Chapter 18: He Resented Him but Didn’t Hate Him

Chapter 18: He Resented Him, But Didn't Hate Him

Shu Hanqing stared at Lei Zheng's tall, straight, cold back, his fingertip resting on the gun's frame.

He genuinely wanted to blow Lei Zheng's head off.

Rong Hua hurried over from behind in long, quick strides.

Shu Hanqing turned around expressionlessly, tossing the pistol in his hand and shoving it against Rong Hua's chest: "Take it. I don't want it. It's weighing me down."

Rong Hua deftly caught the gun and tucked it into his belt. He reached out with his long arm, forcefully pulling Shu Hanqing into his embrace, and glared in the direction Lei Zheng had walked off in, muttering indignantly in a low voice: "...That old geezer—why does he keep sneaking peeks at you?"

The "old geezer" Rong Hua meant was, of course, Lei Zheng.

Lei Zheng was actually the only son of one of Rong Hua's mother's closest friends.

In the early days of the apocalypse, Rong Hua's mother died a tragic death. Rong Hua never got to reunite with his father and ended up drifting alone—at first, everyone thought he was dead.

Lei Zheng had met Rong Hua briefly during their childhood, even teasing Rong Hua when he was a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. So when they crossed paths again, deep down, Lei Zheng had always felt a sense of duty to look after and protect Rong Hua on behalf of the older generation.

After all, Lei Zheng was now twenty-nine, almost a full ten years older than Rong Hua.

To Rong Hua, who was just past twenty and brimming with wild, beastly energy, it was only fair to call Lei Zheng an old geezer without a second thought.

How could Shu Hanqing not notice Lei Zheng secretly watching him every second these past few days?

He knew it was because he was carrying Lei Zheng's ability.

Of course, Lei Zheng couldn't figure out why to save his life.

Shu Hanqing just found it a bit ridiculous.

Rong Hua was as rough as an unrefined brute in every other way, but when it came to keeping an eye on Shu Hanqing, his attention to detail was finer than a sewing needle—even the slightest hint of trouble would make him flare up instantly.

Shu Hanqing didn't want to entertain that boring, sour jealousy talk.

He patted the arm Rong Hua had draped over his shoulder and reminded him that once the real operation started and they snuck into the residential building, he had to follow Shu Hanqing's lead and not charge ahead alone just to kill zombies.

Hearing this, Rong Hua calmed right down. He nodded eagerly, puckered his lips, and planted a kiss on Shu Hanqing's slightly cool lips.

The young man was pumped, rubbing his hands together eagerly: "Don't worry, I'll stick to you like a shadow. You just stand back and watch me charge in and grab a ton of crystal cores for you—I'll stuff every one of your pockets!"

Shu Hanqing looked at Rong Hua's spirited, handsome face and suddenly realized he seemed to have grown taller and more solid again.

Shu Hanqing: "...Don't grab too many. I can't carry that stuff. I'm not a spatial ability user."

Rong Hua suggested without a second thought: "Then let's bring Yun Ying along too. She's happy to tag along anyway."

Right then, Yun Ying, who was crouched by the supply truck sorting through medical kits not far away, suddenly let out a huge sneeze.

She always felt like someone was scheming and talking smack about her behind her back.

Yun Ying tilted her head, her gaze drifting over the battered hood of the engine, and saw Rong Hua and Shu Hanqing huddled together in the corner of the ruins, whispering intimately, their shameless clinginess almost too much to watch.

On the other side, less than ten meters away in the shadow of the off-road vehicle, their captain Mu Ye stood completely alone, his handsome, chiseled profile looking even more haggard, radiating a sense of brokenness.

Yun Ying couldn't help but sigh deeply.

These grown men who killed zombies without batting an eye—with all their tangled loves, hatreds, and old grudges—somehow gave off a weird vibe of youthful, angsty romance.

After a quick inventory check, the Shengsu Squad and the military elites Lei Zheng brought along quickly formed up into one unit, weapons ready, preparing to split up and sneak through the fire escape stairwells on both sides into the two half-collapsed old residential buildings for a full-scale, brutal sweep-and-rescue operation.

But they'd barely set foot on the steps of the residential area when a dense, spine-chilling cacophony of grinding joints suddenly erupted.

"ROAR!"

With the first rotten, hoarse, savage roar, the clustered zombies lurking in the abandoned shops and half-collapsed green belts—reeking of decay—surged toward their group of twenty-odd living people like a school of sharks catching the scent of blood.

From their tattered clothes and faces rotted beyond recognition, you could faintly tell they'd all been ordinary people who lived in this sprawling residential district in life.

And this was just a fraction of the horde.

No one knew how many terrifying, mutated zombies were still holed up deep inside the two massive, steel-like residential buildings, lurking in the sunless corridors and sealed rooms.

They all knew full well that going in meant a desperate, life-risking plunge into a zombie siege with only a slim shot at survival.

Amid the dense zombie roars, Qi Zhuo's face darkened. He slammed his palm hard against the cracked concrete wall next to him.

His high-tier earth ability erupted in an instant.

The rubble and debris on the first floor of the whole building surged violently, and in the blink of an eye, a thick earthen wall nearly half a hill tall rose from nothing, sealing off the stairwell entrance almost completely.

Before the dust on the earthen wall had even settled, Rong Hua pressed one hand down with fingers curled like claws, and countless dark-green mutated vines shot up like crazed pythons, tangling together in a frenzy.

In an instant, they formed a thorn-covered wall of brambles, standing as an unbreakable barrier in front of the earthen mound.

These two defensive fortifications—one of earth, one of wood—wedged firmly at the first-floor entrance, should be enough to hold back the tireless zombie horde from charging upstairs for now.

After all, inside a building, no one wanted to end up caught between zombie groups from front and back, attacked from all sides.

Because the mission was extremely dangerous, only the high-level ability users with real combat power from both the Shengsu First Squad and Lei Zheng's team were brought inside.

As for the ordinary soldiers without abilities, armed only with regular firearms, they were all ordered to stay at the outer perimeter—a safe, open area with clear sightlines—to provide backup.

The stairwell hadn't seen sunlight in years, and the air was thick with a heavy musty stench mixed with the reek of rotting blood.

Lei Zheng stood in the middle of the steps: "Everyone, adjust all your communication devices and keep the signal crystal clear at all times. The moment anyone spots the target anywhere, report it to the whole team immediately. Absolutely no one acts alone without backup. Our only goal is to get everyone out alive."

Lei Zheng handed out photos of Yan Shenyun to everyone.

Shu Hanqing glanced at the photo. He'd seen Yan Shenyun in his past life—a spiritual-type ability user who looked cold and ruthless.

The group acknowledged, pressing the black walkie-talkies at their waists.

These two buildings weren't actually that tall—seven floors at most. But they were built in an embracing courtyard style, with the two towers surrounding an open central courtyard.

In the middle of the courtyard, several mutated trees had grown to terrifying, sky-scraping heights.

With no one to prune them, the thick, python-like branches had spread wildly, already clinging to the balcony railings on every floor, smashing through windows, and reaching deep into the rooms.

With such tangled, mutated vegetation providing cover, who knew how many sealed death rooms they'd have to force their way through one by one.

The only thought in Shu Hanqing's mind right then was that he had to rescue Yan Shenyun as fast as possible—because if they dragged it out too long, and the zombie horde outside, which could riot at any moment, broke through the earthen and wooden barricade on the first floor, things would truly spiral out of control.

Watching Lei Zheng raise his arm and order his soldiers to head for Building 3 first, Shu Hanqing's heart tightened. He locked eyes on Lei Zheng: "Search Building 2 first! ...Building 2 has a smaller search area than Building 3. If we focus all our people there now, we'll save half the time. Otherwise, once the barricade falls and the zombies break through, we're all dead here."

Shu Hanqing paused for a few seconds before hastily tacking on a reason.

Lei Zheng's brow bone sat unusually high. He stared at Shu Hanqing and shot back, "What if he happens to be hiding in Building 3?"

Shu Hanqing was so certain, of course, because the System had tipped him off.

But Lei Zheng was a man stubborn as a mule. Once he'd made up his mind about something, no one could move him a single inch.

Shu Hanqing had learned that in his previous life.

Still, with the System's intel, Shu Hanqing braced himself and stared back: "Then what if it's Building 2?"

To everyone's surprise, after three seconds of dead silence, Lei Zheng turned his head and barked out an order to his men: "All troops, listen up—change of plans. Move in now and tear Building 2 apart."

Shu Hanqing watched the figure stride past him, leading his men into the stairwell first, and a weird, surreal feeling welled up in his chest.

Yin Bianyan glanced at Shu Hanqing before leaving and told him to stay safe.

The orders were officially given.

The Shengsu Squad's first team was ordered to start from the third floor, kicking down doors as they fought their way up the fire escape.

Lei Zheng, meanwhile, personally led his military superpowered individuals from the third floor downward, not even skipping the underground garage.

The building's elevators had been dead for over a decade—rusted cables, cabins smashed into the basement, totally useless.

Searching for one person in this wreckage felt like a total shot in the dark.

But there was no choice. They had to find him—dead or alive.

The sixteen members of the Shengsu Squad's first team quickly fanned out down the corridor, splitting into four teams for a crisscrossing, door-to-door sweep.

Mu Ye said, calm and logical: "The layout here is too broken up for a clean sweep. Rong Hua, you take your people up the east stairwell on the right. I'll move with Yun Ying and the rest. As for Hanqing, you're with my team—your ability's been acting up lately, so stick with me so we can watch each other's backs."

Yun Ying was tagging along because her spatial ability stored meds and crystal cores.

Rong Hua reached out and grabbed Shu Hanqing's hand: "Yun Ying, you're with us. I've got Hanqing."

Mu Ye watched their fingers lace together, and the wound on his shoulder throbbed again.

"Rong Hua, this is a battlefield—no room for your reckless impulses. You always charge ahead solo when killing zombies, you're used to fighting alone and don't know how to watch anyone else's back. If they get hurt or die because of your selfishness, how the hell are you gonna own that?"

Rong Hua's face twisted in defiance as he fired back: "Captain, what if I say I can handle that responsibility? My ability's just as strong as yours, and I won't go charging in solo like before."

For the first time, Mu Ye pulled the captain card: "I'm the captain. Every call I make is based on what's best for this mission."

The tension in the air snapped to its breaking point.

You could practically see the sparks flying between the two men.

Standing nearby, Yun Ying could barely breathe. She nudged Shu Hanqing's arm and murmured, "Brother Shu, say something—who are you really going with?"

The other Shengsu members scattered around traded glances, eyes darting everywhere, pretending not to see.

Shu Hanqing stared at the scene, face blank, then raised the hand still locked with Rong Hua's.

"Don't all act like I'm some damsel, okay? Yun Ying's coming with us." Shu Hanqing said to Mu Ye. "I'm the vice captain—I've got the right to question the captain's calls. Qi Zhuo, we're going this way."

Truth be told, deep down Shu Hanqing did resent Mu Ye—resented his slowness, his letting go, his constant weighing of pros and cons.

But by now, after two lifetimes of being worn down, Shu Hanqing realized he could never truly hate the man.

Shu Hanqing just wanted to move fast, get it done, and pull the target out before the zombie horde broke through the barricade, minimizing casualties for everyone in the Shengsu Squad on this mission.

And when it came to following orders, Rong Hua was unquestionably the most perfect, obedient partner.

Because Rong Hua, when facing Shu Hanqing's commands, never bothered to use that rebellious brain of his. Wherever Shu Hanqing pointed, he charged without hesitation, never a shred of doubt.

But Mu Ye was different. Mu Ye was far too sharp by nature.

Even though, under the current circumstances, Mu Ye probably wouldn't openly contradict Shu Hanqing's decision in public, if Shu Hanqing showed even the slightest hint of anomaly while leading the way, Mu Ye would definitely pick up on it and trace it back.

Yet Shu Hanqing's choice, in Mu Ye's eyes at that moment, meant he had been completely abandoned.

Shu Hanqing had chosen Rong Hua without hesitation, casting Mu Ye aside entirely.

These past few days, every time Mu Ye closed his eyes, those overwhelming images tormented him mercilessly in his mind.

He couldn't stop recalling that night when he'd accidentally stumbled upon Hanqing and Rong Hua's absurd, tangled encounter.

Because of his sudden intrusion, Hanqing had looked flustered and panicked, those cold, misty eyes filled with desire in that instant.

Though in the next second, Rong Hua had shielded Hanqing completely beneath him, cutting off all of Mu Ye's view.

But Mu Ye had still seen it—clearly seen the slightly swollen corner of Hanqing's lips, smeared with a hazy sheen of moisture, the color gnawed and ravaged into something more vivid than a rose, more bewitching than blood.

Even the taut, slender line of Shu Hanqing's ankle kept appearing in his dreams.

The treasure Mu Ye had never dared to touch even lightly was now writhing and trembling beneath someone else.

From that night on, jealousy burned like wildfire through Mu Ye's parched chest, utterly out of control, impossible to extinguish.

Last night, for the first time, he'd asked Sang Mai for a cigarette.

In the brief numbness of cheap nicotine, his vision blurred, fragments of images flickering before him.

One moment it was Shu Hanqing turning to him with a gentle smile full of trust in his eyes; the next, it was Shu Hanqing walking away without a backward glance, held in Rong Hua's arms.

The two images tore and pulled at each other in his mind, and he choked on the smoke.

The violent coughing split his shoulder wound open again.

Mu Ye could only, as he had countless times before, suppress the dark emotions that threatened to drive him mad, forcing his face back into that impassive mask in front of others.

But at this moment, watching those intertwined fingers, hatred surged uncontrollably in his chest.

He watched the indulgent intimacy and unspoken understanding between Shu Hanqing and Rong Hua, and suddenly felt that all his forbearance and restraint had become a joke.

Because he had made a mistake, he'd been stripped of the right to stand by Hanqing's side, forced to watch someone else take his place.

Mu Ye knew that besides him, there would be an endless stream of people falling for Hanqing.

Because he was so beautiful, so captivating.

Mu Ye crushed all his resentment deep into his palm: "...Fine. Stay safe, all of you. Move out."