Chapter 38

At this point, Cheng Duo had nothing to hide anymore. "Yong-ge, it's not that I don't want to see a doctor, but rather, I know it would be useless. The era I come from is different from yours. I came from another timeline…"

Seeing Yong-ge's confusion, Cheng Duo picked up two stones to illustrate. "You can imagine it as two different places. Due to a temporal disruption, these two places briefly intersected, and I transferred from this stone to that stone… When you first met me, I had just crossed over."

Yong-ge's lips moved. "I don't understand… Are you saying you came from another place?"

Cheng Duo had escaped, right? It seemed to convey the same meaning?

"You can think of it as coming from thousands of years in the future. I came back from thousands of years in the future," Cheng Duo explained, perhaps finally free from constraints. Regardless of whether Yong-ge could understand or not, he told him everything. "In my world, there was a rare invasion of an extraterrestrial virus. The virus altered the human body, turning most people into walking corpses. Only a few of us, like me, gained different abilities. We call it them Espers or ability users."

"Do you understand? My strength is not innate. All the energy comes from a crystal core. The way I am now, it's likely that the crystal core has malfunctioned…"

"What happens if it malfunctions?" Yong-ge anxiously asked. He couldn't comprehend terms like timelines, viruses, energy, or crystal cores, but he understood the meaning of the last sentence.

Cheng Duo, is he going to die?

"I don't know," Cheng Duo sighed. "In a better case, I might lose my abilities. In a worse case… I might cease to exist. Anyway, I should have died back then. The fact that I've lived a few more months is already a bonus."

He could feel his powers diminishing and his body rapidly deteriorating, resembling the latter scenario.

Cheng Duo looked into Yong-ge's eyes, who didn't seem to view him as a monster. "Aren't you afraid?"

Cheng Duo didn't deny it. Instead, he changed the subject. Yong-ge displayed an unusual moment of quick thinking, not letting Cheng Duo evade the topic and persistently pressed on, "So, you're saying you came as a refugee, and your fiancee was a lie?"

Cheng Duo saw the glimmer of determination in his eyes, unsure if he was burned by his fervent emotions, and awkwardly averted his gaze. "Aren't you afraid?"

Perhaps feeling that he was being cowardly, Cheng Duo looked elsewhere. "I mean, I told you all this… Aren't you afraid?"

Yong-ge didn't think Cheng Duo was a liar, and he finally grasped that. He smiled with teary eyes and slowly lowered his head, not wanting Cheng Duo to see him crying. This was enough for him to know.

Now Cheng Duo felt uneasy. His eyes glanced at Yong-ge, searching for words. "Afraid… Are you afraid?"

Yong-ge pursed his lips and nodded honestly. "A little."

But it wasn't that he was afraid of Cheng Duo. It was the description of the unknown world that frightened him. Yong-ge had lived for so many years, thinking that demons and monsters were the limits. Cheng Duo had presented him with a whole new realm, and it was natural to be scared. Just like how modern people would feel hearing about extraterrestrial worlds, superpowers, or the mythos—the more one knows, the more they fear their own insignificance.

Fortunately, Yong-ge had limited horizons and was only slightly scared. Moreover, he had already accepted Cheng Duo in his heart. Cheng Duo hadn't revealed any monstrous appearance, except for becoming alarmingly thin too fast. Yong-ge could still accept that.

Cheng Duo's heart softened, and he comforted him, "Don't be afraid. I won't harm you."

Although he didn't need to tell Yong-ge so much about his situation, Cheng Duo was on the verge of death. If Yong-ge didn't know his origins until the end, Cheng Duo would feel regretful.

It was similar to how he didn't want to reveal his feelings but still admitted, under Yong-ge's persistent questioning, that his engagement was a lie. The same feeling applied.

Yong-ge chuckled, "I know, and I'm not afraid of you."

Yong-ge probably didn't realize that tears glistened on his eyelashes, and his nose turned red from smiling. His clear and clean pupils reflected Cheng Duo's figure vividly. Cheng Duo had the urge to lean forward and kiss his eyes, comforting himself that everything was fine, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

He was a dying man after all, so what did it matter?

Yong-ge seemed to sense something, blushed, and lowered his head shyly.

The two of them sat awkwardly for a while. Just as Yong-ge didn't know what to do, Cheng Duo's stomach suddenly growled.

Cheng Duo covered his stomach and awkwardly explained, "I've had a big appetite lately, and I get hungry quickly…"

Yong-ge had already heard about it. No wonder Cheng Duo bought so much food.

Yong-ge stood up, patting his buttocks. "Let me cook for you." He turned back and looked at Cheng Duo, offering his hand as naturally as possible. "Get up. I'll help you into the house to sit for a while. The food will be ready soon."

Yong-ge probably treated Cheng Duo as a genuine patient, fearing that he wouldn't be able to stand but hesitating to mention it.

Cheng Duo hesitated for a moment, then placed his hand in Yong-ge's. He felt Yong-ge's hand tighten around his the next second, and the warmth radiated through his palm. Cheng Duo suddenly regretted wasting ten years of his life.

It wasn't that he didn't regret before. Previously, he regretted the sacrifices he had made in vain, and his thoughts were mostly filled with darkness and hatred.

But now, he really wanted to live a good life with Yong-ge.

If he had known that he would time-travel and meet Yong-ge earlier, it would have been better. Yong-ge wouldn't have had to suffer so much, and Cheng Duo wouldn't have ended up in a research institute, ruining his own body…

Considering Cheng Duo's already large appetite, Yong-ge steamed enough steamed buns for ten people. He even thought that if Cheng Duo couldn't finish it all in one meal, he could save some for a late-night snack.

However, as soon as Cheng Duo declared that he was full, he devoured all the buns and dishes in no time!

Yong-ge stared in astonishment, "Aren't you going to burst from eating so much?"

"No, I feel like I can eat a little more," Cheng Duo patted his stomach. During the apocalypse, he often went hungry, but this extreme hunger was different. Sometimes, he even wanted to eat himself!

Yong-ge couldn't help but leave, but before he did, he steamed another pot of buns and reminded Cheng Duo with concern, "Only eat when you're truly hungry. Don't burst your belly."

Yong-ge left with great concern.

His worry was justified. Before going to bed, Cheng Duo had already devoured half of the second pot of buns.

Looking at the dim sky, he decided to sleep early. After all, if he continued eating like this, the meager food in the house would soon run out. It was better to sleep. Once asleep, he wouldn't feel hungry.

Cheng Duo carried the remaining buns into the bedroom and, guided by the aroma of food, drifted into slumber.

However, he had barely fallen asleep when he heard a loud thud in the courtyard. It was followed by the sound of something sharp frantically scratching at his front door.

Actually, with Cheng Duo's hearing ability, he would have heard something entering the courtyard at the first moment. However, his physical strength had greatly declined, and his senses were greatly diminished, making him less sharp than an average person.

Cheng Duo slowly sat up and glanced through the half-open window to see a group of wolves sneaking into the yard.

Despite having fenced the yard, these wolves must have found a hole somewhere. But compared to the previous two attempts, the lead wolf this time was much bolder, bringing along the entire pack, a dozen or so of them.

Well, these beasts were indeed quite smart, taking advantage of his illness to seek his life, weren't they?

The movement of Cheng Duo sitting up alerted the lead wolf, which quickly discovered the window as a shortcut. With a low growl, it called upon the pack to abandon the sturdy door and attack the window, which offered a better breakthrough.

Cheng Duo's window was just over a meter high. Usually, he used a wooden block to prop it open for ventilation due to the hot weather, leaving a palm-wide gap.

This convenience also played into the hands of the wolf pack.

Cheng Duo watched as a wolf jumped into the room. He quickly grabbed the hatchet from under his pillow, stood up, and faced the intruder…

Cheng Duo couldn't count how many wolves he had killed. Due to his weak body and significant energy consumption, he swung his weapon out of habit in the later stages.

Because he couldn't dodge quickly, his arms, shoulders, and thighs were all bitten by the wolf pack. The most dangerous moment was when the lead wolf almost bit his carotid artery!

However, Cheng Duo didn't make it easy for the lead wolf either. He wounded its hind leg with a single strike.

As the lead wolf became inflamed with the death and blood scent of its pack, Cheng Duo had no choice but to fight and retreat. Finally reaching the side of the main door with great difficulty, he quickly opened it and slipped outside, remembering to secure the door from the outside.

However, it wouldn't hold for long. A wolf followed him out, and there was a big hole in his yard!

Cheng Duo contemplated for less than a second and decided to run uphill. The gully where he lived was too far from the village, and the entire route was flat. With his current physical condition, he definitely couldn't outrun the wolves.

Once he fell, he would be doomed.

Moreover, his current appearance was not suitable for the villagers to see. People in ancient times were superstitious about diseases. Seeing his rapidly emaciating body in such a short time, they might think he was carrying a plague.

Instead of being bitten to death by wolves and then forced out of the village with his heavily injured body, it would be better to take a gamble. He tried to run towards higher ground, hoping to climb up a tree for salvation.

Unfortunately, the wolf pack didn't give him that chance and continued to chase him relentlessly. Fortunately, there were fewer wolves left at this point. Cheng Duo managed to deal with two more on the way and was left with only the lead wolf pursuing closely behind.

The lead wolf had an injured hind leg, and Cheng Duo had lost his hatchet while killing the last wolf. The two of them had been circling each other in the woods for an unknown period of time.

Suddenly, Cheng Duo's eyes lit up when he saw a deep pit and withered vines ahead.

Cheng Duo's throat was wheezing like an old bellows, making a huffing sound. Nevertheless, he used every ounce of strength and leaped forward. Swinging back and forth unsteadily, he managed to grab onto the withered vine.

However, the lead wolf wasn't so lucky. It plunged headfirst into the pitch-black pit, whimpered, and quickly fell silent.

Cheng Duo was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the withered vine in his hand suddenly rustled, and he felt himself falling.

At the critical moment, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Cheng Duo. "Hold on!"

"How did you get here?" Cheng Duo looked up and saw that it was Yong-ge.

Yong-ge had half of his body hanging off the cliff's edge to grab him, with only his remaining left hand clutching a vine as thick as a thumb.

However, because Yong-ge's strength was too weak to support the weight of both of them, the vine had already worn through his palm, and blood was dripping down the vine. Yong-ge was slipping and struggling to climb up, and both of them were on the verge of falling.

"Let go; otherwise, neither of us will survive!" Cheng Duo shouted.

Yong-ge clenched his teeth and ignored him. He had already exerted all his strength to grab onto that vine. Although Cheng Duo had become much thinner, he had a large frame. With his own weight added to the equation, he felt like he was about to be torn in half. It was all thanks to an astonishing tenacity that he managed to hold on.

"Yong-ge, I'm telling you to let go, do you hear me? I'm going to die anyway. You saved me, but I won't live much longer. I'm already grateful to you; you don't have to feel guilty or sorry for me!"

As Cheng Duo struggled, he was about to forcefully pry Yong-ge's hand open, but Yong-ge had already let go. However, he didn't release Cheng Duo; he let go of the vine. Both of them fell together.

Cheng Duo: "…"

Damn it, now we're really going to die together!