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墨書 Inktalez
As Jiao Ziqian walked into the Stilt House, he found Song Jiu alone in the room. The furnishings were all in their places, except for the bed, which was a bit disheveled. The carved window was half-open, and wisps of smoke drifted out through the gap. Song Jiu sat cross-legged by the bed, and upon hearing the door creak open, he glanced up briefly before lowering his head again, letting out a low sigh as he pressed his fingers against his temples in fatigue.
Jiao Ziqian opened his mouth to speak but swallowed his words instead. He quietly closed the door behind him and tiptoed over to the rattan chair beside the bed. Watching the silent Song Jiu, he felt an unusual sensation in his heart. The man who had emerged from a sea of corpses and blood seemed to be in a rather strange mood—there was annoyance and also a sense of loss.
“ Brother Jiu,” Jiao Ziqian coughed lightly, tentatively asking, “What’s wrong?”
Song Jiu lifted his eyelids slightly and shook his head gently. “Nothing.”
Jiao Ziqian glanced at the door and whispered, “I ran into her just now when I came up.”
“Hmm.” Song Jiu responded with a nod.
“You two…” Jiao Ziqian’s curiosity was as strong as ever.
Song Jiu offered a bitter smile in response, pondering how to begin but unsure of where to start.
A few minutes earlier, Song Jiu had rushed into the room with a flushed face, only to be greeted by the sight of a beauty waking up in the morning.
Natalia, still groggy from sleep, slipped into a linen dress and yawned as she got out of bed. Upon seeing Song Jiu standing dumbfounded at the door, a smile appeared on her exquisitely delicate face, reminiscent of a Barbie doll. She tilted her head at him in a way that left him puzzled. After briefly tidying her flowing hair, she floated past him and planted a light kiss on his cheek before stepping out, leaving Song Jiu alone amidst the morning chaos of the Stilt House.
What did that mean?
Song Jiu was bewildered. A one-night stand after drinking too much left him with no memory of what had happened. Not only was Jiao Ziqian confused; Song Jiu himself was equally lost. He had been completely drunk—how could he wake up to find a naked girl beside him? It wasn’t that he considered himself particularly virtuous; it was just that this situation was so unclear. How should he view their relationship now?
Since the disaster struck, Song Jiu had only one woman in his life—Dream Fan. Although outsiders might see their relationship as chaotic, both parties understood it clearly; even though Luo Yu had traveled with him for so long, their bond remained platonic—just friendship without any romantic entanglements. So what did this sudden turn of events mean?
“I can’t drink anymore,” Song Jiu finally said after a long silence, his brow furrowed.
Jiao Ziqian stared at him for a while before bursting into laughter. “What’s the big deal? I thought you had some feelings for that girl; otherwise, why would you bring her back?”
Song Jiu shot him a glance, feeling as if he were covered in yellow mud from the waist down, unable to explain himself. In truth, when he brought the Mud Monkey back to the camp, he had no clear reason for doing so; it was simply that the scene at that moment had stirred some deep-seated memories within him. To put it bluntly, it was nothing more than an overflow of sympathy, with no ulterior motives involved.
"I’m serious, everyone’s an adult here. What’s the big deal?" Jiao Ziqian couldn’t grasp Song Jiu’s current feelings. The reason he had rushed over early in the morning was out of sheer curiosity, yet Song Jiu's demeanor left him baffled.
Song Jiu stared blankly for a while, took a couple of puffs from his pipe, and asked with a frown, "So I came back with her last night?"
"Yeah."
"How did we get back?" Song Jiu furrowed his brows in confusion. "I don’t remember anything."
"I saw you were completely out of it," Jiao Ziqian chuckled foolishly, scratching his head. "Luo Yu and I brought you two back."
"What?" Song Jiu’s muddled mind suddenly exploded with clarity, the effects of his hangover dissipating entirely. He exclaimed, "Luo Yu?"
"Yeah, what’s wrong?" Jiao Ziqian was even more confused by Song Jiu's reaction. He recalled, "Actually, everyone was pretty much drunk. I don’t even remember how Blonde Woman ended up with you. But on the way back, you were holding onto her tightly and wouldn’t let go. It was Luo Yu who suggested you two should just stay together."
Song Jiu was utterly speechless. His thoughts were still tangled, and he felt even more flustered as he whispered, "What about Luo Yu?"
"She went back by herself; she’s staying with your sister and a few others," Jiao Ziqian sniffed and then asked with a glint in his eye, "By the way, Brother Jiu, what’s really going on? I smell something dramatic here."
"Shut up."
"You’re being all wishy-washy; is it possible you wanted to pull Luo Yu but ended up with the wrong person?" Jiao Ziqian exclaimed in shock.
"Get lost! Go bother your Doudou!" Song Jiu felt overwhelmed. Being exposed by Ziqian only added to his irritation. He pushed Jiao Ziqian out the door and added sternly, "Don’t spread this around."
"No need to; everyone saw it!" Jiao Ziqian blinked innocently, his expression sincere.
Bang!
Song Jiu slammed the door shut in frustration and plopped down on the floor. He picked up a pipe and took a few puffs, letting the blue smoke swirl around the Stilt House, his chaotic thoughts becoming even more tangled.
On the Coast, in a small wooden cabin.
The smoke and fire were not just in the Stilt House; Dr. Zhong was also surrounded by a gloomy atmosphere. He sat on the ground with his shirt off, a white medical cooler spread out in front of him, scattered with various reagents for storage.
Wu Wentao crouched in front of him, picking up a test tube about the thickness of his pinky finger. "What does this mean?"
Dr. Zhong lifted his eyelids and shrugged. "It's ruined. I never expected water could get into the cooler; now everything's gone."
"Don't panic, tell me what's going on," Wu Wentao said as he stood up, helping the dejected Dr. Zhong to his feet. "The sky isn't falling; don't be discouraged. The loss is significant, right?"
"Besides Huihui, everything is gone." Dr. Zhong snatched the cigarette from Wu Wentao's mouth and sighed heavily. "All the samples we stored at the Roundabout are ruined—the original solution of the Infected Virus, the Zombie sequence reagent, including Liu Yan's Acid Rain samples we collected back then."
"What's lost is lost," Wu Wentao frowned but quickly relaxed and smiled reassuringly. "Our focus was always on Huihui anyway; these things don’t matter that much, do they?"
"Don’t matter?" Dr. Zhong's eyes widened as he huffed angrily. "Do you have any idea how long I worked on these? From the train to the Roundabout, I risked everything to protect them, and you say they don’t matter?"
Wu Wentao realized he had misspoken and inadvertently hurt the team doctor's feelings. He quickly waved his hands in apology and said helplessly, "I know you put in a lot of effort, but it’s already destroyed. There's no use getting upset about it—let it go."
"Easier said than done." Dr. Zhong rummaged through some supplies and tossed a dry object at him in frustration. "And this too—it got soaked! The paper is all stuck together; there's nothing left to see—might as well burn it as scrap paper."
Wu Wentao paused for a moment, looking down at what he held, his expression changing instantly as he murmured, "Wha—how did this get soaked too?"
"If you ask me, who should I ask?" Dr. Zhong noticed Wu Wentao's shocked expression and felt a surge of satisfaction at venting his anger but then remembered this was also a loss for his team; the fleeting sense of relief vanished completely.
Wu Wentao was at a loss for words, holding the envelope signed by Su Lan, on the verge of tears. After leaving the Industrial Park, he had rushed to avoid being caught up by e, hardly stopping along the way. This envelope, an unexpected find from the laboratory, had been kept together with the samples that Dr. Zhong carried, waiting for a moment of safety to be examined. Now, a storm had ruined everything.
Seeing Wu Wentao's devastated expression, Dr. Zhong felt a wave of sympathy wash over him. Song Jiu and Jin Bo had not taken these matters seriously at all; they believed that with Huihui in hand, they could conquer the world. Only he knew how significant the loss truly was. At this moment, Wu Wentao shared that sentiment, which brought him an unexpected sense of comfort.
"Sigh." Wu Wentao let out a heart-wrenching sigh as he pulled out the crumpled stack of papers. The text and images on the pages were unrecognizable, stuck together in layers; pulling them apart only tore them further. What was once a proper document had turned into pulp.
"Don't be disheartened; we still have Huihui," Dr. Zhong echoed Old Wu's comforting words back to him.
Wu Wentao swallowed his frustration and fell silent for a moment before turning to walk out the door.
"What are you doing?" Dr. Zhong asked urgently.
Wu Wentao gritted his teeth and replied, "From now on, I won't let Huihui out of my sight for even a moment."
At the entrance, amidst the Saddle Vine bushes, Pockmarked Girl was spitting out toothpaste foam and rinsing her mouth with water. She gazed dreamily at the departing figure of Field Captain and couldn't help but sigh, "Hearing such a domineering confession so early in the morning—tch, my restless heart can't find a place to settle."
Beside her, Yang Xiaomeng nodded vigorously in agreement, saying, "Love comes so suddenly; I'm a bit caught off guard too."
On the coast, aboard a yacht, Cao Zheng stood at the railing shouting something. Before long, bubbles began to rise from the water surface as Dai Wei surfaced, wiping seaweed off his face and calling out, "The propeller is tangled with algae; you should check it out."
"You come up first," Cao Zheng replied and tossed down a life ring.
The morning mist dissipated, revealing another sunny day. The sea surface shimmered with light as several kayaks set off, carrying island fishermen. It was said that there were rich seafood resources in nearby waters, which had become a food storage for the island over the years. Cao Zheng and his companions had no habit of sleeping in; they hadn’t drunk much the night before, and hearing that they could go fishing excited them. However, their yacht suddenly broke down.
Dai Wei climbed ashore, pulling on the rope, his muscular build attracting glances from both men and women on the beach.
Qianqian restarted the boat, and the sound of the engine roared to life. The previous feeling of stagnation vanished as the boat's stern kicked up waves, successfully starting its journey.
“Alright, let’s go,” Cao Zheng sighed in relief, waving for Dai Wei to come aboard. He turned to busy himself with tidying up the tools on deck but glanced back to see Dai Wei standing foolishly by the rocks, staring blankly at something. Seeing that the fishing boat was already quite far away, Cao Zheng urged, “Old Dai, hurry up!”
“Ah, oh!” Dai Wei snapped out of it, took a couple of steps but then stopped again. He looked up with a smile and apologized, “Why don’t you and Qianqian go ahead? I’m feeling a bit cold after getting wet; I need to take care of something.”
Cao Zheng was taken aback; what kind of excuse was that? There was a bathroom on board.
“Alright, alright, I can’t hold it anymore,” Dai Wei said without further explanation. He picked up his clothes, clutching his stomach, and dashed away.
“Are you done?” Qianqian waited at the helm for a moment before asking in confusion, “Where is he?”
“I’m ready; let’s go,” Cao Zheng chuckled helplessly at the side of the boat. He shaded his eyes with his hand as he looked in the direction where Dai Wei had run off. In the distance, swaying with the wind by the mangroves were two figures with long hair, appearing like a painting.
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