Chapter 21 Desert Gas Station - 8 *** ……

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After crying, Tang Bufan felt even more ashamed, so he raised his arm and wiped away the tears on his face, looking at the clothes on the clothesline with his still red eyes.

"I'll take the bedding inside," Tang Bufan said, putting down the iron skewer in his hand, putting on the thin shirt that Lu Yi had draped over him, and walking towards the clothesline under the glow of the fire.

Lu Yi added some more shrubs to the barbecue grill, thinking that he should replenish the firewood tomorrow. He should take advantage of the summer to collect more wood, otherwise it would be difficult to find it after winter.

Lu Yi had always lived in the Western Federation, where winter arrived at the end of October each year. The Eastern Federation was much warmer. This was Lu Yi's first time here, so he wasn't sure when winter would start.

It's always good to have plenty of firewood.

Lu Yi turned to look at Tang Bufan, who was collecting clothes in the dark. The man was thin and frail, and his body was always cold. He must be afraid of the cold.

Lu Yi quickly ate the rabbit meat on the skewer, got up from his chair in the desert night wind, and began to help Tang Bufan pack his things into the car.

Things shouldn't be left outside overnight; animals might come out at night.

"Move them in first, I'll tidy them up properly tomorrow." Tang Bufan carried the bedding to the car and instructed Lu Yi, "Put them behind the kitchen."

"good."

Kai lowered the rear door of the RV, which was used for unloading, and it fell to the ground to form a ramp. This made it much faster for the two of them to move things, and they only spent half an hour piling everything up at the back.

Kai closed the back door, Lu Yi was folding up chairs by the stove, and Tang Bufan, wearing a long-sleeved thin shirt, was looking at the small supermarket not far away in the dark, feeling restless.

"Don't put out the fire yet, let's go check out the small supermarket," Tang Bufan said to Lu Yi.

"Aren't you tired?" Lu Yi asked him. The two of them had worked all day, and it was almost time for them to turn off the lights.

Tang Bufan was tired, but there was a small supermarket right in front of him, and he couldn't sleep at night if he didn't go in and take a look.

"How long will it take to go in and walk around?" Tang Bufan wanted to go back to the car to get the flashlight, but when he got to the car door, he found that everything was piled up in the back of the car, and the box containing the flashlight was nowhere to be found.

Lu Yi reached into the barbecue grill and picked up a shrub branch that hadn't finished burning, looking at Tang Bufan with a helpless smile.

"There are oil lamps inside, let's go in and light them."

Tang Bufan happily walked over to Lu Yi's side, then tucked his hands into the long sleeves of his thin shirt because of the cold.

The clothes he was wearing belonged to Eberron, who was nearly two meters tall. His clothes would be too big for Tang Bufan, but Tang Bufan had become more sensitive to the cold after his health deteriorated, so the slightly larger clothes allowed him to tuck his hands into the sleeves like this.

"Teacher, you can hug me." Lu Yi saw Tang Bufan huddled in the night wind, the wind blowing his long black hair gently, the strands of hair were very smooth after washing with soap.

"No need." Tang Bufan walked with him into the dark towards the dilapidated little supermarket, teasing him, "Aren't you afraid I'll fall for you?"

"Aren't you straight?"

"Then I'll kiss you too." Tang Bufan couldn't help but laugh, thinking of Lu Yi's wide-eyed expression back then. "You're still cute, unlike Uncle Wolf."

"You're making me a little worried."

Tang Bufan patted his strong arm with his hand tucked into his sleeve and said with a smile, "Don't worry, between going back and you, I choose to go back."

As the two moved away from the furnace, the surroundings grew darker and darker. Lu Yi's eyes emitted a faint light, making it difficult for Tang Bufan, who was human, to walk. Finally, unable to see his feet clearly, he reached out a finger from his sleeve and gently pinched the corner of Lu Yi's vest.

Lu Yi changed into a black vest from Wolfman. The vest was old and had been washed until it was loose, but it fit Lu Yi perfectly.

"Climb the steps, be careful," Lu Yi whispered to Tang Bufan.

"I can see it." Tang Bufan stared intently at the ground beneath his feet, and could vaguely make out the outline of the steps.

The two entered the dark little supermarket. Lu Yi led Tang Bufan to the window and lit the small oil lamp placed there with a twig that still had a little ember in his hand.

A flame shot up, and Tang Bufan's eyes lit up. He was surprised to find that the small oil lamp was actually shaped like Aladdin's lamp.

Lu handed the oil lamp to Tang Bufan, then walked back to the door and threw the shrub branch out. The branch landed on the sandy ground, and the sparks went out instantly.

Tang Bufan held up an old-fashioned oil lamp and stared in amazement at the dimly lit supermarket.

The small supermarket had several rows of rusty shelves, which of course contained no food, but were filled with all sorts of trinkets. The last two rows were even full of gifts sold in boutiques: dusty crystal balls, old music boxes with dancing figures, and many broken ceramic statues.

"...Were these all collected by the poisoners at the gas station?" Tang Bufan asked, holding an oil lamp. His mind was filled with mixed feelings.

These things are useless for survival, but anyone who collects these little things in the apocalypse must be of pure heart.

And they live life earnestly.

Lu Yi returned to Tang Bufan's side and noticed the change in his expression.

Tang Bufan picked up a snow-covered crystal ball from the shelf, his dark eyes slightly shimmering: "Those poisoners are right... Father really is their savior, giving them hope for life again in this apocalyptic world."

Lu Yi remained silent. Hunting and killing drug addicts in the wild every year had become a habit for him. Drug addicts would attack villages, and in his mind, killing drug addicts was a righteous thing to do.

“Although the poisonous people in this place have gained consciousness, they can still harm people,” Lu Yi said calmly.

"But the poisoners at the gas station didn't attack us," Tang Bufan said, his voice trembling.

“Yes, it’s because I killed them first that they didn’t have a chance to attack you.” Lu Yi looked at Tang Bufan, whose eyes were filled with self-reproach, and felt that he was being very wrong.

"Teacher, have you forgotten how they harmed you in the hospital?" Lu Yi looked at him earnestly: "Have you forgotten that man who was turned into a blood-producing machine? If it weren't for me, you would be hanging there now, your limbs cut off, barely alive, so..."

Lu Yi took the crystal ball from Tang Bufan's hand to bring him back to his senses: "Don't be merciful to them. If you want to get to the East District Underground City alive, you can't do anything that risks your life."

In this apocalyptic world, mercy is something only the strong deserve. Lu Yi can let those poisonous people go, but Tang Bufan cannot. His mercy is giving those poisonous people the opportunity to harm him.

Tang Bufan stared blankly at Lu Yi, then his eyes cleared, and he sighed, "I really am. I kept urging you to transform into your beast form to protect yourself, but I ended up feeling sorry for you... You're right, protecting myself is the most important thing."

Lu Yi breathed a sigh of relief. He looked around the small supermarket and said to Tang Bufan, "Actually, there aren't many useful things here."

"There are still some, I think." Tang Bufan saw a "520" candle ornament on the dusty shelf, so he reached out and took it down: "Look, this is the supplies."

Lu Yi looked at the candle in Tang Bufan's hand with a strange expression: "Why did people a thousand years ago make candles into numbers?"

Why not just have a straight candle?

"This means 'I love you'." Tang Bufan, being a genuine human from a thousand years ago, explained to him, "In Chinese, 520 sounds like 'I love you' in Chinese. We used to celebrate Valentine's Day on May 20th. This candle is a decoration; you can light it on birthdays or anniversaries."

Lu Yi understood, and Tang Bufan stuffed the "520" candle into his arms.

"Take it."

"..." Lu Yi smiled helplessly, holding a "520" candle in one hand, while Tang Bufan continued to rummage through the shelves with an oil lamp.

Tang Bufan rummaged through the items and found quite a few useful little things. He took a set of classic plates and cutlery, several ceramic mugs, an interestingly shaped night light with a bulb that could be connected to a car, and even all the doll figurines—the cotton stuffing inside was a real treasure.

Lu Yi picked up a dusty, square-framed wicker basket and diligently followed behind Tang Bufan, acting as his servant. When he saw an antique bronze mirror, he picked up the basket and began to speak.

"Teacher, bring that mirror too, we don't have one."

Tang Bufan turned around with a half-smile: "Should I look for some more earrings and a necklace for you?"

He joked, but still reached out and placed the mirror into the basket in Lu Yi's arms.

"My earrings and necklace are my mother's keepsakes," Lu Yi muttered to herself, trying to justify herself.

Tang Bufan was stunned for a moment, his heart skipped a beat, and he immediately apologized to him: "I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"It's nothing." Lu Yi had already accepted his mother's death. He looked at Tang Bufan in the candlelight. The man's face was very pale. He was silent for a moment before telling Tang Bufan, "I was there when my mother jumped off the building."

"..." Tang Bufan looked at him with both heartache and caution.

“The suicide rate among the resistance faction is very high. I can’t save my mother, but I think I can save you.” Lu Yi looked at him tenderly.

Tang Bufan finally understood why he had been so good to him.

As Lu Yi spoke, his expression became somewhat complicated: "But I can't change the laws of the Federation. As long as the peace treaty exists, some humans will be forced to become sub-beastmen. I can only try my best to help those 100 humans who come to the Federation each year to find their ideal partners."

He finished speaking and smiled again: "Two years ago, I proposed a reform to the Federation. Now it's no longer a one-sided selection of humans by orcs, but rather both sides get to know each other at the exchange meetings. Although there will still be situations where several orcs fight over one human, or several humans are interested in one orc, it's much better than the original system."

Many people, during the process of him helping to mediate, expressed that they truly liked him and wanted to wait for him to come of age... Lu Yi was very troubled by this.

"It's turned into a matchmaking event now, isn't it?" Tang Bufan smiled as he continued browsing the shelves, then suddenly realized something and turned to look at the orc boy.

"You were fifteen two years ago, weren't you? The Federation listened to your reform suggestions, and you held a high position in the Western Federation?"

Lu Yi's expression changed slightly, and he lowered his head to conceal it in the dim light of the oil lamp: "No, I... wrote to the head of the Federation, and he... is a wise man."

“Then I think you’d actually be quite suited to stay in the Federation as a politician.” Tang Bufan’s tone became more serious. “If you want to help humanity, wouldn’t it be better for you to stay there?”

“Such small suggestions can’t change the big picture at all.” Seeing that he didn’t think much of it, Lu Yi felt relieved. He said in a complicated way, “The reason why humans and beastmen are at odds is that beastmen need humans to reproduce, while humans do not want to be forced by beastmen. But abolishing the peace treaty is equivalent to cutting off the reproduction of beastmen. Humans also need beastmen to continuously transport resources underground. Now the two are mutually harmful yet complementary... I don’t know how to break this deadlock.”

So he chose to leave; he didn't want to harm the Federation or humanity.

"Wow, you..." Tang Bufan looked at him in shock: "You have such a high level of thinking. Is it only you who is like this, or are all the kids who receive elite education like this?"

This put immense pressure on him, an ordinary primary school teacher, to the point that no one dared to teach him anymore.

Lu blushed: "No... Teacher, please don't laugh at me."

"I was genuinely praising you." As Tang Bufan spoke, his eyes happened to fall on a rose ornament encased in glass, so he reached out and took it down.

"Here, teacher will give you a little red flower." Tang Bufan carefully handed it to Lu Yi. If he had a little red flower sticker in his hand right now, he would really stick one on Lu Yi's forehead.

"Teacher, you're just teasing me again..." Lu Yi's face turned red from his words.

The desert wind blew in through the broken window of the small supermarket, and Lu Yi suddenly tensed up because he smelled a familiar scent in the wind.

The flush on his face quickly subsided, and Lu Yi's sharp green beast eyes looked towards the back of the small supermarket. The broken window was dark and empty.

He looked at Tang Bufan again, and the man put the rose ornament into the basket in his arms, then picked up the oil lamp and started rummaging through the shelves again.

"Hey! There's even a box of essential oil soap!" Tang Bufan's eyes lit up: "The packaging is like high-end mooncakes!"

"Teacher," Lu Yi leaned down and whispered in Tang Bufan's ear, "Let's go back to the RV and pretend we don't know anything."

Tang Bufan was initially confused, only feeling that Lu Yi's breath was very hot, but when he turned his head and met Lu Yi's solemn eyes, he felt a chill run down his spine.

He realized that the person had arrived and was nearby.