Translator: transcendentwings
Note: update 2/2
After receiving a response from inside the elevator, the knocking sound from beyond the elevator didn’t appear again as it was replaced by a very subtle sound of scratching on metal—Qi Yan inserted a blade into the gap between the elevator floor doors!
Although he couldn’t see it, Song Fei knew it.
He could even imagine Qi Yan’s decisive and powerful movements, his cautious and determined eyes, and his perseverance. He’d never give up until his goal was achieved.
Once upon a time, these were all displays of “trying too hard” in Song Fei’s opinion. Life wasn’t a playground, but life wasn’t a war either. It wasn’t right to regard it as casually as he, himself, had, but Qi Yan’s desire to strive for the best in everything would also make life lose a lot of its flavor.
Until the zombie outbreak occurred.
These qualities made Qi Yan the partner that brought the most security, the most reliable friend, and the most fearless warrior.
Song Fei discovered that he had actually secretly changed his mind.
Being free and easy and being extremely self-disciplined were two attitudes towards life that couldn’t not be compared. Even if they seemed to be relative with a lot of similarities as if choosing one over the other was completely based on personal preferences, the truth is that people who chose the former would never think twice and the ones who chose the latter tended to think too deeply.
Because the latter was much more difficult to achieve than the former in practice.
The blade should be wedged into the middle upper part of the elevator landing doors, because when a little moonlight penetrated through the gap of the outer doors, Song Fei and He Zhiwen still couldn’t see the blade. Furthermore, when they pried apart the cabin doors, they also only succeeded when they used the upper middle section as the fulcrum, thus they were helpless when facing the inter-floor doors where only the lower end was exposed.
The gap between the platform doors widened at a slow and steady rate, only until it was wide enough to accommodate the span of a person’s shoulder did it stop.
In the next second, the one pulling the panels apart swiftly crouched down, revealing his face within the gap.
Against the light, Song Fei couldn’t see Qi Yan’s entire appearance from his viewpoint. To be precise, the upper half of the other’s face was still completely shrouded in darkness, and only the part from the nose to the mouth was somewhat visible, barely able to make out its outline.
Yet even just like this, Song Fei’s eyes suddenly grew hot. He had gnawed on that mouth eight hundred times and this nose bridge was imprinted in his brain, he could barely contain himself when he only caught a glimpse of the nose and mouth ah!
His lips moved, as if he had thousands of words to say, yet he didn’t quite know where to start.
Qi Yan could feel Song Fei’s agitation. If Song Fei engraved his nose and mouth into his mind, then one could say that he should’ve tattooed this rascal, Song Fei, on the surface of his heart. Every time his heart beat, this scoundrel would stir, relentlessly.
But now was not the time to discuss such things, even if he desperately wanted to, he had to endure it.
Shh.
Qi Yan rapidly put his index finger against his lips, stopping Song Fei from saying his thousands of words.
But Song Fei seemed unwilling and still wanted to open his mouth.
Qi Yan frowned and pressed his index finger to his lips again, giving the other a silent and strong warning!
Song Fei threw all his chips in: “I also don’t want to talk, but there’s a pair of feet standing besides you ah!”
Qi Yan suddenly froze and keenly felt a cool wind blowing over from the side. With a quick sideways roll, the visitor pounced on empty air!
Qi Yan, who rolled to the side, swiftly got back onto his feet while the zombie, who sprawled on the ground with a guang, was still struggling and had yet to get up. It was wearing a black top, and in the extremely dim light, it was impossible to see whether it was a sweater, a cotton-padded coat, or something else similar to it, in Qi Yan’s eyes, it was a just a bundle of black shadows, like a specter, as if it had just abruptly appeared!
Without any hesitation, Qi Yan launched the spear over. It was originally aimed at the back of the head, but the dark made him lose focus and he seemed to have stabbed it into the back of its neck. The zombie whipped around abruptly and knocked the blade out of its own flesh without pause!
Qi Yan gripped the spear tightly from beginning to end so he wasn’t affected by such a move, resolutely withdrawing the spear. When the zombie charged over again, the spear struck the opponent in the chest head on and with a sweep to the side, the zombie became unsteady on its feet and fell to the ground unceremoniously. Qi Yan yanked the blade out and without giving the opponent a chance, the third strike pierced straight through its temple.
However, although this zombie had fallen, it meant that there will be thousands of other zombies storming over!
Fortunately, Song Fei and He Zhiwen opened the elevator doors ahead of time, saving Qi Yan a step within the process.
Therefore, at this moment, he knelt on his knees without further notice, tossed his weapon aside, and reached his arms down into the elevator cab. His voice was rushed but firm: “Give me your hand!”
Song Fei pretty much tightly grabbed Qi Yan almost swaying, and from the temperature of his EX’s palm, he used his primordial spirit to slap himself in the face countless times—How the hell could your breakup with this sort of 2.8-meter man, are you a f *cking idiot? Are. You. Or. Are. You. Not. A. Bloody. Idiot?!
The instinct for survival resurrected Song Fei and He Zhiwen in an instant. The sluggishness or depression that they were drowning in when they could only wait for death was replaced by their invigorated spirit and robust skills, and the two of them returned to solid ground in the blink of an eye!
But, obviously there were already zombies, who were rushing towards their location because of the previous skirmish and voices, and from the sound of the footsteps there were definitely more than one!
The three of them came to the corner leading to the elevator and scanned left and right. The night extended from the middle of the hallway to both sides, from light to dark, then finally returning to darkness. They could only tell that the sound was coming from the right, but they couldn’t see any tangible entities at all.
Song Fei and He Zhiwen were complete strangers to the condition of the battlefield within the building and didn’t dare to act rashly at this time. Qi Yan stood in front of the two and stared at the direction where the source of the sound was coming from without blinking for even a moment, as if he were waiting, considering.
Song Fei immediately understood, Qi Yan had a way!
However, He Zhiwen on the side didn’t understand ah, he was so nervous that his heart was about to pop out, so he unconsciously clasped the arm of his comrade-in-arms beside him. As a result, Comrade Song gave him a bright look of “relax and put your heart away”, he really didn’t know where the other’s self-confidence came from!
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Pc atf wlvvif bo atlr ugjy jcv uijcmf, Hl Tjc revvfcis wbnfv. Qtb atf tfii xcfk ktfgf atf qijralm yju revvfcis jqqfjgfv ogbw, atfc la kjr qgbwqais mjra abkjgvr atf batfg fcv bo atf mbgglvbg!
Jglrq ybecmlcu rbecvr gfrbecvfv lcrajcais, obiibkfv mibrfis ys atf tbqr bo rwjii yjiir jr la mbcalcefv jvnjcmlcu obgkjgv, peylijca ilxf j yegyilcu ilaaif ragfjw.
It was ping pong balls!
Song Fei reacted instantly and at the same time also noticed that Qi Yan was still holding the plastic bag in his hand with only at most a third of the contents tossed outwards.
However, this was already sufficient enough for the zombies to play with.
The three of them silently retreated to the inter-floor door against the wall, trying to stay away from the corridor as much as possible. They held their breath until a dozen zombies came stampeding from the right and then continued their pursuit to the left.
About a minute later, when the footsteps of the last zombie passed the elevator, Qi Yan suddenly pulled Song Fei to his feet and dashed to the already emptied hallway to the right!
Song Fei didn’t know why, but he trusted the other completely, only tugging He Zhiwen along with his free hand. The three comrades just ran together like this and soon after they entered an empty classroom.
This was a small-scale self-study room. Several rows of tables and chairs were displayed in disarray in the moonlight, there were even sheets of scrap paper scattered on some of the desktops, silently revealing evidence of the hard work and concentration of the assiduous students who were once here.
Such classrooms seldom had their doors locked throughout the day and night because the most valuable objects were the desks and chairs, but they weren’t made of rosewood or golden nanmu, so it really didn’t contain something worth stealing.
But now, things were different.
The three companions slammed the door closed then locked it as soon as they entered.
The classroom wasn’t big. The side next to the corridor was just a windowless wall, thus after sealing the door and blocking it with a few desks, they could be considered to be in a temporarily safe state.
Only at this moment did Qi Yan take out a flashlight from the zipper pocket of his coat which he was unwilling to use multiple times along the way previously and turned it on.
This imported flashlight that originally belonged to an imported product by Ren Zhe was worthy of being a high-end product. Qi Yan had already adjusted it a low-medium brightness in the interests of saving power, but it was still able to light up half of the classroom.
He Zhiwen recognized the familiar environment at a glance: “This is the seventh floor.”
“Oh.” Song Fei responded casually. Compared with which floor they were on, he was more concerned about Qi Yan.
Turning his head slightly, Song Fei finally saw Qi Yan’s face clearly for the first time since he escaped from the elevator.
As a result, the appearance of the other party scared him.
Qi Yan’s hair was all soaked and his face looked like he had just been fished out of the water. His almost delicate eyelashes were stuck together by the droplets seeming like a girl whose mascara had not been applied properly. His complexion was also a mix of white and red, pale in an unhealthy, sickly countenance and red due to abnormal flushing.
And in the wake of his astonishment, another droplet of water slid from Qi Yan’s temples to his chin and then fell to the ground from his chin.
“It’s raining. . . Outside?” Song Fei felt very foolish as soon as those words came out because you could see through the window towards the night sky when you looked up and not even a single raindrop could be seen on the glass.
Qi Yan was taken aback. He didn’t know that Song Fei had already started to conduct a self-examination after this inquiry and just thought that this guy was just deliberately lodging complaints. These points of dissatisfaction after he pretty much put his own life on the line to rescue him. It was pretty deranged, a great outrage!
“En, it’s coming down really heavily.”
Qi Yan’s tone was so light that it was almost gentle, and made He Zhiwen, who was a bystander, dumbfounded.
No, from the moment Song Fei asked about the weather, he already couldn’t quite keep up with the rhythm of his comrades.
Song Fei gulped, intuitively feeling that things weren’t looking good.
Qi Yan’s wrath consisted of several levels. Initial levels of anger was expressed as direct rage, however it pleased him to express it was however he released it, but extreme anger, on the other hand, was restrained, and the colder his tone, the higher his fury value.
But he didn’t do anything to draw hatred, did he ah?
Even if it wasn’t raining outside and he had asked such a stupid question, wasn’t it only because this person’s face was dripping with water. His brain was somewhat dull and couldn’t figure out the reason, so he guessed wrong, but that wasn’t some sort of heinous crime. . . Wait!
Song Fei abruptly paused in astonishment and he seemed to have had an epiphany in an instant. Without saying a word, he stepped forward, came up right in front of Qi Yan, then reached out a hand and stuck it underneath his clothes on his back. Before the other could react, he already plastered his palm solidly on his back.
A palmful of dampness.
Ignoring Qi Yan’s attempt to dodge after he finally recovered his senses, Song Fei slid his hand all the way up. If this was considered to be taking advantage, then he was copping a feel of his ex-boyfriend’s entire back.
However, for the first time, Song Fei didn’t have any playful thoughts during this process.
To the extent that, every time he went up an inch, his heart also twisted a little.
Qi Yan’s entire back was covered in sweat.
How long does it take to charge to the seventh floor in one go? One minute? Two minutes? Three minutes? But what if there was an obstacle? Turn back then continue? If once wasn’t enough, then two attempts? Two, not enough, so three? Three was insufficient, moving on to the fourth?
It was not raining outside.
Only a fool would make nonstop rescue attempts for five and a half hours after they were trapped inside the elevator.
Throwing his arms around Qi Yan, Song Fei exhausted all his strength to hug the other: “I. . .”
“Wait a second first.”
Although he was caught off guard, Qi Yan still firmly interrupted his ex-boyfriend and struggled to break free from his enthusiastic embrace and dragged the paw that was stuck to his back out at the same time.
Song Fei’s surging emotional torrent was blatantly blocked by the Qi-style dam and his feelings couldn’t keep up for a while. He was entangled between being tactful and acting restrained like waves chasing after waves.
In fact, Qi Yan didn’t think that complicatedly at all. Song Fei’s skill to overthink and go crazy could be started up at will and halted at any time. It belonged to their normal way of interacting that was appealing to each other as a show of affection and it didn’t affect the quality of their endearment if it happened sooner or later.
However, the time table of the other comrade-in-arms couldn’t be delayed any longer. . .
Gewu building, downstairs, the apple tree.
Zhao He felt that he had become one with the tree. You were a part of me, just like I am a part of you, and even if he closed his eyes, he could still conjure up the exquisite appearance of the tree with its array of luxuriant leaves and bountiful fruit.
His body was already chilled to the bone. His down jacket still seemed to have withstood some of the wind, but it couldn’t handle the continuously dropping temperatures. Furthermore, he could no longer move any other part of his body except for his mouth—This tree, from the beginning to the end, had never broken even a twig. This was God’s reward for him for being as steady as Mount Tai. If Mount Tai twitched and God was angered, then he may lose all of his efforts.
Zhao He wasn’t afraid of dropping to the ground, but he was afraid of falling into the arms of the dozens of fans below.
They loved him so much that he was afraid that not even his dead body or bones would be left behind.
For half the night, Zhao He established a deep relationship with the zombies below the tree. He could even accurately identify at least a third of their faces even if their silhouettes changed while swaying with the rhythm, he would always still be able to pick them out at a glance in the vast sea of zombies.
“Don’t look at me so expectantly, I haven’t finished catching my breath, so why don’t we just chat for another ten yuan worth.”
As early as two hours ago, Zhao He changed from singing to rap. Otherwise, not only would his voice be unable to bear it, his physical strength would also be unable to hold up, and his music library would also be insufficient ah. Fortunately, the audience was very generous. It was unknown whether their long-term interactions made them develop certain feelings of attachment, but now whether Zhao He was singing or if he was idly prattling on, they were all very supportive, their gazes focused and their bodies enthused.
“F*ck, why is it you again!” Zhao He irrately jabbed the woolen sweater zombie that was trying to scale the tree for the Nth time with his spear, “I am currently too lazy to use force, if you try one more time, then I really won’t be merciful anymore and just headshot you believe it or not.”
After finishing his piece, he glanced in the direction of the main entrance and sighed in a complicated mood, unable to conceal his exhaustion.
“Don’t be in such a rush,” Zhao He looked at the zombies at the base of the tree that were itching to move as if they could really understand what was being said and persuaded them earnestly, “Xiao-Qi will come out soon. It’s happened dozens of times already, why haven’t you guys figured out the pattern already?”
However. . .
Zhao He anxiously snuck a look at the entrance where it was still empty and silent.
“It’s a bit longer this time, huh.”
The tone that seemed lighthearted, was actually Zhao He trying to reassure himself.
After all, amidst the countless repeated charges, the longest Qi Yan ever stayed in the building wasn’t as long as this time. Of course, if it was because he found Song Fei, then that would definitely be worth having the whole world celebrate. He was just afraid that Qi Yan hadn’t located Song Fei and was held up by some unknown reason, making him unable to attempt breaking through for the 101st time.
Zhao He felt that he couldn’t handle such a result.
He didn’t have a deep friendship with Qi Yan and at least before today, Qi Yan was just an ordinary companion whom he came across on their journey for survival. If you had to label it as a bond forged from putting their lives on the line, that wasn’t completely out of line. After all, they did fight together and even brushed past the shoulders of death. But, to put it plainly, if Qi Yan really heroically sacrificed himself, he would feel sad, even weep for his comrade, but after crying, he would still need to continue forging ahead.
However, all of this changed in the past six hours.
Song Fei and He Zhiwen were trapped in the elevator and Qi Yan went forth to rescue them while he helped him retain the zombies while on the tree. There was no problem with the way this entire deployment was arranged.
Yet, he never thought that this method of restraint would last until the middle of the night.
Watching Qi Yan rush in, seeing him flee from the building haggardly/in a disheveled state with zombies from who knows which floor or floors in hot pursuit, observing as he scaled the other tree in order to readjust his state, while he helped him restrain the zombies that the other brought out, then noting how he’d slip down again and attempt to storm the building again. Then fail again, be chased out by new zombies, climb the tree anew, wait, descend once more, and continue to charge.
Break through each floor using the stairs, reach the elevator, advance afresh, arrive yet again, and he even had to confirm if there was anyone in the elevator shaft. These events could be described in a few words, but to actually accomplish it again, especially in the case of a power outage, where there were countless zombies wandering on each floor and where one had to ensure their own safety absolutely, it was simply as difficult as ascending to the sky!
Once.
Twice.
Ten times.
Twenty.
Persevere, rinse and repeat, up until Zhao He already lost count by the end of it.
That guy seemed to be tireless, unable to know how to get discouraged, as if he wasn’t even aware that there were two words in this world known as give up.
If it were himself, Zhao He thought, he would be driven insane.
Either he would have a breakdown and turn back, kneel on the ground and kowtow to his comrades for his powerlessness, or he’d go all out and fight with the zombies to the death, even if his conclusion would be to get infected and mutate, at least he would obtain a quick end.
But Qi Yan chose the most difficult path.
To endure failure again and again, then keep moving forward repeatedly. To be unable to despair, unable to give up, unable to be irritable, unable to go crazy. To even be forced to be calmer and firmer each time.
If he hadn’t witnessed it with his own eyes, Zhao He wouldn’t have believed that there were such people in this world.
Just like those programs he had watched such as Moving China. He always thought that the content was too exaggerated and sensational, often raising the question of “how can a normal person go to such lengths”.
Now he knew that such people exist and further comprehended that the influence such a person brought to their surroundings was also huge.
As a human being, it was impossible to be unaffected by such a display of strength.
So he had really been perched on the tree for half of the night and actually serenaded the zombies for half the night. It was so cold that half of his whole body was frozen, but he still believed that he could still persist through the rest of the night.
This was quite magical.
“Maybe Qi Yan really found those two so he forgot about me.” Zhao He commented seriously to his former classmates down below. He jabbered on and on and then sighed desolately, “Ai, Zhou Yilu has Qiao Siqi, Feng Qibai took Wu Zhou, Qi Yan is headed towards Song Fei and He Zhiwen. Only I am all alone ah. . . The waves chase after waves~~The jackdaws are all paired~~Every maiden has a partner~~Who will be matched with me~~~~”
“Zhao He—”
“I was just getting into the mood, can’t it wait until I’m done singing. . . Uh, ai? Qi Yan?!!!”
Zhao He immediately raised his shiny head. The floor was too high above, and the lighting was also dim. Neither of them could see each other’s faces clearly, but it was still possible to distinguish the numbers—One on the tree, three upstairs.
“You really found them?!!!”
Zhao He’s eyes widened in disbelief, unable to suppress his inner joy, even his voice was colored with long-lost agitation.
“En, they’re all very safe.” With Zhao He as a film Qi Yan’s voice seemed to even calmer. Perhaps it was because of the long rescue that he had become accustomed to suppressing himself to death in rationality, making it difficult for him to come out of it for a while, “How many zombies are at the base of the tree?”
“Sixty-nine!”
Song Fei made a face, did it have to be so precise!
Qi Yan seemed to have even repressed the nerve to ridicule. In fact, he only needed an approximate number, to have an approximate estimate in his heart: “We’ll sing now and help you lead them over, then you should find a chance to jump down and escape, do you hear me—”
Zhao He frowned: “You guys have the radio?”
“Not yet.”
“Then what am I leaving for! Are you guys on the seventh floor or the eighth? When you charge to the twelfth floor and run out after failing, without me to help contain this gang under the tree, were you guys planning on going to reincarnate directly?”
Qi Yan paused before continuing: “We won’t try to breakthrough for the moment. We need to take a breather first.”
“Then I’ll just take a break on the tree,” Zhao He didn’t even ponder over it, “When you guys are done resting and when I am as well, let’s continue to cooperate. Anyway, we’ll discuss everything after we’ve obtained the radio!”
Qi Yan was slightly agitated. Although he restrained himself, his tone was unable to be free of restless anxiety: “The temperature will drop even lower in the second half of the night, you can’t just continue to be on the tree like that as is!”
“I can—”
“We can’t!” Qi Yan wouldn’t tolerate any negotiation and decisively gave the ultimatum, “We won’t act until tomorrow night. There’s still a day and half the night, go figure it out by yourself ba.”
“F*ck ah!!!” Zhao He was weak to reason but not cowed by force, so he almost exploded with such a provocation.
Song Fei couldn’t listen any further. He knew that both of them were his comrades-in-arms, those who didn’t would think they were mortal enemies. How was this the way to discuss things!
Tugging Qi Yan away, Song Fei gently called out to the one down below: “Zhao He, we will get the radio and we will definitely return in one piece, Just trust me once, okay?”
“No way!” If it was Qi Yan who insisted, then he might be shaken, but this guy was completely unconvincing, alright, “You can’t even conquer an elevator, so how can I trust you!”
Song Fei: “But Qi Yan can!”
Zhao He: “That has nothing to do with you at all!”
Song Fei: “Qi Yan trounces the zombies, bests the elevator, vanquishes the world, and I get the better of Qi Yan ah, so the man who ultimately stands at the top of the food chain is me, me, and still me!!!:
Zhao He: “. . .”
Song Fei: “Do you have any further questions!”
Zhao He: “. . .”
Song Fei: “Why don’t you speak anymore?”
Zhao He: “You have to give me time to straighten out such a complicated food chain ah!!!”
Author’s Chapter Summary
Lying in the night listening to the wind and rain, the relationship between comrades is very questionable!
The translator has something to say: that’s some amazing logic there Song Fei
I love this team!
thanks for the chapters <3
Thanks for the double updates
Song Fei just announcing his claim over Qi Yan from the 6th floor lmao. His brain sure is wired differently…
…well, it’s not really THAT complicated if you know what’s behind the food chain …
…The wife is #1 lol
Hello Translator-daren, may I make a suggestion? When QY, HZ and SY enter a classroom to take cover, I think the Ren Zhe whose flashlight they were using was mentioned earlier as another one of Song Fei’s roommates, the one who liked to chase girls.