Chapter 83
Chapter 83
The smoke had yet to clear, but they had no time to linger.
“Move. Keep moving.”
Qingshui’s voice was hoarse as she urged everyone onward.
No one answered. The only sounds were labored, stifled breaths and shuffling footsteps. Their desperate fight against the Madmen had drained the last of their strength.
Zhou Yaping was almost completely spent. Her face was ashen, and she could barely stand. Lin Hao had to half carry, half support her as they moved. She stared blankly ahead, seemingly too exhausted even to focus her eyes.
Numb with fatigue, the group trudged along the highway.
Once they passed the hill, the view suddenly opened up. Everyone looked down below.
No wonder… they had encountered so many Madmen along this stretch.
A cluster of low houses lay beneath them, forming a village that hugged the elevated highway and sprawled across the mountainside.
Scattered figures could still be seen among the desolate fields, leaping about with bizarre, contorted movements.
“Hurry,” Qingshui said, lowering her voice even further. “Just hold on a little longer.”
They dragged their feet forward, numb to everything as the cold guardrail slid past. The world had narrowed to the rasp of their own breathing and the heavy, uneven rhythm of their footsteps.
Then one beat suddenly went missing.
A moment later, Lin Hao let out a strangled cry. “Chen Yuhui!”
Qingshui spun around.
Chen Yuhui had dropped to one knee. Her head hung low, both hands braced against the rough pavement, while her entire body shook violently like a dead leaf in the winter wind.
The exposed side of her face and neck was deathly pale, almost translucent. Sweat-soaked strands of hair clung to her forehead and cheeks. Her lips were pressed tightly together, but she could not stop them from trembling.
“Yuhui!” An Xiaolin immediately turned back for her.
Qingshui was faster. She rushed over, crouched down, and helped Chen Yuhui up. Her skin was frighteningly cold.
Chen Yuhui seemed to be trying to raise her head, but her unfocused gaze drifted aimlessly. Only a faint whisper of air escaped her throat.
Blood loss, excruciating pain, exhaustion, infection… It could be all of them. Her body had already reached its limit. She had made it this far through sheer force of will.
An Xiaolin reached out to carry Chen Yuhui on her back, but Qingshui stopped her. “I’ll carry her. Ji Feifan, take point. An Xiaolin, bring up the rear and stay alert.”
Qingshui quickly adjusted the weapons strapped to her body, turned her back to Chen Yuhui, and grabbed her arms. Gritting her teeth, she hauled Chen Yuhui onto her back.
Chen Yuhui was heavier than she looked. Perhaps because she no longer had the strength to support herself, her full weight bore down on Qingshui. Qingshui’s knees buckled. She drew a deep breath, then forced herself upright.
“Move!”
Ji Feifan pressed his lips into a tight line, gripped his gun, and quickened his pace. Qingshui followed with Chen Yuhui on her back, feeling the faint tremors running through her body.
Chen Yuhui’s head drooped weakly beside Qingshui’s shoulder, her burning breath brushing against Qingshui’s ear.
Faster. They had to go faster.
Time stretched endlessly as they trudged onward in a daze.
At last, dense forest covered the long stretch of hills.
Ji Feifan stopped and nodded to Qingshui. Then he crossed the highway first and plunged into the thick woods.
“Come in,” he called from deep among the trees.
The others followed one by one.
The trees grew steadily denser, and the light dimmed. The damp scents of soil and vegetation washed over them.
After finding a relatively secluded spot screened by thick bushes, Ji Feifan stopped and looked at Qingshui.
Qingshui gently lowered the semiconscious Chen Yuhui to the ground and propped her against a tree.
Without stopping to rest, she immediately removed a grenade from her gear. Then she, An Xiaolin, and Lin Hao used fishing line to rig it into an alarm trap some distance away.
Only when everything was set did Qingshui return to their temporary shelter and rest.
Her stomach had been painfully empty for a long time. She pulled a compressed biscuit from her backpack, tore open the wrapper, and mechanically stuffed it into her mouth. She could not even taste it. She was simply forcing food into her hollow stomach, trying to replenish her utterly depleted strength.
Then she took out her water bottle and sipped sparingly, just enough to moisten her parched, constricted throat.
Ji Feifan and Lin Hao ate in silence as well, their movements equally mechanical.
The moment the intense physical exertion stopped, exhaustion surged over Qingshui and drowned out every other sensation. She had only meant to close her eyes and steady her breathing, but her eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and her consciousness slipped uncontrollably into darkness.
Almost instantly, she fell asleep-or rather, briefly lost consciousness as though she had fainted.
Yet her exhausted mind found no peace.
The fog before her parted, revealing a clean, tidy room.
A woman stood with her back to her, straight-backed and dressed in simple casual clothes. When she turned around, her features were cool and composed, her presence calm.
But at that moment, her usually cool eyes held a tender warmth, even curving slightly at the corners.
The woman held a sheet of paper in her hand. Her voice was gentle, encouraging Qingshui as she consulted her. “What about these? Are there any names you like?”
She shook her head.
“Then what would you like to be called?” The woman patiently crouched down until they were at eye level.
She remained silent for so long that the woman seemed to think she would not answer. Finally, she spoke in a tiny voice.
“Qingshui…”
“Qingshui?” the woman repeated, a hint of curiosity in her voice. “Why Qingshui?”
She raised her head. Her gaze was clear, but there was an earnestness in it, along with a barely perceptible longing. “Water… is precious.”
She liked water. It was clean and clear, and it nourished life. She wanted… to become like water too-to be needed and cherished.
The woman seemed to hear far more in that simple answer. She froze for a moment, then the cool reserve in her features melted away completely, blossoming into a warm, utterly genuine smile.
She reached out and gently stroked Qingshui’s head.
“To me,” she said softly but firmly, each word striking deep into Qingshui’s heart, “you are every bit as precious as water.”
The woman’s smile gradually faded. She looked into the little girl’s eyes with solemnity and an almost cautious anticipation. “Qingshui… Aunt Chen wants to ask you something. Would you…”
She paused, seemingly trying to find the right words. In the end, she asked the question plainly but tenderly. “Would you like… to be my daughter?”
Qingshui went completely still. Her eyes widened as she stared at the woman she had always secretly admired, the woman she regarded as her light.
Something seemed to lodge in her throat. Her heart thundered, and her mind went utterly blank.
Would she? How could she possibly not want to?
She had dreamed of this… But the overwhelming joy and sudden panic tangled together, leaving her speechless. She could only stare blankly at the woman, unable to utter a single word.
As the silence stretched on, the light in the woman’s eyes slowly dimmed, replaced by disappointment and self-reproach.
She immediately withdrew her hand. Her smile became strained, and though her voice remained gentle, there was now a trace of haste in it. “I’m sorry, Qingshui. I was too impatient. I’ll ask you again when you’re a little older, all right? We can take our time…”
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from around the corner. A flustered man in a white lab coat burst into the room. Without even pausing to take in the scene, he blurted out, “Professor Chen! Something’s wrong! Test Subject No. 3 is experiencing a severe rejection reaction. Their vital signs are dropping!”
The tenderness and disappointment on the woman’s face instantly gave way to professional severity and urgency. She rose at once. “I’m coming!”
With that, she hurried after the man and left without even having time to glance back at Qingshui.
Qingshui instinctively reached out, but her hand only managed to catch the edge of the woman’s clothes as she rushed past. It slipped from her grasp in the very next instant.
She watched that straight-backed figure swiftly disappear around the corner. It felt as though something had suddenly clenched around her heart, sending a dull ache through her chest.
No, that’s not it… It wasn’t that I didn’t want to…
I did.
I wanted so, so badly to be your daughter!
I just… I just wasn’t ready… I was only terrified that this was nothing more than a dream…