Picking Up My Ex-Wife in the Apocalypse - Chapter 4

Outside, the gale shrieked as it dragged a new wave of Arctic air across the wasteland. Si Ruxu hauled Si Qi back into the cave. The meat of a mutated wolf was prized for its ability to strengthen the human body; even buried in the snow, it would keep.

She resealed the entrance with wood and straw, pressing it firm against the wind. Then, with a casual flick of her wrist, a Level 4 crystal materialized in her palm. She placed it back in its corner to serve as a lamp, then sat back on the straw, resting her chin in her hand as she watched Si Qi sleep.

The abilities Si Qi had just displayed were unheard of—and she had at least two. She had blinked herself and the wolf meters away in an instant, then shredded a Level 2 beast with nothing but a few gestures in the air.

Her energy signature was weak—likely because she had just awakened and immediately hit her limit. Awakening during a life-or-death crisis often led to a “blackout” from power overdraw.

Si Ruxu pondered for a moment. Her fingers ghosted through the air, and a deep blue Level 7 crystal appeared between her slender fingers. She was a Level 7 Awakened herself, and a Level 7 beast crystal was significantly more potent than a human’s.

She had nearly died obtaining this crystal. In her current state, she couldn’t dream of absorbing it.

Si Qi’s face was ghost-white, her breathing growing shallower by the second. Without an immediate influx of energy to stabilize her newly opened meridians, she would likely die from core collapse. Si Ruxu wanted to see something: if Si Qi, as a Level 1, could absorb a Level 7 crystal, she would be an invaluable asset to the base.

And if she couldn’t? Then she would simply die.

Years in the apocalypse had drained Si Ruxu’s sentimentality. To her, the survival of the base outweighed Si Qi’s life a thousand times over.

She narrowed her eyes. The blue crystal spun in the air before sinking into Si Qi’s brow. Suddenly, blood-red veins erupted across Si Qi’s forehead, twisting like frantic, living vines.

Si Qi let out a muffled groan, her brow furrowing in agony. Her bones began to creak. Within seconds, tiny fissures split her skin, seeping thin lines of blood.

Si Ruxu looked on coldly, having expected this. For a Level 1 to swallow a Level 7 was like trying to fit an ocean into a teacup.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want Si Qi to grow naturally, but the latest intelligence from the base was grim… low-level Awakened were projected to be wiped out entirely in the “Great Purge” following this Frost.

Forcing growth was the only way to survive. And the key to breaking the apocalypse’s endgame might just lie within that very purge.

Si Ruxu assumed Si Qi was a lost cause. But just as she pressed her lips together—a flicker of regret crossing her eyes—the unthinkable happened.

Inside Si Qi, an ancient, formidable power stirred. The red veins on her brow pulsed with a soft, undeniable light. As this power surged, the fissures on her skin vanished. The bleeding stopped, and her complexion flushed with healthy color. Her body was enveloped in a faint, warm halo—a newborn power, dormant and gathering strength.

Suddenly, the crystal—now stained a deep crimson—ejected from Si Qi’s forehead and fell back into Si Ruxu’s hand.

Si Ruxu stared at it, stunned. Usually, a crystal was either fully absorbed or it caused the host to explode.

This crystal’s color had shifted from blue to blood-red, and its energy level had dropped from Level 7 to Level 3. It seemed Si Qi’s body could only handle the equivalent of a Level 4 output. Her instinct for survival was so strong that when her physical form reached its limit, her power had literally “split” the crystal in half, shoved the excess out, and “marked” it with her own energy—dyeing it red just to claim it for later.

Si Ruxu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She placed the red crystal beside Si Qi, and the veins on the woman’s forehead finally faded.

*******

Si Ruxu sat beside her, her gaze complicated.

There was a traitor in the base. When she had fled with a quarter of the base’s resources during the zombie tide, she had sensed a human presence in this area. She had pushed herself until she collapsed in the thorns.

She never expected that human to be Si Qi. Wasn’t she supposed to be a meat shield abandoned outside the walls?

Moreover, Si Qi had hoarded food, fuel, and found a perfect shelter. Combined with her high-output, low-stamina powers, it was clear she was hiding a massive secret.

Si Ruxu felt a sudden, rare sense of relief that she hadn’t completely burned her bridges with Si Qi during the breakup.

In her memory, Si Qi was kind and gentle—the type to feed stray cats, pack up bottles for the elderly, and reject every suitor just for her.

But that “goodness” had always felt surreal to Si Ruxu. After they split, friends asked her if she regretted it. They were so “compatible,” after all.

She would only smile and say the love was gone. Life had felt like a glass of plain water—dull and predictable. She found it boring. She realized she was a cold person; she craved a “love lunatic,” someone who could set her blood on fire until even her ashes were scattered to the winds.

She remembered the day of the breakup. Si Qi had been hiding something behind her back—a tenth-anniversary gift. Si Ruxu hadn’t even wanted to look at her face. She knew Si Qi had bought that item she’d mentioned once in passing months ago.

Those tiny details—the things she herself forgot but Si Qi remembered—didn’t touch her. They only made her feel suffocated by the mundanity.

So, she had smiled gently and wished Si Qi a “bright future” with someone else.

*******

A low groan snapped Si Ruxu out of her memories. She looked up and met a pair of emotionless eyes.

Si Qi sat up. She held out her hand, and a spark of blood-red light flickered at her fingertips. She remembered everything from before she passed out; she knew she couldn’t hide it from Si Ruxu anymore.

She felt a small flame of hope ignite in her hollow chest. Power meant a chance to live until the world ended.

“I fed you a Level 7 crystal,” Si Ruxu said, a soft smile playing on her lips. Her tone was so caring that one might actually think she gave a damn. “Your body couldn’t take it, so your ability split it in two. This is the half you didn’t finish.”

Si Qi offered a curt “thanks” and picked up the Level 3 red crystal. She felt the power in her veins hum, greedily drinking in the energy.

She wasn’t stupid enough to think Si Ruxu had done this out of the goodness of her heart. Energy depletion is fatal, yet Si Ruxu had bypassed the three Level 4 “lightbulbs” to shove a Level 7 into her. It was a test.

Since Si Ruxu was being “honest,” Si Qi found a comfortable spot to sit and faced her.

Si Ruxu leaned back into her down duvet. The firelight gilded her soft features, making her look like a gentle spring breeze. But deep in her eyes lay a frozen wasteland, cold and calculating.

“Am I qualified to be ‘useful’ to you now, Si Ruxu?”

It was the first time since their reunion that Si Qi had used her name. Gone was the lingering affection of years past; her voice was crisp, cold, and professional.

This was exactly what Si Ruxu wanted. Dealing with an ex-wife who was still in love would have been a tedious waste of time.

“We have years of history,” Si Ruxu smiled. “Why use a word like ‘useful’?”

“It’s a partnership,” Si Qi corrected. “Your powers are strong. Tell me what they are.”

It was phrased as a request, but the tone was an ultimatum. Si Ruxu had pulled out a Level 7 crystal with ease. Her previous claim of having “nothing” had been a lie to hide the fact that her third attribute was a secret even from the base.

“Space and Time,” Si Qi said after a pause. “Though my Space seems different from yours.”

Si Qi reached out. Five meters away, the jar Si Ruxu used for water vanished and instantly appeared in Si Qi’s hand. With another thought, it returned to its original spot.

“So the one you used on the wolf was different?” Si Ruxu asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Seeing her ex-wife—the woman with a heart of iron—acting the part of the “gentle, curious observer” gave Si Qi a strange, dark sense of amusement.

“The Space ability lets me tear small fissures,” Si Qi explained. “I calculate a ‘killing line’ and tear the space along that path. It shreds anything caught in it.”

Even prepared for a surprise, Si Ruxu was stunned. To tear space at Level 1… if she grew, she would be a catastrophic variable in this world’s fate.

“And the second one? Teleportation?” Si Ruxu asked, thinking of how Si Qi had vanished and reappeared meters away.

“The second is… Time. When the wolf lunged, I felt time stop. I used that moment to tackle it out of the cave.” Si Qi’s expression turned solemn. “But I can’t use it at will. I think it’s a passive, ’emergency use’ ability.”

Si Ruxu recalled the red veins. Not just passive, she thought, but aggressive and greedy. Marking crystals it can’t finish yet.

“One more question,” Si Ruxu said, her voice dropping an octave. “Why did you leave the base early and build this shelter?”

“I don’t know,” Si Qi lied smoothly, leaning into the ‘second ability’ excuse. “A gut feeling. I felt that if I stayed in the base, I would die.”

Si Ruxu had no reason not to believe it.

Si Qi knew she had to prove her value. She couldn’t reveal she was a “rebirth” case; that would make her an anomaly rather than an ally. She had to play the part of a loyal, useful dog—smart, but not too smart.

Now, it was time to trade.

“That’s everything I know,” Si Qi said, her gaze steady. “What about you? Partners should be transparent, right?”

A glint of genuine appreciation flashed in Si Ruxu’s eyes. “My space contains a quarter of the base’s total resources. Food, equipment, crystals… and weapons.” She emphasized the last word.

“There’s a mole in the base. They sabotaged the defense systems during the zombie tide, which is why the base had to use people as meat shields. It was a calculated move.”

She watched Si Qi closely, relieved to see the expected look of shock and confusion.

“That person is high up. They knew I had the resources, so they drove me out while my energy was drained from trying to power the defense grid. I’ve been hiding ever since.”

Si Qi thought for a moment, then cut her off. “If this is the level of ‘sincerity’ you’re offering, Miss Si, the risk of this partnership is too high. Partners need absolute trust, don’t they?”

“Oh?” Si Ruxu chuckled. Si Qi really had changed. She wasn’t the easy-to-fool girl who believed everything she was told.

“I want to know what you have on you,” Si Qi said, leaning forward like a predator. “What is so valuable that someone would sabotage the entire base—ignoring the other three-quarters of the resources just to hunt you down?”

Si Ruxu wasn’t embarrassed to be caught in a lie. Instead, she gave Si Qi a look of pure approval.

“If you had always been this sharp, this unpredictable… perhaps staying together wouldn’t have been so boring. Are you interested in a restart?”

Her voice trailed off like a silken hook, brushing against Si Qi’s heart.

Si Qi looked at the woman’s beautiful, close-proximity face and smiled thinly.

“Not interested.”

She forced her racing heart to be still and stared directly into those amber eyes.

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