Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Press the quilt tightly to ensure...

After pressing the quilt tightly to ensure that no wind could get in, Si Qi felt herself become limp. A piece of dried meat was handed to her, and she took it and put it in her mouth to chew.

At this point, she felt that Si Ruxu had no need to harm her. Even if he wanted to kill her, it would only take a few moves of his hands. There was no need to risk a piece of cotton wool and a piece of dried meat.

While chewing, she looked to the side. The woman's hair was like a black waterfall, gently falling on her shoulders. Her eyes moved, as if the snow on the glacier was melting, gently containing the spring light of March. Si Qi lowered his eyes and suppressed the throbbing of his heart.

"You have a third superpower." Si Qi's words didn't contain any doubt, but rather a casual chat. In the apocalypse, there were only a handful of people with two superpowers, let alone three, and the third one was a spatial superpower.

Spatial abilities mean that one person can store food for all bases, which is very important for escaping famine and evacuating. However, due to the special nature of spatial abilities, most bases will also be wary of people with spatial abilities from embezzling food.

Si Qi was not sure whether the base knew that Si Ruxu had spatial abilities and helped him hide it, or whether Si Ruxu was also hiding something from the base.

"Yeah." Si Ruxu just nodded, and after a while, she said softly, "There aren't many things in my space."

Si Qi nodded casually. Even if there was something in Si Ruxu's space, it had nothing to do with her. They were already two strangers. After the extreme cold passed and Si Ruxu returned to the base, she would find a more suitable place to live and continue to struggle to survive.

The distance between them was still not far nor close. She did not ask Si Ruxu why she appeared here alone, or what happened to the base. Si Ruxu also did not ask her why she ran out of the base early and stored food here for the winter. It seemed like a tacit understanding that had been held for many years.

Originally, Si Qi had barely enough food for one person, and two people would not be able to survive until the end of the extreme cold. The food in Si Ruxu's spatial ability just solved the urgent problem.

The night was longer than the day. The last bit of sunlight in the cave slanted into the ground. Si Qi lit a small fire with dry wood. Under the firelight, Si Ruxu curled up tiredly in the haystack, about to fall asleep. Her shoulders were thin, her face was pale, and she looked so fragile that she seemed like she could be broken at will.

More than a little thinner than the one she saw a week ago.

"Do you have a pot in your space?" Si Qi asked softly. The conditions here were limited, and it was difficult for her to cook something to nourish Si Ruxu. But if there was a pot, she could use the rabbit chops in the next compartment to stew a pot of soup, which would at least keep her warm.

"There's a casserole." Si Ruxu's breath was very weak. The moment she finished speaking, a pot appeared on the ground. Next to the pot were two corns and two carrots, a little salt, a few potatoes and a bag of beef jerky, along with three level four crystal cores.

"I brought very little with me this time, and this is all I have."

"That's enough."

These things are enough to make something edible for Si Ruxu.

Si Qi fanned the fire a few times and stuffed in more hay. After the fire got a little bigger, he threw in the processed rabbit ribs. He also washed and cut the corn and carrots into pieces and set them aside.

The water in the clay pot gurgled and simmered, the flames licking the bottom, infusing the water with warmth. Fresh pork ribs were blanched in boiling water to remove the foam, then removed, rinsed with warm water, and slid into the clay pot, their meaty aroma lingering. Bramble berries floated lazily on the surface, swirling gently with the current.

The high heat quickly caused the broth to bubble with fine bubbles. Si Qi, feeling it was almost done, stirred the heat a few times, lowering it slightly. The bubbling sound became gentler, as if afraid to disturb the delicious aroma within. The broth slowly faded from clear to a light, milky white. The fat and marrow from the spareribs melted quietly into the broth, and the air began to waft with the warm aroma of meat. Then, diced corn and carrots were added. Orange and tender yellow hues floated in the broth, and a sweetness permeated the air with the steam.

After another half hour of simmering, the soup's color deepened. A gentle stir with a spoon revealed the tender, silky fibers of the ribs. The sweet aroma of corn and the aroma of meat mingled, filling his nostrils with a warm warmth. Amidst the steam, Si Qi looked at Si Ruxu, who had already sat up, obediently waiting for dinner.

Si Ruxu has never been able to cook. A long time ago, she would move a chair to the kitchen door and watch her while she cooked, reading a book while waiting for dinner to be served. After finishing the meal, she would always lean over and give Si Ruxu a big hug, pick her up and carefully put her on the sofa, telling her to wait a little longer.

I always thought that they would have better conditions and live in a bigger house in ten years.

The reality ten years later: extreme cold, living in a cave, not having enough to eat or wear, no car, no house, no savings, and facing death at any time.

Since there was no bowl, Si Qi emptied the salt jar, found a clean stone, poured the salt on the stone, and used the jar to serve Si Ruxu a bowl of broth.

"Thank you." Si Ruxu narrowed her eyes gently, with the warmest and most genuine smile Si Qi had seen in recent days at the corners of her eyes.

The woman was like a lazy but greedy cat. She drank the soup in the can in small sips, then took a big, powerful bite of the carrot inside.

Si Ruxu has never liked eating carrots. Every time she does so, she pretends to take a big bite, but in reality, only the skin of the carrot is slightly broken.

Before, Si Qi would coax her to eat the carrots, saying it was good for her health. But now she had no right to coax her anymore, so she just pretended not to see it and picked out the carrots and ate them herself.

After the first stage of extreme cold, the weather will become colder and colder until the last day of extreme cold, when the sun becomes warm again and the weather will begin to slowly warm up. It will take more than two months for the weather to warm up. At this time, whether it is zombies or humans, plants and animals have endured more than a month of hunger and cold. It is the most ferocious time, and it will be even more difficult for ordinary people to find food to survive.

For the next few days, when Si Qi could see in the cave during the day, he insisted on using the stones in the cave as barbells to do sit-ups and practice strength training. Although the conditions were limited, at least he could increase his strength and have more hope of survival.

She didn't want to go with Si Ruxu. The other party was a rare person with three superpowers and would have no trouble living anywhere. But she would not be safe no matter where she went. She would always be a food ration and stepping stone for the bottom class. Chinese women are stubborn and would rather die with dignity.

Now, in the freezing cold, the cave became their only refuge. Si Qi trained day after day, sweat condensing into beads in the cold air, sliding down the lines of her taut muscles. Using the cave's protruding rocks as support, she performed pull-ups again and again, the muscles in her arms tensing and bulging with the movement. After completing a set, she landed on the ground, panting, then picked up two sharp rocks and, imitating dumbbells, began squats and raises. Each movement made a sound of wind, intertwining with the howling cold wind outside.

Si Ruxu's injury had almost healed during this period. Occasionally at noon, she would move the hay a little bit, use the space to collect some relatively clean snow, put the snow in the pot to boil, put it in a salt jar, drink a cup herself, and then give a cup to Si Qi.

She placed three fourth-order crystal cores in several corners of the cave, calling them lighting.

Maybe it was her first time to survive in such a difficult cave, so she would occasionally wonder if she could use lightning to make a fire or keep warm. After an experience that almost broke her house apart, she just watched Si Qi light the flint obediently.

Time passed day by day, life was tight, they couldn't eat enough, but they couldn't starve to death, so they managed to survive. When the sun became a little warmer, Si Qi carefully pulled away the dry firewood blocking the cave. Outside, the strong wind was still sweeping the blizzard, and the extreme cold continued.

These days, she opened a small space to store the garbage used for daily food and drink. She dragged the garbage out piece by piece and threw it away. After several hours of going back and forth, it got dark.

Si Qi was not in a hurry to move the firewood back. She wanted to ventilate the cave to get rid of the smell.

Sometimes it is really hard to understand how two people who are surviving in a cave can fall in love. Every day, they worry about dying and wonder why they are not dead yet. They are either glad that they are not dead or they think it would be better to just die.

What's more, there was no clothes to change, and the firewood had to be burned carefully. I couldn't even take a shower and could only wipe myself with difficulty. The cave was filled with the smell of fermentation.

Novels are indeed used to appease children.

After a while, a blood moon rose in the sky, and the blood-red moonlight fell into the cave, like a purgatory covered with blood. Si Ruxu came over wrapped in a quilt, and considerately wrapped up Si Qi, who was squatting at the entrance of the cave and shivering like a sieve due to the cold.

So two people wrapped in goose down quilts squatted at the door and looked at the blood-red moon.

"It's a bloody month. The extreme cold should be over in a few days." Si Ruxu stared at the moon, her eyes dim and unclear.

It’s been almost a month.

Si Qi stared into the distance in a daze. She was confused and panicked about the future. Even though she had been reborn once, she did not have enough confidence. Her strength was very poor, and she was at the bottom of the world in the end times.

She suddenly remembered the goldfish she released into the lake when she was a child. They had no ability to survive, but were forced into an environment where they had to fight with each other and their lives grew and declined.

The night was as dark as ink, and a blood-red moon hung high in the sky, casting an ominous crimson veil over the frozen land. Si Qi and Si Ruxu were lost in their own thoughts when suddenly, a deep, rapid animal roar shattered the silence, like the gates of hell being flung open.

A massive mutant wolf quietly appeared at the cave entrance, its eyes gleaming a bloodthirsty green in the glow of the blood moon. Saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth, and its sharp fangs gleamed coldly in the dim light. It dropped to all fours, muscles tensed, ready to deliver a fatal blow. The wind seemed to freeze at that moment, and the air was thick with the smell of blood and despair.

Si Qi turned sharply, meeting those terrifying eyes with her own, her heart leaping into her throat. She instinctively shielded Si Ruxu behind her, clutching a sharp rock in her hand, her eyes filled with fear and determination. The mutant wolf growled, thrusting its forelimbs forward like an arrow, lunging forward, bringing with it a gust of biting cold wind.

The stench of blood swept over, Si Qi's throat was dry, and the shadow of death enveloped her, making her unable to move. Suddenly, a weak lightning struck the mutant wolf's eyes. It growled in pain, quickly retreated, crouched down, and stared at the person in front of it with its green eyes.

Another bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of the mutant wolf, leaving behind a layer of charred dust. Si Qi clenched the stone in his hand and turned to look at Si Ruxu.

Waves of uneasiness spread from the bottom of her heart, and her eyes froze completely when they met Si Ruxu's pale face. Si Ruxu's injury was definitely not just the hole in her abdomen. She must have had serious internal injuries, so much so that her superpowers were sparse, and it took her nearly a week to recover from the wound.

He was even unable to absorb the crystal cores to restore his superpowers, and had to place them in the cave as light bulbs.

She held Si Ruxu's body tightly, and retreated bit by bit. The mutant wolf lingered outside the cave, and was in a stalemate with her.

Si Qi knew that it was testing their abilities. Even though the superpowers displayed by Si Ruxu were very weak, the pressure from high-level superpowers and mutated lightning powers was still there, so it didn't dare to take risks easily.

After a while, flaws would eventually show up. Si Qi's forehead was covered in sweat. Suddenly, her fingers were touched by a pair of soft and cold hands. Si Ruxu's voice rang softly in her ears, "You go into the cave first, and leave this to me. I have a way to deal with it."

Si Qi's forehead veins bulged, his muscles still tense. "Use your meager lightning ability? Miss Si, you still have the leisure to brag at this time."

The only thing Si Qi could think of for Si Ruxu to do was to detonate the supernatural core, which was equivalent to dying together with the supernatural beast.

If one person's survival is at the expense of another's death, then she doesn't need it. She doesn't want to carry any life on her back for the rest of her life.

The wind around was getting stronger and stronger, the color of the blood moon was gradually dimming, and the mutant wolf seemed more anxious and restless. Its tail was drooping and its claws were constantly rubbing on the ground. Si Qi had retreated to the outer wall of the cave.

Her arm struck something stiff, and with a click, a glowing stone fell to the ground. It was the crystal core Si Ruxu had placed there for illumination.

At this moment, the mutant wolf finally realized that these two people had no actual fighting power. It let out a long howl and rushed towards them in the wind.

Behind Si Qi, Si Ruxu's body was burning hot, and there was already a faint sense of lightning surrounding her. Her eyes were bloodshot, and streams of burning energy rushed straight to her brain.

Suddenly, the mutant wolf's movements slowed down a lot in her eyes, and the whole wolf seemed to be suspended in the air as if the pause button was pressed.

Si Qi threw down the iron rod and rushed out desperately, knocking the mutant wolf out of the cave and smashing its two eyeballs with sharp stone pieces.

The frozen time seemed to suddenly start flowing again. The mutant wolf howled miserably. The anger of being beaten by a weak ordinary human rushed into its nerves. It became manic and swung its claws towards Si Qi.

At this time, a glowing stone was thrown at Si Qi's feet, with a faint lightning, and the electric chain slightly restrained the mutant wolf's movement.

Si Qi's eyes flashed with a blood-red light. She instinctively tapped a few points on the mutant wolf, forming a killing line. In an instant, the mutant wolf was cut into several pieces, the wolf's head was cut open, and the crystal core of the second-level mutant beast fell outside.

After doing all this, Si Qi's eyes went dark and he fell to the ground.

The blood moon completely set. Si Ruxu used a faint lightning bolt to illuminate the area and slowly returned the life-saving impact bomb in her hand to the space. She didn't even shoot. She thought Si Qi must have misunderstood something and thought she was going to die with the mutant wolf.

Next to Si Qi, the second-level crystal core and the fourth-level supernatural power she originally used for lighting were all reduced to ashes.

An intriguing smile flashed in Si Ruxu's eyes.

It seems that she has made an unusual gain.