Chapter 578: Sister
The two sat quietly together.
Tiantian was a bit worried that Zheng Yingxiong's neck would get sore, so she reached out and supported his tilted head from behind.
Throughout it all, Zheng Yingxiong didn't resist at all. He only quietly asked, "Sis... civilian, can you do me a favor..."
"What's this 'Sis civilian'?" Tiantian sighed. "Is it really that hard to just call me 'Sister'?"
She initially thought Zheng Yingxiong was being playful, deliberately playing the role of a 'hero.' But then his next words completely baffled her.
"Can I...?"
"Can you what...?" Tiantian frowned at him. "What can or can't you do?"
"Can I call you 'Sister'?"
"Is there someone who won't let you call me 'Sister'?"
"Then... Sister... can you do me a favor?"
"I really can't stand you, kid. Why are you so strange?" Tiantian shook her head with a wry smile. "We've been through life and death together, and you're still this polite. What favor do you need?"
"I... I dropped my 'crown'..." Zheng Yingxiong said with a smile. "Can you help me pick up my 'crown'?"
"Crown?" Tiantian turned her head and saw the newspaper crown lying quietly on the ground. She couldn't help but feel curious. "Is this newspaper crown really important to you?"
"Yeah, another sister gave it to me." Zheng Yingxiong nodded. "The crown doesn't matter to me, but that sister does."
Hearing this, Tiantian felt a slight stir in her heart. She bent down, picked up the crown from the ground, gently dusted it off, and placed it on the table beside them.
This had to be the most ridiculous crown Tiantian had ever seen. It looked like it had been folded from newspaper many years ago—not only was the paper yellowed, but even the edges of the folds were stained black.
After about a minute or two, Zheng Yingxiong's nosebleed stopped. He slowly lowered his head and looked at Tiantian's hand.
In her panic earlier, she had pressed her palm against his nose to stop the bleeding, and now it was covered in dried blood.
"Sister, your hand is dirty..."
"Don't worry about me." Tiantian wiped her hand on her skirt, brushing off some of the blood. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah, thank you, Sister." Zheng Yingxiong smiled briefly, but quickly felt it was inappropriate and wiped the smile off his face. "I'm fine now."
"Stubborn kid..." Tiantian shook her head helplessly. "I have a younger brother. He's about your age."
"Oh...?"
"Quite a coincidence, isn't it? You have a sister, and I have a brother." Tiantian reached out and patted Zheng Yingxiong's head. "When I saw you at 'Heaven's Gate' last time, I felt you were quite familiar."
"'Heaven's Gate'..." Zheng Yingxiong narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he heard that. "Sister, at 'Heaven's Gate,' there was also someone who had a terrible stench all around him. It was different from the stench of that 'Cat' person, but both were foul..."
"Hmm..." Tiantian didn't know how to respond to the boy in front of her. He always seemed to be talking about 'smells.' She could only say, "Little brother, it's not just people here that stink—even the air stinks. Why are you so fixated on the smell of people?"
"No... everyone has a different smell." Zheng Yingxiong shook his head, as if he were explaining something to Tiantian. "Some people have a fresh scent, while others have a foul odor."
"Ha..." Tiantian smiled faintly. She felt that the boy in front of her was a lot like her naughty little brother. "Alright, then tell me, what does your sister smell like?"
"You..." Zheng Yingxiong sniffed the air but found nothing. "Your scent hasn't arrived yet."
"Haven't arrived?" Tiantian had never heard such an expression before. She could only shake her head. "Fine, little brother. Do you have anywhere to go later?"
"I should go back to 'Cat'." Zheng Yingxiong looked up. "Sister, have you never heard of 'Cat' before?"
Tiantian thought for a moment and indeed had no memory of the name. "Never heard of it."
"Do you want to escape from here?" Zheng Yingxiong asked again.
"I..." Tiantian smiled calmly. "No."
"Come with me." Zheng Yingxiong picked up his crown and put it back on his head. "That place sounds like it suits you. Since I'm a 'hero,' it's only natural for me to arrange where every 'civilian' goes."
"Go with you? Right now?" Tiantian stood up and massaged her sore legs. "If you had a bike, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea... Don't you want to rest a bit more?"
"I—"
Before Zheng Yingxiong could finish, voices came from outside the building. Both of them froze for a moment and peered out the window. Not far away, three men were approaching.
Two middle-aged men were followed by a younger one. The three of them were talking as they walked toward the building.
Tiantian reached out and silently pulled Zheng Yingxiong behind her. Though it wasn't unusual to see other people here, strangers always carried a vague sense of unease.
"So the black lines actually stop sometimes... that's a rare sight..." one of the middle-aged men said.
"Damn, my feet are about to cramp up... Let's find a place to rest. I need to take off my shoes," the other middle-aged man replied.
"This place is really strange..." the young man chimed in. "For miles around, all the buildings have collapsed, and this is the only one still standing."
"Come on, come on. Those black lines don't look like they're moving anytime soon. Damn, I'm dead tired."
The three men approached the building and pushed the door open with swagger, only to find Tiantian and Zheng Yingxiong inside.
Both sides were taken aback.
"Ah!" The leading middle-aged man spoke first, slowly raising his hands. "Don't be nervous! We're not bad people!"
Tiantian said nothing, shielding Zheng Yingxiong behind her. She had seen too many people in her life.
Usually, you don't listen to what someone says—you watch what they do.
The leading man wore a black T-shirt under a gray suit jacket, with his hair neatly combed. He looked relatively presentable.
But the middle-aged man behind him was only wearing a tattered undershirt, revealing his flabby arms.
Behind them stood a tall young man. He was slim, looked young, with a hint of naivety in his eyes—like a college student.
Tiantian didn't engage with them. She simply stood up, took Zheng Yingxiong's hand, and said, "Let's go."
Zheng Yingxiong nodded and turned to grab his bike.
"Hey! Wait! Wait!" The shifty-looking middle-aged man in the undershirt stepped forward to block their way. Tiantian pulled Zheng Yingxiong further behind her, still expressionless.
"What?" Tiantian frowned.
"Little girl, why are you running off as soon as you see us? Do we look like bad guys?"
Tiantian shook her head calmly. "Of course not. You gentlemen don't look like bad guys at all. It's just that we've rested enough and need to go back now."