Most of the snow in the yard had already melted, though the temperature was still very low.
Suo Tian was standing in a corner of the yard, looking down at something.
I tightened my cotton coat and walked toward him.
He must have noticed my footsteps, because he turned to glance at me.
I asked, "What are you looking at?"
Suo Tian shifted slightly to the side and tilted his chin toward the spot in front of him. "Cellar."
Cellar? I followed his gaze and saw that it really was a small entrance to an underground passage.
Just as I was about to crane my neck to look inside, I was startled by Uncle Gazi suddenly popping out of the pitch-black opening.
"Uncle Gazi!" I gasped.
Once I recovered, I held my chest and asked, "What are you doing in there?"
Seeing that he'd scared me, Uncle Gazi scratched his head sheepishly and laughed, "Did I scare you, girl?"
Before I could answer, he handed out a big sack from inside.
Suo Tian stepped forward and took it from him.
"What's that?" I asked curiously, eyeing the bag in Suo Tian's hands.
"Sweet potatoes. The kind you had yesterday, girl. There's plenty more down here. Figured I'd take some out so we can roast a few more today," Uncle Ga said as he nimbly climbed out of the small opening.
He turned around and stuffed random things over the entrance to block it, then covered it with a white plastic sheet and weighed it down with two bricks.
Finally, he clapped the dust off his hands and stood up.
Back inside the house, as I watched Uncle Ga toss the sweet potatoes into the kang stove, a sudden thought struck me.
I quickly asked,
"Uncle Gazi, all this time you and Tingyun have been drinking well water, right?"
When we first arrived in the yard, I'd noticed an old-fashioned well—the kind with a lever you pump up and down to get water.
Uncle Gazi was squatting by the kang and turned to glance at me with a puzzled look.
"Of course we have. What else is there to drink besides well water?"
At his response, I turned to glance at Suo Tian and saw that he, too, had furrowed his brows slightly.
"They've never made you sick?" I asked again.
Uncle Gazi threw the last sweet potato into the kang, stood up, and after thinking for a moment, his expression lit up with sudden realization.
"Girl, I get what you're trying to say now. You're wondering if the reason people have turned into those... half-human, half-ghoul things is because of the water?"
I was caught off guard, then smiled and replied,
"Not exactly. It's just that we stayed in another village for a few days, and some people there fell ill for no apparent reason—diarrhea, malaria, that sort of thing. So I was wondering if the water might've had something to do with it."
Uncle Gazi frowned after hearing that.
He thought for a good while before answering,
"I really couldn't say. But the water Yuntou'er and I use—I always boil it first and store it in a thermos. We've never had any issues with it."
Seeing that Uncle Gazi looked serious, I quickly waved my hand and said,
"Uncle Gazi, don't worry about what I said. It's just a guess, after all. And since you and Tingyun have been drinking it all this time without any problems, that probably means the guess was wrong."
Uncle Gazi nodded and seemed to ponder a bit more, but just then Tingyun—just waking up—called out, "Grandpa!"
That snapped him out of his thoughts, and he happily went over to help his granddaughter get dressed.
Still half-asleep, Tingyun glanced up at me.
Her little face froze for a second, then she whispered something in her grandpa's ear.
After hearing it, Uncle Gazi burst into loud laughter.
Curious, I asked,
"What did the little one say?"
Uncle Gazi chuckled again, lifted the now fully dressed Tingyun from the kang, and said to me with a grin,
"My granddaughter said, Auntie pretty kissed her this morning and now she's feeling pretty all day."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tingyun gave his leg a smack and looked up at him with a face full of betrayed expression—like "how could you tell my secret?"
I couldn't help but burst into laughter, completely amused by the pair of them.
Since both Tingyun and I had gotten up late, we ended up combining breakfast and lunch into one meal.
Besides the sweet potatoes from the kang, Uncle Gazi even went to the kitchen to cook us a bowl of beans.
As we sat at the kang table eating, I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
After all, Uncle Gazi had been doing everything—running around and preparing meals—while Suo Tian and I were basically just freeloading.
Turning my head, I glanced at Suo Tian, who was once again spacing out while eating—his habitual mealtime distraction syndrome flaring up—and thought to myself... this guy probably doesn't feel even a little bit embarrassed.
After lunch, we didn't rush to clean up the kang table.
Instead, we first discussed the matter we'd brought up last night about heading to the shelter.
It was clear Uncle Gazi took the matter very seriously.
His usual cheerful expression was gone as he held Tingyun in his arms, his face noticeably more solemn.
"What do you two think—when would be the best time for us to leave?" he asked.
"I took a look outside this morning, and it seems the walker herd passed through fairly quickly. Judging from the state of the alley, there probably aren't too many left in the village. If we go in the next couple of days, I think we can handle it."
Suo Tian clearly had a plan in mind.
As soon as Uncle Gazi finished asking, he answered,
"Tomorrow morning."
Uncle Gazi was surprised. "So soon?"
I stepped in and explained,
"Uncle Gazi, the two of us got separated from the group we were with. They're probably already at the shelter waiting for us, so we can't afford to delay too long."
Hearing that, Uncle Gazi nodded quickly and said,
"You're right. Tomorrow it is, then. I'll go start packing our things in a bit."
I replied,
"Uncle Gazi, we'll help you pack later—no rush on that. First, we should go over tomorrow's route and what to do if we run into any trouble along the way."
"Handling it? Isn't it just about chopping down the walkers? I know—you gotta go for the head," Uncle Gaai said.
I chuckled and replied,
"It's not that simple. Right now, we count as a small team. Even though it looks like we'll only need to be out for two days, the potential dangers are just too many—we need to avoid them as much as possible. Chopping down walkers is just one part of it. What we should really do is steer clear of them whenever we can."
Uncle Gazi nodded. "Then you go ahead and explain, girl. I really don't know much about this kind of thing."
I laughed, "There's no real trick to it—it's just that we've been drifting around out there longer, so we've picked up a few methods."
I then pointed at Suo Tian sitting beside me.
"Let him explain the route and such. I don't know a thing about that stuff."
Suo Tian glanced at me, then said to Uncle Gazi,
"Just make sure you stick close."
Uncle Gazi was stunned for a moment.
"That's it?" he asked, giving me a puzzled look.
I rolled my eyes at Suo Tian and told Uncle Gazi,
"What he means is to play things by ear. If something does happen, staying quiet is absolutely the right call. Suo Tian will signal us with hand gestures when it's time to act—like 'stay quiet,' 'fall back,' 'hide,' or 'charge.' Stuff like that. It's all easy to understand at a glance."
Uncle Gazi nodded. "Sounds like you two have had more than your share of close calls, huh?"
"Exactly," I said. "When you're out there, if you're not always on full alert, you could lose your life at any moment."
"Aiyo, what am I gonna do? I'm just a rough old guy. I can chop up those useless things just fine, but if I've gotta be paying attention to this and that… I don't really trust myself," Uncle Gazi said, sounding a bit worried about setting out tomorrow.
I realized I might have made things sound more intense than they really were, so I quickly tried to reassure him,
"Honestly, it's just a two-day trip. If we're lucky and find a vehicle, we might even make it in a day. It's not as scary as I made it sound."
"A vehicle?" Uncle Gazi seemed to think of something, then said regretfully,
"There was a car—only one in the whole village—belonged to the village head's son. If you two can drive, we could really make use of it. It's just… no one knows where the key is. We can't risk it all just to go hunting for some tiny key, right?"
My eyes lit up. "There's really a car in the village?!"
Uncle Gazi didn't quite understand why I was suddenly so excited and reminded me again,
"There is, sure—but no key."
I grinned and pointed confidently at Suo Tian.
"As long as the car is there, the key doesn't matter. This guy right here? He's a born-and-bred walking master key."
............
Unless someone had their brain slammed in a door, there's no reason not to use a car.
After a bit of discussion, we decided to set out immediately for the village chief's house to get the vehicle back.
It would also be a good chance for Uncle Gazi to get a feel for how to operate as part of a team, so we decided the three of us would go together.
Wang Tingyun, probably used to being left at home alone, followed us out like a little trooper and even properly latched the front gate behind us.
As soon as we stepped outside, four or five walkers at the end of the alley spotted us and let out screeches as they came charging our way.
Suo Tian drew his blade, glanced back at me and Uncle Gazi, and quickly ordered, "Stay close!" before dashing forward.
Uncle Gazi had never seen Suo Tian in action before and just assumed he was some ordinary young guy.
Seeing him charge in so suddenly, he got flustered and shouted,
"Why are you so impulsive, young man?! Come back! There's a bunch of those walkers—how are you supposed to handle them alone?!"
I motioned to Uncle Gazi with my hand.
"It's fine. He can handle it."
No sooner had I said that than Suo Tian was already right up in front of the walkers.
Just as he swung his blade, a few more walkers suddenly appeared around the corner of the alley.
My eyes widened—why were there so many?
Seeing more than a dozen of them now, I quickly drew my own dagger and turned to Uncle Gazi, saying urgently,
"Looks like you really do have to lend a hand this time!"
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