After running back the way we came for a while, I smoothly encountered Lianbing.
The first thing I did upon seeing Lianbing was to look at the title above her head. This had now become my sole method of judgment. If I couldn’t see it, or if I saw a different title, something was wrong.
It was like the last time I was pulled into the Spiral Nightmare, that Lianbing…
I really didn’t want to recall that nightmare, so I shook my head and asked her, “How is it, Lianbing? Did you not encounter any danger? Are you alone?”
“Mm, I’m fine, Cheng Jun. I didn’t encounter any danger. Besides you, Cheng Jun, I didn’t meet anyone else.”
Ruansui smiled up at me, showing that I shouldn’t worry. I reached out, placed my hand on her shoulder, and then naturally stroked her face.
She didn’t seem to be forcing it, and her body wasn’t trembling, but it’s possible she was just relieved to see me.
Ruansui’s cheeks turned rosy as I caressed them, and she looked at me shyly.
The temperature on her face reached my hand, making my palm warm.
This was the temperature of a living human, proof of life, the complete opposite of Li Nai.
“Th-then… Cheng Jun?”
“Ah, sorry, I was too forward.”
Seeing her embarrassed expression, I realized my actions were a bit rash and I wanted to pull my hand away.
But before I could, Ruansui grabbed my hand.
She held my hand with both of hers, pressing my palm back to her cheek. At the same time, she turned her head and actively rubbed her cheek against my palm, closing her eyes with an expression of enjoyment.
The friction generated heat, making my palm, my body, and my heart burn. Even the cold wind around us couldn’t cool this warmth.
“It’s okay. You can touch my body however you like.”
…
She suddenly said something that painted a vivid picture in my mind.
Perhaps Ruansui hadn’t thought much about it and blurted it out. After a few seconds, she suddenly widened her eyes, realizing how shamelessly she had spoken. The smile on her face froze. Her cheeks, which had only a faint blush, turned redder and redder. Her pupils felt like they were spinning, her eyes teared up, and her lips trembled. She lost her composure.
This was bad. My palms started to sweat… but she was holding on so tight that I couldn’t let go.
“Th-th-th-that! What I just said doesn’t count. No, that’s not right. It’s not that it doesn’t count, it’s just… um, that, I, I just want you to keep touching me. Ah, what am I saying? No, so… um! Please, please be gentle!”
After rambling a string of cute words there, she tightly grabbed my palm and pressed it to her chest.
Wow—Wow—Why did it turn out like this!
But at this point! It would be foolish to still pretend to be a gentleman!
Without hesitation, I pressed my hand into her chest.
It felt soft to the touch, as if it had no bones. Ah, it had no bones to begin with.
However, this softness was unreasonable. My fingers felt a perfect amount of resistance, and the sides of my fingers were covered by soft flesh, making me not want to let go at all. Ruansui, Ruansui, truly soft as her name suggests.
This touch was incredibly captivating. No wonder so many men (myself included) were fascinated by this part.
There was no need to be embarrassed. Any man would like it, except for homosexuals.
However, there were still things that could rival this.
For example, Xueqing’s cute little butt, Xinran’s beautiful feet, Yu Hui’s bare back, and so on.
So, it wasn’t just the chest that was attractive; many parts of a woman’s body were also charming.
While I was lost in thought, Ruansui actually calmed down. Although her face was still flushed, her body had stopped trembling.
“Heh heh, you were so nervous just now, and now you’ve suddenly calmed down… I’m such a fool, getting flustered all by myself. I knew you, Cheng Jun, would never do anything to me.”
My hand is on your chest, and I’ve calmed down.
‘Would never do anything to you’—Hey, hey, am I really that harmless?
Feeling that my masculinity had been called into question, I put on a serious expression and leaned close to her face, saying, “I’m a man too. Aren’t you afraid I’ll devour you?”
Even though I said such a threatening thing and my hand still dared to caress her a few times, Ruansui saw through my bluff. Not only was she not scared, but she also took a step closer.
She kissed my cheek and said with smiling, curved eyes, “Heh heh, what I said earlier still counts, okay? Please, be g-e-n-t-l-e, okay?”
…
Mom! Your future daughter-in-law is seducing me!
“Ha, really. You’re counting on me not doing anything to you, that’s why you’re being so bold.”
Reluctantly, I pulled my hand out of her chest and sighed in resignation, “Heh heh~ You’re always the kindest to me, Cheng Jun. You’d never treat me unfairly, right? Besides, even if we were to do it, I wouldn’t want to do it in such a disappointing place. At least not where there isn’t a big bed. Can’t I just lie on your chest? Right?”
My heavens—
She, she’s learned to be bad!
That innocent Ruansui had become so alluring! And she was seducing me so maliciously!
I could only start silently reciting incantations.
After the teasing ended, Ruansui and I, hand in hand, started walking again.
The trace of fear from before had completely vanished. It was much more reassuring to have someone by my side.
“Speaking of which, Lianbing, you—”
I was about to ask her why she was behind me, but she interrupted me and said, “If possible, can you not call me Lianbing?”
“Eh?”
She even puffed out her cheeks, looking displeased.
Huh? Did I say something that upset her? Why is she suddenly angry… It’s so confusing.
“Didn’t you, Cheng Jun, give me a special nickname to distinguish me from the other me? Call me by that name instead. The other name? Are you referring to Ruansui? How does she know I gave her that nickname? I only call her that in my heart… Or is it something else… Like ‘darling’?”
She wants me to call her by a special nickname?
Women always want to be treated specially, perhaps that’s the psychology.
In any case, I decided to test the waters with a tentative question.
“Um, are you talking about Ruansui?”
“Mm!”
She beamed with joy.
Hey, she’s so happy over such a small thing, so cute.
Ruansui happily swung the hand she was holding with mine. Then, as if she suddenly thought of something, she asked me, “However, Ruansui sounds like an ingredient for ice cream… Um, can you just call me Ruanruan directly?”
“Sure, Ruanruan it is then.”
“Mm! Then can I call you Jun Jun too?”
“Cough!”
Jun, Jun…
That nickname immediately reminded me of that crazy woman. Principal Nana had always called me that teasingly in my dreams.
Having Ruansui call me that felt a bit strange.
Moreover, calling each other by reduplicated names like Ruanruan and Jun Jun made us sound like a silly couple.
“Um, on second thought, Jun Jun and all…”
“…You don’t like it?”
Ruansui’s big eyes blinked, her trembling eyelashes looked as if they had been soaked in water. She pouted her lips, looking wronged.
*Pfft!*
That’s too much! How could I refuse you when you look at me like that…
Ah! This is ridiculous!
“Yes, yes! Absolutely yes! Call me whatever you like!”
“Heh heh, I like you the most~ Jun Jun~”
…
Although she can be a little temperamental, my girlfriend is still amazing!
“Cough, cough. So, Ruan— um, Ruanruan, why were you behind me?”
Wow, if I keep being with Ruansui, my brain will probably turn into mushy love-brain. Even if I become an idiot, I’ll probably live happily.
“I got off at the station over there.”
Ruansui pointed behind us. I guess she got off at the same place as me, otherwise she wouldn’t have appeared behind me.
“Why did you get off? Didn’t Li Nai say not to get off?”
“That’s because the subway stopped just now, and I wanted to see if we had arrived. Just as I was looking, suddenly—”
“A skull wearing a conductor’s uniform appeared!”
Could it be that the damned skeleton kicked Ruansui off the train again!
“Skeleton? No, it wasn’t. It was a very beautiful, fair-skinned older sister. She said to me, ‘Sorry, little sister, could you please get off at this stop? Don’t worry, if it’s you, you absolutely won’t encounter any danger here!'”
“Uh? Older sister?”
And she said something that sounded like a request for compromise… What’s going on?
“Mm, she seemed a bit troubled, so I got off. Then she kindly gave me directions, saying that if I followed the tracks, I would meet the person I wanted to see. And then I met you, Jun Jun, hehe. That sister is truly a good person~”
“Is that so.”
Damn it, this is clearly preferential treatment.
They just kicked me out directly, but they politely asked Ruansui to leave?
I’m not complaining, but it feels a bit strange. Who was that woman? Why did she make Lianbing get off early?
The strangest part is her words… ‘If it’s you, you absolutely won’t encounter any danger here.’ This is quite telling.
According to Li Nai, this place should be very dangerous, but that woman said something like that. So, what exactly is this danger? Being attacked by zombies or ghouls?
Speaking of which, this place is called the City of the Living, but I haven’t seen a single corpse yet, except for the skeleton conductor on the subway.
She’s been looking around nervously since a moment ago, with a worried expression on her face.
Is the eerie atmosphere of this place making her uneasy? Or is she feeling cold from the wind?
“Ah, it’s nothing. It’s just that… I don’t know why, I haven’t been able to calm down. I have a vague feeling… It’s fine, it’s not a big problem.”
Although she said so, I still took off my school uniform jacket and draped it over her.
“Thank you, Jun Jun.”
She snuggled closer to me and hugged my arm. I uncomfortably scratched my nose.
Indeed, I’m still not used to this nickname. *C—chu*
By the way, how long are we going to walk— It’s already past 7:20, but the scenery around us seems to have not changed at all.
And I haven’t seen anyone else.
Since Ruansui and I got off early, everyone else should have gotten off too, right? Ruansui and I got off at the same station, but there’s a time difference. Perhaps everyone else is like this.
But when I walk forward, I don’t encounter anyone, and no one is chasing me from behind. This is very strange.
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh…
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh…
…What is that sound?
It’s the same sound I heard on the subway, but much louder, and it’s getting louder, and it’s getting closer…
Something is approaching.
I started looking around. From the edge of the distant horizon, black dots appeared. Then the black dots rapidly expanded, covering the dark green grassland.
What I was worried about has really happened…
The undead are appearing from the other end of the horizon.
Why are they called undead? Because beings that should be dead still exist in this world… they are erroneous existences.
They have not entered the cycle of life and death, yet they have not completely transcended it. They merely exist in the world in a daze, finally becoming neither one nor the other.
As long as they are not completely destroyed, they can theoretically exist forever. They are not alive, nor are they dead, so they are called ‘dead’… Perhaps ‘undying’ would be a more appropriate term.
Such existences often appear in novels and games, and they are characterized by one thing: their sheer numbers.
The quantity is outrageously large!
Looking out, it’s a black mass as far as the eye can see. People feel uncomfortable if they stand too close together, so they leave some distance between them. But these zombies, ghouls, and skeletons have no gaps at all. They are vying for the front position, piling on top of each other without any awareness.
It’s like… a tide.
Finally, I truly understood what the ‘hordes of zombies’ often described in horror novels are like.
The number is inestimable, making one feel awe-struck.
Monsters far beyond my imagination are rapidly approaching us, but I can’t even think of escaping. I stand frozen in place.
Compared to that tide of corpses, we are too small…
Like small pieces of wood floating on the vast ocean waves…
We can only wait to be completely engulfed.
