Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Huo Liangzhou blinked—indeed, once the coordinates were set, he could easily reach his destination.

He wondered if he could bring Xiao Mo along. Xiao Mo was quite the homebody, preferring to stay indoors.

Fortunately, Chubby baby was there to keep him company, so he wasn’t lonely.

If the twins were born, they’d run Xiao Mo ragged.

After all, Xiao Mo insisted on doing everything himself when it came to the babies.

Huo Liangchuan was eating roasted sweet potatoes when his elder brother suddenly appeared, startling him so badly he nearly choked.

Thumping his chest, he finally managed to swallow before exclaiming, “Dude, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

Huo Liangzhou flicked his younger brother’s forehead in annoyance.

“How’s the work progress? How’s the planting chamber’s seal holding up? Any news from the Chens? Has Chen Feng shown his face yet? Where’s that kid hiding?” Huo Liangzhou questioned.

Huo Liangchuan patted his chest. “You nearly killed me, big bro! Warn a guy next time! Chen Feng hasn’t shown up—we haven’t tracked him down. The planting chamber is on track, about as expected.”

“That means we’ll still have vegetables to eat,” Huo Liangchuan added.

Then, as if realizing something, he asked, “Wait, didn’t you go find Xiao Mo? Why are you back already?”

“I just came from home. I told you to deal with Jiang Nuan, but instead, she’s alive and well, even gathering a group to capture your sister-in-law in Huo Village,” Huo Liangzhou said, bonking him again.

Huo Liangchuan froze at that, slapping his own forehead. “How’d I miss that? Back then, those mutated wolves killed three of Jiang Nuan’s guys. After that, she disappeared. She didn’t show up for days, so I thought something had happened to her. I never expected she’d come after Xiao Mo!”

“By the way, big bro, did you take care of Jiang Nuan?” Huo Liangchuan asked.

Huo Liangzhou gave him a look. “You think I’m as sloppy as you?”

After instructing his brother to gather the team and holding a half-hour meeting to assign tasks, Huo Liangzhou headed to the Qi house.

Qi Huai’s condition was dire—he had long since undergone amputation.

But with septicemia spreading severely, the hospital had discharged him. Now, Qi Huai lay in a sweltering attic, the room stinking of rot, with no one paying him any attention.

Laughter drifted up from downstairs—Qi’s father’s new lover and illegitimate child chatting away…

In this kind of weather, people hid indoors during the day, only venturing out at night.

Huo Liangzhou soon left the Qi household. Living like this… suited him just fine.

Now, he had to head to Haicheng to deal with those mutated bees before they became a full-on plague.

Taking out a map, Huo Liangzhou quickly checked the route before blinking toward Haicheng.

Xiao Mo, mostly asleep, thought he heard someone calling.

Rubbing Kitty Snowball beside him, he looked at the drowsy Chubby baby. “Daddy’s gonna check outside—something might be wrong. You protect your brother, okay?”

Kitty Snowball butted his hand and gave a tiny mew.

Flicking on the hurricane lantern, Xiao Mo checked the time—just after four in the morning, still early.

Closing the living room door behind him, he headed out, lantern in hand, checking the temperature. Thirty-seven degrees—not too bad.

When the courtyard gate opened, many people came running over.

The crowd was shouting...

"What happened?" Qi Mo shouted.

Huo Jingtan, who had run over, looked at Qi Mo and said, "We’ve got a problem—those giant ants. They’re crawling down from the mountains and attacking people. Old Tian's dog was just killed. A swarm of thumb-sized ants overran it."

Qi Mo froze at the news. Yesterday they discovered mutant bees, but at least those were in Haicheng, far away.

"Running won’t help. We’ve got to exterminate them, or once the ant nest grows, our village is doomed," Qi Mo declared.

Then it hit Qi Mo: "Liangya, where's my husband? Didn't he come back with you?"

There were over twenty more trees at home—probably cut by Huo Liangzhou later.

But he couldn’t have just vanished.

"No idea, haven’t seen your Liangzhou," Huo Jingtan replied.

Looking at the handsome young man with the hurricane lantern, Huo Jingtan added, "I’ll round everyone up. We need to figure out how to deal with these mutant ants, or we’re in real danger."

Soon, many who had fled back and villagers who had been sleeping were roused.

Qi Mo cradled Chubby baby in his arms.

Those mutant ants were deadly serious—they could crawl into your home from any hole at any moment and devour you.

Chubby baby wriggled a little in his daddy’s arms, but the embrace was so comfortable he soon fell asleep.

Huo Jingtan and Huo Jingxuan stopped patrolling and rushed to the edge of the village for an emergency meeting.

Seeing Qi Mo holding Chubby baby, Huo Jingtan asked curiously, "Xiao Mo, where's Uncle Liangzhou? Why isn't he here?"

Qi Mo’s mouth tightened. "He was cutting trees last night and then disappeared. Now I can't find him."

"You don’t think he wandered too far and got eaten by those ants?" someone speculated.

Hearing this, Qi Mo thought it unlikely.

After all, they had fragments of memories from the late apocalypse. If Liangzhou could still be eaten by mutant ants, Qi Mo would have to accept his bad luck.

As a man, his husband Huo Liangzhou was handy and tough.

If he died, what a waste.

Not only would there be no one to do the heavy lifting, but he’d also be completely unusable.

Far away in Haicheng, Huo Liangzhou stood by the shore, facing the sea breeze, and sneezed twice.

He wondered if Xiao Mo missed him or if Chubby baby did.

He needed to find the mutant bees' nest quickly and return home—it was after four, and Xiao Mo would be up soon. He had to make breakfast.

Back in Huo Village, Huo Liangzhou was missing, and the mountains weren’t safe now. They couldn’t go after him right away—they had to deal with the mutant ants first.

"Momo, any bright ideas?" Huo Jingtan asked. "These ants are vicious. Once they get close, we're done for."

Qi Mo couldn’t shake his worry—worried that something really happened to Huo Liangzhou. He had no idea where he'd gone.

As for death, that shouldn’t happen.

Qi Mo steadied his mind before recalling how they had dealt with the mutant ants in his past life.

Traps—lure them in.

Actually, □□ would work too, but it was too flammable now. They absolutely couldn't risk setting the mountain ablaze—deadwood was precious.

"Traps. We'll set traps. These ants aren't that smart. As long as we trap them in one place, we can burn them. We'll need bait—preferably something alive with a bloody scent," Qi Mo answered.

Once Qi Mo explained, everyone immediately understood. Those ants were vicious—they tore through prey terrifyingly fast.

"Who has live animals?" someone shouted.

Qi Mo had six baby quails at home, but he didn't speak up.

"Start digging traps first, then pits. We'll pour gasoline—who has gasoline?" Qi Mo called out.

Huo Jiayun suddenly stepped forward. "I have diesel. We can use diesel. Little brother, hurry and grab the diesel."

At Huo Jianian's words, many villagers cheered in relief.

Diesel would do the trick—once they douse them, those mutant ants won't stand a chance of crawling out.

Immediately, following Huo Jingxuan’s lead, a group of villagers began digging traps near the village's edge.

Huo Jiayun beamed—until he rounded on Qi Mo and demanded, "Qi Mo, Eldest Brother Huo is missing. Why aren't you looking for him? You don’t seem worried at all. He adores you—have you got no heart?"

Qi Mo glanced at the hat-wearing Huo Jiayun. "If *I’m* not freaking out about my missing husband, why are you? What does this have to do with you?"

After dismissing Huo Jiayun, Qi Mo carried Chubby baby in his arms with Kitty Snowball riding his shoulder, heading to the trap-digging site.

"Bigger—way bigger. Has anyone observed how large the mutant ant swarm is? Any idea how close they are? If they're moving too fast, we need to slow them down," Qi Mo shouted.

Qin Lan spoke up, "I'll go. Who’s coming with me to scout the ants’ location? But I need a torch—someone hand me one."

Soon, a torch was passed to her.

Huo Jingxuan tossed aside his pickaxe. "I'll go. Two more, come with me—dig faster."

Qi Mo yelled, "Wait! I’ll bring some smoked fish. If they advance too quickly, toss the fish bits to drag them further out until we signal you."

"And, Village Chief, gather the villagers. If any mutant ants bypass the traps, we’ll have to take them out by hand," Qi Mo added.

Wiping out this swarm wasn’t enough—they still had to locate the mutant ant nest and kill the queen to call it done.

Qi Mo quickly fetched a bag of smoked fish and followed Qin Lan up the mountain.

Huo Jingxuan, seeing Qi Mo tagging along, said, "Xiao Mo, you’re still carrying the baby. Don’t follow—it's dangerous."

Qi Mo shook his head. "I’m going to look for my husband. No clue where he wandered off to?"

By the sea, eyeing the retreating shoreline a hundred meters back, Huo Liangzhou sneezed a second time. Was he getting sick?

No way, no way. With this swelter? He was baking alive—how could he possibly get sick?

It must be his little master thinking of him.

The thought of his little master flinging himself into his arms, pleading for kisses, had Huo Liangzhou grinning.

He was thinking of the young master.

That nest of mutant bees was confusing. From what he remembered, mutant bees in the memory fragments rested during the day and came out at night to forage.

No sign of them. Huo Liangzhou watched the sun burst over the horizon, fiery red like the runny yolk of an egg.

If Chubby Baby saw it, he might want to take a bite.

Unable to find the mutant bees, Huo Liangzhou had already marked the spot by the sea. He decided to bring Qiu Qiu next time to search again and headed home first.

Qi Mo, one arm wrapped around Chubby Baby and the other holding a wind lantern, stood at the place where they’d eaten the night before, calling out, “Husband, husband, Huo Liangzhou, Huo Liangzhou, where did you go…”

His voice startled some birds, which flew off.

When Huo Liangzhou returned home, he found that the young master—who should have been sleeping at this early hour—wasn’t there.

Chubby Baby wasn’t home either, nor was Snowball.

From outside the house came a commotion. Huo Liangzhou quickly stepped out through the courtyard gate and saw villagers not far away, holding torches and working busily.

Huo Liangzhou walked over. “What’s going on? Has anyone seen Momo? He took the baby out.”

“Huo Brother, you’re here? Just now, Qi Mo said you were missing. He left with Qin Lan,” Huo Jiayun spoke up.

Huo Liangzhou turned toward Huo Jiayun.

Huo Jingtan, annoyed by Huo Jianian’s vague explanation, cut in.

“What do you mean ‘left with Qin Lan’? What about Jing Xuan? Don’t make it sound wrong. Uncle Liangzhou, Xiao Mo went with Jing Xuan and Qin Lan. He was just looking for you, while Jing Xuan and Qin Lan were checking for mutant ants.”

Huo Liangzhou glanced at Huo Jianian, then said, “I’m going to look for Momo now.”