Chapter Twenty-Five: Warmth

Tie Zhu, of course, had been here for a long time already. Everything Ma Yi said was law to him; his skills had long since been honed under Ma Yi's rigorous training. They were all of the same rank, yet Tie Zhu alone could easily handle both Hammer and Fatty at once.

Hammer and Fatty, too, now followed Ma Yi’s instruction in all sincerity. As for Swiftwind, who used to be so overly proud, he had now been tossed aside like a dying dog for several days. Ma Yi had repeatedly warned them: if such an incident happened again, even if it was only their subordinates at fault, he would kill them without hesitation.

The three S-class zombies under Swiftwind cowered and trembled nearby, having witnessed their leader being utterly defeated. Ma Yi’s strength needed no further explanation. Thanks to Ruhua’s spreading of the tale, tens of thousands of zombies now knew that those people were not to be touched—anyone who tried would meet a miserable end.

Although Liu Wen had recovered from her fright, she still tried to avoid appearing before zombies. Liu Xue, on the other hand, often came out to watch the excitement when she had nothing to do, brandishing a small wooden stick to whack Swiftwind as he lay on the ground, entirely devoid of any rebellious thoughts. Though Swiftwind had yet to recover, the little girl’s courage had clearly grown.

Hammer and Fatty, having learned many new things, now resembled soldiers in an army—there was form and substance to their sparring. Ma Yi watched over their training every day, though he had once again taken a backseat, leaving all affairs to Tie Zhu, including the training of Hammer and Fatty. They no longer needed to eat every day; when hunger struck, they would descend the mountain to feed on zombies or hunt for evolved beasts, never needing to consume Ma Yi’s stores. Under Ma Yi’s guidance, Hammer and Fatty even led some of their subordinates to gather supplies for him. Zombies, it turned out, were no longer infectious as long as their blood didn’t enter a wound or the body was not bitten or scratched.

Ruhua led the recovered Swiftwind and three others to hunt for evolved beasts. Their speed allowed them to quickly kill the leaders of these creatures. Now Ma Yi possessed four portions of beast king meat. The corpses of these evolved beast leaders had been delivered intact to his villa. Ma Yi discovered that eating the flesh of these beast kings greatly enhanced one’s strength, especially for Liu Wen and Liu Xue—it was nothing short of a miracle elixir. The beast king meat contained even more energy, but he dared not let them eat too much; it was like thousand-year-old ginseng—an occasional morsel could be wondrous, but excess would be wasteful and even harmful. Ma Yi was willing to give it to Liu Wen, but their bodies couldn’t withstand so much concentrated power.

Even with less than a hundred grams of minced beast king meat in a large pot of rice porridge, both women ended up with nosebleeds from the potent nourishment, frightening Ma Yi so much that he dared not let them eat it again. Aside from the beast king meat, the other evolved beast flesh also contained abundant nutrients. Liu Wen and Liu Xue were satisfied with these; they could feel themselves growing stronger without harm.

Surprisingly, Liu Wen’s father, an ordinary man, found himself feeling a bit younger after eating this powerful meat. His gray hair gradually darkened as he continued to eat it. Who knew—perhaps with enough of this evolved beast meat, he might one day become an evolved human himself. This made Ma Yi pay even closer attention to the meat’s effects.

Ma Yi directly rewarded Tie Zhu with half a portion, for no other reason than that Tie Zhu had always understood him best since the very beginning—he had grown from being unable to communicate with Ma Yi to understanding his every word.

Hammer and Fatty were lucky enough to share half a portion between them. As for Swiftwind, who had captured the evolved beast leader, he received only a quarter, despite his contribution—because of his earlier mistakes. Still, Swiftwind was content. Ruhua told Ma Yi she didn’t need any for the time being, so he withheld it—though Ruhua was a zombie king, in Ma Yi’s eyes she was still his woman, and he would not let her go without.

Hammer set off with his subordinates and ten thousand ordinary zombies, tasked by Ma Yi with the goal of gathering even more followers. In the mutual slaughter and devouring among the ten thousand, new evolved zombies would arise. By leading them, Hammer could slowly transform this horde into an army entirely composed of evolved zombies. Now tinged faintly with gold, Hammer finally began to understand Ma Yi’s words. As for Tie Zhu, now radiating golden light, Ma Yi estimated he would soon reach the third stage, becoming even more powerful. So Ma Yi sent all the zombies at the foot of the mountain with Tie Zhu, including Fatty, in the opposite direction from Hammer.

Why bring Fatty along? Ma Yi figured that if anything happened to Tie Zhu during his evolution, Fatty could protect him. Fatty, like Hammer, now had a golden sheen to his skin. Swiftwind continued to follow Ruhua in search of more beast king flesh.

Ma Yi’s body now seemed fixed at a height of four meters; unlike before, he was no longer growing. His skin had taken on the bright silver hue of Ruhua. Among Ma Yi’s subordinates, neither Hammer, Fatty, nor Swiftwind had passed through the bright silver stage—they went straight from silvery-white to a pale gold. Only Tie Zhu showed signs of transforming into bright silver before moving on to pure gold, but even then, he did not linger there. Ma Yi surmised that zombies who achieved the bright silver stage were truly exceptional—this was something he deduced from himself and Ruhua. Tie Zhu was a close second; the others seemed to follow the normal evolutionary path.

Before his subordinates departed, Ma Yi specifically instructed them to keep an eye out for any bright silver zombies and to report back if they found any.

He relaxed for a few days, spending time quietly with Liu Wen and Ruhua. Then, Ma Yi plunged back into the projection room to study various martial arts techniques. It felt as if he’d hit some kind of bottleneck, just as Ruhua had said—eating beast king flesh no longer helped him, but he still consumed the flesh of evolved beast leaders, believing in the principle of slow accumulation and sudden breakthrough. Liu Wen proved herself a capable homemaker, turning the surplus evolved beast meat into cured meat, inspired by her mother’s memory of ham. Ma Yi tried it—the nutrients were reduced, but not by much.

Whenever he had free time, Ma Yi would help out. The bones of evolved beasts were extremely hard, and it was too much for Liu Wen’s slender arms to handle. Ma Yi mostly helped to spare her the trouble. He had salvaged a steel-cutting blade from a factory, and after careful sharpening, fashioned a cleaver over two meters long. The steel edge was superb, slicing through the hardest bones without dulling. Ma Yi would cut the meat into chunks, and Liu Wen would season and massage them, while Liu Xue simply stood by, doing nothing but bossing everyone around with the air of a wealthy landlord.

Liu Wen was overjoyed with her current life—finally, it felt like being a real couple. Her strength was, of course, no match for Ma Yi’s, but she was several times stronger than a normal human. She could run faster than a J-class zombie, though not as fast as an S-class. According to Ma Yi, as long as he was around, they would all continue to grow stronger, but self-defense was still essential.

What frustrated Liu Wen was her lack of growth in height. She envied Ruhua’s towering, voluptuous figure. Perhaps only Ruhua could endure Ma Yi’s full strength now, but Ma Yi reassured her that Ruhua was different—she was not even human, after all. In any case, even Ruhua could not handle Ma Yi’s current state, so for a long time, he would have to content himself with spiritual comfort.

Happily, Ma Yi now spent every night sleeping beside her. Though they could do little more than cuddle and kiss, Liu Wen was deeply content, especially when she saw the burning desire in Ma Yi’s eyes. For a woman, the greatest happiness is to have a man who sees no one but her—and that man is the one she loves.

“I want to kiss it,” Ma Yi said, lying on the floor. For the first time, Liu Wen wore such sexy lingerie, and Ma Yi nuzzled his head into her chest. Liu Wen had always been reserved in front of him, but under his shameless coaxing, she gradually let herself relax.

“Stop it,” Liu Wen said shyly, but still took off her bra.

Their days passed in peace, filled with the warmth of a true home. Liu Wen finally started calling Ma Yi her husband; he, of course, was delighted to call her his wife. Her parents had nothing to say about their affection—Ma Yi was now their son-in-law, after all, and seeing their children happy together was satisfaction enough. The only one who seemed displeased was Liu Xue.

What is happiness? It is to have a cozy home, loved ones, and to be loved in return—happiness is that simple.

Yet the vast, chaotic world often defiled that simple happiness.

Money, houses, cars, fame—do they bring happiness? Perhaps, but more often they breed vanity: wanting what others have, craving what others lack. Desire is indeed the engine of human progress, but one must know their limits. One cannot borrow money just to satisfy vanity. Without it, perhaps so many college students would not be driven to despair by debt.

When you have that vanity, you may shine in public, but at home, you still lie in your three-square-meter space. Strip away the layers of ostentation, and all you face is the cold ceiling and your own hollow heart.

Men, at such times, turn to dissipation; women, too, lose themselves in the glimmer of nightlife and sweet words. When the party ends and the crowd disperses, you are still yourself—still empty, still lonely, unchanged.

Ma Yi now felt truly happy: he had food, drink, a little home, and someone he loved within it. To keep this happiness, he must work even harder, for in the face of absolute strength, all threats are nothing but paper tigers.