As the memories played on, he had his answer when the original didn't die even after three months. Because they were registered in the same team, they had to do the base tasks together. Unfortunately, the rift between Li JingHua and her brother seem to have widened. Whenever her brother tried to explain, Li JingHua would treat him like air and ignored him. After several failed attempts, the original Li XinWen seemed to have given up.
Everything remained the same, until the day they were sent on a mission where things had gone wrong.
Li XinWen skipped a lot of memories to reach this point. It was a year after the apocalypse and Xue Rui had just reached the fifth level for his lightning ability. When the base found out about this, they gave Xue Rui's team a dangerous mission to eliminate a level four zombie leader. It seemed that when a zombie reaches level four, their level of intelligence also increased, and they developed tactical strategies for ambushing and escaping. It caused the base a big headache and the leader of the base wanted the zombie leader gone.
The base sent out six teams, comprising of 54 people in total. Xue Rui was elected as leader due to his high level and naturally his small team of four took the lead. Their target was known to be hiding at the nearby food factory. They had wanted to collect the food within the factory before but because of the high-level zombie, they had to retreat. Now, the base's food was running out and there was nowhere else to source food from other than the factory. The base leader planned to move everyone out of the base once they had enough provision to survive the journey.
The six teams went out in a modified off-road car. The journey to the factory took less than two hours. They had already scouted the area before, so they knew the structure and the layout of the factory. From outside they could hear the groans of the undead. For reasons unknown to them, the zombies had been gathering at this location.
"As planned, we should avoid the entrance. That level four zombie was reported to be last seen at the underground basement of the factory. The closest route to the basement is through the side so we'll climb up the wall," Xue Rui quickly briefed the team before they all moved out. The 54 people worked together almost seamlessly. Sneaking into the factory while avoiding the zombies loitering outside as much as possible. There were only a few of them, so they should finish their mission without getting distracted. As for cleaning up, they left that to the base, to lead more people to do so.
Li XinWen had wanted to experience more, but he suddenly noticed a slight interference. 'Oh! It's almost morning in the real world! Seems like Li JingHua is slowly waking up! I need to hurry!'
As soon as he thought of that, he decided not to waste any more time. He immediately skipped through the battle until the part where they almost killed the level four zombie. The zombie escaped while letting out a loud scream, calling the rest of the zombies to rush towards the team. It was like Li XinWen was watching a movie in fast forward. He saw the members of the team running to escape while being pursued by the undead. They were all climbing the walls that surrounded the factory and then, he finally saw the scene that made Li JingHua feel guilty.
Li JingHua was climbing the ladder when it suddenly broke and she fell. The zombies were approaching, and most of the team had already gone, leaving only herself, her two brothers and Xue Rui. The original Li XinWen had told Li JingHua to jump as he reached out his hand, but Li JingHua was still unable reach it. Li JingHua saw the helplessness and desperation of her own brother and finally understood how much he cared for her. She was just about to tell them to leave her behind when Li XinWen jumped down before Xue Rui could stop him.
Xue Rui's expression immediately turned ugly. But it was too late to stop the original Li XinWen. The zombies were getting closer and Xue Rui who had been continuously using his abilities to slow down the zombies was now running out of energy.
"JingHua, XinWen, hurry up! I'll try to slow down the zombies as much as I can so both of you can climb up the wall." Xue Rui advised, trying to keep his voice calm so as not to add panic to the siblings who were struggling to climb up.
"Sun Xiao has exhausted himself and can no longer use his abilities to aid me at slowing down the approaching zombies, so both of you should hurry up. XinWen… stay calm, you can do it. I believe in you…" Xue Rui said with as much gentleness as he could muster even as his heart raced and his mind went on to imagine the worst possible scenario.
"Hua-jie, I'll support you," Li XinWen positioned himself by the wall and interlaced his fingers, creating a step for Li JingHua to go up. From his position, he could see the zombies behind Li JingHua, and he had to admit that he felt scared. "Now, Hua-jie, you will have to sprint to me from a distance and step on my hands, I'll act as your springboard so you can jump, okay? Now hurry!" Li XinWen said with a smile, as if to reassure Li JingHua that everything was going to be alright.
Li JingHua listened to her brother and she did a short run before stepping on Li XinWen's interlaced fingers as she jumped. The original Li XinWen exerted more force and threw her up. Sun Xiao had been waiting and quickly grabbed Li JingHua's hand, immediately pulling her up. He then reached down again, preparing to pull Li XinWen up.
The original Li XinWen noticed that Xue Rui was nearing his limit, so he didn't waste any more time as he rushed up to the wall and jumped! Unfortunately, the level four zombie that made its escape earlier chose this exact time to reappear. Li XinWen's hand had almost reached Sun Xiao's when the level four zombie pounced on him.
"Ah'Wen!"
"XinWen!!"
Both Li JingHua and Xue Rui called out to him. As a non-ability user, Li XinWen could not even fight a level one zombie, let alone a level four and after just being hit once, he was already heavily injured. Xue Rui had already exhausted his ability, and Sun Xiao was just about to jump down to save him.
"Don't come!!" Li XinWen quickly yelled out to them. He wanted to get up, but the zombie didn't even give him a chance. Its sharp nails pierced through Li XinWen's abdomen, and he let out a loud, pained scream. Then, it opened its mouth wide, attempting to bite Li XinWen down. But before the zombie's teeth reached him, Li XinWen placed a grenade in its mouth.
It was Li XinWen's last attempt at killing the level four zombie. Li JingHua knew what her brother was thinking. Now that there are only four of them, the level four zombie could easily kill them, and her brother decided to sacrifice himself to make sure the level four zombie wouldn't be able to harm them.
"Rui-ge… take Hua-jie and Ah'Xiao and run..." Li XinWen said as he looked up weakly, blood pouring out of his mouth. "Hua-jie... please forgive Ah'Wen... Rui-ge... don't forget your promise..."
Li JingHua then saw the original Li XinWen pull out the pin, then an explosion followed before everything went dark.
Li XinWen's consciousness returned to his own body in the real world. He opened his eyes and saw that it was close to dawn. He then looked down and touched his abdomen. He was silent for a few moments, as if to recollect himself from what he had seen and experienced. As a cultivator he had mastered the art of remaining calm amidst any type of chaos, and the experience that Li JingHua went through was something he had to process and analyze.
"What a painful way to die..." Li XinWen murmured in a soft voice, as if whispering a prayer for the original's death. "But... I commend you, XinWen... for protecting your family. Your will to protect them, I have received them well. You can rest easy..."
But as soon as the sentence left his lips, Li XinWen suddenly felt a splitting headache. He quickly clutched his head in pain and just as he was about to circulate his spiritual energy, he suddenly heard a voice within his head.
"Remember your promise. In return for giving you my body, you must protect my family. Especially Hua-jie whom I've wronged in my past life…"
Li XinWen was dumbfounded. His headache disappeared along with the voice. But that wasn't what made Li XinWen feel dumbfounded. 'That voice earlier... wasn't that the original Li XinWen? Promise? Are you telling me that you willingly gave up your body so that your family can be protected better? No. That is not the most important thing... have we met before?'
Of course, his questions were met with silence. It made Li XinWen wonder if he had just imagined it since he used the memory search for a long period of time after all. "I feel like I've forgotten something…" Li XinWen mumbled softly as he got off the bed. Just then, he heard a door opening from outside followed by hurried footsteps. Before long, he heard a loud banging outside his bedroom door.
"Ah'Wen! Ah'Wen!! Are you in there? Are you okay?!" Li JingHua's panicked voice could be heard from outside and Li XinWen quickly opened the door for her. When Li JingHua came in, she immediately inspected Li XinWen from top to bottom, fussing over him. Only after seeing that her brother was safe did she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness it was just a dream..." she murmured in a soft voice before she pulled him into a hug.
It was only after Li JingHua mentioned the dream did Li XinWen finally remember what he had forgotten. 'Ah... right. Now I remember. I didn't get the chance to remove the memories before I got kicked out. That nightmare must've felt real for her...' Li XinWen thought as he rubbed her back to calm his sister. After a while, Li JingHua pulled away and Li XinWen gave her a smile. "Did you have a nightmare? Looks like I really have to work hard so that my dear sister doesn't worry too much!"
"En. Learn well... and during the apocalypse, please make sure you prioritize your own safety. Alright? Promise me this, Ah'Wen..."
"Alright, I promise," Li XinWen's mouth was saying this, but he was thinking otherwise. 'I've seen how the apocalypse was in your memories. Those low-level corpse soldiers won't be able to harm me in five years. But that level four might be a bit of a problem...'
"I will go and make breakfast today. What would you like?" Li XinWen was snapped out of his thoughts when Li JingHua spoke.
"Then--"
"Soft food only," Li JingHua quickly added when she saw Li XinWen's excited expression.
The excitement in his eyes died and Li XinWen let out a defeated sigh. "Then just make whatever… I'm sure Hua-jie has a better idea on what I can and cannot eat..." after saying that, Li XinWen went to his bathroom to wash up and prepare for the day.
Li JingHua saw the disappointed look on Li XinWen's face and couldn't help but feel guilty. She went back to her room to take a quick shower before going down to the kitchen. She looked around for ingredients to make breakfast and while looking inside the freezer, she saw the leftover meat from yesterday. She hesitated for a while before taking out her phone to browse the internet.
Li XinWen had long finished taking his shower and was currently lounging in his room, reading a book. He was fascinated with one story about how spirits who have some unfinished desires would not be able to immediately go to the afterlife to be reincarnated. Instead, they would wander around the world and that is when the main character of the story comes in. The main character would lead these spirits to their hotel which catered to their needs. The hotel's main goal was to satisfy the spirits so they can proceed to the afterlife without any regrets.
He was just about to read the next chapter when Li JingHua called out for them to have breakfast. Closing the book, Li XinWen left his room and saw Sun Xiao exiting his room. With tacit understanding, the two of them went down together while engaging in small talk.
When they reached the foot of the staircase, they were able to smell the alluring scent of breakfast. The two brothers went to the table and before taking their seat, they made sure to greet mother Li who was already seated at the head of the table.
"Good morning, mom. You look beautiful as always, ah!" Li XinWen said with a huge smile as he kissed the side of her cheek.
"Good morning, mom..." Sun Xiao said in a shy voice before he gave her a quick hug.
Only after doing so did the two sat down. Li XinWen saw the colorful spread and it made his mouth water. The side dishes looked appetizing and delicious. The pickled vegetables looked vibrant and the steamed soft tofu bathed in soy chili sauce looked particularly delectable. Li XinWen feasted with his eyes and took in the delicious scent with gusto.
Not long after, Li JingHua came out of the kitchen carrying a large bowl of fried rice. Upon seeing the fried rice, madam Li gave her a questioning look, as if to ask, 'why would she serve fried rice when not everyone will be able to eat it?', which Li JingHua answered as she took her seat, "I've checked. Ah'Wen can at least eat fried rice. I've added minced meat and chopped vegetables to make it more nutritious and filling." She patted madam Li's arm as additional reassurance and only then did madam Li relax and unfurrow her brows.
Li XinWen eyed the big bowl before finally scooping some on to his plate. He quietly ate it and had to admit it tasted great. So far, the food that he had been having here were all different from what he had in LongXing. After breakfast, he made sure to thank Li JingHua properly before asking her where he could buy chocolate milk.
"Are you planning to go out?" Li mother asked.
"En. I was in the hospital for far too long. I want to walk around and exercise," Li XinWen answered. This, in truth was just an excuse.
"Alright, just be careful."
"I will!" Li XinWen gave his mother a hug to assure her before turning to Sun Xiao. "Oh, Ah'Xiao! How about I send you to school today?"
Sun Xiao was in the process of slinging his backpack onto his shoulder when Li XinWen asked. The younger boy then remembered how Li XinWen once sent him to school in his car and it brought a lot of unwanted attention so he shook his head in disagreement. "I'm alright, Xin-gege. I can just walk..."
"Aha! That's a great idea! Then, I'll go walk with you," Li XinWen playfully flicked Sun Xiao's forehead. "Wait here. I'll go and get my disguise."
Since this story is updated once a week, I'd like to ask the reader on which day would they prefer the update will be. Do comment down below! I'll choose the day which was being commented the most.
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