It's Hard to Be the Female Lead's Best Friend (Apocalypse) GL - Chapter 9
The scorching sun beat down, and the air was stifling. Though occasionally a cool breeze would pass, it was but a drop in the ocean, especially for those who were exerting themselves, hanging high in the air.
Cheng Ziyu pursed her lips, her throat parched. She looked up and directly saw Qin Qingyan’s backside; perhaps the other party wasn’t as important in Gu Qingli’s heart as she had imagined.
“Yes, I knew it. The female lead is so smart, how could she not notice the Black Lotus beside her?” Cheng Ziyu muttered again.
So hot, so sunny!
Qin Qingyan’s hand trembled, clearly still shaken. She caught her breath and asked, “What should we do? There are zombies everywhere up there.”
Gu Qingli turned around and comforted her, “Once they disperse, we’ll quietly go up the stairs and follow them to another rope.”
Qin Qingyan slightly arched her back. The soreness in her body clearly couldn’t sustain her for long: “But what will we use to slide down, or do we keep climbing down?”
“There’s only one rope at the other spot, and our energy is almost depleted. Climbing down would be too risky.” Gu Qingli observed their surroundings and added, “There are steel rings over there. We can use those to slide down, but… if you can’t hold on, I don’t need to tell you the consequences, do I?”
“It’s fine, you know I’m strong,” Qin Qingyan said, relaxing her body and conserving energy, seeing a glimmer of hope for escape.
Cheng Ziyu’s stamina gradually declined. She was terrible at sports, where would she get the strength to hold on for so long? The blazing sun was making her skin sting, and her mouth was very dry.
She looked down, and the corpses below were being torn apart by zombies. She could even foresee that girl’s fate being her own.
She wanted to ask for help, but given the female lead’s unfriendly demeanor, it would be a miracle if she didn’t kick her down.
“Ugh!” Cheng Ziyu sighed bitterly.
“Alright then, you slide down first. Once you reach the destination, don’t rush up. First, check if the surroundings are safe,” Gu Qingli instructed.
Hearing Gu Qingli’s concern for Qin Qingyan.
Cheng Ziyu had thought Qin Qingyan wasn’t important, but now she was being treated as if she were, which was annoying!
Suddenly, the rope swayed violently. Caught off guard, Cheng Ziyu almost lost her grip and let out a scream: “Ah!”
“Shut up,” Gu Qingli lifted her body, turned her head to look, and saw zombies on the other end swarming down the high platform. Some fell straight to the ground, some hooked onto the ropes and then plunged, and a few were just climbing onto the ropes.
They were rapidly climbing towards Cheng Ziyu!
Gu Qingli frowned in worry: “Get ready!”
Cheng Ziyu steadied herself, looked back, and saw the zombies drooling, rapidly climbing along the rope. Zombies were strong and tireless. Even one zombie hanging with both feet in the air remained steadily on the rope.
“Get ready… for what?” Cheng Ziyu asked, tearfully and choked with fear.
Qin Qingyan scornfully replied, “Of course, get ready to swing! You have time to cry, you might as well save your strength to hold onto the rope tightly, lest you get flung off and fall to your death, turning into a ghost to claim my life.”
In matters of life and death, no matter how timid Cheng Ziyu was, at this moment she would burst forth with superhuman strength. She desperately clutched the rope, like a warrior about to face their glorious demise.
Gu Qingli saw the zombie reach the center and immediately started swinging: “Swing quickly, follow my rhythm.”
The three worked together to swing. With each sway,
The middle of the rope swayed extremely violently.
The zombie roared mightily, its entire body flying off, but it still held onto the rope. Gu Qingli saw this and caught her breath: “I’ll count to three, then we’ll swing in reverse.”
The two nodded.
“One, two, three!”
The reverse thrust on the rope gradually increased. In the middle of the swing, the powerful swinging force finally made the zombie lose its grip, sending it tumbling down.
The zombie fell with broken bones and a twisted neck, but it still relentlessly writhed its body.
“Alright, it’s over!”
Hearing this, Cheng Ziyu unconsciously relaxed her body. At this moment, she was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally. If she had hung on any longer, she might have fainted.
“Wait a moment longer.”
The commotion just now had disturbed the zombies on the balcony. Gu Qingli had no choice but to lie low and wait for a safe moment.
Her parched throat felt as if it were being scorched by flames.
The group waited on the rope for a while longer. Just as Cheng Ziyu was about to give up, Gu Qingli felt the zombies gradually dispersing. She then stepped onto the stairs, looking up at the zombies’ positions.
Judging it temporarily safe, Gu Qingli gestured for the two to come up the stairs. Qin Qingyan moved lightly, and Cheng Ziyu, dragging her exhausted body, followed closely behind.
The moment she stepped onto the stairs, her hands and feet went weak.
Gu Qingli whispered, “Follow me.”
The timid Cheng Ziyu, when walking with them, clung tightly to the handrail.
Gu Qingli deftly removed the steel cable, returned the watermelon knife to Cheng Ziyu, and seeing her trembling hands accept the knife, couldn’t help but taunt: “Oh, are you done already? Do you need me to give you a lift?”
“No… no need…” Cheng Ziyu smiled hesitantly. Oh god, can the female lead please stop scaring her little heart every now and then?
The steel cables were as thick as a pinky finger, and they still had bloodstains, clearly left by someone who had failed to escape.
“You go down first, I’ll follow soon.” Gu Qingli handed one of the rings to Qin Qingyan.
“Okay.” Qin Qingyan tore off a piece of cloth from her sleeve, wrapped it around her hands, and then looped the steel cable around them.
She pushed off with her feet decisively, and slid down quickly. Before long, Qin Qingyan safely reached the bottom and looked around.
Gu Qingli wrapped her hands around the steel cable. Cheng Ziyu leaned against the steps and looked down, her hands trembling even more. She had a look of utter despair on her face.
She felt like she would lose strength halfway and fall.
Gu Qingli turned her head and saw Cheng Ziyu’s ashen face. She couldn’t help but speak, interrupting her morbid thoughts: “Don’t worry, you won’t die today. Come on up.”
Cheng Ziyu looked up blankly. After a few seconds, she finally reacted. Joyfully, she clung to Gu Qingli’s back, her legs hooked tightly around her waist.
For the first time, Cheng Ziyu felt that the female lead actually cared about her, even if she was putting on a tough front.
As the two quickly flew across the ropes, Cheng Ziyu wasn’t afraid. She only felt incredibly safe following Gu Qingli. Especially now, in the terrifying apocalypse, to feel a hint of peace was enough for her.
The rushing wind ruffled Gu Qingli’s hair, revealing her earlobe to Cheng Ziyu’s eyes. Her elegant profile added a touch of sensuality to her demeanor.
Cheng Ziyu’s reserved eyes held a hint of emotion that even she hadn’t noticed, like a seed waiting to sprout and grow.
The two safely arrived. Gu Qingli’s fair and clean hands were marked with streaks of bl00d from bearing the weight of two people.
Qin Qingyan saw Cheng Ziyu, who was still feigning ignorance and clinging to Gu Qingli without letting go. She stepped forward and pulled her away: “Alright, you’re safe now, get down. What if you exhaust my goddess?”
The moment she landed, Cheng Ziyu’s legs went weak, and she instinctively hugged Gu Qingli from behind again to steady herself: “Sorry.”
Gu Qingli didn’t push her away. She turned her head and mocked, “Weakling, with your stamina, you’d better exercise more, lest you drag us all down.”
“Exactly, exactly.” Qin Qingyan took Gu Qingli’s hand, her eyes full of concern, “See, goddess almost ruined her hands for you.”
“…”
Gu Qingli’s smile stiffened slightly: “Speak properly.”
Hearing this, Qin Qingyan turned to threaten Cheng Ziyu: “If you hurt Sister Qing again, I won’t let you off.”
Calling her “goddess” repeatedly made it seem like Qin Qingyan genuinely liked Gu Qingli, unlike the novel’s description of her being two-faced.
No, maybe she was just faking it?
Qin Qingyan was speechless. Seeing Cheng Ziyu still spaced out and clinging to Gu Qingli, she really wanted to poke her with a knife to wake her up. Most importantly, why wasn’t her goddess pushing this person away? “Hey… have you hugged enough?”
“Uh… sorry.”
Cheng Ziyu felt some strength return to her legs and finally let go. She noticed there was still one person in the corner, and that was Shu Jingyun.
But Shu Jingyun looked rather unwell. She seemed utterly dispirited, and her hands were covered in marks from the steel cable!
Cheng Ziyu limped closer to Shu Jingyun, squatted down, and checked her. The zombies didn’t seem to have injured her: “Are you okay?”
“I didn’t expect that among those boys, one of them was bitten, but he actually hid his wound, and in the end, everyone… including my boyfriend, died,” Shu Jingyun murmured, her eyes red.
Shu Jingyun no longer possessed her former leadership charisma. Instead, she seemed like a lost child.
This child was scared senseless.
Cheng Ziyu didn’t know how to comfort her, so she could only pat her shoulder: “Live well for your boyfriend.”
Shu Jingyun then quietly sobbed.
“Let’s wait here for Xie Feiyu to rescue us!” Qin Qingyan said after hearing Shu Jingyun’s words, not intending to comfort her.
Gu Qingli’s eyes flickered for a moment upon hearing this: “We don’t know when they’ll arrive. Zombies could surround this place at any moment. We have no food or weapons, so waiting here for rescue is too passive.”
No, no, Cheng Ziyu absolutely didn’t want to leave. She knew the male lead would arrive at sunset; she only needed to wait half a day. But she couldn’t say these words out loud.
Cheng Ziyu could only express her refusal at this moment with a disheartened expression.
Qin Qingyan: “Then what should we do?”
Gu Qingli’s dark eyes were like a cold pond, chilling and unfathomable. She looked meaningfully at Cheng Ziyu: “We’ll leave the school first and go to the nearest supermarket to find food.”
“Okay,” Qin Qingyan said without thinking.
Gu Qingli’s gaze made Cheng Ziyu uneasy. She always felt there was something strange about this female lead, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
“This is a novel… this is a novel. The female lead’s character is a true saint, kind-hearted and thoughtful,” Cheng Ziyu couldn’t help but grumble again: “Nonsense, the female lead’s character has collapsed. This is a fake saint, a true devil.”
“What are you mumbling about?” Qin Qingyan approached Cheng Ziyu, vaguely hearing the words “saint.” “Are you cursing someone?”
“No, I was complimenting you on your kindness and beauty,” Cheng Ziyu lied smoothly.
Qin Qingyan covered her face shyly: “Really?”
Cheng Ziyu nodded earnestly.
Gu Qingli squinted, with a cold sneer on her lips.