Xiao Feng was young and lack nutrition ever since the zombie outbreak. Worried that she might feel tired and collapse, they made multiple stops to ensure her stamina and health. Xiao Feng was a good girl that never complained despite going through such hardships, she was more worried about Changming not having enough sleep.
"Gege, go sleep, I will keep watch!" She balled her hands into fists and talked with determination.
Touched by her words, Changming chuckled and pulled her into his arms. He rubbed her head gently.
"Don't worry about your gege, I sleep when you sleep. I just usually wake up earlier, ok?"
Xiao Feng pouted, obviously not believing in his words, but she knew he would never admit it. Changming and his sister were harmonious as they relied on each other to survive since small. Because of their circumstances, Xiao Feng seemed to be more mature than her peers, which made Changming worried.
They continued traveling until the pendant's effect wore off. Xiao Feng was horrified but she could only stifle her cry to not alert the zombies. Changming had to coax her every time she teared up from seeing his scars, he had to quickly find a jacket to cover them up. Thinking about it, he should never let his sister see his ability.
As they kept walking with the hints from the plot, some figures appeared from far away. Changming squinted his eyes to look if they were humans or zombies. They sneakily got closer and to Changming's surprise, it was the male lead's party! According to the plot, they should have already arrived at the South base, how could they still be here?
Zhong Guang sensed someone tailing them and immediately activate his ability. His head whipped over to Changming's position and was about to launch the attack. Sensing the crisis, Changming hugged his little sister and rolled over to avoid the fireball.
"Huff...Huff... A-Are you ok, Xiao Feng?" His whole body was sore and ached when it made an impact on the hard ground.
'Damn that male lead! Could he not wait to see who it is first?' Changming hugged Xiao Feng closer and gritted his teeth.
"Wu-wu-wu, you're bleeding again gege." Xiao Feng tearfully used her hand to gently dabbed on Changming little cut on his face. This sister also cared about her brother a lot, she must have been devastated in the original plot if she knew of his death.
Changming, not scared of zombies anymore, shouted toward that group of people. If they wanted to harm him, they could not let them off scotch free.
"STOP! WE ARE-"
Before the sentence could be finished, a large hand appeared and covered his mouth. Changming struggled to get out and glared at the person in front of him.
"I'm sorry, I thought you were a zombie. Please forgive me, Huifang will help you heal the wound." A low but muffled voice sounded from the masked man in front of him. There were some scars that were still visible just above the mask, and his swept-back hair, let people focus on the strong and resolute blue eyes.
Changming managed to wiggle away from the other's clutch. He checked to see if Xiao Feng had any injury first before hiding her behind his back. Even if Zhong Guang was a good guy, he had to act vigilantly because this man just attacked them.
"I-I'm really sorry, I don't know how to make it up to you." Zhong Guang looked behind his back to see Yang Huifang approaching, his eyes were pleading for help. He felt really guilty for almost attacking the skinny youth and a little girl.
"Hello, my name is Yang Huifang, this is Zhong Guang. We are heading toward a base that can help shield the people from the outbreak. What about you?" Her eyes looked soft at the little girl behind the youth.
"...I'm Yan Changming and my sister, Yan Meifeng. We are going to the South base." He answered perfunctorily.
"That's great! We're heading there, too! You can join us, it's safer than just the two of you..." She looked at them with pity. The youth's hair seemed to be uncut and messy, there were dark circles indicating his lack of sleep, and his face and lips were pale and dry. She reached out her hand to touch his cheek. He flinched but then felt something warm from that tip of his finger, the cut was healed completely.
Changming touched his cheek and looked warily at them. Zhong Guang finally spoke up again.
"I can protect you to the South base. As you can see, I have a fire ability that kept us safe all this time. I hope you understand that we have been on our toes since there were zombies everywhere. I'm very sorry." Zhong Guang stood up straight and bowed at a ninety degree at them. Only then did Changming relax his eyebrows and nodded at them.
He could not just barge into their party, if he did, they would have no favorable impression of him. If he suddenly became a deadweight, which was unlikely but still, they would not hesitate to throw him out. Even if Zhong Guang was not that kind of character, no one could guess what they were actually inside, like Sun Xia in the last word.
The pair of brother and sister joined the party. There were around seven people in total excluding them, only the male lead and female lead had abilities. They really depended on the leads for survival. Just a few hours together, Changming noticed Zhong Guang's fatigue but he did not complain when the others begged for food or more necessities, he would silently give assurance and left.
The more he observed, the more he felt that this guy was different from Ren Jian. Ren Jian was cold and merciless to outsiders, he rarely gave a damn unless it involved Yongliang or the business. This guy, on the other hand, was charismatic and caring to other people. It might not be his husband after all, Zhong Guang had been acting indifferent toward him and only talking to Huifang.
Zhong Guang occasionally glanced at the pair of siblings and quickly looked away. Tiredness appeared in his eyes. There were more people to protect now that he accidentally attacked them. He should have just been vigilant instead of being rash. The only one he could rely on was Yang Huifang.
'They seem to be exhausted... Oh, maybe because they didn't meet me.'
After careful consideration, that was the only conclusion he could think of. They could go smoothly to the base thanks to Changming's blood, this time they probably encountered a lot more zombies which kept them here for Changming to meet them.
Zhong Guang talked to Huifang the most, as he kept getting injured from scavenging for food. Changming clicked his tongue to express his pity. He decided to share his rations with them to lessen their burden. Thanks to that, Zhong Guang appeared thankful and looked favorably at him for the first time.
His eyes started to follow the youth more. Behind that long bang was a pair of beautiful amber eyes similar to the little girl next to him. Whenever their eyes met, he felt like his breath was taken away but he suppressed such emotions down. Only his eyes silently watched how the youth took care of his sister, how he socialized with others and how strong he actually was. The youth could carry his sister as well as his bag full of things for hours without stopping. He seemed to really cherish her.
"Hey, are you tired? I can help you carry her. Take a rest." Zhong Guang whispered in a small voice to not disturb Xiao Feng.
"It's ok, she can only sleep with me, she's not used to others." Changming glanced at Zhong Guang with a soft smile. There was a slight pause before Zhong Guang continued to speak.
"...Do you have an ability? When people gain one like me and Huifang, our physical strength also increases." The feeble appearance of Changming was unusually strong, he had been carrying a 10 year-old girl for a long time but his arms and legs never gave out.
Changming was silent for a while like he was contemplating if he should answer or not.
"... I do have an ability. But, it is very dangerous to use it..." He lowered his head and murmured his answer.
" I understand, it's fine you don't want to show it. Your contribution is more than enough." Zhong Guang nodded at his answer. The scar on his face was caused by his power after all, if he did not stop it, maybe he would have already lost his life.
"Don't worry, even if without using my power, I am strong. My sister and I travel all the way from the West base to here by ourselves. We are capable of protecting ourselves." Changming spoke with a proud smile on his face, it exuded confidence and charm to Zhong Guang.
Zhong Guang raised an eyebrow with a hint of interest at this youth beside him. He suddenly felt grateful that he attacked them.