Chapter 5 All the Same
Deep in the mountains and old forests, few people go.
No, it can't be said that it is sparsely populated. Rather, it is likely that no one has been here in the past few decades.
But there is a hint of artificial light here that symbolizes civilization.
Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Zhou Cheng staggered forward.
I have no other choice.
Zhou Cheng crawled and rolled all the way, and it took him more than ten minutes to get here.
Beyond the light, he saw a wooden wall, with steel nails pointing outward.
The door was also made of wood and was tightly closed at the moment.
Amidst the wind and rain, Zhou Cheng squeezed out his last bit of strength, banged on the wooden door, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Is anyone there? Is anyone there?"
…
After shouting for an unknown amount of time, there was finally some movement from within the wooden door. A small hole opened, revealing Zhou Cheng's figure, and the wooden door finally opened.
Zhou Cheng saw several old men wearing raincoats and carrying guns appear in front of him.
It’s nice to have someone…
A thought flashed through Zhou Cheng's mind, and his body slowly went limp and he lost consciousness.
I don’t know how long I was unconscious or how long I slept. When Zhou Cheng opened his eyes, it was already bright outside.
A strong smell of smoke and fire wafted into Zhou Cheng's nose. He struggled to sit up and saw that he was lying on a wooden bed.
Next to it, several old men were sitting around a bonfire. Above the bonfire, an iron pot was hanging on a wooden rack. The hot water inside was boiling, and it seemed that something was being cooked.
The old people's faces are weathered and their hands are covered with calluses.
Hearing the noise, an old man looked at Zhou Cheng and said, "Young man, are you awake?"
"I'm awake. Thank you for saving me. If it weren't for you, I would..."
"Have a bowl of porridge."
A bowl of steaming porridge was handed to Zhou Cheng. He blew on it and then wolfed it down.
At this moment, Zhou Cheng felt that he was finally alive.
"Young man, what are you doing here?"
"I came here to look for something."
Without hiding anything, Zhou Cheng fully recounted his speculation and purpose.
A look of surprise flashed across the old people's faces.
"This is not the place for you. Rest well and go back. You met us this time, next time..."
The old man sighed. "The mountains are not a good place. The cradle is where you belong."
"Uncle, why are you here?"
"We... we get old, it's the same everywhere."
"Yeah, it's all the same."
Zhou Cheng sighed slightly: "In the cradle, earning a high salary and enjoying life is also a lifetime.
Like me, wasting my life for a completely unreliable guess...it's also a lifetime.
In this life, no matter how you live it, it's all the same.
"Young man, your ideas are similar to those of us old guys."
Smiles appeared on the old people's faces.
Zhou Cheng was still a little tired after waking up. He ate a quick bite and fell asleep again. The elders were busy with their work and ignored him.
It was not until the afternoon that Zhou Cheng finally woke up, and he felt that energy had returned to his body.
Walking out of the wooden house, Zhou Cheng saw the appearance of this courtyard for the first time.
The wooden wall enclosed an area of about three mu. In addition to the residence and the barn, there were some farmland. At this moment, the wheat in the farmland had turned golden yellow, and several elderly people were harvesting it.
In addition to the farmland, there are some vegetable fields, and some chickens, ducks and geese are raised in the corners.
Some people were feeding chickens, some were fetching water, some were repairing the wooden walls, and one person climbed onto the roof, holding a gun and observing the surroundings.
In addition, there are some things that Zhou Cheng cannot understand.
He also saw some sheds.
The roof of the shed was filled with dirt, and underneath were pits filled with what looked like coffins.
After stretching his body, Zhou Cheng also joined the wheat harvesting team, chatting casually while harvesting.
"Uncle, how long have you been here?"
"More than 20 years."
The old man recalled carefully: "At that time we were not so old, and we didn't want to stay in the cradle and wait for death, so we went into the mountains together.
At that time, there were many of us, more than ten of us, and we built houses, hunted, and dug bamboo shoots together...
Life in the mountains is much more interesting than in the cradle. It’s a pity that we are all old now and can no longer climb the mountains, so we can only stay here all day.
Zhou Cheng looked around and saw that there were only seven elderly people living here.
"Where are the others?"
The old man pointed to the sheds in the courtyard and said, "They are all in the coffins."
Zhou Cheng saw that there were seven elderly people in the courtyard, and there were also seven pits and coffins hidden by the shed.
The old man smiled and said, “When I was young, I dug the grave in advance, prepared the coffin, and then put the soil on the roof.
When you get old and feel you can't go on living, you can just lie down in the coffin, pull the mechanism, and the coffin lid will automatically close, and the soil on the roof will also come down, just right to bury you. How convenient."
The old man smiled and looked very happy, as if he was proud of his own creation.
Zhou Cheng felt a little heavy in his heart, and his smile began to seem forced.
"Uncle, have you ever considered going back to the cradle? What if you get sick?"
"Why go back to the cradle? It's boring."
The old man shook his head: "We have medicines for common diseases. If you are sick, you take medicine. If you can be cured, you will live. If you can't be cured, you will lie in a coffin. It's so simple.
Our civilization has no hope anyway, so living two years longer or two years less makes no difference, it's all the same."
Zhou Cheng nodded silently.
It was already late today, and Zhou Cheng did not go down the mountain. Instead, he stayed in the courtyard and helped the elderly with many chores that they could not do, such as carrying heavy objects and repairing roofs.
In the evening, the old people killed a few chickens, cooked a full pot, and had a big meal with Zhou Cheng around the campfire.
The next morning, Zhou Cheng left the courtyard.
The seven old men came out one by one.
An old man handed him a piece of bacon.
The piece of bacon was extremely thick and probably weighed more than ten pounds.
"I made this from a wild boar I killed a while ago. Try it."
The old man looked at Zhou Cheng, as if he wanted to persuade him again, but he didn't say it out loud. He just said, "The mountains are not like a cradle. Be careful."
Zhou Cheng took it solemnly: "Don't worry, uncles, I will be careful."
Even after walking a long way, Zhou Cheng's mind was still replaying the words the old man had said.
"There's no hope for our civilization anyway..."
Zhou Cheng gradually understood why the elderly had such an indifferent attitude towards life and death.
If there's no hope, living two years longer or two years less really makes no difference...
“What I do is look for that glimmer of hope that civilization can continue.
Although this hope is slim, but... we have to give it a try."
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