Chapter 6.14 – Silly Little Brother

When Xu Yan Ze got off, he instinctively shielded Xiang Han behind him. Normally, he wouldn't have been worried, but there had been too many twists and turns recently, so there was still a shadow in his heart. He couldn't help but be vigilant.

The officer watched them get off and wanted to take a good look at Xiang Han but was blocked by Xu Yan Ze. He was irritated and thought, 'why is this person so annoying and constantly blocking my view?'

When they finally entered the base, the officer instructed, "Two people can go drive the car over. The rest of you follow me to the isolation area for the inspection."

The isolation area was between the city wall and the gutter. When crossing the metal bridge, Xiang Han looked down and felt his scalp tingle.

A thick layer of ash had accumulated at the bottom of the ditch, occasionally revealing human bones that had been burnt to charcoal. When the wind swept across the bottom of the ditch, a layer of gray mist was sent into the air, but it couldn't escape from the hole and sank back down after a while.

When he saw Xiang Han's pale face, the officer joked, "If you guys have been infected, say it now to be left an intact corpse. If you are discovered after entering the isolation area, you'll be thrown directly into the gutter and burned."

Everyone's heart was uneasy. They wanted to look at Xu Yan Ze but were afraid of arousing suspicion.

Although their captain had returned to normal, he had still been infected once. Who knew what kind of changes it produced? If this group of people discovered something and misunderstood it as him being infected, things would get messy.

Xiang Han also had his worries and asked Little B.

Little B hesitated, [I'm not sure. The novel didn't have such cases. It's important to see the rules of this world.]

Novels were usually written from the perspective of the protagonist, so it wasn't very complete and carried the possibility of a BUG. Therefore, during the formation of a world, it would analyse the laws from thousands of novels to fill in any holes.

Hearing this, Xiang Han felt even more hopeless and couldn't help squeezing Xu Yan Ze's hand a little more tightly. The latter was slightly stunned at first before he responded with a squeeze, warmth and comfort in his eyes.

The officer suddenly felt his tooth ache. Why did these two people…seem so weird?

Out of worry, Xiang Han suddenly put on the air of a young master after they'd reached the isolation area. "What are you all doing? Tell my brother to come, my dad is Wu Ming Qi, why do I need to be quarantined?"

The staff responsible for drawing blood exchanged a look with each other, thinking… is there something wrong with his brain?

The officer already knew Xiang Han's name. His name and appearance matched and he even drove a military vehicle, so he already had an answer in his heart. He patiently explained, "It's not quarantine, but an inspection to see if anyone among you has been infected."

"What's there to inspect? If we've really been infected, do you think we can still be standing here?" Xiang Han was kicking up a fuss and frowned. "Forget it, I won't make things difficult for you. Take their blood first, but I'm in a rush to return home with my…boyfriend. We'll leave first. Inspection or whatever, it can wait for another day."

He deliberately emphasised the word home, feeling that it'd be more successful if he acted overbearingly first before making a concession.

He never expected that the instant his words fell, a dark voice came from the door. "Boyfriend? Since when do you like men?"

Xiang Han stiffened, feeling his loftiness wither away. He turned around and saw a young officer standing by the door in a stiff military uniform. His face, which carried some similarities to Xiang Han, was cold as he stared firmly at him.

Xiang Han laughed rigidly and raised his paws. "Brother…"

Xu Yan Ze was also sizing up the other person. Faced with Wu Yue's indifferent face that couldn't conceal his reddening eyes as well as the slight hoarseness in his voice, he relaxed. This reaction couldn't be faked; he really cared for his brother.

But besides relief, he was also disappointed. After returning home, the little fool would probably not be able to stay by his side all the time.

Wu Yue didn't have the time to notice Xu Yan Ze, he was staring rigidly at a certain person smiling foolishly. After a moment, he walked forward and lifted Xiang Han's chin, turning it side to side before nodding. "Not bad, it's really the rascal."

"I'll take him away first, you can deal with the others." He simply gave notice and pulled Xiang Han along by the collar, like holding a kitten.

"Wait!" Beside Xiang Han, Xu Yan Ze and the other officer spoke at the same time.

Wu Yue swept a glance over Xiang Han and signalled for him to shut up. He turned to Xu Yan Ze with narrowed eyes.

"Who are you?"

"Ahem, he's my captain," Xiang Han quickly explained.

Wu Yue looked at his right hand that had been suppressed and gave a cold laugh. He abruptly released Xiang Han's collar and counter-grabbed Xu Yan Ze's arm in defense but Xu Yan Ze's reflexes were quicker. With a turn, he actually managed to break free.

A trace of interest flashed through Wu Yue's eyes as the two people directly began to exchange moves on the spot.

Xiang Han immediately grew frantic. "Brother, stop. He's saved me before. If not for him, I would have already died in City X."

It wasn't that Xiang Han didn't have faith in Xu Yan Ze, but rather, felt that Xu Yan Ze's injury hadn't recovered. With one hand, he'd definitely suffer a loss.

Upon learning that this person was his little brother's saviour, he withheld his strength somewhat. Moreover, he had also seen the other person's injury and no longer had any desire to continue.

But when Xu Yan Ze heard Xiang Han say the word 'died', he lost control of his emotions and his attacks also grew more vicious.

With a curse, Wu Yue saw Xu Yan Ze come at him with a brandished fist without regard for his injury and simply blocked it. Their limbs connected and the white bandages turned red.

Xiang Han's heart dropped. He rushed forward to pull the two apart, his heart aching as he held Xu Yan Ze's arm up. "Does it hurt? Your wounds opened up again, it must be painful! Why did you hit him?!"

Xu Yan Ze had also just calmed down and understood that this wasn't the last world. The little fool hadn't died. His gaze dimmed as he lifted his uninjured arm. His arm hovered for a second before resting on Xiang Han's head, pulling him closer.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt."

The melon-eating team & the doctors & the soldiers: "…"

Wu Yue inexplicably felt like he'd just fucked a dog. Who could tell him what was going on between his little brother and this person?

He felt that he needed to calm down, but… he couldn't. He'd also been punched in the face, it hurt a lot, alright? But his own brother didn't even seem to have noticed and had run over to hug that other lad instead of worrying for him. How infuriating!

He directly grabbed Xiang Han's collar and dragged him out coldly. "Go home with me first. Mom has been missing you for the last two years, she's nearly gone blind from crying."

"Ahem, then…bro, can Yan Ze go with us too?" Xiang Han turned around and negotiated.

Why should he go with us? Who is he to our Wu family?

Wu Yue almost wanted to roar. Clutching onto Xiang Han's collar, he gritted his teeth. "You still have the time to worry about others? Did you ever think about what our family has become after two years? How is grandpa, your mom and dad, and your brother?"

Being chided like this, Xiang Han truly felt bad. But Xu Yan Ze's situation… he hesitated.

Xu Yan Ze saw him staring at the other staff and understood. He walked forward and separated Wu Yue's hand before helping Xiang Han tidy up his clothes. "Go back for now. You haven't been back for a long time, you must miss them a lot."

Xiang Han still wasn't at ease. "But, you…"

After Wu Yue's hand was pried away, he was unhappy but he could see the situation wasn't normal. His brother had a silly expression of hating iron for not becoming steel. On behalf of his brother, he still told the officer, "I'll take these two people with me. The rest will remain here as per protocol."

"But… Commander, this isn't according to the rules." The officer was in a dilemma.

Wu Yue frowned, "You guys already called the old Lord and the whole house knows that this troublesome lad has finally returned. Even if he's been infected, he needs to return home with me to see my grandpa. If anything happens, I will personally solve it with a single bullet. If you still aren't reassured, you're free to send anyone to follow along."

The officer was a very practical person. He nodded solemnly, "Alright. In that case, pardon my offense. I seek the commander's understanding."

Wu Yue waved a hand to express it was all fine and turned to leave but Xu Yan Ze suddenly said, "I won't be following you guys. Little Fool, return home with your brother."

"Why?" Xiang Han grew anxious.

Xu Yan Ze had been infected once and although he had recovered, what should he do if they discovered something and refused him entry into the base?

Xu Yan Ze shook his head and laughed comfortingly. "Don't worry, it's only 24 hours. It won't take long."

He didn't want to owe Wu Yue a favour and give other people the impression that he had gotten closer to Xiang Han with ulterior motives. He only wanted to stay by Xiang Han's side normally and since the doctor in their team had already examined him, there shouldn't be any problems.

Xiang Han couldn't convince him and had to leave unhappily.

Because of this, Xu Yan Ze's image in Wu Yue's eyes grew by several points. But after dragging Xiang Han into the car, his face chilled. "Speak, what's going on between you two?"

"Uh, we…"

"Is he forcing you?" He didn't wait for Xiang Han to speak before asking with a frown.

Ever since the world fell into chaos, the human heart changed. Many fell into moral degeneracy and all sorts of crimes were committed. Without strength, it was common to see women being violated. It also wasn't rare to see men being coerced.

Thinking of this possibility, Wu Yue viciously turned the steering wheel. Although that man didn't appear to be the character who would do such things, he couldn't rule out the possibility. His little brother had always been a man straighter than an iron rod. How had he turned gay in just two years?

Xiang Han jumped in fright and he hurriedly recalled the excuse he had long prepared. He exaggerated especially when mentioning Xu Yan Ze. "At that time, I nearly died in City X, but luckily, Yan Ze descended from the skies and annihilated all the zombies. Then, he pulled me into the car…"

"Descended from the skies?" Wu Yue's lips curled.

"Ahem, I was exaggerating a little. But really, if not for him, I would have definitely died," He swore.

"Hmm." Wu Yue gritted his teeth. "So to say, before the apocalypse, the scouts I sent to find you never found anything because you went on a vacation with your girlfriend?"

"Uh, yeah." Xiang Han hardened his scalp and admitted.

"But when escaping, this woman got an ability and abandoned you in City X, and even stole your car and food?" Wu Yue's expression grew darker.

"Y-Yeah.

After tattling, he continued solemnly in order to help Xu Yan Ze earn more brownie points. "Luckily, Xu Yan Ze demanded for the food and car back, or we would have to eat expired biscuits all the time."

Wu Yue's face was so dark it was almost dripping ink. He spat a heartless line. "Serves you right!"

Xiang Han didn't reply, so he was even more bitter. "Why do I have such a stupid brother? You actually suffered so much because of such trash. Now? You directly got together with another man."

"Yan Ze… is very good. Brother, don't be biased." Xiang Han tried to defend him.

Wu Yue was rather speechless. He took some time to finally reply, "Fair enough, he's more reliable than you. Someone like you who easily falls into another's trap is better off nabbing a man like him."