338-358 Gathering in the Imperial Capital

Chapter 338: Gathering in the Imperial Capital (1)

There were only six people who were qualified to participate in the Elders' Council. Each of them was a warrior of the Earth Realm. The entire Wu Sect only had these six warriors of the Earth Realm, and all of them were from the Sect. Longhua was the only one among them who was at the peak of the Earth Realm. This shows that in the Wu Sect, the Sect was superior to the Aristocratic Family, and the Sword Sect was superior to other Sects.

The other five were all old men, the youngest of whom was over seventy years old, but with his oily black hair, he looked like a strong man in his forties. It

took only a quarter of an hour from the time the summons was issued to the time the five people arrived. The reason why it was so fast was that after the end of the world, the entire Wu Sect moved away from their original Sect and came to the Imperial Capital Base. Now they lived together, separated by only a few courtyards.

Leng Fengchen, who was so arrogant outside, bowed his head respectfully and greeted each of the old men when he saw them. The elders were obviously very fond of him. They were all very happy to see him return safely, and inevitably chatted with him. It was not until Long Hua Zhenren spoke that the atmosphere became serious.

An hour later, the door of the hall where Long Hua Zhenren lived opened, and as the door opened, two orders were quickly conveyed to the top leaders of the Imperial Capital Base, and then quickly spread to bases across the country through more than thirty martial arts masters.

"Call all the leaders of the survivor shelters to go to the Imperial Capital Base to discuss the plan to fight against the end of the world?" Song Ting of Ruzhou Base received the news and looked at the person who came to deliver the letter with a smile, "Okay, maybe I can see my stupid brother." He knew what the Imperial Capital Base was like and understood their ambitions, but this did not mean that he was afraid of them.

If it were any other time, the Imperial Capital Base would only recruit him, and he would definitely not go, because that would be a trap. However, this time, the leaders of bases all over the world were recruited. If he did not go, he would miss a lot of news. He did not want Ruzhou Base to become the target of public criticism in the end.

The messenger, who had thought that he would use force to force him, did not expect him to agree so straightforwardly. Instead, he was a little surprised. After a moment of stunned silence, he stiffly added: "We also need to release the news of finding the secret key."

"What's in it for me?" Song Ting smiled and looked down at the secret key map in his hand and asked. You know, he and Wu Zong are not good neighbors, so why should he help them?

This question was finally expected, so the messenger answered more calmly.

"The secret key is related to the end of the world. If you can find it, you are allowed to share the secret collection. As for the person who offers the secret key, Wu Zong can protect him and all his relatives who are still alive. If he has children of the right age, he can be allowed to enter Wu Zong to practice. If he does not want these, this sect allows him to propose conditions on his own and agree at his discretion." This discretionary agreement is very worthy of scrutiny.

Song Ting heard the hidden meaning in it, but he did not take it seriously. After thinking about it, he agreed to issue an order to find the secret key in the base. He was really a little interested in the so-called secrets of the end of the world. Or maybe he was very interested in Wu Zong's big fanfare to find such a thing.

Song Ting agreed readily because he had fought with Wu Zong for a long time and knew him very well, but other bases were different. Other bases were not familiar with Wu Zong, and some had never even heard of him.

"Imperial Capital Base? Hey, it's been more than a year since the end of the world. We used to look forward to your appearance, but you couldn't even see your shadow. Now everyone who deserves to die is dead, and those who survived have to rely on themselves. You show up again, and you want us to listen to you with just one sentence? Dream on." This is a person who talks a lot and has resentment in his heart.

As for those who talk less and have other ideas, when they hear this kind of oral order, they just sneer and don't intend to pay attention.

However, such an attitude often results in a severe beating, which makes them lose their temper. After finding that even if they temporarily gather people, they can't do anything to the other party, they have to give in. Originally, they wanted to pretend to be polite and make plans later, but who knew that these messengers would not leave and clearly stated that they would go back to Beijing with them.

Undisguised coercion! Obviously, when Wu Zong sent someone to deliver the letter, he was ready to take tough measures. After all, there had been no communication for more than a year. Even if it was called in the name of the highest authority of the country, it was not easy to get the powerful people from all sides who had already established themselves as princes to obey orders. So when sending a letter, the strength of the messenger was the main thing.

Of course, not everyone refused. There were two or three base leaders who were very happy to get in touch with the center. Such people either served in the military or government agencies before the end of the world and were very upright, or they felt tired of taking on the responsibility of a base and had no desire for power and wanted to unload the burden. Whatever the reason, after these people received the news from the imperial capital, they agreed to go without hesitation.

Baixia Base does not belong to any of the above types. Shi Hao did not want to go back to the imperial capital simply because he did not want to go back to see his master. Perhaps even this point was taken into consideration, or in order to study that space, Wu Zong also had a special person who came to Baixia Base. It was Yuchi Feng, one of the six elders.

Even though the spiritual spring in the space has been sealed, there is still a very faint spiritual energy that escapes through the soil, plants and animals, and water sources. It may not be enough for practicing Taoism, but it is very beneficial for martial artists.

"What a good place! What a good place!" Wandering in the mountains and forests, stopping from time to time to look at the crops planted in the fields, the fruits grown in the mountains, and even talking to the sheep and calves grazing, Yuchi Feng has sighed like this more than twenty times during the process, and Shi Hao, who followed respectfully behind him, couldn't help but twitch his mouth.

"If the ancestor thinks this place is good, why not live here." Shi Hao said, paused, and continued: "Even if the sect is moved here, it's fine." He grew up in the Wu Sect since he was a child, and he has a lot of feelings for the sect. Even though his martial arts were abolished and he was expelled from the sect, this feeling has never changed. After all, Wuzong raised him, provided him with education, taught him martial arts, and did not kill him after the incident. These alone are enough to make him remember for the rest of his life. As for the space and the base, he did not care much about these things. As long as they are willing to manage them well, whoever wants them can take them.

Hearing this, Yuchi Feng paused slightly and looked back at him. Seeing that he looked sincere and was obviously not flattering against his will, he could not help showing a trace of relief on his face and patted him on the shoulder.

"The little kid is good, but it's a pity." There was something unspoken in these words, but both of them understood what it meant. It was nothing more than the fact that Shi Hao was expelled from the sect because his hard-trained martial arts were abolished.

"I will never forget the kindness of the sect's education." Shi Hao bowed quickly to express his feelings.

"He's a good kid." Yuchi Feng sighed again, but after all, he was old and experienced enough to regret something that happened a few years ago. He put it aside and shook his head and said, "It's too far. If it was near the imperial capital, we could consider letting the sect take over, but in the northwest..." At this point, he shook his head again. "

Although this space is beneficial to warriors, if we mobilize a large number of troops and move the entire sect thousands of miles just for this, it would be a waste of time and a mistake." It was rare for him to explain so much to a junior, probably because he felt that he owed the child something.

Shi Hao listened to the teachings carefully.

Looking at him again, Yuchi Feng nodded slightly in his heart before continuing. Obviously, if Shi Hao hadn't made such a gesture, he would not have said anything more.

"The place for training is certainly important, but what we warriors really train is ourselves, strengthening our muscles and bones, and tempering our minds. All external conditions can only be auxiliary, not necessary. In this end times, mutant creatures are rampant. It is a nightmare for ordinary people, but for me, the Wu Zong, it is a rare opportunity for training in thousands of years. With such an external environment, why should we be obsessed with this place?"

"Little guy is good, very good, and you manage this base well. Keep managing it like this in the future. As for the imperial capital, if you want to go back and take a look, go back and take a look. If you don't want to go back, send another person who can be used."

After saying this, Yuchi Feng left.

Shi Hao knew that as the Baixia base, it was necessary to send someone to the capital. There were many capable and capable people in the base, but considering their combat effectiveness and the distance, he shook his head and decided to go there in person. Moreover, with Wuzong's overbearing behavior, if he didn't go, the people who went to Baixia would be bullied. Now that the aliens led by Teng Jin have left Baixia, the place has settled down. It doesn't matter if he leaves for a while.

Although he thought so, it is necessary to leave some backup plans before leaving to deal with unexpected crises. It is better to be prepared. Of course, the order to find the secret key was not delayed and was immediately issued. The secret key is the black metal piece he once gave to Leng Fengchen. He didn't know how many pieces of this thing there were, so he just looked for it.

There were also people from Wuzong in Sanjia Village who came there. After Liu Qiye tried his skills with the people who came, he readily agreed to go to the imperial capital. There was no way. The difference in strength was too big, and he couldn't not go. Moreover, he wanted to understand why others were so much stronger than them, even though they were all martial artists.

People came to the bases of Bowei, Yunzhou, Dongzhou, and other bases...

At different times, Song Yan and his Hope Base welcomed the same person as the one at Baixia Base. At this time, the Hope Base was still under construction, but the defenses of the five entrances and exits had been completely built, like a fortress, and looked very majestic. The guards did not have to stand in the open air. The upper part of the pass was hollow, with space for people to hide, so that they could monitor the surrounding situation from a distance and keep warm. The stairs up and down were also inside the pass, which greatly guaranteed the safety of the guards.

At this time, except for the two small passes that could only be walked on foot, the gates were closed, and the remaining three passes with roads had large trucks carrying bricks and other building materials entering and leaving. Therefore, there were endless zombies on these three roads, chasing after the convoy, so that every once in a while, the guards in the pass had to go out to clean up, so as to prevent the zombies from blocking the gate and affecting the construction of the base.

This was the lively scene that Yuchi Feng saw when he came. He did not immediately call for the door to go in, but stood outside the pass and looked up for a long time, until the people in the pass found him and asked him, he nodded, and sighed to himself that it was well built.

Built according to the mountain, it can not only prevent zombie mutant beast tides, but also prevent human attacks, of course it is good. Of course, for Yuchi Feng, it is just good.

Seeing that he is an old man and came from the Imperial Capital Base, the guards of the pass were alert. After notifying Song Yan who was busy in the base, they waited for about five minutes and dared to let him in after getting a positive answer.

Yuchi Feng was not annoyed, and walked in slowly with his hands behind his back, looking at the whole Wuchaping as he walked, and his leisurely spirit was like a sightseeing tour. The soldiers leading the way couldn't help but look back frequently. It was really that they had never seen such a calm and carefree old man since the end of the world.

The mutant plants in Wuchaping had been almost cleared, and only a few remained in the part far away near the foot of the mountain. The flat and open land was covered with a thick layer of snow. Only the road was very clean because there were cars on it.

At the end of the road, about two miles away from the pass where the valley came in, there was a gray concrete wall. At this time, the exit of the wall was open. When you get closer, you can see the busy and fiery construction scene inside.

"There are a few people." Yuchi Feng estimated the population here at a glance. Compared with the area of ​​Wuchaping, this number of people is indeed a little small.

The soldier who led the way did not respond. Under the premise that the other party's origin was unknown, he did not intend to chat with him, so as not to inadvertently leak some information about the base.

Yuchi Feng did not care. The main purpose of his trip was still on the sick ghost. He didn't think much of this base.

Song Yan and Shen Chi came to receive him. However, although Shen Chi had been collecting intelligence at the Imperial Capital Base, he had never had the opportunity to meet the six elders of the Wu Sect. After receiving the news, several people discussed and concluded that it would be difficult for anyone to come alone from the Imperial Capital at such an age, except for the martial artists with considerable strength in the Wu Sect, even the awakened ones.

Since he was a visitor from the Wu Sect, he had to cheer up.

And this old man was also direct. After meeting, he neither introduced his family name nor asked them. He just said that he wanted to see the sick ghost. When they heard that they were looking for the sick ghost, both Song Yan and Shen Chi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and at the same time they were more certain of their previous guesses. After all, the existence of the sick ghost was known to the Imperial Capital Base, and there was no one else except Leng Fengchen.

If you want to see the sick ghost, then go ahead. The two of them were eager to throw the trouble to the guy who did nothing but stare at Xiao Yangyang all day long.

Yuchi Feng came to find out the background of the sick ghost, but when he saw the sick ghost, he bowed respectfully and did nothing else. It's not that he doesn't want to, but he doesn't dare.

If other people saw the sick ghost and just thought it was a little strange that he didn't eat or drink, Yuchi Feng felt like a mountain was falling when he saw the sick ghost. He could hardly breathe and almost made a fool of himself. It was not because the sick ghost did something to suppress him on purpose, but because Yuchi Feng's strength far exceeded that of others. The stronger the person, the more he can feel the unfathomable power and pressure of the sick ghost. Unless he reaches a certain level, he can't feel it at all. It's like a huge rock falling from the sky. People will panic and run away, but ants will not feel anything.

Chapter 339: Gathering in the Capital (2)

"More than a hundred years ago, Senior Wu Gu of the Huangshan Sect suddenly became frightened one day. He tried to deduce the secrets of heaven many times but got nothing. So he found a way to invite four fellow practitioners. At that time, the five of them were known to be the top figures in divination. In fact, it was not only Senior Wu Gu, but the other four also felt something on the same day, so they accepted the invitation. You should know that the five people are not all friends. Two of them even have families that are generations of enemies. It was only once that the five of them could put aside their past grudges and work together. Because they all felt that the human race was about to be in great trouble." After getting the response from the sick ghost, Yuchi Feng sat down nervously. After thinking, he decided to put aside the twists and turns and get straight to the point.

After all, he has lived to this age and can see some things clearly. Playing tricks in front of people who are much stronger than him and whose IQ seems to be fine is tantamount to cutting himself off from others. It would be better to talk about things if there is something to say, and to say goodbye if there is nothing to say. This way, you can leave a good impression.

Sure enough, after hearing his words, the sick ghost who had always been cold and indifferent showed some interest, "More than a hundred years ago? Hmm... it should be when Qin Xuan just captured this planet."

Yuchi Feng's eyebrows twitched slightly, but he wisely did not ask questions immediately, but continued: "The five predecessors joined forces to spy on the secrets of heaven and saw a great disaster from the sky, monsters rampant, corpses immortal, and the end of the living. However, although they glimpsed a little bit of the secrets of heaven that time, they also suffered extremely serious backlash. They spent the rest of their lives on the sickbed and never used any divination-related abilities again."

The sick ghost nodded slightly. This was expected. With Qin Xuan's strength, unless he was at the same level as him, or even higher, if he wanted to spy, he would have to pay some price more or less. The fact that they were not killed on the spot was already a sign of their good abilities.

"Since they knew that a catastrophe was about to happen to mankind, even though the country was still in the midst of war, the five seniors still used their influence to start making preparations. It took them more than a decade to build a secret vault. It is said that it contains secrets related to the end of the world, as well as ways to deal with it."

"Oh?" The sick ghost, who was half paralyzed and half leaning on the sofa, couldn't help but stand up when he heard this. He counted quickly with his fingers, then shook his head in disappointment and muttered to himself: "No..."

Yuchi Feng felt a chill in his heart, but he didn't think deeply about it. He continued: "At that time, there were still many people who knew about this matter, but later warlords fought each other, foreign tribes invaded, and the mountains and rivers were broken. Even the people who lived in seclusion were inevitably involved in the chaotic world. In the days when you don't know if there will be a tomorrow after today, who will care about the end of the world that will come at an unknown time? So gradually, the end of the world and the secret treasures of the end of the world were forgotten. Only the five veins that are closely connected with the five predecessors still have related things, and they try their best to pass them down from generation to generation."

To be honest, after confirming that the so-called secrets were useless in breaking the situation, the sick ghost was not very interested in the following things. But he had nothing to do now, and there seemed to be no reason to interrupt, so he still listened, but his expression became indifferent again.

Yuchi Feng was so perceptive that he immediately sensed his change, so he sped up his narration and omitted all unnecessary words.

"It's just that the times have changed, and no one knows the location of the secret treasure anymore. Only by collecting the secret keys originally kept by the five families and putting them together on the map can we find the place and open it. But the people of the five veins have been hiding and scattered in the political turmoil of the past hundred years and the purge of the new dynasty. Now only my Wuzong still has the descendants of Mr. Wu Gu." "

But before, my younger generation, the Leng family kid who followed you for a while, has found three secret keys. Together with the one that Wuzong has been collecting, there are already four keys, and only one is left to complete the collection. Now we have sent out news of collecting secret keys in various bases, and maybe it won't be long before we can get something." The

sick ghost hummed, indicating that he was still listening.

Yuchi Feng smiled bitterly in his heart, but his expression became more respectful. He said, "Your Excellency is from outer space and knows a lot about the end of the world, so we hope you can be present when we open the secret treasure. If there is something you like in it, we are willing to offer it to you." When ordinary people hear about secret treasures, whether they believe it or not, they will be more or less excited. But after hearing the secret of the secret, the other party still looked indifferent, which shows that it has nothing to do with belief or not, but just not taking it seriously. So he believed the other party's origin more.

As for inviting the sick ghost to participate in the opening of the secret treasure, and even promising to send him important things that might be in it, these were all decisions he made privately after meeting the sick ghost. According to their original plan, he came here to explore the background of the sick ghost. If the opponent is weaker than him, he will use tough means to bring him back to Wuzong and find a way to make him reveal everything he knows; if the opponent is as strong as himself, or even stronger, then he will be polite and not offend him. He will recruit him if he can, and give up if he can't.

However, none of them expected that the opponent's strength had far exceeded their expectations, even to the point where they dared not reach it. In this way, thinking back to the things Leng Fengchen mentioned, it was even more frightening, but also extremely fascinating. And the other party was no longer just a top master with super strength for them, but an existence that might be more important than the secret treasure, an existence that they had to build a good relationship with even if they couldn't recruit him. So, he made a promise without hesitation. Moreover, he was confident that he could convince others to agree with his decision after returning.

Yuchi Feng was the most flexible of the six elders, which was why he was asked to come out to deal with people. Therefore, what he needs to worry about now is not other things, but whether he can persuade the sick ghost to go there, or whether there is anything in the secret collection that he will like.

"Okay." The sick ghost thought about it, and unexpectedly agreed. For him, the time is long and boring, so it's not bad to go around, and by the way, he can also see if Wu Zong has a child with the right qualifications and temperament. Zhang Yi is now guarding against him like a thief. If he really refuses to agree in the end, he will have to make other plans.

"You..." Yuchi Feng was originally thinking about how to persuade the other party, but he didn't know that he got such an answer before he could sort out his thoughts. He was overjoyed, "Okay! Okay! Then when we collect the secret keys, I will come to invite you to come." After saying that, he immediately said goodbye. It can be said that he has lowered his attitude very low. If Wu Zong or the people in the imperial capital base saw it, they would be scared silly. But he knew very well that in the face of such an alien, he was not afraid of lowering his attitude to the mud, but was afraid that the other party would ignore him.

"Your Wuzong has another person here with me. If you want to take him away..." Seeing that he was so tactful, Binggui couldn't really feel disgusted, even if he couldn't say he liked him. He couldn't help but think of Yuan Jinshu, so he thought that if he wanted to take him away, he could take him away. After all, he didn't need anyone to run errands for him now.

"It's his blessing that the Venerable values ​​him. If you are not satisfied with him, my Wuzong still has many children with sharp eyes and quick hands..." Yuchi Feng said hurriedly. He replied very quickly, and didn't even wait for Binggui to finish speaking. Obviously, he was afraid that once the other party said it, it would be a foregone conclusion.

"No need." Binggui was speechless. He was still thinking about how to deal with Yuan Jinshu, so why would he go to the trouble of asking for more people? Yuchi Feng couldn't

help but sigh with regret, but he didn't dare to entangle more. He bowed and left.

When he was leaving the hospital, he happened to meet Zhang Ruiyang who came with a notebook and a pencil case. Zhang Ruiyang didn't recognize the old man when he saw him, but he still politely called him grandpa.

Yuchi Feng fixed his eyes, carefully looked at the little guy's eyebrows, eyes, and ears, then pulled off his hat, touched the back of his head and cervical vertebrae, and pinched the bones of his limbs through the thick winter clothes, while pinching he kept muttering in surprise, "What a good seedling, what a good seedling." I don't know how he touched it through such a thick layer.

Zhang Ruiyang was frightened at first, and froze there, not knowing how to react. Later, he was ticklish, and he couldn't help laughing. He came to his senses and hurriedly stepped back, "Grandpa, I'm leaving. The sick uncle is still waiting for me inside. I'll be punished if I'm late." Because he didn't feel the other party's hostility or any other bad thoughts, he remained polite.

Sick uncle? Yuchi Feng, who was overjoyed at having found a good child and thinking about how to take the child away, froze. It seemed as if there was a thunderbolt in his head, and he was a little confused. After a while, he trembled and let go of his hand, and pointed carefully to the yard he had just come out of, as if he was afraid that he had made a mistake.

Zhang Ruiyang nodded, "Yes, the sick uncle is inside. Are you looking for the sick uncle?"

Yuchi Feng silently wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, then put on Zhang Ruiyang's hat, helped him pull his clothes, and bowed solemnly, as if he was treating the little guy who was not even as tall as his waist as a peer.

Zhang Ruiyang was confused, but he was also frightened by his solemnity, and honestly bent down and returned the greeting.

Yuchi Feng left as fast as if his butt was on fire. This time, he didn't even feel regretful. Instead, he felt a little proud because Bing Gui and he had chosen the same child, and his heart became more and more confident.

"Uncle Bing, that old man just now was so strange." After entering the house, Zhang Ruiyang moved the stool and put it in front of the coffee table, and said to Bing Gui. "But it's fun." As he said that, he bowed and bowed to Bing Gui in a proper manner, imitating Yuchi Feng's appearance.

Bing Gui was moved by what he saw, and he sat up straight and asked: "Zhang Ruiyang, are you willing to worship me as your master?" They have been together for more than a year, and he has taught Zhang Ruiyang a lot of things, but he has never thought of accepting an apprentice. However, looking at the little guy's greeting, he didn't know why his heart was moved.

Zhang Ruiyang had never heard Bing Gui call him by his full name like this. He was stunned for a while before he reacted, but he didn't know how to answer. First, he didn't know what it meant to become a disciple, and then he didn't know why he had to become a disciple. Moreover, seeing the serious look of the sick ghost, he realized that this matter might be very important, so he was a little overwhelmed.

The sick ghost just had a thought, and seeing the confused face of the little guy, he changed his words: "Forget it, put out the paper and pen, grind the ink, and start today's homework." If he really wants to accept a disciple, he will have to wait a few years. Anyway, he has taught this child everything he can, and becoming a disciple is just a ceremony.

Zhang Ruiyang said in a daze, and then put the previous question behind him.

Seeing this, the sick ghost nodded secretly. This little guy is focused on doing things and is not disturbed by external affairs. If he really goes to another world, he will definitely practice faster than others.

Not to mention how the sick ghost guided Zhang Ruiyang, just say that after Yuchi Feng went out, he did not leave immediately, but found Song Yan and informed him about the meeting of the base leaders and the search for the secret key. Facing Song Yan, he naturally had another attitude. Although he was a little polite because the other party was related to the sick ghost, he did not hide his arrogance in his bones.

In fact, most people are like this. It cannot be said that they flatter the superiors and bully the inferiors, but when facing people of different status or strength, the mentality will be somewhat different. As for treating everyone equally, those who can do it are either already in a very high position, with no one to match or surpass, or they are saints.

With Yuchi Feng's identity, even the head of a country would not be taken seriously before the end of the world, let alone after the end of the world. So he can put on such a low posture in front of the sick ghost, which can only be said that the pressure caused by the sick ghost on him is unimaginable. As for Song Yan, there is definitely no face for him to bow his head.

"Go to the capital, and then be bullied and hunted by your Wuzong people?" After listening to his words, Song Yan said expressionlessly. It is also impossible to tell whether it is ridicule or resentment.

Unexpectedly, he would talk to him like this. Yuchi Feng was stunned for a moment, and then a surge of anger came up. However, considering the existence of the sick ghost, he suppressed his anger and said with a pleasant face: "If you are busy, it doesn't matter if you don't go." It's just a small base of two or three thousand people. It doesn't matter whether you go or not.

He knew that his disciples were cruel and domineering. However, Wu Zong had been in seclusion for many years. This time he reappeared in front of the world in response to the fortune. If they didn't act more domineering and tyrannical, who would take them seriously? That is to take advantage of the chaos at the beginning of the end of the world to establish their prestige so that they can rectify it in the future. This is also the main reason why they didn't interfere more even though they knew that some people in the sect were messing around.

The more cruel they are now, the more they will be able to clear out those people with bad reputations and re-establish rules in the future, and naturally make ordinary people who have been oppressed feel grateful and in awe. By then, Wu Zong's position will no longer be shaken.

In fact, they were just indulging themselves, and there was no deliberate guidance. The real backbone disciples in the sect still kept a low profile, but the outermost group could not resist the temptation and went astray. It would not be a pity to abandon those who could not even control their own minds.

Of course, these plans must not be made public, even if someone guessed it, they must not be admitted. Otherwise, the reputation of Wuzong would be really rotten, and it might not be possible to turn things around even if they paid a hundred times the price.

Yuchi Feng left, and after thinking about it, Song Yan decided to go to the imperial capital again. At the same time, he also conveyed the order to find the secret key.

Chapter 340: Gathering in the Imperial City (3)

Wu Zong dispatched more than thirty groups of troops. Except for Yuchi Feng, who was alone, each group had no less than three people. All of them were led by Xuan-level masters, and the weakest member of the group was at the middle level of Huang-level. According to the original plan, each group was responsible for a province, and within six months, they must find and notify all the survivor communities. Of course, this also meant that they wanted to find out all the existing survivor communities.

Those large survivor bases were actually easier to find. They could easily be traced by judging the degree of road traffic, the traces of looted supplies, and the zombie extermination. Moreover, before the end of the world, there were many Wu Zong people who were training outside. After the end of the world, they gradually returned to the sect and had some idea of ​​where the survivor bases were. This reduced a lot of their burden in the search. Once a base was found, they could follow the clues and learn about the situation of other survivor communities from the survivors of the base, and so on.

The people who delivered the information would be very light and walk there. They didn't need to clear the snow and mutant plants on the road. It was faster and easier than driving.

However, within half a year, except for those who stayed in the bases, the teams sent out had basically returned, but the news they brought back was not ideal. Among the 31 provinces in the country, including the capital, only 13 had built bases, and there were a few scattered small settlements of survivors, with a total population of no more than 5 million. The closer to the south, the closer to the rivers and lakes, the less people there were.

This was the first time that a rough statistics of the surviving population was made after the end of the world. The real situation was so shocking that even the elders of the Wuzong were frightened.

You have to know that China's land area and population are the largest in the world. Before the end of the world, the total population had exceeded 2.5 billion. With such a huge population base, even if only one in ten or one in a hundred survived, there would not be so few left. But reality is so cruel.

Of course, when the apocalypse just happened, there must be more than this number of people who survived, but the death rate during the escape was frighteningly high. Later, the animals and plants mutated, there were infighting among people, the base was breached, etc., and the number of people who died was probably more than twice the number of people who survived. Take the Imperial Capital Base for example. When the base was built, the rules and regulations were not yet complete, and survivors from all directions flocked in. At that time, the population was more than three times that of today, and the number of unawakened people was ten times that of awakened people.

Because the apocalypse just happened and it was the place closest to the center, people's inherent concepts have not changed. The government wants to save as many people as possible, and the survivors also naturally put themselves in the position of taxpayers, with the right to be rescued and protected. The relationship between people is equal, and the same is true between awakened and non-awakened people. The surviving soldiers in the army became the front-line force, saving people, clearing zombies, collecting supplies, and enduring the insults and complaints of survivors while bleeding and sweating.

People blamed God and the government for their own situation and were in a state of panic. The government was so busy rescuing and settling the survivors and feeding millions of people that it could not take care of many things. So some evil spirits emerged and caused a lot of trouble.

The man who caused the disaster was a non-awakened person. His original purpose was just to cheat some food and drink and have a safe place to sleep. Who knew that his means were too clever, and more and more people were deceived, and gradually it became a sect with great influence among non-awakened people. People are like this. The more things they hold in their hands, the greedier they will be. Under the ardent admiration of many believers, that person soon forgot his original intention and became ambitious. He used

evil words to confuse the public, reversed right and wrong, sent believers to lead zombies to attack the city, and at the same time fanned the flames everywhere in the base, and finally took advantage of the chaos to force the palace to seize power... Step by step, the layout was really seamless and natural. No matter what, people would never think that he had not even graduated from elementary school.

Yes, he only studied in the fifth grade, then dropped out to go out into society. Before the end of the world, he was a liar who specialized in defrauding old men and women of their money. After the end of the world, he returned to his old business, which made him do something spectacular, and he almost succeeded. The most important thing is that after investigation, it was found that this person was still an unawakened person. Not only him, but all of his hundreds of thousands of followers were unawakened.

That chaos started suddenly and ended quickly, but the consequences were unbearable. More than one million survivors died in the fight against zombies, in the cannibalism, innocent people were affected, and those infected by corpse poison could not be saved. Nine out of ten people died, and in the end there were less than 200,000 people left. It was not until the Imperial Capital Base was rebuilt and many foreign survivors were gradually accommodated that it reached its current scale. In fact

, there are many cases like the Imperial Capital Base. Bowei, Dongzhou, etc., for their own selfishness, for the sake of power and profit, they did not care about the lives of others or the continuation of mankind. However

, things have already happened, and it is useless to pursue them at this time. On the contrary, after seeing the number of survivors, the elders of Wuzong hurriedly began to adjust the plan, rectifying what needed to be rectified and changing what needed to be changed, all based on the principle of preserving the existing population as much as possible.

With a population of less than five million, if one more person dies, there will be no one left. They, Wuzong, want to pass on their legacy, even if they control the entire world, what is the use without people? The

change in Wuzong's strategy allowed the ordinary survivors of the Imperial Capital Base to breathe, and the living environment became much better, and gradually they had some hope in their hearts. The pain will always pass, and for the living, it is okay if there are no conditions, but since there are conditions, they still have to live well. What hatred, resentment, and injustice, if it is not a personal pain, when there is no ability, can only be temporarily endured and forgotten.

The meeting of the heads of the bases was scheduled for October 8th of the second year of the new calendar, exactly one year after the day when Wuzong sent people out, mainly to take into account the time to find each base, and also to give the heads of the bases time to collect secret key information and travel. Of course, it would be best if they could bring the secret key to the meeting. The first month of the first year of the new calendar was also set by Wuzong. The time was not the day when the end of the world happened, but the day when heavy rain fell and plants began to grow, implying a new life.

In this way, Song Yan had plenty of time. Not to mention Li Muran's ability, even if he went on his own, it would not take him more than a few days to get to the capital. Therefore, he was not in a hurry to make arrangements, and he did what he had to do.

In the hope base, in addition to the soldiers who did not care about enjoyment and had no loved ones to take care of, and the survivors who had to rely on the base to avoid starving to death and had no surplus money, many people built houses according to their own wishes. Like the group of orcs led by Teng Jin, they were generally large in size. Ordinary houses were not only inconvenient to enter and exit, but also difficult to move around in, so they all built other houses, especially some of them were infected with the habits of some of the beasts with beast genes in their bodies, so the houses they built were strange and full of primitive and rough style. Some people directly dug holes in the mountains, some built huge mutant trees and built nests on them, and some made their houses look like beehives, and so on.

In addition to them, some ordinary people like the elegance of the south of the Yangtze River, and some like the neat and spacious north, so the houses they built are naturally different. So in the Hope Base, in addition to the rows of neat courtyards that look like military camps, there are also the original Wuchaping old buildings, and there are also small courtyards with different styles. It is very chaotic and not beautiful, but no one cares about this. Because they have their own houses, some courtyards that are provided free of charge to the members of the base are empty. If new members join, there is no need to worry about not having a place to live.

In fact, after settling down and building defenses, for most people, there is not much to do except killing zombies. In addition, if they want to live here for a long time, it is understandable to spend more time on housing in the absence of other entertainment. The only pity is that the flowers and plants in the past cannot be planted, making the scenery in the base a bit monotonous.

Of course, no one really cares about this. If you want to see beautiful plants, there are plenty of them around the base. In terms of beauty, the flowers, plants and trees before the end of the world may not be comparable to them.

As early as the beginning of the construction of the base, Li Muran dug up the bones of Uncle Wang and his two sisters, packed them in wooden boxes, and reburied them at the foot of the mountain outside the residential area. He erected a monument and engraved his name. The small courtyard was too dilapidated and not worth renovating, so it was directly demolished to make room.

In the fourth month after arriving at Wuchaping, the fortifications were completed, all the houses and courtyards for living were completed, and two large warehouses for storing supplies were completed. Only some scattered and non-urgent buildings were still being built.

Most people were idle, and life returned to normal. Killing zombies and collecting supplies were back on the agenda. At this time, if the people in the corpse-luring team didn't want to, they didn't need to go out. They could do some odd jobs in the base to support themselves. Some of them had special skills, such as planting, construction, auto repair, medical care, etc., so they had no worries about life and could even be considered rich. Of course, the affluence here cannot be compared with that before the end of the world. It's just that the living conditions are better and the food and clothing are better.

What surprised many people was that Song Yan did not live with Li Muran and his sister since entering the new base. Li Muran got a yard for himself and lived with his brother Ning Wu. Of course, with her efforts all the way from Dongzhou, it was not too much to get such a yard. What

others found strange was that her relationship with Song Yan was well known to everyone. In such an environment in the end of the world, as long as the two sides fell in love, they could live together. But these two people, who had no fixed place on the road and didn't care whether they lived together or not, now that they had a family, they lived separately. What was going on?

But while others were surprised by others, these two people didn't seem to think there was anything wrong. Originally, when they were in Hulugou, their relationship was not clear, so they lived separately. Later, Song Yan transformed into a beast, and asked Li Muran to accompany him all the time. But after Song Yan's transformation was complete, the two still lived separately, with the exception of the night after encountering Lin An's illusion. So no matter what Song Yan thought, Li Muran was actually quite adapted to the current mode of getting along between the two, and didn't think about changing anything.

Until one day, Song Yan suddenly asked her: "Do you want to wear a wedding dress?"

Because his tone was casual, Li Muran didn't think much at the time, just chatted, and replied casually: "No." After he finished speaking, he suddenly came to his senses, stopped talking, and accompanied an awkward smile.

Song Yan left with a dark face, and he was not seen for several days.

Li Muran muttered to herself that this person talked without a beginning or an end, how could she blame her, who would want to wear a wedding dress in such a cold day, and couldn't help feeling guilty. When she was thinking about how to coax him, Song Yan appeared again.

He and several of his men brought back a truckload of slaughtered mutant beasts, a truckload of other food materials, and another truckload of cigarettes and alcohol. After returning to the base, he immediately asked people to prepare without taking a breath. The animal skins, armor, bones and other odds and ends were processed separately, and only the meat was removed for use.

Then he caught Li Muran, who had rushed over when she learned that he was back and had been following him around, as if she had something to say, and took her to a house and stuffed a room full of household items into her.

"Decorate the new house, get married." It seemed that he had figured it out. Don't ask this girl too many questions, just do what you should do.

"What... eh?" Li Muran came to accompany Xiao Xin, but before she could say anything, she was shocked again. Just when she was about to ask a few questions, she found that the other person's back flashed at the door and left just like that.

She was a little puzzled, scratched her hair, and her eyes fell on the pile of things in front of her. In fact, her mind had not recovered yet.

At this moment, Song Yan, who had just left as if he was running for his life, turned back. Li Muran was delighted and wanted to catch him and make him explain himself no matter what.

Unexpectedly, Song Yan turned his body and dodged her hand without leaving a trace. With a sullen face, he asked, "Is there any problem with marrying me?"

After what happened before, Li Muran was actually prepared in her heart, so she was not too surprised this time. It was just that looking at Song Yan's face, from her angle, she felt that his jaw seemed to be very tight, so tight that she inexplicably had the illusion that he was a little nervous.

"I..." It must be an illusion, she thought. In her impression, Song Yan has always been stern, calm and composed. It is really difficult to associate such a person with the word nervous.

Because she was thinking about other things, she replied a little slowly, so she lost the opportunity to answer.

"No problem, right? Okay, it's decided." Song Yan made a decision for her very decisively, and then left quickly again, not giving her a chance to regret.

Li Muran was stunned, thinking that things shouldn't develop like this, but after a few seconds, she couldn't help but burst out laughing. After laughing, her expression gradually calmed down, and she solemnly uttered the two words that she hadn't had time to say to the empty room: "...I am willing." If she didn't mean that, why would she get along with him. Even if she respected and feared him, she wouldn't force herself on such a matter.

She didn't know that after Song Yan left the yard, he slowed down his pace, and his expression was so solemn that people who met him on the road didn't dare to say hello, thinking something had happened. It wasn't until she laughed that his expression eased, and when the word "I am willing" reached his ears, his frown completely relaxed, and a bright smile appeared on his face, and it was faintly flushed. The people who peeked at him were scared and almost thought he was mentally ill.

Chapter 341: Gathering in the Capital (4)

The wedding was held on the third day. The night before the wedding, Song Yan told Li Muran that he would pick her up in the morning. Li Muran didn't think much of it at the time, thinking that they were going somewhere. After Song Yan left, she said a few words to Ning Wu and prepared to go to bed. Then Zhang Yi and his friends came.

They brought a bunch of children, snacks, beer, candles, and a set of mahjong.

"Muran, we'll play mahjong here all night. You don't have to worry about it,

just do what you need to do." Zhang Yi said with a smile. Li Muran was a little dumbfounded. She couldn't figure out why they suddenly came to her house to play mahjong, but she still let them in and planned to ask them later.

"Sister, let me tell you, men can't be spoiled. We are from Zhongzhou, and this is your mother's family. If Song Yan dares to bully you, just come back and we will help you vent your anger." Routa Chen said to Li Muran while following everyone to set up the tables and chairs.

What? Li Muran was confused.

"And there are people from Dongzhou too!" Fu Dan, Li Yuanzhuo and Wu Ziran also raised their hands quickly, but their expressions looked unconfident.

"Director uncle will not bully Aunt Muran." Zhang Ruiyang stared blankly at the excitement of the crowd and couldn't help but say. "And Uncle Song is very fierce, and he has many, many subordinates, and you can't beat them."

"Then go ask Uncle Sick for help." Wu Ziran replied without thinking.

"..." Out of some intuition, Zhang Ruiyang felt that Uncle Sick probably wouldn't care about such things.

Listening to their words, Li Muran vaguely understood something, and then repeatedly chewed on what Song Yan said before, and his expression when he said it, and felt different. For a moment, she couldn't help but get nervous.

Getting married tomorrow, what should she do?

"You don't have to do anything, just have a good sleep, and wait for Song Yan to pick you up tomorrow." Seeing her nervousness, Zhang Yi couldn't help laughing.

The others probably had the same idea, and some played mahjong, some ate snacks, and the children ran from one room to another, which actually made the usually deserted house more lively.

Li Muran walked around the house for a few times and found that there was really nothing she could do, so she calmed down. First, she boiled some water for the people who came to play, then sat down to accompany them for a while, and took out a quilt to cover the sleepy children, and then she was driven to sleep. Now

is the end of the world, even if you get married, you probably don't need to prepare anything, it's just a formality. She told herself this, but she still tossed and turned for a while before falling asleep. When she woke up halfway, she heard the slightly suppressed voices outside and the sound of mahjong being rubbed. Suddenly, she felt very warm and her heart settled down, so she fell into a deep sleep until she was woken up by Xu Jing.

When she got up, it was still dark, about four or five o'clock. The water on the stove seemed to be hot all the time, and there was a ready breakfast. There were a row of children sleeping on the kang.

"Go take a shower, and I'll help you put on makeup after you're done." Xu Jing said. The others also cleared the mahjong table and started to get busy.

Seeing them so serious, Li Muran, who was originally very calm, became nervous for some reason.

While putting on makeup, the men were all outside, cleaning the room and the courtyard, pasting wedding characters and pulling red cloth. Before long, the whole yard was filled with a festive atmosphere. Nan Shao even went out to get some bouquets of branches and leaves of mutant plants, and placed them in vases everywhere, adding a bit of color and refinement to the house.

Ning Wu sat next to the adults all night, serving tea and water. Even if he kept dozing off and refused to go to sleep, he would still run around like a little adult.

"I want to send my sister off to marry." He said.

The adults suddenly understood his desire to support a family and to support Li Muran, so they let him do what he wanted, and at the same time, they couldn't help but feel a little more pity for this child who had almost no sense of existence.

Zhang Ruiyang, Wu Ziran and other little guys got up around six o'clock. They were busy but couldn't help much. After all, it was not like before the end of the world, so there was really not much to do, so they just washed up and had breakfast, but the whole yard suddenly became lively.

I don't know where Xu Jing got the cosmetics from. Anyway, I never saw her use them before, but she was very skilled in makeup. She was not only responsible for the face, but also helped Li Muran trim her hair to make it look more suitable for her face.

There was no wedding dress, but the clothes were bright red Chinese cotton jacket and cotton pants, which were very thick. Li Muran felt a little embarrassed when he saw it and was reluctant to put it on.

"Mr. Song brought it back." Xu Jing thought about it, and couldn't find any other reason to persuade her, so she had to spit out this sentence in the end. To be honest, she didn't like the clothes either.

Li Muran gave in. But when she put it on, Xu Jing's eyes lit up and said, "It's pretty good. It's rustic and beautiful."

You might as well not add the last sentence. Li Muran looked at Xu Jing helplessly and forced himself not to look in the mirror. But she also gave up, no matter whether it looks good or not, at least she doesn't have to suffer from the cold. This dress is especially warm and comfortable to wear.

After putting on makeup, Ning Wu brought a bowl of noodles in for Li Muran to eat.

"Xiao Wu, you go live over there with me tonight, and we will come back to pack up tomorrow." Li Muran saw her brother and suddenly felt that she should remind him, so that the child would not know what to do. In her mind, where she lives, her brother must live there.

Ning Wu did not respond immediately, until she finished eating and he took the bowl out, then he spoke: "Sister, I will live in our house, I can take care of myself." He had to take care of this house, otherwise his sister would have nowhere to go if she was wronged in the future.

"How can that be..." Li Muran didn't know what he was thinking, and even if he knew, he would not agree. After all, Ning Wu was only ten years old and it was not time for him to set up a household. Ning

Wu had obviously made up his mind, and left after he finished speaking, without listening to Li Muran at all. Li Muran wanted to chase him out and talk to him properly, but was pulled back by Xu Jing to touch up her makeup.

"There is no danger in the base. If he wants to live alone, he can live alone. Anyway, it's not far away, and you can come to see him anytime. In today's world, the sooner a child can become independent, the better. Besides, before you found him, he had lived alone for more than half a year and was fully capable of taking care of himself." Xu Jing said lightly.

"I understand, but I can't bear to let him go." Li Muran sighed. How could she not understand these principles? It's just that she didn't see him before. In her heart, Ning Wu was still that unlovable child. Even if he died, she would only feel a little sad, and would soon forget about him and would not worry too much. But now it's different. Ning Wu is now by her side. Not to mention that he has become sensible, even if he is still the same as before, she will not have the heart to let him live alone.

Xu Jing smiled and didn't persuade him anymore. She was not good at persuading people, and her relationship with Li Muran was also average. It was the limit to ask one or two words about such a private issue. It would be meaningless to say more.

As they were talking, firecrackers suddenly came from outside.

"Here they come." Xu Jing looked out the still dark window.

Li Muran's nerves tightened, and he temporarily put Ning Wu's affairs aside, and said with a little worry: "Will this kind of noise attract mutant beasts and zombies?" In fact, he has been used to being cautious for more than a year, and he is a little nervous and uncomfortable with this lively scene.

"I'm not afraid even if they come." Xu Jing said.

For a terrain like Wuchaping, ordinary zombies basically can't get through. As for mutant beasts and mutant zombies, the number is really limited. Without the influence of external forces, it is basically impossible to form a beast tide like the Yunzhou base. Even the sound of the whole base being blown up cannot attract so many, let alone setting off firecrackers. As for a small number of mutant beasts or zombies, for the existing strength of the base, it is completely a gift to the door.

So, there is no need to worry at all. If you have to be as cautious and careful as when walking outside in the base, it would be too tiring. It is still necessary to have a proper excitement like now, which is conducive to stress relief.

It was probably because of this that Song Yan thought of setting off some firecrackers to liven up the atmosphere and get rid of the bad luck that had been lingering in people's hearts since the end of the world.

Shen Chi came with the men from the third floor, Teng Jin also brought a few orcs, and Yun Ze, Xiao Sheng, etc., and they gathered a large group. If Zhang Yi and the others hadn't come last night, Li Muran's side would have seemed too deserted. It was

not easy for the adults to block the door, and the teenagers were thin-skinned, and the younger ones were too calm and quiet. Wu Ziran couldn't handle it alone, so he didn't make it difficult at all and let everyone in.

Zhang Yi and the others had prepared breakfast long ago, and they served it up as soon as the bride-to-be arrived. Everyone ate happily, but Song Yan went in directly to see his young wife.

I don't know if it was caused by the atmosphere or some other reason. Li Muran was a little embarrassed to see Song Yan again when he saw him just the night before.

But Song Yan couldn't help laughing when he saw Li Muran in red.

This dress was made by hand. He found the fabric and cotton and asked someone to fill the cotton batting thicker when making it. The main reason was that he was afraid that Li Muran would get cold. He just didn't expect the effect to be like this. The effect was okay, but the most important thing was that Li Muran was willing to wear it, which made him feel funny but also very happy.

The clothes were made by Xiao Sheng, which no one would have thought. Xiao Sheng's hometown is in a rather remote small town. His father is an old tailor. He inherited the ancestral craft when he was a teenager. He originally planned to take over the tailor shop if he couldn't find a job after retiring from the army. Later, he found that this industry was no longer popular among the low-end population. Of course, the most important thing is that even this industry must keep pace with the times, and his father's vision of making clothes is still stuck in 20 or 30 years ago, and so is he, which is very embarrassing.

Fortunately, Song Yan used his connections to set up a security company that specializes in receiving soldiers who can't adapt to society from special forces and find another way out for them. Yun Ze, Xiao Sheng and others became the responsible persons, and Xiao Sheng no longer had to go back to his hometown to bask in the sun in the old tailor shop.

Song Yan knew that he had this skill, so he thought of asking him to help Li Muran prepare new clothes. Song Yan hoped that Li Muran could wear the clothes made specifically for her when she got married, even if the clothes were not made very well.

But this dress was really... It was puffy when worn, and looked like a little fat bear, a red little fat bear, and the style was thirty or forty years ago, so rustic. Fortunately, Li Muran had delicate features and had her hair cut, and the red color made her look even more well-behaved and beautiful.

She was a bit like a young wife in the sixties and seventies.

Song Yan really couldn't help laughing, but he didn't dare to let her see his true thoughts, so he could only try to make himself look so happy to get married. Of course, this happiness was also real happiness, but there was just something strange mixed in it.

Laughter is contagious. Li Muran laughed non-stop when he came in. Although she always felt a little strange, she couldn't help laughing along. The shyness that had just arisen disappeared instantly.

Xu Jing saw this from the side and couldn't help but have the urge to touch her forehead. What a pair of idiots!

At dawn, Song Yan carried Li Muran out of the house.

Li Muran didn't want to agree to this marriage on her back. She would rather walk there by herself. But Song Yan was very persistent on this point. Song Yan carried her out of the house, surrounded by people, but didn't go directly to the new house, but walked around the streets and alleys of the base.

The sound of firecrackers was endless along the way, and fireworks whistled into the sky from time to time. People at home came out to watch. There were crowds of people everywhere, noisy and noisy. The streets were filled with smoke and the smell of burning sulfur filled people's noses. Such a lively atmosphere of life made people who were already numb to the end of the world and the loss of relatives and friends unconsciously smile with a little nostalgia. Especially when he saw the bride full of joy on Song Yan's back, this smile became bigger.

Except for one person.

The purpose of Song Yan carrying Li Muran around the streets and alleys of the base was certainly not to have no place to vent his strength, but to let all the members of the base have an impression of Li Muran and announce her position in their hearts to everyone. He knew that she was a low-key person. Even if she was bullied, she would probably find a way to solve it herself, and would not use her status to pressure others, let alone tell him, so he could only use this method to prevent some unpleasant things from happening.

Obviously, his actions worked. Others' thoughts are not to be mentioned, but there is one person who is terrified by this.

That person is Zhao Ru.

At the beginning, she and Li Muran got along well because of their similar age when they fled out of the city with Song Yan's convoy. However, once the convoy was attacked by zombies during a break, she fell while running away, and was about to be caught up by the zombies. Li Muran turned around to pull her, but she pushed her back and fell into the zombie group, and she was able to escape.

Later, the two met again at the Dongzhou base. She was worried that Li Muran would tell what happened that day, so she pretended to be weak and made Li Muran the target of public criticism.

With all these grudges, if it were someone else, they might rack their brains to find a way to kill her. Li Muran had this idea at the beginning, but things happened one after another. She either had to raise a bunch of children or flee with Song Yan. Later, she had to rescue people in the Yunzhou catastrophe and travel west to Baixia. She was too busy to handle it, and gradually she didn't care about those things so much. In addition, her personality seems to be withdrawn, but she is actually soft-hearted. If she is not forced into a desperate situation and is angry, it will be difficult for

her to think of revenge after a while. To be honest, if Zhao Ru had never appeared in front of her, she would probably gradually forget about it. Only occasionally would she remember that she had suffered a loss from this person, and because of this, she awakened her supernatural powers, ran thousands of miles away, and then met Zhang Yi and others who were like family.

When facing someone who has framed her, she would choose revenge or bypass him, and she would probably choose the latter, and then fight back when she has no choice. It is precisely because of this mentality that Song Yan still doesn't know that Zhao Ru had harmed Li Muran, otherwise he would have solved it long ago.

It's like Zhang Yi didn't know from the beginning that Fu Dan's hand disability was related to Zhang Ruiyang. Li Muran didn't think it was Zhang Ruiyang's fault, and Fu Dan and the other two didn't think so either, so they naturally wouldn't mention it. The only one who blamed himself was Zhang Ruiyang, who was young and didn't remember anything. Because Fu Dan practiced the skills taught by the sick ghost and became more severe than before the injury, he unconsciously ignored the deformity of his hand and didn't think of saying it. Later, Nan Shao cured Fu Dan's arm at Li Muran's request, so he gradually forgot about the incident. Therefore, Zhang Yi always pitied Fu Dan as a strong young man who lost his parents and was brought back by Li Muran, without any sense of indebtedness.

So there are always some past events that will be missed, even if they happened to the closest people, even if those past events are not insignificant. But it doesn't matter. Li Muran has grown to a height that Zhao Ru can't reach, and he doesn't need Song Yan's protection. Zhang Yi and others have long regarded Fu Dan and the other two as their own children. It's not so important whether they know or not about the past.

But Zhao Ru doesn't know what Li Muran is thinking. Although she knew that Li Muran was close to a group of leaders of the team before, she has been trying her best to get close to some powerful people. In addition, no one else saw the incident at the time, so she was not afraid. However, now she found that Li Muran had become the wife of the head of the base. How could she not be afraid?

So when everyone was happily attending the first wedding after the end of the world, Zhao Ru shrank in her room in panic, wanting to take this opportunity to escape from the Hope Base and go somewhere else, but she couldn't think of anyone she trusted and willing to leave with her, so she finally gave up the idea. After that, Zhao Ru lived in fear of being retaliated against every day, cowering in the dark like a mouse, and was in a state of panic all day long. She dared not tell anyone, and finally she had hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, and scared herself to death.

Li Muran never thought that Zhao Ru would end up like this, or she almost forgot about this person, of course, the premise is that no one mentioned it and there was no chance to meet her.

An hour later, Li Muran finally got rid of the treatment of being treated as a rare exhibit. She sat on the kang in her new home and breathed a sigh of relief. Although she didn't have to do anything for this wedding, she was really exhausted.

The banquet was held after two o'clock in the afternoon. Everyone in the base had a share. The ingredients were prepared by Song Yan and his men. There were chefs in the team before the end of the world, and a group of smart men and women were recruited. Everything was ready. Although it was hard to prepare a thousand tables, it was not difficult.

There was a large area of ​​​​open space in the base that was rammed flat but not used for the time being. It was not a problem to set up a thousand tables, and it would definitely create an atmosphere. Unfortunately, the weather was too cold. If it was really set outside, the dishes would probably freeze into ice cubes as soon as they were served on the table. In the end, they had to set it up in the house, with a table for each of the neighboring families. The wine and food were delivered to the door, and no gifts were required, just to celebrate together. Only the most familiar group of people gathered together to become witnesses of the couple's marriage.

Li Muran didn't get to wear the wedding dress in the end, Song Yan didn't prepare one for her. I don't know if it was because the weather was too cold, or he looked down on non-custom-made wedding dresses, or he was still angry about her answer that day. Li Muran didn't have much obsession with this. If Song Yan really got the wedding dress, she might have to argue with him about whether to wear it or not.

There were rings, a pair of white animal bone rings, with a very simple shape, just a simple ring, polished very round, without diamonds or other extra things, and no patterns. The only special thing was that the names of the two people were neatly and seriously engraved inside. The big one was engraved with Li Muran, and the small one was engraved with Song Yan.

Li Muran never wore any jewelry on her body, because she felt uncomfortable, but she liked this ring from the bottom of her heart. During the toast, she secretly clenched the hand wearing the ring several times. The ring was made by Song Yan himself, full of the strong Song Yan style, especially with his name engraved on it. It felt a bit strange to hold it in the palm of your hand.

All along, Song Yan has always been in a dominant position when they are together, while Li Muran seems to be more submissive and passive. So, when she thinks of Song Yan himself from the ring, and then thinks of holding Song Yan in her palm, well... she always feels a little happy for some reason.

It has to be said that Li Muran still has a little Ah Q spirit. As for the bone ring that represents her, it will also be held in Song Yan's palm. What does it matter? Hasn't it always been like this?

Song Yan didn't know that she was actually thinking about this in her heart, but he could feel that she liked it, so he was naturally happy.

When night fell, all the excitement came to an end. Song Yan resolutely stopped the bridal chamber and drove everyone out of the door without any hesitation.

"Sister, brother-in-law, I'm going home too." Ning Wu was the last one to leave. He walked to the door and turned back to say to the two of them. After that, he didn't wait for their answer, closed the door of the yard and ran away.

"I'll go and bring him back." Song Yan and Li Muran looked at each other and said.

"Forget it..." Li Muran hurriedly grabbed his sleeve and didn't let him go. There was no danger in the base, and Ning Wu was more familiar with it than anyone else, so she was not too worried. Song Yan agreed to everything she did, and she couldn't let him help her educate her brother even on their wedding night. "I'll talk to him tomorrow." The child had his own ideas, and she had to consider them.

Seeing that she really didn't force him, Song Yan was naturally happy to spend time alone with her, so he went to bolt the gate and they went back to the house together.

The red candles were shining brightly in the house, which had a bit of the flavor of the old wedding night. The noise in her ears gradually faded away, and Li Muran suddenly felt that the air was gradually getting warmer and thicker, and she was a little afraid to look at Song Yan.

"Are you hungry? I'll get you something to eat." She said, then turned around and wanted to go to the kitchen.

At the end of the day, Song Yan was forced to drink a lot of wine, but he didn't eat much. She saw it, so she could only secretly ask Ning Wu, who was following her, to get some food to fill his stomach when he was free, but he often had to attend social events before he had even taken a few bites.

Most of the men at the table were soldiers, and they were good drinkers. Song Yan was happy to accept everyone who came, but his physical condition had changed a lot now. If it were before, he would have fallen down long ago.

It was true that she was at a loss and wanted to escape from the ambiguous atmosphere that made her heart beat faster. It was also true that she felt sorry for him. However, before Li Muran could take two steps, she was hugged from behind. The strong smell of alcohol hit her nose, making people feel like suffocating.

"You are wearing too much..." Song Yan touched her body twice, and all he felt was thick cotton clothes. He couldn't help complaining, and then he started to take them off.

Li Muran was speechless. It was obviously he who prepared these clothes for her, and now he was complaining about them. But she didn't resist after all. In a few seconds, she was stripped down to only a thin layer of warm clothes inside, and was carried to the kang that had already been heated.

The candlelight flickered red, and after a rustling sound, there was the interweaving of heavy breathing and low and suppressed moans...

On this night, perhaps because of something that was touching, several couples were discussing when to have a wedding, and then they were moved unconsciously and could not help but spend their wedding night early.

Chapter 342: Gathering in the Capital (5)

The wedding of Song Yan and Li Muran was like opening a window for all the survivors of the Hope Base, making them suddenly realize that in addition to trying to survive, they might be able to have a proper family again, support each other, rely on each other, lick each other's wounds and share fears, and live more like a single person.

So in the following period of time, more than ten weddings were held. Of course, no one was as exaggerated as Song Yan. They all set up a few tables of banquets at home and invited a few relatives and friends to have a lively time. It was simple, but very warm. Compared with the weddings before the end of the world that were mixed with various purposes and exhausted people, it was much purer.

Zhang Yinan Shao's wedding was held in such an atmosphere. No one with whom he had a mediocre relationship was invited, and only two tables were set up.

Originally, given their situation, there was no need to go through this formality. Everyone had already considered them a family, and they themselves had no such idea. But one day, Routa Chen came to visit them, walked around the house, and suddenly said, "You three haven't even started the fire yet in your new home." "

Starting the fire" is a local dialect in Zhongzhou, which means to invite guests when you move into a new home, to get rid of the cold and foul air in the new house and add popularity.

In fact, who cares about the big move, but since it has been mentioned, it's okay to invite a few good friends to have a meal and get together. So Zhang Yi and Nan Shao discussed it, and when they were thinking about how to invite the guests, they finally remembered that they didn't seem to have a clear relationship yet, so they simply turned the housewarming party into a wedding banquet. Anyway, it was just a meaning. The two had already entered the old couple mode, and they were not very romantic men, so they didn't have so many requirements.

But the preparations still had to be made. Ask someone to cut two clothes to wear at the wedding, decorate the house, paste a few big red wedding characters, and hang a string of firecrackers, and the atmosphere was up.

It's just that everyone has heard of two men getting married before, but it's the first time to experience it. Not only the parties involved, but also the friends who came to the wedding felt a little confused. In addition, their mentality has changed after the end of the world, and there are children. They didn't let go and made a fuss. They just toasted back and said some blessings. Because they were all sincere and not as chaotic as in the past weddings, there was warmth and affection in the lively atmosphere, which was very much in line with Zhang Yi and Nan Shao's heart.

When they were drinking happily, Zhang Ruiyang, who had finished eating and went out to play with other children, ran in with a wooden box in his hand, saying that it was given to Zhang Yi and Nan Shao by Bing Gui.

Both of them were a little surprised. Seriously speaking, their relationship with Bing Gui was not only not good, but even because of Zhang Ruiyang's matter, there was some estrangement. In addition, Bing Gui was cold and distant to everyone. He didn't even attend the wedding banquet of Li Muran, who respected him very much, so the two of them would not invite him to make things boring. Who knew he would actually send a gift? Considering this man's style of doing things, the two of them not only did not feel flattered, but were wary.

"This is really the sun rising from the west, come and see what it is!" Routa Chen shouted. He had not been with the sick ghost for a long time, and he had the impression that this person was difficult to approach, and was also mysterious, so he did not have much awe.

Zhang Yi thought that if the sick ghost really wanted to harm him and Nan Shao, there was no need to go through so much trouble. In addition, he was also curious, so he looked at Nan Shao inquiringly, and after getting his consent, he opened the box.

In the box was a pile of neatly cut rice paper, on which were written beautiful brush calligraphy in large and small sizes, arranged in a dense and orderly manner. After Zhang Yi and Nan Shao took it out and read it carefully, their expressions became a little strange, surprised, happy, resistant, or contradictory... It was hard to say what it meant.

"What is it? Tell me! Tell me!" Seeing that the two of them had been silent for a long time and their expressions were indescribably strange, Routa Chen, who was originally just teasing and was not really interested in what the sick ghost had sent, was suddenly curious and urged him impatiently.

Zhang Yi pondered for a moment and handed the paper and the box to Routa Chen, which showed that this thing was not shameful. After reading it, Routa Chen handed it to Xu Jing beside him, but she was stunned, "What the hell is this? What is it for?"

The three people's reactions were very different, which made others more curious.

The paper and the box were slowly passed from hand to hand. I don't know when the room gradually became quiet, leaving only the sound of paper leaves turning and people's increasingly heavy breathing.

"I wonder if this is suitable for two people of different genders?" Song Yan said after reading it, obviously attaching great importance to this thing.

The sick ghost sent a special practice for two people to practice together. It didn't help much to improve strength, but it could share life. This was obviously prepared specifically for Nan Shao and Zhang Yi. After Nan Shao transformed into a beast, his life span would become infinitely long as his strength improved, but Zhang Yi was still an ordinary person. Even if he had entered the realm of sword, it would only improve his physique and five senses, but it would not have much impact on his life span. Even if he started to follow the path of sword cultivation now, he would be limited by his age and the current environment, and it would be difficult to achieve great success. It would be a very optimistic estimate that his life span could be increased by several decades, not to mention accompanying Nan Shao until old age.

Now that the sick ghost had given them this joint cultivation method, it just solved this problem, and they couldn't help but be tempted. Not to mention them, even Song Yan couldn't help it. Song Yan and Li Muran's situations were a bit similar to the two of them. Although Li Muran had awakened his superpowers and might live longer than ordinary people, it was only a possibility. What if he couldn't? He couldn't think of a way at that time, otherwise it would be too late.

They had no doubts about the method that the sick ghost took out, but Zhang Yi thought of a deeper level. The sick ghost took out such a thing at this time, naturally not because of how deep his friendship with them was, but probably he was still preparing to take Zhang Ruiyang away.

But they really couldn't refuse it. Not to mention that Nan Shao was reluctant to give it up, the significance of this technique to all the alien beastmen and even humans was irresistible. And the sick ghost gave them this technique, which was tantamount to forcibly giving them the most powerful network of contacts. They had no choice but to accept it.

For Zhang Ruiyang, the sick ghost had really taken great pains.

At this time, Routa Chen's eyes also glowed, and he obviously came to his senses. He and Xu Jing didn't need it for the time being, but it didn't mean that he couldn't see the value of this technique. Then

everyone seemed a little absent-minded, and they didn't have the interest to drink. They simply got up and said goodbye, went back to think about this matter, and left Nan Shao and Zhang Yi room for thinking. After

seeing off the guests, the two tidied up the room a little, and then sat at the table and stared at the wooden box in a daze. Zhang Ruiyang had already gone back to sleep, and no one disturbed them, which allowed them to think about it carefully.

Refuse, can't refuse, but to say that you can just accept it, but it's hard to get over the hurdle in your heart. Even though they knew that the sick ghost might not care too much whether they accepted or not, for them, acceptance meant a certain degree of compromise, and it would be even more difficult for them to stand up straight in front of the sick ghost in the future.

"Let's toast to my parents first." After a while, Zhang Yi broke the silence and stood up and said.

He knew very well that if he insisted on telling Nan Shao that he would not practice this technique, Nan Shao would not disagree, but this was no different from him personally cutting a knife in Nan Shao's heart. Even if there would be no estrangement, it would become a lifelong regret for both of them. He didn't want to be forced to make a choice between his son and his lover. Besides, this matter was not a problem that could be solved by his choice or not.

"Okay, I'll keep this for now and talk about it later." Nan Shao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhang Yi did not directly say that he would not practice it. He quickly got up and carefully sorted out the papers in the box one by one, then covered the box and prepared to find a place to hide it.

Zhang Yi saw that he was serious and couldn't help but smile bitterly. Both of them understood that until Yang Yang's problem was solved, or before the sick ghost found someone to replace Yang Yang, this skill could not be used. Everyone knows that people who eat people's food should be grateful, and people who take people's money should be soft-handed. Keeping it and not practicing it is just a passive but helpless way of dealing with it. Moreover, this collection has a certain time limit. After all, they can endure it, but others may not be able to endure it.

As for the fact that they showed the contents of the box to other people before, it was not because of a momentary mistake, but because they knew that this matter could not be covered up. As long as the sick ghost casually revealed a word, the matter could not be suppressed. At that time, it would not be a question of whether to hide it or not. I am afraid that all the friends who came tonight would be alienated from them.

The pit that the sick ghost dug for them was too deep, and there was no way to avoid it.

The sound of Nan Shao's footsteps after he put away the box came into his ears. Zhang Yi came back to his senses and put the matter aside for the time being. He took out the family portrait that Zhang Ruiyang had put away when he left home, put it in a photo clip, put it on the table, lit three incense sticks, prayed, and put it away. Nan Shao took a cup and poured two glasses of wine, one for Zhang Yi and one for himself.

The two knelt down in front of the table.

"Dad, Mom, I found the person I want to spend my life with. I will take good care of Yangyang. Don't worry about it down there. Just enjoy your world of two." Zhang Yi was silent for a while before he spoke. After that, he kowtowed and spilled the wine on the ground. When he looked up, his eyes were a little red.

To be honest, if his parents were still alive, they would not be so easy to accept that he had found a man as his partner, but now they can just assume that they all agree and are satisfied.

Nan Shao kowtowed, toasted, and called his parents.

"I will treat Ayi well. You two elders will take care of it." He had a lot of good words and promises in his heart, but in the end, he only said such a plain sentence. How many people made a vow to the sky, but in the end they still ended up parting ways. It is better to show his determination with practical actions. He would rather tell Zhang Yi's parents at the last moment of his life that he really lived a good life with Zhang Yi.

After the worship, the two washed up and went back to the room. Even though their mood was slightly affected by the skills sent by the sick ghost, this day was special after all. When they saw each other's faces under the dim candlelight and thought that they could fill in each other's names in the partner column from now on, they couldn't help but feel a strange throbbing in their hearts, and naturally completed the last step of the wedding.

"I want to go back to the capital." After a long time, the passion faded, and the two lay side by side on the kang. Nan Shao looked at the dark roof and suddenly said.

Zhang Yi was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted and hummed.

Nan Shao's relatives are in the capital. For various reasons, he never had the opportunity to go back. Now he finally has time and strength, so this time he should and must go.

The two understand each other deeply, and there is no need to explain such things.

Chapter 344: Gathering in the Capital (7)

"Ahem... ahem... that's my little brother." At this time, Lan Lan changed back to her previous tone, with a timid tone. She looked at Zhang Yi and explained embarrassedly: "Uncle, we are here as a family, my brother, sister, brother, and mother..."

Hearing this, Zhang Yi looked around unconsciously, and then looked at Nan Shao inquiringly. Nan Shao shook his head, indicating that there was no one else around.

"My brother is young, but he is actually very sensible. It's just that his words are irritating. Don't mind..." The girl's words of apology came into his ears, but before she finished speaking, she suddenly changed back to the tone she used before when she called him her little brother.

"What's wrong with being irritating? Do you want me to be as delicate as you? If I hadn't found food for those days when my elder brother and sister went out, you would have starved to death long ago? I'm not wrong, there are so many of us here, but he can't see us. Is it because his eyesight is not good?" He was full of the arrogance and arrogance of a young man.

"Lan Xin, shut up!" As soon as she finished speaking, her tone changed again, becoming sharp and fierce.

"Oh. If you don't want to say it, then don't say it!" Then her stern expression relaxed, and she regained her childishness. She pouted and said reluctantly, but turned around and complained: "Mom, my eldest brother is mean to me!"

"Be good, listen to your eldest brother." When she said this, her tone and demeanor were like a gentle and weak middle-aged woman.

So, the so-called family is actually just you, right?

Zhang Yi was a little dumbfounded, watching Lan Lan talking to herself there, playing people of different personalities and ages, it felt like there was really a family bickering in front of him. But when all this was played by a beautiful girl of fifteen or sixteen years old, especially at such a time and such a place, it was unavoidably creepy.

Zhang Ruiyang had unconsciously held his breath, his eyes wide open, and he could not hide the fear inside. Nan Shao took two more steps towards this side.

"Uncle, thank you...you saved us." After a chaotic noise, Lan Lan's attention finally returned to Zhang Yi, and her tone returned to normal, revealing a bit of cowardice.

Zhang Yi opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know how to reply, just felt that everything in front of him was so absurd and weird.

"If it weren't for that...that gentleman, our family would have been eaten by insects." Lan Lan carefully glanced at Nan Shao, and then quickly withdrew her gaze in fear. After a pause, when the fear in her heart subsided a little, she asked again: "By the way, uncle, where are you from and where are you going? Isn't it very dangerous outside? How dare you three...ahem...three people walk around? Do you have other companions?" A series of questions popped out like machine guns, and it seemed that she was quite curious.

"We are from the Hope Base, and we have something to do at the Imperial Capital Base." Although Zhang Yi was still awkward in his heart, his face remained calm and he answered.

"Base? Are there many refuge bases built outside?" Hearing his words, Lan Lan seemed very surprised and asked quickly.

"Yes, as far as I know, there are two bases in Yunzhou, one is our Hope Base, and the other is the Yunzhou Base near Longren City. Baixia has a large base with more than 200,000 people. Zhongzhou, Dongzhou, Didu, and Ruzhou all have bases. In addition to these, there should be other bases. Because it is not convenient to communicate information at the moment, the specific situation is not clear." Zhang Yi didn't think about how to deal with the situation at hand, so he decided to say something irrelevant first, and at the same time he could get more information through chatting.

Lan Lan's injuries could no longer be treated. Of course, her injuries were not serious, and there was nothing to deal with.

"It's great, so many people survived. I thought we were the only family left." Lan Lan's eyes lit up, and she seemed to be very happy to hear the news.

"Your family?" Zhang Yi sensitively captured the important information revealed in this sentence. Only one family is left, and the family is split from the same person. Does that mean that this area is actually only the little girl in front of him. If that's the case, with her clumsy reaction before, how did she survive?

"Yes, we are the only family here." Lan Lan answered, and her mood became obviously depressed when she said this. "Ahem... At the beginning of the apocalypse, there were still several families in the community who had people survived. Some wanted to leave... ahem... but they were eaten by zombies before they left the community. After that, no one dared to run away. Everyone hid in their own homes and only went out to find food and water after a while."

"But going out to find food would be very dangerous. At that time, there were zombies everywhere... ahem... everywhere. If you were surrounded, you would die. Even if you escaped and got injured, you would die. You would turn into zombies within 24 hours and hurt the people around you. One family here was wiped out because of this."

"But what can we do... cough... cough... If we don't go out, we will still starve to death after eating all the food at home. There are supermarkets and restaurants in the community. There are a lot of food in these places. The residents in the community also have some food in their homes. There are not many people who survived... cough... not much, enough to eat for a long time. Unfortunately, they disappeared one by one, and finally only our family was left. Everyone wanted to wait for the government to send people to rescue us, but until now, no one has." After

saying so much, Lan Lan's throat seemed to be more uncomfortable. He covered his mouth and coughed for a long time before raising his head and looking at Zhang Yi seriously, asking: "Uncle, is it the same outside? What is the survivor base like? Why didn't anyone come to rescue us? Does the country ignore us?"

The question is not difficult to answer, but it is not something that can be finished in a few sentences. Looking at the sky outside, I know that if I continue to talk, I will have to stay in the pharmacy tonight. On such a cold night, staying in a pharmacy with little defense and no heating facilities is obviously not a good decision.

"It's getting dark. Where do you live? We will take you back first." Zhang Yi said.

Lan Lan was stunned for a while before answering "OK", as if the family had discussed and decided in their minds.

Zhang Yi had thought about whether sending someone back rashly would be a trap, but on the one hand, he and Nan Shao were strong, and they had Dudu as a backup, so they had some confidence; on the other hand, if Lan Lan had a problem, it would not be easy for them to get rid of her since they had met her. Instead of passively responding in confusion, they might as well take the initiative to find out the situation. If the other party had no problem, they would not dare to leave a little girl here.

So, Lan Lan quickly found the cold medicine she needed, and collected a lot of anti-inflammatory and cough medicines, as well as gauze and other things. She put everything she thought might be useful into her backpack, filling up a large backpack. Fortunately, these things were not heavy, so it was not a burden to carry them on her back.

"It's almost the same outside, with zombies, mutant plants, and mutant animals everywhere." Zhang Yi answered Lan Lan's previous question as he walked. Looking at the direction she was walking, it was the community where the footprints came from.

Nan Shao still maintained the ant shape, holding Zhang Ruiyang and walking behind them, keeping an eye on Lan Lan's movements. Before being completely sure that the danger was over, neither he nor Zhang Yi could relax their guard.

"There are still many zombies outside? Are they all blocking the road?" Lan Lan seemed surprised to hear Zhang Yi's words.

"No, most of them are still distributed in various cities." Zhang Yi shook his head.

"Is... is that so? Ahem... but the zombies on the road near us have disappeared, I thought it was the same in other places." Lan Lan looked a little confused and disappointed. "In other words, those zombies didn't actually disappear, but just ran to other streets?"

Zhang Yi heard the strangeness in her words and asked, "You haven't been to other places in the county?"

Lan Lan shook her head, "We have been staying in the community, and the farthest we have gone is to the pharmacy we just went to. I wanted to leave the city and take a look outside before the zombies were gone, but there were mutant plants blocking us, so we couldn't go out at all."

This made sense. Although there were mutant plants and mutant animals near the community, at least there were no zombies. If she had stayed here and not run around, and if she had been a little luckier, it would not be impossible for her to survive until now. However, Zhang Yi still did not let down his guard, because this little girl herself was very strange.

"When did the zombies here disappear? Did something happen before they disappeared?" This was a question that Zhang Yi and Nan Shao had had before. Now that they found a local, they had to ask.

Lan Lan opened her mouth to speak, but coughed first. This time the cough was more severe, and she squatted down directly after coughing, and it took a long time before she stopped.

"It's been almost a year, probably... It's snowing every day now, and I don't have to go to school, I can't go online or watch TV, I can't remember the time, it feels like every day is the same..." She looked distressed and confused, and couldn't help complaining a few words, then she remembered Zhang Yi's question: "Nothing happened in those days, it still snowed and snowed every day... Oh, by the way, there were a lot of mutant animals during that period of time, they were black and ran through here like crazy, some of them even smashed the houses. Look, over there, that house was destroyed by a giant It was hit by a mutant beast twice as big as the elephant... cough cough... We were so scared during those days that we didn't even dare to go out. We stayed at home all day and didn't even dare to open the curtains. "

Following the direction of her finger, Zhang Yi saw a five-story building with a missing corner at the bottom. The broken part had steel bars sticking out of the cement slabs and sticking out in the cold wind. Half of it, along with the ceiling, walls and floors, had turned into rubble and broken bricks and piled up on the snow at the foot of the building, while the other half was exposed to the outside. In the room, you could also see sofas, cabinets and other furniture dumped on the ground. The outer walls above the third floor were covered with cracks of varying widths. You could imagine how violent the collision was.

"Were you not discovered by the mutant animals?" He asked as he looked around. The mutant animals were very sensitive to human smells, so there was no reason why they couldn't discover her presence.

Lan Lan shook her head, "No, I said those mutant beasts were like crazy... cough cough... At that time, they all ran in one direction, in groups, day and night, and they didn't fight each other. The zombies nearby also followed at that time. I thought it was like this in other places. Didn't you see this situation?"

Listening to her description, Zhang Yi couldn't help but have a specific picture in his mind. In addition to being thrilling, he inexplicably had a sense of déjà vu. Just as he was trying to trace the source of this feeling, he heard Nan Shao cough lightly behind him and whispered two words.

"Beast tide."

Zhang Yi suddenly remembered that what Lan Lan said was similar to the scene when the Yunzhou base was surrounded at the beginning, and the time she said... seemed to match.

"We're here, my house is in front, on the fifth floor." Zhang Yi wanted to ask again, but Lan Lan had already shouted.

The community is very ordinary, consisting of several rows of five-story and six-story buildings. Lan Lan's house is in a six-story building. The community was quiet. There were many mutant plants, but they were not dense. They were not very fierce. If you took a detour, you would not be attacked. This might be one of the reasons why Lan Lan could survive here for so long.

"The snow is falling too hard... cough cough... we have to clean it up every day, otherwise it will pile up so high that people can't walk... cough cough..." Lan Lan skillfully led Zhang Yi and the other two to turn east and right to avoid the mutant plants and enter the building. She climbed the stairs breathlessly and complained. Perhaps it was because she hadn't seen anyone for too long. Even though her voice was hoarse, she couldn't help talking nonstop.

Zhang Yi noticed that except for two open rooms on the floors he passed, the others were closed and there were no signs of being broken into.

"You haven't been into any of these houses?" he couldn't help asking. In common sense, because it is much safer to search for supplies in the homes of residents in the same corridor than to go out, most people will first search the homes of neighbors upstairs and downstairs before turning their attention to the outside. Of course, this is just common sense, and it is not ruled out that some people have different ideas.

"Yes, we searched the two open doors several times, but we didn't search the other doors because we couldn't open them." As they reached the fifth floor, Lan Lan took out the key from her bag with great effort and answered while opening the door.

There were iron bars and wooden boards nailed to the outside of her anti-theft door, leaving only a space near the lock that was only wide enough for one person to pass through, obviously to increase the defense of the door. However, this method was so crude and simple that it was unsightly, and the defense was not high, which affected entry and exit. It would become a big flaw when the situation was critical and every second counted.

When Lan Lan opened the door and invited them in without hesitation, Zhang Yi hesitated for an unknown reason.

Chapter 345: Gathering in the Capital (8)

Was she too innocent to be on guard, or was she confident and had some ulterior motive? Even in peacetime, a girl with a sense of crisis would know not to bring two grown men home casually, let alone now.

But would Zhang Yi be afraid and back off? Of course not. Now that he was here, how could he be content without finding out the truth? Of course, the most important thing was that with his and Nan Shao's current strength, they could still go to any dangerous place. So he paused for a moment, then led the way into the house, followed by Zhang Ruiyang, and finally Nan Shao. Dudu was still hiding outside. Of course, even if it showed up, it couldn't get into the house with its size.

However, the house was not the dragon's den of tigers and wolves that one would imagine, but a very ordinary home furnishing, simple and tidy with a touch of warmth. If there was anything special, it was that there were a lot of dolls, on the coffee table, on the sofa, on the TV, on the floor, on the windowsill, everywhere, but they were not too dense to make people feel creepy. But if you think about the fact that the owner is just a little girl now and lives alone, it is understandable that she feels lonely.

"Uncle, you guys can sit down wherever you want. I'll go light a candle first, otherwise I won't be able to see it later." As soon as she entered the house, Lan Lan greeted them, put down her backpack, and started to get busy.

She lit the candles, then drew the curtains, and then moved out the wooden boards to block them, covering the house tightly to prevent light from leaking out. While doing this, she also explained: "Sometimes mutant beasts will pass by here, especially at night, so you have to be careful." Obviously, she has accumulated a lot of experience from living alone for a long time.

After once again confirming that no light would leak out, she went to pour three glasses of water for the three people. When she poured water for Nan Shao, she was obviously still a little scared, and her movements were so stiff that some of the water spilled out. She also poured herself a glass of water, took out the cold medicine and took two tablets.

"Uncle, you guys sit down first, I'll go get something to eat. We can eat and talk, and you can tell me what happened outside." After taking the medicine, she said, then she took out a short candle, lit it, walked into the kitchen with it, and closed the kitchen door.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao looked at each other, and both felt a little confused about this girl's way. Nan Shao was still in the form of an ant at this time. Because of her body shape, it was a bit difficult for her to enter the door before. He wanted to return to his human form... and then he decisively did so, and put on his clothes while the girl was away.

At this time, voices came from the kitchen, the voices were very low, but with their hearing ability, they could hear them clearly without any effort.

"Are you stupid? Why did you bring someone home? What if they have bad intentions? What will you do?"

"No way, they just saved me."

"What if they saved me? Who can guarantee that they are good people? In this world now..."

Zhang Yi stood up, listening to the chattering and cooking sounds in the kitchen, while making a gesture to Zhang Ruiyang to stop talking, then quietly came to the bedroom door, pushed it open, took a quick look in the candlelight in the living room, closed it, and then went to the other bedroom. The house has two bedrooms and one living room

, about 50 square meters but less than 60 square meters. The first bedroom is relatively small, with a bunk bed and two desks, but there are four chairs. The quilt on the bed is neatly folded, and there are several piles of books and a computer on the desk. There are four school bags hanging on the wall, and there is nothing else. The second bedroom is slightly larger, with a large bed and a small bed. The quilt on the small bed is also folded into squares, but the quilt on the large bed is randomly piled. It should be where Lan Lan sleeps. There is also a dressing table and a wardrobe in the room.

Because there were so many things, the two bedrooms felt very crowded, but they were very clean, without a trace of dust accumulation, and were obviously cleaned frequently.

Zhang Yi closed the door and shook his head at Nan Shao who was paying attention to this side, indicating that there was no danger. But he did not miss the balcony and the bathroom, but he also found nothing. Now the only thing he didn't look at was the kitchen, but the kitchen was open when he came in before, and there was nothing special about it.

Judging from the furniture and the cramped space, there were many people in this family before the end of the world, and the family conditions were not good. Apart from this, Zhang Yi didn't find any useful clues.

Sitting back in his seat, he picked up the still warm water cup, and the scolding in the kitchen continued.

"There is no medicine in the water." Nan Shao said quietly. Because of his supernatural powers, he can roughly analyze and judge the effects of various substances entering the body. He can't say that he has any specific effects on the body, but he is sure to determine whether it is harmful.

Zhang Yi nodded, put the cup to his mouth and took a sip with confidence.

"Dad, what are you looking for?" Zhang Ruiyang asked curiously.

Zhang Yi put his finger on his lips and hushed, "I'll tell you later. Be good tonight, don't say anything, and don't leave daddy's side."

Zhang Ruiyang nodded in confusion, closed his mouth tightly, and stopped talking.

"But even if I don't bring them back, if they really have bad intentions, I can't do anything about it." In the kitchen, Lan Lan said softly, stopping the chattering voice.

Zhang Yi raised his eyebrows and looked at Nan Shao. They could tell that the voices of the people talking in the kitchen were all from Lan Lan, but the tone was different. It sounded like two or more people were discussing there, and it was obvious that the scene in the pharmacy was being staged.

So, is this a split personality? Or is it a deliberate performance for them to see?

After a rough inspection of the situation in the house, Zhang Yi felt that this little girl was more mysterious. It's not that he deliberately thought people were complicated, but in the end of the world, if you really think others are simple, you may be the one to die. It is better to be more troublesome, think of all possibilities, and then eliminate them one by one, even if the final conclusion is as simple as what you see, it is better than losing your life because of carelessness.

"They are going to the imperial capital, Lanlan, let's go with them." The discussion is still going on over there, but the topic has changed to something else. It seems that the people who criticized her before also think that if the two really want to harm Lanlan, Lanlan may not even be able to return home. It is considered to be tacitly acknowledging that her action of taking people home is not because she is too stupid, but because she has no choice. Since it is a last resort, there is no point in pursuing it further.

"But second sister, why do they take us?" Lanlan asked timidly.

"Be a spoiled child, play tricks, make a scene, follow... whatever you want, anyway, we have to leave here, if you miss this village, you will miss this store, and you still want to stay here? You can't even see a human hair..." blah blah, another string of instigation and criticism.

If Zhang Yi didn't know that there was only Lanlan in it, he would have laughed.

"Okay, Lanlan, let's do it." At this moment, Lanlan's voice suddenly lowered. It was just a few simple words, but it was crisp and clear, with the effect of finalizing the decision. According to previous experience, it should be the eldest brother with the most prestige.

"Oh." Lanlan really agreed honestly.

The family of three was eavesdropping with relish, and heard Lanlan exclaimed, saying that the noodles were ready, and then the sound of serving bowls and taking chopsticks, and soon opened the kitchen door, and brought out a bowl of noodles in one hand.

Zhang Yi quickly got up to take it.

"I wanted to cook rice, but it took too long and the smell was too strong, which would easily attract mutant beasts, so I made soup noodles..." Lanlan explained apologetically, but when he saw Nan Shao who had returned to human form, he took a step back in shock. Fortunately, Zhang Yi happened to pass by and reached out to catch the bowl, otherwise two bowls of soup noodles would have been contributed to the floor.

"He is Nan Shao, the one who saved you before. After the end of the world, his body mutated and he can switch between human and ant form freely." Zhang Yi introduced briefly, revealing some information appropriately, while his eyes observed Lan Lan's reaction subtly.

"Is... is that so?" Lan Lan's face was still filled with fear and curiosity, as if she had never expected that humans could mutate into insects and beasts. "Ahem... so amazing!" She paused, as if she felt that it was not good to say only these two words, so she added dryly.

"..." Zhang Yi and Nan Shao.

"And noodles..." Perhaps she also realized that her tone lacked sincerity, Lan Lan smiled awkwardly, and then ran into the kitchen as if escaping.

"Scared... scared to death..." After making sure that the people in the hall could not see her, she leaned against the refrigerator door and patted her chest repeatedly, whispering.

But then her expression changed, and her eyes were filled with deep contempt: "What are you afraid of? Coward!"

After scolding, she returned to her previous timid appearance, and no longer said anything, but silently scooped two bowls of noodles, mustered up her courage, and then walked out. If someone saw this scene, they would definitely think they were watching Sichuan Opera face-changing.

Zhang Yi actually wanted to go in and help, but after hearing her mumbling, he gave up the idea and waited outside. When he saw her come out, he went to take the bowl.

There was a table in the hall, a square table, not big, and several people gathered around the table to eat noodles, just enough for one side.

It was still the old rules, Nan Shao ate first, and after confirming that there was no problem, Zhang Ruiyang and Zhang Yi started. It was just that they did it naturally and secretly, so Lan Lan didn't notice it.

The candlelight swayed, the light was dim, and the aroma of the soup noodles floated in the air. No one spoke, and all I could hear was the sound of slurping noodles. It was inexplicably warm to hear it in this cold and dark night.

"We're leaving tomorrow. Do you want to stay here or go to the capital with us?" After a while, Zhang Yi asked casually.

Nan Shao glanced at him and didn't say anything. Zhang Ruiyang almost buried his little head in the bowl of noodles. The little girl's cooking skills were really good. It was just a simple soup noodle, without any complicated seasonings, but the taste made people want to lick the bowl. It can be seen that cooking is something that still requires some talent.

Hearing Zhang Yi's words, Lan Lan was stunned for a moment, and then a hint of surprise appeared on her face. She was worrying about how to start, so she naturally nodded hurriedly: "I'll go to the imperial capital with you." At the end, she seemed a little uncertain, and asked nervously and cautiously: "Is it okay?" After that, she secretly glanced at Nan Shao. She was afraid that Nan Shao would not agree.

Nan Shao is actually not so cold now, but when she first met him, she saw another form of him, and she always had fear in her heart, so she subconsciously felt that he would be very difficult to get along with.

"Of course." Zhang Yi smiled. Under normal circumstances, since they met, it is impossible to leave an orphan here. They must take her with them and send her to the nearest base to settle down. Of course, the premise is that this orphan is harmless to them. So it is very important whether they can spend this night safely.

Chapter 346: Gathering in the Capital (9)

After dinner, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao took Zhang Ruiyang to the house opposite to spend the night. The doors of this building all had old-style locks, which were not difficult for Zhang Yi to open. Of course, with their strength, even if they didn't know how to open a lock, it would be easy to open a door.

Lan Lan hadn't lied to them. No one else had ever entered this room. Not only did it retain its appearance at the beginning of the apocalypse, but there were also two zombies in it, a man and a woman. Judging from the photos hanging in the room, they should be a couple, and they were newly married not long ago.

In the absence of food and inability to evolve, whether zombies can really survive forever, no one can give an answer, at least not yet. Because so far, the zombies they have encountered who have been trapped in a confined space for various reasons, and have neither the opportunity to evolve nor the fresh flesh to devour are still alive. Except for being too skinny and slow in movement, they have not rotted into skeletons.

After killing the zombie, Zhang Yi cut open its head with a knife. After confirming that the crystal core inside was still the same size and color as at the beginning of the apocalypse and there was nothing abnormal, he took the body to the bedroom. The family of three chose to sleep in the living room. If it was normal, he probably wouldn't be so careful, but tonight was a special case, so he had to do more.

Originally, Lan Lan said that they would stay at her house overnight, after all, there was still an empty bedroom in the house, but when she said this, her eyes were very wandering, her tone was weak, and she seemed to be perfunctory. She seemed to be very worried that they would stay. This reaction was normal. It was courageous to take them home and have dinner with them. If you really dare to sincerely let them stay for one night without knowing their background, then it would be either a brain problem or ulterior motives.

Zhang Yi didn't make it difficult for her. In addition, he and Nan Shao also needed a separate space to exchange ideas, so he refused very straightforwardly. Of course, if there was only Lan Lan's family around and there was no other place to stay overnight, then even if it was inappropriate, they would stay, instead of running out to the snow to freeze. But the situation is not like this now. There are empty rooms everywhere around, and you don't need to walk far, so you can sleep anywhere.

When Zhang Yi dissected the zombie brain to get the crystal core, Nan Shao didn't mind the trouble. After searching the house, he found a bucket and went outside to collect snow to boil water. This family uses canned gas. After shaking it a few times, it can actually be ignited. It is much quieter than chopping wood to make a fire, and there is no smoke.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Lan Lan, who was washing dishes, was frightened and shivered. She quietly came behind the door and peeked out, as if she was afraid that they would regret and want to go back. It was not until she saw that Nan Shao was just carrying snow that she breathed a sigh of relief. After thinking about it, she still overcame the fear in her heart. When Nan Shao returned and passed by, she whispered: "After dark, mutant animals will come out to find food. You must be careful and try not to go out."

Nan Shao said, but still did his own thing. After walking for a day, let alone taking a shower, you must soak your feet in hot water, right?

Seeing that he didn't listen to her advice, Lan Lan didn't say anything.

When Nan Shao finished boiling the water, Zhang Yi had already spread a thick layer of mattress on the floor of the living room. Perhaps because they were newly married, there was nothing missing in this room, especially quilts and mattresses. Nan Shao found a few bottles, filled them with water, tied the bottle mouths tightly, and threw them under the quilt. These quilts had not been

used for a long time. Although they were not very damp due to the climate, they were very cold. He was not afraid, but he had to consider Zhang Yi and Zhang Ruiyang. "Dad, what were you looking for at Sister Lanlan's house just now?" When his little feet were pressed into the slightly hot water, Zhang Ruiyang finally couldn't help asking. In the education that children have received since childhood, it is very impolite to look around in other people's homes without consent, so seeing Zhang Yi's behavior, he couldn't help but feel a little confused.

So in order to prevent his son from becoming a rigid executor of dogmatism, Zhang Yi had to seriously explain to him when to maintain proper courtesy and when to put courtesy aside to ensure his own safety.

Zhang Ruiyang seemed to understand, but he remembered every word.

"Then Dad, do you think Sister Lan Lan is a bad person?" He thought for a moment and asked.

I don't know what his mentality was, but Zhang Yi didn't just answer with a good person or a bad person. Instead, he carefully analyzed his suspicion of Lan Lan to Zhang Ruiyang.

"Not all people who look kind and weak are harmless, and not all people who look fierce and ferocious are bad people." Finally, Zhang Yi concluded, emphasizing this sentence several times, just to make the child remember it firmly in his heart.

"Then how can I know who is a good person and who is a bad person?" Zhang Ruiyang was still half-understanding at first, but now he was completely confused.

"No one can tell whether someone is good or bad at first glance." Zhang Yi said, "Some people may betray you for some reason even if you have known them for a lifetime..." At this point, he paused, and suddenly realized that he should not go too far and let his son develop a suspicious habit, so he quickly made up for it: "Dad said these things not to tell you to trust everyone, but to tell you to be more careful when meeting people, and always leave yourself a way out, so that you can live longer." If it were before the end of the world, he would not teach these things. Originally, he should not be in a hurry to teach now. After all, with him and Nan Shao protecting him, the child can actually have a few years of innocent childhood. But there was a sense of urgency in his heart, chasing him to instill all his experience and knowledge into his son.

However, these were too complicated for a six-year-old child. Zhang Ruiyang neither understood nor could he understand them. He just nodded in a daze and said yes obediently.

Looking at his son's clear and ignorant eyes, Zhang Yi put aside the worries in his heart, exhaled heavily, held the little guy's face, lowered his head and kissed him heavily on the forehead.

Seemingly liking this kind of intimacy, Zhang Ruiyang chuckled, stretched out his hands to hug Zhang Yi's neck, and kissed him back.

When the soft touch came from his forehead, Zhang Yi's heart almost melted, and a gentle and doting smile appeared on his face unconsciously. As for saving the world and the wasteland domain, they were thrown far behind his mind. What do those have to do with a six-year-old child? Dry the little guy's feet, then take off the thick clothes outside, pick him up and stuff him into the warm bed.

Zhang Ruiyang is now six years old. In theory, he can do all these things himself, but Zhang Yi wants to do as much as possible for his son, perhaps to make up for the past few years he missed, or perhaps because of the inexplicable sense of urgency and uneasiness in his heart.

"Go to sleep, don't think about anything now, Daddy is here." Patting Zhang Ruiyang's butt through the quilt, he said in a soft voice.

Zhang Ruiyang said, "Oh!" He pulled the quilt over his face, and suddenly pulled it down again: "Dad, Dudu..."

"Don't worry, Dudu is outside our window." Nan Shao came over to get some water and said.

"Ah?" Zhang Ruiyang sat up suddenly and stretched his neck to look out the dark window.

Nan Shao walked over and opened the window. Dudu poked his head in, moved his tentacles, greeted Zhang Ruiyang, and then retracted. In fact, its body was too big, and it couldn't get in through the door or the window. Besides, it was not afraid of the cold, so it would be more comfortable to stay outside, and it could also keep watch.

Zhang Ruiyang smiled and finally felt relieved. He said good night to everyone, but quickly got back into the quilt and pulled the quilt over his head. The child was very sleepy, and after running around all day, a soft snoring sound was soon heard from under the quilt.

"There's nothing unusual outside." Nan Shao closed the window, pulled the curtains, and brought another basin of hot water over, saying. It turned out that he went out not only to fetch snow and water, but also to check the surrounding situation, including the top of the building. It is better to be safe than sorry, this is an eternal truth.

Zhang Yi took the water and asked while washing his face: "Do you see what happened to that little girl?"

"She is a superpower, but her strength is not strong, about the same as those who have just awakened." Nan Shao said. He can use his superpowers to see whether others have awakened, and even distinguish the type and strength of awakening.

"What kind of superpower?" Zhang Yi asked.

Nan Shao shook his head, took the towel Zhang Yi used to wash his face, and washed himself with the basin of water. "I can't guess, I haven't seen it before."

"She is not strong, but she can still live until now. If there is really no one to help her, it can only mean that her ability is not only special but also useful." Zhang Yi pondered and stood up to fetch hot water, preparing to make the water for washing his face hotter so that he could soak his feet.

"There is nothing to worry about just this." When his feet entered the water, the scalding feeling made Zhang Yi hiss in pain and pleasure. After adapting to the temperature, he continued.

Nan Shao brought a stool and sat opposite him. He also took off his shoes and socks and put his feet in. The basin for soaking feet was large enough for two people to wash together.

"Is there something wrong with her mental state?" he asked.

"I don't know." Zhang Yi lowered his eyes and looked at his scalded red instep, and answered after a while.

A person has multiple personalities at the same time, and each personality has actually existed in real life. It is really hard to believe that this person has no mental problems. But neither of them is a psychologist, and the special environment of the apocalypse, with all kinds of strange things, makes it impossible for them to draw arbitrary conclusions based on just a few hours of interaction.

"But I don't feel that she has any ill will towards us." Zhang Yi said.

"Neither do I." Nan Shao smiled and changed the subject: "I'll keep watch all night."

Both of them are people with sharp intuition. One is because of the profession they were engaged in before the apocalypse and the subsequent promotion of swordsmanship, which has led to a qualitative leap in physical fitness and five senses. The other is because of the improvement of animal spiritual perception. If there is danger around them, or if others have ill will towards them, they can more or less sense it. Of course, this evil and strange world has just lifted a corner of the veil for them, and there are still many secrets and rules that need to be explored. They will not rely entirely on intuition to judge a thing, which is why they did not feel danger from Lan Lan but still stepped cautiously.

For them, as long as she has no ill will towards them, it doesn't matter how weird Lan Lan is. They don't have to figure out her secrets. So the most important thing now is to spend this night safely, and the rest can be discussed later.

Zhang Yi did not argue with Nan Shao, took off his coat, and got into bed. Nan Shao blew out the candle, and the whole room fell into darkness, blending into the night outside. He walked around the room, and after making sure there was no movement around, he sat on the sofa. Listening to the steady breathing of the big and small, he felt extremely peaceful.

Chapter 347: Gathering in the Capital (10)

At 1:05 a.m., a group of mutant flying beasts flew over the community without stopping; at 3:30 a.m., the sound of mutant beasts hunting came from a distant place, and within two minutes, it fell silent again; at 6:00 a.m., two mutant beasts fought and broke into the community, crashed into the community wall, and then chased each other away.

At 8:30 a.m., it was dawn, and it had snowed all night.

After 7:00 a.m., the family of three got up. Zhang Yi practiced swordsmanship, Zhang Ruiyang practiced the Five Animals Exercises, and Nan Shao made breakfast.

If he was in the base, Zhang Yi would get up after 5:00 a.m. to practice swordsmanship. But now he was walking outside, and in order to reduce unnecessary trouble, he could only postpone the time until dawn. He did not ask for an improvement in strength, but only asked not to waste time.

Nothing happened at night, which surprised them, but they all breathed a sigh of relief, and they were much less wary of Lan Lan. It was not easy to meet a fellow human being, and no one wanted to end up killing each other. Of course, they would not feel guilty for their previous suspicion and precautions. Not to mention that this matter has not been concluded yet, it is just that people get along with each other by testing each other again and again, but this process has become more unconcealed and serious after the end of the world.

Perhaps hearing the noise after getting up here, Lan Lan came to knock on the door carefully and asked if they wanted to go over for breakfast. Zhang Yi politely refused and just asked her to pack up quickly and leave after breakfast.

There was no shortage of rice, flour, bagged and canned food in the house where they were staying. Although most of them were expired, who cares about this? As long as they are not moldy and smelly, it is good to have something to eat. Moreover, it has been nearly two years since the end of the world, and it is probably not easy to find food that has not expired. After

the family of three finished breakfast, filled their backpacks, and went out.

As soon as they opened the door, the door opposite also opened immediately, as if the people inside had been waiting behind the door to listen to the movement on their side, fearing that they would be left behind.

"I... I'm ready... ahem, are we leaving now?" Lan Lan asked a little stiffly.

Before Zhang Yi could answer, he was shocked by her outfit. In addition to carrying a large backpack, she was also covered with dolls, all of which were the ones he had seen at her house last night. The dolls were big and small, which made her look even more shaggy and weird.

"Why do you carry so many dolls? It's not easy to travel." He frowned and said. It has been so long since the end of the world, even two or three-year-old children will not clamor to bring toys, but will hide as much food as possible, so Lan Lan's behavior seems very inappropriate and eye-catching.

"I'm not afraid, they are all my friends, I can't leave them here." Lan Lan subconsciously hugged the stuffed bear hanging on her chest, looking a little nervous, as if she was afraid that they would not let her go because of this reason, but in her nervousness, there was an incomprehensible stubbornness, which made people understand that she would not compromise for any reason.

Since she refused to compromise, it was Zhang Yi and Nan Shao who compromised in the end. But in their hearts, they also marked this girl as having some psychological problems.

Zhang Ruiyang was very interested in Lan Lan, who was wearing so many stuffed toys. He could hardly take his eyes off her. If Lan Lan had not rejected Zhang Yi and Nan Shao's proposal to help her get a few toys, he might have wanted to hold one.

However, the difficulties encountered yesterday did not disappear by themselves because of the addition of one more person in the team. Instead, they became more troublesome, because before, at least Nan Shao and Dudu could take the father and son through the county town from the air, but now it was inconvenient to do so because of Lan Lan's existence, and they had to walk out on their own. It's not that Nan Shao couldn't take two people at a time, but he was not willing to take anyone other than Zhang Yi and Zhang Ruiyang, not to mention a person whose background was unknown and who was full of useless garbage. Of course, his hypocrisy would only appear under the premise that there was no danger to his life.

Zhang Yi agreed to walk out of the city, just to let this little girl experience the difficulty of walking in the end times, and not hold so many naive ideas.

A thick layer of snow accumulated on the road in the community, obliterating all traces of last night. Only a section of the wall collapsed not far away proved that a powerful mutant beast had passed by.

This section of the road in the community is relatively easy to walk, because Lan Lan cleans it every day, so even if the snow is thick, it will not affect walking. According to her words, if she doesn't sweep, she can't go out, and there is nothing to do every day, sweeping snow can kill time and exercise.

When walking out, Lan Lan fell behind, frequently looking back at the window of her own house, her eyes full of reluctance, tears came out and were held back, but her feet staggered and didn't dare to lose the family of three.

Zhang Yi felt a little soft-hearted, but he didn't know how to comfort him, so he simply remained silent.

"Can we come back in the future?" It was not until they left the community and could no longer see their own home that Lan Lan withdrew her gaze in a depressed mood and asked Zhang Yi. After a pause, afraid that Zhang Yi didn't understand what she meant, she explained, "I mean, is it possible that one day, this place will return to the way it was before the end of the world..." At this point, she seemed to feel that she was daydreaming, and her voice suddenly choked: "I can't go back, everyone is dead... Even if all the zombies and mutants disappear, I can't go back..."

Hearing her words, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao looked at each other, and they couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Why did you come back?" Only Zhang Ruiyang didn't understand and asked in confusion. "Sister Lan Lan, please go to our base. There are many people there, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, and children. It's so nice for everyone to live together."

No matter how sentimental Lan Lan was, she was still a little girl who had not yet reached adulthood. Her emotions came and went quickly, and Zhang Ruiyang distracted her attention: "Where is your base? Are there many people? Are they friendly?" I don't know if it was the effect of the cold medicine or her own awakened constitution with strong resistance. After just one night, her cold was much better. Gradually, I could hear some of her original voice. She was still coughing, but not as severe as yesterday.

Zhang Ruiyang was very happy that someone was talking to him, and Zhang Yi and Nan Shao didn't mean to stop or hint him not to talk about the base, so the little guy opened up all of a sudden.

The end of the world, which means misfortune and pain for most humans, is actually not that annoying in Zhang Ruiyang's eyes. In addition to the fact that his grandmother's departure made him feel sad, but his grandmother did not die because of the end of the world, but died before the end of the world, so this would not be a reason for him to hate the end of the world.

Seriously speaking, in the end of the world, he has his father by his side, many uncles and aunts who love him, and children who are willing to play with him, and even a friend named Dudu, all of which are what he wanted but couldn't get before he was five years old. And now all of these are in the Hope Base. He likes this kind of life, and of course he likes the Hope Base. Since he likes it, he definitely wants to share it with others, so along the way, he saw a big and a small two people gathered together and chattered non-stop, talking about all the things about the Hope Base.

In fact, the end of the world was not all beautiful and interesting for Zhang Ruiyang, at least not in the first half of the end of the world. But the child didn't seem to think that the days at that time were so painful and terrible, so it was easily weakened in his memory. Instead, the experiences with the meat tower Chen Li Muran and even the sick ghost later occupied the main part of his memory, and these memories were all interesting.

It can be said that compared with other children, Zhang Ruiyang is lucky. Of course, this kind of luck is also related to his innocent and a little silly personality who doesn't like to remember tragic and hateful things. If it were someone with a narrow mind, not to mention the aftermath, the experience before the apocalypse would be enough to cause him serious psychological problems, and even affect his personality after growing up.

When they walked out of Lan Lan's cleaning range, the road became difficult to walk on. Zhang Yi and the others were mentally prepared, but Lan Lan got stuck in the snow after barely walking a distance and could hardly climb out.

"You have too many things with you..." Zhang Yi sighed, walked over and took Lan Lan out of the snow. He was about to persuade her to throw away those useless dolls, but before he could finish his words, Lan Lan had already hugged the dolls hanging on her chest tightly, with the same stubbornness on her face.

"I can do it." She said, obviously not ready to give up any of the dolls she was carrying.

Zhang Yi rubbed his eyebrows, and only then did he feel how difficult it was to communicate with this little girl. After thinking about it, he retreated to the next best thing: "Then we will help you get a few." This was actually the second time he made this suggestion, thinking that the little girl would agree after being taught a lesson.

Who knew that Lan Lan actually shook her head like a rattle and refused again.

"They... they will be unhappy."

Her reason made Zhang Yi's hair stand on end. Even though he knew that her mental state might have some problems, he still couldn't control this reaction.

"Sister Lan Lan, who do you think will be unhappy?" Zhang Ruiyang didn't feel anything, and asked curiously.

"It's Tongtong and the others." Lan Lan touched the doll hanging on her shoulder and answered in a serious tone. "Tongtong and the others are shy and don't want anyone except me."

Zhang Yi was still wondering if he had misunderstood Lan Lan's meaning, but he immediately withdrew his attention after hearing this. Sure enough, he had over-complicated things.

Nan Shao, for example, didn't think about it like him, but went to a roadside shop to look for something.

"Which one is Tongtong?" Zhang Ruiyang asked with great interest. After all, they were children, and they were not afraid of naming toy dolls, but found it very fun.

Lan Lan immediately felt that she had met a soulmate, and very happily introduced her friends to Zhang Ruiyang: "This is Tongtong, Tongtong said she likes you. His name is Minghui, her name is Yuanjin..."

Zhang Yi listened to the conversation between the two children carelessly, while struggling to pull his feet out of the snow and walked forward. If you ignore Lan Lan's age and the surrounding environment, such a conversation actually sounds like a peaceful time. However, he still couldn't suppress the strange feeling that arose in his heart when he heard the names of those dolls.

Nan Shao waved at several people in the store. Zhang Yi turned back to remind the two children and walked over there with them.

Nan Shao found a few pairs of wooden boards and ropes in the store, punched holes in the wooden boards, passed the ropes through them, and tied them to the shoes. In this way, because the force-bearing area is larger, it is not easy to sink when walking on the snow. Nan Shao was helpless. Even if he put aside the reluctance in his heart and turned into an ant to take the little girl out of the city directly, there was still a long way to go. He couldn't let him take her all the time. Instead of worrying about it later, it is better to find a way to solve the problem as soon as possible.

This method is crude and clumsy, but it has to be said that it is quite useful. With a long stick in each hand to explore the way and borrow strength, it really looks like walking in the snow. Although there are still mutant plants blocking the road and there are obstacles such as vehicles under the snow, the speed cannot be increased, but it is not as difficult as before.

Because of Nan Shao's presence, and Dudu, who had been told not to show up since morning, had to move around to keep up with their speed. The threat of mutant plants to them was almost negligible, so even if they were slow, they still walked out of the county before dark and set foot on the road to the northeast.

After leaving the city, the road was not so clean. From time to time, one or two zombies would be seen wandering there. There were not many of them, so it was not troublesome to deal with them, but it caused great psychological pressure on Lan Lan. Sometimes the little girl was so scared that her legs were weak and she lay there for a long time without being able to move. It was really hard to imagine how she survived these two years. Zhang Yi and Nan Shao were very troubled, but they had to hold their temper and wait for her to adapt. In this way, they could only walk more than ten kilometers a day, and they didn't even walk fifty kilometers in three days. This speed could be regarded as their slowest ever.

On the first day, considering that the little girl needed time to adjust her mentality for the first time going out, she was not arranged to keep watch. But starting from the next day, she was also told that she had to take turns with Nan Shao and Zhang Yi to keep watch at night, but they still took care of her a little bit, and the time was either at the beginning or the end, so she didn't need to be woken up in the middle of the night.

It's not that Zhang Yi and Nan Shao didn't know how to take care of girls, but they thought that since they had brought people out, they had to be responsible for them. No matter where the little girl was going in the end, they had the responsibility to teach her how to survive in the end. Of course, the premise is that she is willing to learn.

Fortunately, although Lan Lan was timid, she had no objection to their arrangement except that she was worried that she would not do well.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao naturally would not really trust her to keep watch at night. Privately, the two of them still divided it according to the arrangement before Lan Lan appeared, one to keep watch in the first half of the night, and the other to keep watch in the second half of the night. Whoever overlapped with Lan Lan would take care of the little girl. They just didn't let Lan Lan know, so as to prevent her from becoming dependent.

"There are still many zombies outside, and they seem to be more ferocious than those I saw before. I can't even kill the zombies before. What should I do in the future?"

"What are you afraid of? Learn. Look at Yangyang, he's so young and he's not afraid."

"But I... I... I'm still so scared."

"Coward!"

...

Lan Lan, who was in charge of the night watch, was talking to the puppets and her virtual family again to give herself courage. Zhang Yi, who pretended to be asleep, quietly opened his eyes and watched this scene with a clear and sharp gaze.

Although they had been together for three days, Zhang Yi still felt that he couldn't understand this little girl.

She was timid, had almost no fighting power, liked to play roles and talk to herself, regarded the puppets as more important than her life, was obedient, didn't cause trouble, didn't make noise when she was tired or scared, and hid and wiped her tears secretly. These were the initial impressions she gave him. The reason why he said he couldn't understand was that such a personality was very contradictory to the length of time she had lived and the environment she lived in. He couldn't imagine at all, if Lan Lan was really like what she showed, how could she have survived until now?

Maybe he could try it out. If she was simply hiding her strength, it wouldn't matter. After all, it's necessary to be a little cautious in the end times. But if it was for other reasons, they should at least have some confidence in their hearts.

When changing shifts, he and Nan Shao used sticks to communicate silently on the ground, and finally Nan Shao nodded.

Lan Lan, who was already sleeping soundly at this time, didn't know the test she was about to face. In fact, on the first night of the trip, although she was not assigned to keep watch, she didn't sleep well. The slightest noise could wake her up. However, after only two days, she had learned to fall asleep with her eyes closed, which showed that she was growing fast, and she understood that some unnecessary precautions were just a waste of energy.

The next day, the journey was the same as the previous few days, and there seemed to be nothing unusual, until they encountered a small group of zombies at a highway service area.

There were more than ten of them, all of them were ordinary, with the same speed and flexibility as normal people, and they didn't know pain or fatigue. If it was the beginning of the apocalypse, if they encountered such a group of zombies, even if Zhang Yi and Nan Shao joined forces, they would have no choice but to flee, and they might not be able to escape. But now any one of them could easily deal with it.

However, this time they did not take on too much responsibility like they did a few days ago. Instead, they pretended that they could not cope with it, and "accidentally" missed two zombies, allowing them to pounce on Lan Lan.

Lan Lan saw the zombies running towards her, and she was so scared that her body was like a sieve. She clenched her gloved hands into fists, as if to encourage herself, but soon found that she didn't even have a knife except a stick for exploring the way. She couldn't hold on any longer, screamed, and turned around and ran.

Because of the presence of this group of zombies, the snow in this area has been trampled down, and the impact on the zombies' movements can be almost ignored. Lan Lan still had a wooden board tied to her feet at this time. She panicked and didn't think of sliding directly, but ran away instead. The result can be imagined. He was caught up after running only two steps. He was so frightened that his feet slipped and he fell down, but he just managed to avoid being caught by the two zombies.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao, who were slowing down to kill the zombies while keeping an eye on the situation, were stunned for a moment, and couldn't figure out whether it was a coincidence or a pretense. If it was a pretense, the acting was amazing.

However, this was not enough to solve the crisis, because the zombies would also squat and bend after evolution, and Lan Lan was burdened with all the weight, so it would be very difficult for her to stand up or crawl forward with her hands and feet. But at this moment, something unexpected, or it could be said that it was neglected by Zhang Yi and Nan Shao, appeared.

Zhang Ruiyang rushed over with a clattering sound on the wooden board!

Zhang Ruiyang had run a little further away because he was skiing before, and he didn't walk with Lan Lan. Seeing that Lan Lan was in danger, the two fathers couldn't spare their help, so they immediately went back to help.

Unlike Lan Lan, he had practiced the Five Animals Exercises and had been exercising tirelessly, so his body balance was very good, not to mention his agility. Even though he was stepping on two large wooden boards, he flew as fast as he could. In a blink of an eye, he arrived when the two zombies bent down to rescue Lan Lan. Then, he jumped up with the power of sliding and decisively swung out the dagger he carried.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao looked at each other in bewilderment. Well, the plan was ruined by his own son, so why bother? Hurry up.

The two of them didn't waste any more time. They killed the remaining zombies in a few moves and walked towards Lan Lan, who was crying and sobbing. Zhang Ruiyang couldn't comfort her at the side.

"There are zombies everywhere now. You still have to learn how to kill zombies. Otherwise, if it's like this again, what will you do if no one saves you?" Zhang Yi sighed. Although they wanted to test her bottom line and pay attention to not letting the zombies really hurt her, her cowardly performance was still beyond their expectations.

"I... cough cough... I'll learn! I'll learn! Wuuwuwu... I'm just scared... It's okay, I'll be fine after crying for a while, don't pay attention to me... Wuuwuwu..." Perhaps knowing that this was not good, Lan Lan explained while sobbing, and finally turned her back.

"You didn't cry when you were almost eaten by bugs that day, and today the zombies haven't even touched you, why are you crying so hard?" Zhang Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and began to wonder if they were bullying him.

"That... that's different... cough cough... bugs are bugs, zombies are zombies... different..." Lan Lan muttered softly while crying. But in the end, she didn't say how different it was.

It was still morning, and it was too early to stay overnight. After crying, those who had to hurry had to continue their journey.

Zhang Ruiyang was stunned by Lan Lan's crying. In his memory, Wu Ziran was the one who loved to cry the most, but even Wu Ziran couldn't cry as hard as Lan Lan, which frightened him so much that he followed carefully beside her, not even daring to breathe loudly, for fear of making the little sister cry again.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao exchanged glances with a wry smile, realizing that they had tried so hard but still didn't understand.

"Try again." Zhang Yi thought for a while and whispered to Nan Shao. It's not that he was unreasonable and had to scare the girl, but this girl was too weird and made people feel uneasy. Whether it was for their safety along the way or to send her to a base in the future, they had the responsibility to find out whether she was really harmless. As long as this was confirmed, then what her superpowers were was not important.

The second attempt was after the lunch break. When passing through a mutant forest, Nan Shao secretly drove a mutant carnivorous plant to open its gorgeous petals and lower its head to bite Lan Lan who happened to pass by. Because Nan Shao was in control of the whole process, he was not worried about causing fatal harm to the little girl, but if she was really bitten and wrapped in the corrosive liquid secreted inside, she would still have to suffer a little.

At this time, Zhang Ruiyang was walking in front of Lan Lan, held by Zhang Yi's hand. He didn't see the situation behind him, so naturally he couldn't help.

The movement of the Piranha Plant was silent, and it was above the head. If you were not someone who had been fighting mutant plants and animals for a long time, it would be difficult to detect its movement. Lan Lan did not seem to notice it. She was silently gritting her teeth and following the person in front of her, fearing that if she fell too far, some zombie or something would suddenly jump out.

"Ah!" A scream suddenly came from the silence around them. Nan Shao and Zhang Yi, who were well prepared, turned back quickly, but then their pupils shrank, and a feeling of absurdity rose in their hearts at the same time.

Lan Lan fell into the pit.

No one knew how this pit appeared, at least they did not notice it when they passed by. Who knew that when Lan Lan passed by, the snow on top collapsed, and the person fell directly in. Because of the wooden board tied to his feet and the posture of falling into the pit, the whole person was stuck between the pit walls and did not fall to the bottom, otherwise he might have broken his bones. But because of this fall, the Piranha Plant bit nothing.

The family of three walked back and pulled the person out of the pit. After a closer look, he found that the pit was not new. He didn't know how long it had been dug. In addition to the snow that had just collapsed, there were also some dead branches and leaves of plants before the end of the world at the bottom of the pit, as well as some thick sticks and hay that were supposed to cover the pit but were now broken into several pieces.

The pit should have been dug before the end of the world, and its purpose is no longer known. The only thing that is certain is that Lan Lan did not deliberately find a pit for herself to fall into. So... everything still comes down to coincidence? Or luck?

Nan Shao and Zhang Yi both felt a little overwhelmed. Is it really such a coincidence?

"Lan Lan, you haven't killed a zombie in such a long time since the end of the world?" When they were sleeping overnight, Zhang Yi asked the little girl who took over the cooking task while sitting by the fire. After two consecutive attempts failed in a very speechless way, he chose to ask directly.

"Ah? Yes... No, no." Perhaps because he asked too suddenly, Lan Lan was not mentally prepared at all, and answered a little stutteringly, and his expression was extremely uneasy. But soon she added as a remedy: "But my eldest brother and second sister have killed zombies." It seemed that she was afraid that Zhang Yi and the others would despise her for being useless and would not take her with them.

"Can you tell me in detail how your family has been through the last two years of the apocalypse?" Zhang Yi did not delve into whether her slip of the tongue was a pure slip of the tongue or she was hiding something, and continued the topic.

"Yes, yes." Lan Lan did not show any embarrassment about this. She stirred the rice in the pot with a spoon, put down the spoon, and smiled at Zhang Ruiyang who was eagerly looking at her to listen to the story, and then began to tell the story. Zhang Ruiyang's move in the morning made her shocked and grateful after she recovered. The big and the small got along well, and because of this incident, they became even closer.

Nan Shao took Zhang Yi's knife and inspected and repaired it beside him, while paying attention to the movements outside.

This is the border of Yundong City. Beyond it is Yunfeng City. After passing Yunfeng, you will enter another province. There was a small town nearby, but they did not go into the town because there were too many zombies. Instead, they stayed in a small motel on the roadside.

This motel was a two-story building with a parking lot, but the basic facilities were very simple. Perhaps someone had passed by after the end of the world, and rotting bones could still be seen inside, but there was no supplies left.

Zhang Yi and his friends did not go to the upstairs room, but stayed directly in the lobby. However, the lobby was not big. In addition to a reception desk for guests, there was only room for two tables. They chopped the table to make a fire, and then closed the door tightly. There was a broken piece in the window that was not blocked to let the smoke out. It was not warm, but it was better than being outside in the wind and snow. When traveling outside, this little bit of hardship is inevitable.

At this time, the cold wind poured in from the broken window, making a whistling sound.

"There are five people in my family, all of whom you have seen: me, my older brother, my second sister, my younger brother, and my mother. My father is a coal miner, and he often has to work in the mine. He died in a mine accident the year my younger brother was born. I was two years old at that time..." Lan Lan first briefly introduced her family situation amid the aroma of rice.

Because she was still young when her father died and had almost no memory of him, she did not show any sadness when she talked about this past event, and just narrated it in a very normal way.

"Dad's salary was quite high, and he received compensation after his death. Mom used the money to buy the house we lived in. My mom was timid and cowardly. Dad protected her in the past, but later my brother took over the family. She only stood up twice in her life. The first time was when she gritted her teeth and kept the pension under the pressure of her grandparents and aunts, and fought for a place for our family to live."

Hearing this, Zhang Yi sighed. It was really not easy for a woman to raise four children.

"My brother was only eight years old at that time, and he blocked the door with a knife." Lan Lan laughed when she said this. "I don't remember it. My sister told me. My sister said that if it weren't for my brother, Mom might not be able to hold on, and our family would have to starve." Perhaps it was because she heard it, when she talked about this past, her eyes were full of admiration for her brother, not anger and sadness.

"After the apocalypse, it was my brother who went out with a knife, killed zombies, and found food and water for us..."

Lan Lan's brother Lan Tian did not finish junior high school, so he went out to sell barbecue with their mother to earn a living and support his younger siblings to go to school. At the beginning, their father's pension was not much left after buying a house. It was too difficult for their mother to support a large family and let several children go to school. So no matter how good Lan Tian's grades were, no matter how the teachers and the school worked, he resolutely dropped out of school and supported the family at a young age.

Because he entered society early and his mother was cowardly, in order not to be bullied, Lan Tian was forced to be aggressive. When the apocalypse happened, he and his mother were preparing ingredients for the evening barbecue at home, and his younger siblings were all in school. At that time, he was just 19 years old, but he rushed to the school with a knife and picked up his three younger siblings without any injuries.

After that, the family hid at home, not only to guard against zombies, but also to guard against those who survived and planned to attack their family.

After all, he was a businessman, so his family had enough food, but no water. There was a water station in the community. Before anyone else thought of it, Lan Tian ran to the water station and grabbed several barrels of pure water and hid them at home, and then he hammered and reinforced the door. In

the first few months of the apocalypse, Lan Tian relied on his own strength to kill zombies, grab food and water, and feed his mother and siblings. Until the rainstorm came, mutant plants and animals appeared.

The first time he went out after the rain, he didn't come back.

"He didn't come back until dark, and at that time, our family felt that the sky had fallen." At this point, Lan Lan's face still couldn't help showing a look of despair, which was a mixture of sadness, fear, and despair about the future. It was like a spider silk that wrapped around her and couldn't break free.

"What happened next?" Zhang Yi couldn't bear to see it, so he asked aloud to stop her from continuing to indulge in that emotion.

Even Nan Shao couldn't help but stop what he was doing and looked over.

"You must think my brother is dead, right? No, he is not. We thought so at that time, too. We thought he was... eaten by zombies, but in fact, he was just blocked by zombies in the mall and never found a chance to escape. Later, he spent many days to kill all the zombies and came back." Lan Lan came back to her senses, her expression suddenly lifted, and she smiled slyly.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao were silent, and at the same time, they had a bad premonition in their hearts, but they did not ask any more questions.

Only Zhang Ruiyang smiled happily and said, "That's great. Sister, Brother Lan Tian is awesome!"

"Yes, my brother is the most powerful and the best!" Hearing his words, Lan Lan seemed very happy, holding his little face and kissing him hard, and said proudly.

The rice smelled good. She stood up and served it. Zhang Yi wanted to take over the cooking, but she did not let him. Instead, she recalled the past while cooking. She was timid and simple, but not confused. She knew that she had no ability. If she could not even show her ability in cooking, why would others take her with her?

Lan Tian did not come back. At such times, or should we say earlier, when the apocalypse happened, mothers would often stand up for their children at the first opportunity. But Lan Lan's mother was different. She was timid and cowardly, and her shoulders were so weak that she could hardly bear her own life. Let alone going out to find her son, she would faint even if she was asked to look outside. In terms of personality, Lan Lan inherited her almost perfectly.

The mother was unreliable, and of course, the children never thought of relying on her. Lan Lan's second sister, Lan Yun, who was only seventeen years old at the time, took the machete that her eldest brother had picked up and hidden in the cabinet and walked out of the door, taking on the responsibility of protecting her mother and younger siblings.

But after all, she was an ordinary girl. In the harsh environment that was more than doubled after the heavy rain, she was not much stronger than an ant. After going out for the third time, Lan Yun never came back.

The eldest brother and second sister were gone, and the remaining three would starve to death if they did not go out to find food. But Lan Lan's mother did not dare, Lan Lan did not dare, and Lan Lan's mother was even desperate enough to commit suicide with her two children. It was Lan Xin, Lan Lan's younger brother, who was only eleven years old at the time, who stopped his mother and rushed into the world occupied by zombies and mutant plants and animals with an axe.

Lan Xin was smart, brave, and had the same stubbornness and arrogance as Lan Tian. Because he was young and not strong enough, he relied on his flexible mind and agile skills to deal with zombies and mutant plants. He only carried a few kilograms of things and two or three bottles of water at a time, just like ants moving house, and managed to keep the three of them together for more than a month.

But when he was familiar with the habits of the zombies and mutant plants downstairs and it was not so dangerous to go out, a mutant leopard beast appeared.

Lan Lan stood by the window and saw with her own eyes that the leopard beast took Lan Xin away, and she almost went crazy.

When only two equally weak women were left hiding at home, seeing their daughter huddled in the closet and shaking in fear, thinking of the children she had lost one after another, Lan Lan's mother, who was also on the verge of collapse, finally hardened herself for the second time, picked up the only weapon left in the house - a kitchen knife, and opened the door tremblingly.

Unfortunately, she never came back after she left.

Of course, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao speculated that none of them came back based on common sense and their own judgment. According to Lan Lan, they all came back later.

When did they come back? It was when Lan Lan hid in the closet for a few days and her body and spirit were almost at their limit.

Since then, the family has lived happily together, going out to find food together, killing zombies together, and no one is allowed to go out alone.

"Didn't you say you haven't killed zombies?" Zhang Yi's throat choked a little, but he still chose to ask.

In Lan Lan's memory, he found a very strange problem, that is, the five members of their family did not appear in zombies at the beginning of the apocalypse, and all survived. What's more interesting is that there was not a single awakened person. Even Lan Lan's awakening should not have happened at that time, because from beginning to end, nothing related to superpowers was heard from her words. She didn't seem to realize that she might have awakened some special ability.

"I didn't, it was my eldest brother who killed her. My eldest brother is very powerful." Hearing his question, Lan Lan didn't show any guilty expression on her face, but spoke confidently.

Zhang Yi was speechless, and didn't know what to say for a moment.

He thought they might have some understanding of where the girl's strange words and deeds came from. However, the solution to their doubts did not make them feel relieved, but their mood became even heavier.

Chapter 348: Gathering in the Imperial City (11)

When a person is in extreme despair and pain, he will either die or go crazy. Of course, there are different ways to go crazy. Some people will have a tendency to destroy the world and become extremely dangerous, while others will create a fantasy world for themselves and indulge in it, unwilling to wake up. Lan Lan obviously belongs to the latter.

She may be suffering from the death of her relatives one by one, or she may blame herself for not having the courage to stand up and fight against the disaster with her brothers and sisters, or she may be confused about where to go in the future, so she built a beautiful fantasy for herself: the family members who left all returned for various reasonable reasons, and everyone still lived happily together as before.

Her split personality may come from this. Otherwise, with her personality, no matter how powerful she is, she probably won't survive.

As for her superpowers -

"What are superpowers?" Faced with this question, Lan Lan seemed very confused. For someone who has been hiding at home since the end of the world and has almost no contact with the outside world, it is not impossible to know nothing about superpowers.

So Nan Shao demonstrated to her, and made a half-meter-long sharp machete out of a piece of metal plate he picked up.

Lan Lan was stunned, and after a while she stammered, "Can I... can I see... take a look?"

Nan Shao handed her the knife, and while she was carefully confirming whether the knife was real or fake, Zhang Yi briefly explained the matter of superpowers.

Lan Lan's eyes sparkled, full of yearning: "It sounds like Superman in the movie. If humans become so powerful, then what are we afraid of mutants and zombies." At this point, she suddenly remembered the situation of her family, and her mood became depressed again: "It's a pity that no one in my family has awakened." It seemed that she didn't know that she had awakened superpowers.

Remind? Or not?

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao looked at each other, and then made a decision. He took out a crystal core of an ordinary zombie from his pocket and threw it to Lan Lan.

"What is this? It's very beautiful." Lan Lan turned it over and over in her hand, looking at it against the flame, and liked it very much.

"Corpse crystal, taken from the zombie's head." Zhang Yi explained.

Lan Lan's hand trembled, and the crystal core fell to the ground. Her face was blue and white, and she looked like she wanted to vomit.

Reaction cannot be deceived, especially for a child of Lan Lan's age, unless she is a natural actor. Now Zhang Yi is 80% sure that she has never seen a crystal core. In fact, if someone didn't find it by chance, who would go to dissect the zombie's head to see it.

"Try to see if you can absorb it. If you can, then you are an awakener." He said.

Lan Lan showed a disgusted and scared look on her face. She hesitated for a long time, but in the end, her curiosity and desire to become stronger prevailed. She bent down to pick up the crystal core, but her hand was far away, as if she was afraid of getting infected with the virus.

"Don't worry, this won't infect people." Zhang Yi laughed.

Next, the most experienced Nan Shao taught her how to absorb the crystal core.

Lan Lan looked timid, but her comprehension was obviously good. She only listened once and asked a few more critical questions, and then she knew what to do. Two minutes later, her face, which was originally filled with a trace of disgust, suddenly showed a look of surprise.

"I can absorb!"

What's the use of being able to absorb? What's the key ability? She herself couldn't explain it clearly, and Nan Shao and Zhang Yi were even less likely to know. Now the only thing that can be confirmed is that she is indeed an awakener. However, just this point is enough to make her happy. It's like a beggar who suddenly found that he had a treasure hanging on his body. Even if he didn't know what the treasure was for the time being, the treasure was still a treasure. As long as he was willing to spend time, he would be able to study its function sooner or later. In any case, it's better than having nothing.

So from that day on, in addition to having a machete in his hand, Lan Lan's most common thing was to discuss and study what kind of superpowers he had with his "family".

As for testing her, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao had completely given up. It's not that they believed her words completely, but such a test had lost its meaning, because in the next few days, they saw her ability to turn danger into safety more than once.

When she was staying overnight, she stepped on the rotten wooden stairs, but her clothes got caught on the wood on the wall, and she was suspended in the air, but she didn't fall downstairs; she accidentally slipped and fell, and her head was clearly hitting a sharp steel bar that was broken and slanted on the ground, but a gust of wind blew her half an inch to the side, and the steel bar almost brushed past her ear, leaving a scratch; while she was eating, the roof was crushed by the snow, and others tried their best to avoid being buried, but she was the only one who sat there stupidly with a bowl in her hand and couldn't react. Except for catching a bowl of snow, nothing happened...

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao almost suspected that her ability was related to luck. But can luck also be considered an ability? And her luck, to put it nicely, is good luck, to put it bluntly, if she didn't always encounter this or that kind of accident, how could it be seen that she had good luck, so it is really difficult to judge whether it is good or bad.

But anyway, this can at least explain why she has survived alone until now, and it is no longer as elusive as before, as if she was separated by a thick fog.

Another reason that prompted them to stop testing was that after so many days of traveling together, they had a good understanding of the girl's strength and temperament. It was enough to know that she was harmless, and there was no need to dig into the details. Who doesn't have some secrets? Of course, if

they could still make a mistake like this, they had to admit it. However, just when they stopped thinking about Lan Lan's strangeness, one day, she suddenly stopped on the road, turned her head and looked in a certain direction, with a puzzled look in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Noticing her abnormality, Zhang Yi paused and asked.

"It's... uncomfortable over there." Lan Lan said hesitantly.

"What?" Zhang Yi didn't quite understand, but his eyes still followed her direction.

Nan Shao also stopped with Zhang Ruiyang.

Because of various road conditions, they had long deviated from the highway and were now walking on the old road from Yundong to the neighboring province. The road condition on this section is OK, there are no abandoned vehicles or wandering zombies blocking the road, and the snow is not as deep as other places. According to common sense, there should be people who come and go frequently, and there may be a survivor settlement nearby.

Lan Lan looked in the direction of a fork road. Across the dense mutant forest, a small area of ​​self-built houses with ups and downs can be vaguely seen. On both sides of the road, such self-built houses can be seen everywhere, so there is nothing special.

"It makes me uncomfortable over there." Lan Lan considered the words and expressed her feelings as accurately as possible.

Zhang Yi exchanged glances with Nan Shao and asked: "Do you feel danger?" If there is danger, he and Nan Shao have no reason not to feel anything.

Lan Lan shook his head and wanted to say something, but found it difficult to describe the feeling: "It's not... It's just very uncomfortable... Very uncomfortable!"

"I'll go and see." Nan Shao said. Instead of guessing here, it's better to go and check it out directly. Of course, it's good if everything is fine. If there is really a problem, it will also be convenient for them to re-evaluate her ability.

Zhang Yi has no objection. He was still very confident in Nan Shao's strength. If there was any danger, he would be able to escape without any problem, regardless of whether he could deal with it or not.

Nan Shao walked over there, because there were girls in the team and it was inconvenient to transform. But his walking speed was not slow. After only waiting for more than ten minutes, he had turned back.

"What's the situation?" Zhang Yi saw that his face was not very good, and his heart was unconsciously lifted.

Nan Shao was silent for a while, and then he answered: "Over there is a survivor settlement."

"Really?" Zhang Yi's spirits lifted, but before he could be happy, Nan Shao's next words were like a basin of ice water poured over his head.

"But they were attacked, and no one was left alive. It should have happened in the past two days."

Lan Lan's face turned pale.

Zhang Yi glanced at her and said, "Let's go and have a look."

Lan Lan's face turned even paler, and there was a look of fear in her eyes. Her lips moved, wanting to say no, but after a long stammer, she couldn't utter a word.

The settlement was not far from the highway, about five or six hundred meters away, and there was a small road about three meters wide connecting it to the provincial road. Because of the heavy snow and the mutant plants, the road was sometimes visible, but it was not completely cut off.

When they got closer, they saw that the self-built houses were surrounded by a simple earth wall, and an anti-theft iron door was installed on the earth wall, which looked a bit petty. At this time, the iron gate was open, and a corpse with only half of its body was lying there. The snow on its body had been brushed off by Nan Shao. It was frozen hard, but still retained the fear and despair of death. The chest and abdominal cavity were open, and the internal organs fell to the ground. The original shape was also preserved by the ice and snow. The other half of the body was missing.

Zhang Yi squatted down to take a closer look. Suddenly, there was a sound of vomiting behind him. Looking back, it was Lan Lan who was frightened by this scene and retched there. After thinking for a while, he did not say anything to comfort her, but turned back to continue to examine the body.

Zhang Ruiyang looked at the corpse and then at Lan Lan, seemingly not understanding why she had such a reaction. As a child who had killed countless zombies with his own hands and had taken out corpse crystals from the zombies' brains, there was nothing special about the corpse except that it was fresh.

"Are you sick?" This was the only reason he could think of.

Lan Lan covered her mouth and shook her head repeatedly, not daring to look back again. Zhang Ruiyang scratched his little head and was even more confused.

"It was torn in half by a great force..." Zhang Yi concluded, "There are finger marks on the thigh. Based on the size of the marks, it is preliminarily determined that the murderer should be more than two meters tall."

As he spoke, Zhang Yi used his hands to dig away the snow on the ground around him, and then found the huge footprints he wanted to see about five meters inside the iron gate.

"It could be a mutant, or a mutant zombie." He concluded from the footprints. As for the option of normal humans, he was reserved. It was not impossible, but the possibility was too low. First, such a tall body is very rare among normal humans. Second, unless the psychology is extremely abnormal, or there is a deep hatred, it would not kill the same kind like this.

Not far away, he found the other half of the body, so he put the two together, collected the internal organs, and put them in the open space inside the wall. Nan Shao went over to help.

Lan Lan was very scared, but she didn't dare to stay outside alone. She could only stick to the wall, hold Zhang Ruiyang's little hand tightly, and rub into the gate, and then follow Zhang Yi and Nan Shao step by step.

Zhang Ruiyang finally understood that she was afraid from her shaking hands, but he didn't understand why she was afraid. But thinking about how she cried for a long time because of the zombies that day, it didn't seem so difficult to understand. He wisely kept his mouth shut and didn't point it out, lest she cry again and he couldn't comfort her.

Inside the wall were seven or eight self-built houses, some with one floor, some with two floors and some with three floors. In the small area, corpses were everywhere. Some of them had their heads crushed to pieces, with brains and broken bones mixed together, some were gnawed to reveal their white bones, and some were torn into pieces, with all kinds of strange deaths. Looking at the frozen angry expressions on their faces and the weapons scattered on the ground, it can be determined that they all died in the battle. But there was no corpse of a zombie or mutant beast

at the scene. Excluding the possibility of being cleaned up and taken away, it can only mean that the thing that attacked this small settlement was extremely powerful. Thinking that there might be a powerful mutant creature spying around, Nan Shao and Zhang Yi remained calm on the surface, but in fact they were already in a state of high alert.

They collected the bodies one by one and placed them on the open space at the entrance of the wall, and looked for any survivors or traces left by other attackers.

To be honest, since entering the apocalypse, they have seen too many similar scenes, from the beginning when humans were forced to have almost no place to live by zombies and mutants, to the later zombie and beast tides besieging the Yunzhou base, to the settlements of survivors destroyed by Lin An when returning south, which one was not more tragic than the current situation. So collecting the bodies was just collecting the bodies, and the hearts of the two were almost calm.

Lan Lan's eyes were rolling with tears, about to fall, and it was unknown whether it was because of fear or sadness.

"I'm afraid we have to spend the night here tonight." Zhang Yi, who was busy, suddenly turned around and said.

Lan Lan's eyes widened suddenly, and the tears that had been in her eyes finally rolled out. So many people died here, she couldn't imagine living here, especially she had to keep watch alone for several hours.

"We have to bury these bodies, the pit is not easy to dig, it will take some time." Zhang Yi explained simply. In fact, burning would save a lot of trouble, but none of them had fire abilities, and they lacked fuel, so the frozen corpse couldn't be burned at all.

After a pause, he added, "You'd better adapt quickly." They couldn't take care of her all the time. When they met a suitable survivor base, they would probably separate. If she hadn't learned how to face zombies and death by then, she would probably have difficulty surviving. Thinking of this, he hardened his heart and said, "Come and help."

Lan Lan suddenly felt the hairs on her body stand up, but she knew she couldn't refuse, so she could only rub over there reluctantly.

"I can do it too." Zhang Ruiyang, who was next to her, had already rushed over like a monkey, helping to dig the corpse out of the snow and then dragging it to the open space.

Seeing this, Lan Lan didn't dare to delay any longer, so she ran over and helped to lift it. But as soon as her hand touched the corpse, she was frightened by the cold touch and shivered. Her legs were so weak that she couldn't stand up, and she squatted on the ground. Zhang Yi and Nan Shao saw it, but they didn't say anything to comfort or encourage her. Zhang Ruiyang turned his back to her, not noticing her reaction at all, and dragged the body away slowly. Lan Lan gritted her teeth, wiped her tears, and cheered herself up twice before finally getting up again, staggering to catch up. A big

man and a small child can't really help much. Zhang Yi just wants them to learn not to be numb and ignore the death of their own kind, but also not to be terrified and afraid.

The settlement is very small and the population is small. It took more than an hour to clean up everything, leaving only the last two houses to be checked. Zhang Yi did not let Zhang Ruiyang and Lan Lan search separately, but asked them to stay in sight to avoid accidents. The

last two buildings are two-story buildings, one with red tiles on the front, and the other without, revealing a gray cement wall. No matter how beautiful the buildings in the end times are, they are filled with a sense of lifelessness, especially here.

The two small buildings were built facing each other, and they did not choose, and went directly into the small building without tiles.

Long before they arrived, Nan Shao had searched the entire settlement roughly and ruled out possible dangers. But when they entered the small building and were about to check the upstairs first, the two people walking in front of them stopped and looked at the storage room under the stairs at the same time.

Bang... Bang... Bang...

Very light and dull collision sounds, only one or two sounds every few minutes, if you don't pay attention, it's easy to be ignored. Nan Shao didn't notice it when he came before. But hearing it in such a dead place, it's a bit thrilling.

Lan Lan, who had helped move several corpses, didn't seem to become a little braver because of this. After hearing the noise, she subconsciously leaned close to Zhang Ruiyang and reached out to hug the little guy to give herself courage. Obviously, Zhang Ruiyang's courage and high martial arts value gave her a great sense of security, so much so that she directly ignored his age.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao looked at each other, then walked towards the storage room. After taking two steps, they turned back and said to the two children, "You just stay where you are."

Nan Shao took the lead and entered the storage room.

The door of the storage room was not closed and the light was very dim, which did not affect Nan Shao much, but he still took a candle he found and lit it so that Zhang Yi could see clearly.

The storage room was very empty, with a pile of coal, a few tattered empty woven bags, and some discarded sundries, so a body lying on the ground was

extremely conspicuous. Bang! At this moment, there was another muffled sound, and the body moved slightly.

Not to mention that Lan Lan, who was secretly peeking in with Zhang Ruiyang, was so scared that she almost screamed, even Zhang Yi and Nan Shao, who were mentally prepared, were shocked.

"Still alive?" Zhang Yi looked at Nan Shao inquiringly.

Nan Shao looked over with his supernatural power and shook his head, "No, it's not a zombie, it's just a corpse." As he spoke, he had already walked over.

"Be careful." Zhang Yi warned, and he followed closely behind.

As they got closer, a bloody smell rushed into their noses, causing both of them to frown. They had collected a lot of corpses before, but because it was too cold and empty outside, the bloody smell had all dissipated, so they were a little uncomfortable when they smelled it all of a sudden.

Nan Shao felt that the place where he stepped on was a little sticky and slippery. He looked down and found that it was actually solidified blood, which had spread from the bottom of the corpse and spread into a pool of blood.

"So much blood..." He was a little surprised.

At this moment, there were two more bangs, and the corpse trembled twice, interrupting his words.

Nan Shao walked over, squatted in front of the corpse, holding a candle in one hand and turning the corpse over with the other. Zhang Yi stood on one side with a knife in his hand, ready to deal with any emergency at any time.

The front of the corpse was exposed, and it was a middle-aged man with a large frame, but skinny, and it was obvious that he had not lived a good life before. However, most of the bodies collected before were like this. Combined with the inspection of the entire settlement, it can be inferred that the survivors here were very short of food before they died. What is surprising is that the body in front of him is a little different from the other bodies. It seems to have committed suicide.

A knife was tightly held in its right hand, and there was still blood on the knife. A large cut was made on the left side of its neck. The flesh on both sides of the wound was turned outward. The carotid artery was obviously cut, and the blood on the ground was flowing out.

This person is really dead, and there is no sign of corpse transformation. So what caused it to make a noise? Zhang Yi's eyes first scanned it up and down carefully, and then turned his eyes to the ground where it was lying before.

"A Shao, lower the candle." He said.

Nan Shao understood what he meant and moved the candle flame in his hand closer to the ground.

A barely perceptible gap appeared in the light. The two looked at each other and understood.

Zhang Yi walked over and moved the body to the side, so the gap became more obvious. At first glance, it was a square box about one square meter in size. I don't know if they noticed something, but the previous bang bang sound disappeared at this time, as if it was an illusion.

"I'll do it." Seeing Zhang Yi knocking on the floor with the knife handle and hearing the sound of banging, he turned the knife over and put the tip of the knife into the gap, preparing to pry up the floor, Nan Shao said hurriedly. Zhang

Yi shook his head and used his wrist to pry up a corner of the floor. He could vaguely see a dark hole underneath, which was not solid, but empty.

The floor was not as heavy as he imagined. He held it with one finger, put the knife aside, and used both hands to lift it up easily. A strong smell of stuffiness rushed up, and at the same time, a dark hole appeared.

It was not the rotten smell of zombies. He was sure and glanced at Nan Shao.

Nan Shao, who had been ready to assist at any time, received his gaze and immediately took the candle and moved forward to shine it into the hole. Then they saw a pair of eyes.

It was a person. No, it was two, but one was looking up at them, while the other was squatting in a dark corner with his head down. If you don't look carefully, you can't find it at all. The one

looking up was a woman, who looked to be in her thirties or forties. Because she was dirty and thin, she might look a little older. The previous noise should have been made by her trying to push the floor open, but she didn't have the strength, so it was intermittent. The squatting one looked small and probably not very old.

The woman was staring at the top with vigilance and fear, but because she had been in the dark for a long time, she squinted subconsciously when she was illuminated by the candlelight. When she opened her eyes and saw that it was a person, the fear in her eyes subsided a lot, and there was a hint of surprise.

"People? Is it a person?" I don't know if she was too excited or a little confused because of claustrophobia. When she spoke, it seemed that her thoughts were a little messy.

"Yes, we are alive." Zhang Yi couldn't judge her mental state for the time being, so he answered as softly as possible, but his tone was very sincere and firm.

"Then...then..." The woman seemed to want to ask something, but she was a little scared. She turned around and picked up the little figure squatting on the ground and handed it over.

Zhang Yi took a look and found that it was a child about seven or eight years old. He was very thin and had drooping eyelids, but he was breathing. He was sure that he was alive, so he reached out and took him. Then he pulled the woman up.

The woman was holding a small cloth bag in one hand, and it was impossible to tell what it was. Nan Shao shone the candle into the cave again and found that the space inside was actually not big. The two people could only sit, squat or stand inside, and they couldn't even lie down. The walls and the bottom of the cave were not flat, as if they were dug out in a hurry.

Zhang Yi put the floor back to its original position, and the woman rushed to the corpse and pushed it a few times, "Dacheng! Dacheng..." She called a few times, and felt that the person was already frozen and there was no possibility of survival, so she stood up and staggered outside.

The child squatted silently beside the corpse, without saying a word, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him.

After a moment, a shrill cry suddenly came from outside, which was extremely harsh in the silence. Zhang Yi and Nan Shao walked out and saw the woman kneeling in front of a pile of corpses, crying heartbreakingly and almost fainting.

"Damn God, why don't you give me a way to live..."

Amid the cuckoo's bloody sobs, the short accusation seemed so powerless and helpless.

Zhang Yi, who was calm and almost indifferent when he was cleaning up the corpses, didn't know why this sentence touched a sensitive nerve. The scenes after the end of the world emerged in his mind, corpse transformation, plant and animal mutation, abnormal climate, corpse beast tide, Lin An's cruelty, human struggle, desperate wailing... Those things that he thought had been buried in his memory as he adapted to the end of the world seemed to wake up all of a sudden, reminding him in the miserable cry of the woman that human suffering has never disappeared because of adaptation. It has always existed and will jump out from time to time to find a sense of existence.

He suddenly found that he couldn't comfort the woman at all, and Nan Shao couldn't either. The two could only stand far away and watch this scene silently.

Zhang Ruiyang and Lan Lan clung to the door frame, looking at the child in the house for a while, and then looking at the woman crying miserably outside. The big and the small actually cried unconsciously.

Fortunately, it was not the first time that the woman experienced this kind of pain. After venting fiercely, she wiped away her tears, stood up staggeringly, and walked back.

"Thank you." She said hoarsely, her eyes swollen like walnuts, her hands and feet weak, but she started to clean up the bodies in the remaining two houses.

However, when carrying the body of Dacheng in the house, she encountered trouble. The child who had been squatting quietly beside him jumped on the body and hugged it tightly, not allowing them to carry it out. No matter who tried to persuade them, it was useless.

Of course, Zhang Yi and his companions had the means to force the child to let go, but they did not do so. Instead, they turned around to clean up other places.

Originally, they planned to dig a pit first, bury all the bodies, and then find a house to rest. But when they saw the woman falling into the snow several times while dragging the bodies, she was very weak, but she was too stubborn to stop. So after carrying the bodies of the last building to the open space, they found a cleaner house to make a fire and cook.

When eating, the child still squatted beside the body, neither letting anyone touch the body nor eat. Zhang Yi and his companions had no choice. When they were considering whether to take tough measures, Lan Lan, who was crying with red and swollen eyes, spoke.

"Your father is there." She pointed to a place not far from the body, where there was a tattered puppy doll. This doll had existed before, but no one cared about it.

Hearing her words, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao paused, thinking that the girl was sick again. However, to their surprise, in addition to not allowing the body to be moved, the child, who had always seemed indifferent to everything around him, actually moved his eyes and looked at the blood-stained puppy puppet. After a moment, he looked up at Lan Lan inquiringly.

Lan Lan nodded affirmatively and said, "He's there."

The child's wooden face rarely showed a trace of something that could barely be called a smile, but it soon subsided. He supported himself with his hands and crawled over, picked up the puppy puppet, and held it in his arms without caring about the dirt.

This time, when Nan Shao and Zhang Yi went to move the body again, he did not stop them, but just followed quietly behind.

"We escaped from Yundong City. Many people died along the way. We didn't know where there was a government shelter. We couldn't walk here anymore, so we all cleared out these houses together and built a wall. We had a place to stay." During the meal, the woman talked about the past and couldn't help crying again.

Her name is Jiang Hong, she is 29 years old. Before the apocalypse, she was a white-collar worker in a foreign-funded enterprise. She was married and had a baby who just turned one year old. Her husband was her first love in college. The couple had a good relationship. Both of them had high incomes, a house and a car, and they didn't have to worry about anything. If there hadn't been the apocalypse, they would have planned to have a second child. They could be said to be a model of a happy family.

But the apocalypse happened, and the baby turned into a zombie. Her husband was bitten without any preparation. When he found that he had signs of corpse transformation, he jumped from the top floor holding the baby who had turned into a zombie. Both parents did not escape that disaster. In one day, the family was broken up and the world changed drastically. If she had a weaker character, she would have committed suicide in grief and despair, but she was holding her breath in her heart, wondering why such a disaster happened, and wanted to slam the flames of hatred into the initiator of all this.

So she survived, and followed a group of survivors gathered in the community to rush out of the city and join more survivors. They fled Yundong City, trying to find a shelter established by the government or the army. However, at the beginning of the apocalypse, Yundong did not organize any rescue operations, let alone shelters, and even organized rescue forces were not seen.

In the process of fleeing the city, many people died, and when they were stuck on the highway, many more died. In the end, they had to abandon the car and get off the highway and move forward along the provincial road. In this way, people died all the way. When they arrived here, there were only about a hundred people left out of the original more than 300 people.

No one wanted to go forward, or they were afraid, because there was no hope and they were afraid because there was a county town in the past, and there would be a large number of zombies in it, so they stayed here.

There are only a few houses here, and few people are at home at the end of the world. For them who have fought all the way here, it is simply a piece of pure land.

They cleaned up a few zombies and settled down here. While trying to survive, they tried to find out the news from the government. Later, they collected several waves of survivors passing by. There are not many people, only about three or five in each wave.

There are rural areas and county towns nearby. The distance is not very close, but it is not so far that it takes several days to run. Later, they got a few more cars and drove to collect supplies. When they got used to fighting zombies, they could make do with their lives. But there was no news from the government and the army, and gradually everyone lost hope.

However, just when everyone thought that the situation could not get any worse and that they would have to live like this in the future, the climate changed and the animals and plants mutated. Because they were not mentally prepared in advance, and the mutated animals and plants were very cruel, many of them died one after another. In the end, when they adapted, there were only about fifty people left. This was fortunately because they had been killing zombies for half a year, otherwise there would be no survivors.

Even if Jiang Hong was full of hatred, she was worn out by reality. She wanted revenge, could she ask God for revenge? The grief of losing her relatives had become numb in the blows again and again, and only the instinct to survive remained. After the second disaster, she lived with a man with a child.

The man's name is Zhao Dacheng. After the apocalypse, his strength suddenly became very great. His strength was at the middle level of the whole team. He was not very strong, but he had also survived two disasters with his son. Jiang Hong herself also awakened her superpowers, but let alone women, even men, at such a time, as long as they were not strong enough to have a companion to support them, their situation was completely incomparable to being alone.

After the apocalypse, the relationship between people became simple and realistic. It was not bullying, oppression or exchange of interests, but relying on each other for warmth. As for feelings, it was not to say that there was no emotion, but it was definitely the least important thing. If anyone really used this as a standard to find a companion, it would be a joke.

After Jiang Hong and Zhao Dacheng got together, when they went out, someone helped to take care of them, which made it much easier. As for helping to take care of the children, Zhao Dacheng's son was already seven or eight years old. He did everything by himself, such as dressing and eating, and he was not naughty. He only needed to pay attention to his safety, which was not a big deal.

In this way, they survived the multiple attacks of zombies, mutant creatures and severe cold climate. Life is hard, and there is no hope, but no one wants to die if they can live.

Who knew that even if they knelt on the ground, hunched over, and buried their faces in the dust, God would still not give them a way to live.

"A group of people encountered a mutant zombie when they went out to pull coal. Several people died. They finally escaped back, but who knew that the zombie would find its way here." I don't know if it was because of the precarious life that Jiang Hong kept talking, but he didn't delay eating, and at the same time, he didn't forget to take care of the Zhao family's children.

The Zhao family's child is called Zhao Xin. Jiang Hong didn't figure out whether he was introverted and silent before the end of the world, or became like this after the end of the world, but the child is well-behaved and doesn't cause trouble, which is a good thing for both the parents and the entire team. As for whether he has a mental illness, even whether he can survive is a question, who has time to think about it.

"That zombie was about 2.56 meters tall, very strong, powerful, and very flexible. I didn't see any special abilities, but its skin was thick and hard, and it was impossible to cut it..." Jiang Hong's eyes showed fear when talking about the mutant zombie that attacked the settlement. "Everyone tried every means, and people died one by one, but there was no way to deal with it." Her tears fell again and fell into the rice bowl.

Maybe because of the existence of his son, or maybe because of his natural lack of security, Zhao Dacheng was secretly digging a basement, the one in the storage room. There are not many people in the settlement, but there are even fewer places to live. One house has to accommodate six or seven people. This is after the heavy rain. Before the heavy rain, each house had to be crammed with more than ten or twenty people to barely live.

Zhao Dacheng dug without telling others. He usually had to go out to collect supplies and carefully handle the soil he dug out, so he dug very slowly. Until the accident, it was not really completed. But even so, it still saved her and his son's life.

Of course, what saved them both was not only the unfinished pit, but also his blood and life.

During the time she was hiding in the pit, Jiang Hong thought more than once that he actually wanted to kill her, but for some reason he didn't do it, and instead pushed her into the pit.

If there was enough time, he could drag a corpse to replace him. But there was no time. So he could only use cruel methods to make his blood spray out to cover up their breath.

Maybe it was not necessary to use suicide, and there might be better ways, but at that time the only thing he could think of was to use this extremely tragic way to protect his son. As for Jiang Hong, it was just a by-product.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao spent the whole afternoon digging a big pit outside the wall where the vegetable field should have been, and then carried the corpses in one by one.

"Dacheng, don't worry, as long as I am still alive, I will not wrong Zhao Xin." Perhaps out of a desire to repay, Jiang Hong gritted his teeth and dug a pit for Zhao Dacheng alone. After dragging the man in personally, he knelt by the pit and said.

Zhao Xin squatted beside her, neither crying nor looking at his father's body lying in the pit. His full attention was on the stuffed puppy in his hands, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him.

"Zhao Xin, come and talk to your dad." Jiang Hong said, turning around and calling Zhao Xin.

Zhao Xin didn't respond at all.

Jiang Hong sighed and began to fill the pit with soil. Not to mention such a child, even she couldn't stand it when she felt Zhao Dacheng's blood leaking from the cracks in the floor and heard his gasping sound before he died, let alone his biological father and son.

She and Zhao Dacheng didn't actually have much affection. They were together just to get what they needed. When necessary, it was not impossible to kick each other away in order to survive. However, at the last moment, Zhao Dacheng chose to leave her a way out, which made her heart, which had been numbed by life, feel pain again.

Maybe it was too late, or maybe he was afraid that she would resist and delay the time, so that the plan would fail. No matter what the reason was, Zhao Dacheng did not choose to attack her at that time. Of course, if he really wanted to sacrifice her to save them, she would definitely not sit and wait for death. But no matter what, he made a choice, and she was able to save her life. This is the fact.

So she owed them. She had to pay it back.

The soil mixed with the remaining snow was sprinkled on the corpse, covering it layer by layer, and finally formed two earth slopes, one large and one small. The wind blew across the wilderness, blowing the unknown mutant plants, making a desolate and distant whistle like an ancient Xun, as if sending a funeral song for the lives lost on this land.

"Why don't you sleep?" After dinner, everyone else went to sleep. Nan Shao saw Zhang Yi leaning against the eaves with his arms folded, not knowing what he was thinking. He walked over and took off the scarf from his neck and put it on him. He grabbed his somewhat cold hand and warmed it in his pocket while asking.

Nan Shao was on guard first, followed by Lan Lan and Jiang Hong, and then Zhang Yi. Usually Zhang Yi would have gone to bed by now, but today he seemed to be distracted and not staying in the house. He just stood outside in the 20 to 30 degrees below zero, blowing the cold wind. It would be strange if he was fine.

The cold wind was mixed with snowflakes, falling in handfuls, making people wonder when such a day would end.

I don't know if I will ever see the sun again.

"Am I too selfish?" Zhang Yi asked, his voice was a little low, almost drowned out by the sound of the wind and snow.

Nan Shao and he had such a tacit understanding that he knew what Zhang Yi was struggling with with just one sentence. He looked back at the half-open door and could see Zhao Xin curled up by the fire through the gap. His small body was curled up in extreme anxiety, holding a blood-stained stuffed puppy tightly in his arms. His brows were tightly furrowed after he fell asleep, giving people a sense of life. Jiang Hong was sleeping next to him, and from time to time he would reach out to check if the child was covered with the quilt and if he had caught a cold, but he gave people the illusion that he was the only little guy there, as if he had been abandoned by the whole world.

"What are you talking about? Even if you are Yangyang's father, you can't make a decision for him just because you sympathize with others. Let him, who is young and knows nothing, take on responsibilities that he doesn't even understand." Nan Shao said with a smile.

This is indeed the case. Zhang Ruiyang has to decide how to go in the future. Before that, as a father, he only needs to protect his son from being forced to make a choice.

Zhang Yi understood it at once. He was not a person who would get stuck in a rut. After thinking it through, he stopped struggling and turned around to go back to the house with Nan Shao.

However, his mind was finally loosened. Since the end of the world, he has seen many tragedies in the world, including himself. If it weren't for various coincidences, I'm afraid his bones would have turned into ashes. However, at that time, he had no ability to resist. Apart from trying his best to keep himself and the people around him alive, how could he have the energy to care about others. At most, when he saw it, he felt a little sad and powerless, and then... then there was nothing else. If he couldn't take care of himself, how could he take care of others.

But now it is different. The sick ghost told him that there is actually a solution to all this. God is not invincible, and the key to the solution lies in his son. Since then, when he encounters various tragedies caused by the end of the world, he feels different when he sees them. He can't help but think that these things can actually not happen if there is no whim of that "God". He wonders if there will be more similar tragedies in the future. He knows the solution, but he has to watch it.

This is also the reason why he is abnormal. From Lin An, to Lan Lan, to Jiang Hong and Zhao Xin, one thing after another has accumulated. It is difficult for anyone with some conscience not to be affected.

Of course, even so, he was tortured by guilt, anxiety and various complex emotions in his heart, and he had no intention of changing his mind. It's okay to take his life, but it's not okay to want to take his son. He is not a saint and can't do things like sacrificing his son to save the world. He just wants his son to spend this life in peace. If such selfishness is a sin, then he is willing to shoulder all the sins.

Chapter 349: Gathering in the Capital (12) (1)

"It should have been two days... maybe three days." The next day, when asked about the time and whereabouts of the zombie attacking the settlement, Jiang Hong frowned and tried to recall. "I hid down there and couldn't see the light. I closed my eyes a few times. When I was hungry, I grabbed a handful of rice. I worked so hard that I couldn't eat much. I couldn't tell the time at all. I just felt very hungry and thirsty. It was a very long time." The few days she was confined in the pit could be said to be the most difficult period of her life, not only psychologically but also physically. She

was in a hurry to get down there, so Zhao Dacheng only had time to throw them half a bag of raw rice. When Zhang Yi pulled her up, she was holding the bag in her hand. There was not even a drop of water. There was no time, and she forgot in the rush. She was not a water-based superpower, so she and Zhao Xin could only endure it. It was just that the hunger and thirst were not a big deal, but the fear, darkness, stagnation, and the blood dripping from the cracks and the smell of blood tortured them all the time. Unable to fall asleep, she woke up quickly after closing her eyes, and could hear her heartbeat like a drum in her ears.

The days passed like years, and without a clock, how could she know how long it had been. It felt like decades or hundreds of years, but it was impossible to know.

As for when the mutant zombie left and where it went, it was even more impossible to know. Crouching in the pit, separated by a layer of stone slabs, she couldn't hear the noise outside at all, but she felt that her body was about to collapse, so she began to want to get out. If she hadn't met Nan Shao and the others, she would not even be able to push the floor open, and would have died in the pit with Zhao Xin, and Zhao Dacheng would have lost his life in vain.

There was no more information to be asked from Jiang Hong, and Zhang Yinan Shao did not have the intention to find the mutant zombie. Whether he could defeat it was another matter. It was not something that could be done by rushing up to eliminate the threat for the survivors. There were many things in this apocalypse that were more powerful than them, and they could fall if they were careless. The reason why he asked about the whereabouts of the mutant zombie was that he wanted to avoid it. Now that he could not figure out the situation, he could only take one step at a time and be as careful as possible. There

was no doubt that two more people were added to the team. Jiang Hong was a fire-type mutant, and she had been fighting in the apocalypse for so long. If she had two full meals and a good night's rest, she would be alive and kicking again, and her combat power far exceeded that of Lan Lan. She could not only protect herself, but also take good care of Zhao Xin, and did not add any burden to their itinerary.

Zhang Ruiyang was originally very happy that there was one more child in the team, but unfortunately Zhao Xin ignored him, or Zhao Xin ignored everyone, and in the end the little guy had to follow Lan Lan reluctantly. At least Lan Lan and he had a lot in common.

"There is another group of people more than 20 miles away from where we live. I wonder if they have been discovered by the mutant zombies." After walking for more than ten minutes, Jiang Hong suddenly remembered and said.

"A group of people? How many people are there? What are their origins? Why don't they live with you?" Zhang Yi was a little surprised and asked a series of questions. After all, according to what she said, the two parties are not far apart, and they know each other's existence. Shouldn't they merge together? After all, in this world, the chance of survival is higher when they work together than when they are scattered.

"There are about ten of them. We have seen them several times. They came here a few months ago. When they first came, they came to our place. They looked quite capable, but they were arrogant and proud. The boss couldn't keep them." Jiang Hong recalled. "But they seemed to be unable to walk anymore. After arriving here, they settled down. Occasionally, they would come to exchange some things with us and exchange news."

It sounds like the two sides get along well. Zhang Yi was a little surprised. Of course, what was even more surprising was that the other group only had ten or so people, which was too small.

"Where do they live?" he asked, considering whether to go over and say hello.

Jiang Hong gave a general direction, which happened to be the same as the direction they were going, saving them the trouble of choosing.

Thirty miles ahead was a county town, which was also the last county town in Yunzhou Province. Beyond that was another province. Yunzhou Province was famous for its beautiful scenery, and this county town was particularly beautiful, with snow-capped mountains, clear lakes, and ancient architectural complexes that had been preserved for thousands of years. It was a famous tourist destination at home and abroad.

A dozen miles southwest of the county town, with mountains behind and lakes in front, there was a private holiday villa. The group of people Jiang Hong mentioned lived here, but no one knew where exactly.

Zhang Yi thought they would have to spend some time looking for them. Of course, with Nan Shao there, this search would not be too difficult, but half an hour later, he knew that it was not necessary. Not only did they not have to look for the station of that group of people, they also did not have to consider the whereabouts of the mutant zombie, because they had very unfortunately encountered it.

"It's it! It's it!" Hiding behind the rocks, Jiang Hong almost screamed out in fear at the battlefield ahead. She managed to control herself and took some time to calm down before carefully identifying the other party confronting the zombies: "It's them."

A hundred meters away from where they were hiding, there was an abandoned gas station. There were some scattered buildings next to the gas station, such as restaurants, hostels, and car repair shops. At this time, on the road in front of the gas station, five people were working together to deal with a huge mutant zombie.

The zombie was not as skinny and gray and dark as most zombies. It was not only tall, but also fat, super fat, with a bald head and no hair. The whole body was pale with death, and the surface of the skin was covered with dark blue blood vessels, just like a giant corpse after being soaked.

There were some pieces of cloth hanging on its body, and the key parts were blocked. It was hard to tell whether it was a man or a woman before death. This is still secondary. The point is that even though it is so swollen, it is still very agile and has amazing jumping ability. Look carefully, the five people are not surrounding it at all, but trapped by it. They dare not escape and cannot fight. The situation is very bad.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao wanted to take a closer look at the situation, but who knew that the zombie seemed to have noticed their presence and looked over here. The attack suddenly became fierce, and the situation of the five people became more difficult. If they had not cooperated very skillfully and tacitly, and rescued each other in danger, I am afraid that they would have started to lose people. Even so, they were still injured.

Even if they are superpowers, they are still not immune to the corpse poison of mutant zombies. Either they will awaken a second time in a rare way, or they will become more powerful zombies, making the already difficult survival of the survivors even worse.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao did not dare to delay any longer. They told Jiang Hong, whose face was pale and her eyes were flashing with fear and hatred, to take care of the children and rushed out.

"Brother, don't come here again to die. This thing can't be defeated at all. Run!" The five survivors who were being forced to do nothing by the mutant zombies saw the two people, but they didn't show any surprise. Instead, one of them shouted loudly.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao were both a little surprised. They didn't expect these people to be so particular. They had the intention to save people, so it was impossible for them to watch them die. Of course, if the other party had the intention to divert the trouble when they saw them, they might just turn around and leave.

The two looked at each other. Saving people was important. Nan Shao no longer concealed himself. He tore off his clothes on his upper body, and the wings on his back popped out, rushing towards the zombie at a high speed. Zhang Yi was a little slower, but he arrived just when Nan Shao attracted the zombie. He rolled over on the ground and slashed at its leg joints with a knife.

When the knife hit it, it was like touching cotton leather, and there was not even a mark left. At this time, Zhang Yi realized how difficult this zombie was to deal with. Fortunately, he had come from the lowest level, and all the monsters he encountered along the way were monsters with defense far greater than his attack power. He had already learned how to deal with them. After several slashes at the same location without any effect, he decisively accumulated power on the blade. When attacking, he did not focus on breaking the defense, but on bursting out the power suddenly, penetrating the skin and muscle layer, and the shock force directly acted on the bones. If it doesn't work once, try a few more times, and it will always work.

Of course, if this zombie has become as strong as diamond, then he can only admit defeat.

The addition of the two people instantly reduced the pressure on the five people, but they did not flee immediately, but were greatly encouraged and increased their attacks with supernatural powers.

This zombie is extremely powerful, agile, and has amazing defense. It is difficult to cause harm to it, but if it touches you, you will lose flesh and bones at best, and you will be beaten into a meat paste at worst. The only thing to be thankful for is that it has no other special abilities and its intelligence is also ordinary, otherwise even Nan Shao and Zhang Yi would have a headache. But now that Nan Shao has used his flexible body to entangle it, the others only need to attack with all their strength, and things will be much simpler.

Probably sensing danger, the mutant zombie tried to escape several times, but was intercepted by Nan Shao. Five minutes later, its body suddenly dwindled and swayed forward twice, but Zhang Yi finally found an opportunity to break the right leg bone, affecting its mobility. Nan Shao took the opportunity to turn his hand into a cone and pierced it into its eyes.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The abilities of others also hit it one after another.

With a plop, the giant figure of the zombie fell in the muddy snow, splashing a piece of snow slurry and mud.

Nan Shao and Zhang Yi were fine, after all, this zombie was not the most difficult thing they had ever encountered, but the other five people were relieved.

"Thank you for your help, my name is... Hey? Zhang Yi? Nan Shao?" The leader came over and wanted to thank them, but he recognized the two people at once and shouted in surprise.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao were busy saving people before, and didn't pay much attention to each other's appearance. When they were called by their names, they looked at each other carefully with some surprise. Isn't it true? I really know them.

"Tan Kuifeng!"

Tan Kuifeng was someone who came out of Wangyang Town with them. When the rainstorm came, they were clearing out zombies in Ziyun County. Later, because of Nan Shao's intuition, a group of people including Qiao Yong, a little mustache, decisively followed Zhang Yi and others to leave the community in the rain and fled to a hotel in Ziyun County. Among them was Tan Kuifeng. They had fought side by side and had a friendship. Later, in order to awaken their superpowers, Tan Kuifeng and Zhou Tong joined Han Ling and parted ways with everyone else. I didn't expect to meet him here. It can be regarded as meeting an old friend in a foreign land.

Zhang Yi looked at the other four people and saw Zhou Tong there. Zhou Tong smiled and nodded to them and simply said hello.

"Zhang Yi, you have become younger and more handsome. I almost didn't recognize you." Tan Kuifeng smiled and hugged Zhang Yi, saying that he looked very happy.

In the end times, it is very rare to meet again after separation. Even if the relationship between each other is average, it is still worth being happy, not to mention that they have just fought side by side again.

"Nan Shao is still so handsome!" He reached out and gave Nan Shao a warm hug, then carefully looked at the wings behind Nan Shao and exclaimed: "You have wings now, so awesome!"

Nan Shao smiled, without explanation, just retracted his wings. At this time, seeing that the zombies had been dealt with, the atmosphere between the two sides seemed to be quite harmonious, Jiang Hong brought the three children over and helped Nan Shao pick up his clothes and brought them over.

Nan Shao took the clothes and put them on immediately.

Zhang Yi stared at Tan Kuifeng and Zhou Tong and found that they were much older than when they left Ziyun County. They were carrying a heavy sense of fatigue, as if they were under a mountain. Even if they seemed to be smiling heartily at this time, they could not dispel the vicissitudes of

life in their eyebrows and eyes. "Why are you here?" Zhang Yi was also very happy, but he didn't have much time to reminisce about the past. Instead, he looked at them all with injuries and said, "Let's find a place to treat your injuries first."

Tan Kuifeng's originally smiling face passed through a sad look. He didn't continue the topic, but said, "We live nearby. Let's go sit together and rest our feet." He seemed a little surprised that Zhang Yi and his friends brought a few children and women with them. However, he recognized Jiang Hong, so he guessed that they should have come from the small settlement over there. Originally, they were going to the small settlement, but now an accident occurred, so they had to temporarily cancel the trip.

Zhang Yi also wanted to go to their station to take a look, and he readily agreed when he heard it.

At this time, one of the five people went to dig out the crystal core of the mutant zombie and handed it to Tan Kuifeng, who then handed it to Nan Shao. Nan Shao was not polite and took it directly.

Everyone walked and talked, each recounting their experiences since they parted.

When they heard that Zhang Yi and his team had been to the Baixia base, Tan Kuifeng and the people behind him all showed a complicated look on their faces.

"It's a shame to say that we came from Baixia." Tan Kuifeng mentioned it briefly, without specifically saying what they experienced in Baixia. Those things were not very glorious to say.

Their experiences before establishing Baixia were not much different from what Shi Hao and others said. Later, they left Baixia. For some reasons, they didn't want to join a base, but they didn't want to leave the crowd too far. Finally, they came here and found that Jiang Hong and his team lived in a small settlement. There were not many people, their strength was average, and there was no danger. So they lived nearby, and from time to time they exchanged what they had, exchanged some information and supplies, and their life was relatively stable.

This time they were going there, but who knew they would encounter mutant zombies on the way, and almost all of them were wiped out.

"That settlement is gone." Zhang Yi said, looking at Jiang Hong and Zhao Xin, "There are only two of them left, and they hid in the pit to escape."

Tan Kuifeng gasped.

"It was the mutant zombie just now who did it. We were just about to come to your place to see if you are okay, and let you know by the way, so that we can at least be prepared." Zhang Yi continued, and then laughed, "Who knew it was an old friend."

They had arrived at the place while talking.

As Jiang Hong said before, it is a villa area, with hundreds of meters between villas, and they do not interfere with each other. The villas are built along the lake and up the mountain. There are hundreds of villas. You can imagine the beautiful mountains and rivers before the end of the world, which makes people envy. At this time, the lake surface is frozen, and covered with a thick layer of snow. It is empty, a rare place without mutant plants growing. There are many mutant plants around the villas, and some have even been completely occupied and destroyed by mutant plants, turning into ruins.

Tan Kuifeng and his friends lived in a villa next to the lake. There were no mutant plants nearby, or they had been cleared away by them, but it was covered with zombie limbs and broken legs and internal organs and blood. Except for the side facing the lake, the other three sides were blocked by mutant plants and villas, making it very secretive. They skied in and out of the lake, and with their own attention and the cover of wind and snow, they often did not leave any traces. This is why Jiang Hong and his friends knew that they lived in this area but did not know the specific location. It

was because Nan Shao and Zhang Yi were old acquaintances, and they were followed by women and children, so they took them back, otherwise they would have to say goodbye outside.

There were four, no, five people in the villa, only one of them did not show up. Among the four people, there were two men and women who were obviously older and had gray hair.

Seeing that Tan Kuifeng and his friends came back not long after they went out, and were injured, and brought a few strangers, they were all very surprised and hurriedly asked what happened. When they learned that they had encountered mutant zombies, their faces instantly became very ugly.

"Then why did you come back? When the corpse poison takes effect, won't it harm us?" Just when everyone else was silent, the middle-aged woman suddenly exploded and questioned sharply.

"Lifen!" The middle-aged man hurriedly shouted, trying to stop her from saying such chilling words.

"Why are you shouting? Am I wrong? Nannan spent so much effort to awaken their superpowers, but ended up raising a bunch of trash, none of whom could protect her, and now they are injured by zombies. Don't you know the consequences of being injured by zombies? Who of you doesn't know? How many of you can survive? If you are really men, you might as well end it as soon as possible to avoid dragging others down." The middle-aged woman started to scold without caring about other people's face and mood.

"Alright, alright..." The middle-aged man hurriedly dragged his wife away, and while walking, he turned back to apologize to Tan Kuifeng and the others: "Your Aunt Sun has this temper, she doesn't have bad intentions, don't bother with her, ah!"

Tan Kuifeng smiled, and suddenly said in a loud voice: "Auntie Sun, don't worry, we just came back to report the news, and we will commit suicide in a while, and we will never implicate you." The moment he finished saying this, who didn't know whether it was sincere or a joke, the whole person seemed to have figured something out, and suddenly became clear.

I don't know if it was because she was satisfied, or if she was really hard-mouthed and soft-hearted, the woman really shut up after hearing this, and let her husband drag her back to the house.

Except for Tan Kuifeng, the faces of the few people who stayed in the hall of the villa were very gloomy, which made Zhang Yi

and the others very embarrassed. "Okay, don't be so sullen. Since entering the end of the world, we knew that this day would come. If it weren't for the young lady, we don't know if we can survive until now." Tan Kuifeng said to the others, and then turned around and greeted Zhang Yi and the others.

"We also know that we shouldn't come back, but if the five of us leave, there will only be a few of them here, and the young lady is..." He explained to Zhang Yi and the others, and paused here before continuing: "If you don't have anywhere you want to go, just stay here. It's still dangerous to walk around." Obviously, he was still thinking of getting two powerful helpers for his companions, so that he wouldn't be unable to hold on after he and the others were killed.

"We are going to the Imperial Capital Base." Zhang Yi saw through his thoughts at a glance, but did not expose them, but just politely refused. And he didn't intend to leave Lan Lan here. As for Jiang Hong and Zhao Xin, it depends on Jiang Hong's intention.

A trace of disappointment flashed in Tan Kuifeng's eyes, but he didn't force it.

"Beijing, that's far away, and with a child, the road ahead may be difficult." He said, expressing his concern appropriately, and then changed the subject: "After this separation, there will really be no chance to meet in the future, so I'd like to wish you a safe journey here." There was a hint of farewell in his words.

"Brother Da Kui, being bitten by a zombie doesn't necessarily mean you will die. You may even be able to awaken your second superpower. Don't listen to that old woman. You have to hold on." The other two people who stayed in the villa couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted.

"Doesn't Baixia Base have a drug to remove the zombie virus? Didn't you bring some when you came out?" Zhang Yi asked.

"I left in a hurry and didn't have time to take care of it." Tan Kuifeng smiled bitterly. There are really some unspeakable secrets here. What didn't I take care of? A group of losers who were driven out of the base, who would give them the opportunity to consider taking something out.

Zhang Yi finally understood why they avoided the topic when he mentioned healing before, and their expressions were so miserable. It turned out that they felt that the result was already determined, so they simply stopped thinking about it and came back directly to arrange their funeral. Thinking of this, he glanced at Nan Shao. With Nan Shao around, these people probably won't die.

"It seems that I still have to take action." Nan Shao did not make trouble and smiled, "But let's make it clear in advance that if I take action, you will lose the chance to awaken your superpowers for the second time."

Tan Kuifeng and the others were a little confused and did not understand what he meant. After Zhang Yi explained, they were all overjoyed. They thought they were in a desperate situation, but now they suddenly saw hope of survival. No one could keep calm.

If it was just one person, Nan Shao could actually wait for the other party to fail to awaken and start to transform into a corpse before rescuing them. But there are five of them. If the corpse poison attacks at the same time, even if Nan Shao is very capable, he can't save them all. Therefore, they can only be given two choices now, either wait for the awakening of superpowers, or give up awakening and save their lives.

Interestingly, after calmly thinking, the five people who were still excited about being able to save their lives all chose to try to awaken for the second time.

"You know, I awakened my superpowers with the help of Miss Han Ling. In fact, it's not just me, all seven people present are like this." Tan Kuifeng explained. "I'm not afraid to tell you that we found out a long time ago that it's countless times harder for us to improve our strength than those who awaken themselves. Not only is the number of crystal cores we absorb every day limited, but the meridians can't handle a little more. What's even more frustrating is that after absorbing the same number of crystal cores, our ability to improve is only one-third or one-fourth of that of those who awaken naturally."

"Now these zombies and mutants are evolving faster and faster, and our strength is already a bit strained to cope with them. If it were normal, no one would have the courage to let the zombies grab them for the slim chance of awakening their abilities a second time, but now that we're injured and you're here, the chances of surviving the corpse poison are a little higher, so we still want to give it a try."

At the end, Tan Kuifeng was silent for a few seconds, and then added, "No one wants to be a weakling forever."

"Actually, you don't have to do this. I have two sets of exercises here. Even if you're not an awakener, you can become stronger and stronger if you practice them." Zhang Yi suggested.

After Tan Kuifeng carefully asked about the characteristics of the exercises and the time it would take to take effect, he discussed with the others for a while, and in the end the five of them didn't change their minds. One has an immediate effect, and the other requires time to slowly verify. It is clear at a glance which one to choose. It is like a person who is about to starve to death. If you give him a bunch of food that may contain toxins and kill people, and a job that can make him worry-free for life, he will definitely choose the former. The former may only be poisoned to death, but there is still a chance to survive, while the latter will starve to death directly, so there is no point in working.

Regarding their choice, Nan Shao did not comment, but just asked if Han Ling was here. After getting a positive answer and learning that the middle-aged couple was Han Ling's parents, he agreed to escort them against the zombie virus. Of course, it is an agreement, but it does not guarantee that all five people can survive safely.

Perhaps considering the thoughts of Han Ling's parents, they did not plan to stay in this villa until the threat of the zombie virus was completely eliminated, but moved to another villa that was a distance away from here. Originally, according to Tan Kuifeng and others, Zhang Yi and others stayed here, and only Nan Shao went with them. But Zhang Yi couldn't be separated from Nan Shao, and Jiang Hong and Lan Lan obviously trusted them more, so a bunch of people followed them.

"A bunch of idiots. Apart from Nan Nan's space, who else has the ability to remove the zombie virus? Don't be fooled and still be happy." Lan Lan's mother had been hiding behind the door and eavesdropping on their conversation. She saw through the window that all the women and children were following a few people with the zombie virus and ran over there, and couldn't help scolding.

"Don't say that. If they can really cure it, it will also be good for us. Our family of three is still counting on them for protection. Five people went at once, and the remaining two are probably useless." Han Changzheng persuaded.

Perhaps she felt that her husband's words made sense, Sun Lifen pursed her lips, but she didn't say anything sarcastic after all.

Because of Han Ling's existence and the situation of Tan Kuifeng and others, Zhang Yi and others had to stop and stay here. This time may be one day, or it may be a few days, so after entering the villa, they still spent some time to clean up the inside.

Tan Kuifeng and others also helped while the corpse poison had not yet taken effect. Except for Zhao Xin, who was squatting in a corner in a daze holding a puppy doll, everyone was busy. Looking at the lively scene, no one else felt anything, but Jiang Hong was a little dazed. For a moment, she had the illusion that she was going to settle down here for a long time.

Home, what a luxurious word. Who would have thought that more than a year ago, she still had a happy and complete family.

"There are still not enough people here. It would be fun if there were many people." Lan Lan passed by holding a pile of cotton cloth that she didn't know where she found it, and she didn't know who she was talking to.

Jiang Hong came back to her senses, smiled, and continued to wipe the dust. Before the end of the world, who didn't have a home?

"There are so many big rooms inside, Dad, which room are we going to sleep in tonight?" Zhang Ruiyang ran down the stairs, rushed to the door, and asked Zhang Yi who was chopping wood in the yard.

"Sleep in the living room." Zhang Yi said without looking back. There were only a few of us, so how could we dare to sleep separately in such a place? If something happened, we would not be able to help, not to mention that there were several hidden dangers of corpse poison at any time.

"Oh." Zhang Ruiyang was a little disappointed, but then he cheered up again, "Then I'll go find a mat." Sleeping on the floor in this weather is very cold, so it's best to put some wood boards or mattresses, sofa cushions or something like that underneath. He had already learned this after following his two fathers outside.

"Be careful." Zhang Yi said casually. But then again, he was still very relieved about his son.

Nan Shao carried four buckets of snow from the lake with two buckets in each hand. Tan Kuifeng and the others had already lit a fireplace, and the warmth gradually spread in the hall. Others were washing pots and preparing food, and soon the villa was ready for living.

In the evening, the first person with corpse poison began to appear. In order to prevent him from losing control of himself, everyone found a rope and tied him up directly. But they didn't put him in a separate room, so he stayed in the hall and was monitored and observed by Nan Shao at any time.

Everyone was injured by the zombies at about the same time, so after the first one, the second and third ones appeared soon, and the five people were soon tied up like dumplings and placed side by side. Because they were all still conscious, or in order to try to stay conscious, they would tease each other from time to time.

Zhang Yi and others sat a little away from them, doing what they had to do. Only Jiang Hong and Lan Lan saw this scene for the first time, and they looked over frequently, curious and a little worried.

"You have to hold on, or if you really turn into a zombie, I won't be polite. In addition to killing you, I will also cut open your heads and take out the crystal cores." Nan Shao threw a piece of firewood into the fireplace and said with a chuckle.

Tan Kuifeng and the others, whose foreheads were bulging with veins, heard this and their expressions suddenly became distorted. Two of them were originally a little fuzzy, but they were frightened and became clearer.

"Nan Shao, we have fought side by side after all... hehe... if my brother really turns into a zombie... if he turns into a zombie, it's not unfair for you to kill me... hehe... but can you please not... at least leave me a whole body..." Tan Kuifeng panted hard and struggled to speak. "

We can't waste it. Those are five mutant corpse crystals." Nan Shao replied with a smile.

It makes sense. Several people actually felt speechless.

I don't know whether it was because they couldn't accept the fate of having their skulls opened and their brains dug out after death, or because they had strong wills and Nan Shao's strong protection. After one night, all five of them escaped from danger. However, only two of them awakened their superpowers, and the other three gained nothing, including Tan Kuifeng and Zhou Tong.

There was definitely some disappointment, but more of it was happiness. After all, they had been in a life-and-death situation, but now they all survived, and two of them awakened their second superpowers. This was definitely a good thing rather than a bad thing for their small team.

The first thing they did after the corpse poison was to eat, and eat as much as they could. Before this, Zhang Yi, who had experience, had prepared enough hot food with Lan Lan and Jiang Hong. They had almost no rest all night, so they had breakfast together.

While they were eating, someone was looking around outside the villa. When they went out to see, it was one of the two people who stayed in the villa over there who came to inquire about Tan Kuifeng and the others. Seeing that all five of them were safe and sound, and even one of them had awakened again, they were overjoyed and ran back to report the news without stopping.

No one knows how Han Ling's parents reacted to the news. There was no special movement until noon. Zhang Yi and his friends thought it was abnormal, but Tan Kuifeng and his friends took it for granted. After asking around, they felt grateful to Nan Shao and told him the real situation of the team.

It turned out that when they were driven away from Baixia Base, only the seven of them followed Han Ling loyally and protected their family through thousands of hardships and dangers to get here. Han Ling was hit hard and was in a daze. He basically stopped fighting. The old couple, although they were also awakened, never participated in the battle. Not only that, there were only seven people, but at least two people had to protect them. This was also the main reason why they felt more and more powerless.

Now that Han Ling was not in charge, with their strength, they could have let go and left like the others. Even if they didn't leave, there was no need to indulge the old couple like that. But they were grateful for Han Ling's kindness, and even though they were indignant about Han Ling's mother's bossy attitude, they never had the intention to betray her, and they had no complaints about Han Ling. They thought there was nothing wrong with it, but if they knew their character, they would find something unusual.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao saw some clues, but they didn't think much about it. They just thought Han Ling was quite capable and could win people's hearts, and didn't think about anything else. They didn't know that there was a kind of fruit in the world that could control people's hearts and make others loyal to them.

"She was dazed on the way and often in a daze. When she settled down here, she locked herself in the house and didn't show up easily." When asked about Han Ling's situation, Tan Kuifeng didn't hide it because he knew that Nan Shao and Zhang Yi had had an intersection with her. He said with concern. Although

Nan Shao and Zhang Yi guessed that Han Ling would be depressed for a while after such a big fall, they didn't expect that she hadn't come out for so long. The two owed her a favor, and when they met at this time, they hoped to settle the cause and effect.

"Can we meet her?" Zhang Yi asked. He was not so bold as to think that he and Nan Shao could cheer Han Ling up, but it was necessary to meet her and see if he could help.

"This..." Tan Kuifeng scratched his scalp, and a look of embarrassment appeared on his face: "To be honest, it has been difficult for us to see her since we got here." He said so, but he did not say it directly, but said: "But let's go and ask. If Aunt Sun agrees, it should be possible."

In this regard, Zhang Yi had no other choice but to agree. They were in a hurry to repay the favor, but if the other party ignored them and made them unable to start, there was nothing they could do.

Tan Kuifeng went quickly and came back with a smile on his face.

"Aunt Sun asked you to go over for dinner." He did not say whether he could meet Han Ling, but at least he did not refuse.

When Zhang Yi and his friends went over and felt Sun Lifen's obviously much more enthusiastic attitude, they thought about it carefully and understood the reason. It was just because Nan Shao had the ability to remove the zombie virus that not only did their team not lose any members, but also had two people who had awakened for the second time. This was indeed very realistic, but there was nothing to criticize. After all, if you don't know each other, there's no need for people to be kind and considerate to you for no reason. As for her personality, there was even less need to comment on it.

Dinner was simple, just boiled noodles in plain water, dripped with a few drops of sesame oil and vinegar, and paired with a few pickled peppers and chopped pickles. The taste was good, but it was too plain. For survivors who have to ensure their physical strength at any time to deal with various emergencies and dangers, it is difficult to eat this kind of food if the quantity is not large enough. But looking at the reactions of Tan Kuifeng and others, they seemed to have gotten used to it. No wonder they looked malnourished.

During the meal, Sun Lifen didn't say much, and Han Changzheng basically didn't say a word. If I hadn't seen how she treated Tan Kuifeng and others before, it would be hard to imagine that she would be so selfish and cold.

Someone asked about the Hope Base and the situation outside, and Zhang Yi was very straightforward and said everything he could.

"Only two or three thousand people?" Upon hearing the population of Hope Base, one of them couldn't help but show a look of disappointment on his face. After all, they had built bases with a population hundreds of times larger than this one, so naturally their standards were higher.

"It's better to have fewer people, it's better to have fewer people, so that we won't be unable to manage it and it will become a mess." Zhou Tong, however, held a different idea and tried to smooth things over so as not to offend anyone. "What do you

mean by messy? What does it have to do with the number of people? As long as the management is not messed up, everyone lives with their heads on the line. Who wants to cause trouble?" The man retorted.

"What do you mean? Stop making indirect accusations!" Before Zhou Tong could say anything, someone was already unhappy.

"Don't you know what I mean? If you hadn't been so greedy, how could we have been kicked out?"

"What does that have to do with me? It was obviously Shi Hao, that traitor..."

After a disagreement, the two of them actually quarreled in front of Zhang Yi and the others. It was obvious that they had been full of resentment for a long time, but they had to endure it because of the situation. Now that they learned from the outside world that the various bases were developing well, they felt more and more unbalanced, and they couldn't help but get angry. But no matter how they blamed each other, no one blamed Han Ling.

"Enough!" Tan Kuifeng shouted, his face was extremely ugly. Perhaps because he had followed Han Ling for the longest time, he was still more prestigious among the few people. As soon as he opened his mouth, those who were still arguing shut up.

"The base that we worked so hard to build was taken away by someone, and we were driven out. It's inevitable that everyone is upset and complained a few words. I'm sorry to make you laugh." Tan Kuifeng turned to Zhang Yi and the others and said, "

Xiao Zhao is right. Shi Hao is an ungrateful and ungrateful person. Nannan treated him so well, how did he repay Nannan? If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have fallen to this point. If I had the ability, I would have cut him into pieces long ago. And you, a coward, your daughter was bullied, and you didn't even say a word. What's the use of you?" At this moment, Sun Lifen, who was eating noodles silently, suddenly spoke. At first, her tone was relatively calm, but before she finished her sentence, her emotions had become hysterical and full of resentment. As for the last sentence, it was obviously directed at Han Changzheng, but it also made people feel that it was implying that other people were useless.

Tan Kuifeng's smile became a little forced. He could stop other people, but he couldn't do that to Sun Lifen.

"What can I do if I can't beat him?" Han Changzheng was a little helpless. "I told Nannan a long time ago that the man has a wife and is not suitable. Don't mess with her. She just didn't listen. I..." "

It's a blessing for Nannan to like that ungrateful guy. If you want to blame someone, it's that ungrateful guy who doesn't know what's good for him..." Sun Lifen answered as a matter of course. Obviously in her heart, her daughter is the best girl in the world. Whoever she likes should kneel on the ground and shout long live the Lord three times to thank the Lord for his grace. If he has a wife, he should give up his wife, if he has a son, he should kill his son, and then clean himself up and offer himself to the Lord.

"If he abandons his loving wife for Nannan, there is no guarantee that he won't abandon Nannan for another woman in the future. Even if you snatch such a man, it's hard to be at ease." Han Changzheng sighed, and it seemed that he had persuaded her like this more than once.

"How can you say that about your own daughter? How can those women compare to our daughter?" Sun Lifen retorted sharply.

What did I say about my daughter? Han Changzheng was speechless. After more than 20 years of marriage, he found that he still couldn't keep up with his wife's brain circuit when she got angry.

Zhang Yi and the others were embarrassed to hear that the couple had started arguing again. Fortunately, Sun Lifen did not continue to talk, but put her bowl and chopsticks heavily on the table and stood up and left. Han Changzheng shouted twice but failed to stop her, so he quickly got up and chased after her.

Just when Zhang Yi and the others thought that she was angry and refused to eat, Tan Kuifeng explained in a low voice: "She went to prepare dinner for Miss Han. Miss Han's meals are all prepared by her."

Sure enough, not long after, Sun Lifen came out with a tray and walked upstairs. Han Changzheng turned back, smiled at everyone embarrassedly, and continued to eat his own food.

Who would have thought that just as everyone put down their bowls, Sun Lifen hurried down with a tray. His eyes swept across the faces of Nan Shao and the others, and finally fell on Zhang Yi. He tried to force a smile and walked over.

Chapter 350: Gathering in the Capital (13)

Zhang Yi stood up quickly. Although he didn't have a great impression of this elder sister who was only a few years older than him, he still had to be polite.

"You guys want to see Nannan, so please help me take her food." Sun Lifen put the tray on the table in front of Zhang Yi and said.

Zhang Yi was stunned for a moment, then smiled and agreed.

There was a bowl of noodles and two side dishes on the tray. One dish was thinly sliced ​​ham, and the other was fermented bean curd, which was actually better than what they had. If someone with a narrow mind had been replaced, he would definitely have some thoughts, but Zhang Yi only glanced at it and didn't take it to heart.

Nan Shao also stood up and prepared to go together.

"Just one person will do. My Nannan has a bad temper and she gets annoyed when there are too many people." Sun Lifen quickly stopped them, her words as impolite as ever. I don't know if it was because she was used to bossing people around in front of Tan Kuifeng and others, and felt that everyone should respect her.

Nan Shao raised his eyebrows slightly, a hint of coldness appeared at the corner of his lips, and he put his palm on Zhang Yi's shoulder, just as he was about to say that since there were too many people, you can go by yourself, and there is no need for my Ayi. He wanted to repay the favor, but it was completely out of his heart, not that he had to cry and beg like a bitch to get the job done. After all, Han Ling's words were just revealed by her unintentionally, and she immediately shut up after realizing that she had made a mistake. They owed her because they felt they owed her, not because they really owed her.

"Okay, I'll go." Zhang Yi spoke first and gave Nan Shao a look, indicating that he should be patient. The other party was probably out of habit, and it didn't touch the bottom line of the two, so there was no need to bother with it.

This might be the reason why Sun Lifen chose Zhang Yi instead of Nan Shao. No matter what the personality of a woman is, she has her own way of looking at people, or intuition in other words.

Of the two, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao, Nan Shao is far better than Zhang Yi in both appearance and strength. However, although he looks much more amiable after being transformed into a beast, his essence has not changed at all. He is still arrogant and few people can catch his eye. I don't know if Sun Lifen has noticed this. She just instinctively feels that people like Nan Shao should not be provoked.

Besides, she is not looking for a son-in-law, but just wants to find someone to divert her daughter's attention. Zhang Yi has a good appearance and temperament, is friendly, and has a little burden to hinder him. As for the fact that women have more common words, it does not apply to her daughter, so Jiang Hong and Lan Lan who came with her were completely ignored.

Nan Shao did not have to go to see Han Ling, but he was disgusted with Sun Lifen's attitude. Since Zhang Yi had said something, he would naturally not do anything. So he sat down lazily and coaxed Zhang Ruiyang over, and the father and son went to play. He was not worried about Zhang Yi. With Zhang Yi's current strength, Han Ling, whose spiritual veins were sealed, was really no match for him.

Zhang Yi picked up the tray and followed Sun Lifen upstairs.

"Han Ling, that damn girl, has been so depressed for so long. She doesn't eat, and she doesn't feel sorry for me, at my age, climbing up and down to bring her food every day. If she doesn't want to eat, then forget it. I'll see if she won't starve to death! She's really a debt collector!" Sun Lifen complained as she walked. Although her words were harsh, she couldn't hide the anxiety and distress in her eyes.

Zhang Yi was also a father, so he could naturally understand her feelings. Just as he was about to say a few words of comfort, she changed the subject herself: "You and Lingling are old acquaintances. Please help me persuade her. Maybe she will listen. If it keeps going on like this, how can her body bear it?"

"I'll try my best." Zhang Yi said, but he didn't dare to promise. They were not familiar with each other, so how could he persuade her? And what position should he use to persuade her?

Han Ling lived on the third floor. At the door, Sun Lifen stopped, with a trace of helplessness on her face.

"Okay, go in. I won't go, lest she gets angry."

Zhang Yi responded and knocked on the door twice. There was no response. He waited for a while and knocked a few more times. Then, under the urging of Sun Lifen's eyes, he pushed the door open and walked in. There was

a fireplace in the room, and neatly chopped firewood was piled beside the fireplace. As soon as the door opened, a warm air flow rushed towards him.

The room was very empty. There was nothing else except an easel placed by the window. There were waste drawing papers thrown everywhere on the carpet, some of which were crumpled into balls, and some were just spread out, and the contents of the paintings on them could be seen.

Han Ling was sitting in front of the easel by the window, painting attentively, and did not react to the knock on the door or Zhang Yi's entry.

Unexpectedly, although she was much thinner than she remembered, her mental state did not seem as bad as Tan Kuifeng and others said. Her expression was also very peaceful, without the slightest resentment. She was wearing a white sweater, blue jeans, her hair was loose, and she was not wearing any makeup. She gave off a very pure vibe, but she was no longer as immature as she was when they first met.

If Zhang Yi had not talked to Shi Hao and the others, seeing her like this, he would never have imagined that she would do such a thing, let alone that she had built a large base with more than 100,000 or 200,000 people.

Seeing that she would not shift her attention from the drawing paper for a while, Zhang Yi looked around and wanted to put the tray down first, but found that there was no place to put it. Helplessly, he could only walk over and free up one hand to gently tap twice on the back of her chair.

This time, Han Ling finally responded. She raised her head, and when she saw Zhang Yi, there was a hint of surprise in her eyes. She originally thought that it was her mother who came in.

"You are..." she asked, not recognizing Zhang Yi at first, but quickly reacted, "Oh, you are that... You look younger than before." She obviously did not remember Zhang Yi's name, but she still had an impression of him.

Zhang Yi didn't feel much about this, and introduced himself with a smile: "My name is Zhang Yi. Thanks to your reminder, I was able to save my life. Otherwise, I might not be standing in front of you now."

"I reminded you? What?" Han Ling's eyes showed a puzzled look. She didn't remember that she had ever reminded this person. At that time, her mind was on Nan Shao, and she didn't have time to pay attention to other people.

So Zhang Yi told Nan Shao that it was because of her reminder that he realized his special ability and that he was seriously injured and dying.

Han Ling was stunned for a moment, and then she smiled self-deprecatingly: "I didn't expect that I still did something useful for others."

Zhang Yi finally felt a hint of depression from her tone, but he didn't show sympathy or worry on his face, but said casually: "More than one thing."

Han Ling's eyes were confused, and she looked at Zhang Yi inquiringly: "More than one thing?"

Zhang Yi nodded, but didn't say what it was, and changed the subject: "Eat first, the noodles are getting cold." He looked left and right, but still couldn't find a suitable place to put the things down. Just as he was about to hold them like this, Han Ling, who had been sitting on the chair without moving, stood up.

"Just put it on the ground." She said, using her feet to put the waste paper aside, and then sat cross-legged directly on the ground.

Seeing this, Zhang Yi half squatted down and put the food plate in front of her as she said.

"My mother asked you to come." Han Ling first glanced at the things on the food plate, then reached out to pick up the bowl of noodles and said. It was not a question, but a statement, and it was obvious that she was very confident in the answer. As for how Zhang Yi came here, and whether there were others with him, she did not ask at all, and seemed to be unconcerned.

Zhang Yi thought about it, and also sat down cross-legged opposite her.

"She always likes to make a fuss. I had breakfast this morning, and I didn't eat just now because I wanted to paint while I was feeling it, not because I wanted to go on a hunger strike." Without waiting for Zhang Yi to answer, Han Ling spoke to herself.

"All parents are like this..." Zhang Yi smiled and replied. But he glanced at the drawing board and found a man without facial features drawn on it.

In fact, there was more than that. Some of the waste paper spread out on the ground were all portraits of people, both men and women, but without exception, the facial features were blank.

Han Ling did not comment on his words, lowered her head and began to eat noodles, without asking Zhang Yi if he had eaten it before or if he wanted to eat some.

"When the apocalypse began," she suddenly said after taking two bites.

Zhang Yi was thinking about how to open the topic without being abrupt, but he didn't expect her to take the initiative to speak. Naturally, he pricked up his ears and didn't dare to interrupt.

"From childhood to adulthood, what extracurricular classes to attend, what activities to participate in, what scores to get in the exams, what majors to study in which university, and who to make friends with, were all arranged by my mother. I didn't have to think about anything, just do it according to her plan."

"The only thing I had the courage to do behind my mother's back was to have a boyfriend whose family conditions were not so good, because he was very capable, good-looking, and especially doted on me." Han Ling stopped eating chopsticks, and her eyes fell blankly on the blazing flames in the fireplace.

Boyfriend? Zhang Yi keenly caught these three words, but whether in his memory or in the words of Shi Hao, Han's mother and others, it seemed that such a person had never appeared.

"In the end, she found out. She asked me to break up with him without even meeting him, and asked me not to fall in love before graduating from college. I didn't agree, and we had a quarrel for the first time because of this matter. Later, we even didn't go home during the holidays."

Zhang Yi found that he seemed to be unable to respond, so he simply pretended to listen carefully. In his heart, he secretly compared Han Ling's behavior when they first met with the life experience she just talked about, and always felt that there was something wrong between them.

Han Ling didn't seem to care whether he responded or not, and said to herself: "I don't really like Xiao Zhe that much, but he is very good to me. He helps me take care of everything I can think of and can't think of. He is really meticulous. Even sometimes I make unreasonable demands that he will try his best to meet. But later, he had power in his hands, but he found another woman behind my back..." At this point, she unconsciously put down the bowl, and there was still a lot of noodles left in the bowl.

Zhang Yi heard this and thought he finally understood why his ex-boyfriend didn't show up, but he didn't know that the truth was a lifetime away.

"I once asked Xiao Zhe to save a woman named Xu Fengling. She was beautiful, gentle and considerate. It was comfortable to get along with her. I liked to tell her my secrets and let her live with us. I treated her like my own sister. But she climbed onto Xiao Zhe's bed and tricked me into a pile of zombies."

Hearing this, Zhang Yi felt a toothache for some reason. This girl's fate is good or bad, and it seems to be quite unpleasant. She always meets the wrong people. But in the final analysis, I am afraid that most of the reasons are due to being protected too well and being easily credulous.

Han Ling poked the noodles in the bowl unconsciously with chopsticks. Her expression was very calm, almost indifferent, as if she was talking about someone else's business, without any resentment or anger.

"There are always good people in this world." Zhang Yi saw her stop, so he continued dryly, and only after he said it did he feel that the sentence was a bit unskillful.

"Yes, there are good people. Shi Hao is a very good person." Unexpectedly, Han Ling agreed with him, but then mentioned a name that Zhang Yi thought was taboo. When she said this name, her emotions finally fluctuated slightly, but it was not resentment, but melancholy. Melancholy, she picked up the bowl again and began to eat the noodles that had become a mess and cold.

"Don't eat this, I'll ask someone to cook it for you." Zhang Yi couldn't bear it anymore and said.

Han Ling shook her head, "It can't be wasted." Then she continued the previous topic: "Shi Hao is the current person in charge of Baixia Base. I think they should have mentioned it to you."

When she said the four words "can't be wasted", Zhang Yi felt mixed emotions in his heart. His mind floated up the short experience of getting along in Ziyun County. He always felt that she was not the same person at that time and now.

"We went to Baixia a year ago." He said frankly.

Han Ling paused, and his eyes, which had been dull since they met, seemed to be filled with life and suddenly became so smart.

"He... I mean, how is Shi Hao? Is he good?"

Zhang Yi felt that this question was a bit difficult to answer. It was hard to define whether Shi Hao was good or bad. If he was good, he was as depressed as a dead man. If he was not good, he could live a normal life and was in good health. So in the end, he answered inexplicably: "Shi Hao managed the Baixia base very well."

Han Ling was stunned, and then a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes. He nodded and said, "He was originally the leader of a large base, so his ability is naturally not bad." At this point, he couldn't help but sighed softly.

This sentence made Zhang Yi feel the same disharmony as before, but he couldn't figure out what the problem was.

"Shi Hao is a very good person. He is very talented and capable. He is also good to his wife and can resist temptation. It is actually a bit lucky to meet him. At the beginning, I just wanted to subdue him and let him use me, but who knew that he didn't want to. Starting with his wife, his wife is a person who regards her husband as the sky and has no opinion. I can't do anything with her." Speaking of Shi Hao's wife, Han Ling did not hide the disgust and contempt in his eyes. I don't know if it was because of the experience of that best friend, or out of jealousy and prejudice, she obviously had a bad impression of Qin Changchuan, and until now she couldn't judge this person correctly.

"Later, I got angry, and thought of Xiao Zhe's betrayal, so I wanted to prove to Qin Changchuan and myself that there is no man in the world who doesn't cheat, it just depends on whether the temptation is enough. I want to prove that it's not that I'm unlucky to meet Xiao Zhe, but because all men in the world are the same. But then it gradually changed, I seem to really like this person."

Hearing this, Zhang Yi felt that she had gone crazy. Or maybe it's actually the common trait of most human beings. They can't bear to see others do well, and they are unlucky, so they wish everyone would follow suit. It's just that most people will restrain it with reason and inner moral standards, and will not put it into action, so it's just a bad idea, like most messed up ideas, it arises and disappears quickly, and it won't have any impact on others or themselves. Only a small number of people, because of various reasons of their nature, will let this idea grow and thrive, and then do things that harm others and themselves. Han Ling is obviously the latter case. Because she was protected too well since she was a child, she can't stand setbacks, which makes her personality a little extreme.

"In fact, I was also very conflicted at that time. I wanted Shi Hao to accept me, but I was also worried that he would accept me." Han Ling half-closed her eyes, as if she had returned to the time when she was pestering Shi Hao. A slightly sweet smile appeared on her face. Obviously, that memory was not as unbearable for her as her mother and others thought. "I want him to accept me, naturally because I like him, and I also hope that my hard work will not be in vain; I am worried that he will really accept me, because in that case, he will be no different from Xiao Zhe, so how can I like him?"

This is more than a contradiction, it is simply a dead end that can't be gotten out. Zhang Yi thought to himself, and felt a headache for her. But at the same time, he felt that it was a bit inappropriate for her to tell him these things. But considering the purpose of her coming here, it is not good to just withdraw or talk about something else, so he can only continue to listen.

"So he was hanging there like this, neither getting up nor down, until he wanted to take his wife and his men to leave the base we built together. I couldn't help it, and felt that I had to keep him here no matter what. As for what to do after he stays, I haven't figured it out yet. I didn't expect something like that to happen, let alone kill his wife." Han Ling's voice gradually faded, as if he hadn't realized the root of the problem.

Zhang Yi remained silent. It was impossible for him to agree with such behavior, but it seemed unnecessary to righteously accuse her of doing something wrong. The matter had already passed, and nothing could bring the dead back to life. In one's lifetime, some mistakes can be made up for, but some cannot.

"I know he was resentful when he was with me, but I was still very happy because I finally got him, and he didn't betray his wife. I thought people are made of flesh and blood, and as long as I treated him sincerely, he would slowly accept me over time. I didn't expect that he hated me so much that he didn't even want to give me more time. In two or three months, he came up with the most vicious means to break my dream." At this point, Han Ling's slightly brighter look when he heard Shi Hao's name just now extinguished like a candle, and his expression returned to calm and cold.

"Cruel, but not vicious." Zhang Yi whispered.

Han Ling looked at him, and a cold light flashed in his eyes: "You know everything?"

Zhang Yi nodded: "If he was really vicious, he wouldn't let your family and you leave without any harm, and allow you to take some of your men away." Logically, he only needed to perfunctorily say a few words to follow her thoughts at this time, and there would be nothing to worry about. There was no need to make her unhappy. But the cause and effect between them was not ordinary after all, so even if it would make people unhappy, he decided to speak from the heart and say a few unpleasant truths.

"He took away my space, my base, and sealed my spirit veins, making me like a useless person. It would be better to kill me directly..." Han Ling's face was stern. Obviously, although he looked calm at the beginning, the resentment in his heart had not completely dissipated.

"His wife is dead." Zhang Yi said word by word, his voice was not loud, but it was enough to reach Han Ling's ears, who seemed to be losing control.

Han Ling's voice stopped abruptly and he didn't speak again for a long time.

According to Zhang Yi's original idea, if Han Ling showed that Qin Changchuan's death was not her responsibility when she heard his words, or if she knew that she caused the tragedy but didn't take it to heart, he would give up and find an excuse to withdraw. If a person has lost the most basic sense of morality and right and wrong, then it is useless to say anything. Fortunately, she was obviously not like that.

"Your spirit veins are just sealed, but your supernatural powers are still there. How dare you say you are a useless person? Among the people who are alive now, how many of them have taken that path?" Zhang Yi changed the subject and did not dwell on the grievances between Han Ling and Shi Hao, but talked about the facts. "Besides, your parents are both here, and there are several loyal subordinates who never leave you. These are already something that most survivors cannot exchange their lives for..." When he said this, his voice became softer, but one could still hear the deep sadness in it.

In the end of the world, many families were broken up and people died. It was extremely lucky for the survivors to have a relative to accompany them, not to mention that all three of them were here. So even if the space was taken away, and the strength he cultivated because of the space, everything Han Ling has now is still far more than many people.

"So I should thank him for not killing everyone?" Han Ling sneered.

"Shouldn't I?" Zhang Yi frowned. Although he is not a cruel person, if someone kills his beloved, he will kill the other person no matter how hard he tries. In comparison, Shi Hao's approach can really be considered very gentle, no matter what his purpose is. If you are unwilling to admit even this, it will probably be difficult to crawl out of the past.

"No..." Han Ling shook her head, as if she wanted to refute, but suddenly she fell silent as if she remembered something. After a while, she continued again, but this time her tone was much more affirmative: "I won't thank him. The reason why he did this was not because he was soft-hearted, nor because he had feelings for me and couldn't do it, but because he was loyal to his own morals and principles. Why should I thank him?"

Zhang Yi was speechless.

Fortunately, Han Ling seemed to have figured something out when she said this, and her tone was very calm. After she finished speaking, she suddenly put down the bowl, stood up and returned to the easel, picked up the pen and quickly sketched on the painting.

Zhang Yi glanced casually and found that the bowl and plate on the tray had been eaten clean at some point, which surprised him a little. Thinking that the conversation between the two should have ended here, he picked up the tray and stood up. Just as he was about to say goodbye, he saw her stop writing.

The facial features that were originally empty in the painting had been filled in, and it was Shi Hao's appearance. However, although his expression looked distant and cold, there was still a stubborn and rigorous yet gentle taste, which was different from the dead look in Zhang Yi's memory.

Han Ling took a look at the painting he had finished, then suddenly raised his hand and tore it off, walked to the fireplace and threw it in. The flames ignited and engulfed the person in the painting in an instant.

"Thank you!" Han Ling was stunned for a while, then turned around and said to Zhang Yi solemnly.

"Thank me for what?" Zhang Yi couldn't think of what he had done to deserve thanks.

Han Ling didn't answer immediately, but bent down to pick up a piece of waste paper from the ground, spread it out, shook it under Zhang Yi's eyes, and threw it into the fireplace again without waiting for him to reach out to take it. But Zhang Yi could see clearly that there was also a portrait with blank facial features on it.

"When I was expelled from the Baixia Base, those who usually surrounded me and showed me courtesy either abandoned me directly or took advantage of my misfortune." Han Ling said as he began to pick up the waste paper on the ground. Zhang

Yi didn't think much about it. He looked around and didn't see anything like a broom, so he put down the tray and helped pick it up.

"I've been thinking, is it because I'm such a failure as a person that I've been deserted by my friends and relatives?" Han Ling said self-deprecatingly. "

Not to that extent, at least Tan Kuifeng and the others have been following you." Zhang Yi disagreed with her words and reminded her.

"They... they are different." Hearing this, Han Ling paused and smiled reluctantly.

Zhang Yi was puzzled and was about to ask what was different, but she had changed the subject.

"I have a special ability. I can use a pen to draw anyone I've seen, even if I've only seen them once. Of course, this is time-limited. For familiar people, even if it's been three or five years, I can still draw them almost exactly based on my memory. I can remember strangers for a shorter time, but I can still keep my memory for three to five months. If it's longer, it will become blurred."

Zhang Yi couldn't help but look at the waste paper he had gathered in his hand and found that the people drawn on it were old and young, male and female, but none of the faces were filled in.

"However, some time ago, I suddenly found that I couldn't remember what other people looked like. Xiao Zhe, Xu Fengling, Shi Hao, those who betrayed me, those who didn't, including my parents, their faces were all distorted light and shadow in my mind. I didn't dare to look at them at all, for fear that I would go crazy." Han Ling laughed at this, and his smile was very bright, and there was no sign that he had been trapped in the dark quagmire of nightmare-like emotions and couldn't extricate himself.

"Distorted light and shadow?" Zhang Yi was a little confused.

"Yes. Every time I look over, or when I recall, it's like countless faces appear on their faces, these faces replace each other, overlap, merge, and twist into a ball. I don't know which face is the real them, I can't tell, but the more I look at it, the stranger it becomes, and the more I look at it, the scarier it becomes..."

Listening to Han Ling's murmur like a dream, Zhang Yi realized at this time that Tan Kuifeng and others' worries were not a fuss. Han Ling was obviously in a very dangerous mental state, and if he was not careful, he might end up hurting himself.

"But just now I suddenly understood that it doesn't matter how many faces they have, the side that they show to me is the real them in my eyes. As for the other sides, I can't see them, so what does it have to do with me. Just like Shi Hao, he is gentle, affectionate and loyal to Qin Changchuan, but this side of him will never appear when facing me, and I think that is the real him, and therefore want to take him as my own, isn't that wishful thinking? And my parents, no matter how they treat outsiders, no matter how strange their tempers become, their love for me has never changed, and it is without reservation; and Tan Kuifeng and the others..." Han Ling's voice suddenly became sonorous, like the scorching sun breaking through the clouds, and the world was bright and warm.

Zhang Yi stood up unconsciously, watching this girl, whom he had only met twice but had heard a lot about, transforming from a cocoon into a butterfly in front of him. He didn't know if he really played a role in this, but he was actually very relieved. Of course, if it was Shi Hao, he probably wouldn't be happy to see her let it go. Different positions determine different mentalities. Zhang Yi is not a victim, but has received her kindness. Naturally, he is willing to see her grow up and live a better life without hurting others.

"So I want to thank you. If you hadn't listened to me, if you hadn't refuted me just now, but followed my words, maybe I would never be able to complete a painting." Han Ling looked at Zhang Yi and said very seriously.

Zhang Yi heard that what she meant by completing a painting was actually to get out of that chaotic and dark mood.

"I think the people you should thank the most are not me, but your parents, and Tan Kuifeng and others." After thinking about it, he did not accept the thanks. His role was just the finishing touch, which anyone could have done, but the accumulation and support before were the people around her who had never left her and never complained. Without these people, she might be in a different state now, or even long gone.

Han Ling smiled and did not refute. In fact, only she knew that since the accident, her parents and Tan Kuifeng and others had always been cautious and obedient to her, fearing that something bad would happen to her. It was good that they did not curse Shi Hao in her ears every day, not to mention trying to persuade her against her will. Besides, she had no way to tell them what was in her mind, as they were too familiar with each other and could not say it out loud.

Zhang Yi was different. Zhang Yi was almost a stranger to her, and they might not have any intersection in the future. There was no psychological barrier for her to distinguish how many faces there were, and she did not need to worry about anything when she talked. It was for this reason that she would catch him and talk to him without caring about anything, and it was this kind of reckless confession that allowed her to release her long-suppressed emotions and gain enlightenment.

The role played by Zhang Yi in this is roughly equivalent to that of a tree hole. Of course, not everyone can play this role. Different people, different temperaments, different personalities, and different worldviews may lead to completely different results. So Han Ling's thanks to Zhang Yi are indeed from the bottom of her heart.

"Yes, I'll go sit downstairs now. It's been a long time since I got together with them to talk." Han Ling said. Her parents and Tan Kuifeng are her own family to her, so there is no need to say thank you, but it is right to make them feel at ease. When

the two of them went out of the door, they saw Sun Lifen running to the corridor with her back to them in a hurry.

"Mom..." Han Ling shouted, and before she finished her voice, she saw Sun Lifen screaming, her feet twisted, and she fell. She hurriedly ran up to help her up.

"I am... I am..." Sun Lifen hurriedly wanted to put aside the fact that she had been eavesdropping outside, but at the moment, she couldn't think of an excuse.

"Are you twisted?" Han Ling interrupted her and asked anxiously.

"It's okay, it's okay, I just came up to see if you've finished eating." After the pause, Sun Lifen finally came up with a lame excuse, not even thinking about the fact that she had just run towards the stairs.

"I've finished eating, I'm very full." Han Ling didn't expose her, and answered softly.

For some reason, Sun Lifen's eyes were already red as if she had cried, and when she heard her words, she burst into tears, hugged Han Ling and kept calling her baby sweetheart.

"Baby, mom didn't know you were so sad, why didn't you tell mom..."

Han Ling was embarrassed at first, and then her eyes also turned red. She was raised to be spoiled since she was a child. If she didn't act like a spoiled child when talking to her parents, she would be very direct. She never knew what it meant to be tactful and tolerant. If it was before, she would probably expose her mother's lies very rudely, or even lose her temper for it, but now she is like a reborn person, and she has begun to understand and be considerate of others. However, for parents, perhaps few of them are willing to see their children grow up in this way.

"Mom, what's so hard about this? You always have to pay a price for doing something wrong. Don't cry, you'll be laughed at." She held back her tears and smiled. She finally admitted that she had done something wrong.

"I wonder who dares to laugh... Did you do something wrong? What did you do wrong? It was all because of Shi Hao..." Sun Lifen was like a child at this time.

"Mom--" Han Ling smiled bitterly. She knew that her mother was responsible for her self-centered character and didn't know how to sympathize with others, but she couldn't blame her anyway. It was just because that was her mother's way of loving her.

"Okay, okay, Mom won't say anything, Mom won't say anything, isn't it hard to find a good man? We don't want that bastard." Sun Lifen was obviously still entangled in Shi Hao's matter, but she was worried that her daughter would be the same. Even though she was full of anger in her heart, she still kept quiet.

Han Ling glanced at the back of Zhang Yi who had quietly left, and a trace of gratitude appeared in his eyes. He didn't correct his mother's words, lest it would never end.

Sun Lifen wiped away her tears and looked at her daughter carefully a few more times. Seeing that she seemed to be well again, she smiled and held her daughter's hand tightly.

Chapter 351: Gathering in the Imperial City (14)

Zhang Yi came downstairs and nodded slightly to Nan Shao, who first noticed him, indicating that the work was done. Then Nan Shao stood up, said goodbye to Tan Kuifeng and the others, and prepared to go back to the villa that he had packed up earlier to rest.

It was already dark at this time, and it would be impossible to see any later, so Tan Kuifeng and the others did not try to stop them and sent them outside the villa.

After they were out of Tan Kuifeng's sight, Nan Shao informed Zhang Yi and left the team alone. When Zhang Yi and the others returned to the place, they lit the fireplace and checked the villa inside and out, up and down, to eliminate any possible dangers. When they gathered in the hall, he also came back carrying a mutant beast the size of a goat.

"Lucky, I didn't walk far before I encountered this thing." Nan Shao smiled. He did not go outside, but started to skin it in the hall.

Jiang Hong had only been with Zhang Yi and the others for two days, and she was a little confused as to why Nan Shao went to hunt mutant beasts and bring them back. Lan Lan, on the other hand, was already squatting beside Nan Shao with a greedy look on her face, helping to pass the knife and the basin, very attentive.

It turned out that although Zhang Yi and his companions would carry some food with them for emergency use, most of the time they ate what they had collected temporarily, and they often paired it with the meat of mutant beasts and the fruits, roots, and leaves of mutant plants. The source of meat was sometimes obtained by killing mutant beasts encountered on the road. If they did not encounter any, they would go hunting specifically after setting up camp when conditions permitted. They still ate rice and flour, but they had already implicitly regarded mutant creatures as their main source of food.

Lan Lan followed them and naturally ate a lot of mutant beast meat and mutant plants. At first, she was a little disgusted and nauseated, but now she has gradually gotten used to it. Especially today, she had a vegetarian dinner, and the amount was not much, so she felt that her stomach was still empty. When she saw the mutant beasts brought back by Nan Shao, she automatically turned them into fragrant barbecue and braised pork cubes, and she was very greedy.

"Can mutant creatures be eaten?" After finding out what was going on, Jiang Hong's face was shocked. It's not her fault that she is ignorant. It's just that she is isolated from the news. In addition, although the food in her settlement has not been particularly sufficient, there is always food, so no one has thought of eating mutant creatures. It's a bit bitter to learn about this now. If they had known this earlier, they wouldn't have to live so poorly. Maybe because eating mutant creatures regularly can change their physique, everyone's strength is stronger than it is now. Maybe they can't kill the mutant zombie, but at least a few more people can escape.

Of course, this is just her fantasy. Whether eating mutant creatures really has such a big impact on their small settlement is no longer verifiable.

"What's the situation over there?" Nan Shao asked Zhang Yi while skillfully picking meat.

"I got stuck in a dead end for a while, and it's time to get out." Knowing that he was asking about Han Ling, Zhang Yi answered. Although Han Ling thanked him, he dared not take credit for her successful transformation after breaking free from the shadow of the past. In fact, her mental state had reached that critical point. With or without him, she could break out of the cocoon by herself when the time came. His appearance was at most a trigger.

"Well..." Nan Shao lowered his head and cut off the head of the mutant beast and threw it aside. "Ask them if they want to leave here and go to the Imperial Capital Base. We can escort them for a while. Hope Base or Yunzhou Base is also fine. If they don't want to leave, then see if anyone wants to try the second awakening." This is the best way he can think of to repay. Even though he doesn't like Han Ling's mother, it's okay to endure for a while.

"Okay, ask tomorrow." Zhang Yi agreed.

However, to their surprise, Han Ling rejected their offer to escort her. As for the second awakening, her family of three didn't need it, but the other two were willing to try it. So they stayed for two more days, and the result was not bad. One of them had a power mutation and the other awakened the wood power.

As humans become more familiar with the end of the world, they have gradually discovered that once awakened, there are almost no useless abilities. It just depends on how to use them. Therefore, the two awakened people were very happy, while Tan Kuifeng and the other two who had never awakened for the second time were envious. If they didn't know what the consequences would be if they were infected with the zombie virus again, they would have dragged Nan Shao to try again.

In this way, the strength of Han Ling's team has been greatly improved. Even if she doesn't want to escort them, Nan Shao and Zhang Yi have still repaid her favor. From now on, they don't need to think about this matter anymore. Since

the matter here is settled, there is naturally no need for them to delay any longer, and they immediately say goodbye to Han Ling and the others.

"That..." Just as they turned around to leave, Han Ling, who came to see them off, suddenly shouted. Except for Zhao Xin, the group of people, big and small, turned back at the same time, and the scene was very funny.

Han Ling didn't notice this. She looked hesitant, as if she was hesitating whether to say anything.

"Is there anything else?" Zhang Yi asked gently, thinking that she needed help but was embarrassed to ask.

Han Ling's eyes lingered on Nan Shao's arm on Zhang Yi's shoulders for a moment, hesitated, and asked: "That day you said I did more than one good thing, what else?"

Her question seemed inconsistent with the message revealed by her eyes, but Zhang Yi still answered seriously.

"You collected a lot of supplies and built a large survivor base, so that hundreds of thousands of survivors can live a stable life." He answered quickly, obviously thinking so in his heart, and not perfunctorily. To be honest, there is also a space that can provide an endless supply of food for hundreds of thousands of people, which is also the basis for the Baixia base to live better than other places. It's just that it's hard to say.

"Is that also true? Even without me, Shi Hao can do this, and he can do it better than me." Han Ling said, her voice was very light, but her expression still looked very happy.

Just when Zhang Yi wanted to say a few more affirmative words in response to her answer, she spoke again, but her words were completely unrelated, and she asked Nan Shao: "What is the relationship between you two?" There was a very obvious pause in the middle. She originally wanted to ask if they were a couple, but she was afraid that she would make a mistake and make people angry, so she temporarily changed the way of asking.

To be honest, she thought she had asked very tactfully, but it was still very stiff and inappropriate to others. It was that Nan Shao and Zhang Yi were very tolerant of her because they remembered the past and didn't take it to heart. If it were someone else who was not familiar with her, even if it was not obvious on the surface, they would probably not be too comfortable in their hearts.

"We are married." Nan Shao looked at Zhang Yi unconsciously, and Zhang Yi happened to look over. The two couldn't help but smile at each other, and a tacit understanding came naturally. Nan Shao answered.

Hearing this answer, Han Ling didn't seem too surprised. After all, the intimate atmosphere between the two could be felt by anyone who was not too slow, but there was a flash of realization in her eyes, as if she had figured something out.

"Then be careful when you go to the capital. If you can reach the Imperial Capital Base safely, you might as well stay there... If you don't want to, then go to Baixia Base or Qinghe Base. These two bases are relatively well developed and nothing major should happen within a year..." Han Ling was thinking about her words. Out of gratitude, she wanted to remind them of the bad luck they might encounter, but because she didn't know what happened at the time, she had no way to remind them. She was not even sure about what she said.

She lived to the end of the world for three years in her previous life. Because Xiao Zhe protected her well, she didn't see many cruel things, but it also limited her growth and knowledge. She knew too little. However, she once saw a base distribution map at that time from Xiao Zhe, which marked the characteristics of each base, the approximate number of people and the development prospects. She didn't see the Hope Base there.

Of course, this does not rule out the factor of missing due to the small number of people in the hidden place, but the possibility is very small, because even some small settlements of hundreds of people are marked, and there are more hidden small bases. Therefore, the most likely possibility is that when this distribution map was made, the Hope Base no longer existed.

Besides, the Nan Shao she had seen in her previous life was completely different from the one she had seen now. This phenomenon could only be caused by a major accident, most likely a major accident that affected the people closest to her, because at that time, he was healthy and had strong supernatural powers, so she ruled out his own problems.

Combining these two situations, she concluded that either the Hope Base was destroyed, or something happened, causing him to lose the person he cared about the most, such as Zhang Yi.

It was based on this speculation that she rejected their good intentions to escort her without even thinking about it. She was not sure if they had an accident during this period, and she did not dare to take the risk.

But after all, she did not know what had happened, and she could not tell them about her rebirth, so she could only remind them in a hint way, and do her best. Whether she could avoid it depended on luck.

"Are you saying that something will happen to our base within a year?" Because of the previous experience, Zhang Yi and the others still attached great importance to her reminder, and directly extracted the information revealed in her words and asked.

"I'm not sure." Han Ling shook her head, but did not deny it.

Nan Shao and Zhang Yi asked a few more questions, but found that she didn't seem to be able to explain it clearly. It was more like a guess or a premonition, so they gave up. However, they still took her reminder to heart. It's just that they didn't know that Han Ling came to this conclusion from the position of a reborn person, and the reality had already changed like a domino effect because of her unintentional reminder.

In the previous life, because Nan Shao always thought that he was a plant, he was powerless when Zhang Yi was seriously injured for the first time. He could only watch his lover die in his arms, and he didn't even have time to express his feelings. Later, Zhang Ruiyang and Routa Chen died in the flying squirrel disaster, and Li Muran disappeared. He was disheartened and did not follow Shi Pengsan and others to escape, but stayed in Ziyun alone. He was confused for a long time. Later, he accidentally discovered that his own superpowers were special. Not only did he not feel happy about it, but he regretted it even more. So unlike this life, he didn't focus on improving the healing function of superpowers, but took the path of killing. This is also the main reason why Han Ling felt that there was an invisible barrier around him when she saw him.

Because she did not bring Zhang Ruiyang and Dudu, Li Muran was unable to cross to the vicinity of the Dongzhou base, but fell into the mutant jungle of the deserted island. She was alone and unable to compete with the wild beasts. She could not use her supernatural powers as she wished, and was eventually captured by the mutant plants and died silently.

She did not go to Dongzhou, so she naturally did not meet the sick ghost, let alone save Song Yan, so Song Yan also died in the research institute, let alone establish a hope base. Similarly, because of this, Lin An was able to continue his experiments without becoming a beastman.

It can be said that Han Ling's reminder at the beginning changed the fate of many people. And all the beneficiaries and victims, including herself, did not know about this.

She still thought according to the development trajectory before everything changed, and it was inevitable that she would make wrong predictions. Fortunately, she had learned to be cautious and did not say everything, so it only made people more vigilant, but did not cause too much trouble.

Setting off on the journey again, Nan Shao and Zhang Yi were more cautious than before because of Han Ling's words, and tried not to cause any trouble. However, because of Lan Lan, Jiang Hong and Zhao Xin's presence, their speed was still slowed down a lot, and it took more than two months to reach the destination.

Fortunately, the journey was smooth and there were no more troubles.

Standing in the snow, looking at the tall walls of the imperial capital base in the distance and the lively scene of people and cars coming and going on the road, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and Jiang Hong and Lan Lan, who had been away from the crowd for nearly two years, were already in tears.

Chapter 352: Gathering in the Imperial Capital (15)

The Imperial Capital Base is still the same as before. All people entering and leaving need to be tested to prevent survivors from bringing in the zombie virus and causing unnecessary losses. If you want to stay in the base, you also need to apply for a residence permit, register your superpowers, special talents, age, gender, etc.

Among Zhang Yi's group, only Nan Shao and Jiang Hong reported their superpowers. Nan Shao reported gold superpowers, and did not mention life superpowers. Lan Lan is also an awakener, but her superpowers are really hard to say, so they can only keep it secret.

After traveling together for several months, although they are not sure about Lan Lan's superpowers, they have some guesses. If I have to use a word to describe it, it is the transfer of bad luck. The actual situation is that whenever she encounters bad things, they will be resolved for various reasons. It is not to say that it can be completely resolved, but in general, it will replace the fatal danger with a very small price such as skin injuries. Moreover, all of this happens unconsciously and is completely uncontrollable. It is more difficult to grasp than Li Muran's superpowers.

Lan Lan's ability seems to be more than just this. She is also very sensitive to the breath of death. For example, she discovered the small settlement where Jiang Hong was because of this. This situation happened twice afterwards. However, because the number of survivors who died was in the single digits, not as many as in the settlement where Jiang Hong and her friends lived, it felt vague and even she herself was unsure.

Another point that seemed mysterious to Zhang Yi and the others was the large and small dolls hanging on her body and the puppy doll that Zhao Xin had been holding. Although they all agreed that there was something wrong with her mental state, seeing her talking to the dolls in a serious manner and seeing Zhao Xin treating the tattered and bloodstained puppy as a treasure because of her words, they couldn't help but wonder if this was one of the effects of her ability.

Lan Lan's ability was generally too magical and there had never been any precedent. If she reported it like this, she would definitely be regarded as a liar. The main thing is that this matter is not easy to verify. You can't let her be trapped in death artificially. No matter Zhang Yi and others or Lan Lan herself can't be sure whether her ability can really save the danger. If not, it will be a lot of fun.

Therefore, after thinking about it, it was decided to fill in the unawakened. Anyway, there are already two people with abilities in the team, and they can be brought in directly in the name of family members.

As for Dudu, after confirming that Lan Lan and Jiang Hong can be trusted, Dudu no longer hides and joins the team directly. After getting a pet card at this time, he followed the group into the base. It must be said that this is still thanks to Wu Zong's long-term training of mutant beasts as pets. People in the Imperial Capital Base are used to it. At most, they look at it with a little envy. After all, not everyone can have a mutant beast pet.

Considering that they will have to stay in the Imperial Capital Base for several months until Song Yan and others come, plus there is the problem of resettlement of Lan Lan, Jiang Hong and Zhao Xin, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao simply decided to buy a house. Anyway, they are not short of crystal cores.

Originally, the two planned to leave Lan Lan and the others there if they came across a survivor base on the way. However, they didn't come across a single base, not even a small base with hundreds or thousands of people. It was not known whether the number of survivors was too small, so there were not many bases built, or whether the route they took was just wrong. In the end, they had to take the three of them to the imperial capital.

After all, the imperial capital is different from other places. Walking on the wide and clean streets, you can see the hustle and bustle of traffic, tall buildings, and noisy shops. In a trance, it makes people feel like they have returned to the pre-apocalyptic world. However, most of the people they met on the road carried weapons with them, and more or less had some bloody aura, which brought them back to reality in an instant.

According to the rental and purchase address marked on the base check-in guide obtained when filling out the information and getting the temporary residence permit, they went there. It was not far from the base gate, and it took less than five minutes to walk. It was obviously for the convenience of the new survivors.

Unlike the deserted Baixia base, the rental and purchase office in the imperial capital was bustling with people coming and going. Zhang Yi and his friends waited for more than ten minutes before someone was available to receive them.

"Want to buy a house? Here, the price and location are marked here, take a look, and I'll handle the formalities for you." When the man heard that they wanted to buy a house, he threw them a booklet, then turned around to receive other people.

Thinking about the treatment of buying a house before the end of the world, and looking at it now, it is hard not to sigh. Fortunately, the clerk was really busy. Although he had a tsundere look on his face, he didn't roll his eyes. Now the requirements can only be so low.

Several people looked around and couldn't find a place to sit, so they had to stand there and look at the booklet together.

The booklet marked the location, size, and price of the houses that could be sold. The houses sold in the Imperial Capital Base are basically buildings, which is related to the fact that it was a prosperous city before the end of the world. There are also bungalows and courtyards, but the places that were originally waiting to be demolished and despised have now become precious places. Not only are there few, but the prices are also frighteningly expensive.

Zhang Yi originally wanted to buy a small courtyard, but when he saw the price, he backed off. Along the way, they had collected a lot of crystal cores, but compared to the price of the courtyard, they were still far behind. Besides, living here was not just about buying a house. Crystal cores were needed for daily expenses. Naturally, they couldn't spend all their money at once, so they had to keep some for backup.

Therefore, after some discussion, they finally chose a three-bedroom house on the fourth floor of a twelve-story building in District D. The Imperial Capital Base was divided by the Heavenly Stems. There were no houses in Districts A and B in the brochure, so it was thought that even if there were crystal cores, they could not buy them. There were some in District C, but the quantity was small, and the price was much higher than that in District D. In addition, there were three more districts after District D, with large quantities and low prices. Of course, the so-called low price was relative, and compared to other bases, it was much more expensive.

From a small partition, we can see the class differentiation of the imperial capital base. There is no essential difference between this and the society before the end of the world. The difference is that people who used to live in high-rise buildings and elegant villas may now only be able to squat in the sewers, while those who used to have no place to live have warm houses and bright windows, and beautiful women in their arms. It can be said to be very ironic.

Of course, before the end of the world, money and power were respected, and after the end of the world, hegemony was achieved through force and courage. They just ended up in the same place.

The Ding District chosen by Zhang Yi and his friends was neither good nor bad, but it was enough to accommodate them. As for the place where Song Yan and others came, they didn't need to worry about it at all. As the local snake here, Shen Chi could handle everything.

After getting the key, as soon as he came out, a small tricycle surrounded him. To get to the Ding District, he only needed an ordinary crystal core, or two biscuits and half a loaf of bread. If it was other food, it could be replaced with a portion of equivalent value.

This was not expensive for Zhang Yi and his friends, so they asked for three tricycles. Nan Shao, Zhang Yi and Yang Yang took one, Lan Lan, Jiang Hong and Zhao Xin took one, and the remaining one carried Dudu. Originally, Dudu could have been allowed to fly behind the car, but that would have been too conspicuous. In order to avoid people's attention, they chose this way to take it. However, the driver of the tricycle that pulled Dudu was not so happy. He was trembling all the way, fearing that the mutant beast would suddenly become ferocious and eat him. He was slightly relieved until he arrived at the destination and Dudu got off the car. After getting the reward, he rode the tricycle away like a fly, without waiting for the other two.

It was still morning, and most of the residents had gone out to make a living. On the way to the fourth floor, he didn't meet anyone. He opened the door and looked inside. It was empty, not even a bed, let alone heating.

This was very annoying.

So the base guide was taken out again, and several people discussed head to head for a while, and finally decided on the order of priority of purchases to save time and crystal cores as much as possible.

When they went out again, only Nan Shao, Zhang Yi and Jiang Hong were left. The three children and Dudu stayed in the house. Although it was cold in the house, it was better than being outside in the cold wind. The reason why Jiang Hong was brought along was because women were careful and good at bargaining, which just made up for the shortcomings of the two of them, and also allowed her to get familiar with all aspects of the base as soon as possible.

When they went downstairs, they found that except for the tricycle that ran away at the beginning, the other two that brought them here were still there. Seeing them come out, they immediately greeted them with enthusiasm.

"Are you going to buy something? Do you want us to take you there? We can also help you bring the things back." It seems that they have experience. They know that there is nothing in the houses sold in the base, and the residents must go out to buy daily necessities. It is another business, so they have been waiting here. Of course, if they encounter a space ability user with a large enough space and everything with them, then they can only consider themselves unlucky.

Zhang Yi and the other two were also going to find a car, so this saved them trouble. So they negotiated the price and got on the car.

Beds, bedding, stoves, coal, pots, pans, brooms... Everything must be prepared, otherwise you can't even sleep at night, let alone live here for a long time. Fortunately, they left some crystal cores as spare parts, and these daily necessities, except for those for heating, are not expensive, otherwise it would be difficult to buy them neatly.

The tricycle ran several times before pulling all the things back, and the driver was so happy that his mouth was cracked with laughter. You know, such good business doesn't come once in many days. Therefore, they had already thought about how to show off and laugh at the person who had escaped before after they returned. It was embarrassing to lose business because of a mutant pet.

It was easy to deal with after buying things. After cleaning the house roughly, Nan Shao and Zhang Yi installed the bed, lit the stove, and then cleaned up their own rooms. Because there were three bedrooms, Nan Shao and Zhang Yi naturally lived together, Jiang Hong and Lan Lan lived in one, and the remaining room was given to the two children. After cleaning the house and

sitting in front of the already heated stove in the living room to start eating dinner, everyone who was tired and sore from backaches could not help but feel a sense of peace of mind.

"Tomorrow I will go out with Lan Lan to see if I can find something to do." Jiang Hong suddenly said while eating. Obviously, she knew very well that Zhang Yi and the others could not always provide them with free food and drink, and her experience after the end of the world also made her unable to accept that she was supported by others like this with a clear conscience, so finding a way to make a living as soon as possible was the first thing.

Zhang Yi was not surprised that she would say that, but he did not respond immediately.

Their family came to the imperial capital because Nan Shao wanted to find his family. Now that they have arrived, it is natural that the sooner they find someone, the better. They plan to do this tomorrow. Although they have the relevant information about the imperial capital from Shen Chi, after all, they are new here and are not familiar with everything. If they let the two women find jobs by themselves, they don't know if anything will go wrong. The imperial capital may not be as friendly as Baixia. This is also the reason for his hesitation.

Seeing that he didn't speak for a long time, Jiang Hong thought about it carefully and understood his concerns. She couldn't help but smile and said, "Compared to zombies and mutants, I am actually better at dealing with people. Besides, you will leave sooner or later, and you can't do everything for us. We still have to face it ourselves in the future. Since this is the case, it is better to do it sooner rather than later." Although she said this, she was actually very grateful in her heart. In the end times, there are still people who care about them without any ulterior motives. How rare is this for her?

"Let's go together." Nan Shao spoke at this time, holding the bowl in one hand and pointing at the base guide with the other hand. "Taking tasks, forming teams, finding jobs and looking for people are all in the same place, so there is no need to act separately."

Zhang Yi looked up at him, but said nothing. Zhang Yi knew that Nan Shao's original plan was to go to the capital, and he changed his mind at this time, obviously out of the idea of ​​sending the Buddha to the west. There is no reason to go through so much trouble to bring people out safely, but instead fall down in the base because of negligence.

In Jiang Hong's heart, compared with Zhang Yi, Nan Shao is more difficult to get along with. Now that Nan Shao has spoken, she naturally can't refuse. But she has to admit that because of the two of them accompanying her, her originally hesitant heart suddenly settled down.

The trading square is located two streets after entering the base. Before the end of the world, it should have been a large shopping plaza with a ring structure and eight sides. There is a human-shaped ice sculpture in the center of the huge square. This should have been erected after the end of the world. The buildings around the square have assumed various functions. There are many people in the imperial capital. Although the venue is large, the flow of people is bustling and not deserted at all.

The group first went to the missing person agency to check the information related to the missing person. After finding nothing, they spent one hundred ordinary crystal cores to issue a missing person notice for ten days. If the time for the missing person is to be extended, they have to come back to replenish the crystal cores after ten days.

After this matter was done, everyone turned to the department that introduced the job.

The receptionist still had the arrogance unique to the people in the imperial capital base, and looked at people with slanted eyes when speaking. However, when she learned that the two women who were looking for a job were actually two women, one of whom was not yet an adult, her face suddenly became very bad, and she glared at Zhang Yi and Nan Shao with contempt.

"The recruiting is all up there, look for yourself!" She pointed to the wall behind her and said coldly.

There was a row of blackboards hanging on the wall, and the boards were full of positions to be recruited and salaries. If a position was full, the staff would erase it and replace it with another position. If there were no new positions, the erased positions would be left vacant.

Zhang Yi and his companions looked carefully and found that apart from mastering a professional skill such as medical care and car repair, the rest were almost all hard and low-income jobs, such as cleaning, sewer cleaning, hard labor, etc., which were not suitable for girls.

Jiang Hong frowned. She and Lan Lan were both awakened, and their strength was still greater than that of ordinary men, but she was unwilling to choose these jobs unless she had to.

"Let's go see if there are any hunting teams that want to recruit people." She said. She thought long-term. She and Lan Lan had no special skills. Instead of staying in the base for safety and doing those dirty and tiring work, they could not even get enough food and clothing, and wasted their courage and superpowers day by day. It would be better to join a team that often went to the wild to hunt zombies and mutant creatures. Not only could they get their own supplies, but they could also maintain their spirit and improve their strength. Having experienced the destruction of the settlement, she knew very well that anything could happen in the end times. If she coveted comfort, she would definitely dig her own grave.

As for Lan Lan, in the past few months with Zhang Yi and his companions, she no longer needed to change her personality to kill zombies and take crystal cores. Of course, she can only kill, but her strength and adaptability are far from enough. But Jiang Hong believes that under her care, the little girl should grow up very quickly, and if she stays in the base all the time, she will definitely be useless. Not to mention the lack of actual combat training, even if she wants to have a crystal core pile, she must have a crystal core.

She thought it through well, but Lan Lan, who was in charge, had a sad face, and her reluctance was clearly written. She has always been timid, and it was only because of the pressure from Nan Shao and Zhang Yi along the way that she had the courage to kill zombies, but this does not mean that she likes fighting and killing.

"Have you taken a look at the job?" Jiang Hong couldn't stand her aggrieved look, so she asked.

"I can go to clean up." Lan Lan said.

Jiang Hong held her forehead, but before she could speak, the staff member who had been watching them had already answered: "The good locations have been occupied by people for a long time. Now the remaining places are either full of feces or very messy. You are young and beautiful. Maybe you were just cleaning and were dragged into a dark alley by someone who came out of nowhere. Then you were sold to..."

Lan Lan had a rich imagination, and the description was very detailed. When it reached her mind, it had become a very vivid picture. She shuddered and looked back at the staff member in horror. Without waiting for him to finish, he dragged Jiang Hong and ran out.

Jiang Hong almost burst out laughing.

"Humph, two grown men can't even support women, and they have to let them come out to find work. Isn't it shameful." The staff member's deliberately amplified muttering came from behind, obviously for them to hear.

Nan Shao and Zhang Yi were about to follow him out, and they couldn't help laughing or crying when they heard the words. They just felt that the staff member was too incompetent. But regardless of how much fabrication there is in what she said, it is certain that the security in the Imperial Capital Base is probably not as well organized as it appears on the surface.

The place where the team recruited members was in another place, not far from here. It was a hall specially provided by the base to recruit new members and accompanying laborers for these teams, and to release news and tasks in order to avoid chaos. This place was much more lively than the various institutions run by the base. People were shoulder to shoulder and the noise was deafening. Zhang Yi and others who had just arrived felt their ears buzzing and couldn't hear anything clearly as soon as they entered. Then they found that they were squeezed so hard that they could hardly move. It was very difficult to walk in or out, and they could only move slowly with the flow of people.

Nan Shao held Zhang Yi tightly, and Zhang Yi tried hard not to let the crowd squeeze the four of them apart, so as to prevent Jiang Hong and Lan Lan from being targeted by people with bad intentions. There were all kinds of people here, and it was definitely not guaranteed that everyone would be as well-behaved as they were on the streets outside.

After a while, they finally adapted to the atmosphere here and gradually heard what the noisy sounds were.

"The Qingfeng team is recruiting people. As long as they are awakened, and dare to fight and kill, we will accept them. Hurry up and sign up. If you miss this opportunity, you will miss it forever!"

"The Changfeng team needs a wood-type mutant, just one, just one..."

"The Fu Lu Shou team is recruiting wind and fire mutants. The number is not limited. Those who are interested can come here!"

"The Daji team is going to the Jingxi warehouse to recruit 30 temporary laborers. Two meals are provided, with white flour buns and canned meat... Don't squeeze, don't squeeze, those who are weak are not allowed!"

...

But it turned out that they were all shouts for recruitment, and there were also inquiries and shouts from people who wanted to join the hunting team. If you don't distinguish carefully, you can't hear it clearly.

Jiang Hong stood on tiptoe and tried to look for a long time, and then took a lot of effort to squeeze through the crowd, and finally stopped in front of a sign called the Flame Team.

The Flame Team wanted to recruit five people, regardless of gender, but it was noted that one fire-type mutant was needed, and no clear requirements were made for the rest. Jiang Hong is a fire-type mutant. Seeing that the new recruit is a young girl, and she is in a good mental state, it means that the status of women in this team should not be too low. In addition, women are easy to talk to, so she chose the other party.

Who knew that when she went over, her eyes directly skipped over her and Lan Lan, and fell on Zhang Yinan Shao behind.

"Do you two handsome guys want to join the team? You have a good eye. The strength of our Flame Team is one of the best in our area..." Before Jiang Hong opened her mouth to ask, the girl started to brag, saying that the Flame Team is almost the same as the best teams in the base.

However, when she learned that it was Jiang Hong and Lan Lan who wanted to join the team, not Zhang Yinan Shao, the girl immediately restrained the enthusiasm on her face and became lazy and listless. Not to mention that Zhang Yinan Shao and the others were very speechless, even Jiang Hong was starting to back out.

When it was noon, the recruiting teams began to eat lunch, and Nan Shao and his team finally squeezed out of the crowded hall. Jiang Hong and Lan Lan did not become new members of a team, but served as temporary laborers with Nan Shao and Zhang Yi, preparing to follow a team to Beijing the next day.

For them, joining a team is a very important thing, which determines how they will live in the base in the future. They would rather choose a weaker team with a good reputation that will not bully or insult women, and dare not choose a strong team that treats women as playthings. But for them who have just entered the base and are unfamiliar with everything, they have no idea what the various teams are like. After a morning of contact and consultation, they finally decided to observe first and collect more information before making a choice, rather than selling themselves rashly.

And hiding at home will definitely not bring news, so they followed Nan Shao and Zhang Yi as temporary laborers, thinking that they might be able to get some news from those laborers and the accompanying team members. As for Nan Shao and Zhang Yi going to work as laborers, it was not entirely for the two girls, but Nan Shao wanted to take a ride to visit his home in Beijing. The place where the team they were traveling with was not far from his home.

Originally, they could rent a car, but thinking that it was just a matter of convenience, it would be okay to help the two girls. Besides, they would have to stay in the imperial capital base for a long time. Before Song Yan and the

others came, they would have to find out the specific situation here, and they would definitely have to contact all kinds of people. It didn't seem too bad to start in this way. However, in this way, Zhang Ruiyang and Zhao Xin could not go, and Dudu was even worse, so they could only leave the three little guys at home. Fortunately, although Yangyang was young, he could cook for himself, and with Dudu's protection, he didn't have to worry about them.

The night before, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao stored enough water for daily use and prepared enough food to prevent the children from looking for it themselves. Before they came back, it was better for the little guy not to go out to avoid being targeted by people with ulterior motives.

After arranging everything and giving Zhang Ruiyang repeated instructions, the four of them felt at ease to go out.

Chapter 353: The Imperial Capital Gathering (16)

The Imperial Capital Base was located in Changlin, only 60 kilometers away from the capital. Therefore, when the base was completely settled, except for some scattered cities and towns around it, the teams with some strength set their sights on collecting supplies in the capital.

Before the end of the world, the population of the capital was more than 50 million, and it gathered a large amount of supplies from home and abroad and from all over the country. Therefore, even though the end of the world has passed for so long, the survivors of the Imperial Capital Base have not cleaned up even a corner of it.

The team Zhang Yi and his team followed was called the Green Lemon Team. Just hearing it makes people's saliva glands secrete and their cheeks ache. No one knows why it is called this name. But although the name is fresh and clean, the strength of this team is not so fresh and clean. The

team of 100 people is all young and strong, and men account for four-fifths. However, regardless of whether they are men or women, they all exude a fierce aura, which is the result of fighting in the mountains of corpses and seas of blood for many years. Judging from the number of people, the Green Lemon Team can only be considered a lower-middle team, but looking at the composition of the team members, I believe that even the big teams would not be willing to provoke them. It's not that they are afraid, but it would be painful if they were bitten off when they fought the wolf. Perhaps it is for this reason that the Green Lemon Team is not powerful in the imperial capital base, but its roots are very solid.

This time, the Green Lemon Team's target is Qianhu Hospital.

Old Beijingers like to call Qianhu District "Nongdi'er". If you ask for directions and say Qianhu District, few people can remember it. There is a reason for this. Qianhu District is named after Qianhu, but Qianhu was actually called Qianlong Lake before the founding of the country. It is said that the founding emperor of a certain dynasty lived here in obscurity for more than 20 years before he became famous. Later, he became the emperor, and his former residence became prosperous and got the name of Qianlong. After the founding of the country, due to various reasons such as taboos, Qianlong Lake was changed and reduced to Qianhu.

But how can we change the habit of hundreds of years? Besides, the old Beijing people like the word "dragon" very much. You change your name, and I still call mine. But at a certain period, the word "dragon" could not be called anymore, so the word "dragon" was pronounced with a heavier tone and called "nong". But in the final analysis, it still means "dragon".

The houses in Qianhu District retain the traditional Chinese style, with brick walls, tiled roofs, large courtyards, several entrances and exits, spacious and bright, warm in winter and cool in summer. In the capital city where every inch of land is valuable, this place seems to be another world. Of course, it is indeed another world. People with money but no power can't even think of having a place here, let alone ordinary people.

Qianhu Hospital is an institution that provides medical services specifically for the residents here. Because of the particularity of the residents here, both the medical staff and the various examination and treatment facilities of the hospital are top-level equipment, and the environment is quiet, with more employees than patients. Unless the disease is serious and difficult to diagnose, most of them are personally trained, so it is not as noisy as ordinary hospitals.

The task received by the Green Lemon Team is to move back the various examination and treatment equipment of Qianhu Hospital. According to the environment and conditions of Qianhu Hospital, it should have been cleared out long ago, but because it is located near the center of the imperial capital, it escaped. Qing Ningmeng dared to take this task this time because someone knew a road that could enter Qianhu District without passing through the complicated urban area.

This road is certainly not a shortcut that people accidentally stumbled upon, but it was specially opened so that the residents of Qianhu District would not be delayed by the huge traffic jam in Beijing. Usually, there is a sentry every three steps and a checkpoint every five steps. No one can get close to it. Naturally, there is no need to worry about this after entering the apocalypse.

One end of this road leads to the National Government Affairs Office, and the other end goes directly to a military airport in the suburbs of Beijing. The route chosen by Qing Ningmeng is to go around the outside of this military airport and enter Qianhu District.

Although the location of this airport is secret, the mutant plants and snow on the road have turned it into a deep mountain forest where no one has ever been. It is necessary to open the road when going there. In addition, the airport was heavily guarded before the apocalypse, and there must be many zombies transformed from soldiers at this time, but it is better than facing tens of millions of zombies and congested streets in Beijing.

Because of the special nature of the mission location, this time the entire Green Lemon Team was dispatched, plus the two hundred temporary coolies, a total of three hundred people, ten vehicles carrying only people were used, plus twenty trucks prepared to transport equipment, thirty large trucks drove all the way, it was quite intimidating. However, there were many teams like this in the Imperial Capital Base, and the survivors who had lived here for a while were accustomed to it, so few people stopped to watch.

Nan Shao and his four companions sat on a truck with a team of coolies. There was a thick tarpaulin to block the cold wind, and there were many people in the truck bed, so it was not very cold. Originally, Zhang Yi wanted to chat with them and get to know each other, but since getting on the car, those people were silent one by one, and no one chatted, which made it difficult for him to talk, so he turned to secretly observe the people around him. In

fact, when they gathered in the square in the morning, he already had a rough idea of ​​the number of coolies who were accompanying the car. They were mostly young and middle-aged men. There were women too, but very few. I think that no matter whether they were awakened or not, they would not lose to men in strength, otherwise the team would not want them.

At this time, all the people in the car with them were men. Jiang Hong and Lan Lan stood out among them. In addition, they were both good-looking, which inevitably attracted the men to look at them frequently. Jiang Hong didn't think anything was wrong, but Lan Lan was very scared. She pulled Jiang Hong into the truck and hid behind Zhang Yinan Shao.

Fortunately, she just looked and didn't do anything excessive or say anything excessive. Zhang Yi guessed that if the Green Lemon Team didn't have quite strict restrictions on coolies, it was that these people had learned the way to survive from the waves of suffering in the end times: never easily cause trouble, even if the other party looked very weak.

Starting from Changlin to the secret military airport, which was about 100 kilometers away, the convoy took two days to travel. They left the base early in the morning and arrived in the afternoon of the next day. They even slept in the wild for one night in the middle.

Originally, they thought that they would experience a big battle near the airport and need to eliminate a large number of zombies. Who would have thought that because the snow was too deep, the zombie soldiers stationed at the airport were either buried under the snow or trapped in the buildings inside the airport, which actually saved them a lot of trouble. And because this place is usually a restricted area, there are basically not many ordinary vehicles coming and going, so it is relatively easy to clean up. The only trouble is the mutant plants that are like dense forests, but the Green Lemon Squad is well prepared and can naturally deal with it.

Someone in the convoy is quite familiar with this area. I don't know if he is from the Green Lemon Squad or a specially hired guide. Along the way, he was seen climbing onto the roof of the car from time to time with the help of the railing, judging the direction by vision and memory, and guiding the convoy to clear the road.

I have to say that this man is very powerful. According to his instructions, the mutant plants are removed, and then the snow is shoveled away, and the cement road surface can be seen immediately. There is an error occasionally, but it will not exceed five meters.

As coolies, although they don't need to eliminate mutant plants, it is their job to shovel away the snow. Because of the speed of clearing mutant plants, only one carload of coolies was needed to take turns to do the work, and no one complained about being cold or tired. After all, the Green Lemon Team provided three meals a day, and there was another reward. It was not all-weather work, so who would be stupid enough to make the team unhappy?

Nan Shao and his four people were shoveling snow in one place. On the one hand, they were excluded by other coolies, and on the other hand, it was for safety. In fact, even if the team had made sure that all dangers were eliminated, they were used to being vigilant.

Jiang Hong was not to mention, she had suffered a lot, so she was not behind the men in shoveling snow. Lan Lan was impressive. She looked timid and cowardly on weekdays, and was scared to tears by zombies, but she was quite neat in clearing snow.

"I used to do it at home." Facing the surprised eyes of the other three, she explained a little embarrassedly: "I have to sweep the snow in the community every day, otherwise I can't go out."

"Be quiet!" At this moment, a coolie not far from them suddenly shouted softly.

Lan Lan was thin-skinned, and her face turned red immediately after being yelled at, with tears of shame flashing in her eyes.

Jiang Hong's temper was not so good, and she knew that the weak would be bullied, so she was about to retaliate when she saw Zhang Yi suddenly raise his hand and smash the shovel at the laborer.

Not only did the face of the laborer turn pale and a look of fear appeared in his eyes, but also the other laborers, the members of the team who were guarding around to protect them, including Jiang Honglanlan, were frightened by this sudden scene. They probably thought that it was just a quarrel and it would not be fatal. Unfortunately, it was too late to stop it.

And the more unexpected thing was still to come. At the moment when Zhang Yi's shovel flew over, the snow behind the laborer suddenly exploded, and a zombie the size of a skinny monkey jumped out of it, rushing towards the laborer with its teeth and claws bared.

With a bang, the shovel brushed the laborer's right shoulder and hit the zombie, knocking it backwards twice.

The people of the Green Lemon Team were experienced in combat. With just this buffer, they reacted and quickly surrounded them, and Zhang Yi was not in trouble. The laborer was doubly frightened, his legs were weak, and he fell to the ground. Even so, he desperately used his hands to crawl away from the battle circle.

That zombie should be better at hiding, but its own strength is not very high, so it was quickly solved. When they carefully examined the corpse of the zombie, they found that it should have been a child of four or five years old in life. They just didn't know how it could hide here, and it was also mutated.

"Good skills! Are you an awakener?" A member of the Green Lemon Team came over and asked Zhang Yi.

Seeing this scene, the coolies around couldn't help but show envy in their eyes. You know, unless they are ordered to do something, the team members almost disdain to talk to the coolies. If you start talking to a coolie, it means that the coolie is in your eyes, and it also means that if this person encounters trouble in the future, there will be a place for help. As for whether to help or not, that is not certain, but at least it is a way.

"No." Zhang Yi shook his head, but he didn't feel flattered.

Hearing this, the team member's face suddenly turned cold, just nodded at him, and left, walked to the captain and whispered a few words. The captain glanced over here, said nothing, turned around and continued to command the team members to clear the mutant plants, and beware of zombies hiding in the snow. But not long after, someone brought a plastic bag of things, which contained two cans of beef, two cans of beer, five bags of instant noodles, and a pack of ham sausage. It was obvious that these were used to reward Zhang Yi for saving people just now, and they did not intend to give him more attention.

Seeing this secretly, the coolies' originally envious eyes instantly turned into sympathy. Although these things also made them jealous, compared with getting to know the people in the team, it was nothing.

"Thanks, buddy." When camping at night, the rescued coolie finally found a chance to thank Zhang Yi.

How could Zhang Yi miss this opportunity, and immediately chatted with him.

The coolie's name was Wu Gang. He was not a local in Beijing, but also came from another province. Before the end of the world, he was a junior high school math teacher with a wife and children, and both parents were there. After the end of the world, he was the only one left. After finally coming to Beijing, he thought that life would be better, but who knew that this world is no longer the same as before. Without strength, it is difficult to live anywhere.

From Wu Gang's mouth, Zhang Yi finally got a general understanding of the coolie industry.

There are actually many awakened people among the coolies, and of course there are more ordinary people. It's just that due to various reasons, they have encountered setbacks when joining the team, or they don't want to face dangerous battles, so some awakened people choose to make a living by selling their labor. To be honest, the coolies of awakened people are much more useful than ordinary coolies, because they are more powerful than ordinary coolies, and when necessary, they can be pulled in as combat power. Fortunately, there are not many awakened people who are willing to be coolies, and ordinary people have not been squeezed out of this industry.

After working as coolies for a long time, in order to save their lives, they naturally accumulated a lot of experience unique to this industry. For example, when traveling and working, they try their best to keep quiet and not whisper to each other. On the one hand, they don't want to attract mutant beasts or zombies because of noisy talking, and on the other hand, they can pay attention to the movements around them at any time to ensure that they can escape in time when danger comes. You must know that if they really encounter danger, the people in the team will not care about the life and death of these coolies. Bai Riwu just shouted to stop Lan Lan, actually out of good intentions.

Zhang Yi finally understood why almost no one spoke along the way.

"This is just one reason." Wu Gang said with a smile, "You are new here, and you want to compete with us for food. How enthusiastic can you expect everyone to be to you? But now you are one of us, so naturally you won't be like that anymore."

Sure enough, hearing his words, the other coolies who were having dinner all laughed kindly.

It's not easy to be a coolie, but it's not bad. At least you can have food to eat and you can bring some back. If you meet a conscientious team, not only will they not use them as cannon fodder, but they will also try their best to protect their safety, and the rewards are also generous. For example, like the Green Lemon Team, there are countless people scrambling to come. Zhang Yi and his friends took up four positions, which made some of the coolie friends present lose their chances. It's normal that they are not welcomed.

But during the day, Zhang Yi showed his impressive strength. He noticed the existence of the mutant zombies earlier than the team members and saved Wu Gang from them. Naturally, the attitudes of these people will change. The weaker the people are, the more they will not miss any tiny chance to survive, just for Zhang Yi to come to their rescue when they are in danger one day, so they will not exclude him anymore. Even if the possibility of him taking action again is very small, even if his strength is not enough to save them, they will not extinguish this hope first.

So, Zhang Yi and his companions were unexpectedly accepted by these coolies in a way they had never expected before.

On the evening of the third day, the convoy finally entered the Qianhu District. But because it was getting dark, for safety reasons, the Green Lemon Team did not go to the Qianhu Hospital immediately, but cleared a yard nearby, rested on the spot, and went to the hospital the next day.

When they got here, Nan Shao couldn't help himself. So after dinner, Zhang Yi whispered a few words to Jiang Hong and the other two girls, and then he and Nan Shao went out under the pretext of going to the toilet, and walked along the eaves of the courtyard to the backyard to avoid people. After leaving the sight of the Green Lemon Team sentry, Nan Shao immediately transformed into an ant beast and flew with Zhang Yi in the direction of his home.

Five minutes later, the two came to a three-courtyard courtyard. The snow had overflowed the courtyard wall and almost buried the entire courtyard. The surrounding courtyards were almost the same. I think no one has visited this place since the rainstorm.

Nan Shao hovered in the air for a while, but couldn't find a place to land, and finally had to stop on the roof. There was also snow on the roof, but perhaps because of the high position, the snow collapsed due to various reasons when it accumulated to a certain extent, so people could barely stand on it.

It is not an easy task to track down clues in such a place. In fact, it is very difficult for Nan Shao to accurately find his own yard in a vast white without spending too much time.

There was nothing to be reluctant about at this time. The two of them cleared the snow where they were standing, then broke through the roof and jumped down.

Below was a reception hall, which was in a mess, with broken porcelain fragments, jewelry, and cash everywhere. It seemed that because the end of the world happened too suddenly, the people inside fled in a hurry.

Nan Shao looked at the things on the ground, his face became gloomy, he bent down to pick up a string of pearl necklaces, and held it tightly in his hand.

"What did you find?" Because there was no light, Zhang Yi only felt that he had moved, but could not see it.

"No..." Nan Shao subconsciously didn't want to say this, but suddenly remembered that it was Zhang Yi who was talking to him, so he changed his words: "I saw a necklace that my mother loved most when she was alive."

Zhang Yi was a little surprised by this answer, and he exclaimed, and couldn't think of how to respond for a while. But Nan Shao had already continued to talk, and roughly described to Zhang Yi the scene he saw.

"My grandfather and father would not care about these things after they found out about the great changes in the world. Judging from the situation here, the incident should have happened at the beginning of the end of the world. At that time, people did not know that money and jewelry were not as valuable as a bag of bread, so they would look for these things..." At this point, his voice gradually lowered and finally fell silent.

Zhang Yi understood his thoughts at once. This house had been taken away by a large number of valuables in a hurry. If it was not the owner, it was probably the surviving servants, drivers, guards or people who broke in from outside. The only possibility that they dared to do this was that the owner of the house was not there, or was gone.

"Let's take a look at the situation in other rooms first." Guessing is just guessing. Only seeing it with your own eyes can count. Who knows if there was something else going on at that time and the owner of the house left earlier.

Nan Shao hummed, and he asked Zhang Yi to wait where he was, while he skillfully found the emergency power supply and turned it on. Soon the house was bright, and because of the obstruction of the snow, there was no need to worry about being noticed from outside.

Zhang Yi was better than Nan Shao at inferring the general situation of the incident through the remaining traces. If Nan Shao only guessed based on his mother's relics and his familiarity with his relatives, then Zhang Yi, after inspecting the scene, was sure that the one who created all this chaos was neither the owner of the house nor the survivors who broke in from outside, but an insider who knew the whole house very well. But he did not say it, but just followed Nan Shao to the back silently.

There was a corridor connecting the courtyards. Although the snow in the courtyard was as high as the eaves, the corridor was clean. At this time, under the light, it looked like a closed passage.

"There used to be a lot of precious flowers and plants planted in this yard. Later, after my grandfather retired, he pulled them out and planted some vegetables, corn and other things there. They grew quite well, and even saved money for buying vegetables."

Walking in the passage half-walled with ice and snow, Zhang Yi could not see the situation outside, but in Nan Shao's memory, he seemed to see corn ears, purple eggplants, a little pepper and two beds of chives, a lively scene. But when he was walking, his shoulder accidentally hit the snow wall next to him, and a pile of snow powder fell down. The cold feeling instantly brought him back to reality.

In reality, there was only ice and snow, coldness, and endless silence and darkness.

He took a breath and suddenly felt a little empathy for Nan Shao's current mood.

Nan Shao did not say anything until he entered the room in the middle yard and saw several corpses that had turned into bones inside. His cold expression fluctuated slightly. He

stared at the bones on the ground and did not move for a long time. Zhang Yi reached out and held his hand, and found that his whole body was shaking slightly uncontrollably.

"Look at the clothes, he looks like a guard." Zhang Yi knew that he was worried and confused, so he reminded him.

Sure enough, the moment this sentence entered his ears, Nan Shao's hand tightened, and he firmly and forcefully grabbed Zhang Yi's hand and said in a deep voice: "You are right, my grandfather and father are not here."

At this moment, there were two bangs on the door from the direction of the study, as if something wanted to get out.

Nan Shao let go of Zhang Yi's hand and walked over quickly. When Zhang Yi arrived, he found that he was standing woodenly at the door, letting an old zombie tear and bite him. He was still in the beast state at this time. The zombie obviously had not evolved and was still the first generation of strength, and could not cause any harm to him at all.

"Grandfather should have turned into a zombie at the beginning of the apocalypse, and then was locked in the study by the survivors." Looking at the zombie tied to the chair and still struggling and screaming, Nan Shao said, his expression was not as sad as at the beginning. In fact, this result was within his expectations. His grandfather was old and weak, and the probability of turning into a zombie was very high. The reason why he had to come to see it clearly was just a fluke. After all, it was not that there were no old people who survived in the apocalypse. At

this time, when the result was in front of him, he was sad, but he was not unacceptable. It was just that his mood needed a buffer.

"I'll go clean up the yard and see if there are other people." Zhang Yi didn't know how to comfort him for a while, so he could only say.

Unexpectedly, Nan Shao shook his head, "No need. My father usually doesn't live here. It was morning when the apocalypse happened, so it was even less likely that he was at home. In addition, several of my uncles don't live here..." At this point, he wiped his face and looked up at the roof. After a while, he continued: "Let's do it." He was only close to his grandfather. As for other people, including his biological father, the relationship between them was very indifferent. This was related to his mother who died early, and also to his sexual orientation.

Seeing him say this, Zhang Yi did not force it. He glanced at the old zombie on the chair who had become skinny because he had not eaten for a long time. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Let the old man rest in peace."

Nan Shao was silent. After a long time, he hummed softly and walked towards the old zombie.

"I'll do it." Zhang Yi hurriedly stopped him. It would be too cruel to let Nan Shao do it himself.

"Okay." Nan Shao seemed to be relieved and turned his back.

In addition to burying his grandfather, Nan Shao also cleaned up the other bodies, put the scattered things back in place, and restored the house to its original appearance in his memory. Then he stayed alone in the study quietly for a while. When he came out and the two returned to the yard where they were stationed, nearly three hours had passed.

The two of them still sneaked in from the backyard. Nan Shao regained his human form and was dressing in the dark corner of the corridor. He didn't expect to alarm the night watchman.

"Who's there?" A beam of light shot over and fell on the two of them.

But before Zhang Yi could explain, the beam of light moved away again.

"In such a cold weather, you still have this kind of sexual desire. You are really manly." The man muttered and left, obviously misunderstanding the two of them.

The two of them couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. As for whether it was a misunderstanding or not, it didn't matter.

It was late at night and everyone was asleep. As soon as they came in, Jiang Hong opened her eyes and raised her head to ask about the result. But after noticing that Nan Shao was obviously a little depressed, she closed her mouth in time, just nodded to the two of them, and went back to sleep.

The next day, the convoy drove all the way to Qianhu Hospital. It did not encounter any danger that was difficult to deal with. All the movable equipment was smoothly moved back. However, the members of the Green Lemon Team always looked at Zhang Yi and the others with a strange look, probably because they heard about what happened the night before.

After this mission, Zhang Yi and his companions did not immediately take up the work of accompanying coolies. Instead, they rented a car, took the two children and Dudu with them, went out to hunt zombies and mutant creatures for a few days, and trained Lan Lan. They earned enough crystal cores and mutant ingredients for the next month before returning to the base.

In the evening, a room full of people were gathered by the stove to eat and discuss the harvest of hunting, and suddenly someone knocked on the door.

Everyone looked at each other, and they really couldn't think of who would come to visit. Zhang Yi stood up, picked up the machete on the side, and walked over to open the door.

Standing outside the door was a man in his twenties. At first glance, he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him. Zhang Yi was about to ask when he heard Nan Shao's voice behind him.

"It's you!"

Zhang Yi looked back and reacted instantly. This man was a bit like Nan Shao. No wonder he felt like he had seen him before. Just as he was about to step aside and invite someone in, the man looked him up and down, a look of contempt flashed in his eyes, and he said, "Come with me, uncle wants to see you." Then he turned and went downstairs.

Nan Shao's face was unhappy, and the slight joy of seeing his relatives disappeared in an instant, but he still put down the bowl, said a few words to Zhang Yi, and hurriedly followed.

That person was Nan Xu, the second son of his third uncle, who was a few years younger than him. The two had always been at odds. He thought that since the family members were separated in the end times, it would be good to have one more person alive. The previous minor disagreements were no longer worth worrying about, so he thought about making himself behave better. Who knew that the other party had no intention of reconciliation? In this case, he naturally disdained to put his face on someone's cold butt.

Along the way, Nan Xu walked in front and Nan Shao walked behind. They were about fifty meters apart, like two unrelated passers-by.

Ten minutes later, in a villa, Nan Shao met his uncle, Nan Chengze.

"I knew you had arrived at the base a few days ago, and asked Xiao Xu to look for you several times, but I didn't meet you." Nan Chengze said. He seemed to be doing well. He lived in a large place, had guards, and looked rosy-cheeked. It seemed that his status before the end of the world still benefited him after the end of the world.

"I went out hunting." Nan Shao explained briefly. Looking at the only two relatives left, he felt speechless.

Nan Chengze asked about his special abilities and his experiences after the apocalypse. His tone was cold and made people feel no concern at all. It was more like a routine matter. Nan Shao's mood, which was originally a little expectant, finally returned to calmness. He still maintained his superficial respect, but his answer was very perfunctory.

"On the day of the apocalypse, your father took the 8 o'clock flight to country Z to discuss business." After a while, Nan Chengze mentioned the whereabouts of Nan Shao's father. Although they didn't like Nan Shao, they had a good relationship with their brothers and kept in touch from time to time, so they knew each other's news better than Nan Shao, their son. There were

three brothers and two sisters in the family. Except for Nan Shao's father who went into business, the others all went into politics. Politics and business, politics and business, the two are not contradictory, but complementary. In fact, Nan Shao's father's status among his brothers and sisters was not low.

Just a simple explanation, Nan Shao already understood what it meant to take a plane at that time. Smart people don't need to get to the bottom of things and expose the cruel truth in front of them.

Even though Nan Shao had never deliberately looked for news about his father, he still had a hope in his subconscious that he didn't even realize. When he got this news, he felt as if he had lost something. He felt empty and uncomfortable. It's not that sad, but his mood was inevitably affected.

"Come and help me. After all, we are a family, and we are more reliable than outsiders. It's the end of the world now, and I don't care whether you like men or women," Nan Chengze said. As

soon as these words came out, Nan Xu, who had been standing by with a sneer on his face, suddenly looked very ugly.

"No." Nan Shao rejected Nan Chengze without even finding a reason. Compared to the imperial capital, where he still had surviving relatives, he would rather live in the Hope Base, with his loved ones, his son, and his friends. He was really fed up with the intrigues between people.

Uncle Nan Shao didn't force him. It was obvious that he asked Nan Shao to come over just to take care of his relatives. He didn't know how special Nan Shao's ability was, so he didn't take him seriously. Since Nan Shao didn't appreciate it, he was relieved. He couldn't make his beloved nephew unhappy for a nephew who was not close to him.

After leaving Nan Chengze's villa and walking in the dark night, Nan Shao suddenly felt a little cold. He subconsciously hugged his arms and quickened his pace.

Back to his crowded but warm suite, Jiang Hong and the others had already fallen asleep, and only Zhang Yi was still sitting by the stove waiting. Seeing him come back, Zhang Yi was about to ask, but he was hugged and kissed hard on the lips.

That night, Nan Shao was as enthusiastic as a young man who tasted the forbidden fruit for the first time.

The next morning, Nan Shao and Zhang Yi went to the missing person office to withdraw their missing person notices. Although there were still three days to ten days, the crystal core was not going to retreat. Fortunately, they didn't care about these crystal cores and didn't make a big deal about it. Unexpectedly, the staff's expressions on their faces eased a lot because of this. It was obvious that they were often dragged and argued about this kind of thing, and they were very annoyed.

The two were walking out, and a man hurried in and passed by them. Almost at the same time, Nan Shao and the man turned back and their eyes met.

Ten minutes later, Nan Shao and the man sat down at the tavern, and Zhang Yi went home first.

"I didn't expect to see you again." The man asked for a pot of wine and two dishes. After pouring it for himself and Nan Shao, he said with a sigh and a little embarrassment.

"Tokyo." Nan Shao pulled the corner of his mouth.

This person's name is Sun Yu. He is one of the friends who fought with him to get out of Changshi at the beginning of the apocalypse and fought together for half a year. In the end, he was abandoned in Ziyun County because he was bitten by a zombie.

"The one just now was yours... He looks much stronger than Nan Wei." Sun Yu felt guilty and changed the subject.

"Zhang Yi. His name is Zhang Yi." Nan Shao introduced solemnly. Because of the other party's affirmation of Zhang Yi, his expression was obviously much more relaxed.

"You, are still the same." Sun Yu laughed, and finally felt that the person in front of him was familiar again, but after laughing, his expression became serious again: "Don't be like this all the time. When you like someone, you open your heart and soul. Leave some room for yourself." In fact, he had advised Nan Shao like this more than once before, but he simply didn't listen. Now that he has experienced so many things, he doesn't know if there will be any changes.

Nan Shao didn't want to explain. After all, their relationship could not go back to the past, but he tried to hold it in, but couldn't help it. He argued: "Zhang Yi is worth it." Then he didn't want to continue discussing this issue with others, so he took the initiative to ask: "When did you come here? Where are the others?"

Knowing that he didn't want to talk more, Sun Yu didn't want to be boring, so he changed the subject according to his question: "It's been half a year. At the beginning, you... We left Ziyun and arrived at the Bowei base. We didn't stay there for too long. There happened to be a convoy heading north, and we took the opportunity to join. At that time But it's not just us, there are many small teams and individuals following us. "Here, he paused, as if considering whether to say it or not, and finally said before Nan Shao asked: "We originally wanted to bring Nan Wei back to the capital, but at that time he fell in love with a girl and refused to go with us, so we didn't care about him anymore." Originally, they tolerated Nan Wei for Nan Shao's sake, and later they wanted to take care of him a little because they felt guilty about Nan Shao, but since he was asking for death, they naturally wouldn't interfere.

"So you don't know what happened to him later?" Nan Shao asked.

"What happened to him later?" Sun Yu asked in surprise.

Nan Shao shook his head and didn't say anything. Thinking of the miserable state of Nan Wei when he saw him in Bowei, it must not be a good thing. He never asked, and now that he knew Sun Yu didn't know, he thought there would be no chance to figure it out in the future. Fortunately, Nan Wei didn't seem to be bothered by the past, so let the past be buried in the dust.

"We were heading north. Although our team was large, we attracted many zombies. Later, we encountered the second disaster. Mutated plants popped up like mushrooms after rain in one day. It was so miserable..." Sun Yu continued to answer Nan Shao's previous question. Recalling that experience, there was still a lingering fear on his face. "People died one after another like wheat was harvested. When we finally arrived at the Imperial Capital Base, the remaining number of people was less than one-fifth of the original. Anzi, Laojiu and the others were all dead, leaving only the Great Emperor and me. When we got here, the Great Emperor and I separated. The Great Emperor has superpowers and has people at home. He joined the army, and I don't have much ability... Haha, now I am a runner in a small battle group."

"Is that so?" Nan Shao seemed a little melancholy, but he didn't seem to feel much. He whispered a sentence and then stopped talking. He didn't even mention his own affairs.

Sun Yu wanted to ask, but he felt it was difficult to open his mouth. After all, if Nan Shao wanted to talk, he would definitely start from the time when they abandoned him.

The atmosphere fell silent for a while.

"I'm leaving." Nan Shao stood up.

"Okay." Sun Yu opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't try to stop him.

But when Nan Shao was about to walk out of the door, he couldn't help but shout: "Nan Shao, I'm in the Chongyan team, you... why don't you come with your girlfriend, I'll talk to the captain." He didn't know whether Nan Shao had awakened his superpowers at this time, but he still said such words, which showed that he was indeed well-intentioned. You have to know that he is not an awakener and his status in the team is not high. If he wants to find the captain to recruit people, he will not only have to give up favors, but also other things.

However, Nan Shao didn't even turn his head, waved his hand, and soon disappeared in the crowd.

Sun Yu knew that they might not have a chance to sit together again in the future. He sat there for a while, drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and then asked the waiter to pack up the wine and food that had not been touched, paid enough crystal cores to make him feel painful, and then carried the wine and food and walked back slowly, his back hunched, and he had lost his former heroic spirit and flying spirit.

Chapter 354: Gathering in the Imperial Capital (17)

Song Yan and his party arrived at the Imperial Capital Base half a month before the meeting, accompanied by Li Muran, Shen Chi, and Teng Jin. Teng Jin turned to Ruzhou on the way and did not come to the Imperial Capital Base. However, he learned from Shen Chi that the only Teng family member left was Teng Jin's second sister Teng Ying, who was in Ruzhou at the time. The

Teng family was also a big shot in the military and had a close relationship with the Song family. Even though almost all of the family died after the apocalypse, Teng Ying, the only survivor, still had a strong appeal in the army. Of course, this also had a lot to do with her own abilities and her original position.

When the apocalypse occurred, she awakened the dual powers of wood and fire, and became powerful. She quickly gathered a group of subordinates and occupied a place in the Imperial Capital Base. Later, Song Ting was angry that the senior management of the base was controlled by Wu Zong and treated those who had not awakened as slaves and beasts, so he split with them and left the Imperial Capital in anger to start a new business. She followed him with her people. It was not entirely out of friendship with the Song family, but also because he was afraid of Wuzong's existence.

Teng Jin returned to Beijing this time to find his relatives. Knowing that his second sister was in Ruzhou, he naturally went there.

What surprised Zhang Yi and the others was that the group of Sanjia Village led by Liu Qiye went to the imperial capital with Song Yan and his group, and Qiao Yong and Shi Pengsan were among them. It was just that the two parties happened to meet on the road, so they went together.

Because of the support of Sanjia Village, the old, weak, sick and disabled people who had been dragged along had completely settled down, and the existence of Qiao Yong and Shi Pengsan seemed less important. The two of them were not the kind of people who were content to stay in one place for a long time. Before, there was no way, and the responsibilities were on their shoulders and could not be unloaded. Now that they had nothing to do, they were relieved. It happened that the village chief Qiye was coming to the imperial capital for a meeting, so they followed him.

The imperial capital specially opened up a hall area to receive all the participants, so it saved them from having to find a place. Song Yan and Liu Qiye chose two adjacent courtyards to facilitate each other's care.

Shen Chi did have a way. As soon as everyone settled down, he contacted Zhang Yi and Nan Shao. After a long time, the two sides met and were naturally happy. Qiao Yong and Shi Pengsan were even more so. After a few pleasantries, they directly carried Zhang Ruiyang and went for a stroll on the street.

In the past six months, in addition to regularly going outside the base to hunt zombies and mutants to obtain crystal cores and food for daily life, Nan Shao and Zhang Yi wandered around various hunting teams as coolies, mixed with low-level people, and obtained a lot of information through various means.

In the process, Jiang Hong finally joined a team, but it was the team that they first followed as coolies after coming to the imperial capital, the Green Lemon Team. After that, she cooperated with this team twice, and her strength was recognized by the team members, and they directly invited her.

However, Lan Lan was never accepted by any team. One reason was that she could not grow up no matter how much she trained, and the other was that the value of her supernatural power could not be demonstrated, and her strength was ordinary. Jiang Hong led her everywhere and encountered obstacles. Finally, she had to give up temporarily, thinking that she would take her into the team after she had gained a firm foothold in the Green Lemon Team and had a certain say.

So after Jiang Hong joined Green Lemon, Lan Lan had no choice but to follow behind Nan Shao Zhang Yi like Zhang Ruiyang, as a little tail, plus a Dudu. Of course, this lineup was when Zhang Yi and his team went out to hunt for corpse crystals and food. If they were to be coolies, then Zhang Ruiyang and Dudu could not follow.

"You all know that there is a group of survivors hiding in the sewers of the imperial capital who have no protection from people with special powers and are unwilling to become slaves. Just a month ago, the base issued a measure to set aside a place for these people to live in, and provided them with the status of free people, rather than vassals or slaves of people with special powers. Although this place is outside the city and the houses are small and simple, they have been surrounded by tall walls, which is definitely better than hiding in the sewers without seeing the light all day long." Zhang Yi told Song Yan and the others about the various measures taken by the imperial capital. He also told them about the various information that he and Nan Shao had collected over the past six months. Regardless of whether it would be useful for Song Yan and Liu Qiye to attend the meeting, at least they would have an idea.

"Although the rule of making non-awakened people without support as slaves still exists, it seems that there is a trend of abolishing it. Not only that, in the past few months, several Wuzong children have been arrogant and hurt people for no reason. They have been punished one after another, and one even lost his life. The people in the base, whether awakened or non-awakened, applauded, and slowly the Wuzong people became much more honest..."

"This is starting to disturb people's hearts!" Liu Qiye laughed, holding a pipe, and actually didn't care much about these. He originally came to the imperial capital with some expectations. He is not like some people, who don't have such a strong desire for power. In his heart, the most important thing is that the villagers of Sanjia Village can be protected and live a good life. If the imperial capital does well, it's okay to support it. But when he heard about Wuzong's style of doing things and the class division of the imperial capital, he felt that everyone was not the same kind of people. He still honestly regarded coming here as a trip to broaden his horizons.

"Everyone at the bottom of the imperial capital knows that the base summit is about to be held. There are rumors in private that the base wants to restore the system before the end of the world and hopes that the central government can continue to control the local areas. Most people think that this is the way it should be." Zhang Yi continued. "

Now the roads are blocked and transportation is inconvenient. Even if he wants to, it won't be that easy." Song Yan responded, but he didn't feel too much pressure. The base he is in is really too small, and he may not be taken seriously by others. Maybe at that time, he will just have to watch people tear it apart.

The various information collected by Zhang Yi is one thing, and the intelligence collected by Ruzhou's secret line in the imperial capital will also be reported. Song Yan will be busy in the next few days. Not only will he be busy going through the information roughly, but Shen Chi will also have to summarize the information from both sides, and then pick out the valuable ones, one side will be provided to Song Yan for reference, and the other side will be sent to Ruzhou to Song Ting.

In other words, before returning to the Hope Base, they may only have this night to get together and talk easily and talk about what happened after their separation. After Zhang Yi finished speaking, Li Muran also talked about some things that happened in the Hope Base after the family of three went to the imperial capital, as well as things in Sanjia Village.

It is worth mentioning that not long after Zhang Yi and his companions left, Li Muran and Song Yan went to Zhafeng City. She still remembered that Mr. Lin Daoru asked them to go back and help bring out some manuscripts and materials after they settled down. There was nothing particularly important at that time, so the two of them went. Mr. Lin

was still alive and well, and looked much more energetic than before. He was very happy to see that they really kept their promise and came. He just said that he had not finished sorting it out, and asked them to take away what they had sorted out, and come back to get the rest when they had time.

Li Muran and Song Yan once again tried their best to invite him to live in the Hope Base, but they were still rejected. Mr. Lin said that in addition to sorting out the materials, he was trying to teach the half-humans to understand some gestures. The half-humans seemed to have problems with their vocal cords and could not make any sounds, so he could not teach them to speak, but he could find a way to make them understand what people meant and learn to communicate with people.

He said that if he didn't die, he would leave Zhafeng City one day, and he would take these half-people with him.

Mr. Lin was awe-inspiring, but the Bowei Base made people feel sad.

Because Jin Mantang and his group who lived in Sanjia Village hated the Bowei Base very much, so they worked hard to improve their own strength while paying attention to the news there. Just before Liu Qiye and his group set off, a team of people who deliberately went there to hunt passed back a message. The

Bowei Base has changed again. At the beginning, Tang Tang's father Tang Bowen betrayed Jiang Weiguo, not only took his power, but also set a trap in an attempt to catch all those who were loyal to him. Who knew that in just over a year, Tang Bowen was beheaded by his men after being drunk. It can really be said that it was a tit-for-tat.

So before Jin Mantang and his group took revenge, the Bowei Base disbanded first, and the person who plotted against Tang Bowen took a group of survivors in the base who had been oppressed and enslaved to the point of almost breaking their spines to Chang City to start a new business and built the Zhongzhou Base. As for the original Bowei base, it has completely disappeared. Those who are unwilling to follow the new leader have scattered to various places to seek other ways to make a living.

Although the newly established Zhongzhou base has fewer people than the previous Bowei base, it has experienced a purge after all, and it is a rare unity. Although the strength is not strong, the life of the base members is much better than that of Bowei under Tang Bowen's rule.

I think the leader of the Zhongzhou base will also come to this base summit meeting, and maybe we can meet each other then.

Hearing this, Zhang Yi couldn't help but sigh. He felt both the broad-mindedness of Mr. Peilin and the chaos of the internal struggle in the Bowei base. Fortunately, it has finally come to an end. I just hope that the newly established Zhongzhou base will be fine in the future and no more moths will happen. There are not many survivors. If the internal consumption continues like this, humans will have to consume themselves first. For

a period of time afterwards, Zhang Yi Nanshao continued to live with Lan Lan and others, and did not move to the guild hall. He just waited for Song Yan and others to finish the meeting and then return to Yunzhou together. Jiang Hong and the other two were introduced to Li Muran and the others, but they were not familiar with each other and could not warm up for a while.

Jiang Hong was living a happy life at this time, and she should have decided to stay in the Imperial Capital Base, so Zhao Xin would naturally go with her. Lan Lan, on the other hand, seemed to want to follow them back to the Hope Base. However, the little girl's ideas were fickle, and everything had to wait until they actually set off to return.

It was the ninth day that Li Muran and the others arrived in the Imperial Capital, and there were still five days before the summit meeting. In the middle of the night, Zhang Yi got up to go to the bathroom and was almost scared to death by the person who was sitting by the stove in a daze in the dark.

"Lan Lan?" After calming down, he recognized the other person with his keen five senses.

"Yeah." A muffled response came from the darkness, and it was indeed Lan Lan's voice.

"Why are you sitting here? Can't you sleep?" Zhang Yi asked while lighting a candle.

"I had a nightmare." Lan Lan said softly, with a distressed tone.

Zhang Yi had to give up going to the toilet for the time being. He walked to the stove with a candle in his hand, sat down opposite Lan Lan, and asked gently, "It's just a dream. What are you afraid of?"

"I dreamed of a lot of blood, but I couldn't remember what happened no matter how hard I tried..." Lan Lan said, then raised her head and looked at Zhang Yi eagerly. Zhang Yi's face looked very soft and warm under the dim light of the candle, and her panic-stricken heart unconsciously calmed down. "Uncle Yi, I always feel uncomfortable these days. Do you think someone will die again?" Obviously, she hated her ability to sense death.

"Which direction do you feel it from?" Zhang Yi unconsciously became serious. Although it was too late every time when Lan Lan felt something, if we could find a pattern from it, it would be hard to say that it would not be useful in the future.

Lan Lan raised her hand and pointed to the southwest direction hesitantly: "It seems to be over there, but sometimes it seems to be the other side... over there..." As she said that, her hand pointed to the northwest and due west.

Zhang Yi couldn't help but feel a little confused, wondering if she was confused in her sleep. After a moment of silence, he asked tentatively: "Everywhere?"

Lan Lan scratched her head and said a little embarrassedly: "I can't say for sure." Zhang

Yi asked again, but he couldn't get anything out. He was also a little helpless, and it was late at night, not a good time to talk, so he had to say: "Let's go and have a look after your sister Hong's mission this time." As for where to go, he himself was confused, so he would talk about it later. Maybe by then, Lan Lan would not feel anything.

Jiang Hong dared to fight and was not bad in strength. She was like a fish in water in the Green Lemon Team. The captain valued her and asked her to try to lead a team. Tomorrow was the first mission for the team she led. She was unsure, so she asked a few people from her family who were mixed in the coolies to help hold the line. It's not that Zhang Yi and Nan Shao must take action, but they were there, she felt at ease. After

getting Zhang Yi's promise, Lan Lan was happy all of a sudden. To be honest, she didn't want to see what happened, but it was not a good thing to be so scared all the time, so even if she was reluctant, she still thought it would be better to go and have a look.

Originally, Zhang Yi didn't take it too seriously. After all, every time Lan Lan sensed something, it was almost too late when they arrived at the scene. Of course, he was not perfunctory. After finishing Jiang Hong's business, if there was still time, it would be okay to go there.

Who would have thought that during the days of the mission, Lan Lan's condition was getting worse and worse. She was awakened by nightmares every night, and was even more absent-minded during the day. She almost got into trouble several times. Zhang Yi saw that he couldn't go on like this. As soon as Jiang Hong's business was over, he borrowed a car and didn't even go back to the base. He and Nan Shao took Lan Lan to the direction that made her feel scared.

This time, it was not the southwest direction, but the south. Zhang Yi pondered and realized that Lan Lan pointed west, south, and north before, not because something happened everywhere, but because she was afraid of a fixed place. It was just because she was in a different position, so the direction she sensed was also different. Most women don't have a good sense of direction, but Lan Lan is obviously a leader.

Zhang Yi was somewhat relieved when he found out that it was the same location. If they ran around like Lan Lan said before, how could they get here?

——Just

when Zhang Yi and his men were rushing to the place Lan Lan said, Song Ting finally came to the Imperial Capital Base with his men. At this time, all the base leaders who could come had already arrived, because the next day was the date of the meeting. He came on time.

Song Ting was very pompous, bringing more than 20 cars and more than 200 elite soldiers with live ammunition. He did not go to the private property in the Imperial Capital Base, but went directly to the club arranged by the Imperial Capital.

The heads of various bases who came to attend the meeting would bring some people, but there was no one like this, after all, they were not here to fight. Therefore, his appearance was like a stone hitting the calm lake, instantly stirring up waves.

"Damn, do you have to be so arrogant?" Seeing the head of the Imperial Capital Base come out to greet him in person, someone cursed sourly. First, they wanted convenience, and secondly, they thought that it was useless to bring as many people as possible in someone else's territory. They couldn't move the entire base here, so they basically went lightly. But seeing Song Ting's formation at this time, they couldn't help but feel jealous.

However, they forgot that properly showing the power of their base would give them more say. Of course, it might not be that they forgot, but that they were dissatisfied with this forced summit meeting unilaterally initiated by the Imperial Capital Base from the beginning, and then subconsciously didn't take this meeting seriously, so they were so careless.

But even if they took it seriously, in terms of equipment and strength, there were only two or three that could compare with the Ruzhou Base. They didn't know that outside the Imperial Capital Base, Song Ting also stationed an elite force of a thousand people. He has always been willing to speculate with the greatest malice about the top leaders of the Imperial Capital Base. In addition, just treat it as a training exercise. Song

Yan, who had come out to greet Song Ting after hearing about his arrival, immediately turned around and left with Li Muran when he saw this scene. Who knew that before he took two steps, a low shout came from behind: "Song Yan!"

Song Yan stood at attention reflexively, turned around, and saluted.

Song Ting's eyes flashed with a smile, raised his hand to return the salute, and then ignored Song Yan, but turned to the head of the Imperial Capital Base who came to greet him and said: "This is my younger brother. He has set up a base outside, so I came to join in the fun." The two of them had equal status before the end of the world, and they had dealt with each other a lot. Regardless of whether their relationship was good or not, at least they were very familiar with each other.

Song Yan's heart was in tears. He forgot that he had long been out of his brother's control. He shouldn't have stopped just now, no, he shouldn't have come out to greet him. It wouldn't be too late to meet him after he settled down. There was no need to stand here awkwardly like now, being talked about like an ignorant young man.

Li Muran, who was with him, had never seen him like this before. He was a little surprised, a little funny, and a little embarrassed, so he took a step back without leaving a trace and silently hid himself behind his burly body. What is sharing hardships? Does not exist.

"I've heard of the Song family's Qilin son for a long time. He entered the military academy at the age of fifteen, and entered the Blood Fang at the age of eighteen. He was awarded the first-class merit once, the second-class merit once, the third-class merit four times, and countless commendations. At the age of twenty-one, he retired due to an accident and was admitted to Yun Medical University. A year later, he went abroad and transferred to the world's top medical school. At the age of twenty-six, he obtained a doctorate in medicine and returned to work in Yun Medical. He has made remarkable achievements in the past few years. I didn't expect that after the end of the world, he was stranded outside and had no family support, but he could still establish his own power. It's true that gold can shine everywhere." Liu Chenghan, the head of the imperial capital, looked at Song Yan with the same eyes as looking at a younger generation, and smiled

. Obviously, he knew Song Yan's past very well, but he didn't know whether it was the homework he did before the end of the world, or the investigation during this period, or it was an incidental discovery when studying his opponent Song Ting.

"Although this kid has a bad temper, is stubborn, and is so willful that it makes people feel annoyed, he still has some ability." Song Ting first criticized Song Yan hypocritically, then changed his tone and accepted all of Liu Chenghan's compliments without hesitation, regardless of whether the other party was sincere.

Liu Hancheng could only laugh in his heart. To be honest, he really didn't care about the small base of two or three thousand people built by Song Yan, but he couldn't help but envy the two brothers. At least the base they built belonged to them completely, unlike him who had the emperor Wuzong on his head. On the surface, he was the master, but in fact, he had to listen to others in everything he did. The sad thing was that as long as he was in this position, he could not get rid of this control. So his biggest goal for this gathering was to let all the base leaders have an emperor on their heads.

As for Song Yan, who was criticized by the two, he stood there with an indifferent face. His heart was almost numb. He didn't expect that his brother was still like this after not seeing each other for so long.

Li Muran was amazed at Song Yan's glorious past, but she also felt a little weird. She always felt that Song Ting's tone when talking about Song Yan was the same as when he was talking about his own son. She didn't know that Mr. Song was busy fighting in his early years. He didn't get married until he was in his thirties, and it was difficult for him to have children. When Song Yan was born, he was already in his fifties. Because he hadn't retired from his position, he was busy all day long. Their mother was a literary and artistic worker and was also busy, so the matter of raising the youngest son was handed over to the eldest son who was already an adult at that time.

Song Ting almost raised Song Yan in the way of raising a son. When he went to the army, he brought his little brother, who was still a doll, to the army, and trained and ate with his soldiers, which saved a lot of trouble. Of course, the amount of training must be adjusted.

Song Yan was raised in this rough and rough way, so he has a masculine and neat energy in his bones.

"What are you doing standing there like an idiot? Hurry up and follow me!" The two heads of the bases exchanged pleasantries while walking inside. When Song Yan thought he was finally going to get rid of the situation of being a wooden man, Song Ting suddenly turned around and shouted at him.

"Yes!" Song Yan subconsciously stood at attention again and answered loudly. After doing all this, he wanted to hit his head in annoyance.

So, he didn't want to go back and stay in the same base with the boss, and be scolded like a grandson all the time.

Thinking this way, he still followed. Of course, before that, he didn't forget to tell Li Muran, who was laughing behind him, to go back and wait for him. The current situation is not just a simple meeting with the parents, so it is not appropriate for her to go. With her personality, she must be very uncomfortable.

Sure enough, after learning that she didn't have to go, Li Muran couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It's really not her fault. It's really that Song Yan's elder brother is too scary, even scarier than Song Yan back then.

Song Yan laughed, touched her head comfortingly, and then left.

In fact, before the meeting started, Liu Chenghan didn't have much to say to Song Ting, and the more he said, the more mistakes he made. It was hard to guarantee that this old fox in the intelligence community would not sniff out clues. Therefore, after doing the superficial work he should do, he quickly said goodbye and left, not giving the other party a chance to inquire, and there was no arrangement for a reception or anything like that. In the final analysis, their relationship had already broken down when Song Ting led his men to leave the Imperial Capital Base. The fact that they could come to greet him now was because of his strength and their equal status before the end of the world. As for anything more, forget it.

As soon as Liu Chenghan left, only the two brothers were left in the room, and even the personal guards were dismissed by Song Ting.

"You know everything?" Song Ting asked.

"Yes." Song Yan replied.

Song Ting paused, as if he was distracted. After a few seconds, he came back to his senses and said, "It's enough to know. They all left without much pain, which is better than staying in this broken world." At this point, he waved his hand, put the question aside, and said, "Your vision is not very good. Your young wife is a little timid, which is not acceptable in this doomsday. Although there are few women in the doomsday, it is not easy for you to pick one who is excellent in all aspects with your status and strength..." His eyes were sharp, and he knew Li Muran's character almost exactly with just a glance.

"If it weren't for her, I would have died long ago." Song Yan interrupted his brother.

Song Ting choked, and the expression on his face became a little weird. After a moment, he asked, "So you are repaying your kindness with your body?"

Song Yan looked at his brother speechlessly, protesting with silence. He dared to guarantee that his brother understood that his words were aimed at the evaluation of cowardice. As for why he deliberately distorted his meaning seriously, it can only be said that this person has a bad taste, but just wants to see him get angry. Unfortunately, he is no longer an impulsive and irritable teenager, so he can't be easily provoked.

"Okay, okay, as expected, middle-aged greasy uncles are the most boring. Invite her to dinner tonight. When things are settled here, come back to Ruzhou with me to have another banquet to toast the old man and the old lady. They have been talking about you getting married. This time you should feel relieved." Seeing this, Song Ting had to give in. Song Yan, who

was rated as a middle-aged greasy uncle, couldn't help but frown. However, before he could get rid of this hat, he was saddened by Song Ting's words, and his attention was diverted. He was successfully fooled once.

"Okay, I'll tell her." Even if Song Yan was impatient to have another banquet, he couldn't say no to the words of toasting his parents.

"Okay, okay, get out of here. Oh, my old bones, I've been tossed all the way, I need to have a good rest." There was no warmth of brothers meeting as others imagined. After saying that, Song Ting drove Song Yan away like a fly.

Knowing that he was pretending again, Song Yan rolled his eyes in his heart, turned around and walked away without saying anything. However, before he took a few steps, Song Ting suddenly called him again.

"By the way, I heard that you can transform, transform one for me to see."

"..." Song Yan.

In the end, Song Ting got what he wanted, and was even shocked by the powerful power of the beastman, so he had the idea of ​​researching and creating a beastman. Song Yan had to spend a lot of time and effort to use the high mortality rate and low success rate of the beastman experiment, as well as the byproduct of the experiment, the bloodthirsty and violent half-beasts that were difficult to control, and the decreasing population, etc., to present facts and reason one by one, proving that doing so would not be worth the loss. Finally, he threw out the two types of skills created by the sick ghost, and only then did he give up the idea.

It was not until Song Yan left that Song Ting's cold face showed a smile like an old fox. At the same time, Song Yan, who had just left the door, shook his head and smiled helplessly.

With Song Ting's wisdom and vision, as well as his powerful sources of information, how could he not know the disadvantages of creating alien beastmen? He made such a gesture just to make the taciturn Song Yan say a few more words. And based on Song Yan's understanding of his brother, the reason why he "fell into the trap" was just out of the consideration that relatives would never say. There were

only three people attending the dinner in the evening, Song Yan and his wife, and their eldest brother. Originally, when Li Muran heard that he was going to have dinner with his eldest brother, he was very nervous for the whole afternoon. Who knew that Song Ting, contrary to the high and mighty when he met him from a distance in the morning, became amiable and even a little chatty, and from time to time talked about some of Song Yan's mischievous childhood, like an elder of an ordinary family, which made Li Muran relax unconsciously.

After the meal, the atmosphere became very warm, and when Li Muran was about to leave, he unconsciously developed a sense of closeness to Song Ting.

Chapter 355: Gathering in the Imperial City (18)

Lan Lan pointed in a very clear direction without any hesitation. Zhang Yi and the others had originally thought that it should not be too far away, after all, the farthest distance she could sense was only about two or three kilometers. Who knew that they would not stop all the way there, and even spent the night outside, and continued the next day.

"Why is it so far?" Zhang Yi could not help but be surprised, but as he looked at Lan Lan's increasingly worse complexion, he could not have any doubts. It must be because as the distance got closer, her senses became stronger and stronger, which was why it was like this. From this point of view, it was probably not a small matter. He began to worry whether the three of them could handle it.

The next morning, they set off at dawn. After driving for more than an hour, they began to see convoys coming and going on the road, and they actually arrived near another base.

"The front is Ruzhou." Nan Shao said. He was from the capital, and even though the environment had changed beyond recognition, he still determined their location based on the direction and memory.

Half an hour later, a huge city appeared in front of them. The city wall is made of cast steel, and it gleams with a cold metallic luster under the light of snow. There are densely packed lookouts, firing ports and turrets on the wall, which make people feel chilly when they look at it from afar. This is the first time that Zhang Yi and his team have seen a base that is completely protected by thermal weapons after the end of the world.

Needless to say, this is Song Ting's Ruzhou base. Looking at the orderly traffic at the entrance of the base, it is known that this base is managed in a militarized manner.

Zhang Yi and his team really didn't expect to have a chance to visit Ruzhou base. You must know that at this time, whether it is Song Ting, Song Yan, or even Shen Chi, they are still in the Imperial Capital Base. The Imperial Capital rarely releases tasks to be done in Ruzhou. They have no reason to rashly run here to play. Calculating the time, today is the day when the base summit meeting begins, and they should have stayed in the Imperial Capital to watch the excitement.

-

Imperial Capital Base, the heads of various bases walked into the venue one after another.

For some reason, the summit meeting was not held in the Wuzong Mountain Gate, but was arranged in the second-floor conference room of a hotel in the city center. This hotel is not owned by the base, but the property of a certain powerful force.

In the Imperial Capital Base, in addition to the remaining government agencies, there are many independent forces of all sizes, most of which were established at the beginning of the end of the world, when they were seeking survival together. After the establishment of the Imperial Capital Base, some were disbanded, but more were retained. Not for anything else, just to seize more living space and resources.

The power to which this hotel belongs operates hotels and clubs in the base, and sells weapons and intelligence. It is a type that can do both black and white. It can be seen that they are strong to engage in these industries and gain a foothold in the base. However, even so, they will not easily show their bullying side. When the base notified that they would undertake a very important meeting, the person in charge of the hotel took a very cautious and solemn attitude, which even alarmed the highest authority of the power.

So from the moment they received the notice, they began to contact the heads of the participating bases, find out the arrival and residence of each head, and build relationships with them, get a basic understanding of the situation in various places, and then send luxury cars to pick them up on the morning of the meeting. What they did particularly well was that they did not flatter or flatter the superior, and treated all bases equally regardless of size. Their actions and words made people feel comfortable. The heads of the large bases would not feel neglected, and the small bases would not feel despised. Therefore, in just a few days, they gained some goodwill.

On the day of the meeting, when luxury cars took the heads of the various bases to the hotel one after another, the person standing at the door of the hotel to greet them turned out to be the head of the power. At that time, he did not reveal his identity, and the heads of the various bases did not understand it. They all thought he was a person who managed the hotel, and did not take it seriously. It was not until he was recognized by someone who participated in the meeting at a certain imperial base that they realized that the person who greeted them was actually of the same status as themselves, and even surpassed some people. Of course, it would not be flattering, but it is undeniable that they would look at this person differently and be deeply impressed. If they have to deal with each other in the future, it will definitely be much smoother.

It must be admitted that the choice of the meeting location by the Imperial Base and the thoughtfulness of the meeting organizers made the heads of the participating bases relax a little, which was very beneficial to the convening of the meeting.

There were a total of 27 heads of the meeting, 13 of whom were heads of the bases, and the rest were heads of small settlements. Small settlements were scattered all over the place, large and small, and many of them were unable to come for various reasons. For these people, the Imperial Base did not take coercive measures like it did for all the heads of the bases, because these scattered small settlements would be directly swallowed up in the planning of the Imperial Base, so it didn't matter whether they participated or not, and they would not have any say at all.

Before the meeting, everyone had more or less dealt with each other and were familiar with each other. As soon as they entered the meeting room, greetings continued to come and go. Three people gathered here and two people there to chat, and exchanged glances across the crowd. Although they seemed friendly and enthusiastic on the surface, there was a turbulent undercurrent underneath, but the atmosphere was generally quite good.

Song Yan met Shi Hao and the person in charge of the Yunzhou base, but they just nodded to each other from a distance and did not approach to talk.

After everyone arrived, Liu Chenghan appeared, followed by a handsome young man. Everyone attending the meeting was allowed to bring an entourage, like Song Ting brought a guard, so everyone didn't pay much attention. Only a few people such as Song Yan recognized that the young man was Leng Fengchen, not an ordinary guard or bodyguard. Apart from him, there was no one else from the Wuzong.

Leng Fengchen followed behind Liu Chenghan, his eyes lightly swept across the whole venue, and did not linger on Song Yan and others for a long time, as if they had never met before. Song Yan didn't have a good impression of him. Even though they had traveled thousands of kilometers together, they had never interacted with each other and had never spoken to each other. Naturally, he would not approach him at this time. Acting in this way, both sides were happy and comfortable.

"I am very happy to meet you all here..." Liu Chenghan sat down in the main seat and started the meeting.

——

"In front, in front... Can we go in and take a look?" Lan Lan said with a pale face and shivering. It was a cold day, but there was cold sweat on his forehead, which wet his hair, and then quickly froze into frost.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao looked at each other, thinking that the problem might be in Ruzhou Base. But what could happen in the base? It can't be that Song Ting is secretly doing something that will toss people's lives, like in Dongzhou Base? Or someone in the base did this privately? The

reason for thinking this way, instead of guessing that there was a mess in Ruzhou Base and a large number of people died, is because the expressions of the survivors who came in and out did not look abnormal. If it was just a few lives, Zhang Yi didn't believe that Lan Lan could sense it from such a distance.

Therefore, at this moment, both of them felt that the water here might be very deep, and they were a little hesitant about whether they should continue to investigate. Of course, they thought so mainly because they didn't know Song Ting at all, and they couldn't judge Song Ting's character through Song Yan. As for whether Lan Lan might have sensed something wrong, looking at her, they really couldn't think about it. After thinking

for a moment, they decided to continue, but they repeatedly reminded Lan Lan in advance to treat themselves as ordinary survivors who came to the base for refuge, and try not to reveal their tracks no matter what they found.

Lan Lan's eyes were a little dazed, and it was unknown whether she listened.

To their surprise, there were not as many rules for entering the Ruzhou base as the Imperial Capital Base. As long as they were sure that they were not injured, there was no problem. They didn't need to register their superpowers or their identities and backgrounds. They could come and go as they pleased, and they would not force people to stay. It was also because of this rule that many survivors from small settlements within a hundred or two hundred kilometers nearby often came to buy or sell things, which made the market in the Ruzhou base very prosperous.

Zhang Yi and the others didn't know about this, and they didn't have a chance to know it for the time being. Because as soon as they stepped into the base, Lan Lan's face changed drastically, and she hugged her head tightly, as if she had touched the most terrifying thing in the world, and her body was shaking like a sieve.

"It's here... it's here! Go... Go quickly! Go..." Before she finished speaking, blood oozed out of her eyes, nose, and ears, and she fell down.

Not only Nan Shao

and Zhang Yi were shocked, but even passers-by couldn't help but look over here, and the kind-hearted person seemed to want to come over and ask if they needed help. Nan Shao and Zhang Yi didn't dare to wait for others to gather around, they picked up Lan Lan and walked out. As soon as they left the base, Lan Lan showed signs of waking up, but her eyelids trembled, but she couldn't open them. Instead, blood was flowing from all seven orifices, which was very scary, and even attracted the attention of the gate guards. If they hadn't seen with their own eyes that the girl walked into the base with the two of them, the guards would probably suspect that they had done something.

Zhang Yi and the other man did not dare to delay and went straight to the car parked outside the base. After putting Lan Lan in the car, they did not leave immediately. Instead, Nan Shao used his supernatural power to check her condition first to prevent it from getting worse.

After a while, Nan Shao looked at Zhang Yi and shook his head: "Her vitality has not weakened. It may be that she is mentally traumatized. My supernatural power cannot provide any help." Thinking of this, he stretched out his hand to pinch Lan Lan's philtrum. He really had no intention of sympathizing with women. His fingers were strong, and Lan Lan opened her eyes in a moment, but her eyes were bloodshot and her eyes were blank.

"They are all dead! They are all dead! Let's go... Let's go quickly..." Before Zhang Yi could ask, she had already stretched out her hand to grab his arm in fear and urged him. No matter how Zhang Yi and the other two asked, she just kept saying let's go, let's go quickly, and there was no other response.

"They are all dead? What is dead?" Zhang Yi gestured to Nan Shao to drive, and waited until the car drove a distance before asking again.

Perhaps because of the distance, the sense of oppression was slightly relieved, Lan Lan finally said more: "Everyone in the base is dead... There is nothing left... Let's go, the faster the better, the farther the better..."

Her words were incoherent, but Zhang Yi and Nan Shao were horrified. They certainly didn't believe that everyone in Ruzhou Base was dead, after all, they had just come out of there and met countless living people on the way. But what if this was a prophecy?

"A Shao, hurry up, go back to the Imperial Capital Base!" Of course, they didn't escape like Lan Lan said, but wanted to find Song Yan or Shen Chi. Ruzhou Base's matter was useless for them to go there, just running over and telling people that something might happen here, and everyone would be finished, it would be strange if they didn't get beaten into a lunatic.

Nan Shao stepped on the accelerator, the wheels rolled up a piece of snow foam, and drove towards the Imperial Capital at lightning speed.

"Lan Lan, when? Do you know when it is?" Zhang Yi was also anxious, and didn't care about Lan Lan's current physical condition, and asked repeatedly.

However, Lan Lan didn't reveal any useful information except that he started to repeat and kept saying to hurry up.

Ten minutes later, the car squeaked and stopped at the side of the road. It turned out that the gas was exhausted. It was not their fault. They thought the car was not far away, so they drove it out. You have to know that the car had traveled a long distance before that, and then drove for more than a day and several hours. It was normal to run out of gas.

But this made even Nan Shao's forehead bulge with veins and cold sweat, not to mention Zhang Yi. If you try to stop a car at this time, you don't know if you can meet one, and when you can meet one. Even if you stop one, people will lend you the car for no reason, or go to the capital with you. Are you crazy? Do you have to use violence? Even if you use violence, you have to stop the car first.

"Ayi, you go. Lanlan and I will wait for the car here." Zhang Yi made a prompt decision and said, not daring to delay even a second.

It is better to believe it than not to believe it. After all, the lives of a base, even if he can't figure out what will happen, will make the entire base die all at once, especially in a base like Ruzhou with strong attack and defense capabilities.

Nan Shao hesitated a little, and under Zhang Yi's repeated urging, he gritted his teeth, told to protect himself, and then turned into a beast and flew to the Imperial Capital Base.

——

"We once did a statistics. When the apocalypse just happened, the ratio of our country's population to zombies was about 50 to 1, which means that on average one in 50 people would avoid becoming a zombie. Before the apocalypse, our country's population was 2.5 billion, which means that the number of people who survived at that time was about 50 million." Liu Chenghan didn't talk nonsense. After the opening remarks, he went straight to the topic.

These are things that other bases except Ruzhou Base, which has always focused on collecting intelligence from all aspects, don't know, so even if they are ready to watch the fun casually, they are still attracted by this topic at this time. It can be said that Liu Chenghan grasped the entry point of the opening very well.

"And now, do you know how many survivors there are in the country?" he asked, subtly directing everyone's interest.

"How many?" A certain base leader, who had originally decided not to cooperate before the situation was understood in order to avoid being led by the nose, couldn't help but ask.

The others looked at him strangely, but did not blame him, because they wanted to know, too.

"Five million." Liu Chenghan did not keep the secret, stretched out a hand, spread out his five fingers and shook them, and emphasized again: "Less than five million."

The sound of sucking air rang out in the conference room, not just in one place. Song Ting knew the answer long ago, and he took out a cigarette and lit it expressionlessly, obviously not planning to tear down his old rival for the time being.

"Later, when the animals and plants mutated, a lot of people must have died." Someone looked for the reason and said.

Liu Chenghan did not address this question directly, but said, "Some of you may not know that the Imperial Capital Base was not originally built here..." He raised his hand and pointed to the ground, "In order to facilitate the survivors who surrendered to Beijing from all over the country, the base was established based on the 21st Army Headquarters stationed in Yulongtai in the suburbs of the Imperial Capital. It was planned to use this place as a base, gradually clear the city and finally recapture the entire Imperial Capital." Having said this, he looked at Song Ting, "Old Song knows this best."

Song Ting grinned and shook off the ash. He neither agreed nor denied it. "Let's talk about this?"

Liu Chenghan didn't care and continued, "In the first month alone, the newly built base collected more than one million survivors from the imperial capital and other places. Because the time was too short and the haste made it so imperfect in terms of hardware facilities and survivor management, people took advantage of it, instigated civil unrest, and attracted zombies.

In that battle, only a few hundred thousand people survived the entire imperial capital base." For those who survived the chaos, they were unwilling to recall this past. That's why, except for a few people who knew the inside story, the others heard about it for the first time. You can imagine how shocked they were.

Song Ting put out his cigarette, folded his arms around his chest, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Liu Chenghan coldly.

Liu Chenghan glanced back at him, and then looked at Song Yan, whose expression had not changed much: "According to the information we have collected, the Dongzhou base used living people for prohibited research, which led to instability in people's hearts. Later, the entire base was destroyed by mutants generated by experiments, and there were few survivors; the Huangzhou base was once considered a piece of pure land in the end of the world, and countless survivors converged there, and finally it was destroyed by the same reason; the predecessor of the current Zhongzhou base was the Bowei base, and in just two years, it has changed three leaders..."

One bloody fact after another was displayed. Under those reasons that sounded exciting and curious, countless fresh lives were buried. Every incident was heard or even experienced by everyone present, and it was not made up. This shows that during the year of waiting for the summit to begin, the people in the Imperial Capital Base were not idle, but conducted a full and detailed investigation. When the total number of deaths due to human infighting was finally placed in front of everyone, everyone was silent.

"More than 14 million." Liu Chenghan spoke these words word by word, and then added: "It is one-third of the number of people who died again due to various reasons after escaping the first zombie disaster."

"This number may not be accurate enough, but it is the result of our estimation after spending a lot of time, manpower and material resources to collect information from different channels, and then analyzing and eliminating them." Without waiting for everyone to question, he took the initiative to explain: "In addition to the well-known incident involving an entire base that I mentioned before, the number of deaths is about 5 million. The real casualties were at the beginning of the end of the world. At that time, the political and military systems in various places were severely damaged and could not organize effective rescue operations, so that social order collapsed and lost restraint. Some people became unscrupulous, killing, robbing and looting openly, making the already serious situation worse. Many people who did not have time to adapt to the great changes of the end of the world died as a result."

"In order to survive, many small teams were born at the beginning of the end of the world. In order to seek a greater chance of survival

, they competed with each other, merged and annexed each other. In this process, the weak were eliminated in batches again..." At this point, Liu Chenghan swept his eyes across the people present and said, "I say this to tell everyone that it is time to stop killing each other and restore normal order. Otherwise, before the external environment continues to deteriorate, we humans will first send ourselves to a dead end."

——

Zhang Yi sat in the car for a while. At this time, Lan Lan fainted again. It seems that he was mentally traumatized before. Because there was no oil, the air conditioner in the car could not work. The car was getting colder and colder. If this continued, he would be fine, but Lan Lan would probably have problems with the cold first. Besides, sitting here and doing nothing was tormenting him.

He made a decision without thinking for a long time and returned to Ruzhou Base. At this time, going to Ruzhou was naturally much closer than going to the imperial capital, and it was easier to get a ride. If you want to go to the imperial capital from here, I'm afraid you won't be able to wait for a few days.

The car was stopped and he got on it, but when he arrived at Ruzhou Base, Zhang Yi did not go in, but waited at the gate of the base with Lan Lan in his arms, fearing that going in would cause secondary damage to her spirit.

"Excuse me, can you help me find Teng Jin?" He said to the gate guard. It was precisely because he thought that Teng Jin was at Ruzhou Base at this time that he returned again, hoping to do his best to save as many lives as possible.

"Sorry, it's my duty time now, and I can't get away." The guard saluted the two people, looked at Lan Lan who was unconscious in Zhang Yi's arms, and looked embarrassed. After a pause, he couldn't help but say: "You go into the base by yourself and find someone to do it. It's not far, and it will be there in a few minutes. You go to the staff inside and ask them to help." The guard was also kind. Seeing that Lan Lan was in a bad condition, he also said that they could go to the base hospital to see.

Zhang Yi didn't dare to go in, and it was impossible to hand Lan Lan to a stranger. He could only put aside his face and beg again and again.

The guard was annoyed and felt sorry for the two people, so he really asked someone passing by to bring a letter to find an acquaintance. It was a coincidence that the person he was looking for actually knew Teng Jin, and even knew the importance of Teng Jin's sister in the base, so he came out to ask about the situation. Zhang Yi only gave his name and said that he came from Yunzhou with Teng Jin. He didn't say anything else, and he couldn't say anything.

The person went there, but didn't say whether he would help find her or not. He would definitely ask, but it depends on Teng Jin's reaction. If Teng Jin said he didn't know him, then maybe he wouldn't even come over to reply.

In any case, Zhang Yi still thanked the guard gratefully. The guard was young and shy, and his face turned slightly red when he received the sincere thanks from others. Thinking of Lan Lan's prophecy and looking at the young face in front of him, Zhang Yi couldn't help but want to remind him several times, but he held back.

What to say? Can this young man believe it? Can he put down his current responsibilities and escape from the base because of a stranger's groundless speculation?

In the more than ten minutes of waiting for Teng Jin to appear, Zhang Yi was like being put into a frying pan and tormented. He didn't know what he could do, whether Lan Lan's words had other meanings, how many people could survive this time, and whether everything could be just a farce in the end. Fortunately, Teng Jin came, and he came not too late, so he didn't need to think about it anymore.

"Brother Yi, why don't you go in?" Seeing Zhang Yi, Teng Jin was both confused and happy, but when he saw the girl in his arms, he couldn't help but reveal a strange look, probably guessing the relationship between the two.

Zhang Yi didn't say anything nonsense. He originally wanted to pull him aside to talk, but after looking at the guard, he stayed where he was, and even didn't lower his voice. He told Teng Jin how he and his friends came to Ruzhou, Lan Lan's reaction after entering Ruzhou, and the subsequent prophecy.

As expected, the guard was stunned and looked at him with a strange look. This was all Zhang Yi could do. As for whether he believed it or not, and what he would do next, he was really powerless.

However, Teng Jin would not treat him as a psychopath. Hearing this, his face became solemn. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Wait." Then he turned and left.

The guard who was originally very friendly to Zhang Yi now had a stiff face, as if he was trying to restrain the urge to move a few steps to the side.

Two minutes later, Teng Jin drove out in an off-road vehicle and stopped in front of Zhang Yi.

"Brother Yi, you drive this car back to the capital immediately, and I will take care of the things here... I will do my best." Teng Jin was very clear-headed. Knowing that it was no use for Zhang Yi to stay here at this time, it would be better to leave early. As for the news brought by Zhang Yi, if it was false, it would be false, and it would be better to be a false alarm than to regret it if something really happened.

"Then you should be careful. No matter if it works or not, you must leave as soon as possible." Zhang Yi did not say politely to him, and put Lan Lan in the back seat of the car while saying.

"I know." Teng Jin waved his hand.

——

"Normal order? What is normal order? People are divided into different levels, and those who are not awakened either become vassals of the awakened, or hide in the sewers like rats and cannot see the light?" Song Ting heard this and tapped the conference table twice with his fingers, sarcastically. It was because of this that he had a disagreement with the Imperial Capital Base.

The two of them had argued about this issue countless times before they broke up completely. If it were any other time, Liu Chenghan would not bother to talk about it anymore, but the situation was different now. There were other people who didn't know the situation, and it would be difficult to deal with things later if he didn't explain it clearly. However, he had thought of Song Ting's reaction in advance, so he could still remain calm.

"The awakened have to take on the most dangerous tasks..."

Bang! The door was opened all of a sudden... No, it was more like it was knocked open.

Liu Chenghan was interrupted and anger appeared on his face. Just as he was about to scold the person who came, he saw the two brothers of the Song family stood up all of a sudden.

"What's the matter?" Song Ting asked.

After all, Shen Chi didn't dare to break into such a meeting for ordinary things. Even if the Imperial Capital Base had some small moves, they had expected and calculated them in advance. Shen Chi would never come in for such a thing.

Shen Chi was panting heavily, obviously in a hurry. His face was very ugly. He didn't say anything and went straight into the venue. He almost ran to Song Ting's side and whispered a few words in his ear.

His voice was very low. In addition to Song Ting, who was close by and had very sensitive ears and eyes, only Leng Fengchen and Shi Hao in the distance heard it. Leng Fengchen raised his eyebrows slightly, and his eyes showed interest. Shi Hao's expression, which originally didn't care about anything, fluctuated and showed a little sharpness.

Song Yan's face was very solemn.

"How sure are you?" Song Ting frowned. This matter was too unreliable. He was asked to order the entire base to come out in full force just because of a girl who didn't have the ability to predict. It would consume a lot of manpower, especially it might cause people to be unstable. The reason why he asked this question was that he felt that this matter was too serious. If Shen Chi answered that he was sure, he would give this order without hesitation.

Who knew Shen Chi shook his head, "Not a cent. But I believe in Zhang Yi and Nan Shao." Seeing Nan Shao actually abandon Zhang Yi and rush back in the form of an ant, he knew the urgency of the matter, and even without asking a single question, he rushed to ask for orders. After a pause, as if afraid that Song Ting would not believe it, he added: "I am willing to issue a military order."

Song Ting snorted coldly, and did not respond to this. Instead, he stretched out his hand to tear off a piece of note paper on the conference table, picked up a pen and quickly wrote a line of words, signed it, and stamped it. When he gave it to Shen Chi, he pointed at him: "If it's a misunderstanding, I'll see how I deal with you later!"

Shen Chi didn't care about much, and turned around and ran after getting the order.

"Sorry! Sorry! Something happened at the base, and I delayed everyone's time. Please continue!" Song Ting turned around and chatted with the participants calmly, then sat down. He said words of apology, but his tone and expression were not like that at all.

Liu Chenghan was so angry that his chest felt stuffy, and he wanted to make a few sarcastic remarks, but thinking of the business, he held back his anger.

Listening to Liu Chenghan's words, Song Ting looked as relaxed as before, but he was actually very uneasy in his heart. It is difficult for anyone to take it lightly when hearing that something will happen to their base, or that such an order has just been issued.

It is not that he does not have various concerns. You know, if there is really danger, the base is well-defended and it is safer than being outside. But he still issued an order for everyone to evacuate. Trusting Shen Chi is one thing, and the most important thing is that he dare not take risks. You know, even if the prophecy is a little accurate, the consequences will be very terrible. Moreover, the entire base has come out in full force. With the strength of their base, they don't expect to encounter particularly great dangers outside. It's just a torment.

Well, just treat it as a full-scale exercise!

——

"Are you crazy?" This was Teng Ying's first reaction when he heard his younger brother's words.

Teng Jin repeatedly assured that he was sane and clear-headed, and even brought up the story of the sick ghost to prove that anything could happen in this doomsday.

"If something really happened, with so many people in the entire base... Sister, if you find out that you had the opportunity but did nothing, causing the entire base to... Will you regret and blame yourself? Can you sleep peacefully for the rest of your life?"

"Why sleep? I can't sleep now with you around!" Teng Ying said unhappily. But perhaps she was still persuaded, her tone softened slightly. "I don't have that much power to mobilize the entire base. At most, I can let my people go crazy with you! I can't mobilize the others."

Teng Jin thought that if anyone could leave, it would be a good thing, so he immediately persuaded Teng Ying to take the team out of the base immediately and inform others at the same time.

Teng Ying was persuaded and had to agree.

Just as the order was issued and the team was ready to go, Li Muran had already arrived at the Ruzhou base with Shen Chi.

"Attention all members of the base! Attention all members of the base! Now we will conduct a seven-day emergency exercise. Everyone, bring three days of food and your weapons, and set off immediately to Ningcheng. Please note, it is all the base personnel! It is all the base personnel..."

The survivors on the street and the staff who were working diligently at various posts could not help but raise their heads and look in the direction of the loudspeaker.

——

"You lead the team first!" Teng Ying said to her brother. At this time, she had received Song Ting's order, and she had no doubts in her heart.

"You come with me." Teng Jin didn't know what she was thinking and asked. He certainly wanted to save many people, but he cared more about his only remaining relatives.

"This is an order!" Teng Ying said sternly. She was decisive in character. Usually, she could let her brother be naughty, but when something really happened, she was resolute and harsh, and would not allow any doubt. As one of the top leaders of the base, she had to stand the last shift, and there was no room for negotiation. She believed that if Song Ting was there, he would also be the last to leave the base.

"I'm not your subordinate." Teng Jin didn't buy her tricks. But he did not continue to persuade her, but just sat down on the chair behind her, completely throwing Zhang Yi's advice aside. He could not leave his relatives in danger and escape.

At the same time, Shen Chi made the same choice as them.

At this time, none of them thought about what kind of disaster it would be, why the disaster would befall Ruzhou, they just wanted to do what they could do well, that's all.

Chapter 356: Gathering in the Imperial City (19)

"The awakened ones have to undertake the most dangerous tasks. Do you think they will agree to this if they are put on the same status as the non-awakened ones, who have no relatives or friends with them? Besides, we have treated the non-awakened ones equally in the past. How many elites have we sacrificed to save them? We have provided them with a place to sleep and free food, but what have they given us in return? Complaints? Dissatisfaction? Jealousy? Or do they want to label the awakened ones as aliens and try to preserve their former mainstream status?" Liu Chenghan continued the unfinished topic.

"That was at the beginning, and people's mentality has not changed yet..." Song Ting was a little absent-minded, but he still subconsciously refuted.

"It is still necessary to distinguish between high and low status. Otherwise, who would be willing to fight against mutant creatures?" At this time, someone spoke up and clearly supported Liu Chenghan.

Song Ting looked over and did not show any surprise or anger. From the intelligence he received, this person was originally close to the Imperial City, so it was normal for him to speak up.

As soon as he spoke, several base leaders who wanted to build good relations with the Imperial Capital echoed him. Some neutral people remained silent, obviously not ready to easily express their attitude before confirming the real purpose of the Imperial Capital.

"My base treats awakened and non-awakened people the same, regardless of high or low, just do their best, and everyone is very motivated." As a brother, Song Yan must unconditionally support his eldest brother, not to mention that he does not agree to classify people.

"It's the same in my place." Liu Qiye knocked on his pipe and said slowly, "After all, we are all human beings. If you divide us into high and low, it will be too chilling and bad for unity."

"You two only have one or two thousand people under your command. How can your management methods be applied to a large base with hundreds of thousands of people..." The man who spoke earlier laughed. There was no mockery in his expression or tone, but those who could gather thousands of people to build a base were all smart people, and they easily heard the implication of his words. He was implying that Song Yan and Liu Qiye had too few people and had no right to speak here. Song Yan

and Liu Qiye were not people who could be easily provoked by strangers, so they did not react much after hearing it. Instead, Shi Hao said calmly: "Everyone is equal in Baixia, and no one has complained."

The man was choked. Baixia is not an ordinary small base, but can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Imperial Capital Ruzhou and other bases. The heads of several other bases who stood on the same front with him hurriedly spoke up to support him, using the example of their own bases to prove that it is the right way to separate the status of awakened and non-awakened people.

So before everyone figured out the real purpose of the Imperial Capital Base, they were led astray. Liu Chenghan did not stop him, obviously wanting to roughly determine everyone's thoughts in this way. Song Ting was even less anxious. His original intention was to disrupt the meeting and prevent the Imperial Capital Base from succeeding. Moreover, he was still a little uneasy at this time and was too lazy to say more.

When they were arguing, a sense of indescribable depression suddenly emerged in everyone's hearts, as if the thick clouds in the sky pressed down and made them stop talking unconsciously. The sudden silence made everyone a little confused. Just when someone wanted to speak again, his whole body shook, and he felt dizzy and nauseous, as if the whole world was shaking.

"Oh no, earthquake!" someone exclaimed.

Everyone present reacted very quickly. Without much shouting, they jumped up and ran out of the hotel. However, the people who ran out first were stunned and looked at the sky in the distance, so that the people who didn't come out later were blocked and couldn't help cursing. When they squeezed out after some effort, they also became stunned like a demon.

Zhang Yizheng was rushing back with Lan Lan. They had only driven less than a hundred kilometers when they felt the tremor. Subconsciously, they thought it should be the disaster that Lan Lan mentioned. They didn't bother to see what it was. They just stepped on the accelerator desperately, hoping to run as far away from the Ruzhou base as possible. However, not long after, a huge pressure came, making his mind blank. When he came to his senses, the car had hit the mutant plants on the side of the road.

As for what happened to those mutant plants, they didn't attack as usual. It was a pity that Zhang Yi, who was distracted at the time, would have suffered. Zhang Yi was full of fear and drove the car back to the road. He didn't dare to drive anymore. He got out of the car and looked towards Ruzhou.

Not only him, but also Nan Shao who went back to meet them, Zhang Ruiyang and Zhao Xin who stayed at home, people who were resting and working in the base, people who were hunting zombies and mutant creatures outside the base, and even some people in other bases close to the imperial capital were standing in the house or in the open space at this moment, looking up at the sky. The dark

clouds that had been as calm as death since the end of the world began to roll, as if being stirred by a big spoon, from slow to fast, and finally formed a huge vortex, which made people dizzy, but it was difficult to look away. Unspeakable fear grew in their hearts. They vaguely felt that there was a monster that could swallow the whole world hidden in the vortex, and if it showed up, no one would be able to resist it.

People were terrified, but their feet seemed to be nailed to the spot and they could not move at all. They could only stand there, waiting for the end of the world to come.

The vortex was spinning faster and faster, and suddenly a clear sound of "pop" rang in people's hearts, as if a balloon was punctured by something, but this sound was so grand that it seemed like the sound of heaven and earth, but it was inaudible.

A huge crystal clear stone pillar appeared in the vortex, and then slowly descended, as if it was afraid that if it fell too fast, the whole world would be shattered. It was also as if some force was trying its best to fight against it, trying to stop it from coming, but was forced to retreat step by step.

With the appearance of the stone pillar, a great fear instantly crushed all living things on the ground. No matter human beings, mutant creatures, or zombies, they were all terrified. The closer they were, the deeper the feeling. If creatures in the distance could still stand and hurriedly look for a safe place, people in the imperial capital could no longer resist the fear and had to sit or kneel on the ground. Some even collapsed on the ground, with feces and urine flowing everywhere. Even the mutant plants were trembling and shrinking themselves as much as possible.

At the same time, the sick ghost who was still staying in the Hope Base walked out of the house and stood in the yard. His eyes fell in the direction of the strange vision and his fingers were counting quickly. Because of the distance, the terrifying scene could not be seen from here, and the pressure people felt was much less. They just thought it was an earthquake somewhere. In addition to lamenting the disasters of the end of the world, they did what they had to do.

After a long time, the sick ghost stopped calculating, sighed deeply, and a trace of solemnity appeared in his eyes, and there was more helplessness.

At the Imperial Capital Base, and even within a radius of 300 kilometers where the phenomenon occurred, people could only watch the cylindrical boulder slowly fall and press down on the ground, but the appearance of the boulder was different in different directions. One side of the tip was covered with circles of deep arc-shaped gullies, while the other side was smooth as a mirror in the same position, with a faint pink luster, like the best crystal ore. As for the other two sides, they were different.

"It's a finger..." Nan Shao had already fallen to the ground, standing alone in a wilderness, muttering to himself, his voice trembling slightly. This scene was so familiar to him. It had appeared in the illusion when he faced Lin An at the Baixia Base, but at that time Zhang Yi and others were all crushed into powder, and now the incident happened above the Ruzhou Base. He finally understood why Lan Lan said that they were all dead.

Not only him, but also many people with strong wills could barely resist the intimidation that almost pressed into their bones, trying to see the huge rock mountain that fell from the sky clearly. After subconsciously shrinking it, they came to the same conclusion as Nan Shao. Those circles of gullies are clearly human fingerprints!

"That... that direction seems to be Ruzhou..." Someone finally noticed this.

Snap! Song Ting broke the armrest of the chair he was sitting on. He, Song Yan, Liu Qiye, Shi Hao and others had been sitting there without moving. Through the window, they could also see the strange phenomenon in the sky in the distance. He was originally the head of the Ruzhou base, so he was naturally more sensitive to that direction than others. In addition, Shen Chi had sent him the news before... But even though he was furious, he couldn't even stand up, let alone do anything else. He could only stare at the falling finger mountain without blinking, trying to figure out how far away from the base it was, how long Shen Chi had been there, whether he had passed on the order, and how many of his people could escape. He didn't even realize that his eyes were bleeding from the strain.

Song Yan was even more panicked. If he hadn't been unable to move now, he would have jumped up and rushed directly to Ruzhou. You know, Li Muran had just sent Shen Chi there not long ago, and it was unknown whether he had returned.

Regardless of fear or curiosity, worry or prayer, the Finger Mountain was not affected at all and fell to the ground at a very stable, seemingly slow, but visible speed.

Boom! After five minutes that seemed as long as a century, the ground shook slightly, as if something was wiping dust on it, but there was a shock wave of pressure that spread around the point where the Finger Mountain fell, like an undercurrent, without damaging the buildings, but causing all creatures that came into contact with it to suffer varying degrees of damage. Although the imperial capital was far away, people still felt a sense of suffocation in their intestines and could hardly breathe.

Even though it had landed, the top of the Finger Mountain was still hidden in the clouds and could not be seen.

Just when everyone thought that everything was about to end and the entire China would be divided into two halves by a magical huge finger-shaped mountain range that fell from the sky, the Finger Mountain moved slightly, slowly rose again, and then shrank back into the clouds in the eyes of people in disbelief, disappearing.

Two minutes later, the cry of a young child broke the deathly silence. As if it was some kind of signal, the entire base came alive instantly. Screams of fear, cries of fear, and incoherent arguments were like delayed clocks, arriving a step slower.

Song Ting's face was pale. The ominous clouds in his heart did not dissipate with Zhishan's departure, but became heavier. He took out a cigarette, but his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't light it twice. When Song Yan was about to help him, he squeezed the cigarette into a ball, looked up at the guards, and gave an order: "Seventh Brother, go prepare the car and return to Ruzhou." At

the same time, Liu Chenghan announced that the meeting would be postponed and the specific time would be notified separately.

The participants couldn't wait to leave and went back to prepare to go and check the situation in person. The Imperial Capital Base was no exception. All the elders went out.

——When

the pressure dissipated and the sky returned to its usual calm, Zhang Yi was still kneeling on the snow covered with mud and ruts, his face pale, and he didn't come back to his senses for a long time. He was close to Ruzhou, so it was a blessing that he was not affected, but he couldn't stand still.

When Nan Shao came over and saw him like this, he was almost scared to death. He was relieved until he was sure that he just couldn't recover and was not injured.

"Go... go to Ruzhou to see... see..." Feeling the warmth coming, Zhang Yi finally came back to his senses and found that it was Nan Shao who pressed his face into his arms. He wanted to laugh, but found that he couldn't even open the corners of his mouth, so he had to give up. When he spoke, his voice was shaking. At that time, he wondered if his whole body was shaking. He

was afraid. Yes, he was very afraid, not afraid of that finger, but afraid of his own powerlessness and despair.

From today on, there was no doubt about what the sick ghost had said in the past.

In fact, it was not just him. He had heard the sick ghost tell about Qin Xuan and regarded him as a psychopath. Before that, he heard Shen Chi say that someone predicted that Ruzhou would have a disaster and came to ask Song Ting to order the entire Ruzhou base to evacuate. Leng Fengchen, who only felt it was absurd and wanted to watch the excitement, was hiding in the hotel room and trembling. He didn't even pay attention to the fact that the imperial capital was going to Ruzhou to check the situation.

It's true! It's true! At that moment, he found that the worldview he had built so solidly collapsed. What's more terrifying is that he found that in front of the new world, the strength he was proud of was so small and fragile that it was not even as good as a spider's silk.

Such scenes were played out in countless people in the imperial capital and other places near Ruzhou. I don't know how many people's pride was shattered, and how many people were desperate and gave up on themselves because of this.

At the place where Zhang Yi and his family lived, two children were standing side by side in front of the window, looking at the sky where the finger mountain appeared before.

Zhao Xin kept screaming, and Zhang Ruiyang began to try to stop him, but he couldn't stop him at all. Later, he blocked his ears and screamed along.

Zhao Xin stopped only after his voice became hoarse, but he still kept screaming.

Zhang Ruiyang finally breathed a sigh of relief, but found that he was very hungry. So he went to cook noodles for the two of them, and took a handful of crystal cores to feed Dudu, who was still huddled under his stomach and shivering, and comforted him for a while.

"Are you scared? I'm scared too. But there's no use shouting, it will only hurt your throat." Zhang Ruiyang said to Zhao Xin while eating noodles. He was very scared at first, but after Zhao Xin's scream, his ears seemed to be buzzing, so how could he think of being scared.

"It's really scary. Such a big stick, I wonder if it's used by Sun Wukong. Yes, it must be Sun Wukong's golden hoop." Zhao Xin ignored him, and Zhang Ruiyang didn't get angry either. He was used to it, talking to himself alone.

"No, it's a finger." At this moment, Zhao Xin, who hadn't heard him speak since they met, suddenly spoke. His voice was hoarse, but he could hear clearly what he said.

"Really? Whose fingers are so big? Then his body must be very big, and he can crush the earth with one foot." Zhang Ruiyang didn't find it strange, but was very surprised by what he said.

"Fool." Zhao Xin took a mouthful of noodles, his eyes still staring blankly out the window, and said in a dazed tone.

"I'm not stupid." Zhang Ruiyang was not convinced.

"...Fool!" Zhao Xin originally wanted to explain why he said Zhang Ruiyang was stupid, but after thinking about it, he found that he had to say a lot of words, so he gave up and finally expressed his meaning with two words.

"..." Zhang Ruiyang was a little angry. He picked up the bowl, kicked the small wooden stool and sat down next to Dudu. He didn't want to pay attention to this little brother who didn't talk all day, screamed until people's ears hurt, and now scolded him. If

he didn't talk, Zhao Xin would be even less likely to talk, so the room returned to silence.

But not long after, Zhang Ruiyang forgot about it. He looked at the door and sighed: "Why haven't Dad and the others come back yet? I don't know if they were scared."

Hearing the word "Dad", Zhao Xin couldn't help but hug the puppy doll that he hadn't put down during the meal, and didn't respond.

——One

day later, Song Ting's convoy returned to Ruzhou Base. Following his convoy, the heads of various bases also came.

There were many people and cars at the scene, but it was silent. Silently treating the wounded, silently picking up the bodies, silently looking for their relatives and friends among the survivors... Intense grief and despair filled the air, like a layer of haze covering the already unclear sky.

Before the car stopped, Song Ting had seen everything he wanted to see. He couldn't help but spit out blood, and his face suddenly became extremely pale.

The originally majestic metal castle of Ruzhou Base had disappeared at this time, replaced by a huge, smooth, mirror-like open flat land. On this flat land, there were no bricks and stones, no metal residues, and no human flesh, blood, and clothing residues, as if these things did not exist, as if there was nothing here.

"When I took people away four days ago, this place was crowded with people seeing me off..." Song Ting murmured.

Before he finished speaking, he heard a shrill roar, and a figure rushed out from behind, kneeling in front of the ruins, burying his head in the ground, crying like a lone wolf abandoned by the tribe. The

originally deathly silence was broken, and countless people who stayed around looked over.

Song Ting waved away Song Yan and the guards who surrounded him because they were worried about him, and pushed twice before opening the car door. When he got out of the car, he stumbled. If it weren't for Song Yan's quick eyes and hands, he might have fallen. He stubbornly pushed Song Yan's hand away, staggered forward, and finally knelt down beside the crying soldier, his body hunched over, as if he had aged twenty years in an instant.

When he knelt, many people followed suit, including the accompanying soldiers, the survivors of the Ruzhou base who escaped the disaster because they went out hunting, and the base personnel who survived the emergency evacuation yesterday. Some people stood straight, but their faces were covered with tears. At this time, even the people of the Imperial Capital Base, which had always been in a semi-competitive and semi-hostile state with the Ruzhou Base, could not feel the slightest excitement because of the demise of their old rival. Some were just deeply trembling and fearful.

Because the existence that caused all this is far beyond their cognition. It is the power of heaven and earth that humans can never touch. If it can wipe out the existence of Ruzhou Base like wiping dust today, it is likely to wipe out the Imperial Capital Base like this tomorrow. In front of this heaven-defying existence that cannot be resisted or communicated, the Imperial Capital Base and Ruzhou Base are grasshoppers on the same rope. How stupid would one be to be happy about the disappearance of their own kind?

"Why? Did I do something wrong?" Song Ting raised his head and looked down at the sky. His voice was deep and desolate, full of confusion, puzzlement, accusation and self-doubt.

"Old Song, the Imperial Capital Base is still your home. You are welcome to come back at any time." At this time, Liu Chenghan walked over and patted him on the shoulder. There was a sense of sorrow in his voice. What ambitions and what struggles are just a joke in front of a powerful enemy who can crush them to nothing with just one finger. No, to say that the other party is an enemy is to elevate their own status.

Song Ting's shoulders tensed up instantly when he was touched. He turned his head suddenly, his face full of hatred, anger and sadness so hideous that Liu Chenghan subconsciously took a step back. Song Ting ignored Liu Chenghan, but turned to his chief guard and said, "Gather the survivors, set off tomorrow, follow me to Yunzhou, and join the Hope Base."

Liu Chenghan sighed, but didn't get too annoyed. He patted Song Ting on the shoulder twice, said take care, and left with his men. It would be a lie to say that he didn't envy the people under Song Ting, but after such an experience, he didn't have the heart to force it. As

soon as he left, except for a few base leaders who wanted to stay to help, everyone else left. In the distance, where others couldn't notice, several elders of Wuzong came quietly and left quietly. It's just that when they left, everyone's back seemed to be hunched a lot.

"How many people were evacuated?" It was only at this time that Song Ting barely put his mood together and asked.

The highest-ranking survivor was a regiment commander, a subordinate of Teng Ying. At that time, because Teng Ying could not resist the request of his younger brother, he originally wanted to perfunctorily deal with it, so they became the first team to leave the base, and fortunately the whole team was saved.

When Song Ting arrived, he ran over while busy, and stood by waiting to report the situation.

"Report to the chief, there are a total of 56,153 people in our base. The chief took away 1,200 people, more than 10,000 people went out to hunt and do tasks, and there are 40,000... more than 40,000 people in the base." At this point, the captain choked up, but soon stopped and continued to report: "Issued from the base... issued..."

"Speak to the point!" Song Ting roared, and he felt his heart bleeding when he heard the number. How could he not know that it would take at most one hour from the issuance of the order to the occurrence of the disaster. This is not to mention the time Shen Chi spent on the road and issuing the order.

"Yes!" The captain followed up with a loud roar in response, and his voice changed, "Report, it is 15,300... 336 people... ah..." When saying this number, the captain finally couldn't help it, squatted on the ground and cried loudly, the sound was very unpleasant.

If it were normal times, seeing a grown man crying like this would make many people laugh, but not only did no one laugh, but many people also started crying.

Fifteen thousand three hundred and thirty-six people... Song Ting bent down and patted the head of the group on the back, then he sighed and turned to the survivors who had been camping in the wild for a night.

Fifteen thousand three hundred and thirty-six people were already several thousand more than he expected. The base had two entrances and exits. Even if his people were well-trained, in the absence of any preparations beforehand, it would be the limit to evacuate twelve thousand people in less than an hour. The extra three thousand people were picked up.

He didn't know that if Zhang Yi hadn't contacted Teng Jin directly, he might not have been able to evacuate even ten thousand people. As for why so many people were left in the base in broad daylight, he understood. Because their base had developed a new type of weapon, they were changing their equipment these days, and most of the people stayed in the base, probably to adapt to the newly acquired weapons.

When he thought of this, he felt so heartbroken that he could hardly stand.

"Where's Shen Chi? Where's Li Muran? Have you seen them?" Song Yan, who had already scanned everyone at the scene, could no longer hold back and asked anxiously.

The regiment commander was crying so sadly that he didn't hear anything at all. Instead, someone next to him answered.

"Is Li Muran that girl? She was with Leader Shen, but Shen Chi and several leaders, including Teng Ying, insisted on evacuating last... They... haven't seen them until now..." Before he finished speaking, the man burst into tears. This was a messenger who escaped because he went out of the base to convey orders to the team that evacuated first. Thinking back on it later, he vaguely felt that this was a way for the leaders to give him a chance to survive.

Hearing this, Song Yan felt like his scalp was about to explode. He wanted to grab the soldier's collar and ask him if he was lying, but he found that his whole body was weak and he even had difficulty raising his arms.

"Muran's ability can save lives in critical moments. Maybe he's fine. I don't know where he teleported to." At this moment, Zhang Yi's voice rang out.

He and Nan Shao came to help yesterday. They hadn't slept all night. Their beards were disheveled, their eyes were black, and they

looked very haggard. Nan Shao was not much better than him. In addition to the entire Ruzhou base being razed yesterday, all the people within a five-kilometer radius around Ruzhou were either dead or injured. They had to fight the god of death for people. They didn't see Teng Jin, Shen Chi, or Li Muran, and they were equally anxious.

Song Yan's Adam's apple rolled up and down. Thinking of Li Muran's magical ability, his body finally regained some consciousness. He said in a deep voice, "Yes, they will be fine." Then he followed and threw himself into the busy rescue work, not allowing himself to think too much.

It was not until Shen Chi, Teng Jin and others showed up with Li Muran that the mask he had been holding up broke. He hugged the unconscious person tightly in his arms and didn't raise his head for a long time.

From Shen Chi, they learned what happened.

There were eight of them, five of whom were senior leaders of the base. They were originally in their own offices, stubbornly preparing to stay until the end. When Li Muran felt uneasy, he privately discussed with Shen Chi and Teng Jin and found an excuse to gather them together.

Shen Chi originally did not allow Li Muran to stay, but this girl was as stubborn as them. He wanted to knock her out and have her taken away from the base, but who knew that she was still on guard against him, so he couldn't do it. Just when he was anxious, he understood her idea after hearing her proposal. Even if he didn't consider his own safety, he couldn't cut off the lives of others.

As for Teng Jin, that's even more needless to say. He originally stayed for his second sister. If he could take his second sister out alive, there was nothing he couldn't agree to.

Therefore, when the disaster came, they were able to escape with Li Muran's supernatural power.

However, they were under the greatest pressure because they were located directly below the Finger Mountain. Not to mention using supernatural powers, they could hardly even move a finger. Li Muran took them out teleporting, but it cost a lot.

20 kilometers. They were moved to a residential building 20 kilometers away. As soon as they arrived, Li Muran fainted due to bleeding from his ears and nose. The others were also seriously injured and could not move at all. It took a day for them to recover slightly.

If they were not worried about Li Muran's condition, they would probably still be lying dead.

Seeing that several of his capable men survived, Song Ting was of course happy, but when his eyes fell on the unconscious Li Muran, he couldn't help but reveal a look of guilt and worry, and quickly asked someone to come and treat him.

It was the same mental power that was severely damaged as Lan Lan. Nan Shao couldn't treat it, and other healing psychics couldn't do it either.

Song Yan was very calm about this result. Perhaps it was because he originally thought that Li Muran was dead, but now he found that he didn't lose her, so there was nothing else he couldn't accept.

"I'll go and ask the sick ghost for help." He said. After that, regardless of what others thought, he turned into a beast on the spot and carried Li Muran away.

Song Yan left. Song Ting, who was originally preparing to take people away immediately, could only stay temporarily and wait for the summit meeting of the base to be restarted. He wanted to know, facing such an enemy, would Wuzong continue to fight for power, or would he have any better way to deal with it.

As for Zhang Yi and the others, because Yangyang was still in the Imperial Capital Base, even if they wanted to leave, they had to go back to pick him up before leaving, so they couldn't leave for a while, so they simply stayed to help.

There were also Liu Qiye and others who were also helping. They should be the most shocked this time, because they had no idea about the existence of Qin Xuan, the origin of the end of the world. Both Song Ting and Wuzong's people knew a little about it, but they were just half-believing and half-doubting.

After such a shock, many base leaders were eager to return home, but they also wanted to find a way to deal with the unknown and terrible enemy through the restarted summit meeting. Even Wuzong's people were greatly affected and needed time to calm down their disordered mood. Although the meeting was delayed again and again, and the leaders of various places were anxious about it, no one complained, because everyone needed time to calm down and re-examine the future development plan of their base.

On the fifth day after the disaster, the new leader of the religion who came with the head of the Yunzhou base walked into the Wuzong Mountain Gate. The next day, the office of the head of the Imperial Capital base finally sent out a message, but it had nothing to do with the meeting, but required all the heads of the bases to go to Wuzong.

Chapter 357: Gathering in the Imperial City (20)

The leader of the new religion is the descendant of one of the five families mentioned by Yuchi Feng a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, their lineage is not as adaptable as Wuzong. After several ups and downs in the world, they have lost their former reputation and become no different from ordinary people. But compared with the other three families, who have fallen into an unknown state, he is lucky. At least he still has the secret key of his family and knows about the secret treasure.

It is precisely because he knows about the secret treasure and has the ability passed down from his ancestors that he took advantage of the situation after the end of the world and wanted to restore the former glory of his family.

So far, he has made a career and his status in Yunzhou Base is almost equal to that of the top leaders of the base. However, due to the traffic congestion in the end of the world, his influence is limited to Yunzhou Base. It is really difficult to extend his tentacles to other places in the short term.

This time he came to the imperial capital with the head of the Yunzhou base because he knew that it was impossible for him to collect all the secret keys, so he wanted to come and see if he could exchange the secret key in his hand for something valuable.

However, after seeing the destruction of the Ruzhou base with his own eyes, he was no less shocked than Liu Qiye and the others. He locked himself in the room and thought for a few days. Finally, he decided to give his secret key for free, with only two conditions: one is that he hopes to see the secret treasure with his own eyes, and the other is that he will take 20% of the secret treasure. The 20% must be used for all survivors, and not all of it must be kept by Wu Zong privately.

Wu Zong's people agreed. So far, the five secret keys have been collected, and they can be opened as long as the secret treasure is found. However

, Wu Zong's people are no longer sure whether the secret treasure can fight against the owner of the finger.

"Let everyone come here just to say two things." The childlike and white-haired Elder Longhua met with the heads of various bases in Wu Zong's martial arts lecture hall.

For this old man, those who knew his status naturally need not say it, and those who didn't know it before also know it now. If it weren't for a special period like now, they would probably never have the chance or the qualification to contact such a person in their entire lives. Therefore, whether from the perspective of age or the other party's status, everyone showed enough respect.

"First, when everyone saw the finger falling from the sky, they felt unable to resist, worried, and terrified. Have you ever thought about the tsunamis, earthquakes, and wildfires before the end of the world, which also overturned the city and the earth? Who has ever seen anyone worrying every day? Therefore, I have a sentence for you, you can have a heart to resist the sky, but don't worry about where the sky will fall." After all, he is a strong man in the earth realm, and his knowledge and character are far superior to ordinary people. When others are still in despair and confusion, he is already full of fighting spirit.

Those who can become leaders are not mediocre people. They seem to understand something after hearing this, but before they can think about it carefully, Elder Longhua has continued to speak.

"Secondly, I, Wu Zong, have already found all the keys to open the secret treasure. Once the secret treasure is opened, the things inside will be used by the world. I hope you will cheer up as soon as possible and don't let the people under your jurisdiction down." After saying this, he waved his sleeves and turned to leave without saying a word.

The leader of the new religion probably didn't expect that Wu Zong was even more generous than he imagined.

The heads of the various bases, including Song Ting, were stunned by the heavy news revealed in Long Hua Zhenren's words. It took them a while to react. They didn't dare to chase Long Hua Zhenren, but they grabbed Liu Chenghan to ask about the situation of the secret treasure and how it was distributed.

"I don't know either. I haven't seen it either. Whether to distribute or not, we can discuss this issue after we find the secret treasure. After all, you go back and build your own base first, improve the strength of the base, and let all the members of the base live a good life. It's always right." Liu Chenghan didn't know whether he really didn't know or pretended not to know. In short, he laughed for a while, giving people the feeling that he revealed something and didn't reveal anything.

"After the secret treasure is opened, the base summit meeting will be restarted. I hope to see you all then." Finally, without waiting for others to ask, he threw down a sentence and quickly slipped away.

Everyone was a little disappointed, but they didn't dare to catch Wu Zong's people to ask, so they had to leave in disappointment. Song Ting, Liu Qiye and others looked thoughtful, wondering if they were thinking about the words of Long Hua Zhenren, or the real intention of Wu Zong to become so selfless all of a sudden. But no matter what, although Long Hua Zhenren's words were brief, they were like a shot of adrenaline, which eased the depressed mood of everyone because of Ruzhou's experience. As for how many people can really gain from it in the end, it depends on their own luck.

There was nothing to do in the imperial capital, and everyone was eager to go home, so they didn't stay any longer, and they all packed up and left.

Liu Qiye and his party went all the way with Zhang Yinan Shao and others. Because Song Ting brought 20,000 people, they went all the way in a mighty manner and went smoothly. In the end, Jiang Hong stayed in the Imperial Capital Base, while Lan Lan, who had already woken up, firmly chose to follow them back to the Hope Base. Surprisingly, Zhao Xin also wanted to follow them.

"I will learn to fight." I don't know if it was because he was too stimulated that day, Zhao Xin finally spoke, even if he spoke very little and his sentences were short. If it was a slightly longer sentence, he would choose to give up after considering for a while. It's not that he can't speak, but he doesn't want to speak.

Zhao Xin is very stubborn. No matter how Jiang Hong tries to keep him, he can't help but feel sad.

"Wait until she gets married, I'll be redundant." This was his answer when Zhang Yi asked the reason after they set off.

This kid sees it very clearly. Zhang Yi couldn't help laughing. This was the first time he laughed since the incident in Ruzhou. Nan Shao noticed that his eyes looking at Zhao Xin were much gentler.

"Aren't you afraid that we think you are redundant?" Zhang Yi teased him.

Zhao Xin didn't say anything, but shook his head. This child is young, but he seems to have a way of judging people. He doesn't hate Jiang Hong, but he knows very well that when Jiang Hong has another man, it will be difficult for her to care about him. As for Zhang Yi and his team, it was different. He could tell from their patient teaching of Lan Lan.

No one knew that he was not immersed in his own world. He saw everything that happened around him, but he was too lazy to talk.

Song Ting's team had many people and strong strength. The mutant beasts, which were becoming smarter, saw them and avoided them. Most of the zombies that liked to chase human smells were trapped in the snow and could not form a corpse tide. Therefore, the journey from the imperial capital to the Hope Base was relatively smooth.

Liu Qiye and his party, who had this intention, were invited to stay at the Hope Base for a few days. Finally, the two families discussed and decided to move the people of Sanjia Village here. The Hope Base has a good location and a large area. Even after Song Ting's people entered, there was still space, enough to accommodate the entire Sanjia Village.

Liu Qiye certainly considered more. This trip to the imperial capital made him truly feel the weakness of Sanjia Village. The Song brothers had good people and strong strength. If the villagers came here, they would be much safer than being isolated and helpless in Sanjia Village. As for being the leader or not, he really didn't care.

Since the decision was made, it was natural to move. Many people from the Hope Base went to escort them, so as to bring everyone here safely as much as possible.

This time, Nan Shao and Zhang Yi did not go. Li Muran did not go either.

With the sick ghost attacking, Li Muran was naturally fine, but she would not be able to use her superpowers again in a year or two, which shows how serious the injury was. Fortunately, now that she has returned to the Hope Base, everyone's safety is guaranteed, and there are not many opportunities for her to use her superpowers, so she is not anxious in the short term.

Zhang Yi did not go because he had something on his mind. He knew he had to ask the sick ghost for help. It was not a matter of whether he could lose face or not, but he was just distressed and reluctant.

On the day he went to find the sick ghost, he happened to see Song Ting there. Song Ting was standing in the yard, and the sick ghost was standing under the eaves, and the two seemed to be talking about something. Not wanting to disturb the two, he thought about coming back later, and when he was about to turn around and go back, he heard Song Ting talking.

"I know you and he are the same person. You came here just to get an answer, why?"

Why? Zhang Yi's footsteps paused slightly. Song Ting's words were incoherent, but he knew what Song Ting was asking, and he just wanted to know why.

If he could, the sick ghost would never keep people in suspense. Hearing the question, he said coldly: "The weapons you used violated his taboo."

Song Ting was stunned.

If the weapons they used were thermal weapons, why were they fine before? If they were not thermal weapons, then they must be the newly developed and replaced batch... That batch of beam energy weapons used crystal cores as energy sources. They were more lethal than ordinary guns and cannons, and had great potential for development. He was proud of this and planned to use it as Ruzhou's secret weapon to compete with the imperial capital.

Unexpectedly, it was this... At that moment, his face was as pale as paper, and his regret was as great as the tide in the river, but he could not save any living life.

"Why? I don't understand." He murmured.

"Depending on external things, you lose your roots." The sick ghost seemed to sigh about this, so he explained a few more words: "On this wasteland, if you want to survive and not be wiped out, the only thing you can do is to grow according to his requirements. This time is just a warning. If someone is still stubborn and blindly seeks the sharpness of weapons, he will lose patience and abandon this land."

Song Ting certainly would not be naive to think that giving up means simply throwing them away and letting them go free. He trembled his lips and asked with difficulty: "His requirements..."

"Fight, kill, grow, don't stagnate." The sick ghost answered.

Song Ting didn't know if he listened to it. He bowed deeply to the sick ghost with a bleak expression, then turned around and left the yard in a trance. When he passed by Zhang Yi, Zhang Yi didn't respond to his greeting. After

listening to the sick ghost's words, Zhang Yi finally understood why the sick ghost was willing to give them any skills and suggestions to enhance their physique and their own strength, but never mentioned a word about transforming their weapons.

"Sir, I agree to Yangyang's matter." He said as he entered the sick ghost's yard and bowed to the sick ghost who was still standing under the eaves. In the past, it was the sick ghost who begged him, but now it was him who begged the sick ghost, so he had to lower his posture. The

sick ghost had expected this scene, but he looked calm, neither proud nor happy, just the same as usual.

"Wait." He only said these two words.

Zhang Yi looked up at him in astonishment, and at that moment he was a little panicked, afraid that he might have taken a fancy to other children.

"Let him come here every day, there are still many things to teach him." Fortunately, the sick ghost did not make him worry for long, and he spoke again.

"Yes, I will make him study hard, thank you for your trouble." Zhang Yi quickly agreed, and his heart was actually more grateful than ever.

In fact, at this time, after seeing with his own eyes that finger that fell from the sky wiped away the powerful Ruzhou base like dust, he felt an unprecedented sense of urgency in his heart. He was both reluctant and anxious to send Yangyang away. He was reluctant because he was reluctant to see his child leave his father again at such a young age, to live alone in a completely unfamiliar place, and he didn't know if he could protect himself. He was anxious because he wanted to send Zhang Ruiyang away from this prison immediately to prevent him from encountering something like the Ruzhou base again.

However, no matter whether he was reluctant or anxious, he could only wait according to the sick ghost's request. In addition to waiting, cherishing the time spent with his son as much as possible, and instilling his own survival experience into his son, there was nothing else he could do.

Many times he woke up in the middle of the night, thinking about sending his son away, he couldn't fall asleep again, and could only keep his eyes open until dawn. Seeing that he was getting thinner day by day, Nan Shao felt very distressed, but he could do nothing. Fortunately,

this period of time did not last too long.

——The

five secret keys merged together, and the lines on the back connected to form a treasure map.

Wu Zong was really stimulated this time. He even sent the treasure map to each base and received useful information from each base. The two sides worked together, repeatedly compared the old and new maps, and searched for relevant information. It took more than a month to finally circle the approximate range of the secret treasure. It was actually in a small town called Qingshui near the imperial capital. More than a hundred years ago, there were still high mountains and dense forests, rolling hills, and few people. Who knew that with the passage of time, it has been replaced by high-rise buildings and intricate roads.

It is not easy to determine the specific location of the secret treasure in such a city, and there are countless zombies and mutant plants in the city, which is far less convenient to find than before the end of the world. But when huge manpower and material resources are invested in one thing, as long as it is not far beyond the scope of human ability, no matter how difficult the problem is, it can be solved.

After a few more days of searching and speculating, the exact location of the secret treasure was locked.

It is near an unfinished building in Xishan District, Qingshui City, surrounded by a large rotten lake swamp, which is stinking. Some people in Qingshui said that because the location was not bad, the government wanted to fill this place up several times and then develop it into a commercial area, but nothing came of it. Later, this place was bought by a real estate developer at a low price, and it was going to build a high-end residential area, but it was only started and then stopped again, so this piece of land has been deserted, and no one has taken it over.

There are all kinds of rumors, saying that this place was invaded by the invading army before the founding of the country, and many people died and were thrown here, so it is not clean and haunted. It cannot be moved, and something will happen if you move. No one knows what happened specifically, but this place has indeed been rotten. And what is particularly strange is that the section of the highway passing through this place is a high-incidence area for car accidents, and it is known as the Devil's Corner. It

is also because of the specialness of this place that the people who are looking for the secret treasure immediately set their sights on it and found the target faster than expected.

However, even if they found it, facing this rotten lake swamp where even mutant plants cannot grow, the heads and Wuzong deacons of various bases who rushed to Qingshui to watch the opening of the secret treasure were somewhat at a loss. First, there was nothing to see related to the secret treasure except the muddy pond and the withered and rotten grass and tree roots. If it weren't for the abnormal behavior of this place, no one would have thought that the secret treasure would be placed here. In addition, the people who were sent in to check the situation started to turn around in place like a demon after entering a few dozen meters inside. They looked like they were seriously rushing on the road while checking the surrounding situation. No one could hear the people outside shouting until the next day, when they turned out inexplicably. When asked why, they themselves couldn't explain it clearly. They just felt that there was a road ahead, so they kept walking along the road, but they couldn't reach the end. When they were extremely tired, they realized something was wrong. However, they couldn't see the way back, so they could only move forward, and then they walked out.

This made things difficult. Many people speculated whether it was a ghost wall, but a Wuzong elder-level figure went in and walked around and concluded that there was a formation here to prevent people from going deeper.

However, even though they knew, the art of formation had been completely lost due to the decline of several other families. Facing this, they could only stare blankly, and could not think of a solution.

"I'll go and ask Mr. Bing." Just when everyone was at a loss, Song Yan, who had always been very low-key in the crowd, suddenly spoke up. Although Song Ting brought a population far exceeding the original Hope Base, the Hope Base was still dominated by Song Yan, which was Song Ting's request. Therefore, this time, Song Yan came in person to open the secret treasure. In fact, if Song Ting really came, Song Yan would still be worried. After all, his eldest brother was in his fifties and sixties, and he was hit by the incident in Ruzhou. How could he dare to let him go through another long journey.

"Very good!" After he mentioned it, Yuchi Feng remembered that there was a master in the Hope Base who even frightened him, and he immediately agreed. Originally, it was decided to invite him to open the secret treasure when he found it, but later he forgot about it in his busyness. It is hard to say whether he really needs to rely on his power to solve this problem. The only thing to pray for now is that he hopes he has some knowledge of formations.

"Come with me to have a look." The sick ghost who received the news said to Zhang Yi. This is what he had been asking Zhang Yi to wait for. Although Zhang Yi had agreed to let Zhang Ruiyang leave the wasteland and become the key link to breaking the situation, in order to make him give up completely and cooperate wholeheartedly, it is better to extinguish his last bit of luck. This so-called secret treasure is the hope of everyone, so let them see what is inside together.

Zhang Yi thought about it and did not refuse. For him, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, he naturally does not want Yangyang to leave him to face a dangerous and unpredictable unfamiliar place alone. If he goes, Nan Shao and Zhang Ruiyang must accompany him.

It took only one day for the group to reach Qingshui. When they

arrived at the location of the secret treasure, they ignored the Wuzong elder who came to get close to them. After just one look at the rotten lake swamp, the sick ghost understood what was going on. He didn't say anything nonsense, and he was too lazy to listen to other people's nonsense. He asked Yuchi Feng directly: "Enter the formation, or break the formation?"

Yuchi Feng and others were stunned at first, and then overjoyed, and hurriedly said that they would discuss it. The discussion didn't last long, and the final answer was that they hoped to keep the formation, which meant they wanted to get a way to enter the formation.

In this regard, the sick ghost was too lazy to show off or ask for any benefits, because the formation in front of him was so simple that he was ashamed to use it as a condition, not to mention that these people didn't have what he wanted.

"This is the most superficial illusion formation, it's not difficult, the way to enter is fixed, just remember it." He explained a few words casually.

It's easy to get into, and that's probably it. The formation that the sick ghost thought he could enter in just a few steps was like a natural chasm in the eyes of everyone.

Kan three, Dui six, Gen seven... The last step was taken, and the scene in front of him suddenly changed. There was no rotten lake or swamp, withered grass and fallen leaves, only a tall stone wall stood in front of him, like a simple and loyal guard, meticulously fulfilling its mission of protection.

The city wall was more than 30 meters high, extending to the left and right without end. It was built with long strips of stone weighing four or five tons, and was imprinted with a hundred years of time. Under the gray sky, it looked profound and simple, and ancient.

Where they stood was a wide square also paved with strips of stone. Perhaps because of this, there was no mutant plant in sight.

Is this the secret treasure? Except for the sick ghost, everyone was surprised by what they saw. According to the stereotype, in their original imagination, the secret treasure should be in a cave or something like that. Who knew it would be surrounded by such a long wall? Could it be that there was a small city inside? Providing refuge for people?

With such speculation and an indescribable strange feeling, Longhua Zhenren pressed the combined secret key into the same shape of the embedded mouth on the huge iron gate. After waiting for a while, the ground began to shake, and a faint sound like thunder came from deep underground, as if a prehistoric beast began to wake up. As the shaking intensified, the gate in front of him slowly opened a gap.

People waited with bated breath. Amid the heavy rolling sounds of the shafts and gears that had been sleeping for a hundred years, time seemed to be torn apart, revealing a scene that had never been remembered by history.

The wide avenue in the shape of a tic-tac-toe and the rough stone buildings, each of which was more than 20 meters high and covered an area of ​​thousands of square meters, were lined up on both sides of the avenue like crouching beasts. A sense of wildness and coldness came over them, shocking their hearts.

Passing through the arched city gate and stepping on the stone road that seemed to have been built only yesterday but also seemed to have been covered with traces of a long time, everyone felt as if they were suffocating under the great courage and generosity of their ancestors.

There were no traps or dangers. This place was originally built to deal with human disasters, and it was not a burial treasure house, so of course there would be no unnecessary troubles and dangers.

"It's amazing!" "

It's great!"

After a while, people got out of their shock and couldn't help but admire it. At the same time, they also had some expectations for this secret treasure. Maybe, maybe there is really a way to deal with the doomsday deadlock here? Even Zhang Yi's heartbeat accelerated slightly, but when he looked at the sick ghost whose expression did not change at all, his heart, which had just been warmed up, cooled down again.

It was built so solid and majestic, could it really be a place for people to take refuge? But looking at the size and structure of the house, it doesn't look like a habitable place. With such doubts, everyone's eyes naturally fell on the end of the main road, where there stood a hall that was the main building of the entire Giant Stone City.

The hall was about 50 meters high and covered an area of ​​more than 10,000 square meters. The structure was simple and crude, but it gave people a heavy and majestic feeling, as if it could support people even if the sky collapsed.

All the answers might be in there.

Everyone was looking forward to it, but also nervous. They hoped that there would be a fundamental solution to the doomsday crisis, but they were also worried that everything would be in vain.

Walking through the long main street, the tall stone houses on both sides stood silently like guards, as if they were guarding something. Stepping onto the high steps, looking at the two plain and heavy wooden doors in front of him, Longhua Zhenren paused for a moment before reaching out to push them open.

Although the wooden door was heavy, it moved silently, and people subconsciously held their breath, fearing to disturb something.

However, when the door was fully opened, everything that appeared disappointed everyone.

Behind the door was a hall of only more than 200 square meters in size. There were no carved beams and painted pillars in the hall. It was gray and there was nothing to praise. A five-meter-high gray-white stone tablet stood in the center of the hall. Apart from this, there was nothing else. Of course, there was no danger.

There were words on the stone tablet.

The great catastrophe is coming, and I have no power to make up for the sky. I can only do my best to gather the power of the world. It took thirteen years to build this stone city, prepare 5,000 blood silk armors, 5,000 hundred-refined swords, 1,000 white wax pole spears, 2,000 short spears, and a number of treasures. This should be a place for our clan to breathe. However, these are all external things and cannot be relied upon. I have collected thousands of copies of the secret skills of various sects in the world, and built eleven training sites, nine ordinary trial illusions, and one special trial illusion, which can be used well. At the time of life and death for our clan, we must not have the view of noble and inferior. In addition, there is a book pavilion, which contains ancient words and contemporary literature, secret books, and all kinds of people. It is considered a heritage, and it must not be cut off, otherwise it will become a beast.

Seeing this, everyone was a little bit unbelievable. In addition to the small monument in front of them, the huge space of the main building of tens of thousands of square meters was actually used to store books.

They checked all the other stone houses and found that as mentioned on the monument, there were only two weapon storage vaults in the entire stone city, and the rest were all training sites for improving strength.

It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. This result is not too surprising, but people still feel disappointed. After disappointment, there is deep despair, but life must go on. It was as if everyone knew that life was only a hundred years long and the end was death, but they would still try to make themselves live a wonderful life. Fight for what should be fought for, grab what should be grabbed, and no one would fall behind.

And these had nothing to do with Zhang Yi. After the last glimmer of hope was extinguished, they returned to the Hope Base, leaving Song Yan in the imperial capital to fight for the allocation of weapons and armor in the secret collection and the number of people entering the Stone City to practice. Although the Hope Base had the killer weapon of sick ghost, no one would dislike having too many things to improve their strength, not to mention that it also involved a long period of time in the future to exchange with other bases. Not grabbing and not occupying means being excluded from the mainstream circle and being increasingly ignored. This is very detrimental to the survival and development of the entire base.

"When are you going?" Zhang Yi asked sick ghost again when he went back.

"Anytime." This time, sick ghost didn't let him wait any longer.

"As soon as possible." Zhang Yi took the initiative to propose, but his heart was broken. The sooner the better, even if his son is still young, but rather than keeping him by his side in danger, his life in the hands of others, it is better to send him away early, which is a way to survive.

Zhang Ruiyang looked at his father in confusion, not knowing that his fate had already been decided.

Chapter 358 Departure

Zhang Yi spent some time making a model.

The model was like a huge sandbox, with mud, wood and mutant plants simulating mountains, rivers and forests, survivor bases the size of matchboxes, and smaller survivor communities. Each place was labeled with a name, including the Hope Base and the Ruzhou Base, which no longer existed. There were

several simple stick figures standing in each base, and in the wilderness, there were densely packed stick zombies, mutant beasts made of mud, and branches and leaves of various mutant plants.

"Yangyang, let's play a giant game, okay?" When everything was done, Zhang Yi called Zhang Ruiyang and said.

Zhang Ruiyang was of course very happy to hear that there was a game to play, but when he heard the role assignment, his face was bitter.

Because Zhang Yi was a giant, and he was a stick figure.

When Zhang Yi stretched out a finger and pressed lightly, the Ruzhou base turned into ruins. Zhang Ruiyang was stunned. When Zhang Yi's finger pressed towards the Hope Base, he finally reacted and quickly reached out to hug his father's arm to stop him from continuing.

"Dad is cheating, you can't do this!" The little guy felt that his IQ was insulted.

"Dad is not cheating, it's Yangyang who is cheating. Yangyang is a stickman now. Even if you don't want Dad to destroy the Hope Base, you should use the stickman to hug Dad's hand." Zhang Yi smiled a little reluctantly and said softly.

Zhang Ruiyang looked at the stickman placed in the Hope Base, then looked at his father's fingers, and suddenly his face was tangled. No matter how stupid he was, he knew that the stickman would be crushed if it touched his father's fingers, so why should he hug it.

"Pumpkin Dad, Dad is bullying." Finally, he turned his gaze to Nan Shao who was watching the excitement next to him and asked for help.

But Zhang Yi didn't let Nan Shao speak, but said to Zhang Ruiyang: "Yangyang, do you remember the finger that fell from the sky when you were in the Imperial Capital Base?"

How could he not remember it? It was too scary. He thought it was a golden hoop. Zhang Ruiyang nodded in confusion, not knowing why his father suddenly mentioned this.

"That was the giant's finger." Zhang Yi spoke very slowly, word by word, afraid that the child would not understand. "Your uncle Song Ting's base is in Ruzhou. When that finger came down, it crushed the entire Ruzhou base in an instant, just like Dad did just now, and many people died."

Zhang Ruiyang didn't know about this, and no one would tell a child. But Zhang Yi had to tell him now, and he also provided him with a very intuitive picture.

Of course, the destruction of the base like a matchbox would not have much impact on the child. But when Zhang Yi wrote Dad on one match, Pumpkin Dad on another, and the names of other people Zhang Ruiyang was familiar with, and pressed his finger down again, crushing the Hope Base and everyone into pieces, the child could not help but feel it.

"Then let's all leave here and hide." Zhang Ruiyang began to get anxious, and he obviously felt involved.

"Where to hide? Here? Or here..." Every time Zhang Yi pointed at a place, his fingers would easily break the things there, whether it was a mountain, a tree, or even a zombie or a mutant beast.

Zhang Ruiyang looked at his father in amazement as he destroyed the entire sandbox with one finger. He was a little speechless for a while, and then he stammered and asked: "Then...what should we do?"

Zhang Yi was waiting for this sentence, and finally waited for it, but he didn't answer directly, but asked back: "How did you stop Dad at the beginning?"

Zhang Ruiyang's mind was confused by his father. At this time, he took some time to think about it, and then he remembered: "This way." He stretched out his hand and hugged Zhang Yi's arm, almost hanging on it. "But I'm a stickman, how can a stickman hug you?"

"When a stickman becomes a giant like me, then you can." Zhang Yi gave the answer. "Do you want to become a giant, defeat the other giant, and rescue your father, your uncles, aunts, and friends?"

"Yes." Zhang Ruiyang nodded without hesitation. Every child has the dream of becoming a hero, and he is no exception.

"But Yangyang has to go to another place to become a giant. Only Yangyang is alone, without his father and friends." Zhang Yi added.

Hearing this, the little guy began to hesitate and was about to regret.

"It doesn't matter if Yangyang doesn't want to go. When that finger comes down again, our family of three will run quickly, regardless of your fat uncle, brother Peiyuan and others... They can't run fast, your pumpkin father and Dudu can't take too many people, and Aunt Muran can't take a few people either, so they can only be fingered..." Zhang Yi didn't wait for him to say anything to regret, and added fuel to the fire.

"I'll go. Dad, I'm going!" Zhang Ruiyang agreed before Zhang Yi finished describing it, "Then you have to wait for me, wait until I turn into a giant and come back to save you."

"Okay." Zhang Yi hugged his son tightly, looked up at the roof, his eyes sore. "Dad will wait for you to come back, everyone will wait for you to come back."

Nan Shao walked over and silently held the big and small in his arms.

——The

teleportation array was built in the yard of the sick ghost, and he didn't intend to hide it from Qin Xuan. After all, even if there was a sky-covering stone, the spatial fluctuation caused by the teleportation could not be concealed anyway.

The reason for choosing this place was that it was convenient nearby, and the other reason was that the sick ghost was sure that Qin Xuan would not make any big moves unless he left. After all, as long as he didn't want to kill him neatly, Qin Xuan couldn't kill the Hope Base again like he did the Ruzhou Base before. But if it was set outside the Hope Base, with Qin Xuan's ability, it would be impossible for him not to know the relationship between him and the Hope Base. At that time, the Hope Base might become a place to vent his anger.

There were not many people seeing him off, but there were quite a few. In addition to all the members of the original Yangyang team, there are Qiao Yong, Shi Pengsan, Xu Jing, then the two brothers Song Yan and Song Ting, Teng Jin, Shen Chi and others, and then a group of children.

Originally, this matter was not intended to be known to too many people, especially these children. Who knew that when they went out, they happened to meet Wu Ziran who was playing outside. Wu Ziran asked them where they were going. Zhang Ruiyang said to go to the world of the sick uncle. Wu Ziran asked if he could take her with him. The answer was of course no. So the little girl cried.

Although she cried, she did not forget to gather other friends to see Zhang Ruiyang off, so in the end, a group of tall and short little heads crowded in the yard.

Of course, the reason why they agreed to be there was just because they felt sorry for Zhang Ruiyang. Maybe this can't change anything, but at least the little guy will not be so lonely when he recalls it in another world.

And Routa Chen, who went to see him off together, had already cried like a tearful person. It seemed that he and Wu Ziran, one big and one small, were arguing about who cried more sadly. The scene was very funny, but no one wanted to laugh.

Zhang Yi, on the other hand, had a faint smile on his face from beginning to end. He held Zhang Ruiyang and walked towards the teleportation array with firm steps.

"Don't cry, I'll be back soon." Zhang Ruiyang comforted the two people who were crying, then looked at the others, and finally touched Zhang Yi's face and said, "Dad, don't worry, I'm very strong. Wait for me to come back and save you!"

Zhang Yi's heart was broken, but he still forced a smile and nodded: "Okay, Dad will wait for you." Along the way, he wanted to regret several times, but what stopped him from doing so was not the strength of the sick ghost, nor any other external factors, but he wanted to grasp the glimmer of hope for his son. Not only for freedom, but also for a future full of endless possibilities.

"Goodbye, Dad!"

"Goodbye, Pumpkin Dad!"

"Goodbye, Fat Uncle!"

"Goodbye, Aunt Muran!"

...

Amidst Zhang Ruiyang's series of farewells, his partially suppressed sobs, and the constant exhortations of adults and children, the sick ghost placed the Yuanshi on the node of the teleportation array, made a gesture with his fingers, and saw a silver-gray light flowing along the runes on the teleportation array like mercury. When the entire teleportation array was emitting light, a column of light shot up into the sky, covering Zhang Ruiyang who was in it.

Although everyone was mentally prepared, they couldn't help but be shocked when they saw it with their own eyes.

Until Zhang Ruiyang's figure faded, Ge Ayi suddenly remembered something, quickly took out a sign from his neck, rushed over and handed it to Zhang Ruiyang, and shouted anxiously: "Take it! Take it..."

Zhang Ruiyang couldn't help but reach out to take it.

Just when the two children's fingers touched, a column of light shot up into the sky, instantly covering Zhang Ruiyang, and also affecting Ge Ayi. The

sick ghost's face changed slightly, and it was too late to make a move.

The silver-gray beam of light rose for less than a second before disappearing without a trace. Along with it, Zhang Ruiyang and Ge Ayi also disappeared, and even the teleportation array on the ground disappeared without a trace.

Everyone was shocked and asked the sick ghost Ge Ayi what happened. Can't the teleportation array only teleport one person? Will there be a problem if Ge Ayi is added? Will the teleportation fail? Are the two little guys in danger of life? Dudu was so anxious that he squeaked and circled around the sick ghost.

For the first time, the sick ghost's face became very ugly. He didn't answer anyone's questions, but counted quickly with his fingers. After a long while, he stopped. His expression did not ease, but revealed a hint of weirdness.

"Both children are alive and have been sent away from this wasteland." He said.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, only Zhang Yi was still staring at him and asked, "Do you have anything else to say?"

The sick ghost glanced at him, paused, and then answered, "You have deviated from the teleportation range I planned, and the road ahead will be a hundred times more difficult." He originally wanted to teleport Zhang Ruiyang directly to the God's Realm, so that he could avoid all the troubles of ascending from the lower planes. Moreover, for Zhang Ruiyang, who was still a blank sheet of paper, being able to practice directly in the God's Realm would be incomparable to other planes, both in terms of the foundation and the speed of practice. Of course, the most important thing is that he still has some resources and connections needed for practice in the God's Realm, but he is powerless in other planes. After all, the time he has stepped into the God's Realm is measured in tens of thousands of years. Even if he walks the road he has walked again, things have already changed.

He planned everything well, but who knew that such an accident would happen? It is really true that man proposes, God disposes.

In addition, there was another point that he concealed, so as to prevent Zhang Yi from being more anxious and uneasy. That is, this teleportation array can only transport one person. If there is one more person, even if it is just a child, it still cannot bear the load and becomes unstable or even torn. Not only can it not reach the predetermined teleportation range, but it will also put the person being teleported in great danger. If one thing goes wrong, both of them may be finished. So the result he just calculated was not as easy as he said.

The two children are indeed alive, but they are two souls in one body, which means that one has been torn apart by the space rift and should have been dead, but for some reason the soul is still there and attached to the other person. As for why this happened, even with his broad knowledge, he couldn't figure out the reason. But he could guess that it should be Ge Ayi, not Yangyang, whose body was destroyed. Because Yangyang has been practicing the Five Animals Exercises, his body is much more solid and flexible than Ge Ayi.

However, even so, if Zhang Yi knew, he would probably still be worried to death, so he selectively retained part of the truth.

"It's good to be alive." After getting the answer, Zhang Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief and murmured. As for cultivation or saving the earth, he never pinned his hopes on his son. He just hoped that his son could leave this cage. Even if the outside world was difficult, at least there was hope.

In fact, few people who came to see him off really put their hopes on a six-year-old child. For them, curiosity and worry were actually more important.

So, it's good to be alive. Only when you are alive can you have endless possibilities.

The author has something to say:

It's over. I wrote it for five years, and my hands were shaking with excitement when I finished it. There was a period of time when I particularly liked apocalyptic writing. I wrote this article for entertainment. I was excited when I started writing it. There was no outline or structure. I thought that 400,000 or 500,000 words would be enough to finish it. Who knew that when it was finally unfolded in a mess, I knew I was done. Fortunately, although it was updated slowly and stopped for a few months from time to time, it was finally completed, and it was not a hasty ending.

I must thank the readers who have always supported this article. Without your tolerance and understanding, this article might have become something else. In addition, I would like to thank all the friends who have been persistent in writing. I haven't thanked them in detail for a while. In fact, I just hope you don't spend this money. Who knows you are so stubborn.

Finally, let me talk about my future writing plan.

The most concerned Yangyang Xiuxian Ji is available, but I need to prepare materials, draw up an outline and background, which will take a long time. I am not good at writing about fighting, and I need to practice this, so I will not start this article until half a year later at the earliest. As for the title of the novel, I will choose it when the time comes.

In addition, during this period of time, I may complete the remaining extra chapters of Beast General, such as the picture of Dajinyou. In fact, this should have been written long ago, but I just couldn't find the feeling to write, so I put it off.

I will also write a purely entertaining article, which is planned to be about 400,000 words, to change my mind.

Finally, I wish you all a happy new year in advance, and wish you all good health, good study, good work, good family, and everything is good.