Ch 117: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

At this moment, Miao Shi also understood—this was the entrance Shen Qing used to reach the other world. She looked at the moss-covered stone wall before her, with half of Shen Qing’s body still submerged within it. Her heart ached as she grasped the pain Qing Ge’er must be feeling right now.

Just days ago, they had been discussing how Song Kaiji and his mother would live once they came over…

She wrapped her arms around Shen Qing, wanting to comfort him but unable to find the right words. In the end, she could only silently cry alongside him.

Why was her Qing Ge’er’s fate so bitter? He had finally found someone who loved him, someone who cherished him, yet now they were faced with this cruel reality!

Shen Qing stubbornly held onto his last shred of hope, refusing to give up. As he moved, the space pendant around his neck slipped out, swaying gently against his chest.

He lowered his head and stared at the pendant for a moment, as if suddenly struck by inspiration. He dashed out of the cave, pulling a silver hairpin from his space. Without hesitation, he grabbed Song Kaiji’s still-stunned hand and pricked his finger.

If the space pendant required a drop of blood to recognize its owner, then perhaps this cave did as well?

Shen Qing still remembered that day—when the wild boar’s tusks had slashed his arm, spilling a great deal of blood, he had stumbled into the cave and discovered its hidden exit.

Maybe… maybe that was why he was the only one who could see the cave!

Shen Qing pinned all his remaining hopes on this. He pricked Song Kaiji’s finger, and blood quickly welled up. Holding onto his hand, Shen Qing led him forward. Song Kaiji, now understanding his intent, pressed his bleeding finger against the stone wall.

A long moment passed.

Nothing changed before Song Kaiji’s eyes.

Shen Qing closed his eyes briefly, his trembling hands now guiding Song Kaiji’s blood onto the jade pendant. The blood was quickly absorbed into the pendant, deepening its crimson hue. When Shen Qing extended his consciousness to probe the space, he realized that after recognizing Song Kaiji as its owner, the space had expanded.

Originally, it had been no larger than a three-bedroom, two-hall house. But now, an additional courtyard of the same size had appeared. The spiritual spring’s location had also shifted to the courtyard and had grown significantly larger.

Shen Qing looked at Song Kaiji with hopeful eyes. “Try it—see if you can enter the space.”

If Song Kaiji could enter the jade pendant’s space, then Shen Qing could carry the pendant across to the other side—wouldn’t that work?

However, Song Kaiji closed his eyes and tried for a long time, but nothing happened. Shen Qing attempted several times himself as well, but just like before, he couldn’t enter either. It seemed that while the space expanded as more people became recognized as its owners, only their consciousness could enter—not their physical bodies.

Shen Qing then tried touching Song Kaiji, attempting to store him in the space as if he were an object. That, too, failed.

This was a space that could only contain non-living things. It rejected any living being.

Shen Qing closed his eyes. The sweat he had worked up from carrying Miao Shi up the mountain was now being chilled by the cold January wind, seeping into his bones and freezing him to the core.

Song Kaiji forced a smile. He, too, was heartbroken and despairing, but he still tried to console Shen Qing. “It’s okay. At least now I’m much closer to your world. You can record a video of me on your phone and show it to Auntie. Technology changes lives—meeting through a screen isn’t so bad.”

Shen Qing smiled as well, but it was a smile uglier than crying. “Okay.”

They continued communicating through the phone, each pretending to be strong so the other wouldn’t worry. But they both knew their hearts were breaking. Song Kaiji recorded a short self-introduction, which Shen Qing took back to show Miao Shi. That day, Song Kaiji had dressed up meticulously to meet her, looking his best. The more Miao Shi watched the video, the more she liked him, but all she could do was sigh with regret—such a good young man, yet he couldn’t truly become part of their family.

She, too, recorded a message for Song Kaiji. It was her first time being filmed, and she felt extremely uncomfortable. When she saw herself on screen, she was even more amazed—was this really how she looked to others?

Miao Shi was still quite young. In ancient times, people married and had children early, but they also had short lifespans—forty or fifty was considered elderly. At thirty-seven, Miao Shi was already nearing old age by ancient standards, but in modern times, she was still very young. Chen Jiaxi was about the same age, and even Ge Bingbing was just over thirty.

After half a year of good food, warm clothing, and comfortable living, Miao Shi was in excellent condition. Her eyes were large and round, just like Shen Qing’s, and her features were much softer. Her thin, crescent-shaped eyebrows gave her a gentle and approachable appearance.

Song Kaiji gently stroked the screen.

This was Shen Qing’s family—the family that should have become his own. But now, it seemed they would never truly meet.

Song Kaiji returned to Red City Base. Shen Qing escorted Miao Shi down the mountain. The cave was deep in the forest, and the path was difficult. Ever since Shen Qing had wiped out the wild boars, this area had become vacant territory, and smaller animals had slowly started migrating in.

Shen Qing had a vague feeling that something was watching them from the shadows. At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but he kept glancing over his shoulder, dizzy from turning too much. Soon, it wasn’t just his peripheral vision catching glimpses—his entire vision began to warp and twist. The world around him seemed to spin.

He saw Miao Shi’s mouth moving, her expression anxious, but he couldn’t hear anything.

Blinking dazedly, his legs suddenly gave out, and he tumbled down the slope.

Shen Qing had fallen ill—struck down as swiftly as a mountain collapsing.

Ever since he had left the Shen family, he had been holding himself together with sheer willpower, never allowing himself to falter. No matter how exhausted he had been, no matter how much pain he had suffered—even when a wild boar had gouged a deep wound in his arm—he had never succumbed.

But today, the bitter January winds had finally broken him. And his illness came like a flood, as if every past affliction and hidden ailment had burst forth all at once.

Miao Shi rushed to lift him up, only to find that he was burning up. Fortunately, their house was right at the foot of the mountain. She called out loudly, and soon, neighbors arrived to help carry Shen Qing home.

“What happened? He was fine when he left in a hurry—how did he get so sick so suddenly?”

Miao Shi covered her face, sobbing. She knew all too well that more than half of Shen Qing’s illness was from heartbreak, but she couldn’t say it outright. Instead, she told them he had overexerted himself, sweated too much, and then caught a chill in the mountain winds. She begged Zhao Shi to take a cart to the county and fetch a doctor.

The doctor came, medicine was prescribed, and bowl after bowl was poured down his throat—but Shen Qing’s fever refused to subside.

Shen Qing felt as if he had slept for an eternity. He was exhausted, not just physically, but mentally. How he wished he could sleep forever and never wake up, never have to face the cruel reality that lay before him.

But Miao Shi’s crying was too loud. Her sobbing, sometimes muffled, sometimes sharp, filled the air, making it impossible for him to sleep in peace.

Reluctantly, he opened his eyes.

Miao Shi’s face was swollen like two peaches, her once-smooth skin now chapped from tears. She wept not only for Shen Qing’s illness but also for his suffering. “Qing Ge’er, don’t be too heartbroken. If nothing else works, you can marry Song Kaiji over there. I’m old now, half my body already buried in the ground. As long as you come back to visit me once in a while, it’ll be enough. When I’m gone, you can stay there and live your life with him…”

“As long as he’s a good person and treats you well, that’s all that matters… Wake up, please…”

Shen Qing felt like his eyelids were weighed down with lead. It took all his strength to open them. “Mother, stop crying. I’m fine.”

Seeing him finally wake, Miao Shi was overjoyed. She quickly brought warm water to help him drink. “I wasn’t lying to you—I meant what I said. If you want to stay there with him, then do it.”

Shen Qing remained silent. He had hidden too much from Miao Shi about the apocalypse. If it were merely a famine, it would be one thing—famines always ended eventually. But a zombie-ridden apocalypse? Who could say when, or even if, it would ever end?

But the thought of giving up Song Kaiji and finding another man in this world? Impossible. It was Song Kaiji who had taught him what love truly was, that marriage wasn’t just about survival, but about sharing a life together.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Shen Qing said weakly. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Two days.” Miao Shi handed him another bowl of medicine, stirring it as she spoke. “Three bowls a day, and you’re still burning up.”

Their home had been filled with visitors over the past two days. At first, people came to check on Shen Qing, but soon, the gossip started—whispering about whether the workshop could still open with him sick, prying into the nobleman’s affairs, and anxiously questioning Miao Shi. She had grown so frustrated that today, she simply locked the door and refused to answer anyone.

Shen Qing tilted his head back and drank the medicine in one go. “This kind of medicine works slowly. I’ll go over there and have a healing-type ability user treat me instead.”

Miao Shi hesitated, then sighed. “You’re still too weak to climb the mountain. There’s no rush—get better first.”

But Shen Qing shook his head. The realization that he was the only one who could see the cave hadn’t just devastated him—it had crushed Song Kaiji too. What kind of days had Song Kaiji endured in his absence? Shen Qing wanted to see him, to hold him, to warm him with his presence.

Seeing she couldn’t dissuade him, Miao Shi sighed again and bundled him in thick layers. She picked out a sturdy wooden stick from the firewood pile for him to use as a walking cane. “Go on then, but stay longer this time and let their healers fix you properly. The doctor said you’ve overstrained yourself for too long—you need to replenish your strength while you’re still young.”

She paused, hesitated, then didn’t say the last part: The doctor also said that if Shen Qing didn’t take care of himself now, he might have even more trouble bearing children than most gers.

Shen Qing nodded.

Miao Shi walked with him for a short distance, but as they reached the deeper parts of the forest, Shen Qing stopped her from going any further, worried about her safety on the way back down. “Even if I’m sick, I have guns and crossbows in my space. No wild animal can do anything to me.”

Miao Shi had no choice but to leave, looking back repeatedly with every step.

Shen Qing climbed the mountain once more, but this time, his heart felt completely different. Every time he had taken this path before, he had been filled with determination, hope for survival, and a longing for a better future. But now, for the first time, he felt exhaustion and uncertainty.

It took him a long time to reach Red City Base, only to be turned away at the gates because of his high fever. He used two steamed buns to bribe someone to deliver a message to Song Kaiji. He had no idea how long he waited—his fever-induced dizziness made him lose all sense of time. The entire world spun around him, and strange, transparent ribbons seemed to float in the air, twisting everything in his vision.

Finally, Song Kaiji arrived, rushing out of the base with Qi Zhan in tow.

Shen Qing’s dizziness blurred Song Kaiji’s face in his eyes. He struggled to stand, staggering forward unsteadily, before collapsing straight into Song Kaiji’s arms.

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