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“There’s a gas station ahead! There’s a small town under the freeway as well. Just in time for us to boost our supplies.” Right as Lian Hua’s b.u.t.t was starting to ache from sitting on the car and restlessly moved about, the know-it-all finally told them good news. They had driven for more than ten hours straight and even ate in the car. Lian Yu yelled miserably in Lian Hua’s head over and over again, telling him that it wanted to be released.
“You two lead the rest of the group to the gas station. Xiao Bai and I will go scout the town first.” Xia Zhi thought and decided how to split up the work.
Lian Hua: “…”
So your brother was upgraded from the Bai family’s young master Bai Lianhua to Xiao Hua and Xiao Bai? If there were outsiders, then he would be Xiao Hua, and if not, then he was Xiao Bai! Did it have to be so obvious?
“Brother Zhi, you should just call me Lian Hua! If you call me Xiao Bai, it makes me seem like Big White’s long lost brother[1].” Lian Hua spoke weakly.
Xia Zhi looked at Lian Hua’s face that was just as stupid as Big White’s and only grunted.
“Let’s go.” Xia Zhi got out the car first.
“Wait for me!” Lian Hua quickly chased after him. Being able to get out and breathe fresh air wasn’t bad. He stroked the pistol that he carried in his left pocket, then stroked the sword he carried on his right. Lian Hua momentarily had a boost in courage.
By the time he caught up to Pig Leg’s footsteps, Lian Yu had jumped out onto the ground and run away. Lian Hua wanted to warn it not to go too far, but he didn’t make it in time. Big White also slowly stalked outside to hunt. Its body was large and it ate a lot. Pig Leg’s troops did not have the ability to feed it, so it could only fend for itself.
The small town was not far. Lian Hua and Xia Zhi arrived after a few minutes.
When they entered the town, Lian Hua sneezed, “Atchoo!” and the sound echoed.
Lian Hua: “…”
The entire town echoed with Lian Hua’s voice. It was quite terrifying! Lian Hua felt a bit scared and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The entire town was incredibly empty. There were no zombies nor living humans. Lian Hua drew his sword and gripped it in his hands. It made him feel much safer.
“Brother Zhi, let’s go together. There’s something off about this place.” Lian Hua walked up to Xia Zhi and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Mm, be more careful. According to logic, this place is so close to the freeway that there should be lots of people resting here. The zombies could have been wiped out, but that’s impossible if there are no humans.” Xia Zhi raised his guard.
“Mhm!” Lian Hua silently used his left hand to grasp the hem of Pig Leg’s s.h.i.+rt. ≧﹏≦ Pig Leg didn’t shake him off, oh my G.o.d! Lian Hua somersaulted in his heart.
Xia Zhi glanced at Lian Hua’s stupid appearance and only snorted in his heart, allowing Lian Hua to pull as much as he wanted. Lian Hua felt that with Pig Leg in his grasp, the whole world was his! Your brother isn’t afraid of anything! Spirits, ghosts, demons, monsters, get out of here!
When they found a supermarket, Lian Hua was surprised to discover that all of the supplies inside were untouched; nothing was missing. Lian Hua was a bit dumbfounded, but he was still aware that this was definitely abnormal.
“Brother Zhi…” Lian Hua looked at Xia Zhi.
Xia Zhi thought for a while and said straightforwardly, “First, let’s take the supplies. If anything’s out there, just wait until it appears and then we’ll talk.” After speaking, he lifted a hand and all of the supplies on the shelf immediately disappeared.
Lian Hua was shocked, but he also began to look for bags so that he could stuff as many things in them as he could.
Xia Zhi collected two thirds of the supplies while Lian Hua collected two large bags.
Xia Zhi thought for a while, then came over and accepted one of the bags, personally carrying it.
T^T Pig Leg, are you doing this for me? Your brother so moved! Lian Hua moved his a.s.s, carried the other bag, and went outside.
“Smack!” Lian Hua ran face first into a wall of flesh. He rubbed his nose and retreated two steps back, “Brother Zhi, why aren’t you moving forward?”
“I think we have a problem.” Xia Zhi pointed outside. Lian Hua turned his head to look. =m= He couldn’t see the town! A dense white expanse of fog stretched outside the supermarket doors.
“What… What should we do now?” Lian Hua asked softly. F*ck, your brother never witnessed these kinds of supernatural events. Although he had fought with zombies and mutated animals, he never experienced extreme weather. Lian Hua was feeling a bit overwhelmed. However, when he thought about how Pig Leg was next to him, he was immediately rea.s.sured. There was nothing that Pig Leg couldn’t handle. He had to believe in Pig Leg’s protagonist halo.
“Let’s go. First of all, let’s see if we can get out.” Xia Zhi decided to leave.
“Wait a moment!” Lian Hua released a vine from his hand and tied himself to Pig Leg. “I’m scared of getting lost. If Brother Zhi has to come back and look for me, I would feel really guilty.” Lian Hua spoke with a straight face.
“Let’s go.” Xia Zhi stared at Lian Hua for three minutes, until Lian Hua’s legs wanted to give out, before he finally spoke up. He shook the left hand that Lian Hua tied up and discovered that the vine didn’t impede movement.
The walked for half an hour in the thick fog. Lian Hua felt his body grew heavier as time pa.s.sed, and his footsteps slowly ground to a halt. “Brother Zhi, I’m too tired! Can we take a break?” Lian Hua asked as he breathed heavily.
“Let’s move forward a bit before we rest.” Xia Zhi proceeded to directly use the vine to drag Lian Hua. Lian Hua was forced to catch up.
Another half an hour pa.s.sed. Lian Hua felt like his body was made out of lead; it was no longer an ordinary kind of heaviness. His sweat fell like rain, and he had thrown away the bag of supplies a long time ago. He was almost unable to move. If Xia Zhi didn’t regularly pull him along, he would have lay down on the ground already.
Xia Zhi threw the bag of supplies into his pocket dimension and wiped his sweat. Although his body was more muscular than a certain idiot, he couldn’t endure it for long either. Seeing that the idiot really couldn’t move anymore, Xia Zhi decided to rest for a bit.
“Brother Zhi, there’s a building over there.” Lian Hua joyously pointed somewhere in the distance. In a hazy place where nothing could be made out, it really felt like one had gotten lost at sea and seen a lighthouse. Lian Hua felt as if energy was rus.h.i.+ng into his body.
“Then get in there and rest!” Xia Zhi continued to drag Lian Hua forward.
Lian Hua stared at the house, hating that he couldn’t sprout wings and fly there immediately. However, he was too tired. He could only slowly inch his way forward.
“Looks really familiar.” Lian Hua looked at the building with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. Wasn’t this the supermarket they just left? Lian Hua’s vision suddenly blacked out and he almost fainted. F*ck, moving around was exhausting, yet they just circled back to the starting point! What kind of h.e.l.lish place was this?!
“Brother Zhi, have we been spirited away[2] as well as possessed[3]?” Lian Hua looked like he was at a funeral and spoke weakly.
“Let’s get in and rest first.” Xia Zhi pulled Lian Hua into the supermarket. It really was exactly the same inside as when they left. When he entered, Lian Hua felt the pressure on his body suddenly disappear. He sat on the floor breathing heavily.
His stomach protested in hunger, so Lian Hua decided to stop caring so much. First, he crawled to a shelf holding packaged chicken legs, tore the paper, and ate. After that, he took out a seed and increased its rate of maturity until it became a tomato bush that bore four or five tomatoes. Lian Hua picked one and ate it.
Next to him, Xia Zhi randomly grabbed a boxed lunch. He groped in the direction of Lian Hua’s tomato bush[4], sat down elegantly, and quickly began his meal. Today was really rough!
Lian Hua ate until he was full, used a ball of water to wash his face and hands, then held his stomach and lay down on the ground. After eating and drinking, he needed to digest.
They rested for a while. Xia Zhi was still determined to go out and take a look, “There’s a possibility that we walked into an extra dimension, a barrier, or an array. Can you try to call for your stupid mushroom?” Lian Hua tried calling the wretched mushroom, but there was no response. 〒_〒 He only shook his head at Xia Zhi.
Right now, there were only three words in Lian Hua’s head—— it was fantasy[5]! Yer bro Lian Hua here never encountered such a supernatural event until now!
“Perhaps there’s something with a level higher than ours and it’s purposely controlling it.” Xia Zhi continued speaking. Lian Hua became even more nervous. He looked left and right, scared that in the next moment, a man eating wolf would jump out from some corner! He found it horrifying, so he wanted to roll over and hug Xia Zhi, but Xia Zhi pushed him away in disgust.
“So filthy!” Xia Zhi frowned.
Lian Hua: “…” His gla.s.s heart shattered.
The conversation was like a wild horse that broke out of the reins; when it left, it didn’t turn back. Lian Hua couldn’t remember if Xia Zhi was ever confined like this before, so he kept quiet.
“I’m going out to take a look. Right now, this supermarket is the only safe zone. You stay here.” At the end, Xia Zhi added another line, “Be good and wait for me to come back for you.”
What could Lian Hua say? If he went outside, he would only get in Pig Leg’s way. Obviously he had been upgraded to Brother Lian, but he was still a burden. Lian Hua’s heart felt a bit injured.
When Xia Zhi went outside, Lian Hua used the vines to surround himself with a thick sh.e.l.l. He felt safer with this creation. Pig Leg, ah, Pig Leg, you need to come back quickly to save me! 〒_〒
Lian Hua drowsily fell asleep.
Later, something kicked Lian Hua awake. He stood up straight and strained his ears to listen outside.
“Lian Hua, I came to pick you up. Put these vines of yours away.” Lian Hua was happy. It was Pig Leg’s voice, so he started to pack his vines away. Xia Zhi was indeed standing outside, but there were signs of a struggle on his body. There were a few b.l.o.o.d.y wounds on his face, and his clothes were ripped up badly.
“Brother Zhi, what’s it like outside? Could you find the way out?”
“Of course I could find it, follow me.” Xia Zhi smiled gently at Lian Hua. Lian Hua temporarily blanked out.
“Brother Zhi…” Lian Hua called out softly.
“Foolish child!” Xia Zhi familiarly knocked on Lian Hua’s head. He led Lian Hua by the hand taking away the sword that Lian was holding on to the whole time while he was at it. “Let’s go!” After speaking, he pulled Lian Hua outside.
Lian Hua was unsteadily dragged away. Being treated so gently by Pig Leg, Lian Hua had the feeling that he was in a dream.
Indeed, there really was no more white mist outside the supermarket. The old town district reappeared.
“I’ve neutralized the danger already, don’t worry!” Xia Zhi smiled and said to Lian Hua.
“Mm…” Lian Hua could only nod.
Lian Hua was dragged onto a long road by Xia Zhi. They turned into the small, cute house in front of them. “Look, this is our house. Do you like it?”
Lian Hua looked at the small house in a daze. The courtyard and garden looked familiar. There were grape arbors in the front door, and there was a patch of shade underneath the grape vines. To the side, there were some sunflowers with vibrant yellow petals.
“Do you like it?” Xia Zhi gently whispered in Lian Hua’s ear.
“Like…” Lian Hua answered without thinking and cried again.
“Aiya, Xiao Hua, you’re home. Quickly, come in. Today mom’s going to make five flavored chicken for you. We can eat when your father comes home.” A woman with a beautiful appearance wearing an ap.r.o.n stood at the door, smiling gently at him.
“Big brother, come play with me!” Underneath the grape arbors, there was an additional adorable thirteen years old brat. He wore pale yellow clothes with a yellow duckling design. The brat ran up and tugged at Lian Hua’s hand, acted spoiled, and said, “Big brother, play with me!”
“Mm.” Very soon, Lian Hua was playing hide and seek under the grape arbors with the brat. Xia Zhi only stood to the side and smiled as he watched.
A long time later, a middle aged man entered. Although he looked tired, when he saw Lian Hua and the brat, his expression was gentle.
“Hubby, you’re home. Quickly call the children in to eat!” The woman gently welcomed him.
Lian Hua and Xia Zhi sat together at the dining table.
“Xiao Hua, come here. Mom made this five flavored chicken.” The woman placed one in Lian Hua’s bowl.
Lian Hua smiled brightly and gave his thanks, but that was all. He didn’t eat anything.
“Xiao Hua, why aren’t you eating? Does it taste bad?” The woman was a bit worried.
“That’s right! Why aren’t you eating, big brother?” That brat also pouted and asked.
“Be good, big brother will let you eat it. Right now, big brother isn’t hungry.” Lian Hua spoke gently to the brat.
“Alright!”
The brat didn’t press the issue.
After eating, Lian Hua and Xia Zhi sat underneath the grape arbors.
“Lian Hua, do you like this place?” Xia Zhi was as gentle as before.
“I like it…” Lian Hua lay on the wooden bench and watched the small grape leaves fall under the sunlight. How beautiful.
“Will you stay here with me? We can be together forever. After all, you like me too!”
“Mm, I also like Brother Zhi.”
“Lian Hua…” Xia Zhi lowered his lips…
“But I don’t like you!” Lian Hua’s voice suddenly turned cold. His refres.h.i.+ng smile also iced over. He raised a hand and a leaf stopped Xia Zhi’s descending lips.
“Lian Hua…” Xia Zhi seemed to be at a loss. His mesmerizing appearance looked very seductive at a glance.
Translator’s Notes:
No idea what the basis is for when the narration calls Xia Zhi Pig Leg and when it uses his name. Ahhh such a sentimental chapter. I cried a bit.
Thanks for all the encouraging comments and the donations, guys. I’m gonna try to get back to a normal schedule, but there are a lot of things stressing me out right now… Like getting a job. I’m never gonna stop translating though.
[1]…I knew this was going to come back and bite me in the b.u.t.t. The joke is that Xiao Bai means Little White, which is similar to Big White’s name. Honestly, everyone who is called “Xiao” in this series kind of deserves to be treated like a little kid… I think I’ll ma.s.s edit it when I do my TLC.
[2]A “demon wall” is actually a demon that makes you lose your way and causes you to wander around in circles, usually returning to the start. No, not those Final Fantasy ones where they are literal walls.
[3]A ghost/demon of some kind that makes your body feel heavy because it’s pressing down on you. It’s the same one people blame for sleep paralysis.
[4]I was really happy when I found out tomatoes grow on bushes so I could say Xia Zhi groped Lian Hua’s bush.
[5]東方玄幻(Dong Feng Xuan Huan) is also known as Eastern Fantasy.