The sky after the apocalypse was forever shrouded in thick clouds. During the day, everything was a dull gray—no sun, no blue sky in sight. Even at night, no stars ever fell from above. The sky pressed down in heavy darkness, yet the ground below was eerily bright enough that it was not impossible to see one’s hand in front of their face.
They were parked along the national highway, surrounded by vast stretches of withered vegetation. Afraid that firelight would attract mutated beasts or zombies, they only dared to light a fire when cooking. At all other times, they avoided open fire.
Keeping watch were Lu Shuangshuang, Jiang Sheng, and Luo Beiyao. The others made do by sleeping in their respective vehicles. In the apocalypse, no one slept deeply—everyone kept their rest light, terrified that a moment of carelessness would lead to being ambushed by mutated beasts or zombies and dying in their sleep.
Still, there were zombies and mutated beasts that evolved faster than humans, far surpassing them in strength. Against such enemies, it wasn’t easy to detect their movements at all. Leaving people on night watch was merely a precaution—just in case.
“Wake up. Don’t sleep.”
Half-asleep, Su Mu felt someone persistently pushing him, murmuring something in his ear. He lazily lifted his eyelids—only to be met with a face identical to his own.
His muddled consciousness snapped awake instantly.
The young man seemed to let out a sigh of relief. “You’re finally awake.”
Su Mu pressed his lips together slightly. He never slept that deeply—so this had to be Luo Beiyao tampering with him again.
Seeing that Su Mu remained silent, the young man hurriedly spoke, “Don’t treat Ah Yao like this. Otherwise, you’ll regret it in the future.”
Su Mu’s expression was indifferent. “I know he’ll become very powerful in the future. But what does that have to do with me?”
The young man stared at him in shock. “What are you talking about? I’m not trying to say that at all.”
“I didn’t finish what I wanted to say last time. I don’t know if you understood it then, but what I mean is, we were originally the same person. You are me, and I am you. I am your past life. Do you understand?”
Only then did Su Mu lift his gaze and give him a cursory look. “What proof do you have?”
The young man touched his own face. “Isn’t our face and our name proof enough? If we were completely unrelated people, how could we look so alike?”
Su Mu’s gaze settled on him, a trace of mockery flickering in his eyes. He let out a soft scoff, elegance flowing through his brows and eyes.
“Just those two things, and you expect me to believe you? Isn’t that a little too naïve?”
The young man was about to say more when sharp cracking sounds suddenly echoed through the snow-white space around them. His expression changed drastically. He grabbed Su Mu’s arm tightly and shouted, “You have to believe me! Don’t treat Ah Yao like this! I really am your past life! I can’t live without Ah Yao… Ah Yao, he—”
Su Mu watched coldly as the other man disappeared from view along with the rapidly collapsing space. Apparent impatience surfaced on his face as he spoke:
“Insane.”
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Waking from the dream, Su Mu opened his eyes. A faint stinging pain on his lips made him frown slightly. When he lifted his gaze, he met a pair of phoenix eyes as dark as midnight. Turbulent, complex shadows churned within them, giving Su Mu an inexplicable, spine-tingling sense of being stared down by a beast.
He frowned, realizing that he was resting on the other man’s thigh. He quickly propped himself up, only then discovering that Luo Beiyao had moved him into the back compartment while he slept. Just as Su Mu was about to jump down, a voice stopped him—cool and thin as ice.
“Where are you going?”
Su Mu paused. He turned to look at Luo Beiyao, who was staring at him expressionlessly. For a moment—whether real or imagined—Su Mu felt as though something was surging around Luo Beiyao, like the visual distortion of heat waves rising from extreme temperatures.