PSW - Chapter 132

Chapter 132

The extreme cold period arrived, and the entire world was once again ruled by wind and snow. A white curtain fell from the sky. Fierce winds howled outside the window, whipping up clouds of snow dust and causing the ceaselessly falling, goose-feather-like flakes to swirl as they descended.

This heavy snow caused the entire world to fall into slumber once more. In a stretch of silent white, all traces of living creatures were covered. Whether zombies, plants, mutated beasts, or humans, it seemed as if they had all fallen into a deep sleep along with this dormant world.

The howling wind outside sounded like the roar of some wild beast. The gale continuously battered the window, as if it would break through and burst in at any moment.

Yu Yinan wiped the white mist from the window with a scrap of cloth, thinking with some resignation: The last extreme cold period clearly didn't have such strong, fierce winds.

This time, even the speed at which the temperature dropped was much faster. The sky was always oppressive and gloomy. Yu Yinan couldn't figure out why there was so much snow, as if it wanted to bury all the living creatures in the world beneath it.

Traveling was still possible, but it was extremely inconvenient and troublesome. After all… the accumulated snow was too deep. Yu Yinan hadn't expected the snow to pile up so thick after just one night! Stepping on it was still soft and fluffy, and a person would sink right in. Walking was barely manageable; she could just melt it with her fire ability. But driving wasn't so convenient.

With the fierce wind, heavy snow, and such deep drifts, even though they had installed anti-skid chains on the car's wheels, it still stalled when it was going to stall. Yu Yinan had clearly tried her best to control the temperature inside the car and protect its body, but… it still stalled.

This was why they hadn't returned to Humanity's Light yet, and had instead found an abandoned house on the way, tidied it up a bit, and settled down to rest for the time being.

"Jiejie, you did that on purpose, didn't you?" Zheng Yi, holding a branch she had gathered outside, poked at the ashes of the fire, pulling out the baked sweet potatoes one by one. "Even if we went to Humanity's Light, I wouldn't rashly give them the barrier. You can still hold me when we sleep~"

"No, really, I didn't!" Yu Yinan was at a loss for words to defend herself. On one hand, she felt Zheng Yi was deliberately teasing her, but on the other, she felt she couldn't clear her name no matter what. She stood by the window for a moment, then finally said dejectedly, "Although I really want to have our own little world together, I would never… deliberately delay your journey."

Zheng Yi beckoned to her, naturally and casually changing the subject. "Jiejie, the sweet potatoes are ready. Come have one?"

Yu Yinan sighed helplessly in her heart, now certain that Zheng Yi had said it on purpose. She quickly moved closer, sat down beside Zheng Yi, and picked up a sweet potato from the ground. As a fire ability user, she wasn't very afraid of high temperatures. Even though the sweet potato was scorching hot, she could easily peel it, revealing the golden, delicate flesh inside, from which a golden, sugary syrup oozed. The unique sweet fragrance of the sweet potato quickly spread. Yu Yinan blew on it gently, then split the sweet potato in her hand and passed half to Zheng Yi. "It's still a little hot. Be careful when you eat it."

"Thank you, Jiejie~" Zheng Yi said sweetly, taking the half. She blew on it a little and began to eat it in small bites.

"…" Yu Yinan felt a little awkward at being addressed like that. She felt it had been a long time since Zheng Yi had put on this persona of a delicate, soft, weak, innocent, and sweet beauty. But for her to suddenly act like this… The tips of Yu Yinan's ears turned slightly red, and she lowered her head to eat her sweet potato, as if to hide her reaction.

Needless to say, the sweet potato was fragrant, sweet, soft, and sticky. Taking a bite of a warm sweet potato held in one's hands on a cold winter day warmed the heart and filled it with sweetness.

It seemed that no matter the ingredient, as long as Zheng Yi took it out, its quality would have been considered extremely rare even before the apocalypse. Yu Yinan thought that before the apocalypse, she had eaten her fair share of roasted sweet potatoes and corn in the winter, but she had rarely encountered ones like Zheng Yi's, where every single one was incredibly sweet, with golden flesh that oozed syrup.

Roasted sweet potatoes, roasted corn, roasted sugarcane… Zheng Yi skillfully took out the ingredients, prepared them simply, and put them directly on the rack to continue roasting. "Is there anything else you want to eat, Jiejie? How about some barbecue tonight?"

"That's enough, it's more than enough… The corn and sweet potatoes are filling." Yu Yinan quickly shook her head; she couldn't eat that much. Food was scarce in the apocalypse. Even if Zheng Yi always had the ability to conjure these foods, they certainly didn't come from thin air. How could they be wasted so casually?

"Okay, we'll eat it tomorrow then." Zheng Yi replied, carefully turning the pieces of sugarcane on the rack. "Tomorrow, during the day, let's try to travel a little."

"We'll take a look at the situation at Humanity's Light during the extreme cold." If Zhu Lanyuan, Grandma Xu, or the other women were in any difficulty, Zheng Yi could help them out a bit.

After all, this extreme cold period should last for a month. If they didn't travel at all and just stayed in this small house for a month waiting for the cold to pass… it wasn't impossible, but it was too long.

"Okay, I'll be extra careful tomorrow." Yu Yinan reviewed her process of heating the car, trying to recall if there was anything she had overlooked. Tomorrow, she had to control it more thoroughly. "The car stalling this time… although I really didn't do it on purpose, I must have been careless somewhere." Her mental strength had clearly improved a lot, and her control over flames and temperature was becoming more and more proficient…

It was probably because she hadn't used her ability like this for a long time. After all, the temperature had been very high before, so she hadn't had a chance to heat the car, ensuring the entire vehicle and its interior were maintained at a suitable, constant temperature.

"You'll get better with practice. The extreme cold period is long." Zheng Yi chuckled. "Speaking of which, this could be considered a form of training for you, Jiejie, right?"

"Mm…"

When night fell, after Yu Yinan and Zheng Yi had each taken a shower, they lay down together on the portable capsule bed. It was still far from bedtime, and there weren't any other forms of entertainment in the apocalypse. Yu Yinan simply held Zheng Yi in her arms, radiating warmth to keep her nice and toasty.

[How rare. I thought I'd be locked in the little black room.] Zero One watched them cuddling intimately and couldn't help but sigh with emotion. [By the way, Yu Yinan has been confessing her feelings to you all this time. Do you not plan to respond to her at all?] Zheng Yi used to be able to say anything so effortlessly, making it impossible for people to distinguish truth from lies. Even if it was a lie, why couldn't she just lie to Yu Yinan a little? They were already so intimate and had done everything a couple would do. Why was there still… as if something was between them? And the key to this faint, almost non-existent barrier was clearly Zheng Yi's attitude.

'Do you remember what kind of system you are?'

[But I have a pro like you around. Being led by you like this, where is there room for me to perform? From now on, my entire system life will revolve around you, serve you, and support you!] Zero One said this with great passion and excitement. After finishing, it asked again, [I'm just curious. What are you really thinking?] Could it be because of her past life?

'Curiosity killed the system.' Clearly, Zheng Yi had no intention of chatting idly with Zero One. She closed her eyes and leaned against Yu Yinan's embrace, feeling warm and completely relaxed.

"When we have the chance, let's go to a hot spring," Zheng Yi said suddenly.

"Ah, okay." Yu Yinan naturally had no objections. She agreed immediately, only then considering the practicalities. "Are there still hot springs now? The artificial ones are probably abandoned, and the natural ones… either way, the water quality must be contaminated, right?"

"But you have me, don't you~" Zheng Yi said lazily.

"Then, should we build one?" Yu Yinan thought, I can heat water too. But on second thought, she felt that wouldn't be much different from taking a hot bath. She nuzzled against Zheng Yi and said in a low voice, "Then let's just see what happens. Aren't we going to Changping later? We'll pass through some cities. When we get to Humanity's Light, I'll look for some books in the library or ask Zhao Haiyue and the others, and then we can plan a route together."

"Mm, when the next high-temperature period comes, let's go travel to other places. We can head north; the temperature in those cities might be a little lower. Or we can go to other cities and see different seas." Zheng Yi's voice was very soft, and with her eyes closed, she seemed about to fall asleep. "Jiejie, is there anywhere you want to go?"

A place I want to go… Yu Yinan thought for a few seconds, then couldn't help but nuzzle Zheng Yi again. "I don't know. Wherever you go, I'll go. Anywhere is fine."

Forests? Oceans? Deserts? Snowy mountains? Before the apocalypse, there were more tourist attractions than one could count. As for after the apocalypse… Zheng Yi didn't need to consider safety. If a place she wanted to go was dangerous, then it was the mutated creatures there that should be in danger. Thinking this, Yu Yinan truly felt that anywhere would be fine.

"Then let's take our time."

The apocalypse was still young. Never mind traveling all over Ling Country, with Zheng Yi's current strength from carrying the meteor fragment, condensing water to cross the sea… wasn't entirely impossible. If Zheng Yi were to grow for a few more years, a trip around the world probably wouldn't be out of the question.

Pujie.

"Shift change, shift change! Next group of fire ability users, come on up. Remember to register before you leave; contribution points will be sent directly to your ID cards. Have all the thunder-type ability users get ready to come over and store as much backup electricity as possible." Zhao Haiyue, wrapped in a thick overcoat, was diligently organizing the ability users' work.

Humanity's Light was well-prepared for this extreme cold period, having stockpiled plenty of fuel and electrical energy in advance. However, it was unclear exactly how long this extreme cold would last, so energy consumption had to be planned. To ensure that the majority of ordinary people didn't freeze to death, the energy consumption was enormous. The dormitories for fire ability users had now been reassigned, mixing them with residents of the same gender as much as possible so that the fire ability users could provide some warmth for their companions even while resting.

"Seriously, couldn't they send a fire-type or an enhanced physique ability user over? I'm a mental-type; you think this is easy for me?" Zhao Haiyue complained as she resignedly used her nearly frozen hands to register and make notes for these people. "Even without using their abilities, fire-types aren't as afraid of the cold as others. Isn't their passive ability cold resistance?"

"Aren't I here with you? There are only so many fire ability users, and they're all on rotation. It's too expensive to have them take on this post as well. Even if we're paying in contribution points, we can't make the amount too ridiculous, can we? If the shelter's economy gets out of balance, we're all finished." Zhou Xiyue was rubbing her hands and stomping her feet nearby, her nose also red from the cold. She took out a registration form to handle the queue in front of her while replying to Zhao Haiyue. "You're just not happy with me. If Yun Lingjian were here with you, you wouldn't be complaining so much."

"…" Zhao Haiyue shot Zhou Xiyue a speechless glance, her tone unreadable. "I wouldn't bear to let Yun Lingjian freeze with me. I'm simply unhappy that you're making me work overtime."

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