He had noticed that the people who had awakened superpowers had stronger bodies than ordinary people. Maybe his sickly grandfather would have become better.
With a stronger body, anything is possible, and living for another decade or so would not have been a problem.
But he was also glad that the apocalypse didn’t find him because, with his weak immune system, maybe he would have turned into a zombie on the first day of the fog.
He was sad, but he would rather his grandfather die a human with dignity than turn into something so abominable.
Chu Miao felt the atmosphere in the car change. The sadness radiating off of Ye Xuan was almost tangible. She didn’t know what had made him so sad all of a sudden.
He was a battle-hardened soldier who would not become so emotional because of strangers he knew nothing about. Saving humanity would not turn him into a sad, pitiful mess. So, what happened?
"What’s wrong?" She decided to ask upfront. It was the easiest and most straightforward way to find out what had happened.
"Nothing. I just thought of my grandfather." Ye Xuan replied.
Chu Miao knew about his grandfather’s death. After all, her own grandfather had attended the funeral.
"I am sorry." She didn’t know how to comfort him.
"It’s okay, I was just thinking that if he had held on until the apocalypse, maybe he could have awakened a superpower and survived longer. But I also know that the fog that appeared first wiped out those with weak immunity.
My grandfather had been sick for a while and was already weak, he probably wouldn’t have survived the first night.
I don’t know whether to be happy or sad."
Even though he said he didn’t know whether to be happy or sad, the sadness that came off of him told what he had hoped for.
He hoped that his grandfather had lived longer and awakened a superpower. Chu Miao felt sorry for him; after all, he only had his grandfather as his only relative, and he had died.
Anyone would be sad. Some people would have had a hard time surviving such grief. He was doing better than most people.
She stretched out her hand and placed it on his, then squeezed a little.
"Don’t be sad. Grandpa Ye must be up there watching over you. Even though he is physically gone, I believe his spirit is around and will guide you." Chu Miao could only use this method to comfort him.
She didn’t know how to show compassion to other people except her family. Ye Xuan was the first.
Feeling the soft hand holding his and the sweet voice comforting him, Ye Xuan forgot his sadness completely.
This was the first time he had had physical contact with a woman, and it was the woman he had fallen in love with.
If it wasn’t for his strict training as a soldier, he would have lost control and crashed the car he was driving.
The feeling that hand gave him was special and it made the entire arm grow numb. His heart was racing at three hundred miles an hour and his brain was blank for a second.
When he came back to his senses and tried to regulate his heartbeat, he didn’t know what to say, but he was so happy he could dance.
"Thank you. Your words have made me feel better. I believe that my grandfather is indeed watching over me." Ye Xuan thanked her but he was thinking that his grandfather must really be watching him.
He knew that he liked the girl and wanted to get close to her and he helped him.
Even though he was gone, he was still helping him achieve his goals. He had his first intimate contact with the girl he liked because of his grandfather.
Seeing that his spirits seemed to have lifted, Chu Miao removed her hand from his and turned to look outside the window.
She was surprised by her action of grabbing Ye Xuan’s hand to comfort him. She was not comfortable having physical contact with people she was not close to. But she didn’t feel any discomfort when she touched him.
She even felt something stir in her heart when she saw him so sad, which is why she held his hand to comfort him without thinking.
Thinking of how his rough hand felt in hers, her heart skipped a beat or two. It was a foreign yet familiar feeling. She had felt the same way when Ye Xuan looked into her eyes at the University dormitory when he killed that girl for her.
Since she couldn’t determine what it was, she decided to let it go and focus on the surroundings as they arrived at the Zeyi Mall.
There were at least a few hundred zombies around the Mall. This number was not great, but for two people, it might be a bit challenging since the zombies have evolved and gotten stronger.
Ye Xuan had no idea that he was already affecting the little princess he had been eyeing. If he knew that being sad would have such a result maybe he would become shameless and lament over his parents’ death that happened when he was young too.
Too bad he was still in the dark.
He parked the car a distance away from the mall and stepped out. Chu Miao opened the door on the other side and got out too.
"Be careful." Ye Xuan cautioned as he surveyed their surroundings and started to kill zombies that came running toward them as soon as the car stopped.
The smell of living humans was too enticing for the zombies and having two at the same place intensified the life force in their direction. As a result, more zombies came staggering and lunged at them.
To the zombies, they were nothing but an attractive and delicious meal that could enhance their energy. This was intensified by the presence of superpower fluctuations in their bodies.