101: Chapter 101 Eating Hot Pot in the RV

The next second.

Ye Nanxing's eyes snapped open, a sudden sharp light flashing within them!

"Hss..."

She pushed herself up from the ground with her hands, took a short, sharp breath, and swept her gaze around. "...What happened?"

"We're all out." Chu Yunting said quietly. "You're okay. He... healed you."

Yan had already collapsed into her arms, as if he had exhausted the last of his energy.

"..."

No one spoke.

The silence was terrifying.

Lin Xiao opened his mouth, as if he had forgotten what to say.

Zhou Cheng blinked several times. "...What... what kind of ability is this?"

"Mental... healing? But... this is far beyond a level a Child could use."

"And it was—cross-system interference...?"

"Holy shit..." Zhou Hao finally managed to spit out after a long pause, "He... he can heal people? So he was... an Awakened?"

"Not an Awakened." Chu Yunting glanced at them, his tone flat.

"He's an experimental subject."

Ye Nanxing held Yan tighter and said softly:

"You know..."

"We survived because you and No. 3 Body... 'sent' everyone out."

"They always knew where we were. They were always watching us."

She looked down at him.

His small body was curled in her arms, like a quiet clump of wind-blown snow—pale to the point of near-transparency, his pulse extremely weak, his breathing so faint it was almost inaudible.

Ye Nanxing's heart tightened.

An instinctive, overwhelming urge to protect surged from her chest, like a storm threatening to engulf her whole.

This wasn't the first time she had seen someone unconscious, nor the first time she had faced a near-death state.

But it was the first time.

That someone—no, a "Child"—had used the last of his own life's warmth to pull her back from the brink of death.

She instinctively raised her hand, her palm slowly pressing against the back of Yan's neck.

—It was icy cold.

As if it had lost all its heat source.

"You silly Child..." Her voice was hoarse, the murmur almost inaudible.

The corners of her eyes grew slightly warm, but she never let the tears fall.

She just hugged him even tighter.

As if trying to piece him back together with her own bones.

Chu Yunting watched her actions, his expression slightly darkening, but he said nothing.

Lin Xiao, however, was seeing her like this for the first time and spoke up in surprise:

"...You've always been the one protecting others."

"But now—he's the one protecting you."

Ye Nanxing didn't speak.

She just lowered her head, gently pressed it against Yan's temple, and closed her eyes.

No tears.

No weakness.

But in that moment, her aura softened in a way it never had before.

It was the kind of silence—born from the heart being truly touched.

Amidst the wind and snow, everyone fell silent.

The Child lay quietly in her arms, his little face pale, sleeping deeply, yet without a trace of wariness.

Lin Xiao muttered softly, "...He's not a monster."

"He's a life."

Zhou Cheng chimed in, "Without him, none of us would have made it this far."

A violent wave of air surged through the snowstorm. Chu Yunting snapped his attention back, looking towards the fault line.

"Fall back. This area will soon be swallowed by the second collapse wave."

But Ye Nanxing had already raised a hand from her embrace, her movements steady.

Space opened.

Two heavy-duty apocalypse RVs roared out from the void simultaneously!

*Vroom—!*

Tires hit the ground, the vehicle bodies expanded, snow guards deployed automatically, mechanical arms raised defensive shields—everything flowed like clouds and water.

"Holy shit!" Lin Xiao was dumbfounded.

"This... where did you just pull those from?"

Chu Yunting stood to the side, arms crossed, a cheeky smirk curling his lips:

"You don't even know that?"

"She has spatial ability~"

Lin Xiao whipped his head around. "You knew all along?"

"Of course I knew. I even slept in her space once." Chu Yunting grinned infuriatingly. "Not to brag, but I had the most comfortable sleep in the whole bunker."

Lin Xiao: "..."

Zhou Cheng stifled a laugh.

"...You can shut up now."

Ye Nanxing shot Chu Yunting a glare. "Say one more word, and I'll kick you off the RV right now."

Chu Yunting raised his hands. "Alright, alright, I'll shut up, I'll shut up—but can I pick one of these RVs first?"

Lin Xiao was still in shock. "Holy crap, you can actually carry two vehicles on you?"

"Why don't you pack some tanks too."

Ye Nanxing said calmly, "I have."

Lin Xiao: "..."

Chu Yunting raised an eyebrow. "You think her space is an ordinary one? Hers is—the Ultimate Deluxe Survival Edition Space Warehouse."

"Hanging three heavy vehicles is nothing."

Lin Xiao: "...Are you her fan or something?"

Chu Yunting: "Yes, so what?"

Lin Xiao: "Get lost!"

Everyone burst out laughing, the chill receding by a third.

But Ye Nanxing didn't laugh.

She glanced back at Yan in her arms, her expression calm yet cool.

"Enough laughing. Let's go."

"This area isn't safe."

—She knew.

The wind and snow were just the beginning.

The wind and snow gradually subsided. The sky pressed down low, the white snow muffling all sound.

The two apocalypse RVs came to a steady stop at the edge of the ruins, like a temporary, warm harbor pieced together in the wilderness of the end times.

"First, split up the vehicles."

Rubbing his shoulder, Chu Yunting stood beside Ye Nanxing, eyeing the two heavy-duty survival RVs just released from her space, a hint of excitement he couldn't hide in his eyes.

"This one has external food storage. I'll take Lin Xiao and Zhou Cheng." He stated it as if it were obvious. "You and... Yan take the one with the double-layer pressurized cabin."

"How are you so familiar with this?" Lin Xiao asked suspiciously. "Don't tell me you even studied the vehicle configurations in her space?"

Chu Yunting replied frankly, "Didn't study them. I've experienced them."

"...Get lost." Lin Xiao waved a hand, exasperated.

"I'll take Yan." Ye Nanxing couldn't be bothered with their nonsense. Her words settled the matter, clean and decisive.

No one objected. After activating the entry commands, they boarded and took their seats. The apocalypse RVs were equipped with automatic heating, power, and water recycling systems. Even at minus forty degrees Celsius outside, the interior remained as warm as spring.

Ten minutes later, the RVs activated their portable cooking modules.

Ye Nanxing took out from her space, one after another—

[Spicy Self-Heating Mini Hot Pot]

[Old Altar Pickled Cabbage Instant Noodles]

[Vegetarian Meat Hot Dog Buns]

[Cola]

"Whew... damn, is this smell an illusion?"

Lin Xiao was the first to pounce, his eyes wide as he stared at the white steam rising from the hot pot heating pack.

"I almost forgot something like 'spicy flavor' even existed."

"That's because you've been eating 'artificial protein nutrient paste' in the bunker for two days."

Chu Yunting mumbled around the fork in his mouth, "Tastes about the same as boiled cardboard glue."

"Don't say anymore."

Zhou Cheng, clutching a bowl of hot soup, looked close to tears. "I'm eating three bowls today. Anyone who stops me, I'll fight them."

The room filled with the lingering aroma of spices. The spicy soup bubbled and rolled. Everyone held their simple meals, like a group of children who had narrowly escaped death, silently reclaiming a little bit of "humanity" beneath the ice field.

Ye Nanxing didn't say anything either. She just sat quietly, occasionally feeding Yan some spiritual spring water while adjusting the corners of his blanket.