under the tower

There was a dead silence.

Mao Hei pursed his dry and peeling lips, and said in a hoarse voice with difficulty: "Boss... now... what shall we do?"

In the current situation, the base would definitely not be able to go back—that would be courting death.

Yan Yi pondered for a while, then quickly made a decision: "First find a place to stay overnight, and then think of other solutions."

"Survive this round of siege waves of deformed people, and we will return to the city after their number dwindles."

It was the first time Chi Miao had encountered such a thing on a long trip, and she was about to collapse: "This, this, can it work?"

"I saw a house when I went up the mountain just now." Ji Xi interjected, "Maybe I can live in it."

Mao Hei, Yan San and Chi Miao's eyes lit up immediately, and they said in unison: "Really?!"

Yan Yi asked: "Do you remember the location?"

Ji Xi nodded.

The scenery in the mountains is very similar, and it's easy to get lost if you don't pay attention, but Ji Xi's sense of direction is very good. The brick red is the main color, and the scale of the house is quite spectacular.

From the outside, the house is about three or four stories high, and the outer walls are relatively clean, with only some small cracks. It looks like it was built recently.

"This... seems like after the end of the world, someone purposely built a house here?"

"But it's so close to the Beicheng base." Chi Miao looked puzzled, "Why don't you live in the base? It took a lot of trouble to build a house by yourself, it's not safe in the wild..."

"Anyway, first ask if anyone is here."

They went to knock on the door, and after a while, an old man with a friendly face opened the door. He was about seven or eighty years old, with gray hair, wrinkled face, and only two eyes left because of the loose and drooping skin around the eyes. slit.

"Ah, there is really someone!" Chi Miao was very happy.

"Grandpa, hello." Yan San stepped forward and greeted the old man, "We are residents of Beicheng base." He explained the current situation, and politely asked, "The few of us can do everything, hunting and chopping firewood , just look at your needs, I wonder if you can let us stay at your house for a while?"

"Oh, oh." The old man listened very patiently, and then agreed very readily, "Yes, my house is big, come, come in."

The interior decoration of the house is also very simple. The entrance is a spacious living room, and the back is a small garden with some vegetables grown in it.

"My daughter is going out and will be back later." The old man said, "The third floor is where she lives, and there are two vacant rooms on the second floor. You can arrange it."

Chi Miao asked curiously, "Do you have a daughter?"

"Yes, I'm so big, I'm promising." The old man smiled kindly, and his tone was full of pride for his daughter, "I'm too old now, and I can't move. Rely on her alone..."

"It's amazing." Chi Miao's tone was full of reverence and admiration, "Do you and your daughter live in your house?"

"Yes. It's just the two of us." The old man smiled, "In short, you should stay here first, and try to help my daughter if possible. She is really not easy."

The third floor of the house is where the old man's daughter lives alone, and it is inconvenient for everyone to go up. The old man's room is at the stairway on the second floor, and there are two vacant rooms, one large and one small, along the corridor.

In the end, they decided that Yan Yi and Ji Xi would live in the small room, while Mao Hei, Chi Miao and Yan San would live in the big room.

The old man's daughter came back before the sun went down.

She looks quite young, in her twenties and less than thirties, with a high ponytail, fair skin, and a very thin figure. Although she is not very beautiful, she exudes a capable and youthful beauty all over her body.

She was carrying two huge black bags, one bag had some green leaves on its mouth, it should be filled with vegetables, the other bag was bulging, the contents couldn't be seen, but there was a faint smell of blood that was not very obvious The taste should be meat.

"Hello." She greeted generously, "My name is Shen Yuebing, you can just call me Yuebing."

"Hello." Yansan said, "Do you want to cook? Let's come."

"Then it will be troublesome." Shen Yuebing handed the bag of vegetables to Yansan kindly, but stuffed another bag of meat into the refrigerator.

"Today, I was lucky and killed a wild goat," she explained. "It will survive the winter this year."

Yan San nodded understandingly: "It's to save some food."

She brought out a bag of rice from the cellar. The rice was plastic-sealed, and the words Beicheng Base were printed on the bag.

"We usually go to the base to buy some things. After all, it's not realistic to rely solely on ourselves." Shen Yuebing said, "But after hearing what you said about the current situation of the base, we probably won't be able to enter the city during this period. I saved some food in advance." She smiled heartily, "Otherwise there are so many of you, I don't know what to do."

Ji Xi asked: "Why did you choose to live in the suburbs? Is there any problem in the base?"

"I'm ashamed to say it. I personally have some conflicts with the base." Shen Yuebing replied.

Ji Xi frowned slightly.

"I don't want to hide it from you. Five years ago, I was a teacher at the No. [-] Public Primary School in the base. That was when the base started to re-establish the school. The government was very strict with teachers like us. What can be said and what can't be said, The regulations are very clear." Shen Yuebing said, "I don't feel like I am teaching and educating people, but I have become the mouthpiece of the base. At that time, I was very young and very impulsive, so I made some extreme actions, which offended me. I went to the top of the base, and after thinking about it, my father and I moved out."

"Isolated from the world." She smiled, "It's clean. But in your opinion, we must belong to a different kind."

Yansan held a plate of prepared cold dishes and smiled: "It's just that the world is not peaceful now, and it's always dangerous to spend the winter in the wild. We are also worried about the safety of you and the elderly."

Shen Yuebing smiled and brushed the broken hair on her cheeks: "It's not dangerous, we have gradually gotten used to it over the years, and I feel that we are doing well."

Yan Yi suddenly said: "Deformed humans will change their behavior patterns when the temperature drops in winter. Due to their heat repelling properties, they will even frantically attack nearby humans at night. Do you know this situation?"

Shen Yuebing froze for a moment, her face flashed a flustered look, and then she immediately returned to normal: "I don't know..." She said, "We haven't been attacked in the past few years. The windows and exterior of the house The walls are very strong, maybe because we are all sleepy, but I have never seen a deformed person attack us at night."

Yan Yi: "Just to remind you, it would be great if you and your father are safe."

Shen Yuebing smiled in response, but the smile was a bit forced.

After a while, Yan San and Mao Hei, who were busy in the kitchen, had cooked a sumptuous dinner quickly, and everyone sat around a round wooden table full of dishes.

Shen Yuebing said that in the past few years, she and Mr. Shen have opened up a farmland in a relatively flat place in the mountains, about one kilometer away from home, and most of their food comes from this farmland.

Each person has a bowl of rice, and there are five dishes on the table, fried cabbage, cucumber, roasted sparrow with mulberry leaves, shredded radish and potato, and seven roasted sweet potatoes, exactly one for each person.

As the only meat dish on the table, the roasted sparrow was warmly welcomed, but Ji Xi felt a little sick to his stomach.

He forced himself not to look at the dish, but he still couldn't help being disgusted by the strangely shaped bird carcasses on the plate.

Yan Yi picked one up for him: "Try it, it's quite delicious."

Ji Xi's complexion became even worse: "No."

"Meat is hard to come by." Yan Yi said softly with a volume that only the two people at the dinner table could hear, "If you don't eat it now, it will be even colder in the future."

Ji Xi refused in a low voice: "I really don't want it."

Yan Yi had no choice but to eat the sparrow by himself.

Mao Hei, who was sitting next to Yan Yi, witnessed all of Yan Yi's actions, and glanced at him with eyes that hated iron and steel, which probably meant: Just let him go!

After eating, everyone was ready to rest. Yan washed the dishes, and cleaned the living room and kitchen before going back to the room.

When Yanyi opened the door, he saw that Ji Xi was already stuffing himself into the bed, occupying most of the bed with his teeth and claws stretched out, with one smooth and white shoulder exposed, and the clothes he took off were thrown on the chair like pickles superior.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Ji Xi slowly turned herself over like a piece of cooked pancake, lay on her back and looked at Yan Yi who walked in.

"Go and take a bath." Ji Xi lazily ordered, "I'm so sleepy, I need to sleep."

Yan nodded his head: "Let's go now." He walked over, intending to take away Ji Xi's messed-up clothes and wash them, "If you are sleepy, go to bed first, don't wait for me."

"That won't work. I'm a light sleeper. I'm sure I'll wake you up when you come back. It's better to wait for you." Ji Xi narrowed his eyes from sleepiness, and spoke in a voice like a squeaking milk cat, "So don't dawdle. Come on, hurry up."

Yan supported his forehead, and said in a helpless tone, "You know little ancestor, come right away."