Wind is the eternal theme here.

The dry and violent wind, carrying yellow sand and gray radioactive dust, was like countless invisible files, polishing everything in this canyon.

The remains of the former high-rise buildings have long been eroded by wind and sand, leaving only bare reinforced concrete structures that resemble the skeleton of a giant beast.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of dust that had settled over countless years; if you stepped on it, you would sink in up to half an ankle.

This is "Wind-Weeping Canyon," a corner forgotten by civilization, a massive open-air tomb that has gathered nearly 100,000 survivors of Earth.

Meng Yao huddled in a sheltered corner of an abandoned building, wrapping herself and the little girl in her arms tightly with a tattered canvas she had picked up from somewhere.

The wind howled like a ghost, cutting through every crevice of the canyon and taking away the last bit of warmth from the air.

"Sister...I'm cold...I'm hungry..."

The little girl in my arms, Meng Xin, is only seven years old. Her lips are chapped, her face is sallow, and her eyes, which should be full of life, are dull and lifeless.

Meng Yao tightened her arms, trying to give her sister a little warmth with her already cold body temperature.

"Xin Xin, be good and sleep a little longer. Once you're asleep, you won't be cold or hungry." Her voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded.

She herself was also cold and hungry.

Her stomach felt like it was being gnawed by countless tiny insects, burning with pain. This was a consequence of prolonged starvation.

She couldn't remember the last time she had a full meal.

The last time I ate it was three days ago, when the "hunter team" brought back an unknown mutated lizard covered in hard shells.

The lizard meat was tough and dry, with a pungent, fishy smell.

Even so, in a gathering of nearly a hundred people, each person could only get a piece the size of a fingernail.

Meng Yao secretly kept her share and fed it to her younger sister.

Seeing her sister's satisfied smile over a little bit of minced meat was her only solace in this apocalypse.

Once upon a time, she was also a favored daughter of heaven.

Before the "Great Migration," she was the most beautiful girl at a top art academy in the Blue Star China region.

She possessed stunning beauty, a tall and slender figure, and an astonishing talent for painting. Her future should have been bright. She would have graduated, become an outstanding artist, and had a happy and fulfilling family life.

However, a sudden "great migration" turned everything into nothing.

She still remembers that day clearly. The sky was torn open with colorful gashes, and the entire city seemed to have been forcibly ripped off from the blue planet by an invisible hand, and then carelessly abandoned in this strange and malicious world.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, collapsed buildings, and the collapse of order...

The once bustling city was transformed into a living hell in just a few days.

Her parents were buried by the collapsing building while protecting her and her sister in the disaster. Before they died, her mother held her hand tightly and told her that she must take her sister and live on.

"To live" became her sole obsession in life.

She and her younger sister began a life of wandering and hardship.

They witnessed the ugliness of humanity, where former neighbors turned against each other with swords over half a piece of moldy bread. They also saw the horror of this planet, where countless unheard-of, hungry, mutated creatures lurked in the ruins at night.

In their most desperate moment, they met "Old Man" Zhang Hai.

Zhang Hai, a veteran who retired many years ago. Disaster took away his family, but it could not erase the resilience and kindness in his bones.

He took in the two helpless sisters, using his not-so-broad shoulders to create a small shelter for them, a place that could temporarily protect them from the wind and rain.

After a long and winding journey, they finally arrived at "Wind-Crying Canyon," a place known for its water source.

But reality is crueler than imagined.

The water source in the canyon is a murky underground river that emits a strange smell.

The river water contains trace amounts of radiation; long-term consumption can cause hair loss and general weakness. But refusing to drink it means certain death.

Food is the most precious thing here.

Everything edible—plant roots and stems, mutated insects, and even some non-toxic mosses—had already been completely looted.

To obtain real meat, they must organize "hunter teams" to venture deep into the more dangerous radiation wastelands beyond the canyon.

Every hunt is a high-stakes gamble between life and death.

Yesterday, "Old Man" Zhang Hai led more than a dozen of the camp's most elite young men on another trip.

They had been walking for a day and a night.

To this day, there has been no news.

Meng Yao felt as if a huge boulder was pressing down on her heart, making it hard to breathe. She dared not think about the worst possible outcome.

Because Zhang Hai was the only thing the two sisters could rely on. If he collapsed, she didn't know how many more days she could help her sister survive in this cannibalistic world.

"Yao... Sister Yao..."

A weak voice came from not far away.

Meng Yao looked up and saw a similarly ragged boy struggling to walk towards her, leaning against the wall.

The boy's name is Zhang Wei. He is Zhang Hai's "godson" and the youngest member of the hunter team. However, he injured his calf a few days ago in a fight with a mutated hyena and was unable to go this time.

"Zhang Wei, why are you out here? Your injury..."

"I'm fine." Zhang Wei shook his head, his face showing a worry and seriousness beyond his years. "I just wanted to ask... Uncle Zhang... is there any news?"

Meng Yao's heart sank even further. She gently shook her head.

A flicker of despair flashed in Zhang Wei's eyes. He leaned against the wall, slowly slid down to the ground, and buried his head between his knees.

“It’s all my fault…it’s all my fault for being useless…If I hadn’t been injured, and had gone with Uncle Zhang, at least…at least I would have had someone to look after me…” He choked up, slamming his fist hard on the ground.

Around them, the other survivors also poked their heads out from their hiding places. Without exception, their faces all wore the same numb and anxious expression.

Zhang Hai and his hunting team were the backbone of this gathering point. The food they brought back was everyone's hope for survival.

If they don't come back...

The consequences would be unimaginable.

Just then, at the entrance of the gathering point, the survivor on guard duty suddenly let out a shrill, distorted scream.

"They're here! They're here!"

This shout invigorated everyone.

"Is it Uncle Zhang and the others who are back?" Zhang Wei suddenly raised his head, hope rekindling in his eyes.

Meng Yao also stood up excitedly, hugged her younger sister, and looked towards the entrance.

However, the next second, the sentry's shout turned into a terrified scream.

"No! It wasn't Uncle Zhang! It was...it was someone from the 'Sand Wolf Gang'!"

"Sand Wolf Gang"!

These three words were like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing everyone's newly ignited hope, replacing it with a deep-seated fear.

In the "Wind-Wailing Canyon," they were not the only survivors' gathering place. Large and small forces were entrenched in this ruin, fighting and swallowing each other up for limited resources.

The "Sand Wolf Gang" is the most powerful and ruthless force among them.

Their leader was a man nicknamed "One-Eyed Dragon." It was said that before the "Great Migration," he was a notorious and wanted criminal.

This apocalypse did not destroy him; instead, it allowed him to thrive and bring out the darkest side of human nature to its fullest extent.

The "Sand Wolves" never engage in production; their way of life is plunder. They are like a flock of vultures circling over corpses, specifically targeting weak settlements. Every appearance of theirs means bloodshed and death.

"Quick! Hide!"

"Women and children, hide in the cellar!"

Chaos erupted at the gathering point. People ran frantically, searching for any place to hide.

But it was too late.

A piercing roar, the sound of a modified motorcycle pieced together from various scrap parts, approached from afar, like a death knell.

A dozen or so menacingly designed motorcycles, kicking up clouds of yellow dust, violently stormed into the small gathering point. On board sat burly men with grotesque faces, each wielding a variety of homemade weapons.

The leader was a burly, one-eyed man. The hideous scar on his face that stretched from his forehead to his chin, and the single eye that gleamed with cruel light, were the marks of "One-Eyed Dragon," the leader of the "Sand Wolf Gang."

"Hahaha! Look what I found? A bunch of poor little mice."

The one-eyed man stopped the car and greedily scanned the trembling survivors before him with his one intact eye. His gaze was like that of someone looking at a flock of lambs to the slaughter.