As darkness fell, the group donned their protective suits, grabbed their tools, and entered the forest. When the sun rose again, they emerged, their faces etched with exhaustion.
Yuan Jin: "It's so tiring. This is hundreds of times harder than killing zombies."
Yu Chaoyang glared at him angrily.
Yuan Jin immediately realized he had misspoke. Zombies could no longer be called zombies; they had the opportunity to slowly recover and become human again. Zombies were also their kind and could no longer be killed indiscriminately.
Yuan Jin gave an ugly smile: "Tell me, if we had known earlier that zombies could regain consciousness, would we still have killed them? Would those people still have killed their own family members, partners, or brothers?"
Yu Chaoyang: "Yes, because we had no other choice at that time."
There was some silence in the room. Mu Wenxi said, "I hope they won't carry that guilt into the rest of their lives, because at that point it's either you or me who lives."
Qin Lun: "There is no need to regret or feel remorse for the choices we made in the past. We did the best we could at that time."
It was time to say goodbye again. Mu Wenxi and Qin Lun got into the car and said farewell to them: "We're leaving now, see you next time."
Mu Wenxi: "Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
Qin Lun: "Let's go back to our original base and take a look."
Mu Wenxi: "Okay, you drive for a while."
Qin Lun: "Okay."
Mu Wenxi took Qin Lun back to the place where he had been rescued. The place was very different from what it was like in the apocalypse. The previous base had been demolished and rebuilt, and the plants on the road had begun to grow again. Everything was developing in a positive direction.
Qin Lun wasn't in high spirits. This place held too many painful memories for him. As he looked at the workers decorating the base, he was somewhat dazed, wondering if everything that had happened to him was real or unreal, whether he was dreaming or already awake.
Mu Wenxi broke his reverie: "Cheer up, little monster."
Qin Lun: "I'm afraid this is a dream. You said the apocalypse is really over? Could all of this be just our imagination? Maybe your appearance was just my imagination from the beginning, and I'm actually already dead."
Mu Wenxi felt a pang of sympathy. This silly child seemed unable to accept what had happened to him, or rather, he couldn't believe that everything was over.
Mu Wenxi moved closer to him and covered Qin Lun's face with his hand: "Can you feel it? The warmth of my hand."
Qin Lun nodded.
Mu Wenxi reached out and pinched Qin Lun's cheek: "How about this? Does it hurt?"
Qin Lun: "A little."
Mu Wenxi: "It's all true. I, Mu Wenxi, have been to many places with Qin Lun and met many people. We also met the Doctor. The apocalypse is over."
Qin Lun reached out and pinched Mu Wenxi: "Does it hurt?"
Mu Wenxi: "It hurts."
Qin Lun: "I believe you."
At night, Qin Lun dreamed that he was still in the apocalypse, conducting inhuman experiments in a laboratory. Mu Wenxi noticed his movements and ran to Qin Lun's side.
Qin Lun had his eyes tightly closed, was covered in sweat, and had his brows furrowed, as if he were trapped in a nightmare.
Mu Wenxi gently patted Qin Lun's face: "Qin Lun! Wake up! Wake up, Qin Lun."
Floating in the air, Qin Lun saw Su Shicheng injecting strange drugs into his body with a syringe. His body began to struggle and burn, again and again without stopping. He heard someone calling him, "Qin Lun, Qin Lun."
His consciousness gradually blurred, and he suddenly opened his eyes, sitting up in bed. Mu Wenxi looked at him with concern.
Qin Lun reached out and hugged Mu Wenxi, burying himself in her arms: "I had a nightmare. I was still in the lab, and..."
Mu Wenxi patted Qin Lun on the back: "It's okay, we're out now. Do you remember? I went to the lab and rescued you."
Qin Lun: "Only I can't go back, everything is irreversible."
Since Mu Wenxi rescued Qin Lun from the laboratory, Qin Lun has never shown his vulnerable side. In the past, Qin Lun always stayed by her side in his true form, and she had never seen Qin Lun vulnerable. She thought that Qin Lun had slowly forgotten those bad things.
But Qin Lun never forgot. He was just always on edge. He never forgot that after the apocalypse ended, everyone without superpowers returned to normal life, while those with superpowers joined special organizations. Even zombies could slowly regain human consciousness, but he couldn't.
He was no longer human. If he died, everything would be over. But he didn't die. He had to live on as a monster and needed superpowers to maintain his human form. Nightmares tormented him day and night until tonight when he finally couldn't take it anymore.
Qin Lun's face was pale, his eyes lifeless: "I'm a monster, I'm a monster..."
Mu Wenxi cupped his face in her hands: "You're not a monster, you're the best. You're just Qin Lun. People like Su Shicheng are the monsters. Appearance doesn't matter, does it? Look at Yingying, isn't she great too?"
Qin Lun: "Why did you save me back then?"
Mu Wenxi: "Because we are the same kind of people. Do you remember what I said to you when I saved you?"
Qin Lun: "I remember."
Mu Wenxi: "If you say you are a monster, then I am a monster too. I am not even a person of this world."
Qin Lun: "Are you from another world?"
Mu Wenxi said, "My body at the time was already dead, just like yours. I took over her body and lived on in her place, and I learned about the story that would have happened in your world."
Qin Lun: "You died too?"
Mu Wenxi: "Yes, because at that time my body hadn't even awakened any superpowers yet, so she committed suicide. I wanted to live in her place. You are very good, so I wanted to save you."
Qin Lun: "You say you know the story that was originally supposed to happen in our world? So how did we end up in your story?"
Mu Wenxi: "You guys are all dead. Yu Chaoyang and Yuan Jin were drowned in that city and will never speak again. Xingxing and Grandma died saving others. Xu Kai? I've never even heard of Xu Kai. He must be dead by now. And Qin Lun? He finally escaped, but he died in the end too."
Qin Lun stared blankly at Mu Wenxi.
Mu Wenxi hugged Qin Lun in his arms: "Alright, I was just teasing you. You're all doing very well."
Qin Lun didn't answer; he knew Mu Wenxi was trying to comfort him: "But that world doesn't have you."
Mu Wenxi: "Well, I wasn't here, so I came."
Qin Lun: "Luckily, I had you."
Mu Wenxi covered Qin Lun with the blanket and lay down herself, saying, "Go to sleep."
The next second, Qin Lun transformed back into his original form, curled up in a ball next to Mu Wenxi's head, and rubbed his face against hers.
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