Stay away from me!
1202 Words
Sunlight spilled down.
Through the transparent canopy of the farmers’ market, it fell upon the cluttered ground.
Dust floated in the beams of light.
As the sun rose higher, the radiance wrapped around the drifting dust, gently brushing across the sleeping face of Xu Chi.
That perfect face, under the sunlight, looked even paler, almost like milk. Smooth to the point where even the fine hairs were nearly invisible.
It was as if the light favored this face.
Bit by bit, softly, it slid toward his closed eyes.
Xu Chi’s eyes snapped open.
Of course, it wasn’t the sunlight that woke him—
It was the urgent call of his bladder...
It had been far too long since Xu Chi last opened his eyes to the morning sun.
Since childhood, his days had been bound to rigid routines: rising at six for endless study sessions, greeting his parents precisely at eight for breakfast.
Never changing, never faltering, like a pre-programmed machine.
Still groggy, the pressure in his bladder struck him all at once.
He turned toward the door—
Empty!
Where was the little zombie?!
A flash of panic hit him. He grabbed the iron rod, standing quickly. Only then did he see something in the distance...
A duckling?
Last night, Pho Noan Yi had played with the moonlight until she felt a strange kind of “awakening.”
She sensed she needed to search for something.
But she couldn’t remember what exactly.
And she couldn’t bear to leave her delicious food behind.
So fragrant, so sweet.
How could she abandon it?
Thus—
She wandered around the market all night long.
Looking for some unknown object her heart longed for.
At this moment, she was strolling with her back to Xu Chi, swaying as she walked.
Why swaying?
Truly not her fault. She was too frail, nothing but skin and bones. With her helmet removed, her head looked slightly oversized.
Whenever she took a few steps, she instinctively tilted her head to keep balance.
She wore a little floral dress Xu Chi had casually picked out.
The hem was loose, fluttering with her swaying steps, like a flower blooming and bobbing in the breeze.
It should have been a lively, beautiful scene of a young girl.
But she was a stick-thin zombie.
Walking like that, she resembled a waddling duckling.
Head wobbling, skirt swinging left and right.
Xu Chi burst out laughing.
The sight was simply irresistible. Even as the cut at his lip stung when stretched, he couldn’t hold back.
But then he noticed Pho Noan Yi’s direction—toward the market exit.
His heart jumped. He quickly raised his voice:
“Little zombie!”
Like a young master waking up to find his pet missing.
Urgency colored his voice. Pho Noan Yi heard it.
Ah!
Food was calling her.
Obediently, she turned back, swaying toward him.
From the front, she no longer looked like a duckling. With her head wobbling back and forth, she was more like a tiny doll pushed gently by a fingertip—head bobbing side to side, never returning upright.
Xu Chi laughed so hard he clutched his stomach.
For the first time, he finally understood what it meant to “laugh till you almost pee your pants.”
But before Pho Noan Yi reached him, he could no longer endure it. With the iron rod for support, he hurried out of the shop, searching desperately for a toilet.
The market, of course, had public restrooms.
The kind of foul-smelling dry latrines, sitting right next to the garbage heap he’d been tossed onto last night.
His face went pale, stomach lurching.
Even though he had killed, fled, and forced himself to adapt to filth and chaos—
Just yesterday, he was still a carefully raised young master of privilege.
No amount of self-persuasion could make this easier.
His legs squeezed together. He was about to explode.
Forget it—whatever!
Glancing at a shop on the right, Xu Chi decided to force himself past his obsession with cleanliness and slip into the innermost corner to relieve himself.
Meanwhile, duckling-like Pho Noan Yi was much faster than a lame Xu Chi.
By the time he entered the shop, she had already caught up behind him. Close enough to guard her sweet-smelling “food.”
Xu Chi heard her footsteps. He pressed his lips together and turned, lowering his voice:
“Y-you, stand a little farther away.”
But Pho Noan Yi had already wandered the market all night and was starving.
Last night, she had almost taken a bite while Xu Chi slept—but the spell still bound her.
Now, to her, food that could move was food ready to be eaten.
Stand farther away?
The fact that she wasn’t already gnawing on him was the only mercy she could grant.
She stood still, rasping hoarsely:
“More!”
Xu Chi’s powers had barely recovered.
Wounded, his ability regenerated painfully slow.
And he was out of time.
He might give the little zombie food later—
But his bladder refused to wait.
“Step back! Immediately!”
Pho Noan Yi understood “step back.”
“Immediately” … not so much.
Stubbornly, she stood rooted to the spot.
Xu Chi nearly went mad. He spun and slipped into the corner.
She followed at once.
His voice snapped, “Stay away from me!!”
Pho Noan Yi froze, tilting her head. Her wide eyes brimmed with grievance.
(Ah… so fierce. Huhu…)
Her inner voice trembled, soft and pitiful, like she might cry.
Xu Chi stiffened. His throat bobbed, and he lowered his voice, gentler:
“Just… step back a bit. I’ll feed you after, alright?”
Pho Noan Yi finally understood. Reluctantly, she backed off—just a few small steps.
Just enough to make it clear she would still protect her food.
Xu Chi drew a deep breath. He couldn’t hold it anymore. He squeezed himself behind a shelf. At 1.86 meters tall, lame, crammed into the corner, he barely fit.
But he managed.
At last, relief came rushing out.
Not exactly dignified.
Not exactly clean.
Especially with a little zombie standing guard outside.
His ears burned red, shame flooding him. For the first time, his eyes stung with humiliation.
Pho Noan Yi, hearing the sound, grew curious.
She leaned her heavy head, wobbling forward a step. She saw Xu Chi’s back stiffen, trembling slightly.
His pants were damp.
Despair crushed him.
Not even when facing death had he felt so useless.
Had leaving the golden cage meant he would never soar again?
Weighed down by self-loathing, he turned—and met Pho Noan Yi’s wide, curious eyes.
His face flushed scarlet in an instant.
She tilted her head again and rasped, “More.”
Humiliation scorched him hotter than anger. He knew—she was only a mindless zombie.
Yet his heart still panicked, desperate to escape the shame.
He forced himself upright despite the pain, grabbed her wrist, and summoned his black mist.
And then it struck him—this was the same hand…
“Damn it!”
For the first time in Xu Chi’s life, that word blazed through his mind.
- Writer
