Standing across from him was Tan Chu, who had been following him all the way.
Tan Chu looked gloomy, completely devoid of the gentle, innocent temperament he usually pretended to have. There was even a faint sense that he had become a different person.
“Brother Li Shu, I came to apologize. I was wrong in the past. Can you forgive me?” He stared intently at Li Shu and spoke words of apology, but there was not a trace of remorse on his face.
“Now it’s just you and me. Are you too lazy to even bother pretending anymore?” Li Shu didn’t want to engage in meaningless pleasantries. He had only come out for a walk alone. “So, tell me, what exactly did you do wrong?”
What did he do wrong? Tan Chu didn’t think he had done anything wrong. He also had no intention of truly apologizing. He had chosen this spot a long time ago—it was close to the edge and sparsely populated, perfect for him to make his move. He had been wondering how to lure Li Shu over here, but to his surprise, Li Shu had understood his intentions perfectly and came over on his own.
This was good too. If something really happened, he could completely shirk responsibility—it was Li Shu who came over on his own, okay? He had just followed to apologize, nothing more.
Li Shu naturally knew that Tan Chu had ulterior motives in approaching him. He never let his guard down around this person. The fact that he dared to go out alone meant he wasn’t afraid of whatever Tan Chu might do.
His ears twitched as he caught a faint sound from not far away. It must be the “surprise” that Tan Chu had prepared for him.
Tan Chu was still talking, “I shouldn’t have gotten close to Brother Lin Xuan just because I admired him too much. I’m sorry for causing the misunderstanding between you two. Brother Li Shu, I promise I’ll stay far away from Brother Lin Xuan in the future. Please don’t be angry with him.”
“There’s no need. Lin Xuan’s matters have nothing to do with me anymore, and you don’t need to say anything to me.” Li Shu responded calmly.
“Then… Brother Li Shu, have you forgiven me?” Tan Chu was surprised. Li Shu used to hate it when he got close to Lin Xuan—why had his attitude suddenly changed? Could it be that he had given up and was admitting defeat?
Before he could fully enjoy this thought, Li Shu spoke again, “After all, if apologies worked, what would we need the police for? Don’t you think so?”
The corner of Tan Yue’s mouth turned down before he could even raise it. By this point, how could he not understand that Li Shu had no intention of forgiving him? So be it. He originally thought that Li Shu might regret his actions, and was even willing to let him off. But since Li Shu didn’t cherish the opportunity, he couldn’t blame him for what would come next.
“I don’t think there’s anything left to say between us, don’t you agree?” Li Shu deliberately provoked Tan Chu, pushing him to act sooner. He didn’t want to waste any more time here.
Tan Chu didn’t reply. Li Shu had already said all there was to say. What more was there? The only regret Tan Chu had was not dealing with him sooner. Now, Lin Xuan wouldn’t even let him get close. But what if Li Shu were gone? If Li Shu wasn’t around, who would dare to stand in his way?
He was just an ordinary person—without Lin Xuan to rely on, what else did he have? In the face of real danger, he would be utterly defenseless. As his enemy, Tan Chu knew Li Shu quite well. He knew that before the apocalypse, Li Shu had been the treasured child of the Li family. He was spoiled since birth and had never encountered any hardships. If it weren’t for the apocalypse, Li Shu would’ve had a smooth and easy life. Even in the apocalypse, there was a strong person like Lin Xuan to protect him, and he did not suffer any hardship along the way.
Why should he be so lucky?
Tan Chu subtly shifted to the side. In his hand, he held a potion that he had obtained with great difficulty. It could attract the infected that were nearby. Last time, he had pushed Li Shu into a horde of infected, but nothing happened. He didn’t believe that Li Shu’s luck could hold out forever.
His fingers brushed against Li Shu’s clothes, discreetly smearing the potion onto his clothes. A secret arc appeared at the corner of his lips. As long as he retrieved the contaminated clothes afterward, no one would ever suspect a thing. Being attacked by the infected and having your clothes torn is a normal thing, right?
Sensing Tan Chu’s actions, Li Shu didn’t say anything and pretended not to notice. “Tan Chu, you don’t need to look for me anymore. The things you’ve done will never be forgotten in my heart.”
This was also the stance of the original owner. For his own selfish gain, Tan Chu had destroyed the original owner’s entire life. Even the most forgiving person wouldn’t let that go. Some things could never be forgiven. Some people didn’t deserve forgiveness.
As a temporary resting place, the gas station had been cleared of infected. Logically, there shouldn’t have been any around, but with so many people present, infected from further away were drawn to the area. While the infected were mindless, they could still sense the presence of food nearby. To them, the people here were like a gourmet meal, luring them closer.
Coincidentally, infected had already begun to arrive. And with the potion on him, Li Shu was their first target.
The rejection was so obvious that Tan Chu no longer stayed by Li Shu’s side, though he didn’t leave either. He wanted to see with his own eyes as Li Shu was torn apart, piece by piece and consumed by the infected. Only then would the hatred in his heart be eased.
He followed from a distance, not too far but not too close either. Li Shu acted as if he hadn’t noticed, though he was well aware of the trap. There was no one else in this place, so even if he used his true strength, no one would know. And the one person who would know will never get the chance to tell.
Silencing someone was something Li Shu could easily accomplish.
He hadn’t walked far when a noise came from the right. The infected were fast and almost as soon as the sound came, a figure lunged at Li Shu.
This was only the beginning.
The area had long been swarming with infected. With the first attack, the second and third followed immediately. In the blink of an eye, Li Shu was surrounded.
As fate would have it, these infected included the type Li Shu had encountered in the mall last time—and there was more than one. Unlike before, this time several attacked at once. Their flesh was rotten, their faces pitted with decay. Li Shu subconsciously took a step back.
From a distance, it looked like a defenseless ordinary person surrounded by a vicious group of infected, with no way out, weak and vulnerable, his life hanging by a thread.
Gu Lin, who happened to arrive, saw exactly this scene. His body reacted faster than his mind and by the time he realized it, he had already charged into the crowd of infected, kicking them away from Li Shu and shielding him.
The man who had followed behind Gu Lin was stunned. He had been the one reporting on the various forces to Gu Lin earlier. He had been with his boss for a while now and had never seen him react so seriously. His curiosity got the better of him, and he had secretly followed.
!! Was this really his boss? His boss was always so cold and ruthless, indifferent to everyone else. Who could make his boss show this kind of emotion? Wait, wasn’t that Li Shu?
No wonder his boss had reacted strangely when Lin Xuan’s name came up last time. It was because of Li Shu.
It seemed like he had stumbled upon something incredible. Hopefully, the boss wouldn’t silence him for it.
The boss is fighting, so of course the younger brother couldn’t be idle. He trusted in his boss’s ability and had enough sense not to interfere with Gu Lin’s chance to win favor. Instead, he focused on dealing with the infected that were still pouring in and sent a message to the others. With so many infected around, it was the perfect opportunity for everyone to come and get some practice in.
Of course, that little mouse hiding on the side wouldn’t be spared either. This person had a grudge against Li Shu, and might even be the culprit behind all this.
With the male protagonist here, Li Shu couldn’t make a move, so he had no choice but to act like a weak ordinary person and hid behind Gu Lin. It was just as well—he didn’t want to deal with those disgusting infected.
It wasn’t that he had a cleanliness obsession, but these things were too much of an eyesore. If he could avoid touching them, he would. Li Shu never expected that there would be so many grotesque forms among the infected that Tan Chu lured in.
He knew these were the most basic forms of infected, and the more advanced the infected were, the more they looked like normal humans. At this moment, he was extremely glad that he didn’t arrive in this world earlier. If he had to face these infected running around the streets, he couldn’t imagine it.
“Don’t be afraid, I won’t let them get near you,” Gu Lin reassured the little figure behind him while keeping a wary eye on the infected trying to get closer.
Seeing that there were no infected close to him, Li Shu replied slowly, “Okay.”
He wasn’t afraid of these things; he just couldn’t stand them being near him. Now that the male protagonist was handling them on his behalf, it was perfect.
Gu Lin did as he said—while dealing with the infected, he didn’t let a single one get close to Li Shu. He originally planned to place Li Shu in a safe spot, but the infected stared at Li Shu like a piece of fat meat, and kept rushing toward him whenever they had the chance. Helpless, Gu Lin could only keep Li Shu by his side to protect him.
The commotion here grew louder, and before long, Lin Xuan also arrived with his team. He had heard that Li Shu might be here and had come to find him. Seeing Li Shu surrounded by infected, his heart almost stopped. He couldn’t imagine what he would do if something happened to Li Shu.
Thankfully, someone was protecting him.
Feeling relieved, Lin Xuan and the people he brought with him joined the team to kill the infected.
By the time all the infected were dealt with, everyone had some marks from the battle, and many were injured. But with Gu Lin’s protection ,Li Shu remained clean and spotless, without a speck of filth on him.
The two stood side by side, surrounded by the bodies of the fallen infected. The tall man beside Li Shu protected him in every way possible. Anyone with eyes could see that this man treated the young man differently.
Lin Xuan stood not far away, looking at the two of them, and the more he looked, the more irritated he felt. He should be grateful to the man who protected Li Shu, but the words of thanks were stuck in his throat. All he wanted was for this man to stay far away from Li Shu.
Li Shu didn’t care about Lin Xuan. He was observing the infected. As described in those doomsday movies, these infected also had crystal nuclei in their heads. The more powerful the infected, the greater the energy in their nuclei. Evolvers could absorb this energy to advance.
With so many infected, it was a huge harvest.
Fearing he might frighten Li Shu, Gu Lin didn’t make a move. He led his men out of the circle of corpses and reached an open area. Just as he was about to say something, Lin Xuan approached.
“Thank you…” Lin Xuan paused as he looked at Gu Lin. He remembered meeting this man in the mall before, and he was also with Li Shu.
It was shortly after that encounter that Li Shu told Lin Xuan he wanted to break up, which made Lin Xuan wonder: was Li Shu’s decision to break up because of this man? And now, by chance, this man had saved Li Shu again. He had been paying attention to Li Shu, and of course he had noticed how overly protective the man was. As a man himself, he could easily guess the other party’s thoughts.
Lin Xuan was certain that this man had feelings for Li Shu. But what about Li Shu? Could he also be falling for this man? Lin Xuan panicked. He thought he still had a chance to win Li Shu back, but what if Li Shu fell in love with someone else? What would he do?
Xu Yanqiu had been keeping an eye on his boss. Seeing Lin Xuan approach, he dragged Tan Chu over as well. The attack of the infected today was clearly unusual, and they had to figure out what was behind it.
Before any tension could build between Lin Xuan and Gu Lin, Xu Yanqiu interrupted.
“I’ve caught someone,” Xu Yanqiu shook his hand, causing Tan Chu to shake along with it.
“Let’s talk about today’s events. It just so happens that I have something to ask this person,” Gu Lin said coldly, casting a glance at Tan Chu.
The meaning was clear and Lin Xuan couldn’t ignore it even if he wanted to. “What’s going on?”
“You should ask him,” Gu Lin replied.
The implication was obvious. Lin Xuan pushed aside his other thoughts and turned his gaze toward Tan Chu.
Meeting Lin Xuan’s icy stare, Tan Chu’s face turned pale.
It was over.
