PSW - Chapter 148
Chapter 148
They never imagined they would one day eat hot congee with green vegetables and lean pork.
Each person was given a large, fluffy, white steamed bun. They hadn't eaten their fill in a very long time, so despite their craving, they knew to exercise restraint.
Six female ability users and thirty-seven ordinary women. Zheng Yi spent five Saint Points to buy fifty steamed buns. She and Yu Yinan only took one each, and the remaining five were given to the ability users in case anyone got hungry during the night.
Including the cost of the green vegetables and lean pork, the entire meal only cost eight Saint Points. As for the most crucial ingredient, the rice, Zheng Yi used what she already had in her reserves.
As the women ate their steamed buns, their eyes welled with tears. It was only then that they felt, however faintly, that they were truly alive.
They clearly hadn't fully emerged from the shadows of their past. Some of them were slow and sluggish even while eating, their movements almost unfamiliar. They had become exceptionally timid and sensitive, startled by the slightest noise. Yet, being surrounded by other women gave them a small sense of security.
Yu Yinan hesitated for a moment, deciding not to tell them about the Saint's Bible after the meal. She asked Zheng Yi what she thought, but Zheng Yi was indifferent.
"Do whatever you think is best, Jiejie. I'm not short on a few Saint Points," Zheng Yi said gently as she used her ability to quickly clean and put away the cookware.
Yu Yinan didn't find anything strange about the two different terms, "faith points" and "Saint Points." After a moment's hesitation, she still decided not to preach anything. These women… they seemed like walking corpses, numb and hollow, almost like puppets. Even if she told them of the Saint's existence and stressed that Zheng Yi had saved them…
Yu Yinan simply felt that now wasn't the right time to talk about such things. Perhaps what they needed most was a proper night's sleep, like true, independent human beings.
Perhaps they needed psychological counseling? But Yu Yinan knew little about that. Even though she wanted to help and console them, she didn't know what to say. Any words of comfort or concern seemed too hollow.
Most of the women had taken the painless medicine. Thanks to the earlier nutrient solution and Zheng Yi's healing formation, their condition after the medicine's effects wore off was… fairly decent. At least their lives were not in danger.
A small number of them, however, did not. They clutched their stomachs and wept silently, a look of struggle breaking through their numb exteriors. In the end, they couldn't bring themselves to make that choice.
"Am I disgusting? I don't even know whose child she is… I… those men all deserve to die, they do… But… in this world, I'm all alone… I can't do it. I'm scared… She's inside my body… I want to give birth to her."
Yes, all forty-three of them were now completely alone. They had no parents, and their relatives in Yongdu had all died, either at the hands of Si Haotian or because of this damned apocalypse. As for distant relatives elsewhere… there was no way to contact them, and no way of knowing their fate.
The only close blood tie they had left was this "sinful seed" in their wombs.
Hearing this, Yu Yinan watched the woman break down sobbing, which in turn made the others cry. A mix of emotions churned within her. She stood up, walked over to the woman, and said firmly, "She is your child. Yours and yours alone."
The woman's eyes were red, making her look fragile and helpless. Tears and snot streamed down her face, leaving her a complete mess. Yu Yinan took out a clean handkerchief, drew close, and gently wiped away her tears before pressing the cloth into her hand. Yu Yinan wanted to say things like "don't give up" or "this too shall pass," but she felt such platitudes were worse than saying nothing at all. After a moment of silence, she pursed her lips and whispered an apology. "I'm sorry."
"But… you have to look forward," she said. "Live on, and live well."
After the meal, the female ability users led the dazed women to their new quarters and helped them settle in. They didn't take individual rooms; instead, they slept in groups of several, which offered a small measure of security. The curtains had to be kept open, and candles burned within the rooms, their light chasing away the darkness. This way, if they woke with a start, they would immediately realize they were no longer in those cramped cells.
It was different now.
Clean, new, and properly fitting clothes were distributed, along with socks and shoes. Zheng Yi didn't hesitate to spend the few Saint Points required to get them all settled, and she temporarily placed a portable shower room on the first floor for them to use freely.
That evening, after washing up, Yu Yinan returned to their room. She slowly made her way to Zheng Yi, who was sitting on the edge of the bed looking over a map. She crouched down, nuzzled against Zheng Yi's knee, and hooked a finger around Zheng Yi's hand, which was resting on the bed. "Will they… kill themselves?" she asked quietly, her voice laced with hesitation and anxiety.
This was the apocalypse! Laws and morals had been obliterated. More than half a year had passed without any official organization stepping forward—something must have gone terribly wrong. In such a world… the old rules from before the apocalypse shouldn't be allowed to bind these women, to cause them pain and drive them to take their own lives.
But "shouldn't" was not the same as "couldn't." Yu Yinan could think that way, everyone could, but it didn't mean the trauma from enduring such inhuman torture—from being caged and bred like animals, from being forced to copulate—could simply be wished away.
"Maybe," Zheng Yi replied just as quietly. She set the map aside with one hand and raised the other to stroke Yu Yinan's long hair. "Jiejie, it's their choice to make."
And she wouldn't try to change it.
"…" Yu Yinan said nothing. She lowered her gaze and rested her chin in Zheng Yi's palm. She just felt that… if… if they chose to end their lives over this… it just wasn't worth it. They deserved to have better lives. Yu Yinan felt that they had lost their will to live, that they were "sick," not that they… should just give up.
Yu Yinan was torn. Part of her felt she should do something for them, yet another part believed they had the freedom to make their own choice. For some, perhaps, release was a good option.
She was deeply conflicted and didn't know what to say. When it came to matters like this, perhaps there was no right or wrong. She buried her face in Zheng Yi's palm and let out a long sigh. "That bastard Si Haotian… he really deserved to die…"
Once he got power, he stopped seeing his own kind as people.
"Jiejie, there's a limit to what we can do," Zheng Yi said softly. "In this wasteland, you have to rely on your own strength to survive."
In fact, even some people who tried their hardest couldn't survive in the wasteland. They were like weeds in a flowerpot—a hundred, a thousand times more tenacious than the flowers, bursting with life, fighting to take root and live, only to be effortlessly ripped out.
"Come on up to bed." Zheng Yi's expression was gentle. She withdrew her hand and put the map away. "Tomorrow, we'll wait for their answer."
"…Okay," Yu Yinan replied. "Are we still heading to Changping next?"
"Of course," Zheng Yi chuckled. "After all, I have no idea where that zombie went."
Yu Yinan murmured in agreement, her spirits a little low. But she quickly reined in her emotions, not wanting to show too much in front of Zheng Yi. Forcing a smile, she nuzzled Zheng Yi's fingertips one last time before climbing into bed.
They didn't even know the general direction; they wouldn't have a clue where to start even if they wanted to search city by city. Given the circumstances, continuing on to Changping to check out that research institute and learn more about the meteor fragments was the best option. As for that special zombie and the Xia siblings…
The Xia siblings would have to fend for themselves. As for the zombie… if it headed in the direction of Zhongshan, whether it went to Zhongshan, Xuancheng, or Humanity's Light, there were people in those places who could contact Zheng Yi at any time. A special zombie was dangerous no matter how you looked at it. The moment any of the base leaders sensed a threat, they would surely notify Zheng Yi at once.
The night passed.
The women of Yongdu… both the ability users and the ordinary women, all slept relatively well.
Some of them woke up startled several times during the night, bolting upright with faces full of terror, fear, and defiance, only to gradually calm their panting breaths in the soft glow of the candlelight.
Even though it was fitful, it was the most peaceful sleep they had gotten since… since Si Haotian.
As they put on clean clothes for the first time in who knew how long, they stood in their rooms and hesitated before pushing open the doors, feeling as if they were in a different world. It felt like a dream that would shatter the moment they opened the door, leaving them back in those cramped cells, struggling and waiting to die.
But it wasn't a dream.
After an explanation from Yu Yinan, a few of the female ability users had already tried the miraculous shower room. The comfortable hot water and full set of toiletries gave them the illusion of being back in the pre-apocalypse world, and it was a wonderful feeling. When they saw another woman hesitating at the top of the stairs, they warmly went to greet her, pulling her along to try it as well.
But when the woman saw the bright lights and the clean, orderly interior of the shower room, her face flushed red and she resisted vehemently. She stubbornly refused to say why, but her unease made her thoughts clear enough.
"…It's all right. It's all right now," one of the ability users said suddenly when she saw the woman's reluctance. Her voice choked with emotion as she reached out and pulled the woman into a tight hug. "We all survived… From now on, if you're willing, we'll all be in this together. We'll be a family."
"And this… this is a blessing from the Saint. She doesn't look down on us, so… we shouldn't betray her kindness."
One by one, everyone came downstairs.
They lined up to experience the miraculous shower room, and bathing in the hot water felt like a purification. They didn't linger for too long, however, because an overpowering, spicy aroma began to drift in from the open area outside the front door.
A new day, a new breakfast: beef noodle soup with kelp and tofu.
Tender pieces of kelp, cut into small squares, were paired with silky tofu cubes that melted in the mouth. A layer of bright red chili oil floated on the surface of the broth in the large pot, mingling with what seemed like countless slices of beef. Various spices and chilies had been packed into a small sachet and sunk to the bottom of the pot.
There were two large pots of this sumptuous breakfast.
"Can you eat spicy food, Jiejie?" Zheng Yi skimmed some of the chili oil aside as she ladled out a portion of noodles, kelp, and tofu, then topped it with large slices of beef. She swirled the ladle in the soup again, picking up a bit of the chili oil. "Is this much spice okay?"
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