“You are sisters.”
Many people said so, “You are sisters—”
We are sisters—
Jiang Yao remembered this sentence, remembered it since she was a child.
She remembered their home, remembered the room they grew up in, remembered New Year’s Eve, when Jiang Yin watched their relatives’ children roughhousing and asked her, blinking, “Yao Yao, what does it feel like to run?”
“Hmm—” They were still young then. She pushed her wheelchair, running quickly from one end of the room to the other. “This is what it feels like to run!”
Jiang Yin giggled, her hair blown up by the wind, her eyes round and bright. She was sweating profusely from running, and she laughed along with her.
When did things start to change?
She couldn’t remember.
It seemed to be when Jiang Yin saw the search team taking their oath on TV, or perhaps when she saw their father’s shiny team emblem. She heard Jiang Yin say, “I want to join the search team too!”
The two of them, one joined the search team, the other joined the research institute. But only the two of them knew that in the beginning, their dreams were the opposite—Jiang Yin wanted to join the search team, and Jiang Yao wanted to join the research institute.
Jiang Yin actively listened to the doctor’s advice and underwent treatment diligently. Her legs showed improvement, but it was far from enough.
“No!” Everyone was telling Jiang Yin, “No, not even a desk job at the base! You’ll die!”
“I don’t care about dying!” She heard Jiang Yin throwing things. “I just want to try, let me try—”
“If you really want to go, then go to the research institute.”
“In any case, the search team is not an option!”
Who was wrong? Probably no one was wrong.
Until Jiang Yin scattered her medicine all over the floor, crying and beating her own legs. She rushed over to stop Jiang Yin, but Jiang Yin suddenly looked up, stared at her, and said, “Yao Yao—you have a choice, you can choose. You go to the search team for me, okay?”
Teardrops still hung on Jiang Yin’s face, her eyes shining brightly. For a moment, she looked just like she did when they were children. “You go out and kill zombies for me, be a great hero, okay?”
The application form for the research institute was on the table in the room, already filled out. Jiang Yin clearly saw it but pretended not to. So she also pretended not to see it and said, “Okay.”
Jiang Yin smiled, she giggled again, raised her pen, crossed out the “Yao” on the form, and wrote “Yin.”
She trained so hard, so seriously. Every mission she went on, she completed it perfectly. Anyone who saw her would praise her, saying Captain Jiang was young and promising, truly impressive.
She didn’t particularly like attending victory banquets, always bringing her medals home. When Jiang Yin saw them, she would smile, cook delicious food for her, and tell her fun stories. Her dark, gloomy eyes would light up again, and her smile would be as beautiful as when they were children.
At that time, she truly believed she was a hero, a great hero in her sister’s eyes.
The last zombie ran over and was shot in the head at close range by Jiang Yao. Its head shattered like a watermelon hitting the ground, and it fell over.
There were no more obstacles between them. Seeing they had reached the rooftop, Jiang Yao leaped forward, grabbed Jiang Yin’s calf, and pulled her to the ground, immediately following with a gunshot.
Jiang Yin rolled away, the bullet hitting her shoulder. She crawled forward, trying to escape, but Jiang Yao pressed her shoulder down, slamming her to the ground. Jiang Yao said fiercely, “You can’t beat me. You’ve never been able to beat me.”
“Is that so?” Jiang Yin smiled again, not the kind of smile Jiang Yao liked. “But I’ve never been alone—”
A few more zombies suddenly rushed down from the rooftop, pouncing on her, trying to pry Jiang Yao’s hands away, causing her to miss two more shots.
Jiang Yin: “You’re not very good at controlling zombies, are you?”
“That’s right! I can’t control anyone as well as you can!” Jiang Yao exerted her strength, kicked a zombie away, and dragged Jiang Yin back again—
It was as if her memories were dragged back along with her, back to D District, back to that unbearable laboratory. She was ecstatic and furious, happy and pained. The feeling of having found something lost and the feeling of being cruelly deceived overlapped, making her heart convulse in pain.
She stood in a pool of blood and filth, seeing Jiang Yin standing far, far away, surrounded by zombies, and asking, “This is another great achievement, isn’t it?”
Her team members looked at each other in dismay. She heard herself questioning, heard Jiang Yin admit, “Yes, I can control zombies. Otherwise, where do you think all your medals from all these years came from?”
“How could it be that you just happened to stumble upon all the major cases?” Jiang Yin smiled, her eyes so round, so bright, so—cruel. “I created them all.”
“Yao Yao, you joining the search team, you becoming a captain, the merits you’ve earned—they were all decided by me. You were single-handedly crafted by me, you are another me, you are my flesh and blood.”
“Come, become a Believer.”
“Then we’ll be together forever.”
Jiang Yin kicked at her. Zombies clawed at her hands, nearly tearing her flesh. But Jiang Yao’s fingers were like iron hooks, firmly pressing on Jiang Yin’s shoulder. The zombies crowded around, desperately pulling at Jiang Yao’s legs, at her gun.
Finally, the gun was pried away.
Jiang Yao looked down at Jiang Yin, letting herself be clawed open with gashes, and suddenly said, “You know, there was a moment when I thought about just giving it to you.”
Jiang Yin was stunned.
“Ever since we were little, whatever you wanted, I gave it to you,” Jiang Yao said. “I was originally thinking, I’d give it to you this time too.”
If Jiang Yin only wanted her body, this body that Jiang Yin believed she herself had crafted—
“But you want too much,” Jiang Yao said. “Sister, you want far too much.”
She only understood later that Jiang Yin wanted more.
Believers don’t reproduce, and creating just the right kind of “obedient” Believers required a large number of zombies for experiments.
She wanted to pull out the base’s fangs and claws, turning it into a breeding ground to provide her with a continuous supply of “Believers.”
She didn’t just want to control the dead; she also wanted to manipulate the living.
She wanted to raise humans in captivity.
That tragic dusk, the blood-washed sunset.
The glaring white lights of the quarantine center, a child’s innocent question.
She saw Mrs. Qin’s deer-like eyes, saw Mr. Qin’s proud stride.
She saw the doll in Shang Ci’s sister’s hand, saw the tears his mother shed.
Jiang Yao: “It’s my fault. Mom, Dad, and I, we raised you into such a selfish, greedy monster. We were always thinking about your legs, thinking about making you happy.”
“But you never cared if anyone else was happy.”
Jiang Yin smiled, a fierce grin spreading across her face. “I really don’t care, so what?”
Jiang Yin tilted her head back, her gaze already on the Believers coming to meet her. But in that instant, Jiang Yao erupted with astonishing strength, grabbed Jiang Yin, and lunged off the rooftop.
They were stopped by the wire mesh, but Jiang Yao’s forceful push sent them tumbling over it. Jiang Yin reached out and grabbed the wire. With a “bang,” both of them fell onto the outside.
This wasn’t a fall from the sixth floor to the fifth; this was the very top floor. From this height, even if they fell, their heads would be smashed.
Jiang Yao clung to Jiang Yin, raising her arm to pry her hand away. The Believers above were reaching down to pull her up. Bullets hit Jiang Yao one after another, but she held onto Jiang Yin tightly, burying her head in her chest to protect her vital spots.
The two of them hung from the wire mesh on the rooftop, like an inverted chrysalis struggling to break free from its cocoon.
Just then, another round of gunshots rang out. The zombies pulling Jiang Yin suddenly collapsed, falling one after another.
The Believers who had come to meet her knew things were bad. They immediately abandoned Jiang Yin, turned, grabbed a rope, and slid away.
Lou Jiu chased after them, drew her knife, and began to cut the rope.
Wen Qianshu rushed to the edge of the rooftop. “Captain Jiang—”
Jiang Yao: “Kill her!”
The wind howled around the tall building, messing up Wen Qianshu’s hair. Jiang Yin laughed crisply, “So what if you kill me? I’m not the only Believer. Kill me, and there will be another, and another after that.”
“Little kitty, you might as well keep me—mmph—”
Jiang Yao reached up and pulled off Jiang Yin’s restraint device, covering her mouth with one hand. Jiang Yin’s teeth bit into her palm, tearing the flesh.
“Don’t you try any sweet talk.” Jiang Yao wrapped her legs around Jiang Yin’s waist, one hand covering her mouth, forcing her head straight and holding it in place. “Kill her.”
2333 was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan: “If she kills her, won’t Jiang Yao fall down too?”
Jiang Yin thought so too, her eyes blinking, her malice on full display.
But Wen Qianshu leaned right over and stepped onto the wire mesh outside as well—it was meant to stop falling objects and couldn’t bear the weight of so many people. With a “crack,” a nail popped out.
Jiang Yao: “It’s dangerous down here, get back up!”
Jiang Yin: “You—you all—”
She gritted her teeth and smiled, then suddenly let go. But Wen Qianshu grabbed her wrist, nearly getting pulled over herself. She locked her legs tightly around the wire mesh, hanging high in the air, lowered her head, and pressed her gun against Jiang Yin’s forehead. “You’re right, I should have killed you.”
A gunshot rang out.
Jiang Yin’s cold smile and resentment froze on her face. Her dark eyes still stared at Wen Qianshu, filled with scrutiny and contempt, but she could no longer say or do anything.
The wire mesh was on the verge of collapse. Wen Qianshu let go of the gun, grabbed Jiang Yin’s wrists with both hands, her entire body weight hanging outside. “Come up.”
The wire mesh dropped sharply, then stopped. Jiang Yao swallowed, only to realize her mouth was dry.
“Come up, Jiang Yao,” Wen Qianshu said. “Don’t even think about dying together. Get up here.”
Jiang Yao’s eyes widened as she looked at her. The bad feeling in Wen Qianshu’s heart intensified. She leaned most of her body out, reaching for her collar. “You’re not allowed to die—Jiang Yao!”
“You’re not allowed—” Wen Qianshu said fiercely. “My parents died for you. If you still feel guilty, then you will live—”
Jiang Yao seemed to snap to her senses. She reached out for Wen Qianshu’s hand. The wire mesh was dragged down, getting heavier and lower. Jiang Yao grasped Wen Qianshu’s hand, and together they let go of Jiang Yin.
She fell.
Along with the bloodshed and pain, the despair and sorrow she brought, she fell, making a dull thud.
Jiang Yao closed her eyes and opened them again, climbing up the wire mesh and back onto the rooftop. Wen Qianshu, panting, was pulled up by Lou Jiu. She looked at Jiang Yao, and before she could speak, she heard Jiang Yao say, “I will live.”
Wen Qianshu was half-kneeling on the ground, staring blankly at her. She watched her sit there, her body covered in bullet holes, her flesh torn open. But she said, “I will.”
She pulled open her clothes. There was a bite mark on her shoulder, and upon closer inspection, it was even in a similar position to Lou Jiu’s. “I had Gao Bai bite me. I had him give me an order, an order to kill Jiang Yin.”
Wen Qianshu: “And then?”
“And then—” Jiang Yao raised her hand to cover her eyes. “He said, ‘If I have to give an order, I hope Captain Jiang comes back alive’.”
Wen Qianshu panted, saying nothing. Her arms were trembling, aching terribly, as if she were about to collapse. She felt that Jiang Yao was very sad, as if she were about to cry, but zombies don’t have tears. So she just covered her eyes, suddenly let out a laugh, and said, “My sister wanted to kill me, but someone I implicated wants me to live—”
Lou Jiu stood behind Wen Qianshu, took off her own restraint device, and tied it onto Jiang Yao’s face. “He’s always been like that.”
Jiang Yao lowered her hand and looked up. “Always this foolish?”
Lou Jiu: “Probably.”
“Probably everyone is foolish.”
Mrs. Qin’s embrace, Mr. Qin’s backward glance.
The little zombie controlling its mother, wanting to leave together.
In front of Gao Bai, Lou Jiu’s hand that couldn’t pull the trigger.
Family, teammates, strangers met by chance—
The round sun was about to set.
The wind on the rooftop was still blowing, constantly blowing, from ancient times to the present, from far to near. It blew across distant lands, even farther lands, blew across Captain Shang Ci’s rare, flustered steps as he chased Uncle Lin; blew across a distant memory of a mother pulling her daughter, screaming.
It blew past the entrance of the medical school, past the high-hanging Rod of Asclepius, and then blew through the training camp, past the cold yet fervent declaration made after countless lives were lost.
“I volunteer to dedicate myself to the search team, to fight for humanity, to fight for hope. I swear to be kind, I swear to be responsible, I swear to be just. If the light refuses to shine upon the earth, I am willing to resist the darkness, until the last moment, until the last person.”
Until the last moment, until the last person.
Red blood and red flames, cruelty and gentleness, torment and kindness, they accompany humanity, accompany all sorts of individuals, related and unrelated, accompany ideals and selfish desires, living together, crowded, on this land.
So painful, and yet so—
Beautiful.
Lou Jiu lowered her eyes. “The world is beautiful. Take a longer look before you go.”
Jiang Yao closed her eyes. “Mm.”
But Wen Qianshu was taken aback.
She felt like she had heard this sentence before.
The world is beautiful, take a longer look before you go—
The world is beautiful—
For a moment, Wen Qianshu seemed to see the setting sun, the rolling mountain forests, the fiery clouds, and deep within the clouds, a person’s half-turned face, with light-colored pupils.
Wen Qianshu turned her head and looked up at Lou Jiu. Lou Jiu noticed her gaze and looked back with a questioning expression.
2333 froze, but didn’t dare to speak.
Wen Qianshu stared at Lou Jiu, but said, “Alright, Captain Jiang, let’s go back.”
“It’s quite dangerous to stay here. We also need to report those who escaped.”
This difficult day was finally coming to an end, but the long night had just begun.
The evening glow dyed the entire rooftop, and the setting sun watched over the earth.
They walked down.
Jiang Yao went first, followed by Wen Qianshu, with Lou Jiu at the very back. However, Wen Qianshu had only taken two steps down the stairs when a hand pressed on her shoulder. She was thinking about something else and didn’t react in time, turning around blankly.
The other person was already taller than her, and now standing one step higher, she was even taller. Wen Qianshu smiled and looked up, asking, “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” Lou Jiu looked at her. “What were you doing just now?”
That move Wen Qianshu made to save Jiang Yao, if she had been off by just a little, she would have fallen too. Wen Qianshu pursed her lips. “I wasn’t thinking that much at the time.”
Lou Jiu didn’t speak. She just gave Wen Qianshu a silent look and turned her head as if to leave. Wen Qianshu grabbed her. “Sister, I know I was wrong, I won’t do it again—Sister—”
Lou Jiu stopped, somewhat exasperated. “When do you not say that?”
“I haven’t said it that many times, have I?” With the serious business done, Wen Qianshu started thinking about other things. “Sister, why are you so concerned about me?”
Lou Jiu looked at her. She was bathed in the sunset, as if draped in a layer of red gauze. It seemed that by reaching out, one could lift this light veil. “You don’t know?”
Wen Qianshu smiled. Feeling mischievous, she moved closer to Lou Jiu, wrapped her arms around her neck, and said softly, “I don’t know.”
Lou Jiu lowered her eyes, raised her hand, and her fingers brushed the back of Wen Qianshu’s head, sliding over the knot. “Really?”
Wen Qianshu: “Really.”
She felt fingers brush through her hair, a tug, and the cord by her ear loosened. The restraint device slid off. Wen Qianshu didn’t move, smiling as she watched Lou Jiu, letting her remove her restraint device and hook it behind her ear.
Lou Jiu slowly leaned down. Wen Qianshu didn’t shy away; she even tightened her arms, pulling closer.
Their gazes met.
She watched the other’s long eyelashes lower, felt her breath on her cheek.
Closer, even closer—
She heard Lou Jiu say in a low voice, “Then now you know.”
After saying that, she kissed her.
