Chapter 80

Chapter 80

"Please... just a bite to eat..." The person was so emaciated they barely looked human, with eyes that appeared unnaturally large, resembling a refugee fleeing famine.

But it was indeed a person, not a zombie.

Cheng Zhiyu frowned, offering them water to drink but not daring to offer food, afraid that sudden eating might cause problems.

Upon seeing the water, the person’s eyes widened. Cheng Zhiyu brought the bottle to their lips, and they instinctively opened their mouth, gulping the water desperately.

After drinking half the bottle, Cheng Zhiyu stopped them. The person seemed to recover slightly and kept saying, "Thank you, thank you..."

"Where are you from?" Cheng Zhiyu asked.

The person reacted slowly, hesitating briefly before answering, "From... from the nearby village, Barley Village."

"Barley Village?" Cheng Zhiyu became worried upon hearing this. "How is your village doing?"

"W-well... so many people have died. In our Barley Village and a few nearby villages, only a few hundred remain. We gathered together, but there’s no food. I... I just wanted... to go out and look for food..." the person said in broken phrases.

Cheng Zhiyu asked urgently, "Then do you know Liu Pingan?"

Liu Pingan was Cheng Zhiyu’s uncle. After returning, Cheng Zhiyu had gone to his uncle’s village, but there was no one there.

The village where Liu Pingan lived wasn’t Barley Village itself, but one nearby, which was why Cheng Zhiyu became worried upon hearing "Barley Village." Hearing that survivors from several nearby villages had gathered together, he felt a spark of hope—what if his uncle’s family was among them?

He had gone to his uncle’s village earlier to look for him but found no one. He didn’t dare tell his mom, worried she couldn’t take it.

The person thought for a moment and shook his head. "I... I’m not very familiar with some people. I don’t know... I don’t know if there’s such a person."

After saying this, the person quickly clutched Cheng Zhiyu’s arm and cried, "Please, let me come with you. I don’t want to starve to death or turn into a zombie. Please..."

Cheng Mo frowned, looking at the person’s hands, which were so grimy you couldn’t tell their original color.

Cheng Zhiyu also frowned slightly. Without committing either way, he said, "Take me to where the survivors from the villages are gathered."

Hearing this, the person hesitated and clammed up.

"Were you lying earlier?" Cheng Mo asked, squinting slightly. Otherwise, why would they refuse to take them when Zhi Yu asked?

"No, no... I wasn’t lying." The person quickly shook their head, afraid that Cheng Zhiyu and the others would leave them behind. "I... I was kicked out."

Cheng Zhiyu looked at them. "Why were you kicked out?"

The person explained, "I didn’t do anything. Everything was fine at first, but then... there was this person who said he had mutant seeds that could grow a lot of food. He demanded that everyone provide him with food. If they did, he would share the food he grew. If not, he would drive them out to find food. I was driven out to find food."

As they spoke, they began to cry. "He just wants me to die. Where’s there any food out there? Only zombies. I was lucky to run into you guys, or I would’ve been killed by zombies."

Cheng Zhiyu frowned. Mutant seeds? He remembered that Xiang Qizheng had taken off with some mutant large wheat seeds. It couldn’t be such a coincidence, could it?

"With so many of you, how could you all just listen to him?" Cheng Zhiyu asked.

The person wiped their tears. "We had no choice. The food we had saved was almost gone. He said he had mutant seeds that could grow food. Who dared not listen to him? Besides, he has a bit of fire power. It’s not very strong, but he said that if anyone disobeyed him, he’d rather go down together and burn the mutant seeds than leave them for us."

"Mutant seeds are our hope for the future. We didn’t dare disobey."

Cheng Zhiyu asked, "Aren’t there any superhumans in your group?"

The person replied, "There are a few, but they’re not very powerful. They can barely hold their own when zombies come. But even these superhumans don’t dare provoke him. He hoards the mutant seeds, and everyone is afraid he might impulsively destroy them. So the superhumans have to listen to him too."

"He hasn’t even planted the seeds in the ground. He planted them in a few pots. We saw that they’ve sprouted already, so everyone believes this is our hope."

As Cheng Zhiyu listened, he became less certain whether that person was Xiang Qizheng.

Xiang Qizheng was an ordinary person; he shouldn’t have any superhuman abilities.

But regardless, Cheng Zhiyu still wanted to see for himself. What if his uncle’s family was there?

"Lead us there, and I’ll give you food," Cheng Zhiyu said.

The person’s eyes fixed on the food Cheng Zhiyu took out. They swallowed nervously and, unable to resist their hunger, nodded.

Besides, they had originally come out to find food. With food, they could return.

In a ravine near Barley Village, people had lived there in the past, so there were many man-made caves. Later, everyone moved out and lived in concrete homes, leaving the caves empty.

After the apocalypse hit, survivors from several villages gathered here. The place was hidden and had natural defenses. Zombies had difficulty moving into the ravine, so the survivors brought their food and holed up here.

Because zombies rarely came to this area, the few superhumans in the group could deal with them.

At that moment, a person woke up in one of the caves. He stretched and quickly glanced at the flowerpot beside him, relieved to see the sprouts still there.

With these seeds, these fools were completely under his control.

He rubbed his stomach, feeling hungry, and called out, "Whose turn is it to provide food for me today?"

Someone replied, "Food is scarce now. We’re almost out of food too. You—"

"How dare you speak to me like that? Address me as ‘Your Excellency’!" the man said with a hollow firmness.

The person quickly said, "Your Excellency, we really have no food left."

"If you have no food, then go out and find some. If you can’t find any, die out there. Don’t come back!" His Excellency said.

"You’ve gone too far!" someone muttered discontentedly.

His Excellency immediately turned to them. "Say one more word, and I’ll burn all these seeds. Let’s all starve to death together!"

Of course, he was only threatening them. If he really burned the seeds, he would lose his control over the group. He had finally tasted what it was like to be "His Excellency," to be revered by others. How could he willingly return to his previous life?

Sure enough, after he said this, the person who had spoken didn’t dare say another word. Although His Excellency only had a dozen or so mutant seeds, they were the only viable food source they had seen so far.

This was their hope for the future. They knew what it represented, so they didn’t dare provoke this "Your Excellency," even if they felt frustrated. They could only put up with it.

What did it matter if they had to endure a few words and provide food? For the sake of the precious seeds, they could bear it.

Once the mutant seeds produced grain, they could plant more wheat. With wheat, they would have hope for survival.

His Excellency was pleased they stayed quiet. Feeling hungry again, he frowned and arbitrarily pointed at someone in the crowd, barking, "You, go find me some food!"

The unlucky person pointed out in the crowd, Liu Pingan, instinctively said, "I just gave you food the day before yesterday."

His Excellency was dissatisfied with his attitude and raised his voice. "You do as I say! How dare you disobey me? When the wheat is harvested, you won’t get any! Go, go, bring me food. If you can’t find any, go out and look for it yourself! Either die outside or bring back food. Your choice!"

Liu Pingan wanted to say more, but thinking of his wife and son, he reluctantly closed his mouth.

"Hurry up! What are you standing around for? Standing there like an idiot." His Excellency muttered impatiently. "Hurry up! Do you want me to starve? I’m warning you, if I starve, I’ll eat these mutant plants first! Then we can all starve to death!"

It was the same few phrases over and over, but everyone treated the mutant wheat as hope and dared not argue with him.

What if he really snapped and ate the wheat they'd barely managed to plant?

Those tender green wheat sprouts were so cherished in their eyes—they absolutely couldn't let them be harmed.

Someone helplessly tried to persuade Liu Pingan: "Pingan, don’t be so stubborn. For the sake of the wheat, if he ends up eating it, we’ll all starve sooner or later."

"Exactly, just hold on a bit longer. Once the wheat heads form, we'll be okay."

"Sigh, this man is really... I’m furious too, but what can we do?"

Listening to these words, Liu Pingan had no hope for this "Lord." It wasn’t just about how long till the wheat headed—even if it did, how much would there be? With only a dozen or so sprouts, who'd get to eat even if they grew?

So even if the wheat headed, they couldn’t eat it—they’d have to keep planting it.

Truthfully, if this "Lord" were actually decent, Liu Pingan would be grateful, but he felt that the man wouldn’t be—he wouldn’t be that generous.

None of them were fools; surely he wasn’t the only one who sensed it. They just didn’t want to admit it, subconsciously numbing themselves.

Sigh. Liu Pingan sighed and returned to the cave where he lived.

There were quite a few caves in this ravine, but with hundreds of people, several had to share one.

Liu Pingan’s family of three lived on the left side of the cave, while another family lived on the right. At a time like this, privacy wasn't something they could worry about—having a place to live was already a blessing.

Liu Pingan’s wife was talking to their son. The adults were already barely holding on living like this every day, much less the kids.

The child spoke listlessly: "Mom, when can we go home? I want to go home."

Liu Pingan’s wife looked at her son, who had thinned out so much in less than a year, and her heart ached. Her Long Long was only ten years old.

"Long Long, be a good boy. It won’t be long now—we’ll be home soon." Of course, these were just words to comfort the child. What going home? Being able to survive here was already something.

But what else could she say? She couldn’t cruelly tell him the truth.

Yet, Long Long didn’t look cheered up hearing this—he’d heard it countless times. The first time, he was full of hope, but after the second, the third, and every time after, his hope faded.

But Long Long was sensible. At most, he’d ask this question, and even if they couldn’t go home, he wouldn’t make a fuss. He was heartbreakingly sensible.

Liu Pingan came over, saw the scene, felt a wave of sadness, and sighed.

Liu Pingan’s wife wiped her tears and forced a smile: "What’s wrong? Sighing again. Aren’t we doing okay now? We’re together as a family, and we’re still alive—that’s already lucky."

Liu Pingan gave a weak smile: "That 'Lord' is asking for food again."

Liu Pingan’s wife frowned immediately: "Again? Didn’t we just give some the day before yesterday?"

Their family didn’t have much food to begin with, relying entirely on pre-apocalypse stockpiles. After fleeing from Great Wheat Village, they’d only brought half a sack of grain (about 1.1 pounds). The three of them hardly dared to eat, skimping and saving every day, yet this so-called "Lord" kept demanding food every few days.

"Is he trying to run us into the ground?" Liu Pingan’s wife couldn’t smile anymore. Looking at her thin, hungry child, she felt a surge of bitterness and couldn’t help saying: "If you ask me, since this so-called 'Lord' showed up, he’s been served hand and foot, taking food and drink. It would’ve been better if he hadn’t come at all!"

Liu Pingan sighed: "There’s no helping it. He has the mutant wheat. If he hadn’t come, once we run out of food, we’d either have to go out searching or starve to death."

"At least that’s better than skimping and saving only to give our food to him," Liu Pingan’s wife sighed. "Do you really think that if he grows grain, any of it will benefit us?"

Liu Pingan replied: "There are so many of us. The only reason we’re putting up with him is because of the mutant wheat. If he dares to go back on his word, everyone will make him pay."

Liu Pingan’s wife thought to herself: So what if they make him pay? By then, he’ll have already eaten all the food.

But she didn’t say it out loud. In truth, everyone was using this reasoning to numb themselves and keep going.

Liu Pingan’s wife pulled out a small bag of wheat from a hole in the cave next to hers. The bag contained little more than a pound of grain. Even if they only ate a mouthful a day, it wouldn’t last long.

Long Long saw the wheat in the bag and swallowed hard: "Mom, I’m hungry."

Liu Pingan’s wife felt a pang of sorrow. Her own son couldn’t eat his fill, yet they had to give their food to someone else...

"Okay, Mom will cook some wheat for you later," Liu Pingan’s wife said, stroking her son’s head with a smile.

Liu Pingan said: "We already ate today."

"Better we eat it ourselves than let others take it all," Liu Pingan’s wife insisted.

Liu Pingan opened his mouth but couldn’t find words. What could he say? It was his fault for being useless. If he were more capable, his wife and son wouldn’t have to suffer like this.

He wiped his tears shamefacedly, grabbed a handful of wheat, and went to deliver it to the "Lord."

The "Lord" looked at the pitiful handful of wheat and still complained: "Why so little? This isn’t even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth."

Liu Pingan’s jaw tightened: "My family has no food left. This is all we have. That's all there is."

"Hey, hey, hey? What kind of attitude is that?" The "Lord" was displeased and threatened: "If you dare talk to me like that again, I’ll throw you out!"

Liu Pingan opened his mouth but ultimately stayed silent. If it were just him, it wouldn’t matter, but he had a wife and son. If they were driven out, would they even survive?

"This is all we have," Liu Pingan said.

The "Lord" looked Liu Pingan over and told him to leave the wheat: "Fine, fine. I’m taking pity today—I won’t make things harder for you."

He saw how resentful Liu Pingan looked and worried that he might snap and cause trouble. Better to find an easier target.

Liu Pingan let out a sigh of relief and returned to the cave. His wife had already cooked a small bowl of wheat. She let Long Long have a bite, then pushed it toward Liu Pingan: "You eat."

Liu Pingan swallowed hard. Though it was just wheat boiled in water, it seemed like a delicacy at that moment. He shook his head: "I won’t eat. You and our son have it."

Fortunately, there was a narrow stream in the ravine. It had once reeked of foul odor, but for some reason, it stopped smelling some time ago, so at least they had water to drink.

"Eat, have a bite," Liu Pingan’s wife urged. "You have one bite, and we’ll share the rest."

Long Long watched eagerly.

Liu Pingan hesitated, drank some of the water, but didn’t eat any of the wheat—just the liquid.

Seeing this, Liu Pingan’s wife sighed inwardly, took a sip of the broth herself, and gave the rest to Long Long to eat.

Long Long fell asleep nearby, and the couple talked in low voices.

Liu Pingan murmured: "I wonder how my sister’s family is doing..."

Liu Pingan was more than ten years younger than his sister. His nephew Cheng Zhiyu was already in his twenties, and Liu Pingan was only about ten years older than Cheng Zhiyu.

A couple of years ago, Cheng Zhiyu’s grandparents died one after another. The relative Liu Pingan was closest to was Cheng Zhiyu’s mother.

Now, Liu Pingan didn’t know whether to feel relieved that the two elders didn't live to see the brutality of the apocalypse.

"They must be fine," Liu Pingan’s wife comforted him.

They both knew it was just comforting words, but what else could they do? They could only use such thoughts to console themselves.

"Yeah, they're doing alright," Liu Pingan said.

He wondered if he'd ever see them again in this lifetime.

Ah, what was he thinking? Just staying alive was hard enough.

"Let's sleep," Liu Pingan said.

Actually, it was still early, but they were too hungry—sleeping would make them forget the hunger.

If only they could grow regular wheat to produce food, they wouldn't have to suffer day after day like this. But it just wouldn't grow; they had tried planting it before, only for all the wheat to go to waste in the end.

That was why everyone was fawning over that so-called "lord" who provided wheat seeds that could actually sprout.

Liu Pingan's eyelids grew heavy, and as he was dozing off, he suddenly heard voices outside: "Who are you?"

"Who is it?"

Liu Pingan's eyes snapped open. "Did I just hear my nephew's voice?"

"Zhi Yu? How could it be?" Liu Pingan's wife instinctively dismissed the idea. If he had been living in the village, she might have believed it, but Cheng Zhiyu was away for work when the apocalypse broke out.

"I... I'll go see." Liu Pingan's heart raced; he felt certain he hadn't misheard—it really sounded like Zhi Yu.

Meanwhile, outside.

Cheng Zhiyu and the others were led to the edge of the ravine. Their guide pointed downward and said, "They're right down here."

After a moment of hesitation, the guide asked, "You're not going to hurt anyone here, are you?"

Cheng Zhiyu, too worried for chit-chat, simply replied, "No."

With that, he prepared to descend.

No wonder he hadn't found anyone when he searched the nearby villages earlier—they were hidden here. It was indeed pretty well hidden.

Halfway down, Cheng Zhiyu and his group were spotted. A crowd of people eyed them warily, asking what they were doing there.

Cheng Zhiyu said, "I'm Liu Pingan's nephew. I'm looking for my uncle."

"Liu Pingan? You know Liu Pingan?" The speaker relaxed slightly.

"Yeah, I heard the survivors from Barley Village are all here." Cheng Zhiyu was nervous. "Is Liu Pingan here?"

He wasn't sure if his uncle was actually here—the guide had said he hadn't heard the name—but with hundreds of people, it was possible they didn't all know each other. He had come holding onto that little bit of hope.

Before anyone could answer, a figure he sort of recognized came rushing over, voice bursting with excitement. "Everyone, relax! This really is my nephew, my nephew..."

"Really your nephew?"

"Wow, your nephew actually came looking for you." Some were envious; just looking at Liu Pingan's nephew, they could tell he was doing okay.

He looked healthy and fed, surely not going hungry.

Since he was a known acquaintance, everyone let their guard down and let Cheng Zhiyu and the others descend.

"Zhi Yu, how's your mom? Is she okay?" Liu Pingan asked, pulling Cheng Zhiyu aside.

Cheng Zhiyu's nose tingled seeing his uncle so emaciated he was barely recognizable. "They're doing well. Small River Village has set up a base now. Everyone there is getting by okay."

Liu Pingan breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, that's good."

Someone nearby overheard and couldn't help asking, "A base? Small River Village has a base now?"

Another jumped in eagerly, "Can we go?"

Cheng Zhiyu had actually considered this before coming. The Small River Base was indeed short-handed, especially with plans to expand farming, raise livestock, install solar panels, and more—there was plenty to do.

He said that those willing to follow could come: "If you have relatives there, you can stay with them. Otherwise, you can't enter for now."

Someone grew anxious. "Can't enter? Then... what're we supposed to do outside?"

Cheng Zhiyu explained, "We'll build a protective wall. Once it's up, you can fix up the houses and move in."

The group looked at each other uncertainly.

They had been holed up in this ravine for so long, never going outside, completely unaware of what the outside was like. An inexplicable fear held them back, making them reluctant to take that step.

Cheng Zhiyu didn't push it. Seeing his aunt and Long Long emerge, he felt a wave of relief—thank God his uncle's family was safe.

"Hey! Who are you?" The "lord" from the cave, hearing all the noise outside, had been hiding in fear. After listening for a while, he realized this person was trying to take others away and got worried.

If these people left, who'd wait on him? No, he couldn't let them go!

He rushed out, not caring about anything else.

Cheng Zhiyu looked at the stranger, and the guide beside him said, "This is the 'lord' who provided the mutant wheat."

This wasn't Xiang Qizheng. Cheng Zhiyu had wondered if Xiang Qizheng had run off here with the mutant wheat.

But along the way, he'd heard this person had Fire Power, which made him doubtful—after all, Xiang Qizheng was an ordinary person, and the chances of him suddenly awakening Fire Power were pretty low.

If powers were that easy to awaken, most people wouldn't still be regular people without powers.

Now, seeing him, it clearly wasn't Xiang Qizheng. But this person wasn't a Plant Superhuman either, so where did his mutant wheat come from?

Mutant wheat—was it really just a coincidence? That the wheat Xiang Qizheng took just happened to be mutant wheat.