Before everything goes out

"What kind of meat is this...?"

Looking at Liu Yongxiao's deformed and ugly face, Li Fei had a bad feeling.

"Tai Sui meat".

"Tai Sui?"

"Yes, Tai Sui protects us and nourishes us. Without him, there would be no Shuanghe Village. That's why we thank Tai Sui before every meal."

"Tai Sui..."

Li Fei frowned, his mind a complete mess.

This doesn't make sense, does it?

Previously, it was said that all the children in this room were born from the Tai Sui (a mythical creature), and now they are telling him that what he is eating is the flesh of the Tai Sui.

So what exactly is Tai Sui?

It definitely couldn't be human. After all, if it were about eating human flesh, Liu Yongxiao wouldn't have said it so casually, especially in front of so many children.

"So, Village Chief Liu, what exactly is Tai Sui...?"

"By the way, is your fitness tracker charging?"

Li Fei was about to ask a question when Liu Yongxiao interrupted him.

It wasn't just Liu Yongxiao.

He always felt that Lin Wen was deliberately hiding something when the topic came up.

"It's charged. Here's the map."

Li Fei handed over the bracelet.

Forget it.

Tai Sui and such are not important.

Anyway, he's going to run away tonight, so he doesn't care about the village's dark secrets, and they won't affect him.

"map?"

As soon as the map appeared, Snake Seven finally looked up.

the strange thing is.

His facial expression changed rapidly after he first saw the map clearly.

From confusion to shock, and then a fleeting moment of panic.

"No, those rings were clearly dead in the southern woods, so why are they all in the north now?"

North?

Snake Seven's words made Li Fei frown.

Come to think of it, he remembered that Wang Guodong had mentioned that the original owner had escaped from the woods to the south.

Therefore, the other rings should have died in the southern woods as well...

Why are we in the north now?

"Let me see."

Liu Yongxiao pulled Li Fei's wrist and studied the map carefully.

"That's definitely not right. You and the other Huanzi were clearly leading the villagers from the south, but now their bodies are in the north..."

The group exchanged glances and realized something was amiss.

Li Fei lost his appetite and put down his chopsticks, then followed Liu Yongxiao and She Qi out the door.

Under the blazing sun, the three of them stood in the courtyard and called over two villagers to check their accounts, confirming that they hadn't misremembered the direction.

soon.

A conclusion was drawn.

"The five dead rings, for some reason, crossed nearly twenty kilometers of mountain road and went from the south to the north."

The problem then becomes obvious.

How did you do that?

"evil Dead."

Snake Seven was the first to give his conclusion, his voice hoarse and high-pitched.

It looked like a snake flicking its tongue, which perfectly matched Li Fei's imagination.

"The bodies of these ringers were left in the woods for days without seeing the light of day; they must have turned into zombies."

This claim was quickly confirmed by Liu Yongxiao.

Although Li Fei didn't understand the underlying principles, he recalled the chicken that had turned into a zombie in front of him and felt it made perfect sense.

He had heard Lin Wen mention in a casual conversation that in the village, whether it was a person or an animal that died, they would be dragged away and burned immediately. If they couldn't make a fire, they would use a knife to do some simple processing.

"Wait, even monsters that have turned into zombies will act in unison?"

After thinking about something, Li Fei raised a question.

After all, according to his understanding, zombies and the like would only retain the most primal desires and wouldn't run all the way to the north together.

"meeting."

Liu Yongxiao nodded and gave an explanation.

"Walking zombies retain some of their habits from when they were alive. If they had a close relationship in life, they might even move together after death."

It turned out to be the case.

Li Fei silently memorized this setting.

It seems that the "walking dead" in this world are not as simple as those in zombie movies.

Now that the situation is clear, new problems have arisen.

Where can I find someone?

Logically speaking, if the entire group was wiped out in the south, then the surviving villagers are most likely also in the south.

However, the situation in the deep mountains and forests is complicated, and without a GPS tracker, it is impossible to find someone.

otherwise.

Why should the villagers wait for Li Fei? They can go into the mountains to find him themselves.

"Okay, I'll make a decision."

After a period of silent contemplation, Liu Yongxiao spoke.

"No matter what, we still need to find the ring that caused the zombie to turn into a zombie first. Only then can we understand the situation at that time and know what to do next."

Li Fei nodded seriously, but his mind was not on the matter at all.

When he first received the map, he wasn't sure, but after this discussion, he's much clearer about his next steps.

"Run away".

We must run away.

The situation was becoming increasingly complicated, and he didn't want to get involved in such troublesome matters.

He was neither a hero nor a savior; he simply wanted to return safely inside the wall and then find a way to travel back in time.

Furthermore.

Judging from the village chief's previous ruthless methods, Li Fei had a feeling...

Even if we find the villagers, they will most likely find only corpses.

In that case, it's not impossible that the village chief, in a fit of anger, might use this ring to feed the dogs in public to appease public anger.

In short.

Even if he completes the mission, how he is dealt with afterwards is entirely up to the village chief.

"I cannot entrust my fate to anyone else, let alone a half-human, half-dog monster."

Li Fei made up his mind.

Even in broad daylight, he still felt a chill run down his spine when he looked at Liu Yongxiao.

His intuition told him that this guy was definitely more ruthless than he imagined.

"It's settled then. We'll meet at Teacher Lin's house at eight o'clock tomorrow morning and depart on time."

After a brief discussion, Liu Yongxiao made the final decision.

After saying that, he called out to the house again.

"Teacher Lin, we'll be leaving now. Please take good care of Xiao Li tonight and make sure he gets a good rest."

Li Fei understood what he meant.

While claiming to be taking care of him, she was actually reminding Lin Wen to keep a close eye on him.

"See you tomorrow."

After Liu Yongxiao and Sheqi left, Li Fei returned to the house and ate heartily.

in the afternoon.

As planned, he continued to wander around the village.

The escape route has been planned, mainly involving charging.

"It's been 10 years since the cataclysm, and this small mountain village has actually survived. It's all thanks to its remote location that it hasn't been affected."

After walking around a few more times, Li Fei gained a better understanding of the situation in Shuanghe Village.

河。

The heart of Shuanghe Village is this nameless river that runs from west to east through the entire village.

Where there is a river, there is a water source, which enabled the villagers to cultivate the land and raise livestock, and thus they were able to achieve self-sufficiency and survive in complete isolation during the 10 years of this great catastrophe.

"Wait, wasn't it supposed to be 'Shuanghe Village'? Why is there only one river?"

Li Fei noticed something suspicious, but didn't pay much attention to it.

After thinking about it, the village's name was chosen arbitrarily, and the "Shuang" (双) was probably just picked randomly as well. It's possible that there were two rivers decades ago, but one of them dried up later. It doesn't matter.

at last.

After wandering around for a while until 4:30 pm, the charging indicator on my wristband finally turned from yellow to green, indicating it was fully charged.

Li Fei rubbed his legs as he walked toward Lin Wen's house.

Is it just my imagination?

He felt that his body was undergoing subtle changes after eating the flesh of that Tai Sui.

Breathing is more steady, and strength is more abundant.

Even the intermittent low-grade fever has mostly subsided, and the weakness and soreness that permeated my whole body have almost completely disappeared.

"Is protein really that effective? And it's only been half an afternoon."

Li Fei tried running a few times.

I was drenched in sweat after just a few steps, and the back of my head started to throb.

He's not fully recovered, but he's improved a lot. Before, he definitely wouldn't have been able to run.

Liu Yongxiao is right.

Eating this Tai Sui meat really does give you strength.

Maybe if he takes a few more pieces, he will fully recover.

"So what exactly is Tai Sui? No wonder the villagers believe in it."

Although Li Fei didn't want to pursue these troublesome matters, he couldn't help but think about them.

After all, this thing is too amazing.

It can both give birth to children and produce meat, making it undoubtedly a valuable resource in this cataclysmic world.

"It's getting dark~ Time to wrap up work~"

With a shout that seemed to come from nowhere, the day's work came to an end.

It gets dark early, so farm work is finished early too.

On Li Fei's way home, he was accompanied by many villagers.

of course.

Because of his identity as a ring-wielder, no one paid him any attention, and even other people would deliberately keep their distance from him when walking.

He didn't bother to strike up a conversation, but simply walked among them, silently listening to the conversations of those around him.

"Seventh Brother is back."

"Mom, what's for dinner tonight?"

"Braised potatoes."

"Potatoes again. What's the date today? Why isn't it time to eat 'Tai Sui' meat yet?"

"What's the rush? When the time comes, the village chief will naturally deliver meat to everyone. If you're really too hungry to eat, Mom will warm up an egg for you tomorrow morning."

"Hehe, okay."

In the dim afterglow of the setting sun, the sound of conversation was sparse.

The villagers will not light lamps before it gets completely dark.

Li Fei discovered this yesterday.

Kerosene is precious in the village. Lin Wen mentioned that each family has a limited supply, and if they run out, they have to ask the village chief for a replacement.

"At least we don't have to worry about the light source."

Li Fei thought to himself.

Listening to the various everyday conversations around him, he walked through most of the village and looked toward a farmhouse at the end of the road.

It's Lin Wen's house.

Unlike the places we passed by earlier, an oil lamp was lit in Lin Wen's courtyard. It wasn't very bright, but it stood out in the dim light.

"You're back."

In the courtyard, Bai Xiaowu was leading several children in chasing and playing.

The firelight illuminated her bright eyes.

"Um."

"Is it fully charged?"

"It's fully charged."

Li Fei scooped a ladle of water from the water vat and drank it. Looking at the oil lamp on the wooden table in the courtyard, he casually asked a question.

"Why is it that everyone else's houses don't have their lights on, but ours are?"

"I never ordered it before."

Bai Xiaowu stopped and pointed to Lin Wen, who was bending over and busy in front of the earthen stove inside the house.

"Teacher Lin said you're afraid of the dark, so she told me to light one."