Chapter 223.3: Apocalypse Survival (27)

  Ruan Qing lowered his eyes and looked at his bloodied palms, his fingertips curling slightly.

It hurt even to move.

He was bleeding; the blood would surely attract a horde of zombies. He couldn’t stay here for long.

Ruan Qing had been about to push himself up from the ground to leave when he caught a glimpse of a figure passing by the cliff.

Subconsciously, he looked up, then widened his eyes in astonishment.

A tall figure leaped from below the cliff, holding a three-year-old girl in the left hand and grasping a bloodied woman in the right.

It was... Xie Xuanlan.

Xie Xuanlan landed steadily on the ground and casually placed the two people he was holding onto the ground.

At this point, Jiang Shuyu had already lost consciousness. Her injuries mainly consisted of a cut on her forehead from shattered glass and bruises on her legs, which were not life-threatening.

The little girl was just hurt by the impact, but it’s nothing serious.

Xie Xuanlan didn’t even glance at the two of them, walking straight to Ruan Qing’s side after setting them down, his tall figure blocking the setting sun.

Ruan Qing remained kneeling on the ground, looking up as Xie Xuanlan approached.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. A breeze passed by, carrying a mysterious and indescribable feeling.

Ruan Qing’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and a few seconds later, he looked into Xie Xuanlan’s eyes and spoke, “I tried to find you, but I couldn’t.”

Ruan Qing’s tone was very calm, merely stating a fact.

But to Xie Xuanlan’s ears, Ruan Qing’s tone seemed to carry a hint of grievance, causing a slight tension in Xie Xuanlan’s heart.

Xie Xuanlan pursed his lips tightly, then motioned towards his waist, which was already beginning to rot, and the medicine in his pocket. “I was about to mutate, so I went to find medicine.”

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to hold on until this person returned.

It’s just that he didn’t expect to miss him by chance.

Ruan Qing softly acknowledged with an “en” and fell silent again.

After a pause, Xie Xuanlan half-squatted down, gently lifting Ruan Qing up.

Ruan Qing didn’t resist, holding onto Xie Xuanlan’s neck as he was carried to the nearby tree.

After setting the person down, Xie Xuanlan immediately half-knelt in front of Ruan Qing and gently took Ruan Qing’s delicate hand in his own, examining it closely.

The skin was severely damaged, with some places rubbed raw, revealing fine flesh.

It looked quite terrible.

Xie Xuanlan’s eyebrows furrowed tightly, complex emotions deep in his profound eyes.

But this wasn’t the worst part; the worst part was Ruan Qing’s ankle.

After the harsh fall just now, it was not just swollen, but also slightly misaligned.

Xie Xuanlan lightly touched Ruan Qing’s ankle, checking if there was any problem with the bones.

Fortunately, it seemed to be just out of place.

The bone had to be reset.

Xie Xuanlan spoke softly, “Bear with it. It might hurt a bit.”

After saying this, Xie Xuanlan proceeded to reset Ruan Qing’s bone.

“Umm…” Ruan Qing tightly grasped Xie Xuanlan’s clothes, suppressing the piercing pain.

But the pain still caused the corners of his eyes to redden, and his slender body trembled slightly.

Obviously, the pain was unbearable.

For a moment, Xie Xuanlan’s thin lips pursed even tighter.

The little girl probably didn’t realize she had just faced death. She only saw the man bullying her sister and was about to bully her brother.

Immediately, she walked over, slapped Xie Xuanlan with her small hands, and even kicked him, saying, “Bad guy, bad guy, you big bad guy!”

“Don’t bully my brother!”

Unfortunately, the little girl’s efforts were nothing more than tickling to Xie Xuanlan.

Ruan Qing’s pain had also subsided just right. Seeing the little girl’s actions, he chuckled softly, “He’s not a bad guy. He didn’t bully your brother.”

Ruan Qing wanted to reach out and pat the girl’s head, but before he could, Xie Xuanlan grabbed his hand, clearly not allowing him to touch the girl.

It’s just unclear whether it was because Ruan Qing’s hand was injured or for some other reason.

Ruan Qing looked at his captured hand and could only look at the little girl, softly saying, “Xinxin, can you go see how your sister is doing?”

The little girl was very conflicted, but ultimately answered ‘okay’ and obediently went to check on Jiang Shuyu.

Xie Xuanlan took out a cotton swab and medication from his pocket and began treating the scrapes on Ruan Qing’s hand. His eyes, filled with distress, reflected his pain, yet he felt helpless in the situation.

He could only lighten his touch on Ruan Qing’s hand even more.

From Ruan Qing’s perspective, he couldn’t see the expression in Xie Xuanlan’s eyes. He looked at the person earnestly tending to his wound and asked, “Do you have a name?”

Xie Xuanlan paused briefly, his voice deep. “Xie Xuanlan.”

Ruan Qing chuckled softly, “You should know I’m not asking for that.”

Xie Xuanlan tightened his grip on the cotton swab and continued to treat Ruan Qing’s wound seriously. “No.”

Ruan Qing glanced at his palm, then looked back at Xie Xuanlan, and softly spoke, “Have you ever considered changing masters?”

Before Xie Xuanlan could respond, Ruan Qing continued, “As long as you absolutely obey me, I can help you get everything you desire.”

“Whether it’s power, freedom, or the strength you’ve always wanted to seize.”

Ruan Qing paused for a moment, tilted his head towards Xie Xuanlan, and revealed a faint smile, “Or perhaps, it’s me.”

Xie Xuanlan froze immediately, looking up at Ruan Qing with deep and unreadable eyes. “Do you know what you’re saying?”

Whether it was Ruan Qing’s earlier words or the subsequent ones, they were both shocking.

The system wasn’t surprised that this person could recognize Xie Xuanlan as him. After all, this person was clever enough to always find him.

Even though he suppressed his own memories to enter the instance, even though this person had lost all memories.

What surprised him was that this person knew who he was, yet dared to boldly say such things to him.

Bold to the point of madness, daring enough to include himself in his own calculation.

So daring that he had never imagined the person would want to become his master.

No one had ever dared to say such things to him, or even think about it.

But undeniable, the system didn’t feel insulted at all; instead, his heart began to beat violently.

It was an excitement he had never experienced before, so intense that his heart was completely out of his control.

He even recalled the words this person had said back then.

— Do you know what the prince lacks?

He had thought about it for a long time, almost constantly seeking the answer to this question since then.

But he seemed to have no need to seek the answer at all, because this person had already told him the answer long ago.

— I’m not a prince.

He wasn’t a prince; he was... a king.

He was born to be a king, high and mighty.

His mistake seemed incredibly absurd, to a laughable degree.

A person inherently arrogant. How could he ever submit to another?

How could this person easily accept defeat?

What he should have done was not to imprison him for protection, but to acknowledge and celebrate his birthright and his return to fulfill his true purpose.

He should have thought of it long ago.

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