A night passed.
The first ray of morning sunlight pierced through the clouds, spilling over the ruins of the devastated town.
The blood rain and Black Mist of last night felt like nothing more than an absurd nightmare.
Those who survived still had to keep fighting for their lives.
After the sudden mutation last night, the Eerie Rift at the edge of the town had completely closed.
According to the news Wang Ziming had sent someone to deliver early this morning, this area was considered safe, aside from the occasional wandering ordinary zombie.
After fleeing day and night for so long and experiencing so many horrors, everyone’s frayed nerves could finally relax a little.
This was a rare moment for rest and reorganization.
Su Frost and Mu Yingying finished gathering supplies. To avoid the crowds, they pushed White Night toward the town’s upscale district.
They found a relatively well-preserved, three-story standalone villa.
A few zombies in pajamas were wandering inside.
But to the two Aunties who had witnessed the terrifying existence of the Abyss Inn, these small fry were as docile as little white rabbits.
Su Frost put on her Alloy Gauntlets and cleared them out in no time, feeling no psychological pressure at all.
“Phew, I can finally change out of these stinky clothes.”
After cleaning the villa, the two rummaged through the spacious walk-in closet on the first floor for a while.
They shed their old clothes, which were stained with foul blood and dust, and changed into tight denim jeans and clean, white T-shirts that were easy to move in.
The snug jeans perfectly outlined the tall, sleek lines of their legs.
Once they were changed, Mu Yingying came running back excitedly from the villa’s garage, holding a dusty portable manual air pump.
“Ta-da! Little White Night, look what Auntie found?”
She trotted all the way to the living room, waving the pump in front of White Night’s handlebars as if claiming credit.
“I squeezed your tires just now; they’re a bit flat.”
“Come, Auntie will personally serve you today~”
As she spoke, Mu Yingying squatted beside White Night’s front wheel without any regard for her image. She unscrewed the valve cap and aimed the pump’s nozzle at the valve.
Her face, which had regained its brightness, suddenly wore a mischievous smirk. She deliberately lowered her voice, speaking in a particularly sultry, mature tone.
“Little White Night, are you ready? Auntie’s big tube… is coming in~”
**[Auntie Ying… please don’t use such a strange tone to say things that are so easy to misunderstand…]**
White Night’s soul instantly turned a bashful pink.
Su Frost’s fists, on the other hand, made a cracking sound.
It was clearly just pumping up a bicycle, so why did it feel so wrong coming out of Mu Yingying’s mouth!
Normally, if Su Frost heard Mu Yingying making such a distasteful joke, she would have threatened her with a punch long ago.
But today, Su Frost simply leaned against the sofa, quietly watching Mu Yingying as she squatted on the floor fiddling with the bicycle.
Seeing that Mu Yingying had regained her carefree attitude, she didn’t open her mouth to scold her.
Mu Yingying had clawed her way through harsh environments since she was a child, growing up like a wild weed.
Perhaps it was this cruel experience that had forged her incredibly strong ability to adjust mentally.
As long as she could still laugh, Su Frost and White Night would let her be.
“Childish.”
Su Frost rolled her eyes slightly and decided to turn her face away to look at the scenery outside, choosing “out of sight, out of mind.”
However, she still felt awkward all over. That damn Yingying was really asking for a beating.
Su Frost felt that if she didn’t find something to do, her hand would instinctively want to punch Mu Yingying.
She looked down and tested the sneakers she had just found. They fit quite well.
*Hiss… hiss…*
Mu Yingying gripped the handles of the air pump with both hands, pressing up and down. Bursts of full air were forced into White Night’s flat tires.
As the air pressure rose, White Night could clearly feel her originally loose tires becoming firm and full.
An indescribable sense of comfort spread from the tires throughout the entire frame.
**[Auntie Ying, that’s enough, it’s full. It’s already full.]**
White Night felt a swelling sense of fullness and hurried to remind her.
“Phew—”
Mu Yingying pulled off the nozzle and slapped the dust off her hands with satisfaction. She stood up and casually flicked White Night’s taut front tire.
Two “bangs” rang out, crisp and powerful.
“Mission accomplished~ Now Little White Night has been filled to the brim by Auntie~”
Mu Yingying put her hands on her hips and arched an eyebrow at White Night.
“How was it? Was Auntie’s technique powerful?”
**[It’s just pumping air… what’s so powerful about it…]**
White Night grumbled softly. Out of embarrassment, she simply played dead and didn’t take the bait.
Looking at the way the little broken bike was pretending to be solemn, Mu Yingying couldn’t help but giggle. Her laughter echoed through the empty villa like silver bells.
Hearing that laughter, the weight in White Night’s heart finally lifted.
In this precarious apocalypse, once your mental defenses collapse, you aren’t far from death.
Seeing that Auntie Ying could digest that heavy sorrow on her own and return to being the Queen of Filth…
Well… even though she was still a bit much… White Night was genuinely happy for her.
“It’s a pity we only found a crappy air pump,” Su Frost said as she turned her head back, her voice tinged with regret.
“It would be great if we had dedicated maintenance tools. White Night put in so much effort yesterday, yet we can’t even give her a proper tune-up.”
**[It’s okay, Auntie Frost. My tire pressure is normal now, and I feel full of energy~]**
White Night responded obediently.
After finishing the tires, Mu Yingying stretched lazily and walked over to Su Frost, plopping her butt into the soft leather sofa.
A rare moment of safety.
Outside the large floor-to-ceiling window was a street that, while dilapidated, was very quiet at the moment.
White Night looked outside through the window and actually felt as if a lifetime had passed.
It was so quiet it didn’t seem like the apocalypse.
“Hey, Frost, Little White Night.”
Mu Yingying stopped smiling and crossed her legs on the coffee table, her expression turning serious.
“Do you think we should really keep following that guy Wang Ziming?”
Su Frost’s brow furrowed slightly, and she didn’t answer immediately.
Mu Yingying continued her analysis. “Yesterday’s incident was too fishy. It was because he didn’t predict the eruption of the Eerie Rift beforehand that he led everyone into that death-trap hotel.”
“Who exactly is that so-called Navigator in his team? He keeps their identity hidden. Could it be that they’re just a fraud, leading us around the Black Mist to act as cannon fodder?”
**[I think… that might not be the case,]** White Night inserted her calm analysis into their minds.
**[Think about it, Auntie Ying. If he was intentionally deceiving people, he almost lost his life in the hotel yesterday too. If he hadn’t won his gamble with the Head Chef’s kick, he’d be a dead man by now.]**
White Night paused before continuing.
**[As for that Navigator… I even suspect there isn’t anyone else. The so-called Navigator might just be Wang Ziming himself.]**
**[In short, he’s untrustworthy, but he probably didn’t lead us into crisis on purpose. He truly does have the ability to discern directions within the mist.]**
“I agree with White Night’s judgment.”
Su Frost nodded.
“However, Wang Ziming is extremely self-interested and calculating. When danger strikes, the first thing he’ll think of is his own escape. He’d even use others as meat shields without hesitation.”
“We can’t follow someone like that forever, or we’ll eventually be screwed over by him.”
“So, should we go solo now?” Mu Yingying asked.
“Not yet.”
Su Frost shook her head.
“The journey to Spark City is still very long, and the Black Mist could rise on the Wilderness at any time.”
“Until we have the ability to discern directions ourselves—or until White Night evolves a navigation function—we temporarily need to use him.”
She set the tone.
“Continue to travel with them, but remain absolutely vigilant. Once we reach Spark City or have the capital to act alone, we leave immediately.”
“Fine, I’ll follow your lead.”
Mu Yingying nodded, her gaze turning cold and sharp.
“If he dares to plot against us, I’ll let him taste what it’s like to have a Steel Pipe crack his head open.”
With their business finished, silence fell over the villa again.
Su Frost closed her eyes to rest on the sofa, while Mu Yingying found some clean bottled water in the kitchen and drank it slowly.
White Night watched the two Aunties quietly.
The sunlight through the floor-to-ceiling window bathed them in a soft glow that didn’t seem to belong in the apocalypse.
It really wasn’t easy to have such a peaceful day.
***
Night fell.
Two crimson crescent moons hung high above the town.
Inside the villa, the heavy blackout curtains were drawn tight, completely sealing off the outside world’s prying eyes and the cold wind.
On the leather sofa in the center of the living room, Su Frost and Mu Yingying were leaning back comfortably.
And as their darling treasure, White Night, in her bicycle form, obviously couldn’t be left alone in the garage.
She was wheeled into the living room as a precious prize, parked right in front of the sofa where both of them could reach her.
“Whew… now this is a life fit for a human.”
Mu Yingying had taken a cold shower and changed into a slightly loose, clean white shirt, her legs lazily crossed.
She held a glass of water, her peach-blossom eyes rippling with light as she looked at the bicycle in front of her with a smile.
“Little White Night, that Head Chef was so terrifying, yet you actually dared to provoke him. You’ve got quite the guts, don’t you?”
As she spoke, she naturally reached out her foot and lightly poked White Night’s front tire with her toes, her tone carry a mix of teasing and lingering fear.
“You really scared me and your Auntie Frost back then. I was truly afraid that old man would split you in half with one chop.”
**[I… I was too anxious then, I didn’t think much of it…]**
White Night’s soul huddled within the frame, feeling the warm sensation coming from the tire, and grumbled a bit sheepishly.
“That’s called ‘care leads to chaos.’ Little White Night was worrying about your Auntie.”
Beside her, Su Frost had just finished drying her damp, long hair with a towel.
A rare softness appeared on her face as she leaned forward slightly. She reached out her fingers and gently stroked White Night’s cool metal handlebars.
“Our Little White Night is the best, but you’re not allowed to be so reckless next time, okay?”
Her voice softened as her fingertips rubbed gently against the handlebars.
“If something happened to you, your Aunties would be worried to death.”
That incredibly delicate touch felt as if it carried a faint electrical current, making White Night’s entire frame tremble slightly.
**[I understand, Auntie Frost…]**
White Night responded shyly, her soul flushed with pink.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
Mu Yingying curled her lips to the side.
“Frost, that doting tone of yours… you’re like an incurable bike-con.”
Yet, her own hand very honestly reached out and gave White Night’s rear seat a little squeeze.
Su Frost’s face darkened.
“You damn Yingying, where are you touching?”
Mu Yingying immediately retracted her hand.
“I was checking to see if the rear seat cushion was cracked.”
“Frost isn’t the only one with a big butt, you know. Mine is large too, so sitting on it requires a safety inspection. It was a purely technical contact.”
“I’d have to be a fool to believe you, you degenerate woman.”
Su Frost clenched her fist.
Mu Yingying immediately put her hands over her head and pulled her feet back from the coffee table, curling into a ball.
“Heroine Frost, don’t hit me, don’t hit me! It’s not good to beat people late at night; it affects neighborhood harmony.”
“There are only the three of us in this building.”
“That’s even worse; it affects family harmony.”
“Yingying, I swear I’m going to give a shameless thing like you a punch.”
“Don’t hit me, dear Frost. I’ll die if you punch me.”
“Good Frost, I know you’re full of pent-up fire. How about I let you ‘browse’ my ‘private space’… You can let out some steam on me, Heroine Frost…”
“You! You… you’re completely shameless!”
In the past, Su Frost wouldn’t have understood, but as the saying goes, “one who stays near vermilion gets stained red.”
She now understood Mu Yingying’s suggestive slang perfectly, and her face instantly turned bright red.
White Night, listening from the side, also felt her face turn as hot as a tea kettle. Auntie Ying really dared to say anything.
Sigh…
The fact that she understood the meaning instantly made her feel like she had been led astray by Auntie Ying too…