《Endless Road of Corpse》


 C1

    "Today, the 100th day has passed since the disappearance of the airline MH370. There is still no news of this unfortunate flight, and its..."


    I brushed my teeth in front of the mirror and listened to the news on TV in the living room.


    "Isn''t there any good news in this world?" A girl was in the living room, cleaning up the wreckage of last night''s party while complaining loudly.


    I tried my best to recall her name, but I couldn''t remember what it was. I only knew that she was brought here by San Mao, that ever since my parents passed away, my days had been extremely chaotic. I often brought a variety of different girls home, so much so that I often confused their names.


    Shaking my head to stop thinking about her, I brushed my teeth and shaved myself, slapped some refreshing water on my face, splashed some cologne on my armpits, raised my hand to my nose and sniffed. I looked at myself in the mirror and suddenly felt a little sad, after today I would be thirty-two years old, my youth like the ginseng fruit in the mouth of a pig, about to disappear before I had the chance to taste it.


    "Biting a dog isn''t news. Biting a dog is." I went into the living room and rummaged on the sofa for the T-shirt I was going to wear today. "The good news is that everything is normal. No news."


    "Happy Birthday!" The girl put her arms around my neck and leaned forward to kiss my cheek. There was a taste of alcohol in her mouth.


    "You haven''t brushed your teeth yet?" I pushed her away.


    I dressed and went out of the room just in time to see the neighbors on the other side push open the door. I nodded back at him and he hurried down the stairs in front of me, as if to avoid the embarrassment of greeting me. We were separated by a twenty-centimeter wall, but for five years I didn''t know his name. Everyone in this day and age had a great deal on his mind, and no one was particularly concerned about the appearance or disappearance of another person who had nothing to do with him, just as a gnu who lived in the grass of the African prairie turned a blind eye to his companions who had been killed, left behind, or hunted on the way of the new disciples.


    I set the car on fire and waited for the girl in the car. After a few minutes, the girl rushed out of the corridor and I started the car before she could sit still. "Why is it so slow?" I said snappily.


    The railings of the underground parking garage opened soundlessly. Our car slipped out like a fish and entered the same fish like silent and listless traffic flow. It was just like before, a day in this city.


    But maybe it''s not the same today


    "A big discovery! A big discovery!" The Taoist rushed into my office waving a knife of paper.


    I was browsing the news on my computer, bored. As the compensation manager of this small insurance company, I didn''t have any urgent, necessary work to do, all I had to do was make plans and goals for my people to carry out, and pretend to be busy all day in front of them.


    "What is it?" Without batting an eyelid, I continued to watch the results of yesterday''s game on the screen.


    The Taoist is not a Taoist. Like me, he is also the manager of the compensation department. His real name was Li Quandao, and he was an extremely talkative person who liked to study so-called mysterious areas. For example, before 2012, he had obtained the conclusion that December 21, 2012, was the date of the invasion of Earth by aliens based on certain so-called clues that seemed to have no connection to each other. According to him, work was his life away from work, and the study of the culture of mystery was his main occupation. Compared to Newton, he said that Newton''s main profession was alchemy and magic, and that physics was only a by-product of those studies.


    "Look ¡­" The Taoist slapped the paper on my desk, sending a cloud of dust flying in the air.


    Glancing sideways, I saw that the one on top was a printed page with a large, eye-catching, red caption ¡ª "A Family Destroyer in Beijing. A family of six was murdered. The killer was the male owner!"


    I look away, back to the screen. On my thirty-second birthday, I was not in a good mood, nor did I have the interest to offer any polite perfunctory response to the Taoist.


    The Taoist didn''t mind my neglect at all. He spread the papers out on my table one by one:


    "I''ve studied the bizarre and brutal murders of the last decade, you see ¡ª Pingyang, Zhejiang Province, where my father killed his 13-year-old daughter cruelly; Peony River, Heilongjiang Province, where a man killed five families, including his wife and children; Jingmen, Hubei Province, where a man jumped off a building after killing his wife and three other relatives; Oslo, Norway, where two gunmen killed 91 innocent people; northern Guatemala, where 27 people were massacred and more than half of them beheaded; Florida, where four families were killed; Beijing," ( are real cases)


    "What can this prove?" Prove that there are so many people living together in this world who hate each other? " I remembered being alone in the world, and my heart ached.


    "No, no, no ¡­" The Taoist didn''t notice my mood at all. "Do you know about avian flu?" he asked. He pulled out a piece of A3 paper with a map of the world drawn on it. The map was dotted with green markings, and then he took out a translucent sunscreen with the same map and markings, only red.


    "Who doesn''t know these days?" I scoffed, "You said that bird flu best broke out last year and infected half the world''s population!"


    "Hehe ¡­" "Miscalculation ¡­" The Taoist scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "But this is my latest research. Look, this map ¡­" He pointed to the map with the green markings and said, "This is a map of the bird flu that I''ve developed. These green spots are places where the bird flu once broke out on a small scale."


    "And this one ¡­" The Taoist waved his hand and said, "It''s the place where these strange murders happened."


    "Now is the time to witness a miracle!" The Taoist threw out the blueprint like a sheet and slowly covered the A3 with a piece of paper. The two maps slowly overlapped, and the red and green dots intersected and merged together.


    "Did you see that?" The Taoist shouted in excitement, "Such a cruel clan extermination tragedy has occurred in places where bird flu broke out!"


    This piqued my interest a little, and I looked away from Lo''s sexy girlfriend to the map on the table and saw that, as the Taoist had said, many of the red and green dots were joined together, and that the red dots were slightly more numerous than the green ones.


    "Aren''t there so many murders where there''s no bird flu?" I said, lighting the solitary red dot.


    "Haha ¡­" The Daoist rubbed the back of his head and said with a coy smile, "These may indeed be people who hate each other, as you said."


    "Hmph ¡­" After looking at it for a while, I said to the Taoist in a mocking tone, "This is a match made in Lai Lang [1], I can definitely say that where the bird flu appeared, there would definitely be people dying of cancer. This is entirely a question of probability, it can only mean that there are too many perverts now!"


    "And look here." I pointed to the most concentrated green spot on the map. "There''s no murder here!"


    "Who says there isn''t?" The Taoist looked at me and a sly smile appeared on his face. "Where do you think that is?"


    I followed my finger and found myself pointing at a disorderly island below Thailand.


    "Malaysia?" I said suspiciously.


    "Malaysia." The Taoist still had that sly smile on his face as he pointed to the sky.


    I was stunned!

 C2

    Everyone knows that in six months, two major air crashes have occurred on Malaysia Airlines, and a plane has gone missing in the middle of nowhere without a clue. The other ship had been shot down without any warning on a busy international route. Until now, no one knew which power had killed it, and for what reason.


    "Then what is the reason?" I handed the Taoist a cigarette and lit it for myself.


    "Zombie! Or ghouls, undead, zombies, etc. " The Daoist took a puff on his cigarette and said excitedly, "Because the bird flu had caused the transformation of the human Zombie, those who were sick got on the plane and were afraid that the Zombie would spread the virus on a large scale, so they shot the plane down! Unless he becomes a Zombie, how can he possibly do anything to his own child? "


    "Tch!" I sneered, "Have you been watching too many American dramas recently? If you were to say that the ghosts are causing trouble, then it would be more believable than the Zombie. "


    "Why did the ghost shoot the plane down?" "Besides, the number of bodies found on that plane is not the same as the actual number of people found on that plane!"


    I glanced at the document, which read: "It''s hard to find Ma Hang''s corpse, spread over a distance of 15 km!"


    "Didn''t I already say that the area is too wide ¡­"


    "Questioned!" It''s all an excuse! " The Taoist said excitedly, "There''s also the one that went missing. He said it was in Vietnam and the South Sea. He even said he flew to the southwest of Australia ¡­"


    "This was monitored by scientific instruments!"


    "Fake!" They just let people look away from where the plane really fell! " The Daoist slammed the table, then took out a few pieces of information and threw them in front of me. "Guess what happened after the search party left the South Sea?"


    "What?" I asked suspiciously.


    "Exercise!" The Taoist shouted, "Consecutive drills. US forces, Vietnam, Philippines... And our army... The bombs dropped by that region of the sea in the last half a year should be enough to fight the Vietnam War again! "


    "Perhaps there is some inside information ¡­" However, Zombie s and such are really too eye-catching. " I still ignored his analysis: "Zombie is the most impossible out of all kinds of disasters!"


    "Why?" The Taoist asked somewhat unhappily.


    Look at those American dramas, the Zombie s inside are all idiots, they can''t even move fast, and they can only be spread through their mouths, their defense is also very weak. As long as a teenager is not surrounded, they can kill quite a few of them.


    "That''s television!" The Daoist waved his hand and said: "True Zombie s are more powerful and faster than humans. They won''t be tired, won''t be hungry, won''t be sleepy, and wouldn''t be scared. Their sense of smell and hearing are both sharper than humans, and as long as you let them smell even a little bit of human scent, they would hunt you down and kill you without rest ¡­ "We won''t rest until we die!"


    The Taoist said in a low voice as he tilted his head towards me. In that instant, I didn''t know if it was because the cold air in the office was too strong, or because I was scared by him, but I felt a chill run down my spine.


    "Furthermore, the Zombie is not a Wind Chaser." The Daoist withdrew his head and continued, "I have studied a lot of ancient history books, and many of them have records similar to Zombie s."


    "The earliest was 6000 B.C., in a cave in Central Africa, there were 13 crushed heads. According to the frescoes in the cave, there was a small-scale outbreak of Zombie. These 13 people were infected, killed by the warriors of the tribe, their heads were crushed, their bodies were burned, and they warned that no one was allowed to enter this cave."


    "And the Bible. The Apocalypse also recorded... I read it to you... " The priest took a notebook out of his pocket and opened it to read: "That thousand years is over, and Satan will be released from prison to beguile the nations of the four lands, Gogol and Magee, and gather them to fight. Their numbers were as great as the sands of the sea. And they came up all over the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the city of love... "


    "How is it?" The Daoist raised his head and asked, "Their numbers are as great as the sea ¡­" up all over the world... If you aren''t talking about Zombie, then what is it? "


    He said that he once saw a human head that was soaked in water at the home of a chief. When he walked in to take a closer look, the head suddenly opened its eyes, and even opened its mouth to bite his finger!


    "There are records of ancient Chinese books as well. For example, Yuan Mei''s < Zi''s Wordless > and Ji Xiaolan''s < Micro-Grass Hall Notes > are simply manuals written by zombies!"


    "From Jerusalem, Africa, Japan, South America, Siberia, and even Iceland and Greenland, there are records of Zombie attacking!" The Taoist flipped through his notebook.


    "Then you don''t have to worry about it." I regained my senses and ridiculed: "Even if what you said is true, this Zombie could even be settled by the ancient people, so it''s even more so now!"


    The Taoist waved his hands and said, "It is because of the modern society that the Zombie become the real problem."


    "What do you mean?" I asked curiously.


    "It''s because modern people are too closely linked with each other!" The Taoist folded the documents again into a pile: "Think about it, before Columbus discovered America, the entire continent had tens of millions of people, but because of the ocean, they never had any contact with the humans of the so-called civilized world. Back then, the mainstream civilization didn''t even know that there was such a continent on Earth.


    I couldn''t help but nod.


    "But it''s different now. Is there any place that humans have yet to enter? Antarctic North Pole? Everest? You think you''re in a remote and isolated place, but you might find a used condom in the grass nearby. Everything you eat and drink every day is gathered from different places, even from several countries! "


    "In our city, most of the pork you eat every day comes from Sichuan; ginger, onion, from Shandong; radish, from Henan; potato, from Gansu or Yunnan; eggplant, from Fujian; coconut curry, from Thailand ¡­"


    "Like Ebola, why is the crisis worse than ever before? Because Africa used to be economically and socially backward, with a sparsely populated land and a lack of interpersonal communication, and because the Ebola virus developed too quickly and had a high fatality rate, it often disappeared into the jungle after the rapid extermination of a village because it did not have the means to spread to the next village. "


    "It''s the same in the ancient times. If the Zombie were to explode, it might just be an event in a prefecture or county because of the lack of a way to spread the news. But now ¡­"


    "You like to buy things online, right?" the Taoist asked suddenly.


    I nodded my head, a little at a loss.


    "Click on the mouse and the next day you''ll be delivered to your house. These things could still be around the world the day before! How do they move? Aircraft, ships, trains, highways... "The speed of humans has never been so fast before!" If the Zombie were to erupt, then ¡­ The Taoist stretched out his hands in front of him and made a ball with his hands. "If you can''t control it all, you''ll be like a balloon ¡ª Bang!" His hands shot out.

 C3

    "Ring, ring, ring ¡­" There was a sharp ring and I was startled. I was stunned for a moment before I picked up the phone.


    "A car accident occurred on the road to the Tang Dynasty. The people were severely injured and their lives were in danger. They needed to be compensated by a compensation officer to arrive ¡­ "Manager Chen, now that the compensation clerks are all lined up, do you think you should personally make a trip?" The company dispatcher''s voice came out of the phone.


    Why did the emergency call come to me? I muttered discontentedly. I raised my head to look at the big office outside and realised that I didn''t know when all the compensation collectors had left. Could it be that today was a gathering day for all of the cars? I muttered to myself in my heart and snappily said, "Second Division''s Li ¡­"


    The Taoist immediately clasped his hands and bowed to me. I sighed and changed my words. "Tell me the exact address ¡­"


    "The junction of Shangtang Road and Gouyun Road is less than one point, heading out of the city from the south to the north ¡­"


    Fortunately, it was only a few kilometers away from us. I grabbed my handbag and headed outside, saying to the Taoist, "You owe me this time!"


    I crouch down with a napkin over my mouth, the taillights of the car blinking on my face, and in the yellow light of the night and day I see him covered in mud, falling like a broken sack, the wheels pressing down from his legs and stopping between his head and neck, the car''s body not heavy, but half a ton of force tearing his neck apart, a huge gash appearing above his collarbone like some kind of big, gaping fish in a seafood gear, some unknown thing sticking out of his windpipe, blood or blood, like a broken cable. Most of the tires, including his own face and chest, were covered in blood, which had now congealed into a disheartening dark red color. His eyes were wide open, his mouth was open, and a bunch of flies were crawling around on his eyeballs, moving in and out of his gray tongue. He was as dead as he could be.


    I propped myself up with my knees. The muscles on my thighs started to ache. It was as if my brain had been pulled out by someone and thrown back into the wall. I just needed to shake it lightly to feel the pain. Last night''s orgy made my body feel a little weak. The smell of alcohol rose from my stomach all the way to my throat, leaving me with a nasty burning pain. I burped and a strong, sour smell filled the air. Damn it, I won''t drink anymore! For the 1811th time, I made up my mind.


    "I don''t know... He suddenly jumped down from the railing. I couldn''t see him at all ¡­ " A middle-aged woman in her forties kept wiping her face as she spoke to the traffic police in front of her.


    "How fast were you?" the traffic policeman asked as he wrote on the accident certificate.


    "I... I don''t know... Probably... 40 ¡­ 50 yards ¡­ " The middle-aged woman sobbed as she replied. Her thick makeup had been messed up by her tears and her hands and feet were trembling uncontrollably.


    I looked at the two ends of the road. Due to the accident, the one-way four-lane road was completely blocked, and all the cars slowly circled around us. Some drivers rolled down their windows to look in this direction curiously.


    The accident happened during the early peak hours, and this road was the main north-south road of Qianchao City. Although the road was wide and the speed was limited to eighty yards, there was still a lot of traffic, so even if Schumacher came, it might not be able to drive for more than sixty years at the peak hours of the morning or evening. Basically, everyone would be walking and stopping at a speed of twenty to thirty yards.


    This was a completely enclosed road, both sides were blocked by iron railings, crossing the street were overpasses or tunnels, shouldn''t have seen pedestrians, this car accident, no matter what, couldn''t be regarded as the responsibility of the motor vehicle, but the new traffic law stipulated that, whether the vehicle was responsible or not, the motor vehicle would still have to bear a large amount of compensation in order to take care of the vulnerable groups. I couldn''t help but feel sympathy for this middle-aged woman.


    "Your insurance policy ¡­" I walked up to the middle-aged woman and handed her the rest of my paper towels.


    "Thank you ¡­" "The insurance policy is in the car, I''ll go get it ¡­" She took one of the tissues and gently wiped the corner of her eyes. Her tear-stained eye shadow and mascara had left two black marks on her skin. Her originally white and rosy face now had a dark yellow background. This woman is much older than I expected.


    "Ah ¡­" The woman walked to the front of her car, saw her body lying under the wheel, and cried out in alarm. She turned around and threw herself into my arms and wailed, "I ¡­ "I don''t dare ¡­"


    I awkwardly looked at the traffic policeman and saw that he was looking at me with a teasing expression while shrugging his shoulders. I shook my head and tried to comfort the woman with a few words. I''ll get it for you. "


    "In the box in front of the passenger seat ¡­" The woman seemed to sense the awkwardness as well, and she sobbed as she left my shoulder.


    I patted her on the back and walked over to the car. Luckily the man was under the left rear wheel, I thought. I sat in the passenger seat. The radio was still on and there was singing from the stereo: "Over the hill... Only then did he realize that there was no one waiting and that they were all blabbering on and on ¡­ "The sorrow of a time when time is not on one''s side ¡­" I turned off the radio and the car went quiet. Through the windshield, I saw the traffic police talking into the walkie-talkie, their mouths opening and closing as if they were watching television at night, their volume turned down to a whisper.


    I opened the glove compartment, which was stuffed full with brown paper folders. I opened one and found that it contained the purchase contract and the insurance policy and tax return from the car purchase five years ago ¡­ I opened a few of them in succession, all the insurance policies that had expired in the past year, and new vehicle specifications that I probably hadn''t seen since I bought them, I thought, pulling out the bottom bag and opening the string of the file. The words "China''s car insurance" popped up.


    I was about to open the door and get out of the car when I heard a strange sound, like a cat scratching at iron. Stunned, I looked back at the seat and saw that there was only one male dragon-cat that could be used as both a cushion and a toy. Other than that, there was nothing else. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw an ambulance coming through the traffic.


    What are you doing here now? We should have sent the funeral home directly. I sighed and thought. I opened the door and got out. The traffic police used a few triangular warning cones to create a convenient space for rescue operations around Carolina. The ambulance parked directly behind her. Two doctors in white coats got out of the car and pulled a stretcher over from the back door.


    Everyone knew that he was hopeless. I thought, and felt a pang of sadness. After so many years as a compensation officer, I had seen a lot of human life and car accidents, but it was not like the old compensation officer used to say when I was at work. When I was alone at night, these ghosts that died miserably under the wheels of a car would always appear before my eyes.


    Maybe I should change jobs, or find a regular girlfriend? I thought, looking down at my body again. Who is this? Where does he work? Are there any wives or children? If so, what kind of life would they face in the future?


    At this moment, I saw the exposed leg of the car suddenly shake!

 C4

    I waved my hands and the doctor came running, surprised, and we lifted the car together and "he" came out from under the wheel and bit the nearest doctor on the neck and pulled hard and the doctor''s neck came off like a leg of chicken and blood shot out like a gun from a broken vein and we let go and the traffic police screamed and his hand was pressed under the wheel and "he" finished chewing the flesh in his mouth and lunged at the struggling traffic police and I shouted, "he" slowly turned around and the wound on his neck tilted to one side of his face and the flesh in his mouth and chewed on the other side of his face.


    My whole body was drenched in cold sweat, my heart was beating as fast as a machine gun, and the sounds in my ears were like drums. Three months had passed, and the first time I saw a Zombie still woke me up from my sleep.


    I gasped for breath in the darkness, slowly calming my heart. I looked at my watch, which glowed faintly at four o''clock in the morning. It was much easier to get such luxury goods now than it was in the past, as long as you killed a Zombie that was once a rich person.


    The moisture on the ground was rising continuously through the thin blanket, making my back, which had just dried off my cold sweat, feel ice-cold. Although it was still early autumn, the days seemed much colder than before. There''s still food, but the most important thing is still food. It''s been a few days since we last obtained decent food, and the amount of food we can find is getting lesser and lesser. We have no choice but to search further away, which also means that the possibility of being attacked by Zombie or similar beings is increasing.


    After my wild thoughts, I couldn''t fall asleep anymore. My lower abdomen also felt more and more bloated, so I simply put on my clothes and got up. Borrowing the weak moonlight that shone through the window, I carefully crossed over a few staggered legs and pushed open the door into the courtyard.


    The sewer stopped working at the beginning of the disaster, and all the indoor toilets lost their function. Not only could they not wash away the dirt, they would also occasionally rush outside. Of course, we didn''t have enough water to flush the toilet, as most of the time, water was the most precious thing, so we had to completely block the toilet with dirt.


    I went to the wall, where we dug a deep hole, set up two planks, and built a fence around it to make a simple door for a toilet. I looked at the wooden board hanging on the door. It was the one with "no one" facing outside, but I still coughed lightly. I waited for a moment until I was sure that no one was inside before I pushed the door open and entered.


    Despite being full of desire to urinate, I was unable to urinate for a long time. Finally, I was able to urinate. Like a faucet leaking water, the urine dripped and dripped. It didn''t last long before it weakly dripped down. I felt a burning pain in my urethra.


    Because of the lack of water, and because of our poor personal hygiene, taking a bath is an extravagant dream, and we don''t change our underwear, we all have more or less a urinary tract infection. This is what our comrade Dr Lee said. He said that if we don''t treat him, inflammation might come along and cause prostatitis, cystitis, nephritis ¡­


    But this is only a small thing, a very small thing. In this era where we can be bitten to death by Zombie at any time, be beaten to death by our own kind, be bitten to death by a wild dog, and die of sepsis at any time due to some small injuries, these small injuries are something we cannot cry for help. The only thing we need to consider is where the next meal is, and how to live the next second.


    On the way, I carefully avoided the seedlings on the ground. The carrots, rapeseed, cabbages, and broad beans that the Uncle Feng had sowed had just sprouted, this is our hope in the future, we definitely cannot destroy this. If we were to accidentally step on a few of them, I''m afraid that we will be driven out to feed the Zombie.


    "Who is it!" From the darkness came San Mao''s low exclamation.


    "Me!" I quickly responded.


    After taking two more steps, I saw San Mao pointing the 95th Style Assault at me. After confirming that it was me alone, I slowly put the gun down.


    "Can''t sleep?" When I walked to his side, San Mao asked.


    "Mm ¡­" I pulled my tunic tighter around me and sat down on the stone block opposite him.


    San Mao sighed, he once again held the spear by the door, and from time to time, he would look at the hole on the door.


    We were silent for a moment. San Mao took out a cigarette from the pocket of his jacket, and carefully turned around to use his body and the wall to block the wind.


    I breathed in the smoke, and after a moment, unable to hold it in, I took out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket, from which I took out a cigarette butt that was half smoked.


    "Heh ¡­" I nodded towards San Mao: "Lend me a light!"


    "What about your own?" San Mao said with dissatisfaction.


    "No, I''ll return it to you later." "No," I said.


    San Mao unwillingly handed over the lighter, and I lit the lighter with the same careful posture as him. I took in a deep breath, and the musty smoke rushed into my trachea and into my lungs, causing my chest to feel numb, and my mind also felt a little tipsy, making me completely relaxed.


    In fact, I stopped smoking a few years ago, but after the Zombie crisis, in order to gain a short period of time to escape, I started smoking again. After all, the reason why I stopped smoking back then was for my body.


    Perhaps everyone thought so. In this era of despair, the most valuable things that could be traded were not food, not hygiene, or even not weapons or drugs. Instead, it was tobacco, alcohol, and drugs! Maybe these things can make people forget about those scary things for a while. I have seen people getting drunk on themselves many times and then shouting about jumping out to challenge Zombie for a fight. Of course, in the end, their fate is to be bitten by Zombie and become a Zombie as well. Maybe alcohol can give people the courage to face Zombie directly, or the courage to let oneself die ¡­ Too many people had lost the courage to live.


    When the Zombie first erupted, about a third of the deaths were not from the Zombie s, nor were they from hunger, but rather they ended their own lives. But even so, the Zombie did not let them off, and these corpses, as long as their heads were not injured, would resurrect within a few days after their deaths, becoming Zombie s that they did not want to face the most.


    "Have you heard? They said that there are armies resisting the Qianshan Lake ¡­ " San Mao looked outside, and said faintly.


    "Mm ¡­" I muttered.


    "And on the sea, I heard that it''s safe to have a few isle s on the East Sea, so many people are heading there now. I heard that the army plans to clear out Hainan Island as a base for their counterattack. There are also a few oil rigs, which are safe and have fuel ¡­"


    "Ugh ¡­" I let out a breath absent-mindedly.


    "Don''t you want to go out?" San Mao was silent for a while, then said: "I won''t be able to stay here for the rest of my life, I''ll have to leave eventually ¡­"


    "But how? We can''t even walk a few miles out of here... " I smoked the cigarette until it was just a filter, until I smelled a sickly burnt smell, then threw it on the ground and stomped it out.


    San Mao sighed, then turned his face back to the door.

 C5

    The four of us stood at the entrance, waiting for San Mao and Dao Ba to open the door. I turned my head to look, Uncle Feng and Aunt Chen were already in the garden tending to their vegetables, when Uncle Feng saw me looking back at him, he raised his hand and waved it at me. I raised my right hand high above my head and gave him a thumbs up.


    The door slowly opened and the sunlight shone down on my face, causing my vision to darken a little.


    "Let''s go!" Lv, who was beside me, let out a light cry and pushed the wheelbarrow out first. The muzzle of his 95 Model Rifle flashed under the sun.


    I felt for the machete tied around my left waist, gripped the crowbar in my hand, and hurried to keep up.


    "Don''t be afraid, there won''t be a group of Zombie in this kind of place." After walking for a few minutes, I couldn''t help but ask Yang Yufan who was looking around carefully.


    "You ¡­ You, you, you ¡­ "How do you know?" Yang Yufan had just joined our small team a few days ago, and he was obviously shocked when he left the battlefield for the first time today.


    "Everyone knows, only you don''t." Lin Hao said. In his hand, he held a metal pole that was around two metres long, which was welded with steel bars to form a circular arc. It looked like the Crescent Moon Shovel that the Sand Monk used in Journey to the West.


    "I, I ¡­" I am not... "It''s not like he hasn''t come out yet ¡­" Yang Yufan said in embarrassment. When the Zombie crisis broke out, he was holed up in his house, blacking out while playing online games. It was only after a month did he feel that something was wrong when the electricity turned off and the water was cut off that he could no longer leave his house. Fortunately, his father owned a snack bar and his house was also used as a warehouse. He stored a lot of snacks, beverages, instant noodles, and other food in his storage, allowing him to survive for the next two months. When we found him, his first words were, "Do you have pickles?" Therefore, it could be said that he knew nothing about the situation outside.


    Lin Hao opened his mouth and laughed.


    I frowned and hurried a few steps away from them. I don''t want to make friends with them, I don''t want to know their past, I don''t want to know what kind of people they are, I don''t even want to know their names, that way, when the Zombie bites them, I can leave without turning back, and only then can I not feel that heart-wrenching pain ¡­ At the start of our team, there were more than twenty people, and now, people are constantly dying and joining in. Until today, there are only twelve people left, and the only ones remaining from the very beginning, other than Uncle Feng and Auntie Chen who took us in, are me, Lv, and San Mao.


    I don''t want to be friends!


    We reached the river and I took down the four liters of mineral water buckets that I had hung from my belt. I knelt on the bank and filled the bucket with water. Beside us was the bridge across the river that had been blown up at the waist, and where the deck had been broken, the steel bars were twisted malevolently, like some terrible monster.


    I have to be very careful of those water corpses, now we can be sure that the Zombie does not need any oxygen, they do not need to breathe, they will not die even if they stay underwater for a long time. They will lurk in the water like crocodiles, and when we reach the shore to retrieve water or clean it, they will suddenly come out of the water and drag us into the water.


    According to this, some people said that Zombie s were intelligent. They said that they would act like tigers and lions, hiding their bodies and waiting for their prey to approach them. But I don''t think so. I think they just happen to be washed into that particular position by the current, because no sound or smell stimulates them to enter some sort of dormant state, and when people put their hands in the water and hit the water, it''s like pressing the keyboard of a computer in a dormant state and waking them up in an instant.


    We filled all the buckets with water and moved them to a sunny spot on the shore so that the sun could shine. We will bring these buckets with us on the way back so that they can precipitate in the sun for a day, so that they can be drunk even if they are not fully boiled. Even though drinking water like this won''t make you turn into a Zombie, but most of the meat on the Zombie''s body has already rotted, and it''s unknown how many pathogenic bacteria are hidden. My first two companions drank the raw water from this place, and they died from spitting on the water. This is also the main reason why we haven''t been able to get enough safe drinking water, because we don''t have enough fuel to boil the water.


    We continued on our way, and carefully made our way through the ruins by the river bank. A large scale war had broken out here, and many houses had collapsed into rubble, but the strongest fighting force of humans was nothing in front of the Zombie. Just like Lv said, "Weapons? The most important thing is that the Zombie are not trying to defeat you, they are trying to take you over. They are trying to change you and make you the same as them, so that any kind of deterrence is useless against it! "" No, no. I feel that when Lv said this, he sounded like a philosopher ¡­ Although his true identity should be a thief.


    "Watch your step, don''t let the crawling corpses bite you!" Lv turned and said to us.


    Crawling corpses referred to Zombie s whose legs were injured and who had lost their ability to walk. They would only crawl on the ground, although they weren''t too much of a threat, but when you weren''t paying attention, they would quietly come close to you like snakes, giving you a taste of their legs, especially in such a wasteland, where some Zombie''s walls would be broken, beams, etc., and even just their heads would be exposed. They seemed to be covered in dirt, motionless, as if they were completely dead, but as soon as you got near them, they would suddenly come alive, and as you were touched by their teeth, even if it was just a scratch, at least twenty-four hours, and after seven days, they would be like you.


    We carefully avoided the ruins. On the road behind us, there was a tank that was parked alone, its body was covered in rust, the machine gun on it had already been dismantled. I saw that a few new clumps of grass had grown out from the tank tracks.


    A soldier in camouflage clothes was sitting directly in front of the tank, leaning against a track. There was a large hole in his temple, and some of the flesh on his face had rotted away to reveal dark-gray bones. Every time I passed by, I would look at him and see his body slowly rot away. I felt that it was also a kind of happiness to be able to rot away so peacefully.


    There was a large shopping mall behind the ruins, but that wasn''t our goal. During the early stages of the crisis, there were too many people rushing into the shopping mall, supermarket, food and oil market to snatch food and water. As a result, they sent ammunition to the Zombie.


    What we''re looking for is an undamaged community. Of course, there were also Zombie s in there, but most of them were locked in rooms, so it was much easier to deal with them alone. Of course, the best ones were the small shops that were well-preserved in some small districts, it was very likely that there was a large amount of food inside, and the better ones were the temporary warehouses in these small shops. These places were not known to the public, so as long as they could find one, they would have a great harvest. For example, in Yang Yufan''s house, we found out the address through a delivery list at a small shop.

 C6

    "Our ancestors bless us!" After that, he used the plastic handle of a screwdriver and fiercely knocked the exposed key''s tail. He then carefully and gently pulled out the key, as if he was stroking his lover''s skin, and pulled out a grid of the key. The anti-theft door let out a small sound, and Lv wiped off his sweat before gently turning the key to the right.


    "Are you ready?" Lv took out his key, took a deep breath and turned to look at me. I had already raised my crowbar high up and nodded to him.


    Lv slowly turned the handle, "1, 2, 3!" Lin Hao stretched out his crescent shovel in front of him, and I charged in with my hammer.


    Without the Zombie, we carefully checked all the rooms, but there was nothing! Only then did we relax and take a closer look at the house.


    This is what used to be called a high-class district. The house we entered, if placed in the past, would be a mansion that everyone envied. Five rooms, two hundred square meters. His master had probably left this place early in the crisis. Therefore, the house was not messy, and the furniture was neat and tidy just like normal, except that there was a thin layer of dust on the top.


    I saw Lv enter the guest bathroom without saying a word. I cursed in my heart and immediately rushed into the master bedroom''s bathroom. As for the distribution of matter, we have an unwritten rule that, in addition to food, water, and fuel, everything else belongs to whoever obtains it first.


    I checked the toilet box next to it. There was half a roll of toilet paper in it, and I cheered and took it down and put it in my backpack. Toilet paper was a good thing, but no one was willing to use it now to wipe their ass, mainly for wounds, and of course it had to do with the fact that people nowadays had no meat to eat, and their stools didn''t have to be wiped.


    I continued to open the drawer under the sink. The first drawer was full of cosmetics, so I rummaged through it and took out a bottle of moisturizer and slammed the drawer shut. In the drawers below, I found an unopened tube of toothpaste, a few clean towels, a bag of night towels, a bottle of Hairpin shampoo, and a six-pack of batteries. The gains weren''t that big, and the whole thing was satisfying. I packed everything up properly and put it into my large Ancestral Bird mountaineering bag.


    I rummaged through the bedroom closet again. Last night''s fall break had given me a reminder that I should be getting my clothes ready for the winter. But the original owner was very small, and although his wardrobe was full of branded goods, and one of Armani''s pilot''s leather jackets was very attractive to me, I couldn''t zip it up after I put it on, so I had to give up. In the end, I only got a dozen stockings and some cotton socks in the closet.


    At this moment, the sound of the piano came from the living room. My expression changed drastically as I immediately ran out.


    "Stop!" What are you doing? Do you want to die? " Lv had already arrived before me, and was cursing at Yang Yufan who was standing in front of the piano. Yang Yufan''s face was filled with shock, he stood dumbly in front of the piano, with one finger still resting on the keyboard.


    Lv did not care about him, he directly rushed to the window at the side of the living room and looked down, after looking for a while, he ran to the front of the door and looked out through the peephole.


    "The higher the frequency, the lower the voice, the more it will attract Zombie!" Lin Hao walked over and pulled Yang Yufan over. Yang Yufan was already quite frightened by Lv, but now that he heard Lin Hao''s words, his face turned green and he quickly apologized.


    Zombie''s eyesight was very poor, that was for sure. They would only bypass some very obvious obstacles, such as a wall, a car, etc. They would ignore things that were not very clear on their target, such as a trench under their feet. But it is generally accepted that their hearing is very sensitive, especially to high-frequency or low-frequency sounds, even from a distance, and they can hear and identify the approximate location of their wishes. Some people say that they are like dolphins, able to receive ultrasound and infrasound.


    I shook my head and ignored them, walking into the kitchen. The kitchen was large, about twenty square meters. On one side was a row of pebbled, milky white pedestal, and at the end of it was a huge, double-open refrigerator with a shiny, silky silver panel.


    I opened the door of the refrigerator, and a stink of tawny sewage rushed out with it. Inside was a large piece of what I didn''t know was pork or beef, covered with squirming maggots. Always forget to open the freezer on the left! I cursed in my heart as I quickly closed the door and opened the freezer on the other side. It was much better inside. A bag of sliced toast had completely turned green, but a few potatoes had sprouted a few inches of white sprout. I took it out and wrapped it with a towel, put it into my bag, and asked Uncle Feng if he could grow this thing.


    On the side door of the refrigerator, I found a bottle of Kandahar sauce, a jar of denucleated olives, a bar of chocolate, and a bag of vacuum-packed sliced ham. I looked towards the door and saw that no one was paying attention to me, so I quickly stuffed the chocolate into the interlayer in my backpack. Then take everything out and put it on the counter.


    "These two noobs will be killed sooner or later ¡­" Lv then walked in while muttering, and greeted him with his chin raised.


    "What did you get?" Lv asked.


    "These are from the fridge ¡­" I threw up my hands at the things I had taken out and said, "I haven''t looked at the cabinets yet."


    Lv nodded and began rummaging through the boxes.


    A large barrel of peanut oil, a packet of black fungus, a half pound of yellow beans, a little more than a pound of fans, a small packet of cinnamon balls, a packet of white sugar, two used cigarettes and old cigarettes, half a bottle of oil, an unopened bottle of dried mother, and about four or five pounds of rice covered with rice bugs ¡ª that''s all the food we found here.


    The possibility of it breaking was small, and rice could be eaten even in the sun. And these sauces, thanks to the previously developed food additive industry, were still edible, even though they contained a large amount of preservatives, even after the shelf life it indicated had passed a long period of time. Furthermore, the amount of calories contained in the sauces was actually very considerable, as a hundred grams of Thousand Island Soy Sauce could provide much more calories than a piece of pork of the same weight. Before I was taken in by the Uncle Feng, I once relied on drinking a bottle of soy sauce for a week.


    "F * ck!" Lv cursed, and continued to speak: "It''s rare for a house to be clean, and there''s just this little food, in my old home, which family doesn''t have a hundred and eighty kilograms of food?!"


    "Just be content with what you have!" I divided the bottles and jars and put them into my backpack, thinking that all modern people eat and buy food, how can there be food stored at home, it would be great if there were food overnight.

 C7

    We went up one more level. Lv pressed his ear against the door and listened carefully for a while. Then, he took out his weird key and carefully opened the door.


    Regarding Lv''s "technology", none of us have directly asked him about it, and he himself may not understand his past, but we all know in our hearts that he was a thief before. It was also possible that because of his inferiority complex in the past, Lv was a little unscrupulous and eccentric, preferring to be alone and not interact too much with others.


    But the reason why our team has survived until today is all thanks to Lv''s "skill". Only the closed anti-theft doors could provide some leftover materials. For us ordinary people, even if we were to randomly smash it, it would be very difficult to open a door to prevent theft, not to mention the fact that there are many Zombie present, we would be sending ourselves to our deaths if we were to smash the door.


    "Are you ready?" Lv turned his head and saw that Lin Hao, who was standing right in front of the door, had immediately raised his crescent shovel. I stood in front of him and also raised the crowbar to my head.


    "1, 2, 3!" Lv fiercely pushed the door open.


    I heard a roar that seemed to come from the bottom of my throat, then a figure suddenly pounced out with a strong smell of rotting corpses, Lin Hao immediately used his crescent shovel to block the attack, the arc coming from the front of the crescent shovel just happens to fit into the shoulder of the Zombie, causing it to only be able to wave its arms in vain as it howled, but it was unable to take even half a step forward.


    "Quick, kill it!" Lin Hao roared.


    I bullied the Zombie and used the tip of the crowbar to viciously smash into its eye sockets, as though I had unplugged the electric power supply. The Zombie immediately quieted down, and its waving hands drooped down powerlessly.


    It was a female Zombie, her long hair was disheveled, and a large piece of flesh was missing from her cheeks, revealing half of her back teeth. She looked like a dog that was about to bite someone, her clothes were half rotten, and a breast was left outside.


    We heaved a sigh of relief at the same time, and I turned to look at Yang Yufan. His face was pale white, his eyes staring straight at the fallen Zombie.


    "Stop looking, it''s already so rotten, you''re still interested?" I intentionally said this jokingly. I knew what it felt like to see my first time killing a Zombie.


    I handed him the crowbar and said, "Next, you''ll be the chisel hand!"


    This is our battle method to deal with the Zombie, Lin Hao is the "Corpse Slicer" responsible for using his crescent moon-shaped shovel, we call it the "Corpse Pushing Rod" to block the Zombie, because the Zombie''s eyesight is poor, plus it has almost no intelligence, it only knows how to attack in a straight line, so it will not push the Corpse Pushing Rod away, so as long as we have enough strength, it is very easy to block them, and the "Corpsemancer" can approach the Zombie from the side and smash their heads apart.


    This fighting technique was invented by the Taoist, and according to him, he drew it from Qi Jiguang''s Lovers Formation. He would proudly call this formation the "Little Lovers Formation", but we would always call it the "Corpse Slaughtering Formation". Later on, when Taoist Priest met the Zombie in a battle, the Corpse Pushing Rod in his hands suddenly snapped, and he clashed lips with the Zombie ¡­


    Yang Yufan trembled as he refused to receive the crowbar. I forced it into his hand, and a brown sticky liquid dripped from the bent end of the crowbar. I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don''t be afraid, you''ll be fine after the first time. Aren''t you playing games? "Think of yourself as DPS DPS!


    "I... Can I be a wet nurse? " Yang Yufan stuttered.


    "Then will you heal?" Lin Hao said in disdain at the side.


    "Unlucky, it''s a corpse nest!" Lv ignored us, looking around and cursing.


    A corpse''s nest was naturally a house with Zombie inside. Generally speaking, no matter whether the Zombie s here had been infected by the Solam Virus and turned into corpses, or had been infected by the Zombie s, they all had to stay at home for a long period of time. It was not possible to find any supplies in this kind of house.


    As expected, there was nothing in the house except a limited number of pots, pans, and a lot of dried feces and piss, not even wood furniture, sheets, or clothes. Judging from the ashes on the floor of the kitchen, they must have been used as fuel to burn them.


    We continued to open a few more doors, but today our luck was bad, and the morgue had been cleared up by others, who were especially depressing, like a grave robber who has taken a fancy to some Feng Shui treasure and expects to find the tomb of a nobleman, who, after a long exploration, hiding, and exploration, finally finds that it has been plundered.


    The only thing he gained was that Yang Yufan had become a half qualified corpse picker. This brat was completely unqualified as a corpse picker, the first time he got him up, he actually dropped the crowbar to the ground. It was fortunate that Lv made up his position in time, otherwise Lin Hao would probably have been bitten. After that, Lin Hao forced the Corpse Pushing Rod into his hands, but didn''t expect that after encountering the Zombie several times, he had done it pretty well. Maybe it was because the length of the Corpse Pushing Rod was rather long, and it did not need to directly face the disgusting Zombie at such a close distance.


    "This is the last layer!" Lv pointed at the door and said, there was a round plate with "28" written on it. Unknowingly, we had reached the 28th floor, which was the top floor of the apartment.


    What was different from the other floors was that the staircase door of this floor was tightly locked by a thick chain. On the door, there was a sign that said: "Private floor, please do not enter."


    "Looks like they bought the entire top floor." I pushed hard on the door and the chain rattled for a while. I leaned over the crack and looked in, but I didn''t see anything.


    "I didn''t see any Zombie. Let''s pry it open and see." I straightened up.


    Lv nodded and stepped aside. I put one end of the crowbar in the gap in the chain and pressed it against the door. Then I gripped the crowbar''s head with both hands and pulled it back so hard that the chain gave out a bang and the middle buckle snapped. I took hold of the broken end and undid the chain from the doorknob in loops.


    When I was done, I weighed the chain in my hand. It weighed about five or six pounds. I waved for Yang Yufan to come over before putting the chain back into his backpack. "It''s much thicker than the iron chains in our courtyard. Yang Yufan''s face was filled with pain, but he did not dare say anything.


    Although the chain lock had been pried open, the marble lock was still there. Lv crouched down and studied them for a while, then took out a few keys from his bag to compare. These keys had different shapes and sizes, the only similarity was that they all had very deep teeth marks. Lv selected one of them, and carefully used his unique skills to open the door.


    The door to this building was much easier to open than the burglar proof door. In less than a minute, the door was unlocked. We''ll set up the corpse killing array and charge in.


    "F * ck!" Seeing the scene inside the door, Yang Yufan could not help but curse.

 C8

    Just as I said, the entire first floor has been broken through. The elevator room that was originally shared has been converted into a lobby, and the interior is decorated with luxurious decorations. The view is filled with splendor, and in the middle is actually a bronze carriage that can only be seen from a terracotta soldier!


    "This is a real tycoon ¡­" Yang Yufan muttered.


    "Pui!" You''re a country bumpkin, aren''t you afraid of panicking if you pee at night? " Lin Hao spat on the ground, and said bitterly.


    "Do you think this is the school dormitory? You still need to walk out of the room to pee? " Lv said as he slightly bent his back, lowered his body, and gently lifted each of his feet before gently putting them down. He looked left and right, walking soundlessly on the marble floor, and his eyes revealed unconcealable excitement. This is probably an occupational disease, I thought.


    We went through the hall and into the house. It was even more magnificent inside, typical of the baroque style. There were exaggerated and complicated decorations everywhere, and a giant crystal lamp hung from the ceiling all the way to the coffee table in the middle of the living room. A gorgeous, huge sofa filled the living room ¡­ He wondered how the owner of this place managed to combine this European style of court with the bronze carriage by the door.


    The complicated decorations made the interior of the room seem a little dim. Most of our attention was diverted by these rare and luxurious objects, no one noticed the Zombie that suddenly appeared in the room at the side of the living room!


    Knowing that we could hear its howls, we looked over. The fully dressed Zombie was already only four to five metres away from Yang Yufan, who was walking right in front. Yang Yufan cried out in shock. He turned the Corpse Pushing Rod in his hands to aim at the Zombie, but the long Corpse Pushing Rod smashed heavily into the crystal lamp hanging in the air, causing the crystal lamp to shake uncontrollably as crystal balls fell onto the ground and rolled on the ground.


    Yang Yufan threw the Corpse Pushing Rod in his hands, waved his arms and tried to retreat, but was blocked by the sofa. Grabbing the crowbar, I tried to help, but slipped on a crystal ball and dropped to the ground.


    Yang Yufan had no way of dodging, he could only draw his blade from his waist and cut towards the Zombie''s head.


    "Don''t chop!" Lv shouted loudly, but it was too late. The blade in Yang Yufan''s hand slashed out a gust of wind, heavily slashing onto the Zombie''s head, but the Zombie did not even stop. Yang Yufan wanted to retract his blade and look again, but to his surprise, the blade was firmly stuck in the Zombie''s skull, unable to be pulled out at all! Yang Yufan screamed in despair.


    "Go away!" In that moment of life and death, Lv flipped Yang Yufan over from the side. He swung the hammer in his hand into a semicircle, and smashed onto the Zombie''s temple with a whistle.


    "I told you not to use knives!" Lv walked over, using one foot to step on the Zombie''s face, he grabbed the handle of the blade, and spun it a few times, then pulled out the blade and threw it in front of Yang Yufan with a bang.


    Yang Yufan, who was still sitting on the ground, was so frightened that his head shrank back, his face ashen as he looked up at Lv, then looked at us blankly.


    "You can''t use a blade to chop at a Zombie. A human''s skull is very hard and very difficult to break. Even if you cut it open, it won''t be able to hurt the brain inside ¡­ And it''s easy to stick the knife in the bone. " I walked over and pulled Yang Yufan up from the ground.


    "Then what are we going to do with the knife?" Yang Yufan asked after taking a few breaths.


    "Cut him down!" Lin Hao picked up the Corpse Pushing Rod from the ground and said without a care.


    "Slash, slash, slash ¡­" Kill him? " Yang Yufan finally recovered a little, and his face immediately turned ashen.


    I shook my head and ignored them. I grabbed my crowbar and looked around the room again. Actually, all of us have made mistakes like Yang Yufan before. When we first met the Zombie, we used sharp blades and swords to deal with it, but the scene was the same as what Yang Yufan saw today. The Zombie''s head was not like what the novels described. In fact, a person''s skull is abnormally tough, much harder than the bones in other parts of the body. Everyone knows that when they were young, if someone were to smash a person''s shoulder or arm with a brick, they would probably break it. However, if they were to smash a brick on the head, it would basically only result in a little bit of blood, and at most, would only cause a slight concussion.


    After we learned from experience, we knew that using sharp weapons against Zombie s was not a good choice, so we switched to using blunt weapons. As long as we hit the Zombie''s head with force, it would create a "collapsing effect" in the Zombie''s brain, killing and injuring the brain below the skull. This was just like an anti-tank shrapnel. It did not need to destroy the solid armor and instead turned to kill the people inside the tank.


    We searched carefully again. Luckily, there was only one Zombie in this mansion. This guy in a suit probably got bitten by the Zombie outside. After returning home, he quickly got sick and turned the house into a Zombie before he even made a mess. "I think we''ll get a lot of rewards from this place. I''ll be the first to walk into the bathroom in the living room ¡­" "Damn it!" I heard Lv curse from behind me.


    Although this place is decorated just like the palace, the daily necessities and food here are worse than beggars. This probably isn''t the master''s first place of residence, the bathroom I walked into only has half a tube of toothpaste, a bit of toilet paper and an electric razor. The kitchen was even emptier. Judging from the oil smoker, there was not even the slightest trace of oil stains on it. It was obvious that this house had never been on fire before!


    I turned into the master bedroom and heard Lv also cursing as he walked out from the master bedroom. When he saw me, he cursed again, "There''s nothing f * cking wrong here!" I grunted in agreement, and they both turned to the closet at the same time.


    But there was nothing in the closet worth taking, all suits and shirts, all expensive branded goods, but the most useless things for us now, suits that were neither warm nor restrained, had nothing to do with anything but light a fire.


    Lv found a few pairs of socks and some underwear from the closet, then rummaged through the drawers but he couldn''t find anything else.


    Just as I was about to turn around and leave, I heard Lv softly exclaim "eh?" I turned my head to look and saw Lv strangely patting all over the wardrobe.


    "What''s wrong?" I asked.


    "No, according to the layout of this house, this wardrobe is not that small." Lv took off all of the clothes on one side of the wardrobe, and then knocked on the backboard of the wardrobe, which produced a few hollow sounds.


    Lv carefully checked again, and finally discovered that the closest drawer under the cabinet was a drawer that was looking for death.


    "Help me!" Lv began to pull the drawer forcefully, and I quickly stepped forward to help. Under the combined effort of both of us, the drawer started to turn, and slowly revealed a secret room.

 C9

    "F * ck!" A strong stench of corpses floated out from the crack in the door that was just opened. Both of us shouted and jumped backwards, escaping to the bedroom outside. Lv and I grabbed the crowbars and hammers that were placed on the bed and pointed them at the locker room.


    Lv and I looked at each other, and I saw that Lv''s forehead was filled with beads of sweat, his eyes were wide open, his chest was moving up and down, he was gasping for breath, the veins on his hands were exposed, and he was still trembling slightly.


    "Ha ¡­" Not... It''s not the Zombie ¡­ " Lv also laughed and touched his head, looking a little embarrassed, but we did not put down our weapons. I took out a fake Surefire flashlight from my bag with one hand, pressed the switch on the tail, and a strong white light shot out. I pulled the magic scarf around my neck up over my face and nose, then walked into the wardrobe with Lv.


    When I shone the flashlight into the cabinet, I saw a corpse lying on the floor. Judging from the suit he was wearing, he was probably a man, and by the looks of it, the flesh on his face was mostly rotten except for a layer of shriveled skin covering his bones. He had an old black color, and there was a thin layer of white hair on the top of his head, which made him look like a bald man from the Mediterranean when he was alive.


    I have seen many such corpses in the past few months. Compared to the living corpses that we fear, these peaceful and harmless corpses will not cause me any fear at all. If necessary, I can even eat by these corpses! In fact, as I scanned his head with the flashlight, I felt a kind of nostalgia for the cured meat, the kind you''d see hanging from door to door under the eaves on New Year''s Eve, a layer of lean meat with a layer of fat between it, black and yellow, and a sheen of fat... I shook my head and lowered the light.


    Beneath the shriveled head was a shirt and tie soaked black by corpse water. No matter how luxurious the brand was, it had now turned into a dirty shroud. His hands hung limply at his sides and the skin on his hands was dry and attached to the bones of his hands. His hands were as thin as chicken claws and a black object fell beside his right hand.


    "Spear!" With a cheer, I used my hands to push open the door to the secret room. I pushed through the door and went in first, crouching to pick up the gun on the ground. The gun was stuck to the floor by the dried blood and corpse water from the dead body. It took me a little effort to tear it off the floor. It was a homemade Type 92 pistol.


    "Oh my god!" Just as I was immersed in joy, I heard Lv cry out in shock. I immediately turned around, only to see Lv staring at the wall behind the corpse with his mouth wide open, as if he had seen a ghost. I turned the flashlight in his direction and saw that the "wall" was made up of strange bricks, all of them wrapped in plastic bags of different sizes. Lv tiptoed to take a piece out of the bag and through the plastic bag, I saw a bald man with long hair on top with a hundred Arabic digits underneath.


    "Here''s the dollar!" Lv''s voice started to tremble, he took out another piece, this time it was the euro.


    "F * ck!" That''s a few hundred million, right? " The crowbar in my hand fell to the ground with a clatter.


    Lv did not reply, he only took the flashlight from my hands and shone it towards the other two walls.


    The other two walls of the secret room were top grade cabinets, and a few things were placed on top of each other. Lv rummaged through them one by one, and eventually became crazy.


    "This is jade!" This is a Heavenly Jewel ¡­ In the past, every single one of them cost tens of thousands! These were all watches, Jiang Shi Danton, Kunlun, the Count... And there was also the Bai Da Fei Li ¡­ My god, why didn''t you let me find this place before?! "


    "Alright, alright, Lv, these things are useless now ¡­" Seeing that Lv was a little distracted, he immediately hugged his shoulders and shook.


    That''s right ¡­" Lv was stunned for a long time before he slowly recovered, and muttered: "It''s no use. If it was before, all I had to do was take this bag of coins ¡­" ¡ª he raised the euro in his hand ¡ª "Or take this ¡­" ¡ª he flipped the Patek Fei Li in his other hand ¡ª "I could live a good life for years!


    "Lv... Brother Yuan... Where are you? " Lin Hao and Yang Yufan''s voices came from outside the door, I walked out of the closet and brought them into the secret room as well.


    They were extremely shocked when they saw the treasures in the room, but maybe it was because the young people did not have a direct sense of wealth, and their performance was not as exaggerated as Lv''s. Other than being amazed at the "money wall", they did not have much interest in jewelry and other treasures.


    In the end, we each picked up a few items. I traded my IWC for Jiangshi Danton and took a piece of jade carved into Guan Yin''s pendant. The two boys each took a watch. On the other hand, Lv was holding onto the Fei Li Bai Da tightly, desperately stuffing the Heavenly Jewels and jade in his bag. I persuaded him a few times before he put the item down dejectedly. He then let out a long sigh and said softly, "You all don''t understand ¡­"


    Fortunately, I found a box of a hundred rounds in the cupboard, so this trip was a big one. I stuffed the gun at my waist and the bullets into my backpack. Just as I was about to leave the secret room, I saw Lin Hao squatting down and inspecting the corpse carefully, and using the Heavenly Jewels that Lv threw down to touch the corpse''s eyeballs.


    "What''s wrong?" I asked Lin Hao.


    "This fellow shouldn''t be a hopeless character." Lin Hao said in bewilderment. We call those people who commit suicide in their despair in a world where they can''t stand the rampaging Zombie.


    "He''s probably been dead for over a year ¡­ "Judging by how rotten he is." Lin Hao continued.


    "Didn''t you study computer science? When did you become a forensic doctor?" "No," I said.


    "Hehe ¡­" I used to love to watch CSI. "


    "Could it be this person?" Yang Yufan, who did not dare look at the corpse, suddenly took out a photo and pointed at it.


    Lv took out the flashlight and shone it on the photo frame. On top of the photo, there was a picture of two men, both of them dressed neatly, one of them had a bald head with only a small amount of hair left, but he still combed the few remaining strands of hair from one side to the other, trying to cover the wide "Mediterranean" area. However, the hair was too sparse, making them look like specks of dirt, making them even more eye-catching. The other man beside him, tall and square, with a square, fleshy face and a fierce air, I recognized as one of the leaders of the country who had been arrested for corruption a few years before.


    "Isn''t that who?" Lv pointed at the square face and stuttered: "What''s her name? and so on... The name is on the tip of my tongue, but I can''t say it. "


    "Oh." I said a name.


    "That''s right, that''s right. That''s him ¡­" If I take a picture with him, he should be a greedy official. " Lv said.


    "Definitely not a good person. This is definitely black money. Otherwise, why wouldn''t it be openly deposited in a bank?" Lin Hao agreed.


    "Alright, alright. It doesn''t matter if you''re a greedy official or a bad person. You''re already dead. These days, as long as you die in peace, anyone who doesn''t bring trouble to others will be a good person!" I waved my hand.


    "That''s true." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Thus, everyone stopped muttering and stood up to leave.


    After passing by the living room, Lin Hao suddenly pointed at the Zombie that was lying on the ground and asked: "Then who is this person?"


    "Secretary or something." I said impatiently.


    "It doesn''t look like it." Lin Hao shook his head and said.


    "You''ll know when you see it." Lv suddenly walked over to take a look at Zombie''s suit. He took out a wallet from his pocket, opened it up and said: "Indeed not."


    Lin Hao quickly went over to take a look. I was also curious, so I squeezed through and looked, only to see a work permit in a transparent pocket inside the purse.


    "This is the disciplinary committee." "No," I said.


    "Strange, strange. Why did the enemy of the Commission for Discipline Inspection and the enemy of the corrupt officials die?" Lin Hao rubbed his forehead and muttered.


    "Who cares about him. It seems like the officials died quietly and are good people. The Commission for Discipline Inspection is not a good person when it comes to living again!" Lv concluded and threw the purse onto the Zombie''s face. The money inside fell out and spilled all over the Commission for Discipline Inspection''s face and face.


    "To be able to die in a pile of money, that''s a worthy death!" Lin Hao said.

 C10

    It was already 4: 00 PM. The sun was shining through the elevator in the early autumn, painting the bronze carriage with a layer of flowing gold. The face of the driver was half dark and half smiling, as if he was about to shout out "Qin" and start running with the reins in his hand. Outside of the large windows of the elevator was the flowing river to the east. The small waves on the river were rolling like gold. The tall buildings on both sides of the river were also illuminated by the sun, becoming as red as hot iron. A flock of pigeons flew back and forth between the tall buildings, their cries echoing hollowly above the empty city.


    The four of us stood there staring blankly, like a white-collar worker who had just left work and was still waiting for the elevator. After a long while, Lv sighed and said: "Let''s go, it''s time to chop firewood."


    Chopping wood is a daily job that has to be done. Although the food problem is getting worse, fuel is a more pressing problem than food. During the initial stage of the Zombie''s explosion, the city was the first to experience a crisis of water cutting off power and gas. At that time, people were told to stay at home and not go out, although many people had prepared a lot of food in their homes, once the gas was cut off, they found that they were unable to cook their food at all, most families didn''t even have a simple stove that could burn firewood, and the rooms in the city didn''t even have the function of letting people light fire inside. Just the smoke that was not completely released was enough to choke people to death, so during that period, almost every household built a bonfire on the balcony, and the whole city was filled with the stench of burning tires.


    It was also during that time that I realized how difficult it was to make a fire, and how big a pile of firewood was needed to boil a pot of water, but I still don''t understand what kind of fire was needed to cook a pot of rice without burning or growing it. Moreover, in this group of people, other than the Uncle Feng and the Great Strength, the rest of us are all the same. We only know how to cook raw rice, and I feel that if we do not use the electric cooker to cook rice, our skills will probably be lost.


    But even the sandwich was soon gone. First people burn books and magazines, then wood furniture, then clothes, sofas, mattresses... In short, even in a well-to-do family, the affairs of the family could only be burned for a week or two. After that, people had to take the risk of leaving their homes to search for fuel, but where in the concrete cities would all this fuel come from? The green belt, the trees on both sides of the road, and the few trees in the park were all immediately snatched clean. People had no choice but to go to the outskirts, and many people were bitten by Zombie during this process, and then came back home to infect their loved ones ¡­


    San Mao, the Daoist Priest, and I spent our first few days on the run together. We spent our most comfortable time in an antique furniture shop that was filled to the brim with mahogany furniture that made us happy for more than a week. One of the Ming Dynasty of Hainan yellow pear out of the bed let us burn for three days!


    The Taoist said that different firewood would bring different flavors to the food. The red sandalwood was flat on all sides, medium and calm on the surface. The yellow and flowery pear was elegant and elegant while the sour branches carried a bit of wild fun. There was also the faint fragrance of fruit ¡­ I said they all had one thing in common ¡ª that everything cooked was raw!


    And now, Lv''s so-called "firewood chopping", is to go to a house that is like the one we entered this morning, where there is either no one in the house or the owner has long ago turned into a Zombie. Since the last mansion was on the top floor of the 28th floor, we naturally chose the first house we entered in the morning.


    There was nothing to be said about the wood chopping process. It was nothing more than the unravelling of violence, regardless of whether the furniture was European, American, Classical, Neo-Classical, Chinese, or New Chinese ¡­ In the end, they all hacked and grew in strips, whether it was oak, elm, willow, yew, henna, walnut... "In the end they were reduced to a stick of fire; no matter how intricate the carving, no matter how ornate the grain, we have only two opinions about it ¡ª the burnt and the unburned." "Wood is used to light fires." The philosopher and thief Lv''s one sentence had turned everything into its original state.


    Needless to say, we prefer solid wood furniture because it is dense, more resistant to burning, and less flammable. As for the relative plastered furniture, firstly, it was too quick, so it didn''t burn. Secondly, the plywood, large core, melamine, and plastered furniture all had some chemical constituents within them. Some inferior quality plywood could even make people cry and want to vomit upon smelling it. "It seems that no matter when it comes to environmental protection, it will always be a big problem!" This summary was given by the late Mystical Investigator Li Quandao.


    The house downstairs may not be as luxurious as the palace upstairs, but it''s still a mansion, and all used the same color of white oak, which is more than two hundred catties per table. Unfortunately, the table is an entire log, and we can''t crack it open right now, so we can only wait for the next time. But the shelves under the bare table, plus a small TV cabinet, were broken down and filled with our wheelbarrow, almost enough fuel to last us two days.


    I hefted the two handles of the wheelbarrow, felt the weight, and hung the straps around my neck. I tilted my head back and used the trapezius and the deltoids to wrap the straps around my shoulders. The unicycle, which weighed over a hundred pounds with all the goods, was on its way.


    All along the way, only Lv and I could take turns pushing the cart, because Lin Hao and Yang Yufan both didn''t know how to push the unicycle. In fact, I only recently learned how to push things, even though it looks simple, it''s actually very difficult to control, especially when carrying heavy stuff. It''s very difficult to control the balance, especially when carrying heavy stuff, it''s very hard to control the balance, especially when carrying heavy stuff, it''s very difficult to control the balance, especially when it''s carrying heavy stuff.


    Later on, I realized that pushing the wheelbarrow was not about how to exert strength, but about how to relax. When I was running off course, I should not try to correct it, but just shift my center of gravity a little bit. "After you learn how to relax, the wheelbarrow can be pushed a lot more easily. As long as you push it forward with force, and then move it forward with inertia, this is the advantage of a wheelbarrow compared to a two-wheeled one. It''s more powerful to have one more wheel to rub against, and it''s much more agile than a two-wheeled one for a road full of rubble and debris.


    "Watch out for the corpses!" After passing by a pile of broken walls and ruins, Lv who was walking in front warned him as usual. I tightly stared at the gaps between the buildings'' rubbish. I didn''t dare to be careless in the slightest. It was just like the warning signs on the highway that said "accidents happen often." There was always a reason for setting those signs, and if one didn''t pay attention to these warnings, then it was very likely that they would pay the price of blood.


    "Who is it!" Lv who was in front suddenly bellowed, and with a swoosh, he removed the rifle from his shoulder and pointed it at a broken wall.


    "Don''t shoot, don''t shoot!" Following the sound, a middle-aged man with a head full of scoundrels came out from behind the broken wall. This man bowed and bowed as he walked out, while waving behind him and saying, "Come out, come out!"


    Then two women followed him out from behind the broken wall.

 C11

    11. Motorcycle Party


    The middle-aged man had a flattering smile on his face, his eyes constantly moving about, occasionally moving back and forth between the few of us. When he saw that the wheelbarrow was filled with wood, he was obviously startled, and revealed an uncontrollable greedy expression.


    "Stop, don''t come back!" Lv raised his gun and shouted, I also took out the gun at his waist and aimed it at him. The past few months have taught us never to underestimate anyone. Even if it''s an old man or a child who doesn''t seem to be a threat, they can still give you a fatal blow if you lose your vigilance.


    That person quickly stopped and raised his hands above his head. He revealed a smile that revealed his crooked yellow teeth and said while bowing, "Friend, do you want a woman?"


    I couldn''t help but glance at the two women behind him. Like everyone else in this era, both of them were thin and haggard, except that their faces were still quite clean and clean. Their skin was similarly dark and rough, slightly yellow.


    They both wore the ill-fitting low-necked dresses and tried to squeeze a little cleavage out of them with their stucco brassieres, but their exposed chests looked shriveled and loose, and there were smudges of black mud on them, like streaky pork on a butcher''s shop that remained untouched until noon.


    The two of them stood timidly behind the man, their hands tightly resting on their stomachs. Both of them had their heads lowered as they looked down at the ground. The younger one still looked to be trembling slightly.


    "Don''t worry!" Seeing that we didn''t have any reaction, the wretched man moved behind us, grabbed the young girl and pointed at her, shouting, "The girls under me are all very clean, they don''t have any gynecological problems, and they''ve all been washed with soap before coming out, it''s so fragrant, there''s no smell at all!" After saying that, he reached out to lift the girl''s skirt. At first, both of the girl''s hands were still tightly holding onto her skirt, but after being glared at by the man, she timidly put down her hand. She only turned her face to the side, as if she didn''t dare to look at her hand being pricked by needles when she was hanging water in the hospital.


    The girl''s skirt was lifted up completely. She was not wearing underwear and her lower body was completely empty. Indeed, as the man said, the girl''s buttocks should have been washed on purpose, because there was only a white circle, a stark contrast to the filth elsewhere.


    "Alright, alright, we''re not interested!" Lv frowned, his face revealing an unbearable look.


    "This is a university student from Qian Chao University a few months ago. She''s a school beauty!" The man wasn''t discouraged at all. He put down the girl''s skirt and continued, "That''s right, I got it. Friend, you like mature and coquettish, how about this?" The scoundrel grabbed another older woman by the chin and said, "How about this? This is the highest quality product. In the past, I was a television host. If you look carefully, do you have an impression of it? "


    I knocked on the door. It really did seem to be one of the presenters on our local television station. This woman was clearly more used to this situation than the previous one. As the vulgar man introduced her, she smiled and gave us a few seductive glances.


    "What about friends? All four of you, get on. Just give me this cart of wood ¡­ Or half a car, or half a car... One third! It can''t be any less... The girls have to eat too, don''t they? "


    "Alright!" I couldn''t bear to watch any longer. I waved the gun in my hand and said, "This grandpa still needs to hurry on with his journey. Hurry up and f * ck off!"


    "Alright, alright, alright ¡­" The vulgar man raised his hand and made a gesture of surrender, then said: "Next time, if you need anything, come find me again. My friends all call me the little bullock of the martial arts school, you guys go and ask around at the Ghost Market, and everyone will know me, I will do my business openly, and will definitely not give you a game of Immortal Jump, and the girls will all be clean. You guys must make a good arrangement next time, I want you to be satisfied with me!" As he spoke, he called out to the two girls and retreated towards the side.


    We didn''t put the guns away until they were fifty meters away.


    "How pitiful ¡­" Yang Yufan said as he watched the three of their long backs being pulled by the setting sun.


    "This is called a peaceful dog, not someone from chaotic times." I put the pistol back in my belt and pushed the wheelbarrow back up.


    "Sigh ¡­" Lv squinted his eyes as he let out a long sigh, "If you really want to pity them, then save up some things to take care of their business in the future ¡­"


    "What?" I''m not... This is bullying! " The professional gamer Yang Yufan said as he held his head up, as if he felt that Lv''s words had offended him.


    "Only then will they be able to survive ¡­" Lv said indifferently, he walked two steps to the unicycle and turned his head, saying: "Watch out for corpses!"


    We picked up the bucket we had hung for the morning at the river''s edge and walked in silence all the way back to our shelter. The sky gradually darkened. The road that was clean and noisy a few months ago now looked desolate and old. The originally bustling and bustling traffic flow was like a city transformed by ghosts from a terrifying story, distant yet unreal. As I walked down the dark street, I felt that I had come from nothingness, that I had gone back to nothingness. The flames of civilization had long since died down on both sides of the street, and my heart sank, even though I felt sorry for the tragic encounter between the two girls, and worried about my own bleak road ahead.


    From time to time, the low moans of Zombie could be heard from all directions. I had to be very careful, in the early stages of the outbreak of Zombie, when people almost all of the manhole covers on the road were removed, it was all for the sake of turning the sewers into a trap for the killing of Zombie. The Zombie did not have sight or intelligence, so it could not even see the hole beneath their feet. However, compared to the millions of Zombie, the damage caused by a few small scuttles was almost negligible. Now the sewers were filled with dirty ghouls, moaning and howling day and night like a summons from hell.


    The sun was getting shorter and shorter. He had to come back early. Traveling in the dark is too dangerous, I thought, and we can''t turn on the flashlight. In this world, Zombie are only the second most terrifying creatures, and the threat that ranks first is always from our own kind, which is humans. If we let out even the slightest bit of light, it would be like cutting our wrists in a shark-infested sea, attracting the attention of the thugs for several kilometers along the way. They might have been starving for days, or they might have been opportunists trying to fish up some money. In short, these people would follow us like a pack of wolves, as long as we exposed a single flaw, as long as one of them made the first move, everyone would rush forward and snatch us all away.


    So we had to make our way through alleys and alleys in the dark to avoid the eyes and ears of other humans. I was relieved when the wall that protected us finally came into view, but then I saw the two black motorcycles in front of the rusted silver iron gates.


    "Quickly hide!" I lowered my voice and called out softly behind me. I jumped and crouched behind a big rock to the side. I only stuck my head out a little to observe what was going on at the gate.


    Without hesitation, Lv turned the wheel and hid beside me. Yang Yufan was obviously startled, but he was immediately pulled over.


    "What''s wrong?" Yang Yufan asked in a low voice.


    "The Motorcycle Party..." Lin Hao pointed to the two motorcycles at the entrance.

 C12

    12. Pistols and coal stoves


    The biking party is the most powerful group in this area. They are made up of a group of security guards from the original community, and because most of them are veterans, their military attainments are much better than the average person. Plus, they don''t have any family ties, so they are already a relatively close team, so their combat power is much higher than the small group formed by ordinary people. The moment the Zombie erupted, the people who were originally standing in front of the entrance and saluting to the residents turned around and became the community''s actual protectors and controller. In San Mao''s words, "We have become local tyrants!"


    There were terrifying rumors about them, that they ate humans! It was said that they had reared the original residents of the community like animals and slaughtered them every day. But I always thought it was a rumor spread by others, and I even thought it was a rumor spread by them, just to make others afraid of them.


    The motorcycle party is called the motorcycle party, of course, because they have motorcycles. It was not easy to find motorcycles in this city, because, many years ago, nearly all of the large and medium-sized cities in our country had a ban on motorcycles, and in the heart of the city there were still bikes that could be kept, with the exception of the police, some of the fans of underground motorcycles.


    Because of the several city defense battles, the roads of Qianchao City were riddled with holes from the artillery fire, and there were also a large number of abandoned cars in the escaping tides of the city that were tightly packed with practically all of the roads. Under such road conditions, it was simply impossible for cars to move a single step forward.


    The motorcyclists had gotten four or five motorcycles out of nowhere, and some weapons from the soldiers who had fled the last defense. Then, relying on their formidable force, they began to collect protection fees from all the small groups in our area. As our team has San Mao, who was once a police officer, and the Dr Lee, they are more polite to us, only collecting small amount of supplies every seven days.


    "They''re coming out!" I let out a soft cry, and we all shrunk our heads. Although the biker gang was kind to us, based on the principle of not revealing our wealth to the public, it was impossible for them to see all the firewood in the car.


    The door first opened a crack, and San Mao''s head popped out of the crack to look around. Then, the door opened to the outside, and San Mao and the other two people walked out.


    I saw San Mao continuously conversing and laughing with the two of them, as though he was trying to kiss up to them, and then he toasted a cigarette to them, all the way until they started the motorcycle and sped off. For the motorcycle party, of course, they were not afraid that lights and sounds would attract the attention of others. They had already made people burn incense by not provoking others.


    "Pui!" I hope you all fall into the corpse well as soon as possible! " When the sound of the motorcycle completely disappeared, we walked out from behind the rocks. Lin Hao spat towards the direction the motorcycle disappeared in, and said hatefully.


    I walked to the metal door and pressed three long and three short signals to the door. San Mao''s face appeared from the observation window, he looked at me, then at the other people behind me. Then, he opened the door and let us in.


    "Look!" "What is this!?" After the door closes, I handed over the Type 92 handgun in my hand to San Mao as if I was offering a treasure.


    San Mao is my childhood friend, I have known him since he was wearing his pants. He was a military fanatic when he was young, obsessed with all kinds of weapons and equipment." Weapons Knowledge "," Aviation Knowledge "," Tank, Armoured Vehicles "and many other weapons and equipment. From kindergarten onwards, he swore to be a soldier or a police officer. After that, when he grew up, he also did what he wanted to do and entered the police academy, becoming a real police officer. However, when he became a police officer in the most basic police station, he would encounter small things like a husband getting drunk and beating his wife, a legal wife and a mistress. "A hobby is a hobby, don''t be delusional about turning a hobby into a profession, all the police stories are lies!" He was always so impressed after we finished our drinks.


    However, after the explosion of the Zombie, San Mao still became our gun expert. With his years of knowledge on firearms, and his pitiful but at least prior experience, among us ordinary people who haven''t even seen real people before, he is definitely one of the best, our original Type 95 assault rifle was also brought over by him.


    San Mao''s eyes lit up. He received the handgun, and quickly took the magazine off, and then pulled the trigger again, pulling out the remaining bullet in the gun. Then he took out the flashlight, closed one eye and shone it into the barrel of the gun. Then he pulled up the gun and fired.


    "The barrel of the gun is rusted. Is this thing submerged in water?" San Mao frowned, he then placed the gun under his nose and sniffed, then immediately his face became twisted, "Why the f * ck is it so smelly? Was it stolen from the Zombie? "


    "It''s in the water, but it''s just corpse water." I looked at him with a schadenfreude smile.


    "Too disgusting ¡­" San Mao threw the gun back to me, "Wipe well tomorrow, it''s still good to use the gun oil to scare people."


    In fact, none of us has even fired a single shot of the 95-type assault rifle that has made our small group gain a higher status in the neighborhood, or even made the motorcyclists fear it! Although under San Mao''s guidance, we learned how to pull on the guns and tie them, adjust the speed of the machine, aim at the target and so on, but for one thing, bullets are precious ¡ª In our entire team, together, there are only three magazines, ninety rounds of rifle bullets locked in San Mao''s luggage. This is a secret that no one in our team, other than Lv and I, knows about, so if it wasn''t for the fact that we are on the verge of death, it would be extremely easy for us to draw the Zombie here.


    Of course, the most important thing was that against Zombie, a spear would not be as useful as a goat-horn hammer. Before the Zombie crisis broke out, I had followed San Mao to the shooting-range several times to shoot. At a distance of a hundred meters, with the school gun in place, and experienced soldiers training the shooting parameters properly, I could only barely hit the human-shaped target while lying down and meditating. And this was under the condition of calm, without any pressure, where the target was fixed and unmoving. Imagine that when a bunch of disgusting and horrifying Zombie howls and pounces on you, you''re still delusional enough to hit them, and only in the head? To someone who had never come into contact with firearms before, this was simply a fantasy story.


    It was even more difficult for a professional soldier to hit a head-sized object ten meters away with a firepower pistol that had a lot of recoil. However, for a new corpse that had not lost speed, a distance of ten meters was only a matter of two seconds. If one did not hit the gun, it was very difficult to get a second shot.


    Of course, to our kind, firearms are always an extremely powerful existence, and guns are also an important guarantee for the survival of our team. It allows all humans who covet us to weigh their own abilities before acting rashly.


    "Instant noodles again?" As I entered, I smelled the rich aroma of instant noodles and seasoning packets, and I saw that a group of people was already sitting around the three-core honeycomb coal stove, another of our treasures. In the days when natural gas was still not widespread, this kind of honeycomb coal stove was an essential part of every city resident''s home, and more than thirty people probably had the experience of walking through smoky corridors.


    As far as humans were concerned, everyone''s status and position in society were determined by external factors. Three months ago, what determined our status were the houses we lived in, the cars we drove, the clothes we wore, and the bags we carried ¡­ In this era, our position is determined by guns, food, muscles, and honeycomb-like coal furnaces.


    Now, of course, it''s not honeycomb coal that''s burning in the stove. Twenty years ago, it was hard to find the black, cylindrical kerosene that almost every household had stored up in great quantities, but fortunately, this kind of stove is not picky. It can burn firewood, waste paper and grass, even diesel fuel, and I sometimes think that if I go back to ancient times, I might be able to make a fortune selling this kind of kerosene stove.


    "The last box." The Dr Lee squeezed to the side and squeezed out a seat for me to sit down. The food in a big iron pot on the stove was boiling non-stop. Aside from the ground instant noodles, there were also some grains of rice, unknown varieties of beans, some dried vegetables and so on.


    When it was my turn, I handed over a LOCKLOCK glass bowl in my hand. Aunt Chen scooped a spoonful of mash into it, then added half a spoonful, a field prize, and when I looked down, I saw that the thick mash had barely covered the bottom of my bowl, my first meal in more than a dozen hours.

 C13

    Three months ago.


    "This is a new drug, called ''bath salts''. After ingesting it, one will increase the secretion of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain, which is very exciting. At the same time, there will be strong hallucinations and delusions, feeling strong and powerful.


    I looked at the policeman sitting in front of me, his mouth opening and closing, his mind blank, my eyes wide open. I saw the man with the windpipe in his mouth, his eyeballs hanging out, his neck cut off, staring at me. I saw his head burst open, and something black and purple like a paste sprayed out, and then I saw a group of men in black combat suits appear out of nowhere... Then I was brought here, first stripped naked by several men in white coats in a room similar to a hospital ward, and then seated in what they called an interrogation room, in which I was, in their words, undergoing a "psychological intervention."


    "Heh ¡­" The policeman waved his hand in front of my face and said, "Did you hear me?"


    "Huh?" I came back to my senses and looked at him blankly. "Oh ¡­" It''s a drug... "You want to bite me after drinking it ¡­"


    "That''s right." The policeman put away the papers in front of him, stood up, and said, "You can go home now."


    I got up blankly and turned towards the door.


    "That... Mr. Chen Yuan... " The police called after me, "About this drug addict bite... "Hmm ¡­" Please keep your secret from causing unnecessary panic... Just say it''s an ordinary traffic accident. "


    "But what about the young lady''s insurance? "How should we handle this?" I suddenly remembered the reason for this.


    "Don''t worry, we will deal with this. Just pretend that it never happened." The policeman waved his hand and said straightforwardly.


    I returned home in a daze. Just as I used my key to open the door, I saw two naked figures jump out from the sofa and flee to the bedroom. I stood at the entrance, blankly staring at the floor full of clothes that had been thrown in the living room, and the island country action movies that were still playing on TV. I vaguely felt that the world I was in wasn''t real, that the monster that was staring at me wasn''t real, and those two naked figures just now weren''t real either.


    But after a while, my fantasies were shattered, the bedroom door opened, San Mao walked out while putting on some clothes, and I saw that he was wearing one of my t-shirts. His face was flushed and his forehead was beaded with sweat. With an ambiguous and embarrassed smile on his face, he said to me, "Why are you back so early today?"


    I stood and ignored him. He walked into the living room to collect the scattered clothes one by one. Finally, he picked up a leopard-print bra, waved it proudly at me, and went back into the bedroom.


    A few minutes later, the door opened again and San Mao walked out slowly while hugging a young lady who was dressed appropriately. The girl wore extremely tight jeans with her buttocks strangled like a peach. She wore a thin chiffon sweater, and a leopard bra that was faintly discernible under the translucent blouse.


    The "longevity peach" hung on San Mao''s body like a sloth, and the two of them moved slowly towards the door like babies. The "longevity peach" reached over my shoulder and took a pair of huge sunglasses from the shoe cabinet and put them on her nose. The brown lenses covered most of her face.


    "Then I''m leaving ¡­" "Remember to call me ¡­" "Longevity peach" kissed San Mao on the cheek, and said with an exaggerated tone.


    "Alright, next time remember to bring your little sister out to play." San Mao patted his "longevity peach".


    "Why are you so concerned about my little sister ¡­" The longevity peach "pouted.


    "I still have a bro!" San Mao pointed at me and said.


    "He ¡­" "Longevity peach" glanced at me from the corner of his eye and said, "It''s boring..."


    "Hey, you don''t know, but my bro claims to be a seeded player from the National Love Team." San Mao fiercely patted my shoulder.


    "Alright, next time then." "Life peach" gave San Mao a flirtatious look, and then turned and stomped down the stairs.


    "What''s wrong, brother?" Are you angry? " San Mao saw that I was dumbstruck and did not say a word, so he immediately grabbed onto my shoulder and said: "Do you think that I didn''t bring you one? I didn''t know you were coming home early today. "


    At this time, the island country Action Film that was still being played on the television in the living room had just reached the end of the stage. That fake expression of the actress was screaming hypocritically, the pain on her face was more than just enjoyment, the male actors were fiercely sprinting on top of her like pilers, and the two of them continued in this critical state for a long time, like arrows that were drawn out or fireworks that were ignited on the lead wire, tenaciously but futilely.


    San Mao walked over and picked up the remote control to switch the TV back to cable state. The screams and the two entangled bodies immediately disappeared, replacing them was a upright posture, with a solemn face, looking like a middle-aged woman who had not experienced sex life for many years. She was broadcasting the news in a voice that was full of emotion:


    "A new drug, bath salts, is popular in our country. According to a reporter, a drug called bath salts, is being smuggled into our country. This drug can very strongly stimulate the central nervous system, increasing the secretion of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain after ingestion, leading to hallucinations and delusions. If it is serious, it can even lead to violent impulses. The police reminded the masses that if they meet someone like this, they must call 110 to report to the police immediately... "


    Then, with a twist of the camera, there was a room that resembled a cell, with the camera zooming in through the iron bars, and suddenly a figure rushed forward and slammed into the bars, and a pair of hands reached out through the gaps in the bars and danced wildly in the air. A man with a hideous face, his head stuffed between two iron poles, pushed forward with all his strength, both sides of his scalp frayed, his pale, inhuman eyes staring at me through the screen.


    Ah!" Both my screams and San Mao''s shrill ringtone sounded out at the same time. San Mao was startled, he looked at me in bewilderment, then at the screen of his phone.


    "Hello? It''s me... Oh, I''m on duty... Where is it? In the home of an orphan in my jurisdiction... Right... His parents both died in a car accident... Yeah, it''s so sad, so I often come over to keep him company... It''s my responsibility to bring warmth to the people of the district... A meeting? "Alright, alright, I''ll be right over ¡­"


    San Mao hung up the phone, walked over and put his hand on my forehead and said: "I don''t have a fever, what''s wrong? Why was his face so pale? "Oh, did you drink too much last night?"


    I shook my head and slumped down on the couch.


    "There''s an emergency meeting at the station, so I need to hurry back. If you''re not feeling well, then go to sleep. I''ll bring you something to eat tonight ¡­" San Mao walked to the door and put on his shoes as he talked. After he opened the door and walked out, he turned around and said to me, "Quickly go and rest. We still have an appointment tonight!" He gave me an ambiguous look and slammed the door.


    "The international news is that the US forces in Afghanistan used drone aircraft to bombard a local gathering point, where more than 50 civilians were killed on the spot during a wedding ceremony. U. S. forces claim the operation was directed against Abrassi, the Afghan Taliban''s third leading official. But according to local residents, there were no Taliban fighters in the area at the time of the attack, and local people claimed that the U.S. military was a more brutal terrorist than the Taliban... "


    On the TV, an Afghan man with his head wrapped in white cloth was talking excitedly to a reporter. Behind him, a corpse covered in white cloth lay on the ground.


    Trembling, I took out my cell phone and dialed the Taoist''s number.


    "Hello ¡­" Yuan? " The Daoist''s voice came out of the phone.


    "Mm ¡­" That... Can you come to my place tonight? "


    "Sure!" The Taoist was stunned for a moment before he replied straightforwardly.

 C14

    14. Pigeons


    I sat in the shadow of the courtyard wall and flipped through the notebook the Taoist had left behind. It was like a labyrinth of obscure words, symbols, spells, and so on.


    I turned to one of the pages. On it was written in red ink a paragraph that I could not understand. Beneath this paragraph was a small Chinese character, which was probably a translation of this foreign language.


    At the end of the seventh cycle of reincarnation


    mutual killing occurred


    It happened shortly after the beginning of the millennium


    Then the dead man will come out of the grave


    I looked at the date written on the top right corner of this page and realized that it was written more than half a year ago. At that time, other than a few well-informed people, the average citizen still didn''t know anything about the Zombie crisis. I continued to flip through the pages. Behind them was a large stack of material, some newspaper briefings, and some printouts of web news, all of which had been glued to my notebook with glue, and I flipped through a few of them.


    The side effects of drugs caused patients to mutate; The Beautiful Appearance of the Zombie Rabbit infected with unknown bacteria or transmitted; The Hong Kong Kwai Chung nightly bit into the "Zombie"; A Japanese man frantically entered a primary school half-naked pursuer; The United States opened a training camp for the battle of the Zombie...


    Each article had exact details of the time, place, character, and event that had taken place, and the news had been lost in all sorts of giddy information in the pre-crisis era of the Big Bang, classified as anecdotal and easy to read, crammed into inconspicuous corners of newspapers and websites, and barely looked at except by the likes of the Taoist.


    "Yuan, where are you reading?" Liu Guojun had a fawning smile on his face as he walked over with an exaggerated limp.


    I ignored him, although I didn''t hate him as much as San Mao, but I didn''t have a nice expression on my face, if he wasn''t Dr Lee''s husband, we would have already thrown him out and fed him to the Zombie.


    I closed the notebook, picked up the pistol, and dabbed some of the oil on a silk scarf. I wiped it carefully, and the famous carriage sign was immediately stained with a layer of greasy black.


    "Got another gun? Great, our safety has been guaranteed once again. Brother Yuan, you truly are wise and wise ¡­ "


    This person had probably built up a strong psychological quality in the officials before the crisis and mastered an unbeatable, thick-skinned horse fart. No matter how cold the faces of others were, he was unfazed, and was even as willing as wine.


    "Director Liu, are your legs better today?" I glanced sideways at him, as if to say something.


    "Haha ¡­" Liu Guojun laughed awkwardly, "No ¡­ It''s not like that. The sciatic nerves are aching. It''s cold today, but the pain''s even worse. Look at this, even walking is a problem. "


    "Yo, the wall climbing that night was so nimble!" This guy once tried to climb into our storage room through the window in the middle of the night, but he was caught red-handed by San Mao who went to the toilet. Although he insisted that he heard a sound and wanted to go in to check, we all knew that he definitely wanted to go in to steal food.


    "Hehe ¡­" "Hee hee ¡­" Liu Guojun saw that I did not give him any face, but was not angry at all. He only scratched his head, and turned to walk back inside the house.


    Just then, Little Casey walked out of the room with a plastic bucket in her hands. Her face was full of strength, and her body was leaning to the side, obviously showing that the plastic bucket in her hand was not light.


    Liu Guojun immediately jumped to the side to dodge Little Casey who was staggering forward. In that moment, his steps seemed to be incomparably nimble.


    "No eyes? You useless loser! " Liu Guojun angrily retreated a bit, causing Little Casey to lose her balance and fall on her butt. Liu Guojun angrily walked in and slammed the door shut.


    Little Casey struggled to get up from the ground, and the plastic bucket fell to the ground, its contents scattered all over the floor. Little Casey squatted down and used her little hands to hold onto it, then threw the things back into the bucket.


    What San Mao said is right, now is no longer an era where children can be doted upon limitlessly. To adults, they are no longer little emperors or princesses, but mouths to eat, a burden and a burden. They have to quickly mature and learn some basic survival skills in order to survive in this cruel world.


    In fact, Little Casey learned very quickly, ever since the day we found her in school, she had never cried, nor asked anyone where her parents went to wait. She seemed to understand the world more quickly than an adult, and from the first day onwards, she started to help adults. She helped Aunt Chen clean up, lit the stove, learned how to make ropes from Uncle Feng, and so on.


    "Uncle Chen Yuan!" When Casey walked past me, she called out to me in her childish voice.


    "Sigh!" "Yes," I said.


    She still carried the plastic bucket with both hands and walked past me with difficulty. I looked at the contents in the bucket. It was the potatoes that I brought back that had sprouted and were cut into small pieces along the bud.


    I sighed and called out to her, "Casey ¡­" Little Casey looked back at me and waved her hand. "Come here."


    Casey put down the plastic bucket in her hand, and walked over while bouncing.


    I looked around and seeing that there was no one around, I took out the chocolate I hid that day and placed it in Little Casey''s arms. "Take it, don''t let anyone see it."


    Little Casey''s eyes flickered as she looked at me and then at the chocolate. After staring blankly for a while, she said softly, "Thank you, uncle," before putting the chocolate into her belt and putting down her clothes to cover herself. Then, she picked up the extremely heavy plastic bucket and struggled to move it forward.


    He held a few short sticks in one hand and a roll of plastic film in the other hand under his armpit. After leaving the room, he squinted his eyes to take a look, then shouted to Casey who had already walked far away: "Little Casey, over there, don''t go any further."


    When Casey heard Uncle Feng''s shout, she immediately put down the plastic bucket in her hands and sat on the ground to catch her breath. Uncle Feng turned his head and saw me, then shouted: "Yuan, come and help."


    "Alright!" I quickly put the gun on my belt and walked towards Casey. It was obvious that the ground here had been turned over, and some water had been spilled. The soil was so black that it was somewhat wet.


    Uncle Feng walked over and picked up a few pieces of potatoes from the plastic bucket. He crouched down and dug a hole about ten centimeters deep with his hands, then covered it with dirt. Casey and I also followed his example and planted the potatoes like Uncle Feng.


    "Uncle Feng, how long will it take to collect this potato?" I asked.


    "If everything goes well, it''ll take about three months." The Uncle Feng replied.


    I calculated that it was early September, which meant that the harvest would continue until early December.


    "I wonder how the weather will be this year. If it was frozen earlier, I might not be able to pick it up. After all, it''s a little late to plant it now ¡­" Uncle Feng paused, sighed, and said: "If only there were carrots, then it would be good, the potatoes are too picky, now there is no fertilizer, the soil is insufficient, and it is easy to get sick, it is not easy to serve, the carrots do not grow bugs, and it grows even faster ¡­"


    Uncle Feng talked nonstop as he moved his hands quickly. Not long later, all the potatoes in the bucket had been planted. Then he stuck the four sticks he had brought into the four corners of the potato patch and tied the plastic sheets to the sticks, as if he were building a shed for potatoes.


    "Uncle Feng, what''s going on?" I asked the Uncle Feng as I tied a corner of the membrane to the wooden stick.


    "Firstly, it can block the sunlight from the potatoes and reduce the moisture in the ground to evaporate. Now, it''s not easy to get water from the potatoes ¡­" "Secondly, it''s not even autumn. Sooner or later it will be cold, and the day will be hot. Dew will come in the morning, and autumn rain will come soon. This film can be used to collect water from the sky ¡­"


    "Grandpa Feng, you really know a lot ¡­" Little Casey said crisply.


    Uncle Feng laughed in satisfaction, nodded and said: "After living for such a long time, I had thought that all these things were useless."


    By the time we finished, the sun was already setting. Every single minute, I would be worried for San Mao and the rest who were outside. Fortunately, San Mao didn''t make me worry for too long, so before the last ray of sunlight fell from the west side, the figures of the four people appeared in front of the observation window.


    I opened the iron gate and walked towards them. When San Mao saw me, he smiled and raised his right hand high up towards me. "Look, what did we find?"


    I looked at what he was holding in his hand and saw two pigeons still flapping their wings.

 C15

    "There''s meat to eat?!" I cheered.


    However, San Mao was laughing out loud, he shook his head and said: "With such a small amount of meat, how much will the twelve of us get?" He turned around and pointed at Wang Dali behind him and said, "We have a pigeon breeding expert here. He said that pigeons are very easy to raise, and he can even go out on his own to find food. We had to climb more than 20 floors to catch the pigeons, and the Dr Lee was almost bitten by the Zombie! "


    "Really?" I said incredulously as I took the wheelbarrow from him.


    "Haha ¡­" Wang Da rubbed his hands and said with a bashful smile, "Let me give it a try. I raised it when I was in the countryside. Our village has a national poverty alleviation plan, which is to teach everyone how to raise pigeons."


    Now, everyone was not in a hurry to eat dinner, and everyone, including Liu Guojun, gathered around. It''s been a long time since we''ve had meat. Ever since the electricity went off in a large area, all of the frozen meat in the freezer has been decaying in a short period of time, and there''s no place in the city to capture animals. Plus, there''s also the easiest place to catch prey on to ¡ª all kinds of waters, because there''s too many Zombie lurking and it''s impossible to get close to them. In the past two months, we have only eaten one wild dog that San Mao beat to death with a rod.


    "This wild pigeon can also go out and find food before flying back?" Uncle Feng rummaged through the boxes and found a wooden frame that had not been completely dismantled.


    "Yes, it''s to first eliminate magnetism." He untied the rope from the pigeon''s leg and carefully placed it into the frame. Then, he quickly closed the lid.


    "Magnetization? How do I demagnetize? " Everyone was anxious to know.


    "The teacher who guided our breeding technique said that the pigeons were navigated by a geomagnetic field, so the first step to taming the pigeons was to demagnetize them with a magnet, so that they would forget where their original nests were ¡­ Uncle Feng, use your old semiconductor for me. "


    "Oh ¡­" Uncle Feng immediately ran into the house. After a while, he ran out with a dilapidated ''Dexen'' radio in his hand.


    "Luckily you have this kind of old radio. The digital ones now don''t have magnets in them." He took the radio and flipped it up and down for a while.


    "It''s a good thing you''re an electrical repairman, otherwise we wouldn''t understand ¡­" Uncle Feng muttered.


    "Am I going to break it?" He looked at Uncle Feng vigorously and said.


    "Go on, go on, go on. There''s no hope of listening to him now anyway." Uncle Feng waved his hand and said indifferently.


    He raised the radio high above his head and swung it down so hard that the plastic cracked as the radio crashed to the floor.


    He vigorously picked up the largest piece, fiddled with it with both hands for a moment, and then retrieved a circular magnet from within.


    "Bring me a metal plate or something. It''s not too big. As long as it can be used to feed pigeons, it must be iron." He said it again.


    "Ai!" "Yes!" Auntie Chen answered loudly as she quickly took out an enamel plate from the house.


    He vigorously sucked the magnets into the wooden frame of the pigeon, "Alright, after eight days, remove the magnets. After seven days, you can open the lid and let them fly out. Just put them on the rooftop now, feed them every day and clean the cages every few days ¡­"


    "Uncle Dazhi, how long will it take for them to give birth to little pigeons?" Little Casey stared at the pigeons and asked.


    Oh, pigeons can''t give birth to small pigeons, they can only lay an egg, a pair of pigeons can give birth eight times a year, each time no more than two eggs. After the pigeons hatch, they can grow in a month, and then they can reproduce. He patted Little Casey''s face excitedly and said.


    "Wow ¡­" Not only Little Casey, even we were affected by the beautiful scene that was painstakingly portrayed, we didn''t think that this small pair of pigeons could have such a huge effect. If it could really be said with force, then this pair of pigeons would become our long-term meat, not only allowing us to obtain a stable source of meat, we would also have an additional item that we could trade with others for. Yang Yufan and Lin Hao who were carrying the wooden frames to the roof, couldn''t help but become even more cautious. They were afraid that something might happen if they were careless.


    "How is it? Do you want to do it? " After San Mao finished the porridge in the bowl, he used boiling water to refill it, and slowly sipped on the oil that was floating above the bowl.


    I didn''t go to the field today, so I only received half of San Mao''s food, which I had already finished all of it in one go. At this time, I was silently sitting there, thinking about the information San Mao and the others received this morning.


    San Mao said that when they were catching pigeons today, they climbed onto the roof of a twenty plus storey building. There, they saw a roof garden a few blocks away on a dozen storey roof near the center of the city.


    "I see clearly, there are cucumbers, pumpkins, tomatoes, eggplants... "There are many types of fruits, and they are all overgrown. Those string of beans are all hanging there ¡­" Xu Yang said as he clicked his tongue.


    "It''s too dangerous to go downtown." Lv lit up a cigarette, and the red butt of the cigarette lit up in front of his eyes.


    In my heart, I agree with Lv, we are currently in a Qianchao City industrial zone, and before the Zombie crisis could fully erupt, the world economy had already collapsed due to a small number of people controlling it. The workers who were originally gathered here all scattered because of the lack of orders, leaving only a few behind to look at the factories like the Uncle Feng. As a result, there were very few people here, and a lot less Zombie. Right now, the city area is simply the Zombie Kingdom, we just came out from there and worked so hard, we don''t want to be trapped there anymore.


    "But there are fresh vegetables ¡­" Yang Yufan said in an exaggerated tone, making people feel like he was about to drool. Of course, to someone who had been imprisoned at home for a few months and ate convenient food, their yearning for fresh vegetables was understandable.


    "From what I see, we should make this trip ¡­" Dr Lee, who had been silent all this while, suddenly spoke out.


    "Lee Jin! How can a man interrupt a woman like that? " Liu Guojun suddenly bellowed.


    "Tsk, you''re also a man?" San Mao said in disdain.


    Liu Guojun''s expression immediately changed greatly, and he did not continue the conversation. In the end, he snorted hatefully, and walked up the stairs with a wave of his hand.


    Seeing that, the Dr Lee stood up and followed him.


    "Don''t be in such a rush to leave, Dr Lee, tell us why we have to make this trip." San Mao said as he waved towards Dr Lee.


    "Because we are severely lacking in vitamins and protein, we all have oral ulcers, constipation and other symptoms, followed by night blindness, sepsis, severe malnutrition, and so on... I think it would be best to make this trip. There are some fresh vegetables that at least avoid dangerous sepsis. " The Dr Lee hurriedly said and went upstairs. Immediately after, we heard Liu Guojun''s angry curses coming from upstairs.


    We all secretly shook our heads, feeling that the Dr Lee was not worthy in our hearts. With her work skills, she should have obtained a very high status in our team, we didn''t want her to leave the field, but she said that we couldn''t let both of them eat for free.


    "Then let''s go." San Mao curled his lips and said, then looked at Lv and me as if asking for something. Both of us nodded, and thus, the matter was settled.

 C16

    The city was completely deserted, with cars of all sizes crammed into all the roads. In the end, we couldn''t even squeeze in the wheelbarrows, so we had to leave it at the side of the road. The cars and the cars that had no idea where they were going were too close to open the doors. Some of the windows were shattered, it was unknown whether the passengers themselves broke them and escaped, or were attacked by the Zombie, in short, many of them were directly tied to their safety belts, causing them to turn into Zombie. Now that they felt our approach, they started to howl from their seats, and started to wave their hands in a futile attempt to open their mouths wide.


    Most of the cars were intact, they were filled with bodies that were tanned and covered in skin and bones. These people were trapped in their own evacuations with traffic and Zombie s not daring to break their own windows and break out, causing them to starve to death, some people committed suicide out of despair, but of course most of them were still starved to death. After all, in our country, most people don''t have guns, so it''s not easy for one person to commit suicide in the car.


    There were times when we had to climb over the crowded roofs of cars, which made our journey a perilous one, because the seemingly solid roofs were so fragile, so many of the skylights had been smashed, leaving huge holes in them, and if we sank our feet, we would be treated by the living dead inside as a delicacy that fell from the sky.


    Me, San Mao, Lv, Dazhi, Xu Yang, and Lin Hao are all members of the expedition team inside the city. Last night we had a thorough discussion and chose a route that we believed to be the safest one. So far, everything was still going well, and other than those who were tied to the carriage seats, we only encountered a few Zombie that were difficult to move.


    I flipped over the front of a Land Rover and felt my lungs tighten to the point of bursting. Every breath felt like a puff of flame. I looked at my watch. It was not yet eleven o''clock, but the air was like a steamer on fire, hot and sticky, the sun poison hanging over every car''s reflector, chrome-plated decorations, broken glass, everywhere bright, everywhere hot...


    But we had to walk in such a harsh sunlight, because the Zombie didn''t like the sun. Lv said that the Zombie was controlled by a virus or bacteria that parasitized on their brain, and as long as it was a bug or bug, it would easily be killed by the ultraviolet light from the sunlight, hence they were naturally afraid of the sunlight. However, San Mao retorted that as long as it was a living animal, they would not like to be exposed to the scorching sun. Humans were the same as well, at a temperature of 389 degrees Celsius, who would be able to run away and die even after being exposed to the sun for a few hours? After Lv heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then nodded his head and said yes, maybe there was no difference between humans and germs.


    It''s not just the twists and turns of the road that are blocked by cars. In fact, even the occasional flat road is not easy to walk on. Ever since the city sewer system had stopped working, the rain could not be drained and the sewage had been poured onto the road. The water kept accumulating in the lowlands, forming a pool of stagnant water. The water was dirty and unable to see the depth of the water. So we have to take a detour in this kind of pool.


    The city without any living people was not completely lifeless. The rain was evaporated by the sun on the ground and the sand and dust continued to precipitate. They formed a thin layer of soil and the grass quickly took root on the layer. In the space of a few months, the roads that had been so neat and shiny had become as overgrown as a field, and I even saw patches of alfalfa fields, green and carpeted, covered with pink flowers.


    If the soil was thick enough, shrubs and trees would grow on it. At that time, no one would be able to recognize that this was a road. And with mice and birds, snakes would quickly reproduce. Without people, all kinds of animals on the mountain, such as wild boars, hares, pheasants, yellow chamois, and so on, would come down ¡­


    "Then we''ll have meat to eat!" Lin Hao and Xu Yang said happily after hearing what Big Force said.


    "I''m just afraid that we won''t be around when the time comes ¡­" Lv said faintly.


    Everyone fell silent ¡­


    ¡­


    "It''s right in front of us ¡­" San Mao gasped for breath as he pointed to a tall building.


    This was an old city district, and the buildings were generally low. Although the building wasn''t tall, it still felt like a crane among a flock of chickens. It was a slightly old building, obviously with the style of the 1990s. It was flashy, like some fashionable women in the rural and urban areas who were trying their best to paint it a little, but it was becoming increasingly vulgar. Outside the building, a curving green glass curtain wall with a corpulent, tawny stainless steel frame ran up to the roof. Some of the glass had been broken, revealing dark holes, and the words "Peacock Building" outside the curtain wall were rusted and stained. Most of the words "Big" had fallen off, leaving only a corner stuck to it.


    "So it''s here ¡­" Lin Hao muttered as he looked at the four words that were on the verge of collapse.


    "You know this place?" I asked.


    "Mm ¡­" Lin Hao swallowed his saliva, and said with a face full of fear: "This place is the most famous place in the Qianchao City for making a ghost ¡­"


    "What?" Haunted? " Xu Yang shrunk his head and looked around, but it was clear that the desolate street area made him even more afraid, and he couldn''t help but lean towards San Mao and me.


    "That''s right. A few years ago, there was a very popular post online called ''The top ten places of the Qianchao City''. This was the place that was ranked first ¡­" Lin Hao whispered in a low voice: "According to what the residents around here said, this building was built in half and then collapsed, and a few people even died. As for some workers, they died even more inexplicably, others could clearly see them working well up there, but who would have known that after a while, they suddenly fell down the unfinished wall ¡­ This kind of accident happened one after another, no one knew how it happened. Later on, the construction team invited Master Feng Shui to take a look. Master said that it was because the moving earth had offended the gods. Originally, there used to be a temple of the Black Dragon. The local government, in order to pursue economic benefits, planned a huge building here. Finally, a Black Dragon Mansion was built by the side of the building. The tablet was used to worship the incense, so the Peacock Building was successfully built. Look at the bus stop here, it''s called Dark Dragon Temple Station! " Lin Hao pointed to the bus stop in front of the building.


    When we all turned to look, we saw that the iron stop sign was bent and rusted, and the words had fallen off and were mottled, but the three words "Dark Dragon Temple" above it were still legible.

 C17

    Despite the heat, I felt a chill down my spine. Even San Mao couldn''t help but shiver and turn his head to knock on the back of Lin Hao''s head with his fist, "Don''t be an idiot. I have been a police officer for so many years and have never heard of anyone who sees a ghost before. Besides, it''s already like this. There are zombies everywhere, aren''t you afraid of ghosts? "


    "This is different ¡­" Xu Yang''s face was deathly pale. He shrugged and said, "Zombies can see, ghosts can''t. What I''m afraid of the most in my life is ghosts and snakes ¡­"


    "You may have seen it all at once today." San Mao teased.


    Xu Yang was even more afraid now as his whole body started trembling.


    "Don''t scare him ¡­" He walked over vigorously and extended his hand to grab the Corpse Pushing Rod in Xu Yang''s hand: "I''ll walk in front later, you walk in the middle."


    Xu Yang nodded as if he had received amnesty and said, "Thank you ¡­" "Thank you, Big Brother Dazhi ¡­"


    This time, it''s Big Force and Lin Hao who will be walking in the front, with Xu Yang, San Mao and I walking in the middle, with Lv at the back.


    Once we entered the building, the light dimmed. I immediately took off my sunglasses and used the flashlight they used to tie the Corpse Pushing Rod to the light. The two strong beams of light formed two spots of light in front of us, making the other places even darker.


    I felt a chill run down my spine, and the sweat that had been splattered all over my body dried up. I even felt a chill run up my spine.


    Behind the front desk hung a row of clocks, showing time from all over the world. On the front desk was a pot of imitating butterfly orchids, looking very green and lush, and on the other side of the front desk was a set of large sofas. On the other side was a large hall, with sparse chairs and a messy coffee table, as if someone had ordered coffee and was coming back at any time.


    The whole hall smelled of mildew, and thick dust flew in the air with our footsteps. It looked like fog in the beam of the flashlight, and we all pulled our magic scarves up to our noses and walked in like a group of masked bandits.


    Of course, the elevator had stopped moving. The door to the elevator shaft was left open, but the elevator car did not descend. The cables and guides were exposed savagely, reflecting a deep blue light from the flashlight.


    We climbed the stairs on the side of the elevator. These old-fashioned buildings, in order to maximize their area of use, generally had the stairways made extremely narrow, and the stairs here could barely fit two people side by side. In order to maintain a certain level of attack power, I switched out Lin Hao and walked right in front, side by side with Big Power.


    On the second floor, as soon as I turned the corner, I suddenly saw two people standing in front of the door. I jumped in fright, and upon closer inspection, I discovered that they were two figures of a man and a woman. The man was wearing a suit and the woman was wearing a wedding dress. The two of them smiled like idiots, exposing their pale white teeth.


    I cautiously stuck my head out, took a quick glance into the hallway and then looked back. Outside was a Chinese restaurant, neatly arranged round tables with a red carpet in the middle. On either side of the door were two flower bases of Roman columns, two flower arches, but the flowers on them were all withered and the petals fell like broken glass.


    I didn''t see any Zombie, so I stuck out half of my body to look around. As I stood in the hallway, I imagined the guests shuttling back and forth in the hall, each of them with a stiff, fake smile on their faces. In a trance, I felt that this scene seemed familiar, as if I had been in a dream.


    "What are you thinking!" San Mao patted me and I snapped out of it. Seeing that the other people were already walking in, I immediately followed.


    At the end of the red carpet, there was a small stage. Behind the stage, the entire wall was covered in a bright red color, with the words "A Hundred Years of Love" written in the middle. In front of the stage, there was a row of tables.


    "Hahaha ¡­" "What did I find?" Lin Hao''s uncontrollable cheers rang in my ears, following that, he came out from under the table with a cardboard box in his arms.


    "What is it?" Everyone gathered around to look.


    "I''ve been a master of ceremonies before, and I know that before the wedding, I usually transport some of the things I need to use to the hotel. As expected, I found them ¡­" Lin Hao boasted as he took out something from his pocket ¡ª "Sweet ''n'' Sour" was given to the hotel''s security guards and waiters, as well as two Chinese cigarettes ¡­ "Wow, there''s even a dozen disposable lighters!"


    We were all overjoyed, cigarettes and sugar were needless to say, lighters were also the most urgent materials, even if there were only these items, it would be worth the trip.


    The kitchen was surprisingly empty, probably because the box of cigarettes and sugar had been hidden under the table. We continued up the stairs. There were several conference rooms on the third floor, with nothing to show us. Starting from the fourth floor, it was the hotel''s guest rooms. Each floor was arranged in a "work" shape, with the elevator standing in the middle, with two long corridors on each side. The guest rooms were densely packed, with leaves growing in an orderly manner around the branches.


    We didn''t stay any longer, the hotel''s guest rooms weren''t like the private rooms, it was unlikely that there would be anything of value. We climbed the stairs, intending to rush up to the stage, but when we reached the twelfth floor, we found ourselves blocked by an iron gate!


    "Lv, it''s up to you." I stepped aside and let Lv open the door.


    Lv walked up to take a look, but shook his head and said: "The keyhole on this side is blocked, we cannot open it, we have to open it from the other side!"


    "Huh?" We were all surprised. We didn''t know why this had happened.


    "Look, this keyhole was welded to death ¡­" Lv pointed at the lock and said. I looked closer and saw a silver light shining from the keyhole, it was impossible to insert a key in.


    "I wonder what''s above ¡­" Lv knocked on the steel door and said, "This door is thick, the people here definitely do not want anyone to open it!"

 C18

    "What should we do?" I said dejectedly.


    Everyone scratched their heads and tried to think of something, but the corridor suddenly quieted down, and then there was a clucking sound. I followed the sound and shone my flashlight into the corridor, and found Xu Yang''s face pale, his eyes wide and his whole body covered in a sieve of bran. The clucking sound came from his chattering teeth.


    "This... Inside... It won''t lock anything up... What''s not clean? " Xu Yang said while trembling.


    Three black lines nearly dripped down from our heads. San Mao bellowed even more hoarsely, "Do you believe that I won''t send you flying with a slap? "Brat, did you dream of meeting the King of Hell? Have you been possessed by a ghost?"


    "But ¡­" This is a good building, why did it get sealed off like this? " Xu Yang said with a bit of grievance.


    "Maybe it''s to guard against Zombie? "There might even be people living on top. They grow food on the roof and are self-sufficient ¡­" Lin Hao suddenly said.


    "It doesn''t look like it ¡­" Lv shook his head and said: "Look at this metal door, it should be quite old."


    "Hai, don''t worry about it so much. Let''s go up first!" "Let''s just let one of us climb up the elevator shaft, then open the door from the other end and let us in."


    "I''m afraid not ¡­" Lv waved his hand and said.


    "Why not?"


    "This lock is a double-sided one. Even if you don''t have a handle on that side, you still have to use a key to unlock it ¡­"


    Lv, wouldn''t it be fine if you just climbed up? San Mao said.


    "Huh?" Lv exclaimed, he shook his head like a rattle drum, and said, "No no ¡­."


    "Why not? There''s a lead rope in the Heaven Stairway, it''s pretty easy to climb, and it''s only on the first floor. " I pulled them out of the staircase, and said to Lv while pointing inside, "The elevator well on the first floor is also open."


    "I... "I ¡­" Lv scratched his head in embarrassment, "I''m afraid of heights ¡­"


    "What?" I thought to myself, "You''re a thief. Shouldn''t you have the professionalism to sneak through doors and climb windows? How come there are thieves who are afraid of heights?"


    Lv seemed to be able to see through my doubts, and dryly laughed a few times. "I''m not from that sect ¡­"


    San Mao and I looked at each other in dismay. Now it seemed like Lv was not willing to climb the elevator shaft no matter what, but he had already reached the final step of this long journey. I poked my head into the elevator shaft and shone the flashlight up. The elevator car was parked on the upper floor and a little farther up, stuck in the middle, half through the door. I steeled my heart and said, "How about I go up? I''ve learned how to climb rocks before, this height is not a problem. Lv, give me the key to the right number, I''ll go up and try."


    "Can you? Climbing up is no problem, but can you unlock it? " San Mao looked at me suspiciously and said.


    "You never killed a pig but you''ve never seen a pig run? Look how many times Lv has driven it!" I muttered.


    "This is not difficult at all. As long as you feel good about your hand, you will understand as soon as you learn it!" At that moment, as long as Lv did not let him climb the elevator shaft, he would be willing to do anything.


    I unslung the backpack from my shoulder and stretched again. Lv also took out a key from his bag, and leaned on the steel door, comparing them one by one, and finally choosing a one-sided, one-toothed key.


    Lv pulled me to the side, handed me the key, and then instructed, "Use this rubber head of yours to knock on the door. Light, brittle, leave as soon as you touch it, and relax your wrist ¡­" The hand touched the key, and the moment the bullet in the lock opened, the key trembled a little, and that was it. "This lock is for the right. You can open it by turning it two times to the right. When you turn it, it should be light and supple ¡­"


    I kept nodding my head as I remembered every single word Lv had said.


    "Alright, I''ll remember ¡­" After Lv finished speaking, I impatiently walked towards the elevator, wanting to learn how to use it on the spot.


    "Ugh ¡­" Yuan... " Lv pulled me back and stammered, "You know ¡­ This is my cooking skill... I can still make you think highly of me now, but I''m relying on it now. You ¡­ "Don''t you dare spread it around ¡­"


    I was stunned for a moment before feeling relieved. In this apocalyptic world where everyone felt threatened, who wouldn''t have a ''little 99-90'' in their hearts?


    "Fine, you take me as your last disciple. Without your permission, I won''t tell anyone, even San Mao won''t! Furthermore, I do not know whether our ancestor will reward us with this bowl of food. " I said, tossing the key in my hand.


    "How?" Lv laughed and said: "You''re so smart, there definitely won''t be a problem."


    When everything was ready, I wrapped Lin Hao''s headlamp around my head and turned on the switch. The four LED headlamps emitted a gentle light, brightening up the elevator. I turned my head to look at San Mao and saw that he was looking at me with a serious expression. I nodded towards him and jumped into the elevator shaft.


    The elevator doors were open, so I just stayed in the air and listened for a while without hearing a sound. Then I slowly stepped onto the elevator frame near the door and used my hands to climb up to the door.


    I stuck my head out of the doorway and looked around. The layout of the floor was different, but I didn''t pay much attention to it, as long as there were no Zombie. I calmed down and used my arms to climb up.


    When I got out of the door, I rubbed my aching arm and looked back, and saw that the elevator car was stuck in the middle of the doorway. I had never seen such a situation, so I was curious and couldn''t help but look inside the elevator, and I saw that the layout of the elevator car wasn''t the usual kind of thing. The floor buttons were not on either side of the door like the usual elevators, but instead, they were arranged in a straight line across the back of the car, from one to twelve, and the twelve buttons were arranged in a neat row like a belt.


    I shook my head and ignored it. I turned to look at the two sides of the room, where the lights came from. There was a red carpet and a straight corridor, and beyond the lights, it was pitch black and seemed to be endless. I felt a chill run down my spine and into the staircase opposite.


    I looked and saw that Lv was right. There was no handle here either, only a lock, and it was not welded to death. I knocked lightly on the door, and immediately there was a light knock on the door. I steadied my heart and put the key that Lv had given me into the keyhole.


    Holding the key with my left hand, I lifted up the rubber handle that Lv had given me with my right hand and lightly knocked on the key''s tail. I felt the left hand holding the key, but I didn''t feel the trembling feeling of the bullet opening that Lv said, but I still gently turned the key to the right ¡­ I can''t turn.


    I sighed in frustration as the headlight flashed above the steel door. On the lintel of the door, there was a red "13", and my heart skipped a beat, as I immediately remembered why I felt that something was wrong when I saw the button in the elevator car. The button for the elevator was only at the twelfth floor, while this was the thirteenth floor.


    I immediately thought of the possibility that Xu Yang was talking about something unclean. I couldn''t help but feel a chill run down my spine. I felt something staring at me from behind, but when I turned around, there was nothing there.


    I took a few deep breaths and forced myself to calm down. I thought about what Lv had taught me about the main points of action. This time, my left hand clearly felt a slight tremble. I exhaled and slowly turned the key to the right. The key slowly turned the key in the lock. After a circle, two circles, the lock finally clicked and the door opened.

 C19

    "You''re really something!" The door only opened a little, but San Mao''s fist had already reached over and struck my chest with it.


    "Is it the Brother Yuan?" I heard Xu Yang craning his neck at the bottom of the stairs, his hands on the railing, trying to run.


    "Your mother cursed me? Who else could it be other than me? " I cursed.


    "Hehe ¡­" "I''m afraid that you''ve been possessed ¡­" Xu Yang scratched his head in embarrassment and walked up the stairs.


    "Do you really need to go that far? You are so timid, but your body is just too big! " Xu Yang was nearly 1.9 meters tall, and his body was as sturdy as a bear''s.


    "It''s all because I''ve seen too many ghost stories on the horizon."


    "Fine, there won''t be any more nets in the future anyway."


    After everyone teased for a while, I told San Mao about the doubt in my heart.


    "There''s such a thing?" San Mao was puzzled too, he stopped his footsteps and turned back, "Then let''s take a look at this floor first, what''s so strange about this floor!"


    Thus, everyone headed towards the thirteenth floor. Only Xu Yang, hearing my words, was even more unwilling to enter. He insisted on waiting alone in the stairwell. We could only follow him.


    The staircase was different from the guest rooms downstairs. The two corridors became one, and after we walked a few steps, we came to a reception desk. Xu Yang shone his flashlight on it and smiled.


    "What do you think this is?" San Mao used his flashlight to flash a notice board on the wall behind the reception desk, and asked me with a wretched smile.


    I looked up and there was a big line of words written on it: "The full set of services includes: Second Sky of Ice and Fire, Travelling the Seas, Toxic Dragon Exploring the Secrets, Swing, Water Margin, Toad Skill, Dragonfly Poking Water, Movement Zone, Flat Rivers, and so on." "Preferential price: 588 per place."


    "Oh ¡­" I realized at once that this was a place for the leather business, and no wonder it had been designed so covertly. The elevator must have been designed to stand out on the other floor buttons, which had been designed to be used as a code or a key, and placed in an unobtrusive place of concealment.


    "F * ck!" He had heard that there was something over here, but he couldn''t find it. To think that it would be hidden so deeply! This is going to be a big one, I''m afraid there will be at least fifty ladies here! " San Mao said bitterly.


    "Aren''t you a policeman? You can still do this? " The strong guy looked at San Mao in shock and said.


    "What happened to the police? "The police didn''t jump out from the stone either. Could it be that the police''s crotch is flat?" San Mao said indignantly.


    Energetic strength caused half of his mouth to open wide in shock. It was as if his view of the world had been turned upside down.


    "I can understand the mysteries of the Second Sky of Ice and Fire and the Poison Dragon, but what does the swing mean?" Lin Hao who was at the side also looked at the poster blankly, rubbing the back of his head and muttering to himself in puzzlement.


    "Go go ¡­" "Little brat, why are you asking about this!" San Mao waved his hand and berated Lin Hao.


    "Alright, it''s time for us to go up, right?" If this goes on, we''ll have to change to Teacher Wanfeng''s Midnight Eden, I said quickly.


    "Don''t worry, this is a treasure trove. There are too many things that we can use, it seems like the Zombie have not moved since they broke out!" San Mao said with an extremely lecherous voice.


    "What is it?"


    "Follow me and you will know." San Mao waved his hand, and we followed behind. Only Lin Hao was still standing there in a daze, I grabbed his arm, "Stop looking, if you keep looking, your eyes will be long and sharp!"


    "What exactly is the Water Margin? Could it be one hundred and eight generals? " As Lin Hao was being dragged by me, he was muttering to himself.


    Then, as San Mao said, I really felt like I was in a treasure house, like the protagonist of a game that used to be popular a few years ago, The Legend of the Immortal Sword, wandering back and forth in all kinds of storage spaces. When I pressed the space bar, a few words appeared on my forehead ¨C "Get a condom", "get a lubricant", "get a low-temperature candle", "get a non-washing disinfectant", "get an amoxicillin", "get a anti-wolf spray", "get a zippo lighter", "get an absolute vodka", "get a vitamin" ¡­ In the end, everyone felt like they had won the lottery.


    We rummaged through the locker rooms in the employee locker room and pried open rows of lockers with a crowbar. San Mao held onto a high mimicking GUCCI handbag, like he was grabbing a hen from a henhouse, he took out a bunch of things, some eye shadow, lipstick and the like, and threw them under his feet. Finally, he took out a packet of 1916 Yellow Crane Restaurant.


    "You sure are rich young miss, to be able to smoke such a good cigarette." San Mao took out a short cigarette with a golden filter in its mouth from inside the cigarette pack. He threw the entire box of cigarettes to me, and I caught it, and also took one out, and gave Lv one. Lin Hao also reached out his hand with a bashful expression, and I covered the box with my hands.


    Lin Hao muttered helplessly: "I''m already working, okay?"


    "Why didn''t you learn from Big Bro Energetic ¡­" I tilted my head and looked at him for a moment, but when I saw the hurt on his face, I stopped teasing him. I reached into my cigarette case for a cigarette and lit it for him with the zippo I had just taken. The four cigarettes immediately emitted a cloud of smoke, which swirled and diffused like ghosts in the beam of the flashlight.


    "I said Brother Yuan ¡­" Lin Hao took a few puffs and asked: "Do all these young mistresses live here?"


    "If he doesn''t normally live, what''s wrong?" I leaned against the counter and let out a cloud of smoke, enjoying my rare time of relaxation.


    "Then why are there so many bags of clothing here? Miss should have changed after work and returned home. "


    I looked at the clothes that were scattered all over the ground and raised my head. San Mao was also staring at me in a daze.


    Then I heard a deep wheezing sound that sounded like someone squeezing his throat.


    "Lin Hao, don''t pant too much!" San Mao bellowed.


    "I... I... "I''m not panting ¡­" Lin Hao''s voice began to tremble.


    I slowly peeked my head out of the locker room to see what was happening outside. When the Zombie saw me, it immediately roared and pounced towards me with its mouth wide open, but luckily I had a light goat-horn hammer in my hand, and without even thinking, I subconsciously swung it over, hitting the Zombie right in the temple. The Zombie fell down, and only at this moment did I realise that it was a fat middle-aged man, with a body completely naked and a pile of fat like a worm.


    Before I could catch my breath, a banging sound came from the other end of the corridor, followed by a nightmarish howl.


    "Run!" The rest of us shouted and ran.


    When we turned into the corridor that was close to the stairs, the howls sounded exceptionally clear. I turned around and saw a group of no less than twenty or thirty Zombie, most of them women, some in nurse uniforms, some in semi-transparent sexy underwear, most of them completely naked.


    "They are all new corpses!" "Xu Yang, run!" I shouted as I slammed my head into the stairs and shouted, "Xu Yang, run!"


    But when I turned around, I saw Xu Yang lying behind that iron door. Three naked Zombie were surrounding him as they gorged on him. One of them turned around and looked at me with a face full of blood while chewing on a piece of intestines!


    I shouted in fear, and San Mao who was behind me also rushed in, and when he saw this scene, he was also startled, and immediately pushed me away and shouted sternly: "Go up!"


    I turned the handle and opened the door, allowing the few people behind to rush in. At this point, the Zombie s behind us were only a few steps away from us, so I fiercely closed the door, and then, a series of knocking sounds came from the door. The Zombie s continuously crashed against the wooden door.


    I fell to the ground in shock, gasping for air for a long time before I recovered. My companions did the same, none of them able to stand up straight, all of them lying on the ground panting like dogs in the summer heat. After the stress response from the adrenaline overdose, they were as tired as rubber mud.


    After a while, I started to pay attention to our surroundings. Just as Xuyang said, this rooftop was filled with all kinds of plants, including vegetables, fruits, and trees.


    I touched the grass under my buttocks. It felt hard and sharp, completely unlike what a plant should feel like. I picked up a red pepper and held it lightly in my hand. I stood up, and with a sudden wave of my hand, I threw the pepper heavily onto the ground.


    "Fake?" Everyone was stupefied as they looked at the pile of debris on the ground. They were flabbergasted.


    I slowly stood up and looked around. All around me, the low rooftops were yellow with only a few weeds standing by themselves.


    "I remember now ¡­" San Mao stood up and looked around, "A few years ago, this area of the streets once had a roof green project. They said that they wanted to make full use of the city space, and they wanted every building''s roof to be planted with flowers and vegetables, or they would be fined! "This one is most likely just for the sake of saving trouble. I''ll just have to perfunctory use of the simulated plants ¡­"


    "We''ve done ourselves in ¡­" Lin Hao said with a dejected face.


    The five of us huddled in the narrow shadows on one side of the stairwell, surrounded by a pile of colorful candies and some snacks we''d found in the lady''s bag, but all of us made do with it and left them alone. I felt as if my mouth was filled with sand and there wasn''t even a speck of saliva left. It felt as if my throat was tearing from the very start. Everyone''s lips were covered in a layer of scab.


    "Why don''t we just fight it out with them? You can''t just sit there and wait to die. " San Mao hoarsely said.


    "Fight? How are we going to compete? " Lv said dispiritedly: "We''ve already lost the Corpse Pushing Rod, and those are all new corpses. Even if they were fully equipped, we wouldn''t be able to handle so many."


    "But if you want to die from drying yourself out like this, you might as well be eaten by a zombie!" San Mao threw a plastic pumpkin leaf heavily onto the ground.


    "But I''d rather die from the sun than become that thing!" Lv tapped on the stairs behind him, where howls and thumping sounds continued to ring out.


    We were all silent. San Mao sighed deeply, lowered his head and said nothing more.


    The sun was setting, but the heat did not subside. Although it was the tallest roof in the area, there was no wind. I wrapped my hat and turban around my head to reduce the evaporation of water. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep for a while, but even though my head felt like it was filled with lead and my limbs felt like they were boneless, my mind was still numb and awake. I felt as if I had fallen into a deep slumber, as if I was still half awake.


    Suddenly, I thought I heard a very faint sound, like glass being shattered, coming from the stairwell. I opened my eyes and listened, and immediately heard another sound. Immediately after, the Zombie in the staircase also started to stir up, the knocking sound also stopped, and the sound of messy footsteps could be heard from far away.


    The few of us looked at each other in confusion, then we all jumped up. I looked through the crack in the door and saw that the staircase which was just filled with Zombie s was now empty.


    We rushed to the top of the wall and looked down. After a while, I saw a petite figure rush to the top of the road and jump vigorously onto the roof of those abandoned cars, following that, a group of naked Zombie s also rushed out and chased after the petite figure, but although the speed of these new corpses weren''t as fast as a normal person''s, they looked extremely clumsy in this kind of place with heavy obstacles. They could only crawl on the roof with their hands and knees, and not long after, they fell far behind the person. A moment later, the petite figure disappeared around the corner of the street with a group of nearly naked Zombie.


    "Isn''t that MaggieQ?" San Mao turned his head towards me in shock.

 C20

    Three months ago.


    I sat alone in the largest seafood stall in the city. The Taoist that I had previously arranged didn''t appear along with San Mao, so I wasn''t in a rush either. I ordered a plate of fried octopus, a plate of green onion seeds, a plate of clam blood, and two bottles of frozen beer for myself. I don''t know if it was the alcohol or the voices around me, but I felt a warm sense of security, and I felt like the horrible dead man in the morning was a dream of his own, or a movie he was watching, and I was beginning to believe what the officer was saying, that it was a side effect of some kind of drug.


    It wasn''t until nightfall that San Mao finally arrived. They walked into Seafood and looked around. When they saw me, they smiled and waved fiercely at me. I saw a girl with them.


    The woman was wearing a pale gray T-shirt with a round collar and light blue jeans. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her oval face was covered with a light makeup.


    "What took you so long!" When they got closer, I complained loudly to San Mao.


    "Hey! "Don''t mention it ¡­" San Mao then pulled out two chairs opposite of me and sat the two girls down. Then, he sat down beside me and stretched out his arms as he shouted: "Boss, more food!" When the boss arrived, he didn''t even bother to look at the menu. He just familiarly ordered some seafood and beer before turning to me and saying,


    "We''ve been holding an afternoon meeting, saying that we need to start a large-scale anti-drug special treatment, and asking us to go door to door to check out the drug users. What a devilish thing to do!"


    "Are you looking for salt?" I was moved and asked.


    "Right, right..." It''s this bath salt, how do you know that? " San Mao picked up my beer and took a big gulp.


    "Oh ¡­" Electricity... It''s on TV. " I took a gulp of wine in a covert manner.


    "Forget about that, let me introduce you. This is Selina ¡­" San Mao pointed to "longevity peach", "Selina''s little sister... "Right, what''s your name?" San Mao moved his finger to the side.


    "My surname is Yang." The girl answered flatly.


    "Oh ¡­" San Mao said in an embarrassed tone, then used his shoulder to slam into me, and gave me a wink. I know what he meant was that this bro has found a pretty good girl for you, right?


    Not long after, the dishes were served one after another. San Mao poured wine for the "longevity peach" Selina and was about to bring the girl with surname Yang, but was rejected by her, "I never drink," she said indifferently.


    San Mao did not mind, after saying a few words on the battlefield, he and Selina started whispering to each other, and not long after, the two of them entered the state of forgetting themselves and were feeding each other.


    "Cough, cough ¡­" I pretended to cough and said to the girl across from me, "Did anyone ever say you looked like MaggieQ?"


    "It took you so long to think of this? Aren''t you a seeded contestant from the national girls'' flirting team? " MaggieQ said contemptuously as the corner of his mouth lifted.


    "No, no, no ¡­" Don''t take this as a compliment or a catch-up clich¨¦. In fact, I sincerely think so, and compared to MaggieQ, you look so much better, at least your breasts are so much fuller. I just can''t find a better object to praise you for your natural beauty and talent. "


    She smiled, like the tide had gone back over the rocks, and I don''t know if it was the alcohol or what, but for a moment I thought her smile was so moving that it even dazzled me, and I was stunned. I took a sip of beer to hide my embarrassment.


    Fortunately, the timely appearance of the Taoist relieved my awkwardness.


    "What''s wrong, Taoist, did you steal something or did you enter the Japanese?" San Mao was the first to see the Daoist leader sneakily looking around.


    When the Taoist saw us, he came over, sweating profusely. He grabbed a chair on the other side of me and sat down horizontally, gasping for breath.


    "What is it? You got kicked out by a dog? " I poured the Taoist a beer, and before I could fill it he snatched it up and drank it down.


    "Eh? It can''t be that you are trying to take advantage of a lady from a good family, right? " San Mao looked at the Taoist and asked curiously.


    "No, no ¡­" The Daoist hurriedly shook his head and explained, "If I run too fast, I''m afraid you''ll be unhappy too late."


    "Oh right, Taoist, what you said this morning ¡­"


    "Ah?" "No, no ¡­" Before I could finish, the Daoist interrupted me and said, "I was joking, I was joking ¡­"


    While I was wondering, I suddenly felt a kick on my leg under the table, and then a hand grazed my thigh. I turned my head and saw the Taoist give me a look, so I quietly dropped my hand from the table and felt the Taoist push a ball of paper into my hand.


    "I ¡­ I ¡­ I ¡­" I... I still have things to do... You... You... Eat slowly... "I''ll be leaving first ¡­" The Taoist stuttered as he stood up.


    "Ah? This isn''t like you, you always leave after eating your fill and paying the bill, right? " San Mao ridiculed.


    No, no... "Joking ¡­" "The Taoist mumbled incoherently as he walked out, looking left and right as he walked.


    "This guy, is he trying to kill me today?" San Mao said as he pointed to the Taoist''s back.


    "He''s always been this way. He''s always so secretive. He told me this morning that a few of Ma Hang''s planes were shot down because they had zombies on them." I hid the ball of paper in my pants pocket and picked up a chopstick of steamed yellow fish with snow vegetables and put it in my mouth to chew.


    "Zombies?" MaggieQ''s expression suddenly froze. "What zombie?"


    "Right, what zombie?" San Mao was also in high spirits, as he waved his hands and said, "Is it the Hong Kong movie where you can only jump, stretch your arms and pinch people, or the American movie where you have a face full of rotten flesh and shout about wanting to bite someone?"


    "It should be the bite type ¡­" I said absent-mindedly.


    "Alright, then we won''t have to go to work anymore. We''ll play zombie games everyday!" San Mao shouted without a care.


    "Yeah, at that time, I guess no one would care about it anymore. They would just take the famous brands, bags, and jewelry whenever they want ¡­" Darling, remember to get me a Cartier bracelet ¡­ " Selina spoke coquettishly to San Mao.


    "No problem, when the Wanxiang City''s first floor is full of people, you can pick whatever you want ¡­" San Mao imitated her tone.


    "You''re too good." Selina kissed San Mao across the table full of dishes.


    "Do you believe that?" I was in the dark, when I heard MaggieQ ask quietly across from me.


    "What?" I didn''t know what to do.


    "Zombie, do you believe that?" MaggieQ stared at me.


    "I ¡­" I was momentarily at a loss for words. I suddenly felt a chill as I thought about the monster that I had seen this morning with half of its neck broken and was still crying out.


    "I need to go to the bathroom." I got up and went to the toilet. I found an empty stall and went inside. I took out the piece of paper that the Taoist had given me and unfolded it. On it, there was a single word written crookedly ¡ª "Run!"

 C21

    That night, no one mentioned zombies anymore. San Mao and Selina ignored each other and spent the night together. I drank the whole night with a heavy heart, not saying much. I kept thinking about what the Taoist left me. Run? Why run? Where to? I kept looking around me. The customers in the surroundings started to move away again and again. Everyone had to lower their heads to eat and drink. They didn''t seem like they were talking about something important.


    Even though I was puzzled, I didn''t panic. Anyone who grew up in a peaceful era would usually lack the instinct to flee for their life if they were to be in the slightest bit affected by something. Besides, the Taoist has always had an unreliable record. In 2012, he brought along a full set of survival equipment and dragged both of us into a car. We stayed in the suburbs for the whole night! He claimed that he had already figured out the truth of the universe. There were many secret organizations outside coveting his research results, eyeing him like a tiger eyeing its prey, so much so that if anyone on the street gave him a few more glances, he would be nervous for a long time. The Daoist often said, "Everything in the world is closely related. The seemingly unrelated two things can very likely be related to each other. The world may seem huge, complicated, and random, but it actually follows a fixed pattern and only a very few people know the core secret."


    "Pay up!" San Mao''s shout pulled me out of my deep thoughts. He took out his wallet, counted out a few bills and slapped them on the table, then loudly shouted to the owner: "Open an invoice, raise your head and write down the XXX police station!"


    "It''s still early. What should we do next?" Just as he stood up, Selina came over and hung him on San Mao''s body, and shook his arm, "How about we go to karaoke?"


    "What song is'' K ''? He talked so much during the afternoon meeting that smoke was coming out of his throat ¡­" San Mao burped and continued, "How about we go to Yuan''s place to watch a movie? His family cinema is really amazing, you saw it in the afternoon, right?"


    Selina blushed, she laughed and waved her fist at San Mao a few times, then turned to me and said: "Sure, what movies are there in your house? "But not the kind you see during the day!"


    "Everything!" San Mao rushed to answer, "The ones who fight on the spear, the ones who fight on the martial arts path, and the ones who are sentimental, are all large groups, high definition blue light!"


    "That sounds pretty good ¡­" Selina turned back to MaggieQ. Shall we go together? "


    "Alright!" MaggieQ simply replied.


    San Mao gave me another wink, but I ignored him completely. The four of them got into a taxi that was parked outside Seafood City and rushed back to my house.


    After that, the local government came up with a plan to head south, hoping to develop across the river like Shanghai, Pudong. In a short period of time, they had a large number of projects built on the river bank, with skyscrapers sprouting from the ground like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, and they even built grand municipal buildings. They wanted to move the municipal government that was originally located in the old center of the city, but because of the excessive scale of the project, they had to request permission from the central government, so the massive building was still empty.


    The streets of the new city were wide and open, and the buildings were neat and shiny, but there was not much traffic. Even in broad daylight, the streets were sparsely populated, and once night came, it would become even more tranquil.


    The two-hundred-plus apartment was a legacy of my parents, and when my father bought it, he had naively assumed that I would live with them when I got married, so that I could have fun at home with my grandchildren when he retired. But the truth is that before they died I lived in this house for a few days. Like all children in China, after the age of twenty my biggest key word to my family is to flee, to escape from their various acts of control in the name of love. I hadn''t lived at home since high school, had rented a house as soon as I graduated from college, had never been able to return to my dorm until they died in a car accident, and my father''s last words to me were, "Go home!"


    This house is too big for me to live in by myself. Of course, any room would seem too big when I was alone. For me, who was living inside with a strong sense of guilt, everything here was suffocating, and I began to constantly add to it something that brought life and excitement, the full Boppo Home Theater System, Playstation, xbox, the highly simulated racing game seats, and so on and so forth. I kept inviting my bad friends over to my house to play, one after the other, and even gave some keys to close friends like San Mao, they weren''t courteous at all. Someone like San Mao simply stays at my house all year round, I don''t know where to put many things, but he knows, that sometimes when I return home, the entire house is filled with strangers, and some people are even trying to sell him to me!


    However, I have to say that this kind of house has increased my preposterous life by a lot. Many of the Selina like girls that San Mao and the others brought with them, when they saw this kind of house, their eyes would lit up and they would even take the initiative to throw themselves into it.


    "Come in!" San Mao used his own key to poke open the door, and made a bowing and waving gesture. Selina giggled as she broke free of her shoes at the door and ran into the living room, where she threw herself on my Italian imported calfskin sofa. Every afternoon, they would come to clean up at noon on time. The living room, which had been messed up by San Mao and Selina at noon, was now completely spotless. MaggieQ walked in without taking off her shoes, as if she hadn''t seen me, and I saw that she was wearing a pair of black, flat-soled, pointy shoes.


    "Say it, what movie do you want to watch ¡­" San Mao skillfully opened up my home s cinema system, and took out a basket of blue light video discs from the cabinet under the television.


    "Take a look at relationships. Do you have a small era here?" Selina jumps over and kneels on the floor to pick through the frame.


    "Why are they all foreign films?" Selina rummaged for a while, then lost interest and stood up with a grunt.


    "Why don''t we look at this, the zombie Taoist said!" San Mao picked up a plate and showed it to us. On the cover of the book, I saw a bunch of tattered clothes with sinister and terrifying Zombie s staring blankly at the scene outside. On top of the picture, there was a row of bloody characters ¡ª ¡ª World War I Zombie. I couldn''t help but shiver and wave my hands, saying, "No ¡­ "Don''t..."


    "Look at this!" MaggieQ, selected from another box, suddenly took out a plate and handed it to me.


    I looked at the cover. It was Tom Hanks''s Da Vinci Code.


    "Alright, alright, Ah Tang! Great handsome guy! " Selina said in an exaggerated tone.


    "Alright!" San Mao took the video disc from me and put it on the drive, then said: "Turn off the light, I feel it!" After saying that, he scurried to the side and flipped the switch. The living room was suddenly plunged into darkness, only leaving behind a faint glow on the television screen.


    "Why isn''t Brother Tang appearing yet?" After a while, Selina started to complain.


    "You''re talking about Tom Cruise, not Hanks!" I couldn''t help but mock.


    "Ah?" Isn''t that different? "


    "It''s the same, both men are foreigners!" San Mao quickly said.


    "But ¡­" "Sob, sob ¡­" Selina started to say something else, but it seemed as if her mouth was blocked and she just whimpered.


    Thus, as Professor Langdon and the Freemasons left behind code symbols to compete in intelligence, there were constantly sounds of breathing, moaning, and clucking, which made me start to yearn for it. My arm borrowed an opportunity to grab something and calmly placed it on MaggieQ''s shoulder. She didn''t have any reaction, but her stiff body and faint smile caused me to not dare to take another step forward, so I could only bitterly withdraw my hand.


    "Darling, this movie isn''t good at all. This uncle isn''t handsome at all. Let''s not watch it anymore, okay ¡­" Selina said coquettishly to San Mao.


    "Alright, alright. I''m not watching anymore. Let''s go inside." San Mao immediately agreed.


    The two of them did not greet each other, nor did they turn on the lights. They just stuck together and walked inside. As a result, MaggieQ and I were left alone in the dark living room, making me feel even more embarrassed.


    On the screen Professor Langdon had discovered the secret of the Holy Grail and was being pursued by various forces.


    "Where is your room?" MaggieQ said suddenly.


    "Ah?" I was caught off guard and thought I''d misheard.


    "Your room! "Where is it?" MaggieQ repeated.


    "Then... "Over there ¡­"


    "Then what are you waiting for?"


    I was overjoyed. I thought the girl was just acting reserved, but in fact my heart was burning with passion. I quickly turned on the light and led her to the bedroom.


    "Come in, come in ¡­" I opened the bedroom door and leaned over to invite her in. "Would you like something to drink?" I turned to lock the door, then turned around and saw MaggieQ holding a small pistol with a black muzzle pointed at me! I saw her with the gun in the crook of her elbow, tattooed in a circle, swallowing her own tail.

 C22

    Now.


    "The Biting-tail Snake, Ouroboros, a symbol of religion and myth, is a very important symbol in ancient alchemy. The alchemist worships it as the king of magic, and in reality, it may be the symbol of some secret organization. The serpent in the symbol bites and devours its tail, representing the spiritual embodiment of the concept of the universe: the reciprocation of construction and destruction, the alternation of life and death. In the eyes of the ancients, when snakes shed their skin and gave up their old bodies to be reborn, this was the meaning of "the union of birth and death". The combination of these two concepts gave birth to the image of Uroboros, which meant that life and death were two ends of maintaining balance, and both were indispensable. "


    I sat on the veranda looking through the Daoist''s notes, thinking back to that mysterious woman who had appeared and disappeared again and again in my life. I didn''t even know where she came from, what her real name was, and whether she would ever intersect with my life again ¡­ It was drizzling outside the corridor, and the wind that blew in occasionally brought with it faint drops of rain, which made his body feel cold. Since our return last night, the sky has been raining, sometimes sparse and sometimes dense, with the wet coolness of autumn.


    The two s that we left behind in the Peacock Building couldn''t be recovered in a hurry. Lv helped him from the side. The clanking of steel bars could be heard and the two men kept quiet.


    San Mao sat opposite of me and was sharpening all of our machetes with a basin of muddy water. From time to time, he would take out some dirty water from the plastic basin and pour it on his machete blades and grindstones, causing the water to flow all the way to the ground and turn red like blood. The sharpened machetes were arranged in a row on a stool.


    Lin Hao and Yang Yufan were standing at the window, smoking.


    Only Little Casey was slightly excited. She squatted at the entrance and picked up a branch to draw something on the mud. She had a piece of candy in her mouth as she indistinctly hummed a song that only she herself could understand.


    "I''ve told you so many times, don''t walk around while I''m sleeping! "You came and went through the city gate?" A sudden outburst of Liu Guojun''s shout came from above, followed by the Dr Lee''s soft argument, followed by Liu Guojun''s even more intense cursing.


    "Pui!" What the heck is this thing!? " San Mao spat on the ground in disdain.


    After a while, Liu Guojun came down from the stairs and scolded. He opened the door, and maybe Little Casey who was just squatting there blocked his path, and kicked her, "Go away! You money loser! "


    Little Casey fell down from the corridor and onto the ground outside. She quickly got up and turned around with her face covered in mud.


    He suddenly slashed the door and pointed at Liu Guojun''s nose and roared: "Surnamed Liu, you f * cking listen up, I don''t care about the matters between you two husband and wife, but if you dare touch Casey again, I will cut your hand off!"


    "You ¡­" He instinctively jumped into the house, but after that, he seemed to feel that he had lost face in front of the crowd. Looking at Lv and Energetic Strength, he felt that even if they started fighting, there would still be people fighting, so he forced himself to straighten his chest, with his face flushed red, and with one hand on his waist, he pointed at me and said: "You, you, you ¡­ Are you being reasonable? "


    I didn''t reply, but retrieved my machete, coldly looking at him.


    He was so angry that his face flushed from my stare, not being able to advance, not being able to retreat, looking at his surroundings, San Mao did not have any intentions of trying to stop him, he even had a machete in his hand, fiercely glaring at him, as though he wanted me to fight with him.


    "Humph!" You hooligan! Martial Uncle! I won''t lower myself to your level! " Liu Guojun threw down a few words to save face and then went back upstairs.


    "Yo!" You think you''re still Director Liu? " San Mao laughed in ridicule.


    "What''s wrong? What''s wrong?" Uncle Feng and Aunt Chen who heard the commotion ran out from inside.


    "I''m fine, I''m fine ¡­" This kind-hearted old man always wanted everyone to be amiable. I didn''t dare to offend our benefactors, so I could only reply with a few casual words.


    "Yuan, San Mao..." Uncle Feng suddenly wanted to say something but hesitated.


    "What''s wrong, Uncle Feng, if you have something to say, just say it." I asked.


    "This... "We don''t have much food left ¡­" Uncle Feng whispered.


    Right after he finished speaking, and Big Force, who were busy forging Corpse Pushing Rod, stopped and looked at us. Lin Hao also immediately shook off Yang Yufan who was bullshitting with him and walked over, these people were probably listening to us. Only Yang Yufan, the rookie who had never experienced a food crisis, was still in a daze, not knowing what had happened. I turned my head to look at Little Casey outside the door. He was lying on the ground, using a puddle of rainwater to wash the mud off his face. Her pants were also covered in mud, making her look like a doll that had been tossed on the ground.


    "Why don''t we exchange it with Old Black and the others?" "Last time, a bottle of Wuliangye Liquid was used to exchange a bag of rice. This time, I have also taken out a few bottles of foreign wine from the Sauna Room." Lin Hao said.


    "Hmph, you still don''t know? "Laohei''s family died a long time ago. That bag of rice was the last grain of their family. After he drank that bottle of Wuliangye, he chopped up his family and jumped off the roof himself!" San Mao shook his head and said.


    Everyone was stunned, Yang Yufan was so scared that his face turned white. After a long while, Dazzling Spring finally spoke: "Uncle Feng, how much food do we have left?"


    Uncle Feng sighed, he turned around and waved: "You guys come and see for yourselves."


    "Wait, I''ll go call Dr Lee along." I ran upstairs in a hurry. I saw Liu Guojun lying on a few pieces of torn cardboard in the corner of the room with a dirty towel wrapped around his body. He was obviously shocked when he saw me come up. Dr Lee sat under a window at the side, facing the sky as she mended something.


    "Dr Lee, let''s all get together, let''s have a meeting!" I deliberately emphasized the words "everyone", but I didn''t even glance at Liu Guojun.


    "Ah?" "Oh ¡­" Dr Lee hurriedly put down the work in her hands as she replied. I ignored Liu Guojun and went downstairs by myself. After a while, the Dr Lee came down, I never thought that Liu Guojun would follow along, and seeing me, she actually had a smile plastered on her face.


    "Meeting? "It''s good to have a meeting. We need to have a meeting and unify our thoughts. Otherwise, we''ll just be a piece of loose sand ¡­" Liu Guojun said loudly while waving his hands as he walked downstairs. He acted like a leader who was giving a report, but we ignored him, causing him to be bored and could only shut his mouth in embarrassment.


    The Uncle Feng led us to the warehouse in the back, which Liu Guojun had pulled over before. Now that we had nailed the window with a steel bar, only the key in Uncle Feng''s hand was left. Of course, to Lv, this kind of lock was no different from an unguarded one, but we all believed that he wouldn''t do something like that.


    This house was originally the dining hall''s small storage room in the factory that Uncle Feng saw. It was a small space with a few rows of shelves inside neatly.

 C23

    "I''ve finished eating all the instant noodles I got from Yufan''s house last time. All that''s left are these AD calcium milk and spicy gluten ¡­" Uncle Feng pointed to the cabinet and said.


    "Eh? Why has AD calcium milk been taken apart? I''ve never had one? " Liu Guojun suddenly said loudly.


    "Oh, I gave Little Casey a few bottles ¡­" Aunt Chen hurriedly said.


    "Humph!" Liu Guojun''s breath came out of his nose unevenly, but then he was stunned. After sneaking a glance at me, his face immediately changed as he grinned and said, "Oh, the child is currently growing.


    The speed at which his face changed made me gasp in amazement, but this also made me lose the excuse to continue looking for him. A person is so shameless to such an extent that even beating him up feels like dirtying his own hands.


    "We should just categorize everything and make a summary so that we can come up with a more detailed plan." I suggested.


    Good, good, good. Yuan''s suggestion is very good, a good plan is the foundation for success, for one to achieve their goal, they must have a good plan, this point I agree with Yuan! Liu Guojun said with an exaggerated tone, almost not applauding at all.


    This time, even her wife, Lee Jin, was embarrassed. She flung his hand and whispered: "What are you saying!"


    "Yuan is young and has great accomplishments. I, Liu, am ashamed of myself ¡­" Liu Guojun acted as if he was a senior bringing them in, speaking sincerely and sincerely about them.


    "Alright, alright!" San Mao really couldn''t watch it anymore. He squeezed forward and caused Liu Guojun to stagger, half of Liu Guojun''s words were stuck in his throat, his face had turned red.


    "Move that thing outside. It''s too dark inside. I can''t see it clearly." Uncle Feng said as he started to move the things out. We also started to work together, with more people and less things, in a few moments, we had all moved out.


    In total, we have stored the following items:


    Food: about 5 jins of rice, last time Lv and the others took 2 jars of black wood ear, 1 jin of sweet potato powder, 46 bottles of AD calcium milk, 82 bags of spicy gluten, 1 piece of cured meat, 4 sausages, yesterday from the sauna, about 10 jins of sweet sugar, a big box of opened OreSeur, soda crackers, Huafu crackers, Miyagi cakes, black sugar Sachima, pork shop, beef jerky, split into 3 bags of separately packaged chicken feet, the same 2 bags of the same vacuum duck neck.


    Tobacco and alcohol: 2 bottles, Su Yan 8 bags, Long Mouth Li Qun 14 bags, Soft Seven Stars 2 bags, 6 packs of cigarettes without recognizing the brand, 3 bottles of original Absolute Vodka, 1 bottle of cherry flavour, 1 bottle of 12 year Chivas, Black Square, Jack Danny, 100 year jar each, 2 bottles of rum, 1 bottle of Bentley, 1 bottle of gin, and a dozen of tonic.


    Pharmaceuticals: Amoxicillin 2 1/2, Norfloxacin 2/2, Tylenol 1/2, Tylenol 1/2, Tylenol 1/2, Fluconazole 1/3, Imiquimod 2/2, Duckenin 2/2, Duckenin 2/2, Duckenin 2/2, Duckenine 3/3, Essential Ointment 5/5, Medical Alcohol 3/5, Disinfectant 5/4, Collagen 5, Powder 3/3, Oral Solution 4, Levine 4/4, Sleeping 16 bottles.


    Other categories: one-time lighter a dozen, lighter oil 4 bottles, condom 52 box, lubricant 12 bottles, candle 32, acetylene gas bottle and a half, industrial oxygen half bottle, gas cutting gas welding tool set, various specifications of steel, stainless steel pipe, horse-mouth iron.


    There were also some daily necessities that were not worth too much, so he didn''t want to go into details. The majority of the cigarettes, alcohol and medicine were obtained during this trip to the Peacock Building.


    With so many items, other than the steel bars and other raw materials used in the factory, there were also three small piles.


    "There are a lot of things!" Yang Yufan sighed in admiration.


    "Too little ¡­" Lv shook his head: "With just this little amount of food, eleven of us will be able to finish it in one day. Even if we were to eat it sparingly like now, we will only be able to hold on for five or six days."


    Also, there is a serious lack of protein food, fish, meat, dairy products and soy products. Eating this way over a long period of time is prone to malnutrition and muscle atrophy." "Dr Lee said," "Also, these snacks contain a lot of sugar, have a high calorie, and are small in size and aren''t easy to spoil. I suggest that you not touch them unless you have no other choice.


    Everyone nodded their heads. Uncle Feng immediately grabbed a bag and stored the snacks.


    "Dr Lee, take a look at these pills, what are there for us to use. If there''s anything useless, take it and trade for it. Now that the medicines are in short supply, they should be able to be exchanged for some food." I said to the Dr Lee.


    Dr Lee replied as she squatted down to check the medicine in the pile. She first picked up the box of acacia cake and gave it to Uncle Feng, saying, "This is not a medicine, and there is also a lot of walnut seeds, sesame seeds, cinnamon balls, and a lot of sugar. The heat is very high, it''s not a bad food."


    Then she took out all the amoxicillin, a box of xanconi, a few tubes of doxorubicin and piperidine, a bottle of alcohol, a bucket of free disinfectant, all the vitamins and calcium tablets.


    "These vitamins aren''t bad. Although you didn''t find any vegetables yesterday, these are more than enough. We can eat one per day for two to three months." The Dr Lee stood up and said, "Amoxicillin and Sanli Pain, they can save us at critical moments. We can keep one for ourselves, but we can only use one for Dacklin and Pi Yanping, so we don''t have much use for the rest of this ¡­ "Oh right, a lot of the medicine here is for treating gynecological diseases. If someone is waiting for you, they should be able to sell it for a good price."


    "Gynecological disease?" I thought about it and turned to Lv, scratching my head: "That martial arts disciple from last time, would he need this?"


    Lv was startled, but then he laughed, "Right, he probably needs it, and these condoms, I can sell it to him too. This year, if the woman is pregnant, isn''t it equivalent to death? We have over fifty boxes of condoms, and can save a lot of his life! "


    "What are you guys whispering about?" San Mao came over and asked anxiously.


    I told him about that day when I met the little bull from the Martial Arts Sect. He also smiled, slapped his thigh and said: "It seems that we really have to go to Ghost Market!"

 C24

    The mysterious Ghost Market began to spread among the survivors, which was also the most recent half a month. I think that the current crisis of the Zombie has something to do with it, because there are fewer living people here, the Zombie are no longer chasing after people like floodwaters, these unintelligent dead beings only rely on their instinct to chase flesh and blood, when they don''t have a living goal, they would wander around the place they were most familiar with when they were human beings, which is also the main reason why we are still able to survive in this originally sparsely populated industrial area.


    If there is a human market, there will be a trade. This is an important characteristic of the human race that distinguishes them from other animals. There were philosophers who thought that the market was wrong, that it was formed to satisfy their greed, because the existence of the market had created a gap between rich and poor, and had created exploitation. They believed that as long as they destroyed the market, they would be able to unite the world and enter into communism. But at least until now, all kinds of social forms that have left the market have ended up in defeat, and all these attempts have brought great suffering to the people.


    In a situation like this where goods were extremely scarce, the trade seemed even more important. In fact, from the moment the Zombie appeared until now, all sorts of trades had been going on, because in every single person group, the possibility of obtaining all sorts of supplies to support themselves became lower and lower. Usually, a person would obtain some food today, but would not have any fire element, while B would obtain some medicine, but he would have no food, C would have fire element and food, but someone was sick ¡­


    However, there were no rules or guarantees in the conduct of transactions. No one would come back to restrain the actions of both buyers and sellers, no businesses, no settlement contract, and even no underworld society. Thus, most of the time, when the transaction target was weaker or stronger than the seller, the transaction would often turn into a robbery.


    And the Ghost Market, was said to be a place with rules and guarantees.


    We heard rumors that a vice Mayor of the Qianchao City was unable to cross the river after the last city defense battle. Thus, she gathered some of the defeated troops, armed police, police and civil servants and entrenched them in an electromechanical market not too far away from us. Because of his great influence, and because of her background as an official, some survivors like us began to set up deals under his protection. As time went on, a spontaneous trading market was formed.


    The reason why we have yet to go is because we have enough food in the past, and before an emergency comes, the second reason is because there is a village between our industrial area and the construction materials market.


    "Qian Chao Jiang on one side, and the more dangerous downtown on the other. We can''t hide from this village no matter what!" We gathered at the bottom of the corridor, surrounding a map of Qianchao City, Lv pointed at it and said.


    "I''ve seen it from afar. That area is filled with old corpses. As long as we''re careful, there shouldn''t be any problems." San Mao replied.


    "Should?" He shook his head and said, "This is an open area. Even if there are slow corpses, they would be surrounded in large numbers."


    New corpses and old corpses are concepts that we have come up with ourselves. They don''t refer to the time used to transform into a Zombie, they refer to the time used by the Zombie instead. When the Zombie first erupted, people had all sorts of exaggerated and unrealistic guesses about these strange undead. Many a times, the Zombie would be vividly portrayed as having superhuman abilities: extraordinary strength, lightning-like speed, and even had all sorts of superpowers, spells, and so on. These terrifying legends also caused a huge panic among the people in the early days of the crisis, which indirectly led to the collapse of the city''s defense campaign.


    Some people said that the Zombie could not even withstand a single blow. Their speed was extremely slow and their steps were unsteady. Of course, such arguments only appeared in the early television news, which was designed to boost people''s morale, and not many people believed them.


    From what we can see, the Zombie s are ultimately still human bodies, so the speed of their power and such aren''t much stronger or weaker than the bodies they occupied when they were alive. The only difference is, when we humans are exercising, we would feel fatigue and pain, and that''s because our bodies are telling us to stop and rest. Therefore, when the bodies they occupy are still in good condition, they will display extremely powerful strength and speed. They can use the speed of sprinting to a distance of a hundred meters for a few hours, but afterwards, their bodies will become worse because of their uncontrolled usage, the infection caused by wounds that every Zombie has, and the decay they have from it. At this time, we call them old corpses.


    "And what if there are one or two new corpses?" He continued, "Don''t forget Xu Yang from yesterday."


    "How can you not take risks? If we have to do as you say, we might as well hide and wait for death? " San Mao immediately retorted.


    "I''m not waiting for my death, I''m trying to come up with a plan!" He raised his voice.


    Just when we couldn''t make up our minds, a voice suddenly said from behind us, "I know there is a way out, and it''s very safe!"


    We all turned around at the same time and saw Liu Guojun, who had never stepped out of the combat arena before.


    "Which way?" I asked curiously. Ever since Liu Guojun joined us, he used all kinds of reasons to avoid going out of the field, to the point where he would rather have his wife replace him than to step out of the door. He was even more willing to hide from such a discussion, but who would have thought that he would actually come here himself today.


    "There''s a tunnel there, I made it for bidding ¡­"


    "Tunnel? What tunnel? Why haven''t I heard of it? " San Mao asked.


    "It''s not finished ¡­" Liu Guojun walked over quickly with his hands behind his back. He took out a finger and pointed at the map as he said, "From here to here ¡­"


    "Just happened to pass through the village?" He said with great surprise.


    "Yes, to get past this village, the people here are all troublesome people. We need to build a road, and if we move even a little bit, they will go and visit us and cause a ruckus. The cost of moving to a new village is too high, so we simply came up with this plan and built a tunnel through the village."


    "Don''t talk about such useless things!" San Mao interrupted Liu Guojun''s show, "Can you walk then? "Isn''t it supposed to be incomplete?"


    "The main body of the tunnel has already been cleared and the road has already been paved. All that''s left is the illumination. Moreover, both sides have built barrier walls, so no Zombie will be able to enter."


    "Sure!" He happily stroked his hair back. "Where is the exact address?"


    "I''m the director of the Development Zone''s Management Committee. I''m familiar with the terrain, so I''ll take you guys there!" Liu Guojun said casually.


    "What?" We all looked at him in disbelief.

 C25

    The rain stopped on the second day, and we left early in the morning with our stuff. This time, we left in full strength, and other than Uncle Feng''s Wang Casey and the four Dr Lee''s people, everyone else made their moves.


    Liu Guojun was right, the underground tunnel truly existed. It was similar to most unfathomable public works projects in that it was hidden behind a wall that had a few "Dream of China, Dream of the Money Wave", "Beautiful Money Wave, Leisure Capital" and other similar slogans. Most of the roads had water that was above the knees, and the endless darkness inside made me think of something horrible. But that was all, there were no Zombie in it, and after an hour and a half of trepidation, we walked out of the tunnel.


    "No zombies... There''s no one here either. " San Mao stuck his head out from the crack in the door and looked around, then opened the door and walked out.


    This was the furthest place San Mao and I had been to in the past month since we had joined this team. The unfamiliar environment made me feel a little absent-minded, just like when I went to another city on a tour. The trees and buildings weren''t much different from where I was originally standing, but there was a sense of distance that made me feel like I was a passerby.


    This area was famous for being dirty and messy. Other than this mechanical and electrical market, there were also construction materials markets, steam distribution markets, and a few other professional markets. It was as if the civilization of the city had never been there before. The roads were narrow and run-down, the buildings were like blocks of random needles, randomly piled up, the sky was filled with cobwebs of wires, and sewage flowed beneath their feet. Before that, there were all sorts of small business people, workers, gangsters, prostitutes, thieves, drug dealers, professional gamblers, and so on. They lived by themselves in all kinds of markets during the day and disappeared at night into the cities and villages they rented. The people of this city and the city never remembered them except when they needed them, and all the glory of the city seemed to have nothing to do with them.


    But now, this notorious place had become a centre of power. Even before we got close to the mechatronics market, we were overwhelmed by its momentum. There were several rows of iron rods outside the originally dirty and dilapidated gate. Some steel spikes were welded on top of the horses, making the gate look like a porcupine or hedgehog. The door was completely sealed, leaving only a row of holes about a man''s height. On the eaves above the door, there were two machine guns surrounded by sand, forming a crossfire.


    "Hey!" What are you guys doing? " Just as we were staring blankly at this big hedgehog without knowing where to go, a man in camouflage clothes suddenly stood up from the roof and shouted at us.


    "We are here to make a deal!" San Mao replied loudly.


    "Come here!" said the hand on the roof.


    We carefully passed through the row of iron spikes. I saw some spikes that had a dark red hue. I didn''t know if it was rust or blood.


    Just as he reached the door, a ladder was lowered from it.


    "Put both your hands where I can see them, and slowly come up!" It was the same person who shouted at us, "Don''t make any extra movements, or the bullet won''t grow any eyes!"


    I looked up and saw two black gun muzzles pointed at us. I was flustered and turned to look at San Mao.


    "Don''t worry!" The people at the top seemed to know what we were thinking, "As long as you don''t move, nothing will happen to you!"


    "Everyone is here!" I heard San Mao mutter softly before jumping up the ladder. I had no choice but to follow.


    "Don''t panic, raise your hand above your head!" When I reached the roof, the man said again, with a kind of stylized familiarity in his voice.


    Lv and the rest who were behind also climbed up. We stood in a row on the roof with our hands held high, like prisoners who were about to be shot. I stole a glance around and saw that the top of the gate had been converted into a small fortification. In addition to the two machine gun positions used to intimidate others, there was a whole row of shooting slots stacked with sandbags at the back.


    "One by one, open the bags!" The one who was talking to us should be a small leader. I saw that he had a fourth stage Sergeant Major epaulette on his shoulder.


    San Mao hesitated for a moment while holding onto his bag, Sergeant Major immediately said: "Is this your first time here? "Don''t worry, I won''t steal your money, but you have to collect taxes, understand?"


    San Mao looked at me again, and I nodded towards him, signalling him to not act rashly. He then removed the backpack from his shoulder and placed it on the ground to open it.


    "It''s your turn, put down your bag!" Sergeant Major pointed at me and said.


    I had to put down my backpack obediently.


    "Nice bag!" Sergeant Major pointed at my Ancestral Bird backpack and nodded in approval.


    Everything in the company was in San Mao''s bag, while everything in my bag was''s and my personal belongings. Sergeant Major picked it up for a long time and only took a roll of tissue.


    Behind them, Lv used all his strength to search every single one of them, taking only one or two items. Although our hearts ached, we had no choice but to lower our heads under the eaves. Furthermore, they didn''t really go overboard, so we could only curse in our hearts.


    After we finished searching, Sergeant Major told two other people to search our bodies. According to him, we were not allowed to carry guns inside. Fortunately, we predicted that something too precious like a gun would attract too many people''s attention, so we didn''t bring it out. Sergeant Major was very interested in our Corpse Pushing Rod, after looking around for a while, he asked about its function and usage, and after that he gave us a thumbs up. When he heard the news that its inventor had been bitten to death by the Zombie, his face revealed a very regretful expression.


    "Stealing things to cut off one hand! Robbery and shooting! "You are not allowed to buy or sell by force, otherwise, you are not allowed to come again!" The soldier introduced the rules of Ghost Market to us, waved his hand, pointed at a large empty area below him and said: "We can only trade in this plaza, don''t run around, and don''t enter any places that we shouldn''t!"


    We packed up our things and walked down the stairs. As we passed the two machine gun positions, I couldn''t help but peek in. I couldn''t help but feel envious of the blue machine gun and the yellow bullets.


    "Looks like it!" After going down the slope, San Mao whispered into my ear, "It''s just a ammunition box, you can pull the trigger a few times and it will be gone."

 C26

    This was originally the internal parking lot of the construction materials market, but the space was very wide. I looked around and found a corner of the empty space. Under the corridor that was originally a main building of the market, there were a few people standing around. There were also a few stalls scattered about.


    Before we could get close, a few people came up and followed us. They all said, "Do you have antibiotics? Amoxicillin, Cefalexin, Vanguard... "," Tissue, a lot of tissue, prices are negotiable... "," Do you want sweet potatoes? "The quality is good, not a single one is bad." "All kinds of dried beans, good for storage and nutrition ¡­"


    For a moment, I felt familiar and warm, like a bunch of women chasing me through a computer market before the crisis, selling pirated games and Japanese films.


    "Yellow Ox has it all the time!" San Mao sighed with emotion.


    Let me take out the good stuff for you to take a look at. Let me give you an estimate, if you think it''s too little, then don''t exchange it. It''s okay, the Mayor Chen has it, no one would dare to do anything to it! Yellow Ox continued to nag on and on.


    We waved our hands and moved on quickly. I know these people too well, at the start, you said it was all over the place, but once you opened your mouth, it would be difficult to escape, and you will definitely be tricked until nothing is left of your bones are left, the Sergeant Major said just now, the rules are, you can''t steal from them, you can''t force them to buy or sell, the scammers don''t care!


    The Yellow Ox followed for a while, but after seeing how determined we were, it slowly dispersed as well. Only then did we stop and inquire about the young bullock.


    Surprisingly, after asking a few stalls'' owners, they didn''t know what kind of background this young bull had. until we tell him what he''s doing.


    "Martial Sect''s young bull?" The stall owner scratched his head in confusion. "You''re not talking about rats in the meat business, are you?"


    When I heard the name, I knew he was right. The young bull didn''t look like a little mouse.


    "Unfortunately, he''s not here today!" The stall owner''s face revealed an ambiguous smile.


    "Not here? "Where did you go?" San Mao panicked.


    "I went to church on a Sunday!"


    "What?" What about his religious beliefs when he''s a pimp? " San Mao said in disbelief.


    "That''s right, those missionaries said that it was the end of the world as written in the Bible. The Four Knights of Heaven, the Prophecy of Nostradamus ¡­ "They say that the gods sent the zombies to punish us, so as long as we believe in their religion, we can be saved. A lot of people believe that. Look, it''s usually quite lively here. Today, there are only a few people ¡­"


    I thought to myself, so that''s how it is. I had been wondering why there were so few and far between these famous Ghost Market people.


    "Then what should we do?" The few of us walked to the side and discussed, frowning heavily as we said, "Why don''t we come back tomorrow?"


    "Then I''ll have to collect another tax." Lv shook his head and said, "Not worth it, not worth it!"


    "Let''s ask around and take a look at the market. If we can change it, we might not have to look for a young bull!" "No," I said.


    "Yes, that''s the only way." Everyone nodded.


    "Eh? Where''s Liu Guojun? " Lin Hao suddenly shouted.


    I looked around and realised that Liu Guojun had really disappeared. Liu Guojun did not speak much today, and everyone hated him to the core, so we did not notice when he disappeared.


    "It was still there when the tax was collected." Yang Yufan muttered.


    I looked around, and from afar, I saw a building with the words "Metal Warm Water", Liu Guojun was saying something to a guard.


    "He''s over there!" I pointed in that direction.


    Everyone turned their heads to look, only to see Liu Guojun waving and bowing to the guard, as though he was begging him for something, but the guard just waved his hands angrily, as if he was determined not to do it. After speaking for a while, the guard seemed to be annoyed, and pushed Liu Guojun away, causing him to squat on his butt. Liu Guojun patted his butt, he was not angry, but he did not dare go forward, yet he was unwilling to leave.


    "What is this old boy doing?" San Mao curled his lips and said with an expression of hatred.


    "Who cares!" I spat on the ground. "Don''t call him when we get back. Just leave him here."


    "Forget it, forget it. Why bother with such a despicable person ¡­" He tried to smooth things over, "Let''s hurry up and do our own thing."


    Other than the two bottles of vodka that we brought along, which were still popular as always, and the ten kilograms of corn, ten kilograms of sweet potatoes, all the other gynecological medicines and condoms only offered a low and ridiculous price. There was even a cow that kept pestering us, wanting to wrap five or six kilograms of flour around our goods, which made San Mao almost lose his fight with him.


    Besides food, there weren''t many other useful things. I traded a bottle of moisturizer for three boxes of dental floss, then used half a roll of toilet paper for a pile of children''s clothing, and prepared to bring them back to Little Casey to wear.


    I had lost interest early on, and was bored to death watching San Mao squat on the ground and pick and choose from a bunch of slingshots made of steel bars and valve cores. Just then, I saw a few people come out from behind the gate of the guard that Liu Guojun was fighting against, including Sergeant Major who was collecting our taxes earlier, surrounded by a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties. I saw that Sergeant Major was talking to the middle aged man while pointing at our side.


    Seeing that they had come out, Liu Guojun immediately welcomed them. As he walked, he gestured towards the middle aged man, but the man only glanced at him and ignored him. Two soldiers immediately came over and pushed him away.


    Looking at the few of them walking towards us, at first, I thought they were just walking towards us, but as they got closer and closer, I slowly confirmed that they were coming towards us. I immediately pulled on San Mao''s clothes.


    "What?" San Mao stood up in dissatisfaction.


    I pursed my lips in the direction the men had come from.


    San Mao tensed up, I saw his hand quietly placing on the hilt of the blade that was stabbed into his waist. At this time, Big Force Lv and the others also noticed that something was wrong and came closer to us. When the Yellow Ox, who had been wandering around us all this time, saw those people, it was as if it was a mouse that had seen a cat.


    I saw that the soldiers were all carrying a Type 95 assault rifle in front of their chest. They all had their hands on the butt of the rifle as they walked towards us expressionlessly. My heart was beating rapidly.


    "Mayor Chen, that''s them." These people stood a few metres in front of us, the Sergeant Major pointed at us and said to the middle aged man.


    So he is the Mayor Chen!" I sized up the Mayor Chen. She was of medium build, neither fat nor skinny, had short but not too short hair, had a square face, wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses, had a clean face without a beard, wore a short-sleeved white shirt, and black pants.


    However, at this moment, his appearance was truly extraordinary. Right now, every one of them have a head of messy, dirty, knotted hair with no beard, their bodies are covered in dirt, no one wearing white, even if they were wearing white, they would have already turned brown, and this Mayor Chen, just this clear and refreshing look, has already stunned us, even made me feel ashamed of my own appearance.

 C27

    "Let me take a look." After Mayor Chen sized us up, she turned her head and said to Sergeant Major in a soft voice.


    "Yes sir!" Then, he walked over with large strides, extended his hand out towards Lv, and said: "Give the Corpse Pushing Rod to me ¡­"


    "Ah?" "Oh ¡­" Lv responded as he handed over the Corpse Pushing Rod. Sergeant Major took it and walked back with big steps as he handed the pole over to Mayor Chen with both hands.


    Mayor Chen took the Corpse Pushing Rod in one hand, weighed it in his hand and carefully examined it from top to bottom. She then drew it horizontally a few times, put down the pole, and nodded: "It''s indeed not bad!"


    Then, he passed the Corpse Pushing Rod back to the Sergeant Major and waved his hand at us: "Come with me." After saying that, he turned around and walked into the building.


    Just when we were looking at each other without knowing what the gourd was trying to sell, Sergeant Major, who was walking behind, handed the Corpse Pushing Rod back to Lv. He tugged at his clothes and said, "What are you all doing?


    We had no choice but to follow them inside. At this time, Liu Guojun, who was hiding far away from Mayor and her group, suddenly ran over, "Wait for me, wait for me ¡­" He ran to the middle of us and panted to Sergeant Major, "We''re together!"


    There were many shops that displayed all kinds of goods that had not been moved away in time. Due to the height of the floors and the space being very spacious, the lighting was not too different from other buildings. Without the light, it would be dark even in broad daylight.


    The Mayor Chen led us up two floors, then to a room at the corner of a large building. When we pushed open the door, we found a large conference room with a large oval table in the middle, with French windows on both sides. There were already a few people sitting inside, and when they saw Mayor go in, they all stood up.


    The Mayor Chen nodded to them and walked straight to the end of the oval table. She pulled out a chair and sat down, then extended her hand to two sides and indicated for the others to sit down as well. Even Sergeant Major and the others went in and found seats, leaving us standing by the door.


    "Sit!" What are you standing there for? " After a while, the Mayor Chen saw us cowering at the door, pointing at our seats with surprise.


    We went in and sat down at the far end of the conference table. I looked around and found that, other than Mayor Chen and a few others, the rest were not wearing military uniforms. They also looked like the rest of us, with disheveled, disheveled, and tattered clothing.


    "Cough, cough ¡­" Mayor Chen cleared her throat and then said: "Today, I invited everyone here to discuss something. We have a project on hand, and we want to work together with everyone!"


    I was so confused that I thought I was attending a government tender.


    Seeing that all of us were looking stunned, the Mayor Chen smiled and nodded towards Sergeant Major. She quickly stood up and took out a map from her bag and hung it on the wall behind Mayor Chen.


    I noticed that this map was very different from the ones we usually used. First, it was a lot larger than usual, and then there were a lot of lines of different colors that I couldn''t understand.


    Mayor Chen stood up and surveyed our surroundings. After pausing for a while, she said, "A few days ago, when our people were scouting around this area ¡­" Mayor Chen pointed at a spot on the map. I was sitting too far away so I couldn''t see the exact location clearly.


    "We found a food processing plant!" Mayor Chen continued to speak. Right after she finished, I saw the eyes of everyone around the table light up.


    "According to the scout''s report, the interior of this factory has not been destroyed on a large scale. The production line and warehouse are still in good condition. There are also a large number of finished products and raw materials inside ¡­" According to our calculations, there should be food in the warehouse of this factory for thousands of people to eat for the winter ¡­ "


    Mayor Chen seemed to be satisfied with everyone''s reactions, she nodded and was about to continue speaking, but unexpectedly, Liu Guojun suddenly stood up and shouted out emotionally: "Mayor Chen, Mayor Chen, I know, I know this food factory!"


    Mayor Chen stopped what she was about to say and frowned unhappily as she said to Liu Guojun: "You are ¡­?"


    "Hahaha, Mayor Chen ¡­" Liu Guojun''s face was flushed red, he replied with an extremely exaggerated and flattering tone: "I was originally the manager of the Development Zone''s management committee, the last time we met, I even shook hands with you!"


    "Oh!" Mayor Chen nodded expressionlessly, but then immediately followed: "You know this factory?"


    "Yes, yes ¡­" "I know ¡­" Liu Guojun hurriedly nodded his head and said: "I was the one who approved their procedures."


    "Then you must know that they produce fake goods?" The Mayor Chen asked.


    "This ¡­?" Liu Guojun was speechless.


    "Alright!" It''s not that I want to settle old scores with you, after all, it''s not the time to be picky, be it faking it or pretending to be weak. " Mayor Chen waved for Liu Guojun to sit, then said to him, "Since you know about the situation, tell me ¡­


    Liu Guojun was obviously frightened by his unfathomable attitude of slapping his and rubbing his again, and even his voice began to tremble a little, "Yes, yes, yes ¡­ "Hmm, the scale of this factory is quite decent. There are about a hundred workers, who mainly produce pastries and puffed foods, such as rice cakes, scallops, butterfly cakes and so on. I''ve been to their warehouse and found piles of rice, flour, and white sugar ¡­"


    When Liu Guojun said the Snowy Mushroom Butterfly Sesame Seed, my mouth couldn''t help but gush out saliva. I heard San Mao, who was at the side, exaggeratedly gulp down a large mouthful of saliva.


    "Mm. In that case, our information is correct." Mayor Chen turned her head to face us all. After a moment of pause, she said, "It''s just that there''s a difficulty. We need everyone to work together." She turned around and slapped the map. He shouted: "Around this factory there are around 200 to 300 undeads!"


    I heard a gulping sound turn into a gasp.


    "We have more than 20 people at our disposal. You know that guns are not very useful against undeads but the gunshots will attract more undeads. We are far from having enough men with cold weapons. So we would like to invite you to come forward and see if you can join us."


    "That... Mayor Chen... " A somewhat hesitant voice sounded. I looked towards the source of the voice and saw a man in his early fifties who looked very calm, sitting opposite of me. He had his head tilted as he looked at Mayor Chen and spoke.


    "Oh, Ren, what do you have to say?" Mayor Chen raised her hand towards Ren.


    "Are there any of those raptors here?" Ren asked.


    Velocicorpse? I wondered what the hell this was. I had only heard of the Velocidragon in Jurassic Park. Could it be that the Zombie began to evolve into a mutated beast? But when he thought about it, he understood that the Velocicorpse was referring to the new corpse that we had come up with. It was just a different name. Of course, this question is also what I was thinking and I hurriedly focused on listening to Mayor Chen''s answer.


    "Yes!" The Mayor Chen replied straightforwardly: "The number is unknown, but it won''t be too much."


    "Oh ¡­" A hint of regret flashed through the Ren''s eyes, he immediately said: "That scout, can you ask him to tell us more about the situation over there?"


    Mayor Chen slowly shook her head, "Regretfully, this warrior has already died. On his way back here, she was caught up by a corpse, her shoulder was bitten, and when she returned to the base, he had already developed a high fever. After giving me her report, she died."


    It was obvious that the "Quick Corpse" was another name for the new one, just like the "Swift Corpse".


    Everyone fell silent and no one spoke anymore. The meeting room was so quiet that only the sound of smacking lips and the rustling of clothes could be heard. It seemed that no one wanted to be the first to express their opinion.


    After a long while, the Ren was the first to speak out. "Mayor Chen, with such a big matter, I can''t make the decision by myself. Can we go back and discuss it first?"


    "Of course." Mayor Chen replied straightforwardly, "Everyone is the same. There''s no need to rush for an agreement. We can go back and discuss things first, it doesn''t matter whether we participate or not. It''s purely voluntary."


    "Of course!" Mayor Chen emphasized her words again: "If you participate, not only can you split the profits from this operation evenly, from today onwards, your transactions in the Ghost Market will be exempt from tax!"


    After saying this, I saw that most of the people had an expression of yearning on their faces. A few of them immediately started to converse with their companions in whispers.


    "Alright, then that''s it for today!" Mayor Chen stood up together with the other military personnel. As she spoke, he walked out, "The latest is the day after tomorrow. Then, a group of people followed him out.


    As soon as they left the room, the room became lively and everyone let go of their voices. The few of us gathered together to discuss it.


    "I think so!" Big efforts first said: "This Mayor Chen looks like a pretty good person, and their people are all soldiers. They are well-trained, so they must be the main force.


    "I was afraid that we wouldn''t be able to pick them up cheap, and instead got used as lunch by the Zombie, you all heard it, there are new corpses over there, the numbers are still unknown! There are more than twenty of them, and adding the scattered us, it would only be fifty or sixty, but Zombie s are two to three hundred. If there were half of a new corpse inside, it would not even be enough to split each of us into half! " Lv was a natural pessimist.


    San Mao waved his hand: "I think this is a question of whether we should go or not, do we have a choice? The family doesn''t even have three days'' worth of food, and in the blink of an eye, people who were about to starve to death have already had this opportunity to present themselves at the door.


    Everyone was silent again. Lv kept looking at me, wanting me to express my opinion. I kept having the feeling that something was amiss with this matter, but I couldn''t explain it, so I shook my head and said, "Isn''t it a decision made by the Queen? Let''s go back and discuss this with Uncle Feng and then make a decision after discussing it."


    So no one said anything, and just as they were about to leave, Lin Hao suddenly shouted: "Where''s Liu Guojun? Why is this old brat gone again? "


    We searched up and down the meeting room, and only then did we realise that Liu Guojun had gone missing again.


    Don''t bother with him, you must have gone to find the Mayor Chen again, using your hot face to touch her cold buttocks, your old face is not so anxious! San Mao scolded him bitterly.


    "Maybe he''s waiting for us outside. Let''s head out first." He spoke with a bit of a helpless tone.


    So we all walked out, and when we walked out of the door, we really saw Liu Guojun standing in the shadow of the door, his face full of smugness.


    I was about to go over and insult him, but someone bumped into me from the side. I staggered and almost fell to the ground. I was about to curse when I felt a ball of paper in my hand.


    "Sorry, sorry ¡­" A high-pitched voice sounded.


    I looked up and saw a small, sallow man with two whiskers.


    "What is it? Can''t you see my eyes when I walk? " San Mao scolded.


    "It''s nothing, it''s nothing." I hastily waved my hand and in the blink of an eye, that person had already left. Looking at his back, I had a strange feeling, as though I had seen that person somewhere before.


    "Who is this person?" Lv also came over to ask.


    "I don''t know. Yellow Ox, I guess." "No," I said.

 C28

    Three months ago.


    "You saw it, didn''t you?" MaggieQ asked coldly, pointing the gun at me.


    My head buzzed and I subconsciously raised my hand. "Ah? ¡­" "Who?" "Which one?"


    "Suo La-Mi..." MaggieQ whispered a few words as if she was afraid of disturbing the ghost.


    "Huh?" I thought I''d heard wrong.


    Solam, or vampires, werewolves, zombies... , "MaggieQ said in a slightly accentuated tone.


    I suddenly thought of that terrifying face I saw in the morning, as well as Taoist Ye''s warning. In addition to the gun pointed at the space between my eyebrows, I felt chills go up my spine and my body was covered with goosebumps. Cold sweat kept pouring out from my forehead. I suddenly felt that this world was no longer the world I knew. I felt as if I had touched upon a world I did not know, a world that was indistinct but could not be entered.


    MaggieQ slightly raised the corner of his eye, his eyes flashing, nodded and said: "Looks like you''ve seen it, where is it? "What''s the situation?"


    "Die ¡­" Dead people ¡­ He was alive again ¡­ On "On the way to the pond ¡­" The memories I forcefully held back came back to me like a movie. Impossible! That was definitely not caused by some drug, and San Mao and the rest, why did the higher ups want them to search house by house? Was it drugs or the living dead?


    "And then? "Where did that person go?" MaggieQ asked again.


    "He was beaten to death by the police!"


    "Where''s the body?"


    I answered an address.


    "How did they explain it to you?" MaggieQ Continue


    "He said it''s bath salt ¡­"


    "Humph!" MaggieQ gave a cold snort, shook his head and muttered, "So it''s like that ¡­"


    "What''s this? What is it? You... You, you, you, you ¡­ Who are you? " I was full of questions.


    MaggieQ suddenly smiled and said, "You might as well not know."


    I was stunned when I saw her put the gun down and walk towards me with a smile. I was about to let out a sigh of relief, but she suddenly flipped the gun in her hand and smashed the butt of the gun against my temple. This time, it happened so fast and sudden that I wasn''t prepared for it at all.


    That night, I had many messy and broken dreams. The horrible face with its broken neck and the muzzle of the MaggieQ pointed at me kept floating in front of my eyes. My body seemed to be rapidly spinning without purpose, but I didn''t know if it was rising or falling, I was completely helpless. I was like a fetus surrounded by my mother''s amniotic fluid, or a speck of dust floating in the vast universe.


    The sun woke me from a dream, and for a moment I felt like I was back in my rented room, MaggieQ''s gun, the face of the living dead, even my parents'' car accident, and none of this had happened, until a sharp pain in my head made all my memories explode like the flowers on Spring Festival.


    I struggled to my feet and found myself stretched out on the floor, covered with a blanket. It was late in the morning, and the light from the French windows, which had never been drawn, had made my vision go dark. When I walked out of the bedroom, the living room was completely silent. I looked at San Mao''s room and saw that the door was open, but there was no one inside.


    I felt my mouth go dry. I went to the water dispenser in front of the window and poured myself a glass of water, leaning against the window as I drank and looked down. There were no cars or pedestrians on the roads that looked like scratches in the air, just the yellow lines reflecting the blinding white light. I suddenly had a creepy feeling, as if I was the only one left under this bright universe, with no other living beings remaining ¡­


    A shrill bell rang, startling me. My hand jerked, and I spilled half a glass of water on my chest. I patted my chest as I picked up the phone.


    "I''ve finally answered the phone!" San Mao''s voice came out from the other side of the phone, "Wasn''t that girl good last night? I said I''d bring you a good one... Oh yeah, I bought soy milk and rice cake in the morning and put them in the fridge. You keep eating. I''ll work overtime tonight, so I won''t be coming over tonight ¡­ Fine! "It''s here!" Alright, the Leader has called for me. San Mao hung up the phone without waiting for me to speak.


    I immediately looked at my phone and saw that there were many missed calls. Other than San Mao''s few calls, there were also the unit''s number. I called one back and told them that I would be there shortly, then asked the headmaster, replying that I had applied for leave today. I made another call, but the phone was turned off.


    I washed my face in a hurry, changed my clothes at random, and went out. Outside, the sun settled again, and as I drove out of the new city, after turning a deserted road, the rush of traffic caught me somewhat unawares, and as I merged into the traffic, the creepy fear subsided, and I even felt that the chauffeurs of jams, turtles, and loudspeakers had become lovable, reminding me that I was still living in a world I knew well.


    But the news about the bath salts on the radio reminded me that those horrendous episodes were not a dream, nor were they a drunken fantasy. It was noon when I arrived at the company.


    My colleagues had already left for lunch, so the office was empty. I walked around the beehive-like cubicles like a zombie, entered my office, and sat down behind the computer desk. After a while, my colleagues came back one after another. When my subordinates passed by my office, they curiously looked through the glass wall. A few of them who were on good terms with me usually came in to ask about my condition.


    I sat like this for a long time, until I felt hot and stuffy, then realized that the air conditioner had not been turned on. I leaned over to get the remote control on the table, but found two large sheets of paper, the two sheets of A3 that the Taoist showed me yesterday morning.


    I casually flipped through them, and those red and green dots covered the entire world. Other than the locations that the Taoist had specifically pointed out, I found that there were more or less red and green spots all over the world.


    I found the Taoist writing notes in pencil next to the red dots and tried to read: "Black mother killed two sons and sunk to the bottom of the river"; "A girl was acquitted of killing a Chinese mother with a knife"; "A 19 year-old boy shot his father several times"; "Five policemen shot a passenger in a car and over fifty times in a row. The police could not explain what happened and declared that the police had done the right thing."


    The more I read, the more creepy I felt. The air conditioner was still on, my arms were full of goosebumps, and by the time I could no longer suppress my fear, I groaned in my throat and threw two pieces of paper at the same time. The two large pieces of paper flapped in the air like some kind of deep-sea fish, spun around and then slowly drifted down, falling backwards onto the table, and I saw the opposite side of the A3 paper ¡ª "Solanum" ¡ª "Solanum.


    Solanum? Solam! I tried to read it softly.

 C29

    I left the office without waiting for the end of the shift, suffocated by the enclosed space, the green and red dots on the Taoist''s two sheets of paper and the murders they represented stabbing into me like spikes, frightening me but also full of curiosity, a book without an ending, a sex without an orgasm, two human instincts ¡ª curiosity and vigilance ¡ª popping into my head for a moment, this one asking me to get to the bottom of the matter, digging out the truth, the other yelling at me ¡ª it''s going to end your life!


    I left the company in a panic, as if I had gone through a war. No one stopped me, and I thought that in the eyes of others, I must have looked like a dying man with a ghastly pale face. I sat in the car and wandered aimlessly along the road. I didn''t dare go back to my two hundred square meters empty and empty house, as only the sunlight and the noisy traffic could give me an illusory sense of security, but I found that I had nowhere to go. I called the Taoist director and San Mao countless times, but one of them kept turning off the phone while the other never answered.


    When the sun inevitably sets in the west, I return to my new city by instinct like an old horse, and when I realize it, the car is already passing the gate of the neighborhood, and I wake up like a frightened beast, but just as I''m about to accelerate away from here, a figure suddenly pounced on my car!


    I slammed on the brakes, causing the tires to squeak. The ABS started instantly and the car shuddered to a halt. Luckily, the car was not too fast. The person was led by the car and threw to the edge of the isolation belt and lay still. I got out of the car and walked around the front of the car. MaggieQ was trying to get up, biting his lip. A black wound was oozing blood on his right shoulder.


    "You, you, you, you ¡­ What''s the matter with you? " I cried out.


    "Quick, help me up!" MaggieQ held out a hand to me.


    I hurried over and put her hand around my neck. I put my other hand on her waist and pulled her up from the ground. When I touched her skin, I could feel that it was slick with sweat and her skin was cold to the touch.


    "My bag ¡­" MaggieQ hung over my shoulder and pointed reluctantly at the road in front of me. I followed her finger and saw a black woman''s handbag lying on the ground.


    "Get in the car first. I''ll pick it up after you''re done!" I shouted.


    "Go to your house!" MaggieQ said to me in a commanding tone as I stuffed her into the back of the car, picked up the handbag myself, and got into the cab.


    "But your injuries aren''t light, you need to go to the hospital ¡­" I turned to her.


    "No!" MaggieQ firmly shook his head and said, "Go to your house!"


    I didn''t know if MaggieQ''s firm tone had infected me, or if my own intense curiosity had prevailed, but I didn''t even hesitate. As a senior car insurance collector, I didn''t even think of calling the police.


    In the underground garage, I pulled into the parking space and turned to look at MaggieQ. She was pale and slumped in the back seat, her bloody palms smearing blood all over my leather seat.


    "Do you have clothes?" MaggieQ asked me through clenched teeth, her whole face contorted in apparent agony.


    "Yes, yes ¡­" I got out of the car, pulled a vest from the trunk, and helped MaggieQ out of the backseat.


    MaggieQ placed her vest in front of her to block the blood, then slung it over my shoulder as we walked toward the elevator. When we got in, she turned around and threw herself at me.


    "Don''t talk!" MaggieQ whispered in my ear.


    I started, then remembered that there was a camera in the elevator, and that if the security guard saw me bringing in a girl covered in blood, it would cause unnecessary trouble, so I lowered my head and buried my face in MaggieQ''s long hair, pretending to be a couple in love. However, the fragrance of a young lady''s body coming from the tip of my nose and the softness of her body pressing against mine made me feel a little enchanted. It was only when the elevator door opened did I come back to my senses.


    "Bring me a pair of scissors and a kettle of water. Put the towel inside and cook it. Also, bring some paper towels as well ¡­" As soon as I helped MaggieQ into the room and lay down on the sofa, she told me exactly what she needed.


    "Oh, oh ¡­" I hurriedly took the items and boiled the water.


    "Cut the clothes!" MaggieQ ordered again.


    "Ah?" "Oh ¡­" I was stunned for a moment before I calmed down. I knelt down on one knee in front of her and started cutting off the sleeves of her T-shirt with scissors, all the way to her collar. The cloth that connected her chest and back was pulled down on both sides of her body, and the clothes in front of her chest were already sticky with blood, sticking tightly to her skin.


    "Wipe it with a tissue!" MaggieQ added.


    I wiped her shoulder with a paper towel, and as the blood began to drain away, her wound slowly became visible. It was a flat wound about two centimeters wide. It wasn''t a gun shot! I thought to myself, It''s probably a dagger or something. At this moment, the sound of boiling water came from the kitchen.


    "Bring boiling water to wash your wounds!" MaggieQ''s voice had a calmness I couldn''t understand, as if it wasn''t her at all.


    I rushed into the kitchen to get the kettle, poured water and towels into the washbasin, and, ignoring the scalding water, kicked the towel into a half-dry position and continued to clean MaggieQ''s wound.


    The wound was about four to five centimeters below the shoulder blade, which was the thickest part of the pectoralis major muscle. I carefully cleaned up the blood around the wound, trying not to drag the wound along with me. In the process, I discovered that MaggieQ''s body was very well-proportioned. When I washed down to the bottom of the wound, I saw the curve of her chest, and I became a little distracted. Even my breathing became a little ragged.


    "Enough!" MaggieQ said suddenly.


    Startled, I thought she had seen through my vile thoughts, and quickly drew back my hand and looked up.


    "Bring my bag." MaggieQ said in a very calm voice.


    Relieved, I took her handbag.


    "Open it. There''s a first aid kit inside. Take it out."


    I unzipped my handbag and found that there was indeed a small, black-and-gray pistol lying next to a white plastic box with a red lid.


    I shook my head, trying not to think about the gun and the story behind MaggieQ''s wound. I opened the first-aid kit and held it out to her.


    "Sew the wound!" MaggieQ took a curved needle with stitches from the box and handed it to me.


    "I... "I don''t know how to ¡­" I hastily waved my hands in panic.


    "Can you sew buttons? It''s about the same as that! " MaggieQ put the needle in my hand.


    "Ugh ¡­" Would you like a painkiller? "I have ¡­" I stammered.


    "Let''s finish sewing before eating!" MaggieQ rolled his eyes at me and simply said.


    I could no longer evade her, so I went back to my knees, one hand holding her wound, the other holding a trembling needle that stabbed into her flesh.


    "Go deeper!" Otherwise, it''ll be pulled out immediately! " MaggieQ said through clenched teeth.


    Forget it, just treat her like a piece of meat! I made up my mind and stabbed a needle into her skin. The curved needle immediately popped out from the other side of the wound. MaggieQ''s body trembled visibly, but she didn''t even make a sound.


    "Let''s go back to the past and tie a knot over there ¡­" After I passed through the needle, MaggieQ said weakly.


    I didn''t even have the courage to look up at her, so I hastily sewed up the needle and started the next one, following her directions. She taught me, and it took us about ten minutes to sew up the wound, by which time MaggieQ and I were both soaked with sweat.


    MaggieQ took a breath freshener spray from the first-aid kit and sprayed it on the wound. Then she took out a few pills and swallowed them.


    I let out a sigh of relief and slumped down on the sofa beside her. It took me a long time to regain my composure. When I was full of questions and wanted to ask her, I found that she was already asleep.


    I shook my head and smiled wryly. I got up and took a blanket from the bedroom and covered her with it, then sat down on the sofa opposite her. I looked at this mysterious woman and thought about all the strange things I had experienced in the past two days. From seeing that monster who had been reborn after dying with half of its neck cut to the Daoist''s warning, to seeing her lying on my sofa covered in blood ¡­ What had happened? Who is this woman? Where did the monster come from? Why does the Taoist want me to run away? As I thought about this, my eyelids grew heavy, and I finally couldn''t take it anymore and fell asleep.


    When I woke up, the first thing I saw was that there was no one on the sofa opposite me! I jumped to my feet and shouted twice, but got no response. I ran around the bathroom and the bedrooms, but there was still no one there. I returned to the living room and foolishly looked at the sofa where MaggieQ used to lie. It was still a mess, with bloody towels and tissues strewn all over the floor. If it wasn''t for those, I really would have thought that treating her just now was just a dream of mine. This woman mysteriously disappeared from my life once again.


    I looked at my watch and it was already midnight. The ghost city had become increasingly quiet. In a tall building, there wasn''t even the sound of dogs barking. I felt a chill in my heart and hurriedly packed up my things before returning to my bedroom to sleep. When I knelt on the floor to clean up the bloody tissue, I suddenly felt a peculiar feeling behind my back. I turned around to find a pair of eyes staring straight at me through the glass window!

 C30

    I felt my hair explode all at once, my heart pounding like a car engine with its throttle stomped. The adrenaline rush stimulated my body''s instinct to "fight or run". But then I realized that the man who was winking at me through the window was the Taoist.


    Annoyed, I opened the French windows and dragged him in from the balcony.


    "What are you doing?" I shouted at him.


    "That woman ¡­" Go... Have you left? " The Taoist asked as soon as he entered the room, dragging a huge suitcase with him.


    "How long have you been fucking here? How did you get in? " I said snappily.


    "San Mao gave me the key, so I was there during the day. When I saw you and that woman come in earlier, I hid out on the balcony."


    "Why are you hiding?" I was still indignant and loudly questioned him.


    "I... I thought she... It''s him ¡­ "They sent ¡­" The Taoist scratched his head in embarrassment as he replied.


    "They? "Who are they?"


    The Taoist flinched at my question and looked around as if there were a ghost in the room that I couldn''t see.


    "Yuan, let me tell you ¡­" The Daoist lowered his voice and said in a voice that sounded like two rural women playing with each other behind his back, "Yesterday, after you and I finished our call, two policemen came to find me ¡­"


    "Huh?" My heart thumped. I immediately thought back to yesterday when I came out of that unknown organization''s house. The police had told me to keep it a secret.


    "That I''m spreading rumors!" The Taoist said in a lower voice, so that I could not hear what he was saying without trying to catch my breath.


    The Taoist continued, "You even came to my house and searched through my research results for the past few years! And guess what? "


    "What''s wrong?" I asked curiously.


    The Daoist slapped his thigh and said: "They didn''t touch the other information and only took the research data on the Zombie!"


    I felt a chill run down my spine, felt a circle slowly closing, and the truth that I''d been forcing myself not to touch for two days was beginning to emerge.


    "Initially, I was still skeptical. Now, the more the government doesn''t want you to believe, the more truth is revealed. That year, Zack, the stamp duty, and the most recent license plate restrictions ¡­ "Which one of them didn''t break the rumor first and then suddenly became real ¡­"


    I watched the Taoist''s mouth open and close, but my thoughts drifted away, so that I couldn''t hear what he was saying.


    "Solam!" I muttered three words.


    "What?" The Taoist stopped and stared at me.


    "Solanum... What''s the meaning of the letter you wrote on the back of that piece of paper? "


    "Oh ¡­" The Daoist thought for a moment before replying, "That is a word that has been circulating around the Awakened world for a long time ¡­"


    "Awakened?"


    "Ugh ¡­" "A loose organization, even people like me from all over the world feel that this world is not like how it appears on the surface. The people of this world really want to hide behind this complicated appearance, some people believe that aliens control the Earth, some people believe that we live in a virtual space, just like how the Black Mountain Empire does, and some people believe that Harry Potter is real. There is indeed a wizard kingdom, but we Muggle didn''t know that ¡­"


    I waved my hand to cut him off. "What about Solam? "What does that mean?"


    "A curse... "A demon ¡­" The Taoist muttered in a very low voice.


    "What?"


    "Do you know about Solomon''s treasure?" The Taoist suddenly looked up at me, and I saw an indescribable fear in his eyes.


    I thought of the movie "Precious Grab," and I nodded and said, "I know... Sacred Ark? "


    "Among the treasures that King Solomon collected from the various countries, there is the Ark of the Covenant that Moses obtained from the top of Mount Sinai. It contains the Holy Orison of the Lord, the God that the Israelis worship the most." The Daoist then spoke in a hollow and confused tone, "This is the most popular legend nowadays ¡­"


    "But the truth is far from the truth!" The Taoist continued, "King Solomon is not only a great Jewish monarch. He built Jerusalem as the most important religion in the world today ¡ª the holy city of Christianity, Islam and Judaism! However, he also had another identity, and was known as the King of Black Magic! If you really want to compare him with someone, then he''s like Voldemort inside Harry Potter! "


    "Legend has it that King Solomon obtained the¡¶ Luo Jiai Er Book¡· written by the Angel, thus obtaining the ability to freely summon and manipulate demon spirits. After his death, the Magi and Warlocks had written a book containing a collection of black magic that has been passed down ever since,¡¶ The Key to Solomon¡· according to the various rules and spells to summon demon spirits that he had passed down."


    "Right now, < The Key to Solomon > has already lost all of its effects ¡­" The Daoist waved his hand towards me and said, "Many people even ridiculed it as nonsense. However, according to the research of many Awakened ones, the current popular version has been revised intentionally or not. The real black magic has long since dissipated in the river of time ¡­"


    "As for Solomon''s treasure deposit, even if it''s the research of many authorities, it still proves that it''s real!" The Daoist continued, "Legend has it that King Solomon built a vast shrine to store his treasure, which is known as the First Sacred Hall. It is said that he uses black magic and summons many evil spirits and demons to guard this shrine, and imbues his treasure with the strongest curse. If someone breaks the shrine to take his treasure, he will be doomed to eternal calamity!"


    The Daoist paused before continuing, "But the First Temple has already been destroyed, and many people even believed that the Temple was just a legend and didn''t exist until a while ago, when an article appeared on the dark net."


    "Dark Net?" I question this noun I do not know.


    "The dark net, also known as the invisible or deep level network, is simply something that ordinary search engines can''t find. It''s 400 to 500 times more than the surface content of the internet, and many things that aren''t allowed by law happen on the dark net, such as the sale of arms, drugs, illegal antiques, and of course black magic ¡­"


    I nodded to show that I understood. The Taoist took a deep breath and continued. The writer claims that he used an advanced laser remote sensing technique to discover the ruins of the First Temple, which is in the shape of a hexagram. He then concluded that the First Temple indeed exists, but it is not a place where treasures are buried.


    "Seal? Seal what? "


    "Solanum..." The Taoist stared at me and spoke slowly.


    I suddenly felt a chill.


    The Taoist must have seen my dumbstruck expression, but he suddenly smiled and said, "You must have heard about the words Suolam ''from that Skeleton Society woman, right?"

 C31

    "Skeleton Society... What is it? " I''ve been numbed tonight by words I''ve never heard before.


    "It''s a very mysterious organization. Rumor has it that it''s a branch of the Temple Knight Regiment ¡­"


    I helplessly looked at the Taoist. He was stunned for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders as if he had woken up from a dream and made a gesture of surrender.


    "Ugh ¡­" The Temple Knight Regiment... And this is something that I have to start from, King Solomon ¡­ "


    The Taoist grabbed a cushion from the sofa and loosened it. Then he leaned it against the arm of the sofa, took off his shoes and lay down on the sofa. He gave a comfortable groan, cleared his throat, and began his long and strange narration.


    In the late stages of the reign of King Solomon, the Jewish kingdom split, the northern tribes broke away from their kingdoms and established the kingdom of Israel, and Jerusalem became the capital of the southern Jewish kingdom. Over the next 400 years, the holy city was conquered by Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians, and the vast temple was repeatedly destroyed by the flames of war.


    When the Roman Empire occupied Jerusalem and the Roman Emperor Hadrian rebuilt it, the Jews were allowed to enter the city only on the ninth day of the month of Aphrodite, the day on which they could weep in front of the western wall. This western wall was what was now known as the Wailing Wall.


    Until the seventh century A.D., when Jerusalem became a part of the Arab Empire, the Middle East was not as prosperous as it is now, as the two great centers of the world. As a nation and a nation, as long as they were prosperous and strong, they were basically tolerant, and the Arab Empire and Islam, with equal tolerance, allowed the Jews to settle in their holy city of Jerusalem.


    But the good news was that in 1096, in the name of helping the Byzantine emperor, Alexei I, the then Catholic emperor Urbain II, summoned Christians from the Western world and launched the first Crusade. The barbarian criminals, the bankrupt, and all sorts of malevolent people shouted for the recapture of the Holy City, the expulsion of the infidels, and the liberation of the Islamic dominion, and in 1099 he invaded Jerusalem. They massacred Muslims and Jews throughout the city, wrote a surviving chaplain in his diary.


    Inside the city, the streets were piled with hands and feet. I had to find my way between the man and the horse. But compared to what happened in Solomon''s holy temple, this was just a small matter. It was a place where religious rituals were performed. But now? If I told the truth, no one would believe me. Let me say at least this much: in Solomon''s shrine and porch, blood ran all the way down our knees and pedals as we rode. Indeed, it was the justice and judgment of God that filled this place with the blood of the infidels, for it had endured so long their blasphemy. The whole city is full of bodies and blood...


    After that, the robbers who had tasted the sweetness began the nine crusades of two hundred years, the most turbulent years in the long dark medieval history of Europe, and the thousand years of hatred between Christians and Muslims.


    The Templars were an organization that had appeared during the first Crusade. After the Catholic Volunteers took over Jerusalem, Christians in Europe went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to visit the tomb of Jesus. The roads were unsteady, and pilgrims were robbed or killed from time to time. At the time, nine knights from France and Flanders, including today''s northeastern France and the greater part of Belgium, came before King Dubois II to plead for the voluntary protection of Christians along the way. DuBoan II agreed and stationed the knights a corner of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, built on the site of the legendary Solomon Temple.


    According to the article on the dark net, the nine knights at that time actually had other goals. Their mission was to find a secret hidden away in the ruins of the holy city for a thousand years, and the person who possessed this secret could become the ruler of the world, rich enough to live forever. After nine years, six of the nine knights returned to France with a carriage full of treasures. Many people thought that their mission had been a great success ¡­


    "Isn''t that what the Da Vinci Code says?" I thought about the movie I saw with MaggieQ last night. "They found the Holy Grail, uh... "It''s a girl ¡­?"


    "Haha ¡­" The Taoist laughed lightly and continued, "Regarding the secrets of the Temple Knight Group, all sorts of versions have never been stopped. Some say that it is the Holy Grail, some say that it is an alchemy stone, and some say that it is the black magic of King Solomon. But no matter what version it is, it seems to believe that the Temple Knight Group has obtained and grasped this secret."


    The Taoist paused for a moment and pondered for a while before beginning his narration again:


    In the following few short years, the Templars developed into a powerful and wealthy organization. By the end of the twelfth century, the Templars had an immense wealth that could only be described as unrivalled wealth! The Order has more than 9,000 estates in Europe, including some famous churches and castles, such as the Temple Church in London and the Temple Palace in Berlin. For a time the Order even owned the whole island of Cyprus. Their wealth allowed them to maintain a strong professional army, allowing them to quickly recover even though they had suffered great losses on the battlefield. At that time, Saint Bernard, the famous monk, also wrote an article supporting the action of the Templars. In 1139, Pope Innocent II issued an oracle confirming the status of the Templars. The Order was responsible only to the pope, and no other secular power had the authority to command it. At this point, the Order of the Templars became the most reliable force the Holy See possessed.


    But just like the ancient Chinese saying ¡ª watch him rise up from his tall building, watch him feast on guests, watch his building collapse! In 1291, the Arabs captured the Christian Autonomous Region of Saint-Jean-Arc, and the Crusaders in Syria collapsed. The Templars had no choice but to withdraw to France, and the force of their power was quickly dissolved, which made King Philip IV of France covet the secrets they held.


    On Friday, October 13, 1307, almost all the members of the Order of the Temple in France were arrested without warning, tortured most cruelly for the crime of worshipping the devil, most of them tortured to death during interrogation, and Jacques de Molay, the then head of the Order, was sentenced to a burning sentence! This is also the origin of the western legend Black Friday. He cursed King Philip IV and Pope Clement V before the execution, saying that they would face an eternal trial within a year, and that was true. Pope Clement V died of an illness a month later, and Philip IV died suddenly six months later while hunting.


    And the whole Order of the Templars was eventually found guilty of denying the existence of Jesus Christ, denying the Trinity, worshipping idols, sodomizing, spitting on crosses, or urinating. From the mouths of the tortured knights, they got a few confessions, and all of them had the name of a devil.


    "Solam?" "No," I whispered.


    The Taoist grinned, nodded and continued:


    After this, the nominal Order of the Knights Templar was completely destroyed, but in fact, a large portion of the knights were not captured. Their activities went underground, and they developed various secret organizations such as societies, brotherhood, and other such organizations. They also developed a set of secret symbols to connect them. And the Skeleton Society, was an existence a level higher than the Freemasons.

 C32

    Now.


    In this era, survival is always the number one theme ¡ª ¡ª Find food, avoid Zombie, avoid those with malicious intents, find a refuge, survive before the next sunrise, survive before the next second! In the future? No future! Plan? No plan!


    Just as San Mao said, we don''t have much choice in regards to Mayor Chen''s suggestion! Although everyone knows that this crisis is very heavy, I also showed everyone the note the yellow-faced man had given me, the one with the words "Be careful of deceit", but everyone still agreed to participate in this operation to clean up the food factory. Because I would have to wait for death if I did not participate, I had a slim chance of survival if I joined!


    Even the Uncle Feng came because the Mayor Chen said that the spoils of war would be distributed according to the number of people. This morning on the road, Uncle Feng has repeatedly warned us all, and even made us swear that if he doesn''t come back, we will leave a large half of his shares to Aunt Chen and a small half to Casey. We can''t swallow the other half, especially Little Casey''s portion, otherwise, even if he becomes a ghost, he will not let us off! When we parted in the morning, Aunt Chen''s heart-wrenching cries still echoed in my ears.


    When we arrived at the rendezvous point, we realized that everyone had come that day with quite a number of comrades. Everyone was standing in a pile with their own teams as the center. I counted and found that there were no less than 50 people present.


    That day, Ren who had risen up at the meeting also brought about ten or so people to our side. I gave them a few glances and realised that a few of them looked very similar to each other. Under the current circumstances, our family''s most stable team composition is very strong. If someone is trapped in this situation, the rest of them will try their best to save them, fighting to the death without retreating. Furthermore, there will also be a leader in the family who can stand in front of the crowd, so he won''t be like us, having his own thoughts and plans scattered around the place. However, this type of team had their own drawbacks. On one hand, they would often bring their own family along with them. Some were small, while others were small.


    The Ren seemed to have sensed that I was observing him, he turned around and looked at me, and also quickly glanced at Lv and the others beside me. I slightly raised my chin towards him, and he also nodded at me, his eyes filled with caution and precaution.


    I looked at the other groups. There was nothing special about it, just like us, dirty, thin, and despondent, like a herd of wild beasts driven out of their herds, about to die. Unlike the other countrymen, no one shouted loudly, everyone was silent, even when they spoke, they spoke softly, and a sinister atmosphere hung over us like a dark cloud.


    "Is everyone here?" A voice that was out of place, followed by a high and mighty shout, we turned around in unison and saw Liu Guojun with his hands behind his back, together with two other people in police uniform, walking towards us with his head held high and his chest held high, with a belly that did not exist.


    That day, when they returned from the materials market, Liu Guojun angrily asked Dr Lee to follow him to the Ghost Market. Initially, Dr Lee didn''t want to do so, but Liu Guojun had kind words to ask for it, and almost kneeled down to demand it. Dr Lee was unable to endure her husband''s coaxing, so he could only agree, and on the second day, Liu Guojun brought Dr Lee to the Ghost Market.


    "What do they look like?" Liu Guojun walked in front of us and found a stone block to stand on. He still had a domineering look on his face, with one hand behind his back and one finger pointing at us as he shouted, "All of you do not stand, you are just a mob!"


    Liu Guojun''s gaze swept across all of them. When he glanced at us, the corners of his mouth curled up as if he was looking down on all of us.


    "Pui!" "A lowly person gets what he deserves!" San Mao spat next to my ear fiercely. His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear, but Liu Guojun did not react at all.


    "Everyone, line up, line up!" Liu Guojun waved his hands and the two policemen came down to help. After a while, we lined up in two different lines. As they were all dressed in rags, they were as thin as skeletons, and each of them held a messy weapon of varying lengths. They did not look like soldiers who were going to fight, but more like a group of refugees.


    We turned around the corner a moment later and saw a group of black special police officers in black uniforms, each of them wearing a black vest and mask helmet, holding a transparent riot shield in one hand and a foot long bayonet in the other.


    "Triple-edged Weapon!" San Mao muttered in my ear.


    I looked closely and found that the bayonets in their hands weren''t flat like normal daggers, but instead were shaped like a prism. There was a deep bloody groove on each side of the bayonet, and the tip was extremely sharp, causing people to shiver, but when they looked closely, the bayonets were roughly crafted, as if they had been hastily drawn with a steel wheel.


    "Is this the legendary world''s most poisonous bayonet?" I whispered to San Mao.


    "Un, piercing a few centimeters into the ground will cause a person to die. There is no way to sew it up, and those three slots can be channeled into the air, so you don''t need to be careful or else the blade won''t be pulled out. It''s just right for us to deal with the Zombie!" San Mao continued to mutter, his eyes staring straight at the soldiers, almost drooling from his mouth.


    The special forces lined up in two rows, led by the Sergeant Major they had seen that day, and walked towards us at a steady pace. When they were close to us, the leader turned a corner, and the two rows of special forces immediately formed two horizontal lines. Sergeant Major made a gesture, and the members of the special forces all stopped in their tracks in unison.


    Although there were only 20 or so people here, their auras had already far surpassed the crowd of 50 or so people. I even heard some people behind me cry out in happiness, which gave me the illusion that there was nothing to fear in this world with the presence of these people.

 C33

    "Tsk tsk!" Captain Zhang was really leading the team! Powerful, with such a Hundred Battle Lion, who would be afraid of those small Zombie! " Liu Guojun jumped down from the stone block and bent down as he ran to Sergeant Major''s side. The flattering words that came out of his mouth were like electric sparks, causing people to gasp in admiration, but Sergeant Major only pursed his lips, revealing a pleased smile or a sarcastic sneer.


    Liu Guojun asked for a loss of interest, but he was not embarrassed either. He laughed slyly, and turned around to face us, his expression immediately changed to one of a play''s, his chest also straightening up, his hands at his waist, his eyes shining, his eyebrows knitted together, as if he was sitting on the stage with a big person, or as if he had been constipated for eight whole days without pooping.


    "The main reason we have this opportunity today is to thank Mayor Chen! She was the only one who could keep this place safe! With his presence, she was able to create a prosperous Ghost Market from nothing! Only with him here could they have this pure land under the Zombie''s encirclement! If there were no Mayor Chen s, then there would be no Ghost Market! There was no possibility of exchanging resources! "Furthermore, we won''t have the chance to enter the food factory this time around, allowing us to survive the winter without any problems ¡­" Liu Guojun''s hands danced chaotically as she shouted hoarsely, until Sergeant Major, who was behind him, could not help but let out a cough.


    "Ugh ¡­" Liu Guojun''s expression immediately changed, and he changed his tone and continued, "This time, the special forces led by Captain Zhang will be the main force, you guys ¡ª" He pointed a finger at us frivolously, "You guys have gotten a big advantage!" As long as they are in charge of security, cleaning and taking over when the SWAT team needs to rest, they only need to do this! "


    "But!" Liu Guojun''s expression congealed, and used a threatening tone to speak again: "I''ll say this first, when the time comes, if anyone escapes, Mayor Chen has said that they will be killed on the spot!" You all should know that bullets might not be too useful to Zombie ¡­ " Liu Guojun turned around and patted the 95 assault rifle on the back of the police officer beside him, "This is more than enough to deal with you guys!"


    "Furthermore, the Mayor Chen has prepared a weapon for all of you ¡­" When Liu Guojun said the three words Mayor Chen, he was full of flattery, she almost cupped her hands towards the north and greeted the old Buddha, who was lucky. She then made a gesture towards the end of the special forces squad, only then did I notice that there were four special forces at the end of the troop carrying two big bags. Following Liu Guojun''s instructions, they walked out of the line with their bags in hand, and walked towards us in large strides.


    The bag was clearly very heavy. When it was placed on the ground, it made a loud clanging sound, causing a cloud of dust to rise up. Following the opening of the cloth bag, I saw that there were actually two big bundles of Corpse Pushing Rod inside. It seems that Mayor Chen who were looking at us over and over again that day was preparing to go to the mountain stronghold, but it seems that there won''t be any patent fees.


    "Come here everyone, everyone come up here, lead the way!" The Sergeant Major called out to us, and the group immediately became restless. In a few groups, they surrounded the two of them and started fighting with each other.


    "Hey, without them, don''t let him take it!" Liu Guojun pointed at San Mao, who also wanted to mix in the two Corpse Pushing Rod, and shouted at the special forces who were distributing the Corpse Pushing Rod.


    "You are f * * king courting death!" San Mao was furious, he charged towards Liu Guojun with eyes wide open. Seeing that the situation was not good, Liu Guojun immediately rushed to the back of Sergeant Major to hide, while San Mao was also grabbed by Lv.


    "San Mao! What do you want? This is what the Mayor Chen said, it''s not your place! " Liu Guojun stuck his head out from behind Sergeant Major and roared.


    "That''s because I have something better to give you!" Sergeant Major waved his hand and smiled at us, then waved his hand behind him. A special guard came up from behind and handed over a backpack.


    "Your Corpse Pushing Rod are excellent. This was specially made by the Mayor Chen to thank you all ¡­" Sergeant Major passed the backpack to San Mao who was still struggling in Lv''s embrace.


    "What is this?" San Mao suspiciously accepted the backpack, Sergeant Major smiled and raised his chin, indicating that he should open it for him.


    San Mao put his backpack on the ground, then unzipped the zipper and revealed a few bamboo tubes.


    "It''s a military stab!" San Mao lost control and shouted. He took out a bamboo tube from his backpack, which was wrapped in a cloth and held onto a handle. San Mao pulled on the handle hard, revealing a shining trident.


    "Hahahaha ¡­" Good! "Great!" San Mao waved the military thorn in his hand in ecstasy as he spoke incoherently.


    A total of four military assassins, San Mao,, I, and Energetic Four each took one, while the Uncle Feng did not. Yang Yufan and Lin Hao who were at the side scratched their ears and cheeks enviously, but in the end, they did not dare to say that they had another.


    "Done ¡­" The Sergeant Major waved his hands towards us, telling us to return back to the group. Then, he faced the group and said loudly: "The Corpse Pushing Rod that was just distributed to you all is the invention of these few brothers ¡­" The Sergeant Major pointed at us, and the people beside us all leaned over to see us, making me feel embarrassed.


    "Specific usage ¡­" The Sergeant Major took a bunch of Corpse Pushing Rod and gestured: "It''s right, use this end to catch the Zombie! Right, let''s have the inventor demonstrate it to us. "


    San Mao and the others looked at each other, thinking that it wasn''t the time to be hiding anything, so we nodded to them and walked out together.


    Yang Yufan, Lin Hao and the Uncle Feng each placed down the Corpse Pushing Rod in their hands, while the four of us took out the trident as we stood diagonally behind them, forming our usual defensive formations.


    "You guys ¡­" Sergeant Major pointed at the special forces behind them and said, "Go and play the zombie!"


    Behind him, three special police officers immediately responded. The three of them put down the equipment in their hands and extended their hands forward. Their heads tilted as they imitated the Zombie''s limping footsteps as they walked towards us. They even learnt the Zombie''s howling vividly from their throats, causing many of the people in the group to laugh.


    "Get ready!" San Mao growled, the three corpse hands at the front pressed down on him, the Corpse Pushing Rod was raised horizontally, and they were ready to fight against the enemy.


    "Wait!" San Mao continued to growl, but we didn''t move an inch.


    The three Zombie staggered closer, three meters, two meters, one meter ¡­


    "Push!" San Mao shouted as the three people in front stood up. The three Corpse Pushing Rod s pushed forward and stuck themselves into the "Zombie''s" chest. Two curved poles accurately inserted into the "Zombie''s" armpits.


    "Attack!" San Mao continued to shout, the four of us walked through the gap between the corpse hands and up along the Corpse Pushing Rod''s body, using our three rounds of military thorns to point at the head of the "Zombie", the three special forces immediately fell down, the entire group burst into applause.

 C34

    On that day, all of us agreed that we would practice this set of "Little Lovers Formation" that Taoist priest left behind for a while longer. Fortunately, this formation is not complicated, so dealing with Zombie does not require much of a change, it only requires the relatively coordinated push of the corpse hand and the corpse chiseling hand, after a full day of training, it should not be too big of a problem. So we stayed at Ghost Market and slept, and enjoyed the meal that Ghost Market provided, and started to set off for the food factory the next day.


    It was the first cool day of the summer and autumn, and though it had not rained, it had been a gloomy day. The wind blew through the empty streets, bringing with it a sharp whistling sound, as if some ghost were riding the wind and was coming at us, giving me goosebumps.


    It was just as Liu Guojun had said, the special forces acted as the main force, and the rest of the people didn''t even have a chance to attack. They formed a shield wall with their shields and then used a trident to stab behind the shield wall. This caused everyone''s confidence to soar. They felt like the warriors in the movies who were able to massacre everyone around them, just with their 20 odd people, they could wipe out the 200 Zombie in the food factory.


    But I was still upset! The note that the yellow-faced man had secretly given me, and the gloomy weather, and the Zombie howling everywhere, gave me a vague sense of impending doom. The feeling was so real that it made me want to run away, to throw away the weapon in my hand and run screaming back to the factory where we lived.


    This fear reached its peak when we arrived at the food factory.


    A few mottled and peeling gold characters were stuck to the walls of a low wall with white tiles affixed to it. Next to the expansion and contraction door was the most common building in China''s industrial parks, a six-storey building that was probably used for administrative purposes. In front of it were three flagpoles, all bald and long gone, and inside the building was probably a factory, all square, devoid of design, mediocre and boring.


    A few Zombie were wandering around in the small plaza in front of the office building. When they saw us, they would pounce towards us like a lover that had seen a couple that had been separated for three months, but they were mercilessly stabbed to death by the special police. At this time, someone suggested to make a noise and lure the Zombie out of the factory, then use the same method to kill them. Wouldn''t that be both convenient and convenient?


    But his suggestion was immediately rejected by the Ren. He warned the nominee in an exceptionally serious tone that if he were to use this method, not only would he lure the Zombie out, he would also attract all the Zombie in the factories nearby over. At that time, the easier it would be to save trouble.


    After the special police cleared out the Zombie s, one of them flipped over the door and opened the small door from the inside. The special police officers entered in a line, while the Sergeant Major waved to us, who were all raggedly dressed, and after a series of hesitations, finally walked in.


    Behind the imposing office building was a huge factory area, which had been neatly distributed on both sides of the main road. The row of factories in front of us had been specially set up to meet the inspection of the industrial and commercial departments, quality inspection and health and quarantine departments, and the production equipment, raw materials, and products here were all completely fine, whether it be the quality of the final product or the environmental standards during the production process, they were all safe and safe.


    According to the intelligence they obtained beforehand, there is nothing inside, so our goal now is to find a few factories in the deeper parts of the factory district that are truly in the process of production, and we even focus on the finished products warehouse and raw materials warehouse.


    The factory was very quiet, it was as quiet as a cemetery at midnight. We didn''t even dare to breathe, and from time to time, I could hear someone gulping down their saliva. Everyone lowered their footsteps and walked like a cat. I followed closely behind Uncle Feng. Through the gap between him and Yang Yufan, I looked ahead with squinted eyes.


    At the moment, the yin wind was howling, the leaden gray clouds were rolling on top of the sky-blue glass roof, the wind was stirring up leaves and dust, and they were rolling up and down in waves. On both sides of the road, there were factories, some of them were tightly shut, some were open, and the pitch-black seemed like a hole leading to hell, as though a group of Zombie could rush out of it at any moment.


    I could hear my heart beating wildly beneath my ribs. The adrenaline made me shiver all over, and I gripped the military thorn in my hand tightly. My palms were wet with cold sweat.


    "Bodhisattva bless..." "Bodhisattva bless ¡­" I heard Lv mumbling beside me, and when I looked at him, I saw that his forehead was covered in shiny sweat, his lips were white, and his two eyes were as round as two lightbulbs.


    "Watch out!" Sergeant Major at the front suddenly growled.


    I turned my head to look and saw a figure wearing a grey moving robe slowly walking out from the intersection in front of us. We were all silent.


    The Zombie''s leg was injured, and its right leg was obviously broken from its calf to the side. Its ankle turned inward, and with every step it took, it first stepped on its left leg, and then its right foot dragged forward. It used the outside of its ankle to support its body, and a broken bone protruded from its calf, exposing its white skin.


    With its hands by its side and its head slightly lowered, it moved forward step by step, looking very leisurely. If one did not look at its legs, it looked like an old man who had just finished his breakfast and came out for a stroll.


    "Don''t look at us ¡­ "Don''t look at us ¡­" Lv continued to pray.


    But the prayer didn''t seem to have any effect. The Zombie walked to the middle of the road and suddenly stopped, then slowly turned around, and the moment it saw us, that carefree expression was replaced by a ferocious, twisted expression. It bared its teeth and howled like a mad dog, and then stretched out its hands as if to grab some invisible gold from the air.

 C35

    As if throwing a rock into a pond littered with carp, following the charge of this lonely Zombie, almost as if countless people hidden in the dark had sighed at the same time. At the same time, creepy moans and howls came from all directions.


    The lone assailant fell to the ground about twenty meters in front of us. His leg, which was only supported by his muscular skin, was finally unable to bear the pressure and broke completely. He fell to the ground, but his hands still moved forward, struggled, grinned, and crawled towards us unyielding! Behind it, countless Zombie came running out from the open factory gate and from the various forks in the road. They gathered together on the road like a river and pounced towards us.


    "This is definitely more than 200!" someone shouted.


    "F * * k, laozi is done for!" Someone threw down the Corpse Pushing Rod and ran.


    Puff puff puff ¡­ Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! The bullets shot out from the silencers'' barrels, and the sound of air being torn apart could be heard. The two people who had escaped cried out miserably as they fell to the ground.


    "Those who retreat will be killed without question!" I turned my head to look and saw that not far behind us, Liu Guojun was leading two special police officers, and was pointing an MP5 submachine gun with a silencer at us.


    "Watch out!" "Receive the enemy!" The Sergeant Major shouted. The special police officers smashed their shields onto the ground, and the twenty special police officers lined up in two rows, blocking the ten-meter-wide road. This caused us to calm down for the moment. The path of retreat was cut off. Although the path ahead was dangerous, there was still a tall man to support it when the sky collapsed.


    Although the newly added Zombie could not be considered as a new corpse, it was much more agile than the one that had fallen to the ground just now. A distance of over twenty meters was just a blink of an eye, and the special police officers all growled together as they lowered their bodies slightly with their shoulders slightly slanted, while the special police in the back row used their shields to block the front row, ready for the impact.


    Bang bang bang bang! The continuous sounds of flesh and shield colliding rang out, and those Zombie s did not slow down at all as they forcefully smashed into the shield wall of the Special Police. I saw that the two rows of shield walls were slightly pushed back by the impact, and everyone''s bodies were leaning forward, firmly blocking the shield.


    "One, two, three, push!" Sergeant Major suddenly roared.


    The two rows of special police growled together, pushed the shields in their hands forward with all their might, and pushed the Zombie in front of the shields into a gap.


    "Thrust!" The Sergeant Major roared again.


    A bright saber light flashed, the special police in the front row pierced through the shield in unison, the military knife in their hands, coincidentally struck the Zombie that was pushed out and then bounced back. The military knife effortlessly stabbed into the Zombie''s head without any resistance, like a large piece of jelly.


    "Retreat!" Sergeant Major''s order sounded again.


    The formation took a step back at the same time, the shield wall did not break at all, it was still incredibly straight, the few Zombie that were stabbed to death in the first round fell to the ground, the last few Zombie continued to smash onto the shield wall.


    "Push!"


    The Shield Wall once again used all of its strength and pushed the Zombie pile out of the way.


    "Thrust!"


    The saber light flashed again and black blood spurted out.


    "Retreat!"


    Behind the Shield Wall, Zombie fell to the ground.


    After a few rounds, thirty to forty Zombie had already fallen under the military''s barbs, but after the Shield Wall was pushed back more than ten meters, the Shield Wall also gradually started to become uneven. Through the Zombie''s disgusting howls, I could also hear the heavy breathing of the special police officers. Furthermore, as more and more Zombie joined in, the pile of Zombie in front of the Shield Wall grew bigger and bigger.


    "Free to attack!" Sergeant Major continued to issue orders.


    The Shield Wall no longer pushed forward, but stood there on the spot. The special police stretched their military thorns past the Shield Wall to stab behind them, but they could only stab a row of Zombie near the Shield Wall to death. After persevering for a while, the entire Shield Wall became more and more distorted.


    All of us were extremely anxious, as we knew that once a gap was broken through in the shield wall, the entire line would collapse, completely losing its barrier effect. We had already seen this many times on the live broadcast of the city defense battle, no matter if it was the steel tide formed by the tanks, armoured vehicles, or the unbeatable barbed wire defense line, no matter how solid it looked, in front of these fearless Zombie that bit towards your throat, they would all eventually break and then scatter, flee ¡­ They even killed each other to escape.


    "Get ready for the first group!" Sergeant Major shouted at us. During yesterday''s training, we had already divided the group well, and when we joined together with Ren, we formed the first group.


    I wiped the sweat off my palms on my pants and followed behind the Uncle Feng. At this moment, there was no fear in my heart. My mind was empty and numb, and the howls, bangs, and screeches of blades piercing my skull became distant ¡­


    "Corpse Pushing Hand!" "Raise the pole!" Sergeant Major''s howls exploded in my ears, and I followed closely behind Uncle Feng. The frontline corpse bearer raised the long Corpse Pushing Rod in his hand, went past the Shield Wall formed by two rows of special forces and blocked the Zombie behind the Shield Wall.


    "Push!" Sergeant Major waved his hands fiercely.


    "Hey!" I heard Uncle Feng groan out from his chest, the muscles and muscles under the relaxed skin on his arms bulged, the Corpse Pushing Rod''s obvious force forced it to move, the 3 cm thick steel rod suddenly jerked backwards, Uncle Feng leaned forward, and pressed all of his body''s weight onto the Corpse Pushing Rod in his hands.


    "Special Police, stand back!" The Sergeant Major continued to give the order.


    The special police who formed the Shield Wall lowered their bodies and retreated through the gaps between the Corpse Pushing Rod s. This time, all of the Zombie''s power was concentrated on the Corpse Pushing Rod. All of the front row corpse hands gritted their teeth and bared their fangs, evidently receiving a huge impact. I thought about how a few Corpse Pushing Rod had clearly bent over. I thought about how the Taoist had died, and how the Corpse Pushing Rod had suddenly snapped its neck right at this moment, causing it to bite our throats. This also made us give up on our previous wooden Corpse Pushing Rod, but from the looks of it now, even if it''s steel, it''s not completely safe.


    "Attack!" I passed through the gap between Uncle Feng and Yang Yufan, and rubbed my body forward between the two Corpse Pushing Rod s. On the other side of the Corpse Pushing Rod, there was a young man wearing a sky-blue work shirt, and he looked to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. He had a "unconventional" hairstyle, and on his ears was a cheap, discolored rose gold earring.


    "Ah ¡­!" I yelled and stabbed him in the temple. His eyes went white and he stopped clawing and howling, but his body was still hanging from the Corpse Pushing Rod.


    Its head drooped down, revealing the Zombie behind it. This time, it was a female, who was also seventeen or eighteen years old, with a "bird''s nest" hairstyle, looking exactly the same, a smaller size of the rose gold earring. It opened its mouth towards me, revealing a huge wound on its neck, and a white windpipe that was disorderly exposed outside ¡­ I thrust the spike into its gaping mouth...

 C36

    We only lasted for less than ten minutes, but it was as if I had been squeezed into a group of Zombie s for my whole life. I killed three of them, but then I was blocked by a stiff corpse, so I returned behind Uncle Feng.


    When the second group came to replace us, I felt weak and exhausted. As soon as I got off the line, I collapsed to the ground, the sweet potatoes and potatoes I''d eaten that morning had all melted by now, the adrenaline had overflowed and I was extremely tired. I felt as if all my strength had been sucked away, my arms were trembling, and I couldn''t even clench my fists anymore.


    "This won''t do!" The Ren shouted to the Sergeant Major: "We won''t be able to hold on for long... The zombies are too dense, we can''t hit them! "


    "Hold on!" Sergeant Major did not look at Ren at all, and shouted at the second group who was on the verge of collapsing, but obviously, shouting did not bring about any additional strength. There was a teenage half child in the second group who pushed the corpse hand away, and even though his partner and father was desperately pushing them behind, the two of them were still slowly being pushed backwards, the friction between their shoes and the cement road surface was extremely ear-piercing and rough.


    "Hold on!" Sergeant Major, who was standing at the back of the line, noticed that something was wrong. He strode forward and placed his palms on his father''s back, stopping the momentum of the two people''s retreat.


    "Third group, get ready!" Sergeant Major turned his head and shouted.


    But Group Three was originally a lot fewer than Group One and Two, there were only fifteen of them. Adding the two who had escaped just now, there were only thirteen people left, and because their own family members were killed in the battle, the entire group was dispirited, and did not even have a complete formation. Hearing Sergeant Major''s order, the people in the group could only look at each other, and did not dare to step forward.


    "You guys ¡­" Liu Guojun snatched the MP5 from the policeman beside him and pointed it at San Mao and me. "Go help them!"


    "Liu Guojun your ass!" San Mao, who was sitting on the ground breathing heavily like me, scolded. I saw Liu Guojun frown and turn the gun towards him, so I immediately stood up, blocked his gun with one hand and pulled San Mao up from the ground with the other.


    "Retreat and kill him!" Liu Guojun waved the gun in his hand and shouted hoarsely, the third group plus the seven of us, we had no choice but to follow the training pattern and line up horizontally in two rows, just that this time, our people are no longer corpse push, they only found their own targets to stand behind him.


    "Raise the pole!" Push! " Sergeant Major roared out from behind his father.


    Almost at the same time that I touched the Zombie, the front line instantly crumbled. The two rows of people that were stacked together looked as if they were struck by a punch and fell backwards, and I could feel the body of the corpse pushing hand in front of me suddenly tense up, so I quickly placed my palms on his back.


    In just a few breaths, I felt my arms spasm like they were on fire, and my thighs, which were pressed up against the ground, began to hurt.


    Just as I was about to scream out loud, another group of Corpse Pushing Rod s extended out from above me. I turned my head to look, only to see that the remaining people from the first group, including the second group, were being forced back down by the submachine guns in the hands of Sergeant Major and Liu Guojun. However, this time, they were not going to get down from the stage for us, but rather, they were going to join in on the battle with the Zombie.


    Dozens of Corpse Pushing Rod s, like the pikes of the Macedonian infantry, extended from all directions, trying to resist the Zombie as much as possible. I immediately felt the pressure on my hands loosen, and finally heaved a sigh of relief. Behind me, on the left and right of me, there were countless people pushing my way over. More than fifty people, with the Corpse Pushing Rod as the center, had piled up into a semicircle, and I was right in the middle of this semicircle, feeling that I did not need to expel any effort to support my body, that my body was being continuously squeezed, that the air in my lungs was being squeezed out bit by bit. Every breath was as painful and strenuous as a woman giving birth, and I felt as if my chest was about to explode.


    Just as my consciousness was gradually leaving my body, I heard a sudden clamor behind me. The sounds were vague, distant and vague, until a few screams of extreme terror pulled my soul back into reality. I immediately woke up!


    "What''s going on? Where are they? " Behind me, I could hear the constant screams of terror.


    "What''s wrong?" Ren''s voice sounded not too far away from me.


    "The special forces, they''re gone!" Someone cries out helplessly like a child separated from its parents,


    "What?" There were incredulous questions all around me.


    "F * ck, we''ve been tricked by these bastards!" San Mao roared in a place that I couldn''t see.


    "Run ¡­" Someone said in a low voice.


    "No, my brother is still inside!" Someone refused in panic.


    Slowly, I felt the pushing power behind me loosen up, and finally, I was able to catch my breath again. But before my chest could relax, I felt an emptiness behind me, and the force that was pushing me suddenly disappeared, and I only felt a surge of strength in front of me.


    The Zombie s finally undid their bindings and surged out like a gushing flood. Just as the corpse pushing hand in front of me straightened up half of my body, I was pounced on by four to five Zombie s. One of them bit onto his shoulder and tore off a huge chunk of flesh from his body.


    Only after the Zombie were blocked by him did I have the chance to stand up and run along with the crowd in front of me. Luckily, there were no corpses here. While the Zombie s were fighting over the opportunity of the "delicacies" that fell on the ground, I successfully escaped from the factory area with a few slower legs. As long as I ran past the office building and the big gate''s wall, I would be able to exit the food factory and reach the street.


    But as soon as I turned the corner of the office building, I was stopped by a few figures standing in the middle of the road.


    "Run!" I shouted at the same time as the few people who were running side by side turned around and pointed ahead with ashen faces. I looked past them and saw that behind the expansion gate, the previously empty street was now crowded with a group of Zombie!

 C37

    Two months and twenty days ago.


    The thunder of spring and summer rumbled in the surroundings. It was still noon, and the sky was actually as dark as night. Bright lightning occasionally streaked across the sky, causing people''s eyes to turn white. The wind blew the makeshift shack from side to side, and the white curtains that hung from the roof flapped in the wind, as if the spirits of the dead hovered in the air and refused to leave. The rain in the shack had already turned into a river, and all the tables and chairs, as well as the pots and pans, and the pots and pans for the tofu rice that was prepared for the funeral of the Jiang and Zhe provinces, were immersed in the water.


    The mourners were clearly well-prepared. They took out their shoes and put them on. I helplessly looked at Martin''s short boots being soaked in water. The originally dark red skin slowly turned into a grayish black after being soaked by the water.


    Through the curtain of rain, I saw that the mourning hall was full of people. In the middle was a big black "Li" word, on both sides were a pair of couplets, "The end of life is in sight, the body doesn''t have a face left", and in the middle was a black and white photo of the dead person. In the picture was a middle-aged man with an unassuming appearance, he was smiling foolishly at the camera, I couldn''t associate this smiling face with that hideous face that would bite even if it had a broken neck.


    The Taoist went and scooped another bowl of tofu soup. He brought it over with both hands and sat down next to me. He started to eat loudly while sucking on it.


    "Don''t even mention it, the tofu cooking is so delicious now. Before, there weren''t that many ingredients, just a bit of soy sauce on the tofu cooking and it would be done. Look at this, there are bamboo shoots, mushrooms, water chestnuts ¡­" There was even chicken meat here, no wonder it was so fresh. I say, you should eat some too, it''s rare to have something to eat ¡­ "Besides, we bought the wreaths and gave red packets. It would be too much of a loss to come back without eating ¡­"


    At this time, the mourning hall suddenly burst into a chaotic uproar, and a Taoist priest dressed in flowery gossip came out first, followed by a group of filial children dressed in plain clothes. Behind them was a small chair, and inside it, there were eight strong men carrying the ashes of the deceased, although it was very light, it was a burial custom, and in the past when they carried the coffin, they had to gather all eight of their relatives, commonly known as the "Eight Immortals", although they were buried in small and light bone urns, the "Eight Immortals" were still preserved.


    The Daoist priest led the crowd into the shack. He knelt on one knee, took out a scroll, and placed it on his left forearm.


    Suddenly, the Daoist Priest shouted loudly and started to chant, "There are gossip in the open sky, and gossip in the open ground; there are spirits and souls in the open land; there is light coming from the open sky, and there is light coming from every direction! There is light coming from every direction, metal, wood, water, fire, earth, cleaning the front of the hall, metal, furnace, three sticks of incense, three sticks of incense, three sticks of incense, three sticks of incense, and three sticks of incense. Three for the Jade Emperor, four for the four great heavenly kings, five for the five great factions, six for the family of the Xiao family, seven for the seven fairies and sisters, eight for the vajra, nine for the celestial maiden, ten for the emperor of hell ¡­ "


    The chant had a strong native accent that made it hard for me to hear clearly. At this moment, the thunder in the sky had already disappeared, leaving behind only the muffled rumbling of thunder. The lightning still flashed from time to time, and the Daoist priest''s face would occasionally turn dark, his bell would ring faster and faster, his chant becoming more and more urgent. In the end, he suddenly gave a long whistle, and at the same time, the four large gongs on all sides simultaneously rang. Then the Taoist rose and went first with the bell, followed by the gong, followed by the children and their grandchildren, and then the urns and the wreaths, followed by the rest of us.


    When we returned from the funeral, the banquet had already been set up in the shack. The group of people sat down to eat and drink. The Taoist priest and I sat at a table in the corner, claiming to be distant relatives of Zhou Lingwen.


    Almost everyone at our table was a stranger, we were all so formal that we were eating alone. Next to me was a villager from Zhou''s village, and he was in charge of serving drinks and inviting people to eat and drink, so I started chatting with him.


    "You said that Old Zhou was fine and alone, how did he get hit by a car and die?" I asked.


    "Hai, it''s all life!" The man popped open a bottle of beer and offered it to me, but I blocked him off and said I had to drive and couldn''t drink, so he didn''t insist. He just gave in a few times and then stepped past me to pour the wine for the Taoist, one by one, and poured it for everyone at the table.


    "This is very strange ¡­" The man finished pouring the wine and then, after a few more pleasantries, began to talk to me.


    "Not even a corpse ¡­" He could lower his voice, but he could control it well enough to let everyone at the table hear, "When their family gets to the traffic police team, all they''ll be left with is ashes ¡­"


    "Moreover ¡­" "I heard someone say ¡­" This person lowered his voice even more and looked around, as if there was something invisible eavesdropping him, causing everyone at the table to stretch their heads out to listen ¡­


    "My one brother is on the traffic police team. He told me that Zhou Lingwen... "I''ve faked a corpse!"


    "What?" The Daoist cried out in surprise. A piece of the sliced belly on his chopsticks fell into his beer glass with a plop. The beer splashed all over his face.


    "A corpse?" the Taoist asked as he wiped his face roughly with his sleeve.


    The man nodded his head with a hint of satisfaction, as if he was very satisfied with the terrifying effect he had created. He reached out his hand to pour a long wine cup on the ground, poured him another glass, and then said in a low voice, "Isn''t it so? My brother said that Zhou Lingwen''s neck was broken from the impact, and the medical examiner is currently examining his corpse. He suddenly sat up ¡­"


    "Wow ¡­" A three or four year old child at the dinner table cried out in fear. The child''s mother consoled him as she carried the child to the side to pee.


    That person awkwardly touched his forehead and leaned back in his chair. He switched back to his normal voice and somewhat sourly continued speaking ¡­


    "Sometimes it''s not a good thing to earn too much money ¡­" It can''t be carried in eight characters, can it? "Their family was so rich, but in the end, something happened to both brothers ¡­"


    I immediately asked, "His brother? What happened now? "


    "Aren''t you relatives of his?" the man asked curiously.


    "Oh ¡­" Oh... I''ve been working in the field and I don''t know much about their family... " I quickly covered my mouth.


    "No wonder!" The man had no doubts, and continued: It''s Zhou Lingwen''s brother, Zhou Lingwu. Didn''t Zhou Lingwu get on that plane, and even now we still can''t find him ¡­ "


    "Ah?" "Which plane?" I asked.


    "MH370!"


    "Pfft!" The Taoist spat out a mouthful of beer.

 C38

    Zhou Lingwu, Gender: Male, age 42, domicile: Qianchao City, Qian Jiang County, Zhou Family Shop, Profession: Import and Export Trade, Position: Enterprise, Education: Junior High School, Political Face: Mass ¡­


    I sat in front of the computer with the Taoist standing behind me. Both of them were staring at Zhou Lingwu''s insurance on the screen, but like most farmers and entrepreneurs in this country, his resume was blank. However, in the past two years, the international price of steel has plummeted, and our assets have shrunk by leaps and bounds. Both of their companies have closed down, especially Zhou Lingwu, I found out from my brother in the bank that it seemed that he had bribed the upper echelons of a certain bank and used a large amount of steel to mortgage a batch of steel materials. After obtaining the loan, he had already disappeared, and the national procuratorial department had already established a criminal case against him for fraud, but for some reason, he appeared on this mysterious plane that had disappeared.


    I sighed, leaned back in my chair, and glanced back at the Taoist. The Taoist also frowned and shook his head. He turned and walked around the desk and sat down opposite me. He picked up a glass paperweight that was lying on my desk and started fiddling with it.


    "What do we do now?" I also picked up a fountain pen from the table and played around with it. "This guy is a nouveau riche ¡­" And it''s even f * * king bankrupt! "


    Ever since MaggieQ disappeared from my house that night, the Taoist and I had been secretly investigating. Needless to say, the Taoist was a fanatic of mystery and metaphysics, and I was intrigued by the strange events that happened over and over again. Although the Taoist had been warned, and I had seen the terrifying resurrection of the dead, and MaggieQ''s knife wound, it was strange that after the initial panic, we now felt not much fear, but instead a faint excitement, like when we were children exploring an unknown area. It was only later that we realized how wrong we were.


    "He''s definitely not an ordinary bankrupt nouveau riche!" The Taoist rubbed the paperweight in his hand and murmured, "An old man who doesn''t pay his debt and stays abroad. Why did he suddenly come back?" Not only did he come back, he even got on this plane? "His brother in the family became a Zombie for no reason at all ¡­"


    I waved my hand to show that I understood. "But now that both of them are dead and we can''t even find their corpses, how can we start investigating?"


    "Heh ¡­" The Taoist laughed lightly and said, "The boss is dead. This second brother might not be right. We haven''t found the plane yet!"


    "This plane has been missing for several months, how can it still be alive!?" I said nonchalantly.


    After a moment of silence, the Taoist suddenly smacked his lips and put down the paperweight. He grabbed my pen and pulled out a piece of A4 paper from the printer beside the computer.


    "Ten days ago ¡­" The Daoist drew a line on the paper and said, "You touched Zhou Lingwen''s Corpse Transformation ¡­"


    I shivered at the thought of my broken neck and bared my teeth at me, and nodded quickly.


    "And then you met MaggieQ, and she asked you about the body change? There was also mention of Solam... " Without waiting for an answer, he drew another line on the paper, next to which was written an Q, and added a few small words ¡ª "Skeleton Society ¡ª Saurum."


    "Then came the warning from the mysterious person who called himself Public Security ¡­" The Daoist then wrote the words'' mysterious person ''below.


    "But before these things ¡­" The Taoist drew a large circle next to the horizontal line and wrote the words "MH370." Then he said, "There seems to be a mysterious connection between the disappearance of this plane and this incident."


    "Do you remember the two diagrams I showed you before?" The Taoist went on: "The link between avian flu and the vicious injury... One of the most severely affected areas is the Southeast Asian region. I also said that it was very possible that there had been an incident with Zombie s, which caused the two Malaysian aircraft to meet with an accident! "


    "What do you mean?" Avian influenza is actually a virus that can cause the corpses of living people to turn into corpses? It infected two people on the plane, caused the plane to crash, and then spread to China, causing the death of Zhou Lingwen? " I said in disbelief.


    The Taoist shook his head and said: "It doesn''t look that simple now, why are there people with Skeleton Society and people who are warning me, who exactly are they? And Solam, why did he appear on the dark net so early in the morning... What is the relationship between this ancient Evil God and the Zombie? "


    "Perhaps you are overthinking it ¡­" I shook my head and said, "I have some airline buddies who tell me that there is a mysterious rule in aviation. It is that every ten years or so, there is a time when an air crash will strike and explode. Before MH370, it was around 2000. Before MH370, it had been more than ten years since there had been a series of major air crashes. In fact, the aviation industry... They call it a systemic cumulative risk that''s already big... "


    "Then how are you going to explain that in just a few short months, another plane crash happened to the same country, the same airline, and the cause of the accident was even stranger, it was actually shot down! You have to understand that under the modern military technology, the possibility of a miscarriage of civil aviation airliners and warplanes is almost non-existent! It is hard not to doubt that there is a reason on this plane that people would have to shoot it down at the risk of their lives! "


    Deep down, I knew it wasn''t likely, but I shrugged and said, "The world is written by all sorts of coincidences, isn''t it?"


    "What''s even more incomprehensible is ¡­" The Taoist added in a more serious tone, "The incident happened not long ago, but now nobody even mentions it anymore. It seems that the media all over the world have forgotten about it, nobody talks about it, nobody investigates it. Even now, it is still unclear who did it, whether it was a surface missile or a fighter jet. It''s as if the upper echelons of the whole world made a promise at the same time, that this matter would be blurred in history! "


    I thought to myself, "That''s true. This MH370 is still being mentioned in the media every now and then, but this plane that was shot down..." Hell, I can''t even remember its flight number... Indeed, there were very few people who talked about it. It was like a rock thrown into the ocean, only having enough time to make a muffled sound before disappearing without a trace.


    "These two planes had met with mishaps within a month. No matter what, it seems like there must be some sort of secret behind it ¡­" The Taoist drew a circle next to the MH370 with the words "MH17 shot down", then drew a big question mark between the two circles, dragging the Stick into deep thought.


    "Right!" The Taoist suddenly pointed at the words "Corpse Transformation" and said, "Check the internet and see if anything strange has happened around this time, especially in Southeast Asia!"


    I nodded, turned it around, opened the search engine, selected the news channel, and typed in "X Day Southeast Asia." A few items popped up, and I scrolled through them one by one.


    "Wait!" The Taoist suddenly growled. He pointed to a news report on the screen that read: "Chinese tourists are making a ruckus on Thai flights, returning to Thailand." He said: "Check it in and take a look!"


    I clicked my mouse and the first thing that popped out was a picture of a young man pointing at someone in front of him and scolding him with a ferocious expression.


    Ah!" I heard a sudden exclamation from the Taoist behind me, and I turned back to look. He was staring at the man on the screen with his mouth wide open, as astonished as if a fire-spitting dragon had appeared out of thin air in the room.


    "What''s wrong?" I asked, puzzled.


    "He ¡­ "He ¡­" The Taoist trembled as he pointed at the man. "He is one of the two men who came to warn me!"

 C39

    "In the last six months, China has established five artificial islands in the Nansha Sea area, which are more than one square kilometer. The countries along the South China Sea, such as Vietnam and the Philippines, have expressed great concern about this. What are the explanations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China?" On the television, a large-nosed foreign reporter stammered out a question in Chinese with only one tone.


    The foreign ministry spokesman, who had a straight face and looked like Li Xiangyang from "The Plains Guerrilla Force," as if he could make the foreign states surrender with a glare, smiled and said with slight disdain, "That was just a set of projects we did to improve the living conditions of the island guards ¡­"


    The reporters below the stage burst into soft laughter.


    The screen flipped and the middle-aged woman, who had a discordant life, appeared on the screen once more. "Now, a new international news bulletin has been broadcasted. International oil prices have continued to fall, falling by more than 50% in the past year. They have fallen to their lowest level in the last six years ¡­"


    "The situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate and at the Saudi Arab-Yemeni border, the two sides are engaged in a barrage of artillery and rocket launchers. On the same day, at least 37 people were killed and 80 injured when a food factory was accidentally bombed in the western port city of Gautada, Yemen. "


    "Israel has accelerated the construction of the Israeli-Palestinian border barrier, in order to build which it has destroyed 140 houses in the north-west of the West Bank, affecting the lives of 875 thousand Palestinians and displacing more than 2,300 people from 400 families. As key water sources have been occupied, the gap in Palestinian water resources amounts to 12 million cubic metres. "


    "Quantum computers have made breakthroughs, and physicists have discovered that quantum dissipation can produce persistent and stable entanglement."


    "¡­"


    The Taoist and I sat in the lobby of the travel agency and waited for the reception of the leader. He had been demoted to a business manager and had coincidentally been transferred to the Qianchao City Branch. When we arrived, he was trying to recommend a seven-day shopping trip to a group of fashionable women, patting them on the chest and assuring them that Korean Herm s was at least half as cheap and free of counterfeit goods.


    Even though we knew there was danger ahead, we couldn''t help but want to uncover the fog and see the truth within. It was like how a person who is particularly afraid of ghosts likes to watch horror movies or a person who is afraid of snakes likes to go to the zoo to watch snakes. The kind of feeling that makes one''s skin crawl is like a good wine that makes one intoxicated.


    After the business manager finished introducing his trip to Korea, the women left happily with the travel agency brochure and the beer bottle opener. He turned around and walked towards us. From a distance, he stretched out his hand with a professional smile on his face.


    "I''m sorry to have kept you waiting ¡­"


    We stood up and shook hands with him in turn. His palms were damp and covered with meat, and felt a little greasy.


    "Speak, where do you want to go?" Domestic or foreign? I''ll definitely give you a good price! "Recently, I''ve been going to Malaysia for a really cheap price. It''s only 3000 yuan, so I''ll give you guys a discount ¡­" This person was also familiar with each other. In Mandarin with a northeastern accent, he sat down across from us and started selling.


    I looked at the Taoist and said somewhat embarrassedly, "This ¡­ We don''t want to travel... "


    "Don''t want to travel? "Then what are you all doing here?" He took a box of Nanking''s from his pocket and handed it to us. I waved to him not to smoke, and the Taoist took another one from the fire he offered us.


    I looked around and seeing that no one was paying attention to us, I lowered my voice and said, "Just think about what happened on that Thai flight!"


    The man suddenly became alert, stood up and waved his hand, saying, "You''re journalists? "I''ve already said before that I won''t accept any interviews. I''ve already hidden myself here for this matter. Why are you all still chasing me up?"


    "No, no, no ¡­" "We''re not journalists." I waved him back down.


    "Then who are you people? Why are you asking about this? " The man sat down again, pulled by me, but his face was full of suspicion.


    "We are... How to put it ¡­ It''s just that weird enthusiasts like to collect all sorts of weird things! We feel that you have been wronged. How can you be the scapegoat for this? That passenger can''t blame you for being stupid, can he? "It''s fortunate that they didn''t set the plane on fire. If the plane exploded, you would have to go to jail as well, right?" The Daoist took over the conversation and spat out a bunch of words in succession.


    Hearing that, the person''s eyes lit up, and slapped his thigh: "Isn''t that so! How the f * ck can you blame me for this? They''re two adults, not my puppies and my kittens. What am I supposed to do with them? Back then on the plane, I tried to persuade them and pulled them, but they just wanted to argue. What could I do? "


    "Sigh!" It''s really bad luck that you ran into two lunatics! Now that everyone has settled down, anyone can go abroad! " The Taoist patted him on the shoulder in consolation.


    "That''s right!" As if he had suddenly found a friend, the man waved his cigarette and continued, "I have to say, there are too many of us in China. When the forest grows big, there will always be one or two bad birds ¡­" Also, big brother, let me tell you, these things are just the hustle and bustle of our domestic media. Foreigners don''t even care about foreigners, and they would love for us to go play with them. What Chinese children peeing outside, washing their feet in a fountain, these are all photos taken by our own people, spreading around the country, the foreigners really don''t care! I don''t mind spending so much money here. Not to mention peeing on the road, I''m even willing to take a dump on my brick bed! It''s just that they''re a bunch of idiots, isn''t it good to go abroad to take a look at the scenery? Even though they wanted to shoot these photos, they had to show how much quality they had. There was also that f * cking tourist bureau that was also blindly making fun of them. What disgrace, what national character? To be rich was to be a member of the national class! Those who left the country more than ten years ago were all of high quality, but did anyone leave you at that time? How about now? If the Old Buddha of Paris knew no Mandarin, he would be too embarrassed to greet anyone! "


    Nothing could improve the relationship between the two of them more than cursing together. After scolding the Tourism Bureau together with him and using his words to describe them as meddlesome idiots, I changed the topic.


    "Those two ¡­" Who exactly are those two people who were messing with the plane? "


    "Hey! Don''t mention it, I don''t know who it is. These two people booked two tickets through our travel agency, so they aren''t part of this group! I only learned about these two people when I arrived at the airport. "


    "Are they really arguing about something like boiling water, as the news says? Logically speaking, that shouldn''t be the case! " I continued.


    "I''m not sure about the details. At that time, the plane was already flying at an average speed. I was a little tired, so I closed my eyes to take a nap. Suddenly, the woman shouted and quarreled. The man also said that he was going to blow up the plane as if he had eaten gunpowder!"


    The business manager looked around, leaned his head close to us, and said in a low voice, "Actually, I also feel that something is amiss. At that time, I also reported it to my superiors, and my leader told me not to speak carelessly. He even transferred me over here ¡­"


    "What''s strange?" I asked in unison with the Taoist.


    "I think those two are doing it on purpose! They just want the plane back! "

 C40

    Two months and ten days ago.


    Our investigation has reached a dead end.


    As time went by, I saw singing and dancing every day, and everyone was still working, falling in love, getting married, getting divorced... San Mao was still talking to different girls at my house. I even began to wonder if what I had seen that day was the truth or a fantasy, or, as the police called it, a side effect of the drug bath salt.


    Until one day, I heard a recording...


    That day was a weekend, and it was almost noon. After experiencing all these events, I didn''t have much interest in the hustle and bustle of picking up girls. After refusing another invitation from San Mao, I was bored to death and went online at home.


    I''m not the only one in the house. Since MaggieQ came to my house to heal, he has moved into my study. Naturally, I have no problem with that. Apart from the fact that I''ve grown up and don''t take a bath every day for the summer, I''m glad someone has come to and fro with me every day, to and fro, to and fro, to and play football with me ¡­


    The Taoist was still asleep. It was a hot day, the temperature outside was over forty degrees, and the sun was so bright that it made me cry. I pulled the curtains and shade in the living room tight, turned on only a floor lamp, and turned on the air conditioner. The dim yellow light and the lower temperature made me feel a little chilly, and I sat cross-legged on the carpet in front of the sofa with my laptop on my lap, listening to music with my headphones on, and browsed through the news.


    "Dark Sky ¡­" "In a room with no lights on, let all your thoughts settle down bit by bit..." Deep Sea Ser HD8DJ headset from Li Zongsheng''s slightly gloomy voice, creating a space isolated from the rest of the world. At this moment, a news headline caught my attention - "Bite the head of a female ghost on the highlands of Malaysia".


    I clicked on the title.


    The page refreshed very slowly, and a picture slowly appeared under the title. The photo appeared to have been taken for a long time. The color had grown dim and yellowish, filled with stains and scratches. The picture was probably taken at dusk, in the dim light, surrounded by dense forest, with only a dirt road in the middle. And beyond the dirt road, there was something that looked like some kind of four-legged beast standing in the middle of the road.


    When I took a closer look, I couldn''t help but gasp. It wasn''t a beast, but a woman with disheveled hair. She was lying on her hands and knees, looking at the photographer. Below the photo was a piece of news:


    A couple in Malaysia, after gambling on the Yunji Plateau, a famous Malaysian casino gathering place, are on their way down the hill with their husbands mysteriously dead and beheaded. His wife claimed that she had met a ghost and that her husband''s head had been eaten by a ghost. He witnessed the whole process and found that the woman had entered a mental hospital for treatment. This reporter was unable to verify the authenticity of the incident.


    At the bottom of the post, there were various comments by netizens ¡ª


    Ink Dye Red Sand: Zombie has appeared! This time it was true.


    PrideEagle: Obviously fake, PS technology is too crappy!


    Fragrant Fried Mushrooms: It''s very strange to see people at the top of the Cloud Peak in Malay City. There have been spiritual incidents in several hotels.


    Xiao: Heh heh heh, going to school is so boring. Finally, Zombie is fun ¡­


    Cipherdx: The Zombie upstairs are not fun. Come, uncle Li will teach you some martial arts.


    Nbnxh: Now it''s time for PSK!


    The white cat also caught the mouse.


    Calm life: the top floor, exploding its chrysanthemum!


    @ Zhangguang: Top!


    ¡­ ( please sit down on your own)


    I turned the page up and looked again at the picture of the so-called ghost, which was very blurry and was not focused on the woman at all. Her features were indistinct, only her long black hair hanging down like a black waterfall, very striking, making the whole picture seem even more eerie. The most awkward part of the picture was the woman''s neck, her head turned to one side at an unnatural angle, her eyes glowing blood-red as if from the flashing lights.


    I saved the picture on my computer, opened it up with a professional photo app, and slowly zoomed in. When I saw the woman''s neck, I felt a chill run down my spine, and I groaned and snapped my laptop shut, gasping for breath. It turned out that the woman''s neck had been turned 360 degrees, coming from the other side. It was very similar to the scene of the accident where Zhou Lingwen''s neck had been crushed by the wheels.


    "Zizi ¡­" "Zizi..." "Swish ¡­" A vibration suddenly sounds out at this moment. I was so shocked that I nearly jumped up from the ground. It was only after a long while did I realize that my phone, which was upside down on the tea table, was violently vibrating.


    I took two breaths to calm myself down a bit. I picked up the phone and flipped it over to look at the caller ID on the screen, but there were only four words written on it ¡ª Unknown Number...


    Could it be a call from outside the country? But I don''t have any friends abroad, or any of my previous generations, or any of my uncles or grandpas who were kidnapped by the Kuomintang and taken to Taiwan, and who called me?


    Curious, I slide the phone close to my ear.


    "¡­"


    No Sound... There was only a faint hum, like the sound of an empty shell being pressed against an ear, but otherwise there was only silence.


    "Hey ¡­"


    I gently spat out a word, but the silence was so loud that it seemed to echo, startling even me.


    "¡­"


    Still silence.


    "Hello ¡­" Who is it? "


    I asked again.


    When I finished this sentence, there seemed to be movement in the receiver. There was an extremely weak sound of "Hua..." "Hua ¡­" The sound was so soft that I couldn''t hear it without holding my breath. It sounded like someone was running water over a pool of water, but the sound was also a bit muffled. It sounded like it came from some sealed space, like the bottom of a distant well.


    The eerie sound continued and the more I listened, the more my hair stood on end. I wanted to open my mouth to say something, but I realized that my mouth was parched from fear.


    Right at this moment, the voice on the other side of the phone changed again. It was a clear sound that sounded like metal striking metal or rubbing against metal.


    "Tut..." Grid... Grid... Grid... Higgle... Grid... Grid... "Swish ¡­"


    The sound was getting louder and louder, and it seemed to have some sort of rhythm to it.


    "Tut..." Grid... Grid... Grid... Higgle... Grid... Grid... "Swish ¡­"


    As I listened, I became more and more nervous. My heart was beating crazily. The palm of my hand holding my phone was full of sweat. That kind of sound ¡­ I seemed to have a familiar feeling.


    "Tut..." Grid... Grid... Grid... Higgle... Grid... Grid... "Swish ¡­"


    That sound... Sounds like... It seems like ¡­ Some kind of laughter? Yes! It was like the laughter of a ghost girl in a horror movie!


    I suddenly remembered the picture of the female ghost with her head twisted 180 degrees!


    Ah!" I screamed, jumped to my feet, and threw the phone away!

 C41

    Now.


    A few of them even fell to the ground. The father and son of the second group, the one who was fifteen or sixteen years old, buried his head in his father''s chest, sobbing, not daring to look outside. His father was hugging his shoulder, his eyes dazed and numb, and the other was pulling on the finger of the Corpse Pushing Rod, which was trembling slightly.


    I looked around anxiously, but the square was empty, with only cracked concrete floors, weeds growing through cracks, a few abandoned heavy machines, and three rusty, mottled flagpoles poking at the ground all by themselves, as if mocking us who had nowhere to go. The expansion gate was about fifty meters away, and behind us was a bunch of Zombie s that could not be seen at all. When they saw us, they groaned and howled even louder, and their limbs, through the gaps between the expansion doors, squirmed densely like leeches. The thin expansion gate was continuously being pushed, and it released an unbearable creaking sound, as though it could collapse at any time.


    "They''re coming!" Someone shouted from behind.


    I turned my head to look and saw that the group of Zombie had already finished eating their "delicacies" and were continuing to press towards us. Most of the people who were bitten were still alive, but the Zombie seemed to have gotten interested in them and allowed them to roll on the ground and scream. Furthermore, to humans, they too liked to bite the throat, chest, and soft abdomen. They would pull out the intestines and tear it apart, and since they did not touch anyone''s head, they rarely bit anyone, and as a result, the people that were bitten would not immediately die. They would moan in extreme pain for a few hours before gradually dying, then revive and become undead corpses! The Taoist said that the Zombie did not need flesh to provide nutrition, they only wanted to spread the virus. Their sole purpose in living was to try to spread the virus by biting and spreading the virus!


    "Quick, capture that guy!" Fight them to the death! " Just as everyone was in a daze, Uncle Feng suddenly roared.


    I seemed to wake up from a dream, and the leaders of the other teams reacted at this moment, shouting for their own team to prepare their weapons for the enemy.


    At this time, we were already in the small plaza between the office building and the expansion doors. The empty space made it impossible for us to form a line to block the Zombie as we had done before, and without a person like the Sergeant Major who was in charge of everything, all of us became a pile of loose sand once again, with our teams scattered about in a corner that they thought was relatively safe.


    "Assemble the formation!" San Mao, Lin Hao and Uncle Feng quickly took their positions and stretched out the Corpse Pushing Rod in their hands. However, Uncle Feng seemed to have exhausted all of his energy, and the Corpse Pushing Rod in their hands swayed and swayed.


    "I''ll do it!" With a powerful growl, he stepped forward to snatch the Corpse Pushing Rod from Uncle Feng''s hands and replace it with the position of Uncle Feng.


    At this moment, the group of Zombie was right in front of me, a few of them had their faces covered in blood, baring their teeth, like ferocious ghosts that had just come out of hell, a few of them were even munching on a piece of intestines, purplish black blood and yellow-green feces dripped down from their teeth, and there were even layers of moaning and howling that were like a tsunami, causing my scalp to go numb, and my legs were shaking uncontrollably.


    "Get ready!" San Mao roared, and the three Corpse Pushing Rod s stuck out their tongues. I saw that Yang Yufan and Lin Hao''s lips were pale white, and their eyes were filled with fear and fear.


    "Push!" The Corpse Pushing Rod moved forward like a bite of a snake. The few Zombie in the front were firmly stuck on the branch that was extended out of the pole.


    "Attack!" As if by instinct, I raised my military knife and charged forward, stabbing the military knife into the eye sockets of the Zombie that was in front of me. The other eye of the Zombie rolled, and my wildly waving hand immediately stopped moving.


    "Retreat!" San Mao shouted again, and I quickly retreated. The three corpse hands in front all took a step back, and at the same time, threw the poles in their hands, throwing the three corpses to the ground.


    The spacious plaza gave us room to move around. Compared to before, when we were squeezed together, we now had a greater lethality. With the cooperation of the few of us, in a few rounds, more than a dozen Zombie had already fallen under our assault.


    But that''s all there is to it. Compared to the hundreds of Zombie, these dozen or so are not even worth as much as a drop in the bucket. Furthermore, the other teams are not as proficient in this formation as us.


    First, the third group suffered a heavy injury in the first round, and the remaining five to six people lost the weapons in their hands. They ran around the plaza with empty hands in an attempt to avoid the mouth of the slow-moving Zombie, but they quickly ran out of energy, a few of them screamed hoarsely as they were surrounded by the Zombie, and a few of them were smarter. They hid behind a few other teams, and the weirdest one, who might have thought that he was good, actually climbed onto one of the flagpoles with his bare hands, causing a group of Zombie to squeeze into a flag ball and let out a roar from the ground.


    This time, it was his father who held the corpse in place of him. However, after he caught hold of one of the Zombie, his son didn''t dare to go up and kill it.


    "Quick!" Hurry up and kill it! " The father yelled at his son, but his son hid behind him, tears streaming down his face.


    "Hurry up!" The father almost cried out in grief. Another Zombie appeared on his Corpse Pushing Rod, causing him to stagger backwards, but his son continued to cry on his own. He did not even dare look forward.


    The three Zombie smashed onto his body heavily. The father did not scream, but raised his neck and struggled to look at his son. However, he could only watch as his son stood straight, sobbed and did not resist, and then, he was bitten on the neck by one of the Zombie.


    People kept falling, and my ears were filled with terrifying screams. In every team, as long as a corpse bearer falls, and a gap appears in the formation, it will quickly collapse and scatter. In the end, it will all be surrounded by Zombie. After just five to six minutes, the only family that remains in the plaza is Ren and us.

 C42

    "Lv, quickly open the door!" San Mao took out a military knife from the forehead of a female Zombie with a naked upper body, touching the blood on her face, he turned and shouted to Lv.


    I turned my head and saw that we had been forced near the office building, only a dozen meters away from the locked gate at the bottom of the building.


    From our past experience, hiding in some isolated building under the siege of the Zombie was always the worst choice, because that would put you in dire straits, and in the end, it was just another way of dying. From being killed by the Zombie to being frozen to death by starvation, and the process of dying would be extremely lengthy, and the fact that you haven''t eaten or drunk from the Zombie is enough to cause anyone with strong mental strength to collapse, not to mention the fact that you''ve just recently experienced being trapped on a brothel''s roof and calling out every day that you shouldn''t be screaming, but today, MaggieQ will still descend from the sky to save us.


    But he couldn''t care less now, even if he had to delay for a minute, a second, it would be fine. When Lv replied to us, our pressure immediately increased. Uncle Feng had already collapsed and only a symbolic existence remained, in fact, only San Mao and I were left with the corpse chiseling hands. When Lv left, we were immediately surrounded by danger.


    San Mao and I, left and right, protected the flanks of the corpse hands. Beside me is Lin Hao, a small employee who worked not long before the crisis, and is currently shouting like a madman. It is as if every time he roars, the fear in his heart will decrease a little, and he will no longer be able to use his strength to resist the Corpse Pushing Rod. The head of the Corpse Pushing Rod stabs into his chest, and a puddle of blood flows out from that place as though it was hit by a bullet.


    San Mao did not give any more orders, all that was left for us to do was to mechanically stab the army in our hands into a certain Zombie''s head, and then pull it out and stab it again. I have even started to feel grateful towards the Sergeant Major who left us behind, if it wasn''t for the military thorn he gave us, or the heavy iron rod he originally held, I''m afraid that he would not even be able to lift his arm right now. Our faces and bodies were covered with the disgusting black, viscous fluids of the Zombie. It was as if someone had splashed a bucket of black paint on us.


    "Ah ¡­" I heard Yang Yufan, who was in the middle, scream miserably, as if he tripped over something behind him, tilt backwards, and sit down on his butt. Fortunately, the Corpse Pushing Rod in his hand was not crooked, he was propping himself up on the ground, while the other was propping himself up with one of the Zombie. There was only a gap in the line, with two Zombie s squeezed in from between, looking like they were going to pounce towards Yang Yufan.


    "Get up!" With a loud roar, he swung the Corpse Pushing Rod in his hands, and threw it to the side. Then, like an expert in a wuxia film, he used his power to sweep the battlefield, and swung the Corpse Pushing Rod in his hands outward like a gossiper, smashing the two Zombie s that were squeezed into the cave into the ground. I took this opportunity to spin around Lin Hao and thrust my blade into the temple of the Zombie that was on top of Yang Yufan''s Corpse Pushing Rod. Then, I pulled Yang Yufan up from the ground and filled in the gap.


    "Lv! "Hurry up!" I turned my head to shout at Lv, but when I turned my head, I saw a Zombie pouncing towards Lv who was squatting on the ground, opening the lock.


    "Be careful!" I quickly warned her.


    However, before Lv could even raise his head, the Zombie had already fiercely pounced on him. Caught off guard, Lv was pounced on and met face to face with the Zombie. The Zombie''s mouth bit towards Lv''s throat, causing Lv to scream loudly as he grabbed onto the Zombie''s neck.


    Lin Hao used both hands to prop himself up as he screamed in fear. I had no choice but to turn around and face the immediate threat, wanting to call Uncle Feng to help Lv out. But when I looked around, I did not see anyone else. When I finished killing the Zombie, I turned around to see that Lv was still holding onto the Zombie''s neck with all his might, but the Zombie''s mouth was getting closer and closer, with drops of black liquid constantly dripping from its mouth. Lv had no choice but to clench his mouth and move his face to the side.


    "F * ck your mother!" Suddenly, with a loud roar, the Uncle Feng rushed over from the side. Holding a rock in his hand, he swung his arm, with a loud bang, he smashed it onto the Zombie''s head, causing it to immediately rolled its eyes and become motionless. Lv immediately got the Zombie off his body, climbed up from the ground and started to unlock it.


    My heart steadied a little, and I continued to turn around to deal with the Zombie in front of me. But right now, the line formed by the three corpse hands had already revealed a flaw, and there were no problems with using all of their strength. The Corpse Pushing Rod in my hand was still able to maintain a forceful pushing and flinging with all of its strength, leaving Lin Hao with only the head of the Corpse Pushing Rod pressing against his chest, and with a mechanical defense, he was completely unable to make any other movements.


    Originally, he was placed in the center because of the lack of pressure. But now that he was missing a person, there was no one in the middle to clean up the Zombie s, so the pressure on him became more and more, to the point that a large piece of the three Corpse Pushing Rod s had caved in from the middle.


    I noticed that the situation was bad, and immediately moved behind Yang Yufan, wanting to stop him from the back, to push him up to fill the gap, but before I could use any more strength, two Zombie s squeezed in from the gap, and Lin Hao, who was by the side, subconsciously wanted to use all his strength to push the two Corpse Pushing Rod s away, but he didn''t expect that he would be so exhausted that he didn''t have any energy left.


    Lin Hao screamed in fear and held onto the Zombie, his body retreating, his T-shirt releasing creaking sounds, the front part of his body was being ripped off, and just as he was about to escape from the Zombie''s claws, a Zombie suddenly appeared in front of him, grabbing onto Lin Hao''s hand and thrusting towards his arm!


    Lin Hao screamed in despair as he threw the Corpse Pushing Rod in his hands away, he took out his blade from his waist and slashed onto the Zombie''s neck, black blood spurting out everywhere, but the Zombie was unaware of this and continued to bite on to Lin Hao''s arm. Lin Hao roared and slashed at the''s neck crazily, all the way until its head was chopped off, but the head still bit on his arm and hung on it! Before Lin Hao could take it off, his other hand was bitten by the Zombie, following that, more and more Zombie rushed up, and in a few breaths time, he was completely drowned by them.


    With Lin Hao''s death, our formation crumbled instantly, and we threw away our Corpse Pushing Rod, then started to pull out his military thorn to kill him. Yang Yufan was already exhausted, he panted and fell on the ground, unable to get back up. Without the protection of the 1.5 meter long Corpse Pushing Rod, the Zombie''s disgusting face was just inches away from me, and I could even see their black, small tongues that reeked of smoke. I stood in front of Yang Yufan to protect him, and when I saw the Zombie rush over from all directions, a sense of extreme despair arose in my heart, feeling that I was really going to die this time.


    Right at this moment, a whooshing sound came from behind him. That damned rolling gate had finally been opened by Lv!

 C43

    "Let''s go!" "Hurry up and leave!" Lv urged them in a row from behind. I pulled Yang Yufan up from the ground and chased after him as he rolled and crawled. I tried my best to cover us from behind and stabbed two Zombie''s who were in front to death.


    The rolling gate had only been opened up to a height of about half a meter. After running up to the third step, I took a sliding step and rolled in close to the ground, entering into the gate. Then San Mao and Energetic Strength also rolled in.


    "Don''t close the door!" Just as Lv was about to pull the roller shutter door, he heard someone shout from outside. Then, a hand reached in to support the roller shutter door, and a few people rolled in just like us, I looked, and saw that it was Ren and his family. I immediately went to drag the people in from the bottom of the door, but only three of them were dragged in. Then, we heard the Zombie rush over and hit the rolling gate, causing it to shake violently, and the hand that was holding onto the door withdrew as well. Through the crack under the door, we saw that the Ren had been pushed to the ground, and a Zombie was currently pulling a piece of flesh out of his neck. "Close the door!" The Ren opened his mouth silently towards us.


    Lv pressed hard on the rolling gate and with a whoosh, we immediately fell into darkness.


    The rolling gate continued to emit banging noises, and the sound was soon transformed into a violent shoving noise. The rolling gate let out an unbearably heavy sound, and it started to bulge outwards.


    "Quick, use something to block the door!" San Mao shouted at us.


    By this time my eyes had adjusted to the gloom, and I was looking around me to see that we were in a large hall with long corridors on either side. A spiral staircase wound up behind us, and on one side of the wall were painted the words ACRICRIS LETTERS ¡ª "HARLOT''S GHOST 237" ¡ª and in front of it was the long front desk.


    "Drag that over!" I shouted, pointing to the front desk.


    The five of us, plus the three new arrivals, rushed forward to start the huge front desk. Fortunately, it was not made of marble as it appeared, but had a layer of imitation marble panels, with only a layer of artificial stone on the surface, so it was much lighter than we had imagined, and the eight of us would be able to move it.


    After a screech of friction, we finally pushed the poor quality wooden front desk into front of the rolling gate. We went to a nearby conference room and brought out a conference table and a number of chairs, which we piled up in front of the door. They looked like a barricade built with furniture by the inhabitants of Paris during the French Revolution, and the weak rolling gate was no longer in danger.


    It was only then that I smelled the pungent smell of mildew. The hall was thick with dust, as if it had been years since anyone had come in, and there were no windows in the hall, just a faint glow from the spiral staircase, and the dust we had stirred up flying up and down in the beam.


    "Let''s go upstairs!" San Mao said.


    I nodded, and they all started to walk up the stairs at the same time. But when I reached the middle of the stairs, I realised that Lv was still at the door, staring blankly at the rolling gate that was rumbling loudly.


    "Lv..." I called to him, but he didn''t respond. " Lv! " I shouted again with a more serious tone, only then did he seem to wake up from his stupor and look towards me. I was shocked, Lv''s face turned ashen, as if he had seen something terrifying, and fear filled his eyes.


    "What''s wrong, Lv? Hurry up and go, maybe you''ll have to open the door upstairs! " I didn''t think much of it, because we didn''t look any better.


    "Ah?" "Oh, oh ¡­" Lv hurriedly replied and followed along.


    There were no locks to unlock upstairs. Every room was open and the layout was dull. There was a corridor in the middle and an office with glass partitions on the left and right. But as soon as we went up the stairs, through the south window, we saw something that surprised us.


    The guy who had climbed up the flagpole was still hanging on it like a lonely monkey!


    We went into an office and opened the window facing the square and looked out. The man, who seemed to be a master, was climbing at the very top of the flagpole, much higher than the one we were on on the second floor. He had wrapped a belt around his hip and tied it to the flagpole, forming a triangular support point with his hands gripping the flagpole so that he didn''t have to use so much effort to hold on to the flagpole, but now he was visibly weak and his arms clutching the flagpole were visibly trembling. Beneath him were layers and layers of Zombie in a circle. From our point of view, those squirming, dark heads looked like a bunch of flies on a mouthful of phlegm.


    His head was covered in sweat, and his eyes were filled with fear and despair. However, he didn''t shout for help, he probably knew that it was impossible for us to charge past the heavy Zombie s and save him, even if we shouted for help.


    I shook my head, unable to bear to look any longer, and found a seat for myself. I couldn''t help but to groan. I could feel almost every part of my limbs aching, especially the biceps, the triceps, and the gastrocnemius of my calves. It was as if they had turned to stone and were convulsing.


    I took in a breath of cold air and ground my teeth as I kneaded these muscles. Then, I saw the three people from Ren''s family crying on one side, two males and one female. The older one looked to be in his thirties, and looked extremely similar to Ren. The woman was about the same age as him, and her face was intentionally painted black. It was hard to tell her face. The other man was very tall, but his face was very young. He was at most seventeen to eighteen years old.


    "Heh ¡­" Just as I was thinking about it, San Mao who was by my side suddenly nudged me with his shoulder and winked at me. Then, he got up and walked out.


    "Do you feel that there''s something wrong with Lv?" Just as he walked out of the office, San Mao hurriedly said.


    "I don''t have any ¡­" "Huh?" I looked in the direction that he pointed, only to see Lv slumped on a large chair, staring at the ceiling with lifeless eyes.


    "It really is strange ¡­" I muttered to myself, Lv was probably a "thief does not go astray" profession, every time he enters a new place, the first thing he would do would inevitably be to rummage through the boxes, I had never seen him sitting there absent-mindedly like today.


    "Do you think he was bitten?" San Mao muttered.

 C44

    My whole body shivered, and when I looked at Lv again, he looked like a dead mother. Although we have not known Lv for long, the troubles and tribulations that we have gone through in a month are much deeper than the casual friendship we had with Lv for dozens of years. Although he usually doesn''t like to talk, he is the most reliable at critical moments. Perhaps it''s because of his many years of experience in the martial arts world, but in dangerous moments he''s always more composed than anyone else. I''ve never seen someone lose his composure like this before.


    "Maybe he got bitten when he opened the door?" I thought about how he was pounced on by the Zombie just now, how he held onto the Zombie''s neck and matched up with it. "What do we do now?" I asked, rubbing my head.


    San Mao pondered for a moment, then smacked his lips: "Call him out first, let''s ask him first, there are other people here, it might cause panic."


    I looked in and saw that the three people from Ren were still hugging each other crying loudly. Dazzling Spring, Uncle Feng and Yang Yufan were also sitting together with their heads hanging down, looking gloomy and foggy. I wondered what these people would do if they went in and said that one of us had been bitten.


    So I nodded towards San Mao and said, "Then I''ll call him out and you find a room."


    San Mao looked around, then pointed to the only opaque wooden door at the end of the corridor and said: "It''s there."


    I looked up. There was a nameplate on the door ¡ª General Manager''s Room.


    I casually made up an excuse to ask Lv to come out, but he didn''t suspect anything at all. In fact, he was in a daze, as if he didn''t understand what I was saying at all.


    I opened the door to the general manager''s room, and called Lv in. San Mao was standing at the door, and just as I closed it, he grabbed Lv by the collar and pushed him against the wall.


    "Did you get f * cking bitten?" San Mao growled.


    "Ah?" "What?" Lv seemed to not know what San Mao was asking, and asked in fear and astonishment.


    I sighed to myself. We''ve seen this kind of thing a lot since the crisis broke out. Almost all of the people who were bitten tried to cover it up at first, then denied it, pretended to be wronged, and then revealed the evidence ¡ª the bite marks ¡ª and then begged ¡­ Everyone thinks they are special. They think they can''t transform even if they are bitten. But we''ve never seen an exception.


    "Stop f * cking pretending!" San Mao tore Lv''s clothes, "We saw it all!"


    "See what?" Lv pushed his hands away to the left and right to block San Mao''s movements, and his voice suddenly grew louder: "Don''t f * cking accuse people wrongly! When was I bitten? "


    San Mao glanced at me, as if he was saying that the show had started again. I sighed, walked over and grabbed onto one of Lv''s arms, and said gently: "Alright, Lv, just bite me, and I''ll bite you. Anyways, there will be a day for everyone here, brothers, let''s send you on your way first, so that you won''t become a wandering ghost like that ¡­."


    Hearing my words, Lv flew into a rage, and suddenly flung my hand away and roared loudly: "F * ck your mother! I will take it off for you to see! " He took off his T-shirt a few times and threw it hard on the ground. Then he unbuckled his belt and pulled off his pants and kicked with one foot, kicking the pants away from him and spreading his arms.


    "Come! Come and see! Oh yes, and here, the Zombie has bitten my butt! " As he spoke, he took off his underwear and threw it on the sofa behind him.


    San Mao and I started to feel awkward, but we still carefully observed his body. Lv was about 1.7m tall, in the southern part of China, he could be considered not tall nor short. Like all of us, he hadn''t shaved in months. His sparse, curly beard was a mess that covered his jaw all the way down to his neck, below the neck, bordered by the collar of his T-shirt. It was a clear line, and the skin below was dark, the dirt that had accumulated over a long period of time just washing his face without bathing. His chest heaved up and down due to his anger. His ribs were like some kind of monster''s, exposing themselves bit by bit, only leaving a thin layer of skin covering them. From the ribs, his belly tightened at a terrifying angle, and he looked weak. His penis, whether out of anger or fear, shrank into a ball, making it look like a joke on his scrawny legs. Its body exuded an unpleasant odor that caused people to feel disgusted, but there were no bite marks! We looked back and forth a few times, but we didn''t!


    "Fucking clear?" Lv opened his arms wide, looking like Da Vinci''s famous painting "The Vitruvians". He shouted angrily at us, "Really? Have you been bitten? "


    "Alright, alright!" San Mao laughed awkwardly: "We are just in case! "Who told you to be so weird today."


    I picked up Lv''s clothes from the ground and gave it to him. "That''s right, there''s something wrong with you today.


    He didn''t expect Lv to cry like a child upon hearing his words. He didn''t even pick up my clothes, and started to cry while covering his face.


    I have never seen a man cry so bitterly before. San Mao and I looked at each other, not knowing what to do, and could only look at him in a daze.


    Fortunately, after Lv cried for a while, he stood up and said while wiping away his tears, "Outside ¡­ "My wife is outside ¡­"


    I suddenly understood.


    Speaking of the most cruel thing that happened since the outbreak of the Zombie, it was merely witnessing his loved ones becoming Zombie. To put it simply, the most distant distance in the world is not between life and death, but when I am still alive and you have become a Zombie. More than once, I secretly rejoiced that my parents left early, allowing me to avoid this cruel situation.


    "She and I both came from the mountains of Guizhou ¡­" Lv put on her underwear and choked with sobs: "Our junior high school is good, at that time our family was poor, both families were poor, but her family despised me, they said that I couldn''t afford a gift, they said that I couldn''t afford it, so when her father wanted to marry her out of the mountain, we ran away, came out to work, started in Dongguan, made shoes, the owner said that we don''t have identity, if we caught her we were still working, we would just give her a little bit of money, but we were very happy, at last we have a place to live, and can eat our fill ¡­"


    San Mao couldn''t help but sob as he said this. San Mao patted him on his back for a while, and then he recovered and continued, "Later on, we had an ID card, we changed jobs, but we were always together, and our wages slowly rose. Her father also agreed to it, and after we arranged a marriage at our hometown, our days were finally going to get better.


    "In the beginning, she was just messing with the village boy, but as time went on, she lost more and more. A month''s worth of wages was not enough to pay her gambling debts, so she started arguing with me. I found her annoying and started hitting her. The child was not saved... But I still didn''t know to stop, and I spent so much money, and in the end, the two of us didn''t even have enough for a few days, and the boss chased us out, and the villagers all knew that I was like this, and none of the factories wanted us, and in the end, I told her, you''re beautiful, and there are so many nightclubs in Dongguan, so go sell them! "


    As Lv spoke till here, he once again lost control of his emotions, and started to wail and cry. At the same time, he stuttered, "She''s very silly, he really listens to me going out to sell ¡­ She''s not like other ladies who would buy a cell phone or a bag for themselves if they had some money. She has a penny in his hand, but I ¡­ Wu wu wu ¡­ Not only did I spend her money, I hit her and say she was dirty... Woo woo ¡­ * "She, this foolish woman, really thinks that he''s dirty and that he''s in the wrong. He just lets me beat his up and scold her without ever thinking of leaving me ¡­"


    "Until one day, when I was caught red-handed and someone beat me half to death and came back to my place, she hugged me and cried, and I cried too, and I said why are we all human, and why are we all born to be beaten, to be prostitutes, to be so cheap and defiled? She said we didn''t want to do it anymore. She had saved up more than a hundred thousand yuan. Let''s go home and open a store together ¡­ "I said ¡­"


    "But the next day, I stole her bank card, took all of her savings, and also took her cell phone, her jewelry ¡­ Afterwards, I found out that it was all fake and worthless, so I threw it all away ¡­ I ran away by myself. In less than a month, I had already spent over a hundred thousand gold coins. I was too embarrassed to go back, so I started to scam again.


    "Later on, she came to visit me in the prison, but I didn''t see her. From then on, I knew that I wouldn''t be able to recover, and following me would only harm her for the rest of her life. I wrote to her that she was a chicken and told her not to come back. I asked for a divorce in prison and she agreed immediately. "I met some people in prison and learned how to be a real thief. After I was released from prison, I wandered around everywhere, and I didn''t even go back to my hometown. I never heard anything about her, but I didn''t expect ¡­"


    Lv started crying again. After taking a few deep breaths, he said, "I never thought that the next time I saw her was actually here ¡­"

 C45

    After Lv finished narrating his own experience, he kept crying bitterly. My nose stung, and my heart felt like it was being stabbed with a knife. The pain was intense, and I saw that San Mao''s eyes were also glistening with tears. I knew that Lv''s words definitely brought back some of his memories. Although I hadn''t asked him directly, I knew that his parents and relatives must have also been killed in the disaster.


    I patted San Mao''s shoulder to comfort him, he looked at me and sighed. The two of us were silent, not knowing how to comfort a wailing man. Suddenly, I heard a burst of exclamations coming from outside!


    I was shocked, thinking that the Zombie had barged in, so I quickly followed San Mao out. When they arrived at the room where everyone had gathered earlier, they discovered that everyone was leaning against the window to look outside. Their mouths constantly emitted waves of exclamations.


    I walked over and saw that it was the guy on the flagpole. He couldn''t hold on any longer and started to slide down.


    The group of Zombie beneath him seemed to see him slide down as they all started to push and shove him. Those creepy moans and howls became louder and louder. His palms creaked against the smooth flagpole, and every time he slid down a little, he clenched his teeth and climbed up a few more steps, but faster and faster. He was facing us, and I could see his eyes, which could no longer be described as desperate. I once fell in love with hunting and went up the mountain with the men from the wild boar team to set up traps. There were some small animals, like the yellow chamois, that would be caught by mistake. The person opposite me had the same look in his eyes as the small beast caught by the trap.


    We watched helplessly as he slid from the height of three stories to the position of the same as us. His feet were already less than a meter away from the densely packed hands of the Zombie s, and the girl from Ren screamed in fear. He covered his eyes, not daring to look, and from the looks of it, unavoidably, he was about to fall into the mouth of the Zombie.


    Just as we were sighing for him, I suddenly felt a slight vibration in the ground. At first it was just a slight numbness in the soles of my feet, but then everyone felt a strong vibration, and even the various office items in the room began to vibrate and clatter.


    Soon after, I saw a huge bulldozer appear out of nowhere as we were retreating. Its shovel was raised high into the air and the engine was rumbling. The already dilapidated cement road surface was constantly cracking under the steel tracks.


    A portion of the Zombie s in the plaza were attracted by the loud sounds of the bulldozers and rushed towards the bulldozers with a roar, but their bravery and fearlessness were defeated in front of the equally cold and emotionless steel machine. The bulldozers did not even pause for a moment, and they effortlessly crushed the Zombie on the ground, their chests bursting and their organs spilling out. After the bulldozers, the Zombie s that did not get their heads crushed once again struggled and followed them. Some of the Zombie s only had half of their bodies left, crawling on the ground while dragging a lump of broken heart and lungs.


    The bulldozer was like a sharp blade cutting into a cream cake, crushing into the surrounding Zombie. After a pleasant sound, it crashed onto the flagpole, shook a few times, and then fell shakily towards us. The pole fell right on top of the window in front of us, and the person on the flagpole quickly crawled over with both hands and feet.


    "Come down!" There was a shout from downstairs, and I saw that the Sergeant Major in the bulldozer cab was waving fiercely at us, and that the bulldozer''s bucket was already under our window. A few Zombie with relatively flexible hands and feet climbed onto the caterpillar''s tracks and squeezed around the driver''s seat, making the driver''s seat hear the sound of glass being smashed. Sergeant Major was like a lone boat in a storm, drowned out by the huge waves.


    San Mao and I looked at each other and slightly nodded. At the same time, we said, "You can go down first!"


    I was stunned. San Mao immediately grabbed onto my arm and pushed me towards the window forcefully, I didn''t try to push him away anymore, and took the opportunity to throw my leg out of the window. With both my hands on the edge of the window, my feet slightly extended downwards, and stepped on the jagged outer edge of the bulldozer''s huge shovel.


    Immediately after, Uncle Feng''s foot probed out, I slowly supported him and safely caught him. Then there was the girl from Ren, then there was Yang Yufan, Lv, San Mao ¡­ I gestured to San Mao that there was no one left inside the shovel, and the two of them climbed out of the shovel, using their hands and feet to climb onto the hydraulic mechanical arms that connected to the shovel. When they heard the sounds of the Zombie, they turned their heads, and when they saw us two, they rushed towards us while crying out in pain. I loosened my grip on the mechanical arm slightly, and used the force of the descent to wait for the Zombie''s chest, then I took out my military knife and slowly stabbed into the Zombie''s eye sockets that were closest to me.


    As the thorn slowly stabbed into my eye, some grey-green contents were squeezed out, and I felt a surge of pleasure. Right! There was no old fear, not even disgust, just the thrill of Linlin''s revenge and killing. I pulled out the spurs, and a whole eyeball was brought out, white on the bridge of my nose, and a trickle of black blood ran down my cheek. I kicked it out of the car without waiting for the blood to reach my leg.


    Using my advantage of position, I killed three Zombie s in a row and cleared the road with San Mao. At this time, the other two people from Ren and the man who was on the flagpole just now also came down from the stairs and entered the shovel.


    "Let''s go!" San Mao slammed on the glass window forcefully.


    The car jolted, and a plume of black smoke rose from the chimney beside me. The cart paused, then spun, and there was a crackling sound under the tracks, as if I had broken a large bubble of packaging, and a wave of orgasmic pleasure rose up from the soles of my feet, and I could not help but groan.


    "Yay!" Everyone cheered, I heard a burst of crazy cursing, the sound was very strange, I don''t know whether it was from Ren''s group or the man on the flagpole.


    The bulldozer turned 180 degrees and threw all the Zombie s that were climbing onto the body of the truck down. The Sergeant Major lowered the shovel and the people in the shovel also climbed over the mechanical arm. San Mao and I unceremoniously opened the driver''s door, and one by one, we squeezed in.


    The Sergeant Major did not react and only looked around. Seeing that everyone had found a place to hold on to something, he stepped on the throttle and the bulldozer roared like a dying beast, slowly moving towards the entrance of the Zombie.

 C46

    As the 500 horsepower engine roared crazily, the 16 ton steel beast finally accelerated to 10 km/h before hitting the expansion and contraction doors. I tightly grabbed onto one of the handles on the door and my heart tightened. I was afraid that I wouldn''t be able to knock the door down and pull the door open. If that happened, we wouldn''t be able to escape anymore.


    But the bulldozer obviously didn''t care about my worries at all, it moved closer and closer like a medieval heavy cavalry, the flat spade was like a lance, the convex jagged blade first inserted itself into the gap of the expansion gate, the expansion door suddenly protruded outwards, the crowd of Zombie that was squeezed outside immediately popped out a circle of space, immediately after, a burst of metal twisting sounds, the bulldozer didn''t stop at all, continuing forward, the blade cut the expansion door apart and sent it flying into the air!


    Sergeant Major pulled the control stick a few times, causing the cockpit to turn 90 degrees to the left with the mechanical arm. Then, the shovel tilted downwards, and the expansion door was thrown onto the ground. The bulldozer continued to move forward, leaving only the dense group of Zombie in front of us. The cockpit turned back to its original position and slowly pressed down.


    Only then did I heave a sigh of relief, the rest of my comrades also started cheering, even Lv''s family who had just been crying with each other, had joy written all over their faces, the man on the flagpole was dancing with joy, a wave of extremely malicious and vulgar words continuously came out of his mouth, it was truly amazing.


    Only Lv still looked stupefied, as he looked towards a certain direction in a daze. I followed his line of sight, and saw that among the Zombie s that were baring their fangs and brandishing their claws as they chased after us, there was a tall female in overalls. If we ignored her half-eaten cheeks, she was quite pretty.


    I looked at San Mao, who also turned to look, and sighed. A moment later, he said to Sergeant Major: "Did you bring a gun?"


    Sergeant Major raised his head and looked at him. He hesitated for a moment, then pursed his lips under his seat.


    San Mao took off the bullet box and looked at the bullet. Then, he pulled the bullet lock and opened the window to peek out the upper half of his body.


    With a bang, the female corpse fell to the ground.


    I saw Lv shudder, silently opened his mouth, and then looked towards us. I slightly nodded at him, and he also nodded at me.


    The bulldozer rumbled as it slowly and unstoppably pushed forward. Looking from the top of the bulldozer, there was probably half a street, about two to three hundred meters, and it was densely packed with layers upon layers of Zombie s, it seemed like there were at least a few thousand of them. The bulldozer was like a lone boat on a dark and gorgeous sea, with huge waves of Zombie s that were made from white arms and black heads continuously lapping at the extended shovels, smashing into pieces on the rolling tracks.


    We had no choice but to clean out the Zombie s that had climbed onto the carriage. These Zombie s were usually pressured by the bulldozers until only half of their bodies were left, their lower bodies were hanging scattered below, using only their two hands to climb onto the carriage. Their faces were covered with wounds from the bulldozers'' ferocious steel shells, and their bodies were badly mutilated.


    After losing the Corpse Pushing Rod, we could only get closer and use our blades, military thorns, or feet to kick them down.


    Suddenly, a scream came from the front of the car. I looked up and saw a large group of Zombie s rolling down from the bucket. It turned out that the bucket was already filled to the brim with Zombie. The majority of the Zombie crashed into the mechanical arm and fell to the two sides, but a few managed to grab hold of the mechanical arm and continued to struggle their way over.


    The first one was completely crushed right below the ribs, dragging it around like a rag. A pile of black internal organs were squeezed out and stuck on top of it. One end of the intestines was caught by the teeth of the shovel, and as it crawled forward, it kept on pulling out from the cavity.


    The Ren girl screamed repeatedly in fear and jumped backwards involuntarily, smashing into the young boy. The child was originally using his foot to kick a Zombie that was climbing on top of a bulldozer''s air filter, but was knocked away and brushed past the Zombie''s head, of course the Zombie was not polite, it bit onto his calf, then it let go of the air filter with both hands and grabbed onto the boy''s calf. The boy could only let out a scream before falling out of the car.


    "Little Yi!" The woman let out a heart-wrenching scream, turned around to reach for her family, but she almost fell down as well. Luckily, she was hugged by another man, but she still struggled in his embrace, wanting to jump down to save her. The man could only hug her tightly with one hand, while the other hand firmly held onto the chimney.


    "Be careful!" Lv, who was beside them, roared and with a stride, stabbed the Zombie that was about to crawl past them to death.


    "You''ve already f * cking killed one, yet you still want to kill another?" Lv shouted crazily at the woman: "The dead are already dead, the living must live on in order to be worthy of the dead. Or else, go f * cking die by yourself!"


    Hearing Lv''s scolding, the lady was obviously startled, but immediately retracted her screaming, and after a few seconds, she gently broke free from the man''s embrace, raised the blade in her hand, and slashed towards the Zombie.


    At this time, our bulldozer had already rushed forward for more than a hundred meters, the borders of the Zombie s were right around the corner, all of the Zombie in the area were gathered here, as long as we broke through the area, although the bulldozer was only ten kilometers per hour, with the speed of the Zombie, it would be impossible for it to catch up.


    Seeing that they were about to escape from such a desperate situation, everyone became excited, they mustered up their energy and started to kill the Zombie s. San Mao killed with all his might, took off all of his clothes, then stabbed the carriage bare-chested with his thorns. It had only been a few months since he had eaten, and there was not much flesh on him, his skin was loose and loose, making him look comical.


    Finally, as if a firecracker had burned to the end, the sound was unplugged, and all of a sudden, the pleasant crackling of broken bones disappeared, and all of a sudden, in front of us lit up, and the bulldozer finally broke out of the group of Zombie and entered the open area.


    "Ha ha!" Everyone cheered, and the flagpole man even loosened his crotch, spitting out some obscenities while peeing behind him.


    But before we could rejoice for long, the bulldozer threw the group of Zombie 50 to 60 meters away. Suddenly, it shook violently, almost throwing us off, and then it stopped moving completely. No matter how Sergeant Major adjusted the turtle rabbit gear, no matter how he stepped on the gas pedal, the car only trembled a few times, unable to move forward or retreat.

 C47

    We jumped down from the truck in a hurry, and only after we got off did we realize that the tracks of the bulldozers, especially between the steering wheel and the driving wheel, were filled with layers upon layers of Zombie s. These Zombie s had almost been grinded into minced meat by the steel gears and tracks, but there were still a few heads that weren''t damaged, and they were still squirming, moaning, and howling on the dark slurry like wraiths struggling out of hell!


    "Run!" The tracks are broken! " Sergeant Major shouted from the other side. I went around to take a look, and as expected, there were more Zombie on the other side, and one of them just happened to have its leg bone inserted into the steering wheel.


    At that time, the torrent of tanks and armoured vehicles looked indestructible, but the flesh and blood Zombie did not seem to have any chance of winning at all. In reality, however, these steel monsters would always be trapped by the endless sea of corpses, and in the end, they would either be damaged or their fuel would be exhausted in the encirclement.


    Fortunately, we were already quite a distance away from the group of Zombie. A distance of fifty to sixty meters was enough for us to escape from this group of Zombie that were extremely slow. After sprinting for a while, we finally managed to pull away from the group of Zombie by more than two hundred meters and hid ourselves behind an office building.


    "They''re not coming up." Sergeant Major stretched his head out carefully to take a look, then lowered his voice and said.


    Actually, there''s no need to be so careful at all. Everyone knows that the Zombie''s eyesight is extremely poor, and at this distance, even if you wave your hand at it, it''s unlikely to be discovered. I saw that the Zombie were still packed full into the street, but they were no longer moving as one. Instead, they were wandering aimlessly around, colliding with the Zombie frequently and changing directions upon contact. It was just like Brownian movement I had learned from junior high school physics.


    I withdrew my head and collapsed onto the ground. At this moment, I felt that my limbs and bones were all in pain, as if I was being ruthlessly rubbed by a giant hand inside a gunny sack.


    "Why the fuck did you run away?" A voice that was deliberately lowered, yet filled with extreme anger, suddenly sounded. I turned my head to look, only to see the only man left in Ren''s house, holding onto Sergeant Major''s collar and asking, "Ah? Why leave us there? My family... "Sob, sob, sob ¡­" The man started to cry, but he tried to keep his voice low, but the sobs that came from his throat sounded sad.


    "Wuwuwu ¡­" My family... All dead... Wu wu wu ¡­ Are you still f * * king human? " The man cried as he shook Sergeant Major by the collar.


    I saw Sergeant Major''s taut face, but there was a hint of guilt in his eyes.


    "Yeah, Captain Zhang..." "You guys are too f * cking disloyal, why did you leave us behind and run away?" The flagpole man also interrupted in a weird tone.


    "This is a predetermined tactic. If there are too many Zombie that we can''t defeat, we can let a portion of us attract the attention of the Zombie ¡­" Sergeant Major said without emotion as if he was reciting it.


    "Which group are we in? Why didn''t you tell us first? " The man from Ren immediately became excited, the woman behind him immediately came over and comforted him, gently patting his back to calm him down.


    "Tell us first?" The flagpole man sneered and said, "Tell us first, are we going to return? "It''s clear that they want us to die ¡­"


    "Let''s not talk about this first ¡­" Uncle Feng suddenly stood up and waved his hand. He looked at Sergeant Major and said solemnly: "Based on what you said, did you get the food afterwards?"


    Sergeant Major nodded his head slightly. "We went in through the back door."


    We all stood up at once.


    "How many?" San Mao asked anxiously.


    Sergeant Major looked around at us and slowly said, "There are a lot of ¡­"


    There was indeed a lot of food, and most of it exceeded our most optimistic expectations. Staring at the six or seven hundred jin of food in front of us, we were flabbergasted and looked at each other in dismay. We had all swallowed down the words of reprimand that we had previously discussed.


    Once we arrive at the Ghost Market, they will separate us, the Ren''s family and the flagpole guy. This is the usual method used by departments to handle mass incidents, dividing up first, then breaking through each and every one of them, making it impossible for you to form a united front. Using benefits to tempt a few weak ones and using force to intimidate a few weaker ones, the rest is nothing to fear.


    It seems like we can be considered to be using the benefits to lure them over. When we saw this pile of grain, the dissatisfaction towards Ghost Market in our hearts decreased by more than half. To be honest, for us, this trip only cost Lin Hao a single person. This loss was originally already within our expectations, but the food we received far exceeded our expectations, it was enough for us to get through the winter, other than the shocking process, the outcome could be said to be beyond our imagination.


    "Everyone weighs 100 Jin of food, including the brothers who sacrificed themselves, for a total of 700 Jin. Mayor Chen also said that in order to express her apologies, she would give you another 100 Jin! Are you all satisfied? " A gentle looking man with gold-rimmed glasses pointed at the pile of grains.


    "This ¡­" Uncle Feng walked over and opened a bag. Inside was a bag full of rice, which, although slightly yellowish, looked to us like any other delicacy, and this gave us a peace of mind.


    "Then it''s settled!" The cultured man waved his hand and said, "Today, the canteen specially cooked a sumptuous dinner for you all ¡­ I heard there''s meat! It''s not safe at night, so don''t take the night route. You can rest here for the night and go back tomorrow! "


    We let him in without knowing and we followed him without knowing it.


    Dinner was indeed very sumptuous, and there was really meat. Everyone had a large portion of steamed bacon, and there was enough rice! This is the first time I''ve eaten meat in the past month. This kind of meaty meat that I didn''t even touch before now seems to have some kind of magic, as if the entire world has disappeared, leaving me and it behind.


    When I tried to take a bite, the rich fragrance of the bacon immediately filled my mouth and nose. The fatty oil flowed into my mouth, and my taste buds were like detonated explosives as they sucked up every single odor molecule. With my chewing, the meat pieces broke into tiny minced meat pieces, and the fragrance spread like crazy waves in my mouth ¡­ As I swallowed, the gravy slid down my throat, and I even experienced a kind of religious piety.


    This time, I ate four whole bowls of rice with this piece of salted meat. Only when Dr Lee came over to advise us that we shouldn''t eat anymore and that it would cost our lives did we reluctantly stop eating.


    After dinner, we saw that it was still early, so we discussed whether we should leave early and return home before nightfall. Especially the Uncle Feng, who had been nagging at us about it for an entire day and night, afraid that his wife and Casey would be worried, and finally reached an agreement. When we came here, we pushed three wheelbarrows, which could carry about four hundred kilograms of food. As for the remaining three hundred kilograms, the people from Ghost Market pounded their chests and promised us that they would come and take them at any time.

 C48

    When we came out of the canteen, we coincidentally saw Liu Guojun bringing the Ren man and woman over.


    "You''re all quite lucky this time!" Liu Guojun was still holding onto his nonexistent belly as he walked, speaking in an extremely annoying official voice, "Think about it, if Captain Zhang had not sacrificed his life to save you all, if he did not care about his own safety, would have come back to save you all, if he did not have a bulldozer that could still move, would you all still be alive and coming back?"


    The two from the Ren seemed to have been convinced by Liu Guojun. His eyes were swollen like walnuts, and he was still sobbing. The man had his head lowered, his face filled with worry, as he followed behind Liu Guojun.


    "So ¡­" Liu Guojun continued to speak: "You all need to thank Captain Zhang, and even more so the Mayor Chen. Even without this mission, do you all have enough food to survive the winter? Impossible, right? Instead of starving to death in your family, why don''t you two live on! You won''t have to worry about not having enough firewood to burn, right? "


    "Director Liu ¡­" The man suddenly said, "Can I discuss something with you?"


    "Speak, speak! I''m just here to solve your problem! " Liu Guojun stopped and said with an exaggerated tone.


    "So it''s like this ¡­" In our family, there''s only us two, husband and wife, and my mother. My mother is almost sixty, and with just the three of us, we won''t be able to survive.


    "Ugh ¡­" What did you do before? " Liu Guojun asked.


    "I used to do sales, my wife was an accountant, and my mother was a housewife ¡­" The man saw Liu Guojun frowning and immediately continued, "I have the strength, I can do anything. My wife and mother also can do the same. I beg of you, Director Liu, please give me a chance to live? "


    "This... "I can''t make a decision. How about you guys go back first, I''ll apply to the higher ups for research and research. Don''t worry, I''ll definitely talk to you guys. You guys really aren''t easy to deal with, I know that!"


    "Thank you very much, Director Liu. You must take it to heart!" The man thanked him profusely and followed Liu Guojun into the canteen.


    Liu Guojun brushed past us without even glancing at us, as if he thought of us as air.


    "Humph!" "What is that thing!" San Mao pouted and muttered. I slapped him on the shoulder and pushed him away.


    Although four hundred jin of food was a little strenuous for us, the short moment of escaping from death and returning full of food made us feel even more excited. Only Yang Yufan was still immersed in grief. To him, the dead Lin Hao was the only companion in this group who was close in age but could still speak for himself.


    We approached the tunnel at dusk that connected our encampment with the Ghost Market. We stopped at the entrance of the hidden tunnel and looked around to make sure that there was no one around. Regarding this tunnel, we don''t want other people to know that we have several hundred kilograms of food.


    "Hey!" Where are you going? " Just as we thought it was safe to lift the cover at the mouth of the tunnel, a man''s voice rang out.


    Startled, we drew our weapons in preparation.


    "Don''t be nervous... "Don''t be nervous ¡­" The voice continued. We followed the sound and saw a figure nimbly climbing down from the scaffolding outside the outbuilding beside the tunnel. When he landed on the ground and walked towards us with his hands raised, I was surprised to see that it was the man who had been trapped on the flagpole in the food factory!


    At this moment, I noticed that the man with the flagpole [1] was abnormally small and thin, with a height of less than 1.6 meters, but his arms were extremely long. Adding to that, when he walked, he had a hunch over his shoulders.


    "Don''t be nervous, I mean no harm ¡­" The flagpole man raised his long hand, and I noticed that his palm was unusually large, with long fingers, as if he was playing the piano.


    "What do you want?" After all, we had just experienced a moment of life and death together, so I was too embarrassed to give him a hard time.


    "This... Can I join? " The flagpole man went straight to the point.


    "Ah?" Join them? "Join what group?" I said, somewhat at a loss.


    "Just joining you guys, you know, my old buddies were fucking dead in the morning." The flagpole man said gloomily.


    "As you know, in this era of son of a bitch, a single person cannot survive by himself." The flagpole man continued to add.


    "Where''s your food?" San Mao opened his mouth and asked: "According to the distribution method of Ghost Market, you should receive up to a thousand kilograms worth of food by yourself ¡­"


    "You think they treat everyone like you?" The flagpole man sneered, "They gave me fifty kilograms of beans and told me that''s it. I can only take it and leave. "


    Ah!" Then, didn''t you not even have meat to eat? " Yang Yufan suddenly exclaimed.


    "What?" You still have meat to fucking eat? " The flagpole man shouted out in an exaggerated manner.


    "Void!" Lighten up! " San Mao scolded in a low voice, the flagpole guy also realized what was happening, he covered his mouth and started jumping, scratching his ears and cheeks, obviously feeling extremely frustrated that he had missed out on a piece of meat.


    "Then why do you want to join us?" I waved him off.


    "Isn''t this simple? All of you are strong, you went to so many teams together, only all of you survived without any injuries. If you want to live today, you can''t just find a thicker leg to hug ¡­"


    "The Ghost Market is not that strong, so it shouldn''t be difficult for you to join them with your skill, right?" San Mao continued to ask.


    "Haha ¡­" The man with the flag pole laughed lightly and said: "I would not dare, with that Mayor Chen''s scheming personality, I am afraid that someone will sell me the money!"


    "Friend!" At this time, Lv who was at the side suddenly spoke out without thinking: "You are the judge?"


    Hearing that, the man with the flag pole was obviously startled, he then squinted his eyes and looked at Lv from head to toe, and then smiled:


    "Your team is also very strange. Thieves and policemen are mixed in ¡­" Friend, which door are you from? "Forgive me for being unable to see ¡­"


    "I am a member of the Rongzi clan ¡­" Lv replied.


    "Oh ¡­" So it turned out to be ''Old Rong''. Sorry for the disrespect ¡­ "My apologies." The flagpole man cupped his hands in a bow.


    The two of them chatted like this, talking about something that I didn''t understand. It was like an ancient TV show.


    "''Tsukiko'' means someone who slipped through the door and climbed out the window..." "Old Rong ''is a technique to pry locks..." Fortunately, San Mao had explained it to me softly.


    The two talked for a while, then Lv gave us a look. The few of us walked to the side, and Lv said:


    "There isn''t much of a problem with being a person. The big bosses that he''s already worked with all have names in the circle ¡­" "Let''s see if you can accept it."


    San Mao turned to look at me. I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head, indicating that I did not have any objections. In my heart, I thought that there was already a thief in the party, so what if there was another thief?


    "I have no objections either ¡­" San Mao paused for a moment before continuing, "But we still need to see Uncle Feng''s intentions, since this is his place." We all nodded.


    In the end, after we explained the situation, Uncle Feng waved his hand and said: "It''s just a small matter. What is there to say?


    Therefore, everyone was overjoyed. The flagpole man bowed to us as he introduced himself, "My name is Hou Jian, my friends all call me Monkey. Please take care of me in the future."


    When I heard this name, I almost couldn''t hold back my laughter. I thought to myself, ''This person really lives up to his name.''


    Because of this delay, we returned to our residence and it was already dark by the time we arrived. But before we even went in, the door creaked and opened, Little Casey rushed out, and immediately dove into Uncle Feng''s embrace, I saw Aunt Chen standing at the door with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. Uncle Feng hugged Casey and his wife as they entered the house, and under the light of the rising moon, I saw Uncle Feng take out an item wrapped in cloth and gave it to Aunt Chen, which Aunt Chen opened layers of cloth, revealing a piece of salted meat.

 C49

    Two months and ten days ago.


    The cell phone bounced a few times on the floor before finally lying down. However, the call was still connected. For some reason, the phone automatically switched on hands-free!


    "Tut..." Grid... Grid... Grid... Higgle... Grid... Grid... "Swish ¡­"


    The voice became clearer and continued to ring.


    "What''s wrong? You look so awful? "


    At this moment, the Taoist walked out of the study. He picked up his phone from the floor and stared at me.


    As if I''d seen a ghost, I cringed back and pointed at the phone in his hand.


    The Taoist looked down at the screen suspiciously, then he noticed the voice as well.


    "Tut..." Grid... Grid... Grid... Higgle... Grid... Grid... "Swish ¡­"


    After the Daoist listened for a while, his face suddenly changed!


    "SOS!" he shouted.


    "What?" I didn''t know what the Taoist was talking about.


    "SOS!" The Daoist repeated the message and continued, "This is the Morse code. Three short dots represent S, three long dots represent O. With this cycle, this is SOS, the universal emergency signal!"


    "What?" "Stop!" I shouted in surprise and hurried forward to listen to the sound again, but at that moment, the phone suddenly hung up. After a few short busy sounds came from the receiver, the Taoist pressed the button to end the call, and the living room immediately quieted down, leaving only the whistling sound of the air-conditioning.


    After a long moment, I swallowed hard. My mouth felt like it had just been blown by a sandstorm. I tried to speak, but all I could hear was a hoarse voice.


    "This... "Who did this?" The Taoist also asked with a hoarse voice.


    I shook my head blankly.


    "Redial one?" The Taoist rummaged through the phone records and also found that the caller was an "unknown number".


    "It''s from abroad?" He looked up at me quizzically.


    I shrugged my shoulders to show I didn''t know.


    "Could it be MaggieQ?" The Taoist handed me his phone. "She looks like she came from abroad ¡­"


    His words woke the dreamer up! I admit that my life in the last few years was a little dissolute, but most of the people I hang out with should still be decent people. I don''t recall anyone calling me for help in this way. On the contrary, it was this mysterious MaggieQ. Although I had only known her for about ten days, she had already pointed a gun at me once and stitched up a wound for me.


    "Then what should we do? Where do we find her? " I blurted out, wondering why I was so anxious about a woman I barely knew.


    "How else can we find them?" This does not have any caller ID, if there is a number, San Mao could think of a way to locate her GPS! " The Taoist scratched his head.


    While we were helpless, the phone in my hand suddenly vibrated. I looked down and saw the "Unknown Number" again. I glanced at the Taoist, and the phone clicked, and then the hands-free.


    It was still the sound of water dripping, but not long later, that "hehe ¡­" The sound came again, but this time it wasn''t as regular as it had been, at least it sounded to me like a jumble of random knocks.


    "Record it!" The Taoist was in a hurry to point fingers at me.


    I quickly pressed the record button. This phone was the same as the first time. After a weird two to three minutes, I suddenly hung up.


    "How is it? Is it the Morse code this time? " After the call ended, I anxiously asked the head.


    "I don''t know, I''m not a secret service agent, how could I tell all of a sudden ¡­" Play the recording again, and I''ll listen to it again. " The Taoist replied.


    "Wait, I need to connect the Bluetooth speakers so I can hear it more clearly." I pulled my phone out of the intercom, plugged in the Bampo Bluetooth speaker in the living room, and played the tape.


    The volume of the speakers was very high the last time it was played. The "ge ge ge" sound, which sounded like the cruel laughter of evil spirits, suddenly came out from the loudspeakers, startling both the Taoist and I. The eerie and terrifying sound wandered back and forth in the dark and cold living room, giving me goosebumps all over my body.


    Just as I was about to turn down the volume, the Taoist reached out a hand to stop me. He took the phone from my hand and turned up the volume a bit more.


    "The sound of nails tapping against something ¡­ However ¡­ It seemed a little empty, as if he was knocking on a box ¡­ "Or is it knocking inside the box?" The Taoist said with a frown while tilting his head and listening.


    I listened carefully, and sure enough, the sound was magnified to sound like the tapping of a long-nailed hand, and through the excellent reduction effect of Bampo I could even hear a few scratches on the surface of the nail. Because right after hearing the Taoist say "knock in the box", I immediately thought of a zombie, in the sealed coffin, using its long nails to constantly scratch the coffin ¡­ My hair stood on end.


    "Ge, ge ¡­" Grid... Grid... Grid... Higgle... Grid... "Hehehehe ¡­" The sound did not sound regular, and the more he heard, the stranger it felt. The more he heard, the more he felt that the sound did not come from the human world ¡­ A few minutes passed, and then the living room fell silent again, and I realized that I had been holding my breath. I let out a long breath and turned to look at the Taoist, wanting to ask him if he had heard anything, but he didn''t wait for me to ask, so he took the phone from my hand and pressed the play button.


    "Do you have pen and paper? Bring it over! " "Hey," the Taoist called out to me, picking up the computer I''d dropped on the carpet.


    "Ah?" Yes... "Yes..." I hastily replied and quickly went into the study to look for pen and paper.


    The number of times I''ve been in the study since I moved into the house is numbered. The whole wall of the study was taken up by a row of large bookcases, but most of them were simulacra my father had bought to put on the front of the room, and the hardcover books that looked luxurious, thick, and even worn by the passage of time were in fact just an empty shell.


    The study was littered with scraps of floorboards and still had a bad smell to them, but I didn''t have the time to think about it. I walked around the floor and found a stack of papers and a few pens from the large mahogany desk, then scuttled back to the living room and handed them to the Taoist, who was deep in thought and frowning in front of his computer.


    "There is a pattern to this voice!" The Taoist took the pen and spread it out in front of the computer.


    "You missed a recording at the beginning ¡­" As the Taoist spoke, he dragged the progress bar of the phone player, "This message has been repeated twice. The second time, the complete message should be from here ¡­" The conductor pressed the play button, and the sound appeared again.


    "Ge, ge ¡­" Grid... Grid... "Swish ¡­"


    The head of the aisle presses the pause key.


    "Two short, three long..." The Taoist searched line by line on his computer screen, "Represents the number 2!"


    Play it again.


    "Chi ¡­" Grid... "Tut!"


    "Two long, three short..." It''s the number seven! "


    "Giggle Giggle ¡­"


    "Five Shorts... "Number 5!"


    "¡­"


    After half a day''s worth of mistakes, overthrowing everything and comparing it anew, the Taoist finally brought out his achievement.


    27, 54, 55, 46, 118, 01, 9, 41


    "Is it a coordinate?" I mumbled as I looked at the numbers.

 C50

    This is a valley, which seems unremarkable in Googleearth.


    The exact location of this coordinates is not far from us, about 400 kilometers southwest of Qianchao City. This was the border between the three provinces. From the satellite map, it was surrounded by dark green mountains. Not even a road could be seen. I remembered one time at a table, a friend of San Mao''s who was drinking wine and bragging, said that at the border between our province and Western Mountain Province, it was the place where the two cannons were stationed. All the mountains there were hollowed out, and in the middle of the mountain, the best weapons of our country were hidden.


    "What is this place?" muttered the Taoist, staring at the map on the computer screen.


    "Won''t we know if we go and take a look?" I blurted it out like a man in a trance.


    The Taoist looked up at me sharply, his eyes sparkling.


    It wasn''t that I was brave, or as curious as the Taoist. In that instant, I felt that the SOS signal had been sent by MaggieQ, and I didn''t even think about it, as if it were fated to be, as if it were only natural that I should go and save her, and then I remembered that this strong, uncontrollable impulse was like a salmon returning to its native land to lay its eggs, and then dying of exhaustion; like a male praying mantis attracted to its mother and eaten willingly after mating.


    San Mao was also called back by us. He had always known that we were investigating, but he had always scoffed at our theory, thinking that the person with the severed neck was just an illusion. He didn''t even believe that the MaggieQ I told him about was pointing a gun at me. But as soon as I told him we were going into the mountains to explore, he came back jubilantly.


    "Finally I have a chance to use you," I said to myself as I picked up my ancestral bird backpack, weighed it in my hand.


    I bought this backpack when I was dating a donkey friend for a while, but before I could use it, she saw through my desire to get close to her just to sleep with her, not really liking the reality of outdoor sports. After she told me she was a Lala, we became good buddies, but I never went out again.


    The backpack was fully equipped, and for me, who had been so focused on picking up girls at the time, everything was the best I could buy ¡ª a professional Magellan field GPS, a Zeiss Glimmer telescope, Wolf''s Claw tent and sleeping bag, Bell''s survival knife, and even a complete gas stove and cooking utensils.


    For the Taoist priest, who was always ready to run, equipment was even more of a problem. He rolled up his bedroll on the floor of the study and stuffed a few clothes into his backpack, preparing to leave.


    The two of us carried a big backpack and were about to go out like refugees. San Mao stared at us in a daze at the door with his round eyes.


    "Where''s your stuff?" the Taoist asked at the same time.


    San Mao shrugged his shoulders, "Wouldn''t it be fine if you bring it?"


    We''re driving San Mao''s car, a 4.0 capacity Toyota Prado. This was the only valuable property that San Mao had acquired after working for more than ten years. Because of this, he and his parents went through a long war. As a result, in the three years since they bought the car, his mother never spoke to him, and she told me several times that crazy housing prices had caused them to no longer have the ability to help their children buy a decent house in this city. If San Mao didn''t buy a car, then he could buy a house anywhere with their lifetime savings and the payment for the car ¡­ Every time she talked about it, she would shed tears because San Mao was not up to the task and because she couldn''t persevere anymore.


    San Mao, on the other hand, viewed this car as a treasure, and had even reached the level of a fetishist. If he had to choose between a scratch on a random girl and the car that he was dating with, he would definitely kick her out of the car without hesitation!


    "Good child, your father is taking you out to have fun ¡­" San Mao started the engine, caressed the dashboard behind the steering wheel and mumbled to himself. There was a perverted look on his face, saying that a man''s serious expression was the most handsome, perhaps this was San Mao''s most handsome state.


    It was a hot, humid summer day, and the afternoon air was so stuffy that it seemed like it was about to leak out. We followed the slightly dilapidated highway westward, and as we headed west, we could see more and more barren hills and mountains outside the window. The trees were beginning to thicken, the houses in the village were slowly becoming sparse, and the traffic on the road was becoming sparse.


    At night, the situation became even more lonely, even the laughing San Mao and the Daoist Priest all shut their mouths, and only smoked quietly one after another. Occasionally, there would be a train, rumbling past the parallel tracks, the body of the train would be brightly lit, and every single window would have a shadow of a person flash past them.


    "We''re here ¡­" San Mao softly spat out these two words.


    I looked up and saw a line of words shining on the road ¡ª "Welcome to Xu Qiu County (fictitious place name)".


    This is the nearest civilized place to that nameless valley, and the place where we planned to rest for the night. From the map, we could see that this was probably a county town, but we didn''t sense any business atmosphere. Apart from a brand-new four-lane main road, everything else was shabby and barren. Most of the buildings on both sides of the road were two or three stories long. Most of the streets were only accessible to one vehicle, and there were many places where the spacious body of Prado could not be entered at all. There were few lights or pedestrians on the roads at around nine o''clock in the evening. It was not easy to find a brightly lit location. When he approached, he saw that it was actually the county government.


    There are times when I feel like I''m traveling through time. The narrow, narrow streets and low buildings that looked so much like the little county town of my childhood made me feel as if I''d run into something I hadn''t expected to see twenty years ago.


    "I think we''re going to sleep on the car today!" With a cigarette in his mouth, the Taoist stuck his head out the window like a dog and blew the night wind.


    We just came out of the Hotel at Xu Qiu County. That''s probably the best hotel here, with three stars on the name list. Hotels named after local names were generally not too bad, at least health was guaranteed. But we were told we had no room because the hotel was hosting an expedition from the province.


    "Unlucky!" "Huh?" San Mao spat outside the window, but immediately followed up with a surprised voice, pointing ahead, he said: "That place is not bad!"


    I looked up and saw red light ahead of me. When we got closer, we discovered that the two sides of the street were lined with shops decorated with pink glass windows. "Yi Ye Beauty Shop", "Little Red Foot Bath", "Youth Hair Gallery", "Crystal Hotel" ¡­ All sorts of vague signs sparkled in the night.


    Behind each of the pink glass windows sat a group of girls who were wearing revealing clothes. When San Mao slowed down his speed and passed by them, they all stood up and waved to us warmly, like sisters who had been separated for many years. Through the pink glass windows, it looked like an absurd play.


    "This is the red light district!" San Mao shouted, excited to the point that his pimples were about to burst.


    "Every pink window has a sad story behind it ¡­" The Taoist sighed.


    "Stop messing around, we still have to do some serious work tomorrow!" I hit San Mao''s hand to stop him from supporting the local entertainment industry.


    "Heh ¡­" This was the proper thing to do! Since they were already here, how could they not try out the local dishes? Besides, aren''t we looking for a place to stay? It seems like this damn place is pretty good. How about where do you want to live? "You can''t possibly stay in that twenty yuan guest house at the entrance of the city, right?" After he said that, I also felt that it was right. After walking around the city, I didn''t see any hotels that cared about appearances, but this place seemed to have a few that were at least decent and should still be able to sleep.


    "Which family is good? Which family was good? "They look pretty good. Dao leader, I''ve already chosen to have a syndrome of being a staff officer with you!" San Mao didn''t care about me at all. He just stretched his neck and looked left and right, like a puppy that smelled sh * t but couldn''t see anything.


    The Taoist had already stuck his head out of the back seat and was looking around, his eyes wide and ripping through his old-fashioned black-rimmed glasses.


    "This one!" This one is not bad! " The Taoist suddenly patted San Mao''s seat and shouted.


    "This one?" San Mao doubtfully mumbled: "How is it better?"


    "Good name!" The Taoist shook his head and said.


    I looked up at the sign ¡ª The Maple Night Resort.


    I observed again and felt that this was a good place. Although it was also a pink window, there was still a proper lobby with no exposed girls. It seemed relatively formal.


    "What about his name? "So ordinary ¡­" San Mao was still muttering to himself.

 C51

    "Three people, 150 people." Before I could say anything, the little girl behind the counter stared at the computer screen and smiled at Yang Di, who was dressed in an old-fashioned costume. She seemed to have eyes in the back of her head.


    "I want a standard room and a large bed room ¡­" I pulled out a credit card and handed it over. San Mao snores when he sleeps, and I hate snores the most. I definitely cannot bear to sleep in the same room as him.


    "Two hundred for two rooms, two hundred for a deposit, four hundred in total ¡­" We don''t accept credit cards here. " The girl looked away from Yang''s face and glanced at me.


    I shrugged, counted out four hundred dollars from my wallet, and handed it over again.


    "ID card." After the girl received the money, she swiftly filled out the form, tore out a card and two room cards and handed them to me. "Tomorrow, take this deposit. Your rooms are 3188, 3288." After saying that, he turned his head back towards the computer screen and that silly smile immediately appeared on his face again.


    "That ¡­" San Mao said hesitantly.


    "Sauna is on the second floor!" The girl cut him off without even looking back.


    I threw the room card over to San Mao and went to my room to sleep by myself. What they''re going to do next, I''m not interested in. To the two of them, this journey was a pastime, while to me, it had other meanings ¡­ But what was the point? Save her lover? MaggieQ wasn''t related to me. I didn''t even know her real name, let alone that she had threatened me with a gun or smashed my head. He could easily get rid of them, but he would never be able to catch up with them?


    I leaned against the door and let my imagination run wild. There was a faint smell of mildew in the room. I tried to open the window, but it was sealed off by a hideous steel fence. Apart from that, the room was clean and the air conditioner worked, which was a blessing. I took a shower and lay down on the bed early. He wanted to play with his phone, but he found that there were no internet signals. He could only close his eyes and force himself to sleep.


    But he could not sleep. His brain felt like it had been turned on, and thoughts began to emerge one by one. Sometimes it was MaggieQ, sometimes it was Zhou Kewen, sometimes it was those girls who were flirting behind the pink windows ¡­ I don''t know how much time had passed, but it was probably around midnight when I finally managed to enter a half-asleep, half-awake state ¡­


    At this moment, I heard a faint noise coming from outside.


    My consciousness seemed to be sleeping at the bottom of the sea, slowly being pulled away by the din. At first, I thought it was a group of drunkards coming to stay, but didn''t think much about it. However, the noise became louder and louder, and then I heard San Mao''s fierce roar ¡­ I woke up with a start!


    I went out the door and listened. The sounds seemed to come from downstairs, a group of men and women were arguing noisily. San Mao''s voice was the loudest, sounding exceptionally angry. Now I''m sure they''re in trouble!


    I hurried back to my room and took the Bel''s survival knife out of it. Without even bothering to put on my clothes, I ran down the stairs, my voice louder and louder, to the second floor, where I was sure they were inside, but the door was locked. I pushed the door open a few times, panicked, and kicked it open with a kick, shouting, and jumped in with the knife in my hand.


    The light inside the door was dim and it took a while for my eyes to adjust to it. Then, I saw a group of middle-aged and old aunties, along with San Mao and the Daoist priest, all staring at me in a daze.


    Until a very long time later, San Mao still kept this matter up to date, and he kept bringing joy to us, who had fallen into despair during the last days of the Zombie. Every time San Mao would describe me, who jumped into the house bare-chested while holding a blade, as a hero who fell from the sky.


    "You ¡­ Your friend? " The group of people stared at each other for a long while before a woman finally spoke up.


    "Ugh ¡­" San Mao nodded his head slightly, his neck looked like a rusty robot.


    "Great!" "You can judge ¡­" The group of old grannies suddenly went into an uproar once again, they immediately rushed over and started to denounce San Mao and the Taoist.


    It took a long time for me to piece together the story from their rambling.


    It turned out that after San Mao and the Daoist Priest put down their luggage in their room, the two of them went out for a midnight snack. They both swore that they had knocked at my door for a long time, and there was no answer from me. They both thought I had left them to their own devices.


    In short, after San Mao and the Daoist Priest got drunk (perhaps because they were afraid of doing something like this, they would drink until they were drunk, and in this way, it would lessen their sense of shame or guilt), San Mao and the Daoist Priest then rushed to the Sauna on the second floor, after negotiating the price and choosing a girl each, they went into the cannon room to take care of the good news. The two of them both said that the young lady''s expression was dull, that she did what she called to do, and did not have the slightest sense of service, but what was important was that after the rain, the two of them touched their wallets and disappeared!


    "These two friends of yours clearly want to eat an overlord''s meal!" One of the aunties was so excited that she could almost poke her finger into San Mao''s face, "Let me tell you all, this is slander! We do business for nothing, and we have never tried to steal from you. How did you call us thieves? "


    "Don''t f * cking speak nonsense. I am also a gangster, how can I not know?" Let me tell you this, if it wasn''t for the fact that you all are all old women, I would have already f * * king beaten you all up! " San Mao didn''t cower in the slightest when faced with his overbearing attitude. He even made a gesture of rolling up his sleeves, and only when he was halfway done did he realize that he didn''t even have any sleeves to roll up his upper body.


    "Fight! Fight!" Why don''t you do it! " Just as San Mao finished speaking, a few old ladies stuck out their chests and rushed towards him, pasting their breasts onto his body like exploding airbags, causing San Mao to stumble and dodge.


    Seeing that there was no way to end this matter, this bunch of Obassons, who couldn''t fight back and couldn''t scold her either, could only admit their defeat.


    "Alright, alright, maybe it was stolen while you were drinking, how much did this Sang get? "I got it out for you ¡­"


    "That''s right!" This handsome guy is the one who is reasonable... "It must be you guys who lost Sa outside ¡­" Several "airbags" immediately surrounded me, causing me to jump back in fright.


    "F * ck your mother!" San Mao flew into a rage: "When I entered the room, I even took out my money bag to take a look!"


    "Don''t speak nonsense like that. Be careful not to cause prostatitis ¡­" An old lady with one hand on his waist and the other on San Mao''s, shouted harshly while pointing at San Mao. Even the flesh on his chin was trembling, his aura making his look like the General Barton who was commanding the Armored Division to attack.


    "Tell me, how did you lose your money?" When was it not? "Where did it go?" General Patton "went on at once, spittle pouring out of his mouth like a waterfall, and I had no doubt that if the sun shone in at this moment, we would see a rainbow around her mouth.


    "This ¡­" San Mao was startled, and was speechless.


    "Look, eh?" Isn''t it? "I can''t say it out loud, right?" General Barton was unrelenting: "You also said that when you entered the room yourself, you had looked at your wallet. When did you steal it? Could it be that someone was hiding inside the room? "Come, come, handsome brother, let me show you our room ¡­"


    General Barton reached out to help me, and I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender, indicating that I would follow her.


    The entire first floor was nominally a sauna, but it was actually divided into small gun chambers. We followed General Barton through the labyrinthine corridors until she led us to the door of one of the rooms and opened it.


    "Here!" Look, can anyone hide here? "


    I looked up and saw that the room was barely ten square meters wide. The door was opened and there was a TV cabinet and an old video tube set at the foot of the bed. There was nothing else in the room, not to mention hiding people, I was afraid that even a mouse wouldn''t be able to hide inside.


    "Look, look ¡­" "Is there one here?" General Patton lifted the mattress. The frame was only twenty centimeters high, and there was no way someone was hiding beneath it.


    "And this ¡­" General Patton rushed to the end of the bed and opened the television cabinet door. There was only a very shallow space inside.


    "Are you sure you checked your wallet when you came into the room?" I frowned and asked San Mao.


    "That''s right ¡­" San Mao was a little unsure of himself now. He scratched his head and said: "I saw it before I took off my pants. That girl even said it was dirty when her pants were on the floor, and she folded it and put it there." San Mao pointed to a place at the end of the bed that was close to the TV cabinet.


    "That''s strange ¡­" I thought that maybe San Mao remembered wrongly. Just as I was about to say that I would just let it go like that, out of the corner of my eyes, I saw an old lady behind me looking at the bedside table with her eyes.


    My heart skipped a beat. I squeezed into the room beside "General Barton" and lowered my head to observe the TV cabinet. At the same time, I quickly glanced behind me. That grandma''s expression became even more flustered.


    I squatted down and carefully checked the interior of the cabinet. There wasn''t anything unusual, it was just an ordinary cabinet. There wasn''t anything inside, and the size was so small that it was impossible to hide the next adult. However, when I compared the width of the outside of the cabinet with the depth of the cabinet, I immediately found the problem ¡ª the width of the outside of the cabinet was far greater than the actual space inside, which meant that the cabinet had two layers!


    I reached out and lightly tapped the bottom of the TV cabinet, making a crisp, hollow sound. I felt around the bottom of the TV cabinet and found a few loose buttons. I moved the top two and gently pulled them, and the entire bottom was removed by me, revealing a small hole!


    At this time, "General Barton" also started to panic, shaking the two "airbags" on her chest as he said nervously, "You, you, you ¡­" What are you doing? If it''s broken, you have to accompany it! "


    "Haha!" So it''s hidden here! " San Mao was immediately excited, he squatted down and squeezed through the entrance of the cave, but the tunnel was too small, so much so that it was impossible for a man like San Mao, who was around 1.8 meters tall, to enter.


    "I don''t know where this hole came from, but look, there''s no way anyone can enter ¡­" General Barton was still struggling.


    "Come out first ¡­" I pulled San Mao''s belt and dragged him out of the hole, then stuck out my head to check the situation of the tunnel.


    "I said ¡­" Not this hole... "If the item is damaged, you have to compensate ¡­" General Barton was incoherent.


    I ignored her and led San Mao away. After making two turns in the corridor, I pointed to a door and said, "It''s here!"


    "F * ck!" San Mao did not hesitate as he kicked the door open. Inside, there was a dwarf holding a chopstick and looking at us in a daze.

 C52

    The Dwarf was startled for a second or two, then immediately reacted, he jumped off the chair and ran back to the wall. He pulled open a curtain and crawled into the hole, but just as he stuck his head in half a head, he was pulled out by San Mao.


    "Fuck, you''re still running!" Just like that, San Mao carried the Dwarf on his feet. He was about 1.8m tall, but the Dwarf was only about 1.0m.


    "Still not honest? "See how I''ll take care of you!" San Mao looked around and saw a row of hooks nailed to the side of the room with a few sets of clothes hung on them. San Mao carried the Dwarf and walked over. He tore off two or three pieces of clothes and threw them on the ground, then turned the Dwarf upside down and hung his entire collar on the hook.


    The dwarf, his arms and legs too short to reach the hooks, his feet too low to step on the ground, was suspended in the air like a puppet. He struggled for a moment, then suddenly stopped moving and looked at us with a flattering smile.


    "See what this is?" The Dwarf''s instant noodles were littered with several wallets. San Mao walked over and picked one out, opening it, he saw that the money was still inside. He raised his chin and said: "What about yours?"


    The Taoist shrugged and said, "I didn''t bring ¡­"


    At this time, "General Barton" had already completely lost his momentum and became a fake army that had just surrendered.


    "This child... "How can you steal something from someone!" "False army!" They rushed over and beat up the midget that was hanging on the wall.


    "Child?!" I almost puked my lungs out as I thought to myself, Auntie, your acting skills are a bit too unrestrained, not as exaggerated as yours. Although this dwarf is small, the wrinkles on his face look like they''ve been pickled for the whole winter, no matter how I look at it, it looks like you''ve dug up more than forty points.


    "Aiya ¡­" Brother ¡­ Sorry... "Kids don''t understand ¡­" In an instant, General Barton became as humble as Yang Bai. It was as if the argument just now never happened, and the smile on his face could kill any mosquitoes that stopped on it.


    Seeing the old procuress act like this, he no longer had the heart to continue being angry. Instead, he took out a few yuan from his wallet and handed it over: "Hey, I already said that I never eat for free, take the money, the girls can''t work on it for nothing."


    "Hehe, hehe ¡­" "How can I accept this shame ¡­" The old procuress grabbed the money, lifted up her clothes, and stuffed them into the pocket of her old-fashioned pants.


    "Alright, let''s do it this way then ¡­" Go back and sleep! " I had had enough of this farce. I turned around and walked out, followed by San Mao and the Taoist.


    "You bastard, why do you keep destroying my stage? If you don''t eat earlier, you won''t eat later. And yet, eating instant noodles at this time? " From behind us came the sound of the bawd''s machine-gun swearing, mixed with the crackling of the blows.


    The dwarf screamed as he tried to defend himself, "I''m hungry!"


    "And you guys!" I told you not to dance in the square all day. "Why didn''t you pull him along just now?" The bawd expanded the battlefield and prepared to fight alone against the entire audience: "Don''t think that you can be so arrogant after entering the city. Look at all of you, you''re just thinking of going out and pretending to be a big tail wolf? Who were they trying to seduce? Eh? Yesterday, he was still in the mountains harvesting pigweed. Today, he had to travel through the mountains, turn his tractor into a minibus, and struggle for half a day before entering the city. Wasn''t it to earn some money? Was it easy to earn money? Ah? Don''t look down, your head is almost in your pants! I''m telling you, if Ming''er doesn''t work properly, you can f * * king kick rocks for me in the park! "


    Hearing that, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind, I pulled San Mao and the Taoist, and turned to the group of old grannies: "That ¡­"


    The old procuress reflexively turned around. When she turned around, her face was filled with the kind of smile that would kill a mosquito. "Handsome, what else do you want?"


    "Let me ask you guys about a place ¡­" I gave a brief description of the valley we were going to.


    Unexpectedly, before I could finish my sentence, the expressions of the aunts behind the old procuress and the dwarf hanging on the hook changed.


    "Why are you asking about this?" After everyone was stunned for a few seconds, the dwarf asked.


    =


    "Mao Tou, are you f * * king lying to us? How could this be called a road? It would be even better than a washboard! Did you f * cking go to the wrong place? " San Mao stared straight ahead, his hands holding the steering wheel, chattering nonstop.


    We were rolling in a washing machine that looked like a drying program, the car like a lone boat in a storm, now at the crest of a wave, now at the bottom of a ravine. This is not a road at all, it''s full of gravel and deep pits, and if it weren''t for Prado''s powerful cross-country ability, we wouldn''t have been able to get to this damn place.


    "Of course not, Brother San Mao." Dwarf "Mao Tou" would often fly up from his seat due to the impact, but he still stuck his head out like a curious puppy, sneaking between the two positions, "Even if we tried to borrow our courage, we wouldn''t dare to lie to your big brother about that ¡­ "Don''t worry, I''ve lived in the Ox yoke Ditch for more than 30 years. I can even find it with my eyes closed. I can''t be wrong!"


    What happened last night very vividly explained the old saying, "You can find out where you want to find the broken iron shoes, so you can get them without any trouble". Who would have thought that Mao Tou and the group of aunts were all from the place we were about to go ¡ª a valley called the "Ox Yoke Gully"?


    "I say, brothers, it''s not that I''m bragging, but our place is so deep that even ghosts can''t be seen. If it wasn''t for me leading you, you guys definitely wouldn''t have been able to find a hair on the mountain, not even with this machine!" Mao Tou pointed to the GPS beneath the wind shield. There was no road on the GPS at all, only a white patch and a triangle representing our position.


    "Also ¡­" And ¡­ "How far is it?" The Daoist sat in the back row, his face ashen. "I''m going to puke my intestines out!"


    "Not far, turn that cove ¡­" The car won''t be able to get in. We have to get out and walk. "


    "It''s so hard to walk this road, how did you say those soldiers entered?" and the machinery and equipment to open the mountain... " With one hand, I tightly grabbed onto the armrest above the window, barely managing to stabilize my body. Mao Tou said that the valley that their ancestors lived in had been commandeered by the army, establishing a secret military base.


    "They are on the other side of the lake. The roads there are not bad, but military regulations prevent your cars from entering." Mao Tou seemed to have long gotten used to the bumpy road, there was no discomfort on his face.


    "Ai ¡­" I say, brothers, when we get to the place, count me in too. " After a moment of silence, Mao Tou suddenly flickered with his eyes and said: "I''m small, there are many places that you guys cannot enter, I can enter, and you all have seen my digging technique."


    "What''s yours?" "What hole?" We were both confused and completely confused by Mao Tou.


    "Haha ¡­" Mao Tou smiled ambiguously, as if he had understood the truth of the universe. "Stop pretending, I know what these brothers are here for, don''t worry, I won''t speak carelessly."


    "What are we doing here?" I was shocked and looked at San Mao, thinking that Mao Tou really knew something.


    "Hey! Grave robber... Your guys will see. " Mao Tou pointed to the trunk and continued: "Although I have never done this before, I have studied it. Look, this tombstone robbing book is about to be torn apart by me ¡­"


    I turned around and saw Mao Tou taking out a book from his bag. I looked at the cover of the book ¡ª "Ghost Blows Out the Light"!

 C53

    "Here, look at this dragon vein. It''s filled with wind and water. Wind and water are not ordinary. Look at this dragon vein ¡­" Mao Tou stood on top of a huge rock on the mountain ridge with one hand on his waist and the other pointing towards the vast mountains.


    My mind was completely blank. It was as if there was a red-hot iron rod repeatedly stabbing into my throat. My legs seemed to have become like iron plates. Every step of mine was filled with intense pain.


    This mountain forest is just as Mao Tou had said. All kinds of small paths, covered forests, coasts, and deep valleys formed a deep and unfathomable maze, and every single place looked to be extremely familiar, as if we had just arrived at a place. If we didn''t find the marks that we had made in advance, I would have thought that Mao Tou was leading us in a circle.


    San Mao and the Daoist Priest were also not in a good mood. Although San Mao''s outer appearance was mighty and he was a police officer, this fellow had never run past 500 meters since he started working. Adding to that the food he ate and drank all year round and his irregular life, his body had long since disappeared. I looked at the fat on his back, which was completely drenched in sweat, bulging out one after another as he walked.


    The Daoist looked even worse. His complexion was ashen, but at this moment, his face was flushed red. He was panting like a farm tractor with a broken exhaust pipe. His skinny body was like a tree branch that was about to be broken at any time.


    Only Mao Tou was exceptionally excited, his short legs jumping around like a pet dog that had seen its master leave home a long time ago.


    Don''t just look at how poor this place is, we''ve also been born in the royal palace, so it''s not strange for there to be an ancient tomb in this mountain!" Mao Tou took out the ripped pirated version of "Ghost Blows Out the Light", pointed at it and said: "This book says ¡ª Dragon Veins, from the perspective, there are also Immersed Dragons, Hidden Dragons, Flying Dragons, Soaring Dragon Mao Tou gestured with his finger, "It is clearly a wyvern!


    The three of us have a lack of oxygen in our brains, so we don''t have the strength to talk. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, San Mao jumped down from the stone and landed soundlessly.


    "I say, you guys should let me know, whose tomb are you going to dig?" Are the black donkey''s hooves ready? What about Luoyang Shovel? "


    I was as tired as a wild dog in the hot sun. I put my hands on my knees, stuck out my tongue, and gasped for breath.


    "Digging your mother! What about the military base you were talking about? You aren''t f * * king messing with us, are you? "


    "Not far, not far ¡­" "We''ll be there after this mountain." Mao Tou used his hands and feet to climb up, like a small beast that lived in the forest to begin with.


    "Oh ¡­" "I got it ¡­" Mao Tou suddenly stopped and turned to look at me: "That place is an ancient tomb, right? The government was already digging, right? "No wonder they chased us away. They want to surround us and dig us out!"


    I was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. I could only weakly wave my hand to signal for him to leave.


    Fortunately, our destination was just as Mao Tou had said. After going over this mountain ridge, Mao Tou finally stopped and said in a small voice:


    "We''re right in front of you ¡­"


    "You''re f * * king messing with me!" I looked at the impenetrable forest in front of me. There was not a trace of man-made buildings.


    "Void ¡­!" Mao Tou put his index finger to his lips and made a silent gesture. Then, he waved his hand, cut off the vines around a tall maple and entered it.


    The three of us looked at each other, and in the end, San Mao shrugged and followed along. The Taoist and I had to follow.


    These vines climbed up on top of every tree, the leaves densely packed together, covering the entire sky in layers. The sunlight was like sparks that were about to be extinguished, and in the middle of the leaves hung purple flowers, looking like a fairy tale.


    "This is Kudo Vine, an invasive plant ¡­" As if the Taoist knew my doubts, he suddenly opened his mouth and said, "This thing used to be good stuff. Kudo can eat it, and flowers can make medicine, and vines can also take hemp cloth ¡­" "It''s a pity that everyone is rich now, and no one is going to suffer any more, running up the mountain to dig and chop. Then, it''s like this, the whole mountain is covered with grass, its leaves are too lush, blocking out the sun, causing other plants in the forest to be unable to grow ¡­"


    I looked down and saw that there was not a single blade of grass growing under my feet.


    "It''s a loss when the moon is full. It''s not good to overdo anything ¡­" The Taoist began to shake his head.


    "Who said that? You''re not afraid of too much money! " San Mao turned and said.


    The Taoist was stunned and nodded. "That''s true ¡­"


    "Shh ¡­" "We''re here!" Mao Tou suddenly squatted and said.


    "Where?" San Mao looked left and right.


    Mao Tou laughed complacently and tilted his head. Looking in his direction, there was a thick layer of Ge Teng''s waterfall that looked like it was being covered by a blanket.


    Mao Tou was like a pangolin, digging through the layers of leaves and entering into the cave, behind him, a round green hole appeared. After a while, a ray of sunlight suddenly shone through the hole.


    "Come here!" Mao Tou shouted from the other side.


    I squinted my eyes for a while, then bent down and looked out of the hole left by Mao Tou. At this time, the leaves around me had already started to close, I pushed the hole to the side a bit, and also went in. It was as if I had rolled into a pile of soft linen. The leaves on both sides of me were constantly rubbing against my face, and the fur on the leaves made my neck itch. I felt as if I were crawling through the rabbit hole that led to Alice''s Wonderland.


    The hole was not deep, and a distance of two to three meters was covered in a blink of an eye. Suddenly, the sky lit up, and it took me a while to get used to the darkness. The forest seemed to have been cut by knives, and stopped there. The grass stretched out for twenty to thirty meters before a towering barbed-wire net appeared!


    Just then, San Mao and the Taoist also came out. The three of us lined up in a row and stared at the twenty-meter-tall barbed wire.


    "What does this have to do with anything?" I swallowed hard and said.


    "Jurassic Park..." The Taoist grunted softly.


    "Quick, follow me!" Mao Tou covered the leaves at the entrance of the cave once again.


    We followed Mao Tou to the side of the forest and the barbed wire fence, while constantly looking in the direction of the barbed wire. It was a warning sign, but behind the barbed wire fence, there was still a stretch of grass and no man-made buildings could be seen.


    "How do I get in?" We didn''t bring any wire shears, so there''s still electricity here! " San Mao could not hold it in, and continued to ask as he walked.


    To us, it was a good idea to leave, but to Mao Tou, it was a mad dash. His two short legs were swaying quickly like a rabbit, but he did not show any signs of exhaustion, even his breathing remained stable.


    "There''s a cliff up ahead. They don''t have any barbed wire!"


    "Cliff?" Then how do we get down? Could it be that we''re flying down? " San Mao said in anger.


    "I know a secret passage!" Mao Tou answered bluntly.


    After we had walked for more than ten minutes, the cliff Mao Tou mentioned finally appeared in front of us. This ocher red cliff was very abrupt, like a castle rising from the ground, it did not look like a product of nature at all. It looked like a relic left behind by an alien in a science fiction movie. At the same time, the barbed-wire fence that had been extending all this time came to a sudden stop at the place where the cliff rose up.


    "Danxia Mountains ¡­" The Taoist shielded his eyes from the sunlight with one hand as he looked up at the castle and murmured, "What a pity. Why don''t we develop tourism ¡­"


    "And then?" I looked down at Mao Tou and asked.


    "Go around from the back!" Mao Tou shrugged and said.


    San Mao stretched his head out and looked behind the cliff, then turned and pointed at the cliff which was almost ninety degrees vertical: "Going up is not difficult, the problem is how to go down! Where did this bare, secret passage come from? "


    "You''ll know once we get to the top of the mountain ¡­" Mao Tou continued to laugh as he spoke, his laughter had a sense of being a common sight in China, where the locals mocked the pride of the foreign tourists.


    The other side of the cliff was connected to the woods. The mountain wasn''t that steep, and although there were some dangers along the way, we were able to climb it without any surprises.


    The wind at the top of the mountain was so strong that I had just sweated all over. As the wind blew against me, I felt a cold sensation under my armpits and suddenly shivered. I looked around and saw that the sky was dark, leaving only a green halo in the northwest. On the other side of the cliff was a wild, white wilderness.


    "What about the secret passageway?" Where is it? " San Mao also felt that it was a little cold. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and kept stroking his arms.


    "Don''t rush..." "Wait a moment." Mao Tou sat down on a rock.


    "Wait for what?" The Taoist sat down beside him, panting.


    "Wait for dark!"


    As if he was confirming Mao Tou''s words, the moment he finished speaking, lights suddenly lit up on the other side of the barbed wire net, at the far end of the wasteland!


    "Damn it..." What is this? " San Mao looked forward blankly, and said while dropping his chin.


    The source of the light was a huge building with a glass dome that looked like a gymnasium. Through the dazzling light, the surface of the building looked like a giant egg, and there was also a blurry shadow.


    "It looks like an airplane ¡­" The Taoist mumbled with dull eyes.

 C54

    Now.


    Winter came quickly, just after November, and it was the first snow I''d ever seen in my life.


    All autumn we were like squirrels, preparing for the winter. The several hundred kilograms of food that Ghost Market had distributed were sufficient for the winter. But aside from the several tens of kilograms of soybeans, most of them were rice and flour. There were sufficient carbohydrates, but they were seriously lacking in proteins and vitamins.


    It''s a good thing that with the existence of Ghost Market, we have a sufficiently safe place to exchange for the materials that we need. Although meat is extremely rare, as long as someone sells it, the price we pay isn''t high. In this era of extreme scarcity, all of the meat became extremely luxurious food. Basically, no one could afford to eat it. A catty of rice was enough to feed an adult for several days. However, fresh meat was hard to preserve, even if it were to be preserved. Just like my childhood, when an old woman in the village raised an old hen and laid an egg every day for more than ten days, she would go around the market and trade it for some salt and vinegar. A chicken was the main source of her life, and an egg was something she couldn''t bear to eat even if she died, but when she brought it to the market, she couldn''t get much money because very few people could afford to buy eggs.


    And our biggest harvest is the vegetable patch that the Uncle Feng carefully manages. First, the rapeseed and the cabbage were mature, especially the rapeseed, which had a large yield and a long growth period. Then there were the carrots and potatoes, although their roots were very small and grotesquely shaped because of lack of fertilizer, which made one doubt that they were not of the same species as the large and even things they had seen in the market before, but at least they had fruits, and both were very resistant to storage, and the Uncle Feng had left them in the ground to eat and dig at any time. He said that if they could be eaten in the spring of next year, they would certainly not be wasted on things like radish, which we had never noticed before.


    Broad beans were not very satisfactory. Most of the pods were empty. A piece of vegetable field could only produce five catties of beans and dried grains. It was a pity that they had no taste for food. Fortunately, the broad beanstalk could be used as firewood, which could be considered as another harvest.


    Of course, the biggest surprise was still the powerful pigeons. Just like what Big Force said, a pair of pigeons gives birth to two eggs a month, and a month after the eggs hatch, they mature sexually and lay eggs again. So in just three months, we already have six pairs of pigeons! San Mao had once suggested that they leave only one male pigeon to grow seeds. But the strong saying is that pigeons are monogamous, one dead, the other will not mate with other pigeons. San Mao said that he did not expect this pigeon to be very pure. I thought it would be great if it was like you, maybe even catching an eagle today.


    Everyone''s face had regained the color of blood, and although their bodies were still lean and lean, they were no longer the same weak and frail body that they were before. For someone like San Mao, whose body was already good to begin with, with a body that had become fat and strong instead, looked like it was filled with vigor and vigor.


    However, most of the people''s days were not so good. Ever since the first snowfall, they had been starving to death, and many of the people they had just met died in the wilderness on the second day. As for the remaining people, they looked no different from Zombie s.


    We haven''t been out much since it started snowing, because it''s too dangerous, and the danger comes from people who are hungry and have no hope of surviving the winter. These people were fearless due to their despair. Hunger made them even more crazy. The civilization that humans had worked hard to build for thousands of years quickly collapsed on them, revealing the true face of a wild beast.


    In their eyes, only those weaker than them would be their prey. These people would often gather together and attack the human settlements they scouted, and even besieged the Ghost Market once, and were finally ordered by the Mayor Chen to use heavy machine guns to shoot a large number of people. Only then was the scene stopped, but San Mao said that after this battle, the ammunition reserve for the Ghost Market was most likely seen through. It looks beautiful, but it''s actually just a silver pewter spearhead. " San Mao has always held Ghost Market and Mayor Chen in contempt, I think that the majority of the reasons are probably because they still bear a grudge towards Liu Guojun after taking him in.


    During this time we have converted our sanctuary. This place was originally a stainless steel processing plant, opened by a distant nephew of the Aunt Chen. When the stock market was at its peak, she made a lot of money and quickly set up real estate, covering more than ten acres of land in the industrial area. However, after the collapse of the domestic stock market, the real economy became even more depressed, so he could only build a factory in the area facing the street.


    We completely sealed off the side of the factory and dragged a few Zombie''s corpses along with us and threw them at the entrance, creating the illusion that there were piles of Zombie inside. The entire factory was a rectangular structure, and we lived at the far end of the clearing. On one hand, it''s to prevent moisture. On the other hand, it''s to make it easier for us to move, so all of us moved to the second floor. San Mao, Monkey, and I will be living in one room while Uncle Feng and Aunt Chen and Little Casey will be living in another.


    The first floor is a living space, the kitchen and dining room are together, it is also our living room, in the cold winter, the happiest thing is that everyone eats around the stove, the warm stove is the center of all of us, although because of the lack of fuel, the stove cannot burn all the time, but as long as there is a meal, the Uncle Feng lights the stove, as long as everyone has nothing to do, everyone will come over, everyone will circle, laugh and make a scene, as if we have returned to civilization. The new monkey here made a great contribution. Before he became a thief, he was a tinsmith, with a sheet of white iron. He cut and cut, hammered and hammered, and became a tool of all kinds. And in this stainless steel factory, stored tons of galvanized iron!


    The monkey added a thick piece of cast iron to our three-eyed honeycomb stove, then built a long line of pipes with a white sheet of iron. He made a zigzag walk around the two bedrooms on the second floor and then went up to the third floor before releasing the smoke from an unremarkable place. In this way, on one hand, the exhaust pipe became a heating pipe, and on the other hand, the smoke gradually cooled down in the long pipeline.


    In addition, Monkey also forged a lot of useful things, such as buckets, sprinkling jugs, pots and pans, and so on, the most impressive thing is that he can actually make stoves, various types of iron stoves, these are our most sought after goods in the Ghost Market, almost as soon as they were in the city they surrounded us and took them all away, if not because we were afraid of attracting too much attention, we could just sell these stoves and we would become the richest people in this era!


    On the first floor, in addition to the living room, there was a studio, and in the middle of the building, in a patio, we pulled up a thick curtain around us. This was where the monkeys made the tin, and where we made the tools and weapons.


    After the autumn harvest was completed, the Uncle Feng used the seeds that we traded in from Ghost Market, including radish, cauliflower, spinach, and white cabbage, as well as the original rapeseed and cabbage. This winter, our vegetables can be said to be very abundant.


    After Liu Guojun left, Casey seemed to have become a completely different person. She was no longer that submissive and cautious person, even though shesheas still a little scared when she saw San Mao and I, but she got along well with the others, especially with Yang Yufan. Ever since Lin Hao died, Yang Yufan, who has a huge generation gap with us, poured all of his hot blood into Little Casey, and even started to teach him how to read. Now that Little Casey has always been attached to him, we all say that when Yang Yufan was young, he was still a virgin, and already had a daughter.

 C55

    The snow in Jiangnan was not like the snow in the north. As soon as the snow stopped and the sun rose, the snow would begin to melt. However, when it melted, it was colder than when it was snowing.


    I still felt cold all over, especially under my feet, which were numb and numb from the cold.


    Finger-sized icicles hung down from the eaves of the house. The melted snow dripped down along the icicles and splashed onto the ground, creating neat rows of small holes on the concrete floor.


    "This weather is so cold!" "In the past, I would usually wear two pieces of clothing for the winter, but this bastard wants to wrap five pieces of underpants around her, it''s still too damn cold!" San Mao curled up his body, both of his hands were inside his sleeves as he stamped his feet, a cigarette was in his mouth, and as he spoke, white mist was continuously spewing out from his mouth.


    "Hey!" That was in the past years! In previous years, your unit had air-conditioning, and your home had heating. When you went out, you even drove. Of course, two sets of clothes could get you through the winter! " The monkey also shrank back his neck and ran in place, rubbing his hands together. His hands were black, and there were cuts and bruises everywhere, now frostbitten, red and swollen, like carrots that had just been pulled out of the ground.


    I thought about the air conditioner, the heating, the car that the monkey was talking about... It had only been half a year, but these things were already very far away, as if they had never appeared before.


    "Why don''t you say it ¡­" San Mao suddenly took a deep drag from the cigarette in his mouth. The cigarette was bright red, and with a creak, it shrunk down by a large margin. "This kind of weather, before, I must have turned on the air-conditioning at home, and slept soundly while hugging the little girl!"


    "Tsk tsk!" The monkey''s eyes glowed with the green glow of a wild cat called Spring outside the window at midnight.


    "Why don''t you go and find the young bullies of the Martial Arts Sect?" I said as I glanced at Lv, who was standing guard by the gate, and puffed on my fingers.


    "Hey! Mouse... "Forget about it, he''s as thin as a hemp and stinks." The monkey stretched out his hand and waved it in front of his nose, as if he had really smelled something bad.


    "You think you don''t stink?" I writhed like a snake, tickling my underwear against my skin, and the smell of my body rose hot from my collar.


    "Sigh!" I really want to take a hot bath! " The monkey rubbed his neck with his hands.


    That''s right, it''s best to have a sauna and rub it properly. This dirty one is already at a higher level. In the past, when I was reading martial arts novels, I couldn''t understand how to make a pill just by rubbing it. Now, not to mention a pill, I can even make two plates out of the Four Xi pills ¡­" San Mao also reached his hands out from his collar to scratch his back.


    "After showering, find a girl to pinch my feet, tsk tsk ¡­" Just as I was looking forward to it, I suddenly saw Lv waving at us from the side of the door. We reacted immediately, something must have happened, so we immediately shut our mouths. San Mao picked up his 95 style assault rifle, while I pulled out the 92 type handgun that I got from the secret room last time. Monkey pulled out a lance, and the three of them swiftly rushed towards the main door.


    "What''s wrong?" I ran to the door and asked Lv in a low voice.


    Lv pointed to the observation hole on the door, indicating that I should take a look myself. I put one eye close to the hole and looked out. I saw that there were three people hurrying over from the long street opposite our back door!


    "What''s going on?" San Mao whispered into my ear.


    "Someone is coming!" Without taking my eyes from the observation hole, I watched as the three of them got closer and closer until I could see their faces. Two women and one man. The man was a middle-aged man in his fifties with a cylindrical object on his back and a large box in his hands. The two women looked to be in their mid-twenties, but they were empty-handed.


    Looking at the three of them, I had a feeling that something was wrong. It wasn''t until they were close to the door that I realized what was happening. It turned out that the three of them were all clean, unlike the people of this era, especially the two girls, who, unlike most women nowadays, purposely made themselves ugly in order to avoid those who harbored malicious intentions. They all had neat ponytails, and their faces were white and clean, free of dirt and dirt. The man''s hair was long, but clean and fluffy. Their clothes were also clean and tidy, like a white-collar worker who just got off work.


    However, the expressions on the three of them were abnormally panicked. As they ran forward, they kept on looking back, as if there were people chasing after them.


    "Who is it?" San Mao whispered into my ear.


    I shook my head. Although the appearances of the three of them made me curious, that was all. Although our backyard is quite remote, there would still be people passing by from time to time. We don''t want trouble, and we don''t want trouble with us.


    "Uncle Wu ¡­" I can''t run anymore! " The three of them had just reached our door when one of the younger girls stopped, hands on her hips, gasping for breath.


    When the middle-aged man and the other girl heard this, they could only stop. The two of them were also extremely tired. As they panted, they looked back in panic. The three of them just stood there in front of our door, seemingly not wanting to run anymore.


    "Go away quickly... "Hurry up and go..." I anxiously muttered to myself. Although we had piled up a lot of building trash outside the door, leaving only a single path for one person to crawl along, making it hard to be discovered, it was clear that these three people were being chased. If they were caught at our entrance and fought with each other, the probability of the base being exposed would greatly increase.


    But that''s what happens in the world. The more you don''t want it to happen, the more it has to happen. The few of them looked around and actually saw the pile of construction trash that was stuffed in front of our entrance. The three of them moved away the few pieces of glass and steel tiles at the same time as they pushed and squeezed their way in.


    In a panic, the three of them followed our path all the way to the door. One of them slammed against the door, blocking the view.


    I retracted my head, thinking that if it was a TV show, the three of you would definitely not live past the second episode! He didn''t even know to re-cover the obstacles when he came in.


    San Mao and the rest, who knew that someone had entered from the sound of the door, became anxious. A few of them made random gestures, but they did not know what they wanted to say to each other.


    Then, faintly, I heard the roar of a motorcycle engine in the distance.

 C56

    "They''re coming ¡­" A woman''s voice said from outside the door. Her voice was trembling and she sounded extremely terrified.


    "Shh ¡­" Don''t make a sound, they won''t be able to find us. " The man comforted her softly, but his voice was weak. Apparently, he was not optimistic about her words.


    The three of them shivered as they stuck close to our door, causing the entire metal door to slightly shake.


    I was anxious, thinking that if this went on, it would be better to let them in. At least the three of them didn''t look too threatening.


    Thus, I gestured to San Mao to open the door. San Mao had been with me for many years after all, so he quickly understood what I meant after being stunned for a while. The two of us held onto the iron door handles on both sides.


    The three people behind the door were caught off guard and immediately fell inside. The two women were so frightened that they repeatedly cried out, and Lv and Monkey immediately went up and covered the two OP''s neck with their hands.


    San Mao and I quickly closed the door, and then we pointed our spears at the three of them.


    "Don''t move! Do not make a sound! " San Mao shouted.


    The man was still sitting on the ground, as if something had happened so suddenly that he couldn''t make sense of the situation. He just looked at us blankly. At the start, the two women were still struggling in Lv and Monkey''s embrace, but their mouths were already covered. They could only whimper, but now that San Mao and I had pointed our black muzzles at them, they immediately stopped.


    "Let''s go inside!" As the sound of the motorbike''s engine grew closer, I couldn''t explain anything to them. I had to get them out of here so that no one outside would hear anything. Then, he gestured to the middle aged man to follow him in. This time, Yang Yufan also noticed that something was wrong and ran over, so I threw the gun to him and told him to bring the three in. San Mao and I will stay at the door to observe the situation.


    A moment later, four SUVs roared into view. At first, I thought that the ones chasing these three people were from the motorcycle gang, but when I got closer, I realized that there were four people wearing black combat suits, helmets and even a spear on their back, as if they were from a Hollywood blockbuster. I was surprised to find that the bikers didn''t have such good equipment, not to mention that most of their bikes had been scrapped because of lack of maintenance and there were no more than four of them in order.


    I gave the observation hole to San Mao, who turned pale with fright when he saw it. "Where the f * ck did this come from?"


    In the blink of an eye, the motorcycles arrived in front of our doors. I squeezed past San Mao and looked through the observation hole to see four beautiful off-road motorcycles flying towards us. Behind each of them was a black and white long dragon that was mixed with melted snow and mixed with mud.


    "Hurry up, hurry up ¡­" San Mao continuously whispered in my ears, and I also secretly prayed in my heart. I prayed that the snow outside had almost melted completely, and there were no traces of the three people coming in. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the fourth car slowed down, and I heard the driver shout a few words to his friend in front of me. The first three cars also stopped, and then the four motorcycles turned 180 degrees and came back!


    All four cars stopped at our door, and all four riders got out and took off their helmets. I saw that although these four people weren''t as clean as the last three, they weren''t as dirty as us. They were also strong, and their eyes weren''t as blank, desperate or crazy as most of the people of this era. They were filled with the determination to know exactly what they were going to do. With just a glance, I know that we can''t afford to offend these people!


    All four men held their rifles in their hands, all of them AK rifles, because I was not a military fan, nor could I tell if I was a replica or an 81. Three of the four quickly picked three shooting points that could cover each other, making them look very well-trained and well-coordinated. The other one was rummaging through the pile of debris, inspecting it carefully.


    At this time, I no longer dared to look at the observation hole, afraid that they would see through it. I could only lean against the door with San Mao, not even daring to breathe.


    It was as if the gods had heard my prayers, and just when I thought that exposure was inevitable, the roar of an engine came from the distance, followed by a few shouts from the people outside. One of them shouted,


    "Chase!" "Quickly chase!"


    I put my eye to the observation hole and saw that the four men were racing to their motorcycles from their positions, swinging their guns behind their backs, stepping on the engine, and speeding away!


    I watched them through the observation hole until they were out of sight, and then I breathed a sigh of relief when I couldn''t hear the engine. I looked at San Mao and saw that he was continuously wiping away the sweat on his forehead. Only then did I realise that in this freezing, melting snow, I was actually covered in cold sweat.


    "Where the hell did these people come from? It looks like it''s even more awesome than Ghost Market! " San Mao gasped for breath and said.


    "Who knows!" I shrugged. "Go ask those three!"


    When San Mao and I returned to the house, we saw three people crowded together on the bench that the monkey had knocked on with a piece of white iron, while the rest were gathered around. When the three saw us enter, they were obviously shocked, especially the two girls who were shivering while hugging their arms tightly, like injured fawn. When they saw us, they became even more panic-stricken, and only glanced at us for a moment before lowering their heads, not daring to look anymore, like a hedgehog that had been threatened. Behind the middle-aged man was still the cylinder. Now I could see clearly that it was a painting container used to store soft objects like drawings or paintings, and what he was hugging to his chest was a box half a foot square, like a jewel, antique, or inferior crystal trophy.


    "Lv, watch the door." I said to Lv.


    Lv nodded, then turned and walked out.


    "I say, who are you people?" I asked the three of them, raising my chin.


    The two girls lowered their heads even more. I had no doubt that their greatest wish at this moment was to become a marmot so that they could dig a hole and quickly enter.


    The man, too, looked at me through a pair of black-rimmed glasses as if I''d seen a ghost. He opened his mouth a few times, as if to say something, but in the end he said nothing.

 C57

    I scratched my unruly beard and thought, Am I that scary? Looking at San Mao, it was then that we realised what was happening. All of our hair and beards had grown into a ball, and we looked no different from savages. These three people were so clean and clean, they were obviously hiding somewhere with food, clothes, and possibly even electricity.


    I was scratching my head, not knowing how to continue with the questioning. Around dinner time, Uncle Feng and Aunt Chen came down from upstairs, with Little Casey following them. The three of them obviously didn''t know what was going on, but when they saw the three of them, they became confused. Uncle Feng looked at me with an inquiring look, and I spread out my hands, meaning that I''m not too sure myself. Uncle Feng nodded and didn''t ask, but started to light a fire in the cast-iron stove, while Aunt Chen walked towards the small warehouse, probably to retrieve the food I ate today.


    However, Little Casey was filled with curiosity, as if she had not seen any clean people in a long time. Instead, she was somewhat close, standing at the side and constantly peeking at them. Yang Yufan waved at her, and she laughed, jumping up and down as she ran to Yang Yufan''s side, grabbing onto his thighs to spin around, hiding behind him, occasionally sticking her head out to peek at the three strangers. It was as if she was playing hide-and-seek with them.


    Uncle Feng stuffed a pile of old newspapers into the furnace. He piled a few small branches on top of the pile of papers, and placed a few pieces of firewood the size of a fist. On the surface of the firewood, there was a bit of lacquer, which was a piece of "Steinway" piano that we had dismembered a few days ago. Uncle Feng lit a big fire with a disposable lighter and moved closer to the bottom of the furnace to ignite the newspaper. At first it was just a small flame, but it was quickly followed by a thick smoke, and Uncle Feng immediately fanned it open with a large piece of cardboard, then he fanned the wind with the door a few times, and the fire came out. Not long later, the big firewood was also burned, and Uncle Feng closed the door to reduce the temperature, allowing the firewood to slowly burn in the furnace.


    Although the room temperature didn''t increase by much, once it did, everyone started to feel warm inside, especially the middle-aged man who was looking at the stove, looking at Uncle Feng, and looking at Little Casey, who coincidentally stuck his head out half a head from behind Yang Yufan and withdrew his gaze immediately after meeting her. Then, he slowly stuck his head out from the other side, making a face when he saw that he was still looking at her, and started to giggle.


    "You all ¡­" The man finally opened his mouth, but because he had not spoken for a long time, his throat was glued to his throat. His voice was hoarse and shrill, as if there was a dagger stirring inside his throat.


    "Not a bad guy?"


    Just as I don''t know how to answer this question, Little Casey who was at the side suddenly stuck his head out, and said childishly:


    "Grandfather, we''re not bad people, we''re good people!"


    Little Casey isn''t like us, although our bodies are also dirty, Aunt Chen wash her face and comb her hair everyday, trying her best to save a bit of love for her in this chaotic world. With that, the atmosphere in the room immediately relaxed. Even the two Groundhog''s raised their heads and their eyes became gentle.


    "Who are you and where are you from?" I asked.


    The middle aged man raised his head and looked at me. His eyes were still full of vigilance, but after he looked at Uncle Feng and Casey, he finally stood up as if he made a decision, and did an action that I would never have expected.


    He took out a name card from his inside pocket, pushed out a golden name card with his thumbs, bowed slightly, and handed it over to me. After I received the card in shock, he turned to San Mao, and then, he passed a name card to the rest of the room.


    "Lu Yong ¡­" San Tu? "What word is that?" San Mao looked at his name card and muttered.


    I picked up the card and looked at it. It read: "LU YONG Yao, Chief Fellow of the XX Provincial Museum."


    "Songs!" Read the ballad! My name is Lu Yongyao. " The middle-aged man stood perfectly straight and slightly bowed as he spoke.


    "What lousy name is this, calling me San Tu is too much, I''ll just call you San Tu, it''s just right that it went smoothly for me, San Mao!" San Mao shook his head and said.


    "San Tu" was stunned hearing this, he did not know whether to agree or to reject, so he could only laugh along in embarrassment.


    I waved my hand to stop San Mao''s teasing and asked, "Where did you all come from?"


    San Tu stopped smiling and answered: "After the crisis of the Zombie, we stayed at the unit all the time, it was the Provincial Museum ¡­"


    "Then why are you guys like this ¡­ "Ugh ¡­" White and fat? The museum should be hiding antiques, not food? " San Mao rushed to ask.


    "Mm ¡­" "It''s like this ¡­" A look of embarrassment appeared on San Tu''s face as he answered hesitantly, "In order to protect the collection, the museum has a complete set of equipment to maintain humidity and temperature, as well as a backup power source. Furthermore, this year, we just built a high tech museum, which has a complete rainwater and water circulation system inside ¡­ "Hmm, a few years ago, due to the lack of efficiency, the museum emptied half of the basement and rented it to the supermarket next door to make a warehouse. In addition, in order to prevent theft, the museums built strong doors and windows, and most people would not be able to recall visiting a museum right now, so we stayed safe and sound until now ¡­"


    "You mean that place still has food and electricity?" San Mao could not help but interrupt San Tu and ask anxiously.


    "There are no Zombie s yet! And with f * cking beauties accompanying it! " Monkey added.


    "This old fellow''s luck with women is quite good ¡­" San Mao lustfully looked at the two "Groundhog" and said while shaking his head.


    "No more now ¡­" San Tu''s face darkened, and said solemnly: "The inside are filled with Zombie!"


    San Mao suddenly remembered the three riders from before, and asked in a flash: "That''s right, who were those people who chased after you?"


    San Tu shook his head and said, "I''m not too sure either. They came this morning, and I was sleeping when I heard the door open. The other colleagues were killed on the spot. Only she and I... "The two of them ¡­" San Tu pointed to the two [Groundhog] at the side, and continued: "Something''s not right, we hid in the underground storage area, and after this group of people came in, we searched all over the place as if we were looking for something. The three of us stayed in the storage area for a long time, listening to this group search the entire upper section of the hall, and just as we were about to go down, Xiao Xiao and Xiao Zhang ¡­" San Tu glanced at the two girls beside him, and said: "We really have no other choice, and opened the path to the supermarket, a large group of Zombie gathered there, and rushed in, and then we sneaked out, but we never expected that it would be snowing today, and probably because they saw footprints."

 C58

    After we heard what San Tu said, we heaved a long sigh. It was not because of their nervousness, but because of the desire and pity for the museum''s life that San Tu was talking about, which included electricity, water, food, and clothing. Compared to our current environment, that kind of place is like a paradise in our dreams, this time it is actually being occupied by Zombie, we feel like we were watching a movie.


    "The warehouse..." Is there a lot of meat? " I heard San Mao who was at the side forcefully swallowing his saliva, and muttered a sentence.


    "What?" San Tu was still reminiscing about the bullets in the forest, when the topic suddenly changed to the meat in the warehouse.


    I waved my hand, signalling San Mao not to pull away, and calmed down, and asked San Tu: "What are these people looking for?"


    Monkey suddenly interjected, "Could it be that they want to get some antiques? In the future, after we beat back the zombies, the world will be at peace and we will be able to sell it for money? "


    San Tu heard and shook his head: "Definitely not, although those people were rummaging through the boxes looking for things, they did not treasure them at all. Many things were casually thrown away, and many Southern Song official kilns and Longquan kilns'' porcelain ware were broken by them!"


    San Tu continued to speak until he became excited, "The most unfortunate thing is that the Twin Bird''s Morning Sun Tooth Sculpture was broken during the Hamudu period. It has been more than five thousand years! There was also the colorful phoenix cry and the zither in the Tang Dynasty. They were also smashed into pieces, making it a crime! "Crimes against humanity as a whole!"


    "Alright, alright!" I immediately stopped San Tu''s accusation, and after thinking for a while, I asked puzzledly: "Since they are looking for something, then why are they chasing you guys?"


    "Eh? "Is that so?" San Tu was also confused as he muttered, his hands continuously stroking the embroidered box.


    All of us stared straight at the embroidered box.


    "That''s right, why are you chasing us? Don''t tell me that we have something on us that they want?" San Tu muttered to himself. Only after a while did he realize that the atmosphere was not right, he looked up at us, then at the embroidered box in his hands, and suddenly reacted, his eyes wide open, his back perfectly straight.


    "I say, what''s in this box?" Monkey curled his lips and pointed at the embroidered box as he asked.


    San Tu''s eyes suddenly revealed a look of vigilance, his hands holding the embroidered box tighter.


    Just then, one of the older of the two Groundhog suddenly turned to San Tu and said: "Aiyah, Uncle Lu, just say it, they have so many people, if you want to snatch them away, you can''t hold them back!"


    San Tu was startled when he heard her, as if he felt that what she said was right. He then raised his head and took down the painting tube from his back, placing it beside a embroidered box, he pointed at the two items and said: "These two items are our national treasures, this ¡­" He pointed at the painting and said, "It''s'' Fuchun Mountain Gutu ''!" San Tu then pointed to the embroidered box, "This is the Asura Seal!"


    I was surprised. Because my father liked to collect antiques, I had learned about antiques from a young age, and I knew that this map of the Fuchun Mountains was the national treasure of the country. It was one of the top ten famous paintings in the world. As for the Asura Seal that San Tu mentioned, although I am a little unfamiliar with it, the last time we excavated the Thunder Peak Tower, it was a huge event in the archaeological realm.


    "Hey, why are you bringing dick stuff?" It would be better to bring a piece of meat! " San Mao, on the other hand, had no idea how valuable these things were, and shouted loudly as he pleased.


    What do you know!" San Tu almost jumped up and said hoarsely: "This is a national treasure! "It is the pride of our nation and nation, the mark of the heritage of civilization, and we have a duty to preserve it!


    "Alright, alright, alright ¡­" I hastily tried to smooth things over, stopping San Mao with one hand. Then, I asked San Tu, "How did you happen to be carrying these two things on your body?"


    It was still the older young lady. She seemed to have recovered and was no longer afraid. She quickly said, "Uncle Lu, ever since the crisis broke, he has kept these two treasures by his side. He has brought them all along with him, even sleeping ¡­"


    I looked at San Tu with an inquiring look in my eyes. He nodded and replied in a deep voice, "I always feel that it''s not reliable, even though the museum is safe, but I always have a feeling that something is going to happen. Thus, I placed these two things with the greatest research value beside me.


    "There must be something for future generations ¡­" San Tu faintly sighed, and caressed the embroidered box as if he was caressing his own child, he mumbled to himself.


    "So these people must want the same thing?" I continued.


    San Tu was stunned, he mechanically nodded and said: "I''m afraid it is. But what for? In terms of market value, it can''t even compare to the Twin Bird Chaoyang Tusk Tusk Eagle or Liang Zhu Jade Cong. "


    "I got it!" San Mao suddenly slapped his thigh and shouted: "It must be for ''Fuchun Mountain Residence Map''. There is a movie where the picture did not say that there was actually a big secret behind it, it could be a treasure map!"


    He smacked the back of San Mao''s head and said, "Are you f * cking heartless? The¡¶ Forbidden Land of Fuchu¡· is a public exhibition, there are so many prints outside, why do you have to snatch the original copy?"


    "Maybe there''s a layer inside, or maybe it''s because of the fire ¡­" San Mao rubbed his head and argued non-stop: "Have you ever read < < Deer Tripod > >? 24 chapters ¡­ That''s right, there''s also the National Treasure, the Elite Armament, have you seen them? He''s still hiding the treasure map in the Declaration of Independence! "


    San Tu looked at me and then at San Mao, and was so stunned that three black lines almost fell from his forehead. After a while, he finally said: "This ¡­ Brother... I''m the one who did ''Research on the Residence of Fu Chun Mountain''. I''ve studied it for most of my life, but I still haven''t found any treasure map ¡­ That''s a rumor... "Rumors ¡­"


    "That''s too much of a treasure!" If we want to find the treasure map, we''ll have to use a bit of force. Let''s tear it open and take a look today. San Mao said as he rushed forward to snatch the painting tube.


    San Tu was immediately frightened to the point that his face turned ashen. He immediately hugged the painting tube tightly and turned his back, like a hen protecting a chick, he covered the entire painting tube.


    "Don''t mess around!" I pushed San Mao away. "This is a genuine national treasure!"


    "Let''s give it a try. How else would we know?" San Mao was still muttering to himself, "Besides, it''s raining and beating up children, I have nothing better to do. What''s the use of keeping this thing now, I might as well light a fire for Uncle Feng!"


    Until I glared at him very sternly, only then did San Mao unwillingly shut his mouth.


    I ignored him and continued to talk to San Tu. "I also think that this is not for ''Fuchun Mountain Guest''. It''s probably because of what you said the Asura Tactics is weird to have!" I pointed to the brocade box in his hand and continued, "I remember that the one that was unearthed was the Ah Yu King Pagoda. Why did another Asura Seal appear?"


    San Tu was startled once again, he nodded his head and said: "This seal is truly strange!"

 C59

    "What''s weird?" San Mao, Monkey and I asked in unison. San Mao added on at the end, "Could it really have been used to suppress the White Lady? Were you there when I was digging up the Thunder Peak Tower? "Legend has it that someone saw a huge white snake back then. Is that true?"


    San Tu frowned, and replied with slight helplessness: "That is still just a rumor ¡­ "Rumors ¡­"


    San Mao curled his lips and said: "What''s so weird about that?"


    San Tu pointed at me and said, "You are right, when we were digging about the Thunder Peak Tower and the underground palace, there was indeed an Ah Yu King Tower that was dug up, and it was filled with Buddha beads and sariras. But about the events of 2001, there was even a live broadcast of it by a television station, but what you guys don''t know, in 2000, we actually did an archaeological excavation of the Thunder Peak Tower''s sky palace ¡­"


    "Oh? Is there a white snake there? " San Mao interrupted and said.


    San Tu shook his head and continued: "The Heavenly Palace is also a similar Ah Yu King Pagoda!"


    "Tsk, what''s so weird about that?" San Mao scoffed.


    "It''s not the same!" San Tu shook his head and said: "The Ah Yu King Pagoda unearthed from the underground palace has twelve sariras in its golden bottle, but inside the Ah Yu King Pagoda unearthed from the sky palace, there is a small seal!"


    "The Asura Seal that you spoke of?" I interrupted.


    San Tu nodded and said, "The ''Asura Seal'' is a name given to it by our academic circles. In truth, the archaeology world has always been arguing about what this seal is, because its shape and design do not look like an Eastern object at all, but more like something from ancient Europe."


    When San Tu said this, it piqued my curiosity. I couldn''t help but say, "How does it look? "Why don''t you open it for us to see?"


    San Tu was startled, then looked at the few of us, as though he felt that even if he rejected us, it would be useless. He nodded his head, placed the embroidered box on his knees, and then slowly opened the lid with his hands.


    We all looked over our heads. There was originally no light in this room and the lighting in the room was dim. With so many people covering the box, it was hard to see clearly, but I could vaguely see a small golden mark embedded into the silk at the center of the box. The golden mark was about two centimeters square.


    Just then, Uncle Feng happened to move the pot on the stove and licked two pieces of wood. The fire suddenly sprung out and the small stamp in the box was illuminated by the fire, releasing a ray of golden light. I saw clearly, on top of the golden seal, astonishingly was a snake biting its own tail!


    I thought I was mistaken, rubbed my eyes, and took a glance inside the box. That''s right, the carving on the golden seal is indeed the Biting-tail Snake!


    San Tu carefully took out the golden seal from the embroidered box and placed it in the center of his right hand. Holding it in front of his eyes, he slowly rotated his left hand and the golden seal became even brighter under the illumination of the fiery light.


    "Moreover, its contents... "It''s the words on this seal ¡­" San Tu turned the golden seal over, turning the side of the character towards us. I saw some curved lines and simple geometric figures engraved on it, and I could see that it was a kind of glyph-like glyphs.


    "It''s not Chinese, nor is it Sanskrit. We consulted a lot of experts in ancient languages, and we confirmed that it''s an ancient Hebrew language, a language used by a branch of the Semitic race. This branch is also known by Jewish researchers as the race of King Solomon.


    San Tu paused for a moment before continuing, "We had once sent a copy of the book to an expert in ancient Hebrew at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem to have a look, but they were unable to translate it either, they could only vaguely tell what kind of spell it was."


    San Tu held the golden seal up and held it up so that all of us could see it. Then he placed it back in the groove of the embroidered box and closed the lid.


    "Tsk, I thought it was some weird stuff. After all that trouble, it was just a broken seal. Even if it''s made of gold, it''s not worth much right now. It can''t even be exchanged for a catty of rice!" Monkey straightened up and said in disdain.


    "This is no trivial discovery ¡­" San Tu was very excited, he adjusted the black-framed glasses on his nose, and spoke with confidence and confidence, as if he was a professor lecturing on a podium, "You have to know that the construction of the Thunder Peak Tower was more than a thousand years ago. At that time, in order to imitate the story of Ah Yu King, King Qian of Wu Yue created eighty-four thousand pagodas, and gave the order to build eighty-four thousand gold towers within the borders of Wu Yue, Lei Feng Pagoda is the most important one of these gold towers."


    "You must know that Qian Chi is a king who respects Buddha very much. He even let one of his sons shave his family, but why should such a pious believer worship an object that is obviously pagan in such an important pagoda? It is as incomprehensible as the fact that a Muslim family does not worship the Koran, but instead has erected a Jesus! "


    A thought struck me and I recalled the story that the Taoist had told me about Solam and Solomon''s treasure deposit.


    "This ¡­" I immediately forgot the name on San Tu''s name card, so I could only follow San Mao''s way of calling him: "San Tu ¡­ Teacher, what''s so special about the snake coiled on this imprint? "


    "There''s another oddity to this golden seal ¡­" San Tu didn''t mind my addressing and smacked his lips: "This Biting-tail Snake should be said to be one of the oldest mythical symbols in the world, it has existed in all kinds of ancient civilizations in the world."


    "In ancient Greek culture, the Biting-tail Snake was also known as Ouroboros. This snake coiled around the entire universe, separating it from the endless primal chaos and maintaining the order of the universe. When it devours its own body, the universe dies. Then it spits out the body, and the universe is born again, meaning infinite cycles, eternity, immortality. "


    "Now, some quantum physicists believe that the process of Ouroboros swallowing the universe and spitting it out is a metaphor for the Big Bang principle of the universe. From a small dot exploding to a universe, then shrinking back to a dot, in modern mathematics, the symbol ¡Þ that represents an infinite number is a horizontal number 8, which is transformed from the image of the Biting-tail Snake."


    In the legends of the East, or even in the philosophical systems, Biting-tail Snake often signifies reincarnation, an infinite number of times. In the legends of India, the Serpent God Shesha encircled the Turtle God, supporting the eight elephants that were responsible for carrying the entire world on their back.


    "Of course, the most famous usage of Biting-tail Snake is alchemy. In alchemy, the symbol of the Biting-tail Snake is a magic spell that contains the power to cleanse. The alchemist thinks that the Biting-tail Snake is a dramatic symbol that can combine and assimilate opposites. The feedback from this process of self-integration and assimilation is immortality. Because while the Biting-tail Snake is destroying itself, it is also giving it life. It is nurturing itself and thus allowing it to gain life. "


    "Whether it is the alchemists from the east or the alchemists from the west, all of them have the human body as their ultimate goal. The basic meaning of Biting-tail Snake is that they can live forever ¡­"


    "Hmph, immortal?" San Mao suddenly said evilly: "Isn''t that the damn zombies outside?"

 C60

    That night, we argued endlessly over how to deal with San Tu and the other two.


    Through our later interactions with each other, we found out that other than San Tu, the other two girls were called Zhang Yiling, and the other one was called Xiao Jie. Zhang Yiling was a bit older, and was a researcher at the museum.


    Actually, we are in a dilemma right now.


    San Mao and Monkey both thought that they should let the three of them out. The reason was that those few riders would come back sooner or later.


    Lv insisted again and again that they should stay. He said that as long as these three noobs walked out of the wall, they would not be able to survive even one night. If they were caught by the cannibals, it was inevitable that our base would be exposed.


    I think both sides have their reasons. It''s more dangerous to keep them and let them go. The three of them did not want to stay here at all, they have been hiding in this comfortable place for half a year, and did not know about the dangers of the outside world. Furthermore, they do not trust the savages here, and even after knowing each other for half a day, San Tu still had the two ancient items on him.


    We have no choice but to eat first.


    As usual, dinner was a hodgepodge with rice porridge as the base, some cabbage, leaves, potatoes and carrots, some salt, and a big pot of it being cooked into a thin pot. We each took a bowl, found a place to sit and sip the porridge by the stove, and the Aunt Chen also took the porridge for the three of us.


    I thought that they would have a good time eating and drinking in the museum and would not like this porridge that looks like pig food, but I didn''t expect the three of them to wolf it down. Xiao Jie was even pouting as he ate, obviously thinking that this mixed porridge was very delicious.


    "Didn''t you say there''s meat to eat? How many days have you guys been hungry? " Monkey asked in surprise while holding the bowl of rice.


    "We do have meat, but we haven''t eaten vegetables in months!" As San Tu swallowed the food down, he answered vaguely.


    "It has been half a year!" After a while, Zhang Yiling had finished eating the bowl of mixed congee in her hands, and added: "There''s everything in the supermarket''s cold storage, just that there''s no vegetables, and every day I see meat that makes my face glow green."


    "Yeah, eating without food is much worse than eating without meat ¡­" In the past three months, I''ve eaten up all the instant noodles, and there were even traces of blisters on my mouth. " Yang Yufan, who also had a deep feeling, wiped away the congee that was flowing on Little Casey''s chest while he strongly approved of it.


    "Because of lack of vitamins!" Xiao Jie had also finished eating the mixed gruel in his bowl. He looked at the pot with unsatisfied eyes, seeing that the bottom of the pot had been scraped clean by the Aunt Chen, he unwillingly put down the bowl of porridge.


    Eating was probably the best way to improve one''s feelings towards another. On a cold winter''s night, after eating a bowl of stew, her body was filled with a lively, harmonious, and passionate atmosphere. Especially the two girls and Yang Yufan, as they were of similar age and had many common topics to talk about, the three of them brought Little Casey and whispered softly in a corner of the room, occasionally releasing suppressed laughter.


    Uncle Feng intentionally added a few pieces of firewood to the furnace to extend the heating time for today. He then boiled another pot of boiling water and used the biscuit that we had plundered to brew a pot of strong tea. Other than the patrolling Lv and the Aunt Chen who had gone upstairs early, the few of us carried a cup of hot tea each and sat around the stove.


    The snow was no longer soft, it became as hard as ice, making the road even harder to walk on. Cold wind continuously poured in through the cracks of the door, making "wu wu" sounds, and every time it swept past our backs, everyone would shrink their necks, moving even closer to the stove. This small fire seemed to be the only source of heat in the world, as it would be able to withstand the approaching cold.


    In this kind of night, it''s naturally embarrassing for us to bring up San Tu and the others to leave. San Tu also no longer had any intentions of leaving, everyone knows, when we walk out of the door in this kind of weather, even if we do not meet any Zombie or cannibal humans, we will definitely not be able to last past two days.


    "It seems like a black wind is blowing..." "I''ve lived for so long, but I''ve never seen such a cold day ¡­" Uncle Feng took a sip of tea, looked at the window that was blocked with a piece of metal, and said faintly.


    It''s good to be out in the cold, and the motorcyclists aren''t going to come out, I thought. At least tonight is safe.


    "I remember that the provincial museum is in the center of the city. How did you manage to escape here?" Monkey raised his chin and asked San Tu.


    San Tu raised his head and looked at the monkey in confusion. His eyebrows were raised and his lips were slightly open, as if he didn''t know what the monkey was asking.


    Monkey shrugged and asked: "I mean, did you guys run into any Zombie?"


    "No ¡­." "No ¡­" San Tu shook his head and replied.


    "Strange ¡­" I also felt that it was a bit inconceivable. The Provincial Museum is at the Martial Sect, which is also the center of the Qianchao City, so there should be a group of Zombie here, like San Tu and the other two. One of them doesn''t have stamina, two don''t have skills, and three don''t have experience.


    "Could it be that this Zombie is afraid of the cold?" the monkey muttered.


    "It might be ¡­" I nodded and nudged San Mao who was beside me: "Hey, did we not see any Zombie s for the past few days?"


    "Ugh ¡­" "Huh?" San Mao felt like he was in a self-study class and was chatting with his classmates. Suddenly, he discovered that the homeroom teacher was standing outside the window.


    I turned my head to look at him, only to see his eyeballs rolling around. He kept glancing at Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie, knowing that she was controlled by her lower body, and upon seeing the pretty girl, she immediately became a Zombie controlled by her desires.


    "Oh, hehe ¡­" Yuan, what did you say just now? " San Mao hid his laughter and asked.


    Fortunately, San Tu and Monkey were sitting across from us, and he didn''t notice San Mao''s lecherous appearance under the dim light of the fire. I helplessly shook my head and had to say it again: "By the way, Zombie, did you not see it on the road for many days?"


    "Huh?" It seems so. " San Mao scratched his head, he thought for a moment and said: "It seems that after this round of cold air came down, I have not seen anyone else."

 C61

    At this time, everyone became interested as they started discussing all at once.


    "Could the Zombie have been frozen to death? We''re still suffering! " San Mao slapped his thigh and said.


    San Tu stretched out his hand and said, "That''s impossible. We''ve just met a lot today."


    I remembered what San Tu said about opening the supermarket''s isolation door to lure Zombie into the museum. I sighed along with Monkey San Mao.


    "According to the officials before the defense of the city, humans were infected with Solam Virus, which led to the transformation of the Zombie. Could it be that this virus is not very resistant to low temperatures, causing the Zombie to go indoors to avoid the cold?" Monkey''s guess was somewhat reasonable.


    "There''s this possibility ¡­" San Tu nodded his head, drank a mouthful of tea and continued: "Most of the bacterial viruses do not have a strong resistance to heat and cold, that''s why we get a fever."


    "That makes sense. It''s so cold this year, could it be that the heavens are helping us?" the monkey said again.


    "Humph!" I sneered. "God? This disaster might even be caused by the heavens! "


    "Let''s talk about this coldness ¡­" I sipped my tea and continued. "Absolute temperature isn''t much colder than usual, and the thermometer is only minus seven or eight degrees Celsius, partly because we don''t have an air-conditioning heater, partly because we''re dirty, partly because we feel colder, and partly because there''s less human activity. All kinds of machines, cars, household appliances, they don''t turn, and the city gets colder without the heat island effect."


    "Uncle Chen Yuan, where did this zombie come from?" Suddenly, Little Casey''s childish voice came from behind me. I turned my head to see that it was either the fire or our conversation, which attracted the attention of the two ladies.


    Little Casey was with his three big brothers and sisters, and both her expression and eyes seemed to become lively, as if she had regained her innocence in an instant. The two girls even recombed her hair and braided two of her braids, making her look even more adorable.


    "This ¡­" I thought about what happened at the military base in the valley. After a moment of silence, I sighed and said, "Uncle doesn''t know either."


    "Oh ¡­" Casey responded with disappointment. After that, he lowered his head and went silent for a moment, and then muttered in a very soft voice: "Are they still going to get better?"


    At that time, she was locked in a classroom with a few other children, and the door to the classroom was securely locked. It should have been because the adults knew that they had been bitten, that''s why they shut them up in order to protect their children, and only after we cleaned up the Zombie howling outside the classroom, did we open the door and find the dying Little Casey, while the other children had all died, and Little Casey had to rely on eating herself and other people''s excrement to survive.


    I can''t imagine how a ten-year old child managed to survive those few days, eating up the food bit by bit while watching his companions die one by one. I watched helplessly as my parents transformed into terrifying Zombie s that hovered outside the window, moaning and howling ¡­


    I couldn''t help but hold onto Little Casey''s head, and quietly hugged him. Everyone became silent. They knew that they could not use lies to comfort her. In this cruel world, they could only let her learn to be strong and grow up.


    Little Casey seemed to know the answer to her own question, she stayed silent in my embrace for a while, her eyes reddened, but she forcibly stopped her tears, just that she wasn''t as lively as before.


    "Cough, cough ¡­" At this time, San Tu coughed lightly, as if he wanted to change the atmosphere. "Regarding this Zombie, when we colleagues saw that it was safe in the museum, we had made a few deductions ¡ª ¡ª Before the Zombie crisis, there must have been someone who knew about it, and had prepared a lot!


    "Oh? "Why do you say that?" I was shocked, thinking that San Tu knew something, and immediately asked.


    "Because before the crisis, many strange things happened in the whole world. Now that I think about it, it seems that all of them were closely linked to the Zombie''s crisis."


    First place ¡­" San Tu counted on his fingers as he spoke, "The international oil price has plummeted! In just a short year or two, he had fallen from over a hundred dollars to over forty dollars a barrel! "In an era where fossil energy is drying up but consumption of fossil fuels is increasing rapidly, and with the crisis in Ukraine and the dispute in the South China Sea, this is unthinkable!


    "Didn''t they say that this was caused by the development of shale oil technology in the United States?" I interrupted.


    San Tu waved his hands and swallowed his saliva: "Think about it. If you were the one doing business, would you want your products to be good or cheap? There was no doubt that the higher the price, the better! "If a commodity has already been oversupplied in the market and prices are falling, wouldn''t it be a fool to increase your horsepower without caring about the cost of production?"


    I couldn''t help but nod.


    San Tu became even more excited, waved his hands and continued, "At that time, oil-producing countries were just such idiots. I remember OPEC coming out to clarify a few times that even if the price of oil fell this way, it would not reduce the production of crude oil. "At that time, our country was also buying in bulk. If the oil depots couldn''t be filled, we would use the gigantic oil tankers as warehouses and park the entire ship at the dock!"


    "I can only say that at that time, the upper echelons must have found out something, and hoarded a large amount of crude oil, just in case they needed it!"


    "Second... Do you still remember our stock? " San Tu smacked his lips as he looked at me.


    "Remember, it rose to over 7,000 points and then plummeted to 2,000 points!" I nodded. "I lost quite a bit."


    "That''s it!" San Tu shouted excitedly, "Actually, it is not only our country, but all the major economies in the world experienced strange economic fluctuations at that time. For example, Japan, the yen experienced the biggest drop since the 1985 Plaza Accord; The United States is slightly better, but their Nasdaq also mysteriously plummeted, falling by more than 50%! "


    "All these happened within two to three years before the outbreak of the Zombie''s crisis. Why? Because the upper management needs a large amount of funds! " San Tu answered his own question: "The stock market and foreign exchange market, are always the fastest ways to raise funds. To fall from 7,000 to 2,000 points, how much of the ordinary citizens'' hard-earned money would have to be evaporated? Where did all this money end up? "


    "Third... This is even more bizarre. " San Tu pulled out another finger, and this time he lowered his voice, as if he was afraid that someone would hear him. He whispered a question that did not seem to fit in with the conversation at this point in time, "Do you know Dominique Kahn?"

 C62

    After a long search, I finally remembered a bizarre case from a few years ago: "The head of some organization raped a waiter?"


    "It''s the International Monetary Fund!" San Tu nodded his head and praised: "There are many doubts about this matter. You must know that Kahn is a person with a lot of reputation. Rape? At that time, he was already an old man in his sixties! You should have noticed the news back then, that the waiter is extremely ugly. Someone like Kahn, who wants women, isn''t that just picking? How can he be that hungry? Moreover, the statements provided by the police afterwards were full of flaws. It could be concluded that this was a conspiracy! "


    "But do you know why Kahn was framed?" San Tu pretended to ask.


    I shrugged and pursed my lips to show I didn''t know.


    "Because Karn knows that the American gold reserves are missing!"


    "What!" This time, not only me, even San Mao and exclaimed in surprise. Only Uncle Feng and the two ladies didn''t have much of a reaction, because Uncle Feng didn''t understand what San Tu was saying, Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie had probably heard his words a long time ago and had become accustomed to it.


    San Tu seemed to be very satisfied with our reactions, he grinned and said, "Yes, the United States'' underground treasury, including the large amount of gold stored in various countries, has mysteriously disappeared!"


    "You ¡­ Why are you so sure that the gold disappeared? " Monkey quickly said.


    San Tu nodded and added, "Before the event with Karn, there were many indications that American Gold was missing. All the countries in Europe had teamed up and asked to transport the gold stored in the United States back to their own country for safekeeping, but the United States rejected them, not even allowing them to inspect! In fact, since Eisenhower''s tenure in the 1950s, the Fed''s gold holdings have never been audited! "


    We all gaped, and I thought to myself, if this is true, then the original exalted dollar was built on an illusory shell!


    "Where did all this gold end up?" San Tu slowly said again.


    "What''s even weirder is that!" San Tu continued: "In the two to three years before the Zombie crisis, a large number of financiers and bankers died accidentally, some even with names. The majority of the deaths were from suicide, which was a list of names released by anonymous hackers on the dark net. "Why?"


    I was suffocated by the consecutive questions that San Tu threw out. It was as if 70% of the truth that was pressed under the water was slowly surfacing, and the truth that seemed to be so shocking to the world.


    I took a deep breath and said, "What you mean is, before the crisis with the Zombie, someone took out a large amount of money and secretly made preparations?"


    "But this preparation doesn''t seem to be of much use ¡­" San Tu nodded his head and said: "Maybe the Zombie has acted too quickly, and they haven''t finished their preparations yet."


    "Could it be that in the 2012 movie, countries paid for the creation of the Ark of the Apocalypse in China?" San Mao suddenly said.


    "Are you stupid?" I patted the back of San Mao''s head. "It''s not like I''m giving myself away now, what''s the use of building a ark?"


    "There really is such a possibility ¡­" San Tu waved his hand and said: "But it might not be a ark, it could also be a gigantic underground base or something else. I am almost certain that there must be such a project here!"


    At this moment, all of our eyes lit up, and Monkey''s voice even trembled a little. "You''re saying ¡­"


    Without waiting for him to finish speaking, San Tu interrupted him and said, "Yes, there must be another place in this world where the Fire Elemental of Human Civilization is preserved ¡­ We call him ¡ª the Fortress of Doom! "


    "Food and clothing ¡­" "There''s water and electricity ¡­" Monkey could not stop thinking leisurely. He muttered to himself, "There''s still meat to eat ¡­"


    "Not only these, there is also a large amount of gold, weapons, equipment, grains, seeds, and other materials that can help humanity rise again after the crisis of the Zombie has been resolved!" San Tu said with an extremely certain tone: "Moreover, there are a large number of elite members!"


    "Uncle Lu wants to bring us to such a place." Zhang Yiling suddenly interrupted.


    "But where is this fort? China is so big, it''s impossible for us to run into each other by chance! " I shook my head.


    "Is it like in the movies, in Tibet? That place is a large and sparsely populated place, and the mountain roads are also hard to traverse. the monkey interrupted.


    "It won''t be long ¡­" San Tu shook his head and explained: "Firstly, the geological conditions in Tibet are too unstable and secondly, the transportation is too inconvenient. For such a big project, just the transportation of materials is not enough."


    "My guess is two places." San Tu continued, "Firstly, the western part of the city is called Jiuquan City, which is a satellite base. It has been in operation for many years, and during the cold war, in order to prevent nuclear war, many underground fortresses were built. If we build the fort here, we will be able to save a lot of time and effort, as well as a lot of money! "


    "Also, Jiayu Pass is to the northwest of the Jiuquan, Qi Lianshan to the south. It is surrounded by the desert. The only drawback is the lack of water, but the underground water resources are very abundant, and the place where it is buried is very shallow. Oh right, the famous Crescent Spring is over there. "


    "What about the other place?" Just as San Tu finished speaking, I impatiently asked.


    "The second place, our deduction is very bold!" San Tu rubbed his eyes, looking like he was full of knowledge. "I think it''s very likely that the Apocalypse Fortress is hiding in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area!"


    I sucked in a breath of cold air, smacked my lips and said, "How is this possible? The Three Gorges is such a big project, how can it be done to deceive people?"


    "It''s precisely because of its large amount of work that it''s easier to conceal! The Three Gorges Project had over a million immigrants, flooding over a hundred cities and towns, and the warehouse district had an additional 150 islands! To build some works on some of the islands, it would be fine to just say that it is a military project, no one would doubt that! "


    "Do you remember how much opposition was raised when the Three Gorges Dam was mounted? Many of the older scientists had written to the central leadership demanding that the project be stopped, and even there had been hundreds of objections and abstention in the vote. This is extremely rare in our political environment! Why would such a program be forced into action? "


    "At that time, the reason was that the Three Gorges Project was able to generate electricity. There is a saying that once the Three Gorges Project started generating electricity, there would be no shortage of electricity in our country for decades. However, in reality, since the start of generating electricity at the power plant in the Three Gorges Project, we have always been in a shortage of electricity! So where did all this electricity go? "


    "After all, other than showing off our national power, there is nothing good on the surface when we build this dam. Our leaders are not stupid, so why do they have to build it?"


    "First, with the dam blocking the Apocalypse Fortress, the terrain is hard to defend. Second, the transportation is convenient, and we can make full use of the Yangtze River channel. Third, there are abundant resources, and after clearing away the Zombie hidden in the water, the fish and shrimp production is almost inexhaustible. Fourthly, needless to say, we don''t have to worry about the energy source for such a large power plant."


    San Tu listed them one by one, causing me to be captivated by him.


    Even though the news that San Tu has brought is only speculation, it has undoubtedly brought about a glimmer of hope to this group of people who are almost waiting to die. And hope, just happens to be the most precious thing in this era.


    That night, we were all excited, like the old peasants who imagined the life of the emperor''s princess in the palace, and longed for the Apocalypse Fortress. I saw Little Casey continuously running around us, doing all kinds of cute and naive things that made us laugh out loud; I saw Yang Yufan and Xiao Jie sneakily glance at each other, and occasionally made eye contact, so I immediately moved away, lowering my head and giggling shyly. For the first time, our damp, cold, lifeless base had a warm, rapprochement atmosphere. It was only when Uncle Feng was no longer willing to add firewood to the furnace and the fire had turned into ashes did we reluctantly end this night''s conversation.


    At night, Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie will sleep in the same room as Aunt Chen, and Uncle Feng and San Tu will squeeze in with us. Perhaps it was because I was too excited, but I was still unable to fall asleep. The moment I closed my eyes, all kinds of fantasies about the Apocalypse Fortress came to me, and it wasn''t until a little after one in the morning that I fell asleep.


    At first, I thought that it was San Mao calling me to get up at dawn. However, when I barely opened my eyes, my vision was still completely dark, and I could vaguely sense a human figure bending over to look at me. This small human figure is definitely not San Mao!


    I was frightened to the point that my soul almost left my body. I instinctively opened my mouth to shout but to my surprise, the black shadow suddenly stretched out a hand to cover my nose and mouth.


    "Shh ¡­" The shadow breathed softly, and I calmed down. As my eyes adjusted, I saw MaggieQ looking at me with sparkling eyes.

 C63

    Five months and seven days ago.


    The three of us stood at the top of the mountain, staring at the brightly lit egg-shaped building. As the sky darkened, its transparent dome became brighter and the shadows inside became more and more conspicuous. The massive Boeing 777 slowly revealed itself like a ghost in the night.


    "Yes ¡­" that plane...? " I swallowed hard.


    San Mao was so shocked that he could not speak, and could only nod his head mechanically. On the contrary, Mao Tou didn''t know about the situation nor why we were so shocked.


    "Do you still want to go down?" After staring blankly for a long while, Mao Tou finally could not hold back and said.


    "You f * cking found me a path!" San Mao regained his senses, he pointed at the cliff and bellowed: You still say you aren''t messing with us?


    Mao Tou smiled sinisterly, bent down, and began to grope around the edge of the cliff. After a while, I heard the sound of metal clanging against metal. "Clangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclanging."


    "Found it!" Mao Tou cheered softly. We went over to take a look and saw Mao Tou pulling a chain that was as thick as an adult''s arm, leading him straight into the depths of the pitch black cliff.


    "Damn, what is this?" San Mao squatted down and stuck his head out of the cliff to have a look, while smacking his teeth at the flower, he said, "Is this smuggling, or is this drug trafficking?"


    "Of course not ¡­" Mao Tou laughed and replied, "These are for gathering medicinal herbs, Dendrobium!"


    "Dendrobium?" The Daoist originally stood a meter away from the cliff, but after hearing Mao Tou''s words, he became interested and also walked over. He bent down in an exaggerated manner, almost lying on the ground, and only peeked out of the cliff to look around.


    "Wild?"


    "En!" Mao Tou nodded his head and said: "There is no need to grow them here, all those years ago, our village relied on this cliff and lived a good life."


    "That''s ¡­" The Daoist lied on the ground like a chick pecking at rice as he nodded his head, "The wild Dendrobium is almost extinct, its price is even higher than wild ginseng!"


    "Back then, the villagers said that they ¡­" Mao Tou pointed to the glowing egg-shaped building and said, "Why did you set up this base? It''s because of this, you have to harvest Dendrobium to extend the old leader''s life!"


    "Right!" Mao Tou suddenly turned his head and said to me: "It''s written on this book, every time it''s a Feng Shui Treasure, there will be a heavenly resource appearing. Isn''t this the evidence of an ancient tomb?"


    "Ugh ¡­" I was immediately speechless. I thought to myself, ''This dwarf is really obsessed with robbing tombs. He changed the topic and said, "I can''t even get down that chain. There''s no other way!"


    "There''s a way, there''s a way ¡­" Mao Tou quickly complied, and just as he finished speaking, he jumped off the cliff.


    Ah!" The three of us simultaneously let out exclamations of surprise, I immediately stuck my head out to look, only to see Mao Tou floating one or two feet under the cliff, laughing at us.


    "Fuck you!" San Mao grabbed a stone and threw it towards Mao Tou. Mao Tou dodged and then used his legs to rub on the cliff beside the iron chains.


    Following his movements, the moss on the cliff started to peel off, slowly revealing a shallow notch. San Mao placed one leg into the groove to stabilize his body, and then started to kick the other side of the cliff. Immediately, the other side of the groove revealed itself.


    "Come on, it''s a good trip!" Mao Tou called out to us softly after he went down for a while. At this moment, his figure was already covered by the darkness of the night. We could only hear the sound of him kicking against the rock wall.


    "How is it?" I swallowed a mouthful of saliva. My heart was beating like a drum, this road of iron chains looked extremely dangerous, plus the night was dark and the fires were dim, what was even more unpredictable was that no one had maintained this chain for many years. Who knows if it would be able to support the weight of the few of us who had already rusted and loosened.


    "They''re already here, what else can they do? Just go down, it would be your life if you fell to your death!" San Mao was the same as him and did not take it seriously at all.


    "Ah ¡­" "No!" The Daoist Priest on the other hand, retreated. He who was originally lying on the ground, upon hearing San Mao''s words, uncontrollably twisted his body and shrank back like a lizard crawling on the ground.


    "How about... "I''ll cover you guys here ¡­" The Taoist pushed himself a few meters away from the cliff and stammered, "I ¡­" I... There is fear of heights! "


    "I''m afraid of your head!" San Mao went over and grabbed the Daoist by the collar, and growled in a hoarse voice, "Then return the money for yesterday''s Big Health Care!"


    The Daoist man''s face turned green. It was unknown whether he was afraid of heights or of money, but he could not help but let out a cold breath. After a while, he sighed and said, "Am I not good enough?"


    Only then did San Mao let go of his collar, patted his back and said, "This is what you call a brother!"


    I heaved a sigh of relief. Although the Taoist looked petty and petty, he was the one who understood the most. If he didn''t go in with us, I''m afraid we would lose our sight of him in many places.


    I nodded and said to them: "I''m afraid that this Chain will take too long, and it won''t be able to hold our weight. I will go down first, and when I reach the ground, I will shake the chain, and then take it out.


    The two of them nodded in agreement.


    I walked to the edge of the cliff, crouched low, and looked down. It was dark beneath the cliff, and the chains, reflecting the faint light of the stars, shimmered in the darkness, leading straight down into the unfathomable darkness.


    I took a deep breath, turned my body upside down, and put my legs down first. After half a day, I could only feel the indentation of the upper part of my body, which could only be placed into the sole of my foot. After stabilizing my body, I grabbed onto the metal chain and let my upper body leave the cliff face.


    Watching someone else climb and being in it were two completely different experiences. Humans have a natural fear of things that could threaten them, such as beasts, snakes, water, and heights. For the first few meters, the genes within my body that have lasted for millions of years roared at me ¡ª Quickly! Get out of there! Danger! My body crazily secretes adrenaline, which makes my heart beat like a F1 racing engine. I''m breathing heavily, my limbs are trembling, and every next step is a challenge to my instincts.


    After I climbed down for a few minutes, my mind and body gradually got used to it. I started to grasp the key points of the climb, from shakily holding onto the metal chain for half a day before I took a step down to climbing in a rhythmic fashion, I even had the intention of looking around. I saw clusters of orchids and slender grass growing from the crevices between the cliffs, little stars with purple and white flowers blooming on them.


    In this darkness, I felt that the cliff seemed to be endless, stretching all the way down to the netherworld. Gradually, my arm started to burn like fire, my thighs started to spasm, and my body started to become weak, and just when I wanted to stop to rest for a while, my foot that was extended downwards stepped on empty air, and the groove that was following the chain all the way down disappeared!


    I hastily withdrew my feet and looked down while holding onto the chain. The chain in my hand was nailed into a rock wall not far from my feet. Further down, it was pitch-black and I could no longer see anything.


    Was this the end? In my heart, I thought that once this chain was discovered by the garrison and cut off from the middle, if it was the latter, I would no longer have the stamina to climb up again. What about Mao Tou? This fellow couldn''t be luring us here on purpose to kill us for our wealth, right? I curled up on the cliff, all sorts of bad guesses rushing in. I wanted to shout for Mao Tou, but I was afraid of summoning patrols.


    "Jump!" Just as I was unable to advance or retreat, I heard Mao Tou calling out to me with an extremely low voice beneath my feet. I looked down again and saw that it was still an unfathomably deep pitch black.


    "Jump!" Mao Tou said again: "It''s very low!"


    I hesitated for a while, thinking that it was impossible to go up anyway, so I steeled my heart and leaped!


    In fact, my altitude was much lower than I expected. I was like a person who walked down the stairs in the dark. I originally expected to be on the first step, but in reality, I had already reached the bottom. I got up from the ground and walked over to the chain. I reached out my hand to touch it, and when I touched it, it was only about two meters off the ground. I shook the chain, and after a while there was a slight vibration on the chain, and I knew it was coming down.


    This is because when I tiptoed, I was able to touch his legs. This allowed him to relieve the greatest fear of the unknown in his heart, so that San Mao was even more at ease. When he landed, he didn''t even bother to squat on his butt.


    We only saw a milky white halo in the distance. When I looked back at the cliff, it was already so dark that I couldn''t see the top of it, and the metal chain was also hidden in the darkness, so I didn''t know what ingenious arrangement it had made so that I wouldn''t be discovered when we were developing the base. I shook my head and pointed ahead, saying, "Let''s go!"

 C64

    We walked in the dark wilderness. Although it was flat from the cliff, it was not a good place to walk on. The wasteland was actually a half marsh structure. It looked like a green carpet of grass, thick with mud, and now the grass was wet with the dew of the night. The mud was thicker and heavier under our shoes, and it took a lot of effort to pull our feet out of the mud with every step, and we would often step into the puddles as we walked.


    For concealment, we could not switch on our flashlights, but moved on in the dark. Fortunately, until we reached the egg-shaped building, we did not encounter any patrolling guards, which made me feel both grateful and a little strange, since the base seemed to be rather secret, important, and should not be so relaxed.


    We were less than fifty meters from the egg-shaped building, squatting behind a clump of grass that was half the height of a man.


    Only now did we realize how magnificent this base was. The egg-shaped buildings had glowing glass walls extending in both directions, and we couldn''t see the end of them, but this building was only a small part of the huge building complex, and most of the buildings were three to five stories high, with egg-shaped buildings as the center, radiating out from the center. They extended along a straight road, as if it was a small town!


    However, this town was completely lifeless! Except for the egg-shaped buildings, none of the other buildings were lit, which was why we didn''t find them on the cliffs. The strangest thing was that although it was still dark, there was not a single person around. We had imagined that it would be heavily armed sentries, researchers in white coats, and so on. Not a single one of them appeared.


    "Why is there no one here?" Even San Mao who had two less tendons in his head felt that something was wrong. He stretched his neck like a duck and looked around.


    "What''s wrong?" Mao Tou was not even as tall as that thatched cottage. He struggled to stand on his toes but he could not see anything.


    "Look for yourself!" San Mao grabbed the collar on the back of Mao Tou''s neck and lifted him up.


    Caught off guard, Mao Tou cried out in surprise and was lifted up into the air, his hands and legs flailing about wildly. However, in an instant, he calmed down and muttered: "How could this be?


    "It couldn''t have been moved away, right?" He shook his head, and then shook his head.


    The four of us stared at what looked like the legendary Namibia city of the dead. When the adventurers found the dead city, we could see through the gates that houses, streets, inns, and shops were available, and there were also pots, pans, chairs, and chairs in the houses, but for some reason no one was smoking.


    I pondered for a moment before making up my mind. I waved my hand and said, "Let''s go take a look first."


    We slowly made our way to the entrance of the egg-shaped building. As we approached, I suddenly felt something slip under my feet, and it made a jingling sound. I was startled and quickly stopped.


    San Mao picked up a 95 Type Assault Rifle and took a look inside the magazine. The inside was filled with bullets, he threw the gun at me and picked up another gun from the ground. He looked at the bullets, then hung them on his neck.


    "Could it be that the Americans are here to rob the tomb as well?" Mao Tou also picked up a rifle, but this gun was as tall as him, he was unable to use his two short hands, and after fiddling with it for a long time, he gave up and switched out for another 92 Model handgun from the ground.


    I pouted back at the Taoist, motioning him to pick up another gun, but he shook his head and said he had never touched a gun before. San Mao and I did not force it, the two of us held our spears horizontally in front of us, and walked in first.


    The outer part of the egg-shaped building used a circle of plastic film that was similar to a supermarket to make a path for only one person to pass through. I followed behind San Mao, and the deeper I went, the more shocked I became.


    "This... It can''t be human blood, right? " The Taoist trembled as he spoke behind me.


    "Could it still be pig''s blood?" San Mao pulled a bolt on the gun and raised the gun forward.


    "Why don''t we forget about it ¡­" I pulled on San Mao''s clothes and said, "Let''s go out and call the police!"


    "Call the police?" San Mao continued to walk in without looking back: "What police? That we broke into the military forbidden area? "


    "I''m fine!" San Mao turned around and said to us, "The blood here has already been dried, which means that the battle has lasted for at least 4 to 5 hours. The people that attacked this place will not be able to risk staying here for too long, plus, there were no reinforcements that came this long, which means the base has not sent any distress alerts, and the transportation and supply vehicles will not arrive that late at night. So at least until dawn, we are safe!"


    Although San Mao was usually a little careless, with a lack of brain, when he encountered this kind of thing, he was very detailed and analyzed very clearly. I thought it was true, and since I was curious, I followed him in.


    At the end of the corridor was an automatic glass door. It was half closed and the glass on it had been broken. After we entered, we discovered that at least one floor had been dug down from the inside of the building. We were on a corridor, and below us was an entire space the size of a football field. A Boeing 777 was quietly lying in the middle of the room.


    Although we had already guessed that it would be this plane when we were on the cliff just now, I still felt my heart thumping when it was revealed before my eyes. This plane that everyone in the world cared about appeared here without any concealment, making me feel as if I had fallen into a dream.


    "I knew it!" After San Mao and I ran down the stairs at the end of the corridor. I couldn''t stop him, as I was afraid that something might happen to him, so I followed suit and ran down the stairs as well.


    There were not many broken tools scattered around like the ones at the entrance. It was as if the engineers were just going out to have a meal and would be back soon.

 C65

    We walked up to the Boeing 777, a huge creature with a wingspan of more than sixty meters and a fuselage of more than seventy meters that stretched out in front of us like a specimen of a giant beast. Five of the hangars, including the cockpit, were connected to the boarding ladder, and the hatch was wide open.


    The Taoist held his knees in front of the plane and gasped for breath. Then he straightened up and tried to push his eyes up the flight ladder again. This time, I reacted quickly and grabbed the straps of my backpack.


    "Do you want to die?" I was so shocked by my own voice that I cringed and looked around. I lowered my voice and continued, "There must be something strange about this plane, or why would it stop here for no reason and not announce it to the outside world? It''s fine, but what if there''s a malignant infectious disease virus inside? " I remembered the classic opening episode of The Edge of the Crisis.


    Stunned, the Taoist stepped back to block my hand, and fumbled for a flashlight that he pulled from the side of the backpack. He pressed the switch, and the light shot out a beam of intense milky white light.


    "What are you doing!" I put my palms in front of my eyes in dissatisfaction.


    "I never thought that the usually smart Chen Yuan would have a time when he acted like a fool." The Taoist sneered and said, "How long has this plane been missing? It had been almost half a year! "Even if there''s something strange inside, it''s been long since ¡­" The Taoist pointed to the surroundings. "Did the weird scientist get taken away?"


    I think so. Look at the layout of this place, it''s like the American District 52 in the movies. Even if this plane had any viruses or anything like that, it must have been cleared countless times over. Just then, the Taoist had already climbed the flight of stairs, San Mao patted my shoulder, and followed along. Even Mao Tou walked up the flight of stairs on his short legs, as he turned his head and smiled at me, as though he was mocking me for being cowardly.


    I looked around. There was no one in this empty building. It was quiet without any signs of life. The strange atmosphere made one''s hair stand on end. I shook my head, trying to get those horrible associations out of my head, and took out my flashlight to climb the stairs.


    The interior of the cabin was not completely dark. The portholes were all placed below, and the light from the outside shone through the four windows, painting the cabin into a ballroom of alternating light and darkness. The interior was very clean, the lid of the luggage had been opened, and there was nothing inside. The small table had been put away, and the back of the chair was covered with a bag of debris. It was clear that the magazines and the vomiting bag had all been taken away.


    "What is this?" The Taoist muttered softly.


    I went over to the sound and saw the Taoist leaning over a first-class seat to examine something closely. I looked closer and saw a faint stain, like the stain after a drunk vomit has dried up. The stain had obviously been washed repeatedly, leaving only a very faint mark, only faintly discernible against the white leather of the seat.


    I scanned the other seats with my flashlight and saw that almost every seat in the first-class cabin had this mark on it.


    Maybe it was during the plane meal that a strong current came up and knocked the food over." I guessed.


    The Taoist shrugged, indicating that he had no idea what was going on, and turned toward the cockpit. I thought about it and decided that there was no way in, so I headed the other way, in the direction of economy class.


    The economy class was as clean and tidy as the others. Those ugly things sat next to each other, and their knees were touching the blue fabric of the seats in the front row. There weren''t any stains on the first class cabin, but it was unknown if it was originally empty or if it was cleaned later on. I walked along the left aisle of the plane, scanning the area with my flashlight. There was nothing here that attracted attention, not even anything that was not connected to the plane.


    The cabin of Boeing 777 was enormous, with thirty rows of seats divided into two compartments, separated by a row of four bathrooms. I passed quickly by the first cabin, but there was nothing unusual about it. I knew that there was a work area behind the curtain, a toilet and a flight attendant''s place to prepare meals. Without thinking too much, I reached out and lifted the curtain.


    It was still a short passage. I shone my flashlight on it and, finding nothing out of the ordinary, stepped into it. When I reached the end of the passage and turned the corner in front of a row of kitchen equipment, I found a pile of things on the floor.


    At first I thought it was a blanket for the passengers on the plane, but I didn''t care. But when I scanned the pile with my flashlight, the pile of "things" suddenly moved!


    I cried out in fear. At the bottom of the pile, a figure suddenly sat up.


    This person also seemed to be scared senseless by my actions. He continuously stepped back while putting his hands in front of his face to block me. He kept on shouting, "Don''t eat me! Don''t eat me! "


    Caught off guard, I was completely scared witless. I couldn''t react to why this person was shouting, "Don''t eat me!" Such weird words, it was only after a long while that he stammered out a question, "You, you, you ¡­" "Who is it?"


    After hearing my question, this person was stunned for a moment before shouting out loud. He then leaped up and quickly escaped through the other tunnel!


    He ran over from the other side of the plane. Seeing that there were two sides flanking, he immediately increased his speed, and with a few leaps, he passed through the middle of the cabin door. When we reached the cabin door, we saw that he had already landed on the ground and was running towards a small door in the distance.


    "Hey!" I called out to him from the gangway, and the man glanced back at us, and without pausing, disappeared behind the little door.


    "This person looks familiar ¡­" He was panting a little from the long run, wheezing beside me against the railing of the gangway.


    After the Taoist''s reminder, I also felt like I had seen this person somewhere before, but I just couldn''t remember where.


    "What are you blanking out for? Go and have a look!" San Mao squeezed between me and the Taoist and was the first to give chase.


    The Taoist priest and I hurriedly caught up to him. I ran while trying to recall the fragments of my memory, piecing them together bit by bit. As we approached the small door, a picture formed in my mind.


    "Zhou Lingwu! That person is Zhou Lingwu! I shouted.

 C66

    "Who is Zhou Lingwu?" San Mao turned his head and asked curiously.


    Since the investigation into the Zhou brothers were conducted by me and the Taoist priest, San Mao had never participated in it before. Naturally, he did not know who this Zhou Lingwu was, but right now, I obviously did not have the time to explain the ins and outs of the matter.


    However, I didn''t have time to think about anything else at the moment. I could only grab hold of Zhou Lingwu and ask him about the situation. I subconsciously turned on the flashlight in my hand and chased after him, ignoring everything else.


    After I entered the passageway, I discovered that it was just like a maze. A large number of interconnected passages were intertwined together, and the sides of the passageway were filled with concrete walls. There were no doors or windows at all. The light spots on my flashlight swayed in front of me as Zhou Lingwu and myself, as well as the footsteps of Clan Leader San Mao and the others behind me echoed in the passage, as if there were tens or even a hundred people running at the same time.


    At the start, my flashlight would occasionally flash upon his figure, but after a few turns, I had completely lost sight of him. After looking aimlessly for a while, I finally confirmed that I had lost him, and stopped in my tracks.


    The walls of this passageway did not look like the internal corridor of a normal building at all, but had no walls or paint, exposing the coarse cement of the embryo. However, it seemed to be a thick, sturdy, and indestructible corridor, with scarlet painted pipes extending from the ceiling. The light bulbs were hanging below the pipes, neatly arranged in a line.


    I remembered that the location of the Boeing 777 was below ground level, which meant that the labyrinth was built entirely underground.


    I groped around on the nearby wall and found several switchboards. I tried them with my hand, but nothing happened, as if all the electricity in the area except for the egg-shaped building had been cut off.


    I looked back. Behind me was the same dark, unlit corridor. I took a few more steps back, and when I couldn''t tell where I was anymore, I couldn''t help but shout,


    "San Mao!"


    "Hair..." Hair... Hair... "Hair ¡­" A series of echoes resounded from the passage, followed by San Mao''s voice that seemed to have been mixed with the reverberations:


    "Source... Source... Source... "Source..."


    The voices came from all directions, and I couldn''t tell where they came from. I tried to take a few steps in the right direction, but without exception they were the same corridors.


    San Mao was still calling out nonstop, and I tried to reply, but as my voice transmitted back and forth, it eventually became an indistinct buzzing sound. I couldn''t even tell if San Mao and the rest were approaching me or staying far away.


    I leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. Then, I looked at both sides of the passageway, which was so dark that I couldn''t see the end of it, and thought to myself that this place is not suitable for people to go to the back of the village, and it wouldn''t be easy for them to meet San Mao and the others, it would be better to follow a path to the end, so that they could easily discover it.


    With this idea in mind, I calmed myself down a lot. I removed the backpack from my back, took out the Bell''s Survival Knife that I had never used before, and used the back of the blade to carve an arrow on the wall. If San Mao were to accidentally come here, he would know which direction I was headed in. I took out a Snickers rack from my bag and took two bites to replenish my strength. Then I started walking in the direction of the arrow.


    The more I walked, the more confused I became. This underground labyrinth didn''t look like a new building at all, most of the pipes were painted mottled, the cement walls had worn off a little, and in many places the corners were thick with moss, as if they had been there for at least several decades.


    Could this underground base have existed since long ago? I thought back to what my mother had told me back in the days of the Cultural Revolution. In response to Mao Zedong''s call to "prepare for war, prepare for war," she had built a large number of dugouts and underground military installations, both official and civilian, and my mother had repeatedly talked about how hard it was for them when they were young, digging dugouts every day to educate me. She had tried to remind me of how difficult it was to live a happy life today.


    Most of these subterranean buildings, which were mostly made from the crude imitation of The Underground Warfare, had been abandoned, and there had been a number of brutal cases of children playing in them until the tunnel collapsed and was buried alive. Could this be one of the remnants that was left behind at that time? So why build a modern military base on this ancient underground building? To save money? Or was there some secret buried here?


    Finally, after a few minutes, I was blocked by a sturdy concrete wall. To my delight, there was an arrow carved into the wall, pointing to my right, and from the white marks, it seemed to have been carved not long ago.


    This must be the mark San Mao left for me to look for him. I became excited and without thinking, I turned and ran in the direction indicated by the arrow. But at this moment, I didn''t notice that I didn''t know when the unceasing shouts from San Mao had stopped hearing.


    Being alone in this quiet and dark underground, that kind of mental claustrophobia and terror is something ordinary people can''t imagine. At this moment, I desperately hope to meet someone alive, even if it is the powerless Mao Tou. However, things went against my wishes. After more than ten minutes had passed, I still hadn''t met San Mao and the others.


    Just when I was beginning to suspect that San Mao had left that arrow behind, the originally flat walkway suddenly became a flight of stairs, and I lost my balance, falling down like a soldier from the Eighth Route 8 Army that had been shot to death.


    I felt as if I''d rolled on the steps for a while, my head knocked a few times, but the key was that the flashlight in my hand also fell out and bounced a few times on the steps. Maybe it was the battery that fell out.


    I sat on the floor for a long time before I woke up. When I recovered my senses, my eyes were wide open. My vision was completely dark, without any light, and I couldn''t see anything.


    Losing the light source in this kind of absolute darkness also meant that it was hard to move, and all kinds of horrible imaginations started to surface in my mind. I hurriedly shook my head, took a few deep breaths, and thought about where the flashlight fell to.

 C67

    I cried out in fright, flinging my hands away reflexively, and pulling my legs back.


    Then it occurred to me that the sportswear watch I was wearing had a night glow to it, and I quickly raised my hand to my eyes and flipped the switch. The dial of my watch gave off a faint green glow that would have made anyone see the letters on it, but for me it was like the light of the first day of God.


    In the dim light, I could see a figure lying a few meters in front of me.


    Don''t be afraid, don''t be afraid... Just a dead man! I tried to cheer myself up, but the instant I touched the hand, I was sure the man was dead.


    He still had to find the flashlight first! After calming myself down for a while, I took off my watch, put my hand on the switch, and looked around the floor. Finally I found it in another corner of the steps.


    I was greatly relieved. For most people, I would rather be facing a real enemy in the light than the fear of imagination in the dark.


    I used the flashlight to look around and found that I was at the bottom of a flight of stairs, but there were no traces of manmade things on the outside of the stairs. At the top of the stairs were uneven rocks, and at the bottom was sand and mud, and this was actually a natural underground karst cave, and this cave was very spacious, at least ten meters high. My light on the left and right could only illuminate a greyish shadow, while the area directly opposite of the hole was even more unfathomable. I was too scared to go in alone.


    I looked away and back at the body. "He was a burly man, at least 1.85 meters tall, with broad shoulders and thick muscles on his back. He was wearing a black battle uniform that looked like a special police officer, and he was lying on the ground with his head turned towards the other side of where I couldn''t see him.


    Although I was certain that the man was dead, I still used the gun in my hand to touch his leg. As expected, the man didn''t move at all, and just as I was considering whether I should flip him over, I suddenly heard San Mao and the Daoist cry out.


    This time, the sound wasn''t as indiscernible as before. It sounded like it wasn''t far from the top of the stairs, I hastily replied and quickly ran up the stairs, just in time to see a flash of light not far away. San Mao and the Daoist priest were quickly running towards me.


    Even though it had only been a short twenty to thirty minutes, seeing the two of them again after a series of shocks, it seemed as though they were from another world. I was so excited that I almost wanted to hug San Mao.


    "Luckily, you were smart and left a mark on the wall. Otherwise, I wouldn''t be able to find you!" San Mao looked at me, was also very excited, and heavily hammered my shoulder twice as he spoke.


    "The mark on the wall?" At that moment, I remembered the arrow I saw earlier. I mistakenly thought that it was a mark made by San Mao and the rest, but now it seems that it wasn''t, it was most likely left behind by the dead person at the bottom of the stairs.


    "Hello ¡­" You guys wait for me! " At this time, Mao Tou''s shout came from the passageway again, and after that, he staggered over with two short legs, in a posture that was similar to that of a ten year old child.


    Mao Tou ran in front of us and gasped for breath with his hands on his waist. When he looked up and saw the stairs behind me, he became excited and snatched the flashlight from the Taoist.


    "This must be the entrance to the ancient tomb!"


    I forcefully resisted the urge to slap him, pointed to the stairs, and said to the Taoist priest and San Mao: "There''s a dead person below."


    The two of them were shocked when they heard that, and the both of them squeezed to Mao Tou''s side and peeked their heads down.


    "Is this the army here?" "Look at him in his military uniform ¡­" The Taoist said with some doubts.


    "It''s not for the army. They don''t have such uniforms. It looks like the uniform for the American Special Forces in the movies!" San Mao replied.


    "I said it! The Americans must have come to steal the tomb! " Mao Tou jumped up and down excitedly.


    "Let''s go down and take a look." San Mao straightened his body and was about to walk down.


    "Sigh ¡­" After being frightened so many times, my curiosity had long disappeared. Now, my only thought was to quickly leave this dark and secluded underground maze. I shouted at them, "This place is a little demonic. Let''s go up as soon as possible."


    "I''m fine." San Mao waved his hands and said: "Even living people are not afraid, what''s there to be afraid of? Let''s go down and take a look, we''ll leave immediately. You just wait up there."


    I couldn''t stop them, so I let them go and watched them walk to the foot of the steps and pick up the bodies.


    "Not a foreigner!" I heard the abbot say it.


    At this time, I suddenly felt something going on behind me, as if someone was secretly spying on me. I suddenly turned around and swept the flashlight along the road I came from, and the moment I turned around, I suddenly saw a person with half of his face stretched out at a fork in the road, staring at us. I looked carefully, and shockingly, it was Zhou Lingwu, who was running away just now.


    When Zhou Lingwu saw me, he jumped in fright, shrunk his head, and ran back.


    "Zhou Lingwu!" I shouted towards his back, but Zhou Lingwu only stopped for a moment, then continued to run.


    I chased after him for two steps, but I was afraid that I would repeat the same mistake as before. I stopped in my tracks and shouted at him, "Zhou Lingwu! Your brother is dead! "


    Zhou Lingwu stopped and turned around, looking at me in shock.


    Seeing that the topic was open, he continued, "Your brother Zhou Lingwen, a few days ago he was in a car accident ¡­"


    Zhou Lingwu''s face immediately became sorrowful. After staring blankly for a while, he actually slapped himself a few times, as he shouted, "It''s me who harmed him ¡­ "I was the one who harmed him ¡­"


    Zhou Lingwen died in a car accident. He was still overseas at the time, so how could he be the culprit?


    "No, no, no ¡­" He was killed in a car accident while I was still at the scene. " I was afraid that my actions would scare him away again, so I could only comfort him while slowly approaching him.


    "You don''t understand!" Zhou Lingwu became even more excited and cried out: "If I hadn''t sent him the immortal medicine, he wouldn''t have died! If it wasn''t for the fact that I took the elixir, they wouldn''t have died! "


    "What?" What elixir? " In my heart, I thought, "Could this person have gone mad? What is he talking about? Also, who are they? Could there be other dead people?"


    "I shouldn''t have been so greedy. I''ve let them down, I''ve let you down! I am guilty! " Zhou Lingwu was completely incoherent as he roared.


    "Don''t worry, speak slowly. What is this immortal medicine? Who gave it to you? " I crept within ten meters of him.


    "Demon!" The devil! " Zhou Lingwu suddenly became extremely terrified, extending a hand and pointing straight at me as he shouted.


    What devil? I looked up and down at myself, wondering if I was that scary.


    "Don''t eat me! Don''t eat me! " Zhou Lingwu suddenly roared, he turned and ran.


    I suddenly realised that Zhou Lingwu was not pointing at me, I turned my head and coincidentally saw Clan Leader San Mao and Mao Tou dashing towards me at full speed.


    "Run, run, run!" San Mao waved and shouted fiercely at me.


    What''s wrong? I didn''t know what to do until I looked past the three of them and saw a black figure behind them. It was the corpse lying at the foot of the stairs!

 C68

    Now.


    When I saw it was MaggieQ, my whole body relaxed, and MaggieQ withdrew her hand from my nose and mouth, making a silent gesture with her index finger.


    I nodded slightly and reached out a hand for her to give me a hand, but MaggieQ ignored me and turned away. Helplessly, I got up and followed her downstairs.


    Although the room was so dark that he couldn''t see the road clearly, MaggieQ seemed to be very familiar with it. He quickly moved between the random piles of junk and the people lying on the ground, as if he had always lived here.


    I followed her downstairs. The first thing I saw was Monkey and Yang Yufan, who were on night watch, sprawled on the ground beside the stove. Startled, I quickly ran over to check.


    "They''re fine. They just fainted." MaggieQ coldly said.


    I was still worried, so I squatted down to check their breathing. Luckily, their breathing was normal, and there wasn''t any expression of pain on their faces. It looked just like they were normally sleeping.


    "What are you trying to do?" I could not help but feel a little sulky and impolite when I saw my companions being attacked every day.


    "Nothing." MaggieQ simply replied, "I just came to warn you to get out of here! Those people will be here soon ¡­ However ¡­ Anyway, you won''t listen, so be it. " Then she turned and walked out.


    I suddenly remembered the yellow-faced man at Ghost Market who stuffed the warning slip of paper into my hands. His figure was exactly the same as MaggieQ who was standing in front of me.


    "Wait ¡­"


    MaggieQ stopped at the door and looked back at me. The white snow outside shone brightly in the moonlight and covered MaggieQ''s face with a layer of milky white light. I was stunned by what I saw.


    "What else is there?"


    "Ah ¡­" I immediately came back to my senses, awkwardly scratched my head and said: "That day on the Heaven Stage, I still had to thank you for saving us, and that day at the Ghost Market, the one who warned us was you, right?"


    MaggieQ neither admits nor denies that his face is expressionless: "That''s because you saved me twice. After today, we are even! You can stay here and die if you want! "


    I turned my attention back to MaggieQ''s warning. Thinking of the well-equipped and well-trained riders, I couldn''t help but feel a chill run down my spine.


    "You mean the people on motorcycles?" Who are they? Why are you chasing after San Tu and the others? "


    "They aren''t chasing people, but this thing ¡­" MaggieQ took out something from her bosom and placed it on her hand. She then opened her palm, and the snow shone on it.


    "You, you, you ¡­ How did you steal the Asura Seal? " My brain couldn''t wrap my head around it so I could only stammer out this sentence.


    "Humph!" "What Asura Seal!" MaggieQ pouted and said in disdain, "Extremely ignorant!"


    There are countless questions running through my head, but I have no way to ask them. I could only stare at her with my mouth wide open.


    MaggieQ suddenly smiled as he saw me act this way: "These things have nothing to do with you. You should quickly leave this place and protect your life."


    "Leave this place?" It''s easier said than done. I smiled bitterly and shook my head. We won''t be a week out of that door, I''m afraid. "


    "That''s not my business!" MaggieQ said with a smile, "All I know is that if you stay here, you won''t live another day!"


    "But, if you don''t steal this seal, even if those people come looking for us, as long as we hand it back to them, I''m afraid they won''t be able to kill us. In the end, you didn''t save us, but rather harmed us!" I suddenly had an idea.


    MaggieQ was stunned for a moment, then said: "Then come with me now, I guarantee you will survive!"


    MaggieQ''s tone was very confident, as if she, a weak girl, could protect me, a man, in this world of Zombie. I didn''t feel that anything was wrong with what she said, as if it was what it should be.


    "But what about them?" I pointed to the monkey and Yang Yufan on the ground.


    "What''s they got to do with me?" MaggieQ said again coldly.


    "But they''re my friends ¡­" I couldn''t help but say in astonishment that this woman seemed to be made of ice and didn''t understand the ways of the world.


    MaggieQ lowered her head and frowned, as if she was considering whether her friend should save her. After a while, she looked up at me and said, "There''s one way!"


    "What method?"


    "Defeat them here!"


    "Huh?" I thought to myself, what kind of method is this? If I can beat it, then what is the point?


    "Do you have a gun?" MaggieQ continued.


    "Yes ¡­" "A automatic rifle and a handgun, but the rifle only has two boxes of bullets, so the handgun is basically useless due to lack of maintenance."


    "As long as you have a gun!" MaggieQ nodded. "All you have to do is hold them back and not let them in!"


    MaggieQ said and made to go out.


    I immediately called out to her, "Hey ¡­" Hold them... "And then?"


    "And?" MaggieQ smiled again and said, "Then pray to the gods!"


    "Right!" MaggieQ suddenly changed the subject. "Put this thing away and return it to me when I get back!" She threw the Ashura Seal at me.


    I frantically caught it and asked, "Who are you?"


    "Who am I?" MaggieQ was stunned. His sharp eyes became blank for a moment. After a moment, he shook his head and muttered, "I don''t know either ¡­" Didn''t you call me MaggieQ? That''s great! "


    After saying that, she swiftly turned around and floated away on the snowy ground. No matter how hard I tried to call for her, she didn''t look back.


    I stared blankly at her until she disappeared into the night, until the object in my hand was so hard it hurt. I raised my hand to my eyes and opened my palm.


    This was the first time I had observed this so-called Ashura Seal up close. In addition to the characters carved at the bottom and the carved Biting-tail Snake on the top, there was a circle of patterns on the side. I leaned close to the door and looked at it closely with the snow light, only to discover that it was an abstract two-headed bird, like both an eagle and a phoenix in Chinese culture.

 C69

    The family-like warmth that had just passed had been replaced by a knife-sharp reality, an imminent danger. I woke everyone up in a hurry, went out to grab a handful of snow, and rubbed it on the foreheads of the unconscious Monkey and Yang Yufan, waking them up as well.


    After everyone finished listening to my story, they all started to get nervous, especially Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie. They had just recovered from the panic of falling into the bandit''s nest, and before even waking up from their sleep, they heard that the people who killed their colleagues in front of them were about to come knocking on their door. Yang Yufan had been comforting the two girls, but he himself was also pale, San Mao, Monkey and the others were discussing the strategy at the same time. Just like him, San Tu''s face was also ashen, and his hands were still tightly hugging his two treasures.


    "Stop talking!" I could not help but shout, and everyone immediately quietened down. Only Xiao Jie was still stomping non-stop, and grumbling at the same time, "What do we do ¡­ "What should we do ¡­"


    I turned my head to glare at her, but she didn''t notice me, and only when Zhang Yiling gently pulled on her sleeve did she suddenly react, and covered her mouth with her hand without saying anything.


    After we went to the food factory, our group of people started to secretly regard me as their leader, which was not strange, although San Mao has a certain level of military training, he was too unscrupulous and unscrupulous; Lv is a man without a mouth, he only knows how to do things silently; strong though he is brave, but he does not have much of an opinion; Yang Yufan is too young; Uncle Feng is old; the monkey has just joined, but he is still not convinced by the masses. Although I don''t have the ability to lead nor the desire to do so, at this moment of life and death, I have no choice but to step forward to lead everyone.


    After seeing that everyone''s attention was focused on him, he cleared his throat and said, "Uncle Feng, please cook with Aunt Chen first and do something dry! If we''re going to fight, we need to conserve our physical strength... Didn''t you change a piece of pickled dog meat a few days ago? Don''t wait until the new year, I''ll do it now! "


    "Alright!" The Uncle Feng didn''t waste any time on nonsense as he pulled the Aunt Chen along with him and left.


    "Lv, Fann, the two horns on the wall..." I pointed outside, at two corners of the courtyard that were facing the outside, and said, "It''s easy to climb in from there, you guys can scatter some broken glass on the snow ground below, use that beer bottle from Yang Yufan''s house!"


    Hearing that, Yang Yufan still hesitated, but seeing that Xiao Jie was not willing to take a step forward, Lv pulled him forcefully, and then left unwillingly.


    "San Mao, you go upstairs. If anyone attacks the gate or climbs the wall, you will hit them with your gun!"


    San Mao did not say anything, he only pulled on the safety of the 95 assault rifle in his hand, as a response, he turned and went upstairs.


    "Energetic, Monkey... San Tu... " I shouted out the names of the three people, and both the monkey and I agreed. However, San Tu still lowered his head and tightly hugged the box, pretending not to hear anything, not knowing what he was thinking.


    "San Tu!" I shouted at him, and he looked up at me, as if waking from a dream.


    "You three, follow me to reinforce the gate. Use whatever you can to block the gate!" I shouted.


    "Alright!" He then patted Monkey on the shoulder and said, "Let''s go inside to move those ingots!" Monkey nodded and the two of them walked into the factory.


    I looked around the room, saw the white iron sofa, and waved towards San Tu, asking him to bring it with him. San Tu was still holding onto the box, looking around, unwilling to put it down.


    I felt in my pants pocket for the Ashura Seal and was about to hand it back to him, but decided against it when I remembered how much MaggieQ had valued it.


    "Aiya! Uncle Lu, what time is it!? Why are you still holding on to this dead thing? " , who was at the side, could not watch any further. One by one, they walked forward and took the embroidered box from San Tu''s hands along with the drawing tube on his back.


    San Tu was helpless, he could only walk over with a bitter face and move the sofa with me.


    "Sigh ¡­" Just as I walked to the door while carrying the sofa, Zhang Yiling raised her chin and said to me: "What can we do?"


    I thought to myself, this girl is really crazy, she can compete with San Mao. I sized up the two of them for a while before saying, "You guys should go and change your clothes, make yourselves a little dirty and stinky. If we can''t protect this place, we might have to escape. I can assure you, you will pray for them to eat you earlier! "


    Xiao Jie was shocked upon hearing this, he covered his mouth as he started to cry, but Zhang Yiling just rolled in her eyes, and pulled Xiao Jie to the place where Uncle Feng was going to cook.


    We worked until seven in the morning, piling up five or six tons of ingots inside the gate until it was too late for them to hit it with a tank. At this moment, it was snowing again, and the clouds were low. The sky was even darker than last night when there was moonlight, and a strong wind was blowing. "Wuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu."


    Maybe they won''t come in this kind of weather? I thought to myself, Even if they come, with this kind of defense, it shouldn''t be a problem for MaggieQ to get rid of them for a while, right? I patted a pile of cold, hard steel ingots the height of a man, and the cold feeling in my hand made me feel reassured.


    "You guys can go in and eat. I''ll be the shift guard today. I''ll just stand guard here!" After vigorously adjusting the top ingot, he shrank back into a small space near the observation hole we had deliberately left behind.


    At this moment, a strong wind blew the snow particles towards me. The cold wind made my body which was covered in sweat, turn my body cold. I nodded vigorously, then waved my hands towards Monkey and the others, and they all went inside. I looked up to see that the windows of the third to sixth floor were all open, and I didn''t know which window San Mao was hiding behind. I had seen San Mao shoot before, and remembered that when he was at the police academy, he was the champion of the Rifle Competition.


    Returning to the room, Uncle Feng''s breakfast was almost ready. The fragrance wafted from the stove, and everyone could not help but sniff the air.


    "Wait a little longer." Uncle Feng said while laughing, he grabbed two small vegetables from the side frame and threw them into the pot. The vegetables were obviously picked from the ground just now, each was as long as a finger, and extremely green. Usually, Aunt Chen would definitely not be willing to pick such fresh and tender vegetables, who knew if it was because she knew that today was a critical moment, or because she specially prepared them for Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie who were so greedy for the vegetables yesterday.


    "Enough!" After the stew continued for another minute or two, the Uncle Feng called out and opened the lid of the pot. A white steam rose from the pot, and when the steam completely dissipated, the true appearance of the pot was revealed.


    Aunt Chen still carried the two big boxes of food inside a glass case as usual, asking Little Casey to send it upstairs to San Mao and the guy at the entrance. But at this time, Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie suddenly stood up and stopped Little Casey, each of them grabbing a box of food, and said: "Let Casey eat first!" Then they went their separate ways up the stairs and out the door.


    Aunt Chen smiled and gave the two a thumbs up, then continued to fill the bowls with food. Although there was less fat on the dog meat, it still had a strange smell of dog meat. Because the vegetables had been frozen by the snow, they tasted sweet and crispy, the bottom of the rice was slightly burnt, and there was an extra burnt fragrance, the potatoes were soft and waxy.


    "After eating this meal, it''s worth it even if I die!" Monkey shouted as he ate.

 C70

    After the meal, I touched my slightly bulging stomach. I didn''t know how long it had been since I felt my stomach was full, but my stomach, which had long since gotten used to the lack of food, suddenly couldn''t adapt. It started to turn sour water on top of my stomach, and I drank a few mouthfuls of water before pushing it down.


    The food gave them a sense of security, and after a hot meal, everyone was full of energy. The tense atmosphere from before was greatly relieved, but one side effect was that everyone ate too much and their blood pooled at their stomachs; they were all too lazy to move.


    "It shouldn''t be coming today, right? Such a big snow! " San Tu had just finished eating dinner, and was carrying his two treasures on him again. He was leaning his head towards the window and looking out.


    Just as he said, the snow was getting heavier and heavier today. The various vegetables in our yard were completely covered by the thick layer of snow, and not a single speck of green could be seen.


    "Hopefully ¡­" Other than the old, women, and children who didn''t have much fighting strength, the rest were all in ragged clothes and were as thin as firewood. Other than San Mao, no one else had received any military training before the crisis. And would MaggieQ really show up in time, as she said? She was only a woman. Even if she had extraordinary skills, how could she defeat a group of well-trained male soldiers? I prayed that those people would do as San Tu said, because they wouldn''t be able to leave the house in this bad weather.


    I thought about it for a while, and shook my head to chase these negative emotions away. No matter what, we can''t hope for some lucky factors, only those who help themselves will be able to get help from the heavens. I reached into my pocket to touch that Asura mark, thinking that if it really doesn''t work, I will hand it over.


    "Everyone, get ready!" I said in a low voice. Everyone replied and started preparing their equipment. I picked up my trident and weighed it in my hand. The simple bamboo handle had been replaced by the white iron of the monkey''s elaborate work, and I wrapped a loop of twine around the handle, sucking in the sweat and not skidding. I turned the military knife upside down and pointed the spike upwards. I touched the polished and shiny tip, nodded my head in satisfaction, and sheathed the military knife to my waist. I pulled out the .92 again, reassured myself that the magazine was full, and stuffed a handful of yellow pistol bullets into the front pocket of my down jacket.


    Lv and Big Force had also prepared their trident; Yang Yufan was a cold steel Three Mets Warrior Blade, which he used sparingly in exchange for his Ghost Market. His appearance was extremely cool; the monkey used a Buck Master184 survival dagger; the Uncle Feng took a machete that the monkey used to grind steel in the factory.


    I originally thought that San Tu wasn''t armed, but he actually took out a short black rod from the inside pocket of his shirt. He swung the short rod downwards, and with a "pa" sound, he threw out two pieces of the metal rod.


    I nodded towards him: "Don''t go out later, I''ll leave Aunt Chen, Casey and the two ladies to you. If we can''t hold on, you guys should run to the front door, Monkey had already cleaned that place up just now, you just have to move away a few pieces of glass steel tiles that are blocking the door."


    San Tu did not express any disagreements, and only nodded his head and agreed.


    "Yuan, something''s wrong!" Just as I was about to continue, I suddenly heard Lv, who was standing by the window, shout. I went over to look outside and saw that the door was waving violently towards me.


    "He''s probably here!" Startled, I quickly opened the door and ran towards the gate. As I left the courtyard, I could hear the roar of a motorcycle engine mixed in the gale. The snow was already past my ankles, and the snow was dancing wildly in the wind in front of me, making it so that I couldn''t even open my eyes.


    I thought to myself that I wasn''t sure if such a messy deployment strategy would work, but I couldn''t think of any other way. I could only do it one step at a time. By the time I reached the gate, the sound of the motorcycle was close at hand. When he saw me coming, he took a step back and gave me the observation hole.


    I put my eyes close to the hole and looked out. It was all white outside, a milky fog of flying flakes and moisture, like a pot of porridge. I couldn''t even see the house across the street.


    At this moment, it was as if someone stirred the pot of porridge. The fog fluctuated, and immediately after, like a ghost knight in a devil''s ring, a few motorcycles rushed out from the fog!


    The motorcycle came to a sudden stop in front of our house, and I counted five cars and seven people. There was one more car and three more people than yesterday. The riders on the motorcycles were already covered with snow, making them look like harmless and cute glutinous rice bags, but these "glutinous rice bags" got out of the cars and hit them from head to toe, revealing a black suit and all kinds of weapons. The two of them carried a big bag from the car, looking very heavy, but no one knew what they were carrying.


    As soon as these people got out of the car, they began to dismantle all the building materials that were piled up outside our gate. In just a dozen or so minutes, the bunker that we had spent so much effort on was completely cleaned up. At that moment one of the group came out of the crowd and came to our door.


    The man touched the metal door and patted it. After thinking for a while, he said:


    "We have no ill intentions towards the brothers inside. A few of them fled to your place yesterday, so I will have to trouble you to give them to us." This person''s tone was neither fast nor slow, neither loud nor low, but it sounded as if he possessed an indescribable majesty, giving others an impulse to obediently listen to his commands.


    I tried my best not to reply to his words. That person waited at the door for a moment, but seeing that I didn''t answer, he said,


    "As long as you hand that person over to us, I guarantee that we''ll leave immediately!"


    I listened for a moment longer, then I took out my pistol and pulled the bolt.


    "Kata!" Despite the howling wind and snow, the sound was still very clear. My intention was to let them know that we also had guns, and to make them afraid to attack us at all costs. This would buy us time to finish what MaggieQ had said about stalling for time.


    The person clearly heard the sound of the bolt and was stunned for a moment. Then, he half turned around and beckoned behind him.


    I looked in the direction where he was waving at. There was a man not far away with a rocket launcher aimed at our courtyard wall!

 C71

    I was just about to shout for everyone to run back inside when I heard a gunshot from upstairs. At the same time, a bloody mist appeared above the head of the person carrying the rocket launcher, and he flew backwards as if he had been hit by an invisible punch, before lying still in the snow.


    "Sniper!" yelled someone outside the door, running around for cover.


    "Upstairs, cover and shoot!" I heard someone continue to scream, and then the sound of gunfire rang out. I turned around and saw that several windows upstairs had been hit by bullets and stone chips flying everywhere.


    I panicked. This headshot had already cut off our entire escape route. The only thing we could do now was fight to the death. While secretly blaming San Mao for his recklessness, I was also worried about his situation. I took another look at the observation hole and saw another man in black pick up the rocket launcher and aim the arrow at me!


    "Run!" I shouted to everyone who was still standing there.


    Just as he finished his sentence, there was a loud bang, and the bricks and stone flew into the air. A meter square hole appeared on the wall not far from us! My ears buzzed from the explosion, and my head and face bounced a few times from the flying debris. However, I didn''t feel any pain. I struggled and ran with everyone towards the direction of the factory.


    Then a second bang exploded behind my head, and when I turned to look, I saw that another rocket had struck the bottom of the first hole. Two round holes were next to each other, in the shape of a gourd.


    "Quick!" "Run!" Fortunately, they did not immediately enter the courtyard. They seemed to be very afraid of San Mao who was upstairs, and continued to shoot at the windows on the stairs. This gave us some time to escape, and only after I fell into the room behind the fastest running monkey did I heave a sigh of relief. I turned around to look outside, only to see Dazzling Power, Yang Yufan and Uncle Feng rushing in, but there was no sign of Lv. I looked behind me again and saw that Lv''s entire body had fallen onto the snow not far away from the wall, and was struggling to crawl towards us. Behind him, on the pure white snow, there was a line of glaring red blood!


    Had he been injured by the debris when the explosion occurred? I thought. At this moment, a black figure reached out of the gourd-shaped hole. I was so shocked that I quickly aimed my gun and fired twice towards that direction. However, there was a distance of over thirty meters between us and the wall, plus this gun was not repaired at all, so it didn''t have any accuracy. The two bullets went somewhere, and when I pulled the third trigger, I heard a "pa" sound, the gun was stuck!


    At this time, the black-clothed man had already completely entered the courtyard, following closely behind another person. I saw Lv roll over and sit up, raising both his hands up towards them, he shouted: "Surrender! I surrender! "


    However, that person didn''t hesitate at all. With a "da da da" sound, the AK in his hand shot out three times consecutively, hitting Lv''s chest. Lv didn''t even let out a scream as he fell back and remained motionless on the snowy ground.


    Ah!" All of us shouted in fear. Even though we have experienced the cruel Zombie s, the most shameless criminals, and even the cannibals who eat human flesh, this is the first time we have seen such a cold-blooded, indiscriminate killer.


    "Go upstairs!" "Hurry up and go upstairs!" I shouted to the panicking crowd. Only then did everyone come back to their senses and run up to the second floor with me.


    After we went upstairs, we placed the prepared floor plate down to block the stairs. At this time, San Mao also came down from above, and I saw that he was relieved that there was nothing wrong, so I let out a sigh of relief. All of us, together, also placed a lot of steel ingots on the floor, until there was no more to pile up.


    Lv had saved his life several times in the past, and in his heart, he had always treated Lv as his father and brother. Today, watching him die with his eyes open, his heart naturally wouldn''t feel good.


    It''s all my fault! But Lv''s death made me understand that we were not playing house or playing games, I shouldn''t have agreed to MaggieQ, I shouldn''t have let everyone hit the door without any preparation, and I shouldn''t have not handed over the Ashura Seal the first chance I got, now that Lv was dead, everyone was trapped in a desperate situation!


    What about MaggieQ? Didn''t you say you were going to save us? Why is there no movement? While blaming myself, I also hated MaggieQ. I never thought that if no one else had leaked this information, we would have died even faster.


    What about those people? What are they doing? Why didn''t you use a rocket launcher to shoot at us? No, they don''t need to use force to attack. As long as we defend below, even if they are tired, we will die! I continued to speculate, not paying any attention.


    The snowstorm outside continued to wreak havoc, and I looked out the window. There was no one in the courtyard, Lv''s body was already covered by a thin layer of white snow, and beneath his was a pool of blood. It was extremely shocking.


    If it was in the past, a person like Lv would probably never be able to make friends with me, but in this cruel apocalypse, this thief who was once despised by others was now the one who had helped the entire team the most. Although he was taciturn, sometimes he was selfish, but he had always kept his promises, and when it came to guarding and other tasks, he never complained. This man from the mountains of Guizhou had already won my respect and friendship, but now, he was lying in the snow like a broken pocket, and I couldn''t even collect his corpse!


    MaggieQ, where the fuck are you? I looked into the distance. It was still a milky white fog.


    Then I saw two men in black coming out from under our building. I jerked my head back and retreated out of sight. Before I could even sit up, two sounds came from outside the window. Two things were thrown in front of my eyes. One of them landed right in front of me. A metal lump that was in the shape of a tube was rotating less than twenty centimeters away from the tip of my nose.


    "A grenade!" I thought I was dead for sure, but the grenade just went "bang!" With a light sound, a cloud of thick gray smoke burst out!

 C72

    "It''s tear gas!" San Mao shouted loudly.


    Tears and snot bubbled out of my eyes like a flood bursting through a dam. I barely opened up a crack, and saw that San Mao had picked up the tear gas pellets from the ground and threw them out of the window, but more and more tear gas kept coming in. The smoke kept coming out, and it was as if we were in the clouds, unable to determine the direction at all.


    Everyone screamed and scurried around. But the only exit was blocked by our own tons of ingots, and we couldn''t move it in a hurry.


    "Jump!" "Jump down!" I heard San Mao shout, followed by the sound of the windows shattering, and the sound of something heavy falling onto the ground.


    There was no other thought in my head, and I was thinking of how to get rid of this terrible smoke. I tried to open my eyes and try to find my bearings, but all I saw was a flash of light and I leapt forward!


    Fortunately, we were only on the second floor, and the thick snow below was making a cushion. When I hit the ground, I rolled forward a couple of times, in case someone jumped down and pressed down on me. Then I quickly dug out two snowflakes and pressed them to my eyes.


    I couldn''t help but moan, but I couldn''t keep my eyes open. I just sat there in the snow.


    "Nobody move! Kneel on the ground and raise your hands above your head! " I heard someone shout, and I had no choice but to do so. A moment later, someone came over and took the gun from my hand, then grabbed my collar and dragged me over.


    "Kneel here! "Kneel well!" The man pressed my neck, making me kneel in the snow again, and I squinted to see vaguely that we were lined up in a row, a few men with guns standing in front of us.


    Suddenly, I heard a clamor coming from the far side of the room, mixed with the cries of several girls. I thought to myself, this is bad, San Tu and the others must have escaped beforehand and were caught.


    Sure enough, a while later, San Tu, Zhang Yiling, Aunt Chen and Little Casey were all escorted out.


    "Go kneel!" As the voice continued to command, I felt a person kneel beside me. I squinted my eyes and saw that it was San Tu.


    "They also have an ambush at the front door!" San Tu whispered to me.


    I shook my head and cursed myself. How could these clearly trained professional soldiers not know how to outflank every possible exit?


    "Chief, we''ve found the item!" I heard another voice say.


    I looked up and could vaguely see that the person who had spoken had walked over and handed something to the person standing in front of me. Judging from the size and shape of the thing, it should be a embroidered box that San Tu had been carrying all day.


    The person was stunned when he opened the embroidered box. I couldn''t see the expression on the man''s face, but I could imagine how angry he was, and I felt an absurd pleasure in wanting to laugh out loud.


    "Where are the items?" He threw the box into the snow, and it bounced off the snow. It rolled a few times and hit me in the knee, and when the lid opened, it was empty. I felt San Tu''s body shudder as well, as if he was extremely shocked by this result.


    "I''ll say it again!" Where did the thing go? " The man roared.


    Everyone was silent. Of course, no one but me knew that the Ashura was in my pocket.


    "You won''t tell me, right?" That person continued to speak fiercely. Then, he walked forward a few steps, grabbed onto one of the people in our group and dragged her over. From his terrified shout, I could tell that the person who was dragged away was Xiao Jie.


    Xiao Jie was dragged by him for a few steps, and then, he pressed us down to his knees once more. The man took out a handgun from his waist, opened the safety on the gun, and pointed it at Xiao Jie''s head.


    "Where is it?" the man screamed again.


    "I ¡­ I ¡­ I ¡­" "I don''t know ¡­" Xiao Jie was terrified, his voice trembling as he sobbed.


    "I''ll count to three!" The man continued to shout, "If no one answers, I''ll shoot! "One!"


    Although I know that if I hand over the Asura Seal, they will most likely kill us, but I definitely won''t tolerate a single person being ruthlessly killed in front of me. Just as I was about to give a signal, a creepy moan and howl came from the wind that made my scalp tingle.


    These sounds were so familiar to me. They had been my deepest nightmares for the past six months. These howls had always been accompanied by twisted, hideous faces and deadly bites. They were terrifying and despairing. But now they seemed to me to be turning the tables.


    "F * ck!" Pointing his gun at Xiao Jie, the man cursed. Raising his gun, he aimed at the direction of the wall.


    Then, gunshots rang out, and several AKs and the man''s pistol fired at the same time. I turned my head and saw a few hazy figures rushing out of the hole. The two leading figures were hit by the intense gunfire and fell backwards onto the ground, but in an instant they were back on their feet and running towards us with incredible agility. They were clearly fast corpses!


    "Run!" I shouted and jumped up from the ground, ducking into the room.


    "Be careful!" San Tu, who was beside me, suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me back down to the ground. I heard a few bullets shooting past my ears.


    "Not over there, those people are blocking the door!" San Tu roared in my ear.


    I tried to open my eyes, but they stung, and the tears came again, and I could see nothing but a few blurry figures.


    "Then go to the side!" I shouted to San Tu: "Zombie like to chase after voices. The more they shoot, the more they attract Zombie!"


    "Alright!" San Tu pulled me up, and I got up from the ground and stumbled towards the other side of the wall. In just a few steps, I was separated from San Tu.


    I couldn''t tell who were my companions, who were my enemies, and who were the Zombie. There were several times when I bumped into a few of them, but no one bit me. While rejoicing in my luck, I groped my way forward like a blind person, until I heard a voice ¡ª ¡ª


    "Come, run this way!"


    It was MaggieQ''s voice! Then a warm hand took hold of me and led me in one direction. I staggered and let her pull me forward. I felt that the people around me were all pushing and shoving. I didn''t know if they were Zombie or humans. "They should be humans!" Why else wouldn''t they bite me, I thought.


    "What about the others?" I asked MaggieQ.


    "They''re all here!" MaggieQ simply replied.

 C73

    Holding MaggieQ''s hand, I felt a sense of security I''d never felt before, as if she could solve everything, as if I didn''t have to worry about anything at all, and I simply closed my stinging, tearful eyes and let her lead me forward, even as the fierce gunshots, the whistling bullets, the terrible howls, all seemed to move away from me, as if they were coming from the television.


    "Everyone come closer, surround Chen Yuan!" I could hear MaggieQ talking loudly, and then I could feel a group of people surrounding me. We were trudging through the snow, feeling our way through the hole in the wall created by the man in black. Gradually, the sounds of gunfire quieted down.


    I don''t know how long I walked, but I felt the light darken in front of my eyes, and my companions around me began to disperse, and MaggieQ let go of my hand.


    "Alright, you two should rest here for a bit." I heard MaggieQ say.


    I tried to open my eyes, but there was so much pain, and the place was so dark that I couldn''t even see a shadow. MaggieQ pulled me backwards until my knee touched something, and MaggieQ pressed my shoulder.


    "Wash your eyes with this!" I felt a plastic bottle in my hand.


    I opened the cap and fumbled my way to my eyes and fell down. My eyes felt cool, and the maddening burning went away, and at first I thought it was water, but then I smelled milk. It was milk.


    As my eyes slowly recovered, the scenery in front of me gradually became clear. I saw myself in a dim room surrounded by broken blue plastic tables and chairs. It seemed like a small restaurant before.


    San Mao, Monkey, Energetic Strength and Yang Yufan all sat by themselves and rubbed their eyes. Uncle Feng, on the other hand, sat on the seat with his back facing the sky, Aunt Chen kept on blowing into his eyes, but everyone seemed to be able to open their eyes, it wasn''t as serious as I was. Maybe it was because they were not hit by the smoke at a close distance like I was.


    , Zhang Yiling and the others who had not been hit by the Smoke Bombs were rather frightened. They collapsed on their seats and panted heavily, while Xiao Jie hugged Little Casey and consoled him softly. However, she seemed to be more flustered than Little Casey.


    "You guys can wait for a while. In half an hour, you can go back!" MaggieQ said expressionlessly, then reached out his hand to me and said, "Give me that."


    I took out the Ashura Seal from my pocket and handed it to her.


    Ah!" When San Tu saw the golden seal, he screamed out in shock. He stopped reacting and acted like the person who committed suicide was saved at the last moment. Other than his own life, everything else was of no importance.


    MaggieQ took the things and turned to leave. But before they had taken a few steps, San Mao called out to them:


    "Who the hell are you? "Why don''t zombies bite people when you''re here?" San Mao said something that surprised me.


    "It''s not because of me!" MaggieQ threw the golden seal into the air and caught it ¡ª "It''s because of it!"


    "Wait for the girl!" At this time, San Tu seemed to have woken up from a dream, "What is the origin of this Asura Seal?"


    "This is not the Asura Seal!" MaggieQ replied without turning his head, "This is some gold and stone!"


    MaggieQ stepped out of the door and disappeared into the thick white fog.


    I saw that San Tu was flabbergasted with a face full of surprise, as if he had heard some kind of incredible news. It has been more than half a year and I''ve heard of the name Gold Stone, but now isn''t the time to get to the bottom of it. My eyes were no longer burning, and I looked at the milk bottle in my hand, which had a year on it, and then at the date of production.


    "Is everyone all right? Are you hurt? " I asked, standing up.


    Everyone slowly shook their heads at me. When I looked at the Uncle Feng and the Aunt Chen, they couldn''t help but start crying.


    "I''m fine, I''m fine!" Uncle Feng patted Aunt Chen''s back to comfort him, and then smiled at me embarrassedly. I knew Aunt Chen was feeling sorry for my wife, and silently said that I would not let Uncle Feng participate in any dangerous activities in the future.


    But Aunt Chen''s cry also caused Yang Yufan to sob loudly. He sat on a low stool, with his head between his legs, and at first he sobbed softly, but in the end, he couldn''t control himself and turned into crying. I knew that on one hand, he was sad for Lv''s death, and on the other hand, he was also despairing of his uncertain fate.


    "F * ck his mother!" San Mao cursed loudly, kicked a chair in front of him, and walked out of the door with a shake of his hand.


    I stood there, listening to the house full of despairing cries, feeling my chest grow stiffer and stiffer until it felt like it was about to explode. I took a deep breath and followed.


    Outside the door, San Mao had a cigarette in his mouth. When he saw me come out, he handed the cigarette pack to me.


    I took out a cigarette, lit it up with the lighter San Mao gave me, and took a deep breath. I looked ahead in a daze. The world was so white that I couldn''t see where I had come from nor the end of it.


    Fortunately, half an hour passed quickly.


    "Brother Yuan, why don''t I go take a look first? I''m very fast, just in case that woman made a mistake and we don''t need to take the risk!" Just as I was about to call everyone back, Monkey volunteered to come out and say.


    Although I trusted MaggieQ very much, I couldn''t help but accept Monkey''s suggestion without having to be extra careful.


    After waiting anxiously for another half an hour, Monkey came back. Before he even got here, he shouted at us, "He''s really gone! The Zombie are all gone! "

 C74

    We went back to our shelter, and it was a mess.


    Brick from the blast had been scattered along the cracks in the yard. The vegetable patch had been trampled beyond recognition, the vegetables had been turned into black and green mud, potatoes and carrots had been pulled out of the ground and scattered on the ground. Uncle Feng ran into the house and grabbed a few plastic buckets and some other edible things.


    What was most shocking was the entire courtyard full of corpses, from the break in the walls to the deeper in, the more bodies there were. A small courtyard that was a few hundred square meters, with twenty to thirty corpses lying densely on the ground, and other than Lv, the rest of the corpses in the courtyard were all Zombie s. I took a quick look and discovered that all of them had been shot in the head, which showed how good the spearmanship of those black-clothed men were.


    The iron furnace in the room had been turned over and the white iron chimney that was originally connected to it was forcibly torn apart from the middle. The ashes in the furnace were scattered all over the place and other than the two Zombie s, the rest of the corpses were all black clothed men.


    I was counting the bodies in the black suit when I heard a painful groan. I was shocked, San Mao also quickly picked up an AK from the ground and pulled the bolt on the gun, but discovered that the barrel was empty. He also picked up a gun, and we walked towards the source of the sound.


    The sound came from the other side of the passage. These people had probably used up all their bullets here and were bitten while retreating. There were three of them lying in a pile at the entrance of the passage.


    I held onto the shoulder of the person at the top and turned him over slowly. There were no wounds on his body, but there was a big hole in his temple. San Mao used the gun to point at his temple, indicating that the person committed suicide. I nodded my head and continued to pull the second person away. When the man at the bottom showed himself, we jumped, and saw that a large chunk of flesh had been torn from his cheek, and that his cheekbones and teeth were white, and that his right hand had been torn from his upper arm, leaving only half a bone, and that the rest of his skin, blood vessels, and muscles were disorderly exposed. That was probably why he hadn''t cut himself off like his other two companions. I recognized him, he was the one who gave the order among the group of black-clothed men, the one holding the gun against Xiao Jie''s head was also him.


    The man saw us and gave another little groan.


    "Kill me ¡­" I heard him whisper, his eyes were full of fear, I think it wasn''t because he couldn''t stand the pain, but because he was terrified that he was about to become a Zombie.


    I shook my head, and his eyes darkened. I leaned over and whispered in his ear, "I''m not like you, I don''t kill people, at least I don''t kill people who have no ability to resist ¡­ When you are dead, I will bore into your head! "


    I stood up and saw him give me a slight nod, and a flash of gratitude in his eyes. I turned my head away from him and walked around the room again, relieved to see no one alive.


    By this time, it was already past noon and the heavy snow had gradually stopped, the wind was still blowing non-stop, I was really thankful for the blizzard, the low temperature prevented the Zombie from roaming, the blizzard also covered up the clamor earlier, the most urgent thing right now is to repair the wall as fast as possible, so as to avoid being discovered by those humans who are more dangerous than the Zombie.


    "Let''s drag the body out first! Uncle Feng, Aunt Chen, get everyone something to eat. " I came to the courtyard and said.


    Uncle Feng and Aunt Chen immediately agreed. Let''s bring the stove over, Monkey took a piece of tin and reattached the torn chimney, then we went into the courtyard and dragged the corpses out one by one. It was a warning that most people would think that this was the place where the Zombie gathered when they saw so many corpses piled up on the street outside the courtyard wall.


    All of us overlooked Lv''s body, intentionally or unintentionally, until all the other corpses were completely moved, including the black-clothed man inside the room with a broken arm. By then, he had already stopped breathing, and San Mao used a crowbar to smash Lv''s head into pieces.


    Lv laid on his back, his body covered with a thin layer of snow, making him look like a pile of junk. Yang Yufan started to cry again in a low voice. I felt waves of pain in my chest, and my eyes, which had just stopped tearing, started to hurt again.


    "F * ck!" San Mao spat at the snow and walked over to clean up the snow on top of Lv''s head.


    Lv was hit by three shots in the chest, and although he was hit by an AK at a close distance, he could not see anything in front of him. However, when he flipped over, his back was covered with a huge hole.


    "F * ck!" San Mao scolded again. We all know why he scolded us, it was because Lv''s head was still intact, it meant that we had to smash it on his head and smash it like a watermelon. Otherwise, in ten hours, Lv would resurrect and become a living corpse that was chasing us! This is not good news for us nor for Lv.


    Everyone was stunned again, even San Mao frowned, it was obvious that no one was willing to smash the head of a companion that they had spent all day with.


    "Let me do it!" I said that it was due to my carelessness that Lv died. This was my responsibility: "You guys go dig a pit over there, we will let Lv rest in peace."


    Big Force, San Mao and Monkey quickly replied and ran off as if they were escaping.


    I picked up the crowbar that San Mao gave me, walked forward, and knelt in front of Lv''s corpse, and studied it for a while. Lv maintained his panicked expression before getting shot, his eyes opened wide, his face distorted. He was kneeling on the ground, begging to be bypassed, when a bullet passed through his left chest and must have struck his heart, killing him instantly.


    "At least you didn''t die in pain!" I reached out and closed his eyes, then turned his face to the side.


    Then I heard a sad moan, I looked up and saw Yang Yufan still standing at the side, covering his mouth, with tears streaming down his face.


    "Do you want to see this?" I asked.


    Yang Yufan choked with sobs: "He saved me so many times, I have to send him off!"


    I nodded and hit Lv on the temple with the crowbar in my hand! Some cold liquid splashed onto my hand. I looked down and saw some grey brain matter. I collapsed to the ground.

 C75

    After we finished burying Lv, and with Yang Yufan''s strong request, we placed a large stone in front of Lv''s grave as a tombstone. However, when we were about to engrave the words on the stone, no one actually knew Lv''s full name. In the end, only the words "Lv''s Tomb" could be carved onto the stone.


    Following that, we randomly ate a bit of lunch made by the Uncle Feng and the others, and while the snow was falling heavily, we quickly repaired the wall of the courtyard. Fortunately, the construction materials such as cement, yellow sand, bricks and the like were all readily available in this half-built factory. At this time, it also reflected the importance of knowing a trade in this society where modern civilization had already died. Big Power and Monkey were both from the countryside, and had more or less done the work of a cement maker. On the other hand, San Mao, Yang Yufan and I had never eaten pork before, we had never even seen a pig run before.


    We were busy until dark, when the moon came up, and then we repaired the wall.


    The long, fucking day was finally coming to an end, and I felt empty inside, thinking of MaggieQ''s warning in the morning, as if it were from a previous life. The Aunt Chen asked Little Casey to come and call us to eat. When I walked into the room, I found that the house had already been tidied up neatly and the messy stuff, as well as the weapons thrown on the ground by the black-clothed man had all disappeared. Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie were squatting on the ground, wiping the last bit of blood off the ground with a cloth.


    Dinner was already cooked on the stove and as usual, it was mixed porridge, but it looked like there were a lot of vegetables, I think that the Aunt Chen must have saved them from the vegetables that had been ruined. It would be a waste not eating them, but when I thought about how these vegetables had been trampled on by those disgusting Zombie before, I lost all my appetite.


    Aunt Chen still went ahead and poured some porridge for San Tu to send over. Today, San Tu had volunteered to stand guard on his own accord, so he said in his own words, "You can''t just eat and not work." I agreed after thinking about it. After all, without Lv, he could make up for the deficiency.


    Then, Aunt Chen continued to scoop the porridge one by one until it was ready for us. When I took the bowl of porridge, I saw that Aunt Chen''s hands were trembling and her complexion wasn''t too good. Her face was pale and she looked weak and weak.


    I took a sip of the congee. It was so salty that I almost puked it out. I was about to make a joke about whether the salt bowl had been overturned today, when I heard a sound of ginkgo. The bowl of porridge in Aunt Chen''s hands fell to the ground.


    Everyone was shocked. Uncle Feng shouted and rushed over to pull his hand.


    "Quick, put her on the sofa!" I shouted.


    Uncle Feng and San Mao moved Aunt Chen onto the sofa together. I went over to look and saw that Aunt Chen''s face had suddenly turned red. I touched her forehead.


    "This is bad!" I couldn''t help but shout out. San Mao, who was at the side, also raised his head and looked at me, his eyes filled with anxiety and fear.


    At this time, Uncle Feng had calmed down. He first looked at Aunt Chen''s hands and arms, then fumbled downwards to check his legs. At this time, I saw that there were some torn marks on Aunt Chen''s pants at her left ankle.


    Uncle Feng obviously saw the crack in Aunt Chen''s leg, he grabbed Aunt Chen''s pants and pulled. I couldn''t help but take in a breath of cold air, seeing a bite mark on Aunt Chen''s ankle!


    I heard Uncle Feng groan and knelt down. He held Aunt Chen''s hand and pressed his forehead against Aunt Chen''s hand, not saying a word for a long time.


    I looked at Aunt Chen''s wound again. The wound isn''t really deep, but it''s obvious that it''s broken and bleeding. According to our previous experience, if you were to be bitten by a Zombie, as long as you see blood, even if it''s just a little bit of oil, you would be doomed to die. Generally, corpses will strike at least eight hours after being bitten, or at most twelve hours after you get bitten!


    I secretly calculated in my heart. From the time MaggieQ brought us to the moment we escaped till now, it''s already been more than 6 hours, which means that there isn''t much time left in Aunt Chen!


    I looked at Aunt Chen''s face. She had already fallen into a coma and her face was so red that it seemed as though blood would drip out at any moment. "I''ve seen this kind of symptom a few times before. First it was a high fever, and then it was a deep coma. Then, at some point, the patient''s breathing and heartbeat would stop, and she would explode, baring her fangs and desperately biting at the person next to him.


    At this time, Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie had also realized what was going on. The two girls immediately hugged each other and cried. Monkey, Energetic and Yang Yufan also had miserable looks on their faces as they blankly stood there, not knowing what to do. Little Casey was stunned blank for a long time at first, but only now did she regain her senses. She walked to the side of the Aunt Chen, grabbed her other sleeve and gently called out: "Grandmother ¡­ "Grandmother ¡­"


    I have never seen a child look so desperate and frightened!


    He couldn''t continue like this! I thought to myself, Aunt Chen''s Zombie transformation can be completed anytime, but it''s not good if there is a violent injury.


    "Uncle Feng ¡­" My voice was hoarse, and I felt as if my throat were glued together with glue.


    The Uncle Feng didn''t even raise his head, he just waved his hand towards me.


    "Grandmother! "Grandmother!" Little Casey was still calling out nonstop, her voice was getting louder and louder, and the strength pulling on Aunt Chen''s sleeves was also increasing by the second.


    "Yufan, bring Casey upstairs!" I said to Yang Yufan.


    Yang Yufan vigorously nodded his head, and came over to carry Little Casey. Little Casey struggled slightly, and let Yang Yufan carry him upstairs, but kept her eyes opened wide as she stared at Aunt Chen, and did not say a word.


    After a while, I was just about to call out to the Uncle Feng again, but he let out a long breath of air and raised his head. After wiping his eyes, he unexpectedly smiled at me, and said calmly:


    "I know what to do."


    My eyes immediately turned red, and I choked up, unable to speak.


    Uncle Feng waved his hand and said, "We are already old, we know that this day will come sooner or later."


    Then he stretched out his hand to caress Aunt Chen''s face and continued, "My entire life, useless! I didn''t make any money, I didn''t even let her live a good day, but she followed me wherever I went, and she never forgave me ¡­ As a person, she has never been impatient with others. She has always been good to anyone. Sometimes, when I''m in a temper, I would argue with others. She would always pull me along and say that it doesn''t matter if we suffer a loss ¡­ "I always thought that it was you who endured me for the rest of my life and let me win. When I''m old, I''ll accompany you and take good care of you ¡­"


    "Yuan ¡­" Uncle Feng turned around and said to me, "I''ll have to trouble you to bring everyone to Lv''s side to dig another hole."


    "Uncle Feng ¡­" San Mao said as his voice choked with emotions: "Are you going to leave for a while, and let us send you off?"


    "No need." Uncle Feng waved his hand and said, "I want to send her off on her final journey."


    "Got it ¡­" San Mao replied softly.


    "I''m sorry ¡­" Uncle Feng looked at us again: "Can you let me stay with her alone for a while? I don''t want others to see.


    I was stunned, I looked around, there wasn''t anything sharp, seeing that Uncle Feng''s expression was still relatively calm, I calmed down and nodded, then called for everyone to take their digging tools and leave the house.


    But before we were halfway to the pit, we heard a gunshot from inside. Before I could think of anything, another shot followed!


    This is bad! We all rushed back to our houses like madmen. The first thing we saw was Uncle Feng lying beside him, with blood flowing out of his temples. In his hand was a handgun left behind by the black clothed man!


    This is the day that the Zombie sent their comrades away the most. We buried the Uncle Feng and them in a grave together, and even placed a big rock in front of the grave. However, just like Lv, no one knew their full names.


    "Tomb of the Uncle Feng" All of us surrounded the tombstone and stared blankly at the three new tombs without saying anything for a long time.


    "Hou He Wei!" "My real name is not Hou Jian, it''s Hou Ho-wei. My name is Wang Hou, the general of the royal family, congratulations, and great fame. If I am going to lie here one day, please inscribe this name!"

 C76

    Two months and six days ago.


    My first reaction was ¡ª ¡ª "Is that person not dead?", but then I thought about Zhou Lingwu''s brother, Zhou Lingwen, who had half his neck torn off at the bottom of the carriage.


    Fortunately, this black-clothed man seemed to have sustained some injuries in his leg. He walked with a limp that made him run faster and faster, causing San Mao and the Daoist Priest to shake him far behind, but Mao Tou''s two short legs were simply too slow. He yelled and stumbled forward like a ball, but he was getting closer and closer to the black-clothed man.


    "F * ck!" San Mao had already ran to my side, but when he turned his head to look at Mao Tou''s situation, he cursed and turned back, grabbing Mao Tou, he placed him on his shoulder and ran back.


    After being dragged by Mao Tou, the black-clothed person grew closer to us. At this moment, I saw that this person''s face was a kind of green-gray color, his eyes were also greyish-white, and there were no eyes that could be seen at all. His throat was letting out" gege "sounds, and he didn''t seem like a normal person at all.


    We received San Mao and Mao Tou, turned around and continued to sprint, at this time, Zhou Lingwu who was in front of us had already disappeared completely.


    I thought we''d find the exit along the nearest tunnel, but we''ve been running for a long time, and the tunnel seems endless, without ends or turns. Even though the black clothed person behind us is running very slowly, as long as we relax for a moment and stop to catch our breath, we will still be able to hear the creepy moans that are getting closer and closer.


    San Mao obviously didn''t have enough strength left to carry Mao Tou, as he began to fall behind slowly. On the other hand, the Taoist priest was even more exhausted, and shouted at me several times that I couldn''t take it anymore, gasping for air while holding onto the wall, we had no choice but to stop and wait for him.


    While we were in great pain, my flashlight suddenly shone upon something, reflecting a white light. I thought it was the light coming from the exit, but before I could rejoice, the white light suddenly moved!


    I looked carefully and saw that it was actually two people wearing white gowns. Just as I was about to shout for help, I realised that these two people also had their hands stretched out in front of their body as they ran forward. Their positions were exactly the same as the black-clothed men chasing us!


    I shouted, and then San Mao also saw the two people in front of him, and shouted: "Use your spear!"


    I was stunned for a moment. Then I remembered that there was still a Type 95 assault rifle hanging behind me. I quickly grabbed the rifle from behind my back, raised the gun, took a random aim and pulled the trigger.


    However, there was no reaction. The trigger could not be pressed down at all!


    "Pull the bolt!" "Relax!" San Mao shouted as he put Mao Tou down, and also picked up his own gun to aim and shoot.


    When I heard him shout, I immediately reacted. Remembering the last time San Mao took me to target, I pulled the safety off the gun, released the safety, then aimed at the two white clothed people''s chests and pulled the trigger.


    "Da Da Da Da ¡­!" The sound of intense gunfire in the sealed tunnel was deafening. A tremendous force came from the gun, and the butt of the gun slammed into my shoulder, causing the muzzle to jump up violently. There was a loud clang, and I saw a line of sparks come out of the pipe at the top of the tunnel. And almost all my bullets hit the ceiling!


    The two men in white didn''t even stop their steps as they continued running forward in a comical manner.


    Just then, San Mao''s gun also rang out, "Bang bang bang ¡­ "Bang, bang, bang ¡­" Two stable three-shot shots accurately hit the white-clothed person''s chest, the huge impact from the bullets sent them flying and they fell backwards.


    "Yay!" I cheered, but the echoes of my cheers had yet to dissipate when the two white-clothed men flipped up from the ground as if they had just fallen!


    The man in white was now only a dozen meters away from us. His ash-green skin, pale eyes, and the howls coming from his throat were exactly the same as those coming from the man in black.


    "Oh my god! Yet another dumpling! " Mao Tou screamed in fear.


    "Run, run, run!" I threw the bulletless gun onto the ground and picked up Mao Tou to carry on my shoulder, but the moment I turned around, I saw the black clothed man stepping out from the darkness.


    "Over there!" San Mao shouted as he pointed to a path at the side. Although I did not want to run back into the maze-like passage, under the circumstances, we had no choice but to grit our teeth and run in.


    I was already out of breath from running just now, and now I even added Mao Tou, although Mao Tou was small, he was still at least 50 to 60 jin in weight. After running just a few steps, I felt like my calves had started to tighten, and I knew that I was about to cramp up.


    At this time, we were all in order, San Mao was the last to shoot at the few living dead, and Taoist Priest was the fastest to run, leading the way.


    At first I thought he knew the way and had a plan, but after a few minutes, I thought something was wrong.


    "Stop!" "Stop!" I shouted at the Taoist, who ran a few more steps before stopping and turning around, his face livid, his eyes unfocused and frightened, and I knew he didn''t know the way at all but was too scared to choose.


    Just as I wanted to scold him, I heard a few gunshots. San Mao cheered.


    "I got it!" Head smacking! Hit them in the head and they''ll be dead! "


    I turned my head to see that San Mao was happily waving the rifle in his hands. Behind him, the two white robed men who were in hot pursuit earlier, only one was left, and the other one had fallen onto the ground.


    San Mao immediately turned his gun back and aimed at the remaining man in white. After aiming for a while, he pulled the trigger, but the rifle only released a "Ka Ta" sound.


    "F * ck!" "Run!" San Mao cursed loudly, turned and ran!


    I secretly sighed in my heart and reached out my hand to grab Mao Tou, but Mao Tou waved his hand and rejected it.


    "Right now, you''re running as fast as I am. It''s better if I run by myself!"


    I nodded to him, patted the Taoist on the shoulder, and ran ahead.


    But now that I had lost all sense of direction, I had to use the same stupid method I had used when I was alone and lost. I walked one path after the other until I found the edge of the maze.


    Fortunately, we were not far from the edge, and in less than a minute of running, I came to the intersection. I randomly chose a direction and ran forward, and after running for some time, I saw a mark on the left wall. I used my flashlight to look at it and found that it was an arrow.


    "We''re back!" San Mao gasped from behind me.

 C77

    We only stood in front of the arrow for a moment, and then the terrifying howls coming from behind us came closer and closer, and by then the man in black had already joined the men in white, one in front and one behind, one black and one white, like the Black and White Impermanence who had just walked out of hell, staggering but steadily towards us.


    There''s no time for us to think, we just have to continue running inside, and before long, we reached the staircase that I fell onto. I hesitated, but the Black and White Impermanence that was following behind me did not have time for me to think, San Mao picked up Mao Tou once again, and the four of them ran down the stairs.


    As soon as I walked up the steps, I felt my feet go soft. The cement floor started to disappear from here, replaced by soft, fine sand. I stepped on it and sank half a shoe into the ground. The sand made it even harder to walk. It was as if we were walking on snow. Every step we took, we would pull up high. We couldn''t even run. We could only struggle forward slowly. San Mao walked down the stairs and put Mao Tou down, but instead, on the ground like this, Mao Tou gained the advantage. Because he was light, his shoes did not sink too deep, so he quickly swung his two short legs and ran around like a dog on the sand, walking to the front. As he ran, he shouted:


    "Is this a tunnel? There wouldn''t be any dumplings inside, would there? I told you to bring the black donkey hooves! "


    This huge cave did not have a single trace of a man-made opening, and it was also abnormally spacious and pitch-black. In the few flashlights in our hands, in this underground space, there were only three dim lights. The greenish-white lights quietly disappeared not far away, as if they had been absorbed by the endless darkness.


    We ran through this endless darkness like we were running towards the gates of hell, and behind us, the moans of the Black and White Impermanence grew closer and closer, they never seemed to get tired, and my legs hurt more and more, and every step I took felt like there was a red-hot iron stirring inside my calf muscles, and my throat felt like it was being filled with chili, and the pain was so intense that for the first time I had the thought ¡ª I''m not going to die here today, am I?


    Just as my heart gradually sank into despair, I suddenly felt a chill beneath my feet. Following which, the sound of water splashing could be heard as we stepped into an underground river. The river was shallow, but it would soon reach my ankles. However, it made it even more difficult for us to walk, causing our speed to slow down.


    Even though it was difficult to walk, no one stopped. It was obvious that the two living corpses behind us were a great deterrent to us. It was as if everyone would rather die from exhaustion and drown than face such an unimaginably terrifying existence. Everyone was exhausted and didn''t have the strength to talk. All they knew was that the water was flowing steadily under our feet.


    At this moment, I suddenly had a thought. Why did I hear the sound of water splashing everywhere? I thought about it and realized it was the phone, the one that used the Morse code to call SOS and told us the latitude and longitude of the place.


    I looked around quickly. Since I had heard the same sound, it meant that the person who had sent out the distress signal must be nearby, and that person, whether or not he was MaggieQ, was able to send out the distress signal. This meant that his temporary safety could be guaranteed, and our current situation was not that we needed him to save us, but that he was needed to save us.


    Just as I was about to stop the three of them and tell them what I had discovered, Mao Tou, who was in front of them, suddenly exclaimed:


    "Damn!" What was going on! "Howl ¡­" His curses came to an abrupt stop, as if someone had suddenly covered his mouth.


    Startled, I immediately lowered the flashlight to see what exactly was happening to Mao Tou. However, wherever the flashlight went, there was only green black, calm water. Mao Tou''s figure was nowhere to be seen.


    I was puzzled for a moment. How did this person disappear in just a few seconds? Did he fall into the water? I looked at my feet, but even though there was a slight increase in the water level, it was only enough to cover my calves and stomach, and even though Mao Tou was small, he wasn''t completely submerged.


    While I was thinking, I took a few more steps forward. Suddenly, the space beneath my feet became empty. There was actually a huge drop in the water!


    "F * ck!" I only had time to exclaim in shock before I was swept away by a powerful force. It turned out that although the water surface looked calm, there was a powerful undercurrent flowing beneath it!


    I felt like I was being carried away by the current, and I couldn''t even open my eyes, and my ears were filled with the gurgling sound of the water, and I had to use all the strength in my body to push myself out of the water to take a breath of air, and I immediately felt exhausted, and choked twice, and my chest felt like it was about to burst, and just when I thought I was sure I was going to drown here, I suddenly felt empty beneath me, and I fell down again, but fortunately, this time, after I entered the water, the current wasn''t too fast, and I struggled to surface. Here was a pool, and above it was a waterfall, and I fell down from the top of the waterfall.


    Luckily, with my previous experience of falling, I had the flashlight''s cord firmly attached to my wrist. Fortunately, this expensive Surefire flashlight was as good as the water repellent it boasted about, completely unaffected by being in the water for so long.


    I shone my flashlight everywhere, found the closest water bank, and swam to the shore. After I swam to the shore, I immediately looked around for Mao Tou, and quickly found him on the other side of the pool, on a high ground. Because of the angle, I could only see his head and his extremely weak light source.


    "Mao Tou!" I called to him, but he didn''t respond. I called again, but there was no response, and I was startled. I thought something had happened to him, so I ran towards him.


    Mao Tou was right at the top of the stairs, this time I was really anxious to save him. I didn''t think too much about why an artificial staircase would appear in the depths of the underground, I merely took a few steps and ran up.


    Running up the stairs, I saw Mao Tou standing straight, his flashlight shining in front of him without moving an inch. I was about to scold him for not answering when I heard him say softly after swallowing a mouthful of saliva:


    "Brother Yuan... This time, we''re rich! "


    I followed his light and saw a huge rectangular object in front of me. When I looked closer, I realized it was a coffin!

 C78

    The coffin was very large, about the height of a person. It was about four to five meters long and two meters wide. It looked like an enlarged version of an ordinary coffin.


    "It''s so big, this should be the tomb of some sort of emperor, right? How many treasures would there be to accompany them in death? What dynasty is this? Shall we make a fortune with just two? " Mao Tou gulped as he asked like a cannonball.


    After hearing what he said, I suddenly remembered that there were some documentaries about the ancient mausoleum. I remembered that this huge coffin was actually not a coffin, it should be called a coffin instead. It even had several heavy coffins inside as if it were made of clothes, the coffins and the coffins were filled with funeral objects, only the corpse could be placed in the deepest part of the coffin. This coffin could only be enjoyed by nobles and nobles. Moreover, the higher the level, the more layers the coffin would have. The highest number of emperors would be at the fourth floor. And the position of the coffin in front of us is at least of the noble king level.


    "Fortunately, I brought this ¡­" Mao Tou suddenly took out four white short rods from his bag and brought it in front of me. When I looked carefully, there were actually four candles.


    Brother Yuan, you must know the rules better than me, if you want to open the coffin soon, I have to ask you to take the lead. This Monarch''s Tomb must be filled with mechanisms, maybe there are even Blood Boar Corpses inside. Mao Tou said as he placed candles at the four corners of the coffin. The candles must have been dipped in water just now, so there was no way they could be lit right now.


    I wondered where it was and how it had happened so quickly, but I had no idea how to explain it to him and had to let him go. I looked around and found that we were in an enormous underground space. The sarcophagus was located in the middle and its surroundings were completely straight. It was obvious that it had been artificially excavated and one could only vaguely see from the top that it was at least twenty to thirty meters tall.


    "Enough!" Mao Tou cheered. I turned my head and saw a lighted candle placed on each corner of the coffin.


    I was just about to explain to him that I really wasn''t a tomb robber and that my understanding of tomb robbers was even worse than his. He had at least seen a ghost light before, so I could only flip through a few chapters of tomb robbers'' notes. But right at this moment, a splash sound came out from the pond, I turned my head and saw San Mao and the Daoist coming out of the water, I gasped heavily for breath.


    I was elated and hastily shouted and waved at them. The moment they appeared, they saw me. I quickly ran down the stairs and pulled the two of them onto the shore.


    The two of us landed on the shore, still in a state of shock. They lay prone on the shore, panting heavily while staring at the waterfall that had washed us down. I knew they were watching to see if those two "Black and White Impermanence" would also be washed over by the water. According to their previous attitude of "not giving up on us", there didn''t seem to be any reason for them to stop in their tracks.


    I took another look around with my flashlight. Although the cave was huge, I could see everything. There was no other way out except this waterfall.


    He could only fight it out with the f * * k! I thought to myself as I took out the Belle''s survival knife, which I had just carved, and drew it out of its scabbard, holding it back in my hand. Seeing me like that, San Mao didn''t say anything, he only stood up and nodded, then took out a police baton from his bag. With a "pa" sound, he shook it off and stood shoulder to shoulder with me. He trembled as he looked around, wanting to pick up something to protect himself, but the stone cave was extremely neat and tidy. Other than the pool, the other parts of the cave were stone surfaces, as if it was a space forcibly dug out from the center of a large stone.


    "Daoist leader, go to our back!" I said in a deep voice. Although this old fellow knows a lot of things, he can be considered to be resourceful. However, his body really isn''t good. If they were to fight, it would be good if he didn''t cause any trouble.


    The Taoist''s face was ashen. He sighed as he obediently walked behind us. Just then, Mao Tou walked down the stairs with a foot long dagger in his hand. According to his height, it looked like a treasured sword.


    "You really make big swords!" San Mao scolded while laughing, causing everyone present to laugh. With this smile, the extremely nervous atmosphere instantly relaxed. The fear towards the living dead in my heart also dissipated by more than half.


    "Remember, hit their heads!" San Mao shouted: "Don''t be afraid, the four of us, the two of them, won''t be able to beat them!"


    With San Mao''s boost of strength, the last remaining trace of fear in my heart was driven away. I only felt a rush of hot blood rushing to my head.


    Mao Tou also cried out, "Kill these two black and white dumplings, take the things inside the ancient tomb, we''ll be rich!"


    The four of us stood by the pool, our muscles tensed up as we waited for the Black and White Impermanence to rush down from the waterfall and fight to the death. But something very unexpected happened, and then the waterfall suddenly stopped!


    It was as if someone had turned off the valve upstream. The gurgling sound of the water suddenly stopped, and the cave immediately became quiet. Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound under our feet, and then the water in the pool in front of us also started to roll and spin. After a while, a huge whirlpool appeared on the surface, as if someone had pressed a button on the toilet. The water level dropped rapidly, and in just one or two minutes, the pool water disappeared without a trace in front of us.


    The entire pool was exposed. Under the light of the flashlight, the pool reflected a dark green luster, which was a thick layer of moss. Beneath the moss, there seemed to be a very deep hole, and we could hear the sound of the water flowing away from us.


    "This ¡­" I swallowed a mouthful of saliva with great difficulty. I was completely stunned by the supernatural phenomenon before me. I wanted to say something but I didn''t know where to start.


    "Did you encounter some kind of trap?" Mao Tou said in a daze.


    At this time, the Taoist was in high spirits, like a mouse that had just moved out of the water. He looked left and right, and finally walked down to the bottom of the pool. After observing for a long time, he picked up some moss and took a sniff.


    "This should be a geyser!"

 C79

    I thought back to the documentaries I''d seen at Discover, those volcanic areas where there was often a fountain of water that would erupt every few minutes.


    "Isn''t that geothermal? This water isn''t hot either? " I asked.


    The Daoist shook his head and said, "It might not be due to geothermal activities. There should be a very large underground river that goes straight to the sea, and because of the return of the tide, the water level is too low. I went down to take a look just now and found no traces of long-term immersion."


    "Just like our money?" I asked.


    The Daoist nodded in approval and said, "Yes, perhaps today is the day of the great tide and we caught it. Otherwise, there wouldn''t be any water here!"


    "So, those two... "Ugh ¡­" The Zombie should not be able to make it, right? " This is the first time we''ve said the word "Zombie" ever since we''ve entered this base. Even though I really don''t want to believe something that transcends scientific knowledge, the truth is placed right in front of me, and I can''t help but believe it.


    When the Daoist heard these two words, he was also startled, but he did not feel happy or proud that his theory had been verified. He only shook his head and pointed to the top of the waterfall, "Right now, there is only a hole. Those two zombies are very inflexible, they shouldn''t be able to get down."


    We all nodded in agreement.


    "Oh right, Dao Lord, you are experienced and knowledgeable. Which emperor''s tomb is this?" Mao Tou who was at the side unable to hold back anymore said to the Taoist.


    "Tomb? What tomb? " the Taoist asked curiously.


    Mao Tou hurriedly led him up the stairs and showed the coffin to the Daoist.


    At this time, the candles Mao Tou had lit around the coffin shone brightly, the four candles released a golden light that shone onto the sarcophagus, giving it an extraordinary imposing manner.


    When the Daoist priest saw the coffin, he was stupefied. His lips began to tremble and his eyes began to shine with a fervent light. I know that for a fangirl like him, he''s probably been longing for this opportunity all his life.


    After staring blankly for a while, the Taoist quickly walked forward and stopped in front of the coffin. He then used his flashlight to carefully observe the coffin.


    Only then did I notice that there were some fine patterns on the coffin. I stood behind the Daoist and followed his light with my eyes. I saw that the coffin was surrounded by spiral geometric patterns. I recognized them as Taotie patterns, which had been used a lot in the Shang and early Western Zhou dynasties.


    Could it be that this coffin belonged to Zhou Dynasty? I muttered in my heart. Following the Dao leader''s flashlight constantly moving, the Taotie pattern seemed to become even more complex. It was like a maze of layers and layers, repeating each other as if the entire pattern was derived from a single line.


    I recalled that the Taotie pattern is also known as the Beast Face Mark. Taotie is a beast that people think of as, and it is extremely gluttonous, actually eating up all of its body when it is greedy, and the ancients carved this pattern on the utensils also have the meaning of the heavens'' law circulating endlessly.


    Isn''t this the Biting-tail Snake? Thinking about this, I suddenly remembered the story about the Knights Templar that the Taoist priest told me. He also mentioned that the Biting-tail Snake was a rune that was commonly used by various ancient civilizations.


    While I was lost in my thoughts, I was still observing the patterns on the coffin with the Daoist''s flashlight. The flashlight moved from the surroundings to the center, and I suddenly saw a face staring straight at me!


    I was shocked and hurriedly focused my attention to look again. This time, I was able to clearly see that the center of the coffin was actually carved into a human face. I recalled that the Shang and Zhou dynasties'' facial decorations were indeed quite common. There was a national treasure grade bronze cauldron that was a square cauldron with a human face. This made me more and more certain that this coffin was at least a product from before the Zhou Dynasty.


    One could see that the part of his face was no different from an ordinary person''s. On his head was a crown, his forehead was wide, and his eyes were bright and spirited, but in the lower half, his mouth and nose were protruding out in a strange manner, turning into a long beast kissing part. No matter how one looked at it, he looked like a dog!


    Just as I was wondering, I saw on the tomb of an emperor the carvings of dragons and phoenixes, lions and tigers, snakes and all kinds of fierce beasts, but I have never seen or heard of a dog being carved on one''s own coffin! In ancient times, there was an exceptionally strict set of rules regarding etiquette, especially towards the general of the royal family. In ancient times, there was an exceptionally strict set of rules about etiquette, especially regarding the general of the royal family, his succession, his marriage, and his death all had to be handled according to his rank and rank. Therefore, when the ancients said "unfilial to the bastard," they didn''t mean that there was a lack of respect for the common people, but that this set of etiquette was too complicated and strict, so the common people didn''t need to strictly observe it.


    "King Xu Yan... This is the King Xu Yan ¡­ " The Taoist suddenly began to quiver and mutter in a low voice.


    "What?" I couldn''t hear her clearly for a moment, so I asked.


    "Where''s your GPS? Your cellphone is also fine. Hurry and take it out for me to take a look!" The Taoist suddenly turned around and didn''t answer my question. He only anxiously asked if he had already snatched my bag.


    "I wonder if the blisters broke or not ¡­ "Besides, there''s no signal here." Seeing that he asked so urgently, she quickly took off her backpack, took out the GPS from her bag, and pressed the power button to turn it on. She realized that although she could turn it on, there really wasn''t any signal, and the three of us didn''t have any escape on our phones.


    "Hey, there''s still a signal here!" Mao Tou suddenly praised as he held his phone high up in the air.


    "Why isn''t there any water on your phone?" I asked curiously.


    "Coming out of the city and wrapping it in a waterproof bag, I think this is going to be a grave robbery? "Walking under the ground, it''s hard to avoid water, sand, etc."


    We all shook our heads helplessly. The Taoist took the phone from his hand. I took a glance at it and found that the signal was really full.


    "It should be the military base above ¡­" Their equipment is good, and their signal is strong! " San Mao pointed to the top of his finger.


    A map slowly appeared. A pin was stuck in the center of the map, representing our position. The Taoist used two fingers to enlarge the map, and the map clearly showed that we were at the border between the three provinces. After a brief moment of comparison, the Taoist muttered:


    "I knew it ¡­"


    "What?" What do you know? You should make it clear! " I shouted in dissatisfaction.


    "Dragon Travelling Stone Cave!" The Taoist put down his phone and looked at us, saying softly, "This is the Dragon Travelling Stone Cave!"

 C80

    I was stunned to hear that the Dragon Travelling Cave was a famous tourist attraction in Longyou County, known as the "Ninth Miracle of the world". It was a series of huge underground caves, and was also the largest man-made underground building in the world that was discovered so far. I had once visited the Dragon Travelling Stone Cave. Those magnificent underground caves were indeed very similar to the space in front of me. There were also large stone steps like these. There were even pools of rocks at the bottom that were similar to the one here!


    "Leader, what are you talking about? Shouldn''t Dragon Travelling Stone Cave be a Dragon Travelling Stone? "Why did you come here?" Before I could ask further, San Mao asked first.


    The Taoist pointed at the map and said, "We were walking around in the mountains and were actually not far from Dragon Travelling County. After running for half a day, we''ll be even closer to it!"


    The Taoist put down his phone and continued, "On the surface, there are only five Dragon Travelling Stone Caves, that is, the ones that are open to the public in the scenic area, as well as 25 caves that have not been opened to the public, and I have joined an amateur research organization on grottoes. According to their estimates, there should be no less than 70 grottoes in this area.


    "Dragon Travelling Stone Cave?" Not far from here. Didn''t they say that the Dragon Travelling Cave was created by aliens? Why is there a coffin here? " Mao Tou scratched the back of his head in puzzlement, and then cried out while pointing at the coffin: "Ah! Was this an alien''s tomb? Was it an alien buried here? No wonder, the engravings on it aren''t like us at all, our feelings aren''t human at all! There shouldn''t be an alien dumpling inside, right? "


    "No ¡­" "It''s not ¡­" The Daoist laughed bitterly and waved his hand: "If I''m not wrong, this should be the King Xu Yan''s tomb!"


    "King Xu Yan?" None of the three of us had ever heard of it before, so we asked the same question at the same time.


    "Yes!" The Daoist returned the mobile phone to Mao Tou, then walked over to the coffin and pointed at the strange dog-faced man. "King Xu Yan is the monarch of the Xu Nation during the Western Zhou Dynasty, he is a very mysterious person."


    Sure enough! I thought to myself that I had guessed right. This coffin really belonged to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties.


    The Taoist laughed and said, "This King Xu Yan, according to the legends, when he was born, his father thought that this was an ominous thing and threw him into the water. However, his guard dog, somehow managed to get him back from the water and bit off his outer skin, revealing a boy inside!"


    This dog''s name is Swan Cang, and later became the guardian god of King Xu Yan, as well as the totem of King Xu Yan''s family. It is said that it was transformed from a dragon, and when it was about to die, it grew horns on its head, and on its butt grew nine tails.


    The Taoist touched the doggy face on the coffin and continued, "Throughout Chinese history, other than the King Xu Yan, there are no other famous families or families who worship dogs. This should be his tomb!"


    Hearing this, my heart jumped, and I asked the Taoist: "But you just said that this King Xu Yan is the king of the Ancient Xu Country, if I remember correctly, this Ancient Xu Country should be in Xuzhou with cash. It should be around the border between Shandong and Jiangsu, why is his tomb here?"


    "You''re right." The Daoist nodded his head in approval and said, "The Ancient Xuguo Country is indeed near Xuzhou. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the political and economic center was always in the Yellow River Basin. Today, in Shaanxi Province, the Kingdom of Xu is considered to be a remote place, and according to what we heard at that time, it belongs to the ''eastern barbarians''."


    "The XuRong Tribe that the King Xu Yan belongs to is the alliance master of the eastern barbarians. Originally, their country''s power was relatively strong, but after the death of King Xu Yan''s father, he succeeded as the king. In the historical records, ''five hundred miles in each direction, thirty percent of the six nations'' all paid tribute to him. This naturally caused the Zhou Dynasty to be on guard, and with the addition of the coveting of the spell that can turn a stone into gold, in the end, they were found to have committed a crime and sent out troops to suppress him. "


    "Although the Kingdom of Xu is powerful, it is obviously unable to contend against the Zhou Dynasty, which was at its peak during the autumn of that year. They immediately turned into an army and destroyed the entire country, and the King Xu Yan also abandoned the country to flee." Although the Kingdom of Xu is extremely powerful, but of course they are unable to contend against the Zhou Dynasty, which was at its peak during the autumn of that year.


    After saying that, the Taoist paused for a moment, then shook his head with a smile. Initially, out of all the conjectures in the Dragon Travelling Stone Cave, I felt that conjectures about the King Xu Yan s were the most impossible. I don''t even believe that it could be founded by aliens.


    "But ¡­" I looked around me and this incomparably large underground space, and asked with some doubt: "Logically speaking, King Xu Yan is the ruler of a dead nation, how could he still have that kind of power to construct this kind of underground structure? Such a large project, according to the level of productivity at that time, would probably be an impossible mission, wouldn''t it? If the entire Zhou Dynasty were to be built using the power of an entire nation, there would still be a possibility for him, the Herd King who is in exile, to have built such a project with human and financial resources. "


    "That is another mysterious legend." The Daoist laughed mysteriously and said: "It is said that the King Xu Yan was born with three eyes, and on its forehead is a single vertical eye, unable to see through things. However, it has the function of turning stones into gold, and according to the historical records, ''its state is completely gone, and thus the King has gained his name!"


    He took out his own cup of water and took a sip, then said: "Legend has it that the King Xu Yan has some extraordinary methods and knows evil arts, thus he has another nickname, Demon King!"


    "Haha ¡­" San Mao who was at the side scoffed and mocked: "Three eyes? Then wouldn''t it be Erlang Shen, Yang Jian, if I bring a dog? "


    The Taoist didn''t think much of it and instead nodded his head and said, "The legends of the ancient Divine Seal Decree regarding Yang Jian are now being analyzed by many scholars from the King Xu Yan ¡­ Uh, there''s also Nezha, he also came from him! "


    This Nezha was born a meatball, too, and was regarded by my father as an ominous thing.


    At this time, Mao Tou could no longer hold back and asked: "Master, you have said so much, when are we going to open the coffin?"


    Forget about Mao Tou, this King Xu Yan is being so mysterious. Even I can''t stand it, I want to immediately open the coffin and see if he has three eyes.


    At that moment, I suddenly felt the light in front of my eyes go off. I thought someone had run out of batteries, and I was about to remind everyone to turn on only one flashlight at a time to save electricity. Lowering my head, I saw Mao Tou turn his head to look in a direction in a daze. I followed his line of sight and saw that out of the candles at the four corners of the coffin, there was one that had been extinguished, emitting white smoke in spirals!

 C81

    "This... "This ¡­" Mao Tou said while trembling: "We haven''t even opened the coffin, how did we get blown away?"


    "Which one of you moved?" I asked curiously, but San Mao and the Taoist both stared with their eyes wide open, shaking their heads with a look of disbelief.


    I reached out my hand to see if there was any wind, but there was no air in this confined space.


    "Maybe it''s because he was just soaked." At this moment, I felt a little strange as I tried to think of the terrifying place, but immediately after, a series of "gege gege" sounds suddenly rang out!


    This sound came so suddenly, it was so clear in this extremely quiet place that it was even a bit ear-piercing.


    "Chi ¡­" Grid... Grid... Higgle... "Tsk tsk ¡­"


    I felt a chill run down my spine. Wasn''t this the same voice that had used the Morse code to tell us about the latitude and longitude of this place?


    And the source of the sound... Very clearly, it came from the huge coffin in front of us!


    I looked at the Taoist in disbelief and found that his face was ashen, even the normally crazy San Mao had his mouth wide open, his face filled with fear.


    "This, this, this, this ¡­" This... The King Xu Yan that the Dao Lord was talking about probably had a thousand years of history, right? How did it become a dumpling? " Mao Tou was so scared that his teeth chattered and he trembled.


    I thought to myself, Western Zhou is more than three thousand years ago, if this was a real King Xu Yan''s zombie, it would be a real thousand years old corpse!


    The Taoist held out a hand, signaling us not to speak. He took two deep breaths, as if suppressing his fear, and listened for a moment.


    "Chi ¡­" Grid... Grid... Higgle... "Tsk tsk ¡­"


    The sounds continued to ring out, and it was obvious that there was someone inside the coffin ¡­ Or some monster pounding.


    "It''s still SOS!" After listening for a while, the Taoist raised his head and said, "I''m afraid someone is trapped inside!"


    I nodded my head in agreement. This meant that the inside of the coffin definitely wasn''t a zombie from King Xu Yan. No matter what, I couldn''t believe that a monster from thousands of years ago could actually understand the Morse password!


    Was it MaggieQ? I was just about to suggest that I open the coffin when the light dimmed again. I looked down and saw that another candle had been put out.


    Ah!" Mao Tou shouted, his eyes wide open as he stared at the extinguished candle: "I saw, there is no wind here, the candle suddenly swayed, as if a ghost had blown on it, and extinguished by itself! The ancestor is warning us. The dumplings in the coffin are so powerful that we can''t afford to offend them!


    After being frightened by Mao Tou, I also felt goosebumps all over my body, and the "hehe" inside the coffin ¡­ "Tsk tsk ¡­" His voice continued to ring.


    What should he do? Do you want to open the coffin? I was hesitant, and looked at the Taoist and San Mao, both of them looking confused. At that moment, the sound of water came again from the pool.


    I turned my head and shone the flashlight into the hole at the bottom of the pool.


    "What is it? Didn''t you say that this place should have a lot of water? " I asked.


    "Strange ¡­" The Taoist scratched his head and said, "Logically speaking, we shouldn''t be in high tide so quickly ¡­" "Could it be ¡­"


    "Could it be what?" I asked.


    The Daoist shook his head and said in disbelief, "I once saw a formation in an ancient book. It said that the ancients could use the tide to rise and fall every month to carve out certain waterways, and these waterways would connect or block each other depending on the water level. The final goal was that after every set period of time, like every two hours, they would borrow the tide''s power to pour water into the pond ¡­ It was almost an ancient clock. When I looked at it, I felt that it was incredibly powerful, as if it only existed in theory, but this ¡­ It seems to be a little like that formation! "


    "Using water as the bell?" I whispered.


    "Mm ¡­" The Daoist nodded and said, "When the tide on one side rises, the current will flow towards the other side. When the tide falls, the water level on the other side will be higher. Because of the difference in gravity, the water will begin to flow back ¡­" First, we have to accurately calculate the time of the flood and then carve a waterway according to the tide. As the time of the flood is different, we need to connect to several underground rivers, which is also the reason why the military didn''t discover the waterway we were rushing down previously. "


    "How difficult is this?" San Mao exclaimed and said, "This emperor is really full of food. In this underground world, no one has seen the black cloth around him. Does he want to go to court on time or something? "


    The Taoist waved his hand and said, "King Xu Yan is not an emperor, he''s just a monarch of a kingdom ¡­"


    "Hey, that''s not the same thing!" San Mao said indifferently.


    The Daoist shook his head and continued, "The ancients saw the world after their death as more important than when they were alive, especially the nobility, believing that they would ascend to heaven after their death. This hour is the most important matter, but there is no mistake!"


    Since this water is used to measure time, it is of no harm to us now, I had originally wanted to tell San Mao and the Daoist to stop looking, and came back to consider whether or not to open the lid, but before I could even finish speaking, I heard a creepy moan suddenly coming out!


    Startled, I thought the black and white fickleness had finally made its way through the water hole, and I quickly picked up Bell''s survival knife again. However, after staring at the waterfall for a long time, he still couldn''t see them come out.


    "Holy sh * t!" There it is! " Mao Tou suddenly exclaimed, he pointed towards the bottom of the pond, following the route to take a look, he couldn''t help but suck in a breath of cold air!


    At this moment, a head slowly emerged from the hole at the bottom of the pool!


    This head is completely black, and his face is covered with mud. We can''t even tell the facial features of his mouth and nose. He was pushed out of the cave by the water, moaning as he slowly appeared like a ghost from hell!


    As soon as this hideous devil appeared, he saw us and stared at us as we began to howl, and soon he was half out of his body, waving his hands at us as if we were gold, silver, or a rare delicacy.


    Very quickly, just like a snake spitting out its entire prey, this devilish black ghost was also completely pushed out of the hole. Then, as if it were producing twins, another head began to emerge from the hole!


    "Zongzi ¡­" "So many dumplings ¡­" Mao Tou''s teeth trembled as he said, "If I had known earlier, the Ghost Blows Out the Light would not have been such a good omen ¡­"


    In the blink of an eye, they had already vomited over ten times. Fortunately, these monsters seemed to have been soaked in the water for too long, and their movements were extremely clumsy, especially in the water, where they were unable to even stand up, and could only struggle to climb towards us.


    Then I realized that these people were wearing white coats or military uniforms, and some of them were riddled with bullet marks. We finally knew where the people in this huge military base were.


    "This... This... "What should we do ¡­" The Taoist was also trembling, and his words were incomplete.


    I also looked around anxiously, trying to find a place to avoid the group of living dead, but there was no entrance at all. The only channel that could bring us down was so narrow that only one person could enter it, and it was slanted upwards at a very large angle. The inside was covered with moss, so it was impossible for us to climb back up from there!


    At this moment, the monsters crawled closer and closer to us. The few monsters at the front have already landed on the shore, standing up shakily and walking towards us. Their bodies were probably soaked in water for a long time, each of them swollen and white, their faces swollen like a pig''s head. Several of them had been hit in the face by bullets, and the wounds had turned outwards.


    "F * ck!" San Mao flung his rod, scolded him, and was about to charge forward.


    "Don''t be rash!" I grabbed hold of him, and by this time, there were already more than a dozen zombies climbing up from the shore, and the cave was still constantly spitting them out. Judging from the current situation, it was impossible for us to kill them with just a few knives and a swing of the stick, although at this time, I am not sure if these Zombie would bite or even have the ability to infect, but I instinctively felt that these things were very dangerous and should be avoided.


    "Then what do you think we should do?" San Mao roared, gasping for breath as he spoke unwillingly.


    At this moment, the knocking sound from the coffin suddenly became louder, and there was no longer any sound. Grid... Grid... Higgle... "Tsk tsk ¡­" The rhythmic beep and the thing inside seemed to know of the situation outside as well, and it became irritable.


    I looked at the coffin, then turned my head to look at the Zombie that was continuously pressing on me, my heart suddenly moved.


    "She''s reminding us!" I suddenly understood!


    "What?" Who''s reminding us? " San Mao roared.


    "She!" I pointed at the coffin and said, "Hurry, open the lid, we''ll hide inside!"


    San Mao was startled, but when he turned his head to look at the Zombie, he quickly walked up the stairs.


    "Fuck you!" "Forget it!" San Mao roared, he pulled me and ran, the two of us ran to the coffin, grabbed onto the coffin lid and started to push it forcefully, at the same time, the Taoist priest also joined in, with the three of us working together, the coffin lid started to slowly move.


    The coffin lid emitted a dull sound, and slowly expanded from a crack. Since the coffin was taller than me, opening the lid was the same height as my forehead, so I couldn''t see what was inside, and when we pushed it open halfway, it was fully accessible, and just as I was about to tiptoe to see what was inside, I suddenly felt a chill in my hand, and a withered white hand reached out from the crack, grabbing my wrist!

 C82

    I was so scared that my heart almost stopped. I frantically tried to shake it off, but the hand was so strong that it gripped me like a pair of pincers. I felt a sharp pain and my wrist bones were about to shatter.


    Then I heard a stuttering woman''s voice, and my heart skipped a beat and I stopped struggling. I followed the line of my hand and stood on tiptoe, and sure enough, MaggieQ was lying on her side, face down in the crevice between the coffins.


    I quickly pulled her up with San Mao. MaggieQ had obviously been stuck inside the coffin for a long time, pale and weak, but at the moment we didn''t have time to ask her why she was in such a sorry state. MaggieQ had also just sat up when she called for us to continue opening the inner coffin we were wearing.


    We will continue to open the lid of the third layer, but there won''t be a fourth layer inside. According to the funeral and interment ceremony back then, the Son of Heaven''s Coffin was placed in the fourth layer and the Dukes'' King was in the third layer. It seems that King Xu Yan still doesn''t see himself as the Emperor''s Son.


    I thought that the coffin would eventually contain at least one skeleton, as well as all kinds of clothes that had rotted into mud, but the moment it opened, I could no longer sense the stench I had imagined. I scanned the coffin with my light and only saw something that looked like a box in the middle, while the rest were empty.


    "Hurry up and enter!" MaggieQ shouted at us.


    I turned and saw that the living dead were already on their way up the steps, the nearest just a few feet away. I grabbed the top edge of the coffin with both hands and climbed up.


    "Catch!" San Mao carried Mao Tou and raised him high above my head. I took him in my hands and threw him into the coffin in the center. Then she grabbed the Taoist''s hand and pulled him up, just as San Mao climbed up by himself, we all entered the coffin in the center. Then we grabbed the outermost lid and struggled to close it again.


    Then I heard a crackling sound outside, and even though we were in the innermost layer, I felt a vibration in the coffin''s walls, and I knew that the living dead had run into it.


    We curled up inside the coffin, not daring to breathe. Luckily, this coffin was heavy enough, even though it was very noisy, it didn''t shake at all. I exhaled and relaxed.


    The coffin was very spacious. MaggieQ and I sat on one side while San Mao and the Daoist sat opposite of us, facing each other but not even touching their knees. As Mao Tou sat at one end, it was as if we were all eating at a Western style table.


    "Will we suffocate to death?" Mao Tou suddenly said.


    I turned to look at MaggieQ, who was next to me. She was only shaking her head slowly, and I felt it carefully, and it seemed to me that it was sealed, but not very stuffy. I reached out and probed around, and found that in the corner of the coffin, a cool breeze was blowing in, and when I shone my flashlight on it, I saw that there were several tiny vents that led directly to the outside. It occurred to me that the blowout lamps must have been caused by these vents. The difference in air pressure between the inside and the outside caused the air to flow and extinguish the candles.


    I asked MaggieQ why she was stuck here alone. She was silent for a while before she gave a brief answer.


    MaggieQ had come here to investigate the incident of the living dead. (She wouldn''t give me a straight answer about what she was investigating, even if I asked her again.) She opened the coffin and went in, but didn''t expect there to be another layer inside, just like what we had seen before, stuck between two layers of the coffin. Although she had leaned on one of her hands, which was exposed above the coffin, and closed it with a single hand (I have just seen her strength, so I believe that with a single hand, she could pull the heavy coffin lid away), she was unable to move. She took out her phone to call for help, but unexpectedly, she couldn''t hold it properly. When the phone fell into the crack below, she could only touch it with the tip of her finger, but luckily she set up my fast dial button, and after fumbling for my number, because she didn''t want the Zombie outside to hear her, she gently tapped the inner wall of the coffin, issuing a password for help.


    MaggieQ answered as if this had happened to someone else, but we couldn''t help but be moved. It had been almost two days and two nights since I''d received the call for help, and for so long, she''d been stuck in such a narrow gap that it was hard to imagine.


    I sighed, took out a couple of Snickers from my bag, and handed them to MaggieQ along with my glass of water. She took the food, took a few sips of water, then ripped open the Snickers and began to nibble, not at all like someone who had been hungry for two days.


    "Hey, I say, how are we going to get out?" MaggieQ was eating, Mao Tou asked.


    At this time, the Zombie were still continuously pushing and patting the coffin. The creepy moans made one''s hair stand on end. Hearing Mao Tou''s words, my heart also became dejected. We have found MaggieQ, but we are also trapped in this danger zone, it seems that we have no way of escaping.


    "Why was there no zombie when we came down?" the Taoist asked MaggieQ.


    MaggieQ slowly swallowed the last mouthful of food in his mouth, took another sip of water, and handed the cup back to me. "They seem to have a time limit," he replied, "which will disappear every two hours or so, and then only a few more hours. When I first came in, I was afraid of making a sound that would cause them to surround the coffin, so I didn''t dare to speak to you.


    "Oh ¡­" The Taoist nodded and said after a while, "It must have something to do with this clock array. It must have been when the water was retreating that something on the other side attracted these zombies, so every time it was time for them to go back into the pool and follow the flow of the water to the other side."


    "But what''s the use of getting out of this coffin?" Mao Tou then said: "There is no exit into the cave outside, why don''t we just die of fatigue?"


    The Daoist waved his hand and said, "Don''t worry about this. If you want such a big cave, these steps, water pools, and even such a big coffin, they all need to be dug out and constructed. At the time of construction, it is impossible that there were no exits and we did not see them, probably because they were sealed after the construction was completed.


    After hearing that, we finally had a plan. I put on my flashlight and said, "We still have two hours. We need to save energy and rest for a while."


    Everyone nodded in agreement and switched off the flashlight. The coffin was suddenly pitch-black. We did not speak, and could clearly hear each other''s breathing. After being silent for a while, San Mao suddenly opened his mouth and said:


    "Why is the coffin empty?"


    I thought of the casual glance I had taken just before I stepped inside, as if I had seen a square box inside. Where was it? I turned on the flashlight and took a look around, but the coffin was completely empty. Where did this box come from?!

 C83

    I thought I had remembered incorrectly or was hallucinating, and I kept scratching my head and looking around.


    "Yuan, what are you doing? What are you looking for?" When San Mao and the Daoist Priest saw me like that, they asked.


    "When I carried Mao Tou in, I seemed to have seen a box inside. Why did it disappear?"


    "A box?" San Mao and the Daoist called out at the same time.


    Just then, the difference between a professional and a non-professional appeared. The Taoist was the same as me, he also shone his flashlight to search around, but San Mao shot his light directly at Mao Tou.


    "Hey ¡­" Three... Third brother, what are you doing? "Let''s talk nicely ¡­" Mao Tou blocked the electric light with his hand and said with a smile.


    This time, even I could hear the problem. San Mao grabbed Mao Tou''s collar and suddenly raised it, causing Mao Tou''s head to smash onto the coffin lid.


    "Lord Third, spare me!" Mao Tou covered his head with his hands and begged for forgiveness, "If there''s anything, we can discuss it, we can discuss it ¡­"


    "Where are the items?" San Mao shouted loudly.


    Mao Tou used his baby like little finger and pointed at the backpack underneath his body.


    "You brat, you dare to use any tricks in front of my eyes?" San Mao was still unwilling to let it go, he grabbed Mao Tou''s neck and pushed him up against the coffin wall, while he used his other hand to pull the knapsack towards the Daoist.


    He started rummaging through his backpack like a Daoist. Two books, "Ghost Blows Out the Light", a few candles, a dagger, a string of copper coins, a gourd ¡­


    "What is this for?" the Taoist asked in bewilderment as he held the gourd.


    "PENG..." "To ward off evil." Mao Tou''s face turned green as he was pressed down by San Mao.


    "Forget it, forget it." I patted San Mao''s hand.


    "Humph!" This time, I''ll let you off. Next time, no matter how dirty your hands and feet are, I''ll see how I deal with you. I won''t even look at what I''m doing! " San Mao let go of Mao Tou and he instantly fell to the ground, gasping heavily.


    "What''s there to be so angry about!" Seeing that Taoist was still rummaging through Mao Tou''s backpack that was about the same size as the rest, San Mao went over and grabbed the backpack and then opened his mouth and took out everything out.


    With a clatter, the items scattered all over the floor. Finally, a flat box the size of a book rolled out of the bag.


    The box was pitch black, and it looked neither gold nor wood. It was unknown what material it was made of.


    The Taoist asked curiously, "Huh?" Just as he was about to reach for the box, MaggieQ quickly reached out and grabbed the box.


    "Light it up." MaggieQ said to me in a commanding tone.


    I quickly moved the light toward the box in her hand.


    MaggieQ looked up and down the box in his hand. It was a box with no keyhole or lock. MaggieQ closed the gap between the top and bottom lids. With a slight push, the box was opened.


    The box opened, and with a flash of white light, a milky white jade ring appeared. When I looked carefully, I saw that this jade ring was carved into the shape of a snake, and the end of the snake''s head was biting its own tail!


    "Biting-tail Snake!" Both the Taoist and I exclaimed in shock,


    MaggieQ didn''t seem surprised at all. He stretched out two fingers, picked up the jade ring, and stuffed it into his pocket without even looking at it.


    "Eh?" "Ouch!" Mao Tou suddenly jumped up, and his head slammed into the coffin lid again. He was in so much pain that his expression distorted, and he used his hand to viciously rub his head, while saying:


    "I say, little girl, you are in the wrong. It was so difficult for us to come in here and fight, but we just ran into such a good thing. How can you be so embarrassed to carry it all by yourself? Although you came in first, the damn things in the ground don''t care about first come first serve, let alone the fact that we saved you ¡­ "


    "I said Brother Yuan... San Ye ¡­ "The Dao Lord ¡­" Mao Tou cupped his hands towards us and said: "Just now, I, Mao Tou was inexperienced, and did not do that properly, but we did do it before, if it wasn''t for me, would you guys be able to enter?"


    Mao Tou took the [Ghost Blows Out the Light] book and waved it towards us: "I know that this jade artifact''s value is extremely high. One porcelain, two jade, and three bronze. I''ve heard that Hong Kong guests are queuing up for the Pan Family in Beijing. "


    "Alright, alright!" I was really speechless towards this Dwarf who had his heart set on robbing tombs. I impatiently said, "If you continue talking about robbing tombs, be careful that San Mao might capture you. He''s a police officer!"


    Mao Tou was startled, and then he laughed: "Brother Yuan, stop joking, is Lord San a police officer? I''m f * * king returning the country''s security! "


    I wanted nothing more than to be covered in black lines, but San Mao also did not mind watching the show. He did not explain and just smiled at me while waving his hand helplessly: "Don''t make trouble, I''ll give you the money when we get out of here!"


    Only then did Mao Tou calm down, and muttered a few words. He was not greedy for money, but his family was in great trouble, so he sat down again.


    "This... "Young lady ¡­" The Taoist finally couldn''t hold it in anymore. After scratching his head, he nervously asked MaggieQ, "Can I take a look at that thing?"


    MaggieQ didn''t hesitate as he took out a jade ring from his pocket and handed it over.


    I thought to myself that the girl did not seem to smile, it turned out that she was only ignorant of the affairs of the world, her heart was relatively simple.


    The Daoist seemed to be surprised as well. After a slight hesitation, he took the jade ring and carefully held it in front of his eyes, observing it carefully.


    At this time, I also clearly saw the jade ring. This jade ring was about the size of a wristwatch and should be made from the texture of mutton fat jade. Although it had been covered in dust for a thousand years, it still looked warm and shiny. The jade ring was completely white, and only the snake''s head looked simple and elegant with a little bit of red cinnabar qi on it. The carving of the Biting-tail Snake was also extremely exquisite, even his teeth and scales were vivid in his mind.


    The Daoist looked at it for more than ten minutes. The more he looked, the more excited he became. In the end, his hands began to tremble.


    "This... Is it really just some gold and stone? " With trembling hands, the Taoist returned the jade ring to MaggieQ.


    MaggieQ took the jade ring and put it back into his pocket. He smiled and nodded.


    The Taoist immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.


    "Ore? What is it? " I asked in astonishment.


    The Daoist leaned against the wall of the coffin, took off his glasses, rubbed his forehead, and then slowly said:


    "This is from the Axis Era... "Ah, no, it might be even earlier than that. We should start from the beginning of the era of enlightenment, when humans left the obscurity ¡­"


    Then the Taoist and MaggieQ told a story that stunned all of us...

 C84

    "In the history of mankind, there have been four explosion of civilizations that have been recognized by the scientific community. The first is that human beings have separated themselves from animals, constructed their social systems, and truly become human beings; the second is the so-called Axis Era, which is our period of 100 generations; the third is the Renaissance and the era of great navigation and great geographical discoveries; and the fourth is the age of great technological explosion that we are currently experiencing ¡­" The Taoist patted his backpack and leaned against it comfortably. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and began to slowly narrate:


    "About six million years ago, a certain primate in Africa split into two branches, one branch from a Chimpanzee and the other from a human. However, the inconceivable thing was that in six million years, the Chimpanzee had not evolved at all, and from the Lamidan Ape to a human, there were at least twenty types of humans that were born, and eventually evolved into a Homo sapiens of today. But this kind of evolution is not just one line, but many branches parallel. In ancient times, there were many kinds of people on Earth, but they were all eliminated by our ancestors, the Homo sapiens, such as the Neanderthals, who even became food for Homo sapiens. But for the new humans that appeared 200,000 years ago, they lived their original lives without change for 190,000 years, so why did they suddenly build a civilized society in the last 10,000 years? "


    I turned on the flashlight in my hand and set it upright on the ground, letting the light shine on the coffin lid and then reflecting back to the various parts of the coffin. The Zombie outside the coffin continued to beat and push, and the sickening moans and howls continued, but we were all completely attracted by the Taoist''s story and sat quietly listening in the darkness.


    "The latest biological genetic technology has confirmed that there are many genes in the human brain that can improve the rate of evolution, including a gene related to the formation of the cerebral cortex called the human accelerated zone 1." Since this gene appeared in the course of biological evolution, there have only been two base replacements in 300 million years. But in the course of six million years of human evolution, the gene had a mutation of eighteen bases. In other words, of all living things, only human subfamily animals have evolved in the direction of explosive growth in intelligence. "


    "And the Axis Era... The Axis Age refers to around 500 BC. This period is a major breakthrough in the spirit of human civilization. In the Axis Age, great spiritual masters appeared in all civilizations ¡ª in ancient Greece, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Israel, the Jewish prophets, ancient India, Shakyamuni, China, Confucius, Laozi ¡­ "Everyone, the principles they proposed shape different cultures and traditions. In fact, even now, the core of our civilization is still following the foundations laid down during that period. Furthermore, all of the major religions in the world originated from that era ¡­"


    "But, at that time, because of the separation of the Mountains and Seas, it was impossible for humans to communicate with each other, so why did such great figures appear in just a few hundred years?"


    "There is also the Renaissance to the Great Voyage Age, a period when, although we have nothing to do with China, in the West there are masses of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Galileo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and... And so on and so forth, a great number of great scientists, literary scholars, and artists, whom Engels called the Renaissance the greatest and most progressive change that mankind has ever experienced, the era of the need for giants and the production of giants. It can be said that the Renaissance was the turning point in Europe from the dark and obscure Middle Ages to the open and civilized modern society! "


    "But why, at that time, did these great masters, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, pile up and line up? Many of these theories, even from the perspective of modern people, are very forward. There are even some that say that Da Vinci is a transcender from time to time, a person who has transcended the ancient era from the modern world! "" That''s true.


    "Finally, there is the modern industrial civilization, whose origins are also very strange. From the time Watt invented the steam engine until now, in just a little over 200 years, human society has undergone earth-shattering changes, and these brilliant masters all appeared together. Newton, Bohr, Planck, Darwin, Einstein ¡­ These people seemed to have fallen from the sky ¡­ By the way, have you seen that photo? "


    "It''s that photo of the fifth Solvay Physics Conference," the Taoist replied to his own question, "Einstein, Madame Curie, Schrodinger, Bohr, Heisenberg, and so on. Almost everyone in the photo seems to be the founders of various disciplines today, and in today''s textbooks, they seem like monuments, but in that picture, they all appeared at the same time!"


    "The Dao Lord ¡­" Just then, Mao Tou suddenly wiped his mouth and said: "What do you mean by saying so much?


    The Taoist smacked his lips and replied, "According to the research of some organizations in the modern era, every time human civilization develops, there is always the shadow of alchemy behind it!"


    "Alchemy?" I couldn''t help but ask curiously, "Isn''t alchemy a kind of fallacy to refine lead into gold?" What does this have to do with the jade ring? "


    "No, no, no ¡­" "Alchemy is not just about refining gold," the Taoist denied. "In fact, both the West and the East have the term ''turning stone into gold'', but it is not limited to pure physical gold. It describes a leap of wisdom, an epiphany ¡­"


    The Taoist paused for a moment before saying softly, "It''s like leaping from a humanoid ape to a human ¡­"


    "Then this jade ring ¡­?" I asked.


    "It should be the legendary metal stone!" The Taoist replied.


    "Ore? Isn''t it supposed to be a rock? " Mao Tou interrupted.


    The Taoist quickly shot a glance at MaggieQ, then shook his head and said, "The Adamantine is just a general expression. It may be in various forms, but only one thing is unchanged ¡­"


    "Biting-tail Snake?" I rushed to say.


    "That''s right!" The Taoist nodded his head and said, "The Biting-tail Snake has always been the most important symbol in alchemy. It symbolizes the cycle of reincarnation and endless life, but it is still the core organization of alchemists ¨C Formless Academy''s totem and badge!"

 C85

    MaggieQ was surprised. She looked at the Taoist and asked, "How do you know about the Invisible College?"


    "From the dark net ¡­" The Taoist seemed a bit embarrassed as he said, "Actually, I don''t know if it''s true or not ¡­" "This ¡­" After saying this, the Taoist looked up at MaggieQ and asked carefully, "Can you tell me more about it?"


    MaggieQ shrugged and said indifferently, "Whatever."


    Only then did the Daoist leader let out a light breath and said, "The Invisible Academy isn''t a school of fact, but rather those people who have mastered the core profound truths of the human race. It''s said that these people have obtained some golden stones, and obtained sudden enlightenment in terms of intelligence, regarding them, the people of the world have given them many honorifics. Some people call them sages, while others call them prophets.


    "Let''s not talk about the distant future. Just talk about the two great sages of modern times, Newton and Einstein!" The Taoist adjusted the backpack behind him and changed his posture.


    "In 1666, because of the plague in London, Newton went to the countryside to avoid it. However, in just one year, he perfected calculus, created the Law of Universal Gravitation, and resolved the visible light into monochromatic light ¡ª that is to say, the calm experiment of our junior high school physics. In just one year, Newton had made a groundbreaking contribution in the fields of mathematics, mechanics, and optics, establishing the foundation of modern science in one fell swoop. It can be said that within this year, Newton single-handedly brought mankind into the age of science and technology!"


    "And Einstein, a minor employee of the Patent Office who couldn''t even be evaluated as a professor, in 1905 he miraculously published five papers, including the most famous ones on relativity. In just a year, Einstein made groundbreaking contributions to Brownian motion, quantum theory, and special relativity. Any one of these contributions is enough to win the Nobel Prize!"


    "So in the history of modern physics, the years 1666 and 1905 were called ''Year of Miracles''! Without any warning or explanation, it can only be described as a miracle. Some people said that it was as if they were suddenly kissed by God! "


    "Are they both from the Invisible Academy?" San Mao interrupted.


    The Daoist nodded and said, "It should be said that they were all chosen by the Pointy Stone. Newton was originally an alchemist, and because of his achievements in alchemy, he was once appointed as the factory director of the British Empire''s Royal Mint."


    "These people... It was all because of that item? and become smart? " Mao Tou pointed to MaggieQ''s pocket and said with a trembling voice, "Then we ¡­ "Doesn''t that mean ¡­"


    "It''s not that simple. The Golden Stone will take the initiative to choose its master. To others, it''s just that it chooses the next protector of the sages and the courier." The Daoist said, "Perhaps this is where the legend of the King Xu Yan''s three eyes turning from stone to gold came from. He obtained some metal and stone, but did not acquire any intelligence.


    "We Chinese are just so unlucky. Since when did you say that? For thousands of years, not a single one has been chosen since Confucius era began? " Mao Tou said again.


    The Daoist sighed and said, "You can''t put it like that. The history of mankind... Or perhaps the history of the universe is counted in tens of thousands or even hundreds of millions of years. You might think that two thousand years is a very long time, but from the perspective of history, two thousand years is just a blink of an eye. Perhaps in the next thousand years, the people selected will gather in the east. "


    The Taoist paused before continuing, "Even ¡­" It was possible that the Golden Stone would choose a species other than humans, allowing them to suddenly gain intelligence and thus replace humans, just like how Homo sapiens had replaced the Neanderthals back then. "Hopefully, we won''t end up as their food in the future ¡­"


    At this moment, the Taoist suddenly stopped talking. The scratching sounds coming from the coffin and the moaning sounds coming from the monsters became clearer. When I thought about the living dead people outside with their mouths wide open, I couldn''t help but shiver.


    "With these sages at the center, they surround many organizations, such as the Pythagorean Church, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Zion, and the Freemasons ¡­" The Taoist looked at MaggieQ and paused before saying, "... Skeleton Society etc., these organizations could be said to be controlling the lifeline of the entire world ¡­ These organizations do not know that they come from the same source, and some of them even have a deep grudge against each other. However, every organization''s sole mission is to protect the sages, and most importantly, to protect the core secrets that the sages possess! "


    "Core secret?" I curiously asked, "What core secret?"


    The Taoist shook his head and said, "No one knows, at least not someone of my level. But what is certain is that this secret is not some good news, but something that could threaten the survival of mankind!"


    The prefect continued, "In 1936, the scientific community discovered a batch of letters from Newton, which showed that, after studying the law of gravity for 50 years, Newton had been engaged in a secret study and had even written more than 4,500 pages of manuscripts. In his letter to the Father of Modernization, Robert. In Boyle''s letter, he advised Boyle to keep his mouth shut when he mentioned the secrets they had. ''This cannot be made public,'' Newton wrote.


    Listening up to here, my heart suddenly thumped. Recalling the treasures that the Daoist previously told me about Solomon, as well as the secret guarded by the Knights Templar, I asked:


    "This secret... Is it something to do with Solam? "


    When the Daoist heard this, he was stunned. After a long while, he slapped his thigh and said, "Why didn''t I think of that?"


    After that, the Taoist frowned and fell into deep thought. He mumbled to himself in an extremely low voice. I leaned close to his mouth and could barely make out a few words.


    "The days of God''s wrath... The moon turned blood-red... One by one, the stars in the sky began to fall... Yang Yang unsealed the seventh seal ¡­ "The earth is completely silent ¡­"

 C86

    "What are you talking about?" San Mao was obviously dissatisfied with the Taoist''s superfluous words, and fiercely patted him on the shoulder as he shouted.


    The Taoist shuddered and raised his head. His face was filled with panic as his eyes glazed over ¡ª


    "The Bible... Revelation... It all came true in one fell swoop... The economic collapse, the plague, the earthquake, the plane crash... "To the end..."


    "Last what?" I asked.


    "The ultimate judgment. The dead were also tried. Many of the people who were sentenced, along with Satan, were thrown into the lake of fire and died the second time! "


    MaggieQ interjected suddenly, in a calm tone.


    At this moment, the sounds of scratching and slapping outside of the coffin suddenly stopped. The creepy moans gradually faded away, and after a series of splashing sounds, it suddenly became silent.


    It was as if we had suddenly crossed from the noisy center of the city to the depths of the mountains and valleys. The coffin quieted down, leaving only our pale faces and the thumping of our hearts.


    "They''re gone!" It wasn''t until MaggieQ whispered something that I came back to myself.


    When we opened the lid and stepped out of the coffin, the living dead were nowhere to be seen, the puddles had disappeared, the monster zombies were like monsters in a closet that I had dreamt of when I was a kid. If it wasn''t for the water stains on the floor, I would have thought it was just a dream.


    Although MaggieQ said that the next Zombie tide would not reappear until four hours after the two ponds had been flooded, we had plenty of time to explore the exit. But it was close to the early hours of the morning, and our group was already exhausted. We didn''t have much food left, and we didn''t know how long we could keep up with the battery from the flashlight.


    The five of us split up and searched around. Only then did I realize that there wasn''t a single thing on the walls of the cave. In many places, there were all kinds of carvings of birds, beasts, and fish. After a few claps, the Daoist Priest quickly found a clue in an inconspicuous corner. He shouted and we quickly surrounded them.


    "Look here ¡­" The Taoist pointed to a rock wall in front of him.


    I gave it a cursory glance, but didn''t see anything different. The color was the same as the surrounding color, and there weren''t any gaps.


    "What''s different here?" San Mao was the same as me, he even raised a finger and knocked it.


    "Look at the patterns." The Daoist reminded.


    When I looked carefully, I found that it was indeed as the Taoist had said. The walls of this cave were made of red soil sedimentary rock, and the entire surface was covered with twisted lines.


    "Just like a brilliant tailor ¡­" The Taoist squatted down and observed closer as he said, "When dealing with the seams of the sleeves and shoulders, I always try my best to align the patterns on the fabric, but no matter how skilled I am, it is impossible for me to be in perfect harmony."


    The Daoist lowered his shoulder and growled in a low voice, then heavily crashed into the rock wall.


    "Yo!" The Daoist cried out in pain, but the rock wall did not move at all.


    San Mao and Mao Tou both laughed, and San Mao even teased, "Aiya, master! What kind of trouble are you thinking about?"


    The Taoist frowned and rubbed his shoulder as he gasped. "That shouldn''t be the case..."


    I squatted down and looked. A small crack had already appeared at the place where the lines were originally dislocated. I turned my head and smiled to the Taoist. "You''re right. It''s just that my strength is too small ¡­" San Mao, come and help me. "


    San Mao quickly crouched down and pressed his hand against the wall with me.


    "1, 2, 3!" On the count of three, the two of them simultaneously exhaled. With a sudden burst of force, the rock wall emitted two crisp cracking sounds before it slowly caved in. Afterwards, it fell down, creating a narrow hole.


    "Hey!" Mao Tou shouted excitedly, "Dao Lord really has you!" After saying that, he dove into the hole.


    I hastily pulled him back. "You''re courting death!"


    Mao Tou immediately reacted: "Oh, I know, the book says that this tomb has not been opened for a thousand years, it must be filled with dirty energy, all animals that touch it will die!"


    I shook my head helplessly. "Where''s your candle? Take one out."


    Mao Tou took out a candle from his bag and handed it over to me. I lit the candle, then asked for Mao Tou''s dagger.


    We watched for a few minutes. The candle flame didn''t extinguish, which meant that there was still plenty of oxygen in the cave, and the flame swayed slightly. I thought that the cave must be connected to the outside of the mountain, so there was some air circulation.


    "Let''s go!" I shouted, and Mao Tou went in first. I had originally wanted to let MaggieQ be the second one in, but she waved her hand, gesturing for me to go into the back of the hall, so I let the Taoist head in first. Behind me, however, I was selfish enough, wanting to get as close to MaggieQ as possible.


    The cave seemed to be built very hastily, and it was extremely small. The walls of the cave were also very irregular and were filled with sharp rocks. If one was not careful, there would be a big hole, unlike what the Daoist said about the entrance and exit of the cave.


    I remembered that after the construction of the tomb was completed, the ancient emperors, in order to prevent the location of the tomb from being leaked out, would lock the workers who built the tomb together inside. In order to escape, the craftsmen, while building the tomb, would also secretly build themselves a backdoor to escape from the tomb.


    Just as I was thinking, the top of the tunnel was suddenly empty. A faint light fell from above, and the tunnel came to an end.


    San Mao turned around and pulled me up, and I pulled MaggieQ along with me. After we stood up, I looked up and saw two perfectly straight mountain walls soaring into the sky, revealing an extremely narrow line of sky. The tunnel originally led to a crack in the mountain.


    The tall and sturdy San Mao suffered a lot, and in some places, he could only lean to the side, sucking on his stomach in order to pass. However, even though he was stumbling, he did not face any danger and walked out.


    At the end of the line was a valley, with mountains on both sides of it. At this time, it was sunrise, and a red sun gushed out from the valley, causing the mountains on both sides to be as red as blood.


    I took out the GPS. Fortunately, there was a signal already. I checked my position and found that I was already far away from the military base. I pinpointed the location where we were parked and indicated for everyone to head that way.


    After a few steps, I noticed that MaggieQ wasn''t following me. I looked back and saw that she was walking in the opposite direction.


    "Sigh!" I shouted, "Where are you going?"


    "I want to go back!" MaggieQ said calmly.

 C87

    Now.


    I closed my eyes, sprawled on my back and half sat on the veranda, enjoying the rare time of rest. The winter sun shone warmly on my body, and my limbs felt as if they had been ironed, as if they had been ironed, as if they were all soft. I felt as if I couldn''t even clench my fists anymore, as if my bones had been sucked clean, as if my entire body had melted into ice cream, and I just wanted to be paralyzed and never have to wake up again.


    The sounds of Xiao Jie and Zhang Yiling playing with each other echoed in our ears. We don''t know what kind of new hairstyle they were going to make for Casey today, but it was fortunate that they were here, so that we, who had just lost our Uncle Feng s, Aunt Chen s, and Lv, wouldn''t feel too stifled.


    I slightly opened my eyes and swept my gaze over the three new graves in the corner of the courtyard. I sighed in my heart. I don''t know how many people will be buried there in the future. Could it be me? After experiencing so many things, I felt that death wasn''t that scary or unacceptable anymore. There was even a hint of yearning in it, like standing on a tall building and looking down. Even though I was afraid, there was still a hint of desire to jump.


    "F * ck his mother!" San Mao suddenly scolded, and then I smelled a strong stench. I turned my head to look and saw that San Mao had taken off his shoes and socks, and was ruthlessly rubbing his feet. Layers of black mud were twisted into black earthworms, and they all fell down from his fingers.


    "It''s fucking itchy!" San Mao cursed again. I saw his little toe, pink and swollen like a carrot, when he rubbed the black mud off.


    Hearing him say this, I also felt that I was starting to feel the frostbite from the extreme cold of the previous day ¡ª my fingers, toes, earlobes began to itch with a heart-wrenching itch. After scratching my earlobe and scratching my fingers, I kicked hard on the ground with my feet, but the more I scratched, the more itchy I felt, and just as I was about to stop, I heard MaggieQ''s calm voice coming from behind me ¡ª ¡ª


    "Level 3 alarm!"


    I jumped up from my chair as if on reflex, grabbed my AK-Rifle and my equipment belt, and sprinted to my dog hole. Before I reached the edge of the hole, I lay down on the ground and slid into the hole with a football-like motion, then grabbed a camouflage cover made from a dismantled refrigerator door and covered my head with it.


    Through the gaps in the cover, I looked around. Great Strength, Monkey, Yang Yufan and even San Tu had successfully entered their "dog hole". Even Xiao Jie and Zhang Yiling had taken their respective positions in the "dog hole". Only San Mao was left, cursing as he wore his shoes to tie his shoelaces in panic.


    "Time''s up!" "Cease the alarm!" MaggieQ looked at his hand and said expressionlessly.


    Relieved, I lifted the camouflage cover and climbed out of the Dog-Hole. The others came out of their bunkers and lined up under the eaves.


    "Failed to complete tactical actions within 60 seconds!" MaggieQ looked around us and said slowly.


    "Sigh ¡­" Everyone let out a long sigh as they automatically laid down on the ground and began to do push-ups.


    "1, 2, 3, 4 ¡­" Little Casey gave us a clear count.


    It wasn''t until the man had finished making 50 and the woman had finished making 20 push-ups that everyone stood up from the ground.


    "It''s all your fault! What are you grabbing for! "He''s still a soldier, hmph!" Xiao Jie scolded San Mao.


    "I ¡­" San Mao was speechless, he awkwardly scratched the back of his head and argued: "I''m not a soldier, I''m a policeman."


    "Isn''t that different?!" Zhang Yiling scolded with a face full of regret.


    "Shut up!" MaggieQ shouted, and everyone immediately shut up.


    "A team is a team!" MaggieQ walked past us with a straight face. "In a team, there is no single individual. Everyone is a part of the team. If one person makes a mistake, the other members of the team might die ¡­"


    "That''s right ¡­" It''s all San Mao''s fault, why did you punish us ¡­ " Zhang Yiling muttered again.


    MaggieQ turned around and walked in front of Zhang Yiling: "Don''t you have to take responsibility for his mistakes?"


    "I ¡­" Zhang Yiling was so afraid that her voice began to tremble, but she still asked softly, "Why should I be held responsible?"


    "Why didn''t you stop him when he was taking off his shoes?"


    "But ¡­" Zhang Yiling still wanted to continue to distinguish between the two, but Xiao Jie, who was beside her, quickly pulled on her sleeves.


    "No buts!" MaggieQ interrupted her: "Remember, every oversight you make can kill your teammates around you, as well as your teammates. Therefore, in the team, not only must you do your job well and complete your task, but you must also always pay attention to your teammates. When he tries to do something harmful to the team, immediately stop him!"


    "Now, everyone pay attention!" MaggieQ raised the volume.


    We immediately stood at attention, our heads held high and our chests puffed out.


    "Prisoners, squat down to 100, begin!"


    "Sigh ¡­" We all sighed again and put our hands on our heads and began to crouch.


    "1, 2, 3, 4 ¡­" Little Casey''s crisp voice came out again.


    The day after Uncle Feng and the rest died, MaggieQ took the initiative to look for us, mercilessly insulting us. In her words, we were just a bunch of trash who had met with bad luck and had lived to this day. She did not believe that we would be able to turn in our bad luck and continue living until next year''s spring ¡­ Then, in order to thank me for saving him twice, she said that she had also taken San Tu''s Asura Seal. In exchange, she could train us. Towards this suggestion, we naturally could not ask for more. Other than San Tu expressing his heartache and concern over his national treasure, the others were all cheering in joy.


    But at the beginning of the training, everyone started to complain. MaggieQ''s training was simply inhuman, and not just physical torture, but mental devastation. "Trash snacks, when your mother spoils you, did you eat shit? How ridiculous is it for the world to produce idiots like you ¡­" that sort of direct insult to personality. In the beginning, everyone was unable to bear the humiliation, but after San Mao first tried to challenge her authority, only to be sent flying three meters away with a kick, everyone became silent in front of MaggieQ.

 C88

    The training includes physical strength, strength, shooting, fighting, and survival skills. A large part of these survival skills is to transform our sanctuary.


    In MaggieQ''s words, our present sanctuary "is no different from paper paste, no value at all."


    On the first day of training, MaggieQ led us to set up several new lines of defense.


    The first was the courtyard wall. MaggieQ required that two bricks be removed every three meters, usually blocked with bricks, and then used as both an observation window and a shooting hole.


    The second was the "dog holes", the "dog holes" was what Zhang Yiling had thought of called them. In fact, according to San Mao, they should be called scatters that originated from the army. We dug six dog holes in the yard, about four meters from each other, so we could cover each other and make crossfire. MaggieQ requires everyone to dig their own and not allow others to help. Each dog hole was shoulder-deep, with an extra thirty centimeters dug, covered with fine sand, and served as drainage by placing a board with holes drilled in it. Not only that, but MaggieQ also asked each dog hole to dig out two additional sloping pits at the bottom that were ten centimeters in diameter, one meter in depth, and forty-five degrees down. She said that if someone threw a grenade into the hole, the person in the hole could kick the grenades into the small holes, so that even if they exploded, they wouldn''t cause any harm. I say, where did all these grenades come from? MaggieQ gave me a look and said, "How do you know?"


    The third and final line of defense is the interior, MaggieQ rejected our idea of completely sealing the windows, saying it is "foolish and dangerous to watch from the outside, which means that you cannot see from the outside, and it also affects the lighting." She asked us to make some moving plates with steel plates to cover the windows. She would use a window rod to support them, and she would put them down when she could, leaving a hole at the bottom of the steel plate so that they wouldn''t be able to throw smoke bombs like the last time.


    On the entryway, she had designed a huge latch. She had Monkey come out with an ingot and a steel bar that was about five or six centimeters thick, and then hung on one side of the door with a movable latch. In case of emergency, all we had to do was pull out the latch and the latch would automatically fall, just in time to get into the slot on the other side.


    Then we built an escape tunnel and dug a hole in the outermost room of the factory for a man to crawl out on his face, so that when we were trapped inside the house we could use the tunnel to escape outside.


    It took us two weeks to reform the sanctuary, but after we finished doing it, every single one of us praised the design endlessly. San Tu called out repeatedly, he was really resolute, and he was not afraid of anyone anymore.


    While the shelter was being converted, all sorts of training was going on at the same time. Physical and strength training was a must every day. Physical training can only be done in the courtyard or indoors, MaggieQ designed a variety of HIT high-intensity intermittent aerobic exercise, also carry the weight of running stairs, climbing with bare hands, and so on, in short, every day we will not stop abusing the desire to death.


    MaggieQ also asked the monkey to make some simple barbells and dumbbells for us to do strength training. Every day, whether male or female, we have to finish the muscle training. MaggieQ said: "There is no fighting technique that is not based on strength."


    In terms of fighting skills, MaggieQ taught us a set of fist techniques and a set of sabresmanship. "The boxing style only had a few moves. It focused on attacking the weak points of the human body, piercing the eyes, locking the throat, kicking down the yin, and even hitting the joints which could cause severe pain." There is no humanism in fighting techniques. The fastest fist technique to subdue the opponent is the best fist technique! " MaggieQ said: "Any kindness toward your opponent is a murder of yourself!"


    The sabre art was much simpler. It was just one move. He pulled out the sabre and the sabre. The sabre was raised, and the sabre''s back broke the enemy''s weapon. At the same time, the sabre''s edge drew an arc forward, chopping at the enemy''s neck. Because hacking and slashing was a movement, when the opponent did not have enough time to defend, they would be struck. This blade technique could deal with living people, but it could also deal with Zombie s, as long as the blade was slightly higher, it would be able to land a cut on the opponent''s head. To this end, we also made a number of large knives, which MaggieQ provided, about a meter long, with a slightly narrower blade than the traditional ones, but a bit wider than the sword and the katana; the traditional ones were split on one side, but the ends of the blades were split on both sides, and only one blade was cut near the handle; and to make it easier to use force, the handle was eight inches to a foot long, so that two hands could hold the knife at the same time and cut at each other.


    "Could this be a Infinite Saber?" After San Mao practiced for a few days, he raised questions, but MaggieQ did not answer. I asked San Mao what was a Infinite Saber, and he said that the famous martial artist Li Yao Chen had specially designed this technique for the 29th Army to fight with the Japanese Devil.


    "Oh, I know, it''s the big blade team that ''Chop the Japanese Devil''s head with a big blade''!" The monkey said.


    Shooting is the hardest to train, although from the man in black we got seven short spears each, which is enough for one person, but firstly, we don''t have enough ammunition, and secondly, we are afraid that the Zombie or others will hear the gunshots, so we can only listen to MaggieQ imparting some theories: Unless the other party gets within thirty meters of us, we can''t shoot, and each shot can''t exceed five rounds, and also have the cross-fire setting, firepower covering, and so on. Of course, there was also the one hour daily static aiming training, standing posture, kneeling posture, and lying posture aiming. With just one glance, one could see that one could not change their position for tens of minutes.


    In addition, it was the maintenance of the firearms. Every few days, the firearms would have to be centrally maintained, disassembled, cleaned, and oiled. This was something that everyone had to learn. "The spear is very precious ¡­" MaggieQ said: "You must love it as if it were your genitals!"


    Then, there was the training of survival skills, including how to identify poisonous plants, tie knots, how to distinguish directions in the wild, how to use a transparent condom to install urine into a magnifying glass, how to use your socks to install sand to make a simple filtering water tool, etc.


    After every day of training, MaggieQ disappears, and we don''t know where she lives, whether it''s one person or several people, and I still don''t know anything about her.


    That day, MaggieQ came especially late, the sun had already risen, and she had not come. This was the first time since we started training, but just as we were starting to worry, Yang Yufan who was on guard suddenly said: "She''s here!"


    We quickly opened the door and saw MaggieQ walking quickly towards us, carrying a bunch of things.

 C89

    We quickly went out to greet her. I took the item from her hands and found that it was extremely heavy. I curiously looked inside and found that it was a rusted iron lump.


    "Today, you guys are going to dig a shallow well." Before I could ask, MaggieQ spoke up.


    "Well?" We all asked curiously.


    MaggieQ nodded and said, "Right now, this base''s biggest weakness is the lack of water. If the water source problem is not solved, then no matter how strong the defense is, it''s useless.


    "But it''s not that easy to dig a well ¡­" "I saw people digging when I was in the countryside," he said. "That''s technical. It''s a lot of work."


    MaggieQ gave a rare smile and said, "You''re talking about the kind of water well that can be used to lift water from a bucket. We don''t need to go through so much trouble."


    MaggieQ pointed to the surface of the guide and said, "This place is close to the river and almost certainly has shallow water. It is very likely that you will reach the aquifer after three to four meters, and this city is basically covered in soft soil. "You guys go get some of the thickest pieces of steel."


    Fortunately, there was no shortage of all kinds of building materials in this half-built factory. We quickly found a few 40MM solenoids and, under MaggieQ''s guidance, cut one of them into three sections, one meter long, two meters long, and three meters long.


    Then, at the northwest corner of the yard, near the house, we began to dig.


    "Why not open the well there?" With one hand, Monkey pointed to the edge of the eaves where we used to sit. With the other hand, he steadied the spiral steel, and with the other hand, he used a 16p iron hammer to strike down hard, and with each blow landing precisely on the spiral steel, the spiral steel shuddered and suddenly burrowed into the ground, leaving only a short section of the 1m long spiral steel exposed outside in a matter of seconds. He and Monkey both worked together to pull it up again, then they stuffed the 2m long spiral into the hole they had just made and continued their hammering.


    "Because you stupid pigs built the toilet there!" MaggieQ said, pointing to the latrine across the eaves.


    "Haha ¡­" After putting on the third, three-meter long, solenoid, he smiled and said, "The well must definitely be located upstream from the toilet. Otherwise, we''ll have to drink fecal water from now on."


    "What about the other pollution?" I asked worriedly, "With so many corpses, would there be any water seeping through?"


    MaggieQ shook his head. "As long as the source isn''t too close, most of the pollutants will be filtered out by the soil. But just to be safe, the water here has to be boiled before it can be drunk."


    "Will it be alright to wash the vegetables and wash the clothes?" Zhang Yiling who was standing to the side and watching the commotion said.


    "And a bath!" Xiao Jie couldn''t hide his excitement, the expression on his face was like a girl who had seen some famous bag before a crisis.


    With the last powerful blow, the three meter length of solenoid finally came to an end. Together we pulled it out again, and a hole the size of a wine cup appeared before our eyes.


    MaggieQ poured a bucket full of water into the hole, and we all crowded around in anticipation, head against head, not daring to breathe, as if a sound would scare the water away.


    However, after the water was filled, it only swirled for a moment before it quickly fell. In just a few seconds, the water that had been poured into the hole disappeared.


    "Ah ¡­" Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie both gasped as they covered their mouths. I also sighed in my heart, as if the hope of opening a well in the courtyard had also followed the flow of water.


    MaggieQ, however, straightened up and looked around at us with a bright gaze. "Congratulations, you''ve hit the aquifer!" he said with a smile.


    "Yay!" We all cheered and clapped our hands to those around us, happier than meat.


    Under MaggieQ''s guidance, we inserted the same 40MM diameter PVC tube into the hole, then took out what she had brought with her. After assembling, I recognized the lump of iron as a hand pump, a common sight in rural areas.


    Dazzling and Monkey were working as plumbers again. Using a "direct" method, they connected the PVC pipe to the hand pump and then soldered a rack with steel bars. Then, a hands-like hand well appeared in front of us.


    The first few moments were just the "hollow" sounds of the pump''s leather bowl rubbing against the pump''s wall. After a dozen shakes, a trickle of water trickled out of the pump''s opening.


    At first, it was yellow water accompanied by sand. Slowly, the water became clearer and clearer until finally, the impurities completely disappeared. The pumped water was like a stream of white water pouring down.


    We kept on cheering and jumping in the mud, dipping our heads into the water to wash despite the cold. Everyone rushed to shake the water and filled all the containers. By today, the biggest problem that had plagued us had finally been solved.


    "Let''s celebrate today! Eat pigeon meat... One for each person! " Since the death of Uncle Feng and I, who had been in charge of the kitchen, I announced loudly.


    There was another burst of cheers, and I glanced over my shoulder at MaggieQ and said, "Will you stay for dinner today?"


    MaggieQ smiled slightly and nodded at me. I didn''t think she would agree. I was stunned for a moment, and then I felt like drinking a glass of ice water in the summer.


    Our pigeons have already grown to the size of thirty or so pigeons, and their cages are packed to the brim. If we don''t eat some more, they will split themselves into groups.


    I plan to make stewed pigeons so that everyone can eat meat and drink soup. I caught nine pigeons, Little Casey included, and everyone had a share.


    With one hand, they twisted the neck of the pigeon behind their back and grabbed it with their wings. With the other hand, they picked up the pigeon and cut off the blood vessel and trachea, then they poured the blood into a bowl filled with some salt.


    After letting the blood flow, Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie would take over the pigeon''s fur. The tiny organs inside the pigeon''s stomach would not be a waste, since the water source was no longer a problem, even their intestines would be carefully washed. The two girls would wash their hands by the well, but their faces would be smiling like blossoming flowers.


    I washed and peeled the pigeons, then neatly stacked them at the bottom of the deep cast-iron LeCreuse pot. The spices of ginger and garlic were long gone, but we searched a branch of Hu Qingyu Hall on a field mission and brought back a large amount of Chinese medicine. I threw a few slices of jute on top of the pigeon, a handful of cordyceps, and then added water that hadn''t touched the pigeon. When the water boiled, I threw the foam away and covered the pot with the lid.


    To save fuel, I put a tray of steamer on top of the pot, inside steamed a pile of potatoes, today there is pigeon soup, do not eat rice.


    Half an hour later, the rich aroma of pigeon meat mixed with Chinese medicinal herbs gushed out from the pot. We waited anxiously for another half an hour. When I picked up the basket, there was a puff of steam. When the white steam slowly dissipated, everyone shouted ¡ª nine pigeons were glowing with steam. I sprinkled more medlar into the pot, making the golden soup even more alluring.

 C90

    I always wanted MaggieQ to move in with us. It''s not just because I don''t know about her. The biggest reason is that she''s really too strong. If she can join our team, then it''ll definitely increase our survivability by a lot. Even though the other members of the team and I have repeatedly brought it up, she rejected it flatly.


    I asked her why? Do you think we''re useless? But she shook her head and said no, after a long silence she said she had something important to do.


    "To track down Sauron?" And ¡­ "And the others?" I asked.


    MaggieQ was silent again for a moment, then nodded and shook his head.


    "This world is already like this, what''s the point in looking for it?"


    MaggieQ sighed in a rare way and said, "Actually, I don''t know, but I feel like looking for it is like... It''s as if I was born for this. "


    I asked her many times about the origin of MaggieQ. In the end, I was certain that she didn''t want to hide it from me, but had indeed lost a portion of her memories. She only remembered her mission ¡ª to find out the source of the Solam Virus that caused the Zombie''s crisis, to stop the spread of the virus, and to find a connection between the two. But she had no idea who had ordered her to do so, what organization she belonged to, or even where she came from, or what her real name was.


    I always remember the last lesson she gave us, and that day MaggieQ taught us survival discipline, such as triple safety rules, that we had to prepare at least three different sources of supplies for vital survival supplies or elements, such as food, drinking water, energy, etc. Even if a source were to be cut off or dried up, it would not immediately lead to a crisis.


    There was also the blackout, and every day, before sunset, the shutters on the doors and windows had to be removed. Every day, before dark, the men on duty would walk around the house to see if there was anything they needed to correct. If you want to see a map or something, you have to block the shooting hole of the post. If you need to look at a map while you''re walking, you can look under the shawl to prevent it from leaking out.


    Then there is the law of heat balance, which means that when you are hungry, you should estimate the heat consumption before you start any kind of behavior. If the amount of heat consumed by the act of obtaining food itself is close to or greater than the amount of heat provided by the food obtained, then there is no need for this act to be carried out.


    That is, if you go fishing at the water''s edge, or if you go hunting in the woods, and you end up catching fish or hunting prey that doesn''t make up for your physical exertion today, it will only make you hungrier than it is. Even if there was no other food available, hunting was the only way. He had to consider setting up traps and other ways to wait and wait.


    Finally, there was the rule of food safety, which meant that if you couldn''t guarantee food safety, then no matter how hungry you were, you had to resist eating. Because in the absence of medicine, even the most common food contamination caused by diarrhoea, can be fatal. However, the human body''s tolerance towards hunger is actually much higher than we expected. Even if ordinary people don''t consume any calories, they can only drink water for seven days. The fear of hunger is mostly due to our own anxiety.


    "Remember, in this world, the most important thing is not how good your equipment is, nor how skilled you are, nor how rich your reserves are. The most important thing is your luck!" MaggieQ concluded, "Luck comes from probability. Avoiding dangerous places can increase your chances of survival by a large half. Remember, don''t go where you think there is food. "Finally, there are two important points: concealment is the most important thing in life, violence is the last choice to solve the problem!"


    After saying that, MaggieQ looked around at us, nodded, and walked away.


    "Eh ¡­" I cried out.


    "Anything else?" MaggieQ turned to look at me.


    "That... Will we meet again? "


    MaggieQ smiled sweetly. "I believe so."


    After MaggieQ left, it was as if we were a group of people who had gone from gray, desperate, and passing to more confident, positive, and optimistic. MaggieQ let us know that even at the end of the world, we can still think, seek out all sorts of possibilities, and make our lives more comfortable and beautiful.


    Zhang Yiling and Xiao Jie, the two girls, had picked up the vegetables from the Uncle Feng. The two girls, who previously did not touch the Yang Spring Water with their ten fingers, were now busying themselves on the vegetable patch all day, weeding, turning over the soil, reaping the seeds, and even fertilizer with their feces without any complaints.


    At this time, Monkey revealed his omni-directional talent. Aside from his old trade in smacking tin, he would get a little work done by the plasterers, the carpenters and even the plumber. Even our former biggest talent in construction, Comrade Wang Dali, would only be able to help him. He led them through the original running water system of the factory, moving the stainless steel water tower from the sixth floor to the third floor and replacing some of the broken pipes. Now all we have to do is take the well water up to the third floor and pour it into the water tower, and we''ll have tap water. On the day that the tap water was connected, we were all cheering and praising the monkey. Even Zhang Yiling, who didn''t normally take us seriously, gave him a gentle look. This caused San Mao to be depressed, he kept lamenting that in this world, people were inferior to dogs, and that being handsome was not as good as knowing how to cook. Back then, I was still the King of the West Lake Region! " San Mao looked at Zhang Yiling who was wiping the sweat off her forehead and said resentfully.


    In addition to this, the daily training continued. Other than Little Casey, everyone, including the two girls, were able to continuously run for five kilometers. Although there was still a big difference between running and running for ten kilometers while carrying twenty kilograms of weight according to MaggieQ, but for San Tu and Yang Yufan who originally wished to die from the pain of running for a kilometer, their bodies were in a difficult situation.


    The set of fist techniques and Infinite Saber s had to be practiced everyday, especially the strong power, as if they were infatuated with the Infinite Saber s. On the basis of the only original move, they created a few changes, and this extremely fierce and abnormal blade technique was unleashed by the innate divine strength of Wang Qiang.


    There was even less of a need to talk about firearms. Right now, even Xiao Jie and Xiao Jie could disassemble an AK rifle and a 92 type handgun in 60 seconds. After a few shots, he was actually comparable to the original police academy''s shooting champion, San Mao, and he was also very concerned with the training of firearms, when MaggieQ was around, he asked for a lot of questions, and now his knowledge of firearms is no weaker than San Mao''s.


    These training and shelter improvements keep us very busy every day, with only an hour to rest after lunch, except for eating and sleeping.


    The afternoon after fixing the tap water, we were still sitting under the eaves, basking in the sun.


    Big Might suddenly said in a faint voice, "It''s going to be New Year in three days."