"Do you have others living on that mountain peak?"
As soon as these words were spoken, not only the survivors, but even the short man himself was stunned.
He obviously hadn’t noticed the loophole in his wording and was just about to bluff his way out of it, but upon eting Xu Renjie’s sharp gaze, he imdiately gave up the idea of pretending.
"My... my wife and kids are also on the mountain."
Upon hearing this, the survivors all exchanged glances.
Without a doubt, this statent was enough to reveal that the short man had lied earlier.
But it also ant that his description of the town was true.
Xu Renjie decided not to dwell on it any longer; he raised his brow and glanced at the distant mountain forest. As a field reconnaissance soldier, he knew well the difficulty of surviving in the wild.
Although that mountain forest was far from a real jungle, for ordinary people, surviving in such an environnt was already an extre challenge.
"Have you and your family been living in that mountain forest all along?"
"Yes!" the short man lightly responded.
To this, Old Xu sincerely comnted, "Not easy!"
As soone who had survived in the wild forest himself, Xu Renjie knew how tough life in the woods was.
Especially since this thin, short man before him had no professional survival training and was taking care of a wife and child.
Relying solely on himself, he managed to live in these deserted mountains for four months all by himself.
This perseverance and patience were truly admirable.
However, the short man, used to scavenging and begging, seed to think nothing of it. He chuckled honestly, "Haha, I had no other way. You know, I was always worried about getting caught for killing soone. If that happened, my wife and kids would have no one to rely on, so I hid in the mountains. It’s tough, but we’ve gotten used to it."
The more the short man spoke, the softer his voice beca, and albeit unwillingly, Old Xu could feel a deep sense of guilt welling up from within him.
It was the guilt of a man towards his wife and children.
For soone like this, Xu Renjie quietly said, "Co back with us. At least there’s a place to stay."
The short man said nothing; he seed to be pondering.
Sharing the sa sentint, Wei Dazhuang urged once more, "Brother, where we stay is a big house, definitely better than a cave. There’s no need for your wife and kids to suffer."
Undoubtedly, Dazhuang’s words were quite straightforward.
But the short man...
"Thank you, brothers! If soone had asked this four months ago, I would have agreed without hesitation, but now..." He subconsciously glanced at the mountain peak and smiled slightly, "After being up there so long, haha, we’ve gotten used to life in the woods. Hearing what you just said about the city, I think it’s safer in the mountains. Besides, my family has traveled far and wide all our lives, getting used to considering the world as ho. To settle down in one place now would be... Oh, how about you all co to my place for a visit?"
The short man extended an earnest invitation, his rare smile appearing.
But Tang Xiaoquan still politely declined his kind offer; they had nearly three hours of driving ahead, and further delays might prevent them from reaching their base before nightfall.
"We appreciate your offer, brother, but we still have matters to attend to, so we can’t go with you."
"Alright then, business cos first." The short man didn’t insist, slung his packed bag onto his shoulder, jounced it twice to ensure secure fastening, and bid farewell to each of them with a handshake.
"You take care, my brother. If you get bored in the mountains, co find us at the suburban villa. Just head west along the outskirts. By the way, what’s your na?"
"? Niu Lizhan! And you all?"
"Xu Renjie!"
"Tang Xiaoquan!"
"Wei Dazhuang!"
"Hu Xiaodong!"
"Wang Qiang!"
"Tang Xiaoquan!"
"Alright, until we et again!"
After parting ways, the survivors quickly headed towards the city managent vehicle.
The clues they needed to find were already in hand, and there was no point in staying any longer.
Although they hadn’t managed to find Tang Xiaoquan’s parents, they understood that the information they had about the shelter would be key to locating his parents.
Shelter reconnaissance should not be delayed. Xu Renjie decided to convene a eting as soon as they returned to the base to discuss the next step.
The group navigated through the alleys just as they had co, taking winding paths, as the few oblivious beasts were easily disposed of by the survivors.
But as they erged from the alley and returned to the main street, they found that the place where they had parked the city managent car was now surrounded by roving beasts.
"What the hell are these damn things!"
It was no surprise Wang Qiang exclaid; the beasts in his vision were nearly all charred black, with so even exposing bone joints, forming natural bone blades.
"Get ready for battle!" Xu Renjie wasted no words, drawing the hunting crossbow from his back, while Hu Xiaodong imdiately raised his recurve bow.
There were about ten enemies in total, a manageable number for the survivors.
Soon, the charred zombies, attracted by the engine, noticed the approaching survivors, and one by one, they growled with excitent. Two evolved runners quickly sprinted towards them.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two arrows zinged through the air; Xu Renjie and Hu Xiaodong had each selected their targets and simultaneously released their bolts and arrows. Within half a second, the projectiles precisely took down the charging beasts.
Having scored direct hits, the two once again readied their arrows.
Then ca another pair of whooshes, felling more of the beasts.
As they drew closer to the city managent vehicle, Wei Dazhuang drew the cleaver from his back.
Without worrying about blocking the archers’ line of sight, he charged in with his blade, confronting the beasts directly.
It had to be said, the beasts had been tempered by fire, their skinless joints transforming into hardened, sharp bone blades over ti.
This astonished Wei Dazhuang; one swing of his blade should have easily cleaved through, yet it only left a dent on the bone’s surface.
Likewise, Wang Qiang was equally surprised, narrowly avoiding a hit from the bone blade.
Fortunately, his reflexes from regular training saved him, and after this encounter, he and Wei both took extra caution.
"Damn! These beasts really have tougher bones now! Be careful, Dazhuang!"
Following an attack from the nearby beasts, Wang Qiang shouted a well-intentioned reminder.
But before he could finish, a loud shout from Wei Dazhuang echoed. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to vote at Qidian. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian for reading.)
User Comments
0 comments from readers