Chapter 272

Lin Chen and Xia Nuan let go, and Lu Ran fell straight to the ground. He did not struggle, nor did he laugh or make a scene again; he only slowly raised his frost-cracked palms and covered his face. The team members in the carriage did not move. A Nian stood at the doorway, biting her lip, tears falling silently, but she dared not make a sound.

Lu Ran cried.

It was not wailing, not roaring; it was burying his face into his frost-cracked palms,

his shoulders heaving, like a machine unplugged from its power source, with only residual current twitching in its joints. His body shook violently,

yet he made no sound of crying, only suppressed sobs leaking out from between his fingers, more piercing than the howling gale.

The carriage door was open, and the wind and snow from outside poured in, swirling up the crushed ice on the floor and hitting his hair and shoulders. He was completely unaware,

maintaining that posture, like an abandoned stone statue. Lin Chen and Xia Nuan stood to the side, their fists slowly relaxing,

their faces expressionless, save for a trace of unbearable pity deep in their eyes. They knew that at this moment, Lu Ran did not need comfort or persuasion; he just needed to have a good cry.

"If the apocalypse hadn't broken out..."

The voice leaked from between his fingers, hoarse and unlike his own. This sentence was very light,

so light it seemed it could be blown away by the wind at any moment, yet it was very heavy, heavy enough to crush everyone's heart.

"Would we have—"

He stopped, because the second half of the sentence was too light; as soon as it left his mouth, it was choked off by the blizzard.

But Lin Chen knew what he wanted to ask.

—Would we still be sitting on that broken bench behind the university town, sharing the same can of expired cola?

—Would I still be able to wake you up five minutes before the library closed, telling you not to drool on your "Introduction to Virology" textbook?

—Would you still be shoving your frozen red hands directly into my collar in the winter, making me scold you while I warmed them for you?

—Would we have saved enough for a down payment, raised a cowardly orange cat, and even picked out a name, calling it "Chu Ran"?

Lin Chen did not answer.

Answering would hurt.

Lu Ran's shoulders heaved even more violently; his palms slowly opened, and the seed ring tied with a red string rolled out from his palm,

falling into the snow on the ground. The red string was stained with snow, appearing exceptionally jarring,

like a lie that refused to sprout. He looked at that ring, his eyes hollow, as if looking at the belongings of a stranger.

"So it turns out that even in a world without an outbreak, an outbreak was happening."

His voice was still hoarse, but clearer than before.

"Just a little slower—"

"Slow enough for us to have time to argue, to make up, to actually finish living out our 'future'."

He cried even more quietly.

Snow fell on his eyelashes, not melting, as if coating him in a thin, brittle shell.

Inside the shell was him, the Lu Ran who was still drinking expired cola behind the university town, the Lu Ran who woke Sister Chu Yao Yao up in the library,

the Lu Ran who warmed Sister Chu Yao Yao's hands. Outside the shell was the parallel universe that never had an outbreak and could never be reached, the home with the down payment saved, the orange cat named Chu Ran, and the future where they could grow old together.

A Nian walked over slowly, crouched down beside him, and reached out her small hand,

gently holding his fingers. Lu Ran's fingers were cold, like a block of ice. A Nian did not speak, just used her own small hands to warm his fingers bit by bit.

The team members turned away one after another, facing the wind and snow outside; no one wanted to disturb Lu Ran in this moment.

Xia Nuan turned her head away, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, then walked to the carriage door and pulled it halfway shut, blocking the wind and snow pouring in.

Lu Ran looked at the ring lying in the snow, looked at A Nian's small hands,

looked at the team members in the carriage, and looked at the ice coffin not far away. His heart felt as if it were filled with something, yet also as if it had been hollowed out.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he still did not say it.

He ultimately did not say the words, "I really wanted to grow old with you."

Because to say it would be to admit:

It was other worlds that grew old,

while we,

are left forever in this endless apocalypse.

Days passed one by one; Lu Ran was no longer manic, just quieter, and his habit of kissing the ring before every battle remained unshakable. A Nian's healing ability grew stronger and stronger, and she was already able to hold her own. She followed Lu Ran through many battles, and the golden light in her hands became the most comforting light for the wounded on the battlefield.

On the day the battle to reclaim humanity began, artillery fire tore through the sky, and the roars of mutants were deafening. Lu Ran led the team members at the very front; his fists shattered the skulls of one mutant after another, his body covered in layer upon layer of wounds, his clothes soaked through with blood, yet he did not stop his pace for a second.

A Nian followed behind him, continuously releasing golden healing light to soothe the team members' wounds. Suddenly, a high-tier mutant broke through the defense line and lunged at A Nian, its sharp claws carrying a foul wind, aiming straight for A Nian's throat.

Lu Ran's pupils shrank; he did not hesitate for a moment, turning and lunging forward, using his own back to block that fatal blow. The sharp claws pierced through his chest, and blood gushed out, staining the seed ring on his chest red.

Lu Ran looked at A Nian, who had fallen to the ground, and revealed a faint smile. He reached out his hand and gripped the seed ring tightly; the ring had sprouted at some point, the tender green tip topped with golden fuzz. He used his last ounce of strength to crush the ring.

Golden pollen instantly gushed out from the ring, like a golden rain,

enveloping the entire battlefield. The pollen landed on the wounds of the injured, and the wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye; it landed on the mutants, and the mutants let out painful roars as their bodies gradually dissolved.

A Nian looked at Lu Ran, who had fallen to the ground, tears falling like beads from a broken string. She lunged over, hugged Lu Ran's body, and burst into loud sobs.

Lu Ran's eyes slowly closed, a faint smile still hanging on the corners of his mouth.

This was the last gift Sister Chu Yao Yao left for the world.