Pang Meiqin carried Yao Feng on her back, running along the predetermined passage. The exertion tore open the wound on her thigh that hadn’t yet healed, and blood began to flow down.
"Sister Meiqin, just run, don’t worry about me!" Yao Feng woke up from the jolting and saw Pang Meiqin’s black hair completely drenched, clinging to her cheeks in strands, and couldn’t help feeling immense pity for her.
Under the dim yellow light, Pang Meiqin ran, her heavy breathing like a hammer relentlessly pounding Yao Feng’s heart. He was a man, after all; he should have been the one to bear everything. How could he let her suffer so much?
Pang Meiqin didn’t have time to respond, focusing solely on escaping to the next prepared hideout. Droplets of sweat fell and hit the floor with a distinct plop, quickly drowned out by the insane, thunderous shrieking of the pursuing swarm of insects. They were getting even closer.
"Let me go, Sister Meiqin, escape by yourself!" Tears streaked down his cheeks as Yao Feng sobbed and struggled continuously. She was the goddess he loved, and not having been able to help her already filled him with remorse—not to mention becoming a burden. At this moment, Yao Feng wished he could just die.
"Stop moving around, do you want to kill me?" Pang Meiqin yelled, but deep inside, she cursed herself for being an idiot. She didn’t understand why she was even saving Yao Feng.
"Maybe it’s because I’m lonely?" Within the team, Pang Meiqin was isolated. Nobody wanted to deal with such a selfish woman. Even Tang Zheng didn’t harbor any love for her; his care was merely because they were fellow survivors. Whenever she saw others laughing and chatting, an overwhelming sense of alienation and loneliness would seize her, making her want to cry.
Pang Meiqin, too, was a woman who yearned to be cherished and forgiven for her flaws by the man she loved. She longed for a social circle, not many friends, perhaps just one or two; someone to gossip about yesterday’s soap opera, poke fun at each other’s private lives, complain about how little time their boyfriends lasted in bed... But, alas, she had none of those ordinary things.
Tang Zheng was a good man, too good, in fact—it made her feel guilty about hurting him. She had absolute confidence in her appearance, particularly those beautiful legs. Which man could resist stealing a few glances or salivating at the sight, wishing to take her for an entire night? However, Tang Zheng seemed utterly oblivious, and after so many instances, their relationship remained nothing more than biting acquaintances.
"If you wanted to do something with me, I’d never refuse. Is it because it’s too easy that you don’t cherish it?" As her own strength grew and she no longer needed to rely on Tang Zheng for protection, Pang Meiqin’s attempts to seduce him had almost ceased. As a woman, she had her dignity; she didn’t want Tang Zheng to look down on her. She wanted to earn his love fair and square, but that was clearly a vain hope.
Staying in the team did not bring warmth. It was like walking alone in the cold night desert, with only the dim starry sky and the occasional lizards for company, along with the wind. Then Yao Feng appeared—the rebellious but innocent teenager adored Tang Zheng and had a crush on Pang Meiqin, simply because they had shown him a bit of concern.
At some point, Pang Meiqin noticed she was being watched covertly—those eyes were warm, yet shy, eager to get closer but fearful of rejection. Meiqin knew that the emotion hidden in that gaze was love.
"Heh, you idiot, I was just using you!" Pang Meiqin murmured, feeling smug because she had tasted the flavor of being secretly adored again. But why did it taste so bitter? Didn’t she encourage him and talk to him just so that when she was in danger, she could have someone to act as a meat shield? Why was she now using up her already scarce energy to carry him to safety?
"Aaah!" Pang Meiqin didn’t have time to ponder and screamed, hastening her pace once more. The noise behind her grew louder as the swarm kept surging forward. Latest content published on NovelHub(.)net
"Sister Meiqin!" Yao Feng was inconsolable, biting his lip so fiercely a taste of blood began spreading in his mouth, yet he felt no pain. Seeing the sweat rolling down the "Beautiful Leg Stewardess" and sensing the delicate spine supporting his weight, the young rebel thought himself the biggest bastard in the world.
Unable to suppress his thoughts, he remembered the day they used the Activation Seed. When he couldn’t activate the Seed, his world felt like it was collapsing, but then Sister Meiqin appeared. She encouraged him, didn’t treat him like trash. In that moment, with her beautiful face before him, he felt she was the embodiment of his goddess.
It was a pity that the goddess already had the man she loved. Yao Feng admired Tang Zheng and aspired to become a man like the group leader, powerful enough to carry the team on his shoulders, so he never thought of competing. He silently watched and purely wished that Sister Meiqin and Tang Zheng could have everything together. But why did it hurt so much in the quiet of the night?
Every time he saw the team laughing and talking, with Sister Meiqin sitting alone by the campfire, desolately brewing coffee, Yao Feng felt like he could taste the bitterness, like an ink-black night devoid of stars, too dense to dissolve.
"We’re here!" Turning down a side passage and seeing the hangar at the end of the passage, Pang Meiqin’s expression lit up with joy—that was her second hideout.
This hangar was ten stories high, interconnected by cables and elevator platforms. In case of danger, they could move at any moment and blow up the platforms afterward, effectively blocking the pursuers. Care was necessary, though; if they fell, there would be no surviving the drop.