Chapter 152 Strange Illness
A middle-aged man wearing glasses walked up to them, stared at Taxue for a while, and asked, "Is this a cat?"
They had never seen a cat bigger than a dog before.
When Ta Xue saw the stranger, she bared her teeth and hissed at the man, scaring him so much that he quickly took a few steps back, afraid of being bitten.
There are no medications available now; if you get bitten and become infected and inflamed, there's no cure.
Meng Shiwan patted Taxue's head to signal it to be quiet, and Taxue then retracted its little sharp teeth.
Meng Shiwan asked, "Are all the survivors here?"
The man sighed, "The survivors from the fishing boats and saltworks are all here. A few others escaped from the edge of the village, but there are no other survivors."
The fishing village has a large population, many zombies, and few survivors. Even if a few survived, they wouldn't have lasted this long in this sweltering heat.
He saw that the people in front of him had rosy complexions and were in excellent condition, and did not seem to be lacking food or clothing.
He quickly introduced himself, "My name is Zhou Wen. Who are you? How did you get here?"
Tao Yarong didn't answer his question, but instead asked, "How did you survive these past two months?"
This factory doesn't look like a place where food is stored; you can't get full just by eating salt.
Zhou Wen explained, “We scavenge food from the fishing boats, and we go out to sea to fish every few days. We distill some seawater to make a meager living. If you have nowhere to go, you can stay here.”
He was very friendly, which surprised Tao Yarong.
It's truly rare to find someone who can maintain their original aspirations under such circumstances.
Tao Yarong and Zhou Wen were chatting, while Meng Shiwan wandered around the factory and, finding nothing unusual, felt relieved.
There were dried salted fish hanging on the machine, and some fresh water in the green bucket.
The survivors' lips were all cracked, indicating that they had very little water and were barely surviving.
What Zhou Wen said is true.
It's only been two months since the apocalypse began; it hasn't reached the point where people are eating each other yet.
Meng Shiwan called to Qiu Zhiyi, "Give them some water."
Qiu Zhiyi received instructions to condense water and fill the buckets in the corner with water.
The survivors' eyes lit up when they saw the water. They all scrambled off their bedding, grabbed various bottles and bowls, and gulped the water down their throats.
They had been thirsty for so long that they drank bowl after bowl, their bellies were bulging, yet they still wanted more.
Qiu Zhiyi stood to the side, and continued to give them water after they finished drinking.
Seeing this, Zhou Wen licked his lips in shock and said, "You, you are superhumans? Are you here to rescue us? Can you take us to the base? We can't hold on much longer here."
As he spoke, his voice choked with emotion, and glistening tears streamed down his face.
Lacking fresh water and unable to get enough to eat, their bodies grew weaker and weaker. In a while, they wouldn't even have the strength to go out to sea to fish, and they would just go hungry.
At that time, I was really not far from death.
They never expected that someone with superpowers would come; they are saved.
Tao Yarong replied, "We are people with superpowers, so don't panic."
Tao Yarong looked at Meng Shiwan, wanting to see Meng Shiwan's attitude.
Based on her understanding of Meng Shiwan, her sister wasn't the type to meddle in other people's business.
But with the base construction imminent and manpower needed, it might be able to save them.
Tao Yarong was undecided and didn't dare to make a promise to Zhou Wen.
Meng Shiwan did not respond to Tao Yarong; her gaze fell on a woman.
This woman was extremely thin; you could see the shape of her bones through her skin.
She fetched a bowl of water, drank a few sips herself, and then quickly carried the bowl toward her bedding.
Lying on the bedding was a little girl, about ten years old, very thin, with a sallow complexion, and her two ponytails were dry and frizzy.
She lay on the bamboo mat, her eyes closed, her brows furrowed as if in great pain.
I don't know if I had a nightmare or if I'm sick.
The woman carried water to call the little girl, "Lulu, Lulu, wake up! We have water to drink, lots and lots of water. Aren't you always saying you're thirsty? Get up and drink some water."
The little girl, who looked to be about ten years old, frowned, her chapped lips seeming to be saying something.
Meng Shiwan heard this and said, "Water, water..."
The woman put her ear to the little girl's mouth and listened carefully. "Lulu, there's water, lots of water. I'll feed you some."
She placed the bowl on the ground, lifted the little girl's upper body, leaned against her, and held the bowl of water to the little girl's mouth, pouring it into her mouth.
The little girl couldn't swallow it at all; water slid from the corner of her mouth onto her body.
The woman was so anxious that she could only take a sip herself and then pour it into the little girl's mouth, mouth to mouth.
Suddenly, the little girl started screaming, "Water, boiling water! It's boiling water falling from the sky! It hurts! It's so hot!"
Her voice was filled with terror, despair, and wailing.
The little girl's frail body seemed to be enduring great pain as she rolled back and forth on the straw mat.
The woman panicked and dropped the bowl she was holding, shattering it into pieces on the ground.
She quickly tried to hold the little girl down, but the little girl struggled hysterically and she couldn't hold her down at all.
"Lulu, it's not hot, it's cool water, what's wrong?"
Seeing that her youngest daughter was acting strangely, the woman quickly sought help, "Dr. Zhou, please take a look! Lulu has gone crazy again. What's wrong with her? She's never been like this before."
Zhou Wen, who was getting information from Tao Yarong, rushed over and called for several men to hold down the little girl's body to prevent her from rolling over.
Zhou Wen went to check the little girl's pupils and complexion.
He pried open Lulu's eyelids and found that her pupils were no longer visible, only the whites of her eyes remained.
Zhou Wen was startled and scratched his head, "This disease is really strange, I've never seen it before."
The woman, flustered, kept calling Lulu's name from the side.
Other survivors, seeing the commotion, came over to watch.
"Lulu has fallen ill again. What kind of strange illness does she have? It's really weird."
"If you say she's having nightmares, why would she have such a strong reaction to nightmares? But if you say it's not, she talks in her sleep every time."
"How could someone so young get such a strange disease? It must be so painful."
Lulu was still writhing wildly, screaming in pain.
Tao Yarong walked over and asked Qiu Zhiyi, "What illness does she have?"
Qiu Zhiyi shook his head. "It is indeed strange. I've never seen it before. How could the pupils turn completely white?"
Meng Shiwan stood to the side, recalling the little girl's words, her gaze growing increasingly deep.
She just said water, boiling water, boiling water falling from the sky...
Meng Shiwan was startled and quickly asked the middle-aged woman standing in front of her, "Has this young girl had this illness before? Several times? Was it like this before?"
The older woman turned her head and saw Meng Shiwan, and quickly responded enthusiastically, "It seems like it happened twice before. Once was at noon on the day of the zombie outbreak. Lulu kept crying during her nap, shouting that there were many scary people on the road, and she couldn't breathe from crying."
Lulu's mother quickly carried her to the village clinic, which was Dr. Zhou Wenzhou's house. However, before they could even see a doctor, the zombie outbreak occurred. They ran together towards this place, narrowly escaping death.
A few days after the second zombie outbreak, she had another nightmare, constantly complaining of heat and shortness of breath. Dr. Zhou couldn't figure out what was wrong. After an hour, Lulu woke up and was fine.
This is the third time they've been yelling that boiling water is falling from the sky. I don't know what's going on. You're all people with superpowers, why don't you take a look at Lulu? Maybe you'll have a solution."
Meng Shiwan's deep gaze gradually turned firm.
She was right; it was a precognitive ability.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com