The white vapor rising from Chu Tian’s body began to disappear. In its place, a visible halo of light emerged, tinged with faint rainbow colors. It slowly spread outward from the top of his head…
Everyone watched him nervously. Even Xie Mingxuan, who was sitting on the ground with the two little ones, stared intently at Chu Tian.
The halo grew larger and larger. Then, without warning, it burst outward with the force of a thunderclap, spreading in every direction from Chu Tian as its center!
The arc of light continued to expand, stretching farther and farther until it covered the sky and swept across the distant horizon…
The first to be affected were the zombies standing motionless in neat formation behind the group. One after another, they collapsed silently.
Then the light reached the zombies farther away. Wherever the arc passed, the zombies fell to the ground without moving.
The light continued to spread until it completely enveloped the entire Dawn Base…
The entire Dawn Base had already descended into utter despair. Most people had lost the ability to resist. They could only watch as the zombies reached out with their sharp claws…
And then…
The zombies fell.
Someone watched as a zombie dragged away their loved one. Just as it was about to sink its teeth into them…
The zombie collapsed.
One zombie after another began falling throughout the city, followed by entire clusters of them.
People looked up and saw faint, multicolored light shimmering in the sky.
Was this… the holy light of a god descending upon the mortal world?
Amid their despair, it seemed that the people had glimpsed hope once more…
Ten miles outside Dawn Base.
Chu Qiang and Bai Zhecheng had personally led their troops toward Dawn Base at full speed.
After learning that Dawn Base was under attack by a zombie horde, they could no longer sit still. Under the pretext of supporting human survivors and preventing the zombies from launching a surprise attack on the Capital Base, they had swiftly mobilized their forces and set out.
They could not stand by and watch the child they had finally recovered, after believing him lost, die in the jaws of zombies right before their eyes.
Then, as they approached Dawn Base, they witnessed the enormous arc of light rising into the sky before suddenly exploding outward…
Three days later.
Outside Dawn Base.
Countless tents had been erected outside the city, where the Chu and Bai families had stationed their troops.
Dawn Base lay in ruins, with countless dead and wounded. Almost all the main fighting forces on the front lines had perished. Ironically, the ordinary people who had hidden themselves inside the city had survived in the greatest numbers.
Without a doubt, it was a tragedy. Yet compared with the former J City Base, the situation here was far, far better.
The Chu and Bai families had established temporary shelters outside the city to accommodate the survivors and provide them with basic supplies. Most of those supplies had actually been recovered from Dawn Base after the zombies died. After all, their troops had rushed here in haste and had not brought much with them.
The general had also been found. He and his subordinates had been hiding in the laboratory.
After Director-General Gu and his men discovered the secret passage, the two sides had clashed repeatedly as they fought for their own chance of survival, resulting in numerous casualties. Fortunately, those who remained alive had managed to hold out until the zombies died.
When they were discovered in the laboratory, its secrets were exposed to the world.
Chu Qiang and Bai Zhecheng had the former high-ranking officials of Dawn Base, led by the general, imprisoned in their entirety. They planned to take them back to the Capital Base, giving the other factions there an explanation for their emergency military intervention.
When the general and the officials were escorted out of the underground chamber, they were greeted by the countless hateful glares of Dawn Base’s survivors…
At that moment, Chu Tian, who had just recovered, was having a private conversation with his father, Chu Qiang, inside a tent.
Bai Mingxi had already informed both fathers of everything they had experienced over the past year, three days earlier.
After the zombies collapsed, Chu Tian himself had fallen into a deep sleep. He had only awakened that morning.
For three whole days, Quan Xiaoyu had stayed by Chu Tian’s side without changing his clothes or taking proper rest, refusing to leave him for even a moment. He had been terrified that something might go wrong.
Chu Qiang had witnessed all of this.
So, after they finished discussing the important matters, the father and son turned their conversation toward Quan Xiaoyu.
“What exactly is your relationship with that young man?” Chu Qiang asked bluntly, looking directly at his son.
Chu Tian smiled at his father. When he thought of Quan Xiaoyu, his eyes softened.
“He’s my beloved. He’s the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. I love him, and he loves me. We’ll grow old together, just like Grandpa and Grandma.”
Faced with his son’s heartfelt declaration, Chu Qiang was momentarily speechless.
His youngest son had always been very independent-minded. Once he made up his mind about something, no one could change it.
In truth, his youngest son was even more outstanding than his two older brothers. His father had once considered letting the youngest inherit the family business.
To avoid making things difficult for his brothers, however, this slippery little rascal had simply abandoned everything in the capital and fled to S City in the distant south.
After the apocalypse began, the family had sent out several groups of people to search for news of Chu Tian, but none had returned with any information. As nearly a year passed, everyone had gradually prepared themselves for the possibility that he was gone forever.
His wife often secretly wept. His eldest and second sons always felt that their younger brother had left because of them, and the guilt weighed heavily on their hearts. They had grown increasingly strong and responsible in the apocalypse, but also increasingly taciturn…
To have this child returned to them after believing him lost was a blessing beyond measure for the Chu family.
Not only had he returned, but he had also brought news from the south. He had grown even more handsome and imposing, more composed and wise…
As his father, what more could Chu Qiang possibly ask for?
Chu Qiang remained silent for a long time, lost in his thoughts.
Chu Tian merely smiled at him. He understood his father well enough to know that he would eventually come around, so he was not worried in the slightest.
Sure enough, before long, his father sighed.
“Very well. He’s a good young man. These past few days, he hasn’t slept or left your side for even a moment. You… treasure him.”
As a father, there was little else he could say or do.
Chu Tian nodded, then told his father about the time he had disappeared and how Quan Xiaoyu had searched for him for months.
Chu Qiang was deeply moved. His heart ached for his son, but he was also touched by the precious bond they had maintained amid the apocalypse.
Since the apocalypse began, he had seen more than enough abandonment and betrayal. Any genuine affection was worth cherishing.
Chu Qiang shook his head with emotion and nodded repeatedly. In the end, he said only, “Don’t worry. Your father understands. You don’t need to worry about your mother or your brothers, either. You know them better than anyone. But as for your grandfather…”
Chu Qiang knew his own father all too well. The old man was stubborn to a fault. Otherwise, he would never have driven someone as clever as Chu Tian to flee the capital just to get away from the family.
Grandfather would indeed be difficult to deal with!
Chu Tian nodded, but there was not the slightest trace of fear in his heart. He had his own principles and his own ways of handling things.
“It’s fine, Dad. I can handle my own affairs, and I can protect the person I love!”
Chu Qiang nodded and said nothing more.
Outside the tent—
Quan Xiaoyu kept glancing anxiously toward the tent where the father and son were having their private conversation. He felt more than a little uneasy.
That was Chu Tian’s father. What if he refused to accept him? What would Chu Tian say or do?
His thoughts were a tangled mess.
Not far away, Xie Mingxuan was squatting on the ground, playing with the two little ones while keeping a puzzled eye on Quan Xiaoyu.
Xie Mingxuan had recovered all his memories: those from when he was alive, those from after he had become a zombie, and those from after he had met Quan Xiaoyu.
Yet to the Xie Mingxuan he was now, none of those memories truly felt like his own. It was as though he had merely watched a movie implanted in his mind, seeing everything from an all-knowing, detached perspective.
There were many complicated emotions he could not yet understand, and many things that made no sense to him.
But that was all right. He was in the process of learning and understanding.
He knew he was a zombie and different from other people. But that was all right, too. The fellow called Quan Xiaoyu and the one called Chu Tian did not seem to think he was any different from everyone else.
Oh, right. There were also these two little creatures beside him.
Although he felt that he was different from the person in his memories, he had always been the same person in the eyes of everyone else.
That was enough.
He had never eaten human flesh, and he never would. He now found the thought disgusting, no matter how delicious it might supposedly be. Besides, he had managed to level up just fine without eating human flesh, hadn’t he?
As for the meaning of his future existence…
Sorry, he couldn’t figure that out just yet.
But wasn’t there a clever fellow called Chu Tian? If he got the chance, he could ask him about it later.
There was just one thing he couldn’t understand.
Why was Quan Xiaoyu, the person toward whom he felt an inexplicable fondness, so uneasy right now?
He glanced around. There were no enemies nearby!
After an anxious wait, the tent finally stirred.
Chu Tian lifted the flap and stepped out first.
It was midday, and the sunlight was warm and wonderfully comforting. The light fell across Chu Tian’s face as he looked at Quan Xiaoyu from a distance and smiled.
His smile was gentle and accepting. The moment Quan Xiaoyu saw him, all his anxiety vanished.
He slowly walked over, and soon found himself gathered into a warm embrace.
Chu Tian’s lips rested lightly against his ear.
“I told my father that I love you, and that we’re going to stay together for the rest of our lives, until we grow old and die. Are you willing?”
Tears filled Quan Xiaoyu’s eyes.
Chu Tian had never once disappointed him.
Quan Xiaoyu did not answer with words. Instead, he responded with a deep, lingering kiss.
The apocalypse was not over, and the road ahead was still long. It remained full of dangers and uncertainties.
But as long as they were together, they had an entire world of their own.
(The End)
Author’s Note
It’s finished!
I was originally so excited that I had a lot I wanted to say, but I got so worked up that I forgot everything.
Thank you to all the little angels who have stayed with this story from beginning to end. Thank you to everyone who has consistently supported the author by reading the legitimate version, to those who have left comments, and to those who have sent the author nutrient solutions and thrown reward grenades. I’m also grateful to my friends who helped and sent rewards when the story first began, as well as to my good friend who wrote a long review and helped me find the names I couldn’t remember.
To be honest, the story had already flopped halfway through its run. I once considered cutting down the outline, which had originally been planned for 500,000 words. In the end, I decided not to cut it and persevered until the story was complete. So I’m grateful to myself for sticking to the original outline.
For every named character who appeared in the story, I did my best to arrange a different ending and destiny for them, giving each of them some sort of conclusion.
Perhaps the apocalypse does not belong solely to the protagonists. It is made up of all kinds of people and all kinds of different fates. That is what I believe.
Finally, let me advertise my new novel!
I’ll start updating it after this story ends. Since I’ve had so many new ideas, I’ll be updating this one first, while A Ghost Boyfriend Falls from the Sky will be postponed.
Rebirth Through Acting (Entertainment Industry)
Wang Boyan loved acting. Unfortunately, despite struggling in the entertainment industry for half his life, even after turning forty, he was still stuck playing insignificant supporting roles. When he walked down the street, he was indistinguishable from an ordinary passerby.
He had always believed he was simply born unlucky. Every time an opportunity appeared before him, some unexpected mishap would inevitably occur.
But in this life, he was reborn in someone else’s body. To his surprise, as he carefully unraveled the threads of the past, he discovered the truth that had eluded him until his death in his previous life.
In this life, Wang Boyan became Tang Jingshuo.
A different beginning, different circumstances, and a different life—but the same unwavering love for acting.
Would he finally be able to live a smooth and fulfilling life this time around?