Zhou Quchuan had a grass straw in his mouth, lying on the grass, with his head resting on his hands, eyes half-closed, looking as if he was partially asleep.
His position was not far from Zhao Lian's, but he was easygoing and not at all worried that Zhao Lian would discover him.
With her abilities, when she got up and left, he could already return to the small cabin and pretend to be asleep.
However, this woman's survival skills in the wild were barely adequate; it took her a long time just to catch such a small fish. The rabbit she managed to catch yesterday was probably due to her having some inexplicable luck, and if he didn't act quickly, they would both probably end up hungry and thirsty.
So he decided to speed up his recovery, and tomorrow he would get out of bed. As for the reason, he could attribute it to his unusually fast recovery ability, as nowadays there were many "gifted" individuals, so it wasn't strange at all for him to have the special ability to heal quickly after being injured.
Nevertheless, from his regular observations, Zhou Quchuan knew why Zhao Lian stayed in this area and did not leave, because this area had originally belonged to the "Lava Blast Dragon" that he had killed.
With such a big guy around, other mutated beasts and large predators dared not enter.
Now that the Lava Blast Dragon had been dead for more than three days, its aura still lingered, keeping this area in a calm state.
In his view, however, this calm would be broken in no more than three days.
Some mutated beasts were very sensitive, and they could definitely detect that the aura in this area was rapidly diminishing. When that time came, this area would be swarmed by new arrivals.
But that woman probably had no idea about these behind-the-scenes matters and might even think she was just lucky to find a rare "safe area."
If she hadn't "saved" him, she might have been torn apart and eaten by those swarms of approaching mutated beasts in a few days.
Zhou Quchuan thought to himself, he might as well kindly remind her; he could consider it as a reward for the bowl of meat soup.
The sun gradually slanted westward, and from the quiet movements on Zhao Lian's side, it seemed that today's catch should be good.
Zhou Quchuan seemed to be able to see every time she held the fish in her hand and unhooked it, the brilliant smile on her face, similar to when she drank the meat soup before. She was an easy-to-please person.
After lying down for a while, Zhou Quchuan's eyebrows suddenly twitched. He spit out the grass straw in his mouth, and his figure suddenly disappeared from where he was standing.
The next second, his figure reappeared at a certain place in the woods a kilometer away.
At this moment, he was standing on a thin branch of a not very tall tree, but he didn't make the branch bend, as if his whole body had no weight at all.
Not far away was a not very wide river, and at this moment, only a leopard was drinking water by the riverbank.
Judging by the pattern, it seemed to be a leopard; however, unlike the ordinary leopard, this one was larger, even reaching the size of a Siberian tiger. Moreover, it had a horn growing on its forehead, a curved horn that looked like lightning.
Just by looking at its appearance, it was clear that this was a mutated leopard.
The mutated leopard seemed very vigilant, constantly scanning its surroundings while drinking water, but what was even more surprising was that there seemed to be a hint of human-like puzzlement on its face.
Just as it was about to finish drinking water and leave, it suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure behind itself.
The mutated leopard's fur bristled all over suddenly, like a big cat that had been startled, and it leaped to the other side of the river.
It arched its body, its mouth emitting a low growl that was extremely threatening.
Zhou Quchuan was momentarily taken aback by its reaction. He hadn't expected this mutated leopard to be so timid. This was different from the other mutated beasts he had encountered before; those mutated beasts were usually more aggressive and filled with the desire to attack humans, and wouldn't be frightened by such an exaggerated reaction.
And this mutated leopard, judging from its eyes and facial expressions, obviously had higher intelligence.
In that case, Zhou Quchuan no longer held back either; he let out a bit of his aura and coldly said, "This will be my territory from now on, so back off!"
Startled by his aura, the mutated leopard cowered, suddenly tucked its tail, and wailed as it fled far behind.
Watching the mutated leopard's figure, Zhou Quchuan thought for a moment, then released his aura once again, dispelling the lingering aura of the previous Lava Blast Dragon, and filled the space with his own "scent."
This "scent" was mainly used to target and warn other mutated beasts and large predators, which would otherwise have no effect on ordinary small animals. It wasn't as "domineering" as that of the Lava Blast Dragon.
After bringing this three-kilometer-wide area under his protection, Zhou Quchuan turned to leave, but noticed a wild rabbit quietly sticking its head out from a hole in the distance.
Wild rabbits are very alert; it cautiously emerged from the cave opening, its nose and whiskers constantly moving, carefully watchful of its surroundings.
However, the next moment, its ears were suddenly grabbed and lifted by someone, and its hind legs kicked desperately.
Zhou Quchuan looked at the gray wild rabbit in his hand and snapped his fingers next to it. The rabbit suddenly froze, no longer struggling. When Zhou Quchuan put it down on the ground, it suddenly dashed off like an arrow in a certain direction.
On the other side, next to Zhao Lian, the small bucket was already filled with a full bucket of fish. Today could be considered a big harvest. At first, she was quite happy, but gradually a hint of doubt arose in her heart—
She had been here for several days, coming to this river every day, but at first couldn't catch any fish at all. Why were there suddenly more fish today?
Having more fish in the river seemed like a good thing, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Thinking about this, she put away the fishing rod, picked up the bucket, and planned to go back to tell Achuan and check the surrounding environment again.
As she retraced her steps, already seeing the house ahead, a gray rabbit suddenly darted out from the nearby bushes, ramming into a large rock not far from her, killing itself.
Zhao Lian: "..."
Carrying the rabbit and the bucket back to the house, she saw Achuan sitting quietly on the bed. When he saw her come in, he slightly pursed his lips, as if he wanted to smile at her and say something, but ultimately didn't say anything.
Zhao Lian didn't mind. She just felt that he had been hurt before and couldn't quickly become familiar with her. It was quite normal to be reserved. Plus, Achuan's appearance was too handsome, coupled with his current expression, it gave people a feeling of obedience, just like the little golden retriever her family once brought back.
As a senior admirer of beauty, she couldn't bring herself to dislike such a face.
Zhou Quchuan didn't know what she was thinking, he was just trying to act the part of someone who had lost their memory and was injured and unable to move. He didn't know why he had gone to such lengths, maybe he just wanted to quietly stay in this place for a while.
Coincidentally, this woman was very good at taking care of others, and she had a kind of unique temperament that seemed to bring peace to the people around her, which would be very useful for his next spiritual cultivation and realization.
Zhao Lian raised the two things in her hands and smiled at Zhou Quchuan: "It's true that good people are rewarded. After saving you, your luck has improved. Today, I caught a lot of fish and even found a rabbit that knocked itself dead in front of me. If it were possible, I’d want to ‘wait for the rabbit every day’.”
Zhou Quchuan thought to himself: Even if it's once a day, you should have noticed the problem by now.
Putting the things in the corner, Zhao Lian started to prepare the fish. They had already eaten rabbit meat for lunch, so they could have some fish soup for dinner.
"I actually thought of something, that's why I came back early," she said to Zhou Quchuan as she scaled the fish. Seeing him looking at her quietly, as if listening attentively, she smiled slightly and continued, "In fact, when I first arrived here, I could hardly catch any fish in the river, and the weirdest thing was that there weren't many wild animals by the river to drink water."
"But today, the fish suddenly increased, and when I was fishing by the river for three hours, I noticed more small animals on the other side of the river searching for food. Don't you find that strange?"
After asking, it seemed that she didn’t expect an answer from Zhou Quchuan. She mused to herself, "I suspect that this place may have originally been the territory of some large wild beast or mutated animal, and perhaps there was an accident that caused its death or disappearance, otherwise this phenomenon cannot be explained."
Listening to her own questions and answers, Zhou Quchuan was stunned for a moment; he didn't expect this woman to be not as foolish as he had imagined. Almost everything she had guessed was close to the truth.
The fact that she could make such a guess based on the sudden increase in fish in the river and the presence of small animals on the bank proved that she was actually an observant and meticulous thinker.
If it weren't for the fact that she didn't have special abilities and couldn't sense his abnormality, and he initially looked too miserable, he might not have been able to fool her so easily.
Zhou Quchuan had already made up his mind to stay, and naturally didn't want to be seen through by Zhao Lian so soon, so he pretended to be at a loss and asked softly, "Will we be in danger?"
Seeing his slightly pale face, Zhao Lian thought that he was originally introverted and timid, and her earlier words might cause him great anxiety. So she smiled and said, "There won't be any problem. I've been living here for a few days before I saved you. If there were really something wrong, we wouldn't be able to stay here to eat and chat comfortably."
She said, "But just in case, tomorrow morning I'll make a harness for you, so that if we have to leave here one day, I won't leave you alone."
Zhou Quchuan deliberately showed a relieved expression and apologized in a low voice, "Sorry, I am really a burden."
Zhao Lian shook her head, "Nonsense, it's just more food to eat, and I can afford it. Besides, it's what you owe me, and when you're well, you have to fulfill your promise to hunt and cook."
In fact, Zhou Quchuan had not promised anything, it was all her talking to herself. But seeing her smiling face, Zhou Quchuan still nodded and said, "Okay." This was his true promise.
As night fell, Zhao Lian extinguished the fire, leaving only a bit of charcoal to continue burning tomorrow.
In this world, lighting a fire at night was very dangerous because you never knew when it might attract some uncontrollable terrifying creatures.
In the dim red light, Zhou Quchuan saw Zhao Lian stand up and walk towards him with a vague bundle in her arms, laying it near the bed. It turned out to be a bundle of dry grass.
For Zhou Quchuan, sharing a room with a woman at such close quarters was a first in his life.
For some reason, in that moment, he felt a strange emotion when he saw her dim figure coming toward him, an emotion that disrupted his usually calm composure.
Despite the impossibility of anything happening between them, just the thought of it gave him a stimulating sensation that made his blood rush backwards.
But when he saw her simply laying down on the floor next to his bed, Zhou Quchuan's slightly tensed muscles relaxed.
Whether it was disappointment or relief, he let out a quiet sigh.
Zhao Lian still remembers that at the beginning of the arrival of the doomsday, for almost a year, she would be startled awake by some inexplicable voices almost every night, feeling nervous and frightened, even though it might just be the sound of the wind blowing the leaves.
It wasn't until later that she slowly learned to survey the surrounding environment and gained some self-defense skills, which allowed her to sleep a little more soundly, at least not being awakened by ordinary sounds and having sleepless nights.
In an environment like the present one, she wouldn't be as suspicious and fearful as she was a few years ago.
As for Zhou Qu Chuan, this kind of environment was not the least bit dangerous. He even felt a long-lost tranquility seeping deep into his soul as he lay there.
Taking advantage of this calm state of mind, some "qi" in his body quietly circulated, as his unique way of practice.
After quietly practicing for a while, he suddenly heard Zhao Lian's low voice in the darkness: "A Chuan."
Her voice was not sweet-sounding; in fact, it was even deeper than that of an average woman, but her tone was extremely comforting to him.
"What is it?" Zhou Qu Chuan was multitasking, practicing while responding to her.
"It seems that Mid-Autumn Festival is coming in a few days. Do you still remember Mid-Autumn Festival?" Zhao Lian propped her hands behind her head, staring at the ceiling, which was barely visible in the dark. In this kind of environment, there seemed to be nothing to do when it got dark except to lie down and sleep, but it was still early, and she couldn't sleep for a while, so she might as well chat with A Chuan.
Zhou Qu Chuan stopped practicing and said softly, "Vaguely, I have some impression." He hadn't forgotten his role as a person with "amnesia."
Without doubting him, Zhao Lian asked, "Do you want to hear a story? Let me tell you about the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival."
"Okay," Zhou Qu Chuan said.
So Zhao Lian told him the legend and origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
"So mooncakes came from that, and this holiday is considered a day of reunion in our country…"
As she spoke, her thoughts drifted back to the moments when the family used to gather during the Mid-Autumn Festival. At that time, she was still young and a bit immature, and didn't quite understand the significance of the holiday, feeling extremely annoyed at the gathering of the large family.
But now, she didn't need to worry about those things anymore, nor did she need to hear her loved ones' chatter. But…she didn't feel happy about it.
If she could, she would want them all to come back to life and sit with her at the same table, even if they kept asking her the questions she disliked the most.
In the darkness, Zhao Lian let her tears flow freely.
But her breathing remained unchanged, and without seeing it with your own eyes, you wouldn't notice her abnormality at all.
After a while, she quietly wiped away her tears and asked, "Have you ever thought about what kind of life you want in the future?"
Zhou Qu Chuan fell silent. He just wanted to be the strongest in the world. As for what kind of life he wanted, as long as he became the strongest, he could have whatever kind of life he wanted, couldn't he?
Not hearing his answer, Zhao Lian didn't mind and said to herself, "I hope to have a base where I can live in peace, with good governance and clear rules, where everyone can engage in fair and just competition for a better life... even if we can't achieve the level of civilization before the end of the world, at least, the norm in society shouldn't be bullying and senseless killing."
Hearing her words, Zhou Qu Chuan only wanted to laugh sarcastically at her innocence - even before the apocalypse, the law of the jungle, the strong preying on the weak, was in fact a norm, just hidden beneath the surface.
But upon second thought, he didn't say anything; firstly, he had to maintain his facade, and secondly, he suddenly sensed some hidden message in her words.
—She might have been bullied before?
She was just an ordinary woman without any special abilities, and despite making herself look a bit sloppy, she couldn't hide the fact that she was a beauty. Moreover, she was a little naive and trusting, making her easy for others to take advantage of.
Thinking about what she said just now, he realized that it was just a plea of the weak in the face of the world.
If she hadn't been bullied or wronged, why would she say things like "fair and just"?
For some reason, Zhou Qu Chuan suddenly felt a surge of anger deep within his heart.
He furrowed his brow, dispelled the inexplicable anger in his heart, and said, "I heard that some bases have already achieved that."
After a moment of silence, Zhao Lian, though she knew he couldn't see, still shook her head and said, "I have been to two bases, but I found that they were not as rumored... A Chuan, when you're recovered, do you have a base you want to go to?"
"I don't know, what about you?" Zhou Qu Chuan asked back.
"After this winter, I want to try my luck at the 'New Chuan Base'," she said, referring to what a member of a convoy had mentioned not long ago. It was said to be the largest base in the southeast, with strict governance inside, everything just like before the end of the world, dealing with things according to the law, and no occurrences of people with abilities or powerful individuals bullying ordinary people.
However, after the experiences she had in the two bases before, she knew that the outside rumors didn't necessarily correspond to reality. Most of the time, the good life in various bases was spread by the bases to attract survivors, who had been wandering outside for too long and were in need of a spiritual support and sanctuary, which was a great attraction.
Moreover, with all communication devices cut off, under the spread of word of mouth, the true situation could be distorted and magnified, which was quite normal.
In conclusion, seeing is believing. Whether it's really as good as others say, you have to go and see for yourself to experience it.
The New Chuan Base? In the darkness, the corners of Zhou Qu Chuan's mouth turned up, and he asked, "New Chuan Base is quite a distance from here. I remember there are several large bases in other places, so why choose New Chuan?"
"Just... a hunch?" Zhao Lian smiled, "Because I heard someone say before that the reputation of New Chuan Base is very good, it should be the most suitable place for survivors to live."
Hearing her say that, Zhou Qu Chuan felt relieved and said, "I want to go too."
"That's perfect. After this winter, let's go together. By then, your injuries should be healed," Zhao Lian said, "But it's a long journey, so you should be prepared for hardship along the way."
"Mm."
The two of them didn't exchange any more words after that, and they didn't know how long had passed. Zhou Qu Chuan had finished practicing, and he put "qi" into his eyes and looked at the ground beside him. Zhao Lian was curled up with her eyes closed, her eyelids twitching slightly, her breathing steady, already in a light sleep.
She truly is a person with no defenses.
Zhou Qu Chuan shook his head in his heart, propped up his hand under his head, and silently watched Zhao Lian sleep. Before he knew it, he had also drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, as soon as Zhao Lian got up, Zhou Qu Chuan also opened his eyes, surprised to find that he had actually slept a long, good sleep, which was a rare occurrence for him.
In fact, once his strength reached a certain level, he no longer needed sleep to rest, and he could use practice to replace sleep, with his mind still being very sharp.
However, the occasional slumber like that allowed him to feel a long-lost sense of comfort from the depths of his soul.
Breakfast was the rabbit meat left over from the previous day's lunch, along with some dried fruits and wild vegetables that Zhao Lian had prepared earlier.
The taste was quite bland, and the wild vegetables were dry and hard to swallow, but the two of them finished it without changing their expressions, as they were used to it.
After finishing breakfast, Zhao Lian prepared to go to the nearby woods to chop some wood. He planned to make a dragging board for Zhou Quchuan first, but saw Zhou Quchuan suddenly sit up from the bed and slowly stand up with his feet on the ground.
"What are you doing?" Zhao Lian was surprised and quickly went to support him.
"My feet are much better now. Let's go out together today," Zhou Quchuan said.
Zhao Lian frowned and said, "I know you want to help, but you need to recover first! Moving around with your injury will only slow down your recovery. Listen to me, and lie down quickly."
Zhao Lian forced him to lie back on the bed, looking at his face that showed a mix of annoyance but reluctance to get angry at him. She suddenly found it quite intriguing.
He deliberately sighed and said with a somewhat despondent tone, "I'm useless."
Seeing his expression, Zhao Lian's heart softened, and her momentary anger dissipated.
She could understand Ah Chuan's feelings because she had felt the same way in the team before, feeling useless and burdening others. She always wanted to do something within her capabilities, but the results often fell short of her expectations.
She sat on the edge of the bed and earnestly told him, "You don't need to feel guilty. We are friends, and friends should help each other. I've told you, once you recover, the heavy burden of life will fall on your shoulders."
After finishing, she patted his shoulder with a smile. Feeling the solid muscle under her palm, she couldn't help but think of the figure she had seen under his clothes during the previous dressing change. Surprisingly, Ah Chuan was the type who looked thin in clothes but solid without them, despite appearing weak and having suffered such serious injuries. It was still clear that he used to maintain a good exercise habit.
Zhou Quchuan looked at her and involuntarily abandoned his previous playful attitude, feeling a rare twinge of guilt.
With a sound of acknowledgment, she suddenly reached out and touched his chin.