Chapter 55

**Chapter 55**

Jiang Nuan clutched her chest—the feeling of her head being severed was too terrifying.

Was it a dream, or reality?

For a moment, Jiang Nuan couldn’t tell.

In the middle of the night, Qi Mo woke up from the heat, drenched in sweat.

He checked the baby—Chubby Baby’s back was soaked through. They couldn’t sleep outside anymore; they had to move into the pocket dimension.

Qi Mo placed a small water bottle in Chubby Baby’s mouth.

Though the baby hadn’t woken from the heat, as soon as the bottle reached his mouth, he instinctively grabbed it and began drinking.

Qi Mo then went to the storage room and quickly found a tent.

Soon, the tent was set up. He carried it directly into the pocket dimension, first laying down a waterproof mat before placing the tent on top and securing the tent stakes.

He hung a small palm-sized hurricane lantern on a freshly planted fruit tree branch before exiting the pocket dimension.

After fetching water, he wiped the baby down and changed him into dry clothes before carrying both Chubby Baby and Kitty Snowball into the pocket dimension.

He tucked a small blanket over the baby’s belly and zipped the bug net closed.

Once Chubby Baby and Kitty were settled, Qi Mo stepped out of the pocket dimension, took a shower to wash off the sweat, and then returned to the space to sleep.

The temperature of 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit was incredibly comfortable.

Qi Mo drank a glass of water and quickly fell asleep.

In Jiangcheng, before the dream, Huo Liangzhou hadn’t worried that Xiao Mo would be in danger. He needed sufficient resources to protect and care for Xiao Mo and Chubby Baby.

But now, Huo Liangzhou realized his thinking had been wrong—some mistakes are irreversible.

Looking at his brother slouched in the chair, Huo Liangzhou spoke: “Get up. I have something to tell you.”

Huo Liangchuan, still dazed, jolted back to awareness at his brother’s voice.

“Brother, you’re awake! That’s great. You suddenly fainted—you scared me to death,” Huo Liangchuan blurted out, his voice trembling.

Seeing his brother’s panicked expression, Huo Liangzhou ruffled his brother’s hair—the strands felt prickly.

“From now on, I’m leaving Jiangcheng’s affairs to you. Don’t worry—Wu Di will help you. I’m concerned for Xiao Mo and the baby in Huo Family Village,” Huo Liangzhou said.

Huo Liangchuan went rigid.

“Brother, I can’t handle this,” he stammered nervously.

Huo Liangzhou looked at his flustered brother. “How do you know you can’t if you’ve never tried? You can do it. You’re my brother—I believe in you.”

Soon, Huo Liangchuan was led into the office by Huo Liangzhou. Wu Di was summoned, along with Chen Lei and others from his inner circle, for an emergency meeting…

Early the next morning, Qi Mo was awoken by frantic pounding on the door.

Exiting the pocket dimension, he walked to the gate and opened it. “Can I help you?”

“Hello, Qi Mo. I’m Huo Min, from the Huo household living at the back of the village. We escaped the city. My daughter-in-law just gave birth, but she has no milk. I heard you have a child—I was hoping to barter for some formula,” the woman said.

Upon hearing this, Qi Mo said, "I don’t have much formula either. How old is your baby? What are you offering in exchange?"

Huo Min replied eagerly, "Born yesterday. She went into early labor on the road due to stress. The baby can’t eat anything, so I’m trying to get some formula. I can trade two pounds of compressed biscuits and a bag of salt. Is that okay?"

"That’s a bit low," Qi Mo replied. "Formula is hard to come by these days. Ah, forget it—I’ve got a 500-gram bag of stage-one formula. I snagged it from the supermarket when things first went bad." This was the formula Aunt Huang at the supermarket had given him.

Huo Min was thrilled. As expected, the best way to get formula was to trade with families who had babies.

Qi Mo closed the door and fetched the bagged formula Aunt Huang had given him. Though it wasn’t a big brand, it was genuine infant formula—perfectly safe to consume.

Soon, Qi Mo brought out the formula. After unbarring the gate, Huo Min handed him the compressed biscuits and salt.

"Use it up fast. Don’t try to save it. In this weather, formula spoils easily. It’s best to seal it and store it in the basement, then take out just enough for each day. The baby’s gotta stay strong—things’ll only get worse," Qi Mo reminded the grandmother.

Huo Min nodded. "I’ll make sure the baby eats well and stays healthy. I won’t let the formula go to waste."

After trading so much for it, she couldn’t bear to let it spoil.

"Thank you, thank you! My granddaughter and I are so grateful," Huo Min said, clasping her hands together in deep appreciation.

In these end-times, the ones who suffered most were the babies.

After seeing Huo Min off, Qi Mo returned home soaked with sweat. A glance at the thermometer showed it was only 6:30 in the morning, yet the temperature had already hit 42 degrees.

The whole village was baking. Cities must be unbearable—deadly, even.

Qi Mo headed to the kitchen. Chubby baby was still asleep, sleeping soundly in the space.

The heat left him with no appetite.

He decided to cook porridge and steam buns. Since the temperature wasn’t at its peak yet, he’d make extra now for later when the heat peaked.

He put a large pot on to boil, washed the rice, added water, and set it going.

Wearing gloves, he peeled and chopped fresh yam into small pieces, throwing them in the pot.

Next, he washed a fresh piece of pork liver, sliced it thinly, rinsed it again, and set it aside.

Qi Mo began kneading dough.

This time, he planned to make meat buns. He took out pre-ground meat from storage, mixed in scallions, and set it aside in the space.

Once the porridge thickened, he added the pork liver. After another boil, he sprinkled in scallions and divided the porridge into containers.

The dough puffed up fast in the swelter. Qi Mo started shaping the buns.

He arranged them on the steamer and waited a few minutes before turning on the heat…

A shout rang out from outside—each household had to send someone to the ancestral hall in half an hour.

After hearing the announcement, Qi Mo ate a bowl of pork liver and yam porridge and a steamed rockfish fillet. Then he picked up Chubby baby, who had just woken up, blinking sleepily.

He swapped the diaper, cleaned the baby’s bottom, then fed him porridge. He also set out porridge and water for Snowball.

Yes, Qi Mo never added salt when cooking porridge—this way both Chubby Baby and Snowball the kitten could eat it.

After breakfast, he steamed a batch of meat buns and immediately stored them in his dimensional space once they were done. The leftovers were also placed into the space.

He gently settled Chubby Baby and Snowball into the stroller, applied sunscreen, and put on a sun hat. With an umbrella and fan in hand, Qi Mo set off.

By then, the temperature had already climbed to 43°C (109°F).

The ancestral hall was already filled with many villagers.

This was an old house in Huo Village, surrounded by centuries-old trees, its open layout naturally cool...

Looking at the ancestral tablets in the main hall, Qi Mo thought perhaps it was the blessing of their ancestor’s Dahongpao tea (*a premium oolong*).

"Little Mo, over here," called Huo Jingxuan.

Pushing Chubby Baby over, Qi Mo took out a wet wipe and cleaned the baby’s face before asking, "Jing, what happened?"

A meeting had been called earlier, but Qi Mo didn’t know what had occurred in the village—the night had passed quietly, without any major disturbances.

"Last night, Elder Clan Leader and the village head discussed it," Huo Jingtan explained. "Our village is forming a guard team."

Hearing this, Qi Mo frowned. "Did something happen?"

In his previous life, he had stayed in Jiangcheng. Although the city was chaotic too, back then he had Huo Liangzhou with him, and during the early days of the Apocalypse, he and the baby had managed fairly well.

He hadn’t expected Huo Village to run into trouble so soon—first came the odd villagers, followed by mutated giant wolves, and even powerful mutant cats.

Thinking about the kitten he’d adopted as a son in this life, Qi Mo felt coming home had been worth it.

Huo Jingtan lowered his voice and said, "In villages near Taohua Town, some families were robbed—and several people murdered."

"Our village may be further from the town, but not by much. We need to prepare ahead of time," Huo Jingtan added.

As more villagers gathered, the temperature inside the ancestral hall began to rise. Qi Mo gave Chubby Baby a bottle to stay hydrated and took slow sips from his own water flask.

Once the body becomes dehydrated, heatstroke—or even death—could follow in this kind of weather.

Soon, Elder Clan Leader and the village head arrived.

"Two villages close to the town were attacked—one family was robbed, another was murdered outright. Our village is farther away, but not far enough to feel safe. So for security, we village leaders have decided to form a night patrol team..." the village head announced.

A villager spoke up from the crowd, "Village head, you said it's voluntary—but what’s the pay? People can’t work for free."

"Yeah, right, people can’t do it for nothing," another added.

The village head raised his hand. "Quiet, quiet. This is our first time doing something like this. The patrol team will consist of six people, each receiving half a pound (~0.25 kg) of grain per night. This grain will be contributed by all the villagers—one tael (~37 grams) per household per day, meaning three catties (~1.5 kg) per household per month."

"The grain can be corn, beans, rice, or flour," the village head clarified.

"Three catties per household per month? Village head, my family barely has enough grain as it is," one villager grumbled.

One tael didn’t seem like much, but giving it every day added up.

Before, three catties of grain meant little—it could last a family three days if carefully rationed.

A week ago, no one had panicked—it was *only* a water shortage, and stocking up seemed sufficient.

But recently, plants had been withering rapidly, temperatures kept rising, and all the ponds and rivers dried up. It didn’t take a genius to know something big was about to happen.

The village chief spoke up, “Then you can join the patrol team too—half a pound of grain per day, fifteen pounds a month.”

“Of course,” the village chief added, “if your household doesn’t have enough grain, you can contribute water instead—one pound per day, stored in plastic water bottles.”

The villagers murmured among themselves. Qin Lan stood up and said, “Chief, I’m in.”

Soon others signed up as well. Fifteen pounds of grain a month, if carefully rationed, could last the whole month.

Later, the village chief brought up the watchtower. If they were going to build it, they’d need a lot of timber—each household would have to supply two trees as thick as a man’s thigh.

Qi Mo couldn’t handle this task—he had his child with him.

He turned to Huo Jingtan and said, “There are some logs in my yard that Liang Chuan cut down. Mind hauling them to the camp? I’ll give you two bottles of beer.”

Huo Jingtan replied, “Just let us know if you need help, Xiao Mo. But honestly, you had me at beer.”

Some villagers grumbled—they refused to contribute grain or water, thinking nothing serious had happened yet.

“Elder Clan Leader, Chief—if your decision benefits the village, I support it. But it’s too hot now. I need to take the kid home first.” With that, Qi Mo wheeled the stroller and left.

As soon as he got inside, Qi Mo took out an ice pack and started fanning air toward it.

A knock came quickly at the door—it was Huo Jingtan and Huo Jingxuan, here to help move the logs…

Beer got them working double-time.

Huo Liangzhou spent a day getting everything arranged before rushing back to his hometown to find his young master. He couldn’t wait any longer.

In town, Jiang Nuan said to the lifelong bachelor, “It’s boiling out—we can’t stay in town anymore. We need to find a bomb shelter or a house with a basement.”

“Relax, I’m on it,” said Chen Feng, the unmarried man. “I’m contacting a few buddies. Your cousin’s place probably has a basement.”

Jiang Nuan nodded. “Definitely. And if you can get your hands on guns—I’ve seen them at the police station—try to get a couple. Then no one would dare ignore you.”

Chen Feng narrowed his eyes. He’d robbed before—this was no exception.

But this needed a solid plan…