Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 60: Extra — Ding Xiaoche (Part 1)

As the sun rose, the 4S store just opened its doors. Customers poured in, almost breaking the threshold.

The security guards were armed and vigilant, not only to check the customers entering the store for any signs of infection but also to guard against zombies that might suddenly appear from the roadside.

With zombies rampant, the lifespan of vehicles drastically reduced, creating a sudden surge in car demand. Fortunately, the 4S store had ample inventory. As long as citizens could safely enter the store, they could purchase cars with confidence.

The showroom was packed, with almost every car model surrounded by eager buyers, making it hard to even sit in a car for a trial without waiting in line. Only in the northeast corner of the hall was it slightly quieter.

There, a purple Volkswagen Beetle was on display.

Beside it stood only two male customers. One was taller with a slim figure, extraordinarily handsome, and had long hair that few men would keep. It didn’t seem out of place on him but rather added to his refined demeanor. The other, slightly shorter but also young and handsome, exuded youthful vitality.

The extraordinarily handsome one gazed at the purple Beetle, mesmerized, while the younger handsome one rolled his eyes skyward.

“It’s beautiful.” Meng Zhang thought for a long time and could only come up with this.

Ding Xiaoche despaired. “Your aesthetics are too distorted.”

Meng Zhang turned to look at him.

Ding Xiaoche swallowed. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Meng Zhang’s lips were slightly raised in a faint smile, as gentle as a breeze and as bright as the moon. “It’s beautiful, but not as much as you.”

Ding Xiaoche: “……”

“Salesperson—” In the end, Ding Xiaoche surrendered to the sweet talk.

He wasn’t afraid of the god having no aesthetics, but rather his words.

The two paid on the spot, picked up the car, and soon drove the purple Beetle back to Ding Xiaoche’s house.

Although it was a done deal, Ding Xiaoche still complained all the way, and even after entering the house, he kept mumbling. “Enchantment Red, Mint Green, Ice Blue, Macaron Pink, Lavender Purple… the colors of the cars you’ve bought could make up a tropical fruit basket!”

Meng Zhang was changing shoes when he heard this and paused. “Tropical… fruit basket?”

“It’s a bunch of colorful tropical fruits in a basket,” Ding Xiaoche explained while gesturing, “piled up like a little mountain, brimming with enthusiasm…”

Meng Zhang was still confused. “How is tropical fruit different from the fruit in the store downstairs?”

Ding Xiaoche couldn’t describe it, so he simply started to draw. “This is a mango. It’s orange-yellow and not available in the fruit store downstairs!”

Meng Zhang looked at the drawing, which seemed more like a pebble, still unable to envision this tropical fruit.

Ding Xiaoche looked at his own work, also somewhat at a loss for words, and finally sighed. “I should have taken a picture with my phone.” He looked at Meng Zhang somewhat apologetically. “Those foreigners didn’t bring the actual thing. They were just looking at photos on their phones and chatting. I just caught a glimpse.”

Foreigners, referring to people who appear in the city at a certain time every day.

Meng Zhang and Ding Xiaoche had agreed, if they encountered anything novel or heard unfamiliar words from these foreigners, to try to remember them. It might be useful, or it might not, but in any case, they had plenty of leisure time to ponder and decipher together, adding some fun.

Although that’s what they said, they didn’t need to take every word seriously or remember everything. But clearly, Ding Xiaoche was concerned and felt apologetic for not doing his best.

His earnestness, bordering on silliness, was the most worrisome yet adorable trait of Ding Xiaoche.

Meng Zhang pulled him over and skillfully stole a kiss. Ding Xiaoche was stunned and took a while to react.

Meng Zhang thought for a moment and kissed him a second time. Ding Xiaoche’s face turned red, but as usual, he was stubborn. “Why… Why did you kiss me?”

Meng Zhang embraced him, forehead to forehead, their bodies subtly emitting a fragrance of sandalwood, bringing an involuntary sense of peace and tranquility. “Thank you for letting me choose the car.”

Ding Xiaoche muttered. “It was your money anyway…”

“Not so,” Meng Zhang corrected him. “Every penny I spend now is your money.”

Ding Xiaoche: “……”

“That day I already said, from now on—” Meng Zhang pulled them apart slightly, eyes meeting eyes, earnestly gazing into the depths of Ding Xiaoche’s eyes, declaring his sovereignty. “My incense money is yours, and you, belong to me.”

……

Lord Meng Zhang didn’t remember anything before his spirit left his body.

It was on a certain day five years ago that he suddenly broke free from the shackles of his idol, and his spirit gained freedom. That’s when he began to have memories. In the following year, although he remained within the Temple of Three Religions and never left, he pieced together an understanding of the world from the casual conversations of the “visitors”.

This is a city overrun by zombies. Zombies bite people, and those bitten may become infected or even die. The visitors’ task is to escort vaccines to the central hospital.

His duty was to bless these visitors.

As soon as someone discovered his statue and offered incense, countless weapons and objects would appear in his mind, as if they had been rooted there for centuries. He only needed to choose two of them and bestow them on the person.

This was how he spent over three hundred days in an orderly fashion. Then, Ding Xiaoche arrived.

It was a rainy night. A person, tied up like a rice dumpling, “thumped” into the Temple of Three Religions.

Four visitors kicked him into the temple and continued to beat him.

The person on the ground had no strength to fight back, but he could talk back. “I lent you my car, and you beat me. Repaying kindness with ingratitude, you’ll go to the eighteenth level of hell—”

Meng Zhang, floating in mid-air, was speechless for him. At this moment, he was shouting curses. There was no other word to describe him except stupidity.

As expected, the four became even angrier and kicked him harder. “You damn blew the horn and attracted the zombies, didn’t you? Ah? I almost died on the riverbank—”

The man who was kicked groaned in pain but refused to give in. “I told you the car was yours. I want to go home. I don’t want to go to the north of the city. Why don’t you let me go!”

Conflicts among visitors were common. Sometimes several groups would fight together, which was quite a sight. So, Meng Zhang wasn’t surprised by such scenes.

He turned around, preparing to float back behind the statue to wait to be found, when a cold snort made him stop.

“Lao Si, arguing with an NPC. Are you fed up or something?”

NPC. This was a term many visitors used when worshiping him. He didn’t understand what it meant, but knew that if everyone was called NPC, they must be of the same kind.

Meng Zhang had never seen his own kind in the Temple of Three Religions. He had only seen visitors and the zombies that followed them.

“Ah—” The kicked man suddenly let out a piercing scream.

Meng Zhang felt a sudden jolt in his heart. He turned stiffly to see one of the four, the one with the coldest eye, stabbing the kicked man’s forearm with a dagger.

The attacker was emotionless as he pulled out the dagger, shook off the blood, and sheathed it.

The kicked man was in so much pain that he could no longer scream. His face paled, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

The other three visitors were also shocked. The one who had kicked the hardest showed some pity. “Isn’t this too cruel…?”

The cold-eyed man sighed impatiently and looked at them. “How many times do I have to say it? Don’t get emotionally involved. These are just NPCs. Whether they live or die, they’ll reset to factory settings tomorrow, okay?”

After saying this, he looked at the curled-up, kicked man and asked lightly, “Now, will you take us to the north of the city?”

The kicked man clenched his teeth and remained silent.

The cold-eyed man squatted down, slowly saying, “Looks like I need to stab you again.”

The kicked man panicked. His eyes were unable to hide his terror. Meng Zhang could feel the extreme fear trembling in those eyes.

Yet he stubbornly remained silent, nearly biting through his lips.

As the cold-eyed man nonchalantly took out the dagger again, Meng Zhang suddenly became angry. His rage was so intense that before he even knew what to do, the entire Temple of Three Religions started shaking violently!

“Fuck, an earthquake?!”

The three visitors panicked, their faces changing.

But the shaking of the Temple of Three Religions didn’t stop. Instead, it intensified. Dust fell from the beams, and tiles slid off the roof outside, shattering!

“What are you waiting for? Run—”

“A hidden Easter egg…”

“Fuck the Easter egg when your life is at stake!”

The four ran away in a panic. The last one didn’t forget to grab the rope and drag the kicked man out of the door.

Meng Zhang didn’t give them a chance, timing it perfectly to close the temple doors the moment they left!

The doors closed like steel blades, cutting off the rope. The kicked man, who hadn’t been dragged out yet, fell to the ground.

Meng Zhang approached to check on him, but the man only sat there for a few seconds before realizing the ropes were loose. He suddenly sprang up and ran under the offering table, hiding expertly.

Meng Zhang was puzzled. He listened to the car noises, assuming the others had run off, so he stopped the shaking.

The temple returned to silence. Meng Zhang waved his hand, and the fallen incense burner and candles returned to their original state, erasing all traces of the chaos.

“Why are you hiding there?” Meng Zhang landed and manifested himself.

“Who’s talking?” A trembling voice came from under the table.

Meng Zhang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Come out, and you’ll see.”

“No.” The person under the table insisted. “What if there’s an aftershock? It’s safest here!”

Aftershocks?

Meng Zhang noted this new word to research later. He then took two steps forward and squatted in front of the table.

The person under the table was pale, shaking violently, his arm covered in blood.

In this state, when he made eye contact, he suddenly paused and said, “Your hair is so long.”

Meng Zhang was taken aback, not knowing what to say.

After a while, he found his voice. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

The person under the table was startled. Seemingly regaining his senses, he took a sharp inhale and howled, “It hurts—”

“It hurts like hell—”

“They are inhuman—”

“Bastards—”

Meng Zhang resisted the urge to cover his ears and gently blew on the NPC’s wounded arm.

The wound and pain disappeared, leaving only bloodstains as proof of the evildoers’ presence.

The person under the table was incredulous, first tentatively poking his arm, finding no pain. Then he hit it harder and still found no pain. He was immediately revitalized and asked in amazement, “Are you an immortal?”

Their eyes met, and the air suddenly became quiet.

Meng Zhang pondered for a long time and found only one word to answer. “…Yes.”

All his composure and godlike aura were lost in this rhythmless and unpredictable conversation.

“Was the earthquake just now also your doing?”

“……”

“It’s like the earth shaking and mountains moving.” Seeing that he didn’t quite understand, the young man in the cramped space under the table still insisted on making hand gestures and mimicking sounds. “Just now, it was like ‘bang bang’ and ‘whoosh whoosh’ and ‘ahhh’—”

Meng Zhang swallowed hard. “…Yeah.”

The young man’s expression brightened, giving him an unreservedly radiant smile. “So there really are gods in this world, and you’re so handsome too.”

For some reason, seeing him smile, Meng Zhang couldn’t help but smile as well.

“I’m Xiao Ding.” The young man put his hands together in prayer and bowed as if offering incense. “Thank you, god, for saving me.”

“I’m Meng Zhang.” Without thinking, he also gave his name.

Xiao Ding was surprised. “Gods have names too?”

Meng Zhang: “…Yeah.”

Xiao Ding frowned at him. “Why do you always just say, ‘Yeah’?”

Meng Zhang: “……”

Xiao Ding: “Now you’re not even saying ‘yeah’.”

Lord Meng Zhang had never been so passive in conversation before. He decided to take back control of the conversation. “Are you also a blessed one?”

Xiao Ding looked at him blankly for a while, then suddenly asked, “Can I come out?”

“Aren’t you worried about ‘aftershocks’?” Meng Zhang may not understand the word, but he clearly remembers the conversation.

Xiao Ding, who had been tilting his head in the low table for a long time, wrinkled his face pitifully. “I’m worried, but my neck is so sore…”

Meng Zhang pulled him out irritably. Xiao Ding cracked his neck for a while, finally feeling comfortable. “What did you ask just now?”

“Are you a Blesser?” Meng Zhang sighed and repeated, feeling tired for the first time in his immortal path.

“No.” Xiao Ding shook his head firmly, then asked, “What’s a Blesser?”

Meng Zhang: “……”

It rained all night. The god spent the whole night in conversation with Xiao Ding, finally understanding that although Xiao Ding wasn’t a visitor, he was also not a Blesser like him. If anything, Xiao Ding was a “car giver”, struggling every time he encountered visitors before eventually letting them take his car.

Meng Zhang also learned that many people in the city, like Xiao Ding, were trying hard to survive amidst the siege from the zombies.

Night was the most dangerous time in the city, with shops being smashed, stalls robbed, hordes of zombies roaming, and blood flowing like rivers. But by day, these traces all faded away—these shops would reopen, most zombies would go into hiding, and the city’s armed forces would take their posts, so life continued as usual.

“Going back to the north of the city for work?” Hearing Xiao Ding was about to leave, Meng Zhang suddenly felt reluctant. “I thought you’d rather die than go to the north of the city?”

“That’s at night. It’s fine during the day.” Xiao Ding worriedly looked at the blood on his sleeve. “I just won’t have time to change clothes. My boss is definitely going to scold me.”

Meng Zhang recalled the visitors he had seen, picked one that he found most appealing, raised his hand, and Xiao Ding was instantly dressed in clean clothes just like that visitor.

“You’re so useful!” Xiao Ding was thrilled with his new outfit, praising sincerely.

“……” Meng Zhang had given up. Xiao Ding could say whatever he wanted, and he would just smile.

The spirited young man walked to the temple gate. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he quickly turned back. “Can I come to see you again in the future?”

“Of course.” Meng Zhang hadn’t thought much before replying.

Xiao Ding grinned, satisfied.

“Hold on.” Meng Zhang suddenly remembered something he’d been thinking about all night. “What’s your full name?”

A name should have both a first and last name*.

*Clarity: His name is just Ding, with Xiao (小) being a form of an address (like Little Ding), usually used to address someone (younger or lower rank) that you’re familiar with as a sign of closeness or affection. Note that the Xiao is not his surname.

Xiao Ding looked at him blankly, not understanding. “Just Xiao Ding.”

Meng Zhang frowned. “Don’t you have a full name?”

Xiao Ding seemed puzzled by the question. He thought seriously for a moment, and then shook his head regretfully. “No, I don’t. My surname is Ding, and everyone just calls me Xiao Ding.”

Watching him leave, Meng Zhang replayed the phrase “Can I come see you again in the future?” in his mind, unexpectedly feeling a sense of anticipation.

Ten days passed quietly.

For Meng Zhang, ten days used to be like fleeting water, but this time, they felt like an eternity.

He suspected there was a discrepancy in their understanding of “future”. His “future” meant a few days, but what about Xiao Ding’s “future”?

Meng Zhang didn’t know, but he couldn’t wait any longer.

For the first time, he felt an urge to leave the Temple of Three Religions. And without hesitation, he acted on it.

Xiao Ding worked in the north of the city and returned to the south after work. Meng Zhang set out in the early morning and floated above the north of the city all day.

This was his first time seeing the apocalyptic city described by the visitors, but he was in no mood to admire the scenery. He only wanted to find Xiao Ding, and upon finding him, he wanted to ask, “Do you know the consequences of deceiving a god?”

However, in this bustling city with its myriad buildings, shops, and traffic, finding one person was like looking for a needle in a haystack, even for a god.

As night fell and chaos and screams reigned in the north of the city before it sank into a deathly silence, and as the south of the city lost its daytime bustle and people hid in safe places to survive the long night, the cars still driving in the south became conspicuous.

Meng Zhang would float down to each car he saw. His spirit was invisible and intangible, undetectable to visitors and the city’s inhabitants alike.

In the end, Meng Zhang finally saw Xiao Ding in the ninth car.

This time, the four people who borrowed the car were very polite, treating the car owner with good food and drink. When Meng Zhang’s spirit floated into the back seat, the young man was happily munching on chips.

Meng Zhang blew air at him.

Xiao Ding felt a breeze tickling his face, wiped it off with his hand, and continued munching, completely unaware of being watched by a god.

Meng Zhang held back his irritation until the car reached the dock, and the group abandoned the car to board a boat. Xiao Ding then returned to the driver’s seat, preparing to drive home. It was only then that Meng Zhang appeared in the passenger seat.

Full of dissatisfaction, and before he could complain, the sight of him made Driver Ding scream so loudly it could break through the car roof.

“Ahhh, a ghost!”

Meng Zhang collapsed with frustration and, losing his temper, flicked Xiao Ding’s forehead hard.

The scream stopped abruptly. Driver Ding held his forehead and looked at him pitifully. “Why did you flick me?”

Meng Zhang sighed internally, suddenly regretting that he should have been gentler, but his tone remained stern. “Those who break promises are abandoned by both humans and gods.”

Xiao Ding frowned, confused. “Break what promise? What promise did I break?”

“You said you would come to the Temple of Three Teachings in the future. Not coming for ten days is breaking the promise.” Meng Zhang didn’t care. For him, “future” meant a maximum of ten days!

Xiao Ding didn’t seem guilty, but more confused. “Temple… of Three Religions?”

His face showed no sign of joking, just pure bewilderment. Meng Zhang felt a chill in his heart and suddenly panicked. “Xiao Ding?”

“You know my name?” Xiao Ding raised an eyebrow, completely surprised. “Do we know each other?”

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The author has something to say:

Don’t fear the awakening of a god’s consciousness, but fear when a god’s little heart is moved~~ (～￣▽￣)～

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