The hunchbacked old man slowly turned and walked into the village, disappearing from sight step by step.
The survivors exchanged glances. For a moment, everything was frighteningly quiet.
“Ye, stay close!” Iron Lion said in his deep, muffled voice, then strode into the village.
Chen Ye gripped his Hand Crossbow and followed, not objecting to the new nickname. A simple quiver at his waist held bolts soaked in Black Dog Blood. On his back was a large pack he had originally carried on his bicycle.
Iron Lion carried more empty bags, large and small, than Chen Ye could count.
The village lanes were too narrow for vehicles, so they would have to carry the supplies out themselves. From outside, the Great Willow in the center did not seem far away.
Following Iron Lion, Chen Ye watched their surroundings carefully. Nana also carried a large backpack, her right hand gripping the longsword at the back of her waist. There was an unusual rhythm to her long strides.
Others soon followed the three of them.
The first was a seedy-looking old man—the same one who had moved first in Apricot Blossom Town. Most people in the convoy were young, and there were few elderly survivors. Chen Ye had not expected this old man to still be alive.
At the entrance, the survivors looked at one another, greed and hesitation plain in their eyes. Something was clearly wrong with this village, and no one could guarantee that those who went in would come out alive. But staying outside meant no supplies. In the apocalypse, supplies were everything.
“Sis, hurry! Let’s follow them. We’ll be safer if we stay close.” Zhou Xiaoxiao hurried after them with a large pack.
Zhou Lan hesitated, then followed.
“Xiaoxiao, we…” Zhou Lan began.
Xiaoxiao interrupted, speaking softly into her ear. “Sis, don’t overthink it. If something really happens, I don’t believe Chen Ye will refuse to save us. Even if he does, there are the other two. They wouldn’t just watch us die. You’re a big star!”
Zhou Lan deeply regretted letting Xiaoxiao reclaim the gasoline. If they had left it with Chen Ye, they might be a little safer now. But they had offended him, and his protection would probably be hard to obtain. She was not as optimistic as her younger brother. Now and then, she glanced at Chen Ye with mixed feelings.
Nearby, the old woman was speaking to her grandson.
“Don’t worry, grandson. Grandma… Grandma will find you something to eat. Be good and wait outside for me.”
“Silly child, what will you eat if I don’t go? This is the apocalypse. These bastards won’t pity you!”
They were the grandmother and grandson Chen Ye had dealt with earlier. It was something of a miracle that they had neither fallen behind nor starved during the journey. Over time, many people had learned what the pair were like. Whenever someone had supplies, the brat would try to grab them; if refused, he would spit, or else steal. When he was caught, his grandmother would appear with the same excuse: “He’s just a child!”
Gradually, no one offered them help anymore.
“Grandma has to find food for you herself. Remember this, my dear grandson: if I don’t come back, everyone here is a murderer. When you grow up, avenge me!”
“If they’d given us something to eat, I wouldn’t have to take this risk! Especially that Chen Ye—remember his face! Do you hear me?”
“Grandma… Waaaah…”
The child’s cries made the survivors nearby frown.
Captain Chu looked over from nearby and covered the radio beside him with a blanket. Nothing in the convoy escaped the Eavesdropping Radio’s surveillance; he had heard the whole exchange.
“Bring disaster on yourself, and there’s no escaping it,” Captain Chu sighed.
A round-faced woman with a pointed chin stood some distance away, her head lowered and her hair hiding her expression. Not everyone had the courage to enter Longevity Village. More than half the convoy remained at the entrance, most of them women. Anyone who brought back supplies could enjoy a privileged life in the convoy, and Chu Che did not interfere with that. Everything was a fair exchange.
Chen Ye lit a cigarette to ease the strain. This was not his first time entering such a place, but his heart still pounded whenever he faced it. He held the cigarette between his teeth, the Hand Crossbow in his hand and the Heavy Machete at his waist.
The moment he crossed the village boundary, the world shifted.
Goosebumps rose on the backs of his hands. Outside, the sun shone brightly; inside, it felt like the dead of night. The sun was still overhead, but seemed veiled in black gauze.
It was as if they had stepped into a different dimension.
“A Spectral Domain?”
“A special domain formed by some kind of power. Anomalies are more likely to appear here, even during the day,” Nana explained.
Chen Ye’s expression darkened. Apricot Blossom Town hadn’t had a Spectral Domain. How did a little place like Longevity Village have one? Was it even more dangerous than the town?
After entering, Chen Ye kept feeling that something was watching him from the dark. Yet whenever he looked closely, he saw only gloom. The hunchbacked old man had vanished without a trace.
Some survivors had already set their sights on two houses near the entrance.
They were small adobe houses, run-down and seemingly long unoccupied.
Gripping steel pipes, the two men tiptoed toward the houses. If they could find just half a bag of rice or some flour, they would be rich.
They carefully pushed the door. The lock was so rusted that a light push was enough to open it. A pitch-black doorway appeared before them.
The two swallowed, exchanged a glance and went in side by side. Their trembling legs showed just how frightened they were.
Chen Ye noticed them, but his own group’s destination was the Great Willow in the center, not the houses.
He watched the two men step into the darkness of the adobe house.
And then… nothing.
Not a sound came from inside.
The house had swallowed them as silently as the gaping maw of a huge beast.
“I can’t… I don’t want to die! I want to get out!”
A man wearing glasses could no longer bear the strain. He turned and ran toward the village entrance.
The sight made Zhou Lan and Zhou Xiaoxiao’s hearts pound. They could not help moving another couple of steps forward.