Before everything goes out

Outside Shuanghe Village, by the river.

The river water in November is icy cold.

Niu San found a deeper bend in the river, took off his clothes, leaving only his underwear, and jumped into the water.

With a splash, water sprayed everywhere.

The icy river water slid over his body, causing a slight sting, but it actually made him feel much better.

Take a deep breath and dive into the water.

As cold as possible, as painful as possible.

Only in this way could he briefly detach himself from that rainy night three days ago.

Mother, elder brother, sister-in-law, nephew, niece...

Not only his family, but also more than sixty villagers in Shuanghe Village.

He could name each and every one of them; each and every one of them was a comrade-in-arms who had supported each other through the ten years of this catastrophe.

For the past three days, every time he closed his eyes, those twisted corpses would appear before him...

They didn't do anything wrong; they were just living their lives honestly and lawfully...

"A life for a life."

Niu San gritted his teeth.

In the eyes that opened in the water, there was a fiery rage.

Even today, whenever he thinks about it, his molars grind, and he vows to tear that enemy apart.

"Niu San"

A familiar voice called out from the water.

Niu San surfaced, wiped his face, and looked towards the riverbank.

She Qingqing, carrying various medicinal herbs, strode over.

"Didn't we agree that you'd guard him during the day and I'd guard him at night? What are you doing here?"

"It's alright, Ertong is watching over things for me. I'll go gather some herbs around here; we might need them later."

"oh."

Niu San nodded.

But they found that She Qingqing was still standing by the river, showing no intention of leaving.

"What's wrong? Why are you guarding me? Weren't you going to gather herbs?"

She Qingqing put down the herbs, sat down by the river, and unusually started a conversation.

"Niu San, I'm asking you, if that ring... if Li Fei keeps twisting it like that, endlessly twisting it, or if one day he finally dies completely, what are your plans?"

"No, he'll pull through. I have a feeling."

"I mean, if."

"Is that even a question? Of course, it's about revenge."

Niu San's eyes were resolute.

"If Li Fei is really gone, then I'm even more determined to find the murderer, cut open his stomach, rip out his intestines, and then strangle him with them..."

Yes, that's not all. I also need to find my second brother, dead or alive. If it were my eldest brother, he would definitely do the same.

After Niu San finished speaking, he turned to She Qingqing and asked her a question in return.

"And you? What are your plans?"

"It's also about revenge, but..."

She Qingqing changed the subject.

"Before I get my revenge, I want to find my father. You're right, I need to see him alive or dead."

"Then I'll go with you. Uncle Snake has been kind to us. It's not my style to not repay kindness."

"Okay, let's set a deadline. If Li Fei doesn't make it before that deadline, we'll set off on our own."

"Okay, you name the time, I'll do as you say."

"Then..."

Before She Qingqing could finish speaking, she was interrupted by a dog barking from behind.

It is a two-tube.

He quickly ran to She Qingqing's feet and called out several times, much to Niu San's puzzled look.

What does "two of bamboo" mean?

"I'm not sure of the exact details, but it should be that they want us to go back to the village."

She Qingqing looked up.

Looking towards Shuanghe Village, all that can be seen is a collapsed ruin.

"Could something have happened to Li Fei?!"

Niu San, who was soaking in the water, suddenly jumped ashore.

He hadn't even had time to put on his clothes; wearing only his underwear, he followed behind She Qingqing. The two of them and the dog ran quickly toward the village.

soon.

After passing through the village entrance and running over a series of low walls, they finally saw Li Fei standing upright...

The panic in his eyes turned into surprise.

"Li Fei! You're feeling better!"

Niu San shouted excitedly.

They rushed forward cheering, but before they could even touch Li Fei, they were loudly stopped.

"Don't come any closer!"

Under his questioning gaze, Li Fei pointed to himself.

"The distortion is contagious. The mechanism is unclear, but until we are sure it has completely disappeared, we should avoid contact with each other for the time being."

"Oh, that makes sense!"

Niu San scratched his head, his face beaming with undisguised delight.

Finally, after three days, there's some good news.

"So...how are you feeling now?"

"Not bad, at least he's alive and can move."

"So what's going on with you? Did you turn into Superman?"

"This... I don't know either..."

Li Fei swallowed hard, his throat burning.

He hasn't had a drop of water for days.

Although he may no longer need to drink water, the intense thirst is still making him very uncomfortable.

It felt like I'd swallowed a mouthful of sand; it was really uncomfortable.

"Is there any water?"

"Yes, I'll burn it for you right away."

Niu San bypassed Li Fei, rummaged around in the dilapidated house for a while, found a stainless steel basin filled with water, and placed it on the extinguished campfire.

chapped.

He took out the lighter he had previously taken from the Huanzi camp and lit it.

"How many days has it been since then?"

Looking at the gradually burning campfire, Li Fei asked this question.

"The third day."

"So you two have been guarding me here the whole time?"

"Yes, we didn't know your condition, so we didn't dare touch you or leave you. We could only stay by your side and wait for you to recover..."

Thank you.

Li Fei sincerely thanked him, but Niu San just laughed and waved his hand.

"No need! From now on, the three of us are comrades-in-arms. It's only right for comrades-in-arms to help each other."

after that.

At a safe distance of two or three meters, he made Niu San recount everything that had happened in the past few days in detail.

That's pretty much what he thought.

For the past three days, he has been in a state of near-death experience and confusion.

He has only fully recovered today.

"You must be starving. Here, have some of this."

Niu San grinned and tossed over a small cloth bag.

Upon opening it, I found a perfectly square lump of *Tai Sui* meat inside.

"These past few days we've been eating Tai Sui meat. Usually, the village chief only lets us eat it once a month, but now it's unlimited."

"Aren't you afraid there's something wrong with the meat?"

"What problem could there be? We've been eating like this for so many years, a few more bites won't make a difference."

Under Niu San's excited gaze, Li Fei hesitated for a moment, but still ate the Tai Sui meat and then drank the boiled water sip by sip.

that's it.

Only after eating and drinking his fill, feeling that satisfying fullness, did he truly feel alive again.

"Oh, right!"

Thinking of something, Niu San started rummaging through the dilapidated house.

Soon, he tossed over a cotton-padded jacket and a pair of jeans, belonging to some villager whose belongings were unknown.

"Try putting your clothes on and see if it works. If the clothes aren't twisted, then it's fine."

"Um."

Li Fei took off his tattered clothes.

He could be resurrected, but his clothes couldn't. After three days of twisting, his nylon combat suit was repeatedly torn to shreds, hanging on his body like rags.

After changing into new clothes and moving around a bit, he was certain that the distortion had completely disappeared.

"They should be alright now."

After Li Fei nodded, Niu San stepped forward, looked him up and down, and pinched him with his hands.

She Qingqing is the same.

However, she was more cautious than Niu San, and did not touch Li Fei's exposed skin, but only touched it through his clothes.

What they have in common is...

Both of them wore expressions of joy at their reunion.

"But I don't understand..."

Niu San scratched his head and asked Li Fei.

"Li Fei, what's going on with you? Is it some kind of super-fast regeneration? Like in the movies?"

"It shouldn't be."

Li Fei shook his head.

He felt that Niu San must have misunderstood; this was not rebirth, but resurrection.

In the past three days, he has even experienced hundreds or thousands of deaths.

but.

The simplest way to explain this is to let the other party see it for themselves. In addition, there are some other things he needs to confirm.

"Can I borrow your gun?"

As Li Fei spoke, he pulled a pistol from Niu San's waist.

Under the stunned gazes of the two men, he opened his mouth, bit the barrel of the gun, and pulled the trigger.