PSW - Chapter 66
Chapter 66
The siblings talked seriously for a whole night, eventually sharing their favorite types of CPs before finally falling asleep peacefully.
The next morning, after they got up, Zheng Yi and the others knocked on their door, bringing them two bowls of hot noodles.
Noodles for breakfast in the apocalypse?!
The moment they took their first bite, Xia Sheng and Xia Cheng exchanged a look, their hearts moved almost simultaneously. Although it was a bit embarrassing, if they could live a divine life of eating noodles every day by following Zheng Yi… the mere thought was blissful.
After breakfast, Zheng Yi and her group set off again. They took Xia Sheng and Xia Cheng all over Hangnu, visiting every school and supermarket. Along the way, they encountered a few scattered ability user squads. These teams were pretty much the same as the ones they'd met yesterday; they watched from a distance and left as soon as they realized Zheng Yi's group might be too tough to handle. There were also some less discerning squads who took the initiative to court death. In front of the Xia siblings, Zheng Yi restrained herself a little, simply fighting them off with Yu Yinan in a conventional manner.
"Are you okay? You didn't have to get involved, you know. My jiejie and I could have handled them," Zheng Yi said, walking over to Xia Cheng after the fight. She used her ability to heal a scrape Xia Cheng had accidentally received.
"How could I not? I can't just stand by and watch my saviors fight. My brother and I might not be as strong as you, but we can still help a little!" Xia Cheng said, pulling her hand back shyly. "Besides… a small scratch like this will heal in a few days. It doesn't even hurt."
"You're injured, how could it not hurt? It's just a simple healing, it's fine," Zheng Yi soothed her, gently blowing on the wound. The minor injury healed in about ten seconds. "See? All better now. It was no trouble at all. Don't be so reckless next time."
So for transformation-type abilities, injuries sustained while transformed into a robot also appear on the main body. Hmm, that's quite logical.
Xia Sheng was awkwardly at a loss. He didn't dare linger and turned to get into the driver's seat. Yu Yinan silently watched Zheng Yi heal the young girl and comfort her with soft words. The flame in her hand flickered, its temperature steadily rising under her deliberate control.
Just as Zheng Yi finished and stood up, before she turned around, Yu Yinan retracted her ability, ending her brief practice session. Her gaze lingered for a second on the faint smile at the corner of Zheng Yi's mouth before she consciously sat in the passenger seat, waiting for Zheng Yi to get in and continue driving to the next hunting ground.
"Ge, she's so gentle!" Xia Cheng's eyes were dreamy. She floated into the passenger seat and showed her injured hand to Xia Sheng. "Did you see that? She just blew on it for me. You've never blown on my injuries!"
"…You call that an injury? It would have healed in five minutes anyway. Stop being so dramatic."
"Hmph, it still hurt! Ugh, Zheng Yi is so gentle, I could just die. Why isn't a gentle jiejie like her my real sister?" Xia Cheng started freaking out in the passenger seat, punching the air in frustration. "Ge! What do you think of Zheng Yi-jiejie? Why don't you go after her? If she became my sister-in-law, she'd be like half a sister, right?"
"Don't make jokes like that." Xia Sheng glanced at Xia Cheng. "And stop dreaming."
"But she's just so good and so gentle." Xia Cheng slumped in her seat, her soul practically leaving her body. "She must be a goddess, a fairy! I've never seen such a perfect person. Ah, no wonder the other jiejie has a crush on her. It'd be hard not to fall for someone like that while traveling together in the apocalypse, right?"
"And she's so kind. Those ability users were so awful, trying to rob us, but she didn't kill them. She just drove them off, made them hand over their supplies, and let them go," Xia Cheng murmured to herself. "Oh, she said her codename is Saint. She wasn't wrong. She must be a Saint in the flesh."
[Ding! Detecting that Xia Cheng believes the Host is a Saint from the bottom of her heart! Assessing emotional intensity…]
[Assessment complete. Reward: 8 Saint Points!]
Host: Zheng Yi
Saint Points: 167
Inventory Slots: 6
Abilities: Water/Healing (Beginner)
Earning these Saint Points was getting easier and easier.
"Where are Xia Sheng and Xia Cheng from?" Yu Yinan suddenly asked. Zheng Yi got along well with the two siblings, but Yu Yinan had never really joined their conversations, only catching bits and pieces of information about them.
"They're from Yongdu," Zheng Yi replied. "After we part ways in Huikong, they'll head west, while we go south. We're on different paths."
"…I see." Yu Yinan pursed her lips, then explained, "That's not what I meant. I was just asking."
"Mm, and I was just explaining it to Jiejie," Zheng Yi said with a smile. "After all, it's already getting so hot. If Jiejie keeps heating up like this, I won't be able to take it~"
"I want to practice my ability more, to try and raise the temperature of my flames."
"I'm a fire ability user, and I'm still very weak. I want to become stronger." She was willing to be drenched by that special rain, willing to endure the pain of mental overexertion. She just wanted to become stronger, to get a little closer to Zheng Yi.
When she had known nothing, Zheng Yi… had also treated her with the same gentleness she showed Xia Cheng, a gentleness that was absolute and meticulous.
"Mm, I'm looking forward to Jiejie's transformation~" Zheng Yi smiled, seeming to genuinely anticipate how far Yu Yinan could go.
"Zheng Yi, is it possible for me to get a second ability?" Yu Yinan asked after a moment of silence.
The original novel never even mentioned the male and female protagonists getting second abilities. Yang Zhengming was a dual-ability user, but wasn't he still killed easily by Zheng Yi? Zheng Yi tossed the question to Zero One, but even Zero One didn't know how to answer.
Talent? Opportunity? An extreme desire for another ability? Or a branching of one's mental power?
[Perhaps there's a chance?] Zero One answered with uncertainty.
"I don't know either," Zheng Yi replied. "But Jiejie, you need to use a little imagination when it comes to using your ability."
Yu Yinan nodded in understanding. She looked out the window and closed her eyes slightly, trying to control the temperature around her, to raise or lower it. Imagination? Like the various types of flames that appeared in novels? Could it be the absolute maximum temperature, or a cold flame below zero degrees that couldn't exist in reality? Or covering her entire body in flames to form a suit of fire armor… Imagination.
Yu Yinan thought of the Xia siblings' abilities. Transformation types. Weren't those abilities that literally turned imagination into reality? Perhaps the upper limits for ability users in the apocalypse were far beyond this.
Imagination. If she could really do it…
Their journey together was brief. Even though they scoured all of Hangnu, their high combat strength meant they encountered almost no difficulties, so they weren't delayed much on the road.
In two days, Zheng Yi and her group brought Xia Cheng and Xia Sheng to Huikong. They stayed for a simple day of rest. Early the next morning, Xia Sheng, with a reluctant Xia Cheng in tow, thanked Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan again. "Thank you so much for taking care of my sister and me these past few days! We weren't much help and caused you a lot of trouble. We're really sorry!"
"Now that we're in Huikong, we won't bother you any longer. We'll head to Yongdu first." Xia Sheng paused for a moment before continuing sincerely, "If… if everything goes smoothly, we'll bring our family to Pujie, to the Humanity's Light Shelter!"
"When that time comes, if there's anything you two need, we'll be there at a moment's notice!"
"You don't have to be so polite. We had a great time these past few days. So, see you in Pujie?"
Xia Sheng nodded. Xia Cheng's eyes were filled with tears as she reluctantly held Zheng Yi's hand. "Goodbye, Zheng Yi-jiejie. I'll miss you. When we get to Pujie, I'll definitely spend a ton of contribution points to treat you to delicious food!"
"Okay, I'll be waiting."
"Yu Yinan-jiejie, I'll treat you too," Xia Cheng said, still holding Zheng Yi's hand, but suddenly turning to Yu Yinan. "You're both good people. You'll definitely be rewarded."
"…Thank you." For a moment, Yu Yinan didn't know how to respond. She hadn't expected Xia Cheng to notice her or say something like that to her. She raised a hand to pinch her own hot earlobe and said in a low voice, "I wish you a safe journey."
"Mhm, see you in Pujie!"
The simple farewell ended with Xia Sheng's slightly shy bow and Xia Cheng's vigorous wave. They got into their car, and Xia Cheng stuck her head out the window, waving energetically at Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan again until Xia Sheng couldn't take it anymore, pulled her back in, and fastened her seatbelt.
"Not used to it?" Zheng Yi glanced at Yu Yinan.
Yu Yinan touched the tip of her nose, her eyes downcast, and didn't reply. "I barely spoke to her… She probably thinks I'm hard to get along with."
"Hmm?" Zheng Yi neither confirmed nor denied it. She hummed an unknown tune as she returned to the driver's seat. After Yu Yinan was settled, she started the car and began their search of Huikong.
Zheng Yi probably preferred people who were passionate and sincere, right? People who could express their thoughts openly and declare their love directly and earnestly. They seemed to have an endless supply of courage, able to confess their love ten thousand times without fear of rejection. Even if they were only that brave on the surface, it was enough to make Yu Yinan envious.
Yu Yinan thought about how she had told Zheng Yi she liked her. Although she hadn't been clear about her own feelings at the time, she had said it. She had said, "I like you," and Zheng Yi had replied that it was all fake.
She had told Zheng Yi she could dig out her heart to see, but Zheng Yi had skipped over the topic and never brought it up again.
Perhaps it was because her like and love were both vague. Perhaps it was because she herself hadn't completely figured out what she wanted. She didn't know what kind of person she wanted to be, how she wanted to live in this apocalypse, or what she wanted to become.
Perhaps she should think about it seriously.
Who am I?
Where do I come from?
Where am I going?
She pondered these questions. Unconsciously, she would instinctively turn her head to look at Zheng Yi. It seemed to have become a habit. When she was driving, she would steal glances at Zheng Yi with her peripheral vision. When she was in the passenger seat, her gaze would drift over to Zheng Yi's profile without her realizing it.
Ever since meeting Zheng Yi… the Zheng Yi content in her life was just too high.
"Zheng Yi," Yu Yinan called her name softly. She opened her mouth and asked, "How old… are you this year?"
"Nineteen," Zheng Yi answered with a smile. Of course "Zheng Yi" was nineteen~
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