The protagonist who hates losers is so sweet to me.

Yu Qing felt like his body was being torn apart, he opened his mouth wanting to scream something, anything, to relieve his pain.
He had experienced countless similar pains before, from falling down stairs with multiple fractures to being pushed by mischievous kids and landing on the ground. At times like this, he would also make small noises despite the intense pain.
“I’m really in so much pain.”
“I know.” Song Xinqi wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth and responded with the same tone.
The mental link synchronized all the changes happening in Yu Qing’s body in an instant, even before he could prepare himself. Empathy had its costs; he definitely felt more pain than Song Xinqi did at the moment.
“You’re afraid of pain yet you exert so much force. Aren’t you being reckless?”
“Ugh…”
“Now you know it hurts, right?”
“I know.”
Song Xinqi felt a complex emotion passing through his mind, more noticeable than the tumult of psychic energy. He listened to Yu Qing’s quiet sobbing and thought to himself that Yu Qing, who usually didn’t seem affected by pain, would cry out even for minor injuries, yet when seriously hurt, he would still cry out in the same way.
With furrowed brows, trembling eyelashes, and a neck tensed from pain, Yu Qing exhibited a vulnerability and sickness that the usually carefree individual lacked, which made Song Xinqi feel somewhat uncomfortable.
He took out a handful of crystal nuclei and placed them in front of Yu Qing. “Absorb these.”
As soon as the thought of absorbing them arose, Yu Qing felt even more intense pain. “I-I can’t absorb them, it hurts so much.”
Yu Xiaoxue anxiously paced around the two, wanting to comfort Yu Qing but hesitated due to the barbs on her tongue, so she could only use her thick paw pads to tug at their clothes, emitting kitten-like cries.
Song Xinqi sensed the other end of the mental link in a state of panic. His lips formed a cold, straight line.
Slowly, Yu Qing suddenly felt the pain on his body gradually diminishing. It wasn’t an illusion; the pain swiftly dissipated from him, as if some invisible thread guided his pain elsewhere, making it completely disappear.
He blinked in confusion, blinked out two teardrops, wiped them away, and sat up. “Hey, I don’t seem to hurt anymore?”
Not only did the pain from exhausting his ability disappear, even Song Xinqi’s headache from the mental link was gone.
However, his body still felt weak. When he sat up, he almost fell back down, but Song Xinqi behind him caught him.
He turned to him and said, “Song Xinqi, I suddenly don’t feel pain anymore. It’s amazing.”
Song Xinqi smirked as if filled with sarcasm.
Yu Qing stared at his even paler face. After his ability evolved, he could sense a faint presence of the mental link. Although the pain was no longer on him, he could still sense Song Xinqi’s physical condition.
It wasn’t much better than his own. “You didn’t transfer my pain to yourself, did you?”
“I just didn’t want to hear you whining.”
Song Xinqi thought to himself that he had only wanted to experiment with other functions of the mental link. The link wasn’t just about empathy and locating; it surely had other functions, and this was just one way to break the link.
Yu Qing looked at him with a somewhat moved expression. “Song Xinqi, you’re really kind.”
His face darkened, and he held out his hand to stop Yu Qing from getting too close. “It’s just transferring pain. The injury is still on you. Don’t move around recklessly.”
Yu Qing indeed felt weak and could only nod, leaning against Yu Xiaoxue’s soft fur.
“Now see if you can absorb the crystal nuclei.” Song Xinqi pushed the crystal nuclei from the car toward him.
Without the pain, Yu Qing quickly absorbed all the nuclei. However, his body remained weak. To fully recover from using his ability to such an extent, relying solely on crystal nuclei wasn’t enough.
The hypnotic ability user had never seen crystal nuclei before and didn’t know their purpose. They dared not ask and sat far away, pretending not to exist.
Yu Xiaoxue stayed still on the ground, acting as a sofa, while Yu Qing, with tired eyes, watched Song Xinqi, who was calmly planning their next route despite his debuffs.
After watching for a while, his eyes grew tired. Song Xinqi showed no sign of stopping, and Yu Qing was struck by a sense of amazement. “Song Xinqi, don’t you feel pain?”
Song Xinqi turned around and glanced, seeming disdainful. “Do you think everyone is as weak as you?”
“But even strong people feel pain. Some express it, some don’t. What’s wrong with that?”
Song Xinqi raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to start your inspirational talk again?”
“Hehe.” He chuckled foolishly, then patted aside. “Do you want to take a break?”
Song Xinqi looked at him for a moment, walked over, and squatted down in front of him, grabbing his cheek with one hand.
“I’m taking a break now. Who’s watching the car? If you get sold, I’ll have to go and redeem you.” He swatted away Yu Qing’s attempt to stop him and said expressionlessly, “Sleep if you’re tired, but stop complaining all the time.”
“Oh.” Yu Qing rubbed his reddened face and lay down, cuddling Yu Xiaoxue, and closed his eyes.
The exhaustion quickly took him into sleep. Before he fell asleep, he thought to himself, “This is what it feels like to be the protagonist. It’s so secure.”
They had been driving for the entire morning, finally stopping at the foot of a mountain. Most of the zombies had been attracted to the base, so there were very few on the road. Instead, large plants were everywhere, devoid of any activity.
Song Xinqi instructed the telepathic ability user in front, “Sense if there are any zombies around.”
The telepathic ability user, with a grimace, said, “I’ve exhausted my ability long ago.”
In the morning, he almost fainted from trying to sense the zombies at the base. Now he had no energy left.
A loud noise came from the back of his head, making the telepathic ability user jump and look back. Song Xinqi stood with impatience evident, as if he would kick him in the head if he didn’t comply.
“What’s wrong?” the telepathic ability user asked with a tone of despair.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Do I look like I’m going to eat you?”
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead. “N-no, what do you need?”
“How do you telepaths sense zombies specifically?”
He stared at Song Xinqi blankly. Under his intense gaze, he felt like he had to provide a perfect answer, or he would face consequences. “I… I can’t
“He finished speaking and looked up at him. There was no one outside the window anymore.
Song Xinqi walked to the back of the car, pondering. His psychic abilities were related to the brain to some extent, and perhaps he could also have sensing abilities?
His psychic turmoil hadn’t subsided yet, so this speculation couldn’t be tested for the time being.
Yu Xiaoxue went down to the ground to play around, found a tall tree, and swiftly climbed up. She lay on the branches, staring down at the people below. Her thick tail hung in the air, occasionally swaying.
Yu Qing drank some water and yawned. “Still sleepy.”
High fever and using psychic abilities both make one sleepy. He wouldn’t fall asleep forever, would he?
Hearing his yawn, Song Xinqi and the other psychic also felt drowsy. Everyone was drained from using their abilities and urgently needed rest.
The other psychic said, “There won’t be any zombies coming here in the short term. It should be fine for us to sleep here.”
Song Xinqi also thought so, but he couldn’t sleep in the car. He didn’t trust sleeping next to people he didn’t trust.
The final resting place was a tree.
Yu Xiaoxue climbed down from the tree, carrying Yu Qing on her back, and climbed up together. The tree was tall and sturdy enough to support two people and a leopard without any problems.
Yu Qing was at the top, Song Xinqi was in the middle, and Yu Xiaoxue was at the bottom, ensuring that she would be the first to know if there was any danger and then alert the other two.
The other two felt safer inside the car, one in the back seat and one in the driver’s seat, resting like this.
It had been a long time since he slept in a tree, and it was still as uncomfortable as ever. But Yu Qing was extremely tired and didn’t have the energy to care about such trivial matters. As soon as his body touched the tree trunk, his eyes closed and he fell asleep.
The continuous stabbing pain in his mind made it impossible for Song Xinqi to fall asleep immediately. He squinted his eyes for a while, then used his arm to cover his eyes. Through the small opening, he saw Yu Qing, who was already asleep above.
He slept soundly with his head drooping, but his brows were tightly furrowed, as if he was uncomfortable.
After watching for a while, he suddenly clicked his tongue, took two steps forward, climbed onto the branch where Yu Qing was, took off his coat, and used it as a pillow for him.
No matter how much he fussed, he didn’t wake up. In the end, he lay down on the coat, and his complexion improved slightly.
Song Xinqi put on his inner lining, touched Yu Qing’s forehead, and murmured, “Such a delicate little waste.”
The hypnotic psychic tossed and turned in the back seat. She hadn’t exerted much effort the whole time. She couldn’t sleep on an empty stomach in the middle of the day, and the psychic in front was snoring, making it even harder for her to sleep.
Her stomach growled, and she looked out the window and saw Yu Xiaoxue on the tree, staring at her intently.
The hypnotic psychic had no choice but to retreat, and the annoying snoring continued, making it even harder for her to sleep. She couldn’t take it anymore and sat up, shouting, “Could you please stop snoring!”
The snoring stopped the moment she spoke, and she rolled her eyes and tried to sleep again. After a few seconds, she felt that something was wrong and opened her eyes, sitting up.
She saw the psychic who had been sleeping on the chair sitting upright like a statue. The sunlight was blocked by dark clouds, and they were still under the shade of the tree, casting a shadow over the car.
She was a bit flustered: “Hey, are you okay?”
At this moment, the dark clouds dispersed, and sunlight shone down, illuminating the psychic’s blue-gray skin. His neck, like a rusty clock, creaked as it slowly turned backward. In the his dilated pupils was the reflection of a zombie face lunging towards her.
“Ahhh!!!”
The sharp scream under the tree woke Song Xinqi from his sleep. He furrowed his brows tightly and looked down with a murderous gaze. The SUV shook violently, and the hypnotic ability user’s cries for help came from inside.
Song Xinqi and Yu Xiaoxue jumped down, their faces clouded with anger, and forcefully opened the car door: “Be quiet.”
The hypnotic ability user, who was pinned down by the zombie inside the car, saw Song Xinqi as if grasping a lifeline: “Save me!”
A flash of white darted into the back seat, and the zombie growled, letting go of her to grab at Yu Xiaoxue, who had bitten its shoulder.
Man and beast tangled in the narrow car space.
Yu Qing was also awakened by the noise. His eyelashes fluttered as he opened his eyes and suddenly noticed there was a piece of clothing under his back. No wonder the discomfort he felt earlier was gone—it was due to the clothing.
Another scream came from below. He looked down and saw Yu Xiaoxue’s entire body had squeezed into the back seat, with only her tail fiercely wagging outside.
The hypnotic ability user tumbled out from the other side of the car, scrambling away in a panic.
Yu Xiaoxue yanked back, pulling a zombie out of the car. Yu Qing looked closely and realized it was psychic who had been driving.
As soon as the zombie was dragged out by Yu Xiaoxue, it was immediately besieged by Song Xinqi and her from both sides, leaving it no room to resist.
Despite being passively beaten, the zombie’s vitality remained incredibly strong. Song Xinqi hacked at its head several times, leaving its face unrecognizable and its body in tatters, with several chunks of flesh torn off by Yu Xiaoxue. However, it still wouldn’t die.
The hypnotic ability user, still in shock, watched the zombie getting farther away. She sat on the ground, panting heavily, and finally felt her collarbone, where there was a scratch.
Her face turned ashen as she stood up, stumbling towards the car window to check the small wound on her collarbone. She rubbed it vigorously, then looked at Song Xinqi and the snow leopard still fighting the zombie. The zombie’s head was now only half intact, and its skin was almost completely torn off.
She felt a deep chill rising from the bottom of her feet, as if she had already anticipated the outcome.
No, she couldn’t die like this. Her wound was just a small scratch. What if she didn’t get infected at all? She couldn’t die like this.
She saw that the attention was not on her side, so she ran to the driver’s seat.
Yu Qing, who was originally watching the two deal with the zombie, suddenly heard the sound of the car engine starting and turned to look. The hypnotic psychic was trying to escape in the car!
“That person is trying to run away!” He shouted to Song Xinqi.
With the zombie no longer breathing and the car driving away, Yu Xiaoxue dashed towards the car like an arrow leaving the string, bursting with astonishing speed. She gradually caught up with the off-road vehicle.
The hypnotic psychic saw her outside the window becoming more and more panicked, stepped on the accelerator, and Yu Xiaoxue also accelerated, smashing the glass window with a paw.
The hypnotic psychic screamed as shards of glass scratched her face.
“Ah!”
She suddenly turned her head, her eyes fixed on the fierce snow leopard outside the window. Yu Xiaoxue suddenly felt dizzy in her head, and her running speed slowed down. At the same time, the off-road vehicle accelerated again, leaving her behind.
After all, it was just a little leopard that had just weaned off its mother. It hadn’t experienced the dangers of the world yet, so it was forgivable to fail twice in the same trick.
A sharp whistle sounded from behind, and Yu Xiaoxue’s hazy eyes suddenly became bright again. She shook her head and turned around, running towards Song Xinqi.
Yu Qing saw her, the snow leopard, coming back a little disappointed. “Didn’t catch up, and there’s still the legacy left by Shi Tao up there.”
“Escape is escape. Let’s go back to sleep,” Song Xinqi said, flipping over and climbing back up the tree, as if the recent events were just a minor episode.
Since he wasn’t worried, Yu Qing had nothing to worry about either. He adjusted the clothes underneath him and comfortably leaned against them. After closing his eyes for a while, he suddenly spoke up, “I was just woken up and now I feel like I won’t be able to sleep.”
Then Song Xinqi watched as Yu Qing, who had just finished saying this sentence, fell asleep at lightning speed.
He chuckled and crossed his arms, closing his eyes. He needed to seize every moment to regain his strength. Nothing else mattered at the moment.
He slept like a log until the afternoon, when Yu Xiaoxue woke him up. At some point, there were two zombies standing under the cliff, trying to climb up.
Looking around, you could faintly see a few zombies scattered in the distance, gradually approaching. The zombies had finally been attracted by them.
After an afternoon of rest, he felt that his chaotic mental state had stabilized a bit. He looked down for a while, then called Yu Xiaoxue over. “Go carry Yu Qing and let’s go up the mountain.”
She crawled to where Yu Qing was, and with her front paws on the branches, she made it easier for him to climb up.
After he climbed up, she climbed higher. This tree grew very tall, all the way up to the mountain waist.
Yu Qing hugged her body and looked down at the increasingly high ground and the pea-sized zombie heads.
Meanwhile, Song Xinqi chose another path and climbed the mountain at a slower pace.
Both Yu Qing and Song Xinqi needed more time to recover, so they had to find a place where zombies couldn’t easily approach. This was where Yu Xiaoxue came in handy.
As a mutated snow leopard, she was extremely skilled at climbing. Going up and down the mountain was like walking on flat ground for her, much to Yu Qing’s excitement. It felt like riding a roller coaster for him as they traversed the cliffs, flipping from the mountaintop to facing the mountain base.
Yu Qing remarked, “This is so fun!”
Next to him, Song Xinqi tapped his head: “Stop having fun. Hold on tight, Yu Xiaoxue is about to jump.”
Yu Xiaoxue observed the distance between the cliffs, focusing on a landing spot. She crouched down, gathered her strength, and gracefully leaped to another peak.
Yu Qing, on her back, also felt the thrilling sensation of shuttling back and forth on the cliff. Beneath his feet were bottomless cliffs, yet they moved between them as if swimming.
“Yu Xiaoxue, you’re amazing!” He kissed the snow leopard’s head.
Yu Xiaoxue raised her head proudly, her tail swaying happily.
Song Xinqi also jumped over and landed steadily beside her.
Yu Qing applauded him,”Song Xinqi, you’re great too.”
He looked at him somewhat speechlessly: “Shut up.”
They jumped and leaped between the cliffs, with Yu Qing’s excited cheers and Yu Xiaoxue’s triumphant roars. Even Song Xinqi, who had been troubled by his psychic abilities, couldn’t help but wear a faint smile, his eyes showing a hint of resignation.
Eventually, they found a cave under the cliff. The terrain here was treacherous, and even if zombies were attracted, it would be difficult for them to cause harm, making it a good temporary shelter.
After Yu Xiaoxue put Yu Qing down, he sat there like a revered ancestor, watching Song Xinqi and Yu Xiaoxue busily arranging the resting place.
As he sat there, he felt a bit guilty: “What can I do?”
Without even lifting his eyelids towards him, Song Xinqi’s tone was cold: “Just breathe.”
He nodded, “I’ll try my best.”
Not allowed to help, he leaned against the mountain wall, staring at the rocks above his head. He looked from one rock on this side to another on that side, all the way to the depths of the cave. Then, he looked back and suddenly saw something hanging on the rock wall.
He focused on it, and the thing seemed to sense his gaze. It retracted its tail and revealed a round, scaly head.
“Song Xinqi,” Yu Qing called out, turning to Song Xinqi who had just come in, “Is snake meat tasty?”