“Other than Sheng City, there’s only an abandoned mountain village to the west.”
The man glanced at Su Nian before continuing, “The highway from Sheng City to here exploded a few days ago. The entire road was destroyed.”
Su Nian immediately thought of the explosion she had heard earlier and the thick column of smoke she had seen.
“So I guessed you were heading to Shuixi Village.”
“Thank you for the warning.”
Su Nian stared at him for a few seconds before walking past him.
But her thoughts were in complete disarray.
Shuixi Village was no longer safe?
Had someone occupied it, or had something else happened?
“Mom, can we still go back?” Xingxing asked softly from her back.
“Yes.”
Su Nian reached back and gently patted his leg to reassure him.
She slid the machete back into her belt and continued on.
Her pace was much faster than before. She had no idea what had happened in Shuixi Village, nor did she know whether the man had been telling the truth.
But she had to go back and see for herself.
That place was all she had left.
After walking for more than ten minutes and confirming the man was not following her, Su Nian slipped into a building and took her electric scooter out of her storage space.
Collapsed houses and burned out car shells lined both sides of the road. The air was thick with ash and the smell of scorched metal.
Only a handful of zombies noticed her. By the time they reached the road, she was already far away.
She rode for nearly an hour before reaching a fork in the road.
The path to the left was the one she had taken before. The road was in terrible condition, full of potholes, but it was the shorter route. The road on the right was unfamiliar. According to the map, it was a longer detour, though the road itself was much wider.
Su Nian chose the left path.
She wanted to get back as quickly as possible, back to the house surrounded by walls.
The road was as rough as ever, littered with potholes and loose gravel.
She increased her speed.
After riding for more than another hour, the road gradually narrowed. Ahead, she spotted scattered rocks and several bundles of wire mesh lying on the ground.
It was the same place where she had been surrounded by zombies that night.
Su Nian collected everything useful into her storage space.
The mountain trail began there.
Some sections were too steep for the scooter, forcing her to continue on foot.
Her legs were so sore she could barely lift them, and her knees weakened with every step. The scenery along the roadside became increasingly familiar.
Shuixi Village was close.
Su Nian stopped, unfastened Xingxing from her back, and held him in her arms. She took out a water bottle from her storage space, let him drink a couple of mouthfuls, drank a little herself, then continued walking.
After rounding a bend, she finally saw the entrance to the village and the walls surrounding the two story house.
Standing at the stone bridge, Su Nian took several deep breaths, a small weight lifting from her heart.
She had barely taken a few steps forward when she suddenly froze.
Someone was lying on the bridge at the village entrance.
No! It was a corpse.
It lay face down, its clothes soaked in dried blackish red blood.
A large pool of blood had spread beneath the body, dripping through the gaps between the stone slabs into the water below, staining it a dark crimson.
The air was thick with the stench of decay.
It was strong, but different from the smell of zombies.
It was the odor of a human body that had been dead for a long time.
Su Nian instinctively stepped back, her hand reaching for the machete.
She stared at the corpse for several seconds.
It was one of the men who had come knocking on her gate.
The short man in the gray jacket with the shrill voice.
It was him.
Su Nian told Xingxing to close his eyes before slowly walking forward. She carefully circled around the body and crossed the bridge.
Dark, dried blood trails stretched across the bridge, leading from the entrance deep into the village.
The blood had turned blackish brown, forming long streaks as though something had been dragged along the ground.
Following the trail with her eyes, Su Nian looked toward the first house at the village entrance.
Its front door stood wide open, revealing nothing but darkness inside.
Another body lay at the doorway, face down with its features buried among the gravel.
The clothing was different.
It was not one of those men.
The corpse wore a blue work uniform covered in dust.
Su Nian crouched, holding the machete horizontally in front of her without getting any closer.
She waited for several seconds.
The body never moved.
It was not a zombie.
It was truly dead.
She rose to her feet and continued onward.
The smell of blood grew stronger with every step, mixing with the stench of decay until her throat tightened.
There was blood on the stone pavement beneath the trees, along with an overturned bowl shattered into several pieces. The porridge that had once filled it had long since dried.
When Su Nian reached the second house, she looked inside.
The floor was covered with shattered glass and overturned stools. Deep machete marks scarred the walls, exposing the bricks beneath the plaster.
Several quilts were piled in one corner, soaked with blood that had seeped from the edges deep into the fabric.
She did not enter.
Her palms were drenched with sweat.
The third house.
The fourth, the fifth.
Nearly every doorway was stained with blood, and even the closed doors bore smeared handprints.
As Su Nian passed by, she deliberately lightened her footsteps, hardly daring to breathe.
She feared those people might still be somewhere nearby.
When she finally passed the last house, she broke into a run and soon reached the two story house.
Standing outside the courtyard wall, Su Nian fixed her eyes on the iron gate.
The gate was closed.
The lock remained intact, though clear dents showed it had been struck repeatedly.
She let out a quiet sigh of relief but did not lower her guard.
Two large logs had been laid haphazardly across the top of the wall, and a section of wire mesh had been crushed flat beneath them.
The group from before had done this.
She crouched and peered into the courtyard through the crack beneath the gate.
The main hall door stood open, but no one was inside.
Su Nian stood, took the key from her storage space, unlocked the gate, and pushed it open.
The hinges creaked loudly, the sound unusually harsh in the silent village.
She waited several seconds.
Nothing happened.
After checking both sides carefully, she walked over to the wall and stored the two large logs in her storage space.
Then she shut the iron gate and secured the crossbar from the inside.
Machete in hand, she searched the house.
All four rooms upstairs had their doors open. One door had even been kicked off its hinges, with muddy footprints stamped across it.
She searched every room.
There were no zombies. No people.
The plastic sheets covering the windows had been ripped down and tossed carelessly onto the floor.
That group had definitely entered the house.
Su Nian went downstairs and thoroughly checked the rest of the property.
Then she carried Xingxing upstairs and laid him on the bed, her thoughts in turmoil.
Had they killed each other?
Or had another group arrived?
Would they come back?
She walked to the window.
The village lay completely deserted.
There were no people. No zombies.
The corpse still lay motionless at the bridge.
She could not simply sit here waiting.
Su Nian tucked the machete back into her belt, then retrieved the hunting shotgun from her storage space. After loading it with ammunition, she put it away again.
She first walked around the courtyard wall, removing the damaged section of wire mesh and replacing it with a new one before reinforcing the fencing around the rest of the property.
Only after finishing did she draw a bucket of water from the well.
The water was crystal clear and odorless, but she still did not dare drink it directly.
She poured half a kettle into a pot, placed it on the stove, and boiled it.
Shuixi Village was no longer safe, but she had nowhere else to go.
Remembering how the previous group had climbed over the wall, she knew others could do the same.
She needed another layer of defense.
She decided to use the rolls of wire mesh she had stockpiled to build another perimeter around the vegetable garden, securing it to the trees in the surrounding forest.
That way, even if someone cut down the trees again, they would no longer be able to climb over the courtyard wall as easily as before.
As soon as she made up her mind, she got to work.
She crouched on the ground and had just taken out a roll of wire mesh.
Clang!
The iron gate behind her suddenly jolted as someone shoved it, and the chain hanging behind it rattled loudly.
Su Nian shot to her feet, her hand instantly flying to the machete at her waist.