Black Sky - Chapter 14

Bai Zi, who had originally planned to lightly gloss over the thrilling scene just now with a playful smile, didn’t dare to speak casually anymore.

She had never imagined that one day, she would see Meng Yilan standing in front of her, shedding tears.

Bai Zi had also experienced this same feeling of having her understanding upended a year ago.

When she thought that Meng Yilan, who never touched alcohol or cigarettes, actually appeared on the rooftop with a cigarette in her hand.

In the past, Bai Zi often used the word “resilient” to describe Meng Yilan.

At that time, she would walk through the streets and alleys to dig out various unknown social news, never retreating in the face of various threats and suppression.

But not only did she not show fear in the face of powerful and evil forces, but even when she encountered extremely tragic events, when everyone else was moved to tears, Meng Yilan would only frown slightly, and gently comfort those seeking help, promising to solve the problem for them.

In the most extreme cases, her eyes would only turn red.

Instead of like now, Bai Zi clearly saw a large teardrop sliding from Meng Yilan’s right eye.

When did this change begin?

Bai Zi quickly came up with the answer.

It should have started after Lin Quwei was arrested and imprisoned.

Such an important person wrongly framed and turned into a prisoner. Bai Zi imagined Meng Yilan secretly crying for Lin Quwei on countless unknown nights.

And now, who was Meng Yilan crying for?

Bai Zi certainly wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to think that the other party was crying for her. At most, she was frightened by the terrifying two-meter-tall mutant just now.

“I don’t know if these biscuits are expired,” The obedient Bai Zi didn’t dare to approach Meng Yilan any further, but still tried to defuse the awkward atmosphere at this time. “Or should we let Mao Mao have some first?”

A small yellow duck doll smashed towards Bai Zi’s head from the second floor.

“Let’s go.” Meng Yilan only uttered two words faintly, her tone steady, and her expression indifferent, as if the Meng Yilan who had choked up and told her not to come closer just now was just Bai Zi’s personal fantasy.

“No,” Bai Zi immediately stopped her. “You need to rest.”

Meng Yilan frowned: “I don’t need to, and we can’t stay here for long.”

Just now, Bai Zi’s shot at the mutant with the shotgun should have attracted the attention of other creatures nearby. If they didn’t leave, perhaps they would be surrounded by a group of mutants like they were at the gas station before.

Bai Zi, however, didn’t think so: “It will be more dangerous for us to go out rashly now, and,” she looked up at the second floor, “the top is a perfect hiding place. Even if those mutants come, with their intelligence, they won’t be able to find where we’re hiding.”

Meng Yilan stared at Bai Zi, as if she was thinking about something, and then approached, took the compressed biscuits from Bai Zi’s hand: “Their shelf life is usually thirty-six months.”

Bai Zi curled the corners of her mouth, she knew that the other party had agreed to her arrangement: “You go to the second floor to eat something first, and Mao Mao and I will go nearby to find some fruit…”

Meng Yilan interrupted Bai Zi, she looked around, as if she was looking for something: “You just said that it would be more dangerous to go out rashly, so why are you turning around and taking Mao Mao to court death?”

“I’m not the same as you…” Bai Zi had just opened her mouth when Meng Yilan interrupted again: “There’s nothing different. Don’t think that just because you didn’t mutate after being bitten, you’re an indestructible perfect superman. If you’re too arrogant, once something goes wrong, you’ll be beaten back to your original form.”

Beaten back to her original form—these cruel words seemed to imply that Bai Zi, before being bitten by the mutant a year ago, was a useless and inferior weakling. Where did she get the confidence back then, to follow Meng Yilan’s actions at every turn?

Being “criticized” by Meng Yilan with such a sharp attitude, Bai Zi didn’t feel the slightest bit of discomfort, but rather felt very comfortable.

A year ago, Meng Yilan’s attitude towards Bai Zi was only disgust and resentment. Not to mention “criticism,” she didn’t even want to say a word.

But now, in this seemingly cold “criticism,” Bai Zi could feel Meng Yilan’s concern for her hidden between the lines.

While Bai Zi was standing in place with a happy smile, Meng Yilan was squatting behind the counter of the store, skillfully lifting a hidden compartment on the ground, and taking out a bag of emergency supplies from inside.

“This store was opened with investment from a foreign company, and the basic facilities are all built according to their plans, such as equipping the store with emergency supplies,” Meng Yilan said, carrying the bag, and came to the edge of the cliff. “Let’s go up.”

Looking at the large bag of emergency supplies that Meng Yilan had searched out of thin air, Bai, the perfect superman, Zi didn’t dare to say anything more. She just wanted to take the bag, but Meng Yilan directly carried the bag on her back, straddled the window railing by the wall, and then grabbed Mao Mao’s hand, wanting to climb to the second floor—but she couldn’t go up because she lacked the strength.

Bai Zi quickly stepped forward, and regardless of whether Meng Yilan wanted to or not, bent down and hugged those supermodel-sized long legs, and lifted her up.

Then, Bai Zi turned around again, and carried the large teddy bear in the center of the store to the second floor.

Meng Yilan, who was calm and collected on the surface, was actually so hungry that she was dizzy. She didn’t ask Bai Zi what she was planning to do by bringing the teddy bear doll upstairs, but silently sat down in the corner, opened her backpack, and took out the chocolate inside.

Although she was so hungry that her face was pale and her lips were white, Meng Yilan still chewed slowly and carefully after opening the package, as if she was attending a high-society banquet.

Mao Mao was greedy, but she wasn’t hungry, and very sensibly didn’t compete for it, only quietly sat next to Meng Yilan, looking at her eating with an extremely pious expression.

Bai Zi wiped the dust off the teddy bear doll, and without saying a word, put it behind Meng Yilan, so that she could lean back comfortably.

Then, Bai Zi tore off the curtains, spread them out, and tucked the four corners into the window crevices on both sides of the wall, so that the curtains hung horizontally on the cross-section of the second floor, blocking the wind blowing in from the chasm.

In an instant, the dilapidated old store was transformed by Bai Zi into a decent shelter.

Meng Yilan, who had seen all of this, didn’t say much. Only after Bai Zi carried another pile of furry dolls upstairs did she hand her a bottle of water.

Bai Zi obediently took a small sip, even though she believed that she didn’t need it.

Seeing Bai Zi being so obedient to her, Meng Yilan felt very satisfied.

Although the wind was blocked, the temperature was still cold. Mao Mao, who was covered with a blanket, was doing okay, but Meng Yilan, who was also leaning against the big teddy bear, was shivering uncontrollably.

Bai Zi repeatedly assured Meng Yilan that she would only move within a ten-meter radius in front of the store, and then quickly went out again. Then, carrying a pile of firewood she had picked up, she knelt down in the center of the second floor in front of Meng Yilan, and began to make fire by drilling wood.

When she saw Bai Zi, who had a serious expression, actually drilling white smoke out of the small dead wood, Meng Yilan finally couldn’t help but ask: “How do you know how to do this?”

“When I was a child, my dad often took me and my brother camping in the mountains,” Bai Zi was still kneeling on the ground, carefully adding wood shavings and shredded doll fabric to the ignited tinder, “I know some basic wilderness survival skills.”

In order to exercise his frail daughter, Bai Zi’s father would always take the whole family camping in the mountains on a regular basis, not only to strengthen her body, but also to let Bai Zi and her half-brother Bai Sang improve their relationship.

Thinking of this, Bai Zi couldn’t help but smile wryly. If her father came back to life and learned that the two siblings had long since turned against each other and were separated by the ends of the earth, he would probably be so angry that he would lie back in his coffin.

This was the first time Meng Yilan had heard Bai Zi talk about the past, and she asked with interest: “You have a brother?”

“A half-brother,” Bai Zi said, taking off the iron helmet worn by the pig doll, “I cut off contact with him ten years ago.”

The emotionless way of stating things made Meng Yilan wisely not pursue the matter further. She relaxed her body, leaned back on the big belly of the teddy bear doll, while Mao Mao next to her had already fallen asleep, and even made slight snoring sounds.

Meng Yilan lay there, watching Bai Zi use branches to prop up a small frame on the fire, and then put the small helmet on the frame as a pot, and pour the mineral water into the pot to boil.

For some reason, the person in front of her wasn’t doing anything remarkable, just boiling water, but Meng Yilan watched with rapt attention. She even wanted to reach out and rub that round head with short, spiky black hair.

“If you’re sleepy, get some sleep.” Bai Zi said softly, poking at the fire with a branch.

Meng Yilan collected her thoughts, and took out the watch from her collar: “I suspect that person is dead.”

Bai Zi looked at Meng Yilan in confusion. The latter leaned over and handed the watch to Bai Zi’s eyes: “It hasn’t moved at all. This is very abnormal, unless that person accidentally dropped the watch into the valley, or that person fell down from here.”

On the water ink screen, the person with the other watch was still staying in the original position, without moving.

Bai Zi looked at that dot, thoughtfully: “Now, we shouldn’t have any other way to contact the outside world, right?”

Meng Yilan didn’t reply. After putting the watch back into her clothes, she said softly: “There’s something I need to apologize to you for.”

Bai Zi stopped poking at the fire and looked up at Meng Yilan.

“More than a year ago, Shi Lei showed me some photos,” Meng Yilan straightened up, her expression serious, “They were taken of the basement you lived in in Bei City.”

Bai Zi frowned, put down the branch, and also sat up straight.

The fire crackled crisply a few times, and the light illuminated both of their faces with a yellowish glow.

Without needing Meng Yilan to describe it in detail, Bai Zi could accurately guess the “terrifying” scene that the photos had captured—the bookshelves were densely packed with all kinds of information about Meng Yilan, and the walls were covered with photos of Meng Yilan cut out from newspapers and magazines, with messy annotations written on them—this was completely the behavior of someone who had a serious obsession with Meng Yilan.

“I didn’t ask him to do that,” Meng Yilan continued, “But, in order to prove to me that you…” She paused, her face a little unnatural, “You were to me…”

“Up to no good.” Bai Zi slightly curled the corners of her mouth, and finished Meng Yilan’s sentence for her.

Meng Yilan didn’t deny Bai Zi’s addition. She stared straight at Bai Zi with those cold peach blossom eyes, waiting for the other party’s answer.

Bai Zi didn’t show any fear. Instead, she faced Meng Yilan’s gaze calmly: “To me, you are indeed a very important person.”

Meng Yilan frowned. She couldn’t understand Bai Zi’s feelings for her at all, especially since she had only known Bai Zi for less than a year at that time.

“I don’t know how to…describe this feeling,” Bai Zi was still looking directly at Meng Yilan, expressing her inner feelings clumsily and piously, “You can say that I’m fascinated by you, or that I’m obsessed with you, it doesn’t matter, but…” She paused, and then continued, word by word, “I will absolutely not do anything to hurt you.”

Meng Yilan sat blankly by the fire, her expression dazed.

If you were to investigate carefully, Bai Zi had actually never done anything out of line, and the person in front of her hadn’t denied the obsessive behavior she had done in the past, but she also hadn’t further explained why she was a “very important” person to her.

“Bai Zi,” Meng Yilan took a deep breath, “You and I…”

“Are impossible,” Bai Zi nodded, “Don’t worry, I’ve never imagined that anything could happen between us.”

The Meng Yilan from a year ago would definitely not have believed these words from Bai Zi, but now, she didn’t have much doubt about it.

But for some reason, hearing Bai Zi’s matter-of-fact clarification, she felt inexplicably unhappy, and heatedly retorted, “Even so, I hope you can get rid of, or transfer, this…feeling as soon as possible. Otherwise, you’ll only be wasting your energy and time.”

A thousand reasons to refute Meng Yilan’s words immediately surged in Bai Zi’s heart, but in the end, she only said, “Okay.”

Such an obedient response made Meng Yilan feel a dull suffocation. She immediately took a deep breath, shook off this feeling, and pursed her lips, asking: “You said before that you wanted to repay my kindness…”

Bai Zi interrupted Meng Yilan again: “About that matter, I want to keep it a secret.”

“Why?” Meng Yilan didn’t want to let the other party off easily.

“It’s not important to you, like you said, there’s no need to spend your energy to understand it,” Bai Zi picked up the branch again and began to poke at the fire, “Now, the most important thing for you is to rescue Lin Quwei.”

Mentioning Lin Quwei, Meng Yilan’s expression immediately became serious.

Bai Zi thought that her act of mentioning “Lin Quwei” had once again angered Meng Yilan, but she didn’t want to apologize for this, so she only stared at the fire, and didn’t speak anymore.

Meng Yilan, who was mistaken by Bai Zi as being angry, seemed to be thinking about something. After a long while, she relaxed her body again, and leaned back on the soft teddy bear doll, just like a noble concubine lying on a couch, her eyes half-closed, looking sleepy but firm: “To me, he is also a very important person.”

“If he’s a ‘very important person’,” Bai Zi looked at the fire, nodded, as if talking to herself, “Then you have to rescue him at all costs.”

Meng Yilan immediately raised her eyes to look at Bai Zi, the sleepiness in her eyes swept away, but a bit of confusion appeared instead.

Looking at Bai Zi’s extremely serious and frank expression, Meng Yilan kept chewing on that sentence in her heart—rescue him at all costs.

The two were silent for a while, with only the slight sound of the fire burning remaining.

Finally, Meng Yilan couldn’t help but yawn softly.

The warm environment made her unable to resist the sleepiness. In the end, she simply disregarded her image, moved her body, and lay flat on the teddy bear doll, next to Mao Mao, who was already sleeping sprawled out, and closed her eyes.

It seemed that she hadn’t slept in such a comfortable state for a long time. Meng Yilan didn’t even realize that after she closed her eyes, the corners of her mouth actually curled up slightly, looking very relaxed.

After a long while, confirming that Meng Yilan had fallen asleep, Bai Zi, who wasn’t sleepy at all, put down the branch again and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The courage she had to make eye contact with Meng Yilan just now had long disappeared. She didn’t even dare to look at that person now.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew in from the crevices that the curtains couldn’t cover.

Bai Zi quickly and quietly used a few dolls to block the crevices, and then folded another clean curtain cloth, and carefully covered it over Meng Yilan and Mao Mao. Finally, she piled all the remaining animal dolls around them, confirming that no more cold wind would blow towards this side, before silently walking to the window and looking at the deep forest.

Bai Zi seemed to be focusing on monitoring the situation outside the store, but in reality, she was trying hard to suppress her emotions.

Today could be considered the day that Bai Zi officially expressed her feelings to Meng Yilan. Perhaps in the other party’s eyes, this was completely meaningless, or even a pointless emotion that was “wasting energy and time.”

But to Bai Zi, it was of great significance.

She had thought that she would never be able to let the other party hear her heart in this lifetime.

At this time, Bai Zi, just as Meng Yilan had said, had been beaten back to her original form.

Even a weakling should have the right to express their feelings, right?

Bai Zi’s gaze towards the window gradually blurred, and before the tears were about to fall, she raised her hand and gently wiped them away.