A dazed figure appeared in the doorway.
It was Shen Yiyue.
She had barely poked her head in when she asked pitifully:
"Little Yu... I can't sleep. Can I... talk with you for a while?"
As she pushed open the door, she saw Ning Yu sitting in the darkness holding a glowing red Tang Sword, which startled her:
"Ah... sorry..."
Shen Yiyue realized she must have disturbed her, making Ning Yu mistake her for an intruder.
She turned around timidly, preparing to close the door and leave.
But Ning Yu suddenly called out to her:
"Since you're here already, let's talk."
Hearing this, Shen Yiyue's dejected expression froze, then she quickly turned back around, somewhat surprised.
"Really? Won't I be bothering you? It's so late."
The silver-haired little girl shook her head gently, raising her small hand as the Crimson Tang Sword dissolved into the air.
Seeing that she was okay with it, Shen Yiyue walked back in.
She sat on Ning Yu's bed, hugging her knees and leaning against the wall, resting her head on her knees as she spoke:
"We're about to leave this place."
"Every time I close my eyes, I think about my parents and my little sister."
"I'm scared. I'm scared that even if I get out, I won't be able to find them, that I'll never see them again."
Ning Yu listened quietly to her confession, and mimicked her posture, sitting beside Shen Yiyue against the wall.
"Do you think this disaster will ever end?"
"Will I... will I ever see them again?"
Her voice was both soft and low, lacking its usual energy. Ning Yu guessed she must be truly anxious and sad.
Shen Yiyue lifted her head, looking at Ning Yu with tears in her eyes, which sparkled like crystals.
Moonlight filtered through the nearly sealed window, with just a few rays falling on Shen Yiyue's face, making her delicate features appear even more pitiful.
Actually, Ning Yu knew she had always been strong, never complaining even when faced with things she'd never done before or during harsh training.
She had always been suppressing her feelings, not wanting to trouble Ning Yu.
"Sorry... maybe this question is... too difficult for you."
Seeing Ning Yu's silence, Shen Yiyue felt that her question was too hard, knowing Ning Yu couldn't possibly have the answer.
She tried to force a smile, pretending she was fine.
But her squinting eyes squeezed out the tears that had welled up, letting them flow down her cheeks.
She stopped talking, just lowering her head and crying silently, afraid of disturbing Ning Yu.
Ning Yu felt at a loss.
She was skilled at tracking people, killing them, interrogating them, and torturing them, but she had never been trained in how to comfort someone.
To use an emoji expression: I am an emotionless assassin.
She could only extend her delicate little hand, gently placing it on Shen Yiyue's head, slowly stroking her smooth black hair as a gesture of comfort.
Still without speaking.
When Ning Yu's small hand touched Shen Yiyue's head, Shen Yiyue noticeably trembled, lifting her tear-stained face. She stared blankly at Ning Yu.
Seeing Ning Yu's gentle stroking motion and her amber eyes fixed upon her,
She suddenly felt something warm flowing into her heart.
She almost burst into harder tears.
"Thank you... Little Yu."
It feels so warm, Shen Yiyue thought.
At least in this frightening world, she wasn't alone.
"Silly Little Yu, you're not very good at comforting people, are you? But it's okay, I feel comforted."
Shen Yiyue showed a smile, no longer bitter this time.
"Hmm~ Rather than comforting people, I think I'm better at killing them."
Ning Yu said this with a completely straight face.
"Pfft!... Hahahahaha!"
Hearing this, Shen Yiyue couldn't hold back anymore and suddenly burst out laughing, her tears falling as she laughed.
??
Ning Yu was full of question marks, not understanding why she suddenly started laughing.
Looking at the confused silver-haired little girl, Shen Yiyue felt the gloom in her heart suddenly disappear completely.
She wiped the tears from her face and said playfully to Ning Yu:
"You said before that we have a relationship of mutual benefit, right?"
Ning Yu was stunned, not knowing why she suddenly brought this up, but still nodded slightly.
Seeing her nod, Shen Yiyue spoke again in a gentle, soft voice:
"Then let big sister lean on you for a while, just for a moment."
Without waiting for the silver-haired little girl's agreement, she slowly tilted her head and nestled against Ning Yu's tiny shoulder.
You're heavy, Ning Yu wanted to say, but held back.
She watched as Shen Yiyue leaned against her, a peaceful expression on her face.
Like a bird without feet finding its nest to rest in.
She couldn't bring herself to push her away.
Oh well, let it be, Ning Yu thought.
Maybe she was actually quite good at comforting people, a natural talent.
Ning Yu gave herself this rather shameless evaluation.
In the dark room, there were only a few streams of clear moonlight.
The two girls just quietly leaned against each other, neither speaking another word.
......
The next morning, in Ning Yu's room.
"Little Yu... hehe... my Little Yu...."
Shen Yiyue was still sleep-talking nonsense, hugging... a white pillow.
As for Ning Yu, she had just finished her morning exercise and returned to the room.
Sweat trickled down beside her snow-white silver hair, her little face flushed red.
Walking in, she saw this idiot still muttering strange things in her sleep, and her mouth twitched.
She took an energy bar she had brought for Shen Yiyue and irritably knocked her on the head with it:
"Wake up, stop dreaming, you really can have anything in dreams."
The pain in her forehead jolted Shen Yiyue awake, her eyes full of confusion:
"Eh? Little Yu, why are you standing up? Oh... it was a dream."
She showed a disappointed expression.
"Go wash up quickly, let's pack up and leave today."
Ning Yu unceremoniously issued the eviction order, urging her to go wash her face and brush her teeth.
Soon, after having breakfast, they began packing things from the supermarket.
Ning Yu's storage space was mainly occupied by high-calorie food, pure water, and a small portion of snacks that Shen Yiyue liked.
Shen Yiyue wanted to bring some sodas, but Ning Yu ruthlessly refused, saying they weren't good for quenching thirst.
The rest included some miscellaneous daily and medical supplies, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, wet wipes, alcohol, band-aids, bandages, etc.
The storage space was already full, so they each carried a backpack, mainly containing clothes and other less important items.
Ning Yu thought to herself, thankfully they had the storage space, otherwise they really wouldn't want to leave this place.
It contained at least half of the remaining food from the supermarket.
As for what they couldn't take, they would leave it for whoever might need it.
Just as they reached the outside of the supermarket, Shen Yiyue took a deep breath.
After so many days, this was her first time stepping outside, feeling like she was seeing daylight again.
Unfortunately, the air quality wasn't very good, with a faint smell of decay.
There were some zombie corpses lying on the ground, killed by the baseball cap man's group days ago.
There were also some new zombies around, probably ones that had wandered over mindlessly.
Shen Yiyue unsheathed her sword and held it in her hand, her expression serious.
Ning Yu was quite composed, walking over to pat her and pointing to a middle-aged female zombie in the distance.
"It's time to test the results of your training."