161

The cries of the premature baby were so faint while the nurse hummed. As for the mother...Luo Xun and Yan Fei came into the room to see Liu Xiangyu in a semi-coma.

That bossy aunt with dyed hair now had this pale appearance, even Luo Xun felt some melancholy at the sight.

Yan Fei did not say or do anything. In her half conscious state, Liu Xiangyu did not realize her son was there while she looked at the baby sleeping next to her. Luo Xun suddenly smelt something while listening to the conversation outside, after all people had to eat.

"Why is the smell of blood so heavy?"

"Blood?" Yan Fei paused for a moment, "Women always bleed a bit while giving birth?"

"Not that....wait a minute!" Luo Xun stepped forward and removed the quilt covering Liu Xiangyu's body. Red blood seeped from her thin pajamas and almost died the mattress scarlet!

"Doctor, doctor! The patient is losing blood!" Luo Xun shouted, causing a commotion outside.

"Where are you going?!" Liu Xiangyu's boyfriend yelled out.

Was there a need to ask? They were probably aware of the mother bleeding out after giving birth, but since it was just a chance, they did not tell them at first!

This time the doctor had two nurses to help, could the three regular people stop it? Hearing Luo Xun's voice, they knew the situation was not good and wanted to run away. Who would have expected that among the couple there was an ability user? All the metal in the room came alive and the escape plan was foiled.

"It's out of our hands...the patient gave birth early because of a fall, and the equipment here is limited..."

"Limited conditions are the reason why you turned around to run?" Yan Fei was actually angry, the woman lying in bed was his biological mother, even if he hated and tried to sever their relationship that did not mean he wanted to watch her die like this! If not for Luo Xun's quick thinking...

The doctor could not do anything, said they should quickly send her to the hospital for treatment.

Could be postpartum hemorrhage...failed to stop or replenish blood in time. Before they could transfer, Liu Xiangyu lost consciousness and her heartbeat stopped.

An unexpected premature birth left an extremely thin baby that could die at any moment.

The next morning was filled with dazzling sunlight but the atmosphere in the room only got colder.

Xu Mei and the others came early in the morning, after all a family member of their teammate died. They sent the pair crystal cores, points and asked if there was any need for help.

The same morning, Yan Gexin took the initiative to call and inquire about the situation. He was silent after hearing that Liu Xiangyu had died before unexpectedly saying, "Where is the address? I'll visit in a minute."

Yan Fei was slightly surprised as he relayed the address before hanging up the phone.

After the apocalypse funerals were short or completely ignored. As long as the bodies were sent for cremation along with a container for the ashes. The item would then be buried to the west of base where the tombs were located.

There were no tombstones, burning paper or funeral procession. Since the cemetery was outside base, many people were completely afraid to leave and could only hand over the ashes for the military to deal with. They could only go out at a certain time and place the urns in a large pit before covering with soil. There were other things to think about and the costs were not low.

Things were more simplistic after the end, people would wear mourning clothes, carry the person for cremation and then find a chance for the ashes to be buried out of base.

Yan Gexin arrived two hours later, just in time to receive the ashes. Yan Fei glanced at the place where the car was parked, it and the assistant was one he had seen before so he raised an eyebrow with surprise.

Yan Gexin silently looked at the humble box and pulled Yan Fei aside to talk on the balcony.

Luo Xun hugged Yan Fei's newly born little brother – yes it was a boy. Because there was no milk, his biological father had to cook some rice soup to barely fill the child's stomach. Xu Mei was also interested in the child. Although she and Song Lingling were raising Yu Xinran, this was a newborn, they were afraid to even touch the fragile baby.

Even his biological father was afraid to hold, after all he was premature and so small. On the balcony, the father and son were in a deadlock.

Yan Fei had a sarcastic smile on his face, "So you came here today just to get me into the barracks?"

Yan Gexin was not as spry as he used to be, his appearance had aged 10 years. It had nothing to do with the death of his ex-wife...the changes in life were too fast.

Yan Gexin was tired and he did not have the leadership and momentum from before. "Little Yan, Dad had no choice but to come to you...there is a big problem in the army, those with abilities and power and stepping all over the civilian staff! You are an ability user, only you can help your father!"

Yan Fei crossed his arms, unmoved. "I clearly told you my answer before."

"It's not the same as it was then!" Yan Gexin sounded exhausted and hysterical. "The barracks are now a group of barbarians! What do we look like when they step on us? Father needs to catch up with them or in a few days...how old is your father? You have the heart to watch me get kicked out...where would I work, sweeping the streets?" He looked gloomily around the room. "Your mother has passed away...your father has a few years left to live. Somehow...even if you help a little, don't let Dad get displaced in his later years..."

Yan Fei lightly smirked, "They're going to kick you out of the barracks?"

Embarrassment flashed across Yan Gexin's face. "They are going to take my position...assign it somewhere else...to live in a group room with others."

Yan Fei looked at Yan Gexin's awkward expression and then asked, "If I go, what would I do?"

Yan Gexin's eyes lit up. "You do not know how important your powers are in the army! I heard that there were only one or two people left in the metal team, if you join, could be a captain! You are young and powerful, in less than 3 years you will surely climb up the ladder in the army...the power of the army is much higher. With some effort, you will definitely get results."

Yan Fei's eyes now contained a trace of disappointment. Today with the death of his ex-wife and Yan Fei's mother, he was still here for these purposes. Even if the two of them had half-hearted feelings. But now there was not even the basic respect of the dead...Yan Fei could see the point in the man.

He turned around and coldly spit out, "Registry work is pretty good, are we not all serving the people?" Sweeping the street? Their team had just done this sort of mission.

Yan Gexin was left stunned, alone on the balcony.

"Let's go back first." Yan Fei felt melancholy as he saw the small baby in Luo Xun's arms. Just born into this grim reality...

After all, the child was Liu Xiangyu and her lover's. No matter how worried Luo Xun was, sympathy did not allow for taking children. How old was this baby? The weather would freeze him to death if he stepped foot outside.

They spoke with Liu Xiangyu's current boyfriend, saying that they would visit tomorrow and discuss when to bury Liu Xiangyu's ashes. It was not long before Yan Gexin left with a dark expression – he only came to speak with Yan Fei and he no longer had a relationship with his deceased ex-wife. Not to mention the man who put a green hat on him!

That time the person actually dared to coerce him over Liu Xiangyu's situation. If not for the fact that he had some residual feelings for her, he would have left that woman and the bastard in her belly! As for the man? Haha....

162

The room was silent as the man looked at the wall with a slightly dazed look. Yesterday there was a pile of wood and cardboard that he had worked so hard to recover from other empty rooms, indispensable in winter for keeping warm. Even if it was not winter, it was essential for cooking and such. But after that woman had a baby, she was targeted by that doctor and two nurses. The situation was so messy that the other party wanted to be paid right after delivering the baby.

As a result, Liu Xiangyu had an incident, but after dealing with the aftermath, the people still took advantage and squirreled things away. And now...

The man suddenly looked up and stared with resentment at the door: Yan Gexin, Yan Gexin...

He did have a strong background, before the apocalypse he could only cling to Liu Xiangyu's thigh. But life after the apocalypse was really...

He himself was only part way through the army, after the apocalypse he could not root himself. Liu Xiangyu had little means of survival other than some old contacts due to the death of her father. Also since he was marked by the Liu family, those people holding real power looked down on others who climbed into a woman's bed, so he had little options after leaving Liu Xiangyu.

But now she was dead and Yan Gexin's cruel words still rang in his ear...

The skinny camel is bigger than the horse, even if Yan Gexin was useless in the end, he could still find a place in the military structure, but for himself...Amidst a myriad of thoughts, there was a faint cry from the bedroom but no one noticed or heard.

People were busy nearly all day and went home more or less exhausted. Although it was not the death of their loved ones, thinking of the dead made them think of home...even if they went back to their hometown, would they find the remains of their family?

The group patted Yan Fei on the shoulder. "We'll all go together to send people off!"

Outside the base was currently calm, there would likely be no incidents on the way to the cemetery. However since they were exiting base, they still had to be well prepared.

Yan Fei slightly nodded. "I'll be troubling you."

"Huh, who do you think we are?"

Luo Xun and Yan Fei waved farewell and went back home. Today Yu Xinran and Puppy were left to look after the house – although the average person was unwilling to let a child go to a place of death. Who knew how many people have been killed by zombies during the end?

When Luo Xun returned home he went into the kitchen to prepare dinner. After placing the meal on the table, he began to wander around the house.

"What are busy with?" Yan Fei saw Luo Xun turning around looking for something.

Luo Xun scratched his head. "I found two softer cotton cloths..." He continued on guiltily, "Aren't we visiting tomorrow? I think the child is too young, there wouldn't be anything suitable. The cloth could be used as a diaper right?"

Luo Xun had no saintly mentality, it was because the child was Yan Fei's half brother, no to mention he just lost his mother. Before the apocalypse, relatives would bring gifts when visiting other people's children. Now it was the apocalypse, the parent's home had some things so he did have to worry about malevolent thoughts, therefore he decided to bring some stuff for the child.

Yan Fei asked as he handed over some chopsticks. "Do you like children?"

The small, thin and red baby...he did not see any similarities with him or the parents and naturally wondered why Luo Xun was interested in the child. Of course, perhaps there was a preference because it was his half-brother?

Luo Xun froze and bit his chopsticks. "This..."

In his past life he wanted to buy and bring back a son so he had someone to accompany himself. But in this life, he had Yan Fei and the cute Puppy. He shrugged, "Just feel...the child is too small and weak..."

With such a physique and his mother died, his father could feed him rice soup. Before the end it would have been milk powder but now...

Now growing up was a problem. In the apocalypse, the weak have no right to exist, especially one unaware of life?

Yan Fei did not ask anymore, just patted his lover's head and put some food in his bowl.

The next morning, the couple packed up and went out of the city. The rest of the team did not follow, there were still things to be done at home: crops to be planted and harvested and so on...

The two men slowly walked out of the city, found the building and knocked on the third floor door. However no one came to answer even after twenty minutes of knocking.

Luo Xun suggested, "Why don't you give him a call?" Did he leave early in the morning?

Yan Fei pulled out his mobile phone and dialled the number from before. "No connection? His phone is not turned on?" Yan Fei raised an eyebrow.

The two people looked at each other, cell phone was out of battery? Forgot to bring the phone when going out?

There came the sound of footsteps, other occupants. They glanced at the two people standing in front of the door and hurried away.

"Should...we wait a little longer?" The man knew they were visiting today, maybe he needed to go out early – to find food or something. He should be back soon.

The pair waited while the other occupants of the building began their day. From time to time, as they watched people passing by, Luo Xun knocked on the door. The third time, a man from before saw that the couple were still there.

"Are you looking for the family here?"

The two men nodded in surprise. "Yes, do you know where he went?"

The man looked around and then whispered, "They moved away at dawn this morning."

"Move out?!" The two were surprised, why had the man moved? He did not go to die right? Liu Xiangyu's ashes still had to be buried, it was better to have a few people to help than go alone?

The man shook his head. "It's what I saw from the window but I might be wrong." He quickly continued on his way.

The two exchanged looks and Luo Xun pointed at the door. "What should we do, go straight in?"

As a metal user, no tools were needed to unlock a door. Yan Fei waved a hand and the door was open.

The room they visited yesterday was chaotic but it was now a little empty. Not completely empty since some of the larger furniture was still here, but everything else was gone. Even the grain, coal and other materials hidden in the corner was all gone.

"It's true...moved out?!" Luo Xun looked in surprise at Yan Fei, who wrinkled his brows. "Why did he suddenly move?"

The building was relatively safe, he worked so hard to move all the supplies. There should have been no need to move away. As for any factors that could threaten him...

Luo Xun looked at themselves – did they look like bad guys?

"Was he worried that you were coming to split the estate?" Luo Xun 'sincerely' asked Yan Fei.

Yan Fei was silent, did he look like a villain after bequeaths?

But if that person was trying to hide, Liu Xiangyu still needed to be buried, would be not want to share some of the burial pressure? With them, he would not need to ask the military for help with the burial, just needed to wait for the snow to melt, who had the strength now?

"Or maybe he wants to move out first, but why was he anxious?"

Luo Xun went further into the room and saw a familiar metal box. "Yan Fei look! Isn't this what you made yesterday..." The metal box used to hold his mother's ashes!?

Yan Fei approached and his face darkened, it was deliberately hidden in a gap.

The two men were silent, with only a few things it might be possible that the other party might come back to grab the rest, but now...the person and supplies were gone but the ashes were left behind. He did not want to care about Liu Xiangyu, so he left the ashes for Yan Fei to deal with?

Yan Fei took a deep breath and took the box. He manipulated the metal to reveal the ashes.

As the two men were stunned, an extremely faint cry came from deeper inside the house. The two of them would have not heard anything if they had been silent!

Luo Xun's face instantly darkened as he ran towards the master bedroom.

163

The big bed in the master bedroom, like the others had not been removed. Luo Xun entered and carefully looked around before finding a package in the wardrobe clutter. The package was not big, nor did it use any fabric they had seen yesterday. A thin pile of light skirts had been rummaged from somewhere and wrapped around a thin body. If one did not look carefully, it might have been overlooked as a mess of clothing.

Luo Xun's hand started shaking as anger burned in his chest – if the two of them had not heard anything, how would the child hidden in the wardrobe survive?!

Yan Fei also came to the door and was stunned by the scene. Although the other man guessed that the child would be found by them, he hid him in the wardrobe...

Luo Xun bent down and carefully hugged the child. Wrapped in cloth with no warming effect, the child from yesterday was already turning purple in some places.

"...These might be from pinching." The child did not even struggle, his eyes and mouth moved slightly with a tiny sound.

Luo Xun put him on the bed and reached into his backpack for the pieces of cotton he had prepared last night. He looked up to Yan Fei and they exchanged looks.

"Is it ready?"

"Is rice porridge okay? Do you want us to make some soup?" Song Lingling suggested.

Xu Mei frowned, "Should we try both?"

"The two of you have not had children before, be careful not to feed him to death." Zhang Yi crossed his arms and looked disdainfully at the two women that seemed to have no common sense.

Xu Mei and Song Lingling angrily stared at Zhang Yi and responded in unison. "We certainly have not had children, but neither have you?!"

Zhang Yi raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I will never give birth but I worked in a hospital."

The pair speechlessly turned around and continued their tasks.

"Came back, came back! They're downstairs!" Li Tie suddenly shouted from the balcony.

Luo Xun and Yan Fei sprinted up the 15 flights of stairs. Xu Mei and the others saw Yan Fei carrying a cloth wrapped box – should be the ashes. There was something in Luo Xun's arms – it was the baby.

The two people did not look happy. Luo Xun went in and grabbed the warm rice soup made by Xu Mei. "Give medicine to a dead horse." (Keep trying everything in a desperate situation).

The baby's struggling and weeping was weaker than before. It was cold outside and a newborn, plus he did not know what had happened in that empty room. Who knew if the child could still be saved?

At least have some rice soup, but the baby seemed to have no strength left. Luo Xun could only press some food past the baby's lips, he seemed to be sleeping. Luo Xun was relieved to feel a faint pulse.

"What the hell is going on?" The group asked quietly since the child should be asleep.

Luo Xun looked towards the window and helplessly explained. "The baby's father moved. We went to see the baby and for Yan Fei to collect the ashes...Everything in the house was gone except for large furniture..."

Everyone stared at each other and stayed quiet for a while.

After a bit He Qiankun rubbed his head. "Yesterday I thought he was reliable..." How could such a thing happen?

Zhang Yi unwrapped the quilt and looked at the patches of purple scattered before frowning. "Seemed like he suffocated but regained his breath, we'll wait and see."