Chapter Eight: Fate's Cruel Design

Standing not far away, Qin Sheng sighed and then turned her back to Jiang Miaomiao and the others. What she had always wanted to accomplish still hadn’t come to pass—Jiang Ming was infected, and Jiang Miaomiao, just like in her previous life, was enduring the same ordeal.

Song Qing’an noticed something was wrong with Qin Sheng and mimicked her by turning around as well, still leaning lazily, and said lightly, “Fate toys with us.”

Qin Sheng glanced at Song Qing’an, then lowered her head with helplessness. “It seems there truly is nothing to be done.”

Song Qing’an looked at the dejected Qin Sheng, pursed her lips, and said nothing.

What had happened had happened. Even a god could not change things, let alone mere mortals. Birth, aging, illness, and death cannot be reversed.

Qin Sheng's fists gradually tightened, her gaze suddenly more determined than ever. Everything seemed to urge her to accept fate, but unfortunately, she never had faith in that. Qin Sheng only believed in herself.

Leaning carelessly against the wall, arms crossed, Song Qing’an never took her eyes off Qin Sheng. Seeing her shift from bewildered to resolute in the span of a few seconds, she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Ten minutes felt both long and short.

For ten minutes, Jiang Miaomiao and Jiang Ming said nothing, simply holding each other and savoring their final moments of warmth.

“Ah Jiang.” Jiang Ming called Jiang Miaomiao’s name softly, and she reluctantly let him go.

Jiang Ming limped over to stand before Qin Sheng and Song Qing’an.

“It’s a pity time is tight, and I can’t thank you properly.” Even facing death, Jiang Ming remained courteous and humble. If fate weren’t so cruel, Qin Sheng truly believed she would one day attend their wedding.

Qin Sheng shook her head gently. “This was Miaomiao’s wish. No thanks necessary.”

Jiang Ming glanced softly at Jiang Miaomiao and gave a light laugh. “I’ll have to trouble you to look after Ah Jiang from now on. I’m afraid I…” He shook his head and laughed, as if resigned but endlessly pained.

How could he bear to let go?

She was the Ah Jiang he had waited for ten years.

“All right,” Qin Sheng nodded, then added, “Don’t worry.”

Jiang Ming smiled and nodded, then turned back to Jiang Miaomiao.

“It’s all right, Ah Jiang. I’ll always be here.” Jiang Miaomiao’s eyes were red and swollen from crying. She kept shaking her head and clinging tightly to Jiang Ming’s clothes, refusing to let him go.

At last, Jiang Ming embraced Jiang Miaomiao, holding her as if to imprint her on his very bones. When she was unguarded, he let her go in an instant, turned, and leapt from the seventh floor.

As Jiang Ming felt the weightlessness, the bashful heart-throb of youth flashed through his eyes, and tears slipped gently from the corners.

“From now on, forget about me…” he murmured, closing his eyes.

“No!” Jiang Miaomiao rushed after him, but Qin Sheng intercepted her at the last second, stopping her from following him over the edge.

Jiang Miaomiao could no longer cry; her voice was hoarse. “Qin Sheng, let me go. Let me be with him, please?”

Qin Sheng hadn’t forgotten what Jiang Ming had just asked of her. She held Jiang Miaomiao even tighter.

Unable to break free, Jiang Miaomiao collapsed into tears against Qin Sheng, weeping in anguish.

Qin Sheng said nothing, only hugging Jiang Miaomiao back, soothing her with gentle pats on the back.

No one knew how much time passed. Jiang Miaomiao was utterly silent in Qin Sheng’s arms, unable to accept Jiang Ming’s departure, and in the end fainted there.

Qin Sheng quietly got up, settling Jiang Miaomiao’s limp form on her shoulder, and with her arms around her, carried her down from the rooftop.

Passing by Song Qing’an, Qin Sheng paused, looked at him, and whispered, “Thank you for today.”

Song Qing’an nodded, saying nothing.

Qin Sheng stopped at the door to their dormitory, her brows furrowing with a bad premonition.

Following the knock code they had agreed upon before, Qin Sheng knocked countless times, but there was no response from within, as if the room was uninhabited.

A cold, murderous glint flashed in Qin Sheng’s eyes. She stood at the dormitory door for a long time, then, supporting Jiang Miaomiao, headed to another empty dorm at the end of the corridor.

After settling Jiang Miaomiao, Qin Sheng reinforced the door again and gathered all the remaining water and food from the room. She then took out some sticky notes she’d casually bought, left a message for Jiang Miaomiao, and headed out once more.

“Ziyue, are we really doing the right thing? What if something happens to Miaomiao and Qin Sheng?” In the dorm, Huo Ran had been pacing around Yu Ziyue for ages, muttering the same worry. Yu Ziyue was already sick of hearing it.

“Why worry so much? In this environment, survival is up to one’s own ability. Besides, isn’t Qin Sheng supposed to be so capable?” Yu Ziyue rummaged through the spot where Qin Sheng used to stash food, finding only a few compressed biscuits and some chips, and curled her lip in disdain.

Huo Ran was timid by nature. Like Yu Ziyue, she had little food left and had long coveted Qin Sheng’s supplies, though she’d never had the nerve to take any. After Yu Ziyue’s assurance, she mustered up the courage to promise not to open the door for Qin Sheng and Jiang Miaomiao.

Now, even eating was fraught with tension.

Yu Ziyue certainly didn’t feel guilty. She opened a bag of chips and spoke with her mouth full, “Tch, I thought Qin Sheng would have more food. All that talk about hotpot and self-heating meals—turns out it’s just a few odds and ends.”

Seeing this, Huo Ran refrained from taking a bag of chips and instead picked up a compressed biscuit under Yu Ziyue’s gaze.

“We agreed, Huo Ran, the split is seventy-thirty. After all, I’m the one doing this with a guilty conscience, so I take the bigger share.” Yu Ziyue arrogantly stated her terms.

Huo Ran took a reluctant bite of her biscuit, not daring to protest.

Outside the window, Qin Sheng heard their conversation clearly and let out a cold laugh, a sly glint in her eyes.

“The national middle school students’ radio calisthenics begins now… First, the stretching exercise…”

Just as Yu Ziyue was about to close her eyes and sleep, she was startled awake by the sudden announcement. Before she could react, the snarls of zombies erupted outside the dorm. Drawn by the noise, countless zombies began pounding on the door, their furious howls making Yu Ziyue and Huo Ran tremble as they clung to each other in terror.

“Karma.”

The petite figure outside the window left behind these words, then nimbly leapt to another windowsill like a lithe cat, slipping freely through the night.

“Quite the temper.”

Song Qing’an, who had witnessed all of Qin Sheng’s little tricks, curled his lips in amusement, his eyes gleaming with growing interest.

After savoring Qin Sheng’s revenge, Song Qing’an lightly stepped over two windowsills and effortlessly descended from the seventh-floor rooftop to the ground, not the least bit encumbered.

He crouched beside Jiang Ming’s lifeless body, his expression unusually solemn and earnest.

“A devoted soul. What a pity.”

As soon as he spoke, a white light began to shimmer on Jiang Ming’s forehead. As if expecting it, Song Qing’an waved his hand, and the glow vanished instantly.

Rising to leave, Song Qing’an’s gaze lingered on Jiang Ming. With a sigh, he disappeared on the spot, taking Jiang Ming with him.

After a night of relentless zombie harassment, Yu Ziyue felt she was on the verge of madness. The zombies seemed to take turns, coming again and again. Her heart had endured a rollercoaster all night long, never daring to relax for fear of falling prey to them.

Meanwhile, the architect of it all had long since returned to her room to sleep soundly.

Jiang Miaomiao still hadn’t woken, as if trapped in a nightmare, lying in a deep sleep. Qin Sheng, while practicing with her Tang sword, checked on her from time to time, worried something might go wrong.

The entire morning passed without incident, but by afternoon, Jiang Miaomiao began to run a high fever.

Fortunately, Qin Sheng had prepared plenty of emergency medicine, giving her antipyretics and using water from her storage to cool her physically.

Once Jiang Miaomiao’s fever subsided, Qin Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. She knew perfectly well she could have simply ignored Jiang Miaomiao, but her soft heart could not bear it. Perhaps Jiang Miaomiao’s predicament resonated too much with her own past.

Yet being here had its advantages. Qin Sheng grew bolder in retrieving supplies from her storage, and soon the table was piled high. While waiting for her self-heating snail noodles to finish, she changed clothes and headed out again.

Based on her memory, Qin Sheng went to where Jiang Ming should have been, but after searching countless times, he seemed to have vanished without a trace.

“That’s not right…” she murmured. Suddenly, the image of the white-haired, wolf-tailed youth flashed in her mind. Had he taken Jiang Ming away?

Qin Sheng wasn’t sure; she didn’t even know his name, let alone why he had come to Capital University.

The mystery rose again in her mind, but Qin Sheng had a strong feeling she would see him again—and that feeling only grew stronger.

“Hey, come up quickly. It’s not safe down there.”

Qin Sheng looked up and saw four or five energetic young men on the upper floor. One of them, speaking in a hushed tone, beckoned for her to come up.

This was the women’s dorm, so the presence of four or five men was odd.

Raising an eyebrow, Qin Sheng recalled what Lin Xing and Chu Xingyu had mentioned about a rescue team the other day.

It seemed it was finally their dorm’s turn.

“Miss, it’s not safe over there. Please come up quickly…” The bespectacled, fair-skinned boy in the group reminded her again in a low voice.

Qin Sheng knew better than anyone the situation in this area. If she had come out, it was only because it was absolutely safe for the time being. There would be no large zombie horde here for a while; otherwise, even this rescue team wouldn’t have made it inside.