Chapter 172: The Rain Stops
Zhuang Mingxu’s smile faded slightly. Zhuang Ai Yi shrank into Lu Weiyi’s arms, avoiding eye contact, clearly not wanting to get too close to Yun Lu. Lu Weiyi noticed and said, “No need.”
“I really like children. I can help take care of Ai Yi, consider it practice for looking after kids,” Yun Lu said, hinting strongly. Hearing this from a young girl made several of the grown men speechless, but the speaker didn’t seem to notice.
However, Lu Weiyi, with his unique way of thinking, immediately interpreted Yun Lu’s words as her using his child as practice. He couldn’t understand her confidence in trying to take care of his son, and the look of distaste on his face was evident. Just as he was about to make a sarcastic comment, Guan Tong quickly came over with an excuse and pulled Yun Lu out of the room.
If it weren’t for your usefulness…
Lu Weiyi gritted his teeth, continuing to feed Zhuang Ai Yi porridge.
“Mom, what are you doing?” Yun Lu was very displeased at being pulled away by Guan Tong at a crucial moment.
“Lu Lu, are you not thinking clearly? Can’t you see that the entire team doesn’t welcome us here?” Guan Tong, frustrated with her daughter’s behavior, didn’t know what else to say.
“As long as Weiyi hasn’t said anything, they can’t do anything,” Yun Lu said, confident that as long as she held on to Lu Weiyi, she didn’t have to care about the others’ attitudes.
“Can’t you see he’s gay and has no interest in you?” Guan Tong whispered, losing her patience.
“He’s not! It’s all because of that disgusting bastard Zhuang Mingxu forcing him into it. Ji Lin told me everything,” Yun Lu replied with righteous indignation, as though Lu Weiyi were rightfully hers.
“Lu Lu,” Guan Tong tried to calm her voice, “Look outside. So many people are starving, freezing, and being washed away by the flood. We’ve survived, and that’s already a blessing. Now we need to focus on contributing to the team and staying here, not on these fantasies.”
“Are you my mother? I’m young and beautiful, and I deserve to find an outstanding boyfriend. Why is it a fantasy in your eyes?” Yun Lu, upset and angry at being scolded by her mother, continued, “What do you think I’m with Weiyi for? It’s to make sure we can stay here proudly! How can you say that about me?”
“But Lu Weiyi has no feelings for you,” Guan Tong hissed.
“He doesn’t? It’s all that disgusting Zhuang Mingxu’s fault,” Yun Lu retorted, her tone full of anger, as if she were speaking about something that had been stolen from her.
“Lu Weiyi!” Guan Tong didn’t get to finish her sentence when Lu Weiyi and his team hurriedly walked toward them after finishing their meal. She quickly controlled her emotions and greeted them.
“Mm,” Lu Weiyi nodded. “Qingyue said Ai Yi needs an IV to stabilize. Keep an eye on him.”
After speaking, Lu Weiyi elegantly flipped through the window and directly jumped onto the boat that was docked outside. Following him, the remaining five also flipped out and stood on the yacht. Antonio checked the fuel level, and Ning Yuan started the boat and sped off.
Yun Lu stood at the door, staring at their departing figures with a dreamy look on her face. Guan Tong opened her mouth, exhaustion written all over her face, and shook her head in disappointment before heading toward Zhuang Ai Yi’s room.
*
The Rain Stopped
Once the heavy rain stopped, the floodwaters visibly receded and slowed down.
In just one day, many families had quickly made various makeshift water tools. By seven o’clock, the surrounding waters were filled with all kinds of tools. Many people were gathered around the warehouse area, and every so often, someone could be seen diving with ropes tied to their bodies, bringing things up from below.
“Human potential is always limitless,” Li Qing said as he watched the crowd busying themselves once again.
The others were thinking instead about where they would go to find resources after they dredged these up.
“Where are you going? We’ll send you there. Also, do we still need the other three boats? We need to find supplies too,” Li Zhuang interrupted Li Qing’s musings.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Li Qing responded. He joked, “No handmade tool could compare to a machine; at this point, the boat is like a cheat. Even if we use up some fuel, it’s something everyone is fighting to use. With so many of us, we should also go get some supplies.”
“Fine, but don’t take too long getting back,” Li Zhuang said casually. Since Lu Weiyi had space, just one boat was enough. Bringing back more boats would just be for show. It would be better to lend them out as favors.
“Don’t worry, I won’t lend it out. Just take me to the Greenfield neighborhood. You’re going there to get supplies too, right? We can go together.”
“Alright,” Ning Yuan said, carefully maneuvering the boat through the manual workers. He was careful not to go too fast, worried that the wake might knock them into the water. Although the water flow wasn’t fast anymore, it was still three to four meters deep, and falling in would still be dangerous.
At the Greenfield neighborhood, three boats had already started working. In addition, the soldiers had made various wooden rafts, which were densely packed on the water’s surface, seemingly built overnight.
The group dropped off Li Qing before heading off to find their thousands of kilograms of potatoes.
“Where’s the large shed we stored things in? The one that got flooded?” Ning Yuan bent down to try and see if he could spot it in the water, but the flood was too murky to distinguish anything beneath the surface.
“It should be over here,” Antonio pointed to a bare area, earning a disdainful look from Ning Yuan. “Looks like finding someone else’s warehouse won’t be easy either.”
“We’ll have to go underwater,” Li Zhuang said, quickly stripping down to just his underwear. He grabbed a rope from the boat and dove in.
After changing positions several times and taking in some fresh air, they barely managed to find the shed they had set up earlier. This time, it was Lu Weiyi’s turn to dive in, and he went straight into the water to retrieve the shed and everything inside.
“Is the shed damaged? Did we lose any potatoes?” Ning Yuan asked as soon as Lu Weiyi emerged.
“No, the front houses absorbed the impact of the flood. The water only entered here, and the potatoes are fine,” Lu Weiyi replied, taking the large towel Wu Yue handed him to dry off. “The water’s cold; staying in it too long could cause cramps.”
“We’ll rotate,” Antonio said, undoing his buttons and preparing for his turn.
As the boat moved through the area, at first, people were cautious, but soon, the people who had gone underwater started struggling and shaking the ropes violently. The people on the rafts desperately pulled them out and managed to rescue one person—though the person was covered in blood and had two zombies attached to their body, tearing them apart.
“Run! The blood’s attracting zombies!” Ning Yuan shouted as he stood on the boat, watching the water swirl around them.
The people on the rafts froze in shock, and zombies appeared suddenly, pulling the already torn body away to feast on it.
The panicked crowd scattered. The rafts weren’t stable, especially in the water. In their frenzy, someone fell into the water. As a cry for help rang out, they were pulled under by a swarm of zombies that had appeared out of nowhere. Within moments, blood flowed from the water, quickly dissipating into the murky floodwaters.
Soon, zombies started clawing at the rafts. The rafts swayed, and in the chaos, more people fell into the water, screaming for help. Within minutes, the area became a slaughterhouse, and all the tools floating on the water silently watched the brutal massacre unfold from a distance.
“We… just watch?” Ning Yuan felt uneasy inside.
“Ning Yuan, bring the boat closer. I’ll hold onto the raft and try to pull them out,” Lu Weiyi said. He knew just how hard it was to survive after experiencing the earthquakes, zombies, and floods.
“Lie down and hold onto the raft. I’ll pull you out,” Lu Weiyi said, taking a megaphone from his space and shouting at the panicked crowd. At the same time, he used his small green branch to tie the nearest raft, and as Ning Yuan started the boat, Lu Weiyi hauled it in.
Of the twelve rafts, fewer than fifty people survived. They stared blankly at their comrades in the water, screaming and howling, until only a trace of blood remained, and the air was filled with the sound of sobbing.
Not far from here, a crowd that had been watching also started encountering zombies pulling people in. The once-crowded water route quickly emptied as the crowd realized that supplies were not as important as survival.
“Shall we go back?” Ning Yuan asked Lu Weiyi.
“You think I’m just going to throw away all these crystals that came to us?” Lu Weiyi replied with a look of disbelief. “Let’s go in. I’ll handle the hunting. Everyone else, be on the lookout for zombie attacks.”
Until the zombies were dealt with, there was no sense in letting their guard down. With them being downstream, there were countless zombies being washed down, so Lu Weiyi decided to take advantage of the situation and hunt for himself.
“Don’t worry, water is my domain.” Ning Yuan said boastfully, just as a water arrow shot up from the flood, heading straight for his forehead. Antonio quickly used his metal dagger to form a thin shield and blocked it just in time, preventing Ning Yuan from being pierced.
“You can do it, others can too,” Lu Weiyi quickly dipped the small green branch into the water, snapping the necks of several zombies below while collecting the crystal cores from their brains.
“That was careless, very careless,” Ning Yuan patted his chest, feeling a little afraid. “The zombies are getting stronger.”
“Everyone is leveling up, those who lag behind will suffer,” Li Zhuang said, vigilantly looking around. The water wasn’t friendly for him as an earth-type ability user.
With this reminder, the group didn’t encounter any more surprise attacks. Lu Weiyi spent the whole day gathering crystal cores, leaving everything else aside. In the afternoon, he also brought Gu Qingji along. With his special spring vine ability, hunting zombies in the water gave him a clear advantage.
That evening, Gu Qingji handed over all the crystal cores he had collected to Lu Weiyi, totaling over 300, almost the same as what they had earned earlier in the morning.
“1,864,” Zhuang Mingxu counted all the crystal cores Lu Weiyi had given him and packed them into 100-gram bags. “This is even more than what you all collected during a whole day of hunting zombies.”
