Living In The Last Days - Chapter 16-17
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Chapter 16-17

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"Eat! Eat!" The chubby little girl ran out with her short legs, yelling.

Xia Man brought the dishes out and looked at Qu Zhen. "Let's eat."

Right now, the three had already known of their abilities. They were all really excited, especially Fa Wu. Looking at Xia Man, who was clean and completely devoid of any abilities, they couldn't help but disdain. Even now, G.o.d still didn't care about her!

For the three ordinary people, even if it was the apocalypse, there was still the sudden appearance of the abilities. Because of the abilities, the three's initial unease due to the apocalypse was also erased by the a.s.surance from the abilities.

Qu Zhen clasped her hand. "Let's eat."

Afterwards, she walked over, took a bowl of rice, and gave it to Xia Man.

"Mama, I also want!" The chubby little girl raised the large bowl in her hands. She looked at Qu Zhen with sparkling eyes, fearing Qu Zhen would listen to Xia Man and not give her a meal, only give her porridge again. She hated porridge! 

Qu Zhen glanced at Xia Man and saw that she had no objection. She took a scoop of rice. "Bon appet.i.t! Chew slowly, understand?" Qu Zhen was gentle. Right now, she had a feeling they were a family of three.

On the side, Hua Xiangrong couldn't help but cover her face. Laoda, can your henpecked face be better? Can't you restrain yourself in front of your subordinates? The previous look of a true iron-blooded warrior immediately became a henpecked wife after seeing Xia Man. The spectator's heart just couldn't take it!

"What are you staring at? Let's eat!" Qu Zhen sat down, only to realize the three on the side were petrified, and coldly said.

"The tenderness is somewhat fleeting…" Hua Xiangrong looked down and muttered. She then ran to the chubby little girl and sat beside her, scooped a bowl of rice, and moved closer to the chubby little girl's side.

The chubby little girl stood on the chair, trying hard to get the rice in the bowl.

Hua Xiangrong wanted to pat the chubby little girl's head. The more she looked at her, the more she liked her. It's absolutely impossible to resist this chubby little thing!

"Don't you eat porridge and drink milk?" Hua Xiangrong couldn't understand a little. The chubby little girl didn't seem to be pa.s.sed a year old, yet even though the chubby short legs sprinted, she really never fell. Moreover, she doesn't eat porridge.

The chubby little girl turned her head. Rice was all over her cheeks. "Hush, don't make irresponsible remarks. If really I can only eat rice, then I'll… I'll…" The chubby little girl couldn't seem to find anything she could do. "I'll cry and show you!"

Hua Xiangrong laughed. Not because of what she just said, but because the chubby little girl only had four teeth. It leaked even more when she spoke…

"…" The chubby girl harrumphed, her mouth twitching. She stopped talking and continued burying her head in the bowl, ignoring Hua Xiangrong.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!!" Hua Xiangrong hadn't stopped teasing the chubby little girl. The dining table was extremely quiet. At this moment, a voice came from the door. Everyone but the chubby little girl immediately raised their guards, looking towards the direction of the door.

"Ya…" An unnervingly odd voice could be heard. It gave off a feeling as though its vocal cords were torn apart. It made everyone inside crease their eyebrows. The situation outside could be anything at the moment. However, they felt more of excitement. They were no longer weak and vulnerable. Rather, they were ability wielders! 

"Laoda, I'll go check. You guys just continue eating!" Fa Wu was the first to stand up. Looking at the lightning ball in his hand, his face was clearly showing the urge to experiment!

Qu Zhen nodded her head. "Zhang Lin will accompany you." 

Zhang Lin also stood up and briefly nodded. The two of them walked over.

Qu Zhen turned her head and looked at Xia Man. "It's nothing, just go back to eating."

Xia Man didn't say anything, only taking the meat from the chubby little girl while no one was looking. "Your teeth haven't fully grown. Believe it or not, you can only have porridge."

Hua Xiangrong touched her nose. Why did she feel that the words that were just spoken contradict so much to the tactless words directed to Fa Wu? She was definitely thinking too much! Right! She's definitely overthinking it. Xia Man was only a canary brought up by her laoda, how could she possibly have such a high significance? 

"Bang!" A wind sphere struck not far from the sofa. The sofa was immediately torn apart. Not long after, two seemingly pathetic figures came running in.  "Laoda, it has already become a zombie world outside…"

Hua Xiangrong immediately gathered to the side, her stomach instantly filled with joy. Just a moment ago, the food she thought were delicious suddenly triggered nausea.

For the first time, Hua Xiangrong thought of the television. Furthermore, prior to seeing a zombie and the zombie dog outside the city, it was still clean. Because of the huge wave of unidentified creatures entering, there was no hair, no shelter, only one's self. It was like being thrown into sulphuric acid from head to toe. Sticky and gooey all over!

Hua Xiangrong came and turned around, immediately feeling that she was weak. Laoda's canary only took a glance before going back to her meal, and the chubby little girl was secretly taking a piece of meat, before throwing it into her mouth.

"Come and eat some, we're going to leave!" Zhang Lin looked at Hua Xiangrong's pale complexion and said.

Hua Xiangrong silently walked over, as though the person who had almost vomited there wasn't her. She firmly dug in two bowls of rice, but didn't touch the meat on the table.

The several people finished eating quite quickly. Qu Zhen stood up. "We'll break through with the cars."

Without a car, it'd be impossible for them to escape and break through the skin-covered bones!

The three briefly nodded. Hua Xiangrong stated, "Laoda, the cars are parked in the back."

"Hold on. The acid rain outside hasn't stopped." Xia Man opened her mouth and informed.

"Acid raid?" Fa Wu questioned. "It doesn't have any effect." He then went out with Zhang Lin.

"Ability wielders who have successfully evolved won't be affected," Xia Man continued, "Those outside are ordinary people who haven't successfully evolved."

"Don't go out now." Qu Zhen commanded.

"Laoda, have you gone mad? A huge wave of monsters are coming over right now! Are we supposed to not go out and just wait for them to come in?" Fa Wu's eyes were focused on the two without abilities, Xia Man and the chubby little girl. "The apocalypse is all about survival of the fittest!"

"The cars aren't yours to use." Qu Zhen stated. She understood why Xia Man stopped them from going outside from the start and refused to head to the second floor.

"Get rid of the flames and turn of the lights!" Qu Zhen immediately commanded after seeing a glance of the creatures outside through the windows. 

Also having seen them, Hua Xiangrong understood Qu Zhen's intention. The zombies were basically concentrated on the window sides.

The several people immediately made the entire house dark.

"……" Qu Zhen watched as the monsters outside quieted down and turned around to inform the several. "Find a place to rest. Fa Wu, come with me."

Fa Wu immediately went after Qu Zhen further into the house. Hua Xiangrong touched her nose, turned her head to glance at the expressionless Xia Man, and lied down on a sofa. She didn't think of that one room, but only thought about Qu Zhen and Xia Man. 

Zhang Lin also found a sofa to lie on near Hu Xiangrong.

After a while, Fa Wu came out and lied on a sofa without looking at Xia Man.

"Manman…" Qu Zhen also came out afterwards and picked up the chubby little girl who was lying by Xia Man's side. "You should also sleep, tomorrow will also be a hard battle."

Xia Man didn't say anything and followed Qu Zhen into the house. What Qu Zhen said was right. Tomorrow is going to be a hard battle to win.

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"I'm going into the s.p.a.ce!" The chubby little girl lied on her stomach and looked at the two grown-ups, and also looked at herself.  She deeply suspected that if she would be squashed flat if she lied in the middle! 

Xia Man walked over, picked up the chubby little girl, and threw her into the s.p.a.ce. "If I find any food missing tomorrow…"

"Wawawa…" The chubby little girl fell onto the gra.s.sland in no time. The chubby girl covered her eyes at once, exaggeratedly wailing. "……"

"……" Xia Man was dumbfounded. She was obviously not allowed to eat, yet she was always looking for ways to eat!

"Manman, wasn't that too strict?" Qu Zhen replaced the quilt on the bed with a newly-bought quilt from the s.p.a.ce. 

"If not strict enough, she'll be even cheekier." Xia Man told. She and Qu Zhen were just like a married couple talking about their child's education matter. Xia Man turned around. "Don't say this."

Xia Man feebly went over to the bedside Qu Zhen was lying on. 

"Just sleep, we'll talk about this again next time." Qu Zhen took off her jacket and gazed at Xia Man's face.

Xia Man briefly nodded and lied down. 

Xia Man closed her eyes, but she couldn't sleep. Next to her was the sound of Qu Zhen breathing. Xia Man unconsciously listened to it, unable to sleep from beginning to end.

All of a sudden, Qu Zhen moved. Originally, both of them were obediently staying in their own areas. n.o.body had touched the other. However, out of nowhere, Qu Zhen moved, grabbed Xia Man's waist, and pulled her into her arms. 

Xia Man's body unexpectedly froze.

Qu Zhen was undoubtedly elated, but she didn't show it. After her mutation, her five senses had surpa.s.sed that of ordinary people's. Not to mention with her attention entirely on Xia Man, there was no way she didn't notice Xia Man wasn't asleep. 

"Don't be scared, just sleep." Qu Zhen's voice was unexpectedly gentle as it reached Xia Man's ears.

Not knowing whether it was because of her abilities' properties, Qu Zhen's entire body was emitting warmth. Xia Man's initially ice-cold body instantly came to life. Qu Zhen's stiffness was also beginning to relax.

"I've already taught Fa Wu a lesson.' Qu Zhen stated. She was extremely careful when she said these words. 

She had always known that Xia Man felt inferior. Whenever she looked at her, she would always have her head down because of a certain gaze. Her heart was hurt beyond words.

"En." Xia Man didn't know what else to say. Nowadays, she couldn't care less about how others look at her, nor of how others think of her. Her rebirth. These things had become rather insignificant compared to how they were before.

Before the apocalypse came, she was at a loss, helpless, to the point where she was actually panicking. Nevertheless, after the apocalypse arrived, she became calm.

But she couldn't explain it to Qu Zhen.

"You might be wronged as we still haven't known what those vines in your hands are, since they're not something that grow in the apocalypse, but something that existed before the apocalypse. Also, the s.p.a.ce is extremely coveted. We probably can't talk about it either. I can't let you be in danger…" Qu Zhen softly said.

Xia Man nodded. Of course, she knew about it.

"Just sleep, I'm here." Qu Zhen stroked Xia Man's head and a.s.sured.

Xia Man deeply gazed at Qu Zhen. Qu Zhen's red phoenix eyes[1] were overflowing with affection that made her unable to bear it, averting her gaze before closing them.

Qu Zhen gazed at her for a while, then also closed her eyes.

[1] a type of eyes which has their outer corners incline upwards.

The next day, Xia Man was woken up by Qu Zhen.

The first thing Xia Man heard after opening her eyes was Qu Zhen saying, "The rain has stopped!"

Xia Man got dressed, wearing the same clothes she wore yesterday.

The chubby girl came running. "We're going to leave, aren't we! The monsters outside are gone, so happy!"

Xia Man couldn't help but sneer at the chubby little girl. "The monsters aren't as scary as porridge, are they?"

The chubby little girl looked away as her lips twitched, and ran to Hua Xiangrong. "Laoma[2] is too mean!"

[2] Previously "Mother". I decided to just use the Chinese terms. Laoma is a way of saying Mama in a less intimate, and more of a respectful way.

“Let's go now. It seems that the monsters can't come out during the day!” Qu Zhen said.

Xia Man nodded. "Those low-level zombies are afraid of sunlight. But strangely, in the dark, they go to places with light."

"En, we have to go now. The situation outside may be worse than we think." Hua Xiangrong came over because she wanted to hold the chubby little girl.

Qu Zhen briefly nodded. "Let's go."

Fa Wu didn't say anything, only standing on the side. After affirming he was allowed to start driving, he started driving, not a word out of his mouth.

Because of the chubby little girl, Qu Zhen and Xia Man were on Hu Xiangrong's car this time.

The chubby little girl was sitting between Xia Man and Qu Zhen. The little one's head was nodding little by little. Xia Man initially thought that the chubby little girl was playing. After looking carefully, she noticed that the chubby little girl's eyes were closing bit by bit. It turned out, she was dozing off.

Xia Man picked the chubby little girl up. The chubby little girl seemed to be a little confused between day and night. 

"She's asleep again?" Qu Zhen moved closer and asked. 

"En." Xia Man nodded as she watched the chubby little girl in her arms. 

Driving the car in the front seat, Hua Xiangrong wanted to stab her own eyes. What did she just see? It's over. She was beginning to feel that Xia Man and her laoda fit each other more and more! Fa Wu Ge[3], I've let you down ah!

[3] Ge, as in, the abbreviation of Gege.

In a moment, they returned to the highway. The endless highway. There was still no car around, but everyone still raised their vigilance. Because they hadn't encountered anything previously, they'd never know what they would encounter in the next moment!

"Help!! Help!!" A female voice traveled over, attracting almost everyone's attention.

Hua Xiangrong halted. The woman in a white long skirt was sparing no effort to get to the people. Nonetheless, Hua Xiangrong's eyes were fixated behind the woman.

It was a zombie!

Hua Xiangrong was grinning for a while. She hadn't practiced using the ability ever since she got it. It's finally here!

Fa Wu and Zhang Lin also had the same thought. Meanwhile, Xia Man only took a glance at the woman, and took a glance at the zombies chasing after the woman before removing her gaze.

"Bang bang bang!" A few colorful light spheres exploded right behind the woman. The splattered blood that had begun to darken made the woman's body even dirtier!

The woman didn't seem to mind. She directly skipped Fa Wu's car, who was in front, and knocked on the window of Qu Zhen's car. "Miss, can you bring me along? This world has become insane!"

Qu Zhen observed the woman and calmly turned her head. "Had enough fun?"

Hua Xiangrong, who was initially still immersed in her abilities, touched her own head, nodding in an embarra.s.sed manner. "Laoda, we were wrong!"

The woman looked to Xia Man's eyes in fear and lowered her eyelids, seeming especially pitiful. "Miss, can you please bring me along?"

"What do you have?" Qu Zhen's tone was as cold as ice. 

Xia Man looked outside, ignoring the pleas for help from the woman who just came over. 

"My father is the secretary of the Provincial Party Committee. If you take me there, my father will thank you very much!" The woman whispered even more.

"Laoda, should we bring her along?" Hua Xiangrong, having observed the woman's appearance and found nothing wrong with her, asked.

"Ah, my family is a medical family!" The woman said another sentence. Hearing this, Xia Man's brows creased.

"Get on." Qu Zhen commanded.

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