Before everything goes out

the other side.

Ma Zi and Gua Tou glanced at the excited Li Fei before turning back.

Niu Zhiyuan is the second son of the Niu family.

There's not much to say.

He was a perfectly healthy person, but after a serious illness a few years ago, he went completely insane and became a well-known mental patient.

When I wasn't sick, I was alright; I could barely be considered a normal person.

When the illness strikes, he sits in an open space, stares blankly at the sky, and stays there for the entire day.

When asked what he was doing, he would only reply with two words.

Bird watching.

At first, the villagers had the leisure to tease him.

Then one day, this guy got really angry and bit off someone's ear. From then on, the villagers avoided him and never dared to tease him again.

"I've always considered you two as my older brothers. Ma Zi, you're the eldest, and Ah Ji is the second eldest..."

Beside Ma Zi, Gua Tou sat cross-legged, staring blankly at the fire.

When Niu San mentioned Niu Zhiyuan, it reminded him of the deceased Aji.

Ma Zi, Ah Ji, him.

The three were brothers who wore open-crotch pants.

For over twenty years since birth, the three have been as close as brothers, a bond that remained unchanged even during the difficult decade following the catastrophe.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they're like brothers.

just now.

One of his brothers died, right in front of him.

Staring at the burning fire, Gua Tou felt a lump in his throat, and the image of Ah Ji's slightly comical cross-eyed eyes flashed before his eyes.

"Ma Zi, how do you think Ah Ji is feeling right now...?"

Gua Tou blinked twice to relieve the soreness in his eyes.

"Everyone's dead, what's the point?"

Ma Zi gave a perfunctory reply and looked around warily.

He has been in this state ever since he confirmed that "the tree is alive".

Be wary, and feel a lingering fear.

He didn't even realize that more than an hour had passed and he hadn't had a drop of water.

"I wish I hadn't cut down the tree."

At this moment, this was his truest thought.

"Don't be afraid, Ma Zi. We have fire here, no monster will dare to come near us."

"I'm not afraid... what's there to be afraid of! Let them kill me right now if they dare!"

Faced with Gua Tou's words of comfort, Ma Zi muttered curses under his breath to bolster his courage.

Even so, he moved closer to the fire.

Guatou is right.

Fortunately, they still had the campfire to rely on. Any monster mutated because of the darkness, no matter what kind of monster it was, would never be able to break through the firelight.

These are patterns that the villagers of Shuanghe Village have summarized over the years.

"Melon head".

"Um?"

Gua Tou, who was reminiscing about the past, turned his head away.

In the firelight, there was Ma Zi's familiar, pockmarked face.

But compared to usual, there seemed to be something different in those eyes.

"If we manage to get back alive this time, no matter how much Old Liu tries to persuade us, we absolutely cannot go back into the mountains."

Why?

"Why do you ask? This job is nothing like working in the fields; people can die at any moment. I don't care, I'm content with just myself, but you have elderly parents and young children to support. If you die, what will happen to your mother and kids?"

"oh..."

Seeing Ma Zi's serious expression, Gua Tou nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I'll listen to you. When we get back, I'll tell Old Liu that we're quitting. So what if we get a hard time? Getting less grain is better than losing our lives."

After Gua Tou made his promise, Ma Zi took out a crumpled plastic bag from his tattered satchel.

When unfolded, inside was a small piece of dried cured meat.

It is about the size of a finger and has a glossy finish.

"Here, I have no appetite, eat this for me."

"What I eat, you can save it for tomorrow's journey."

Gua Tou swallowed hard and waved his hand in refusal.

In Shuanghe Village, cured meat is indeed precious, and it is precisely because it is precious that he is embarrassed to ask for it.

"Alright, enough nonsense, just eat what I'm told."

Ignoring Gua Tou's objections, Ma Zi grabbed the cured meat and stuffed it into his mouth.

"What's so great about him? He has the flesh of the Tai Sui to eat, while we have cured meat to eat."

Ma Zi glanced at Li Fei, who was not far away.

Gua Tou felt the oil melting in his mouth and a happy smile appeared on his face.

"That's why I say you're my older brother!"

"Look at you, so full of yourself. It's just a piece of meat; you'll have plenty of opportunities to eat it later."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

As they were talking.

Snake Seven stood up, coughed twice, and greeted everyone.

"Have you finished eating? If you have, let's discuss the night watch."

The conversation between the two groups was thus interrupted.

the other side.

Li Fei and Niu San exchanged a glance and moved closer to She Qi.

He had already found out most of what was going on with Niu Zhiyuan.

Leaving aside the minor details, the most important thing was that he was certain of one thing...

Niu Zhiyuan is sometimes lucid and sometimes ill.

This shows that time travelers can travel back in time.

This was crucial to him.

To find out the specific conditions and how to achieve them, we need to find Niu Zhiyuan himself and then ask the time traveler.

"It's not safe to spend the night in the mountains. Even if there's a fire, we still need to be careful."

This is how Snake Seven was arranged.

They were divided into groups to keep watch at night.

There were six people in total, working in pairs, taking turns to keep watch from 9 pm to 6 am the next morning.

In this way, everyone can get about six hours of sleep.

To prevent unnecessary accidents and to encourage mutual supervision among the night watchmen, he specifically separated familiar pairs of people...

Finally, the groups are as follows.

Group 1.

Li Fei, Snake Seven.

Second Group.

Ma Zi, Niu San.

Group 3.

Niu Wenbing, Guatou.

The rules are simple.

Based on Niu Wenbing's watch, each group guards for three hours. When shifts change, the next group must be woken up before they can sleep.

"That's it, those who are sleepy can go to sleep first."

After saying this, Snake Seven sat down next to the rock and put both gloves back into his sleeves.

Having grown accustomed to life in the mountain village, the group already had a fairly regular biological clock.

Normally, they would already be asleep by this time.

After traveling all day through the mountains, they lay down on their bedding, wrapped in their clothes, and quickly fell asleep, even in the harsh environment. Only Li Fei and She Qi remained, separated by a campfire, looking at each other in silence.

After spending the whole day together, Li Fei understood.

Snake Seven, that little old man, is a nice person, just not very talkative.

Aside from a few necessary reminders, I won't say a word unless absolutely necessary.

"Uncle Snake, I've noticed you haven't eaten anything all day. Aren't you hungry?"

Li Fei tried to find a topic to talk about.

It wasn't that he was talkative; he just felt that Snake Seven was knowledgeable and that it wouldn't hurt to ask around.

I'm not hungry.

Snake Seven's brief answer only fueled Li Fei's curiosity.

Not only did he not eat anything, but if he wasn't mistaken, Snake Seven hadn't even drunk a drop of water.

On the other hand, the group had been hiking all day and were exhausted. Not to mention the necessary food and drink, even Niu San, who was the strongest among them, was completely worn out.

Snake Seven, on the other hand, was incredibly agile and had almost limitless stamina.

Even on the most difficult roads, Li Fei never saw him panting heavily.

This is definitely not normal.

In addition, there was the mask welded to the other party's face, and their unusual relationship with Liu Yongxiao.

Li Fei was almost certain that Snake Seven was also a monster.

"Um... thanks for what happened during the day."

"What is it?"

"My feet, and you asked someone to carry me."

Li Fei pointed to his feet.

Green herbs were applied to the chafed skin.

This medicine not only has a pain-relieving effect, but now when Li Fei touches the wound, it feels hard and is about to scab over.

"oh."

Snake Seven remains as sparing with words as ever.

Or rather, Li Fei could sense that the other party didn't want to talk to him anymore.

The two sat facing the firelight for a while longer. Just as Li Fei was about to lie down and rest, She Qi spoke up again.

What type of woman do you like?