Chapter 106

The two of them were originally in the glass balcony, listening to music and playing flying chess. When they heard Cheng Yu say he was coming over, they were both very happy, especially Yao Ruoyun, who immediately sat up straight from the heated blanket: “Is it the rescue team called by Cheng’s team? Did the snowplows arrive? Can we leave here now?”

Shu Fu shook her head. Although they were currently cut off from the internet, she had been maintaining contact with Chen Fa’s team.

Chamu County had been trapped by the heavy snow, and no external aid had arrived yet. Self-rescue efforts were all being carried out by themselves. They lived in a flat-roofed house, and to prevent the snow from collapsing the roof, they had climbed up to clear the snow several times over the past few days. They also cleared the snow around the door and windows to avoid blocking the doors.

Even in Xizhou Province, which had a large number of troops, things were the same. Shu Fu didn’t think rescue would arrive so quickly for a small county near the end of its evacuation work outside of Xizhou Province.

But the two of them quickly got up and started dressing in outerwear. In addition to the cotton coat and pants, Yao Ruoyun had already put on the fleece-lined thermal underwear that Shu Fu gave her inside, keeping her warm and clean.

They planned to change into the down jacket and pants once the cotton ones got dirty.

They put on all their winter clothes, thick fleece socks, and boots. Then they turned off the heater and heated blanket, put on woolen hats, and pulled up the outer hoods. Finally, they left the balcony, putting on scarves and gloves, almost fully armored.

Shu Fu disconnected the power card and packed up the raft. Yao Ruoyun went to the kitchen to check on the mattress. The large mattress, which was still new, had been temporarily moved to the glass balcony, and now only the small mattress remained. The cold blankets and quilts had already been packed into the backpack slots, but she took out two old ones and arranged them to make it look like someone lived there.

Both of them were eager to know what was happening outside. After waiting for a while without any progress, they each took out their backpacks from their space, strapped them on, locked the door, and went outside.

They turned out of the hallway and down half a flight of stairs to the stairwell on the north side of the residential building. Since their window always allowed them to see the situation in the south, and they hadn’t seen any cars or people enter Wei, they guessed that if Cheng Yu were coming, it would be from the north side.

The window in the stairwell had long been broken, and no one had repaired it. It had been blocked with a large piece of wood. After several days of snow, the wood was frozen in the window frame, and snow leaked through the gaps, now frozen into a thick layer of ice.

Shu Fu took out two multifunctional shovels, one for each of them, and after some effort, they pried the wood loose.

Together, they moved the wood aside, and the cold wind immediately blew in from the gap where the window had been.

Shu Fu grabbed Yao Ruoyun, who was about to stick her head out, and handed her a pair of flip-up anti-fog ski goggles. This was different from looking outside through the gaps in the wood inside the house; now they were fully sticking their heads out, and with the current snow conditions, it was easy to hurt their eyes.

Seeing Yao Ruoyun take them, Shu Fu also put on a pair.

These ski goggles were ones they had salvaged earlier in Yuncheng, from a body of water where they had fished up a pile of construction tools. They had found a variety of styles, all still in their packaging boxes, and the waterproof bags inside had kept them intact. Despite being submerged for so long, the goggles had barely taken on any water.

Of course, even if they had gotten wet, it wouldn’t matter because they were waterproof to begin with.

The area outside the north side of the building was a world of ice and snow, but behind it were several other buildings. Snow had piled up on them, forming varying heights due to the architecture. Most of these buildings were empty, with no one living there.

Further back, the snow layers gradually rose, and that was where the hillside lay, also covered in snow.

Directly below the windowsill of the stairwell was the exit to the hallway. At this moment, a two-person wide path had appeared in the deep snow, coming from the left side of the gymnasium’s side door.

In the cleared path, a few team members were reinforcing the path, some pouring blackened coal ash from small iron buckets onto the ground they had cleared.

Others were holding spray bottles, spraying water onto the snow walls on either side of the path. The water was likely warm, but in such low temperatures, it would quickly cool, and the snow walls would solidify into stronger ice walls, preventing them from collapsing.

When they looked down, they could see that the path was almost complete. The team members who had been leading the digging were Cheng Yu, Han Lan, and the “strongman” team member Awen.

Han Lan was standing on an A-frame ladder, holding a shovel, scraping the softer snow from the upper layers to the side, while Cheng Yu and Awen worked on the harder, frozen snow layers below, breaking them into chunks and tossing them into a large plastic bin originally used for sports equipment.

Once the bin was full, the other team members would run over, lift it together, and replace it with an empty one.

They moved with skill and coordination, and it was clear that a lot of effort had gone into creating this small snow path.

Han Lan was the first to lift his head from the path. He took off his ski goggles, pulled down the scarf covering his nose and mouth, and smiled up at the heads poking out of the building: “Your food is almost gone, right? Don’t be too moved, Cheng’s team is bringing you supplies. But honestly, we shouldn’t have stayed on separate sides. You guys should just come live with us in the gym. There’s a basement there, and it’s warm when the fire’s lit.”

He hadn’t finished speaking when Awen below shouted something, seeming to be near the hallway exit, possibly knocking into a flowerbed, asking whether he had veered off while clearing the path. Han Lan quickly bent down, crawled off the ladder, and leaned over to examine the snow layers near the hallway entrance.

Yao Ruoyun instinctively wanted to say no. How could they live comfortably in the gym when they could be lying in the glass balcony, enjoying the warmth of the heater and watching shows together? But this time, she had learned from experience and knew the decision-maker wasn’t her. She couldn’t answer for Shu Fu, so she obediently looked at her.

As expected, Shu Fu, who had been leaning on the windowsill and looking down, paused for a moment in silence before suddenly answering “Okay” and rushing downstairs directly.

Shu Fu lifted the lens of her ski goggles and quickly ran down to the first-floor staircase. It was very dark here since the building’s walls were buried in snow from the second floor down. The hallway entrance had only just been cleared of a narrow opening to get outside.

The three of them were continuing to widen this exit while avoiding the flowerbed next to the hallway entrance and being careful with the snow walls on both sides, to prevent the cleared snow from collapsing again.

When they saw her rushing down, the three of them were surprised. The first-floor hallway, having been filled with snow, was icy. Cheng Yu, seeing her running down the stairs, hurriedly sidestepped into the narrow opening, taking a few steps forward to support her: “Be careful! What’s going on?”

Shu Fu didn’t respond, quickly scanning her gaze over Cheng Yu’s head, then turning to look at Han Lan and Awen at the staircase entrance.

Which one was it?

When the three of them had been standing near the hallway entrance earlier, she had noticed a flashing white light strip on the snow layer beside them. Because the light was almost the same color as the snow, she had to look several times to confirm it.

The white light strip had some peculiar visible characteristics that defied logic. As long as it wasn’t an enclosed structure, even if the person was wearing a hat or holding their hand out to block it, the light strip was still visible.

Similarly, the snow layers couldn’t block it either.

But since the three of them had been too close earlier, she couldn’t be sure if the light strip had appeared over Cheng Yu’s head. Han Lan and Awen had never been connected to her mission before.

She had rushed down as quickly as possible, but the light strip had already disappeared.

“This hallway door has been broken for a while, I was worried you guys might get hit while clearing the path,” Shu Fu explained, then added, “You don’t need to worry about our supplies. We found some more in the neighboring house. I feel like this blizzard might not be over yet, so since you’ve cleared the path today, how about we stay over at your side for a couple of days?”

“Okay,” Cheng Yu responded quickly, then asked if she needed him to go upstairs to bring anything.

“The coal stove needs to be taken, along with the coal next to it. Also, there’s a box of instant noodles, a bag of rice, and a box of vacuum-packed cured meats and sausages.”

“You guys even found food? You’re amazing, girl!” Han Lan said as he walked over. “We’ll finish reinforcing the path and then Cheng Yu and I will go up to move everything. Just leave it by the small teahouse entrance.”

When Shu Fu went upstairs to prepare the things, she pulled Yao Ruoyun, who was standing at the stairwell, aside to discuss how to coordinate the acquisition of supplies.

Yao Ruoyun had been quietly listening and, even without Shu Fu’s reminder, knew what she meant. She gave Shu Fu an “OK” gesture.

Back in the small teahouse on the third floor, Yao Ruoyun finally lowered her voice and asked why Shu Fu suddenly wanted to go stay over at the gym.

Shu Fu also lowered her voice and replied, “There might be more than two companions among them.”

Yao Ruoyun: ……!!

**

Two coal stoves, a large sack of coal, a box of 48-pack instant noodles Yao Ruoyun had found, a bag of 50-pound rice from a lucky draw with no packaging or labels, and a large cardboard box of vacuum-sealed cured meats, sausages, and salted chicken.

The cardboard box for the vacuum-packed meats had been specially chosen from the uniform-sized large cardboard boxes used for online purchases stored in the space. Of course, the purchase labels had long been torn off, but the bags inside were all from Xiangzhou Province.

These were early supplies Shu Fu had gathered when she was in Suicheng, using an automatic water fishing rod in the same area where she had found a batch of construction tools. The brands were all popular ones, and the production areas were all in the large cured meat-producing province—Xiangzhou.

She had checked them when she found them, and because they were all from the same production area and had similar brands, she deduced there was a cured meat store underwater. That’s how she remembered having these supplies.

And now, they came in handy.

When Han Lan came up and saw the large boxes piled in the hallway, he exclaimed in surprise and immediately called two more team members to come up. Yao Ruoyun even pointed out the layer under the ceramic tiles where she had used the treasure shovel to find the instant noodles in the teahouse lobby, remarking that the people of Wei really knew how to hide things…

The team members quickly came upstairs and began moving the supplies. Shu Fu and Yao Ruoyun, in addition to their backpacks, each wrapped a thick wool blanket in front of them, using their large backpacks as support, planning to carry the supplies like this.

The snow path outside had been cleared, and the snow walls on both sides had solidified into ice. The height of the snow layer, along with the added height from the snow they had cleared while digging the path, had already exceeded 3.5 meters. As they walked through, the pale winter light barely filtered down from above, and they felt as if they were walking in an icy kingdom.

Since the disaster began, these past few days had been the most comfortable and secure for Yao Ruoyun. After all, she was still young, and when she saw the cleared snow path, she couldn’t resist. Now, heading toward the gym, she couldn’t help but walk at the front.

Yao Ruoyun was about 1.73 meters tall, with long legs, and even with a thick blanket wrapped in front of her, it didn’t slow her down.

Shu Fu, on the other hand, had a larger backpack than Yao Ruoyun’s, and with the added height of the blanket, it blocked half of her vision. She nearly missed the steps twice while descending, both times being caught by Cheng Yu, who was standing nearby.

Unable to hold back, Cheng Yu eventually slung the rice bag over one shoulder and gently wrapped his hand around the thick blanket she was holding. He then extended his fingers toward her. “Give me the backpack too.”

Shu Fu turned her head to look at him. The thick blanket she was holding seemed huge to her, but to him, it was just a normal-sized blanket. Shu Fu rubbed her nose, not bothering with pleasantries, and directly took off the backpack, handing it to him.

“Thank you.”

Cheng Yu smiled slightly. This time, he walked ahead of her. If she missed a step, he wouldn’t be there to catch her, but with him in front, even if she fell, he could cushion her fall.

However, after just a few steps, a hand lightly tapped his shoulder. He stopped and turned his head.

Because she was standing two steps higher than him, her outstretched hand reached his lips. Her delicate, slender fingertips held a pink crystal candy in the shape of a flower—it was very pretty.

He followed her hand, which was exposed to the cold with only the tips of her fingers visible, and his eyes met hers—dark and glossy, peering at him. Half of her face was buried in a thick scarf, and the only part of her face visible were the eyes behind the ski goggles.

“Want some? It’s candy.” Shu Fu shook a small jar of candy in her other hand, resembling a winter squirrel, using her small, plump paws to take out a pine nut and eagerly offered it to his lips.

Cheng Yu initially wanted to say he didn’t like sweets and that she should keep it, but before he could speak, her delicate fingertip placed the crystal candy into his mouth.

Her finger brushed against his lips, and in an instant, a sweet strawberry flavor spread in his mouth.

It was very, very sweet.

Shu Fu quickly withdrew her hand, wiping her fingertip on her clothes, and when she saw him still looking at her, she added, “My hands are very clean. We wash our hands with melted snow water every day.”

“It’s not—” Cheng Yu seemed to want to explain, but just then, Han Lan’s voice came from around the corner of the hallway.

“What’s clean? What happened?” Han Lan was carrying two coal stoves in one hand and a sack of coal in the other. He leaned his head back around the corner and happened to spot the beautiful candy jar Shu Fu was holding. “Is that candy?”

“Yes.” Shu Fu nodded, stepping past Cheng Yu and pulling out another candy—this one was ice blue in the shape of a flower.

Han Lan had no free hands, so he naturally opened his mouth, and Shu Fu promptly placed the candy in his mouth.

Cheng Yu: …

“Not bad, not too sweet, it’s hard candy,” Han Lan said after a couple of chews, giving his approval. “It’s soda-flavored. Tastes good!”

Shu Fu smiled, then walked past him, continuing to hand out candy to the others in front of her. Of course, it was delicious. Even in peacetime, a small jar like this would cost over a hundred dollars. It was bought from a very famous candy specialty store, known for its subtly sweet flavors and varied beautiful shapes.

She had bought it in large bags, but since that wasn’t convenient, she transferred some into small transparent jars, so she could always “pull it out” from any pocket and eat it easily.

Han Lan was still praising the candy. He really did think it was delicious, but when he turned his head, he noticed Cheng Yu, who had gone downstairs, had shifted his gaze away from him, and there was something oddly cold about that look.

Once everyone had exited the hallway, Shu Fu had finished handing out the candy and was waiting at the hallway exit. When Han Lan, who was last, came out, she planned to close the door.

She wasn’t sure if there would be another snowstorm, but if the door wasn’t closed and it snowed heavily again, the snow could block the stairs inside, making it harder to clear when she needed to return to the teahouse later.

Everyone else had things in their hands, but she was empty-handed, so it was most fitting for her to do it.

The door was a double metal door—one side was fine, but the latch connecting the other side to the doorframe was a bit broken, so it had to be pulled hard to close it. Han Lan set down the stoves and the sack of coal to help her.

Just as they were almost finished closing the door, a loud “bang, bang, bang!” came from somewhere ahead, followed by a woman’s sharp, terrified scream.

The group froze. Although the sound had come from a distant location, it seemed incredibly loud because the other survivors in Wei were all trapped inside their houses, and with no rain and the surrounding area being so quiet, the sounds were amplified.

But they were in the middle of the snow path, and with the snow walls blocking their view, they couldn’t see what was happening where the sounds had come from.

“Back to the gym, quickly,” Cheng Yu shouted, signaling Shu Fu and Han Lan to move faster ahead, with him bringing up the rear.

The gym had high floors, and to see what had happened, they would have to go up to the upper floors.

The group, carrying their belongings, quickly moved toward the side door of the gym. Yao Ruoyun’s thick blanket had been taken by Awen, allowing her to focus better on the path ahead.

The group quickly walked out of the residential building’s northern passage and had to cross a small street. The street had no buildings to block the light, so the surroundings were much brighter, but they still couldn’t see anything.

At this moment, from the direction where the earlier crash sounds and screams had come from, a continuous series of crashing noises erupted again. This time, the sounds were even louder and more terrifying, accompanied by the sound of breaking and a woman’s continuous shrieks. The commotion was as if a building had been thrown directly from mid-air.

Shu Fu felt a tremor in the snow wall on her left side, the direction from which the sound came. It seemed that the massive impact had caused the snow layer to shake.

“Be careful!” Along with Cheng Yu’s voice, Shu Fu felt a large dark shadow pressing down from above the snow wall.

It was—a tall, thick-limbed Poplar tree on the street. After freezing rain, snow accumulation, and now the shock, it finally gave way and fell toward the snow path. The tree was more than ten meters tall, and with the added weight from the cold, it struck the snow path with enough force to shatter the ice wall that had frozen.

Shu Fu had already quietly activated her personal shield the moment the first scream was heard. Now, noticing the Poplar tree falling due to Cheng Yu’s warning, she immediately pushed Han Lan ahead of her. Han Lan, who had initially intended to pull her, was pushed forward a few steps and narrowly avoided the tree’s fall.

The tree trunk had already shattered the top of the ice wall. As Shu Fu was calculating whether she could dodge in time, a strong arm suddenly encircled her waist, lifting her up and turning her around. Then, her entire back and head were shielded by the large figure of the person who had grabbed her.

The ice wall collapsed where the tree trunk had struck, creating a gap. Snow from both sides poured down, blocking the snow path entirely.

“Captain!”

“Shu Fu!”

Amid the flying snow and fog, anxious voices rang out from the other side of the snow pile, causing another small avalanche of ice and snow. Everyone immediately stopped shouting and began working in shifts. Some carried supplies into the building by the side door of the gym, while others pulled out military shovels and began digging through the snow.

On the other side of the snow pile, Shu Fu, protected by someone, climbed out of the snow. Once she stood firm, she turned to pull Cheng Yu, whose lower body was stuck in the snow, from behind her.

Everything happened in an instant. She had no idea how Cheng Yu, who had been walking at the back, suddenly appeared behind her. But in that brief moment, she was shielded by his entire body, unable to react in time to hug him and activate the shield for him as well.

The result was that, while she wouldn’t be injured with the shield activated, she was protected by him, someone without the shield.

Shu Fu was genuinely afraid he might get hurt. A high snow wall collapsing wasn’t something to take lightly.

Fortunately, when she reached out again, Cheng Yu grabbed her hand in return. Together, they pulled, and he quickly freed himself from the shattered ice and snow.

“Are you alright?” Shu Fu picked up his fallen ski goggles and handed them to him.

“I’m fine,” he replied, then asked, “Are you hurt?”

“No.”

He lowered his head and carefully examined her, adjusting her fallen hood and gently pressing it down with his large hand. “Don’t be afraid, it’s fine.” He said, then put on his ski goggles and turned back to dig out the fallen backpacks, rice bags, and blankets from the snow layer.

Fortunately, Han Lan, with two other team members, had quickly dug through the snow and not only cleared the snow path but also retrieved all the dropped supplies.

The group didn’t stop to discuss, but quickly gathered the supplies and, staying alert, passed through the unstable snow path and rushed into the side door of the gym.

“Senior!” Yao Ruoyun rushed over to hug her, brushing the broken ice and snow off her, “Are you hurt? Oh no! You’re bleeding! Did you get hurt?”

Shu Fu looked at the blood on the edge of her hat and quickly realized who had been injured.

However, the injured person seemed unaware, still brushing the snow off his backpack and rice bag, then shaking out the snow from the blanket. When he saw her looking at him, he walked over, “I’ll help dry it later, so you can use it.”

“You’re injured.” Shu Fu pointed to the side of his ear, where there was a small cut, unsure whether it was from a branch of the Poplar tree or from the sharp ice.

He reached up to touch it. “It’s fine, just a small injury.”

Before Shu Fu could say anything else, a gentle voice rushed over from the other end of the passage. “Captain! Come quickly! That person on the other side… that person is in trouble!”