Chapter 17: Her Parents

With the city evacuated, the villa district was eerily silent throughout the night, devoid of any异种 (yì zhǒng, mutated species) or mutated animals.

Despite being in bed, everyone remained awake through the night, except for Chu Xihen.

With Lou Su by his side, Chu Xihen slept soundly and peacefully.

He woke up in the morning feeling hot, opening his eyes to find his forehead covered in sweat.

“Let go of me. Aren’t you hot?” Chu Xihen nudged Lou Su, who was still holding him tightly.

Lou Su released him only after seeing that he was awake.

Of course, he was hot, but he knew that Chu Xihen was picky about where he slept and would suffer from insomnia if his posture wasn’t right. Wasn’t he afraid of waking him up if he let go?

Chu Xihen got out of bed and glanced at the window, intending to open it, but when he reached out to touch the window frame, it was so hot that he cried out in pain.

“What’s wrong?” Lou Su rushed over, grabbing his hand to examine it. He saw a glaring red mark seared into his fair palm.

“I’m fine. There’s something wrong with the sun outside; it’s heated up the window frame,” Chu Xihen said, taking out his phone to check the time. “It’s only six in the morning? I thought it was noon.”

Lou Su had noticed that the sun had risen a bit early when Chu Xihen was still asleep, but he hadn’t expected it to be this severe.

The two exchanged a look before opening the door and leaving the room.

Gao Lin sat on the sofa, having taken off his jacket and was wearing only a white undershirt.

Zhou Quan, on the other hand, was practically inside the refrigerator.

Since they didn’t have to pay for electricity in the apocalypse, shouldn’t he enjoy it while there was still power?

“You guys are awake? How could you sleep in this heat? I couldn’t stand it halfway through the night,” Zhou Quan pulled his head out of the refrigerator to ask Chu Xihen. “Good brother, is this another phenomenon of the apocalypse?”

“What month is it? Have you ever experienced temperatures this high before?” Chu Xihen didn’t speak, but Gao Lin frowned and asked.

Then he said, “All abnormal phenomena are due to the arrival of the apocalypse. Don’t ask such idiotic questions in the future.”

“Why are you so grumpy? I offered to let you cool off in the refrigerator, but you refused,” Zhou Quan had a high tolerance for Gao Lin, and nothing the other said seemed to anger him.

Just as Zhou Quan was gloating, the refrigerator suddenly went “pop” and lost power.

“Huh? What’s going on? Did the refrigerator break down?” He closed the refrigerator door and pressed the light switch in the living room, then said in despair, “The power’s finally out. The apocalypse has patched up this bug.”

It was indeed a bug that the power had lasted for several days into the apocalypse.

“It’s too stuffy and hot in this house. Should we set off quickly?” Zhou Quan took out some ice cubes from the refrigerator and distributed them to Gao Lin and Chu Xihen.

“Alright, let’s pack up and leave.” Lou Su didn’t object to the suggestion.

Zhou Quan didn’t have much to pack, so he went to the master bedroom door and knocked. “Su Yan, are you awake? We’re getting ready to leave.”

With such high temperatures, Zhou Quan didn’t believe Su Yan was still asleep.

Sure enough, the door was pulled open in the next moment. Su Yan, probably not expecting Zhou Quan to be right at the door, was startled.

A flash of panic crossed her face, and she only opened the door a crack, squeezing her small body out of the gap, not allowing Zhou Quan to see the situation inside the bedroom.

However, the moment Su Yan opened the door, Zhou Quan smelled a strange odor and frowned involuntarily. But, fearing it would be impolite to say anything, he held back.

“Let’s go. I’ve packed everything,” Su Yan had a bag on her shoulder and closed the door behind her.

Zhou Quan didn’t say anything, walking over to the sofa to support Gao Lin. The group prepared to leave.

Because Gao Lin was injured, Lou Su pulled Chu Xihen aside, letting Zhou Quan support him as they walked ahead.

Su Yan walked last, looking back towards the master bedroom every few steps.

Chu Xihen found her behavior odd. “Reluctant to leave?”

“Ah?” Su Yan looked flustered. “No, no, let’s go!”

As soon as Su Yan finished speaking, Zhou Quan, who had already gone outside, dragged Gao Lin back in. “We can’t go. The sun outside is too intense. Look at my hand!”

Zhou Quan was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. He held out his left hand, and the back of it was red and covered in dense blisters, as if it had been burned.

“Luckily, I reached out to test the waters first. Otherwise, if Gao Lin and I had walked straight out, we might have been sunburned all over,” Zhou Quan said, full of gratitude.

His hand still felt like it was on fire. He familiarly went to open the refrigerator, sticking his hand inside.

Although the power was out, the temperature inside the refrigerator was still low and could help cool him down.

“What do we do now? Are we not leaving?” Su Yan immediately asked.

Chu Xihen also tugged at his clothes. “Then let’s wait until the afternoon and see if it gets better after the sun sets.”

He also didn’t want to leave, especially when the weather was so hot. He just wanted to lie down and not move.

It was just a pity that with this temperature, he didn’t want to lie on the bed, nor did he want to touch the sofa. He just wanted to be in close contact with the floor.

Thinking this, he plopped down on the ground.

Lou Su walked past him to the window, looking at the scorching summer day outside, his handsome face grim.

Gao Lin was worried about Zhou Quan and kept an eye on his movements.

Su Yan, carrying her bag, sat back on the sofa. She seemed preoccupied, and perhaps less bothered by the heat than the others.

Zhou Quan’s hand was no longer as uncomfortable, so he took it out of the refrigerator and sniffed it.

“Could my hand be burned? Can you guys smell a burnt smell?” Zhou Quan asked.

Before anyone else could speak, Su Yan stood up with an extreme reaction. “No, there’s nothing. There must be something wrong with your nose?”

Chu Xihen glanced at Su Yan again, then turned his gaze toward the master bedroom. “Is there something in the master bedroom? Why are you so nervous?”

He was either too lazy to say anything or would cut straight to the point.

Su Yan was clearly acting strangely, and now that he had noticed it, there was no way he could pretend not to see it.

Asked by Chu Xihen, Su Yan panicked even more. “No, there’s nothing!”

Even as she said this, Su Yan unconsciously stood up and blocked the door to the master bedroom. Wasn’t this just making it clear to the others that there was something hidden in the room?

“Speaking of which, that stench seems to be coming from the master bedroom. Su Yan, what exactly is inside?” The closer Zhou Quan got to the master bedroom, the stronger the smell became.

Su Yan bit her lower lip, unsure how to defend herself.

“Are your parents inside?” Chu Xihen asked softly.

As soon as he said this, everyone turned to look at him, their faces full of disbelief.

Su Yan burst into tears at this moment. “Yes, they are inside, but my mother is already dead, and my father…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, her sobs replacing the words.

Zhou Quan asked carefully, “Are you okay? Last night…”

Su Yan shook her head. “I’m fine. Although my father is infected, he’s tied up and can’t break free.”

“Can we go in and take a look?” Lou Su asked.