Chapter 16: Uncle!

Until, as time passed,

the two slowly grew up,

and for some unknown reason, their relationship drifted further and further apart.

Later, when they went to university, they headed to different cities.

Contact became even scarcer.

As Youyou lamented, Li Yu spotted Lai Xiyue teaching the younger ones.

She had an egg-shaped face and a high ponytail, with an aura of youth drifting through the air.

Her jeans were stretched tight by long, slender legs; as she held a book,

she exuded an air of intellect.

As if sensing Li Yu's gaze, Lai Xiyue looked up, her eyes meeting his.

The two nodded to each other, saying nothing more.

During this period of living together, nothing had happened to reveal the baseness of human nature.

Hunger tests humanity, but the abundance of food in the base allowed their moral baseline to remain intact.

Coupled with the fact that they were mostly related, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

The rain continued to fall. Taking advantage of this time, Li Yu began teaching everyone indoors how to deal with zombies.

Everyone had basically learned how to use crossbows and blades.

Even four-year-old Li Suxin was holding a dagger, learning how to use it.

In the apocalypse, protecting a child does not mean letting them live in a false state of innocence,

but rather giving them as much happiness as possible while helping them adapt to the end of the world.

The torrential rain had fallen continuously for ten days.

On this day, the rain gradually began to subside.

The heavy downpour turned into a light drizzle.

After the rain, the sky cleared, and a rainbow hung over the mountain pond,

appearing as if it connected the two mountains.

Looking at the sky where the rain had stopped, Li Yu prepared to head out.

During this time, his aunt and mother had been constantly worrying about his uncle.

In truth, there were still family members outside the base: his second uncle, his young aunt, and his third uncle's family.

But they were too far away, and things were currently too unstable; going to find them would be too dangerous.

To put it bluntly, in this peril-filled apocalypse, especially after such a massive rainstorm,

it was unknown what their current state was.

However, his uncle's place of duty was in a township below the county seat, which wasn't far from here.

Thus, Li Yu planned to go out and look for him.

On the other hand, he also planned to stop by the county police station to see if he could obtain some firearms.

For this trip, Li Yu intended to bring more people.

Originally, his father, Li Hongyuan, wanted to go out as well, but Li Yu persuaded him to stay behind.

The old father looked at his son, his heart filled with sighs, but even more so with pride.

Li Yu, Li Hang, Fourth Uncle, Uncle Lai, and Xiao Lue.

Originally, Li Yu did not intend to bring Xiao Lue, fearing that if something happened to his uncle, Xiao Lue wouldn't be able to handle it.

But unable to withstand Xiao Lue's pleas,

and seeing the pleading look in the boy's eyes, Li Yu finally agreed.

He basically brought Uncle Lai every time they went out, and Uncle Lai never complained.

The others were all Li Yu's relatives; only his family had no blood relation.

Although they were on very good terms, Uncle Lai felt that he couldn't just eat and live there for free.

Otherwise, his conscience wouldn't be at peace, so he was always the first to volunteer whenever they were going out.

Li Yu saw this and knew what Uncle Lai was thinking, but he didn't say much.

After all, Uncle Lai was a fierce fighter, a man of integrity, and willing to follow orders.

Having Uncle Lai along gave Li Yu more confidence.

They drove two cars, a group of five people.

Before leaving, Li Yu instructed his father and second uncle that no matter what situation or person they encountered, they were not to open the gates.

Once the gates opened, a few dozen meters away, several corpses had become swollen and foul-smelling from being soaked in water.

Flies swarmed densely over the bodies.

To avoid a plague, Li Yu wore gloves and moved the corpses into the woods, digging a simple pit to bury them.

The journey was a mess.

Some poorly constructed old houses had partially collapsed, with half their walls gone.

It was a scene of ruin.

"Xiao Lue, your dad went to Laowu Village, right?" Li Yu asked, looking at Liu Jinglue sitting in the back seat.

"Yes! When he called, that's what he said."

Hearing this, Li Yu had Uncle Lai navigate.

Before his rebirth, Li Yu had always been away from home and was only familiar with the area around his house and the county seat.

Uncle Lai had always stayed home, following his father to deliver gas pipes all over the county, so he was very familiar with the local areas.

Uncle Lai checked the paper map repeatedly and nodded in confirmation; this was the place.

"Go straight first, then..."

Li Yu drove according to Uncle Lai's directions.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at Laowu Village.

However, as soon as the car reached the village entrance, they couldn't go in.

Looking at the village submerged in water, the group fell into silence.

Laowu Village was itself a low-lying area in the county and was also the place where the zombie outbreak first occurred.

It was estimated that everyone inside was already dead.

Looking at the expanse of water before them, only a few houses on higher ground had their rooftops visible.

Xiao Lue instantly broke down, shouting toward the front: "Dad! It's me, Xiao Lue! Where are you?"

His cries created echoes in the low-lying area.

The sound reverberated continuously throughout the valley

"Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?"

Hearing this, Li Yu quickly said, "Xiao Lue, stop shouting! You'll attract the zombies!"

Because he was anxious, his tone carried some emotion.

Just as Li Yu finished speaking, several zombie roars came from a hundred meters away.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lue immediately calmed down and looked at everyone sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, I... I..." Before he could finish, Li Yu patted his shoulder.

"It's okay, I understand, but don't do that next time."

Listening to the sounds of the zombies getting closer and closer,

Li Yu signaled everyone to get back in the car and flee the area.

If the surrounding zombies swarmed them, it would be trouble.

The five of them wouldn't be enough to feed them all!

Everyone scrambled into the cars, and the roar of the off-road vehicle's engine once again agitated the surrounding zombies.

To the right of the village entrance, dozens of zombies were chasing them, with even more faintly visible behind them!

And from the water directly ahead, several more actually emerged!

The off-road vehicle instantly accelerated, leaving the area.

The zombies chasing from behind continued to pursue, but after running for a while,

they realized they couldn't keep up and stood in place, roaring.

Only after the car had traveled over a thousand meters did everyone breathe a sigh of relief,

still feeling the lingering fear.

As the off-road vehicle drove along the road, scattered zombies wandered aimlessly beside the national highway.

Upon hearing the sound of the two engines, the zombies began to chase as if they had gone mad.

Along the way, some broken-down cars were parked haphazardly on the road.

Various debris blocked the path.

Li Yu and Uncle Lai got out to clear the way, while the other three kept watch nearby.

In some of the cars parked on the highway, zombies could even be heard roaring from inside.

Upon seeing them, Li Yu and the others killed them with a single strike.

This road was truly difficult to traverse; the heavy rain had washed much soil onto the ground,

making it incredibly muddy.

Moving stop and go, they finally reached the county seat.

(End of Chapter)