The two sat quietly together.

Tiantian was somewhat worried that Zheng Yingxiong’s neck would get tired, so she reached out from behind to support his tilted-back head.

Throughout it all, Zheng Yingxiong never resisted. He only quietly asked once, “Sister… Civilian, can you help me with something…”

“What ‘Sister Civilian’?” Tiantian sighed. “Is it really that hard to call me ‘big sister’?”

She had thought Zheng Yingxiong was being somewhat mischievous, deliberately playing the role of a “hero,” but she hadn’t expected his next words to leave her completely bewildered.

“I… can I?”

“Can you…?” Tiantian frowned at him. “Can or can’t what?”

“Can I call you ‘big sister’?”

“Do I need someone’s permission for you to call me ‘big sister’?”

“Then… big sister… can you help me with something?”

“I really can’t handle you, child. Why are you so strange?” Tiantian smiled bitterly and shook her head. “We’re already ‘comrades who’ve been through life and death together’ and you’re still being so polite. What do you want me to help you with?”

“I… my ‘crown’ fell…” Zheng Yingxiong smiled and said, “Could you help me pick up my ‘crown’?”

“Crown?” Tiantian turned her head to see the crown folded from newspaper lying quietly on the ground, and couldn’t help but be curious. “Is this newspaper crown very important to you?”

“Mm, another big sister gave it to me.” Zheng Yingxiong nodded. “The crown isn’t important to me, but that big sister is very important to me.”

After hearing this, Tiantian’s heart was slightly touched. She bent down to pick up the crown from the ground, gently dusted off the dirt on it, and placed it on the table nearby.

About a minute or two later, Zheng Yingxiong’s nosebleed stopped. He slowly lowered his head and looked at Tiantian’s hand.

Earlier, in her panic, Tiantian had pressed his nose with her palm, which was now covered with congealed blood.

“Big sister, your hand is dirty…”

“Don’t worry about me.” Tiantian reached out and wiped on her skirt, removing part of the blood. “Are you feeling better?”

“Mm, thank you, big sister.” Zheng Yingxiong smiled slightly, but quickly felt it wasn’t quite appropriate and immediately put away his smile. “I’m better now.”

“Stubborn child…” Tiantian shook her head helplessly. “I have a younger brother, about the same age as you.”

“Mm…?”

“Isn’t it quite a coincidence? You have a big sister, and I have a younger brother.” Tiantian reached out to touch Zheng Yingxiong’s head. “My younger brother also likes to play pretend games. He’s at a place called ‘Heaven’s Gate’ now. I came here to find him.”

“‘Heaven’s Gate’…” After hearing this, Zheng Yingxiong narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Big sister, there’s also a person at ‘Heaven’s Gate’ surrounded by a serious stench. It’s different from the stench on that ‘cat’ person, but both are very smelly…”

“Mm…” Tiantian didn’t know how to evaluate the boy before her. He always seemed to be talking about “scents,” so she could only say, “Little brother, it’s not just that people here stink badly—even the air stinks. Why do you fixate on the smell on people?”

“No… each person’s scent is different.” Zheng Yingxiong shook his head, as if educating Tiantian. “Some people have a fresh fragrance on them, while others have a foul stench.”

“Ha…” Tiantian smiled. She always felt the youth before her was extremely like her mischievous younger brother. “Then tell me, what does big sister smell like?”

“You…” Zheng Yingxiong lifted his nose and sniffed, discovering there was no scent at all. “Your scent hasn’t come yet.”

“Hasn’t come?” Tiantian was hearing this kind of description for the first time and could only shake her head. “Alright, little brother, do you have somewhere to go later?”

“I should return to the ‘cats.'” Zheng Yingxiong raised his head. “Big sister, have you never heard of the ‘cats’ before?”

Tiantian thought for a moment and indeed had no impression of this name. “Never heard of it.”

“Then do you want to escape from here?” Zheng Yingxiong asked again.

“I…” Tiantian smiled indifferently. “I don’t.”

“Come with me then.” Zheng Yingxiong picked up his crown and put it back on his head. “That place sounds very suitable for you. Since I’m a ‘hero,’ I naturally must arrange where each ‘civilian’ should go.”

“Go with you? Now?” Tiantian stood up and pounded her somewhat sore legs. “If there’s a bicycle, it’s not impossible… Don’t you want to rest a bit more?”

“I…”

Before Zheng Yingxiong could finish speaking, the sound of people conversing came from outside the building. Both of them were slightly startled. Looking out through the window, they discovered three men approaching in the distance.

Two middle-aged men were followed by a young man. The three were conversing while walking toward the building.

Tiantian reached out her hand and silently pulled Zheng Yingxiong behind her. Although it wasn’t strange to encounter other people in this place, strangers always made one feel inexplicably uneasy.

“These black lines actually have times when they stop… truly rare…” one of the middle-aged men said.

“Damn it, my legs are about to cramp… quickly find a place to rest. I need to take off my shoes.” The other middle-aged man replied.

“This place is really strange…” the young man also chimed in. “Buildings within a radius of several hundred meters have all collapsed, leaving only this one building in front of us.”

“Let’s go, let’s go. Those black lines look like they won’t move for a while. Damn it, I’m really about to die from exhaustion.”

The three people approached the building and swaggered in, pushing open the door. Only then did they discover Tiantian and Zheng Yingxiong inside.

Both parties’ expressions froze.

“Ah!” The middle-aged man in the lead spoke first, then slowly extended his hand. “Don’t be nervous! We’re not bad people!”

Tiantian wordlessly protected Zheng Yingxiong behind her. She had seen too many people.

Generally speaking, one shouldn’t listen to what the other party says, but rather watch what they do.

The middle-aged man in the lead wore a black T-shirt with a gray suit jacket over it. His hair was also carefully combed, making him look fairly respectable.

But the middle-aged man behind him only wore a worn tank top, exposing his bloated arms.

Standing behind the two of them was a very tall young man. He had a slender build and looked not very old, with a bit of childishness still in his eyes, like a college student.

Tiantian didn’t chat with the men. She just stood up, pulled Zheng Yingxiong, and said, “Let’s go.”

Zheng Yingxiong also nodded and turned back to get his bicycle.

“Hey! Wait! Wait!” The sleazy middle-aged man wearing the tank top stepped forward to block their path. Seeing this, Tiantian pulled Zheng Yingxiong further behind her, still expressionless.

“What is it?” Tiantian asked with furrowed brows.

“Little miss, why are you leaving as soon as you see us? Do we look like bad people?”

Tiantian calmly shook her head and said, “Of course not. You gentlemen look like you’re not bad people at all. It’s just that we’ve rested enough and now we need to go back.”