Picking Up My Ex-Wife in the Apocalypse - Chapter 39

The weather was brutally hot, yet an anomalous cluster of storm clouds gathered in the sky. They drifted there, dark and ominous, showing no intention of releasing rain. In the dead of night, a sharp, rhythmic pitter-patter struck the ground, jolting Si Qi from her sleep.

She sat up, feeling a deep, bone-weary exhaustion. On the other side of the bed, Si Ruxu slowly opened her eyes. Listening to Si Qi’s heavy, labored breathing, Si Ruxu lowered her gaze, her lashes trembling with a hidden moisture.

Si Qi crouched down and found tiny shards of ice wedged in the cracks of the earthen wall. She held out her hand, letting a piece of hail melt in her palm.

Hail during the Great Heat. It was something that hadn’t happened in over two years. Si Qi realized she could barely sense the fluctuations of energy in the air anymore.

Her body felt as if it were getting better, yet simultaneously worse. Her sleep was no longer as long or as heavy, but she was losing control over her abilities, as if the vast reservoir of energy within her was intentionally hiding.

The third Great Purge is coming, Si Qi thought.

A faint chill had crept into the air. She climbed back onto the bed, pulling the thin quilt over herself and Si Ruxu. A few energy crystals scattered around the room emitted a weak, ambient light.

In the gloom, Si Ruxu shifted gently, as if still dreaming, and pressed herself closer to Si Qi. When she felt Si Qi’s body temperature, she frowned slightly; it was far too cold. She quietly draped her arm over Si Qi, trying to use her own warmth to shield her.

Si Qi didn’t call her out. She simply found a comfortable position and let sleep take her. Before drifting off, she felt Si Ruxu’s hand rest gently on her waist, the woman’s tender presence enveloping her completely.

*****

When she woke the next morning, the hail from the night before had been evaporated by the sun, leaving no trace. The sounds of the night felt like a hallucination except for the fact that her own hand was resting over Si Ruxu’s waist.

Feeling the soft warmth beneath her palm, Si Qi quietly withdrew her hand. Si Ruxu’s lashes fluttered as she began to wake. Si Qi didn’t look away; she stared directly into the woman’s eyes until the morning mist cleared from them.

A semi-conscious Si Ruxu reached out and pulled her back down. Si Qi fell forward onto her, and Si Ruxu buried her face in Si Qi’s neck, her soft hair causing a faint, tingling itch.

“There’s nothing to do anyway… sleep a bit longer, okay?” Her voice was wheedling, reminiscent of their old weekends together.

But this time, Si Qi shook her head. “No. I want to go out and look around.”

The sleepiness vanished from Si Ruxu’s eyes instantly. “Where?”

The weather was unfit for travel. Though the hail had provided a temporary reprieve, by noon the ground would be like a furnace again. It was only the fourth day of the heat, and their earthen shelter was already showing signs of cracking. They had enough water for drinking and sponge baths, so they weren’t as miserable as they could be, but leaving was a different matter.

“I’m going to find Luo Fenghe.”

A flicker of complex emotion crossed Si Qi’s eyes, a detail Si Ruxu caught immediately. Her fingers tightened instinctively.

She remembered the ambush. Except for Luo Fenghe, no one had helped Si Qi—not even her. Luo Fenghe had shattered the window and jumped with her, carrying her through the crossfire. By the time Si Ruxu had caught up, Si Qi had used her last ounce of strength to teleport him away.

Even knowing there was likely nothing romantic between them, Si Ruxu couldn’t help the surge of bitterness.

“Do you have to?” Si Ruxu’s tone wasn’t harsh, but it was flat and cold as she pulled nutrient solution from her space.

They had been living on this for days; solid food was too taxing in this heat. Si Qi looked at her, knowing the nuances of her voice all too well. When Si Ruxu was happy, her voice had a slight upward lilt. When she was neutral, she was soft but calm. This “flat” tone meant she was in a foul mood.

“Yes,” Si Qi replied. “I have to.”

She had questions, but since Si Ruxu didn’t ask what they were, she didn’t offer an explanation.

Si Ruxu looked indifferent, but she squeezed the nutrient pouch so hard it nearly burst. She set the meal bags in front of Si Qi and bit her lip. “But your body… even a healthy person can’t survive out there in this.”

Si Qi thought for a moment. “Then we’ll open the door and wait for him to find us.”

“You’re so sure he’ll come?” Si Ruxu asked, an unidentifiable fear spreading through her chest. She kept her eyes down, her hair falling over her waist.

“I’m not sure if it’s tonight, but he will come.” Si Qi pressed her tongue against her canine tooth until it stung. She flipped her wrist-band over, tapped it, and a tiny chip fell out.

Si Ruxu recognized it. A tracking chip which is fragile, but accurate to within three meters. She had planted one on Si Qi before. Si Qi had clearly known about Luo Fenghe’s chip but had allowed it to remain.

Si Qi watched the chip for a long time, then crushed it. A shallow smile touched her lips. “Now, he will definitely come.”

She hadn’t planned on summoning him, but the ambush and the hail suggested variables she and Si Ruxu didn’t understand. She needed to settle a score specifically, why he had sold her location to those Awakened.

*****

The day passed in silence. Si Ruxu occasionally fed Si Qi water to keep her hydrated, while Si Qi focused on regaining control of her internal energy.

At night, Si Ruxu funneled more healing energy into her. The internal damage and the broken meridians had been fully repaired by their combined efforts, but the two clashing energies were still fighting for dominance near Si Qi’s heart.

As Si Ruxu’s healing energy probed deeper, she suddenly felt a third power—different from the other two. It wasn’t aggressive; it was huddled in a tiny ball in the center of the conflict, acting as a barrier that prevented the other two energies from merging.

The moment Si Ruxu tried to touch it, a wave of profound sorrow and rejection swept over her. She felt like she was drowning in a dark, suffocating sea.

Si Qi gently pushed her away. She looked at Si Ruxu’s unfocused eyes and shook her until the woman’s gaze cleared.

Si Ruxu’s hair was soaked with sweat—not from the heat, but from the nightmare she had just touched. “What happened?” Si Qi asked. She had felt a flicker of that darkness, but it hadn’t affected her nearly as much as it had Si Ruxu.

Si Ruxu didn’t want to look at her. She was smart; she realized that the grief she found unbearable was something Si Qi lived with daily.

“There are three powers in you,” Si Ruxu whispered. “Yours, the Commander’s, and a tiny one of unknown origin. That little one is hiding in your heart, blocking the others from merging.”

Si Qi thinned her lips. She knew exactly where that third energy came from. It was the “gift” from the small zombie. To regain control, she would have to deal with that fragment of memory first. She felt like a marionette, slowly uncovering the truth under His guidance. She had lost the right to choose long ago.

*****

Footsteps echoed from outside. The earthen wall was pushed aside as metal energy condensed in the air. A man in a specialized isolation suit stepped through the dust.

“Long time no see, Si Ruxu,” Luo Fenghe said with a smirk. He didn’t look at her for long, his gaze settling firmly on Si Qi.

Si Qi stepped forward. “Nice suit.”

“I’ll give you two,” he replied.

“Thanks.”

A silence followed. Si Qi tapped her fingers against her leg.

“Ask whatever you want,” Luo Fenghe said. “I need to get back before sunrise, before those old fossils realize I’m gone and start trouble.”

“Why did you give them our location?” Si Qi’s eyes grew dark. Was he testing if she was alive? Or testing Si Ruxu?

“Simple. I thought Si Ruxu was kidnapping you,” Luo Fenghe said, his voice light but his eyes full of mockery for Si Ruxu. “She and her sister nearly killed you. I told them where you were so they would exhaust her. Then, I planned to take you back.”

It was late, and Si Qi didn’t have the luxury of reminiscing or debating his logic. “Second question. It hailed last night. What is happening that made those Awakened so desperate for my core that they would risk fighting Si Ruxu?”

Support