“Go help Yan Chen! He’s too slow.” Zhao Yan glanced at the people in the supermarket frantically stuffing goods into their bags and said impatiently to Yang Lele.
“Okay, I’ll get you some water. Didn’t you say you were thirsty this morning?”
A smile immediately spread across Yang Lele’s face.
It was clear that hearing this genuinely made her happy; she even couldn’t help but say a few extra words to Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan didn’t respond, and Yang Lele didn’t mind.
Grabbing the backpack he was carrying, she started running into the supermarket.
Yang Lele was so excited that she didn’t notice that at the moment she turned, Zhao Yan secretly drew a deep breath and rubbed his fingers toward her.
After only a few steps, just as she was about to reach Cheng Qian, something caught under her foot. She stumbled and fell hard to the ground.
Completely unprepared, Yang Lele hit the ground forcefully, her vision instantly going black, and she couldn’t get up.
“Watch out!”
Her fall happened too close to Cheng Qian, right at his feet, so he had to bend down to catch her.
Ke Bei and Xiao Tian’s attention was drawn to the scene as well.
At the same time, no one noticed that a vine, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, had quietly climbed up and wrapped itself around the power line above them that connected to the signboard.
With a faint snap, the vine pulled the wire in half. One half dangled down, swaying in the wind, and looked like it was about to swing right onto Ke Bei’s shoulder.
“Sis!”
A sudden scream rang out. Du He, who had just returned from the supermarket, lunged at Ke Bei like a madman!
Ke Bei didn’t have time to turn, but suddenly felt a strong push against her back!
The force was so strong that she and little Xiao Tian stumbled forward two steps and fell hard to the ground.
Du He, rushing in, couldn’t stop in time and crashed into the exact spot where Ke Bei had been standing—
The half-exposed live wire, still sparking, swung down and struck him squarely on the forehead!
Crack! A sudden flash of blue electricity sparked across his eyes.
Du He didn’t even manage to say another word; his whole body convulsed as he collapsed to the ground.
Cheng Qian instantly flew into a rage!
He kicked Yang Lele out of the way, grabbed a wrist-thick wild tree from the nearby bushes, and with a furious shout, uprooted it!
Then he darted forward, quickly pushed the live wire away from Du He’s forehead, and pulled him to safety.
“Du He!”
“Brother Du He!”
Ke Bei and Xiao Tian had already reacted, tumbling and scrambling toward Du He without even having time to stand.
But at this moment, the cheerful, responsible young man could no longer smile at them.
He silently closed his eyes, a charred tree-patterned burn marking his forehead where the electricity had struck.
The scene froze everyone in shock.
Those still in the supermarket stuffing their bags stopped instantly, horror written all over their faces as they stared this way.
Brother Wang and Li Xin abandoned their own bags and ran forward, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Cheng Qian was already kneeling beside Du He, pressing his hands firmly on his chest, performing CPR with all his strength.
Ke Bei slowly lifted her head.
Her gaze fell on Yang Lele, still half-kneeling on the ground, unable to get up from the pain, then lingered for a moment on the protruding tree root near her feet.
She raised her head again and glanced at the vine still wrapped around the live wire, not yet pulled back.
Her expression turned deep and unreadable, an abyss of thought.
She had overlooked it.
Ever since they met again, Ke Bei had been keeping an eye on Zhao Yan.
But he had been crouching in the shadows, always staying far away, and over time, she had grown slightly lax.
Who would’ve thought that a single moment of negligence would give him the opening he needed!
Ke Bei stood up and slowly began walking toward Zhao Yan, who had already retreated to the back of the crowd.
She didn’t walk fast, but her steps were steady and deliberate.
Yet the aura she carried was terrifyingly commanding.
Many people felt intimidated by it, their bodies instinctively wanting to step back.
“You… what are you doing?”
Seeing Ke Bei approach, Zhao Yan was already trembling in fear.
Past experiences had drilled into him a deep-rooted terror whenever he faced her. The closer she got, the weaker his legs felt, almost making him collapse to his knees.
Ke Bei didn’t say a word. Her gaze locked onto his, as if she could peer straight into his heart.
Every dark impulse and hidden thought within him had nowhere to hide.
“Y-you… don’t come closer!”
Frightened beyond speech, Zhao Yan pointed at her with shaky fingers, trying desperately to back into the trees behind him.
Everyone around had sensed that something was wrong; none dared to intervene.
Some keenly realized that Ke Bei’s approach must have something to do with Du He’s accident, while others, not sure of the details, didn’t want to get caught in trouble.
Seeing Ke Bei’s fierce demeanor, they feared that if a fight broke out, they would suffer too.
Even Yan Chen, who had been with Zhao Yan before, didn’t step forward. Instead, he helped Yang Lele to her feet and the two silently watched from the side.
Zhao Yan was terrified.
In his eyes, Ke Bei at this moment looked like a demon.
The closer she came, the more desperate he became.
Frantically, he tried to manipulate the powers he had just gained, commanding the branches to attack her in a frenzy.
But his strength was weak, and having already used some of his energy, the attacking branches showed almost no real power.
Just like him, bluffing, but ultimately powerless.
Suddenly, a large watermelon knife appeared in Ke Bei’s hand.
She swung it casually at the branches and thorned shoots flying toward her, cutting them down with ease.
Without seeming to exert much effort, she turned the threatening, clawing plants into shattered pieces in an instant.
Fragments scattered all over the ground.
Zhao Yan’s face turned pale as death.
He exerted all his strength, struggling like a trapped beast in a last, desperate fight.
But no matter what he did, he could not harm Ke Bei in the slightest. Eventually, he collapsed to the ground in hopelessness, letting out a desperate plea.
Ke Bei stepped forward, grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him out of the bushes like a dead dog.
She carried him over the crowd with long, decisive strides, heading straight toward the dangling electrical wire. In the terrified gazes of everyone watching, she hurled him forcefully!
Zhao Yan crashed heavily against a broken section of a courtyard wall, the wire pressed between his body and the wall.
With a sudden crackle, his body arched violently like a stiff fish, his eyes bulging, before convulsing and going limp.
Crackle!
Crackle!
The wire beneath him kept emitting an eerie, electric hiss, each sound making his body twitch in response.
Gradually, the acrid smell of burning filled the air.
“Ah!”
“Heavens!”
“Mom, help!”
Screams of terror rang out from the crowd. The faint-hearted sank to the ground, clutching their heads, unable to open their eyes.
Ke Bei stood there, unmoving, silently staring.
Only when Zhao Yan had completely turned into a charred corpse, incapable of causing any more trouble, did she turn to the trembling Li Xin beside her and say, “Go shut off the power.”
“Y-yes, yes!”
Li Xin had been standing next to Du He earlier, closest to the wire, giving him the clearest view of the scene.
Now, terrified, his mouth felt like it wasn’t his own, his words trembling and incoherent.
At Ke Bei’s command, he shivered violently, hurriedly agreed, and turned to obey.
Her entire body was still frozen from the scene she had just witnessed. The moment she tried to move, her legs went weak and she collapsed to her knees with a thud.
The people still standing in the supermarket finally reacted. Someone, no one knew who, ran over quickly and switched off the power, and the hair-raising crackling sound finally stopped.
For a moment, the place was deathly silent. Even the gasps and cries had ceased.
Almost everyone stood there, frozen, not daring to move an inch.
The scene they had just witnessed had shaken them to the core, an experience they would likely never forget in their lives.
Cheng Qian finally stopped performing CPR.
He lifted his head and said to Ke Bei, “He’s stabilizing.”
Ke Bei immediately strode toward Du He and held her cold hand near his nose.
When she finally felt a faint breath, she closed her eyes and visibly exhaled, the ferocious aura around her dissipating slightly.
The others quietly released the breath they had been holding.
“We need to move quickly. Even though he’s breathing again, Du He still needs to see a professional doctor. We have to get out of here as soon as possible,” Cheng Qian said sternly.
Ke Bei nodded.
She knew this was no time to hold back.
Without another word, she waved her hand and pulled a pile of farming tools from her space, tossing them to the ground, machetes, sickles, and logging knives, all high-quality tools she had brought from the farm supply store earlier.
“Divide them up and work together,” she instructed the group.
Having just seen a knife appear in Ke Bei’s hand out of nowhere, everyone already had some inkling of her capabilities.
So when she suddenly produced so many tools, those with clear sight were hardly surprised.
Even those who couldn’t immediately process it only kept their astonishment to themselves; no one dared speak.
Li Xin was the first to step forward and grab a machete. Brother Wang quickly followed with another.
Yan Chen, standing nearby, picked up a sickle and stood beside Li Xin, starting to hack at the bushes.
The rest of the group surged forward as well, grabbing tools and joining the effort to clear a path.
Even those who didn’t have tools, or whose physical strength was lacking, no longer dared to dawdle.
They either helped those clearing the path by carrying backpacks and luggage, or quickly fell into line so as not to hold the group back.
Everyone clearly understood one thing—
Du He’s importance to this couple far exceeded that of anyone else.
If treatment for him was delayed because of their negligence, the consequences awaiting them could very well be the same as the charred body still lying on the ground.
The thought sent shivers down everyone’s spines.
Even those who had been thinking of grabbing extra supplies abandoned the idea, afraid that carrying too much and being slow would bring someone’s wrath down on them.
Yang Lele also wanted to step forward and help clear the way, but after looking at the few men at the front, she silently hoisted her and Yan Chen’s backpacks onto her shoulders and fell back into the line.
With so many people working together, each giving their all and none slacking off, the path was quickly cleared.
By noon, everyone had left Yuehe Village and reached a road that looked much wider.
The road clearly bore signs of human widening; many of the bushes and trees along the sides had been broken, and tire tracks marked the surface.
“It must be a road made by the government! We made it out!”
Someone in the group exclaimed in surprise, and the others cheered along.
Cheng Qian bounced Du He slightly on his back, a small smile of relief appearing on his face.
“Brother Cheng, let me carry him for a while, you’ve been carrying him for so long,” Li Xin said, wiping sweat from his face.
Du He had been on Cheng Qian’s back for hours, and even someone as strong as him was beginning to tire.
“No need,” Cheng Qian refused.
Seeing that Li Xin was about to say more, he added, “You run ahead, see what’s up front. If you find people, ask if there’s a government aid station nearby. And find out where we can get a doctor.”
“Got it!” Li Xin replied and ran forward.
“I’ll go too!” another young man around his age shouted, chasing after him.
The road was too narrow, pedestrians could pass, but vehicles definitely could not.
Even though Ke Bei no longer minded revealing her space, facing such a narrow path, there was nothing she could do.
She could only stand next to her husband, helping him support Du He as they moved forward.
Fortunately, this time Li Xin was extremely reliable.
He returned in less than half an hour, gasping for breath, with two people following behind him, one of whom was wearing a militia uniform.
“We’re from the Yishui Town Militia Company. Who’s injured?” the man in uniform shouted before even reaching them.
“Over here! Comrades, please help him!”
“He was electrocuted! Is there a doctor among you?”
Hearing the cries, everyone stepped aside and pointed toward Cheng Qian and Du He, who was still unconscious on his back.
Having endured so much together, the group now showed a flicker of team spirit, and seeing real help arrive, they couldn’t hide their genuine hope.
The uniformed man ran up to Cheng Qian, looked at the still-unconscious Du He on his back, and frowned. “This injury isn’t light! He was struck by electricity? Where did this happen? You came from Yuehe Village, was the power still on there?”
“Is there a doctor?” Cheng Qian cut him off, unwilling to hear any more chatter.
The man didn’t mind; he waved for his companion to come over.
Together, the two of them unfolded a simple stretcher they had brought and explained, “The doctors are busy and can’t come out right now. You’ll need to come with us, it’s not far, just ahead.
You folks… came from Tianshui? You’ve suffered a lot too. How did you get through all this grass? When we went to Yuehe Village to help evacuate people yesterday, it took us forever.”
He was clearly a chatterbox; no one needed to prompt him, he just went on and on.
Everyone patiently listened, and finally understood that the government had already started emergency rescue operations.
Not far ahead was a relief station established by the Yishui Town government, specifically to assist trapped locals and travelers.
The station currently had over a hundred people, all villagers rescued that day or travelers stranded along the same route.
Some of them were injured as well.
But the station only had two doctors on duty, so they couldn’t come out to meet people; that’s why they followed Li Xin here.
Upon hearing that there was a relief station, everyone felt a surge of hope and cheered.
Two girls were even so overwhelmed they cried tears of joy.
Cheng Qian and Ke Bei also felt some of the tension in their bodies finally ease.
Du He’s condition could not afford any delay. After giving instructions, everyone immediately rushed toward the relief station as fast as possible.
The relief station was set up inside a driving school. Even before they got close, a strong, pungent smell hit everyone from afar.
“What is that smell? Some kind of disinfectant?” someone in the group asked nervously.
Instinctively, the others covered their noses.
“Herbicide,” the militia man shouted in response.
Ke Bei, holding onto the stretcher, couldn’t help taking a deep breath.
The smell was too familiar.
At the beginning of the apocalypse, before the government had found better biological agents for eliminating weeds, for a long time they relied on this most common and cheapest herbicide.
Its chemical odor was sharp, and large-scale use was highly toxic.
But there was no other way. Compared to the way rapidly growing plants had taken over all of humanity’s living space, using herbicide to kill them was undoubtedly the simplest and fastest method.
Of course, everything had a double edge.
Large-scale herbicide use did work in the short term, but it had serious consequences.
Besides increasing soil toxicity and polluting water sources, it was said that later plant mutation levels were also closely related to it.
Yet, even knowing the potential damage—Ke Bei couldn’t warn anyone.
Until more optimized biological agents were developed, there was simply no substitute.
She sighed quietly, checked Xiao Tian’s mask, and then quickened her pace.
Because the driving school’s grounds had been hardened and there were few plants in the courtyard, during this period of rampant plant growth, it had become a rare safe haven.
Although weeds had sprouted through the concrete in patches, at least nothing had grown wildly into tree-like monstrosities.
On the school’s playground, over a dozen green military tents had been set up. The tent flaps were open, and from outside, each tent appeared to house a dozen or so people.
Some looked like families, but most seemed to be temporary groups thrown together.
Ke Bei and the others didn’t linger. Following the militia man, they rushed to a tent marked as a medical unit.
Outside the tent was a makeshift examination bed, a table that had been moved there from somewhere, covered with a mattress and topped with a white sheet.
However, the sheet on the bed was already very dirty, stained with spots of blood.
When they arrived, a wounded person was still lying on the bed, a long gash running down his back, as if it had been clawed by some animal.
A middle-aged female doctor was attending to his wound.
Seeing their group enter, the injured young man struggled to sit up on the examination bed, supporting himself with one hand on the bed and the other on his waist, clearly in pain.
Even so, he kept urging, “Quick, put him on the bed! Ah, how did this happen? Where is it hurt?”
Seeing Du He unconscious, the doctor was also startled.
She shoved the anti-inflammatory powder in her hand into a nearby assistant’s hands and instructed, “Change his medicine.”
Then she called out to those carrying the stretcher, “Don’t leave him here, take him inside the tent! He needs a full-body check…”
The doctor didn’t spend much time examining Du He, as this was only a temporary relief station with limited equipment.
After the check, she told Cheng Qian and Ke Bei, who were waiting nearby: “Right now his breathing and heartbeat are stable, so he has a chance of survival.
I’ll first treat the wounds on his face, then start some medication and give him two IV fluids to see how he responds. As for anything else, we’ll have to wait until he wakes up to assess.”
“Doctor, how long might it take for him to wake up in this condition? Will there be any aftereffects?” Ke Bei asked.
“Hard to say.”
The doctor pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes bloodshot with fatigue. “It could be a day or two, maybe three to five, or he might wake up in a short while. No one can say for sure, it depends on his physical condition.
As for aftereffects, there’s no way to tell right now. Complications from electric shock injuries are many. Damage to the nervous or circulatory systems can’t be determined by simple observation; we have to wait for the patient to regain consciousness, or immediately send him to a hospital for a full examination. But right now…”
She looked around and gave a bitter smile. “You’ll just have to wait. Even if we wanted to move him, there’s no vehicle. I’ll have Old Zhou set up a quieter tent for you. Keep a close eye on him, and report any changes immediately.”
Since the doctor had said all that, Ke Bei and the others had nothing more to add.
They thanked the doctor, and with the help of the militia man Old Zhou, carried Du He to a tent toward the inner side of the courtyard, next to the wall, and settled him there.
Compared to the previous tents, this one wasn’t large, just enough to accommodate their family of three plus the unconscious Du He, with no room for anyone else.
It was clear the doctor was giving them special care.
After hanging the IV for Du He, the doctor left. Li Xin came by to check on him but didn’t stay long.
By now, it was already afternoon. The other people who had come along had to go to the staff to register, get assigned places to stay, and take care of their own affairs, there was no time or attention left for this tent.
Besides, they didn’t know each other well.
So very quickly, the tent was left with just their family of three.
From morning until now, the three of them hadn’t eaten a single thing. They had been pushing themselves to keep going on the road, but now that they finally sat down, the hunger hit them all at once.
Xiao Tian, rarely so clingy, jumped onto Ke Bei and softly whined that he wanted to eat.
Ke Bei helped him take off his clothes and took out a box of soft, cooked macaroni and cheese from her space so he could eat by himself.
She also placed a small box of cleaned cherry tomatoes beside him.
Thinking of her husband, who had been working hard all day and needed high-calorie food, she brought out a hot dog with double sausage and cheese for Cheng Qian, and took a sandwich for herself to nibble on slowly.
Although the tent was at the innermost part of the courtyard and people wouldn’t normally pass by, and they were sitting right at the tent entrance, anyone approaching would be noticed in advance—Ke Bei was still cautious. She didn’t dare bring out food with a strong smell.
Moreover, Du He was still unconscious, and they weren’t in the mood for normal meals.
Cheng Qian took a bite of the hot dog, chewing in a slow, distracted rhythm, then looked at the still-unconscious Du He and asked Ke Bei, “What are you thinking?”
Ke Bei naturally understood he was asking about their next move.
She stared at the IV drip for a long moment before slowly answering, “What can I think? We wait. Du He ended up like this trying to save me, we can’t just leave him behind. We wait and see first.”
According to their previous plan, they were supposed to hurry to Anshuo, but now…
On one side was Ah Lie, who had to be taken from Chen Changyu, and on the other was Du He, whose life hung in the balance—
Ke Bei didn’t know what choice to make.
Cheng Qian naturally understood his wife’s dilemma; in truth, he himself was just as conflicted.
After hearing Ke Bei’s words, he fell silent for a moment before saying, “Let’s leave it for now. Tomorrow I’ll go out and try to gather some information, see if I can find out anything.”
He paused, then turned to his wife with a reassuring tone: “The doctor said, didn’t he? Du He might wake up any moment. He’s young and in good shape, so it shouldn’t be too serious.”
Ke Bei pressed her lips together but didn’t reply.
She knew her husband was trying to comfort her, but deep down, she hoped he was telling the truth.
Unfortunately, things weren’t as optimistic as Cheng Qian believed. After the two bottles of fluid had been administered, Du He still showed no signs of waking.