing her, Mu Ning listened to the sound of her shallow breathing. In this rare moment of peace, her eyes were fixed on Ren Chenxi’s profile, her heart filled with joy and a sense of security. Just as Mu Ning couldn’t resist leaning down, her nose barely brushing against Ren Chenxi’s soft hair, a sudden bang, bang, bang sound of someone knocking on the window shattered the rare moment of peace.
“Boss, Boss…”
Mu Ning quickly straightened up. After carefully confirming that Ren Chenxi hadn’t been woken up, she turned to glare unhappily at the window.
“Boss, the zombies are here, a lot of them… and other mutated beasts…”
The apocalypse at night was already extremely dangerous. Moreover, with so many mutated wolf corpses lying around, the strong smell of blood would naturally attract nearby wandering zombies and mutated beasts hiding in the darkness. With a grim expression, Mu Ning carefully moved Ren Chenxi onto the seat and tucked the jacket around her before opening the door and getting out.
Chen Gu, who was watching this series of actions from outside the window, was dumbfounded.
The Boss is… treating her boyfriend’s sister as her boyfriend? No, no, no, the Boss is just taking care of her boyfriend’s sister like her own sister, right? But… her brother is dead. How am I supposed to tell the Boss that?
The author has something to say:
Xixi: You groped my chest the moment we met, and you kept looking and touching while I was unconscious! You’re a pervert!
Wooden Goddess25: Yes, yes, I’m a pervert. My blackening value26 is high, you know. Just bear with me and let me look again~
Xixi: ……
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