I'm not that kind of woman

After their teasing, the atmosphere inside the RV became much livelier.

Since Song Lei's death, Song Shiya felt she hadn't laughed so wholeheartedly in a long time.

Before long, she had polished off the entire cup of instant noodles.

Oily braised-beef broth clung to the cup's sides. She tipped her head back and poured the last mouthful into her mouth, not leaving a single drop.

Shen Ye turned toward her just in time to see her toss the empty paper cup into the trash.

He flicked the ash from the cigarette between his fingers and asked without thinking, "Full?"

Song Shiya nodded and replied, "I'm okay."

Most people would have taken those words to mean she'd had enough.

But as a fellow Sequence Awakened, Shen Ye knew better.

Song Shiya was too embarrassed to admit she was still hungry, yet unwilling to lie, so she had given him an ambiguous answer.

When ordinary people awakened their sequences, their physical capabilities improved, but their energy consumption also increased dramatically.

A cup of instant noodles was more than enough for an ordinary person. For a Sequence Awakened, it barely took the edge off.

Shen Ye said nothing more. With his cigarette between his lips, he stood and walked over to crouch beside the storage area.

He rummaged through the cardboard boxes and pulled out four egg-yolk snack cakes and a carton of plain milk.

"There's no hot water left in the RV. You'll have to make do with these."

Anticipating her refusal, he simply pushed the food into her arms and added, "Consider it payment for that treatment."

He put particular emphasis on the word "treatment."

Song Shiya was especially sensitive to that word right now. Images of their frenzied entanglement earlier flashed through her mind unbidden.

Her ears instantly burned.

Seeing the faint curve at the corner of Shen Ye's mouth, she grew flustered and annoyed. Tearing open a snack cake's wrapper, she protested quietly, "I only did that to help relieve your side effects. It's not like we're in that kind of relationship."

Shen Ye pursed his lips and stubbed his cigarette out in the ashtray, unwilling to get tangled up in such a pointless discussion.

The snack cakes were the cheapest kind sold loose. The heat had long since melted their outer chocolate coating, leaving it stuck to the wrappers.

But in the apocalypse, sweets like these had become exceedingly rare.

Only someone like Shen Ye would be generous enough to give them away.

With her first bite, the cloying sweetness of cream burst across her tongue.

Before the apocalypse, she had never eaten things like this, considering them too sweet and unhealthy.

Now, however, that cheap sweetness brought her a sense of pleasure.

She ate in small bites, savoring every one.

Before long, with four snack cakes and a carton of milk in her stomach, Song Shiya finally felt a fullness she hadn't experienced in ages.

She licked the lingering sweetness from the corner of her mouth, a faint, happy smile appearing on her face.

Since the apocalypse began, Song Lei had never let her go hungry.

But she had always strictly limited how much she ate at each meal.

She had wanted to make their supplies last so they could survive long-term.

Today's meal, however, was the fullest she had eaten since the apocalypse.

"All right."

Song Shiya stood, tossed the empty milk carton and snack cake wrappers into the trash, and brushed the crumbs from her hands.

"There's nothing else you need here, so I'll head out."

After what had happened between them, they had certainly grown much closer very quickly.

But she remained clearheaded. Perhaps, in Shen Ye's eyes, she was still an outsider.

Leaving of her own accord would certainly preserve more of her dignity.

This time, however, was different from the last.

Her hand had just settled on the door handle when Shen Ye called out behind her.

"Wait a moment."

Song Shiya turned, a hint of surprise in her eyes. "Is there something else?"

Shen Ye leaned against the sofa's backrest, looking straight at her.

His Adam's apple bobbed, as though he were choosing his words.

"How about..." He looked up at her, his tone hesitant. "You stay in my RV from now on?"

Silence filled the RV for two full seconds.

Song Shiya stared at his face, the images from earlier flashing through her mind again despite herself.

"No!"

Her response was almost reflexive, her voice flustered and urgent. "I... I'm not that kind of woman!"

Her shout left Shen Ye momentarily stunned.

Then he realized what she meant. Looking a little embarrassed, he rubbed beneath his nose. "You've misunderstood."

"I just wanted you to stay here so we could take turns driving."

"As you can see, I'm the only one in this RV."

"When we run into eldritch creatures, having to fight and drive at the same time is more than I can handle."

"It's the same when we're traveling normally. Driving for over ten hours straight without a break would wear anyone out."

At his words, Song Shiya flushed scarlet.

The redness spread from her neck all the way to her ears. She wished she could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

So I'd read too much into it.

Still, she had to admit that Shen Ye's invitation was genuinely tempting.

The RV's interior was luxurious.

There was a broad, soft leather sofa, a private bathroom where she could take a hot shower whenever she wanted, a double bed so comfortable she never wanted to get out of it, and all kinds of supplies stocked in the storage area.

The Volvo Lin Wanqiu had driven away couldn't come close to offering the same comfort.

Let alone her old Huolala van.

But whenever she thought of the two of them, a man and a woman alone, spending their days and nights together in a space of less than twenty square meters, she couldn't keep her heart from fluttering anxiously.

She admitted she had feelings for this man.

But having feelings for him was one thing. Living together was another.

As a woman, she was reserved by nature.

Otherwise, Shen Ye wouldn't have been her first.

Besides, from what she knew of Shen Ye, an invitation like this meant he trusted her completely.

Suppressing the delight in her heart, she replied in a calm tone, "I... I'll think about it first."

With that, she hurriedly pushed open the door and jumped out as though fleeing.

Her heel slipped on the step as she landed, and she nearly fell.

Once she regained her balance, she didn't care whether he had seen her awkward stumble. She fled straight toward the Volvo without looking back.

Leaning against the sofa, Shen Ye watched her tall, slender figure recede through the window, unable to suppress the smile tugging at his lips.

Song Shiya's answer didn't surprise him at all.

Of course, another woman might have accepted immediately.

But Shen Ye had no interest in that sort of woman.

People were like that. Things that came too easily were often the things they failed to cherish.

Only after she got into the vehicle did he finally look away.

Her distinctive, delicate fragrance still lingered in the RV.

He clicked his tongue, shook those distracting thoughts out of his head, and got up to lie down on the bed again.

Meanwhile.

After relentlessly pursuing their target, the Blood Eagle Convoy finally reached a small gas station on the border between Eastern Guangdong and Western Guangxi.

The gas station was small and old, consisting of two drab, low single-story buildings and a canopy with a faded red roof.

Several patches of hardened, blackened earth clung to the ground beside the pumps. They looked utterly out of place at the gas station and were hard to miss.

Strangely, anyone stepping on those black patches could still feel lingering warmth through the soles of their shoes.

They were like a pot of asphalt whose heat had only recently been turned off.

Had Shen Ye been there, he would have recognized it at a glance as the very gas station where he had fought those four Oil-Shadow Ghosts in a desperate battle the night before.