Chapter 62 Golden Autumn Village
Under the moonlight, they huddled together to look at the pictures.
“We’re still quite a distance from Luming Ancient City,” Zhou Zhuohua said, pointing to the route they had marked on the map.
"Huangniu Mountain has cattle, Luozhou has fish, so will Luming Ancient City have deer?" Bai Tao counted on her fingers, smacked her lips, and said with a hint of anticipation, "I've never seen a live deer before."
Zhou Zhuohua took off his glasses and wiped them with a cloth. "What I wanted to say is that it's also important to pay attention to personal hygiene while traveling. We should save money wherever we can, and wash our clothes whenever possible. But we haven't encountered a place with water for two days. Everyone, don't you all feel like you're starting to stink?"
She looked at the few small white houses in the distance, "I wonder if they have water and electricity."
Hydropower is truly a matter of luck. In some areas, such as Fuguang City, which Bai Chenzhu visited, equipment was damaged, and hydropower resources were scarce. On the other hand, Luozhou had abundant hydropower, and people had even started repairing various infrastructure projects.
Bai Tao nodded listlessly and raised her hand, "I'm feeling unwell these past few days due to my period, I need to take a bath."
Upon hearing this, Tang Zhao immediately said, "Then I'll go take a look with Boss Jiang first!"
Bai Chenzhu watched as Jiang Ye got up. "Aren't we going before dawn?"
Jiang Ye shook his head, "It won't affect our eyesight at night."
Bai Chenzhu then realized that the enhancements given to superhumans in various aspects were indeed very useful in certain details.
Jiang Ye and Tang Zhao headed towards the White House. Bai Chenzhu, bored, counted the white houses of varying heights in the distance across the vast rapeseed fields.
One building, two buildings, three buildings... After counting them, Bai Chenzhu estimated that this small village had only about ten households.
The detached houses were painted black on top and white on the bottom, and with the flower fields, they looked just like the real-life photos that people love to see online.
The neat and orderly appearance suggests that the houses have been deliberately renovated and then given a promotional name like "village." Most of the houses are probably uninhabited and are simply used as decoration for the flower fields.
Zhou Zhuohua also stood up and looked at the white house from a distance, saying the same conclusion, "There should be very few people living in this village. When I came, I noticed that there were very few zombies and very few cars parked outside. The probability of encountering a ferocious mutant is not high."
Bai Chenzhu stood with his arms crossed, and said in a low voice, "But besides zombies, aren't there any other mutants? Rats, cockroaches, snakes, insects, even plants, these are the things we fear the most."
"I'm scared too!" Bai Tao shuddered, waving her hands in the air. "I'm most afraid of bugs! They're so disgusting!"
The mention of insects only amplified her psychological trauma.
Jiang Ye and Tang Zhao returned quickly with good news: "It's a village left behind. The zombies are mostly middle-aged and elderly people and children, and there are few of them, so it's not very dangerous. You can go there to rest."
Everyone was delighted to hear this.
They parked the car under the big banyan tree near the village entrance and locked it. Bai Chenzhu left a trace of his spiritual power on it to keep watch, and the group walked about several dozen meters along the path between the houses.
The stench of decay filled the air, furniture and utensils lay scattered on the ground, and many human-shaped figures lay on the road, emitting a foul odor. Occasionally, a few zombies were encountered, wandering around slowly.
Fortunately, they've gotten used to it.
This is a village that has been abandoned both in the past and present. They called out several times, but no one answered.
All the houses were empty.
They chose a house with little sign of human habitation; the furnished room only had simple water and electricity lines and a wooden bed, not even an extra mattress.
They scavenged some daily necessities from other rooms. While others "shared meals," they "shared rooms" in the middle of the night, cobbling together a temporary place to stay.
——
The light flickered, and after a few people were on tenterhooks, it finally came on steadily. They turned on the tap, and after the dirty, murky water, clear water quickly flowed out.
Bai Tao jumped up with joy, clapping her hands together, "Finally, we have water to use!"
"Let's leave it at that for today." Bai Chenzhu pulled up his collar and sniffed himself. "Let's divide the rooms and go rest."
As usual, Bai Tao shared a room with Zhou Zhuohua, but Bai Chenzhu chose to share a room with Tang Zhao.
Although he didn't know why, Tang Zhao felt like he was being killed by Jiang Ye's gaze. He quickly followed Bai Chenzhu and didn't dare to look back the whole way.
As soon as he entered the room, Bai Chenzhu picked up his clothes and went inside to take a shower.
Tang Zhao spread a cloth on the wooden bed with a rustling sound, jumped up happily, and enjoyed the comfortable bed after leaving the cramped parking space. He wanted to take a good nap with his head on his arm.
"This is so awesome! Wuhu!"
In his half-awake, half-dreaming state, he seemed to see Boss Jiang's face, which was sinister.
Tang Zhao opened his eyes in fright, only to find that it wasn't a dream. Jiang Ye was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at him with a cold face.
Tang Zhao jumped out of bed, scratched his head, and asked, "Brother, why aren't you sleeping so late? What's wrong?"
Jiang Ye rested his chin on his hand and said in a deep voice, "I think since you've already guessed who I'm talking about, you should be more aware of avoiding suspicion."
"Huh?" Tang Zhao sat on the bed, belatedly realizing what he meant. "Oh!"
This refers to the incident when Jiang Ye asked him if he knew about the shocking fact that men like men, and Tang Zhao almost got thrown out by the hot-tempered Jiang Ye after only glancing at Bai Chenzhu.
Heaven have mercy, there were originally three men. Excluding myself and Xiaobai Jiangye who asked the question, wasn't the source of the problem just one person?
Tang Zhao complained bitterly, blaming himself for being too clever, and quickly used all his knowledge to open the door to a new world for Jiang Ye.
It brought a tiny, yet profound, shock to someone.
At that moment, Tang Zhao slammed his fist into his palm, remembering the difference, "It seems so."
It seems that this is indeed the right way to do it.
When the rooms were being assigned, Bai Chenzhu's attitude was so natural that Tang Zhao couldn't recall it for a moment.
"But what does it matter?" Tang Zhao sat back down, sprawled on the bed, and said innocently, "It's not like it's the first time Brother Bai and I have slept together. If he were interested in me, he would have been long ago. If he wanted to avoid suspicion, he would have avoided it long ago."
Jiang Ye's mind was filled with only one sentence: "When did you two ever sleep together?"
Tang Zhao said, "It was the week right after the apocalypse started. He came to my house. My house only has a single bed and a sofa."
"You don't have a sofa?"
"Yes, I do." Tang Zhao belatedly realized Jiang Ye's mood was off. "What's wrong?"
What's wrong?
This is a huge problem!
Jiang Ye felt a surge of anger rising to his head. He recalled that when he met Bai Chenzhu in the early days of the apocalypse, there was a sofa, but that guy still fought with him over who got to have the bed by himself.
So it's okay to sleep with Tang Zhao, but you're disgusted by sleeping with him?
Even though Tang Zhao was no longer good at reading people's expressions, he found Jiang Ye terrifying. He thought about it and decided to let it go. Brother Bai's situation was special, so he should avoid suspicion. It didn't matter who he slept with.
So he climbed out of bed, put on his shoes, grabbed his coat which he had been using as a pillow, and called out, "Come on, Boss Jiang, let's sleep together."
"Who's going to sleep with you?" Jiang Ye scoffed. "I'm going to sleep with A-Zhu."
Tang Zhao was even more confused. "Aren't we supposed to avoid suspicion?"
How did it become that he wanted to avoid it, and Jiang Ye no longer needed it?
"Only those with good relationships don't need to avoid suspicion. Can I be the same as everyone else?" Jiang Ye was very hypocritical. He said this on purpose, as if it would make him feel better.
"What's different?" Tang Zhao, feeling doubled over, asked, "Does that mean I like men too?"
"What are you saying?" Jiang Ye exclaimed in shock. "Who would like a hard-on-the-edges man!"
Jiang Ye thought of the organ that was the same as his own, the strong and muscular body, and the strong smell of sweat, and his face became increasingly gloomy.
It seemed like he had used up all his patience just by saying that one sentence.
Who are you complaining about? Tang Zhao stared at him blankly, took two steps out with his coat tucked in, then walked back backward. "Brother, do you know the 'true fragrance' meme?"
Jiang Ye was puzzled. "What fragrance?"
"It's okay, bro, just pretend you didn't hear that." Tang Zhao chuckled, shook his head with an air of 'seeing through everything,' and walked with the nonchalant gait of 'I'm the only one sober in a world of drunks' as he enjoyed his room all tonight.
——
The water in the shower room has stopped.
Jiang Ye, who was waiting, panicked and quickly stood up, pretending to be busy making the bed.
Bai Chenzhu had just heard faint conversations outside the door. He dried his hair and came out, only to see Jiang Ye making the bed.
Where is Tang Zhao?
Jiang Ye looked at his half-wet collar, which revealed his fair skin, and the ends of his hair dripping water along his collarbone. The water droplets meandered down his clothes and spread across his powerful chest and abdomen.
He cleared his throat, his eyes darting around, feeling guilty but speaking with conviction, "He said he's used to sleeping alone and grinds his teeth, snores, and kicks at night, so he begged to switch rooms with me."
"Begging?" Bai Chenzhu paused, said nothing, nodded, dragged a chair to sit down, and tidied his long hair that was dripping with water.
Jiang Ye was pleased to see that he had no objections.
He tiptoed over and tentatively asked, "Ah Zhu, shall I dry your hair?"
Bai Chenzhu knew exactly what he was doing and found it amusing. "What did I do to make you so timid?"
They're practically walking with their arms and legs moving in unison.
"No, when have I ever been timid?" Jiang Ye casually took the towel from Bai Chenzhu's hand. He held the towel by both sides and wiped a strand of wet hair. "You must be too tired to have this illusion. Go to bed early tonight."
Bai Chenzhu raised an eyebrow, not exposing the little scheme of someone trying to get rid of Tang Zhao. After drying her hair, she was the first to turn over and get into bed. "I'll sleep inside."
"Hmm." Jiang Ye found his clothes and was about to go in to take a shower when he turned back and asked, "By the way, you didn't look too well when we first entered the village. Are you alright?"
Unexpectedly, Jiang Ye noticed this. Bai Chenzhu was sitting cross-legged. He paused, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I've felt a little unwell since entering the village."
The discomfort was indescribable, stemming from his mental state. It was like the discomfort of being offended or spied on; Bai Chenzhu didn't know how to describe it to Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye said, "It's probably because the place smells too rotten. Anyway, we're leaving tomorrow, so there's no need to worry."
——
As dawn was breaking, Bai Chenzhu, who was always sensitive to light, woke up immediately when the light shone through the crack in the window. He felt parched and exhausted all over.
The wooden plank bed was really uncomfortable to sleep on; I should have found a place with a mattress. Bai Chenzhu sat up from the bed.
Jiang Ye was still asleep.
Bai Chenzhu stepped over him, put on her shoes, went out, and went downstairs to get some water. Everyone had gone to bed late last night, and the house was quiet and dark inside with the doors and windows closed.
He was pouring water in the kitchen when he heard chickens crowing and dogs barking outside the door.
"The natural environment here is so beautiful," Bai Chenzhu remarked. He took a few sips of water and was about to head back when he suddenly realized: "Where did these chickens and dogs come from?"
They clearly didn't see any chickens or dogs in the village last night, only rotting corpses and zombies.
Bai Chenzhu paused, then pushed open the kitchen window on the first floor. He saw a bustling scene outside, with flashes of light from cameras. Beside the window he had opened, a beautiful young woman was taking pictures of rapeseed flowers.
Bai Chenzhu slowly opened his eyes wide and quickly pushed open the door on the first floor.
Several elderly people sat on low stools at the doorway, greeting each other in the morning light. A small dog wagged its tail as it passed by, and many brightly dressed young people walked by, laughing and joking with cameras and mobile phones in hand.
"This place is really beautiful, just like the pictures online, with white walls and black tiles, it has a very traditional feel!"
"Luckily I'm wearing traditional Chinese clothing today. Hey, you stepped on my skirt!"
"It's in season now, there are so many flowers. They'll be withered if we wait any longer. Let's take pictures of each other later."
"Things at the tourist attractions are ridiculously expensive. I brought some food, do you want some?"
...
Bai Chenzhu closed his eyes and shook his swollen and aching head. When he opened his eyes, a quiet scene of zombies filling the streets flashed before his eyes for a moment, but the scene stopped in an instant. When he blinked a second time, the scene in front of him was still bustling and lively.
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