ISWTDB Ch164

Chapter 164: The End of the World (27, 28)

Actually, ever since the man’s health improved and he began to relax while living with himself, Ying Zhao also discovered that his lifelong partner seemed to have a bit of a rogue air about him; his speech and behavior were quite rough.

Perhaps it was due to the lack of discipline in his childhood and the fact that he had been hanging around a mercenary group after growing up that resulted in the man having such a personality.

Although a bit rough around the edges, as long as this person was the one he loved, Ying Zhao felt that it wasn’t really a problem.

He even found a sense of cuteness in such a demeanor from Situ Ran and thought that this side of his partner was quite a novel experience.

Seeing the smile on Ying Zhao’s face, Situ Ran also relaxed a bit.

He leaned over and tightly embraced Ying Zhao, kissing his forehead.

With a serious expression, he said in a playful tone, “Baby, you aren’t interested in that woman, are you?”

“That woman is so ugly and so weak, how could she compare to me? Your husband is handsome and strong!”

Situ Ran intentionally acted a bit fierce, gripping Ying Zhao’s chin and looking into his partner’s eyes as he said with frustration, “It seems I really have to follow you every day from now on.”

“I’ve only been with you for one day and already there are two rivals; who knows how many more there will be when I’m not around!”

Hearing his partner say this, Ying Zhao’s eyes finally sparkled with a smile.

He obediently nestled in his partner’s embrace, softly murmuring, “Then you have to stick with me and keep an eye on me.”

Listening to the weak tone of the little fool in his arms, Situ Ran felt his heart melt.

Lowering his head, he firmly caught the corner of Ying Zhao’s mouth and softly whispered, “Since your husband is working so hard watching you every day, shouldn’t you reward me well?”

Upon hearing this, Ying Zhao blushed and nodded slightly, as if he didn’t think the request was unreasonable at all, with a clear look of expectation in his eyes.

Seeing his precious partner like this, Situ Ran couldn’t hide the smile in his eyes.

So, the seemingly obedient little rabbit was thoroughly devoured several times.

Only after being exhausted to the point of falling asleep was he finally let go by the shameless man.

However, late at night, when everything was quiet, Situ Ran looked at Ying Zhao’s peaceful sleeping face and quietly got up to leave.

As for what he was going to do, it was naturally what he had planned during the day.

Since his arm had healed, Situ Ran’s movements had become extremely convenient.

Especially because his abilities were continually improving, the man’s skills were even better than before.

He returned to his original residence as he had thought during the day and found that the room was indeed unchanged.

He smoothly took away all the crystal cores he had previously accumulated.

He thought to himself that all the wind-type abilities would be used for his partner’s training.

As for the others, at this point, crystal cores were equivalent to money, and what he saved would naturally be for his wife to spend.

But when Situ Ran was happily taking the crystal cores and was about to leave under the cover of night, he noticed that the atmosphere around him seemed a bit off.

Having followed Ying Zhao around during the day, he heard him talk about some of the actions of the Situ family.

So even though the city center looked more organized after the vagrants had disappeared, it seemed particularly empty.

Because of this, the slightest movements around him became very noticeable.

Due to the spell Ying Zhao had cast on him, Situ Ran’s presence was reduced significantly.

Coupled with his deliberately concealed movements, no one noticed his existence.

Situ Ran hid in the corner and observed for a while, and sure enough, he saw several shady figures not far away.

After watching for a while, the man realized that those people were actually from the Southern Base.

Seeing this group moving back and forth in the city, as if they were keeping watch at fixed points, he smoothly followed them.

However, he quickly discovered that most of these people were actually being followed by others.

As for the method of following, Situ Ran was too familiar with it; besides his own mercenary team, who else could it be?

It seemed that Pei Yuebin and the others had already noticed something unusual about the people from the Southern Base.

Even if the Situ family’s people were still dreaming of easily absorbing two bases, it was fortunate that he had his brothers around; even if the Southern Base people were on the move, they wouldn’t be caught off guard.

With this thought in mind, Situ Ran decided not to get involved any further.

Since there were already his people watching, he felt reassured and turned to leave.

But on the way back, Situ Ran ran into Pei Yuebin, who seemed to have just returned after scouting the situation.

Seeing his brother, Situ Ran moved and walked over to pat Pei Yuebin on the shoulder.

Pei Yuebin, who could be considered a level-eight ability user, sensed someone approaching the moment Situ Ran got close.

However, he was still caught off guard when Situ Ran patted him, hurriedly turning around.

Upon seeing his familiar leader’s face, Pei Yuebin’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

He exclaimed joyfully at Situ Ran, “Boss, what are you doing here? Did you come over in the middle of the night because you had a fight with your wife?”

Situ Ran didn’t expect Pei Yuebin to greet him with that line right away.

Angrily, he stretched out his hand and slapped Pei Yuebin on the forehead.

He shouted at him softly, “You brat! What nonsense are you spouting? Don’t mention my wife! She’s incredibly gentle, how could she possibly argue with me!”

Hearing Situ Ran’s words, Pei Yuebin let out a silly laugh and nodded.

He replied in a somewhat dazed manner, “Right, right! You’re right, boss! Sister-in-law is really nice; in the past, it was just that the brothers were being unreasonable!”

“But boss, what are you doing out so late? Are you looking for the brothers?”

Seeing Pei Yuebin’s demeanor, Situ Ran felt warmth in his heart.

He thought for a moment, then took out most of the crystal cores from his pocket.

He only left behind the wind-type ability cores and the top-grade ones, stuffing all the cores below level six into Pei Yuebin’s hands.

Casually, he said, “Take these crystal cores; use them to level up the brothers. I’m afraid there’s a tough battle coming up.”

“The people from the Southern Base are here, and I saw that you’ve noticed their movements. When did you start noticing anything?”

Pei Yuebin, upon receiving such a large pile of high-quality crystal cores from Situ Ran, was so happy his mouth almost split from ear to ear.

After all, the crystal cores that Situ Ran would keep were definitely rare high-level ones.

With the tasks ahead possibly being dangerous, the higher the brothers’ levels were, the better.

Indeed, having a reliable leader means the younger brothers enjoy the benefits!

Pei Yuebin thought this way and didn’t hesitate to accept the crystal cores.

However, he also remembered this favor, and in the future, he would definitely work even harder to follow the boss.

Afterward, Pei Yuebin detailed to Situ Ran their mercenary team’s recent findings.

From the first day, they had never relaxed in monitoring the people at the Southern Base, so they were the first to notice something was wrong.

They sensed that those at the Southern Base indeed had contact with the outside world, but their actions were very covert.

However, the mercenary team did not have the system assistance of a novice like Xiao Bai, so they naturally did not know that multiple teams from the Southern Base had already set out and were advancing to encircle the Northern Base.

In addition to this, another matter caught their attention.

That was the fact that previously, Situ Shuyao had gathered most of the ordinary people into the suburban area for the sake of her own face.

Recently, the people from the Southern Base had been frequently moving back and forth to that suburb, seemingly in contact with those displaced persons who had been monitored.

Pei Yuebin couldn’t understand what these people were trying to do by contacting the ordinary folks.

However, while Pei Yuebin was confused, Situ Ran immediately knew the reason behind it.

The reason those people from the Southern Base were doing this was that the displaced persons themselves harbored dissatisfaction towards the Northern Base.

They were willing to endure hardships merely because their combat power could not compare to that of the ability users, and they had to compromise for food and the antidote to the zombie virus.

But if the Southern Base made them better promises, they would naturally be easier to turn against the Northern Base.

After all, if the people from the Southern Base controlled this place, then in their hearts, the victor of the antidote to the zombie virus would logically be obtainable.

These displaced persons had lived here for so long, struggling to make a living, and they were clearer about the hidden places of the Northern Base than anyone else.

Naturally, they could gather information and learn more unknown secrets and breakthroughs regarding the base.

Moreover, there were a lot of displaced persons, and if they could stir their emotions, it would be easy to use them as vanguard forces.

With that, capturing the Northern Base would yield twice the result with half the effort.

Knowing such a method, Situ Ran didn’t have to think much to realize that it must have been a scheme devised by Deng Wendong.

This guy was cunning and had no regard for human life, actually willing to put ordinary people at risk for his own ambitions.

Thinking of this, Situ Ran recalled how Deng Wendong had repeatedly tried to cling to Ying Zhao during the day and had even displayed an extremely infatuated demeanor towards him.

But in reality, Situ Ran knew very well what kind of person Deng Wendong was.

Calming down, the man realized that such a person could not possibly fall deeply in love with someone just after meeting them once.

He was afraid that he suspected his beloved knew about the information related to the antidote for the zombie virus, which was why he deliberately approached the young man.

Thinking about Deng Wendong’s intention to exploit his precious one made Situ Ran grit his teeth in anger.

Whether it was a pursuit or exploitation, Situ Ran couldn’t tolerate it.

That person was his treasure; he absolutely would not allow Deng Wendong to drag his beloved into a conspiracy.

In this case, it was time to reclaim control of the Northern Base.

As for the Southern Base, they were too ambitious; he might as well help them rein it in!

Perhaps he could take good advantage of the Southern Base’s recent movements.

All along the way, the entire Northern Base had been established by Situ Ran and his mercenary group.

It could be said that most of the ability users and ordinary folks still recognized Situ Ran very well.

The reason they had not resisted Situ Ran being sent to the research lab was merely due to human selfishness.

Being informed by the Situ family that the key to the antidote for the zombie virus lay with Situ Ran, even if this person was their savior, they could not help but waver.

Situ Ran viewed such results very calmly and felt no resentment.

In short, after encountering his beloved, Situ Ran’s past ideology of being a savior had almost been completely exhausted.

But if given another chance, he might not think so much for others again, but he wouldn’t reject standing in a high position.

Because he believed he had such ability, even for the brothers of the mercenary team, he was willing to be a leader and leave a clean land for the important people in his life.

However, he no longer held any notions of being a saint. To put it simply, he no longer cared about those unimportant people.

As for now, rumors were circulating in the Situ family that he had lost both arms and had fallen into a coma, becoming a vegetable.

What was more, some even said that he had actually died on the experimental table.

Originally, with the leader gone, and the antidote for the zombie virus believed to have been created by Situ Shuyao, they naturally would have even less intention to rebel.

Thinking of this, Situ Ran felt it was best to go back and find an opportunity to discuss things properly with his beloved.

After all, there were some matters and actions he hoped not to hide from the other party.

Moreover, he hoped his beloved could understand that his love had never been related to memory.

Thinking of this, Situ Ran bid farewell to Pei Yuebin.

Of course, before leaving, he did not forget to sternly remind Pei Yuebin a few things.

He told him not to wear such buttoned clothes in the future; all should be changed to pullovers or zip-ups.

After all, that button had left a deep shadow in Situ Ran’s heart.

The man hurriedly rushed home, completely ignoring how his little brother was currently tugging at his coat, which was flapping in the wind.

Was this his clothing style being scorned by the boss?!

Situ Ran moved quickly, and within a few minutes, he happily returned to the house, touching the crystal nucleus in his pocket.

However, he did not expect that when the man returned home, he would see Ying Zhao, who should have been sleeping, sitting upright on the bed.

His eyes stared blankly out the window, and that expression of his heart being ashen made one’s heart tighten.

Seeing this, Situ Ran hurriedly took two steps to stand in front of Ying Zhao, urgently asking him, “Baby! What happened? What’s wrong with you?”

Who would have known that after calling for a long time, the young man on the bed only then came to his senses.

Dazed, he looked at him and softly said, “Is this a dream? Am I hallucinating again, seeing you come back? But why would you come back?”

“Clearly, all of this is what I forced; everything is fake. I know it’s my fault; I used the memory-erasing drug on you.”

“The sweetness of the time bought with force is all stolen from you, so after you saw that woman today, did you finally remember and want to leave me?”

“If I had known this, why did I let you go out? It would have been better to lock you in a room for this life, so that you would only belong to me…”

As soon as Situ Ran saw Ying Zhao like this, he knew that his precious one must have started to think wildly after waking up and finding him gone. Because he had left in the dark without telling him, the already anxious young man naturally began to think in a negative direction.

Hearing what his precious one meant, he now actually still didn’t believe that he had really come back.

How important was he to him!

Situ Ran couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty, though he was secretly sighing. He had originally wanted to give his beloved a surprise, but now it had turned into a scare.

Thinking of this, Situ Ran hurriedly walked a couple of steps to the bedside. He hugged Ying Zhao tightly, letting him feel his warmth and strength.

He gently said, “Baby, baby, I’m really here. I didn’t leave, I didn’t go!”

Feeling the real touch, the young man’s gaze finally regained some focus, and then his eyes filled with anxiety as he looked at Situ Ran.

He stared at Situ Ran, as if fearing that the other party would suddenly disappear from his sight, his hands tightly gripping Situ Ran’s arms.

It wasn’t until he truly confirmed that the Situ Ran in front of him was real that a trace of relief and joy appeared on Ying Zhao’s face.

But soon, he seemed to realize something, and his face instantly turned pale.

He looked at Situ Ran in panic, somewhat at a loss, saying, “No, I didn’t, I didn’t give you the drug. I, I…”

The young man seemed to have realized that he had let something slip when he was in a daze.

At this moment, wanting to explain to the man, he felt everything was pale and powerless, and in the end, he couldn’t help but redden his eyes.

Seeing his precious one like this, Situ Ran knew that the other party had once again gotten stuck in a dilemma.

How could he possibly have any thoughts of leaving him? Seeing Ying Zhao so fragile, his heart ached painfully.

However, the man didn’t have time to say any comforting words when he suddenly felt a pain in the back of his neck and was knocked unconscious by the young man’s quick strike.

Just before passing out, Situ Ran seemed to hear Ying Zhao pleading with him, saying, “Situ Ran, forgive me, don’t leave me!”

“I’m sorry! Without you, I will die, I really will die!”

Situ Ran actually wanted to tell the other, “Baby, I will never leave you.”

But he had no time to speak, and his consciousness fell into deep darkness.

When the man woke up again, he found himself still lying in that familiar bedroom.

However, at this moment, all four of his limbs were tightly bound to the side of the bed with chains.

He seemed not to have been unconscious for long, as the sky outside was still pitch black.

The ceiling light in the room was off, and only the desk lamp on the simple experimental table was lit.

A figure was busy at the table; Situ Ran could easily see the other person’s face—of course, it was Ying Zhao.

Facing the current scene, Situ Ran’s heart trembled. Could it be that his precious one had gone mad and was planning to impose some torture on him?

But he didn’t have time to think wildly when the young man saw that he was awake and immediately put down his work.

He quickly walked to Situ Ran’s side and gently said, “Dear, you’re awake!”

The young man smiled, reaching out to stroke the man’s face. His entire face was filled with smiles, but his eyes only held deep sadness.

He spoke cheerfully to himself, “Sorry, but you’ll have to be wronged a little longer; I ran out of the amnesia potion last time. But don’t worry, I’ll soon prepare a new one!”

“By then, you won’t remember what I said, nor the past; we’ll be as happy as before!”

At this point, Ying Zhao’s tone had become somewhat deranged.

Situ Ran looked at the person he loved, who was clearly smiling but whose eyes were red and whose voice trembled.

That kind of madness made others shiver, but it only made Situ Ran feel heartache.

He had always known that his lover was neurotic and anxious; hadn’t he already realized that?

Waking up in the middle of the night and seeing himself absent, his emotions would naturally spiral out of control.

More importantly, he had discovered that he had accidentally revealed the truth while in a daze; how terrified must he be inside?

Situ Ran felt it wasn’t surprising that such extreme behavior occurred.

In fact, the man had never thought he would be knocked unconscious by the young man.

Because his physical condition was now very strong, the reason he fell for it was largely because he had no defenses against Ying Zhao.

Although this kind of mad love for his lover was charming and delectable, Situ Ran didn’t want his precious one to be sad.

So the man decided not to let his beloved think wildly anymore.

Thinking of this, Situ Ran looked at the heavy chains binding him. With all his might, he shook them, and surprisingly, he easily shattered them.

As a peak-level ability user, even diamonds could be crushed into powder; let alone chains.

However, when he sat up and looked at the young man across from him again, he found that the other’s face showed a flash of astonishment, which quickly turned into despair.

The young man must have thought that once he broke free from the chains, he would leave him, hence the expression.

Situ Ran sighed inwardly, and without saying a word, he stood up and walked toward Ying Zhao, pulling him into his embrace.

Lowering his head, the man saw the bewildered expression on the person in his arms and calmly said, “See? You can’t bind me at all.”

Just a single sentence caused the light in the young man’s eyes to fade, turning dull and lifeless.

Seeing that his beloved had lost all hope and was silent like the dead, Situ Ran felt his heart being painfully tugged.

He then leaned down in frustration and bit hard on Ying Zhao’s watery lips.

Seeing the person in his arms suddenly widen his eyes and angrily say, “You little fool, don’t you realize it yet? I already regained my memory!”

“But even if I regain my memory, I will not leave you. I was just afraid you wouldn’t feel at ease, so I never said anything.”

“And yet, you just keep thinking wildly and don’t believe your husband!”

As Situ Ran spoke, he punished the person in his arms with several hard kisses on the lips.

It wasn’t until Ying Zhao’s lips were a bit red and swollen that he temporarily stopped and continued, “What Situ family, Situ Shuyou, I never cared about them! For me, there is no one in this world who can compare to you.”

When Ying Zhao heard Situ Ran’s words, his face was filled with shock.

He bit his lower lip, somewhat incredulously saying to Situ Ran, “You, you already knew?”

Situ Ran gently nodded at the words, took a deep breath, and looked like he was fiercely angry as he growled, “Yes! Didn’t I already hint to you in the past? Even if you really did something to hurt me, I wouldn’t let you go.”