Apocalypse Chapter 28: Sinful Child

Chapter 28: Sinful Child

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

In the end, Jiang Rong couldn’t persuade Uncle Li and ended up accepting the large basket of pink and white peaches. Just as he was about to carry the peaches back home, Jiang Xiaoheng rushed out from the yard, struggling to put the sun hat on his head as he ran, “Daddy, Uncle’s awake!”

Running too fast, Jiang Xiaoheng lost his balance. When he rushed out of the courtyard gate, he stumbled on the sliding track of the gate, “Oops…”

Seeing his son about to fall forward, Jiang Rong’s heart jumped to his throat, “Be careful!” 

But even though he dashed forward, he couldn’t catch his son before he fell.

At a critical moment, a slender arm grabbed the back of Xiaoheng’s clothes just in time. With a pull, Xiaoheng was lifted up. Xiaoheng turned his head in confusion and saw Guan Shao’s handsome face. Realizing it was Uncle helping him up, Xiaoheng obediently thanked, “Thank you, Uncle.”

Guan Shao gently sat the child down, “Hmm.”

After Jiang Xiaoheng steadied himself, Jiang Rong also ran up to him. Seeing his son unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief, “You should watch where you’re running, it’s dangerous. Have you thanked Uncle?”

Jiang Xiaoheng nodded repeatedly, then pointed in Guan Shao’s direction, “Daddy, Uncle’s awake!”

Jiang Rong and Guan Shao met each other’s gaze. Before Jiang Rong could speak, Guan Shao’s words of gratitude came, “Thank you.” 

If it weren’t for Jiang Rong saving him, who knows what would have happened to him and the child now. Jiang Rong smiled, “It’s no trouble. By the way, how are you feeling now? Do you feel any discomfort?”

Guan Shao’s lips curled slightly, his aura of sharpness replaced by gentleness, “I’m fine.”

Jiang Rong’s neck felt hot from the sun. He pointed indoors and said to both of them, “You two go back first, I’ll be back soon. Xiaoheng, go pour some water for Uncle to drink.”

Jiang Xiaoheng replied with a “yes” and bounced towards the direction of the living room, while Jiang Rong walked along the mountain path towards the east. Just as he was about to carry away the peaches, Guan Shao, who came later, picked up the peach basket.

The man wrapped in bandages paid no attention to his wounds as he carried the heavy basket as if it weighed nothing. Guan Shao lifted the plastic basket and, despite Jiang Rong’s objections, strode towards the yard.

Under Jiang Rong’s enhanced abilities, the peaches from Uncle Li’s house were large and sweet. The bagged peaches were not contaminated by the black rain and each one emitted a sweet fragrance. Jiang Xiaoheng loved eating such peaches. He and the little brother brought by Guan Shao obediently sat on small stools, enjoying the sweet peaches.

Jiang Rong and Guan Shao sat chatting near the semi-open kitchen bar. With just a glance, they could see the movements of the two children. Although it was the second time Jiang Rong had talked to Guan Shao, they chatted comfortably and happily.

Jiang Rong held a large peach in his hand, neither light nor heavy. During their conversation, he learned some important news. Guan Shao was an employee of a famous international security group, in simple terms, a mercenary. Knowing his profession, Jiang Rong also understood how he got his injuries.

Before the Great Crisis, Guan Shao was the only one left in his family. He sacrificed himself to protect a child named Jiang Hao, whose father was Guan Shao’s deputy. Before the Great Crisis, Guan Shao’s team went out on a mission, and the deputy unfortunately died during the mission. Before sacrificing himself, the deputy entrusted the child to his teammates.

As the leader of the small team, Guan Shao voluntarily took on this responsibility. After returning to the country, he searched according to the address given by the deputy, but unexpectedly encountered the Great Crisis. The roads were unusually congested, communication was lost, and finding people became extremely difficult.

The difficulties encountered need not be mentioned. Guan Shao searched for a long time until a few days ago when he finally found them near the River’s Bridge Town by the Lingshan Reservoir.

“I thought finding the child was the most difficult part, but after seeing him, I realized things weren’t so simple,” Guan Shao said as he took a sip of water, “The child can’t speak, I don’t know if there’s a problem with his organs or if he’s been traumatized. After his injuries heal, I want to take him to see a healing esper.”

Jiang Rong nodded in agreement, “There’s no small matter when it comes to a child’s health. The sooner you see a doctor, the better.” 

If Xiaoheng’s situation were the same as Jiang Hao’s, Jiang Rong would be frantic. But now, where could Guan Shao find a healing esper?

Guan Shao had already thought about this, “I heard that a survivor base has been established in City N to the west, I originally wanted to take the child there to see.” 

But he encountered the black rain on the way and his journey was delayed.

Since the internet and phones became unusable, humans panicked for a while. However, the power of the masses is great, and soon everyone discovered they could use radios to send signals and receive messages via broadcasts or mobile phones. Although they couldn’t talk to relatives and friends, being able to hear the outside world’s voice was a beacon of hope for people in despair.

After the Great Crisis, Guan Shao often heard news from various survivor bases on the radio. The passionate voices on the broadcast told everyone: Welcome to the base, where you can feel the warmth of a big family and live a stable life.

Upon hearing the words “survivor base,” Jiang Rong stopped squeezing the peach. When he first heard the news of survivor bases in his past life, Jiang Rong was filled with anticipation and joy, thinking it was a refuge for ordinary people. It wasn’t until he personally went there that he realized there are no free lunches in this world.

From the moment abilities appeared, people began to divide humanity into different categories. Ordinary people outside the base became exploited objects. In his past life, Jiang Rong mortgaged his car outside the base gate just to get himself, his son, and the dog inside.

He thought that after entering the base, he would definitely live a good life and then redeem his car. But after truly entering, he realized the base was a hellhole for ordinary people, eating them alive without blinking an eye.

In the base, everything requires points, and ordinary people have to work day and night just to earn a small amount of points. Those points barely sustain their livelihood, let alone lead a good life.

Survivor bases are not good places. In his past life, he and his son suffered a lot inside. Therefore, no matter how the broadcast boasts about the treatment and environment, he will just smile it off.

But Guan Shao is not an ordinary person; he’s an esper. If he goes to the base, he should be treated well based on his abilities. Jiang Rong nodded slightly, “That’s good. City N base isn’t far from here. If you go there, you should be able to find a good job.”

Guan Shao chuckled, “I don’t plan to stay in the base.”

Jiang Rong was taken aback, “Hmm?”

Guan Shao said seriously, “I’m just going to find a healing esper to help treat the child. I don’t plan to stay there.”

Jiang Rong raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled, “Then you might need to prepare some exchange materials.” 

Espers aren’t philanthropists; it’s impossible to ask them to do something without offering something in return.

Guan Shao nodded slightly, “Hmm, alright.”

At that moment, the two children finished eating the peach slices on their plates. Jiang Xiaoheng carried the empty plate and walked into the kitchen, followed by Jiang Hao. Seeing the two children being so obedient, Jiang Rong’s heart melted, “Finished? Do you want more to eat?”

After cutting another peach for the two children, Jiang Rong casually glanced back and found Guan Shao looking at him with a deep gaze. Guan Shao had a strong presence when he looked serious, but as he smiled slightly, the pressure dissipated. After spending some time with Guan Shao, Jiang Rong found him to be very sensible.

During Guan Shao’s coma, Jiang Rong had been thinking about how to answer if Guan Shao asked him some questions. Such as why his house had electricity, why he built such sturdy houses in the woods… Jiang Rong had prepared answers for the questions Guan Shao might ask. If Guan Shao asked too many questions, he would let him leave early. After all, during the apocalypse, no one wanted someone who liked to pry into things around them.

However, since Guan Shao woke up, he hadn’t asked any questions. Furthermore, whenever Jiang Rong wanted to do something, Guan Shao always did it before him.

Jiang Rong found that Guan Shao could do almost all household chores. Whether it was cooking rice, mopping the floor, or washing clothes, he was proficient. He could easily operate most of the household appliances with a little exploration.

Of course, there were things he couldn’t figure out. For example, now Guan Shao was contemplating in front of the diligent floor-cleaning machine. The tall man sat on the sofa, holding slippers in his hand with a serious expression. If one didn’t know any better, they would think the floor-cleaning machine had offended him.

After observing for a while, Guan Shao suddenly said, “Can it clean windows?”

Jiang Rong shook his head, “No, it can only sweep and mop the floor.”

Upon hearing this answer, Guan Shao surprisingly smiled satisfactorily, “Very well.”

Jiang Rong scratched his cheek in confusion. This… was a strange question. After spending most of the day with Guan Shao, Jiang Xiaoheng had gotten used to having an uncle at home. He took out his cherished cartoons and toys to play with Guan Shao and Jiang Hao. It was evident that he liked Uncle Guan Shao and the little brother.

Time flew by, and it was time for father and son to go out for a walk in the evening. Normally at this time, Jiang Rong would take his son for a walk around the back mountain or to Uncle Li’s orchard to relax and inspect the nearby area. The father and son knew very well what was nearby.

These past few days of black rain, Jiang Xiaoheng had been cooped up at home. Now that it was time for a walk, he eagerly put on his sun hat with a little yellow duck and sunscreen clothes, “Daddy, can we take Uncle and little brother for a walk?”

After Jiang Rong agreed and looked at Guan Shao, “Guan Shao, do you want to go out for some fresh air?”

This was a test. If Guan Shao said he didn’t want to go out, Jiang Rong would see what Guan Shao would do when he wasn’t at home. If he took the opportunity to pry into the secrets of his house, Jiang Rong would not hesitate to kick him and Jiang Hao out to sweep the floor.

It’s not that he was cruel, but after experiencing many people turning against each other for a little material in his past life, he didn’t want to leave any hidden dangers.

As a result, Guan Shao nodded without hesitation, “Okay.” However, he had a small request, “Is there a water bottle at home? I’d like to take some water with me.”

Guan Shao liked drinking water. Before the Great Crisis, he would drink several pots of water every day. The first time Jiang Rong met him, he was filling up his water bottle. Unfortunately, his usual water bottle was lost, and it was a bit difficult to find a similar one now.

Jiang Rong had many water bottles at home. In order for Jiang Xiaoheng to drink water well, he bought no less than ten water bottles. After opening the cabinet, Guan Shao immediately set his sights on the largest glass water bottle that could hold one liter of water, “This one will do.”

Jiang Rong looked at the glass cup that could hold one liter of water and wanted to tell Guan Shao that they were just going for a short walk and wouldn’t go too far.

*

When the four were ready to leave, Jiang Rong’s ability had returned. Just as they stepped into the courtyard, Little Fairy hung cheerfully on the west side of the courtyard wall, greeting itself, “Master Jiang~”

After a day of hard work rubbing off the grime, Little Fairy finally managed to remove most of the stains from its body. Its body regained its emerald green color, only some black rain had soaked into the thorns, staining the yellow spikes with blotches of black, giving it a very domineering appearance.

The huge Eyries cactus suddenly moved, startling Guan Shao into stepping back and assuming a defensive posture, while Jiang Hao exclaimed, “Ah!”

Seeing the two react like this, Jiang Rong quickly introduced, “Don’t be afraid, this is our mutated Eyries cactus, Little Fairy.”

Little Fairy shook the thorns on its body towards the people in the courtyard, then bloomed several gorgeous big red flowers. Seeing the big red flowers, Jiang Hao’s fear of the Eyries cactus dissipated a lot. Seeing Jiang Xiaoheng bury his face in the flowers, he slowly raised his hand to touch the soft petals.

Guan Shao’s expression was very subtle. When he went out into the yard this morning, he noticed a huge Eyries cactus outside. But since the Eyries cactus remained still, he thought it was just like other mutated plants, just bigger in size, and shouldn’t pose any threat to humans.

Never did he expect this thing to move. Not only that, it could even talk.

Watching Little Fairy continuously rub against Jiang Rong with its big red flowers, Guan Shao exclaimed, “This is the first time I’ve encountered a talking mutated plant.” 

It was also the first time he had encountered such a lively and affectionate mutated plant.

Jiang Rong smiled and said, “My Little Fairy is just a small one…” Suddenly he froze, “What did you say?”

Guan Shao glanced at Jiang Rong in confusion, then repeated what he had just said, “Is there a problem?”

Upon hearing the words “is there a problem,” Little Fairy responded enthusiastically, “Master Jiang, Master Jiang~ There’s a problem~”

Hearing Little Fairy’s voice, Jiang Xiaoheng was extremely happy, “Daddy, Little Fairy can talk now! Daddy, did you hear that?”

Jiang Rong looked at Little Fairy in disbelief. Apart from himself, no one could hear Little Fairy’s voice before. After a black rain, its voice could now be heard by ordinary people, indicating its ability had improved.

After being covered in pollen by Little Fairy, Jiang Xiaoheng held Lele’s paw with one hand and his little brother’s hand with the other, singing as they walked towards the direction of the vine-covered path, “Little brother, I’ll take you to Grandpa Li’s house to see the fruit trees. They have a lot of trees there.”

Jiang Hao obediently followed Jiang Xiaoheng, and upon hearing his words, he nodded slowly. Behind the two children, Jiang Rong and Guan Shao walked side by side. There was a cluster of electric light flickering between Guan Shao’s fingers, “My ability has strengthened a lot, I think it’s because of the black rain.”

Jiang Rong also had the same feeling. He felt that his ability was growing rapidly. He had already figured out the reason Guan Shao analyzed. Now he was more interested in Guan Shao’s ability, “You’re an electric esper, right? That’s impressive.”

There was only one natural esper among a hundred thousand, and their abilities were much stronger than ordinary espers. In his previous life, Jiang Rong had only heard of the existence of electric espers, never expected to see one with his own eyes in this life.

Guan Shao glanced at Jiang Rong curiously, “What’s so impressive about it?”

Jiang Rong chuckled, “Electric abilities are good, walking power banks.” 

If there was an electric esper in the house, why bother installing solar panels? Just let the esper generate electricity directly when there was no power.

Guan Shao couldn’t help but laugh. After laughing enough, Jiang Rong heard his deep voice, “If you ever need electricity in the future, I’ll charge you.”

It was just a very ordinary sentence, but Jiang Rong’s ears suddenly felt hot, he turned his head, “Sure.”

As they walked through the vine-covered path, they came to a small stream flowing with black-gray water. The heavy rain in the past few days had caused the water level in the stream to rise sharply, bringing a brief false prosperity to the stream.

They couldn’t walk on the riverbed now, so they had to cross the small bridge over the stream. The so-called small bridge was just a simple arrangement of a few planks. They were unlucky as one of the planks slipped off the bridge pier, making the already narrow bridge even narrower.

The two children obviously had never walked on such a narrow bridge without railings, and they stood at the edge of the bridge, feeling scared. Jiang Xiaoheng looked at Jiang Rong with a helpless expression, “Daddy, the bridge is on a diet…”

Jiang Xiaoheng had a limited vocabulary and sometimes came up with unexpected words. Jiang Rong couldn’t help but smile, “Don’t be afraid, Daddy will carry you.”

Before Jiang Rong could step forward, Guan Shao stepped forward and held one of the children. Jiang Xiaoheng exclaimed and hugged Guan Shao’s neck, while Jiang Hao also reached out and hugged him.

Amidst the children’s exclamations and laughter, the three of them had already crossed the small bridge. Jiang Rong stood on the other side of the bridge, watching this heartwarming scene, feeling surprisingly relieved.

Guan Shao put the two children down on the other side, then quickly walked back to Jiang Rong and reached out his hand, “There’s moss on the bridge, let me help you across.”

Jiang Rong looked at Guan Shao’s slender fingers and smiled after a moment, “No need, I can cross this bridge even with my eyes closed.” When he was a child, the bridge pier was round and smooth, and he and Chu Qiang used to run around here all the time.

Seeing Jiang Rong calmly walking ahead, Guan Shao silently looked at his own palm, a faint sense of loss in his eyes.

In the past, there were only Uncle Li and his wife in Uncle Li’s orchard, but today there were more than a dozen people in the orchard. These people were of all ages and both men and women, holding bags or baskets, picking fruit from the trees.

They were completely disorderly, picking fruits whether they were ripe or not, and because of their rough actions, many branches of the fruit trees were broken. The broken branches exposed pale white cracks, and the undersized fruits and leaves fell to the ground. The whole orchard looked like it had been ravaged by locusts.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Xiaoheng burst into tears. Since returning home, he loved to come to Grandpa Li’s orchard with Daddy. Every time he smelled the fragrance of fruits, he would be very happy. How could his favorite fruit trees become like this? Big drops of tears rolled down Jiang Xiaoheng’s cheeks, “The trees are hurt, wuwuwu…”

The child’s cry attracted the attention of the fruit pickers, and their actions became much more restrained, and their voices lowered a lot, “That’s the wood-element esper.” 

“How did he come here?”

Jiang Rong carried the sobbing child towards Uncle Li’s shack. Under the eaves, Uncle Li was smoking with a dark face, while Aunt Li’s eyes were swollen like peaches. Sitting beside the old couple was a young couple, the man looked somewhat like Uncle Li, and the pregnant woman’s belly was as big as a drum.

Seeing Jiang Rong and his son approaching, Uncle Li turned his head sadly and wiped away his tears with his bony hands. Aunt Li took a glance at the red-faced Jiang Xiaoheng and started shedding tears as well.

At this moment, the polite man stood up and approached Jiang Rong with a smile on his face, extending his hand, “Jiang Rong, long time no see! I’m Li Xiaojun. Do you still remember me?”

The pregnant woman sitting down didn’t have the same good complexion as Li Xiaojun. She rolled her eyes at Jiang Rong and his son, showing her disgust without trying to conceal it.

Those who didn’t know the situation thought Li Xiaojun was here on an official inspection. Jiang Rong ignored Li Xiaojun’s outstretched hands and calmly met his gaze, “I remember.”

Li Xiaojun was Uncle Li’s only son and also the “other people’s kid” that Chu Qiang hated the most. He had excelled academically, relying on Uncle Li and Aunt Li’s money from planting fruit trees to pursue his studies. After graduation, he entered a coveted institution, married a beautiful wife, and lived in a luxurious villa.

If it weren’t for the Great Crisis, Li Xiaojun would be the winner in life, with a loving wife and a flourishing career. Unfortunately, his luck turned sour when he encountered the Great Crisis. After the crisis, the proud institution he worked for disappeared, and there was no water or electricity in the city, making life impossible. The advantages of the villa were lost compared to the houses in the countryside, so Li Xiaojun returned to his hometown with his family.

People with relatives and friends in the countryside all sought refuge with them, and those without, created opportunities to seek refuge. Li Xiaojun’s wife’s relatives were the latter. Leveraging distant relationships, their family of more than ten squeezed into Uncle Li’s villa.

It’s easy to invite the gods, but hard to send them away. Uncle Li and Aunt Li knew this well. They had advised Li Xiaojun at the beginning, but couldn’t resist their son’s generosity.

Li Xiaojun said that their family were all grassroots people, they owed everything to the support of his wife’s family. He said these more than ten people didn’t come to freeload, they brought money and some supplies, enough to sustain themselves for a while. Now was a critical moment, testing the hearts of people. If they didn’t take care of these more than ten people well, it would hurt his wife’s family’s feelings. After the crisis passed, his family and career would be over.

For the sake of their son, Uncle Li and Aunt Li endured. During this time, the old couple scrimped and saved, using whatever they couldn’t bear to eat or use on these people.

But after all, there were more than ten people, and they needed to eat, drink, and relieve themselves as soon as they opened their eyes. Uncle Li’s refrigerator emptied quickly, and the hard-earned stockpile was soon consumed. So this group of people set their sights on the fruits in the orchard, and a few days ago, they proposed to come to the orchard to take a look.

Uncle Li and Aunt Li knew what they were up to, after refusing for a few days, Li Xiaojun finally confronted the old couple today. These people couldn’t live happily in the village anymore and were ready to go to the survivor base in City N.

Since they were all preparing to leave, these fruit trees were useless to keep. It was better to pick all the fruits, so they could have something to eat on the way. That’s why this group of people appeared in the orchard.

Uncle Li and Aunt Li were powerless to stop the tragedy from happening, they could only sit under the eaves and cry. If it were someone else destroying their orchard, they would have fought with knives. But the one who destroyed the orchard with their own hands was their son, the pride of their lives. How could they choose?

Seeing Jiang Rong not extending his hand, Li Xiaojun awkwardly withdrew his hand and wiped it on his pants, “I heard from my parents. Thank you for taking care of and contributing to our orchard during this time. It’s like this, I’m planning to take my parents to the survivor base. After we leave, the orchard will be left to you. You are a wood-element esper, I hope these fruit trees will be helpful to you.”

Those who didn’t know might think Jiang Rong had scored a big advantage. Jiang Rong remained silent with a stern face. At this moment, a sharp female voice came from beside him, “Oh dear, I’m so annoyed, it’s so stuffy and hot. Are we done yet? Let’s go back first.”

Li Xiaojun quickly turned around and walked to the pregnant woman’s side, lowering his voice, “Qianqian, hold on a little longer, we haven’t packed up yet.”

Cao Qian impatiently wiped the sweat from her forehead and pointed to the farm tools under the eaves, “What’s there to pack up? We don’t need them even when we go to the base. Look at all these things, they’re so dirty!”

Li Xiaojun hurriedly apologized in a low voice, and Qianqian snorted and glanced at Uncle Li and Aunt Li, “If it weren’t for my Daddy knowing the leader of the base in City N, do you think anyone could go to the base?”

 

 

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