Chapter 3 The End of the World
The night is too long.
After walking all day and enduring being chased and bitten by zombies and attacked by mutated rats, Su Yun still couldn't hold on and unknowingly fell asleep against the corner of the wall.
However, the experience of that day was just too thrilling. There were ferocious zombies, giant mutated rats... Su Yun even dreamed of being chased by dogs one moment and zombies and monsters the next.
Just as the monster's claws were about to reach her face, Su Yun screamed and sat up abruptly, startled awake.
"Ah, thank goodness it was just a dream!"
Just as she was still in shock, patting her chest to comfort herself.
Suddenly, a deep, hoarse voice said, "You're awake?"
She was startled again when she suddenly heard someone speaking beside her in the darkness.
She instinctively turned her head to look, only to see a pair of cold-blooded animal's vertical pupils staring at her in the darkness. Startled, she reflexively grabbed her flashlight, turned it on with a "snap," and shone it in that direction.
It wasn't until she turned on the flashlight that Su Yun could see clearly that the person speaking was the cat-eared boy who had been unconscious. He had somehow woken up and was now staring at her intently.
However, those golden, crimson eyes emitted a strange light and flickered under the flashlight, just like a real cat's.
The flashlight's intense beam caused those strangely glowing pupils to squint slightly.
Realizing that shining a flashlight into someone's eyes was very impolite, Su Yun quickly moved the flashlight away, added firewood to the fire, and rekindled the fire.
Seeing Su Yun's series of reactions, the cat-eared boy said in a hoarse voice, "Did I scare you?"
Before Su Yun could answer, he answered his own question, "It's been too long since I've spoken, this voice is very..."
"No, it wasn't you. It's because I had a nightmare that I felt this way." Su Yun interrupted him. She had no hostility towards her savior and didn't want him to misunderstand that she had a discriminatory look in her eyes.
Although they may be of different races, Su Yun still felt a lot of goodwill towards his savior, who was also a cat-eared boy.
"Hmm?" A hint of doubt flashed in the cat-eared boy's eyes. He looked up and examined Su Yun again, as if trying to confirm her race.
Although she knew the other person meant no harm, Su Yun still felt a little uncomfortable, so she tried to change the subject: "Um...did I wake you up?"
The other person shook their head slightly: "No..."
Perhaps due to his injury, his voice was weak and hoarse, low and deep, like the midnight waves, "I've been awake for a while..."
"Is that so? I thought I woke you up." Su Yun casually poked at the wood strips with a stick, making them burn brighter. "Did I scream in my sleep?"
The cat-eared boy looked at the girl with a hint of surprise in his eyes. He hadn't expected her to be so friendly towards someone of a different race.
However, to his surprise, the girl poked at the fire and slowly spoke again: "Thank you for saving me today. Without you, I might have..."
Unlike the indifferent people I've encountered before, this person seemed genuinely friendly, but...
This is the end times.
He shook his head, maintaining his distance, and said calmly, "It wasn't to save you. If I hadn't intervened, neither of us would probably have survived..."
The cat-eared boy looked indifferent and spoke calmly.
Su Yun was taken aback, suddenly unsure of what to say.
The cat-eared boy in front of her had a detached expression. Although he had saved her, he was not overly enthusiastic or concerned, but deliberately maintained a polite distance.
It's like a form of self-protective vigilance.
This made Su Yun feel a little uncomfortable, and the thanks she had prepared were swallowed back down her throat.
An awkward silence fell between the two of them.
The cat-eared boy in front of her had his eyes slightly closed, looking somewhat tired, but he was still talking to her while keeping his eyelids open.
Looking at the other person's slightly childish yet feignedly strong face.
Su Yun's little brain slowly started to work.
Is this the real apocalypse?
Because of the fear of betrayal and being hurt, everyone deliberately keeps their distance.
Although she knew that this might be the best course of action, she was, after all, a modern person who had transmigrated from another world and had not experienced the harsh realities of the apocalypse, so she still retained her modern habits.
She simply couldn't bring herself to be indifferent to someone who had saved her while she herself fell into a coma. To her, being saved was being saved, and she should be grateful.
Thinking of this, Su Yun suddenly realized and said firmly, "No!"
Su Yun suddenly spoke, her slightly raised tone particularly noticeable in the silent darkness, startling even herself.
She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, as if trying to shake off something, and said firmly but softly, "Saving is saving, no matter why, you still saved me. I still want to say thank you, thank you for saving me..."
Upon hearing this word of thanks, a slight hint of surprise flickered in his deliberately aloof gaze, and he said hesitantly, "...Is that so..."
"Is that so?" The cat-eared boy lowered his head and fell into deep thought. His voice seemed extremely tired, as if he had coarse sand in his mouth, and was very hoarse.
"Would you like some water?" Hearing his hoarse voice, Su Yun shook the water glass in her hand.
He nodded slightly.
Su Yun raised the water glass in her hand, wanting to hand it to him, but then she considered the other person's wounds.
She carefully picked up the water glass and said, "You're injured and it's inconvenient for you to drink, so let me feed you!"
"Hey me?" The cat-eared boy was slightly surprised for a moment and subconsciously wanted to refuse, but his condition was very bad at the moment. He forced his eyelids open and talked for a while, which had already exhausted most of his energy.
Drinking water independently is simply impossible.
So he could only nod and agree.
Su Yun slowly approached, raised the sports water bottle, and held it to the other person's lips, inviting him to drink.
He seemed extremely thirsty, and in the blink of an eye, he drank more than half a pot.
Seeing that he had drunk his fill of water and his complexion had improved slightly, Su Yun suddenly remembered something and asked, "My name is Su Yun. What's your name?"
"Name?" The orc seemed somewhat surprised by her question, and murmured softly, "Name? It's been so long since anyone..." He stopped abruptly.
His expression returned to calm, and he said in a light tone, "Yes, my name is Ye Feng."
"Night Breeze?" Su Yun tried calling out. "It's a nice name, very pleasant to hear," Su Yun praised with a smile.
"Really? It sounds nice?" Ye Feng was slightly surprised. This was a very unfamiliar word to him. It seemed that no one had ever asked him his name before, nor had anyone ever said that his name sounded nice.
The human girl in front of me seemed very strange.
He couldn't help but look up at her again.
With fair and clean skin, clear and bright eyes, and slender limbs, and without any trace of animality, he was undoubtedly an ordinary human being.
Seeing that Ye Feng had suddenly fallen silent, the surprise in his eyes grew more and more obvious.
Realizing the other person was scrutinizing her, her gaze filled with surprise, Su Yun couldn't help but laugh. "What's wrong? Why do you look so surprised? Has no one ever told you? I think the name 'Night Breeze' is very nice, and it suits you perfectly."
Seeing the slight upturn of her lips, revealing two small dimples, Ye Feng was once again momentarily lost in thought. He silently withdrew his gaze and murmured, "No one has ever spoken of it, and it's almost never used..."
These few words seemed to contain a lot of information, and Su Yun couldn't help but widen her eyes, then quickly grasped the key point: "Is there no one left in this world? Have you always been alone?"
Hearing Su Yun's suddenly excited tone.
Ye Feng glanced at her with a hint of surprise, but didn't show much doubt. He calmly replied, "Yes, I've been on my own ever since I left the base."
Then, as if recalling something distant, that detached expression reappeared on his face.
"A base? What base? Is it a shelter?" Faced with the sudden good news, Su Yun couldn't control his emotions and excitedly whispered, his eyes gleaming with a strange light.
Seeing Su Yun's eyes sparkling with anticipation, he suddenly felt a pang of pity, because he didn't know how to bring it up. Compared to the refuge she had described, that gloomy place was clearly not the place she was looking for.
So he gently turned his head away from her expectant gaze, staring at the somewhat dilapidated roof, and said calmly, "Of course not, that's a genetic research base, a place used for genetic experiments."
"Genetic experiment?" This was a somewhat unfamiliar term to Su Yun, but it wasn't hard to understand. She continued to ask, "And then?"
"Later, the experiment failed, triggering a chain reaction. The genetic mutations became uncontrollable, and a large-scale mutation began to erupt. Since then, the base has been destroyed, and everyone died in that disaster. Only a small number escaped... It's just that everyone is used to being alone... Names don't belong to anyone and there's no need to... It's been too long since anyone has mentioned them..."
Night Wind reflected on the past few years, finding it rare to encounter humans or other members of its own kind. Even when it did, people would either quickly avoid it or remain wary and defensive. Asking each other's names... was simply unnecessary.
The night breeze stirred slightly, and the bandages and towels wrapped around his body made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Looking closely now, the human girl named Su Yun who saved him was indeed somewhat different.
Looking closely, although she was somewhat disheveled, she was still relatively clean and tidy, and her eyes shone with a faint light. Unlike the people he had encountered before, she was not like those with tattered clothes, grime-covered skin, disheveled appearance, or withered appearance, like a withered willow in its twilight years.
Although some of them had clean and tidy clothes, their eyes were clouded with a thick layer of dust, dull and lifeless...
No one else looked at him with such clear eyes and asked his name so openly...
"Large-scale genetic mutation? Does that mean there are no people left in this world?" Su Yun's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"A human? Like you?" Night Wind scrutinized her carefully. "No tail? No claws?"
"Yes, probably like me." To be honest, Su Yun hadn't seen a single human in this apocalypse. Because so many things had happened in a single day, she wasn't sure if the humans in this world were still like her.
Hearing her words, Ye Feng turned his head again and fell silent, seemingly lost in memories...
After a long silence, he slowly spoke, his voice hoarse: "It has indeed been a long time since I've seen someone like you. They are all too fragile. They can't find food, and they even eat their own kind and people like us..."
Su Yun: !!!
He continued calmly, "After the genetic mutation occurred, the climate became extreme and unpredictable in the following years. Winters were always particularly cold, and when it snowed heavily, many people would die. Eventually, they all turned into monsters. After a very long time, I never saw them again..."
Cannibalize its own kind?
Orcs? Do they eat people?
The sheer volume of information overwhelmed her, leaving her momentarily overwhelmed.
It turns out this really is a post-apocalyptic world. The cause of the apocalypse was a human genetic experiment. The experiment failed, triggering a massive mutation that killed the vast majority of humanity. The remaining small number are struggling to survive in the mutated world.
According to the night wind, the weather and environment here seem to have changed. Humans have mutated, beastmen have mutated, plants have mutated, and everything has become harsh. The human living environment has changed drastically, and the situation has become more difficult. There have even been cases of cannibalism.
Looking back now, Ye Feng's hesitant expression and polite, distant demeanor make perfect sense.
The other person must have experienced some danger or been attacked by humans, which is why they are always wary and distant towards her.
"Oh, I see."
Su Yun gave a bitter smile, then forced himself to calm down. At least the situation was gradually becoming clearer. Although the situation was not very optimistic, at least he was no longer completely in the dark.
Upon hearing the other person's words, Su Yun felt somewhat heavy-hearted. She hugged her knees and squatted in a corner, lost in thought.
However, due to his injuries, Ye Feng soon fell into a deep sleep again.
Sigh, after suffering such a serious injury, it must be quite a strain for her to say so much. However, compared to before, her breathing has become much more stable, so it seems that she is no longer in serious danger. This can put her mind at ease a bit more. But can she really recover like this, given the lack of medical care and medicine?
So, with a jumble of thoughts in her mind and various anxieties, Su Yun, exhausted, unconsciously drifted off to sleep again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com