Before everything goes out

Two days later.

There are still two days until our next trip into the mountains.

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

The sun is about to set.

In the dim sunlight, several farmlands stretched out in a golden expanse, where Li Fei and the Niu brothers were scattered, each wielding a hoe.

"That's about enough for today."

Niu Wenbing looked up at the sky and threw his hoe directly onto the field.

"Just leave the stuff here, nobody wants it."

Then, the three of them sat on the edge of the field, drank water, and rested.

"I didn't expect you to learn farm work so quickly, much faster than I did back then."

Niu San wiped the sweat from his face with his hand.

"Nonsense, he's smart, unlike you."

After Niu Wenbing finished speaking, he took out a small piece of sausage from his pocket and handed it to Li Fei.

"Take this. You've worked hard these past few days, helping with the chores around the house."

"No, it's mainly for physical training."

Li Fei waved his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then took the sausage and stuffed it into his pocket.

Lin Wen's family doesn't own any land; they rely on the village chief to distribute grain. So for the past few days, he's been working on the Niu family's land with the Niu brothers.

Besides offering help, I also wanted to test my body's recovery progress.

So far, it seems that the effects of the Tai Sui meat are quite good.

He ate a small piece every day for seven days, and he has fully recovered.

My body no longer aches or hurts, that's a basic thing. Even the scar on the back of my head is now almost undetectable.

How so?

As expected of Huanzi's body, after fully recovering, she can work all afternoon without feeling tired.

Regardless of strength, he is even comparable to Niu San in terms of physical strength.

Just imagine.

If you asked him to go into the mountains again and walk that entire day's worth of mountain paths, he would absolutely not have any complaints.

"You went to see those families this afternoon; they didn't give you any trouble, did they?"

"No, they even gave me eggs."

"That's good."

The "families" that Niu Wenbing mentioned were the families who sacrificed their lives during this trip into the mountains.

Ma Zi, Ah Ji, Gua Tou, and She Qi.

The first three families were quite nice. Even the shrew who came to collect the debt earlier had a much better attitude. Although she didn't bring any food, she was no longer aggressive.

As for the seven snake families.

The Sheqi family's house was empty. Li Fei didn't go inside, but he could smell various strange herbs at the door.

"What did they say about Zhiyuan?"

Niu Wenbing asked.

"It's not much different from what you all said, that Niu Zhiyuan is sometimes clear-headed and sometimes confused."

Li Fei replied.

In the past few days, he took some time to conduct a survey of Niu Zhiyuan.

Needless to say, their goal was to gather more information in order to find a way back in time. Unfortunately, every household avoided Niu Zhiyuan and rarely had any contact with him, so there were no clues.

"By the way, Uncle Snake saved us with his life. If we can find She Qingqing, we'll let her eat with our family from now on."

Niu Wenbing had already made plans.

Niu San, standing nearby, naturally nodded in agreement.

If it weren't for Snake Seven's sacrifice, they wouldn't have had the chance to sit here and drink water.

"Snake Seven..."

Speaking of this, Li Fei didn't say it aloud, but he remembered She Qi's dying wish that he take She Qingqing with him.

No.

Not only did he take her away, but Snake Seven also made her marry She Qingqing.

Putting aside such a major event as marriage, if they really find a living She Qingqing, what should they do then? Should they stay or leave? He felt that they should respect her opinion.

After all, having stayed for so long, his impression of Shuanghe Village had changed considerably.

Here.

It's not some impoverished, dilapidated village, but a rare paradise in this dangerous world.

Surrounded by mountains, with poor transportation.

Self-sufficient and in harmony.

Various rare conditions, combined by chance, created this almost miraculous utopia.

Correct.

Utopia.

Li Fei felt that this description was most appropriate.

The villagers each had their own tasks: some farmed, some brewed wine, and some raised livestock.

In this situation, resources were allocated as rationally as possible, allowing every household to survive.

It's not just about basic survival.

There's even a school and a clinic in this village.

Although rudimentary, it was already taking shape.

Thinking about it this way, Li Fei even began to slowly realize that if he were to prepare for the worst, if he really couldn't go back...

Living your whole life in this little village isn't so bad.

Let's look at it from a different angle.

Even he thinks this way, so She Qingqing, who was born and raised here, is probably even less willing to leave, just like the other villagers here.

but.

If we had to pinpoint a problem, there is one obvious issue, or rather, a threat, in this village.

"Liu Yongxiao".

All those who disobeyed Liu Yongxiao were turned into dogs.

Because of this, there are fewer and fewer people and more and more dogs.

The original population of over a hundred has dwindled to just 60.

Li Fei even felt that without Liu Yongxiao, the village would be even better off now.

"By the way, have you seen the village chief these past few days?"

Sitting on the edge of the field, Li Fei asked casually.

He had seen Liu Yongxiao once in the past few days, and according to Liu Yongxiao himself, it was probably to prepare for the next trip into the mountains.

After all, that old tree looks tough to deal with. If we really run into him in the mountains, those mongrels alone probably won't be enough.

"I haven't seen him; he's probably out walking the dog."

"Walking the dog?"

"Um."

"Have you been walking the dog for so many days?"

"They say it's a dog walk, but it's actually taking the dog for a stroll in the mountains for several days."

"It seems he really treats his dog well."

"Of course."

Niu Wenbing paused for a moment, then added.

"Speaking of dogs, let me tell you a story. When we were kids, before the catastrophe, the village chief and Uncle Snake were snake catchers. Actually, it wasn't just the two of them. Although it was against the rules, there were actually a lot of snake catchers around here."

The story goes that one day while catching snakes, the village chief was bitten by one and lay down on the ground, unable to walk. The snake uncle carried him for several miles of mountain road before returning to the village.

They carried him back and showed him to the village doctor, who said he was dying and needed to be taken to the town hospital because that was where the serum was available.

But judging from the village chief's condition, it was clear he wouldn't last until the town. And then, guess what?

Li Fei shook his head.

Niu Wenbing pointed, and following his finger, Li Fei saw a large black dog on a distant ridge.

Dark black, and shiny with oil.

It was Liu Yongxiao's mongrel dog named "Ertong".

At this moment, Ertong was sniffing along the paddy field ridge, chewing on some weeds.

"It was this dog, Ertong, that saved the village chief."

"What?"

Li Fei's eyes widened.

Seeing his surprised expression, Niu Wenbing smiled mysteriously and continued.

"Back then, the village chief's face was as white as paper, and he was barely breathing. Just when his family thought he was going to die, a little black dog popped out."

"Is it the two of bamboo?"

"That's right. At that time, Ertong was only the size of a palm. It kept circling around Liu Yongxiao. The doctor and the village chief's family thought the dog was causing trouble. Just as they were about to chase it away, they found that the dog had spat out a few green grasses."

The group was still confused when the doctor's eyes lit up. He immediately fed the grass to the village chief, and within ten minutes, the village chief was up and running as if nothing had happened.

"this..."

Li Fei listened, stunned, as if he were listening to a fairy tale.

The dog found medicinal herbs, found an antidote for the snake venom, and saved Liu Yongxiao's life.

If this happened after the cataclysm, he would believe it; but before the cataclysm, it seems a bit too far-fetched.

"And then?"

"Later, the village chief searched the whole village for the dog's owner, wanting to give him something to thank him, since he was his savior."

After asking around, he discovered the dog had no owner at all; it seemed to have sprung from a rock. So he simply took it in himself.

"And you've been raising it ever since?"

"That's right, that dog must be at least fifteen... or even twenty years old."

After listening to Niu Wenbing's story, Li Fei seemed to be deep in thought.

So, speaking of which...

Regardless of whether the story is true or not, at least Er Tong was not transformed from a human.

"My brother was just saying it casually, just take it as a joke. He heard it from the old folks in the village, so it might not even be true."

Niu San chuckled and tossed a small piece of steamed bun to the big black dog not far away.

Unexpectedly, the dog didn't eat at all; it just symbolically sniffed at the food before wagging its tail and walking away.

"This dog is quite a picky eater."

Watching Ertong's departing figure, Li Fei suddenly remembered.

According to Liu Yongxiao himself: When a living person mutates, they become whatever they fear; when a dead person mutates, they become whatever they desire.

In other words...

"The reason Village Chief Liu has half a dog's face is because he's afraid of dogs? That doesn't make sense. A dog saved his life, and he keeps so many dogs, so why would he be afraid of them?"

Li Fei asked the Niu brothers.

He had never asked about Liu Yongxiao's strange appearance before.

Things are different now. He's close to the Niu brothers, practically comrades-in-arms, so asking them shouldn't be a problem.

"You're right. The village chief isn't afraid of dogs, and he really likes them. As for why he has half a dog's face, we don't know."

All we know is that the village chief's transformation occurred in the second year after the catastrophe. At first, hair only grew on his face, but it gradually spread to half of his face.

But you don't need to be afraid. The village chief just looks scary; his mental state is very stable, unlike other mutated animals. You should be able to sense that.

Niu Wenbing explained it this way.

Seeing that Li Fei still had a furrowed brow, he added.

"Regarding the theory of mutation, not to mention us, even the village chief can only make a rough guess. When it comes to this, you guys from the Rings are the most professional. If you hadn't lost your memory, you would definitely have a more reasonable explanation."

The three nodded in agreement.

The small village was isolated from information, and the information about disasters and mutations was just wild speculation, which could not be guaranteed to be true.

"Let's go, rest up, and then go home for dinner."

The three of them got up to leave.

Before he could even take a step, Niu San, who hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise, suddenly slapped his forehead and shouted as if he'd just had a sudden epiphany.

"I know!"

After shouting, he lowered his voice.

Under the astonished gazes of the other two, he whispered:

"The village chief is actually dead. He loved dogs most when he was alive, so now he's become a dog!"

I was stunned by Niu San's outrageous theory.

Does this mean that Liu Yongxiao was actually a corpse that had turned into a zombie?

Even Li Fei couldn't accept this statement.

After a brief silence, Niu Wenbing kicked him hard in the buttocks.

"Don't talk nonsense. The village chief eats, drinks, sleeps, and is perfectly fine. Besides, zombies can't stand the light and can only move around at night. Look at the village chief, he's out sunbathing all the time. How could he be a zombie?"

"Hehe, you're right, bro. If the village chief were really a zombie, he would have been devoured by the people of our village long ago."

Niu San chuckled, scratched his bald head, and left side by side with Niu Wenbing.

Watching the two figures walk away, Li Fei also headed home.

On the way, however, he frowned slightly, unconsciously pondering Niu San's words.

if...

What if there really were walking corpses that could see light?

Could it be that those missing villagers weren't turned into dogs, but were eaten by Liu Yongxiao?