The Ger's Contract Marriage [BL]
Chapter 509: Not in Kansas Anymore

Chapter 509: Not in Kansas Anymore

The stench was dull, a lingering reminder that the zombie had been dead for quite some time.

Whether long dead, short dead, or somewhere in between, the fact remained—dead was still dead. The smell of zombie guts, regardless of the duration of decay, was and forever would be an assault on the senses, an abomination to anyone’s nose... especially a certain groggy sleepyhead who found himself in an unfortunate situation.

Xu Feng’s stomach churned as he tried to withstand the nauseating stench. For a few long minutes, he fought against the wave of sickness, his body quivering with the effort.

"Hurl," In the end, his body betrayed him, and he heaved, revisiting the jam and wine he’d indulged in not too long ago. The acrid scent of his bile mixed with the foul odor of the decayed zombie juice, creating a cocktail of repulsion that left Xu Feng feeling utterly disgusted.

After dry heaving, there was nothing for him to give. He had given his everything to the floor.

The basement around him was a grim snapshot of the post-apocalyptic world he now found himself in. The walls, stained and cracked, seemed to absorb the decay and despair of the year-long zombie occupation.

Despite the nagging urge to disappear, Xu Feng’s meticulous nature kicked in. Even in the middle of his nauseous state, he managed to vomit with an almost acrobatic precision, not a single drop of the mess splattering onto his person.

He was a pro vomiter...

He took pride in this absurd talent—he could probably win an Olympic gold medal for his out-of-this-world talent! At the silly thought, Xu Feng couldn’t help but smile with an equally silly grin on his face.

He was Xu Feng, FengLi, Feng’er, and so many other hims with a past that spanned lifetimes—some he could now remember and others he only had the vaguest of impressions of. No matter what he was in the past, he was still him.

He was his parents’ son, his grandmother’s little helper, the partner of Xuan Jian and Xuan Yang, a peculiar "ugly" ger who had carved a place for himself in the Xuan family, and now, the father of two precious eggs. As these titles and roles flashed through his mind, Xu Feng felt a strange comfort. Despite the chaos of his memories, he was still him, still grounded in the core of who he was.

With each second more and more titles Xu Feng had proudly and embarrassedly carried in both Dongmen and Donghua flashed by in his mind. This lifetime was a strange one, but it was all the little memories that made living so worthwhile.

He was many things good and bad, and what he learned wouldn’t change him completely.

The wine and jam hadn’t dulled his pain entirely, but revisiting them on the upswing seemed to give Xu Feng some stable ground to stand on.

Things weren’t perfect, far from it, but worrying wouldn’t help.

He couldn’t help but stare at the decapitated zombie once more, and his grin grew bigger. Not because of whatever cruel fate the child had faced before turning into a zombie or even its ending as a zombie. Xu Feng wasn’t that sick in the head.

He was excited because he wasn’t dead.

Being back in his space had been a pleasant surprise after all the hazy dreams and memories. "Meeting" his grandmother was even more so. But now, Xu Feng was certain—he was alive and back in his modern world.

He hadn’t died, hadn’t been consigned to some ethereal plane. He was here, in the present, and that realization filled him with a strange excitement.

If he had died, he would have hoped for a second chance, a way to reunite with Xu Zeng and find a path back to his family in Nanshan Estate. But he wasn’t dead. Something inside him knew this with certainty. Instead, it seemed he had swapped places with his brother again.

Xu Feng paused, his thoughts racing. Yes, this had to be true. His most farfetched dreams were reality—Xu Zeng wasn’t trapped in this hellhole, and his children would have Xu Zeng.

Some vague memory flashed by in his head, although he could barely hold onto the thought for a moment, Xu Feng knew he was on the right track. Some or all of his thoughts were in the right general direction.

He wasn’t dead, he was playing switcheroo with his brother again!

Xu Feng began to giggle, his laughter starting low but growing with his excitement. He still wanted to return to Nanshan Estate, to be with all his loved ones in one place. But for now, everything else seemed to be going well.

This was the best outcome he could have hoped for. There was no room for negative thoughts. Everything had to be okay on the other side. All he needed to worry about now was avoiding zombies long enough to figure out how to get back to Donghua.

His grandmother’s words echoed in his mind: "Go. It is time. It has been time for some time. You’ve suffered for so long, don’t let the children suffer."

Didn’t that mean he would eventually find his way back to Donghua? That was where his children were. There was no way his grandmother would lead him astray. Shouldn’t ghosts be all-knowing?

"Pfft!" Xu Feng was on the verge of another round of laughter when a sudden noise shocked him into silence.

His laughter died in his throat as his ears perked up, straining to catch the sound. The basement, previously filled with the oppressive quiet of decay and neglect, now held a new tension.

The noise was still distant, but to Xu Feng’s heightened senses, it felt far too close for comfort. His body tensed instinctively, every nerve on high alert. This wasn’t a safe place. He was back in the zombie plane, and this was no time to relax. There would be no frolicking in the daisies here.

Xu Feng wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

The murmurs of a conversation floated toward him, muffled but discernible. His sharp hearing picked up the voices of two men, their tones laced with irritation and resentment.

"That damned good-for-nothing," one voice grumbled, the frustration clear.

"Just because she has a useless ability, she can curry favor with the boss. We’ve checked this building from top to bottom how many times already? And she still thinks that zombie bait is hiding in here somewhere?" the second voice replied, the annoyance in his tone unmistakable.

"She only has enhanced smell. What good is that? The boss made the wrong decision sacrificing that plant ability user for some useless woman," the first voice chimed in again, his words dripping with disdain.

"If he just wanted someone to warm his bed, the plant ability user wasn’t hard on the eyes with that silver hair and those sharp eyes, a man to warm one’s bed isn’t a shameful thing anymore." The second man added, his voice thick with lecherous intent.

Their laughter echoed through the basement, a dark and twisted sound that made Xu Feng’s skin crawl. But as quickly as their laughter started, it faded into a somber silence.