Chapter 180

Chapter 180

"...I'm going to tie a beautiful knot for you."

Yan Bubu muttered as he tied the bandage around the wound, while Feng Chen raised a hand to gently touch his cheek. His warm fingers caressed down his smooth skin.

Yan Bubu rubbed his cheek against that hand and looked up at Feng Chen, his gaze drawn into those deep, dark eyes.

Feng Chen's fingers traced his lips, outlining their shape. Yan Bubu, motionless, asked in a muffled voice, "Brother, do you feel like you love me more at this moment? Want to kiss me?"

Feng Chen remained silent, his dark eyes intently fixed on him, a gesture that seemed both an acknowledgment and a hint.

Encouraged by his gaze, Yan Bubu's heart raced uncontrollably, the air thickening around them, prompting him to lean in for a kiss.

But just as their lips were about to meet, he stopped abruptly, looking towards the fire, "Ah, the water's boiling. I need to stir the fire."

Feng Chen was left lying on the grass heap, watching Yan Bubu rush to the fire, smothering the flames with ash and then scooping up boiling water.

"...Bubu, our firewood is almost gone. Grab some branches from that dead tree over there, I need to start cooking soon..."

Feng Chen silently gazed at the cave ceiling, his face expressionless.

While Bubu fetched the firewood, Yan Bubu began to clean, wiping the floor with a bundle of grass. The setting sun leaked through the cave entrance, casting orange hues on the stone surface and his face, giving his soft curls a light brown tint.

But he didn't stop talking, continuously chatting with Feng Chen.

"Brother, I think this isn't so bad, just the two of us, always together."

"We were always together before, too."

"That's different. You were always off on missions and attending meetings at the military headquarters. We weren't together all the time."

The mention of the military headquarters made Feng Chen think of Chen Sizhe, and his parents, his expression gradually turning somber.

"We still need to go back, can't just lie here forever," he murmured.

Yan Bubu turned to look at him, "You'll heal soon, just a few more days of rest, including the recovery of your mental domain."

Feng Chen silently nodded after a moment.

As Yan Bubu wiped the floor, he continued, "...Why do you think the sensitive plant helped us? Of course, it's always been kind, never let those soldiers really jump off the cliff to their death. But it didn't just save us, it helped me find you and even assisted in finding food and water."

After some thought, Feng Chen replied, "I think it might be related to the sensitive plant's ability to read fragments of our memories."

"Oh?"

"You once told me, what's wrong with plants or people wanting to survive? I later shared your thoughts with Chen Sizhe, hoping the military would consider sending the main plant of the sensitive plant to the Ami Polar Region." Feng Chen shifted his position slightly, "Maybe the plant read these memories and felt grateful, so it decided to help us."

"So that's it..." Yan Bubu put down the stone spoon, thoughtfully saying, "We didn't actually succeed, the military is still trying to deal with it. But just because we said that, it was willing to help us. It seems plants, like people, respond in kind to good treatment."

Feng Chen curved the corners of his mouth slightly, "It's different. Human thoughts are complex and convoluted, while plants simply reciprocate kindness."

"Hmm, we should repay it in the future, but how? It probably wants to go to the Ami Polar Region..."

Yan Bubu spoke earnestly to Feng Chen, who was about to respond when suddenly, a shadow flashed at the cave entrance and a person leaped in.

The setting sun cast light from above the entrance, illuminating the person's face, revealing pitch-black eyes, purplish skin, and web-like veins.

It was a zombie.

Beside it was a decomposing quantum beast, unidentifiable in species, with half of its body reduced to bone and long drool dripping from its mouth.

Without a sound, the zombie leaped into the cave and lunged towards Yan Bubu, who was turned away.

Yan Bubu, still unaware, continued talking, but Feng Chen's heart seemed to stop at the sight of the zombie attacking him, struck with utmost terror.

In that instant, he forgot Yan Bubu's mental image, or even if he remembered, he wouldn't trust it. He even forgot his inability to walk, lunging forward as if uninjured, while directing his mental power forward.

His mental domain was nearly depleted, sustained only by the dozen or so strands of mental energy carefully nurtured by Yan Bubu. Now, he unleashed all these strands, striking at the zombie lunging towards Yan Bubu.

The zombie, accompanied by the quantum beast, was clearly modified to resist mental powers. But Feng Chen, without hesitation, released his mental energy, not considering that these were his last strands or whether his attack would be effective.

He had no time to weigh right or wrong; it was all instinct.

Yan Bubu, mid-sentence, saw Feng Chen lunge towards him from the grass heap, only to fall to the ground.

"Brother—" His cry of alarm barely escaped when his mental image suddenly lit up.

Although the zombie wore a protective membrane over its brain, it still briefly stalled when Feng Chen's mental power pierced its cerebral cortex. In that brief moment, Yan Bubu followed the guidance of his mental image, diving to the left, narrowly avoiding the attack from the quantum beast behind.

He scrambled to his feet, looking anxiously towards Feng Chen.

Feng Chen had fallen to the ground, but he was injured…

"Don't look at me! Watch your back!" Feng Chen, prone on the ground, shouted angrily at him while shifting his body towards him.

Yan Bubu quickly squatted and dodged to the right, avoiding successive attacks from the quantum beast and the zombie, yelling, "Brother, don't come over here!"

Suddenly rolling over, the zombie's sharp nails grazed his nose. He kept shouting, "Don't come over, I can handle it!"

Seeing Yan Bubu evade several attacks, Feng Chen calmed down and stopped moving towards him. He grabbed a dagger from the grass heap and threw it over, "Catch!" then grasped a nearby stone.

Yan Bubu had to dodge not only the physical attacks of the zombie and quantum beast but also the zombie's mental assaults. Though the zombie could protect its brain, it had no defense against Yan Bubu's guidance control. He avoided attacks while using his mental power to entangle the zombie's limbs, slowing its movements by half a second.

With a brief respite, Yan Bubu frequently glanced towards Feng Chen and the cave entrance, fearing the zombie might suddenly attack Feng Chen or more would crawl in.

The cave was small, limiting his dodging space. Several close shaves were heart-stopping.

Feng Chen, pale-faced, watched Yan Bubu, his forehead beaded with sweat, his hand holding the stone trembling.

Yan Bubu suddenly bent and retreated, slipping under the lunging zombie's armpit, slashing a long cut across its waist with the dagger.

After avoiding this attack, he looked towards the cave entrance, only to hear Feng Chen shout, "Watch out!"

Yan Bubu immediately checked his mental image, panic-stricken as the little screens started to go dark, but then heard a thud nearby, and the screens lit up again.

Yan Bubu lunged forward and crouched, narrowly escaping the zombie's bite. Meanwhile, the quantum beast was knocked to the ground by something, howling as it scrambled back up.

Seeing the stone on the ground, Yan Bubu realized his momentary distraction had nearly cost him a bite, saved only by Feng Chen's timely throw of the stone, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.

"What are you thinking? Focus!"

Hearing Feng Chen's roar, Yan Bubu dared not be distracted again, concentrating solely on evading the zombie and quantum beast.

The quantum beast, initially attacking Yan Bubu, suddenly changed its target to Feng Chen, who lay on the ground, perhaps due to being hit by him.

Yan Bubu had just stabbed the zombie from behind when he saw this scene, terrifying him. But before he could rush forward, a small figure dashed past, and in the next second, Bubu leaped onto the quantum beast's head.

Bubu's claws pierced the quantum beast's eyes, and with a bite, tore off the skin on its head, releasing a puff of black smoke.

With Bubu handling the quantum beast, Yan Bubu felt relieved.

Although he could dodge attacks using his mental image, the zombie was clearly beyond his capability to handle. Staying in the cave would endanger Feng Chen too.

Yan Bubu glanced outside the cave and shouted loudly, "Bubu, deal with this quantum beast, protect Brother!" After speaking, he dashed towards the cave entrance and slid down a vine.

Halfway down, he looked up to see the zombie also descending, clawing its way down the rock wall, prompting him to slide to the bottom in one breath.

The quantum beast, fighting with Bubu, tried to follow, but Bubu rushed forward to block it, preventing it from joining the zombie.

Bubu, skilled and talented in fighting zombies, was even more ferocious against the quantum zombie beast. Although transformed, the quantum beast was no match for Bubu. Its skeletal body, now torn and emitting black smoke, appeared even more eerie.

While the two quantum beasts fought at the cave entrance, Yan Bubu ran wildly at the cliff base, leading the zombie away from the area, planning to lose it in the darkness.

Hearing the footsteps behind, he ran faster than ever, as if about to take flight. Yet, the zombie was faster, its steps growing increasingly closer.

Judging they were far enough from their cave, Yan Bubu suddenly veered into the dense dark matter to the right, intending to dive in and shake off the zombie.

But the sensitive plant opened up a bright path in front of him as usual.

Yan Bubu braked sharply and turned left into the darkness, where the dark matter swiftly dispersed, revealing a golden path tinted by the setting sun.

"No, don't show me the way... I don't need guidance now... Understand me, please... Read my mind..." Yan Bubu, hearing the footsteps getting closer, sprinted desperately while screaming loudly.

The zombie was closing in, its long shadow cast by the setting sun even falling in front of Yan Bubu. He turned right again into the darkness, praying in his heart for the sensitive plant not to light his way this time.

Fortunately, this time he plunged into the darkness as he wished, his vision instantly engulfed in intense blackness. Hearing the zombie follow him into the dark matter, he sharply turned left, stopped, crouched, and held his breath.

Even though it was a modified zombie, it was not human. After plunging into the dark matter, it continued to move forward mechanically, its steps unceasing despite the blindness.

Yan Bubu listened as the footsteps grew more distant, followed by a thud against the distant mountain wall.

Then silence ensued.

Having encountered such zombies at the mountain top, Yan Bubu didn’t assume it was harmed by the collision. It likely just stood still after losing its target, and any sound from him would draw it back.

As the zombie remained motionless, Yan Bubu dared not move either. After several minutes of stalemate, he suddenly heard rustling noises from afar.

His heart tightened, fearing another zombie had arrived, but the stationary zombie charged towards the sound.

The zombie quieted down upon reaching the source of the sound. Yan Bubu inwardly lamented, suspecting it had encountered its kind and thus ceased its aggression.

Snap snap…

Two more loud sounds echoed from farther away, like whips lashing against the mountain wall. The zombie hurried towards these new sounds.

The sound of the whip striking the mountain continued intermittently, leading the zombie further away until all noises faded and the zombie disappeared into the distance.

Yan Bubu then realized it was the sensitive plant helping him again. The earlier noises were from the vines, intentionally created to lure the zombie away.

Concerned for Feng Chen and Bubu, Yan Bubu stood up and walked back towards the cave. He didn’t make a sound, only silently thanking the darkness, "Thank you, you’ve helped me again. You’re so kind. When I grow up - when I return, I'll definitely find a way to repay you."

The dark matter ahead dissipated, and light fell from above, revealing a path before Yan Bubu.

He ran towards the cave in the sunset, worrying yet comforting himself. Bubu was half-zombie, right? Surely that bone-exposed quantum beast was no match for it.

Climbing the mountain wall with vines, Yan Bubu heard no noise inside. But before he could be relieved, Bubu poked its head out of the cave entrance, howled anxiously at him, then dashed back inside.

"What’s wrong? What happened?"

Receiving no response, Yan Bubu quickly climbed to the cave entrance and flipped onto the ledge.

He immediately saw Feng Chen lying on the grass heap, eyes closed, face pale, seemingly unconscious. Bubu crouched beside him, shaking his head with its paws.

Yan Bubu's first thought was that Feng Chen had been bitten by the quantum beast. He rushed over in horror and bent down to check. After seeing no new wounds on Feng Chen's exposed skin, he shakily started to unbutton his shirt.

Bubu pressed down on his hand with its paw and shook its head while howling, indicating to Yan Bubu that there were no injuries.

"Then what's wrong with him? Did his wound reopen?"

Yan Bubu was about to check the wound when Feng Chen's body suddenly started convulsing, his chest rigidly arching forward, and his limbs twitching uncontrollably.

"What's happening? What's wrong?" Yan Bubu frantically pressed down on Feng Chen's feet and yelled at Bubu, "Quick, hold down his shoulders! He's injured, don't let him tear open the wound."

Yan Bubu held down Feng Chen's legs while Bubu pressed on his uninjured shoulder, but the convulsions didn't stop, and his teeth chattered loudly.

Seeing Feng Chen in such agony and not knowing what had happened during his absence, Yan Bubu held his legs in panic and asked, "Brother, where does it hurt? Are you hurt again? Is it—"

Suddenly, he thought of something, halted his words, and hastily extended his mental power into Feng Chen's mental domain.

The moment Yan Bubu entered Feng Chen's mental domain, he was stunned by what he saw.

The once empty mental domain was now a sea of fiery red magma, rolling with scorching waves. The magma stretched as far as the eye could see, filling the entire mental domain. Molten lava also flowed down the side walls, like two red waterfalls.

The whole world seemed ignited, ablaze with intense heat.