Chapter 14

Zhou Yun opened his eyes in a daze, his eyes swollen and red. He immediately saw Guan Yuanfeng, who was furrowing his brows and looking at him. He couldn’t help but call out, “Guan Yuanfeng!”

He thought he had exerted all his strength, but to his surprise, only a hoarse breath escaped, and the pain in his throat made him furrow his brows.

Guan Yuanfeng was staring at him, reaching out to touch his forehead. “You’re awake?” Comet’s front paws climbed up onto the bed, stretching its tongue to lick him, exhaling warm air.

Unlike in his dreams, Guan Yuanfeng wasn’t with his eyes tightly shut or his brows furrowed. Instead, his gaze was sharp and clear as he stared at him.

Zhou Yun gradually regained his senses from the chaos of his past life and present, feeling soreness and exhaustion all over his body.

He moved his hand to try and pet Comet, who was affectionately licking him with its tongue, but then he heard a sound. Turning his head with difficulty, he saw that his right hand was handcuffed to the bedpost.

Guan Yuanfeng explained, “The property group in the community said that people who have a fever will eventually turn into zombies. Zombies attack the living and devour bodies. I saw your fever wouldn’t subside, and I wasn’t sure what was happening, so I temporarily locked you up.”

Zhou Yun snapped out of it, looked at him, and smiled. “It’s okay, safety first. Lock me up for now.” His voice was still hoarse and unpleasant.

But Guan Yuanfeng took out the key, unlocked the handcuffs, and handed him a tissue. “I don’t think zombies cry.”

Zhou Yun took the tissue, a little stunned, not understanding at first. It wasn’t until he saw Guan Yuanfeng’s smile that he suddenly realized what was happening. He wiped his face with the tissue and found that his face was covered in tears.

Guan Yuanfeng looked at him with a rare tenderness in his eyes. “You’ve been unconscious for three days with a high fever, and you’ve been crying the whole time. I was really worried.” The quiet way he had been crying was quite frightening.

Zhou Yun’s face slowly became hot, and he tried to find an explanation: “Maybe… it’s because of the high fever, my tear glands can’t control themselves…”

Guan Yuanfeng noticed his embarrassment and grabbed some water from the bedside, bringing it to his lips: “Drink some water, don’t force yourself to talk, your throat must hurt.”

Zhou Yun took the water and drank a couple of sips, realizing that there was honey in it.

Guan Yuanfeng said, “I saw honey in your fridge and added a little salt. You couldn’t take the medicine, so I gave you this instead.”

Zhou Yun nodded, and Guan Yuanfeng went back to the kitchen to bring in a cup of milk: “Drink some milk, I did it your way and added a little ginger juice before heating it.”

Zhou Yun slowly finished the ginger milk and felt a little better. He saw Guan Yuanfeng busy in the kitchen for a while before bringing in a bowl of dumplings that smelled delicious. He said, “Thank you, sorry for the trouble.”

Guan Yuanfeng replied, “No need to thank me. I found these frozen dumplings in your fridge, I just boiled them. I’ve been living on these for the past few days. The taste is actually pretty rich, the meat filling is quite solid, not like what you buy outside, looks like you made them yourself.”

“I see it’s not just dumplings, you also have frozen buns and zongzi. You really are prepared for anything.”

The items were neatly packed in compartments in a glass container, and through the transparent lid, he could clearly see what was frozen inside.

There was a layer of cooked food, a layer of raw meat and shrimp, and the rest were layers of frozen dumplings, buns, zongzi, and sticky rice cakes.

There were even clear labels on top, showing the filling, and they could just be steamed in a steamer without even needing to check.

He was shocked when he opened the large double-door fridge.

He had never seen anyone like Zhou Yun before. Did Zhou Yun really not have obsessive-compulsive disorder?

He even saw frozen rice balls, eight-treasure porridge, and green bean porridge, all ready to be cooked at any time.

The fresh section was filled with milk, wine, and various vegetables and fruits that could be stored for a long time.

Eggs, salted eggs, century eggs—there were so many types of eggs, all neatly arranged.

Zhou Yun laughed and asked him, “How’s the neighborhood outside?”

Guan Yuanfeng gave him a deep look: “Fortunately, you had iron gates installed before. A lot of zombies charged up, but the gates stopped them and they left.”

“After one day, the military came with armored vehicles to the door. They broadcasted for any survivors to go to nearby hospital bases and hang something red in the window for rescue. They cleared a path, killed some zombies, and rescued a few survivors. There weren’t many survivors, and the rescue team left soon after.”

It was the same as in his past life, but he didn’t know why Guan Yuanfeng hadn’t left and had stayed in the house.

He didn’t ask, but Guan Yuanfeng explained: “I was worried about you, and I couldn’t move around easily. I had too many things to carry, and going to the base would have been a burden to others. There was no need, so I stayed. If you want to go to the base, I’ll go with you.”

Zhou Yun shook his head: “The iron gates can stop the zombies, and we have supplies. We should stay here on the upper floor and keep the place secure. Is the internet still up?”

Guan Yuanfeng replied, “The signal is bad, it cuts in and out. I heard it’s because of solar storms. Most of the time it’s down, but there’s a broadcast saying that survivors should try to go to nearby hospitals, which are temporary emergency points for survivors.”

Zhou Yun hoarsely asked, “Did they say what’s going on? The zombies… how are they transforming? Fever?”

Guan Yuanfeng shook his head: “Before the internet went down, I saw someone post information. Cities all over were attacked by zombies, and the red mist causes fever. There’s a high chance of turning into zombies, so stay away from anyone with a fever.”

“Also, if it’s a weaker zombie, slow-moving and clumsy, you can try using a knife to chop off its head to stop its movement.”

Zhou Yun glanced at the long knife next to Guan Yuanfeng. It was the battle knife he had seen in his past life.

Guan Yuanfeng noticed him looking and picked up the knife to show him: “I was stationed in the Ice Ridge Plateau for a while, and the locals made it. It’s very sharp.”

“Don’t get bitten by the zombies. The bite wound carries zombie venom, which will cause fever and infection, turning into a zombie.”

Zhou Yun could tell that Guan Yuanfeng wasn’t saying more because the powers hadn’t been widely known yet. He had only learned to control his abilities after arriving at the base, under the guidance of experienced people.

He softly asked, “Aren’t you worried that I might infect you with the zombie virus?” He had been guarding him by the bed for three days without rest.

Guan Yuanfeng said, “Why worry about that? Life and death are destined. I can’t just leave you here alone.”

Zhou Yun said, “You should go rest too. I’m feeling much better, you must not have rested properly.”

Guan Yuanfeng saw that his eyes were clear and his mind alert, so he felt a little relieved: “Alright, you continue resting and healing. If you need anything, call me. I’ll go sleep over there for a while. If you need anything, you can come to me from the balcony, no need to go through the front door. We don’t want the zombies to smell fresh human flesh and come over.”

Zhou Yun agreed: “Okay.”

Guan Yuanfeng reminded him again: “Don’t force yourself to cook. I see your fridge is stocked with enough frozen food to last us for a few months.”

“The vegetables and fruits are on the roof. You can just cook them with boiling water. I’ve been watering the plants and herbs upstairs for you, and I’ve fed the fish too, so don’t worry about it.”

He couldn’t help but admire Zhou Yun’s preparedness. These past few days, he saw that the power generation equipment Zhou Yun installed could work with wind and solar power. When it rains, there was a rainwater purification system. The equipment could also run on diesel and gasoline. Even if the zombies attacked and the internet, electricity, and water were cut off, they could still survive here for a long time, relying on rainwater purification.

He believed that even if they went to some survivor base, the food and safety wouldn’t be better than here.

As a disabled person, and Zhou Yun being sick, going out would only be a burden to others, and Zhou Yun, who had just recovered from a fever, would be suspected.

Before they had more information, staying still was the best option.

Zhou Yun smiled wryly, knowing that Guan Yuanfeng was worried he would insist on going upstairs to tend to the vegetable garden and medicinal herbs, so he nodded in agreement.

Only then did Guan Yuanfeng feel at ease and go upstairs, returning to his room from the balcony.

After Guan Yuanfeng left, Zhou Yun crossed his legs and rested his ankles, relaxing his shoulders and elbows, drawing in his chest and straightening his back. He relaxed his brow, with the tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth and focused on his dantian. He began to use the unique method of regulating his breath and cultivating energy that he had discovered in his past life, activating his powers.

In the stillness, his mind became clear and bright, and he inwardly focused on his dantian. As expected, he felt the familiar water-wood dual-element crystal core from his past life.

Of course, at this moment, it was still very small, just a faint sensation of energy, but after many years of practicing his abilities in his past life, he was now skilled in harnessing its power.

That small jade-green lotus-shaped crystal was translucent and radiant. The energy from it spiraled upwards from his dantian, passing through the lower dantian, rising to the middle dantian, and then moving to the diaphragm in the chest.

The energy flowed outwards to the outer sides of his elbows, through the middle fingers, reaching the center of his palms, where he felt a cool and refreshing sensation in the Laogong acupoint. The energy then flowed back through both palms and elbows to the chest, descending to the lower dantian, then spreading along the outer sides of his legs, reaching the soles of his feet and the Yongquan acupoint, before rising back through the lower dantian to the middle dantian.

He patiently guided the thin thread of energy through his body’s meridians, and the tiny crystal core immediately radiated a brilliant light. His entire body felt light, as if filled with the power of life, and the earlier pain had diminished.

He was already skilled in acupuncture, deeply familiar with the body’s acupoints, and after many years of cultivation in the apocalypse, he had compiled and taught this method.

Now, he was effortlessly using his powers. In just a few breaths, he instinctively activated his water-wood abilities.

He extended his palm and saw a crystal-clear water droplet form in the center of his hand. This was a first-tier ability—the crystallized core summoned the ability, marking him as a first-tier ability user.

He covered the water droplet with his palm and poured it onto the ground.

Water had been precious in the apocalypse, and once water turned into ice, it could be used for attacks. Therefore, in his past life, he had focused on enhancing the offensive skills of his water abilities for survival. His wood abilities, however, were something he later concentrated on developing.

But in this life, he needed to quickly improve his wood abilities. In his past life, he was the only one with a fifth-tier wood ability.

Only he knew that although wood abilities seemed useful only for growing crops and medicinal herbs, at higher levels, they could restore vitality and connect with the earth, allowing one to influence and manipulate the world itself.

In this life, he was fully prepared, with so many different types of plants for him to cultivate carefully. He needed to reach the third-tier level of his abilities as quickly as possible, for only at that level could he perform “grafting” and have a chance to activate and guide his powers.

In his past life, in the dark laboratory of the Hidden Valley, they had used a fifth-tier light ability to assist in healing wounds and forcibly transplanting crystal cores. However, due to rejection, the failure rate was very high.

But with his expertise in medicine and his mastery of the meridians, he was confident that he could help Guan Yuanfeng activate his abilities and restore his legs.

The mechanism of the red mist’s ability activation was unclear, and he had only heard from Guan Yuanfeng’s comrades that he was affiliated with the lightning element, but he had never fully confirmed it. He could not take any risks. He needed to use the safest method to transplant Guan Yuanfeng’s abilities.