Rebirth of MC Chapter 135

Chapter 135: Spend the night

Because they b.u.mped into Long Hongjian and his comrades, Long Zhanye and Huo Zaiyuan's plan to spend the night in the safe zone is destroyed. On top of that, due to rescuing this group under an emergency situation, Long Zhanye simply picked the nearest road to head down in order to evade the horde. It so happens that the direction they are heading in…leads directly away from the safe zone. Therefore, when the sun is nearly disappearing beneath the horizon, their only option is to find a random house to spend the night in.

"Will there really be no problems if we do it this way?" A member of Long Hongjian's team, the slender youngster An Mingxi, asks with slight worry.

In the past, when they have to spend the night outside the safe zone, they will carefully select a good place first. Afterwards, they will then scout the perimeter of the house and slay every zombie that has a chance of posing a threat before entering the building. But Long Zhanye and Huo Zaiyuan clearly didn't make any preparations beforehand, and this house they chose is an ordinary two-storey land-house.

"Don't worry. With my little Yuan here, even if the zombies decide to lay siege, nothing bad will befall us. Am I right, beloved?" Long Zhanye shoots a dazzling smile at Huo Zaiyuan, face full of confidence as he curls an arm around his little Yuan's slender shoulders.

"Exaggerations. Quickly go and clear the interior of the house. The sky is already dark." Mock-scowling at him, Huo Zaiyuan steps out of the hold and walks towards the small garden surrounding the house.

"Roger that. Once you're done with the outside, the inside will definitely be neat and tidy." Pulling out the sheathed steel sword from beneath the driver seat, he rests it on a shoulder and blows a kiss to Huo Zaiyuan.

Seeing his overbearing rascal of an older cousin displaying such mushy att.i.tude, Long Hongjian's lips tremble slightly.

Did this b.a.s.t.a.r.d take the wrong medicine?

"Oi, air-head, what are you daydreaming about? Come with me to clear the house out. Ah Shou and Ah Gong, guard outside." In a span of one second, the bright smile disappears, replaced by a stern look as he hauls Long Hongjian towards the building.

Such rapid change of expression is even faster than flipping a page in a book, leaving those who witness it speechless.

"f.u.c.k, Long Zhanye, let go. This little grandpa can walk by himself!" Long Hongjian curses angrily as he is dragged away by his collar.

With Long Hongjian hauled off by his older cousin, and Ah Shou and Ah Gong patrolling the perimeter, An Mingxi is left by himself in the car with nothing to do. Furrowing his brow, he raises his head to look at Huo Zaiyuan currently standing in the courtyard.

Recalling that this person instantly recognised the black square paper as a talisman at one glance, he wonders…is this individual a Taoist priest?

With this in mind, An Mingxi gets out of the Hummer, close the door behind him and walks towards Huo Zaiyuan. He draws close just in time to see a coin-sized piece of wood sinking into the soil.

"What is that?" He asks inquisitively.

"Talisman," Huo Zaiyuan turns to glance back at the wide-eyed youngster br.i.m.m.i.n.g with curiosity, replying softly. Afterwards, he counts nine paces forward and inserts another talisman into the ground.

"You really are a Taoist priest. Are all Priests in A City this awesome? I have never seen anyone else use pieces of wood as a talisman. Did you make them by yourself? I grew up in the Taoist temple, and not even the Senior or Junior Marital Uncles use things like this," An Mingxi follows behind doggedly, chirping beside Huo Zaiyuan like a small bird circling a larger animal, gazing at Huo Zaiyuan with admiring eyes.

Listening to the endless stream of words, for some reason, Huo Zaiyuan doesn't find it irritating. Instead, he feels fondness for this youngster who seems to be a couple of years his junior.

"You are a disciple of the Elder Taoist priest?" Huo Zaiyuan asks, hands not pausing in laying down the array. Flicking his wrist, a yellow paper appears. Injecting a bit of spiritual energy into it, he sets it in the middle, completing the formation.

"Un, the Elder is my grandfather." An Mingxi nods, a worshipping light surfacing on his face as he beholds the completed barrier.

Task accomplished, Huo Zaiyuan heads back to the house, speaking as he walks. "When Elder priest grandfather went over to A City, why did you not follow along?"

As soon as Huo Zaiyuan asks this, the bright expression on the youngster's face collapses, lower lip pushing out into a pout.

"I was originally going to follow grandfather to A City, but Senior Martial Uncle was in charge of allocating people and didn't write my name on the list. He even said the situation in A City is unstable and is afraid that I will meet danger if I went too. So he told me to stay behind and take care of the temple. Hmph…he obviously gave my place to his own disciple." It is not hard to tell that An Mingxi is still feeling very unhappy over not being able to follow his grandfather.

"’Senior Martial Uncle’ is Elder priest grandfather's oldest disciple, and the disciple of this Senior Martial Uncle of yours is…?" Huo Zaiyuan pauses in his step, dark eyes fixed unwaveringly on An Mingxi.

"Ah, Senior Martial Uncle's disciple is Xu Mingyi ah. Hmph…that Xu Mingyi only became his disciple no more than a few months ago. I don't believe that person's Taoist skills are as good as mine. Grandfather said I am the best at creating talismans amongst all the disciples in the temple, and will have bright prospects in the future." An Mingxi clasps his hands tightly together, sulking angrily.

The corner of Huo Zaiyuan's mouth curls into a small smile at An Mingxi's pout, before resuming his leisurely trek back to the house.

Really, this child wears his heart on his sleeve, very pure and simple. Able to gain the Head priest's recognition and compliment, he will definitely have a bright future within the Taoist temple.

"You mentioned Xu Mingyi became Senior brother's disciple only a few months ago?"

"That's right ah. Two months before the apocalypse, Senior Martial Uncle brought him back one day…yi? Wait a sec, you addressed Senior Martial Uncle as Senior brother…don't tell me grandfather he…" Trailing off as he seems to finally register what Huo Zaiyuan said, An Mingxi's mouth immediately forms an "O" in shock.

"Un, Elder priest grandfather is my master." Huo Zaiyuan nods.

"Junior…Junior Martial Uncle ah!!" With a delighted cry, An Mingxi abruptly throws himself into Huo Zaiyuan's arms.

Just as Long Zhanye walks out the door after clearing the entire zombies family residing in the house, his gaze lands on An Mingxi happily tackling Huo Zaiyuan. But what bewildered him is his little Yuan who has always abhorred being intimate with strangers actually reaches out to catch the youngster, smiling in fond exasperation.

Very displeasing.

Senior officer Long’s face darkens, striding swiftly over to the two youths. Reaching out, he yanks the youngster out of Huo Zaiyuan's arms, tossing said person away without looking.

"Keep a closer eye on your people. He is mine." Saying thus, Long Zhanye pulls Huo Zaiyuan into his embrace, sullenly eyeing Long Hongjian who nearly collided with An Mingxi.

"G.o.dd.a.m.n, Long Zhanye, what the h.e.l.l are you doing?" Placing a hand on An Mingxi's lower back to prevent the kid from falling flat on his face, Long Hongjian snaps back angrily.

"Hn." Long Zhanye snorts, then turn to Huo Zaiyuan. "Little Yuan, I've already killed the zombies inside and moved their corpses to the hall. Go and burn it while I park the car properly in the courtyard. Don't get too close to that brat." Finished speaking, he drops a kiss on Huo Zaiyuan's cheek.

"A jealous man is rather adorable." Huo Zaiyuan chuckles lightly before going into the house.

As Long Hongjian and his team are here, they cannot store the Hummer back in the s.p.a.ce. When Long Zhanye returns from parking the vehicle, Huo Zaiyuan has already burned the corpses and obtained several rice grain-sized crystals. Once again, the An Mingxi who was recently flung to Long Hongjian by Long Zhanye is busy revolving around Huo Zaiyuan like a cute little puppy. A tick develops under Long Zhanye's eye.

Sensing his older cousin's murderous glare landing on An Mingxi as the latter obliviously continue discussing Taoist spells, talismans, crystals and zombies with Huo Zaiyuan, Long Hongjian sighs inwardly. He reaches out and pulls An Mingxi away in order to prevent his older cousin's temper from exploding and offing his little Taoist priest.

Ai…a jealous man is really dreadful…

"All right, the sky's already dark. After running around the whole day, you should be hungry. Here, be good and eat it." Removing a dry ration bar from the outer pouch of his jacket, he stuffs it in An Mingxi's hand.

Their rations and other necessities are still in their vehicle, which is currently abandoned near that alley. Right now, the situation doesn't allow them to go back for it, so they have to make do.

Fortunately, his two second-in-commands and he grew up in the army, which is why they always make sure to carry some rations and other necessities on their person in the off-chance something like this happens.

"What about you?" Although the packet of biscuits in his hand is also dry and bland, compared with the rough soybeans and beancurd flatbread sold in the safe zone, this tastes so much better.

"Don't bother about me. Hurry up and eat. Grandfather and the Head priest left you in my care. If I allow you to starve to death, how will I compensate them?" Long Hongjian turns and walks away.

"Older brother Hong…" Staring at Long Hongjian's back, a panicked expression appears on An Mingxi's face.

"Although you left your supplies behind, we have food in the back of our car. With little Yuan and I here, he wouldn't starve." Any lingering traces of grumpiness vanishes as Long Zhanye glances at his younger cousin currently trapped in a difficult situation. Releasing a helpless sigh, he places a backpack full of food down.

Of course, this bag was prepared beforehand by Huo Zaiyuan in order to avoid suspicion of travelling without visible supplies.

A bright smile breaks out on An Mingxi's face as soon as he sees the bag of food. Happily wandering up to Long Hongjian, he tears the packet open and hands a biscuit over.

"Let's share it."

Looking at An Mingxi's smiling face, Long Zhanye shakes his head lightly. He is really foolish to think this naïve youngster had more than a platonic interest in his little Yuan.

"Little Yuan, have something to eat."