Confession: Brother Jing, I've Died Before

Seeing his unease, Cheng Jing lowered his head and kissed his cheek, gently reassuring him:

"Since I've been so cooperative, will you tell me? Trust me, no third person will know about this."

He wasn't deliberately trying to force Jiang Nian. He simply wanted to protect him better, so he needed to know the source of his unease.

Jiang Nian looked up at him:

"I'm afraid you won't believe me..."

Cheng Jing chuckled:

"I believed a reason as far-fetched as a dream. What else wouldn't I believe?"

"Sometimes the truth is even more far-fetched than a dream."

Jiang Nian sighed helplessly. After a moment, encouraged by his gaze, he finally said it:

"Brother Jing, I've died before."

His tone was calm, but Cheng Jing's expression abruptly changed.

Before he could speak, Jiang Nian continued:

"...Just like in those wildly imaginative novels, I was reborn after I died. I went through everything that's happening now once in my last life."

"..."

Cheng Jing's expression was grave. This really was more far-fetched than a dream, but when he thought about it, it also made the most sense.

Jiang Nian took a moment to prepare himself, then settled more comfortably in his arms. He told him everything, from his mother's death to the arrival of the apocalypse, and finally his own miserable death.

More than two years in the apocalypse sounded like a long time, but he had been imprisoned, so aside from his days as a lab rat, there wasn't much to tell about his own experiences.

"..."

Jiang Nian didn't cry this time. When he finished, he took several deep breaths, then looked up at the man whose eyes had reddened and smiled:

"You were the one who told me to find you, so I came..."

Since getting back together with Brother Jing, much of the painful gloom from his past life had lifted. He had been reborn, and since he had found salvation, there was no need to let the pain of his past life keep holding him hostage.

"..."

Cheng Jing held him without speaking for a long time, his scalding breath brushing against his neck:

"I should have come looking for you. I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

He shouldn't have stubbornly suppressed his desire to look for him just to win a battle of wills.

Jiang Nian fought the urge to cry, interlaced their fingers, and said:

"It wasn't your fault, Brother Jing. I made the choice myself. Look, after I made the wrong choice in my last life, I changed it. Aren't things fine now?"

He did listen to advice; he hadn't gotten carried away just because he was a regressor.

"Mm."

Cheng Jing's voice was muffled. He refused to lift his head, holding Jiang Nian against his chest and stroking the back of his neck over and over with his broad palm.

"Brother Jing, let's work hard together and make it through the apocalypse safely."

Jiang Nian guessed he might be crying, but men cared about saving face, so he quietly let him hold and stroke him.

"We'll definitely make it through safely."

Cheng Jing's tone was resolute, leaving no room for doubt.

"Mm."

After telling the truth, Jiang Nian felt his mood lighten at once. Otherwise, with a secret weighing on him, he couldn't do or say anything freely and always had to come up with some clumsy excuse to cover it up.

After their heart-to-heart, Jiang Nian became even more shameless, his every word and action the very embodiment of someone spoiled by affection. As a result, things got heated between them with rapidly increasing frequency.

What else could Cheng Jing do? Of course, he indulged him without complaint.

Having learned from Jiang Nian what would happen later, Cheng Jing took advantage of the early stage of the apocalypse and his superpower. He led his team along routes and through channels that were as safe as possible, gathering supplies at top speed to fill the others' safe houses.

After all, their teammates hadn't been able to prepare as much as they had, so there was no need to dip into their reserves until they had to.

At the same time, he could teach his teammates to fight zombies using the method Jiang Nian had described: destroying the head was the most effective.

They had reacted quickly, so by the time other people began to act, whether alone or in groups, the team had already gathered enough supplies.

Of course, the largest operation was the official one.

But the toxic rain had also hit public servants working in the field the hardest. They had been on duty and training in the rain, and when the chaos broke out, they had been on the front lines. In the end, some departments were wiped out entirely.

As a result, the current official operation was a rescue team formed by the combined efforts of every department in Qingyun City:

Firefighters, police, and officers and soldiers from the local garrison numbered only about half their original strength. They were collectively known as the rescue police, and the city government building had become the rescue command center.

As news of superpower users emerged from different places, the command center called on them to join its operations, gathering supplies for distribution to ordinary civilians.

Until the army arrived, they needed to unite and cooperate, doing their utmost to survive.

Having ensured that they had enough supplies and were safe themselves, Cheng Jing led his team in joining the official operations and voluntarily reported that he had awakened a superpower.

Because his team was made up of security personnel to begin with, and their captain had awakened a superpower, every member was issued a firearm and joined the rescue police in their operations.

Jiang Nian wanted to go too, but Cheng Jing wouldn't allow it, telling him to practice his superpower at home.

Half a month later, on September 16, water and electricity began to be cut off across Qingyun City's districts.

In just two days, the entire city except for the command center had been plunged into darkness, and cell phones no longer had a signal.

Only satellite broadcasts and satellite phones still worked, but ordinary people didn't have access to them.

The weather remained sweltering. Amid the chaos, people kept dying and zombies roamed freely. Mutilated corpses and bloodstains could be seen everywhere on the roads, and with supplies running short, panic and the stench of decay shrouded the entire city.

Jiang Nian pulled the curtains tightly shut before he dared turn on a light and cook something in secret.

Although few people lived in their residential complex, and Cheng Jing secretly cleared out the zombies, the occasional snarls in the pitch darkness were still enough to make his skin crawl.

Some of the complex's security guards and property management staff had been eaten, while others had turned into zombies. With no one guarding it, passing zombies would follow the scent of the living inside.

It was Cheng Jing's team's turn to go with the others to the new urban district to distribute supplies to residents today, so he wouldn't be home until very late.

They worked one day and rested the next, and their wages were paid in supplies. After all, money had become nothing more than wastepaper at a time like this.

Fortunately, someone in the official organization had awakened a spatial superpower with a space dozens of mu in size, making their operations much easier.

Although they didn't lack supplies, Cheng Jing still brought his share home because so many people were watching. It was hard to know what others were thinking, and keeping one's wealth hidden was especially important in the apocalypse.

At ten thirty that night, Jiang Nian sat in front of a battery-powered air cooler, eating from an opened box of potato chips and a pack of pickled chili chicken feet while messaging Cheng Jing.

It was a satellite phone Cheng Jing had given him. Styled like a senior phone, it had a black casing and was heavy and sturdy, with waterproof buttons. Its battery could last half a year with normal use, though it could only call and message certain designated numbers.

Cheng Jing messaged him to let him know he was safe whenever he completed a mission.

Brother Jing:

[It'll probably be another hour before I get home. If you're sleepy, go to bed first.]

With a potato chip between his lips, Jiang Nian typed rapidly:

[No, I'll wait for you.]

Cheng Jing:

[Mm.]

These were the messages they had exchanged most often lately, word for word. They looked a little childish, but they never tired of them.

"Bang, bang, bang-"

Suddenly, a violent knocking came from the reinforced outer stainless-steel door, especially conspicuous in the quiet of the night.