Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Before the apocalypse, there was a playlist in Xue Ling's video app on her phone, filled with motivational chicken soup videos.

There were graceful female voices narrating some life lessons, the origins of which were unknown, set against the background of flute and erhu music;

There were baritone male voices with radio announcer cadence, reading excerpts of classical literature with stirring music in scenes of mountains and rivers;

There were clips from motivational lectures by a well-known master of traditional Chinese studies from the last century;

There were Taoist priests with beards and topknots in Taoist robes, serenely teaching how to face difficulties;

There were Buddhist life lessons by professors from prestigious universities;

There were 2D animated characters sharing weirdly funny and quirky "slacking off" tips popular among young people;

There were tarot readers laying out tarot cards, telling you what kind of luck you would encounter in the future...

From the elegant to the vulgar, from ancient philosophy to Western metaphysics, the playlist was a chaotic mix of everything. The only common theme was—chicken soup for the soul.

Wen Jiuzhe had seen this playlist before and had mocked her for it in an infuriating way.

Now, this book, *The Chicken Soup That Today's Young People Need the Most*, definitely carried his deliberate sarcasm!

Well, Xue Ling admitted, some of those videos were indeed quite strange.

But the reason she watched them wasn't to learn some grand life lessons. She had only one purpose.

She wanted to hear someone tell her that as long as she persisted, life would get better, that the current suffering would pass, and good things would happen in the future.

In many moments of her past life, when she found it hard to bear, not knowing who to talk to, with no one to console her, she could only silently digest her emotions.

When emotions piled up too much, there would always be times when they couldn't be relieved. That's when she would watch these videos.

Some of the lessons were nonsensical but could make her laugh;

Some toxic chicken soup made her angry, and she would counter in her mind that it wasn't like that at all;

Some were humorously cute and could lift her spirits;

Some were gentle reassurances, and she would agree, saying to herself, yes, that's right, something lucky is going to happen next!

This was how she managed to live to her twenties, relatively healthy and happy.

But Wen Jiuzhe had a heavy sense of hostility and vigilance towards everything around him, and he was somewhat pessimistic.

His first reaction to "chicken soup" was to kick it over, refusing to listen to any lessons someone wanted to teach him.

Because of his upbringing and environment, he was more mature than most of his peers, but there were still immature aspects about him.

When mocked by him, Xue Ling didn't bother to argue—just treat him like a dog.

If she was really angry, she would punch him a few times, but he wouldn't fight back anyway.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Xue Ling calmly opened the *Chicken Soup* book that Wen Jiuzhe had smuggled in. The first sentence that caught her eye was: "As long as a person is still alive, there is hope."

Xue Ling: "..."

Of all things to say, this was really hitting a sore spot. Hadn't she already technically died?

Xue Ling closed the book and set it aside.

Wen Jiuzhe asked, "Why did you stop reading after just one glance?"

Sigh, don't mention it. It's just not the right version.

Feeling melancholic, Xue Ling wrote a sentence on her writing pad: "Because your taste is terrible, I don't like it."

Someone with such poor cooking skills couldn't possibly find any good chicken soup.

As they spoke, they passed by the First Hospital of Yuanhu City.

This large hospital, almost half of it reduced to rubble, had no densely packed zombies inside, only collapsed buildings from bombings, looking like it had undergone violent clearing.

Xue Ling looked out the window at the hospital ruins, wondering what kind of large-scale team could have stormed the strongest hospital instance in the apocalypse.

With few people left, the firepower support needed must have been significant.

The explosions would have attracted nearby zombies. No wonder there weren't many zombies in the hospital and the surrounding streets.

But after passing this area, as they got closer to the downtown area and several bustling streets, the number of zombies increased again.

Many zombies started following their car, and Wen Jiuzhe, already accustomed to being chased by zombies, maneuvered through the streets filled with abandoned cars, the pursuing zombies behind them growing in number.

Observing the surroundings, Wen Jiuzhe swung the steering wheel, crashing through a barrier placed at the entrance of a high-end residential area, and turned into the compound.

Cutting through the neighborhood, he reached the back gate. He raised his gun and precisely shot the lock open, crashing through the gate and shaking off the large group of zombies.

Continuously changing routes to avoid zombies, they circled for a long time before finally catching sight of Yuanhu.

Yuanhu City was named after the most beautiful lake, Yuanhu. It was said that the lake water was crystal clear, with dozens of miles of lotus flowers planted along the shore. In spring, the banks were lined with peach, plum, and apricot blossoms, attracting many tourists every year.

It wasn't the best season to view Yuanhu, but it was still nice.

Driving near the lake, they could see people coming and going from afar, seemingly no different from the pre-apocalypse days at first glance.

But as they got closer, they could see that the "pedestrians" by the lake walked slowly and sluggishly, their movements stiff and swaying.

Many small stalls by the shore were in disarray, and the bright signs had faded from wind and rain.

Wen Jiuzhe found a spot with fewer zombies to park and got out of the car with Xue Ling.

Xue Ling hesitated. Was he going with her too?

"Wait in the car for me."

Before she could finish writing, Wen Jiuzhe said, "No."

He then lifted his leg and walked ahead of her.

The lake was shaded by green trees, with willows swaying gently by the shore. The only sounds were the chirping of cicadas.

Many pink and white lotus flowers were in bloom, looking especially vibrant against the round green leaves. There were also plenty of green lotus seed heads.

But if you looked closely, you could see quite a few zombies submerged under the lotus leaves.

— It was true that the lake really needed a railing around it. Zombies wandering by the shore could easily misstep and fall in!

Xue Ling glanced at the warning sign by the lake: "Caution, risk of falling into the water. Ensure your safety."

Looking back at the zombies piled up like a game of Twister in the water, they hadn’t drowned but couldn’t get up either.

Wen Jiuzhe stepped on a zombie’s head that had surfaced in the water, pushing its growl back in, and casually grabbed a lotus leaf to wipe his knife.

Behind him, two headless zombies fell.

Xue Ling had been so focused on the lake that she hadn’t even heard him killing the zombies.

This stretch of the lake had fewer zombies, but they weren’t gone entirely. Besides the two lying on the ground, other zombies had already noticed the living people and were heading their way.

A second group of zombies surrounded them, and Wen Jiuzhe put his arm around Xue Ling’s shoulder, pushing her to move faster. "Let’s walk quicker."

Xue Ling thought, *I wanted to take a leisurely walk by the lake, not a zombie sprint.*

Wen Jiuzhe was different from her though. He was playing *Plants vs. Zombies* by the lake.

It really did look like it. At first, only one or two zombies came, which he easily dispatched. But as more came, he couldn’t handle them as quickly.

Seeing so many zombies closing in, Xue Ling pushed Wen Jiuzhe’s back with all her strength: *Stop killing, let’s go! Let’s go!*

Wen Jiuzhe held a short blade in one hand and grabbed her arm with the other. His long legs crossed over the flower beds by the lake, and he pulled Xue Ling along with him.

Avoiding a group of zombies on the left, he kicked down a zombie that rushed from the path.

Xue Ling pounded on Wen Jiuzhe’s back, urging him to get back in the car.

Wen Jiuzhe turned around, seeing her trying to kick another zombie. He couldn’t help but laugh, dragged her back, and threw her over his shoulder.

With a small group of zombies closing in and the larger horde not yet upon them, the two broke through and ran back to the car.

Their lake tour had barely begun before it ended due to overly enthusiastic "tourists."

The car started, leaving the lake behind. Xue Ling sat in the passenger seat, looking out.

She had never felt such a heart-pounding sensation from being surrounded by zombies before.

Wen Jiuzhe was too bold.

"Pu, pu." Xue Ling looked down and saw the lotus seed heads in her hand. She had grabbed them in the chaos by the lake.

In her nervousness, her fingers had dug into the lotus skin, making a soft sound.

A hand reached over, taking the lotus seed heads from her and peeling them open to eat.

Wen Jiuzhe chewed on the lotus seeds, started the car, and asked her casually, "Where to next? Yun Temple?"

Xue Ling waved her hand.

No, she wasn’t going. There were too many zombies, and Wen Jiuzhe insisted on following her.

Having stayed in rural areas for too long, she had almost forgotten there were still so many zombies in the big city.

At Xue Ling’s strong insistence, their brief trip to Yuanhu City came to an end. They changed direction, and the car drove onto a remote road.

It was a highway connecting two provinces, with long stretches passing through the mountains. It was so remote that after driving more than ten kilometers, the houses by the road disappeared, and they didn’t see a single abandoned car.

The relatively wide asphalt road was flanked only by trees.

The endless green on both sides made their car seem like it was driving into a quiet green light tunnel.

As it grew darker, rain began to fall.

In the drizzling rain, Wen Jiuzhe parked the car in a tunnel on the road to spend the night.

Since Xue Ling didn’t make him get out to cook, Wen Jiuzhe simply ate a little and then lay in the car to pass the time.

The window was open, and the sound of rain grew louder outside, washing away the oppressive heat.

Wen Jiuzhe turned on a dim yellow light in the car.

The sound of turning pages made Xue Ling glance over.

He was reading a self-help book, and suddenly, he began to read a passage aloud.

"The predicaments of life can also be seen as growth... Life is an experiential lesson. We use our bodies to perceive the world and our souls to explore meaning..."

He read lazily, with neither agreement nor sarcasm in his voice, just reading flatly. But perhaps because his voice was pleasant, the ordinary self-help passage sounded quite insightful.

It sounded much better than the chicken soup videos she had collected before.

Listening to Wen Jiuzhe reading this kind of sleep-inducing material amidst the sound of the heavy rain, Xue Ling felt a long-lost sense of tranquility.

She placed her hands on her stomach, closed her eyes, and listened quietly, lying on the reclined passenger seat, feeling a peaceful sense of being laid to rest.

Wen Jiuzhe boredly read a few passages and suddenly stopped.

He leaned over and touched Xue Ling's shoulder.

Xue Ling didn't move, still serenely closing her eyes.

Seeing no response from Xue Ling, Wen Jiuzhe dropped the book and leaned in completely. He held his breath for a moment, and then used his fingers to pry open Xue Ling's eyelids.

Xue Ling: “……”

Her dark red eyes moved slightly, and she reached out to push his hand away.

Really, disturbing her rest like that.

He was the best at ruining the atmosphere.

Wen Jiuzhe withdrew his hand and sat back in the driver's seat, laughing relaxedly, “You scared me. I thought I accidentally read you a sutra for the dead.”

As if what he was reading was a Buddhist scripture or something. A sutra for the dead, really.

She changed her position but didn't close her eyes again, and when Wen Jiuzhe looked over, she would lazily move her fingers to show that she hadn't been "sent to the afterlife."

They spent the night accompanied by the sound of rain, and in the morning, the sky cleared, with the sun coming out again.

The dark tunnel brightened up, with both the exit ahead and behind glowing. The car started and moved forward, driving into the washed-by-rain, translucent greenery.

Wen Jiuzhe, looking at the road sign ahead and consulting the map, was about to turn left at the intersection when Xue Ling next to him suddenly handed over a writing board.

On it was written: “I want to go see the Terracotta Warriors.”

Wen Jiuzhe: “……”

The Terracotta Warriors were very far from the Andong City he was heading to, one south, one north.