Chapter 82: Rumors, A Lifetime’s Reputation

The only mouse that ever appeared around Gu Xu was that one—there would never be another.

“Meeow—” As soon as Milk saw her, it was like a cat spotting a fish. Just a moment ago, it had been listless, but now it leapt up energetically. Bian Changxi took a step back, “Don’t come over here!”

“Wuu…” The sound trailed off like a car running out of gas or a balloon losing air. The little body, mid-pounce, dropped to the ground, then circled Bian Changxi’s feet a few times, whining, its eyes shiny and black like grapes.

This used to work on Bian Changxi, but now she barely resisted the urge to kick it away. Frowning, she said, “You’re still keeping it?”

“It and I have a special bond,” Gu Xu replied with a smile.

Seeing that Bian Changxi really wasn’t going to pay it any attention, Milk lightly leapt onto the roof of the car, curled up next to Gu Xu’s shoulder, and continued to look pitifully at Bian Changxi, its fluffy tail gently swaying. Bian Changxi noticed it had gotten thinner. It used to be round like a ball, but now it looked deflated.

Still a bit annoyed and wary of the mouse, Bian Changxi couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about it. But it wasn’t her problem anymore. She glanced at Gu Xu’s face, “Are you okay?”

“What could possibly happen to me? I should be thanking you today.”

Bian Changxi stared at him for a while, muttering, “If you’re fine, then that’s that.” If he didn’t care, why should she worry? She hadn’t forgotten her own vow to keep her distance from him.

But as soon as she turned to leave, her hand was grabbed. Gu Xu’s voice was a little weak, “Actually, something is wrong.”

He pulled her back a few steps until her back was against the car door. Gu Xu braced his hand on the door beside her ear, standing so close he almost completely blocked her view. From behind, it looked as if he was embracing her.

Her eyes widened, “What are you doing?”

Gu Xu’s voice was low and hoarse. At such close range, she could clearly smell the blood. She noticed the corners of his lips were tinged blue, and there were dark shadows under his eyes.

“Sorry. Su Chensi knows I’ve been hurt. They’re watching us.”

He was tall, and even leaning in, his shoulders nearly blocked Bian Changxi’s line of sight. She straightened up a bit and, sure enough, saw that the patrolling people nearby were all sneaking glances their way.

She whispered, “So what if people know you’re hurt? Didn’t Wu Dalang go down too?” Then she asked, “Where are you hurt?”

“My chest,” Gu Xu replied. “I need them to see that Su Chensi is no threat to me.”

Only then would they be more wary.

But if there was a next time, the attacks would be even more ruthless. If it were Bian Changxi, she’d just pretend to be weak. But she knew Gu Xu was different—he needed people. To build his own leadership team, he couldn’t show even a hint of weakness.

He had to let everyone know that, faced with monsters and demons, he could still stand tall.

So he couldn’t just disappear to heal—he had to stand here, calm and collected, to show everyone he was still alive and well.

Honestly… what a burden.

Bian Changxi glared at his black shirt, now stained with blood. He quietly apologized, then started to unbutton it one-handed. She noticed his fingernails were pale and tinged purple. Though he was steady, he was clearly forcing himself.

She sighed and, overcoming her discomfort, said, “Let me do it.”

Under his shirt was a white vest—well, it was more black and red now. It was soaked with blood, not a single white spot left. Over his left chest was a slanted gash. The bleeding had mostly stopped, but the fabric stuck to the pale wound, making it look even more gruesome.

She frowned and began tearing the vest, “What exactly happened? How did both you and Wu Dalang get hit? Is Su Chensi that strong?”

Gu Xu grunted, “We were fighting a mutant snake. She suddenly appeared. Someone was about to be swallowed by the snake, so she attacked.”

That spatial blade was indeed powerful—silent, with almost no energy fluctuation. He had only sensed something was wrong, but by the time he heard Wu Dalang’s scream and Shadow’s warning, it was too late.

“Shadow was there too? Why is he fine, but you got hurt?”

Gu Xu forced a smile through the pain, “Shadow’s senses and reflexes are better than mine.”

So, out of the three, Wu Dalang didn’t dodge, Shadow did, and Gu Xu didn’t—but he blocked the attack.

Bian Changxi finally tore off the fabric. The wound, sliced cleanly by the spatial blade, was already pale and swollen from blood loss, now even more raw and gory. The gash looked like a black hole, making her shudder.

She glanced at Gu Xu, then reached out to check his heartbeat—already irregular and weak. Her expression changed, “Just a bit deeper and that spatial blade would’ve killed you! This is way worse than Wu Dalang’s injury, and yet you’re acting like nothing happened.”

As she spoke, she began channeling wood-type energy into him.

Gu Xu, already short of blood and oxygen, started breathing heavily. The sudden influx of wood energy made his body tremble, but he gritted his teeth and endured, shooting her a look—she was definitely doing this on purpose.

His breath brushed against Bian Changxi’s ear, making her uncomfortable. He leaned in even closer. Though there was no physical contact, the scene looked extremely intimate, as if he were whispering sweet nothings. She noticed people by the campfire were looking over, some shocked, some with ambiguous expressions. For the first time, she felt embarrassed, but she knew she couldn’t leave. If she and Gu Xu disappeared together, anyone with a brain would guess they were off healing, not flirting.

She gritted her teeth, “Gu Xu, if any rumors start because of this, you’d better clear things up.”

What kind of mess was this?

Gu Xu gave a wickedly charming smile, “Do you know what people said after you left last time?”

“What did they say?”

“They said I snuck into your room in the middle of the night and got chased out at gunpoint.”

Bian Changxi: “…”

That sounded so indecent.

She gritted her teeth even harder, “There goes my lifetime’s reputation…”

Gu Xu sighed, “Yeah, mine too.”

“Who started that rumor?”

“Probably Qiu Yun, pestering the Chen family for details, so they acted it out for him.”

That damn Qiu Yun!

Bian Changxi withdrew her hand, “How do you feel?”

Gu Xu steadied himself against the car for a moment, his handsome brows furrowed over closed eyes, looking striking in the night. He buttoned up his shirt, “Much better. Thank you.”

She pouted, “I was just returning the favor. Now we’re even.”

Gu Xu paused, “Yes, we’re even. In fact, I owe you now.”

She was momentarily stunned, didn’t retort, and glanced at her bloodstained hands. Gu Xu said, “There’s water in the car. I’ll get it for you.”

“It’s fine, you rest. Eat something good later. Same goes for Wu Dalang. It’ll take you days to recover.” Bian Changxi took the white plastic jug he handed her. It was heavy—ten kilos, almost full. “This water came from a water-type ability user?”

“Yeah.”

Just then, Qiu Yun came over, unloading a folding table from the car and chiming in, “The military’s rounded up all the ability users they can, especially water-types, who provide water for the higher-ups. We get ten kilos a day—mostly for washing, not drinking. For drinking, we only use purified water.”

He grinned, “It’s weird drinking water that came out of someone’s body. I keep an eye on those who do, just in case there are side effects. But honestly, even if there are, we’ll have to drink it eventually—clean water’s getting scarcer by the day.”

Bian Changxi did some mental math. One in twenty people was an elemental ability user—metal, wood, water, fire, earth, plus derivatives, so six types. With over 600,000 people, that’s about 5,000 water-types. A first-tier water user can produce about 100 liters a day, so Gu Xu’s group getting 10 kilos—20 liters—was one twenty-five-thousandth of the total.

It didn’t seem like much, but among 600,000 people, how many were high-ranking, how many were privileged family members, how many in the military needed water by seniority, how many other sectors needed to be appeased, how much water was used as gifts, and so on—20 liters was actually pretty good.

But actually, her calculations were way off.

First, one in twenty being elemental users was data from two or three years into the apocalypse. New ability users appeared and died every day, but early on, there were far fewer—maybe one in fifty or even one in a hundred. Second, the military couldn’t control all ability users, especially with their current limited authority—controlling half would be impressive. Third, newly awakened first-tiers couldn’t produce 100 liters a day—she’d overestimated.

With all these factors, Gu Xu getting 20 liters was already remarkable.

To get that much water, his status had to be pretty high—clearly valued and trusted. And Su Chensi’s attack on them was definitely premeditated, someone must have ordered it.

She was on Qu Shangjin’s side, and he’d just shown her some favoritism. But Qu Shangjin needed capable people to help him manage the survivors and not appear weak when they reached Su City. Even if he was wary of Gu Xu, taking him out now would be self-destructive.

It just didn’t make sense.

Both sides were at odds.

After thinking it through, Bian Changxi realized she’d been talking to Qiu Yun. Remembering what happened earlier, she couldn’t help but get angry. Qiu Yun felt her glare and got nervous. What was wrong? Things had been fine just a moment ago. Sure, he’d come over with the table hoping to overhear some private conversation between her and the boss, but he hadn’t heard anything!

He hurriedly slung the table over his shoulder and scurried away.

Bian Changxi returned with a full belly, bringing two pieces of roasted rice cake as a late-night snack for Zhang Bubai. Gu Xu’s food stores seemed plentiful; two rice cakes were nothing. Sure enough, honest Zhang Bubai was still up, worried about her. She made him eat the rice cakes and go to sleep, then went to wash up, changed out of her bloody clothes, and finally collapsed onto a seat, falling into a deep, sweet sleep.

ps:

Woke up late today...

Let me know if you want a more concise or literary version, or if you need the next chapter!"