Chapter 190

Even though Zhao Yi had simplified his theory, leaving out the parts about higher- and lower-dimensional worlds and speaking only of “aliens” and “alien civilizations,” Zhou Wang was still left staring at him, eyes wide.

Mr. Xu stood there with his mouth hanging open.

That was how most people looked the first time they heard the theory.

They were dumbfounded.

Zhou Wang felt as though the top of his skull had been pried open and his brain tossed into a wok with Sichuan peppercorns and spices, then stir-fried to a crisp.

The middle-aged man vigorously rubbed both sides of his head, trying to make sense of it. “So they made the zombies, wiped out all the governments, and they can even control the weather?”

He raised his head and practically shouted, “What the hell do they want?”

With technology that advanced, they could do anything they wanted.

Why torment a bunch of puny humans?

If they didn’t like humanity, why not just wipe everyone out?

Why go to all this trouble?

“Maybe it’s fun,” Jiang Cheng said. “Like us squatting by the roadside watching ants. Didn’t you ever do that when you were a kid?”

Gao Yuxuan closed his eyes. “Fuck—!”

When he was little, he could squat on the ground and watch them for half an hour.

Then, when he got bored and was ready to leave, he would stand up, unzip his fly, and piss all over the anthill.

That stream of urine was a city consumed by raging fire.

It was an ordeal of bitter cold.

It was the earth splitting open and buildings collapsing.

The room fell utterly silent.

After a long while, someone suddenly let out a laugh.

A pause, then another two laughs.

Another pause, and then more laughter.

There wasn’t enough breath between any of the laughs.

They sounded as if they were dying, as if they had gone mad.

Who could possibly stay sane?

Mr. Xu bent over and buried his face in his hands. After a long while, he sat upright again. “Jiang Cheng, which way are we going?”

Jiang Cheng glanced at him.

He was one of the two smartest people among the first batch of refugees.

Before she had even recruited them, the two of them had already sensed which way the wind was blowing and proactively come to join her. Thanks to their sharp minds, they had risen all the way into the management team.

Unfortunately, the one surnamed Yu had disappeared as well.

Jiang Cheng did not answer him at once.

She lowered her eyes.

No one spoke. They remained silent, waiting for her to think it through.

Li Jiangbing’s thoughts were simple: whichever direction Jiang Cheng chose, he would follow.

Jiang Cheng raised her eyes.

Everyone held their breath.

“We’re splitting up,” Jiang Cheng said.

Everyone was stunned.

“We’ll split up. Half of us will go east, and the other half will go west,” Jiang Cheng said. “We’re splitting up so they can’t wipe us all out in one fell swoop.”

“It doesn’t matter which side survives. As long as one side makes it.”

Half of the people would obviously go with her. But what about the other half? Who would lead them?

Jiang Cheng’s gaze swept across the people before her.

In the end, she chose the person she believed was best suited for the job.

“Su Yu, I’ll take half, and you take the other half.”

Su Yu was a unique superpowered individual, unlike anyone else, and extraordinarily powerful.

Her protective barrier could withstand the collapse of half a building.

She was a kind girl, a universally acknowledged good person.

Perhaps because of her unusual ability, there was a sacred, almost salvific aura about her.

The human heart was actually fragile and easily hollowed out.

That was why cults found it so easy to ensnare people, slipping into the emptiness at just the right moment.

Most ordinary people had to fill that emptiness with something in order to keep themselves standing.

Song Jingshuo was certainly an excellent administrator, fully capable of shouldering the responsibility of leading a group.

But in everyone’s eyes, Song Jingshuo was ultimately just an ordinary man.

Under the current circumstances, when so many people’s souls had been reduced to empty shells, Su Yu was the better choice.

Su Yu’s vision blurred.

She had never expected Jiang Cheng to entrust her with such a heavy responsibility.

She fought back the tears gathering in her eyes and nodded firmly as she accepted the burden. “All right.”

Li Jiangbing opened his mouth. He looked at Su Yu, then Jiang Cheng, then Jiang Cheng again, then back at Su Yu.

As for which way they should go—

Gao Yuxuan said, “How about one group heads south and the other heads north? I refuse to believe we have to play by their rules.”

Defiance was the name of the game.

“It won’t work,” Zhao Yi said. “Their abilities are practically divine compared to ours. If they don’t want us going south or north, they have the power to stop us.”

“Even if there weren’t natural barriers to the north and no coastline pushing inland from the south, they could simply create them.”

That was true.

A massive fissure had appeared on the site of the old Youth Apartments. Half the courtyard had collapsed into it.

It ran diagonally through the entire residential complex, even extending into Auspicious Garden.

It was bottomless.

They had given humanity two choices: east or west.

To the west, the terrain rose, forcing them to face the extreme cold.

To the east, zombies had gathered, and one of them had already evolved into a Corpse Emperor.

Neither destination was remotely appealing.

Clearly, they were just toying with humanity.

As for who should go where, Jiang Cheng said, “Let’s roll the dice.”

She had Cui Haiyang make a die with three sides marked “east” and three sides marked “west,” giving them even odds.

Jiang Cheng asked Su Yu to roll.

Su Yu rolled “west.”

“All right, you’re going west,” Jiang Cheng said. “I’m going east.”

Then she asked, “What about the rest of you?”

She was speaking to the people in the room.

Song Jingshuo didn’t need to think. “I’m with you.”

Sweat covered Li Jiangbing’s forehead. He couldn’t come up with an answer.

Zhao Yi exchanged a glance with Zhang Lesi, then another with Gao Yuxuan.

The three of them understood one another perfectly.

“You roll,” Zhang Lesi said. “I’ll go with you.”

“You roll,” Gao Yuxuan said. “I’ll go in the opposite direction.”

The lovers had decided not to separate. They would stay together.

The partners had decided to split up, because each side needed someone to witness what happened with their own eyes. The two of them would each serve as that witness for one side.

Zhao Yi rolled “east.” He and Zhang Lesi would follow Jiang Cheng.

Gao Yuxuan would go west with Su Yu.

Li Jiangbing couldn’t make a choice. He gritted his teeth. “I’ll roll too.”

He would leave it to fate.

Fate sent him east with Jiang Cheng.

Li Jiangbing closed his eyes for a moment and accepted his destiny.

Some people found it easy to make a decision. Aunt Pan was one of them. “I’ll go with Little Su.”

Jiang Cheng had always given people the impression of being powerful and forceful.

Compared with her, Su Yu seemed much gentler.

Older women instinctively felt more protective toward the vulnerable. Su Yu was not vulnerable in the slightest, but Aunt Pan felt that Jiang Cheng already had plenty of strong people around her, so she would go with Su Yu.

Cui Haiyang rolled for Su Yu and high-fived Gao Yuxuan.

Zhou Wang also rolled for Su Yu, deciding to leave it to fate.

Mr. Xu didn’t roll at all. He chose Jiang Cheng directly.

The girl surnamed Su was a good person, and her superpower was useful. But not everyone could make him willingly submit to a subordinate position.

Auntie Qian chose Su Yu.

“There are zombies to the east. If they come, I can’t run, and I’ll only hold you back,” she said. “I’ll go with Little Su. It’ll be colder, but at least it should be safer. I’ll focus on growing crops for everyone. Xiao Song can go with you, and I’ll go with Little Su. That works out perfectly.”

Quite a few fire-type ability users chose Su Yu.

Their abilities would be even more useful in the extreme cold.

This was not a falling-out. The companions were simply testing their luck together, sharing the risks, and searching for a way to survive.

Everyone stepped out of the little house and gathered all the survivors.

Jiang Cheng climbed onto the roof and used the tin megaphone Cui Haiyang had made to announce to everyone that they would be splitting up and heading in opposite directions.

“Choose for yourselves,” she said. “If you can’t decide, roll the dice.”

Someone asked, “Can’t we stay here?”

“Fine. We respect everyone’s personal choice.” Jiang Cheng had never forced anyone to stay alive. She only saved those who wanted to live.

But she also laid out the risks honestly. “S City may continue to suffer earthquakes until it becomes uninhabitable.”

The vast majority of people would undoubtedly choose to leave with them.

Most people were obedient by nature and tended to follow the crowd. They were afraid of being left alone.

Besides, the water-, wood-, and numerous fire-element ability users were all leaving. These three types of abilities played an important—indeed, crucial—role in survival under the current circumstances.

Without them, staying alive would become extremely difficult.

“We leave tomorrow,” Jiang Cheng said. “Make your decision by then at the latest.”

Everyone began murmuring among themselves.

The truth about the zombie disaster and the catastrophes that followed soon spread as well.

Some people broke down completely. Some refused to believe it no matter what. Others felt as if they were trapped in a dream.

Yet somehow, everything—the zombies, the raging fires, the extreme cold, and the supernatural abilities—could finally be explained.

Some people made their choice.

Those who couldn’t decide for themselves could roll the dice.

At first, they rolled one by one. Later, they grew tired of that and simply had a whole group roll together, with one person representing everyone.

That way, no matter which side they ended up on, they could stay with people they knew and gain at least a little sense of security.

Many people had already begun working.

They searched for vehicles.

They combed through the ruins for anything useful.

Especially useful plants.

Song Jingshuo and the others successfully found the remains of the cultivation level and recovered several crucial crops.

He and Auntie Qian divided the plants between them.

That night, everyone slept in temporary matchbox-like houses.

Another earthquake struck in the middle of the night.

Everyone hurried outside.

“This house should be fine unless the ground splits apart,” Zhao Yi said.

The house had been built through the combined efforts of earth- and metal-element ability users. Steel reinforcement had been embedded inside specifically to make it earthquake-resistant.

But Zhao Yi was remarkably good at tempting fate. The moment he finished speaking, the earth split open.

A crack slanted across three rows of houses.

The houses did not collapse, but their walls cracked.

Zhao Yi fell silent.

He decided he had better keep his mouth shut.

“They” had actually been monitoring them the entire time.

After that night, no one mentioned staying behind anymore.

At dawn, everyone began working.

Jiang Cheng transferred a batch of supplies to Su Yu.

She gave Su Yu three-quarters of her stored coal.

Since Su Yu’s group did not have the convenience of storage space, the large cargo trucks they found were given priority to them.

On one seven-meter-long freight truck, everyone first spread a layer of soil, then a layer of corpses, and finally another layer of soil, turning it into a mobile farm for Auntie Qian.

It could produce crops wherever they went.

The time to part had arrived.

They had fought side by side and endured hardship together from the previous June until now. At last, they had to go their separate ways.

Many familiar faces said their farewells, offering reminders and words of caution.

Jiang Cheng and Su Yu embraced.

One of them was cold and detached, the other reserved and introverted. Neither of them often showed her emotions so openly.

But this time, the two young women held each other tightly.

Leaning close to Su Yu’s ear, Jiang Cheng urged, “Don’t hesitate when trouble comes. Kill when you have to. If you truly can’t bring yourself to do it, drive them away.”

Su Yu knew her own weakness all too well. Her eyes blurred with tears as she promised, “I will.”

Zhang Lesi clasped both of Su Yu’s hands. For once, the usually outgoing girl was unable to say a word. After struggling for a long while, all she managed was, “Take care.”

“You too.”

Gao Yuxuan and Cui Haiyang bumped fists one by one with Song Jingshuo, Li Jiangbing, Zhao Yi, and the others.

“Let’s see who can survive,” they said.

“Hopefully, all of us.”

“And you—try showing off a little less from now on.”

“Get lost.”

Song Jingshuo said goodbye to Auntie Qian and gently embraced the older woman.

The old lady smiled through her tears.

Zhou Wang bade farewell to Mr. Xu. The middle-aged man remained unfailingly courteous. “Thank you for taking care of us these past few months.”

“Not at all. You’re too kind.”

The young people from the youth apartments also said goodbye to Zhou Wang. “Brother Zhou, take care!”

Zhou Wang’s eyes grew misty as well.

He seemed to see that day again—the day when the residents of Auspicious Garden had finally summoned the courage to go downstairs and fight the zombies. Back then, they had no armor and no standard-issue weapons. They had possessed nothing but the determination to live.

Just as they were about to collapse, this group of young people had arrived like heavenly soldiers descending to earth and cut their way through the zombies.

Their bond had been forged at that moment.

In the end, everyone pretended to be busy. In truth, they really were busy, loudly calling for people to board the vehicles and doing everything else that needed to be done.

They left the final moments to Li Jiangbing and Su Yu.

Li Jiangbing did not know what to say.

He did not know whether Su Yu resented him for leaving with Jiang Cheng.

But Su Yu smiled and promised him, “I’ll take good care of myself.”

Li Jiangbing felt a weight lift from his heart.

“Take care of yourself first whenever something happens,” he said. “Stop worrying so much about everyone else. If there’s really trouble, stay alive first. Everything else can wait.”

Because she was important to him—more important than anyone else.

Su Yu’s vision blurred.

Everyone boarded the vehicles.

The enormous convoy started moving. One group headed east, while the other went west.

After ten months of guarding their home together, the companions finally parted ways here, setting off in different directions to seek a path to survival.