Chapter 502 – Return – Extra 2: Post-Apocalyptic Transmigrator Bai Yun (15)
Bai Yun was an ordinary office worker who liked staying home and reading novels on weekends. She had just finished reading a novel titled <Zombie Siege: Reborn in the Apocalypse, My Secret Lover.>
After falling asleep, she woke up to find herself transmigrated into the novel as a cannon-fodder female supporting character who happened to share her name.
There was an indescribable stench lingering in the air. The apartment was practically bare, and the entire building seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
After receiving the original owner’s memories, Bai Yun prayed to the heavens more than once. She prayed to the Eastern gods and Buddhas, then even to the Western God and Jesus.
She was just an ordinary person. She didn’t know how to scheme against others, nor did she possess any supernatural abilities. She absolutely did not want to be bitten to death by zombies.
A faint, broken groan came from inside the room.
Bai Yun finally resigned herself to her fate. She wasn’t going back.
From the memories she had received, the person inside the room was her nominal younger brother.
Before transmigrating, Bai Yun had been an orphan. Although life after transmigration was filled with danger, at least she now had a family member.
That was how Bai Yun comforted herself.
When she pushed open the door and saw the most vicious supporting character in the novel, Bai Yun, who was accustomed to seeing handsome men and beautiful women on television, couldn’t help staring in a daze.
How is he vicious?! He’s clearly just a little angel who has fallen into the mortal world and is suffering!
The little angel looked at her and spoke.
“Sis, you’re back~”
In that instant, Bai Yun’s heart was completely captured and melted into a puddle.
This was her little brother. Her family.
Bai Yun lovingly wiped the sweat from Bai Tang’s forehead and soothed him until he fell asleep. Then she rolled up her sleeves and headed into the kitchen.
There was nothing there.
This family was so poor that even the mice couldn’t be bothered to visit. It was almost unbelievable.
However, there were some medicinal herbs on the kitchen’s battered table. They were surprisingly fresh. The original owner had picked them herself in the wilderness.
According to her memories, these were herbs prescribed by a doctor when the original owner had taken Bai Tang to a small clinic for treatment.
They weren’t anything particularly valuable, but even one dose of the medicine cost several dozen yuan. So the original owner had gone into the wilderness herself to dig up the herbs.
Although she hadn’t managed to find everything listed in the prescription, she had found the main pain-relieving herbs.
Looking at this incomplete and insufficient dose of medicine, Bai Yun couldn’t help worrying.
Another painful, suppressed groan came from the room.
Unlike the original owner, Bai Yun wasn’t ignorant. She was worried that taking the wrong dosage might cause side effects.
But Bai Tang had taken this medicine more than once before, and it did have some pain-relieving effects.
After gritting her teeth, Bai Yun added water and began boiling the medicine.
He’s taken it so many times already. One more time shouldn’t make a difference.
A sudden explosion sounded not far away, and the entire building shook several times.
Bai Yun’s heart tightened.
She hurried to the window to look outside.
The scene of a car accident by the river matched the events in the novel’s plot perfectly.
The male protagonist had appeared.
Bai Yun hadn’t wanted anything to do with the male protagonist, but when she thought about their current predicament, she reconsidered.
The male protagonist was basically a walking treasure chest—he had money.
After thinking it over, Bai Yun eventually went downstairs and brought the half-dead male protagonist back with her.
She took his wallet, then went out to buy supplies and other necessities for daily life.
When she returned with her arms loaded down with bags, who would have thought that her soft and adorable little angel of a brother had been teased by the male protagonist?
What was even more terrifying was that while she was away, the male protagonist had apparently done something to her little brother that made him become so attached to him that even his own sister had been pushed into second place.
Damn it, she had let her guard down.
She knew it. Other than Bai Tang, not a single man was any good—especially men with the Male Protagonist Halo. They were the worst of the worst.
Fortunately, the male protagonist still had a little conscience. He repaid her for saving his life with money, found a hospital for her younger brother, and even covered his medical expenses.
One night, Bai Yun was carrying some late-night snacks, intending to give her brother something extra to eat.
But when she stood outside the door and heard the ambiguous sounds coming from inside—sounds that couldn’t be put into words but were easy enough to understand—Bai Yun simply couldn’t make sense of it.
The male protagonist was paying for Bai Tang’s treatment, bringing him home, and taking care of him. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with that.
But how did taking care of him somehow turn into taking care of him in bed?
She had gone to such great lengths to avoid the original plot, only for the plot to take a sudden turn.
Was it trying to make her younger brother take the place of the cannon-fodder female supporting character and suffer her fate instead?
Bai Yun let out a long, weary sigh.
She suddenly felt as though the road ahead was shrouded in a vast white fog, hazy and indistinct, leaving her unable to tell which direction to take.
The developments that followed were much simpler.
The apocalypse arrived, and people began awakening their supernatural abilities.
Bai Yun awakened a water-based ability.
Unlike the original plot, in which she never awakened any supernatural powers, this development gave Bai Yun hope that she could survive.
Then she looked at her younger brother, who was currently curled up in the male protagonist’s arms.
Now that she had the ability to protect herself, she no longer needed to cling to the male protagonist.
If the female protagonist showed up, she would simply take Bai Tang and leave.
Surviving on the run during the apocalypse wasn’t easy.
It couldn’t exactly be called sleeping rough, but they spent most of their downtime huddled inside an RV, where there wasn’t even enough room to stretch out their legs.
However, Bai Yun’s personality and behavior were different from those of her original counterpart in the plot. Because she was a woman, the male protagonist’s teammates treated her with a little extra consideration.
They encountered all kinds of unexpected incidents along the way, but ultimately made it to the base without too much trouble.
There, they settled down and began building a life for themselves.
Just when Bai Yun thought they might actually be able to survive the apocalypse peacefully, fate had a way of catching people off guard with a sudden blow to the head.
Their team accepted a mission.
They set out full of confidence, but returned with nothing but sorrow on their faces.
When Bai Yun saw Bai Tang, emaciated and looking like an old man on the verge of death, she felt as though the world were spinning around her.
Her Tang Tang.
How could her little brother have become like this?
No one knew how to explain it to Bai Yun.
The male protagonist was too preoccupied with Bai Tang to pay any attention to Bai Yun. In the end, it was Shao Lichang’s trusted brother, He Lang, who explained everything to her.
Bai Yun stormed into the room and beat Shao Lichang up.
Shao Lichang didn’t fight back.
If He Lang hadn’t restrained her, she might have beaten Shao Lichang to death.
“You bastard! Give me my Tang Tang back! Is this how you protected Tang Tang? If you didn’t have the ability to protect him, you shouldn’t have dragged him down with you! You bastard…”
“Yes. I’m a bastard.”
That was the first thing Shao Licang said after returning.
It was also the only thing he said before Bai Tang woke up.
In the end, the protagonist’s team was greatly rewarded for retrieving the important data and successfully gained a position within the base’s leadership.
Shao Licang didn’t want to handle the administrative matters, so he handed responsibility over to He Lang.
He Lang, in turn, brought Bai Yun along and found some work for her to do, hoping to keep her occupied and distract her so she wouldn’t spend all day grieving.
Shao Licang became a hands-off leader, spending his entire day clinging to Bai Tang. Bai Yun accepted the painful reality that there was nothing more that could be done for Bai Tang. She began burying herself in work to numb herself, while also giving Shao Licang and Bai Tang some time alone.
Tang Tang loved Shao Licang so much. He must have wanted to spend this final stretch of time with his beloved, right?
A year later, on a clear afternoon, Bai Yun made some tea and snacks and brought them over.
Bai Tang looked even older than he had a year ago. His skin was wrinkled, age spots covered the backs of his hands, and his hair had turned gray. His clear, almond-shaped eyes had become considerably cloudier, and the light in them was even dimmer than before.
“Thank you, Sis.”
His tone was the same as always, but the soft, youthful sweetness in his voice was gone, replaced by an aged, hoarse quality.
“You’re welcome. T
Bai Yun’s voice caught in her throat. She desperately swallowed back the ache in her throat before asking, “Tangtang, you seem to be in much better spirits today. The base has become really beautiful. Let’s go for a walk together next time.”
“Okay. A Cang has been slacking off, so you’ve worked hard, Sis. It’s so nice to have you.”
“So Tang Tang has to get better soon and see how beautiful the base your sister has built has become.”
“Okay. It will definitely be even more beautiful than it was before the apocalypse…”
They didn’t talk for long before Bai Tang, exhausted, fell asleep again.
When the terrible news came, Bai Yun was in her study arranging matters concerning the cultivation of vegetables at the base.
She knocked over the teacup beside her and stumbled toward the suite.
He Lang had already arrived with Heizi and the others. They tried to stop Bai Yun from going inside and seeing what had happened.
“That’s my little brother. Move.”
With her eyes bloodshot, Bai Yun pushed He Lang aside.
What greeted her eyes was a sea of red.
On the balcony, Bai Tang lay quietly in a rocking chair.
Shao Licang was holding Bai Tang’s hand, his body bent over Bai Tang protectively.
The glaring red liquid had splattered across their bodies, staining them like a vivid, crimson flower.
Bai Yun collapsed to her knees on the floor, the blood seeping along the grooves in the floor and soaking into her pants.
Just one hour ago, she had brought Bai Tang tea and snacks.
Bai Yun wiped away her tears and calmly covered Bai Tang with a thin blanket.
“Tang Tang always gets cold so easily. It’s windy here. Sis will take you back inside.”
Later, Bai Yun and He Lang had the two of them cremated and buried together.
From then on, Bai Yun devoted herself even more wholeheartedly to her work, all because of something Bai Tang had once said: The base Sis governs will definitely be even more beautiful than it was before the apocalypse.
Five years later, a vaccine for the zombie virus was successfully developed.
Whether used as a preventative measure or administered after someone had already been scratched, the vaccine could prevent and eliminate the zombie virus from the body.
However, it had one side effect that the research team had been unable to eliminate despite fifteen years of research.
Once someone received the zombie vaccine, the mutated cells in their body would be destroyed.
The same cells that could eliminate the zombie virus could also destroy supernatural ability cells.
Ordinary people would no longer be able to awaken supernatural abilities, while those who already possessed abilities would gradually lose them.
After the apocalypse, everyone had grown accustomed to letting strength speak for itself.
The one with the biggest fist was the boss, and no one wanted to be left behind.
Ordinary people refused the vaccine, while ability users angrily protested and caused chaos throughout the base. One after another, they demanded that Bai Yun step down from the management.
Five years into the apocalypse, Bai Yun had become the second-in-command of the base despite having fairly ordinary abilities. Many people were dissatisfied with her, but because she had the support of He Lang, the person in charge, they had no choice but to follow her orders.
Bai Yun did not panic. Looking at the people causing a commotion below, she chose to step forward and address them.
“Ordinary people who wish to remain in the base must receive the vaccine. Anyone who refuses will have to leave the base.”
Over the past ten years, there had already been many incidents of ordinary people leaving the base to carry out missions, hiding the fact that they had been scratched by zombies, and then returning and endangering innocent people.
She could understand the fear of being abandoned and left to die outside.
But she could not accept the mentality of, ‘Why should I be the one to suffer? If I’m going to die, then everyone should die with me.’
Back then, her Tang Tang had sacrificed himself to retrieve the zombie research data from the institute. He had done it to save more people, not so that humanity could retaliate by slaughtering others.
When the ordinary people heard that they would be expelled from the base, they naturally refused.
There was food and water here, and life was relatively safe. It was far better than the outside world, where zombies ran rampant.
But they were also unwilling to receive the vaccine and give up their chance of ever awakening supernatural abilities.
Some ability users joined in the uproar as well, taking advantage of the opportunity to seize power.
Bai Yun and He Lang looked at the scene before them with sorrowful expressions.
Bai Tang and Shao Licang had died for these people.
It wasn’t worth it.
They had finally had enough.
After discussing it with their brothers, they left the base with everyone who was willing to follow them and set out to establish a new base with a better future.
After they left, an ability user who possessed plenty of ambition but lacked the strength to match it took control.
Less than three months later, the zombies breached the walls.
The once-glorious base was destroyed.
A new Hope Base was established, and everyone who joined was required to follow its rules.
Twenty-five years into the apocalypse, Bai Yun and He Lang went out on a mission.
Bai Yun was scratched by a mutated zombie plant.
To save Bai Yun, He Lang lost the supplies he was carrying, while Bai Yun poured the only dose of medicine they had into He Lang’s mouth.
As she was about to mutate, Bai Yun begged He Lang to give her a quick death.
The light in her eyes gradually faded. He Lang’s grief-stricken face became increasingly blurred.
She smiled.
“Help me tell Tang Tang… Sis couldn’t fulfill his wish. I couldn’t build a place more beautiful than it was before the apocalypse…”
A gunshot rang out.
Her soul departed this world.
Bai Yun stood dazed in the middle of a bustling street.
Young girls walking together passed by her, chatting and laughing.
A small street food shop by the roadside was blasting deafening music to attract customers.
This was the world she had lived in before transmigrating.
She was back.
Bai Yun stared blankly at the bag she had carried for so many years.
Up ahead, a young man was pulling another man toward a takoyaki cart.
“A Wu, hurry up! The takoyaki is almost gone~”
“Tang Tang, slow down. There are so many people.”
The man followed behind him helplessly, his voice filled with affection.
The familiar figure, voice, and face made Bai Yun’s nose sting with emotion.
The young man seemed to sense something. He looked up at Bai Yun.
Then, with a delighted expression, he picked up the piping-hot takoyaki and ran toward her.
“Tang Tang, you eat them. Sis doesn’t like these.”
“Oh, okay~”
At that moment, tears slipped down her cheeks uncontrollably, blurring her vision.