Chapter Thirty-Five: Conviction

Chapter Thirty-Five

That evening, Mo Chen and Ye Jingxuan, who had taken turns driving all day, were resting inside the vehicle, while the other four rotated night watch duty.

Outside, Mei and An Ziyou sat by the campfire, keeping watch. Inside, Ye Jingxuan lay on the bed, unable to fall asleep no matter how he tried.

Every time he closed his eyes, he couldn't help but see Mei's clear, pure eyes, filled with a hint of longing.

No one knew that he was especially fond of girls who radiated purity from the inside out.

That girl named Xiao Keren—he could tell at first glance that she was clean, someone well-protected, untouched by the darkness of human nature, a woman whose heart was transparent for all to see. If he had never met Mei, he would not have been able to restrain himself from being drawn to her. It would have been like a moth to a flame—he would have rushed toward her, unable to resist the allure of that light, wishing only to guard such innocence from being tainted.

But fate led him to Mei!

Mei, too, was pure, but her purity was unlike Xiao Keren's unstained innocence. Hers was a purity washed clean after enduring all the dust and trials of the world. This kind of purity, for someone like him who had seen and been stained by the darkness of humanity, was even more irresistible; it was the deepest yearning hidden in his heart.

He wanted to possess her, to have her all to himself. This feeling had nothing to do with love or desire, but was simply an instinctive craving for purity. It had been many years since he last felt such longing for a person or a thing. Normally, he could suppress it, but for some reason, today he found it impossible to restrain.

Once the cage containing the wild beast is opened, even if only by a sliver, it is nearly impossible to close again!

In the darkness, Ye Jingxuan's eyes grew even deeper and darker.

Like Ye Jingxuan, Qu Wenyuan was also tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

She never imagined that she would meet the heroine from the book today!

Wasn’t the heroine supposed to have arrived at the Changyang Base long ago? Did her arrival get delayed simply because the male lead hadn’t shown up yet?

The heroine’s personality was quite different from the description in the novel. Though she was still naive and saintly, and seemed soft and gentle, she didn’t cry at the drop of a hat to win men’s sympathy like a delicate little flower.

She wasn’t as stunning as the book described either; she didn’t have the kind of beauty that left a lasting impression at first sight. In fact, she wasn’t as attractive as Mei, her younger sister!

She simply looked a bit cleaner than most people… That’s it. In the apocalypse, where everyone was grimy, being clean did make her stand out. If she had been a bit prettier, she would have been even harder to forget. And as a sheltered girl who had never suffered hardship, the heroine’s current personality actually felt more realistic.

Turning these thoughts over, Qu Wenyuan began to understand why the heroine felt so different in person than on the page.

But with such a heroine, would the male lead still fall for her?

Judging by Ye Jingxuan’s behavior tonight, he hadn’t shown any particular reaction to the heroine. But maybe that was only because the incident where the heroine saved him hadn’t happened; perhaps, after spending more time together, he might still fall for her.

If that happened, could their little group still hold together?

She thought of the conflict between Mei and the heroine that evening. If the male lead truly did fall for the heroine, given his near-limitless indulgence and favor toward her, and his utter lack of principle in suppressing anyone who opposed her, it was inevitable that the group would fall apart!

What would she do then?

Reflecting on this, she realized how naive she had been to think that, by letting people believe she was a prophet, she wouldn’t be easily discarded. Only after experiencing much did she see that the plot knowledge she possessed was of little real use. She had wanted to cling to the male lead, yet knew nothing about how to please him. She remembered that, though he protected his own fiercely, the premise in the book was that his people never opposed the heroine. Once conflict arose, he would always side with the heroine without hesitation.

In that case, she’d be safer sticking with Mei and her group. As long as she made herself useful, Mei probably wouldn’t cast her aside easily.

Having witnessed Mei’s strength firsthand, Qu Wenyuan no longer wondered why the book never mentioned her, but she would never again regard Mei as mere cannon fodder. Compared to the male lead and his companions, someone as powerful as Mei was far more reliable! Besides, with Mei around, the male supporting lead would hardly abandon his childhood friend for someone else, right?

With her resolve firmed once more, Qu Wenyuan finally drifted into sleep.

The next morning, after breakfast, the convoy was back on the road.

Ye Jingxuan was in the driver’s seat, but today, instead of Mo Chen by his side, it was Mei, who had come out to relieve her boredom and watch the scenery.

Mei looked out the window, though there wasn’t much worth seeing. No matter where you went in the apocalypse, the scenery was always tinged with desolation. Still, it was better than being sealed up inside the vehicle.

She took out a bag of beef jerky, opened it, pulled out a piece, and tilted her head toward Ye Jingxuan. “Brother Ye, would you like some beef jerky?”

“Call me something else. I don’t like that,” he replied, ignoring her question, his tone a bit forceful. He wanted a form of address unique to her, not one she used for everyone else.

“Why?” Mei asked in surprise, not understanding why he suddenly wanted her to change the way she called him.

“No reason,” Ye Jingxuan’s face betrayed no emotion.

Since she couldn’t get an answer, Mei didn’t press. It was just a name, after all. She promptly changed her address: “Then, Ah Ye, do you want some beef jerky?”

“Yes.”

Ye Jingxuan agreed, but didn’t reach for it.

Noticing how intently he was watching the road, as if he couldn’t afford any distraction, Mei hesitated for a moment before pulling a piece of jerky from the bag and leaning over to hold it to Ye Jingxuan’s lips. Seeing him eat it without hesitation, she simply fed him a few more pieces before settling back, chewing on a piece herself.

Now that she’d sat back, Ye Jingxuan glanced at her every so often from the corner of his eye. Watching her gnaw on the jerky like a little puppy, the corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.

“Bored?” After a while, Ye Jingxuan spoke first.

“Huh? Mm, a little!” Mei was surprised he initiated conversation, but answered after a moment.

“Let’s have a chat, then.”

At this, Mei looked at him with even more confusion. What was with him today? Why was he acting so strange?

With this thought in mind, she still replied, “Sure, what should we talk about?”

“Mei, how did you grow up? In an orphanage? Or were you adopted?” Ye Jingxuan asked, sounding casual.

“How did I grow up? That’s a bit complicated. I didn’t grow up in an orphanage, nor was I adopted. Even my own parents didn’t want to raise me, so why would anyone else want to take in a child who had nothing to do with them? Actually, whether anyone raised me or not doesn’t matter—after all, I managed to grow up just fine!” Mei answered breezily, as if it was nothing at all.

She disliked lying but couldn’t really explain her situation, so she kept things vague.

To Ye Jingxuan, however, it sounded like she didn’t want to mention her past, as if her memories were only filled with sorrow and pain.

Thinking this, a surge of anger burned in his chest, and his hands unconsciously tightened around the steering wheel. From the moment he decided she was the most important person to him, her every emotion became significant. Those who had hurt her were all beyond forgiveness!

“Ah Ye, what did you used to do? Or rather, what kind of environment did you grow up in?” Sensing his anger, though not knowing the cause, Mei tried to change the subject.

Hearing her question, Ye Jingxuan quickly calmed himself and replied, “The Ye family was in the arms business even before the founding of the country. Afterward, we became the nation’s largest underground arms dealers, as well as the biggest crime syndicate. Nearly every illegal business had Ye family involvement. With so many in the family, my father, though the current head, sent me to compete with my cousins for the position of heir since I was little. Those days of constant scheming and rivalry were actually rather dull—the only benefit was that I was always busy.”

With so many people plotting and fighting, and always having to be on guard against traps, it was impossible not to be busy.

As he spoke, Ye Jingxuan watched Mei’s reaction from the corner of his eye. Seeing her listening so intently, he couldn’t help but elaborate: “Once I became the heir at twenty, life became quieter. Aside from negotiating deals, I had no hobbies, so there’s not much more to tell. Right before the apocalypse, I was in the city handling an arms transaction, got delayed a few days, and then the world ended. Some of my men turned into zombies instantly, some got scratched and changed later, and in the end, I was the only one left.”

He didn’t say more, but she could guess the rest, so he stopped.

“No wonder Ah Ye is so sharp in combat—it’s all been drilled into you since childhood!” Mei nodded in realization.

No wonder he was even better than Mo Chen at using every bit of his strength to its fullest.

“You’re even more impressive than I am,” Ye Jingxuan replied with utmost sincerity.

“For Ah Ye, becoming truly strong is only a matter of time,” Mei shook her head, disagreeing with his self-deprecation.

There was no real comparison between them.

Ye Jingxuan’s lips quirked upward at her words. He glanced at her, his expression unusually solemn. “Once I become stronger, let me protect you, all right?”

Mei found something odd in his tone, but after thinking it over, couldn’t see what was wrong. She assumed he simply wanted to repay her for saving his life in the valley, and so answered with a bright smile, “Sure! I’ll wait for Ah Ye to become strong and protect me!”

“It’s a promise?”

“It’s a promise!”

Seeing his worry that she might go back on her word, Mei nodded forcefully for emphasis. She was lazy by nature—if someone else was willing to stand up for her, she’d be happy to let them. Why would she ever break such a promise?

But was this really just a simple agreement?