Chapter 21.2 – Break-Up

Outside the medical building.

Xiang Renxi had already surrounded the medical building with his people, evacuating the wounded to the vacant building behind the laboratory. The experts in explosives prepared to demolish the building were stationed nearby.

There was also someone lingering around the perimeter of the building—Xiao Bai, who was still hesitating to leave.

Dr Du had just finished providing emergency care for a patient with a laceration. Without even taking the time to wipe off the blood splatters that got onto his clothes, he hurried back to the vicinity of the medical building.

Xiao Bai had informed him that Ye Lanzhou going in for rescue.

Dr Du sighed in relief, “Great, there’s hope!”

However, Xiao Bai found it hard to feel happy, and even a reassuring smile was beyond his ability.

Dr Du, understanding Xiao Bai’s concern for Chu Chenli, patted his shoulder reassuringly, “Don’t you trust Commander Ye’s abilities? Moreover, I heard that this mutated creature seems to have awakened its abilities only recently and isn’t that powerful. There’s nothing to worry about. Just wait a little longer—”

The blood smudged onto Xiao Bai’s shoulder, and the faint smell of blood made his complexion even worse.

While they were talking, someone hurried over, shouting, “Dr Du? Dr Du! Another patient has collapsed!”

Dr Du unable to persuade Xiao Bai any further and was already reassured that Chu Chenli would be saved, left in a hurry with the nurse to attend to the new patient.

“I’ll come back to accompany you in a while,” Dr. Du said to Xiao Bai.

He then quickly turned around and returned to the area where the patients were being attended to, along with the nurse.

As he turned away, Xiao Bai suddenly looked up at the tall building. He didn’t notice that all colour had drained from Xiao Bai’s face, and even his eyes had lost their lustre, appearing like lifeless plastic beads.

Xiao Bai’s face turned blank, and what he saw in front of him was no longer the dark tall building but…

A person.

He “saw” Ye Lanzhou.

Looking down, Ye Lanzhou was walking in an endless corridor. Faint black smoke spread from the “walls,” shrouding him in a strange black mist.

The black mist grew denser, obscuring his face.

But Ye Lanzhou seemed completely unaware, walking forward with increasing impatience.

His footsteps and expression became more and more anxious, revealing his irritation and frustration.

He gradually began to feel impatient.

He reached for the gun at his waist, wanting to just shoot. In the next second, he snapped out of it— there were still trapped people in this illusion.

Then, he pulled out a large knife.

It was a knife someone had given him, just outside the medical department.

The blade of the knife was faintly covered with a light green electric glow, exuding an oppressive aura as it struck the wall.

The moment the knife touched the wall, the tip made contact with an invisible and soft barrier, sending out ripples that spread further and further into the distance.

Ye Lanzhou furrowed his brow, a hint of resentment in his expression, as he continued to bring his knife down forcefully.

“Swish—”

The sound of something tearing apart echoed in the void, extending continuously into the distance.

The wall seemed to lose its colour like ink fading away, rapidly dissipating to reveal the original appearance of the wards and corridors.

However, the black mist entwining Ye Lanzhou didn’t completely disperse; it continued to follow him like a shadow.

“Ah, ah, ah!”

A scream echoed from the building.

Ye Lanzhou paused and turned towards the stairs.

Black vines firmly clung to the walls, concealed in darkness. Tiny flower-like mouths resembling pairs of eyes silently observed Ye Lanzhou as he ascended the stairs.

The screams grew closer.

Ye Lanzhou stepped onto the last step of the third floor, seeing a woman with long hair running out of the corridor at the other end, waving something resembling a mop indiscriminately. She was aimlessly smashing it against the ground where small spiders were crawling.

“Xiao Peng?” Ye Lanzhou called out uncertainly.

“——Ah.” Nurse Peng’s scream abruptly stopped. She turned to see Ye Lanzhou, instantly turning ecstatic. “C-Commander Ye!”

“Are you okay?” Ye Lanzhou looked her up and down, feeling like she had a bit of an overreaction.

“I-I…Don’t mind me!” Nurse Peng suddenly came to her senses, “Commander Ye, quickly go save Chu Chenli! There’s a giant spider! With a huge mouth! They want to eat us! Hurry and save him!”

She pointed in the direction where she had been planning to rush towards.

Perhaps due to the intense shock, she seemed a bit fidgety, and she didn’t even notice that the endless corridor had returned to its original appearance.

She continued to shout for help for Chu Chenli while waving the mop, as if intending to rush towards that direction.

Ye Lanzhou had to reach out and stop her.

With a swipe of the knife towards the ground, a faint electric light flickered. The small spiders crawling all over the floor froze in unison, then stiffened and collapsed.

The small spiders on the walls and ceiling fell down like fragments of wall plaster, brushing off in succession.

Ye Lanzhou brought Nurse Peng to a cleaner place and commanded, “Wait for me here. I’ll go find Chu Chenli.”

Ye Lanzhou’s prestige in the base was too high to defy. Nurse Peng hesitated for a moment, then calmed down a bit, nodding obediently as she hugged the mop, shrinking into the corner.

“C-Commander Ye…you must save him.” She couldn’t help repeating herself.

Ye Lanzhou nodded, turned around, and continued walking deeper into the corridor on this floor.

Like a silent wave, the small flower-like mouths followed quietly behind him.

…

After a brief loss of consciousness, Chu Chenli woke up again.

He was trapped in a room, similar to the pharmacy where he had saved Nurse Peng earlier.

As he expected, these monsters preferred people with abundant energy, and their interest in him was much greater than in Nurse Peng.

The two big problems were here in this room, so the pressure on Nurse Peng would be much less.

However, now Chu Chenli had to deal with much more trouble.

This time, all the doors and windows were sealed shut. The windows were covered layer by layer with vines while big spiders crowded at the door, their large eyes widening as they peered inside.

They wanted to come in, but their bodies were too large, and they couldn’t squeeze through the shrinking doorway.

The vines began to surge uneasily, as if suffering from some attack, feeling pain.

However, this wave of pain made them more manic.

One by one, large mouths flew around the room, and in the frenzy, they even began to eat each other. One mouth bit into the base of a flower bud, producing a crisp sound as it snapped, and the smaller flower buds were swallowed whole.

However, the one they “welcomed” the most was obviously the only living person in the room.

Chu Chenli only managed to dodge once and was left with no strength.

The largest mouth in the room swooped down upon him—

[You can’t!]

A cry rang out simultaneously in their minds, exploding like fireworks.

In that brief moment, Chu Chenli twisted his body out of the way, and that mouth crashed violently onto the ground.

He sat on the ground, facing the dark yellow eyes of the giant spider at the door.

They silently locked in a stalemate for a moment.

The vines froze in place, swaying the flower buds somewhat uncertainly, wanting to attack but hesitating.

Like a vicious dog held back by reins.

The next second, the giant spider let out a sharp scream, panicking as it tried to squeeze into the room. However, another slash swiftly came, and its head rolled to the ground.

“Bang.” The ground trembled slightly.

The tendrils recoiled like startled birds, quickly receding like a tide, disappearing into the darkness.

The obstructive corpse of the giant spider was kicked away, and then Ye Lanzhou’s figure appeared at the door.

Chu Chenli was stunned, sitting on the ground and looking up at Ye Lanzhou’s face.

Ye Lanzhou came to save him after all.

Chu Chenli couldn’t help but show a faint smile, his throat hurt slightly. He couldn’t help but utter in a low hoarse voice, “Lanzhou.”

But when he met Ye Lanzhou’s gaze, the smile on his face unconsciously faded.

Ye Lanzhou’s gaze lingered on him for less than two seconds. After a moment, he looked up at the mess in the room. Cabinets were overturned, broken glass scattered everywhere, and experimental equipment on one side emitting a faint wisp of smoke…

And sitting on the ground was Chu Chenli.

His clothes were stained with blood, and it was unclear where he was injured. His face was pale as paper, exuding a sickly aura, but he didn’t appear melancholic.

Vulnerability only added to the beauty of beautiful things, and Chu Chenli was no exception.

Even though he had been looking at that face for over a decade, not a single flaw or imperfection could be discerned by Ye Lanzhou.

When he looked at him in certain angles where the light hit, he could still feel his heart pounding.

However, beauty was not an all-encompassing panacea.

Under the prolonged mental pressure, the irritable side of his mind eventually took the upper hand.

How many times has it been now?

He woke up just a few days ago— about five days ago?

He was injured from running, injured from training, and even lying quietly in the hospital bed would attract trouble. First, he involves Xiao Bai, and now he was reduced to relying on an ordinary woman to find help to rescue him…

Ye Lanzhou absentmindedly recalled their first meeting.

He lay on the ground, looking up at the nobly dressed young man sitting above. The young man lowered his head, looking at him with a smile. At that moment, Ye Lanzhou felt that this must be the deity sent by heaven to save him.

However, at this moment, the “deity” lay on the ground, weak and pale.

Only the pair of eyes remained bright and gentle, but it made him hesitate to meet his gaze.

It turns out, Chu Chenli was not a god. He was just an ordinary person.

He could get hurt, he could be weak, and he could wait for others to save him.

Ye Lanzhou should have known this, but now…where did things go wrong?

Perhaps he had always expected too much of Chu Chenli, who should have helped others but instead ended up causing trouble time and time again. The feeling of disappointment ran deeper within him than others.

As a result, when he saw the expectations and relief on that face, the sarcastic words couldn’t help but slip out:

“Can you…stop being a burden?”

Chu Chenli’s smile froze completely. He looked at Ye Lanzhou, knowing deep down that he wasn’t joking.

The face, once familiar yet now distant, was handsome and mature, with refined edges and charm, unbeknownst to him, had grown into that of a stable and reliable adult.

However, the fervent and devoted love from the past was long gone.

He should have realised this earlier.

However, in the years of life-and-death struggles, the memories that surged in his mind day and night were of their first encounter.

The 18-year-old Ye Lanzhou, rolling into the woods covered in injuries, looking up at the sky with a face full of despair.

The 17-year-old Chu Chenli, sitting up high, had long observed the scene where Ye Lanzhou was pushed off the car by his companions.

The last arrow in his hand was shot towards the mutant chasing behind the young man. The youth rolled down the hill in a panic, completely oblivious of the commotion behind him.

Chu Chenli didn’t seek his thanks initially and wasn’t very interested in him at first.

However, when he looked down at the youth who had rolled under the tree, enveloped in loneliness and emptiness, he seemed pitiful, as if abandoned by the entire world.

Just like him, and like every other person left behind in the apocalypse.

So when Ye Lanzhou asked if he wanted to go with him, Chu Chenli inexplicably said, “Okay.”

From then on, they travelled together, relying on each other and supporting each other along the way.

Until they returned from the game world, the Ye Lanzhou in Chu Chenli’s memory had always been the one from their first meeting.

A memory etched in his mind for ten years.

When they met again, he thought it was still the Ye Lanzhou from ten years ago, afraid of loneliness and craving companionship.

The Ye Lanzhou from ten years ago was so adorable.

He was afraid of ghosts, afraid of the dark, and would cry in his arms after waking up from a nightmare.

Chu Chenli suddenly smiled.

He looked up at the regretful Ye Lanzhou— the one from ten years later, who had long been surrounded by other companions and had become a leader protecting others.

Also, the one who no longer belonged to him.

Ye Lanzhou also realised that he had gone too far with his words. He wanted to make amends but didn’t know where to start: “I…”

Chu Chenli blinked his eyes, his voice soft but firm: “Okay.”

Ye Lanzhou saw the slight redness at the corners of his eyes. A sudden pain pierced his heart. He opened his mouth, but instinctively felt like it was too late to say anything more.

“Okay.” Chu Chenli looked at his face, slowly repeating each word, “From now on, I will never be a burden on you ever again.”

Before the sentence could finish, he had already shifted his disappointed gaze away— Ye Lanzhou was no longer the person he remembered.

For some, the most beautiful version of a person exists only in memories.

He and Ye Lanzhou were no different.

Those he loves and had loved, were reduced to a mere silhouette he painted himself.