142 Human?

◎Exactly the same◎

The human figure only flashed by, and when Qi Qiuxue looked again, there was nothing there except the shadows of trees swaying in the wind.

Did I see it wrong?

If there really was something there just now, what exactly was it, a human or a monster?

You know, since the extinction of humans, Qi Qiuxue hasn't seen any humans other than them for a long time.

“…”

"Is everyone okay?" Before she could think too much, her mother's voice came from the door. Qi Qiuxue looked back and found that her mother's cheeks, arms and abdomen all had wounds of varying degrees.

"What happened?" She quickly turned around and walked over to her mother to check on her condition. "Did those monsters hurt you?"

"It's nothing serious, don't worry," my mother said weakly. Despite her severe injuries, her tone and gaze were still filled with concern and tenderness. "Those monsters sneaked into my room and attacked me while I was asleep. Luckily, I'm a light sleeper, so I noticed it quickly."

"It's a pity there were so many of them that I accidentally got injured." She sighed helplessly, her eyes wandering over the faces of Qi Qiuxue and the others. "Are you all okay? Are you not hurt?"

"I'm sorry, Mom is so late."

"We're all fine, don't worry, Mom." Wu Shanyue quickly responded, "As for you, go back and get some rest."

"Sister Liu, Sister Awen, come and give us a hand!" Everyone was thrown into disarray by their mother's injury. Qi Qiuxue was also worried and nervous about it, but gradually, she suddenly noticed something strange.

Qi Qiuxue said nothing more, but just stood there quietly and watched them leave. Then she turned her eyes to meet Li Yiqing's, as if she had something to say.

"What's wrong, Axue?" Li Yiqing looked over.

Qi Qiuxue spoke softly, as if speaking to the person in front of her, but also as if talking to herself: "How did those monsters find our location so accurately in such a short time?"

"Actually, I'm a little confused too." Li Yiqing frowned after hearing this. "Even if we assume that the other party breaking into our room was just a coincidence, how can we explain this to Mom?"

"It's never a coincidence twice."

"I suspected they might be able to smell humans," Qi Qiuxue said. "But if that were true, the monster that suddenly broke in this morning should have found us more accurately without having to search around like a headless chicken."

"There must be some reason behind this." Qi Qiuxue fell into deep thought, integrating and analyzing the information she had obtained in her heart. She spoke unconsciously, muttering, "Could it be Mom..."

Perhaps he heard the doubt in her tone.

"Impossible." Li Yiqing interrupted her forcefully, "Axue, Mom is the person in this world who deserves our respect and trust the most. We shouldn't be suspicious of anything about her, no matter what."

The most respectable and trustworthy person.

Qi Qiuxue's thoughts were interrupted for a moment. She raised her head again in confusion and looked at Li Yiqing's face.

"...That's right." After a moment, she raised her hand to her forehead, feeling genuinely guilty and remorseful for her words. "Mom is the best mom in the world."

"Why would I think of her like that?"

-

That night, Liu Ge and Su Wen stayed in their mother's room to look after her, while the remaining three, Qi Qiuxue, Li Yiqing and Wu Shanyue, took turns on duty, fearing that the monsters would break in again, and they were worried until dawn.

Su Wen made today's breakfast. My mother was seriously injured and couldn't get out of bed. When it was time to eat, Qi Qiuxue personally brought the tray into her room.

"We can't let our guard down." Her mother raised her hand and stroked her hair, worriedly saying, "Axue is right. The most urgent thing is to reinforce the remaining doors and windows in the facility."

"But now we have no available materials." Qi Qiuxue shook her head.

"It's okay." Mom was about to get up. "I'll go search around a bit more."

"No." Qi Qiuxue stopped her immediately upon seeing this. "Mom shouldn't do anything too strenuous given her current health. She should stay at home and recuperate."

"If possible, why don't we go?" She suggested to her mother. Even though she knew her mother might not allow them to leave the facility, she still tried her best. "This is the best solution right now."

"But it's too dangerous outside. I'm afraid for my babies..."

"It's okay." Qi Qiuxue tried to convince her, "We are capable of taking care of ourselves, and we promise not to go far. We will come back as soon as we have gathered what we need."

"Don't worry, Mom. Nothing will happen to us."

After she finished speaking, my mother didn't speak for a long time. She was thinking and making a decision, with worry in her eyes. Words of dissuasion circled on her lips several times but she never said them out loud.

Finally, she sighed softly: "My babies have grown up, right?"

"Okay, I respect your opinion and allow you to go out." She said softly, meeting Qi Qiuxue's gaze lovingly, "But you also have to promise me that you will pay attention to safety and stay in the vicinity. Don't go too far."

"Even though I'm injured and can't go out with you, Xue, I hope you remember—"

Qi Qiuxue looked into her eyes, feeling inexplicably nervous: "What?"

Mom laughed and said word by word, "I'm with you."

“…”

After dinner, several people pushed open the door and were finally able to leave the facility and go outside.

Even though there might still be monsters wandering around nearby, the moment they walked out the door, what they felt was not tension and worry, but relaxation and freedom. They didn't know how long it had been since they had breathed the outside air.

The sun was shining brightly today, the temperature was just right, and the breeze was filled with the faint fragrance of flowers and plants. Wu Shanyue looked up at the birds flying overhead and said sincerely, "How beautiful!"

"Even though humans are almost extinct, this world is still full of birdsong and flowers, and it's still colorful." She didn't look away for a long time, and said sincerely, "Everything looks exactly the same as before."

"Yeah," Liu Ge agreed, lowering his eyes to pick a flower and bringing it to his nose to sniff. The feeling of being able to only look out through the glass and actually standing on the ground to explore and touch it was completely different. "It smells so good."

"It would be great if those things hadn't happened." Su Wen lowered his eyes and sighed, unconsciously clenching his fists, "It would be great if we could go out more often."

"Stop talking and collect the materials as soon as possible." Li Yiqing interrupted everyone's sighs. They had just suffered a terrible monster attack yesterday and were still in danger. "The sooner we gather them, the easier it will be to go back."

"For safety reasons, you must travel in groups," she said. "Never be alone."

"good."

"Know."

So in the end, Liu Ge and Su Wen formed a team and went to the forest on the east side of the facility to look for materials, while Qi Qiuxue, Li Yiqing and Wu Shanyue went in the opposite direction and came to the west side of the facility.

They didn't dare to go too far against their mother's instructions, and only dared to move around within a range of about 200 meters from the facility. It was quiet all around, and the sunlight poured in through the gaps in the leaves, filling every corner with light.

"It's safe here for now." Qi Qiuxue looked around carefully and only started collecting materials after confirming that there was no danger. Time always passes quickly when people concentrate on doing something. Unknowingly, they collected a lot of usable wood.

"Let's go back first. We won't be able to carry any more." After a simple inventory, the few of them gave up the search and turned back with the materials in their hands.

When they arrived at the gate, Liu Ge and the others seemed to have not returned yet. Wu Shanyue looked into the distance with some concern: "Should we go look for her..."

The words haven't been finished yet.

Qi Qiuxue widened her eyes, and suddenly the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps rang in her ears.

"Be careful!" Qi Qiuxue sensed the approaching danger and quickly took out her bone knife, causing the materials in her hand to fall to the ground with a crackling sound. The other two quickly followed suit. In their sight, a man in black clothes and a mask suddenly walked out from the depths of the woods.

——It was exactly the one Qi Qiuxue saw at the window last night.

"Human?" Wu Shanyue was stunned the moment he saw the masked man. "Are there other people in this world besides us?"

"It may not be a human." Li Yiqing shook his head to deny her point of view. Even if the other party had a similar body shape and structure to them, no one could tell what kind of face was under the mask.

Somewhat strangely, the masked man did not rush forward. Instead, he seemed to be observing, his gaze hidden under the mask moving back and forth over the three people's bodies and hands.

Qi Qiuxue didn't know what it was thinking. She only saw that after a brief confrontation, it slowly put its hand into its cloak.

Then, it took out a gun.

A gun exactly the same as the one in Wu Shanyue's hand.

【Author’s words】

Do you think this instance has a foggy feel?

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