Xie Liuhai lingered in the room for a while but eventually still walked out.
He didn't want to stay in this place any longer; everything in the room felt somewhat oppressive to him.
The two men following him then also walked out.
The dim candlelight illuminated the old residential house.
"Brother Hai, what do we do now?" The injured man asked, his face pale from the loss of blood.
Xie Liuhai went to the door, checked the horizontal bolt again to make sure it was locked tight, and then said, "Seal that room up, let's rest up nicely tonight, and we'll set off tomorrow."
The two men nodded, went over, and directly sealed the room door.
The three of them then tidied things up a bit in another room.
This room actually had two wooden plank beds, and the bedding on them was somewhat musty. They shook out the bedding a little and it was okay enough to sleep in.
The weather in August was a bit hot, and it only cooled down at night; at this time, they could somewhat rest sleeping directly on the hard plank beds.
The night passed without words.
The next day, Xie Liuhai got out of bed early, ate something simple, and called the two men next to him.
But after calling them several times and seeing they were still in deep sleep,
somewhat impatient, he went over and slapped them awake.
"It's time to set off. Let's leave early to make good progress on the road," Xie Liuhai said impatiently.
The two men opened their eyes, their gaze somewhat vacant as they had just woken up, their beautiful dreams suddenly interrupted, they were bleary-eyed.
Xie Liuhai was speechless; in this kind of environment, these two men could actually sleep so soundly.
Meanwhile, he thought about that wild man all night and couldn't fall asleep; he couldn't understand why such a thing had happened.
"Hurry up," Xie Liuhai said.
The two men quickly got ready, and followed Xie Liuhai out of the house.
Dawn was breaking, under the morning sun, the mountains and forests were filled with mottled colors, blending lusciously with the greenery.
The few houses they had seen yesterday looked gloomy.
But now under the sunlight, they took on a rustic charm.
"Let's go," Xie Liuhai took the lead, heading towards the direction of the national highway.
According to the journey, it would take them roughly 3 hours to reach their destination.
And so the group set off.
Previously, when Xie Liuhai was scavenging for supplies in the area, he had come across a team, and one of the sub-leaders was a friend from before, with whom he had a pretty good relationship.
He had tried to recruit him before, but later Xie Liuhai thought staying in Jiefang City was quite comfortable. There was enough food, and he also had a certain status.
If it weren't for these displaced people messing things up, he should still be enjoying himself right now.
Food, although still available, would still pose some danger for the three of them in this post-apocalyptic world.
Of course, humans might be more dangerous than zombies.
But this friend, with whom he had a good relationship, was someone he wanted to try his luck with.
To see what their situation was like.
The three of them thus headed towards the east direction of the national highway, not moving fast but not slow either.
After about three and a half hours of walking.
It was midday, with the sun blazing overhead.
The three of them were parched and dry-mouthed.
"Brother Hai, how much farther to the place you mentioned?"
Xie Liuhai glanced at a small town that had come into view ahead, which according to his friend, should be nearby.
"Let's check out this town first." A hint of indecision also flashed in Xie Liuhai's eyes.
He, in fact, was also wondering whether or not it was reliable to seek out this friend of his.
After all, most of the supplies he had were already snatched away by the refugees, and the little he had left was not enough to sustain them.
Food was now precious, and joining them might not necessarily result in getting some help with it.
But in this apocalypse, relying on just the three of them, if they encountered even a small increase in zombie numbers, it would be difficult to resist.
As for being accepted, he had already thought of a speech. He had come to know from those refugees that there was a well-supplied base in Xin City.
He had seen people from this base before and had even witnessed them kill.
To join this group from the East, one must have some value.
Besides being able to slash zombies, he planned to leak the entire base of Li Yu and their group to this power in the East.
He would simply exaggerate that the group in Xin City had plentiful resources and a significant influence.
To pass on the information was his role; whether they wanted to go and plunder was their business.
He was merely responsible for delivering the information as a bargaining chip for joining them.
They stayed in this small town for over an hour.
Suddenly, a person came walking from outside the town. Xie Liuhai had seen this person before; it was his friend's teammate.
So he ran out from under the eaves and waved and shouted, "Hey! We've met before, remember me? I'm a friend of Old Zhong. He even asked me to join you guys."
Xie Liuhai's sudden appearance startled the man.
A few more people emerged behind this man.
They were all people who had seen Xie Liuhai before; now they saw the three of Xie Liuhai.
They stood there watching them, their Long Knifes faintly pointing towards them.
"Me? I'm a friend of Old Zhong. We met last time, remember?" said Xie Liuhai.
The people opposite seemed to recognize him, and they whispered to each other for a bit.
Xie Liuhai was patient, waiting for them to finish their conversation.
With a smile, he quietly watched them.
"Do you have something for Brother Zhong?" An older man asked Xie Liuhai.
"Er, it's a long story. Can you take me to see Brother Zhong?" Xie Liuhai asked politely, with a smile on his face.
"Brother Zhong is at the back; I'll call him. Just wait a moment."
Xie Liuhai didn't approach. Even though they had met before, acting rashly would only raise their guard.
The older man said a few words to a teenager about fourteen or fifteen years old. The kid sprinted to the back – it seemed he was going to call Brother Zhong.
The boy returned with a man wearing a red scarf.
Xie Liuhai's face lit up with joy when he saw the man, shouting, "Brother Zhong, it's me, Little Hai. I've come to join you."
The man with the red scarf had an odd attire; his whole outfit was primarily black and red, but the most striking was the red scarf on his chest.
The red scarf was tied ingeniously. On him, it gave the impression of a trendy, fashionable vibe – an ordinary red scarf on his body seemed to embody an avant-garde trend.
The red scarf man recognized Xie Liuhai.
Approaching, he asked, "Why have you come to find me? Last time I told you to join us, and you refused. What's happening now?"