The apartment on the left has a modern design, mainly gray and white, and includes a separate small living room, bedroom, bathroom, and balcony.

The balcony has been enclosed with windows; it's a semi-enclosed type, with the bottom fixed and the top having three sliding windows. The window frames and glass are closed, and apart from the glass being dirty, everything else is in good condition.

It is evident that expensive and high-quality materials were used when the materials were purchased back then.

The furniture in the living room and bedroom had been dismantled and was scattered in pieces. There were bloodstains on the floor, walls, and ceiling.

However, because it was well sealed off, there were no signs of any mutated plants or animals living inside, making it look much better than the damp first floor.

The bathroom door was closed, but when Zhao Gang opened it, there was still one person who had slipped through the net!

Suddenly, a mutated three-headed snake shot out from the toilet drainpipe in the bathroom, hissing greedily as it lunged at Zhao Gang's face outside the door.

Zhao Xiaoxiu was standing behind Zhao Gang. She tilted her head to look inside out of curiosity when she saw this scene. Her scalp tingled instantly, and she froze in fear.

The next second.

With a "smack!", the three-headed snake was slapped onto the dirty bathroom tiles by the tentacles that shot out from Zhao Gang's body, turning into a pool of red and white flesh that slid sparsely down the wall.

Zhao Xiaoxiu opened her eyes wide, looked at the little snake that had turned to mud, then at the tentacles that were still slapping people against the wall, and looked at her father with condemnation: You are all more disgusting than the last!

Zhao Gang patted the cub's head, then pointed to the small snake inside, which had been flung to pieces against the wall by the tentacles, and said:

"Don't worry, Xiaoxiu. Next time you see this, just grab it like this and shake it a few times, and it'll be fine."

Zhao Xiaoxiu: "...Oh."

Having seen all the suites on the left, Zhao Gang led his young child to check out the suites on the right.

This set is in the mahogany style, and the surface of the wooden furniture has long been eroded and rotten.

Zhao Xiaoxiu noticed a clump of small mushrooms growing on the mahogany sofa in the living room. She picked up a stick she had just found somewhere and poked them off one by one.

After finishing, he didn't forget to stomp on it a couple of times.

As if air had suddenly leaked from the swollen top of the mushroom, a wisp of white smoke was spewed out.

The white smoke emitted by this small mushroom is non-toxic, but it should not be eaten; consuming it can cause hallucinations.

However, Zhao Xiaoxiu heard from the adults that the survivors in the southwest region knew how to cook this poisonous little mushroom, and that it tasted very delicious. She didn't know if it was true or not.

Anyway, she would never eat it even if you killed her.

There's nothing thrilling or exciting in this room; the exploration process is quite ordinary.

Moreover, because the balcony was not enclosed, the house was full of net-like traces of where the mutated plants had once grown, and the wallpaper and mahogany flooring were all damaged without exception.

The intensity of the housework was so great that even Zhao Gang, a man with countless tentacles, would feel dizzy just looking at it.

The father and daughter also looked around the attic on the top floor, and all they could think of was one word: miserable!

The attic has completely collapsed, and the large terrace is full of cracks. If it rains, the house could turn into a waterfall.

Even so, it's still very good compared to the other houses around it.

The other houses had a crack as thick as a person's arm running across their walls, which could be blown down by a strong gust of wind.

After inspecting the entire house, the father and daughter decided to start by cleaning up the living room, kitchen, and dining area on the first floor.

I'll make do with sleeping on the floor in the living room tonight and get some rest. I'll clean up the suite on the left side of the second floor tomorrow.

While you're at it, throw all the trash out of the rooftop and the suite on the right and get rid of it.

As for repairing the roof, we can look for plastic or sheet metal in the other houses in the territory to cover it up first.

There are so many things to do that I can't finish them all in one day; I have to take it one step at a time.

The father and daughter's current plan is to have a warm and safe place to live before winter arrives.

After moving all the luggage into the lobby, I threw it onto the old fabric sofa there.

The father and daughter took out thin scarves and covered their faces, their eyes gradually hardening.

Big hands and little hands clap, "Let's do it!"

Zhao Xiaoxiu turned on the light from the solar charger and placed it on her luggage.

The bright light made all the trash in the hall impossible to hide.

Causing the possibility of a patrol team appearing at any moment, Zhao Gang used only one tentacle to sweep away the clutter in the living room, kitchen, and dining room on the first floor.

They also removed the mottled paint from the walls and the thick grime from the floor.

Zhao Xiaoxiu carried a stainless steel bucket to the river to fetch water.

Because he was too small to lift the bucket, he balanced the full bucket of water on his head, held it with both hands, and ran quickly back into the house.

She may be small, but she's surprisingly strong. She carried a full bucket of water back and forth, and in just a few trips, she filled the white plastic water tank that Zhao Gang had found in the kitchen.

After removing all the small debris and grime from the walls and floors, only the large pieces of furniture remained in the room.

Zhao Gang kept the usable dining table, four dining chairs, and old sofa, and left the rest on the cement ground by the door, intending to chop them up for firewood.

The tentacle reached into the water tank filled by Zhao Xiaoxiu and took a big gulp, instantly reducing the water by half.

The water-soaked tentacles sprayed water onto the ground like high-pressure water guns, instantly revealing the original dark gray terrazzo flooring in the living room and kitchen, with colorful pebbles embedded in it.

With the remaining half-box of water, Zhao Gang wiped down the dining table and chairs, gradually revealing their original white appearance.

Dry air from outside flowed in, carrying away the moisture from the floor, and the floor dried quickly.

Zhao Gang moved the luggage from the sofa to the clean floor, then moved the old sofa to the doorway and sprayed it with water to clean it.

Zhao Xiaoxiu wasn't idle either; taking advantage of the last rays of sunlight on the horizon, she filled the water tank again.

Then, he took the several sets of bowls and chopsticks that Zhao Gang had taken out of the kitchen cabinet and washed them in a stainless steel basin that he had brought with him.

Since she couldn't do the work at heights, she would put the washed dishes and chopsticks on the kitchen table first.

Standing on a stool, he wiped the kitchen stove clean with a rag, arranged the luggage he had brought, and placed the seeds and tools in a corner of the living room.

Then he dragged out the door panel that Zhao Gang had taken from the bathroom under the stairwell, placed it against the wall in the living room, and opened the bedding in his backpack.

The little one was busy running around the room, like a diligent little bee.

Zhao Xiaoxiu, who had just made the bed, was already covered in sweat. She casually wiped the sweat from her forehead with her little hand. The soot from the bottom of the stove had smeared her face, making her big, round eyes look even brighter.

Zhao Gang pushed the cleaned sofa in and placed it next to the bed against the wall, where they pressed against each other.

The father and daughter stood with their hands on their hips, looking at the spacious but clean living room in front of them, and chuckled.

"Dad, we have a home now," Zhao Xiaoxiu said happily.

Zhao Gang squatted down, took off the dirty face towel from her face, and carefully wiped the soot from her forehead and nose with a clean part of his face. He nodded and said "Mmm!"

Zhao Xiaoxiu looked up at the sky outside the window; there were no stars or moon tonight.

The world was pitch black, except for the warm light emanating from the small house in front of me.

With this little bit of light, people can have boundless courage to face the darkness.