Three days later, in the morning, the convoy from the base arrived as scheduled. Leading the way was a military off-road vehicle, followed by more than a dozen buses. People had already been waiting by the roadside in advance.
The vehicles stopped, and more than ten people got out. The leader was still Captain Wang from before.
As soon as the doors opened, people rushed to get on, afraid of being left behind. With so many people, order quickly fell into chaos. Although Captain Wang only brought a little over ten men, they were all well-trained and equipped with guns. Anyone who caused trouble was immediately dealt with firmly by Captain Wang and was not allowed to board. They had to find their own way there instead. After seeing what happened to those people, no one dared to cause trouble again, and the boarding order improved significantly afterward.
By the time all the vehicles were full, it was already afternoon. Those who had their own cars packed up and prepared to follow behind. The people who didn’t manage to get on the buses began to make a scene.
“Captain Wang, what are we supposed to do without any transport? Our car is already broken and can’t be driven anymore.”
“Yes, Captain Wang, I still have a child. My child can’t walk such a long distance.”
…
Voices from all sides rose in discussion.
“Everyone, quiet down and listen to me,” Captain Wang said through a loudspeaker. “We will be coming again later. The exact time hasn’t been decided yet, but it should be within about a week. If you can’t wait, you can find your own way to the base, or wait for the next convoy. However, it’s best that you try to get there on your own if possible.”
People in the square kept trying to ask questions, but no matter what they asked, Captain Wang repeated the same message and said nothing more. Then he got into the vehicle and set off back to the base.
The convoy began to move toward the base, led again by the military off-road vehicle, followed by the buses, and then private cars. The long line of vehicles looked very impressive on the road. By the time the entire convoy disappeared, it was already evening and the sky was nearly dark.
Only a small number of people were left in the square. Some who hadn’t followed the main group had gone to other bases to look for family or friends.
Some who hadn’t gotten on the buses were still trying to find ways to reach the base. Some had even decided to travel on foot, while others felt the base was too restrictive and preferred their current freedom, choosing not to go at all.
Jiang Li and Gu Jin paid no attention to any of this. The two of them simply cooked some plain noodles, using seasoning left over from instant noodles. Jiang Li also added a sausage, cutting it into small pieces with a knife.
After finishing their meal, the sky was still bright enough, so the two of them sat in front of the tent chatting.
“I’m planning to leave tomorrow and head somewhere else. What about you?”
“I’ll also be going elsewhere tomorrow to look for someone.”
During this time, Gu Jin had always been on his own and had never gone to search for anyone, nor had he mentioned anything about his family or friends. Jiang Li had always assumed he was in a similar situation, and although she didn’t understand why he hadn’t gone looking earlier, she didn’t ask.
Gu Jin seemed to have guessed what Jiang Li was thinking, so he explained.
“Before this, they were abroad handling some matters. Right before they were about to return to the country, the internet was cut off, so I lost contact with them. But we had agreed on a meeting place in advance. If they managed to come back, they should have arrived by now.”
So that was it. No wonder he hadn’t gone out searching all this time. Jiang Li understood. The two of them chatted briefly afterward, then returned to their respective tents to sleep.
Gu Jin had wanted to talk a little longer, but seeing that Jiang Li was already tired, he didn’t continue. He also knew she would be heading to the base afterward, and that they would likely meet again there, so he let it go.
After returning to her tent, Jiang Li did feel like sleeping, but she still harvested the fruit trees and vegetables that had grown in her space, collected eggs like chicken and duck eggs, fed the animals, and planted some new seeds before finally going to sleep.
The next morning, after packing up, the two of them exchanged a few words and then went their separate ways. Gu Jin left first, and Jiang Li set off later.
Jiang Li went to a deserted corner, stored everything into her space, carried only a backpack with a little food inside, then took out her small donkey and rode off.
Collapsed buildings and abandoned cars blocked the roads everywhere. The small donkey was actually more convenient than a car. When something truly blocked the way, Jiang Li would get off, store the obstacle in her space, and then take it out again on the other side. That was another advantage of her space ability.
Occasionally, there were still aftershocks. The intervals between them were getting longer, about once a day, and the quakes themselves were shorter and less intense.
In this way, Jiang Li moved through the city, occasionally collecting useful items and storing them in her space. After all, everything in her space was too new; taking it out would draw too much attention. Later, when she entered the base and needed to exchange for points, she would still have to rely on more “normal-looking” supplies from outside.
Jiang Li also visited several gas stations, but most of the fuel inside was already gone. It was likely that the vehicles heading to the base earlier had filled up there. Whatever was left, Jiang Li collected it all.
Along the roads, she also siphoned fuel from the parked cars. Some tanks were already empty, likely drained by others as well. After several days, the amount of gasoline she had gathered was still quite considerable.
That day, as usual, Jiang Li was collecting supplies when she suddenly heard voices coming from not far away.
She wasn’t someone who enjoyed minding other people’s business, but one of the voices sounded vaguely familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before. So she moved closer to take a look.
Standing by a wall, Jiang Li peeked out. From this position, she could see them, but they couldn’t see her.
On the street, a few men armed with knives were surrounding a man who was over 1.8 meters tall, with silver-white hair. Judging from his facial features, he was likely of mixed heritage, people from this country didn’t usually look like that, making him stand out sharply among the group.
Among the group, the leader was a greasy-looking man Jiang Li recognized. His name was Chen Dashun. In her past life, he secretly engaged in human trafficking, and even cannibalism.
People in the base often went missing, and everyone assumed they had encountered danger while outside. In reality, it was Chen Dashun and his group operating behind the scenes.
Where there are people, there is darkness. They specifically targeted women and children, selling them off for exploitation, and even for consumption.
Chen Dashun was exposed purely by accident. He had once offended someone, and a few days later that person came back with others to take revenge. When they went to his house, they accidentally discovered the crime scene, which was how everything was revealed.
It was said that the person who made the discovery later vomited whenever they saw meat, suffered nightmares every night, and survived only on biscuits or bread afterward.
As for why Jiang Li was familiar with Chen Dashun, it wasn’t only because of this incident. She had encountered him several times before. Each time, he would openly scan her from head to toe with an inappropriate gaze.
Every time she saw him, she felt disgusted. Now that she thought about it, his look back then was likely the same way he viewed “goods,” just that he never got the chance to act before being exposed.