Chapter 13: What Are Blueberry and Blackbrow Doing?
An hour later, scattered tents and vehicles began to appear amidst the grasslands ahead. It was also getting dark. “Let’s spend the night here,” Zhou Siyan said.
Xue Yu found a place to park. It was only after she got out of the car that she realized this was the Yaga Safe Zone Zhou Siyan had mentioned earlier.
Though it was called a safe zone, it looked more like a refugee camp. In fact, it pretty much was one. The people living here were all wanderers who had been driven out of large safe zones like the White Tower or the South Continent for not having a proper occupation. As the number of these wanderers grew, they gathered in Yaga, a grassland area with relatively low contamination, forming a disorganized and undisciplined, scattered safe zone.
They were running low on water. Zhou Siyan gave his wallet to Xue Yu and asked her to buy water from the water station across the way.
“I’ll watch the car here. You go buy water.” He specifically instructed, “This place is a mixed bag. If they talk to you, just ignore them. Buy the water and come right back.”
“Got it.” Xue Yu tucked the wallet into the inner pocket of her jacket.
She took an empty 12-liter water barrel from the trunk and walked toward the water station. It was close, only about thirty meters away, so Zhou Siyan could keep her in his line of sight from where he stood by the car.
The owner of the water station was a woman, powerfully built, with arm muscles like knotted stones. Her hands were coated in a layer of greasy black machine oil. She took Xue Yu’s water barrel, unscrewed the cap, and was about to fill it.
Xue Yu took the pollution monitor out of her pocket. “Uh, I need to test the pollution level before I buy.”
The owner shot her a glare. “Test my ass. So fussy. Hurry up!”
Xue Yu stepped forward and touched the tip of the monitor to the water from the tap. After confirming the water’s contamination level was within the drinkable range, she said, “Okay, this barrel is twelve liters. How much to fill it up?”
The owner: “Which region’s currency are you using?”
Xue Yu: “White Tower’s New Dollars.”
The owner: “Five hundred.”
“That’s so expensive…” Xue Yu clutched the wallet in her pocket. Her eyes darted around as she tried the haggling tactic her mother used back on Earth: start by cutting the price in half.
“How about two-fifty?” Xue Yu said, trying her luck without much confidence.
The owner threw the empty barrel back at her. “Get lost!”
Xue Yu felt a little embarrassed, but she didn’t want to waste Zhou Siyan’s money. She carried the barrel to the side, let the people behind her go first, and carefully watched what they paid. After observing three people buy water, Xue Yu memorized the prices. A quick mental calculation told her that if paying with White Tower New Dollars, one liter of water should be 18 New Dollars. Her barrel was 12 liters, so the total should be 216 New Dollars. This owner had deliberately quoted her 500, clearly trying to rip her off because she was from out of town.
Xue Yu got back in line. When it was her turn again, she stated directly, “This barrel is twelve liters, so that’s two hundred and sixteen New Dollars, right?”
The owner snorted, took the barrel, and filled it for her.
Xue Yu opened Zhou Siyan’s wallet, took out three one-hundred-dollar bills, and said deliberately loudly, “Ma’am, I need eighty-four New Dollars in change.”
“I heard you. Why are you shouting so loud?” The owner didn’t give her any trouble and dutifully gave her the correct change.
Xue Yu carefully put the money away, bent down, and lifted the water barrel by its handle to leave. Twelve liters of water had some weight to it. The handle was slippery from the greasy machine oil on the owner’s hands, and after just two steps, it slipped from her grasp.
Just then, a black shadow fell over her. Xue Yu looked up.
A person dressed in White Tower’s dark green camouflage, carrying two long sniper rifles on their back, stood before her. They wore a helmet, the lower half of their face was covered with a dark brown cloth, and the upper half was painted with green and black camouflage paint.
Xue Yu remembered. Three days ago, when she and Zhou Siyan had encountered the abominations, they had also met this sniper. At the time, the sniper had wanted to hitch a ride to the South Continent, but Zhou Siyan had refused.
Xue Yu smiled, revealing her two clean, canine-like teeth, and greeted him. “It’s you! We’ve met before.”
The sniper didn’t reply. He lifted the water barrel with one hand and placed it on her shoulder.
Caught off guard, Xue Yu’s back nearly buckled. She tilted her head and steadied the barrel with both hands.
The sniper still said nothing. Seeing that she had the barrel secured, he turned and walked away, cold and aloof.
“Well, thank you very much,” Xue Yu muttered under her breath.
She carried the barrel on her shoulder, trudging along the rough dirt path back toward Zhou Siyan.
Zhou Siyan strode over, reaching out to take the barrel from her shoulder.
Xue Yu tilted her head to dodge him. “No, no, I can do it myself. Be careful of your stomach.” She went around to the back of the car and put the water in the trunk.
Zhou Siyan picked up his felt hat, dusted it off, and put it on. “There’s a supermarket over there. I’m going to take a look. You watch the car here.”
Someone had to stay with the car. Otherwise, even if the doors were locked, someone might try to steal the fuel.
“Okay, you go. Be careful.” Xue Yu took the wallet from her inner jacket pocket and gave it to him.
After Zhou Siyan left, Xue Yu sat on the front of the car, waiting.
She kept feeling a faint, persistent gaze on her, a sense of being watched. It was familiar, very much like the feeling she had when Zhou Siyan was following her in the mining district.
Xue Yu whipped her head around, and the oppressive gaze vanished.
Before long, Zhou Siyan returned carrying a large bag of things. Xue Yu went over to help him, feeling the weight of many cans inside. She was a little hungry, but she hadn’t bought the items, and they were only exes. She didn’t feel it was her place to rummage through the bag. She simply placed it neatly in the back seat of the car and left it alone.
Zhou Siyan seemed to have work to attend to. He opened his ultra-thin tablet and stood outside the car, tapping and swiping at the screen as if replying to messages.
Xue Yu sat in the back seat. The seahorse and the black panther were still huddled together, their child sleeping on the panther’s fluffy tail. She stroked the panther’s head and asked softly, “Blackbrow, are you feeling better?”
The panther nuzzled her palm, indicating that it was much better.
Xue Yu picked up the little seahorse. “This is your child, isn’t it? Don’t worry, I will definitely protect your family of three. I may be poor and not very capable, but I’ll do my best to be good to you.”
Five minutes later, Zhou Siyan finished his work and came over, glancing into the car. “Why didn’t you take the things out?”
Xue Yu put down the little seahorse. “Oh. You didn’t say, so I didn’t feel right going through your stuff.”
A complex emotion flickered in Zhou Siyan’s eyes. In the past, Xue Yu had loved to go through his things. Every time he came back from the supermarket, she would take his bag with eyes full of anticipation, searching for tasty treats. Even finding a single bottle of soda was enough to make her happy all day.
Zhou Siyan got into the car as well, sitting on the leather seat on the other side. He opened the bag and took out the items one by one. There was a lot of food: canned vegetables, canned fruit, various kinds of jerky, and different flavors of compressed biscuits and energy bars. Underneath all that were tissues, sanitary pads, and two sets of women’s underwear.
He placed the underwear on Xue Yu’s lap and said quietly, “I bought them according to your old size. See if they fit. If not, we can go back and exchange them.”
“They’ll be fine.” Unlike the people here, Xue Yu’s height and figure had basically settled after she reached adulthood. Not like Zhou Siyan and the others, who could still grow taller at twenty. It was utterly infuriating! She was so envious she could have ground her molars to dust.
The white underwear set was soft and felt comfortable to the touch.
Zhou Siyan had also bought two meals. They had meat, though it looked like it had been frozen for years and didn’t have much flavor. Still, it was much better than chewing on compressed biscuits.
After they finished eating, the sky turned completely dark. This place was chaotic. They got back into the car right after their meal and locked the doors. “It’s not safe here,” Zhou Siyan said. “We’ll take turns keeping watch tonight.”
Xue Yu said, “You sleep. I can keep watch.”
“We’ll take turns,” Zhou Siyan insisted. “You still have to drive tomorrow.”
The car’s soundproofing was excellent. It was noisy outside, but quiet inside the vehicle.
They laid out the mattress, and both of them sat in the back. Xue Yu sat cross-legged, reading a copy of the Primary Spirit Body Control Manual that Zhou Siyan had given her.
Zhou Siyan sat beside her, using scissors and a needle and thread to alter one of his cotton t-shirts, apparently making clothes for the baby.
The seahorse and the black panther were curled up in the far corner of the mattress.
Before long, the seahorse used its tail to pick up the little seahorse, floated over, and placed it in Xue Yu’s lap. Xue Yu understood its meaning: it was asking her to help take care of the child.
“Okay, I’ll look after the baby. You go rest,” Xue Yu said.
The seahorse returned to the black panther’s side. The panther picked up Zhou Siyan’s trench coat with its mouth and draped it over itself and the seahorse, covering them completely.
“That’s strange,” Xue Yu commented. “Do spirit bodies need to sleep with a blanket?”
Soon, however, Xue Yu felt something was wrong. She was sweating profusely, so embarrassed her face felt like it was about to bleed. Zhou Siyan was the same; he pricked his finger several times while trying to sew.
Xue Yu abruptly threw off the trench coat. Underneath, the seahorse and the black panther were snuggled together, their intimacy excessive. They were secretly making out, nearly at the final step.
“What are you two doing?! Separate! Separate, now!” Xue Yu used her hands to forcibly pull them apart.
It wasn’t that she wanted to interrupt their fun. But there was a spiritual link between a spirit body and its master, and the master could synchronously experience all of the spirit body’s sensations.
As Blueberry and Blackbrow were getting intimate, she and Zhou Siyan could feel it too! It was the equivalent of her and Zhou Siyan having a spiritual union!
Xue Yu separated them and held her seahorse, poking its crown with her finger. “Have you no shame? Huh? Why are you such a rogue? What kind of spirit body acts like you? You’re letting pleasure sap your will!”
What actually embarrassed Xue Yu more was the fact that a spirit body is a reflection of its master’s spiritual world. This seahorse’s love for lewd activities made it seem like she was just as lecherous. Its behavior was ruining her reputation.
Zhou Siyan took out a tissue and wiped the blood from his pricked finger. He turned, retrieved the medical kit, and took out the libido suppressant. With practiced ease, he gave Blackbrow an injection.
Xue Yu picked up her seahorse and held it out to Zhou Siyan. “Here, give this little pervert a shot too. No, give it three!”
Zhou Siyan refused. “Blueberry just awakened. It’s not suitable for injections.”
“Fine, then,” Xue Yu sighed, putting the seahorse down.
Zhou Siyan changed the needle and prepared to inject himself. Watching him, Xue Yu suddenly asked, “If you keep taking that, will it affect the baby?”
His movement paused. “Will it?”
Xue Yu scratched her head. “I’m not sure. I just heard that when you’re pregnant, there are a lot of medicines you can’t use because they’re bad for the baby.”
Zhou Siyan put the suppressant back in the box.
“If you don’t take it, will you be very sensitive?” Xue Yu asked again.
“Yes.”
“Then what will you do? It must be pretty uncomfortable when the feeling comes on.”
Zhou Siyan had already put the medical kit back in its place. “I can endure it.”