After they had settled the arrangements for the next day, Zuo Li finally left.
The surroundings finally quieted down.
The three groups each occupied a section of the area, and gradually, all sound disappeared. After being exhausted for an entire day, apart from those assigned to stand guard and patrol, everyone else began to close their eyes and rest.
Only from Jialun Xu’s side could Wen Tong’s occasional groans of pain still be heard.
This time, regardless of whether Jialun Xu ordered or pleaded with him, Lu Zhongxia remained completely unmoved by his request to treat Wen Tong.
This was not something that could be forced, and Jialun Xu was helpless as well.
As for their other two teammates, they simply did not have as thick a skin as Jialun Xu. After all, they had abandoned their teammate in broad daylight, and were feeling ashamed now. Naturally, they would not do anything to Lu Zhongxia either.
Within their group, Wen Tong’s groans continued amid the strange atmosphere.
Chu Tian returned to sit beside Quan Xiaoyu. Quan Xiaoyu was still staring blankly into space, lost in thought.
Chu Tian naturally reached out and put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into his arms. His other hand could not resist ruffling Quan Xiaoyu’s hair.
“What are you spacing out about? Are you tired? Sleep for a while.”
This time, Quan Xiaoyu did not pull away. Instead, he naturally rested his head against Chu Tian’s shoulder, smiled, and said self-deprecatingly, “I was thinking about things from the past. Only now did I realize that my parents protected me too well back then. That’s why I was so stupid and did so many foolish things.”
“Who said you’re stupid?”
Chu Tian gently placed a kiss on the top of his head.
“Besides, let the past stay in the past. From now on, you’ll have me. I’m smart, you know. I won’t let you do anything foolish.”
Quan Xiaoyu laughed.
“So you’re still saying I’m stupid.”
That sentence from Chu Tian—”From now on, you’ll have me”—instantly touched the softest place in his heart.
He had been lonely for too long, so long that his entire world had contained only his parents.
When his parents left, it was as if he had truly been abandoned by the entire world.
He actually did not like being alone. He also longed for someone to accompany him.
Unfortunately, in his previous life, he had entrusted himself to the wrong person.
In this life, he had Li Nan.
But Li Nan was still a child after all. There were far more things where Li Nan needed him to take care of her than things where she could take care of him.
And so, some place in his heart had always remained empty.
When he first met Chu Tian, he thought the only thing that had moved him about Chu Tian was that he could see the shadow of his father in him.
But the longer they spent together, the more he understood that this was not the case.
Two months of fighting side by side had allowed Chu Tian to display his perfect ability to interact with people and handle problems. In fact, this had caused Quan Xiaoyu to develop a serious dependence on him.
That empty place in his heart had long since been touched.
He simply had not realized it himself.
Before this, he had never thought in terms of anything beyond friendship. He had relied on Chu Tian in a muddle-headed, ignorant way and subconsciously did not want to separate from him.
He had not even carefully considered why.
It was not until Chu Tian’s confession that he began to reassess his feelings.
It was not until Chu Tian’s seemingly overbearing forcefulness that he began to truly face Chu Tian.
It was not until Chu Tian had nearly encountered danger that he finally understood just how important Chu Tian had become to him.
Chu Tian looked at the fluffy head nestled against his chest, and the sulky, self-deprecating expression on Quan Xiaoyu’s face was simply unbearably cute in his eyes.
The warmth coming from Quan Xiaoyu almost set his own body on fire as well.
He really wanted to hold this kid’s head right now and kiss him wildly without caring about anything else.
Unfortunately, there were ten glaring light bulbs nearby.
No matter how thick-skinned Chu Tian was, he simply could not do something like that.
He could only forcibly endure it and give up.
“When I saw you at the hospital, I really did think so.”
Chu Tian smiled as he recalled it, his thoughts drifting back to when they had first met.
“At the time, I thought, this person is really stubborn. He’s practically about to lose his life, yet he’s still worrying about other people. Originally, I didn’t want to bother with you. But when I saw how stubbornly you were killing zombies all by yourself, I don’t know why, but my heart softened. So I had Xiaobai go and call you over.”
“Later, you said you were going to help me get medicine. Do you know how serious your eyes looked at that time? You know what? What I saw in you then wasn’t stupidity. It was the bottom line of being a human being!”
Chu Tian’s fingers gently slipped into Quan Xiaoyu’s hair.
“All this time, the human nature I’ve seen with my own eyes has always been unable to withstand a test. So I’ve never tested human nature.”
“When the apocalypse broke out, I protected my classmates. That was my bottom line as a person. After they abandoned me when I was injured, I immediately abandoned them as well. That was my principle, and it was also the kind of human nature I had always been accustomed to.”
“Until I met you, I finally became certain of one thing: as a person, you still need to have a bottom line.”
“Although I had wavered before, you were the one who made me certain of this.”
Chu Tian gave a self-deprecating smile.
“So, if someone thinks you’re stupid, it’s because they’re only ordinary people. They have also forgotten the bottom line of being a human being.”
Was Chu Tian praising him?
Was this a form of affirmation?
Quan Xiaoyu felt a little warmth in his heart.
He knew that many of his actions were not understood by most people. It had always been this way, and he had grown accustomed to it. He had never expected anyone to understand him.
After being reborn, he had once thought that as long as he firmly did what he believed was right, kept his eyes open, did not make the same mistakes again, cherished the people worth cherishing, and remained without shame in his heart, then he would have lived up to this second chance given to him by Heaven.
Now, someone could actually understand him.
He was truly grateful to Heaven.
Quan Xiaoyu rubbed his head against Chu Tian’s chest again.
“All right, all right. Don’t think about it so much. You’re exhausted today. Sleep for a while. I’ll stand watch.”
Chu Tian coaxed him softly.
“I’ll stand watch. You just—”
Quan Xiaoyu sat upright. Thinking about Chu Tian’s condition just now, he felt that it would be better for him to stand guard himself.
Chu Tian grabbed him and pressed him back down.
“I’m fine. Why are you worrying so much? Just sleep for a while. If I get sleepy, I’ll call you. Tomorrow, you can drive.”
Quan Xiaoyu had no choice and could only close his eyes.
The warmth coming from Chu Tian was very comfortable.
Before long, Quan Xiaoyu fell deeply asleep.
Chu Tian once again gently kissed the top of his head, then leaned his head back slightly and closed his eyes as well.
In an instant, his mental-type ability spread outward like a huge net, unnoticed by anyone else.
Who said standing night watch required keeping your eyes open and looking around?
Several people resting elsewhere had actually been secretly observing this side.
It was not until they were forcibly stuffed full of dog food that they began thinking to themselves on one hand whether they should also find a partner, whether male or female did not matter—as long as they did not have to be stuffed so full of dog food that they nearly choked.
On the other hand, they closed their eyes and eventually fell into a deep sleep.
And so, this tense, dangerous, and exciting day passed.
That night was exceptionally peaceful.
They did not even encounter the small zombie disturbances that usually occurred.
Quietly and safely, the people on the rooftop spent a peaceful night.
The next morning.
As soon as dawn broke, everyone packed up their belongings, impatient to return to the cathedral.
It was much safer there than here, and there were also their own people there.
They had been gone for an entire night, and they did not know what the situation at the cathedral was like.
Chu Tian and Quan Xiaoyu also got up. After making a few quick preparations, they greeted Zuo Li, and everyone immediately left the building to find their vehicles on the way back.
Because they had abandoned their vehicles halfway along the way, the cars they had left behind were some distance from yesterday’s battlefield.
Miraculously, none of them had been damaged.
They tried them, and all of them could still be driven.
It counted as pretty good luck, and everyone happily got into the vehicles.
At this moment, Lu Zhongxia walked toward Chu Tian and Quan Xiaoyu.
He looked somewhat nervous as he asked, “I… can I ride back in your car?”
He stared intently at the two of them, looking as though he was terrified they would refuse him.
Quan Xiaoyu and Chu Tian exchanged a glance.
Then Chu Tian smiled and nodded.
“Sure. Get in.”
Regardless of the reason, Lu Zhongxia would only feel awkward staying with Jialun Xu and the others. They were going the same way anyway.
Seeing that they agreed, Lu Zhongxia breathed a sigh of relief.
He had genuinely been afraid they would refuse him.
He did not want to stay with his original team for even another minute.
He could have gone over to Zuo Li’s group, who had previously approached them to express goodwill, but there were five people over there, and one vehicle was obviously just enough for them.
Trying to squeeze himself in would only be awkward.
So he had decided to come over and ask Chu Tian and Quan Xiaoyu.
After all, Quan Xiaoyu had saved his life yesterday.
The journey went smoothly.
Everyone finally left the most dangerous area, and they gradually drew closer and closer to the cathedral.
Originally, according to the order in which their vehicles had stopped earlier, Zuo Li’s group would lead the way on the return journey, Jialun Xu’s people would be in the middle, and Chu Tian and Quan Xiaoyu would bring up the rear.
However, as soon as they exited the section of road that was only wide enough for one vehicle to pass, Chu Tian immediately had Quan Xiaoyu drive faster and catch up.
After greeting Zuo Li, they took the lead and went ahead to clear the way, leaving the job of bringing up the rear to Jialun Xu’s group.
Hmph!
Who wanted to protect them in the middle and bring up the rear for them?
Jialun Xu was somewhat irritated by this, but there was nothing he could do.
He couldn’t exactly drive after them, could he?
If he did that, it would probably turn into two vehicles racing along the highway.
That certainly wouldn’t be a good thing!
While Jialun Xu was fuming on the inside, Chu Tian soon spotted a convoy of vehicles coming toward them.
The lead vehicle looked extremely familiar.
It was none other than Doctor Xiao Ziran’s vehicle.