Chapter 75: After Dawn, As if Nothing Happened

"Chen Ye, did I say you could leave?"

Just as Chen Ye was about to get up, the pink-haired girl grabbed his pant leg.

Chen Ye slightly furrowed his brows.

He wasn't the kind of man who couldn't move when he saw a woman.

Even if the pink-haired girl was very cute, and even quite useful.

But his patience had its limits.

When Chen Ye looked down, he saw the pink-haired girl's large, watery eyes actually brimming with tears.

Under the illumination of the bloody moonlight, there was a strangely enchanting, pitiful beauty.

It was a very chaotic kind of beauty.

To borrow a popular internet phrase, this was the pinnacle of pure desire.

Chen Ye had never seen Nana like this before.

Captain Chu Che beside them perked up completely when he saw this scene, his usually calm eyes.

Now looking like a dog that had spotted a bone.

Chen Ye was certain he could see the blazing fire of gossip in this guy's eyes.

"Ahem... that... you two chat slowly, I'm tired, going back to rest first."

Damn, wasn't that my line just now?

"Captain Chu, it's not... not what you think..."

"Your uncle..."

Chu Che chuckled ambiguously: "I understand, don't worry, no one will disturb you."

"Chu Che, you bastard!"

Chen Ye wanted to pull his leg free.

The pink-haired girl tightly hugged Chen Ye's thigh, making it impossible for him to leave.

Chen Ye suppressed the impatience in his heart, thinking: for the sake of being in the same convoy, for the sake of you being the convoy's top fighter, for the sake that you might be helpful to me in the future.

I'll be a bit more patient today.

"Nana, you've had too much to drink..."

"I haven't... this is nothing..."

"Chen Ye... listen to me..."

The girl struggled to prop herself up against Chen Ye's shoulder, her body reeking of alcohol.

During the earlier meal, the girl hadn't eaten much.

This woman seemed to have something on her mind today, so she had been drinking continuously.

As everyone knows, when drunk people start saying "listen to me," it means there's a story to hear.

"Chen Ye, do you know? Actually... actually my name isn't Nana, I'm Xixi, Nana is my sister's name, Sun Na..."

When Chu Che sensed there might be gossip tonight.

This outwardly proper but inwardly passionate Captain Chu felt like eight hundred ants were crawling all over him, inside and out.

Captain Chu liked hearing secrets.

Sometimes secrets meant gossip.

But Captain Chu didn't like hearing gossip directly, and didn't even want to be a participant in the gossip.

He liked eavesdropping.

Listening to others' secrets without them knowing.

For Chu Che, this was practically the ultimate nourishment in life.

Chu Che remembered to tell Old Bao to have people not disturb Chen Ye and Nana.

Then he returned to his own vehicle and turned on the Eavesdropping Radio.

He even had time to brew a pot of Pu'er tea.

"Chen Ye, do you know?..."

Perhaps because the battle with the Human-Faced Scorpion during the day had stirred up the deepest, darkest secret hidden in the girl's heart.

Chen Ye didn't speak, quietly playing the role of listener.

Even Chen Ye couldn't help feeling shocked when he heard this story.

Nana's original surname was Sun, Sun Xixi.

Nana was her sister's nickname.

If not for the apocalypse, Nana, no, Sun Xixi might now be a freshman at a top domestic university, living carefree days in the ivory tower.

Sun Xixi was born into a very happy family.

Including her, there were seven people in the family: grandparents, parents, an older sister, herself, and a younger brother.

The family was well-off, both parents had respectable jobs with considerable income, and they were prominent figures locally.

The grandparents received tens of thousands in pension each month.

The sister was also a graduate student at a famous domestic university with very bright prospects after graduation.

As for the younger brother, although somewhat mischievous, he was still quite cute.

Such a family was undoubtedly enviable.

Sun Xixi had felt happy countless times because of her family.

Until one day, everything changed.

She had just received her admission notice yesterday.

The next morning when she woke up, Sun Xixi saw all her family members crowded at the door.

Seeming to be looking at something.

Sun Xixi rubbed her eyes and came to the door wearing her cute little bear nightgown.

What met her eyes was an incredibly huge tree.

The tree's trunk was very thick, completely blocking the front door.

The Sun family's house was a standalone three-story European-style villa where the whole family lived together.

This huge tree was growing in the villa's front yard.

Sun Xixi recognized this tree - it was an ornamental tree her grandfather had planted in the front yard.

Just not this big.

The tree canopy almost covered the entire Sun family house.

Even the doorway was blocked.

If her father wanted to go out for help, he could only jump from the window into the yard.

That scene was something Sun Xixi would never forget for her entire life.

That huge tree opened its big mouth and, amid Sun Xixi's screams and the whole family's watching eyes, swallowed her father in one gulp.

"That tree, it was alive!"

"It... it ate my... my..."

Bean-sized tears dripped down the girl's cheeks, her body trembling slightly.

Chen Ye had no choice but to reach out and comfortingly stroke the girl's pink hair.

But in his heart, he was muttering.

Why trees again?

The great willow in Longevity Village before, and now this man-eating tree...

Or do these two trees have something in common?

The pink-haired girl tremblingly raised the beer in her hand and took a huge gulp, yellow alcohol sliding down her fair neck, soaking the front of her clothes.

"That huge tree..."

That eerie huge tree, after swallowing her father in front of the whole family, became activated.

Branches like pythons forcibly drilled through the walls into the interior.

Grandparents, mother, younger brother - all were caught by those python-like branches.

Like eating at a buffet, it swallowed her entire family piece by piece in front of Sun Xixi.

Only her sister and herself remained, trembling and hiding in the corner.

Sun Xixi's mind went completely blank at that time.

Fortunately, her sister Sun Nana, being older, discovered a cruel pattern about this huge tree.

The tree was relatively safe while eating people.

This discovery made Sun Nana make a decision.

When Sun Nana was being carried by branches toward that huge mouth, she pushed her sister out.

Sacrificing herself, leaving the only survival chance to Sun Xixi.

Seeing her sister being swallowed, Sun Xixi momentarily lost her mind, foolishly standing in place.

Just when Sun Xixi thought she was going to die.

That eerie huge tree stopped attacking, and a bright red fruit like blood appeared before Sun Xixi's eyes.

The enticing fruit fragrance constantly stimulated Sun Xixi.

According to Sun Xixi's own account, she didn't know why at the time, but she grabbed that fruit and ate it voraciously.

Even... Sun Xixi tasted the flavors of her grandparents, parents, sister, and younger brother in that fruit.

This description might not be appropriate, but that's what Sun Xixi said.

"Chen Ye, do you know why you're all Sequence 1, while I'm Sequence 2?"

By now the girl was already tear-streaked, her face unrecognizable, her whole body limp like mud.

Chen Ye already had some guesses about the girl's question.

Could it be because of that fruit?

This...

Captain Chu Che eavesdropping in his vehicle now had an extremely grim expression.

He could confirm that Nana, no, Sun Xixi's rapid advancement was probably because of that fruit stained with her blood relatives' blood.

"Hehe... it was that fruit!"

"Chen Ye... I... I ate my... entire family..."

Tears poured down like rain.

The girl had no strength left at all, and after saying this, her whole body went limp on Chen Ye's shoulder.

Chen Ye remained silent.

When it came to comforting people, he really didn't know how.

But in this situation, saying nothing really wasn't appropriate.

After thinking for a long time, Chen Ye opened his dry mouth and said: "This isn't your fault."

"It's the apocalypse, everyone's pretty much the same... everyone has lost loved ones."

This was such a poorly phrased statement.

"I actually don't like drinking at all, I never drank a drop before."

"But if I don't drink, I'll think, every day I'll think, every minute, every second, the faces of my grandparents, parents, sister, and brother are right before my eyes!"

The girl was tearful and pitiful.

Chen Ye felt he still needed to comfort her, exhausting his brain cells to say: "What's the use of crying? The most important thing for you now is revenge!"

"When you become strong, go back and chop that tree down for firewood!"

Captain Chu Che eavesdropping not far away developed a black line on his forehead - who comforts people like that?

But Sun Xixi suddenly raised her head.

The word "revenge" had never occurred to her before.

Her entire family died overnight, the murderer was a tree, how could she take revenge?

But Chen Ye's words opened a door for her.

Yes, so what if it's a tree? Why can't I take revenge?

It can eat my family, I can chop it down for revenge!

Sun Xixi's eyes grew brighter and brighter, shining like stars in the sky.

"Chen Ye! To the vehicle..."

"Ah?"

"You..."

The blood moon in the sky grew shy, covering its eyes with clouds.

The petite Xiao Yu cursed and scrambled out of the vehicle, her face red.

Still muttering about getting styes or something.

As for Captain Chu Che in the off-road vehicle not far away, when he heard the sounds coming from the Eavesdropping Radio, he jumped as if scalded, quickly turning off the radio, his expression extremely unpleasant.

"My ears, dirty, dirty!"

"Bastards, Chen Ye, Sun Xixi, you two... you two... shameless! Dog couple!"

As for the others, some chuckled coldly.

Some had lewd expressions.

Only Xu Lina had a face so gloomy it could rain.

For Chen Ye.

This kind of thing was completely normal, Sun Xixi was over eighteen, an adult.

He wasn't a saintly gentleman, nor was he Liu Xiahui.

After dawn, they would act like this never happened.