The rabbit had a fever

Yu Jingjing ran in, shouting at the top of her lungs.

"I'm starving, starving! The rain's let up a lot outside. Boss, are we putting up tents? There isn't enough room for everyone to sleep on the bus!"

Gu Cheng stood up. "Yes. Anyone missing?"

Yu Jingjing said, "No. We got out fast and brought everyone out safely!"

Gu Cheng nodded. "Good. Have the young men put up a few tents to sleep in. The elderly, children, and women can sleep on the bus."

"Got it!" Yu Jingjing dashed out again.

Fang Ci turned off the stove and ladled out a bowl of instant seaweed and egg drop soup, adding a few slices of ginger.

"Ye Ruan, have some hot soup."

"Thank you," Ye Ruan said.

"Drink plenty of soup. I'll have your brother Fang find you a packet of cold medicine in a bit, you delicate little thing."

Gu Cheng tapped Ye Ruan on the head with his knuckles.

Since the big bad wolf had complimented him today, Ye Ruan decided to let him off for now.

Rabbits were very generous. They didn't hold grudges.

Gu Cheng went out to help, while Fang Ci had nothing to do for the moment.

"Is the soup a little too spicy?"

Ye Ruan lifted his lowered head and gave him a gentle smile.

"It's fine. Thank you."

Fang Ci smiled helplessly. "That's the second time you've thanked me."

Ye Ruan blinked. "Is it?"

"Yes."

"You don't have to be so polite from now on. We're on the same team. Come to me if you need anything."

Fang Ci sat opposite Ye Ruan. He had a gentle air about him, nothing like a husky.

Ye Ruan thought Fang Ci was more like a Samoyed.

His smile was so warm.

"I really regret not asking for your number the last time we met. We could have gotten to know each other sooner."

A tenderness tinged with melancholy lingered in Fang Ci's eyes.

Ye Ruan looked puzzled. "But we know each other now, don't we?"

As though something had occurred to him, Fang Ci smiled. "Right. It's not too late."

Ye Ruan nodded and said nothing more, obediently cradling his bowl and drinking his soup.

Fang Ci watched him for a while before heading out to help.

That night, Gu Cheng picked a few survivors to take turns keeping watch with them.

There were far fewer zombies once they left central South City, but level-three zombies might follow their scent.

Fortunately, it had rained along the way, washing away much of their scent.

Ye Ruan had little appetite at dinner and ate only a little.

After dinner, he found a spacious spot at the back of the bus and laid out the cardboard boxes they had taken from the recycling depot.

Then he spread a quilt over them and took out several thick blankets.

That would be their bed for the night.

At two in the morning, Gu Cheng handed the watch over to Yu Jingjing and Li Rang.

Gu Cheng had planned to lie down off to one side, but his gaze drifted uncontrollably toward the empty spot beside Little Bunny.

That was where Yu Jingjing had been sleeping.

Ye Ruan was still a little afraid of the carnivores among them, so even after knowing them for so many days, he was closest to Yu Jingjing, the cat.

Gu Cheng rubbed his chin.

The fluffy, snow-white rabbit ears Little Bunny had unconsciously let out in his sleep made Gu Cheng's fingers itch.

Ah.

Suddenly, I don't feel much like being a decent human being.

With a thick enough skin, you can have anything.

Choosing to abandon all decency, Gu Cheng lay down beside Ye Ruan without the slightest guilt.

The sleeping bunny's nose twitched.

Gu Cheng stiffened and didn't dare move, afraid the rabbit might kick him away.

His nose sniffed, catching a familiar scent. Ye Ruan's pale brows knitted slightly, and he instinctively shrank back.

Gu Cheng clicked his tongue inwardly.

He's that scared of me.

If I'm throwing decency out the window, what's there left to hold back?

Gu Cheng simply stretched out an arm, hooked it around Ye Ruan's waist, and pulled him over.

The little rabbit tumbled headfirst into his embrace, his white hair soft and fluffy.

The hand resting on Gu Cheng's arm was as white as fine mutton-fat jade, its soft fingers nestled against him.

The big bad wolf was satisfied. His eyes narrowed, and he rubbed his chin against the bunny's hair before closing his eyes to sleep.

The mountaintop was bitterly cold in late autumn, and the rain made it colder still. By the first dim light of dawn, quite a few people had been woken by the chill.

Gu Cheng woke from the heat.

When he had first held Ye Ruan before falling asleep, the rabbit had been ice-cold. In the latter half of the night, Gu Cheng had warmed him up, and the bunny had even started kicking off the blankets.

Gu Cheng had been kept from sleeping well by Little Bunny. Half asleep, he helplessly rubbed those rabbit ears.

Only when he touched them did he realize something was wrong. Ye Ruan's body was burning hot, and so were his ears and the breaths spilling against Gu Cheng's neck.

Gu Cheng snapped awake. "Ye Ruan! Little Bunny!"

Ye Ruan lay limply in the crook of Gu Cheng's arm, as though he had no bones.

Gu Cheng's shout also woke Fang Ci, who was sleeping nearby.

"He has a fever." Fang Ci pressed the back of his hand to Ye Ruan's forehead.

Gu Cheng urged anxiously, "Go, go, go! Find some fever medicine, quick!"

Without even stopping to put his shoes on, Fang Ci rummaged through everything for medicine.

Ye Ruan opened his sleepy eyes. His gaze was unfocused, and for a moment, he couldn't make out who was in front of him.

"Big bad wolf?" Ye Ruan's voice was so faint it was almost a hum.

"Little Bunny," Gu Cheng answered softly.

Ye Ruan felt awful. His head was heavy and muddled, and a watery haze veiled his eyes.

Gu Cheng coaxed him in a low voice. "Are you cold? Don't go to sleep yet. Your brother Fang's gone to find medicine."

Ye Ruan murmured an assent, his lashes trembling slightly as he watched him for a while.

He raised his luminous, jade-like fingers and touched the space between Gu Cheng's brows.

Gu Cheng froze for a moment, then stayed still.

Those fingers slid gently downward, from between his brows to the bridge of his nose. Their pads brushed over Gu Cheng's thin lips before finally coming to rest on his chin.

"What are you doing? Taking advantage of me?"

As Gu Cheng murmured soothingly, his voice deepened, and his breath flowed straight into Ye Ruan's ear with every word.

It was almost as though he were seducing him.

Gu Cheng said, "Will you take responsibility? If you will, keep touching."

Ye Ruan suddenly smiled and whispered, "Big bad wolf."

Gu Cheng laughed. "What kind of nickname is that?"

After waiting a while without an answer, Gu Cheng looked down and found that Ye Ruan had already closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness.

Both men were scared half to death. Fortunately, there was still fever medicine on the bus.

In a frantic scramble, they got the medicine down him, and Ye Ruan suddenly turned back into a lop-eared rabbit.

His ears drooped beside his fluffy rabbit head, and his little pink tongue poked halfway out.

He looked like a snow-white ball of dough-one made with too much water.

He lay there limply, all four rabbit feet seemingly useless. No matter how they nudged them, they just hung there without moving.

Fang Ci breathed a sigh of relief. "Now that he's taken the medicine, he'll be fine soon. It's good that he's returned to his original form. He'll recover faster."

Special humans had a particular trait: when severely injured or ill, they could return to their original animal forms to recover more quickly.

However, this only applied to special humans with small animal forms.

Gu Cheng tucked the rabbit against his chest, slipping him into the inner pocket of his clothes, with only a tank top separating them.

Fang Ci watched his older cousin longingly as that big bad wolf strode out, looking smug and triumphant, as though he had a gold ingot tucked inside his clothes.