The Apocalypse 13
Who would have thought he’d even get jealous of the original protagonist shou? When Tang Xi woke up the next day, he felt like he had barely survived the night in Lu Mang’s arms.
It was as if he had really turned into a rack of ribs, just like in his nightmares—devoured without mercy.
Strangely, there was no soreness or discomfort on his body. Tang Xi touched himself, realizing that most of the marks had already faded.
Normally, after a night’s sleep, there wouldn’t be a single trace left.
But last night, he had been tormented too fiercely. There were too many marks, and he had lost too much energy—so much so that even his healing ability couldn’t fully keep up.
Still in a daze, Tang Xi asked: [Where’s Lu Mang?]
For once, his poop scooper wasn’t by his side when he woke up.
If it were any other morning, Lu Mang would have already clung to him, giving him a sticky and affectionate good morning kiss.
1551: [He’s outside handling something. Half an hour ago, he encountered a few high-level zombies.]
Tang Xi shivered, instantly waking up completely.
He got up, stored the tent in his space, and hurried off to find Lu Mang.
But before he could see Lu Mang, he ran into Jiang Wenshu first.
Jiang Wenshu, unaware of the torment Tang Xi had endured the previous night, greeted him cheerfully.
He tore a steamed bun in half and offered it to Tang Xi. “Can I call you Tang Tang?”
Tang Tang was a nickname given by Chen Yao and the others.
Tang Xi refused the steamed bun but didn’t reject the affectionate nickname.
It was just a name.
He didn’t care at all.
Jiang Wenshu knew Tang Xi had spatial abilities and didn’t lack food, so he wasn’t surprised. However, he did notice the faint red marks on Tang Xi’s neck.
It was no secret that the base’s most powerful ability user, Lu Mang, had a special someone now. No—perhaps not just a special someone.
Everyone knew that for the sake of one person, Lu Mang had even clashed with the base’s leader.
Jiang Wenshu changed the subject. “You’d better stay away from the back of the team. A few high-level zombies attacked there earlier, and things are still a bit chaotic.”
The team had arranged their large vehicles in the middle, which meant that Tang Xi’s position at the front was quite a distance from Yu Chengye, who was at the rear.
Unless they deliberately sought each other out, they wouldn’t cross paths.
Influenced by the original host’s memories, Tang Xi instinctively avoided the back of the team—afraid that Yu Chengye would see him.
Even though he was in his own body, with his own face and name, to others, he was still the original character.
If Yu Chengye saw him, he would recognize his identity immediately. And that would be trouble.
Tang Xi nodded obediently and replied, “Okay, I won’t go there.”
Jiang Wenshu smiled.
Since everyone was busy, Tang Xi didn’t want to disturb them. So he simply stayed and chatted with Jiang Wenshu.
Meanwhile, Lu Mang’s expression was dark.
The wounded men’s faces had already begun turning ashen gray.
In the distance, he spotted Yu Chengye hiding among the crowd, slacking off. Every now and then, Yu Chengye would boast about how cleverly he had evaded the zombies earlier.
Lu Mang felt nothing as he watched.
He simply wondered—why wasn’t this guy the one who died just now?
Such thoughts were unbecoming of someone hailed as a hero by the base’s survivors. But then again, he had never considered himself a good person.
The high-level zombies had been an accident. But since the accident hadn’t killed Yu Chengye, he’d take care of it himself.
He had sent Huang Yuanmiao to dig for information, but the man was cunning. He knew exactly what to say and what to withhold. All Huang Yuanmiao managed to find out, even after trading some supplies, was that Yu Chengye had escaped from a small base in H City.
That same base where his little team member had been treated like nothing more than a disposable tool.
Even if Tang Xi didn’t say a word, the fear in his eyes was already enough to explain everything.
That night, Tang Xi hadn’t gone into detail. He had only briefly mentioned being tricked into going there—never naming those who had deceived him, nor how they had done it.
The mere thought that someone he cherished had been treated that way made Lu Mang’s veins bulge with rage.
Tang Xi was like a sweet piece of candy, always able to soothe his irritable temper. But if the thing making him furious was related to his little candy, then his bloodlust would only intensify.
No one dared approach him. Lu Mang clenched his fists tightly, suppressing the urge to kill.
Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out something—
A candy wrapper.
One that Tang Xi had eaten.
Staring at the colorful wrapper, Lu Mang calmly placed it in his mouth and pressed it against his lips.
In an instant, all the violent thoughts in his mind melted away. His expression softened into an eerie calm, like an addict getting his drugs.
He took a deep breath, then carefully folded the candy wrapper and tucked it back into his pocket.
There was no sweetness left on it.
His face returned to its usual unreadable expression.
Then, he called a few people over and gave them instructions—including Yu Chengye.
Yu Chengye, surprised to be chosen, stood up excitedly.
Eager to ingratiate himself, he sidled up to Lu Mang instead of joining the others in their assigned tasks.
Some people watched, waiting to see him make a fool of himself.
But, to everyone’s surprise, Lu Mang didn’t get angry. Instead, he engaged in casual conversation with Yu Chengye, responding indifferently to his chatter.
Yu Chengye became even more smug.
He was a cunning man—like a snake.
The moment someone handed him a stick, he’d slither his way right up.
Yu Chengye subtly probed, testing whether Lu Mang felt any pressure dealing with those high-level zombies.
He acted just like a normal person concerned about the expedition, asking those questions as if out of genuine worry.
Lu Mang scoffed inwardly but showed no reaction on the surface. He hadn’t expected an unexpected gain from this interaction.
It was clear—Yu Chengye had ulterior motives.
Of course, Lu Mang understood the base leader’s intentions. Yu Chengye was clever in a petty way and had no obvious suspicions against him, making him the perfect candidate to spy on him.
Unfortunately, such schemes only ever worked on their own people.
Lu Mang’s eyes turned cold.
Tang Xi waited a long time before finally seeing Lu Mang again. By then, the team had already resumed its journey.
He had spent that time distributing supplies, helping Jiang Wenshu with the work.
The original protagonist shou was always socially intelligent, never looking at Tang Xi like some kind of mascot.
Tang Xi enjoyed spending time with him.
But his poop scooper got jealous too easily.
As soon as Lu Mang arrived, Tang Xi quickly excused himself, apologetically telling Jiang Wenshu to leave first.
Jiang Wenshu didn’t say anything—he simply walked away, not making things difficult for Tang Xi.
The more considerate he was, the more guilty Tang Xi felt.
Lu Mang reached out and stroked Tang Xi, his voice tinged with concern. “Tired?”
He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a piece of candy—peach-flavored.
The warmth from his body had already softened it, making it even harder for Tang Xi to eat.
As usual, the candy wrapper ended up in Lu Mang’s pocket.
His movements were so natural that Tang Xi didn’t think anything of it.
The journey ahead still had a few days to go, but the constant obstacles slowed their pace considerably.
This only served as a grim reminder of how close the zombie horde was to the base.
One group was the living.
The other, the undead.
And the closer they got, the heavier the atmosphere in the team became.
Tang Xi barely had time to be with Lu Mang anymore.
As the team leader, Lu Mang had too many things to handle.
Then, one afternoon, during a rest stop—
An accident happened.
Tang Xi suddenly heard 1551’s urgent warning.
1551: [Yu Chengye is approaching. Please follow the persona and avoid him.]
Tang Xi’s heart tightened. He quickly ran behind a parked vehicle.
[Why is he coming here all of a sudden?]
1551: [Unknown. He looks suspicious.]
The car Tang Xi hid behind was the lead vehicle of the convoy.
But to his surprise, Yu Chengye walked straight toward it.
Tang Xi originally had a chance to run.
But a gut feeling told him—something bad was about to happen.
So instead of fleeing, he suppressed his fear and stayed put, wanting to see what Yu Chengye was up to.
He assumed the man had come to steal something.
But what happened next completely caught him off guard.
Not only was Yu Chengye not stealing—
He was leaving something behind.
From his pocket, he took out a small, sealed bottle.
Inside was a fine powder.
Tang Xi’s heart skipped a beat.
[1551, what is that?]
A bad feeling crept over him.
Could it be some kind of zombie-attracting powder?
He might be naive, but he wasn’t stupid.
And one look at that powder was enough to know—
It was definitely something dangerous.
1551: [No, humans are completely incapable of analyzing the zombie virus. Creating something that attracts zombies isn’t as simple as just making it.]
Before Tang Xi could even breathe a sigh of relief, the voice continued eerily:
[It’s not for attracting zombies—it’s for attracting mutant beasts.]
Mutant beasts were no easier to deal with than zombies.
Many of them had mutated far beyond what zombies could compare to. The difference was that they didn’t crave human flesh as desperately as zombies did.
Even before the apocalypse, human flesh wasn’t particularly appealing to carnivorous animals. After the world fell, though humans had been added to the menu of many predatory mutant beasts, they were still considered unappetizing prey.
Just as Yu Chengye was about to sprinkle the powder onto Lu Mang’s usual seat, Tang Xi, pushing aside his fear, stepped forward.
Yu Chengye immediately stopped, looking at Tang Xi as if he had just seen an impossible creature.
“You’re still alive?!”
Tang Xi forced a straight face. “Disappointed that I’m not dead?”
In reality, his entire body trembled from fear, influenced by the original host’s lingering trauma.
Yu Chengye was startled for a moment. He was indeed afraid of being caught, but when the person who saw him was Tang Xi, his fear vanished—replaced by arrogance.
He deliberately stepped closer, lowering his voice in a threatening whisper. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll expose your special condition?”
Tang Xi glared at him, but the trembling of his eyelashes betrayed his fear.
Yu Chengye sneered and suddenly grabbed Tang Xi’s wrist.
His grip was forceful. Tang Xi hadn’t expected him to act so brazenly—he had underestimated how much the original host’s past meekness had emboldened Yu Chengye.
Caught off guard, he was dragged a short distance away from the group. When Yu Chengye shoved him into an abandoned building, Tang Xi had a chance to call for help.
But he didn’t. He decided to take a gamble.
In his mind, 1551 urged him to reconsider, but Tang Xi, being as stubborn as a cat, refused to listen.
Yu Chengye, standing in the dim light reflected off the window, swallowed hard as he stared at Tang Xi.
How had he never noticed before? His former roommate, who had once secretly admired him, had such a strikingly beautiful face—almost like a porcelain doll.
While Yu Chengye was staring at him, Tang Xi was also scrutinizing Yu Chengye.
Truthfully, Yu Chengye wasn’t bad-looking. He was tall, too. Otherwise, the original host wouldn’t have harbored a crush on him back in university, nor would he have been deceived by Yu Chengye’s righteous and fearless facade in the apocalypse.
But now, he looked different from the man who once betrayed him at that small base, selling him out for his own survival.
It was clear that escaping the zombie horde and making it to Dawn Base had not been easy for him. He wasn’t thriving.
A person like this had no real reason to frame Lu Mang—unless he was acting under someone’s orders.
Tang Xi’s gaze held suspicion, disgust, and a mix of emotions—everything except the admiration he once had.
Yu Chengye’s expression darkened. In a lewd tone, he sneered, “What’s wrong, old friend? You weren’t like this when you had a crush on me. I’ve always known you liked me. That’s why you were so easy to manipulate. But if you beg me now… maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you go for old times’ sake.”
Yu Chengye let out an exaggerated laugh.
Tang Xi nearly gagged at how greasy and repulsive it was.
In his mind, he started counting down, but before he even reached three, the sound of a fist cutting through the air came from behind him.
Like a wild beast whose territory had been violated, Lu Mang charged forward and sent Yu Chengye crashing to the ground.
Ever since Tang Xi had been dragged away by vines for three to four hours last time, Lu Mang had been on high alert. That’s why, this time, he noticed Tang Xi’s absence in less than five minutes.
And he arrived just in time—before Yu Chengye could spew out any more disgusting words.
By the time Lu Mang finally stood up, the figure on the ground was barely recognizable as human.
His fists were covered in blood, and a few stray droplets had splattered onto his face.
With crimson eyes, he looked like a demon that had just crawled out of hell—stalking toward Tang Xi with an ominous presence.
Following the original host’s character traits, Tang Xi instinctively shrank back in fear. But before he could take a step away, Lu Mang’s hand clamped down on the back of his neck.
He wouldn’t allow his medicine to escape from him.
Leaning in slightly, Lu Mang’s voice was both terrifying and intimate as he whispered, “Tell me, little one… did you really like that thing?”
Author’s Note:
Like secretly stashing away a candy wrapper from a sweet treat… The poop scooper in this world are truly obsessive stalkers.
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