Published: January 31, 2025
Sun Ruixing breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Mayor Li's response. He chatted a bit more with Mayor Li before turning to his group to announce the news.
Hearing the cheers from the people, Sun Ruixing felt a mix of emotions but couldn’t find the words to express them. All he could do was sigh.
"By the way, Brother Sun, what’s the background of that young man with the big dog?"
Li Quan'an glanced at Wen Yu, who was cleaning up the battlefield not far away, and asked Sun Ruixing in confusion.
"This is a little brother I saved a couple of days ago at the factory. Now, seeing his strength, my act of saving him seems a bit unnecessary," Sun Ruixing replied.
"Oh? I wonder if this person can stay. With such a strong individual, our camp's safety would be greatly assured," Li Quan'an said with a beaming smile.
Sun Ruixing pondered for a moment, "I'm afraid not. I can tell Wen Yu has no fondness for the gathering place, and his strength means he doesn’t have much need for it."
"Yeah, that makes sense. What a pity." Li Quan'an looked disappointed, but inside, he was already beaming. If Wen Yu truly joined their base, how could he, Li Quan'an, still be the big boss? The answer was clear to him without even having to think.
He glanced at Wen Yu and silently prayed for him to leave soon.
Fortunately, Wen Yu didn’t keep Li Quan'an waiting too long. After finishing his collection, he turned his back and walked further away with the big dog.
……
This was Wen Yu’s first time in Birch Forest Town.
The dilapidated infrastructure and the unevenly sized residential buildings were just a few. Many more were low brick houses.
As a small town in Northeast China, its economic development level was even less than that of some rural areas.
Looking at the desolate surroundings, Wen Yu’s bad premonition grew stronger.
In the gathering place, people often said that the zombies and mutated creatures in Birch Forest Town were decreasing. At first, Wen Yu didn’t pay much attention, but now, based on his observations, things might be off.
Zombies were manageable; Birch Forest Town wouldn’t have too many of them, and after the survivors' cleanup, their numbers would only decrease.
However, mutated creatures were another story. Wen Yu had walked all the way here without seeing a single one, not even a corpse, which was completely abnormal.
Unless the mutated creatures had collectively migrated or were gathered and killed by a stronger presence. Either way, it was extremely dangerous for the survivors.
"One-eyed, do you sense anything unusual?" Wen Yu sent a mental wave to One-eyed using the power of the soul realm.
Animals have a much stronger ability to perceive danger than humans do.
"Woof woof." One-eyed let out a low growl, lowering its head to sniff the ground carefully.
One-eyed didn’t sense anything.
"Something feels off. Let's move quickly and leave this place as soon as possible."
Wen Yu's bad premonition intensified. Although even One-eyed hadn’t sensed anything, Wen Yu would never assume there was no danger. In the apocalypse, there was no such thing as a peaceful paradise. The more peaceful a place seemed, the greater the danger.
Wen Yu quickened his pace, and One-eyed followed closely behind, both moving swiftly toward the exit of Birch Forest Town.
Birch Forest Town itself wasn’t large. Under Wen Yu's speed, he reached the town's edge in less than ten minutes, with Chaihe Town, another small town under Mudanjiang City, just behind him.
It was eerily silent.
On the dilapidated asphalt road, aside from dust and bloodstains, there was nothing.
On one side of the road were massive mountains, and on the other, endless farmland.
Wen Yu's unease grew stronger. Even One-eyed had sensed that the situation ahead was not right. It opened its mouth and emitted a series of low growls, its hind legs slightly bent—a sign that One-eyed was about to attack.
"One-eyed, scout ahead."
This was the best way for Wen Yu to handle the unknown situation. If One-eyed encountered danger, he could pull it back into the soul realm in the shortest time possible.