The bunny took the initiative

"No."

Ye Ruan's voice was heavy with sadness and sorrow.

"She needs to accept different..."

Ye Ruan said no more. His beautiful red eyes half closed, a glimmer of tears seeming to shimmer in them.

Only then did Yu Jingjing realize her mistake and understand what Ye Ruan meant.

"I'm sorry, Little Ye Ruan. I didn't mean it. Look at this mouth of mine-I never know when to shut up. I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Yu Jingjing raised a hand to slap her own mouth.

Ye Ruan caught her wrist to stop her. "It's all right. I'm not angry."

Ye Ruan smiled at her and said softly, "I'm a little sleepy. Good night."

"Good night," Yu Jingjing replied in a daze.

After a long while, the camp fell quiet, with only the occasional murmured conversation from the people keeping watch nearby.

The girl beside him breathed evenly. Ye Ruan opened his eyes and gazed at the star-filled sky.

The temperature had risen a little that day, but the night was still somewhat cold.

Ye Ruan turned to glance at Yu Jingjing, picked up the edge of her thick blanket, covered her arm, and tucked it in.

Once he was done, Ye Ruan wrapped his own blanket tighter around himself.

Tonight's starry sky looked just like the one he had watched with his mother as a child.

The stars twinkled like bright diamonds scattered across black gauze.

Ye Ruan was lost in thought when a head suddenly popped up over the edge of the vehicle's roof again.

"Little bunny, asleep yet?" Gu Cheng poked his head up and asked quietly.

Ye Ruan remembered that Gu Cheng and Fang Ci were on watch at this hour.

"Not yet."

"Not sleepy? Or too cold?"

Gu Cheng braced his hands on the roof and vaulted up, moving very quietly.

Ye Ruan had wrapped himself into a cocoon, leaving only his face exposed. The thick, oversized blanket passed over his head, hiding almost all his silver hair.

"I'm not cold. I've got my coat over me."

Gu Cheng sat cross-legged beside Ye Ruan, propped his elbow on his leg, and rested his chin in his hand to look at him.

Ye Ruan's face warmed under his stare. Luckily, it was nighttime, so Big Gray Wolf probably couldn't see clearly.

"D-did you need something?"

"Nothing. I was worried you'd get cold, so I came to see if you needed a blanket."

Gu Cheng found the way he had bundled himself up far too funny. He was one soft little bundle that Gu Cheng wanted to pull into his arms and squeeze.

"Go to sleep. It's late. We're leaving early tomorrow morning."

Ye Ruan murmured an assent, his lashes fluttering twice.

"Don't you have to take turns driving with Fang Ci tomorrow? I'll keep watch."

"No need..." Gu Cheng laughed.

"Lie here." Ye Ruan pointed to the space beside him and lifted a corner of the blanket for him.

Gu Cheng shut his mouth and lay down at once.

The blanket still held the little bunny's body heat, along with his lingering fresh scent.

Ye Ruan finally grew sleepy, closed his eyes, and drifted off.

Gu Cheng lay on his side watching him for quite a while, until he made himself sleepy. He draped an arm over Ye Ruan's waist and closed his eyes.

Poor Fang Ci, left to keep watch alone, cursed and grumbled. He waited an hour without Gu Cheng coming back.

Afraid something might happen, Fang Ci didn't dare leave his post outside the camp and could only keep watch alone until dawn.

The next day, everyone packed up, and the survivors boarded the bus.

Yu Jingjing ran over and said, "Reporting, Captain! We have 123 people left!"

Gu Cheng grunted. "Go on. You, Sixth Brother, and Old Li can take turns driving."

Yu Jingjing dawdled, reluctant to go. "Can we switch? That bunch of kids keeps shrieking and yelling. I'm going deaf."

Gu Cheng snorted and shot her a sidelong glance.

"Keep pretending. You just want to stay with my little bunny so you can have snacks."

Yu Jingjing grinned. "Since when is he your little bunny?"

Gu Cheng said nothing, giving her a friendly look.

Two seconds later, Yu Jingjing chickened out, shut her mouth, and returned to the bus.

The armored Biohazard Vehicle and the bus drove down the slope, one behind the other.

Inside the Biohazard Vehicle, Fang Ci was so sleepy his head kept drooping. He lay across the seats to catch up on sleep.

Gu Cheng, who had been chewed out by the husky first thing that morning, was all the more energetic.

He practically wanted to send the vehicle skimming off the ground every time he took a turn.

I slept with the little bunny again, Gu Cheng thought.

What a wonderful thing to make a wolf happy!

The vehicles followed the route they had settled on over the past two days. They barely encountered any zombies all morning, and the occasional ones they did see were only level-two or ordinary zombies.

No one else even needed to act. Gu Cheng shot each one he spotted from the driver's seat and still had time to smoke a cigarette.

Ye Ruan was idly playing with a Rubik's Cube in the passenger seat when he heard Gu Cheng call to him.

"Hm?"

Gu Cheng slowly brought the vehicle to a stop. "The road ahead is blocked."

Ye Ruan looked over. A thick tree lay across the middle of the road, looking as though the wind had blown it down.

But South City had only had one heavy rainstorm over the past few days. How could a tree that one person could barely wrap their arms around just fall over like that?

"The tree's too big. We can't move it."

Ye Ruan rummaged through his Storage Wristband and took out a grenade.

"Blow it up?"

Fang Ci, woken by the noise in the back seat, sat up, rubbed his face, and took a look.

"We'll have to. Even together, we couldn't move that tree."

With a cigarette between his lips, Gu Cheng asked, "Bunny, can you manage alone? I'll come with you."

Fang Ci coughed. "You're driving. I can go with him."

The two exchanged a glance, their little schemes plain to see.

They were like two children who had never grown up, their stares clearly declaring that whoever looked away first would lose.

Not noticing their little rivalry, Ye Ruan tugged at his hair. He assumed neither wanted to go, and they were even... gazing at each other as though reluctant to part?

Ye Ruan simply jumped out through the open passenger-side window.

"Ye Ruan."

"Little bunny."

Ye Ruan waved at them. "I can do it myself."

There were no zombies in sight in either direction along the road. Presumably, they had all gathered in the center of South City.

When he reached the tree, the broken end caught Ye Ruan's attention.

He noticed that half the break was fairly neat, as though it had been chopped with an ax.

"Did someone deliberately fell this tree here?"

Just in case, Ye Ruan jumped onto the trunk, took out his binoculars, and looked into the distance.

There was a sharp bend ahead that blocked his view. He couldn't see anything.

"Ruan, did you find something?"

Worried about him, Gu Cheng and Fang Ci both came over to find Ye Ruan.

Ye Ruan pointed behind him. "There's a bend up ahead."

"I think someone deliberately put this tree here."

Ye Ruan jumped down and pointed to the broken end.

"Look. These are clearly ax marks. Someone deliberately blocked the road."

Fang Ci took out the map of South City he carried with him and unfolded it.

"According to the map, the nearest buildings ahead are in a newly developed scenic area up in the mountains. There's a farmhouse resort there, then a village ten kilometers away."

Gu Cheng frowned. "Doesn't look like it's meant to stop zombies. I'm afraid it's meant to stop people."

Just as he finished speaking, an ordinary zombie staggered toward them from the road opposite.

None of them could be bothered to deal with it, and they continued their discussion with their heads lowered.

An ordinary zombie like this, which couldn't run fast and struggled more than a tortoise to get up after falling, posed no real threat.

Ye Ruan twitched his nose and asked, "Are we still blowing it up, then?"

"Yes. There's no way around. We have to go through here."

"Mm." Ye Ruan nodded, took out some explosives, placed them on the tree, and set the timer for one minute.

Ye Ruan dusted off his hands, his eyes curving slightly. "All done!"

The little bunny was a little bunny who liked wreaking havoc.

"Good job!" Gu Cheng coaxed him as though he were a child.

The explosives were powerful enough to clear half the road.

The vehicles started moving again. Ye Ruan remained lazily curled up in the passenger seat, his fingers turning the Rubik's Cube in his hands.

Fang Ci took over driving from Gu Cheng. With nothing to do, the big bad wolf squeezed in beside Ye Ruan and watched him play.

Ye Ruan's fingers were slender and beautiful. Even as he twisted the Rubik's Cube every which way at random, he was a pleasure to watch.

"Hey, bunny," Gu Cheng called.

Ye Ruan murmured a response and turned to look at him. "What is it?"

"Once we get out of City H safely, what are your plans?"

Ye Ruan said, "Plans?"

Gu Cheng said, "Right. Like... are you still going abroad?"

Ye Ruan's fingers paused. After thinking for a moment, he said,

"No. The Commander-in-Chief said all special people need to stay in the country. If the virus spreads, we can still help the nation."

Gu Cheng quietly sighed in relief and said with a smile,

"When we get back, we can still eat together and go back to the dorm together. I can even help you train the Third Team's members."

Ye Ruan puffed out his cheeks, a mist of tears welling in his eyes. Pouting pitifully, he asked,

"Are you saying I'm too weak?"