LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 6 - Superpowers.
The night passed without incident. In the morning, he was awakened by Song Xinqi. After a night of stiffness, his body felt unfamiliar, joints cracking audibly.
Dazed, he put on the jacket that had been under him and slowly climbed down from the tree.
Song Xinqi threw him a piece of bread and glanced at the jacket he was wearing, thinking to himself how brazen he was. To avoid the little nuisance complaining about the cold or discomfort again, he didn’t take the jacket back.
However, only giving him bread had its consequences…
As he studied the map, he heard Yu Qing shout, “Song Xinqi, water! Water!”
Yu Qing held a bottle of mineral water in one hand and ate the bread while watching Song Xinqi study the map. After finishing, the two walked along the road.
Overnight, the roadside vegetation had undergone subtle changes. The neatly trimmed ornamental plants grew wildly, reaching nearly human height, their color a deep green, almost oozing with sap—quite bizarre.
Yu Qing watched the greenery on both sides with great interest, quickening his pace to follow closely behind Song Xinqi. “Song Xinqi, where are we going?”
“Is that how you speak to your elders?” He glared at him.
How long is he going to hold a grudge? Yu Qing fell silent again.
The experience in Tian luo Town had taught Song Xinqi that living people attract zombies. Unless they had enough strength, it was best not to stay in one place for too long.
He himself wouldn’t have much of a problem, but with an extra burden now, he had to be more cautious.
Last night, he received a signal from the eastern city of A on his communicator. He planned to head in that direction to check it out and possibly find supplies along the way.
After waiting a while without further explanation from Song Xinqi, Yu Qing realized he didn’t want to waste words on him, so he sensibly stopped trying to make conversation.
Not only had the plants on either side grown wildly, but there were also cracks appearing in the road beneath their feet.
Yu Qing paused, noticing a deep purple flower emerging from one of the cracks. He stepped over it, his head turning to keep an eye on it.
But he limited himself to just looking. Who knew if these suddenly appearing plants were dangerous?
As Song Xinqi walked, he heard faint humming behind him. He glanced back and saw Yu Qing looking around cheerfully, his brows arched in a smile, clearly in a good mood.
…so what exactly was he happy about?
They walked for nearly two hours, and he hadn’t heard any more singing. He glanced back and saw Yu Qing trailing behind with drooping shoulders, no longer looking around, his steps dragging, and his face a bit pale. Despite this, he didn’t show any intention of asking for a rest, which surprised him a little.
Another half-hour passed, and suddenly he felt a bit dizzy. Walking for so long was certainly tiring, but not to the point of dizziness. He looked back again and saw Yu Qing’s lips were completely bloodless, as if he might faint at any moment.
He frowned. Tired to this extent and still didn’t say anything—didn’t he have a mouth?
Just as he was about to reluctantly suggest they take a break, Yu Qing suddenly lifted his head, meeting Song Xinqi’s gaze, paused for a moment, and pointed ahead. “Song Xinqi, there’s a gas station.”
Following the direction Yu Qing pointed, he saw it too. He heard Yu Qing eagerly say, “Let’s go inside and have a look!”
He added, “There might be supplies.”
He didn’t expose Yu Qing’s pretense and nodded.
Seeing him agree, Yu Qing let out a heavy sigh of relief. He had never walked such a long distance before; his feet were in severe pain and he had long been unable to walk, but he didn’t want Song Xinqi to think he was useless, so he hadn’t said anything.
Fortunately, there was a gas station here that he could use as an excuse.
There was no one inside the gas station. Song Xinqi took a machete and scouted the area to ensure there were no zombies before letting Yu Qing come over.
The power in the store was still on, and there was even hot water available. Yu Qing walked into the store and immediately lay down on the floor, not moving.
Song Xinqi took some food and a few bottles of water from the shelves. He hadn’t thrown away the previously emptied water bottles, compressing them and placing them at the bottom of the backpack as a precaution.
He used the gas to cook the remaining noodles, adding a lot of extra ingredients.
After resting for an hour, Yu Qing finally regained his composure. He sat at the checkout counter and watched Song Xinqi walking around outside.
Suddenly, he pulled out a black motorcycle seemingly from nowhere.
Yu Qing’s eyes lit up as he jumped down and circled the motorcycle excitedly. “A motorcycle! Are we going to ride this?”
Song Xinqi put a helmet on his head. “Grab your bag and get on.”
Yu Qing nodded, dragged the backpack out of the store, and eagerly sat on the back seat of the motorcycle, wrapping his arms around Song Xinqi’s waist. “I’m ready!”
Under Yu Qing’s influence, what should have been a tense escape felt oddly lighthearted, increasingly giving the impression that they were going on a trip.
With the roar of the engine and exhaust emitting thick smoke, Yu Qing felt the seat vibrate violently before they suddenly took off.
The fierce wind whistled past, and through his helmet, he watched the trees on either side rapidly recede, his heart pounding in sync with the roaring motorcycle. “This is so thrilling!”
Hearing the cheers from behind, Song Xinqi was baffled. “Are you a country bumpkin in the big city?”
He was genuinely puzzled. How could everything make this little fool so happy?
In his excitement, Yu Qing forgot how much Song Xinqi despised him. “Song Xinqi, I can’t believe you can ride a motorcycle! So cool!”
Song Xinqi didn’t want to respond.
The motorcycle was much faster than walking. Before long, the silhouettes of zombies began to appear around them. At first, there were only a few.
Seeing the roaring motorcycle on the road, they opened their mouths wide, their eyes and heads following them as they passed.
Yu Qing found it amusing. “Song Xinqi, look at how dumb they look. It’s so funny, hahaha.”
Song Xinqi glanced over, then turned back in exasperation.
The motorcycle’s noise was loud, giving him a bit of a headache. However, listening to Yu Qing’s incessant chatter, his agitated mental state subtly improved.
It could be a coincidence once or twice, but with so many instances, there had to be another reason.
“Yu Qing, what is your superpower?”
Yu Qing: “Shrinking, you saw it before, didn’t you?”
It seems he doesn’t know that his words have a calming mental effect. Could it really be due to the mental link?
Reminded by Song Xinqi, Yu Qing finally remembered that he has a superpower. As long as he has a superpower, he is not completely useless.
Maybe he can even help. The previous shrinking was not under his control, so he decided to practice using it proficiently.
He tried hard secretly and then looked at his body, but nothing changed. He tried again, holding his breath and straining for more than ten minutes. Just when he was about to give up, his body, along with his clothes, suddenly shrank with a “bang.”
However, the superpower activated too suddenly. Before his shrunken hands could grab Song Xinqi’s clothes, his body tilted and was about to fall off the speeding motorcycle.
He let out a short “ah” and opened his eyes to see half of his body hanging outside. His arm was firmly grasped by Song Xinqi.
Song Xinqi glared at him, his tone somewhat gritted: “What do you think you’re doing now?”
He was pulled back by him and said with an awkward smile, “I just wanted to try my superpower.”
“Do you know how dangerous it is to move around on a speeding motorcycle? And you dare to try your superpower, are you not afraid you could fall to your death?” He scolded him harshly.
Yu Qing lowered his head. He really didn’t know. The most exciting vehicle he had ever ridden before was a wheelchair. He thought it was no big deal.
“Now I know.”
Song Xinqi said, “Change back.”
“Oh.” Yu Qing started straining, continued straining, and kept straining.
Song Xinqi waited impatiently. Finally, he heard him say softly, “I think I can’t change back.”
“……” Song Xinqi felt that he would be driven mad by this little troublemaker sooner or later.
In less than a day, his expectations for him had dropped from wanting him to be somewhat useful to just hoping he wouldn’t cause trouble.
“Sorry.” The young voice was muffled inside the enormous helmet, sounding very guilty.
Song Xinqi snorted a short laugh.
Sitting in front, with his view completely blocked by the front of the bike and the helmet, Yu Qing started to feel drowsy after a while. He didn’t know how much time had passed when he was suddenly jolted forward due to inertia.
The roaring motorcycle sound also quieted down. He woke up instantly and looked up to ask, “What’s wrong?”
Song Xinqi didn’t speak. He reached out his long arms, scooped Yu Qing into his embrace, and jumped off the motorcycle, leaping over the highway guardrail and heading down a long slope.
The slope was very steep, and the weightlessness made Yu Qing’s heart clench suddenly. He turned back to see several zombies appearing in front of the motorcycle, clumsily climbing over the guardrail and chasing after them.
The zombies had poor balance and started rolling down the slope after jumping over. Some rolled past them quickly to the bottom, while the ones behind were blocked at the guardrail, their coarse roars filling the air.
The sight made his heart race, which in turn made Song Xinqi’s heartbeat increase as well.
Their mental link seemed to have become even tighter. Last night, they could only vaguely sense each other’s feelings, but now it was enough to affect him.
Song Xinqi was annoyed by the feeling of his emotions being out of control. “Make your heart behave.”
“That’s not something I can control!” Yu Qing clung tightly to the helmet. “Why don’t you make your brain behave, my head is killing me.”
Soon, they had no time to argue. The slope quickly ended in a dense forest. The two zombies that had rolled down first were clawing at the ground, snarling as they waited for them.
Song Xinqi adjusted Yu Qing’s position, and Yu Qing sensibly clung tightly to Song Xinqi’s neck.
He drew two machetes from the back of his climbing pack, aimed the blades at the zombies below, and as they charged down, the blades pierced straight into the zombies’ mouths.