Turning around, Big Chicken Leg shouted: “Avada Kedavra!”
The massive being: ?
It hesitated for a moment:
With a flick of the cat’s paw.
The massive being clutched its chest and slowly fell down.
Thus, the king of the horrific pollutants was defeated by magic.
However, when they turned around, they found that the people in the car were looking at them in horror.
But this time, their frightened gaze was not directed at the mermaid, but at the large orange cat.
Soon, Shu Tang and the mermaid took them to the edge of the polluted area.
She leaned out and waved to them.
The nine-person squad was really on the edge of the safe zone, and they were still a bit incredulous.
Suddenly, the scout team leader said:
“That person looks a bit like our founding hero.”
“How could that be, isn’t the founding hero staying safely in Yan City?”
“And those eyes are…”
They turned their heads toward the direction of the polluted area, where the monster and the magic girl drove away into the dawn of the polluted zone.
…
The third day.
Because of taking detours to drive rideshare and earn road fees, it delayed quite some time. But Shu Tang wasn’t in a hurry, nor was the mermaid. Shu Tang felt that arriving in Yan City as scheduled might lead to unexpected troubles. It might be better to arrive a few days late to avoid being staked out at the train station.
The only minor incident was that the mermaid’s fin broke through the roof of the passenger side.
Whenever it rained, it would rain heavily outside, but a small rain would fall over the mermaid’s head.
Given the cramped space in the passenger seat, the tall mermaid had to dodge the rain and lean in toward her, hissing.
Shu Tang thought the mermaid looked a bit wronged.
So, Shu Tang climbed up and placed an umbrella over the mermaid; they’d use it when it rained, and stow it away when it was clear.
Both were very happy though.
The long journey seemed to have turned into a date.
That morning, Shu Tang saw a sea of begonia flowers.
Perhaps due to the abnormal climate changes, the flowers in the polluted area no longer bloomed according to the seasons.
This begonia flower sea, delayed in blooming by two or three months, was vibrant and sprawling over the entire ruins.
Shu Tang stuck her head out of the car window, turned around, and excitedly said to the mermaid.
“Little Rose, look, that’s the begonia flower!”
The mermaid also saw these wildly growing begonia flowers thriving in the rain.
If they hadn’t passed through the polluted area, they might never have seen begonia flowers in their lifetime in this world.
The mermaid tilted his head and turned around, causing the begonia flowers on the car roof to fall off.
Originally, the sight of pink flowers falling all over his head should have been somewhat comical. But when moonlight-like long hair and eyelashes caught the petals—
Shu Tang’s heartbeat skipped a beat. Seizing the moment while the mermaid was picking flowers, she suddenly kissed the mermaid.
Caught off guard, the mermaid turned around, but Shu Tang was already smiling and parking the car.
She hummed a little tune.
They strolled through a sea of begonia flowers, Shu Tang’s head covered in fallen petals.
Such a beautiful scene would never exist in the safe zone, where land was scarce and greenery was limited.
Shu Tang, feeling impulsive, suggested, “Let’s take a photo together.”
But when Shu Tang raised the communicator, she found that if it captured her head, it missed the mermaid, and if it captured the mermaid, she was out of sight.
Due to their height difference, it was hard for them to fit into one frame.
But there are always more solutions than difficulties.
She motioned for the mermaid to hold her, then wrapped one arm around the mermaid’s neck and lifted the communicator:
“Little Rose, look at the camera!”
The mermaid turned its head, cheek to cheek with a small cat face, and snapped a tourist photo.
Shu Tang felt dissatisfied—
Because the mermaid turned its head expressionlessly and did not say “cheese,” leaving her the only one smiling happily, as if she had kidnapped it.
And it made her laugh look foolish, with her teeth overshadowing her eyes.
But the mermaid liked this photo a lot.
The mermaid changed its communicator wallpaper to this photo.
Shu Tang had been eager to change it, but never found the opportunity.
On the fourth day.
Shu Tang found several boxes of large fireworks in the ruins.
After finishing today’s portion of roasted chicken, she went with the mermaid to the city’s highest point to set off fireworks.
Shu Tang sat on the abandoned skyscraper, lighting the fireworks, amid the “pew-boom” of the fireworks.
Shu Tang opened the communicator, turned on the camera, and made a scissors gesture with her hand: “Cheese~”
But at that moment, the mermaid bowed its head and kissed her.
Behind this kissing photo, huge fireworks blossomed.
It was like a bizarre celebration in the apocalypse.
They watched the fireworks for a long time.
In the howling winds aloft, she watched the mermaid’s profile.
“Being with you, even if we wander the seven seas, I feel as joyous as if on a grand spring outing.”
When they were hungry, they hunted in the polluted area. Chickens running wild in abandoned rural amusement parks, ducks and fish from deserted parks. All were very fresh food. Moreover, due to eating insects and running around everywhere, the meat was delicious. Shu Tang couldn’t get enough of the roasted duck and chicken.
—It just required great skill and courage, and careful differentiation of whether the food was contaminated by pollutants.
At night, they sometimes slept in the car, sometimes under the begonia trees where they pitched a tent.
Perhaps because they went to bed early, they woke up early too, and could even see the begonia flowers at four in the morning, still awake.
They did nothing but watch the petals slowly falling.
Time also seemed very leisurely.
They both cherished these moments alone together, and nobody suggested speeding up.
But when dawn came, they had to resume their journey.
Shu Tang knew that Zhu Yan’s previous job was busy, and maybe after recovering his memory, he would be as busy as before, with no time even for meals.
So she reluctantly said:
“Little Rose, we probably won’t have such opportunities to go out and play in the future.”
But the mermaid, head bowed under a flurry of petals, asked her, “Want to go, where?”
The mermaid’s vocabulary had become much richer, but he liked to pop out single words, and the way he spoke was a bit disjointed. However, miraculously, Shu Tang always understood exactly what he meant.
Shu Tang didn’t know where to go either.
But perhaps, no matter where, as long as she was with him, any corner of the world would do.
The last stop was a post office at the end of the polluted area.
The mermaid knew what a post office was.
So the mermaid stopped, and Shu Tang followed his gaze.
They entered the post office together and found envelopes and paper covered in dust.
Back to back, they wrote letters to each other.
Shu Tang wrote: Dear Little Rose.
The mermaid wrote: Dear Tang.
For the first time, Shu Tang didn’t cheat by peeking and sincerely wrote a three-page letter to the mermaid who had recovered his memory.
—It was uncertain whether the letters from this abandoned post office could still be delivered.
But both of them dropped it into the mailbox. They left money and attached enough stamps for postage.
Perhaps one day in the future, they will return here and open the envelope.
But who knows what the future holds?
Finally, guided by the broken road signs in the polluted area, they entered the nearest city.
Because of the rideshare, they had enough cash to spend three days eating and drinking on the train. So, Shu Tang bought tickets at the train station, and they boarded the train’s compartment with the mermaid.
Shu Tang leaned against the train window, watching the distant city recede.
It was Shu Tang’s first time on a train, and for the awakened mermaid, it was a first as well.
They both looked like country bumpkins, critiquing every passing city from the window.
It seemed they had endless things to talk about, although most of the time, it was Shu Tang speaking and the mermaid listening.
Sometimes, when the conversation tired her out, she started teaching the mermaid idioms, playing word association games with him.
The mermaid knew Shu Tang was teasing him.
As she triumphantly stuck notes on his forehead in their game of idioms against a nearly mute opponent, she was smug.
The mermaid knew she was up to mischief, but he liked her smug expression, her face reflected in his eyes, every smile seemingly etched in memory.
As she continued sticking notes, she felt the mermaid’s gaze and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Knowing they were on a train, the mermaid merely enveloped her in his arms, looking up to give her a restrained deep kiss.
This monster told her, nothing happened.
—It was just that occasionally, when he gazed at her, love could not be hidden and accidentally escaped.
The train whistled through the tunnel.
Heading towards the distance.
The evening sky was filled with sunset.
…
“Yan City Station has arrived, please take your belongings and disembark.”