Rebirth of MC

Retrieving a quilt from his space, Huo Zaiyuan flicks it open and covers the two men with it as they don't seem capable of getting up anytime soon. That done, he turns around to stare at the quietly smiling soldier.

"Older brother Long, you seem to have gone too overboard with this 'training'."

"Heheh." Long Zhanye chuckles lightly, walking over to stand beside Huo Zaiyuan, then reaches out to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Not overboard. Definitely not overboard. Little Yuan knows me best, right? Anyway, how was your 'closed-door cultivation'? Did it go well?"

"Un, it was all right. I managed to break through the second level. Now I'm starting on the third level." Huo Zaiyuan nods his head as he answers. "Older brother Long, did you discuss any plans with them? When will we be leaving this place?"

"Hmmwe're still following our previous plan. Only these two brats are dog-tired. Let them rest for a day, then we'll get everything together and depart." Long Zhanye glances down at the two men. "As of today, it has already been more than twenty days since the start of the apocalypse. We've got no idea what the other cities have become."

"Un." Huo Zaiyuan grunts, closing his eyes.

In his previous life, experiencing the apocalypse for half a year, he remembers swamps spawning everywhere, swarms of red devil ants enveloping the landscape, zombies going on rampages and hunting down humans as though the surface world has become Purgatory. After rebirth, Judgement Day came earlier than expected. Doesn't that mean Earth's descent into Purgatory will also come earlier?

Huo Zaiyuan's face falls a little as the thought surfaces in his mind, then pales.

"Little Yuan, don't dwell on groundless thoughts. Even if it's the apocalypse, this Earth will continue spinning on its axis, we will still continue to survive. Don't give up hope. There's no need to be worried over something beyond your control." Moving his hand from Huo Zaiyuan's shoulder to his head, Long Zhanye rubs it in comfort.

Hearing those reassuring words, Huo Zaiyuan nods his head in agreement. The warm and gentle rubs of a larger hand on his head is extremely soothing, prompting him to close his eyes in contentment, an expression of pleasure on his face like that of a cat enjoying being stroked.

~~~

The one happiest about Huo Zaiyuan finally emerging from his 'closed-door cultivation' is Li Qing. After suffering under Long Zhanye in the name of 'special training', he is a hundred times more exhausted than Qin Jun since the latter has always liked exercising, and occasionally goes to the local boxing club to spar with fellow club members. On the other hand, Li Qing spends most of his time simply gaming. Long Zhanye's fist is merciless and quick. Although he is aware the other is holding back quite a lot, it still feels as he was hit by a steel hammer. The pain he underwent is indescribable.

However, he didn't suffer in vain for the past few days. His reaction speed and dodging ability have improved a lot, to the point that he is capable of defending himself out in that hostile environment.

Seeing the shocking smattering of blue and purple bruises littering Li Qing and Qin Jun's body, Huo Zaiyuan merely raises an eyebrow and rummages through his space for a while before finding a medicine box. Opening it, he hands over some ointment.

"We'll leave tomorrow. Today will be for putting everything in order and we'll turn in early tonight." Huo Zaiyuan states, gaze landing on Li Qing, who is currently having medical ointment applied on his arm by Qin Jun. Since this is Li Qing's birth mother's house, this sentence is mostly aimed at him.

Ten days. Not long, but not short either. However, with regards to li Qing who is still mourning his mother's death, he has been given sufficient time to ease the sorrow in his heart. It is only natural he understands the implications in his best friend's words.

Lips curving into a small smile, he says softly. "All right, we can depart tomorrow."

Being able to say farewell to his mother is perhaps the greatest favour he can ever ask for. How can he be greedy and ask for more selfish demands?

Although he will be leaving this place - and quite possibly never return again

When night falls, Huo Zaiyuan goes into the kitchen and cooks a large feast, enabling everyone to eat their fill and turn in satisfied.

~~~

After a good night's rest, Li Qing wakes up early the next morning to put everything in order. As he didn't come into this house with the intention to stay long, there isn't a lot of things for him to pack. The only item within this house that originally doesn't belong to him is a well-preserved wooden box his mother gave him before she died. It was placed beneath the bed since that day and he hasn't opened it yet.

Within the box is a notebook, its contents penned with an unfamiliar hand. After flipping through a few pages, Long Zhanye is able to determine that this book contains notes about various machines and its production process. It is something he has never seen before and at the time being, he cannot be absolutely sure what the contents of this notebook is all about.

Since his mother has taken sure good care of this notebook, hiding it away for so long and even not forgetting to remind him he absolutely must take this before he leaves, Li Qing reckons that this notebook must contain something awesome. In addition, this book is a legacy his birth mother left behind, hence, it has become an even greater treasure in Li Qing's eyes. However, carrying a wooden box around during the apocalypse is rather cumbersome, and he can't bear the thought of damaging or losing it. After thinking about it for a while, he hands the box over to Huo Zaiyuan, letting him store it in the space as it is the safest place Li Qing can think of.

Out in the courtyard, Huo Zaiyuan brings out the off-road vehicle and places a few boxes of food as well as weapons in the car in preparation for everyone's easy access to food when hungry and equipment for self-defence.

With an air of reluctance, Li Qing turns around to stare at his mother's home, a trace of bitterness in his eyes.

"Little Qing." Qin Jun hugs him from behind, dropping a kiss on his cheeks. "Hereafter, no matter where we go, our home will always be here, in our hearts." Linking their hands, he brings them up to place on Li Qing's chest.

"Un." Nodding his head, Li Qing's expression lightens up as he turns away from the house.

Long used to seeing the pair's intimate actions, Huo Zaiyuan simply heads over and opens the passenger seat's door. "I've set up arrays all around this house to prevent zombies from damaging it. As long as it doesn't get hit by a missile or a bomb, there wouldn't be much problem. When the apocalypse ends, we can always return if given the opportunity."

Li Qing brightens as he hears Huo Zaiyuan's words, a brilliant smile appearing on his face. "Thanks, little Yuan."

Once Qin Jun and Li Qing get into the backseat, the car departs from the driveway, with Li Qing staring out the window until the house completely disappears from his sight.

Goodbye, mum.

~~~

Although Long Zhanye isn't all that familiar with Z City and hasn't stayed for very long, his shockingly good memory allows him to remember a place as long as he has been by once.

"Eldest brother Long, are we going down Huan Shi road to Bei Hua road, then keep going straight?" Map in hand, Qin Jun asks as he glances up from time to time to look at the signboards, quickly pinpointing where they are currently.

"Un. Did you take the direct road when you head over?" Long Zhanye inquires as he skilfully controls the steering wheel to avoid the wandering zombies on the streets.

This off-road vehicle is still comparatively inferior to his heavily-modified Hummer even if it handles a lot better and is more durable than the small car he was forced to use the day he met Huo Zaiyuan. But no matter how strong it is, this vehicle cannot handle the long-term strain. Still, he has always been frugal so if one can save, why not? Just keep using this car until it breaks down from crashing once too many times.

"At that time, I was concentrating solely on finding little Qing and simply took the shortest road. There were a lot of people fleeing from the city in their cars so the main highway became congested. After that, I took the smaller roads and spent two days to get to Z City."

That day, he had only wanted to make sure Li Qing was fine and was the only car heading in the opposite direction from everyone else. But the number of cars occupying the highway and forcing their way over onto the opposite lanes were too many, hence compelling him to take the smaller roads.

"Now that this entire highway is occupied by zombies and those who are able to flee have fled, we have near unobstructed access. Speed is not an issue but rather, the stationary obstacles in our way are." Huo Zaiyuan says as he looks out the tightly shut windows at the zombies trying to pounce on the off-road vehicle as it speeds past. Many more up ahead have congregated in a loosely-knit group, drawn by the roar of the car's engine.

In these past ten days, the undead's sense of hearing and motions have improved slightly.

"That's true. When there was a large bulk of people fleeing from Z City, there were traffic jams on all the major roads. There wouldn't be any guarantees that when everyone was stuck in traffic, zombie attacks didn't happen. We need to look out for and best avoid large blockades of abandoned vehicles. There could be zombies lying in wait." Long Zhanye agrees, gathering up his concentration and straining his vision further to avoid getting everyone into a complicated situation.

"Then what should we do now?" Li Qing's processing capability is a little slower than the other three, but his brow wrinkles as he listens to the conversation.

"Since we don't need to be anywhere urgently, I propose we take the main highway first and take a look at the situation. If it is impossible to cross smoothly, then we will follow Qin Jun's guide and take the smaller roads into Y City." Huo Zaiyuan offers as he rests his head on his hand, elbow braced at the window.

"Wouldnt it just be wasting more time?" Li Qing questions.

"We are not in a hurry, just treat it like sightseeing. Why are you in a hurry, little Qing?" Long Zhanye states, his expression carefree.

"Sight - sightseeing" Li Qing murmurs, tone disbelieving.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you if there's danger." Huo Zaiyuan comforts his friend with an extremely serious face.

Qin Jun scowls lightly, reaching out to pull his lover into his bosom. "Oi, oi, little Yuan. Don't steal my lines."

"What's the matter, can't eat a little vinegar[1]?" Suddenly turning around in his seat, Huo Zaiyuan extends a hand and runs a finger along Li Qing's delicate jawline, eyes slightly narrowed. "Hmmif it's a beauty"

"You - enough. If you're talking about beauty, then I, Li Qing, wouldn't even be able to catch up to you even if I rode a horse!" Li Qing explodes from embarrassment.

With one hand on the steering wheel, Long Zhanye copies Huo Zaiyuan's earlier action towards Li Qing and runs a finger along Huo Zaiyuan's own jawline, staring intensely at that fair face. "Un, indeed a real beauty."

"Long Zhanye!!" Rare indeed is the sight of Huo Zaiyuan exploding in anger.

On the road, the sound of unrestrained laughter drifts out of the car, unbothered by the zombies meandering along.

~~~

"Ah, as expected. It's impossible to drive a car smoothly through the main highway ah!" Huo Zaiyuan says as he stares out the window.

Before the main highway's checkpoint, a sea of abandoned vehicles are left there is one disorderly mess. Indistinctly, one can still make out the odd zombie amongst all that metal, dried bloodstains, discarded bones and whole skeletons, rotting flesh and decapitated limbs. It is a grotesque sight one would be hard-pressed to forget.

"The road ahead I'm familiar with. Let me drive." (QJ)

Footnotes:

[1] Basically saying QJ is easily-jealous. Eating vinegar = Becoming jealous