STB Chapter 24: Attacked

This is machine translated and all copyrights belong to the author. Please note that the translator might take creative liberties for better readability. Thank you for reading.

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Li Fei: Don’t you think we work well together?

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The joke closed the distance between them, changing the atmosphere.

There were too many formalities between them, differences brought by status, and the distance Jian Hua deliberately maintained — to him, Li Fei was a special existence, difficult to face with a normal mindset.

Their abilities brought trouble and destroyed much, but Li Fei had never been more grateful for this sudden gift. Without these abilities, he would have been as clueless as others during the Pearl Hotel incident, perhaps smoothly signing a contract at the coffee shop meeting with Jian Hua, but ultimately drifting further apart from the person before him.

Unaware of the secrets of the abandoned world, and not understanding Jian Hua’s troubles…

If one can’t enter the other’s world, how can there be further development? They would only remain at the level of liking each other, gradually fading, leaving a faint regret and ultimately missing out.

Love requires the stability of time and a deeper understanding; without a nurturing environment, even missing out wouldn’t bring pain or sorrow.

How frustrating to not even be entitled to that pain!

Thinking of such an outcome made Li Fei uncomfortable. He disliked losing control of situations and missing precious things—-even before understanding their value.

Watching Jian Hua walk ahead into the fire-blackened corridor, Li Fei’s lips curved into a smile.

The hospital had become the territory of the furry creatures. On their way out, Jian Hua and Li Fei encountered many flat black furballs. Frightened by the flames, they hurriedly rolled away upon seeing them, hiding behind plant leaves, crouching under tables, squeezing into the gaps of thick folders, retracting their claws, closing their eyes, and curling into a ball to play dead.

Jian Hua hadn’t forgotten their green pupils and the ferocity in their eyes when stalking prey; they were no friendly creatures.

“Too many to waste our abilities on them,” Li Fei remarked lightly, glancing at a furball that shook and quickly covered itself with leaves.

“…”

The bulging leaves made it more conspicuous. From this attempt to conceal themselves, it seemed they weren’t intelligent creatures.

“Social creatures?” Jian Hua speculated, feeling that these furballs communicated with each other. Otherwise, why did all the scratching noises stop after the one at the vent screamed?

Their current “right of way” treatment was thanks to the unlucky furball that had been engulfed by the flames in the corridor.

“Things that know their place are better than stupid creatures.”

A cold emotion flickered in Li Fei’s eyes, quickly vanishing so fast Jian Hua almost thought it was an illusion.

Having been in the entertainment industry for many years, Jian Hua knew that most stars’ personalities differed from their public personas. But this side of Li Fei felt dangerous.

“No noise, no faces full of scheming, no obligatory matters… If there were no monsters or trouble, the abandoned world would be perfect,” Li Fei said with a light laugh.

“And no matter how long it takes here, it’s only a second in the real world,” Jian Hua continued, “No worries about not getting enough sleep, no rushing against time, one can truly enjoy the leisure.”

“Yes.” Li Fei stood at the window in the stairwell, gazing at the quiet city with a gentle and elegant demeanor, hiding a vaguely crazy emotion, as if he wanted to embrace the city.

Jian Hua felt moved, thinking he understood Li Fei a bit — a person who had gained a lot but was firmly bound by “success.”

Li Fei was a perfect idol in others’ eyes, his mask bringing success. He didn’t hate it, but sometimes, when tired of the troubles that came with fame and fortune, he felt the urge to throw it away as far as possible.

“Yearning for freedom?” Jian Hua approached Li Fei, “You could earn enough money and then leave the entertainment industry.”

An hour ago, Jian Hua would have kept such deep conversations to himself, never asking them out loud.

“There’s no true freedom in the world; it depends on what you’re willing to be bound by.” Li Fei turned his head, the sunlight through the glass window shining on his face. He didn’t linger at the window.

Their footsteps were light as they descended the stairs, but in the utterly quiet hospital, there was an echo.

Two sets of footsteps, from irregular to almost in sync…

Li Fei was absorbed in this subtle atmosphere when suddenly, he heard a distant noise, as if something had knocked over a tray, its contents clattering to the ground.

Jian Hua shook his head solemnly at Li Fei. The black furballs were too small to knock over a medical tray without knocking themselves out. Clearly, something else was in the hospital.

The sound came from the fourth floor. Since the hospital had high foot traffic, the stairwell doors leading to each floor were always open. Now, Jian Hua and Li Fei stood halfway down the stairs to the fourth floor, intently listening to the noises below.

“Huff… chew…”

The strange panting and chewing sounds suddenly stopped.

Jian Hua held back Li Fei, sensing that the source of the noise was approaching the stairwell. Its presence was obvious, unlike the weak furballs that even Jian Hua’s ability couldn’t detect.

The monster quickly revealed its true form. It resembled a monkey with long arms and bright red eyes, staring at the two people on the stairs. Its face, with sharp monkey-like features, twisted into a sinister smile.

“Crack.”

The monkey suddenly stretched out its arm, reaching through the railing gap to attack Jian Hua, who responded with a swift and accurate kick.

“Ow!” The monster howled in pain as its arm bent unnaturally.

In agony, it withdrew its arm and quickly scampered back to the fourth floor, not forgetting to use its other uninjured arm to close the door behind it.

“Bang!”

The two outside the door: …

Li Fei looked at the tear on Jian Hua’s shoe and then dissipated the flames in his hand, sighing, “Your speed is faster than my ability summoning.” He had thought Jian Hua would retreat, but he didn’t.

“Oh, it was instinct,” Jian Hua said nonchalantly.

Li Fei seemed taken aback by this response, then remembered that Jian Hua was not only a stunt actor but also skilled in martial arts, capable of disarming and subduing an armed robber in minutes.

As a newly signed exclusive stunt actor, Jian Hua was a valuable asset.

But as an object of unrequited love, Li Fei felt the difficulty of winning him over had just skyrocketed.

On the stairway floor lay a black furball, its body stained with dark red blood, lying stiff, its back half missing. It seemed to be the monkey’s chewed-up meal.

Jian Hua recalled the feel of his kick: “The fur wasn’t hard, but it was slippery. I intended to step on its arm to trap and study it, but my foot slipped…” The kick had bent the monkey’s arm and let it escape.

—-So it wasn’t intentional.

Li Fei rubbed his forehead.

“Its slimy fur was probably used to deal with these little things,” Jian Hua observed, walking over to the furball’s corpse.

“A food chain shaped by natural evolution?”

“Though the furballs have sharp claws, they’re too small and weak to penetrate the monkey’s greasy fur. Clearly, there’s a predator-prey relationship, proving they aren’t creatures from nowhere but from a world unknown to us.” Jian Hua admitted that chatting with Li Fei was pleasant, appreciating a companion who could understand his implied meanings.

Unaware of his rising esteem in Jian Hua’s eyes, Li Fei pondered the conclusion, frowning, “This isn’t good news.”

Humans in the abandoned world knew nothing of these monsters’ weaknesses or strengths.

Although the setting was a familiar city, how many could utilize the terrain to their advantage? Humans appearing before these monsters were just novel prey.

“Step back,” Jian Hua suddenly said. “You can use your ability now.”

“…”

The door to the corridor banged open. The monkey, nursing its dislocated arm and grinning fiercely, reappeared with a dozen similar long-armed monkeys, all aggressive.

The monkey, pointing at Jian Hua, seemed quite triumphant—-

“Ow ow!” A large ball of fire instantly engulfed the group of monkeys. They panicked, scattering in all directions, slapping at the flames. The lead monkey, unwilling to give up, charged through the fire, eyes wide with ferocity, and attacked, ablaze.

Then, it was lifted into the air by an unseen force, flailing and howling for several seconds before burning into a charred heap within the high-temperature, orange-red flames, and collapsing heavily to the ground.

The fire dissipated, leaving an unpleasant smell.

“Does your ability drain you much?”

“Their fur secretes a lot of oil, so it burns easily,” Li Fei replied, looking relaxed, ignoring the charred corpses and the unsettling mix of scorched flesh and blood.

Their exit from the hospital was smooth and composed.

Returning to the sunlight, the cold, disinfectant-laden air dissipated. Jian Hua surveyed the hospital’s front garden, noting how difficult it was to spot the furballs outside with the naked eye. Their ability to hide their presence was impressive. Imagining them silently lurking in the shadows and then suddenly attacking! No wonder Major Zhang of the Red Dragon organization was left with numerous injuries.

Li Fei found his car in the parking lot. As he reached for his keys, Jian Hua kindly reminded him, “Aren’t the car keys with Assistant Lin?”

“I have a set too,” Li Fei replied. Assistant Lin handled errands, but that shouldn’t mean Li Fei couldn’t drive off if needed.

Jian Hua prepared to drive for the movie star, but Li Fei stopped him: “I’ll drive. If something happens, I’ll notice sooner and can use my ability to avoid it in time.”

“You don’t know the way to my house,” Jian Hua said, his expression slightly awkward.

It sounded like he was inviting the movie star over to his place.

Thinking of the poster of General Wu on his bedroom wall, Jian Hua felt a bit uneasy.

Well, it shouldn’t be a problem! Li Fei wasn’t the type to just barge into someone’s bedroom.

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Last Edit   December 15, 2023 at 11:31 PM

This is machine translated and all copyrights belong to the author. Please note that the translator might take creative liberties for better readability. Thank you for reading.