"Can you clear out the zombies downstairs? It smells awful, and with this heat, I can't even open the windows. If it gets any hotter, I'll pass out from heatstroke."
Cui Xisheng pushed Meng Jiangtian aside and put on a T-shirt that was already too dirty to wear.
"Why put it on? If you're hot, just take it off. It's not like I haven’t seen you before. This shirt is so dirty; aren't you embarrassed to wear it?" Meng Jiangtian tugged at Cui Xisheng’s shirt, finding it really irritating.
"Dirty is dirty. I can't take a shower, and I don't have any clothes to change into. Stop complaining. If you have time, go clean up the zombies." Cui Xisheng tried to save his shirt, pushing Meng Jiangtian toward the window.
"Wait to open the window; I’m going out first." Cui Xisheng didn’t want to smell the stench downstairs anymore. He ran out of the bedroom and closed the door.
Meng Jiangtian waited until Cui Xisheng was out, smiling faintly. He flew out of the window, tossing the zombie remains far away into a garbage heap in an urban village.
Although he was an ability user, after being out in the hot sun for a while, he had also worked up a sweat.
Clothes were easier to find than food, so Meng Jiangtian picked out a few sets for both himself and Cui Xisheng. Seeing a dress nearby, he hesitated but decided to grab a few for Liu Anna as well.
When he walked out of the mall, he saw a mess of pots and pans scattered around the first-floor lobby. It seemed like the mall had been selling them as a promotion when the apocalypse first hit.
He quickly spotted a large plastic tub, just the right size for two people to bathe in.
Meng Jiangtian’s eyes lit up, and in a good mood, he carried the large plastic tub back to the school.
Through the window, he saw Cui Xisheng lazily fanning himself with a book in one hand, munching on a tomato with the other, sprawled on the sofa, looking quite hot.
Meng Jiangtian opened the kitchen window and entered. Cui Xisheng immediately smelled the stench again, scrunching his nose and asking, "Haven't you cleaned up the zombies yet?"
"I threw the meat away, but I haven't cleaned up the blood yet. I’ll have the student council president clean it up tomorrow. I found a bathing tub. Do you want to take a bath?"
"Of course, I need a bath. But what about the water?" Cui Xisheng was nearly suffocated by his own sweat and had been dying to take a bath.
But bathing required a lot of water. Since the student council president had just awakened his ability and had cooked a meal, he wasn’t sure if he could gather enough water for a bath.
"I’ll go ask the student council president." Meng Jiangtian didn’t care whether it would drain the student council president’s abilities. His wife wanted a bath, and there was no way they could do without water.
Cui Xisheng didn’t stop him; if they couldn’t bathe today, they could accumulate water and bathe tomorrow.
It didn’t take long for Meng Jiangtian to bring the student council president down. The student council president walked in with a dark face and immediately headed for the bathroom. Soon, the sound of water flowing into the plastic tub echoed.
Meng Jiangtian followed behind him, leaning on the bathroom doorframe and watching the student council president.
The student council president only managed to create a small amount of water in the tub. His face turned pale, and he trembled, dripping with cold sweat as he sat on the bathroom floor, panting.
"Hah, useless. Get out." Meng Jiangtian disdainfully pushed the student council president away.
The student council president’s face darkened even more, and he leaned against the wall, slowly walking out of the room.
Cui Xisheng looked at the small amount of water in the tub, feeling disappointed. It seemed like bathing was not going to happen today.
"I have a secret I want to show you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone." Meng Jiangtian didn’t want to see Cui Xisheng disappointed, and since they were going to be living together for a lifetime, he couldn’t keep his abilities a secret forever.
"If it’s a secret, you keep it to yourself. I don’t want to know." Cui Xisheng wasn’t planning to stay with Meng Jiangtian forever.
He didn’t want to be a third party. Since they were eventually going to part ways, it was better not to know any secrets, so there wouldn’t be any complicated entanglements.
Meng Jiangtian smiled faintly, but his eyes darkened. He could clearly see how strongly Cui Xisheng was resisting him.
Ending their relationship was the biggest mistake he had made in his life, and this guy's temper was really hot. Even after all this time, he was still angry.
But the idea of cutting ties? That would never happen in this lifetime.
"What do you want to do?" Meng Jiangtian pulled Cui Xisheng into the bathroom. Cui Xisheng struggled but couldn’t break free, clutching Meng Jiangtian’s hand.
Meng Jiangtian ignored the slight pain in his hand and dragged Cui Xisheng to the plastic tub. He placed his hand over the tub.
Suddenly, the air became moist, and Cui Xisheng was astonished to see that water began to gather in Meng Jiangtian’s palm, flowing steadily like a faucet, filling the tub.
"You... You're not wind-type, are you?" Cui Xisheng stammered in surprise.
"Yes," Meng Jiangtian replied, releasing his grip on Cui Xisheng, and placed his other hand on Cui Xisheng's cheek. A gentle breeze blew across Cui Xisheng’s face, cooler than the thick book he had been fanning himself with.
"You awakened two abilities?" Cui Xisheng asked, stunned. "Can someone really awaken two abilities?"
"Who says you can’t?" Meng Jiangtian pulled back the breeze, and suddenly five tender green shoots sprouted from his five fingers.
The shoots wobbled, almost like little insects, shaking at the tips of his fingers.
Cui Xisheng's eyes nearly popped out. Unable to resist, he reached out to touch the tiny green shoots. They felt exactly like the tender shoots of a plant.
He pinched one with his nails, and while the nails easily sank in, the shoots wrapped around his nails and didn’t break.
"This is from my ability. You can’t break it," Meng Jiangtian said, watching Cui Xisheng’s curious expression.
Cui Xisheng was amazed and awestruck. Ordinary people who awakened an ability were already lucky enough to survive in the apocalypse, but Meng Jiangtian had awakened three abilities at once.
Cui Xisheng had always thought Meng Jiangtian was impressive—he was smart, learned traditional medicine quickly, and was already a chief physician when he went to the hospital for his internship.
Now that the apocalypse had arrived, everyone envied ability users. But Meng Jiangtian? He had awakened three abilities all at once.
Cui Xisheng couldn't help but suspect that Meng Jiangtian must have saved the world in his past life, and now he was the chosen one with luck that made others envious.
"Yes, this is wood-type. If we settle down somewhere and I can use wood and water abilities, I can grow vegetables and fruits. Anything you want to eat, I can plant."
Cui Xisheng forced a smile, his determination wavering. Just moments ago, he was sure he didn’t want to be a third party between Meng Jiangtian and Liu Anna.
But now, seeing how powerful Meng Jiangtian was, he realized that following him meant he wouldn’t have to worry about food in the apocalypse.
With the baby inside him, Cui Xisheng wasn’t sure if he could provide for both himself and the child.
Between Being a Third Party and Raising the Child, Cui Xisheng Was Hesitant—Should He Leave the Child for Meng Jiangtian to Raise?
Meng Jiangtian looked at Cui Xisheng, who had suddenly fallen silent. His small face was full of conflicting expressions, like his features were tangled up in a chaotic fight.
Meng Jiangtian found it amusing. This guy was getting himself tangled up in some random thoughts, making himself as constipated as ever.
Just the awakening of three abilities had got this little kitten all twisted up like this. He decided to hold off on showing his healing and spatial abilities for now, so as not to scare this little kitten.
Soon, the bathwater was filled. Meng Jiangtian asked, "Do you want to take a cold bath or a hot bath? I recommend you go with a hot bath."
Cui Xisheng used to prefer cold baths in the summer. His body had been in good shape back then, and he never caught a cold.
But now, his anemia was severe, and it wasn’t recommended for normal people to take cold baths. Meng Jiangtian especially didn’t want Cui Xisheng to take a cold bath.
"Yeah, I’d like to take a hot bath too," Cui Xisheng said, his hand on his belly. With a baby inside, he certainly couldn’t risk taking a cold bath.
"Alright, wait a moment. I’ll go call Qi Tianshan."
"Hold on, didn’t you awaken the fire ability?" Cui Xisheng remembered the creepy look Qi Tianshan gave him, and he really didn’t want to see him again.
"Not yet, I haven’t. Why, do you dislike Qi Tianshan that much? Didn’t you just plead for him today?"
"Pleading for him and disliking him are two different things. Never mind, just go find him," Cui Xisheng sighed, feeling helpless.
Meng Jiangtian had originally planned to absorb the fire and earth abilities together. But he didn’t have much experience and hadn’t considered that his body couldn’t handle absorbing that much energy from the crystals at once.
After absorbing the wind, wood, and water crystals, he was already struggling. So the fire and earth abilities had been delayed.
He was originally wind-type. If he had known, he would have just upgraded the wind ability and absorbed the fire one back then.
Now, he had no choice but to go find Qi Tianshan. Seeing Cui Xisheng’s disappointed expression, Meng Jiangtian decided that the next time he absorbed crystals, he’d start with the fire ones.
As soon as Meng Jiangtian left, Cui Xisheng quickly ran into the bedroom and locked the door behind him. With Meng Jiangtian around, Qi Tianshan wouldn’t dare do anything.
Meng Jiangtian quickly brought Qi Tianshan downstairs. When he saw the bedroom door tightly closed, he scrutinized Qi Tianshan.
Clearly, Qi Tianshan must have done something to make Cui Xisheng change his attitude so quickly and start avoiding him like this.
Cui Xisheng would never say anything, so Meng Jiangtian figured he’d need to find a time to pressure Qi Tianshan into telling the truth.
Cooking had drained a lot of Qi Tianshan’s abilities. And although a fire ability user’s flame wouldn’t extinguish in regular water, the water temperature wasn’t high—just warm enough for a bath on a hot summer day.
Meng Jiangtian didn’t make it difficult for Qi Tianshan and let him leave.
Qi Tianshan, exhausted, leaned against the wall, slowly walking out.
Meng Jiangtian knocked on the bedroom door, asking Cui Xisheng to come out. The water temperature wasn’t too high, so if they waited too long, it would cool down.
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