Picking Up My Ex-Wife in the Apocalypse - Chapter 35

Si Qi’s brain was a chaotic mess of static. Even setting aside the storm that was Si Ruxu, she had a mountain of other problems to deal with.

She closed her eyes, trying to feel that mass of information the small zombie had left in her mind, but she felt only a void. It was as if nothing was there. Clearly, opening it required a specific condition. But what?

Intuition told her that the secret to her inexplicable abilities lay with that small zombie. Why did she be reborn? Why did time flow backward? And after her previous death, what exactly had happened to the world?

She thought of Luo Fenghe’s unusual nature. His metal attribute was different from other Awakened, and he didn’t use a core to store energy. Had he also come into contact with this “special” power?

At this thought, she gently sniffed the air, tracking Luo Fenghe’s scent, and began striding in his direction.

*****

As she entered this region, she could clearly sense the presence of energy detectors. If she used her abilities, she would be captured instantly, attracting a horde of Awakened eager to kill her. No matter how strong she was, she couldn’t fight the whole world at once. She didn’t want to gamble.

She kept to the shadows, taking the long way and sticking to deserted areas. Aside from that faint, familiar trail of energy that followed her everywhere, there was nothing else around.

That wisp of energy stayed at a perfect distance. When Si Qi sped up, it sped up; when she slowed down, it followed suit. It didn’t interfere, it didn’t approach; it simply existed.

In the dead of night, while she slept, food would quietly appear by her side. Then, the presence would retreat to its post.

Si Qi stared blankly at the supplies, which were enough to last her an entire day. She had lost count of how many times this had happened. What exactly is Si Ruxu trying to do?

Sometimes Si Qi wouldn’t take the food, but the same items would reappear before her later, as if the sender wouldn’t rest until she accepted them. One day, she couldn’t take it anymore and turned back to confront Si Ruxu, but for every step she took back, the shadow took a step back in perfect sync, as if strictly following a rule never to meet face-to-face.

Eventually, Si Qi gave up. She began traveling with the food Si Ruxu provided; it was certainly better than picking wild berries and hunting every day.

*****

After a week of frantic travel, she finally stood near the outskirts of Luo Fenghe’s base. She could have simply entered, but she was now faced with a very serious problem.

Looking at the rings of Awakened surrounding the base, the weakest of whom were Level 6—a series of question marks popped up in her mind. Their energy was taut, like a bow ready to fire a lethal arrow. Unless she was insane, she wouldn’t mistake these people for well-wishers.

Luo Fenghe is in trouble.

A tight feeling gripped her chest. Instinct told her this had everything to do with her. The situation back then had been too dire; she had ignored the fact that she was the default enemy of humanity. Luo Fenghe helping her was equivalent to standing against his own kind. If those people couldn’t find her, they certainly wouldn’t let him off the hook.

Luo Fenghe had a base—a community of the ordinary, the elderly, and the children. He couldn’t just run.

These people were likely trying to blockade him, hoping to starve him out. They had no idea that his base had a complete self-sufficiency system; he wouldn’t run out of supplies anytime soon.

She let out a soft sigh of relief. The feeling of being hunted and hiding was suffocating. Since these people weren’t going to let her go anyway, she planned to hide in the most dangerous places until the next Great Purge. Perhaps then, she would find more clues.

*****

She quietly circled toward the uninhabited areas.

After the apocalypse, Awakened only existed within a certain radius; the rest of the world had almost entirely fallen. For years, no one had ventured out—or rather, those who did never returned. This “safe circle” was likely the extent of the virus Si Luoheng had released, which, ironically, had saved human civilization.

The edge of the circle was barren—no grass, no trees. She looked out at the desolation; foul-smelling insects crawled through the rubble of the blackened earth. This area was polluted, but for some reason, the rot hadn’t expanded inward.

Si Qi frowned. This wasn’t a good place to hide. Though there were no people, the environment was too harsh. She looked outside the circle.

Outside was a completely different scene: lush forests, sunlight filtering gently through thick leaves, and a rabbit burrowing under a tree. It looked like a normal, unpolluted world—except for the fact that Si Qi could sense a heavy, underlying rot from that side.

She sighed and turned back to search inside the circle. The world outside was too eerie. She took one last look at the rabbit; it had turned into a twisted, skeletal thing before her eyes, yet the trees remained unchanged. The sunlight continued its ancient, inevitable path, indifferent to whether it shone on a living creature or a pile of bones.

Her gaze shifted past the rabbit’s bones to a nearby cave. She remembered having a “hole” of her own back when she was avoiding the Great Frost. It had been a good shelter. She wondered if it was still there.

Being directionally challenged, it took her a long time to find it. Si Ruxu was like clockwork, sending food every night she slept. If Si Qi stayed awake for even one night, the food wouldn’t come; it would instead appear on the path she was destined to take the next day.

Though she tried not to care, she began to wonder: Who else but a Space-type could do this?

*****

She didn’t want to rely on Si Ruxu forever, so she still gathered fruit and hunted. When she cooked, Si Ruxu stayed away.

Months had passed, and the cave remained mostly the same, save for some withered grass. Si Qi spent an afternoon cleaning it out. The last time she was here, she couldn’t even protect herself. She was just a small fish on the chopping block. Now, she had evolved into a “rat”—the kind everyone wanted to kill.

The comparison made her want to laugh. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

She remembered a trip to an ancient town years ago. There was a mountain shrouded in mist. She thought it was just the weather until a man at a night stall told her there was a powerful temple at the peak.

Curious, she had canceled her flight and hiked up the next morning. She had no appetite and nearly fainted halfway up, realizing how arrogant she’d been. To her surprise, many people were already there. When she reached the top, she saw that the “mist” was actually the thick smoke of incense—the physical manifestation of human desire.

She heard people praying for wealth and status, and for a moment, she felt lost. Why did I come up here? Did I also have a desperate desire I was trying to force upon a god?

Her life flashed before her eyes like a slideshow—and Si Ruxu’s eyes were the thread that held every memory together. She laughed softly. Truly sick. Why would I entrust something so important to a god?

She bought some overpriced snacks and hiked back down. When she got home, she immediately leaned into Si Ruxu. The house smelled faintly of soap, and there was a table of her favorite food, still warm.

“You said you’d be back yesterday. What took you so long?” Si Ruxu had asked, her tone flat as she pulled her inside. “Wash your hands. Let’s eat.”

Si Qi had seen the microwave traces and realized her lover was a little grumpy because she’d been waiting. Why would I pray to stay with her forever, only to make her wait an extra day? She apologized softly and told her the story.

Si Ruxu, wearing silk pajamas, had rested her chin in her hand, her pale arm exposed. She smiled. “Desire is a bottomless pit. I already belong to you completely, yet you want to claim my future as well? Is that it?”

Si Qi had nodded, looking at her with expectant eyes. Si Ruxu returned the gaze, her amber eyes full of a solemn, unhurried devotion. “Mhm. I belong to you in the future, too.”

*****

Thinking back, the people in the apocalypse were no different. Desperate, trying to kill every variable, driven by a desire to keep their status while acting righteous.

The sky in the end times was beautiful, but there were no stars at night. Si Qi sat outside before the moon went down. She didn’t feel lonely; the world felt like it belonged to her alone.

Footsteps approached, light and deliberate. The scent of Si Ruxu—a faint, scrubbed-away smell of blood—reached her. There had been a gap earlier in the day where she hadn’t sensed Si Ruxu’s presence, but she wasn’t curious about what the woman had been doing.

Si Ruxu kept a respectful distance, sitting neither too close nor too far.

The air was still. Si Qi kicked her feet, eventually growing drowsy. In her blurred consciousness, she felt herself fall into a warm embrace. The familiar scent, mixed with that faint blood-iron, enveloped her. The shadow picked her up; the figure swayed for a second before steadying.

“Let’s go back to sleep, okay?” the voice was low and tender, a suggestion that felt like a command.

Si Qi didn’t answer. She let herself drift off. Before losing consciousness completely, she felt herself being tucked into a soft bed, a warm body pressing against her side.

Too tired, she thought. I’ll let her win this one.

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