Chapter 21 The Lone City (21)

Chapter 21: The Lonely City (Part 21)

"Because you didn't close the window when you left this morning, letting the stench drift in!" Xia Li said coldly, then slammed the door shut, leaving Xue Xiaofeng outside.

Xue Xiaofeng, getting the cold shoulder, sullenly used another key to open the door. He stood awkwardly in the living room, trying to suck up. "The offerings for today have been brought over, all placed on the first floor. If you have time, you can go down and take a look. If anything is still missing, I'll have them send more."

"I'm not lacking anything, and I don't need this much stuff. If you make everyone give offerings, what will their families eat?" Xia Li said with considerable impatience.

Xue Xiaofeng furrowed his brow, growing irritable. "It's only right that they give offerings! I protect their safety, so they should pay the corresponding price! Otherwise, they can get out of this complex!"

Xia Li quietly watched his twisted expression and said calmly, "I saw."

Xue Xiaofeng glared daggers at him.

"I saw you kill someone yesterday. You didn't protect ordinary people; you killed an ordinary person."

"That was because... because he didn't give offerings... he defied me! No... he was infected, yes, he was infected, so I killed him." Xue Xiaofeng smelled the aroma of food and guiltily changed the subject. "Yali, did you make curry?"

Xia Li stood under the air conditioner for a few minutes to cool down, then went into the kitchen and brought out two plates of chicken curry.

"I'm truly honored to taste food personally cooked by King Yali." Xue Xiaofeng drooled, quickly sitting down and scooping a large mouthful with a spoon.

Xia Li sat silently at the other end of the table, eating absentmindedly.

Xue Xiaofeng smacked his lips, hesitating before speaking. "Is the chicken a bit off? It also seems a bit salty."

Xia Li ignored him, mechanically putting food into his mouth.

Xue Xiaofeng gazed at his adorable face and said carefully, "Your cooking skills don't seem as excellent as they looked in the videos. Of course, it's still very delicious."

"There are no fresh ingredients at home, and the seasonings are very limited, so of course it doesn't taste good. Besides, what times are these now? Having food to eat is already good enough." Xia Li said.

"But, isn't our channel about teaching everyone to create great food from limited ingredients? And we have so many supplies."

Xia Li held a straw in his mouth, his eyes darting around as he looked at Xue Xiaofeng suspiciously. "Brother Xue, has your sense of taste deteriorated? Can't you tell good from bad anymore?"

Xue Xiaofeng suddenly stood up, walked around to Xia Li's side, and knelt down devoutly, saying sincerely, "It's delicious, uniquely delicious. I have no taste. Don't worry, I will absolutely never become a madman. I will protect you always, my King Yali."

Xia Li glanced at him sideways.

"The complex is very safe now, all thanks to me. No madmen, and all infected humans have been killed, all because of me! I want to protect you, Yali, I love you..." Xue Xiaofeng gazed obsessively at Xia Li's face, his palm tentatively stroking Xia Li's jeans.

Xia Li hissed, his face contorting in pain.

Xue Xiaofeng quickly retreated two steps, panicking. "Did I hurt you? Sorry, I'm too strong now, I can't control my strength well."

"Your hand is so hot, it feels like there's electricity."

Xue Xiaofeng looked down at his palm and cheered. "Perhaps I'll soon have a new supernatural ability. I'm not just incredibly strong; I'll also possess the power of nature."

Xia Li gave a perfunctory smile.

Xue Xiaofeng was intoxicated by his smile, murmuring as if lost in a trance. "Yali, you look so beautiful when you smile."

"Can you finish your food? Don't waste it, okay?" Xia Li said.

Xue Xiaofeng hurriedly sat back in his seat and wolfed down the contents of his plate.

After the meal, Xia Li took the empty plates into the kitchen and said coldly, "I want to take a nap. Can you not disturb me?"

"I'll go next door. If you need anything, just call out, and I'll come immediately."

Xia Li lowered his head to wash the dishes. Hearing the door close, he put on rubber gloves, calmly threw the bowls, chopsticks, cups, and plates Xue Xiaofeng had used into the trash, then reached deep into the cabinet, fished out an already empty tube-shaped object, gathered it in his palm, walked to the bathroom, threw it into the toilet, and without a change in expression pressed the flush button.

*

The next day.

Chen Xian came out of the stairwell, rubbing his palms on his pants a few times. He ran into He Yunchuan coming from another building and greeted him warmly. "This damn weather, why is it so hot? I feel like I've already gone sour."

He Yunchuan glanced at his pant leg, where there was a patch of fresh blood.

"The Leader's birthday is soon. Everyone has prepared gifts. What do you plan to give?" Chen Xian said lazily.

The two walked side by side towards the public lounge next to the main gate. It was originally a sales office, later converted into a common room. Xue Xiaofeng listened to the building leaders' reports here every day. He called himself the Leader and had selected a leader for each building.

When they passed a corner, He Yunchuan dragged Chen Xian into the shadows and whispered, "We plan to find a chance to leave here. Come with us."

"How capable do you think you are, still acting like a savior?" He Yunchuan was speechless. If Lin Yanqing weren't sick and they needed combat strength, he wouldn't even try to persuade Chen Xian to join.

"Although Xue Xiaofeng is authoritarian, we can just play along with his games for a while, deal with him until the government reinforcements arrive, and then it'll all be over." Chen Xian said calmly. "Leaving here now isn't a good idea. It might not be safe outside either."

He Yunchuan glared at him, hissing, "You're the one who's safe, not us! Lili is still in his hands! He could at any time..." He Yunchuan gritted his teeth hard. Just thinking about Xue Xiaofeng's creepy demeanor made him feel nauseous.

Chen Xian spread his hands. "He's safe for now."

He Yunchuan poked his chest with a finger, leaned close to his ear, and said coldly, "Don't think I don't know what you're doing! If anything happens to Lili, everyone dies together!"

Chen Xian's face instantly turned very ugly.

He Yunchuan stepped back two paces, imitated his gesture of spreading his hands, and curled his lips into a nasty grin. "I'll definitely make them die right in front of you!"

The crowd filed into the lounge, gathering in the first-floor hall. The sofa in the very center was reserved as Xue Xiaofeng's "throne." He cared deeply about such ceremonial details.

Xue Xiaofeng arrived late, sat down on the sofa with his legs apart, and began the routine reports.

"Reporting, Leader. Building 1 is all normal. No suspicious persons found."

"Reporting, Leader. There are still a few households in Building 2 refusing to open their doors. We don't know if they've already mutated and can't understand human speech or if they want to defy your orders, Leader. I suggest we treat suspicion as guilt! Execute them all!" The leader of Building 2 said aggressively.

Xue Xiaofeng, resting his chin in his hand, seemed lost in thought, as if he hadn't heard what they were saying. Suddenly, he smiled, interrupting everyone's reports, and said excitedly, "My birthday is in a few days. How is Lin Yanqing? Dead yet?"

Liu Wen and Chen Wu exchanged a glance, stepped to the front of the crowd, and reported, "Same as before. Neither dead nor alive, no signs of waking up." Building Seven had been barricaded with iron bars. The two were responsible for delivering supplies to He Yuanshan inside the building. They hadn't noticed anything unusual about He Yuanshan these past few days.

Xue Xiaofeng pondered for a moment. "Lost so much blood, and he's still not dead?"

"Uh, he's alive, probably..." Liu Wen felt very confused. "Probably still alive..."

Xue Xiaofeng's expression changed, his brows tightly furrowed. He irritably covered his eyes with his hand and said in a low voice, "You can all go back for now."

"Wait, I have something to report!" Xie Zhihang stood up from the crowd. He was Xue Xiaofeng's close buddy, the one who introduced Xue Xiaofeng to work here. After Xue Xiaofeng took over the complex, he immediately brought Xie Zhihang out from his home. Xie Zhihang was now the second-in-command of the Self-defense Team.

Xue Xiaofeng reluctantly nodded. "Go ahead."

Xie Zhihang shot a glance at Chen Xian and said sternly, "The three buildings under Chen Xian's responsibility have had no traces of madmen detected for a full month now. I suspect he hasn't been checking properly at all!"

Chen Xian frowned and stepped forward. "The peak outbreak period has passed. Not detecting abnormalities is normal."

"According to regulations, anyone with wounds, loss of appetite, or a bad temper must be reported!" Xie Zhihang said coldly. "What are you hiding!"

"The weather is so hot, and the situation is special. It's normal for everyone to be irritable. What counts as a bad temper? Does what you're showing now count as a bad temper?" Chen Xian retorted, not backing down.

Xue Xiaofeng was miserable, in no mood to deal with their talk. He had been a hero for two months, basking in everyone’s admiration and commanding supreme authority. These trivial matters bored him unbearably. All he could think about was Xia Li—that Yali who no longer smiled.

Xue Xiaofeng was no longer content with being a knight; he pondered daily how to advance further.

The argument was still going on. Xue Xiaofeng impatiently cut in, “Enough. I’ll personally patrol the buildings in a few days, and we’ll discuss it then. Meeting adjourned.”

The crowd dispersed, filing out one after another. Xue Xiaofeng sniffed the air, catching a familiar scent coming from He Yunchuan’s body.

He stared at He Yunchuan for a long while, his brow tightly furrowed, until He Yunchuan disappeared behind the door. Clenching his fists, Xue Xiaofeng stood up, ready to chase after him, but Xie Zhihang called out to him again.

“Leader, let’s talk,” Xie Zhihang said.

Xue Xiaofeng was so agitated he felt like killing someone. Hearing this, he stomped his foot but still sank back into the sofa. “What do you want to talk about?”

Xie Zhihang sat down beside him and said in a low voice, “Two months have passed, and supplies are running low. We should plan ahead.”

“With over a thousand households in the compound, just take whatever you need. You can handle such minor matters yourself,” Xue Xiaofeng replied.

After a brief silence, Xie Zhihang spoke up, “What’s the point of keeping these useless thousands alive?”

Xue Xiaofeng was stunned. Deep down, he was a cowardly brute—ferocious but lacking courage, not even particularly clever. Before all this, he had lived submissively, the most inconspicuous person in any crowd.

Xue Xiaofeng opened his mouth, knowing he was a lunatic, but Xie Zhihang was undoubtedly even sicker.

“Listen, we don’t need that many followers, especially the old, weak, sick, and disabled. Instead of wasting resources on them, we should just kill them all. We only need a small group to maintain basic community operations—a hundred or two, maybe even fewer,” Xie Zhihang stated coldly and firmly.

“Killing the infected makes us heroes, but killing ordinary people...” Xue Xiaofeng whispered furtively, “I only kill the infected. I don’t want to be the bad guy.”

Xie Zhihang grinned. “Bad guy? What’s a bad guy? Climb up the wall and look around—what society is left? Everyone outside might already be dead! If you try to protect these thousands, we’ll all die together. But if we reduce our numbers, we might just survive long-term in this apocalypse.”

Xue Xiaofeng’s mind was elsewhere, unwilling to even think about these issues. His current life satisfied him: during patrols, people respectfully called him Leader; Xia Li prepared three meals a day for him, even if they weren’t particularly delicious.

He and Xia Li had become friends, and perhaps they could even become lovers, Xue Xiaofeng thought greedily.

Xie Zhihang sighed. “Look at it another way, have you considered what would happen if a second Psychic appeared in the compound?”

Xue Xiaofeng looked up. “What would happen?”

“Then we’d have nothing left. We might even be driven out of the compound. Everyone wants to be the leader, especially Psychics.” Xie Zhihang placed a hand on his shoulder and urged, “At the very least, kill Lin Yanqing first. His condition is abnormal—there’s no guarantee he isn’t evolving too. What if he becomes a Psychic...”

“I’ve wanted to kill him for a long time!” Xue Xiaofeng’s face twisted with hatred. “Yali is completely brainwashed by him! Damn it!”

“Then kill him.”

Xue Xiaofeng hesitated, squirming as he said, “Yali would be heartbroken. He’s so kind and innocent.”

“Then don’t tell him! Are you even a man? You can’t even handle a kid after all this time! Are you screwing him, or is he screwing you?” Xie Zhihang snapped in anger and embarrassment.

Xue Xiaofeng’s expression turned icy. “Shut up! Don’t you dare talk about King Yali like that!”

“I take back what I said,” Xie Zhihang replied earnestly.

“Get out!”

Gritting his teeth, Xie Zhihang turned and walked out the door. The scorching sun hung like a giant plate over the compound. Stepping into the sunlight, Xie Zhihang closed his eyes and tilted his face toward the dazzling rays. His white shirt remained spotless, and not a drop of sweat beaded on his fair face. He basked in the sun, images of Xia Li and his group flashing through his mind. He couldn’t help but click his tongue and mutter under his breath, “What a bunch of stumbling blocks.”