With the addition of Q, the cave became particularly lively over the next two days. Although the children, who were not even twenty years old, had just struggled back from the brink of death, they showed a vigorous energy after venting their emotions.
Their monotonous days became interesting and enjoyable as they gathered in groups of two or three to play cards contributed by Wen Le. When they got tired, they ran to the stove to sneak some food or dragged a few people to play in the blizzard.
Wen Le watched this group of students from his bed and couldn’t help but sigh. “Being young is really good!”
The others burst out laughing. “Hey! Am I just a head still gasping outside the soil?” joked Li Yunsheng.
“Eh? Eh? You’re still young and strong!” Wen Le quickly comforted him.
Xiao Wen walked over and hugged Wen Le tightly with the blanket. “You’re only two years older than them!”
Wen Le took a peek at Li Yunsheng and saw that he wasn’t looking at him, so he finally rested his head on Xiao Wen’s shoulder. He had only recently graduated and still had an instinctive fear of his teachers.
“Although I’m only two years older, I don’t have as much energy as they do!” Wen Le said.
Xiao Wen kissed Wen Le’s head. Although his Le Le was very sunny, he leaned more towards a quiet life. Playing was just a rare way to relax. Losing his parents’ support, even with him there, Wen Le still relied more on himself. After experiencing the society, and especially the more chaotic business world, even the most vigorous energy was worn down by reality.
“Did you all come from M City?” Li Yunsheng suddenly changed the topic.
Wen Le was taken aback and fell silent.
In the past two days, whether it was on their side or among the group of students from Q University, they intentionally avoided discussing the situation outside the mountains. Perhaps they all knew deep down that what happened at the meteorological station couldn’t possibly be an isolated incident.
“After resting for these past two days, we have to face it whether we want to or not,” Li Yunsheng sighed helplessly.
Even the students who were still fooling around couldn’t help but quiet down.
“The situation is very bad. It wasn’t easy to escape, and there are many more zombies than living people. In addition, the roads are not smooth, and with the heavy snow that has been falling until now, the city is afraid…” Han Ya put away the notebook he had been writing in and solemnly told the teachers and students who had not seen the real situation.
“There will still be people who manage to escape,” Yang Han quivered her lips, trying to force a smile, but not succeeding very well.
Her family was in M City. Although she knew the situation was not good, she couldn’t even ensure her own survival before. She didn’t have the energy to think about her family. For the past two days, everyone had been happy on the surface, after all, they had survived a catastrophe. But now that they were safe, how could they not worry about their families, the parents who had raised them?
“Some people will escape. Don’t worry too much. Take care of yourselves so you can go look for your loved ones,” Zhou Quan also spoke up to comfort them, even though he knew it was just a form of comfort.
“What are your plans after the snow stops?” Li Yunsheng looked at the group of students who had gathered together and asked.
“I want to go back,” Yang Han didn’t hesitate.
Li Yunsheng nodded and looked at the others.
Zhao Ziyan, Liu Hai, You Qing, and Song Jia were all local students from M City, just like Yang Han. Their families were all in M City, and they would definitely want to go back and check on them. The remaining five students were from out of town and didn’t know what to do yet.
“Would you mind having some company? We don’t need you to protect us, we just want to travel together,” Li Yunsheng smiled at Xiao Wen.
Although Xiao Wen was a man of few words, it was not hard to see that everyone looked up to him. Li Yunsheng naturally chose to ask him.
Moreover, apart from the supplies and food in this mountain cave, most of these people were martial arts practitioners. If the situation in the city really was bad, and this group of people could bring out the elderly and children and still live well, their abilities must be strong.
Although they had already rescued them unconditionally and provided them with a good environment, it didn’t make sense to continue to burden them.
But Li Yunsheng had to thicken his face and ask, he was already in his seventies and couldn’t live for many more years, but these children were still young and had been protected by the school all this time. Placed in this difficult living environment, even if he had to swallow his pride, he had to try to fight for them a strong backing.
Xiao Wen held onto Wen Le without saying a word, and the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.
“We won’t burden you. If there’s any danger, we’ll handle it ourselves. We’ll also find our own food. We just want to accompany you. To be honest, in this kind of environment, saying that we’re not afraid is fake, but we won’t cause any trouble for you. It’s clear that you’re not ordinary people. We want to learn from you and adapt to the environment as quickly as possible, and become strong,” Chen Ye stood up, solemnly speaking to Xiao Wen and bowing deeply.
Chen Ye was the boy who persisted with Bai Yun until the end. He also had the fire elemental ability. Xiao Wen and the others actually had high hopes for Chen Ye and Bai Yun, not for anything else, but for their perseverance to the end.
Wen Le lowered his eyes, not looking at those expectations, and his gaze was somewhat cautious.
“We can’t help those who want to go back to M City, but we can give you some food. As for the others, we can team up. But if there’s danger and it’s not safe, we won’t help you. If you want to survive, you’ll have to try on your own,” Han Ya looked at their leader helplessly and spoke.
The students who planned to return to M City were somewhat disappointed, but they also understood that these people had already done enough by rescuing them from the snow. There was no reason for them to go back for the sake of a few strangers, especially since the return journey was still dangerous.
The five families led by Chen Ye were not students from M City, and they couldn’t hide their joy on their faces.
They were not happy because they could rely on Xiao Wen and the others to reduce the danger. After spending these past few days together, Xiao Wen and the others had taken care of them to some extent, and occasionally, Yin Chengyang would casually exercise a few moves, which made this group of students, who were still full of youthful dreams, full of admiration for them.
Guns! Those were real guns!
And there was real grappling techniques!
“Professor Li, will you come with us?” Wen Le suddenly remembered the meteorological instruments that Chen Ye had mentioned before they met.
Li Yunsheng nodded. He had dedicated his entire life to the meteorological forecasting industry of his country, and his wife had passed away a long time ago. He had no children either and there was no need for him to return to M city. If he were a decade younger, he would have risked his life to help these young people fend off the monsters and return home. But now… he had to take it one step at a time. If he could merge Chen Ye and his group with Xiao Wen’s group, then he could finally put his heart at ease.
“Are those instruments at the meteorological station still there? Can we move them?” Wen Le asked with a smile, approaching the old man.
Li Yunsheng was taken aback and looked at Wen Le with some understanding.
He realized that Wen Le was thinking about the new imported instruments!
“They are still on the testing table. We can move them, but they were delivered by military trucks and cranes. Can you move them?!” Li Yunsheng asked.
Wen Le smiled. “As long as we can move them, it’s fine. Let me ask Xiao Wen.”
Before Xiao Wen could respond, Han Ya approached them.
“We don’t know much about these instruments. We don’t want to miss anything important. Let’s find someone to go with you!” Han Ya suggested.
Wen Le raised an eyebrow. “You are part of the labor force, aren’t you?”
Han Ya didn’t hesitate to respond, “I’m engaged in mental labor. Isn’t Yin Chengyang here for manual labor?”
Everyone sneered.
He always used Yin Chengyang as a scapegoat whenever he was unhappy. Now he remembered him?
“I’ll go with you. At least I need to drive the car back, or Liu Hai and the others won’t be able to return to M City,” Chen Ye said. As the team leader, he had to ensure the safety of the others, whether it was during the survival phase or on their way to the testing station.
Qi Rui glanced at Chen Ye and said, “Class leader, you should spare the instruments with your killer skills. If you were sent, the instruments you brought back would be useless scrap metal.”
Even Xiao Wen couldn’t help but look at Qi Rui curiously. It turned out that Chen Ye, as the class leader, had always been an outstanding student with excellent grades in all subjects.
However, in the practical class that started in the second year, everyone was shocked to discover that this excellent class leader was a complete instrument killer. Not to mention that he couldn’t recognize all kinds of instruments, every machine that passed through his hands never worked properly.
Chen Ye coughed dryly, and his handsome figure silently shrank back among the others.
Wen Le’s eyes were full of amusement.
Chen Ye could see that the others wanted to protect him, and he could also see that Qi Rui, who stood in front of him, wanted to share the burden for him.
These students were truly loyal, not greedy for life and fear of death, and perhaps Han Ya and Xiao Wen agreed to take them on the road for this reason. After some training, perhaps they could all become self-sufficient.
“Okay, let’s not argue. Chen Ye, your ability hasn’t fully recovered yet, so rest honestly. Qi Rui, you don’t have any abilities, and if you go, you’ll probably need more people to protect you. I’ll go with Bai Yun. My ability has recovered almost completely, and Bai Yun has good skills and can protect herself.” Han Yifeng pulled Bai Yun forward and kicked Qi Rui to Chen Ye’s side.
Wen Le looked at Qi Rui, who was rubbing his buttocks with a grin, and sighed: “This is how young people communicate these days!”
“Are we leaving now?” Yin Chengyang rubbed his head and asked.
Wen Le couldn’t help but give Han Ya a sideways glance.
“It’s already past noon, and I don’t know if this road will be smooth or not. Let’s leave tomorrow. Everyone will get familiar with each other’s abilities in the afternoon, and you two can practice with them too.” Han Ya pointed to Song Jia and You Qing, who were planning to return to M City. One was a water-type ability and the other was a thunder-type ability. “The rest of you can practice with Yin Chengyang. Many of you have trained with Bai Yun these past two days, but she’s more inclined towards self-defense and free combat. Her basic defense is okay, but she can’t kill zombies.”
After hearing Han Ya’s words, whether they were going back to M City or planning to follow Xiao Wen and the others, the students were all eager to try.
Yin Chengyang grinned. He loved training people the most, and free punching bags were always a welcome sight!
Amidst the constant sound of groans, the day passed.
Early the next morning, after breakfast and getting dressed, Xiao Wen took the lead and headed towards the experimental platform along the cleared mountain road.
In just three days, the snow-covered mountain road that had been cleared was covered again with nearly two meters of snow. It seems that this blizzard is still not showing any signs of weakening.
The mountain road was difficult to traverse, and it took Chen Ye and his team eight days to reach the foot of the mountain where Xiao Wen and his group were located.
This time, although they took the shortest route, it still took them three days. This was thanks to Wen Le using his mental power to explore the road ahead, and Han Yifeng occasionally using his fire-based abilities to clear a path.
They spent the night in the tent that Wen Le had brought.
Xiao Wen, Wen Le, and Yin Chengyang squeezed into one tent. Yin Chengyang had good physical fitness and could sleep soundly on the inflated air mattress with two thick blankets. Han Yifeng and Bai Yun were in another tent and didn’t have to worry because they had Han Yifeng’s fire-based abilities to keep them warm. As a girl, Bai Yun persevered. People with abilities are less sensitive to temperature changes, so even though it was freezing outside, Wen Le didn’t feel much cold.
By the third night, they had reached the foot of the testing platform. They rested there for a night to regain their strength, and on the fourth day, the five of them headed straight for the testing platform.
When they reached the entrance of the testing platform, although the gate was wide open, strangely, not a single zombie was in sight. The gate was too far from the building, and Wen Le’s mental power couldn’t cover that distance.
Since the testing platform was built on the highest peak nearby, the wind was strong, and the snow on the mountaintop was blown away. The snow wasn’t very thick, and the layer that hadn’t been blown away was very firm. People walking on it could only leave footprints that were just over their ankle.
Once they entered the gate, they slowed down. Wen Le carefully scanned the surrounding environment to prevent any unlucky zombies that might be frozen in the snow from suddenly grabbing them.
Even after entering the building, Wen Le didn’t find any zombies and told the others about the situation.
“When you guys left, were there any living people in the building?” Xiao Wen helped Wen Le shake off the snow from his body and turned to ask Han Yifeng.
“There shouldn’t be. Besides our class, there were only three staff members at the testing platform, and they all turned into zombies during the mutation. The other six classmates who didn’t mutate were also… ” Han Yifeng explained. When he mentioned the six classmates who didn’t turn into zombies, his mood became very heavy. They survived the mutation, but…
“Why do you ask?” Bai Yun asked Xiao Wen.
“Because zombies are very sensitive to living people. We haven’t encountered a single zombie yet, so we suspect that there are still living people here, and the zombies have all been attracted away,” Xiao Wen replied.
Han Yifeng furrowed his brow and shook his head, but Bai Yun brightened up after thinking for a moment.
“Maybe it’s Master Wang!”
“Master Wang? The driver who carried the zombies and helped us escape?”
“That’s right! If it’s a living person, it’s very likely to be Master Wang! We escaped back then because of his ability, which saved so many people. Plus, we didn’t see him get scratched or bitten by the zombies. When we separated, he was surrounded by zombies, but there were many plants around him. At that time, we weren’t proficient in controlling our abilities, and we quickly exhausted our energy. Otherwise, we couldn’t just watch him being trapped and unable to save him,” Han Yifeng exclaimed excitedly.
Like Xiao Wen and his group, Master Wang and Xiao Wen’s team were their lifesavers. Hearing Wen Le’s explanation, he guessed that Master Wang was still alive.
Xiao Wen and Wen Le exchanged a glance. If he had wood-type abilities to control plants, he wouldn’t have starved to death after all these days. Perhaps he really is still alive. But if that’s the case, they can’t avoid collecting equipment while hiding from zombies.
Seeing the surprised expression on Han Yifeng and Bai Yun’s faces, they had no choice but to go together to kill the zombies and then save the person.
“Let’s go. Let’s save the person first,” Xiao Wen patted Wen Le’s shoulder and tightly gripped the military knife that Wen Le had taken out earlier.
They could deal with a few zombies with a knife. For Han Yifeng and Bai Yun, who had no training, using a knife was faster than using a gun, and it saved them from missing the target and not knowing where the bullet went.
The building was not high, only four floors. Wen Le walked behind Xiao Wen, with Han Yifeng and Bai Yun following closely, and Yin Chengyang bringing up the rear.
When they reached the corner of the third floor, Wen Le grabbed Xiao Wen’s arm.
“The zombies are all gathered in front.”
Xiao Wen wanted to laugh but had to start waving his hands to greet the zombies that smelled their scent and rushed towards them.
He had already seen the zombies without Wen Le’s reminder. The range covered by Wen Le’s mental power was still a bit small. He would have to find a way to train Wen Le to expand his range when they returned.
If Wen Le knew Xiao Wen’s thoughts, he would surely roll his eyes at him. His mental power was much better than before he was reborn. Before, his meager mental power could only cover less than twenty meters in one direction. Now it was a full twenty meters around him. Was that still not enough?
Han Yifeng and Bai Yun were hesitant to use their knives because these zombies were their former classmates! After hesitating for a while, and seeing the swift and decisive actions of Xiao Wen and his team, Han Yifeng finally gathered up the courage to clasp Bai Yun’s hand tightly and joined in.
They had used knives before when they escaped. With Xiao Wen and his team now, there was no reason to make them clear the way.
Hesitation is a given, Xiao Wen won’t demand too much. After all, these people were once classmates who lived together. Only those who can act after hesitating can be accepted by Xiao Wen.
Although they are a group of students who are still studying, the world will not show them extra mercy just because they are children. The zombies will not spare them just because they were former classmates. If they want to survive, they must overcome everything.
Perhaps hearing the commotion outside, the innermost door opened a crack and several vines flew out, dancing wildly.
With attacks from both sides, within half an hour, dozens of zombies in the corridor were eliminated.
Yin Chengyang patted Han Yifeng’s shoulder and was very satisfied with their performance. When they fought later, Xiao Wen signaled him to retreat to the other side with Bai Yun and let Han Yifeng and Bai Yun take action. The three of them only helped when the two couldn’t handle it, using this process to train them.
Wen Le grabbing Han Yifeng, who was about to rush into the door, and only letting go after detecting safety.
“Master Wang!” Han Yifeng shouted loudly. Although he guessed that Master Wang might be alive when they were downstairs, it was not until those vines appeared that they confirmed it.
A weak middle-aged man leaned against a corner of an instrument close to the window, smiling at Han Yifeng and Bai Yun as they rushed in.
Wen Le walked to the middle-aged man’s side.
The middle-aged man leaned on Han Yifeng and slowly swallowed the hot porridge that Wen Le took out from the space. He didn’t care why the porridge appeared out of thin air, nor did he care how Han Yifeng and the others managed to return.
After more than ten days of living on leaves alone, he just wanted to eat some normal food.
NThanks for the update!! 🤗🤗
Thanks for the chapter!