RIACMET chapter 216

 

Ten o’clock at night.

The thunder and fire on Cheng Jing’s body had completely subsided. He now lay naked on the ground.

Jiang Nian took out a thin blanket, wrapped Cheng Jing up in it, and carried him back to the tent horizontally.

“Wow! Brother Nian is definitely boyfriend material!”

Tang Ji gave him a thumbs-up in astonishment.

Jiang Nian replied modestly.

“I’m 183 cm tall, my superpower has awakened, and I’ve been training hard. Isn’t it normal for me to carry my boyfriend?”

Though it wasn’t as easy as when Brother Jing carried him, walking while holding him wasn’t a problem. This was the kind of strength a normal grown man should have.

“My godfather is seriously awesome!”

Liao Yu gave him a thumbs-up, then silently glanced at Zhao Lei, evaluating himself, and eventually rejected himself.

No comparison.

Cheng Jing’s body was scorching hot, and his eyelids trembled slightly. He had fallen into a coma after Jiang Nian took back his superpower. Now, he was in a dazed state—half asleep, half awake.

Jiang Nian wiped his body down with ice water and helped him change into loose, casual clothes.

Only then did he let his teammates in.

“Brother Jing…”

“Brother Cheng!”

“Cheng Jing—”

“… ”

Cheng Jing felt like he was burning from the inside out. His skin, blood, nerves, and brain were all on fire.

The pain only faded after his body was wiped down with cold water.

In his unconscious state, he heard Jiang Nian and the others calling his name. He wanted to respond but couldn’t make a sound.

He forced open his heavy eyelids and saw Jiang Nian holding his hand and saying something joyfully.

Then, other people came into view, but his blurry vision made everything appear double.

However, when Cheng Jing saw Gao Xuyang’s stiff, pale face, he suddenly felt an inexplicable chill of fear.

His consciousness tried to wake him up, but his body wouldn’t obey. When he blinked again and opened his eyes, he saw that everyone had turned into zombies and were rushing toward him with terrifying faces.

The sweet voice of his lover sounded panicked in his ears. It turned to sobs and eventually became heart-wrenching screams for help.

When he tried to blink again to regain consciousness, everything around him only grew hazier.

At some point, the tent turned into a basement. Jiang Nian was no longer pulling him; he was lying on an iron bed, looking tired and in pain.

Before he could make sense of what was happening, loud, chaotic gunfire and a terrifying rumble came from the distance.

Cheng Jing knew he was dreaming or hallucinating. He couldn’t wake up; it was as if he were experiencing sleep paralysis. Screaming and struggling were useless.

He watched a horde of foul-smelling zombies break into the basement and pounce on Jiang Nian. Suddenly, a sharp pain assaulted his mind, dragging his awareness deeper into an even darker nightmare.

It felt like he was dreaming within a dream.

“…”

Back in the tent, Jiang Nian and the others saw him close his eyes and fall asleep again. They assumed he’d be fine after a nap.

But his fever didn’t go down for a long time. Though he wasn’t smoking or on fire, his temperature remained high—44 degrees.

He was drenched in sweat and trapped in a nightmare. His face was twisted in pain as if he were suffering from something terrifying. No matter how hard they tried to wake him, it was no use. No medicine or injection worked.

Even Zhou Rongbin and Gao Xuyang’s attempts to intervene with their psychic powers were unsuccessful.

Occasionally, he softly called out Jiang Nian’s name, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.

Liao Yu could only place rings of ice around him to keep his body cool, feeling helpless.

Jiang Nian knew Brother Jing would eventually be fine, but he still felt bad knowing Brother Jing was worried even in his dreams.

Then, Tang Ji accidentally said something.

“Maybe Brother Cheng is dreaming that Brother Nian is in trouble and he can’t help him…”

“… ”

Yang Kai and Chu Yi frowned; even they couldn’t help him.

When they heard that, Jiang Nian, Zhao Lei, and the others felt a jolt in their hearts and, for some reason, recalled the moment when Chen Yue awakened his past-life memories.

A nightmare foretelling the apocalypse and memories rising from a previous life had happened before. Just because there was one case didn’t mean there wouldn’t be more. What if…

After a while, just to be safe, Huang Qian calmly suggested that, aside from Yang Kai, the rest of the team take turns keeping watch over Cheng Jing.

After all, Brother Kai had to take care of Gao Xuyang while Chu Yi and Tang Ji were responsible for the legion and the other survivors. The arrangement made sense.

Jiang Nian, of course, understood what his teammates were thinking and fully agreed with Sister Qian’s suggestion. That way, there’d be no need to worry if Brother Jing said anything strange in his sleep.

Yang Kai had already contacted the base to send a plane, which might arrive in the second half of the night.

Chu Yi’s space would be used to store the legion and all their supplies.

Besides, they hadn’t expected to find a pregnant woman when they arrived. Now, with Cheng Jing in this state, it was definitely safer to have the base send an aircraft.

Planes consume a lot of resources and should only be used when absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, the base’s intelligence department replied to their earlier inquiry about the situation near Guanshan Prison.

South City Base had purchased this intelligence through special channels, gathering it urgently from all over. Just as they had suspected:

Since the beginning of the apocalypse, Guanshan Prison had requested backup, but received no response when chaos hit. It was later reported that the prison had been converted into a shelter, after which there was no further contact with the authorities.

Before Gao Xuyang lost control, Qi Laoer and his crew might have escaped.

They posed as an official rescue unit and survivors, set up a base nearby, and lured other survivors to Guanshan Prison to kill them and steal their supplies.

“It’s hard to change someone’s nature. A dog will always eat shit!”

Yang Kai cursed through gritted teeth.

After the apocalypse broke out, many prisoners across the country cooperated with officials to maintain order, awaken their powers, and rescue civilians.

But he never believed that Qi Laoer would turn over a new leaf.

Anyone involved in smuggling was rotten to the core!

Yang Kai wanted to drag Qi Laoer out and shave his head in public, but he held back. In the end, he lit a cigarette and walked to the side.

Just as he lit it and took a drag, Gao Xuyang snatched it away, turned around, set it on a rock, and said in a negotiating tone,

“Stop…okay?”

Even after becoming a zombie, his sense of taste had weakened to almost nothing—he could only sense fresh flesh, blood, and crystal cores.

However, jumbled information in his mind and certain long-lost “instincts” pushed him to prevent Yang Kai from smoking so often.

“…”

Yang Kai was stunned for a moment, then relaxed, smiled, and nodded.

“Okay.”

He had only wanted to smoke because that person was gone. He had planned to smoke all night because he missed him so much.

Now it was time to quit.

“…”

As the night deepened, Chu Yi settled the survivors, but no one on the team went to sleep.

Cheng Jing’s condition was now considered stable. His high fever persisted, and he was stuck in a deep nightmare. He no longer spoke in his sleep or showed pain on his face, but he still wouldn’t wake up.

Jiang Nian asked the rest of the team to return to their tents and rest. To prevent Brother Jing’s superpower from flaring up uncontrollably while he slept, he also took a collar from Chu Yi and put it on him temporarily.

That way, everyone would feel a bit more at ease.

Lying next to Cheng Jing, Jiang Nian stared at the tent ceiling, feeling an unshakable unease.