"You said the south exit is blocked?"
"Yeah, that's right! I heard that Brother Ye also helped! They used the rubble from the collapsed area to move it to the exit and cleared a large area."
"So, you are familiar with that piece of land?"
"Yes, I have a lot of giant rats! After the clearing, the empty space led straight to the sky. We spent some time installing translucent glass there. This way we can grow grass in the tunnel, luminous grass, the kind that all the nearby tribes grow. We feed it to the rats, and they really like it."
Li Wenjia was so relieved to meet such a genuine person. He drank a sip of warm water. In the past, chatting with those tribesmen who would ask you questions back was really tiring.
"Indeed, if you want to keep it as a pet, a giant rat is a good choice," Li Wenjia agreed.
"Woo~ That's great! I finally met someone who understands me. The day before yesterday, ahaha, the night before you caught me, I slept with those giant rats. They prefer cleanliness, so you have to make sure you smell good when sleeping with them, otherwise they'll bite you. Their body temperature is higher than humans, can you imagine? Sleeping among them is a pleasure. It's best not to feed that night-shining grass fresh, as the rats don't like food with too much water. Fermented night-shining grass is best, and dried ones are also good. Let me tell you..."
This guy seemed to have opened up, his chattering making Li Wenjia think of his past. When did he start changing? He recalled from as far back as he could remember, those hazy memories transforming into images that flitted through his mind. Changes had always been there, but the most dramatic change had occurred a few months ago. Was it after he parted ways with Jiang Ling? She was truly a strange person.
Jiang Ling's face flashed through Li Wenjia's mind. She was so dazzling, guiding his path forward. Li Wenjia blinked, prompting his tear glands to secrete more fluid to lubricate his dry conjunctiva.
At the moment, the prisoner is still talking about those things.
"...Noctilucent grass needs to be fermented for a week at a temperature where ice and snow melt. After fermentation, it should appear as pale white fragments. Yes, it needs to be fermented away from light, not exposed to light at all. Fermented cinnamon will smell like wine. What is wine? The elders say that it makes people feel like they are walking on clouds - anyway, I have never seen it. Anyway, it smells like wine, a sour smell, not smelly..."
"Wait a minute, you said the south exit was blocked. Is it completely blocked? Can we still leave?" Li Wenjia interrupted Xiaoba's chat.
"It's completely blocked. Not even light can get through! After we blocked it, we poured a lot of cement on it. It should have solidified into a lump by now. You definitely can't get through." He Ye interrupted, intending to block the topic.
"Is that so? That's going to be difficult."
Li Wenjia put down the water cup and pressed his forehead with his hand.
The expedition team couldn't abandon this route. If they didn't take the tunnel, they would have to circle the riverbank. The Yangtze River's banks were almost entirely urbanized, places clearly untouched by nuclear warheads. Putting aside the postwar radiation exposure, the roads along the river were rarely continuous. Li Wenjia couldn't recall even a single meter of good road; the terrain was riddled with potholes and rubble.
Those broken roads. Even if you pushed a wheelbarrow, you'd end up falling over halfway. And those potholes often contained massive amounts of ionizing radiation. Yes, the kind you can't get out of if you fall in.
Li Wenjia glanced around with his peripheral vision, then slowly moved to the isolation door. While Qin Xin was not paying attention to him, he tiptoed and pressed the button to close the door.
Not bad, not bad.
It was not until he was far away from the medical vehicle that Qin Xin's helpless and furious voice came out from it.
This little episode didn't last long. When Li Wenjia came out, it was just lunchtime. He wandered around the camp, whistling a little tune, then randomly found a supply truck and headed up.
The air conditioner in the supply truck was on. The moment Li Wenjia took off his helmet, a wave of heat mixed with the smell of food hit his face. The supply truck was roughly the same size as a shipping container, divided into three areas by several partitions. One of the areas was used as a mobile canteen. Several people were already eating there.
"Welcome, our hero! What would you like?"
The in-vehicle intelligent system recognized Li Wenjia's facial features, then selected a set sentence from its database and played it out of its speaker.
Li Wenjia blurted out, "Who added that crap to the system? Adi! What's on tap today?"
The car's intelligent system recognized the keyword and began searching the database: "Today's special—Golden Stew. Made with fresh chicken thighs and crisp vegetables, slow-cooked for forty-five minutes, and topped with a special sauce..."
Li Wenjia found an empty seat, put his helmet on the long table, and began to wait for the food to be served.
The people around were quiet for only a moment, and soon started talking about work again.
"How did Yudong die?"
"I think he fell into the hole on his way to the bathroom last night."
"Didn't we tell you long ago that you're not allowed to go out to the bathroom at night? Why are there still people who don't listen?"
"It's said that on the way back from the mobile research station, we took a few more detours than others. We didn't even realize it until we encountered that hole. Is it a sewer or something? We've been here for almost a week now. When can we leave?"
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