27. I Just Want to Live

Yes, the baby needs to be added too.

Once Li Yueyao’s name was added, it turned out the little one had taken up a room as well.

At the same time, all three of them received a system notification and stared at Li Xiaoxiao in astonishment.

“Don’t look at me. Go into your rooms and take temporary shelter first. We’ll come out after the zombies disperse.”

“All right!”

Everyone answered in unison. The next second, the three of them vanished before Li Xiaoxiao’s eyes. With a thought, Li Xiaoxiao also disappeared from the vehicle.

To prevent danger when they came out, Li Xiaoxiao did not put the vehicle away.

“System, come out here. Didn’t you say the base was temporarily unavailable?”

The moment Li Xiaoxiao entered the base room, she called for the system.

[Host, this is a temporary refuge. Before the upgrade, it can only be used three times. If you don’t believe me, try opening the door. Everything outside has been locked down. You can only remain in your own rooms.]

Li Xiaoxiao tried, and sure enough, the door would not open.

The child!

The child had taken up a room too!

Li Xiaoxiao sank her consciousness into the childcare space. Thankfully, the baby was still with her.

[Don’t worry, Host. Although the baby occupies one room slot, she still cannot care for herself, so she will not be assigned to a separate room.]

Her daughter was already awake. Li Xiaoxiao carried her out of the childcare space, and the moment the little one emerged, she began to cry without the slightest restraint. Her voice was strong and full of vigor.

“Oh, my good baby, don’t cry. Mommy’s here.”

While quickly changing her daughter’s diaper, Li Xiaoxiao soothed her in a gentle voice.

“System, tell them to stay in their rooms and rest, conserve their strength, and not come out until I give the word.”

[Received, Host. They have been notified.]

[Ding! A welfare task has been triggered: Give the baby a massage. Reward: Safe House Black Box.]

“Safe House Black Box? What is that?”

[Safe House Black Box: Place this box in any room to create a temporary safe house. It can block all scents and sounds. Fighting is prohibited inside the safe house. Anyone who attempts to harm the Host or the baby will automatically be placed on the safe house blacklist and immediately expelled.]

This thing was excellent. It could be carried around, creating a mobile safe house!

And one that was absolutely safe at that!

Li Xiaoxiao lowered her head and looked at her precious daughter, who was quietly nursing in her arms. A baby changed every day during the first month after birth. The little one had been fair and delicate from the moment she was born, though her skin had been slightly wrinkled.

Now, her daughter’s little face was round and chubby, soft and rosy like a ripe peach, making anyone want to take a bite.

The little one suckled contentedly, the corners of her tiny mouth curling up from time to time in a gummy, utterly adorable smile.

Before long, she had eaten her fill. Li Xiaoxiao laid her on the bed and held her as they slept.

It was not suitable to bathe her or give her a massage immediately after feeding. They had to wait an hour.

Since they could not go out for the time being, they might as well sleep and restore their strength.

——

“Little Hu, what are we going to do?”

Hu Li and Li Qi had been tied up securely and thrown into a corner of the warehouse, where they were crammed together with a group of disheveled survivors.

Earlier, when it rained, the two men had noticed that all the zombies outside had stopped moving. Sensing that something was wrong, they went over to investigate.

But the moment the rain touched them, their skin began to burn with searing pain, and they immediately retreated.

Still, they were unwilling to give up after seeing the motionless zombies. They found several raincoats and draped them over themselves before venturing outside again. This time, their skin was no longer burned.

The two of them had actually wanted to chase after Li Xiaoxiao and the others, but neither possessed a powerful offensive ability. While the zombies remained motionless, they were fine. Once the zombies started moving, however, the two of them would be nothing more than easy prey.

After discussing it, they decided it would be best to leave the city as soon as possible.

Of course, before leaving, they still needed to gather more supplies. Otherwise, they feared they would starve to death on the road.

Instead, before they could even make a start, they had fallen into someone else’s trap and become prisoners.

“Shut up. If you hadn’t insisted on meddling in other people’s business, how would we have been captured? This is all your fault!”

Hu Li glared fiercely at Li Qi, looking utterly exasperated.

“I… But we couldn’t just stand by and watch someone die!”

Li Qi instinctively tried to scratch his head, only to realize that his hands were bound. Irritated, he strained against the ropes, and they instantly snapped into several pieces.

“Save them? You can barely save yourself, yet you’re still thinking about saving other people!”

Hu Li furtively glanced at the guards outside while racking his brains for a way to escape.

“Heh, aren’t we all fellow countrymen?”

Li Qi moved beside Hu Li and began untying him.

“How did you…”

Hu Li sensed someone approaching and turned his head. When he saw Li Qi, he was stunned. His gaze fell on the rope fragments scattered on the ground, and he promptly fell silent.

“Little Hu, you’re the brains between us. Think of a way for us to escape.”

“You still want to save them?”

Hu Li grabbed Li Qi as he prepared to go and untie the other survivors.

“Saving one is better than saving none.”

Li Qi looked at Hu Li, then at the bedraggled survivors. There were elderly people and children among them, all gazing at him with hope.

Li Qi truly could not bring himself to abandon them.

“But are they worth it? Don’t forget how we were captured in the first place.”

Hu Li frowned and looked at Li Qi with deep frustration.

That fellow had always been a fool. He had been like this since childhood, with kindness carved into his bones. But this was the apocalypse. The last thing anyone could afford was kindness.

In the apocalypse, the overly compassionate were the first to die!

“I…”

“Li Qi, we grew up together, and I know what you’re like. But this is no longer a peaceful era. You need to understand our situation. You can’t simply do whatever you want.”

Hu Li did not want to give up. He changed tactics, reasoning with Li Qi and appealing to their feelings.

“We may be gifted, but our abilities have only mutated our bodies. We don’t possess any powerful offensive skills, and those people have guns. There’s no way we can take so many people with us. In the end, we may lose everything and gain nothing.”

Li Qi also recalled what had happened before. Struggle and hesitation flashed through his eyes, but the moment his gaze met the clear, innocent eyes of one of the children, all his struggle and hesitation vanished.

“Little Hu, if I don’t save them, I won’t be able to live with myself.”

“You! Fine! If you want to save them, then go ahead. I’m not getting involved!”

Seeing that he had made his point and Li Qi was still stubbornly refusing to listen, Hu Li flung his hand away.

“Li Qi, from this moment on, you take your broad road and I’ll take my narrow bridge. We’re through. We’ll have nothing more to do with each other!”

With that, Hu Li walked away and stood far from Li Qi.

When he turned his back, sorrow and reluctance flickered in his eyes, but determination outweighed them both.

It was not that he was cold-blooded. It was simply that surviving in this apocalypse was already difficult enough. Everyone could work together toward the same goal, but no one wanted to be dragged down for no reason.

Whenever he thought of what had happened the previous day, his heart turned cold.

He only wanted to stay alive.

One should do what one was capable of doing. Staying alive himself was already difficult enough; where would he find the energy to save others? Not to mention making selfless sacrifices.

Hu Li could not do that.

Li Qi watched the childhood friend he had grown up with walk away so resolutely, and his heart ached. Yet he also knew that he was asking too much of Hu Li.

He turned to look at the desperate survivors scattered through the darkness, then glanced at Hu Li. Gritting his teeth, he resolutely turned and walked toward the survivors.

Everyone had their own beliefs, whether right or wrong. Li Qi had chosen his, and he did not want to abandon it so easily.

Hu Li was not wrong either. They simply followed different paths and could no longer work together. Li Qi had no right to demand that anyone else share his convictions.

And so it would be.