Chapter 9

Lin Tantan had seen photos and even some footage of Ye Xiao. The material had been scant, but she had memorized her idol's features down to the smallest detail.
And yet!
She'd crossed three centuries to find her crush, prepared to risk her life for him, and now, on this gray morning, she ran into him by chance, and hadn't even recognized him!
She'd even rudely asked, "Who are you?"
Oh my god, she must be the worst fan in the world! She's guilty! Thank goodness no one knows, otherwise she'd be stripped of her fan status for sure!
Lin Tantan's head was a riot of chaotic, colorful thoughts and screams; she even wished this longed-for encounter were just a fantasy.
But as the man's face came into focus, all hope of illusion vanished. She knew, for certain, she was standing before the real person.
Her idol! Alive!!
What could she say now to salvage the situation and not sound rude or ridiculous? Why, at this thrilling moment, did she want nothing more than a lightning bolt to strike her dead?
Frozen with shock, Lin Tantan's face was strangely blank as she stared at Ye Xiao. He looked at her in confusion, not understanding.
But obviously the situation wouldn’t allow them to keep staring at each other forever; a horde of zombies burst out from behind Lin Tantan.
Ye Xiao frowned and raised a hand, sending out two gusts of wind.
Seeing him lift his hand, Lin Tantan instinctively hunched her shoulders and dropped her head to shield her face.
The next moment the two gusts skimmed past her on either side, whipping her clothes and hair outward. Then she felt a sharp tug on her arm, a powerful force yanked her forward a few steps, and then… hauled her backward.
She looked up to find the broad back of her idol right in front of her. Ahead, several zombies had been blown over in a scene straight out of a sci‑fi movie. Her arm was still held by him; Lin Tantan’s head spun, what kind of divine encounter was this?
Bang bang bang! Rat‑tat‑tat‑tat!
The sound of bullets hitting zombie bodies snapped Lin Tantan back to reality. Looking closer, she saw him holding her with one hand and a gun in the other, shooting each zombie in the head with deadly accuracy, while the three men with him also fired their weapons.
T‑t‑this… are these his teammates?
Only three of them? There should have been seven at this point.
After a burst of gunfire, the once rampaging zombies lay in a mess of corpses and the street fell quiet. The man standing to the left turned, grinning, and asked Lin Tantan, "How did you do it, how did one person get so many zombies after you?"
Lin Tantan stared at him. In the light she recognized a familiar face. Could it be Mei Baisheng? The liveliest member of the team who’d died so early? They said that after he died the mood in Ye Xiao’s squad changed, the once boisterous, joking group suddenly went sombre.
Her heart gave a little leap. "You are?" she asked.
"I’m Mei Baisheng. Ahem, that name’s not the easiest to remember, you can just call me Meimei." He swapped the gun to his other hand and offered his right hand to shake Lin Tantan’s.
It really was him!
Lin Tantan reflexively took his hand.
Warm, big hands, he was alive!
She got a little overexcited and gave his hand an enthusiastic shake. "Hi, hi!"
She had rushed here hoping to get to him before the zombies infected him; if she’d arrived before he’d fully turned there might have been something to do. Now he was standing in front of her alive and well, and the panic that had burned in her chest cooled, she could just keep an eye on him from now on, right?
Everyone rejoiced as if the whole world celebrated!
Mei Baisheng was a little baffled by her enthusiasm, when the leader had introduced himself she had been dazed, so why act like she’d met a fellow villager when it was his turn?
Maybe the leader just has a gloomy face?
He glanced at Ye Xiao and saw him look over coolly. It wasn’t much, but Mei Baisheng felt an inexplicable chill.
Ye Xiao repeated his earlier question to Lin Tantan: "You came out of the villa, right? What happened in there?"
"Huh?" Lin Tantan, noticing how close he was and that he was talking to her, felt like she was in a dream and her thoughts drifted, hadn’t he been holding her hand a moment ago? When did he let go?
She racked her brain but couldn’t remember. Lin Tantan slapped her forehead, her first physical contact with her idol and she hadn’t savored it.
Thinking such a jumble of things, she still answered straight: "Nothing much. I was just heading out and thought I’d lure some zombies out. I didn’t expect so many to come."
Ye Xiao didn’t know how to judge that answer, this girl’s real‑life manner matched perfectly what he’d seen on the footage: bold and capable, yet a little scatterbrained. You wanted to admire her, and at the same time you couldn’t help rolling your eyes.
Mei Baisheng clearly thought the same. He asked, "It’s dangerous out there, why were you out?"
I came to look for you guys.
Lin Tantan almost bit her tongue. "Out, out… just out for a walk."
Ye Xiao&Mei Baisheng: "..."
Realizing how lame her excuse sounded, Lin Tantan quickly recovered with quick thinking. "No, that’s not it. I did have something to do, but since I ran into you, are you here to pick up the Xu family? I came from there; I can lead you back."
Ye Xiao smiled. "Then we’ll trouble you."
"No trouble, no trouble." Lin Tantan’s heart fluttered at that smile, she was practically intoxicated, though she kept up a reliable facade. "Old Mr. Xu’s house has about ten… a dozen people," she hadn’t actually counted, "but they’re mostly fine. There had been over a hundred zombies around the villa’s perimeter, but most of them are here now. There aren’t many wandering in the villa area."
Ye Xiao said, "We’ll talk as we walk."
"O‑okay." Lin Tantan couldn’t bring herself to say no. As they moved out, Ye Xiao asked more about the villa complex and introduced the other two members. At the names Lin Tantan immediately matched faces: the tall, massively built man was Zhong Xiong, nicknamed "Brown Bear", close friends called him Da Zhong. He’d died fairly early.
The shy‑looking one was Xu Li, said to be a descendant of an ancient martial line. He wielded a sword with beautiful, razor‑sharp technique and was rumored to possess inner energy. The huge contrast between his modest appearance and his strength made him very popular even three hundred years later.
He lived longer, surviving with Ye Xiao and Bai Cheng into the final year of the apocalypse, but he ultimately died alongside Bai Cheng in a plotted murder. The others had died in earlier years.
Lin Tantan’s gaze flicked over Xu Li’s sword; she smiled and nodded at him, shy like him, and wondered, where was Bai Cheng? Why hadn’t she seen him?
It made sense, Bai Cheng mostly played the strategist, holding the rear. He wasn’t particularly mobile, and the ability he later acquired wasn’t offensive; otherwise he probably wouldn’t have been killed in the end.
Lin Tantan stifled the urge to seize a pair of lovers on the spot. Her eyes swept over the ground littered with zombie corpses, what a waste, so many crystal cores lying about!
But this wasn’t the time to dwell on that. She needed to figure out how to bring up the crystal cores. She didn’t shy away from showing off her worldly knowledge in front of Ye Xiao, but she worried about arousing suspicion.
Ye Xiao was extremely alert, with a keen eye for detail. If he began to suspect her background or motives, it would be hard to win his trust back. That couldn’t be allowed. She had to blend into their group, otherwise how could she protect them at every turn?
While Lin Tantan mulled this over, she had no idea that the "very alert, detail-minded" man at her side had already glanced at her several times.
The group entered the villa complex without trouble. The scattered zombies posed no real threat; only a few dozen were around the Xu family villa, and they were soon dealt with.
By then it was fully daylight. The villa’s residents came out, excited. Old Mr. Xu gripped Ye Xiao’s hand hard. "You’re Ye Xiao? Thank you, thank you, you’ve worked so hard. Come in, come in."
Ye Xiao refused the invitation and said only, "Pack a few things. We’re leaving right away."
"Leaving already?"
"Can we go home to grab some things? Our house is very close."
"Comrade, what should we take with us?"
"Did you drive here? Where are we even going?"
"My husband hasn’t returned yet, could you wait?"
The moment people heard they were about to leave, they all started chattering. Lin Tantan hadn’t thought much of them before, but now their dithering irritated her. These people had been rescued, did they think Ye Xiao and the others had just strolled over sightseeing? Did they imagine the outside world was some peaceful boulevard? Hurry up and move; there was work to be done.
The funniest thing was that they’d been begging for rescue a moment ago, and now that help was here they weren’t in any hurry to leave.
Lin Tantan frowned. Ye Xiao didn’t lose his temper; he simply said they would give them twenty minutes. If anyone didn’t want to go, they could stay behind, no pressure. Troops would come through later to evacuate people, and they could follow the army then.
"When will the army arrive?" asked the middle-aged woman who had been pleading with Ye Xiao, her eyes lighting up.
Ye Xiao replied, "It’ll be about ten days, maybe half a month."
The woman fell silent for a moment, then said, "You’re not soldiers, are you?"
She didn’t put it in plain words, but her expression clearly said: if you were soldiers you’d have an obligation to protect me.
Lin Tantan couldn’t stand it and spoke up. "Ma’am, why does it matter whether they’re soldiers? Haven’t you heard they came to rescue Grandpa Xu’s family? It’s already generous of them to take you along. If you’re going, pack quickly and stop holding everyone back. If zombies swarm back, will you be helping to fight?"
Mei Baisheng, who had been about to say something impatiently, was cut off by Lin Tantan and found himself looking at her with new respect.
Ye Xiao glanced at her as well.
The middle-aged woman was taken aback. "Who are you calling 'ma’am'! Weren’t you heading to the university district? Why are you back now? Aren’t you just clinging to the strong because they have guns, trying to ride someone’s coattails? Young lady, your thinking should be healthier!"
"I, " Lin Tantan was astonished. She had thought the woman was well dressed and, though the woman had given her a few stares when Grandma Xu slipped her food, she’d seemed like a refined lady. Hearing her speak now left Lin Tantan wide-eyed.
Ye Xiao quickly held Lin Tantan down as she was about to jump up, his brow tightening. He looked at the woman coldly. "I’ll say it again: twenty minutes. After that, we leave… nineteen minutes left now."