The Distant Distance

After they packed up their belongings, Ji Mengyao carried the still unconscious Wu Di on her back.

She refused help from Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue, as her own body had been enhanced after awakening.

Besides, Wu Di wasn't particularly bulky, and in his current weakened, unconscious state, he appeared more like the young man he truly was.

So carrying him wasn't too strenuous for her.

Shen Yiyue helped drag Wan Heng's corpse, which had been set aside before the battle with the Wrath, when they had planned to abandon it and flee.

Now that it was dead, they could take Wan Heng's body back with them.

The group planned to leave the industrial park and find a working vehicle to drive back to their base.

......

30 minutes later.

They found an ordinary van outside the park, and finally began driving back to their base.

Ji Mengyao, who had used her ability many times earlier and was severely affected by hallucinations, had been pushing herself hard. She now sat in the back seat.

She stayed beside Wu Di, her pretty face bearing a faint worried expression as she seemed lost in thought.

In her hand was a ladies' cigarette that Ning Yu had given her earlier, and the wind from outside carried away the smoke she exhaled.

Shen Yiyue sat in the passenger seat, while Ning Yu focused on driving.

The silence in the car was eventually broken by Ning Yu.

She was curious about Wu Di's condition:

"Why didn't you want Wu Di to use his ability back then? Does his awakened power have some kind of side effect?"

Ji Mengyao's eyes flickered as the ember at the end of her cigarette brightened again.

"Yeah, by the way, what's your relationship with Wu Di? I'm kind of curious..."

Shen Yiyue had started to gossip, but was quickly silenced by a glare from Ning Yu.

That look seemed to say "don't ask unnecessary personal questions," and Shen Yiyue immediately stuck out her tongue playfully and apologetically.

"Actually, we've known each other since we were children."

Ji Mengyao turned her head toward the window, as if recalling some distant memory, and began to speak.

"I mentioned before that I was born without the ability to feel pain, and I was bullied a lot because of it."

She flicked some ash out the window.

"My mother raised me alone, and I was already discriminated against at school for being from a single-parent family."

"They would take away my textbooks, put insects in my pencil case, and later it got worse - they started putting nails in my shoes."

"Heh, just a bunch of stupid kids."

Ji Mengyao spoke as if it wasn't a big deal, but for her younger self, these were very real forms of hurt.

Hearing this, Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue understood - being from a single-parent family and experiencing school bullying must have made her childhood incredibly dark.

"That time, I only realized my feet were covered in blood when I got home. The bottom of my feet were completely torn up."

"My mom held me and cried for a long time, saying she wanted to transfer me to another school, but I refused - we couldn't afford it."

"I could only endure it silently."

She lit another cigarette, now opening up more.

"It was after that incident that they discovered I couldn't feel pain. I thought they might stop after seeing me miss school for three days due to injuries, but instead, they became even more vicious."

Ji Mengyao bit her lower lip, recalling some unpleasant memories.

She didn't elaborate on the specific bullying she endured, but it must have been worse than putting nails in her shoes.

"That's when I met him."

At this point, the gloom on Ji Mengyao's face seemed to suddenly disappear as she patted the still unconscious Wu Di's shoulder.

"He was also ostracized in class. Once when his book was torn up by others, I lent him mine to share."

"After that, we started staying together more often, two outcasts rejected by the class."

"He used to silently endure bullying just like me, but after we became friends, he took it upon himself to protect me."

The hallucinations seemed to have eased somewhat as Ji Mengyao slowly leaned her head back against the seat, watching the smoke drift past her eyes.

"Couldn't stop him, what a fool."

"But one time things went wrong. I was cornered after school, and some girls had called in reinforcements to 'teach me a lesson.'"

"He protected me again, but in the chaos, he was hit in the head and bled a lot."

Ji Mengyao reached out her hand and gently stroked the back of Wu Di's head, seemingly where he had been injured back then.

"I cried as we went to the hospital together, and I had to leave when his family arrived."

"He changed after that day. He used to be someone who loved to laugh, was optimistic, and would tell me corny jokes."

"But from that day on, he only had one expression. It must have been because of the serious brain injury he suffered while protecting me."

"When I asked him about it, he didn't explain much, but it seemed similar to something called 'alexithymia.'"

"From what I could tell, he could no longer express his emotions properly, like someone who had lost the ability to convey feelings."

"But after that incident, he seemed to become incredibly strong, and those who bullied us couldn't beat him anymore."

Ning Yu found this description familiar and asked:

"Could that have been when he awakened?"

Ji Mengyao extinguished another cigarette and threw the butt out the window:

"I guess so."

"Also after that incident, communicating with him became difficult. He no longer expressed his joy, anger, sadness, or happiness, and showed no expressions - like a robot."

"Only one thing remained unchanged - he still stayed by my side to protect me, like a shadow."

She first chuckled, then furrowed her brows, seeming somewhat sad as she looked down at Wu Di.

"After the apocalypse came, we continued to stay together."

"His awakened ability could be used further, with effects you've all seen - it gives him terrifying strength."

"Once when we were in extreme danger, he used this ability, and it truly frightened me. He literally crushed a mutant zombie to pieces with his bare hands."

"Then, just like today, he fell unconscious."

Ning Yu felt a chill in her heart - indeed, all these awakened abilities came with a price, without exception.

Was this what they called equivalent exchange?

"After he woke up that time, I could clearly feel that his emotional barriers had become even more severe."

"I used to be able to detect some basic facial expressions and emotional expression from him, but after he used that ability, I could hardly sense any expressions or emotions from him at all."

"It scared me, so I made him promise never to use that ability again."

She gently poked Wu Di, as if reproaching him.

But her eyes were dim, with mysterious emotions flowing within:

"Ever since that first time he was injured protecting me, I felt like the distance between us started growing."

"I'm afraid that one day he'll no longer want to stay by my side, becoming someone completely devoid of emotions."

"Sometimes I even think about leaving the exploration team altogether..."