358 Companions

◎Is this a broken heart?◎

The woman's words were "we..." which proved that there might be more than one person, or more than one contaminant, in the stump.

The woman must have been trembling, her voice trembling. "Don't be afraid, I, I, I, we've gotten separated from the main group."

The more she spoke, the more frightened people became. She probably realized this herself and said, "My name is Zhou Haiqing. It's okay to talk in the forest. We, we tried..."

Zhou Haiqing's voice became lower and lower, sounding very unconfident. She stopped talking after she finished speaking, and only the sound of rapid breathing remained in the darkness.

Is it really a living person?

Zhu Ning guessed that the so-called attempt was probably a challenge to the rules using human wave tactics, and those who died proved that the rules were valid.

Zhu Ning listened carefully. She must have tried her best to suppress her breathing when she was sitting on the tree stump just now. Now, there were at least two people breathing in the tree stump.

No, three.

Before Zhu Ning could say anything, Zhou Haiqing said, "Can we take our daughter to Utopia? She needs medical treatment."

A daughter? Zhu Ning was stunned. She saw that all the humans outside the wall were hostile, but she was actually shaken by such a sentence. They were actually a family of three?

What kind of psychopath is this? He took his child out of the house to look for utopia, and he still made it this far?

How do they survive in this forest? Why do they go to Utopia for medical treatment?

Zhu Ning was silent for a moment, then asked coldly, "Why should I bring you along?"

She is not the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva, and she can't even take care of her own teammates. Assuming that Zhou Haiqing is really a human, would she have so much free time as to add three more burdens to herself?

A man's voice rang out, "I, I can show you the way. Really, take us with you. I'm not afraid of death. We are all pilgrims, so please help us."

Zhu Ning guessed right, a boy, a girl, and a little girl, they were indeed a family of three.

Maybe I can't explore the way alone, I have always followed the main group. Now I am separated, I am at a loss and can't wait to find a life-saving straw.

Zhu Ning didn't want to bother. Reason told her to leave immediately. Zhu Ning didn't need a pathfinder dog. How would she be any different from a predator? But she couldn't move, mainly because there was a little girl inside.

But what if the little girl was just a hostage? Many criminal gangs like to hold children hostage to lower the victim's vigilance.

It was pitch black all around. After Zhu Ning stood up, he was not sure where the family of three was. He only had a vague idea, as if he was talking to the void.

The leaves rustled and swayed. Zhu Ning was silent for a while, then asked irritably, "What do you have on you?"

She tried to sound like a bully, not some nice person, and told them to hand over their valuables.

"Yes, everything," the man said excitedly, thinking Zhu Ning had finally agreed. "Healing agents, nutritional supplements, canned food..."

Huh? Zhu Ning wanted to laugh. This sounded like a fable, or a trap. She needed something, but the other party just happened to have it. But it wasn't a rare item, so it wasn't surprising.

The man was afraid Zhu Ning wouldn't believe him, so he threw a backpack out from the hole in the tree stump. This decision made him very sad, and he gritted his teeth as he spoke, "Just try it if you don't believe me."

Zhu Ning heard the sound and squatted down to feel around. Since he couldn't see, this action was very difficult. After a while, he really felt a backpack.

I reached out and touched around, and I could feel some nutritional supplements, two cans, and two more cans left, but I didn't know what they were. I guess the man had some stock left, so he only dared to give me this little.

Even if Zhu Ning was a bad guy and ran away with the things, they would not be left with nothing.

In fact, the best way to confirm is to let the other party take off the helmet, and Zhu Ning touches the forehead and reads the memory, but this is very difficult. Ordinary humans can easily be infected in such an environment.

The Pilgrim and Zhu Ning confronted each other silently. The man was betting that Zhu Ning was not a villain, and Zhu Ning was betting that the other party was not a pollutant. If he was really a Pilgrim, she could get more information.

In a pitch-black environment, she needs companions, otherwise she will scare herself. The more people there are, the more they can resist the fear of the dark.

Zhu Ning was silent for a moment, "Come up."

She heard a noise and someone crawling out from the mouth of the tree stump. If she could see it, the scene would definitely be very embarrassing. Two adults could actually crawl into a hole the size of a flowerpot.

After the man came up, he turned around and pulled the woman. Zhu Ning had been trying to judge what they were doing by the sound of their voices. She listened for a long time but didn't hear the third person's footsteps. She asked, "Where's the child?"

Zhou Haiqing said: "I'm holding it..."

It's strange. The child didn't make any sound from beginning to end. Zhu Ning didn't even know if there really was a little girl. It really looked like a criminal gang.

Zhu Ning: "Line up, men at the front, women holding children in the middle, and I'll be at the end. I'll put my hands on your shoulders. Don't get separated."

Zhu Ning spoke without pause, like a sheepdog in the dark, needing to put the team in order.

At least one good thing happened. After meeting these people, Zhu Ning was not so scared anymore.

Zhou Haiqing knew from Zhu Ning's tone that she was experienced, completely different from herself. They were buried in a tree stump at the time, hiding from the monsters in the dark. The child was getting worse and worse. Suddenly, they heard footsteps and saw someone sitting above them, gasping for breath.

They waited for a while, making a decision within three minutes, and wanted her to take them with her.

Zhu Ning couldn't see clearly, and one hand was on Zhou Haiqing's right shoulder in front of him. She must be holding something in her arms, and her posture was very tense.

The three of them groped forward like a centipede, walking at an appallingly slow pace.

Zhu Ning asked: "How do you know I'm not a pollutant?"

"Breathing," Zhou Haiqing said, "I heard your breathing, the frequency is normal."

"And we were in this forest for five days. Almost all the pollutants were plants. There was no breathing or heartbeat."

Zhu Ning was a little surprised that he had actually thought about it carefully and asked, "Then how do you know I can protect you?"

Asking her for help must have noticed that Zhu Ning was different. Zhou Haiqing said, "You're very quiet. We've been in the tree stump for two days. People get scared easily at night. If you come to our area, you will definitely trip."

Zhou Haiqing noticed Zhu Ning before she came over. Zhu Ning's pace was slow but methodical, not random, which proved that she had a plan in her mind.

There is only one kind of people who have a road in their mind, and that is people like Zhou Haiqing, who are all pilgrims.

So she hesitated for only three minutes and immediately made the decision to follow this person so as to increase her chances of survival.

Zhu Ning began to believe that Zhou Haiqing had really made it this far. She was quite smart and quick-witted. Zhu Ning asked, "What is your occupation?"

"Programming is very common," said Zhou Haiqing.

Most people inside the wall study programming and mechanics, and their only purpose of learning is to maintain machinery and artificial intelligence.

"Are you still going straight forward?" The man in front was holding a bamboo stick and tapping the ground. He listened to Zhu Ning's words very much and really regarded himself as a pathfinder.

Zhu Ning was actually not quite sure. It was just a vague location, and no one knew exactly where Bai Cheng was.

Suddenly, she heard a thud.

The sound was very abrupt, like the knocking of two stones. It actually had a certain rhythm in the darkness and came slowly through the darkness.

The man broke out in a cold sweat. They had encountered pollutants. Although he was acting as a pathfinder for Zhu Ning, he didn't expect to die so soon. His wrists trembled, and as he thought of his wife and children, he didn't flinch.

Zhu Ning listened for a while, and seemed to hear a sign of life, "Quick! Follow the sound."

The one who was knocking on the stones should be Bai Cheng. This was the secret code that Zhu Ning had used before, except that she used hand gestures. Bai Cheng improved it herself. She was afraid that Zhu Ning would get lost, so she used knocking on the stones instead in the dark.

Bai Cheng is indeed a professional guide and the best teammate. He knew how to give directions without even discussing it.

…

Bai Cheng owns a mechanical watch. If there were no pollution disrupting time here, judging from the time, Zhu Ning had been away for four and a half hours, which almost made her think that Zhu Ning had been killed.

From the third hour on, Bai Cheng found two stones and began to knock them rhythmically. Bai Cheng had to knock hard enough to make the sound transmit.

She is a plastic person, so her hands don't get sore easily, but after playing for an hour, her pace unconsciously slowed down a bit.

There were two patients lying at Bai Cheng's feet. Pei Shu had completely lost consciousness, and Lin Xiaofeng had started talking in his sleep. The situation was very bad.

She had to consider how she would take care of these two people if Zhu Ning died.

Just when she was about to give up, footsteps were finally heard from deep in the woods. Bai Cheng was stunned and knocked on the stone hard, fearing that Zhu Ning couldn't hear it.

But as the footsteps got closer, Bai Cheng suddenly stopped. Something was wrong. This was not one person, but a group of people.

Bai Cheng's eyes suddenly turned cold. He stood in front of Pei Shu and Lin Xiaofeng, staring at the forest expressionlessly. He stretched out his hand in the air, palm facing up, and his fingers were mechanically hooking inwards.

In response to her call, there were thuds and thuds from inside the woods. The bodies of the dead pilgrims raised their arms, their necks crackled and turned, and in the blink of an eye, three rotten corpses stood up.

The thing that is most abundant in the forest is corpses. Any rash movement may attract other monsters, but there is no time to worry about that now.

"Damn—there's a ghost, there's a ghost…" A man's voice came from the woods.

"Calm down, it's not a ghost." The person who spoke was Zhu Ning.

Bai Cheng's fingers slowly relaxed, a little puzzled. After a while, Zhu Ning came out with a man and a woman.

The forest was strange, dark inside, but by the lake there was moonlight, allowing one to see without a fire.

When Zhu Ning just came out, she subconsciously squinted her eyes and found the moonlight dazzling. She blinked and her first reaction was to look at Zhou Haiqing.

The baby in Zhou Haiqing's arms might be a baby. Zhu Ning has never raised a child, so he can't tell how big the baby is, but it's generally small and covered in protective clothing.

There is no protective clothing for babies. It must have been modified or customized by someone. The workmanship is very crude and there are patches on it.

The child was very well-behaved and didn't cry at all along the way.

Zhou Haiqing and the other man were both wearing helmets, so Zhu Ning couldn't see their faces clearly. The only thing he felt was that they were so thin, as if they had been malnourished for a long time. They were almost as thin as the bamboo monster just now.

It was clearly Zhu Ning who brought them out, but she still couldn't believe that these three were actually human beings.

Or some advanced pollutant? That's too human-like.

Bai Cheng was extremely wary of strangers. She did not take back the rotten corpses, but let them come out. The three corpses were parked at the temporary station, like soldiers on guard. If Zhou Haiqing showed any abnormality, Bai Cheng could kill her at the first time.

Zhu Ning handed the backpack to Bai Cheng, as if he had just returned from hunting. "Give me the medicine first."

Bai Cheng opened the package suspiciously, and there was indeed medicine inside. Zhu Ning was covered in mud and looked extremely miserable. Bai Cheng knew without having to guess that she must have been in danger.

Zhu Ning didn't dare to relax after walking out of the forest. Her first reaction was to look at Lin Xiaofeng. Bai Cheng took off her helmet. The part above her neck was transparent, so her face couldn't be seen. She looked like a headless corpse. The little girl made a murmur, not knowing whether she was talking in her sleep or her brain was confused.

Bai Cheng fumbled and injected a powerful healing agent into his neck, an injection of anti-inflammatory drug, and an injection of nutrient solution.

Lin Xiaofeng probably had an inflammation and fainted completely after the injection. Bai Cheng wanted her to sweat, at least to keep warm, but all their things were wet.

Bai Cheng wanted to use Pei Shu's fire to dry the food. After all, Pei Shu had a fever so it would be a waste not to use it.

Zhu Ning thought about it and went to ask Zhou Haiqing for it. Zhou Haiqing and the other two were quite far away. They were holding the child and were at a loss. They didn't dare to sit down. They became even more nervous when they saw Zhu Ning coming.

Bai Cheng's rotting corpse scared them, and these people were not wearing helmets, which meant that they were the best who could easily survive outside the wall, and they all had special abilities.

Zhou Haiqing also has special abilities, but they are very weak and insignificant compared to Zhu Ning.

Zhu Ning's team was overly professional, completely beyond Zhou Haiqing's expectations, which made her a little scared.

Zhu Ning asked, "Do you have a clean blanket?"

Zhou Haiqing didn't know whether she was lucky or unlucky. She nodded in a daze, subconsciously wanting to meet all of Zhu Ning's requests. She took out her backpack and gave it to her. Zhu Ning asked again, "Do you have a tent?"

The man next to him handed over another backpack. Zhu Ning, now a real robber, asked, "I gave it to me. What about you guys?"

Zhou Haiqing said: "We have a lot, I like to...stock up..."

She spoke the last two words very quietly, as if she felt it was not presentable. Zhou Haiqing would touch a corpse every time she saw one. No matter whether she could use it immediately or not, it was always a good idea to have it with her.

So they carried a lot of bags and bags, not many weapons, but a lot of stuff.

Zhu Ning: "Good habit."

What a good habit. Unlike Zhu Ning, who dropped supplies while walking, people like Zhou Haiqing can survive for a long time in the doomsday. They are cautious and don't cause trouble. They follow the main group and take the danger in front.

Many times, it is the weak who survive to the end, and the smaller they are, the longer they live.

Zhou Haiqing raised her head and saw Zhu Ning walking out with the supplies. There was also a little girl in their team.

Zhu Ning set up the tent, put Lin Xiaofeng in, took off his clothes and wiped his body. Lin Xiaofeng was very good and stopped talking nonsense. Bai Cheng said that the fever should go down.

What was even more troublesome was Pei Shu. He was lying on the grass, and the water on his body had long evaporated. When the healing agent was applied, the needle melted as soon as it was inserted. The medicine inside even vaporized when it came into contact with the magma. It was unknown whether it was absorbed.

Only Zhu Ning could do this. Pei Shu's body temperature was definitely over 100 degrees, and Zhu Ning had to cover his hands with hardened skin before he could touch him.

She tore open Pei Shu's clothes, revealing his bronze chest. The muscle tissue was damaged and the heart could be seen through the ribs. Zhu Ning observed carefully for a while and saw a foreign object embedded in the left side. She didn't know what material it was made of. It had pierced the volcanic rock-like heart and made a thumb-sized hole. Hot magma slowly flowed out.

Is this a broken heart?

The author has something to say:

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2023-10-04 20:36:31 and 2023-10-05 20:11:33~

Thanks to the little angel who threw the rocket launcher: Milk chocolate, Mianmian, and Butuo 1;

Thanks to the little angel who threw the grenade: 1;

Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: 5 for Bu Jiang; 2 for Tonight Will Be Rich and Zhou Zhou; 1 for Jiuniang Tuanzi, Xiaoyue, Chocolate Cake, Daily Daze, Thrily, Shanju Lemon, Queenie, and Shi Yu Yu Zi;

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Chardonnay, 1 80 bottles; Hedgehog, Spend a Long Time with Cats 60 bottles; Pei Pei Puppy 51 bottles; Okay, okay, let's play like this, right, Bucuo 50 bottles; Ajiajiajiajia, Don't Ask Me When I Go to Bed 40 bottles; I Will Be Rich Tonight 32 bottles; Qiaoqiao Qiaoqiao, Rongyu 30 bottles; Barbed Wire 24 bottles; Zhou He, 1463901, Jiang Erniu_, April, Xin Jie's Dog, 21146855, 69517011, Xiaoyue, Cute Duck 20 bottles; Jo 19 bottles; if you have started the topic today, you will know to play 14 bottles; 12 bottles of Baibaibai; 11 bottles of Scratch-off lottery will win the prize of one million; Bu Jiang, Alluring Little Lion, Mutant Mushroom, Zhou Sheng, Don’t Want to Go to School Kaka, The Grass in the Sky is Yun, Always an Elementary School Student, Queenie, Don’t Know Which Mountain It is, Handsome Big Mushroom, The Sweetest Girl in the Universe, Can’t Get Out of the Pit, Meow Meow Meow, 42339819, I’m Autistic 10 bottles; An 8 bottles; Erzhu 7 bottles; Zhanzhan Yibo Happy 6 bottles; One Leaf Gets Rich Suddenly, Don’t Worry About Anything, Tu Mi Flowers Bloom and Spring is Over, Register a Fish 5 bottles; Hazelnut Coconut Cereal 4 bottles; xūúǔù, iamC6H6, Jiang Ting Zaixia 2 bottles; Renzhi, Rainy Day, 56452710, Space-Time Stardust, Drop! Check-in, Poetry in My Heart, ph, st, Yang V, mint, fried dough sticks and steamed buns, escape from the Garden of Eden, VVVViN, emlily, Azuki Chihiro, baby come here, Manman-sama, a dragon, Wanwan, big fool, female treasure Didi!, raccoon dog, Nana, Lu 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!