PSW - Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Yu Yinan had a long, bizarre dream. She seemed to be walking through darkness, then for some reason, she started to run. She was so tired, and a searing pain coursed through her entire body. In that instant, the darkness around her seemed to come alive, turning into a swamp that she sank into.
She fell endlessly, enveloped by the abyss. The sensations of weightlessness and suffocation were terrifyingly real. In that dream, Yu Yinan couldn't even recognize that she was dreaming.
She thought she saw many people, as if she'd been given another chance to choose. The apocalypse hadn't happened. She was still going to work, rushing about on her bike, sometimes too busy to even eat breakfast. An inexplicable sense of urgency pervaded everything. Fragmented, unrelated scenes wove together: one moment she dreamed of Zheng Yi, of that first rainy night in that building; the next, she dreamed of being consumed by fire, her body immolated. She thought she was dead, but in the next instant, she saw the ground outside covered in white snow. The sky was as clean and clear as the ground below. When she turned, Zheng Yi was there, holding a hot, roasted sweet potato dripping with syrup and smiling at her. Her eyes crinkled at the corners, and she seemed to say something, but Yu Yinan couldn't hear the words.
And then? And then... after that, all her dreams were of Zheng Yi.
Who was Zheng Yi?
Oh, right. Zheng Yi.
Throughout the dream, Yu Yinan felt a disorienting mix of the familiar and the strange, right up until the flames consumed her again. The scorching fire seemed to pulse in her chest, and an endless heat spread through her entire body.
...She woke up.
She opened her eyes in a daze to an unfamiliar room. Her mind was blank. Only after a moment did she recall what had happened. After they had sent Xia Cheng off, she had been trying to improve her ability, and then... she'd lost consciousness? She pushed herself up uncomfortably, her head still throbbing with a dull ache. Was it... the middle of the night?
Yu Yinan blinked, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dark. The moonlight was bright enough to make out her surroundings. She took in the room, guessing that Zheng Yi must have moved her here to rest. The folding bed and mattress... Zheng Yi must have produced them with her ability. But where was Zheng Yi?
A nameless panic seized her, and Yu Yinan shot upright. She saw Zheng Yi sitting with another woman, her head resting on the woman's shoulder, seemingly fast asleep.
Who was this woman?!
Strength returned to Yu Yinan's previously weak limbs. She raised a hand and rubbed her eyes, confirming that she had never seen the woman before. No, this has to be a dream, right?
A surge of emotion made her cough, and the force of it seemed to jolt her entire body, sending a tearing pain through her mind. Yu Yinan frowned. Before she could even catch her breath, a figure zipped to her bedside.
Zheng Yi grabbed her hand. "Jiejie? Jiejie, you're finally awake! I thought- I thought..." Her expression was one of pure surprise and excitement. She blinked twice, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
For a rare moment, Yu Yinan was stunned. But she quickly realized Zheng Yi was putting on an act. As for why-
"You're awake? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?" The other woman had woken up too. She didn't come too close, giving Yu Yinan a safe amount of space as she asked with concern.
Yu Yinan glanced over her shoulder to see several men rushing in recklessly.
"Captain, is she awake?"
"Get back to the night watch. This is none of your business!" The woman's expression instantly hardened, and she reprimanded them with a stern face. The men retreated, and the room fell silent again, leaving only the sound of Zheng Yi's soft sobs.
"...I'm fine." Yu Yinan looked down at Zheng Yi and raised a hand to wipe the tears from her face. Her voice was dry and hoarse, and it hurt slightly to speak. Yu Yinan met those tear-filled black eyes, and even knowing it was an act, her heart softened. "I'm fine," she repeated.
"Jiejie, drink some water." Zheng Yi quickly conjured a ball of water and brought it to Yu Yinan's lips, letting her swallow it slowly.
"Jiejie, this is Chi Heqing- Chi Jiejie. If I hadn't run into them, I don't know what I would have done." Zheng Yi gently helped Yu Yinan sit up and introduced the newcomer. "They're all very, very good people."
Hearing this, Yu Yinan's expression faltered. She looked at Zheng Yi but couldn't discern the true emotions behind her dark eyes.
"It's just that my jiejie isn't very used to dealing with other people. Um... what's that term, social anxiety? My jiejie might have a little bit of that, but she's a very, very good person and a trustworthy teammate. She's just a little slow to warm up, that's all."
Zheng Yi had once said the same thing to someone else- that she was a very, very good person.
Yu Yinan's head throbbed even more. She lowered her gaze and sighed inwardly before forcing herself to look at this "Chi Jiejie." "Thank you. I... My sister has been a bother."
"Don't mention it. But you really are a little too protective of your sister." At this, Chi Heqing's tone grew serious. She glanced at the red-eyed, pitiful-looking Zheng Yi, cleared her throat, and then softened her voice, speaking as gently as she could. "This is the apocalypse. Even if you're an ability user, can you really shelter your sister from all harm forever? She's an ability user too! Doting on her and overprotecting her is actually harming her. She's so naive, with no sense of caution or self-defense. How can she protect herself? You were lucky you ran into us when you passed out. What if you'd met other ability users with malicious intent? Just think about it. You've brought your sister this far; you must have seen your fair share of humanity's dark side."
"..." Yu Yinan's reaction was a bit slow. She'd picked out several key phrases from that long, earnest speech. She quickly understood. This speech... this Chi Heqing was giving her a genuinely well-intentioned warning. "I know. It's just... I don't want her to have to see those things... I know I was wrong. I'll try to change."
"Yes, you certainly can't push her too hard all at once." Chi Heqing glanced at Zheng Yi, who had dried her tears and was now leaning obediently against Yu Yinan. She couldn't resist reaching out to ruffle Zheng Yi's hair again; she genuinely liked the girl. Pretty, well-behaved, and she called you "Jiejie" so sweetly. She was sensible but also knew how to be endearing. Who wouldn't like her? If only I had a little sister, she thought. Too bad. In this apocalypse, she couldn't very well expect her old man to try for another kid just to let her suffer. "Your sister is very cute and sweet. It's just that in this apocalypse, a personality like that... well, it can't be helped."
"Yes, I know," Yu Yinan replied softly.
Chi Heqing looked at the two sisters. How could they both be so well-behaved? One was just a bit more lively, while the older one was more reserved. Ah, I guess it's normal for families with two daughters to have one be an extrovert and the other an introvert, she mused. "And you," she added, "even if you want to get stronger, you can't rush it."
"Overusing your ability like that causes persistent mental pain, and the pain level only increases. Everyone's mind has a breaking point. If you try to force your improvement by enduring the pain and you actually reach that limit, you'll cause real damage to your psyche. That's not the kind of injury you can just sleep off." Chi Heqing's expression grew stern. "It's only rained twice since the apocalypse began. There's still a long road ahead. You're her pillar of support. If you fall, what will your sister do? You need to think about that."
"...I understand. I was impulsive. I wasn't thinking." Yu Yinan lowered her gaze. Zheng Yi's hand was holding hers, and she felt a light tickle in her palm. She had no idea what Zheng Yi was thinking. Yu Yinan replied obediently, surprised to find herself being kindly advised and lectured by someone in the middle of the apocalypse.
"We're just strangers who happened to cross paths and lend a hand. What I said might have been unpleasant to hear, but I meant it sincerely." Chi Heqing didn't press the issue further; the two sisters' attitudes were almost unbelievably good. "Here, have something to eat. Since you're awake, I won't linger. As soon as it's light tomorrow, I'll be taking my people and leaving."
"You're... leaving again?" Yu Yinan hadn't quite processed it.
"'Again?'" Chi Heqing raised an eyebrow slightly but didn't press. "I explained the details to your sister. We have a mission to complete. If you were to follow us... it would be dangerous for you when we find what we're looking for." Not to mention we have a limited number of protective suits, and who knows if they'll even work, or how well.
Yu Yinan moved to sit with them, eating a compressed biscuit as she listened to Chi Heqing give a brief explanation.
"Oh, right. We're from Changping," Chi Heqing suddenly recalled. She looked at Zheng Yi. "I'm the captain of a special squad from the Dawn Research Institute. If you get the chance, you should check out Changping. The... surrounding area is pretty clean. Not a lot of unsavory ability users."
"So if we want to see Chi Jiejie in the future, we just have to go to Changping?" Zheng Yi asked.
"Ah, more or less. If the mission goes smoothly, we'll definitely be heading back to Changping," Chi Heqing replied. Once we find the meteorite, we'll go back, but who's to say there won't be another mission after that? "Where are you two headed? That Humanity's Light Shelter sounds decent. Why didn't you stay there?"
Yu Yinan waited a couple of seconds before realizing Chi Heqing was asking her. "We're planning to go check on Chuanyang." But I definitely can't say we're going to see the ocean...
"Chuanyang... There's someone important to me there. I-I want to go see how things are."
"I see." A hint of melancholy touched Chi Heqing's face. "That makes sense. I have a lot of friends scattered all over, too. With communications down, there's no way to contact them. No news at all. This mission has us searching all over, but we haven't run into anyone we know."
"Maybe they've settled down in other shelters."
"Ah, let's hope so." Chi Heqing shrugged. "You just woke up, so get some rest. Your sister has been watching over you this whole time; she must be tired too. Tomorrow... we're leaving first thing. Don't rush. We've cleared out the immediate area, so you two can rest here and sleep in."
"You're exhausted, so don't push yourself." Chi Heqing glanced at Zheng Yi. "Try relying on your sister a little. She's nineteen, not some helpless kid who can't do anything right."
"Yes, I will." Yu Yinan couldn't help but glance at Zheng Yi. In her slightly red-rimmed eyes, she could actually see a hint of well-disguised anxiety and concern. She had no idea what was going through Zheng Yi's mind. Perhaps she was going crazy, but Yu Yinan found this two-faced version of Zheng Yi to be rather cute. She couldn't suppress the smile that tugged at her lips. Averting her gaze slightly, she looked at Chi Heqing. "Thank you. We've really been a bother... If there's anything I can do to help-"
"Don't worry about it. What help could you offer? It's the apocalypse. Just focus on keeping your sister alive." Chi Heqing waved a dismissive hand, sighing as if she'd heard such thanks too many times before.
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