Meng Lao Da and Meng Lao Er thanked the bespectacled monk and carried the hyena into the temple.
Zhao Xiaoxiu peeked out from under her father's raincoat, curiously examining the temple before her.
Except for the overgrown weeds on the roof, everything else was neatly tidied up.
It seems that this bespectacled monk has been living in the temple since the outbreak of the virus.
So many people come and go on the mountain, yet I never heard anyone in the base mention this temple.
However, the location here is also very secluded, surrounded by various pine and bamboo forests. If it weren't for the macaques leading the way, they would never have found it.
The monk with glasses has the Buddhist name Shanyuan.
He said, "The little monkey was raised by the abbot from a young age. After the virus outbreak, everyone fled down the mountain for their lives, but the little monkey was locked in a side room and couldn't escape. I rescued it..."
"It has evolved very well. It has cleaned up all the ghosts and mutated animals in the area. I am also grateful to it for surviving until now... After that, we stayed in the temple and grew our own vegetables. We made a living. We are vegetarian, so we won't starve."
As they spoke, the group followed Shanyuan from the backyard to the front of the main hall, where neatly cultivated vegetable plots were revealed before them.
Inside were pumpkins as big as wheels, bunches of pink tomatoes like bunches of grapes, sunflowers humming songs, and cabbages with rainbow gradient colors.
Seeing the stunned expressions on Zhao Xiaoxiu's face, Shan Yuan explained with amusement:
"These evolved vegetable varieties were found in the vegetable garden behind the temple. They look a bit strange, but they taste the same as before. They are virus-free and safe to eat."
Zhao Xiaoxiu's mind immediately conjured up all sorts of delicious food: stewed pumpkin soup, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, spiced melon seeds, shredded cabbage salad...
"Gurgle~"
Zhao Xiaoxiu subconsciously looked at her stomach.
Wait, it's not her stomach that's growling.
Tilting his head, he saw the Meng brothers staring at the strangely shaped, evolved vegetables in the field, swallowing hard and their eyes gleaming with greed.
The little monkey that had been following behind the group suddenly jumped into the vegetable garden, picked a bunch of tomatoes, and handed them to the Meng brothers.
Meng Lao Er almost couldn't resist taking it.
Having survived so many years in the apocalypse, he knew all too well that there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Moreover, in an environment where food is so scarce, these evolved vegetables are simply not something ordinary people like them can afford to eat.
When the Meng brothers refused, the little monkey took it to Zhao Gang and Zhao Xiaoxiu.
Zhao Gang is indifferent to human food.
Zhao Xiaoxiu's mouth was drooling, but she still buried her head in her father's chest, trying to avoid the temptation.
There was nothing she could do; she and her adoptive father simply couldn't afford the price of this food.
The little monkey was very confused. It scratched its cheek with its paw, unable to understand why these people didn't want it.
But they didn't want it; it loved it.
He hugged the tomato to his chest, sat on the ground, and happily ate it.
A rich, fresh tomato aroma instantly filled Zhao Xiaoxiu and the others' noses; nothing could be more tantalizing.
But I still have to pretend that I don't care, that I don't want it, that I'm not interested.
Shan Yuan's eyes darkened slightly as he saw that these people clearly wanted it but didn't.
How long has it been since I've seen someone with such a strong sense of principles?
The aroma of tomatoes awakened Zhao Xiaoxiu's hunger, so she looked up at the sky and the ground to distract herself.
She saw a mottled Buddha statue in the main hall.
Beside the main hall gate, a stone tablet stands crookedly. It must have been moved from some collapsed ruins and placed here, which seems a bit out of place.
I could vaguely make out the words "Yun Gu" written on the stone tablet.
Meng Lao Er suddenly had a flash of inspiration and slapped his forehead, "This is the ruins of Yungusi Temple?"
Shan Yuan looked at him with surprise, "You've been here before?"
Meng Lao Er: "I've seen it on the map at the entrance of the scenic area."
Shan Yuan smiled slightly, "The original buildings of Yungu Temple are long gone. These halls are replicas built later."
He put down the hoe next to the vegetable garden, led Zhao Xiaoxiu and the others to the small house next to the main hall, and gave them a pot of water to rest as they pleased.
This used to be the duty room for the temple's management staff, but the monitoring screen, which had long since stopped working, was covered with a thick layer of dust.
In the small room, there was a set of desks and chairs in the middle, a small bed against the wall, and various household tools hanging on the wall.
Shan Yuan took the sickle off the wall, picked up the empty vegetable basket from the house, and prepared to go to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables, saying he would treat them to a meal.
"Don't worry, I won't charge you. Just don't tell anyone that I have vegetables here."
Hearing that they wouldn't be charged, Zhao Xiaoxiu and the Meng brothers felt uneasy.
But upon hearing the last sentence, the two adults and one child instantly became expectant.
Only Zhao Gang showed no emotional fluctuation from beginning to end.
He put down the backpack on his back, untied Zhao Xiaoxiu from his front, carried her to a stool, picked up the kettle and teacup that Shanyuan had placed on the table, and poured her a glass of water.
Compared to the unfinished buildings at the base, Zhao Xiaoxiu felt that the temple in front of her was like a paradise.
There are no survivors fighting over a bite of food, no nauseatingly crowded and smelly passageways, and you can eat fresh vegetables.
The water here is a bit bitter. But it's good enough to have some water to drink.
etc.
Zhao Xiaoxiu paused in her drinking.
The little feet that had been swinging back and forth in anticipation of delicious food stopped swaying.
Something feels off.
He glanced at his living father and said, "Dad."
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