Chapter 19.1 – Rainy Night in Hua City (11)
◎Insect Tide◎
The watch Yang Bo left behind was actually a storage space crafted by a space-type ability user. The area wasn’t large, around twenty square meters. Perhaps the level of the awakener who opened up the space wasn’t high enough to impose strict restrictions on entry. Anyone who released a trace of mental power could unlock it. This gave Zhuang Qingyan an unearned advantage.
Before the apocalypse arrived, awakeners were monopolized by the military. These personal storage spaces were only circulated within the military. Obtaining one from the black market would cost a significant price. Nowadays, even as the order broke down and more ordinary people awakened to supernatural abilities, these items remained rare and precious.
Zhuang Qingyan was slightly taller than Yang Bo, but their body sizes weren’t significantly different. He picked out a new set of black casual clothing from the space and took out a large bucket of purified water. He thoroughly cleaned himself from head to toe. After changing into clean clothes, he looked refreshed and neat, appearing as youthful as a college student who had just stepped out into the world.
Song Ke was not around, and the overly familiar chubby guy Tian Yi had also gone out with the main group. The remaining people were all strangers to Zhuang Qingyan. However, he didn’t feel the slightest discomfort or unease. He strolled around the safe zone as if on a holiday, manipulating the wheelchair to survey the entire area at his leisure.
In his view, this place was not suitable for long-term stay. Although there was still some stored water in the washroom, at the current consumption rate, it would run out within three days. Yet, this wasn’t the biggest issue. The safe zone had a fatal flaw—there were too many “wastes” here.
“Wastes” referred to those who lacked the courage to venture outside, unwilling to use their brains to find solutions. They spent their days whimpering in corners while consuming a significant amount of resources. Of course, this category also included him, the “disabled person,” Zhuang Qingyan self-deprecatingly thought.
He didn’t believe that “Teacher Xu” was so kind-hearted. At least, he hadn’t noticed any dazzling halo above the person’s head like a saint. Xu Liren must have his own motives for keeping these wastes.
The metal wheelchair smoothly glided over the ground and soon entered the inner circle of the safe zone.
Upon hearing the commotion, Zhou Anqi and Cao Yiyi both looked up and then visibly froze.
Zhou Anqi was someone who focused on appearances. With the poor early morning lighting and being agitated by Song Ke, she hadn’t really looked at Zhuang Qingyan before. But now, Zhuang Qingyan appeared clean and tidy. Facing his smiling eyes head-on, she realized that this young man was unusually good-looking.
Regrettably, Zhou Anqi pouted. He was brought by Song Ke.
Cao Yiyi waved gently with warmth and smiled at him, “Hey, how are you?”
“Hello,” Zhuang Qingyan replied with a calm expression.
However, Cao Yiyi seemed genuinely concerned about him. After a moment, she sighed softly, “Song Ke is usually careless. You should take care of yourself. By the way, have you known each other for a long time?”
She had taken care of Zhou Anqi yesterday and hadn’t gone out with Jiang Rui and the others. She only heard that Song Ke was the one who discovered him and brought him back when he was seriously injured. As for the exact relationship between the two, no one was clear about it, so she skillfully phrased her question.
Zhuang Qingyan smiled quietly and replied in line with her intentions, “No, we just met yesterday. We’re not that familiar.”
“I see,” Cao Yiyi mused, adjusting her hair thoughtfully. “There’s something I don’t know if I should say…”
“Please go ahead.”
“You probably don’t know this. Yesterday, Song Ke angered Teacher Xu quite a bit. That’s why she was kicked out. If she hadn’t caused so much trouble and dragged you into it, maybe you could have stayed here to recover.”
“Oh…” Cao Yiyi realized she had slipped up and bit her lip in frustration. “I wasn’t intentionally speaking ill of Song Ke. I just think you have the right to know the truth. She might have her reasons. You shouldn’t argue with her!”
“Ah, well, I should have kept quiet. I just felt it wasn’t quite right…”
Zhuang Qingyan gazed at the person in front of him silently, appreciating her clumsy acting.
Even though his golden thigh, Classmate Song, was a bit simple-minded, her intuition was accurate. This Cao Yiyi, with her overflowing tea aroma, indeed wasn’t a good person.
He lightly tapped his fingers on the wheelchair, his deep and magnetic voice carrying hidden meaning, “So, that’s the situation. I knew we were doing fine, so why suddenly leave? Thanks for telling me.”
Cao Yiyi shook her head, “You don’t have to thank me. I only told you because I consider you a friend.”
Zhuang Qingyan supported his chin and smiled, “Since that’s the case, how about you think of a way to help me stay?”
Cao Yiyi stammered, “Huh?”
“Song Ke is too fierce. I can’t handle her. You seem nice to me, gentle and kind-hearted. Help me figure out a way to stay and recover. I’ll repay you.” Zhuang Qingyan blinked at her, displaying a deeply affectionate look full of unspoken emotions.
Cao Yiyi nearly choked on her own saliva. What could she possibly do? Why was this guy so shameless? He was acting like he deserved to be taken care of without a hint of embarrassment!
Cao Yiyi awkwardly responded, “You… you’re not serious, are you?”
Zhuang Qingyan looked surprised, “I’m not joking. You care about me so much and consider my feelings. I thought maybe you…”
His face was full of accusations as his beautiful peach blossom eyes drooped sadly, and he covered his mouth in a heartbroken manner, “You didn’t need to tell me. But now that I know the truth, can you really watch me go to my death? How can you claim to care about me while not taking responsibility? I find you quite frightening.”
Cao Yiyi hesitated, at a loss for words.
What do you call lifting a stone only to drop it on your own foot? What do you call stealing a chicken but losing the rice?
She just wanted to sow discord between this guy and Song Ke, making sure Song Ke wouldn’t feel at ease even after leaving. Yet, what kind of weirdo was this person? How did he manage to turn everything around and make her seem like a terrible criminal?
No, blame it on Song Ke if you must. Why is this being pinned on me?
Cao Yiyi rarely found herself at a loss for words. She quickly tugged on the sleeve of the person next to her, attempting to change the topic, “A-An, Anqi, aren’t you still going to examine him? Maybe you should do it now.”
While the two were engaged in a tea-making showdown, Zhou Anqi had remained silent on the side. She supported her head, looking quite uncomfortable. Hearing Cao Yiyi call her, she could only weakly say, “Fine, let’s hurry up. I’m not feeling great.”
After speaking, she stood up impatiently and reached out to touch Zhuang Qingyan’s leg.
Zhuang Qingyan abruptly maneuvered the wheelchair with a sharp turn, evading Zhou Anqi’s touch. His left hand’s finger joints twitched nervously, and a flash of icy killing intent seemed to pass through the air. “No need.”
His evasive movement was quite sudden, and his disgusted expression was evident. Cao Yiyi, however, didn’t notice anything unusual because Zhou Anqi stumbled forward a few steps, and then turned pale and fainted.
“Anqi? Anqi!”
Awakeners with healing abilities are very precious, and someone rushed up from the side immediately, calling for Xu Liren loudly.
Zhuang Qingyan was pushed out of the inner circle by the commotion, leaning lazily against the back of the wheelchair. He looked towards Zhou Anqi, who was surrounded by a crowd of people, and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Perhaps others didn’t understand what was happening, but he was well aware. When an awakener faced external spiritual force, their internal energy field could become disrupted. If their own strength wasn’t formidable enough to resist this impact, they could lose consciousness and fall into a coma. In severe cases, their brain’s neurons could be damaged, possibly leading to mental impairment.
He knew that Song Ke had previously used spiritual force to frighten Zhou Anqi, but at that time, she had been perfectly fine. It had taken a considerable amount of time for her to lose consciousness afterward. This didn’t seem like the result of a recent impact; rather, it seemed like an eruption caused by prolonged accumulation of suppressed spiritual energy.
This was interesting, Zhuang Qingyan smirked.
In this safe zone, aside from Song Ke, who else would have been “prolongedly” and “oppressively” using spiritual energy on her?
After various back-and-forths, Zhou Anqi finally stirred weakly, but her spirit seemed somewhat listless. She couldn’t muster the energy to speak. The others didn’t discern any particular cause for the incident, so they could only attribute it to the lingering effects of her awakened supernatural ability.
**TN
Tea Aroma – Green Tea B*tch, someone with a good and positive image but is actually a mean b*lly, always trying to sow discord, kinda like a white lotus
