When Zhao Lian woke up, the sun was setting. "Awoo, awoo," came the tender howling of the two wolf cubs outside.
Zhao Lian sat up suddenly and found herself covered with a thin blanket from her bed. She put the blanket aside, opened the door and got out of the car, only to see the corpse of the wolf king in the distance covered with many pieces of wood, burning fiercely. The flames engulfing the wolf king's body made it difficult to see what it had become.
Judging by the degree of burning of the wood, the funeral had been going on for quite some time.
Zhou Quchuan was leaning against the back of the car. When he saw her get out of the car, he nodded at her and said without waiting for her to ask, "I rested for a while and didn't call you when I saw you sleeping so soundly."
A warm feeling rose in Zhao Lian's heart, knowing that Zhou Quchuan was being considerate of her, so she smiled and said, "Thank you."
She walked over to stand side by side with Zhou Quchuan and looked at several animals in the distance.
The mother sheep tied to the tree seemed to have recovered from the previous fright, with the hemp rope wrapped around its neck and the other end, and it seemed to be quietly and leisurely searching for grass and roots on the ground.
The leopard was lying next to the pickup truck, with its golden eyes staring unblinkingly at the flames, as if lost in thought.
The two wolf cubs, who had been howling at the flames like they were in a competition, had now tired of that and were playing with the leopard, chasing its thick tail.
Normally, animals should be afraid of flames, especially two newly born wolf cubs. However, presumably because the flames had been burning for a long time, the leopard and the wolf cubs were accustomed to them and didn't show any special reactions.
One of the wolf cubs suddenly noticed that Zhao Lian was standing nearby and immediately ran over, and the other followed closely behind. The two wolf cubs played and frolicked around Zhao Lian's feet, showing great affection, as if they knew she would be their future owner.
After playing with the two wolf cubs for a while, Zhao Lian prepared to get up and deal with the bodies of the other wolves, only to find that they had all gone.
She was taken aback and then heard Zhou Quchuan say, "I've already taken care of those wolf corpses and sent them back to the farm."
Hearing this, Zhao Lian was even more surprised because she knew how tough and difficult it was to handle the fur of those mutated gray wolves.
"You didn't rest, and yet you were busy with all this in the afternoon?" She furrowed her brows, feeling that Achuan was really pushing himself too hard.
"I've rested enough," Zhou Quchuan explained earnestly, "Perhaps because I awakened my ability to 'recover'? So sleeping for an hour or two makes me feel refreshed, and since I have no other business I might as well help you with more work."
Hearing him say that, Zhao Lian could reluctantly accept it, after all, there was no official explanation for abilities such as his, and they had always been talked about in a mystical way. She had personally seen Achuan's wound recover miraculously, so if the wound could heal so quickly, then the mental exhaustion should also be manageable, right?
Thinking like this, Achuan's ability was truly enviable!
Thinking to herself, Zhao Lian realized that even after sleeping for so long, she still felt a bit sore and tired, indicating the vast difference in physical fitness between an ability user and an ordinary person.
With the sun setting, Zhao Lian and Zhou Quchuan added all the surrounding firewood to the flames, then led the mother sheep, along with the leopard and the two wolf cubs, back to the farm.
Just as they entered the farm, she saw five gray wolf hides draped over the wall of the courtyard where she and Achuan lived.
These wolf hides were still in their initial state. Tomorrow, she would have to take them to the river, remove the flesh and tendons, wash them, and then dry them in the wind before carrying out simple tanning. Before that, she had to make a warm nest for the two wolf cubs and figure out a way to make warm clothing for both her and Achuan.
Walking into the courtyard, she found that the dried fish had been taken down and hung on the wall, and the eaves had been changed to pieces of evenly chopped wolf meat. She hadn't expected Achuan to have done so much in just one afternoon.
Zhao Lian couldn't help but glance at him, and saw him return a beautiful smile, so she smiled back and gave him a thumbs up.
It was time to start cooking dinner. As Zhou Quchuan had been busy all afternoon, Zhao Lian felt a bit guilty, so she told him to rest in the house and come out to eat when the food was ready.
Zhou Quchuan didn't refuse, and as Zhao Lian went into the kitchen, he tied the mother sheep to a rusty water pipe next to the kitchen, glanced at the three beasts of one large and two small ones in the center of the courtyard.
The leopard was lazily lying on the ground, continuously using its tail to drag the two wolf cubs, who were trying to run to Zhao Lian, back to its side. The wolf cubs couldn't escape its grip at all, and eventually, one of them bit the leopard's tail.
However, with their teeth being so tender, they couldn't pierce even a human's skin, let alone hurt the leopard.
But in the face of their disrespectful behavior, the leopard gently toppled both wolf cubs with its tail, a warning of sorts.
Zhou Quchuan retracted his gaze and looked at the sky, then suddenly decided to move a wooden ladder from the wall to the side of the main house, climbed onto the roof with a light leap, and sat down to enjoy the setting sun's afterglow.
Not long after, the smell of meat came from the chimney in the kitchen, indicating that Zhao Lian was stewing meat.
Zhou Quchuan sniffed lightly and jumped off the wall, walking into the kitchen curiously, asking, "It smells so good, where did you get the seasoning from?"
Zhao Lian smiled and said, "We found some well-preserved star anise and cinnamon along with the salt packs earlier. We also found a pack of five-spice powder, but unfortunately, we only have one pack."
Zhou Quchuan nodded and said, "I know there's a small town about ten kilometers away. If we have fuel for the car, we could go there to search for some supplies." He thought Zhao Lian's cooking was quite good. Even though it was simple, like fish soup and stewed meat, for some reason, it always tasted special when she made it. He believed that with more spices, the taste would be even better.
He never liked to be hard on himself, but he had never expected to decide to stay here alone with this woman for such a long time. So, he wanted to go to the small town to collect available items, especially various spices. If they could also find cooking oil, it would be even better.
"That's too dangerous," Zhao Lian shook her head. "It's good enough to have these spices now."
"How about this," Zhou Quchuan snapped his fingers. "Tomorrow I'll go to the main road and see if I can find some gasoline from the abandoned cars. Then I can take the pickup truck in the woods. It's just a few kilometers away, and if I'm fast, I can be back in two hours."
"No!" Zhao Lian's tone got more serious as she added more wood to the stove. "In these small towns, it's either ruled by zombies or occupied by bandits. Don't take such risks for a few supplies."
Listening to her firm words, Zhou Quchuan couldn't help feeling a bit frustrated. Perhaps he shouldn't have hidden his strength from the beginning? Now he felt restricted in doing anything in front of her. But a lie once told cannot be easily taken back. He had to find another way.
"Don't forget, we have guns, and I can take the cheetah with me," Zhou Quchuan tried to persuade Zhao Lian.
"No! I said no, and that's final!" Zhao Lian insisted. "We don't urgently need those things. Why take risks for them?"
Zhou Quchuan thought about going for a run at midnight to bring back useful items. He then heard Zhao Lian mention "urgent needs" and suddenly had an idea. He said, "You must have something urgent that you need. I'll collect it for you."
"Me? I don't need anything," Zhao Lian raised her head with some confusion.
"Sanitary pads? Don't women need them every month?" Zhou Quchuan said, wearing a confident expression, even a hint of a smile.
The next second, Zhao Lian pushed him out of the door.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Zhou Quchuan looked at Zhao Lian, feeling completely puzzled. He had no intention of resisting and just let her push him out.
"Shut up! I don't want anything!" Zhao Lian said, leaving him with a burning sensation on her face.