Chapter 89 - Life Or Death

A loud sound abruptly rang through the quiet mountaintop. Immediately after, a dazzling flame burst forth from the mountain, practically lighting up the entire mountain top.

This wasn’t the end. In the next few seconds, the blaze flashed several times. As a dull noise rang out, the ground also seemed to tremble.

The vast majority of the Chenguang Team was asleep, and thus only heard a few muffled sounds and felt the beds under them tremble. Those on night duty, however, saw the radiance suddenly blossoming all over the mountain top.

The large fire soaring in the sky made the mountain top look exactly like a tremendous torch raised towards the sky.

“What happened?” Zhang Zihai and Ping Shengchao did not have night duty today, but immediately rushed out of the tent the instant they heard activity.

They didn’t have enough time to wear clothing, and were both bare-chested at the moment. They only had boxers covering their vital parts... Fortunately, they still remembered to carry their outerwear.

“A volcano erupted?” A night guard said unthinkingly. .

“Volcano my ass! How could there be a volcano here?” another night guard beside him said angrily, “Also, a volcano eruption isn’t like this!”

“Then what could it be?”

“In any case, it isn’t a forest fire! Laozi is a geologist!” The man in his thirties said.

“It really isn’t a volcano. Actually, it’s like an explosion. But why would anyone throw bombs at the mountaintop?” Zhang Zihai had dealt with bombs before, so he understood more. The situation just now... was probably caused by bombs exploding in quick succession.

In such a mountain, why would there be a chain explosion at this time? Zhang Zihai’s face was a little grave, but he didn’t forget to drape his coat over Ping Shengchao’s shoulders.

Currently, more and more people poked their heads out from their houses, and saw the large fire on the mountain.

“An earthquake?”

“Why’s there suddenly fire on the mountain?”

“Would it burn all the way here?”

“Are you dumb?! We have water and fire ability users, what is there to be scared of?”

Everyone was whispering to one another, when a night guard suddenly said, “Nie shao brought Qi shao to that mountain!”

The people that had been speaking all quieted down and looked at this person. Ping Shengchao’s face changed drastically. “What did you say?”

“Nie shao said he wanted to bring Qi shao to see the stars and the sunrise. I saw them head in that direction,” that night guard said, his face filled with fear.

They were very strong, but all of them were trained by Nie Yi, and it was through relying on Nie Yi’s leadership that they were the Chenguang Team now. If there was no Nie Yi, perhaps they would be just like the Z County survivors.

If something happened to Nie Yi...

Ping Shengchao only had a coat draped over his shoulders, his legs were bare, but he currently couldn’t care about anything else. “Let’s go now! Find Nie shao!”

After saying this, he calmed down, then gave a more detailed order. “Have everyone on the Chenguang Team gather immediately! Water and fire ability users, get in the cars right away and head there with me!”

Nie Yi usually always handed trivial issues to Ping Shengchao to deal with. Upon hearing Ping Shengchao, the Chenguang Team immediately sprung into action. The water and fire ability users gathered at once at Ping Shengchao’s side.

These people had all been sleeping, and their clothes were currently in disorder. Most of them were in long underwear and a coat, but no one could care about getting dressed at this moment; they swiftly got into the trucks and headed for the mountain peak.

The slope for the mountain where the explosion took place was very mild and was near a scenic area, so not only did people live there, but there were also many tea trees planted and paths for people to drive uphill— If there were no roads, one naturally couldn’t open an inn at the peak of the mountain.

But they now realised that they could not drive through, because the forests on the mountains were set ablaze after the explosion.

Winter was the season when leaves and branches fell, and the weather these days was very clear. Now, even a little spark could cause a forest fire, much less an explosion like the present...

“Put out the fire!” Parking the trucks next to the burning mountain, Ping Shengchao immediately issued an order. The anxiety in his eyes simply could not be suppressed.

The fire and water ability users all got out of the cars. The fire ability users controlled and extinguished flames with their powers, while the water ability users put them out with water. The earth ability users who later caught up flipped the soil over, and each use of their abilities extinguished a large area of fire.

However, while they were putting out the fire, the surrounding fires also became more intense. The flames were blown by the wind and rushed towards them; even water ability users were almost unable to bear it, and the water they could condense was gradually decreasing.

“We’ll help too.” Right at this time, Chu Yunxiu brought the Z County ability users over. These people had very weak abilities, but in any case, they could provide energy.

The husky happily followed along too. It probably thought that it was very fun, and suddenly used its wind ability towards the surrounding flames. Once this gust blew over, it caused the flames there to shoot up by a whole meter.

“Xiaoxiao! Shut it!” seeing this, Chu Yunxiu smacked Xiaoxiao. Xiaoxiao did not understand many things. In the past when it made trouble, Chu Yunxiu would only stop it and would not resort to force. But this time, she truly could not let it cause trouble!

Suddenly being hit, Xiaoxiao let out a couple whimpers and finally laid on the ground unmoving, apparently having realised its mistake.

“Nie shao will be fine, right? Is he really up the mountain?” Chu Yunxiu asked in concern. It was Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen who had offered shelter to them. If something happened to these two, would the Chenguang Team abandon them?

“Hurry up and put out the fire!” Ping Shengchao shot Chu Yunxiu a cold glare, but an ominous premonition arose in his heart.

He had followed Nie Yi for a very long time, and knew a bit of Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen’s skill. For example, their perception was very keen.

Their camp’s signs of activity were this loud, and there was even an explosion here. If Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen were nearby, they would definitely rush over at once. But up until now, he still had not seen Qi Jingchen and Nie Yi...

What did this mean? It could only mean that perhaps Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen were trapped in this mountain!

There weren’t many zombies on the mountain, and there probably wouldn’t be many people either. Everything was perfectly fine, so why would there be a sudden explosion? Who was this explosion targeting? Ping Shengchao fell a little deep into thought for a while, and almost immediately thought of a person— Nie Yi.

Though he didn’t know who on earth wished to go against Nie Yi, he knew that Nie Yi was at present definitely in danger.

With such a powerful explosion, and such a huge flame... Ping Shengchao continued squeezing out his water ability.

Nie Yi truly had encountered danger.

Upon hearing the ticking, he subconsciously hugged Qi Jingchen and drew back, then fell to the ground and rolled outwards, intending to escape everything behind him. However, it was already too late.

They had just rolled downhill when an explosion came from behind them.

During the apocalypse, the use of fire weapons was extremely extensive. Those large-scale secure bases almost all relied on fire weapons to defend the base. Back then, several of those hunting Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen had used various fire weapons, and bombs had appeared from time to time.

Back then, Nie Yi’s strength was far stronger than it was now. Although it wasn’t so far as being completely fine when getting caught up in the explosion, as long as he wanted to hide, he could definitely escape. Currently, he was a mere level three...

When he began fleeing in his last life, he was already level four, and by his side was also a powerful Qi Jingchen. But now he was only level three, and Qi Jingchen was also a weak person who needed his protection...

After Nie Yi rolled to the side, he realised that the bomb’s might was far stronger than he had imagined. He subconsciously erected walls of ice to block the shrapnel that flew out. But unexpectedly, at this time, the ground heavily covered in grass below him also exploded.

Those people didn’t just plant bombs in one place here!

With so many bombs, if they had brought everyone in the Chenguang Team over, perhaps the whole team would have been caught unaware and annihilated... This thought flashed through Nie Yi’s mind. At the same time, thick layers of ice suddenly appeared around him. The ice bound him circle by circle, all the way until it was impenetrable.

However, this bit of ice was still insufficient in the face of the explosions.

Explosions rang out and the ice wall cracked as tongues of flame engulfed them from everywhere.

Nie Yi condensed ice layers to wrap around them again, but the explosions rang out immediately after, and the ice layers were similarly ruptured again...

Nie Yi could control the flames to not harm him, but could not prevent the bombs from exploding. He could only continue to condense more and more ice to protect himself and Qi Jingchen, but how could so little ice be enough?

Again and again, Nie Yi had created over ten ice layers. But in reality, it had only been a short few seconds. It seemed a small bit of effort, but his ability had actually been used up.

The ‘gummy’ in his mind was squeezed completely clean. His originally twinkling, radiant energy nucleus had long since darkened and become lightless, even shrinking a little...

Even though his fire ability’s recovery rate wasn’t as quick as his usage, in any case, it would still recover. However, no matter how much he circulated his ability nucleus, this ability wouldn’t recover in the slightest— In an environment surrounded by flame, a water ability would definitely be restricted.

His ability already could not be used, but they still hadn’t escaped from danger!

Nie Yi had always protected Qi Jingchen well. Though Qi Jingchen’s face had whitened from the cold of the ice layers, there wasn’t a single injury on him. But what about later?

Nie Yi looked at the person in his embrace, and gave a quick kiss to Qi Jingchen’s face. “Avenge me!”

His words had barely fallen by the time Nie Yi already clenched his jaw and forcibly moved his two energy nuclei that were on the brink of exhaustion.

One could not continue using abilities once they were exhausted, because that would harm the ability nucleus. And once the ability nucleus was damaged, their ability was bound to be weakened and was also very hard to recover. If the ability nucleus was shattered, then that ability user would ultimately become a normal person; even possibly weaker than a normal person.

They would generally still have spiritual strength, but what was the use in having spiritual strength without an ability nucleus?

Of course, Nie Yi’s current situation was no longer just the issue of damaging his ability nucleus; he basically already had the will to die, planning to leave the final opportunity to live to Qi Jingchen.

A layer of ice covered Qi Jingchen, isolating him from Nie Yi. A thin crack also appeared on Nie Yi’s ability nucleus, but he did not give up at this point. On the contrary, he continued using his ice ability to wrap Qi Jingchen up and his fire ability to obstruct the surrounding flames.

Those abilities were him taking the initiative to use his spiritual strength to break his ability nucleus. Just now he succeeded, and the two ability nuclei in his brain had become fragments.

He could watch everyone in the world die, including himself. But Qi Jingchen could not die.

At this time, Nie Yi only had one thought in his mind: make the ice thicker, just a little thicker...

He had been hugging Qi Jingchen, but now what he was hugging had turned into an ice heap. However, he only felt a sense of satisfaction. Yet just as this feeling arose, a hole abruptly appeared in the ice mound before him!

Qi Jingchen reached a hand out and grabbed his mouth.

Nie Yi felt a hand stuff itself into his mouth. At the same time, there was a heat in his mouth as a slightly salty liquid entered his throat.

After that warm liquid entered his stomach, it gave him a large amount of energy. The ice layer around Qi Jingchen thickened all of a sudden. He almost couldn’t even hold such an enormous ice ball!

A faint, salty taste came from his mouth and moistened the ability nucleus shards in his mind, causing Nie Yi’s entire person to sober up. He suddenly thought that Qi Jingchen’s current body might not be able to bear the cold emitted by the ice layer...

Spiritual strength entered the ice layer, and Nie Yi left some fire ability there. This fire ability emitted heat with the use of his spiritual strength, but wouldn’t harm Qi Jingchen...

A faint smile emerged from the corner of his lips. Nie Yi finally relaxed, and used the last of his energy to create a layer of ice around him.

But a heatwave surged over and an explosion rang out. The ice layer outside Nie Yi instantly shattered, and his flesh lacerated from the explosion, so much that the bones could be seen on his back.

Right at this time, a miraculous scene occurred— on those bones, red muscle slowly spread as meat began to grow.

However, this wasn’t of much use. The explosions had begun to stop, but the great flames were still here.

The final explosion had slightly cracked the outer layer of ice protecting Qi Jingchen’s, but there was still a thick layer remaining, causing him to avoid harm from the fire. However, Nie Yi wasn’t as lucky.

After the explosion, his whole body was exposed to the fire. The tongues of the flames curled over, and charred his body black. Every part of his meat was burnt and scorched, even causing his body to release a fragrant smell of meat.

Fortunately, right at this time, the ice layer on Qi Jingchen was slowly thawing and extinguishing the surrounding fire so he would no longer be cooked.

Qi Jingchen broke apart the ice shell around him and slowly sat up within the ice and water. The left hand shoved in Nie Yi’s mouth, however, did not move, and had not left Nie Yi’s mouth at all.

A solid ball of fire was in his embrace. The red liquid inside was circulating continuously. This fireball created by a fire ability user normally would burn him. But now, it only released bursts of warmth and allowed him to not feel cold in the frigid surroundings.

Qi Jingchen’s expression was undecipherable, then he gnashed his teeth while looking at Nie Yi beside him. He squeezed his left hand for blood to flow from his fingers, then shifted his body to sit beside Nie Yi.

The whole course of events, from when Nie Yi opened the door until now, the whole life or death experience, had, in fact, not taken more than two minutes.

However, sitting in the crater caused by the explosions and looking at the Nie Yi beside him who could practically be served at the dinner table, Qi Jingchen felt as if a lifetime had passed.

Just now when Nie Yi had held him and rolled away, Qi Jingchen was thrown into a spell of dizziness and simply had no time to react. After that, they were encased in ice layers. He, on the contrary, wanted to use his spiritual strength to influence his surrounding situation, but spiritual strength was formless and invisible, so how could it block explosions?

As a result, before he could even think of a countermeasure, Nie Yi’s ability had unexpectedly been used up!

Having exhausted his ability, Qi Jingchen was worried over their safety when Nie Yi overused his ability to leave the final path for survival to him...

Upon realising his body had been bound in ice layers, yet nothing protected Nie Yi at all, the fury in Qi Jingchen’s heart made him hate that he couldn’t just take a bite into Nie Yi’s flesh.

This damned asshole, did he want to die before him again?

In his last life when their food ran out, the two of them could have slowly waited for death and would at least be companions. Yet this person obstinately wanted to risk heavy injury to bring back some disgusting food that made him want to puke for him to eat, then died in front of him. He had him live through ten more days of suffering while holding a corpse. Now, he wanted to do this again?

His spiritual strength circulated quicker and quicker. Qi Jingchen also did not know what was going on when he had already broken the ice layer on him, then reached his hand out. His finger had even been cut open after bumping against Nie Yi’s mouth...

Although it was already like this, Nie Yi still only wrapped ice around him while leaving himself unprotected.

The explosion stopped and the ice layer thawed. Qi Jingchen was now looking at Nie Yi who was charred black all over, and laughed coldly for a while.

He wanted to die a long time ago; it was Nie Yi who had always dragged him, which was why he endured and stayed alive. If Nie Yi were to die, could he still go on living?

Qi Jingchen had just thought of this when he suddenly thought of Nie Yi’s last words— “Avenge me”.

They had suddenly encountered this series of unending explosions, so it was definitely an ambush someone set up. Nie Yi told him to get revenge, but that was in fact so he had no choice but to survive!

Why would he get revenge for Nie Yi? Nie Yi had already died; it was possible he himself would be burnt to death very soon!

Several thoughts flashed by in Qi Jingchen’s mind. His free right hand slowly reached Nie Yi’s nose.

Nie Yi wasn’t breathing at all!

There wasn’t the slightest expression on Qi Jingchen’s face. His whole body stiffened up. After a while, he recalled that someone could have stopped breathing, but that didn’t necessarily mean they would have died...

He subconsciously wanted to use his spiritual strength to check Nie Yi’s state, but a stabbing pain immediately came to his mind— His spiritual strength had unexpectedly been completely worn out!

historical

Him breaking through the ice layer and stuffing his hand in Nie Yi’s mouth seemed to have been with the aid of spiritual strength?

Qi Jingchen didn’t have the time to think further. The top priority was examining Nie Yi’s condition.

Nie Yi’s back was burnt into a total mess, and all his limbs had blackened as well. However, probably because he had been tightly hugging the ice ball wrapped around Qi Jingchen, his face and chest weren’t harmed at all, and a piece of clothing even still covered his chest.

Qi Jingchen pulled away that piece of cloth and tossed it aside, then bent over onto Nie Yi’s chest, listening closely...

Nie Yi’s heartbeat was slow and weak, but it was genuinely present.

Qi Jingchen was stunned for a long time, then suddenly snapped back to himself. Then he bitNie Yi’s chest until he could taste the slightly salty and fishy taste, only then did he loosen his mouth.

Right at this time, he suddenly felt the world spinning and finally fell down onto Nie Yi’s chest, losing consciousness.

His left hand slid down from Nie Yi’s mouth. The finger that had been cut open was, astonishingly, his left ring finger.

Baobao Notes

Just a few chapters ago I said each arc was just different love rivals. I sure got bitchslapped huh. HAHAHA kill me