Chapter 15 The Lone City (15)

Chapter 15: The Lonely City (Part Fifteen)

"The signal is down, and we don't know when it will be restored. The priority is to get to the broadcast station and announce that the government has serum, so those who are infected but haven't yet turned can take action. Whether they lock themselves in a room, a bathroom, or tie themselves up with rope, they must restrict their movement and stay apart," Lin Yanqing said seriously. "This is a matter of life and death. A couple of guns won't change anything; we must unite everyone to save themselves."

"Wait a minute..." Chen Xian squatted on the floor, asking suspiciously, "Are you sure the government has the serum?"

Lin Yanqing tilted his head. "Does it matter? You could kill all the madmen in this complex today, and a new batch would appear tomorrow."

Chen Xian stood up, stomped his feet a couple times, then bent down to pick up the scattered thumbtacks and dumped them into a paper cup. After pondering for a moment, he nodded. "We'll act together tomorrow. First, we'll go to the broadcast station to issue the notice. If we encounter madmen on the way, I hope you won't hesitate."

Chen Xian's face twisted as he pictured the chaos that tomorrow would bring.

Lin Yanqing shook his head. "Forget it. With you sweating that much, you'll just smell worse."

Chen Xian said nothing.

"You can sleep in the living room tonight. We'll leave at first light tomorrow," Lin Yanqing said. "I'll lock myself in the bedroom. I just hope I haven't turned by morning."

After saying this, he entered the room, taking Chen Xian's gun with him. He closed the door, locked it, and moved the bedside table to block the door.

Hearing the noise from the other side of the door, Chen Xian rubbed his stubble and muttered, "Do I really look like a thug?"

*

Lin Yanqing had another night of troubled dreams. He dreamed of returning to that snowy field and befriending a boy named Huasheng. The boy held his hand tight, introducing him to the town's residents. They were hospitable yet wary, always asking where he came from.

In the dream, Lin Yanqing had long silver-white hair. Huasheng tied his hair by the stream, leaning affectionately against his shoulder and begging him to tell stories about the outside world.

He woke at dawn, rubbing his eyes, still exhausted. The dream scenes were so vivid it felt as if he hadn't slept at all.

He even felt for a moment that the dream was reality and reality was a dream.

He glanced at the wall clock. It was only four o'clock, but the sky was already completely bright. The recent weather had been very abnormal, much hotter than in previous years. Plus, with the sun rising and setting at weird times, Lin Yanqing's sleep schedule was all messed up.

He lay in bed a while longer. His phone still had no signal. He waited until five o'clock before getting up to brush his teeth and wash his face. Seeing his reflection, now completely white-haired, he wondered if all that time dreaming, living too many days in that snowy world where everyone had white hair, was why he had grown accustomed to this hair color.

Aside from that, he hadn't noticed any other abnormalities in his body yet. He was starving and could think of a dozen things he wanted to eat, but human flesh wasn't one of them. This was good news for Lin Yanqing, as it at least proved he still had some time before turning.

After washing up, Lin Yanqing changed into light clothes and then put on his down jacket. He walked to the door, bent down to lift the bedside table, and was surprised to find that the cabinet, which felt heavy last night, now seemed as light as a feather.

Lin Yanqing's heart, which had just begun to calm, seized up again.

His strength had increased.

He put the bedside table back in place and opened the door to go out.

As soon as the door opened, he saw Chen Xian walking around the living room shirtless.

A vein bulged on Lin Yanqing's forehead, his face twisting in a weird mix of annoyance. "Don't treat this place like your own home! Put your clothes on!"

Chen Xian turned around, looking at Lin Yanqing with an equally strange expression. "Aren't you hot?"

The living room air conditioner was broken, and the doors and windows were tightly shut. The temperature remained high last night, and Chen Xian felt like he was sweating buckets, yet Lin Yanqing was still bundled up tightly in his down jacket.

"And your hair," Chen Xian said, his gaze fixed on him. "Has it gotten even whiter?"

"None of your business." Lin Yanqing went into the kitchen to boil a few eggs, poured milk into oatmeal, sat at the dining table, and ate his breakfast.

Chen Xian tentatively took a boiled egg. Lin Yanqing ignored him, continuing to eat unhurriedly.

Seeing this, Chen Xian sat down opposite him, lowered his head to peel the boiled egg, and said, "I didn't expect you to agree to help. You don't seem like some naive do-gooder."

"If the situation worsens and the whole building is filled with madmen, my brother will eventually be in danger," Lin Yanqing said. "I'm certainly not some naive do-gooder."

"Brother?"

"In the next apartment."

Chen Xian realized. "You bought two apartments."

Lin Yanqing didn't plan to correct this unimportant mistake. He focused on eating, trying to keep his body as healthy as possible. After breakfast, he packed the remaining two eggs in a plastic bag and stuffed them into his down jacket pocket. He went into the kitchen to wash the dishes, simultaneously ordering Chen Xian to tidy up the living room before finally returning the gun to him.

Chen Xian stood in the center of the living room, stretching his limbs. With a *whoosh*, he pulled open the curtains. Sunlight fell on his face as he stretched and said, "The apartment is cleaned so spotlessly; you must still plan on coming back alive."

Lin Yanqing didn't respond to that remark. He simply didn't want Jiang Songnian to come back to a messy home, that was all.

"In this damn weather, are you sure you want to wear a down jacket outside?" Chen Xian tugged at his collar.

Lin Yanqing zipped his jacket all the way up in response. Then he took out the walkie-talkie and relayed the plan in detail to the next apartment.

He Yunchuan immediately exploded, cursing him over the walkie-talkie. By the end, the sharp voice seemed like it would pierce a hole through the device. Lin Yanqing's ears were just ringing, completely unable to make out what He Yunchuan was saying.

"We can't just focus on immediate gains; we need long-term vision, Yun Chuan. That's what you taught me," Lin Yanqing said softly, leaning close to the walkie-talkie. "Help me take care of Lili. I trust you."

"Meet at the fire door in three minutes," He Yunchuan said through gritted teeth. "You'd better have results!"

Lin Yanqing stuffed the walkie-talkie into his pocket and checked the next apartment's activity through the peephole. A few minutes later, the door opened, and He Yunchuan, fully armed, stepped out of his home. He held a modified retractable baton with a fruit knife lashed to the end, making a crude extendable bayonet.

Lin Yanqing quickly opened the door, with Chen Xian close behind.

He Yunchuan handed the bayonet to him, glanced at the strand of white hair peeking out from under his hat, silently opened the fire door, and said as Lin Yanqing slipped out, "Be careful. Stay in touch."

Lin Yanqing nodded solemnly, extended the bayonet, and followed behind Chen Xian.

The stairwell was quiet. Since the madmen had impaired hearing, Chen Xian chatted without restraint. "Is that your brother?"

Lin Yanqing thought for a moment and said, "You could say that."

The steps were dirty, sticky, and covered in bloody footprints. At the turn on the 18th floor, they saw a pair of shoes. Chen Xian warily slowed down. They found him already dead, covered in bloodstains, but his body showed no signs of being eaten.

Lin Yanqing noticed his palm was split in two. It suddenly dawned on him—this was the madman who had tried to attack him yesterday.

"It seems madmen don't bite other madmen," Chen Xian said.

"How did he die?" Lin Yanqing asked.

Chen Xian crouched down, briefly examined the body, and said, "Stabbed in the chest. One fatal blow."

"There's someone else in this building with good skills, killing madmen," Lin Yanqing surmised.

"Or maybe someone got lucky and killed one in a panic. It might not be what you think," Chen Xian said, continuing downward. "Keep up!"

"The madmen's chest bones are harder than ordinary people's. Pulling off a one-hit kill is hard enough to begin with. Besides, if it were an ordinary person who happened to have a knife and stabbed a madman in the chest, they would definitely flee in panic and not remember to pull the knife out," Lin Yanqing said.

Chen Xian sighed. "Now's not the time for this. Pay attention to your surroundings. Don't get distracted."

Lin Yanqing pushed the thought aside and looked up into the gloom, feeling like someone was watching him.

Chen Xian ran down the stairs. They needed to get to the open area on the first floor, fast. If they encountered a group of madmen in the stairwell, it would be very troublesome.

He descended quickly, taking three steps at a time. Worried that Lin Yanqing couldn't keep up, he was about to turn around and urge him when he saw a figure flash past him like the wind.

In the moment he was stunned, Lin Yanqing had already overtaken him, stopped, and turned back to ask, "What's wrong?"

Lin Yanqing was wearing a thick black down jacket and a mask, revealing only a pair of calm, liquid eyes. His breathing was steady; even though he felt hot, he hadn't reached the point of sweating. In fact, he felt quite relaxed, as if his entire body had loosened up.

"Nothing." Chen Xian withdrew his gaze and ran ahead again.

Lin Yanqing pulled his mask up a bit, thinking he shouldn't speed up any further. The weather was hot, and Chen Xian was sweating profusely, emitting a surprisingly pungent odor in the confined space. Based on Lin Yanqing's experience, the mob should have already made it downstairs by now.

When they reached the second floor, Lin Yanqing called out to Chen Xian, "No one lives in 202! Head down from the second floor!"

Chen Xian stepped back, pushed open the fire door, rushed to the entrance of unit 202, and sure enough, the doorknob was covered in a thick layer of dust. Chen Xian shot the lock off and immediately pushed the door open.

Once inside, Chen Xian surveyed the surroundings. The apartment was unfinished. He walked to the south-facing window, pushed it open, and looked down, asking, "How did you know no one lived in 202?"

Lin Yanqing froze. He rubbed the tip of his nose, his eyes confused and uncertain.

Because... he hadn't smelled the scent of any living person...