Chapter 219: The Younger Brother (Part 2)

Chapter 219: The Younger Brother (Part 2)

After some wandering, the two finally arrived at the place Ding Xiaoying mentioned—an abandoned fertilizer factory.

Xiao Hua and Bai Mu remained invisible, staying hidden as they moved forward. Slowly making their way deeper into the factory, they searched room by room but found no trace of anyone.

More importantly, after circling the factory, they found no signs of humans living there. It was clear that the place had been abandoned for a long time.

Xiao Hua frowned. She pulled Bai Mu to sit down and thought about whether they’d missed anything.

She tapped her fingers together as she quickly reviewed the route they had taken.

Xiao Hua couldn’t understand it, so she leaned closer to Bai Mu’s ear and whispered, “Why did Ding Xiaoying choose to hide her brother in a fertilizer factory? There were convenience stores and farmhouses along the way—any of those would’ve been better than this place.”

Bai Mu nodded slightly, agreeing with her. “That makes sense. Maybe Ding Ziang is too young and has no powers, so he had to find the least likely place for anyone to come.”

Xiao Hua propped her chin on her hand and shot back, “But there’s no food, water, or beds here. It’s not suitable for survival at all.”

Hold on!

Xiao Hua suddenly removed her hand and instead took Bai Mu’s hand, blinking at him. “If it’s not suitable inside, maybe he’s outside?”

Bai Mu glanced down at their intertwined hands and gave a soft laugh. “Hmm.”

Xiao Hua also realized she’d been thinking too narrowly. Since they couldn’t find anyone inside the factory, they should look outside.

Compared to the stuffy, smelly, and empty inside, the outer area was more suitable for finding food. For Ding Ziang, it would also be easier to keep an eye out for Ding Xiaoying’s movements.

Without hesitation, Xiao Hua stood up abruptly and pulled Bai Mu along, eager to find him fast. Once outside, Xiao Hua looked around carefully and noticed some differences.

For instance, while most areas were covered in thick dust, the spot under a flower bed was a bit cleaner than the rest.

Bai Mu walked over, brushed some dust with his hand, and studied it before standing straight again. “The dust here is different from the rest. It doesn’t seem like natural accumulation—more like it was intentionally hidden.”

Xiao Hua also shifted her gaze from other areas and nodded in agreement. “And there are fairly fresh fruit seeds at the edge of the flower bed. From these signs, it looks like someone’s been staying here, most likely Ding Ziang.”

As for why he wasn’t here now, it was likely that he had gone out to forage for food.

Xiao Hua and Bai Mu shared a smile, clearly having reached the same conclusion.

She grabbed Bai Mu’s left hand and checked his watch. It was already 3 PM, and it would soon be dark. Ding Ziang was probably about to return.

“Let’s wait.”

…

Just before the sky darkened, a skinny figure appeared in the distance. If not for his buzz cut, he might have been mistaken for a girl.

Ding Ziang carried a handful of mulberries in his arms and held a branch of loquats in his right hand. He shoved the fruit, skin and all, into his mouth as he slowly made his way back to his resting spot.

Some of the loquats weren’t ripe yet, and their sourness made his mouth water. His face twisted in discomfort, but he couldn’t bring himself to spit them out.

Ding Ziang was only eleven years old. His body hadn’t developed enough to catch any wild animals, and he wasn’t tall enough to reach better food. All he could do was pick some half-ripe fruit to stave off hunger.

His sister had gone to save Lin Feng, telling him to stay here and survive no matter what.

Ding Ziang’s eyes welled up with tears. When would his sister return? Had she and Lin Feng run into danger again? Suppressing his longing, he lowered his head and continued walking forward.

Suddenly, two pairs of clean sneakers appeared in his line of sight, and as he gradually looked up, he saw two well-dressed people.

Ding Ziang was startled, dropping all the fruits in his hands and sprinting in the opposite direction, his speed even surpassing that of an adult before the apocalypse.

The two people he saw were naturally Xiao Hua and Bai Mu. Xiao Hua, standing in front of the boy who had appeared, noticed the little kid bolting away, his alertness incredibly high.

"This kid is so sharp," Xiao Hua muttered to Bai Mu, though her eyes remained calm and unreadable, completely different from the words she spoke.

After all, in this current world, the foolish ones had long since met their end.