Zhang Qiu’s hands were also covered with many cuts.

He lowered his head and used iodine to disinfect Yu Xifeng’s hands and neck.

“Where’s Old Man Cai?” Yu Xifeng asked.

Zhang Qiu said, “I don’t know.”

“This is for you,” Zhang Qiu said. “The last thing the old man brought out was this.”

It was a box—Zhang Qiu’s dowry.

Zhang Qiu forced out a smile uglier than crying.

… Zhang Qiu’s dowry.

Feeling the excitement in the space, Yu Xifeng sighed and reached out to pat Zhang Qiu’s head.

“Have you thought it through? If you give these things to me, you might never see them again.”

“As long as it’s useful. It was just a pile of junk to begin with,” Zhang Qiu replied in a low voice.

He didn’t look well.

Yu Xifeng handed Zhang Qiu a face mask.

Nearby the cliff, rescue operations were underway.

The leader was surprisingly Xiao Rong.

He had been the deputy to Wang Anmin before.

Yu Xifeng greeted him, “How long is this crack exactly?”

The fissure stretched like a boundless sea, reaching the horizon where the sky met the earth, with the smell of earth and blood wafting up from below.

Xiao Rong gave a bitter smile: “More than 300 kilometers.”

They couldn’t get across the other side of the cliff at all.

Yu Xifeng asked, “How much longer will you stay on this side?”

Xiao Rong said, “If it weren’t for Captain Wang, we would have died inside already. According to the last orders, we are supposed to head north.”

He glanced at the rescuers beside him. “This job is really tough. But if Captain Wang were here, he would definitely do this.”

Yu Xifeng asked, “What about Wang Anmin?”

Xiao Rong said, “I thought you wouldn’t ask.”

He crushed some gravel under his feet. “I also hope he can crawl out of the ground and take over this mess.”

This time, Yu Xifeng was silent for a long time before speaking: “Is it meaningful? To rescue these people? Even if they’re saved, they might not survive.”

“Sis, how can you say something so hopeless?” Xiao Rong joked, but his face showed no smile. “I also think it’s meaningless.”

Then Xiao Rong was called away.

Over there, someone was found buried underneath. The rocks were stuck too tight to move.

About ten people gathered together.

Their clothes were ragged, and they were racking their brains around the rocks.

Zhang Qiu kept staring at the opposite side of the fissure.

Yu Xifeng asked him, “Is Old Man Cai over there?”

Zhang Qiu shook his head, staring at the bottom of the cliff, seeming as if he wanted to jump down.

He said, “I don’t know.”

In the darkness, faces were indistinct, and the crowd pushed and shoved him forward.

It was chaotic; the air was so foul it was suffocating.

His head was dizzy, and his throat, eyes, and ears itched and hurt.

In such a world, he felt like the one who deserved to die.

“Did you see Sister Yun?” Yu Xifeng asked Zhang Qiu.

Zhang Qiu shook his head: “They’re not on the same path as me. Maybe they came out from the other side.”

What neither Zhang Qiu nor Yu Xifeng wanted to think about was the more likely possibility.

The temperature now was about minus twenty degrees Celsius.

Still cold, but much better than before.

Yu Xifeng said, “If Old Man Cai is still alive, and he came out alive from the other side, where would he look for you?”

Zhang Qiu’s eyes twitched.

Though he knew the hope was slim, he was still attracted by this guess Yu Xifeng proposed.

His eyes turned toward the north.

Yu Xifeng asked, “Do you know the way?”

Zhang Qiu was silent.

Yu Xifeng said, “Then let’s go.”

They started walking north along the fissure.

They walked until there was no one else around, the sun was almost set, only the afterglow remained, and Yu Xifeng stopped in front of a mountain.

She asked, “Can you drive?”

Zhang Qiu was stunned for a while. “Yes, I have an A1 driver’s license.”

Yu Xifeng gave a relieved smile: “Good. Wait here, don’t move.”

Zhang Qiu lowered his eyes. “Okay.”

Yu Xifeng walked halfway around the hillside and drove out her RV. After checking carefully, she made sure it was a motorhome fully stocked with relatively reasonable supplies.

She thought for a moment and placed Little Orange (Xiao Ju) on the second floor.

Little Orange was clever and agile, better off above ground.

Yu Xifeng also brought out a hen, but since hens tend to make a mess, it had to be kept in a cage.

“We’ll make do,” Yu Xifeng patted the chicken’s head.

Yu Xifeng moved some potted plants—potatoes, sweet potatoes, green onions, and celery—onto the table, lined them up neatly, and secured them with wall clips.

Yu Xifeng drove the RV over.

Zhang Qiu stood motionless, looking desolate.

His whole being was lifeless; he didn’t even glance up when the RV stopped in front of him.

“Zhang Qiu!”

The RV door opened, and Yu Xifeng called him.

Zhang Qiu looked up; his face was smeared with dust and blood, his eyes seemed abandoned by the whole world.

“You really came back.”

Yu Xifeng: “?”

Zhang Qiu stepped forward and hugged Yu Xifeng tightly. “Although I know I shouldn’t burden you, I’m really glad you came back.”

She had only gone to drive a vehicle and was gone less than a day, yet it felt like three long years.

Yu Xifeng’s heart skipped a beat.

Zhang Qiu couldn’t possibly think she had left him behind to travel alone.

That really was something she could have done.

Yu Xifeng sighed, making no promises or replies.

Just two days ago, she was still thinking this lifetime she’d have Zhang Qiu and Old Man Cai together.

Who would have thought things would turn upside down so quickly.

Only then did Zhang Qiu notice the vehicle behind Yu Xifeng; his eyes were filled with shock. “Where did you snatch this from?”

“…”

Yu Xifeng felt she was actually quite law-abiding and shouldn’t leave Zhang Qiu with such a violent impression.

Yu Xifeng said, “I bought it at an auction.”

“Someone’s coming over, get in quickly, fasten your seatbelt,” Yu Xifeng said.

Indeed, quite a few people were coming.

After the RV started, they began running toward them.

“Stop!”

“Stop right there!”

A survivor threw a stick from afar, hitting the RV roof with a loud bang.

Yu Xifeng winced in pain.

She stepped hard on the accelerator; the vehicle almost grazed the person’s face as it sped by.

Zhang Qiu said, “You’re pretty good at driving.”

Yu Xifeng said, “Flattering. I just wanted to turn around.”

Zhang Qiu: “…”