Picking Up My Ex-Wife in the Apocalypse - Chapter 28

The last night was unnaturally quiet. No rival Awakened, no mutated flora, no sound of wind. The few remaining streetlights cast swaying, skeletal shadows, and the sky was an endless, heavy expanse of black; thick and crushing, like the depths of the ocean.

This Purge had been different for Si Qi. She felt no killing intent from Him. Instead, it felt like a mother whispering her history, her pain, and her turbulent emotions to her child.

Si Qi had perceived too much. She felt the crumbling ache of a world falling apart, and so she remained silent, neither saving nor killing. She and Luo Fenghe became the only two survivors to clear the second trial.

Back at the base, the shattered windows of the apartment had been repaired, and even the sofa had been replaced with a brand-new one. Si Qi sat down, opened a carton of milk, and did what she always did: opened the window to look outside.

She saw a sea of people.

Si Qi tilted her head. “Your fans?”

Luo Fenghe’s lips twitched. “They’re here to collect you.”

A screen in front of Luo Fenghe flashed an S-rank bounty. Si Qi’s photo was printed clearly on the interface.

“What did I do?” Si Qi asked, counting back through her actions over the past week.

“They think you aren’t human. They think killing you is the only way to end the apocalypse.” Luo Fenghe almost laughed at the irony. Regardless of her bloodline, Si Qi was currently the only reason any humans were surviving the Purge at all. Without her, the trials would have spilled into the real world by now.

“Don’t worry,” Luo Fenghe said, calmly activating the defense system. “They won’t get in easily, and they don’t have the guts to attack first.”

He fired a signal flare into the sky. Moments later, several hundred powerful energy signatures responded from within the base. “With great power comes great responsibility,” Luo Fenghe said with a confident smile. “The weak stay home to farm and look after the people; the strong go out to scavenge and return when called.”

*****

In the Research Institute, Si Ruxu gripped a copy of the bounty poster, marching toward Si Luoheng’s room. She threw the paper onto the desk, her voice laced with ice.

“Explain this.”

Si Luoheng offered a shallow smile. “Sister, we both saw it. Si Qi isn’t normal. Even after seeing that, you’re still unwilling to give her up?”

Si Ruxu’s fingers tightened on the hem of her coat, her lips pale. “Even so, you should have consulted me.”

“Consulted you for what?” Si Luoheng leaned in close, sniffing the air around Si Ruxu before recoiling with a look of distaste. “Sister, you have quite a lot of His scent on you.”

Si Ruxu froze. Her core was still shattered, yet her energy was recovering daily—becoming stronger and more stable. It grew intense when Si Qi was powerful and dimmed when Si Qi was drained. The energy Si Qi had funneled into her had taken root, replacing the very core that sustained her life.

A numbing ache spread through Si Ruxu’s chest. “Si Luoheng, I told you: keep your personal feelings out of the mission. Si Qi’s power is undeniable. We should be recruiting her, not trying to destroy her before we even know where she stands.”

Si Luoheng forced a jagged smile. “You’re blaming me because of her. Again.”

“I’m blaming you because you are wrong. It has nothing to do with Si Qi herself. You made a mistake. Do you understand?” Si Ruxu’s tone softened, shifting into that of a patient older sister teaching a rebellious child.

Si Luoheng’s sharp expression smoothed out into one of eerie obedience. “Fine. Whatever Sister says.”

*****

Back at the apartment, the S-rank bounty on the screen was suddenly revoked. The crowds surrounding the base began to disperse.

A white-haired man walked up, resting an arm on Luo Fenghe’s shoulder while scanning Si Qi. She looked back and even gave him a small, polite wave.

“Picked up quite a big trouble this time, didn’t you?” the man, Bai Feng, joked. There was no malice in his voice, only a heavy sense of playfulness.

“What’s there to fear? The Institute revoked the bounty,” Luo Fenghe replied casually.

Bai Feng’s smile faded, turning rigid. “Luo Fenghe, an S-rank bounty from the Institute is different. Every base is falling over themselves to do that woman’s bidding. She is the hope for ending the apocalypse.”

“Bai Feng, do I look like the type to take a loss?” Luo Fenghe’s tone was blunt. The white-haired man went quiet, giving Si Qi one last look that made her skin crawl before he left.

Luo Fenghe leaned back on the sofa. “You still don’t believe the connection between the Institute and Si Ruxu?”

Hearing the name felt like an echo from another life. Si Qi had been avoiding the thought, but she shook her head. “Whatever manipulation or schemes are going on, I want her to tell me to my face.”

She hated misunderstandings. She’d rather take the long road than let her and Si Ruxu be tangled in silence until they drifted apart. She could accept that Si Ruxu didn’t love her anymore, but she couldn’t accept a lie.

Luo Fenghe didn’t answer. He picked up a fan and began waving it slowly, the rhythmic movement masking his deep thoughts.

Si Qi watched him until her exhaustion caught up with her. She drifted off on the sofa.

****

In another base, the scarred Commander sat before a screen. He was watching a seven-day recording of the Purge—from the moment Si Qi entered until she and Luo Fenghe emerged as the sole survivors.

Twice now, only two had made it out, and she was the common denominator. The fact that the Institute had revoked her bounty after only half a day was suspicious.

The Commander remembered the day she had attacked him—the way she looked as she drained his energy. She had been cold, indifferent, and ready to self-destruct just to take him with her.

He remembered the two mechanical devices he’d hidden in Si Ruxu’s space. One was dark—destroyed—but the other was still transmitting. It was focused on Si Qi.

As he watched the recording, a look of madness began to creep into his eyes. The candlelight flickered, illuminating a blood-red glint in his pupils. Faint, crooked red lines began to crawl across his skin, and a sliver of energy—identical to the power in Si Qi’s veins—began to leak from his body.

Si Ruxu had been right. He had no elemental ability. But he had found something else. And now, he was watching its source.

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