Chapter 68

There were more people near the museum, and on the roads around, vehicles could still be seen moving slowly. In some places, groups of seven or eight people huddled together, intensely discussing something, as if they were part of a team.

Shu Fu and Chen Fa reached the entrance and handed over two small packages of biscuits to be allowed entry.

As they entered, they noticed the unusual expressions on the guards’ faces and remembered the weapons they were carrying. Shu Fu took out two large plastic bags from her pocket and wrapped up the weapons that were covered in fish entrails, which helped mask the strong stench around them.

The space inside was large but didn’t resemble any museum that Shu Fu remembered. The once clean tiles were dirty and covered with mud and water. The lighting was dim, and most people hadn’t removed their rain gear, as it was a valuable resource that couldn’t be carelessly left behind. Rather than holding it in hand, it was more practical to keep it on.

There were quite a few people inside. The so-called stalls were once glass display cases used to showcase artifacts, but the glass had been removed, leaving only the cabinets. The cabinets were divided by partitions, creating makeshift stalls.

Each stall had one or two people in front of it, some leaning against the stall, some sitting on chairs they’d brought along, effectively running their own market.

The people manning these stalls were from the large team that had set up Trading Station No. 3. They weren’t lacking in food and water, and those who came to set up stalls had specific things they wanted. For example, one stall clearly stated that it only accepted tobacco and alcohol, with prices to be negotiated. Another stall said it only accepted gold in exchange. Others were trading medicines, particularly antibiotics.

As Shu Fu looked around, she noticed a female team member’s stall with a sign saying both gold and medicine were accepted, but if “condoms” were available, they could be traded too, with prices to be negotiated.

Shu Fu’s eyes lit up. She had some condoms in her space, and quite a few of them, collected over the past two months in Suicheng.

Both pharmacies and supermarkets had these items on their shelves, so after casting her fishing line into nearby waters, she occasionally managed to find some. Little by little, the collection had grown, with various styles.

The items were wrapped in several layers of packaging, and after going through the automatic waterway fishing rod “disinfection,” they were like new, as if they were directly taken off the shelf. Most of them were large packs of ten, and the boxes weren’t very big, making them easy to take out of her backpack.

They were thinking of trading some food and water, and it seemed better to trade these than to use medicine.

Meanwhile, Chen Fa was focused on the strange fish. Upon entering the museum, she powered on her device. The signal was more stable near the stairs, so she sat down there to use the internet.

While Chen Fa was online, Shu Fu quickly went over to the female team member’s stall across the way.

A few moments later, when she returned, she was holding a sturdy nylon bag containing instant noodles, sealed cans of food, including lunch meat and fruit cans, and two bottles of pickled vegetables that Chen Yuezhen liked.

Chen Fa was momentarily stunned. Hadn’t she just started loading the image? How had Shu Fu already completed the trade?

“How’s it going? Is anyone online talking about this?” Shu Fu asked, immediately shifting Chen Fa’s attention.

“Yes, look at this post. It talks about accidentally killing a jumping fish…” Chen Fa pointed to the image that hadn’t finished loading yet. “They uploaded a photo, but I’m not sure if it’s the same type of fish, and they only mentioned one fish, not a lot… There are also a few other posts, and they’re all talking about similar things…”

These posts were found by Chen Fa after searching for keywords. Currently, there were no trending topics or headlines on any of the websites still operating in Birch Country, but searching for certain keywords led to a few posts.

It seemed that this odd fish incident happened elsewhere as well, but only sporadically, and no one had mentioned the difference between male and female fish, nor the disaster caused by the fish eggs hatching.

There were two possibilities: one was that this strange fish wasn’t common elsewhere, and Hexi Town was just an exception or a precursor; the other was that perhaps similar fish-related disasters had happened in other places, but like Hexi Town, those places had no internet, and the news couldn’t spread.

The two of them stayed at the trading station for over two hours, most of the time waiting for the images to load. Shu Fu’s wristband remained silent, and she wasn’t in a rush. This was only the third day of their mission, and they would need to come back to Trading Station No. 3 on the fifth day.

When the image finally appeared, it was indeed a strange fish, but the photo was poorly taken, with a distorted scale, so they couldn’t determine whether it was a male or female fish, or even the size.

They also tried to post the strange fish-related information online, but the internet was so slow that the video wouldn’t upload, and the image failed repeatedly. Even when posting just text, no one paid attention, and they weren’t sure how much of an impact it would have as a warning.

Aside from the strange fish, they also searched for information on the strange illness. There was even less information on that, but they did find a few hospitals in safe cities that had reported new flu-like symptoms. The early symptoms were cold, fever, and fatigue, with some cases showing high fever and seizures. It was said that the illness was not contagious, but patients needed to seek medical treatment promptly.

Based on the symptoms, it seemed like the same illness.

Afterward, Shu Fu looked up the locations of these cities. They were widely spread out and not concentrated. If there was any commonality, it was that these cities, like Hexi Town, were near water…

Chen Fa, unwilling to give up, adjusted the search keywords again and actually found another post. It mentioned that a family member had contracted a strange illness, repeatedly suffering from fever that didn’t respond to medication. The person wasn’t sure if it was from a fever gone too high, but it seemed like the person had become somewhat “dull,” no longer speaking, with bloodshot eyes and developing severe skin diseases. The family didn’t know what to do and were very worried.

Someone responded to the post, and others asked for more details.

However, after that, the original poster seemed to vanish. It was more than half a month before they replied again, stating that the sick family member had been hospitalized and received proper treatment. The condition had improved, and the worsening was due to the poster not sending them to the hospital sooner.

“Do you think this person’s recovery is real?” Shu Fu asked.

Chen Fa responded with two words: “Hard to say.”

Now that she thought about it, Zhou Feng must know more about the sick individuals than they did, but unfortunately, the incident with the strange fish had overlapped with everything else, and they missed their chance. Now that Hexi Town was overrun by the strange fish, she wondered whether Zhou Feng was even still alive.

Around 2 PM, the two of them prepared to leave and head back. Before leaving, Shu Fu traded some of their medicine for tissues and bottled purified water. Since the water bottles were unopened, they cost a bit more, and the person accepted a strip of ibuprofen from Shu Fu, with 8 pills.

She had intended to use this exchange to gather some information because the early symptoms of the illness—cold and fever—were treated with ibuprofen.

However, before she could speak, the vendor gave her a cold, warning look.

Shu Fu immediately understood and stopped talking. She handed the large bag with canned goods to Chen Fa and carefully packed the bottled water into her backpack before quickly leaving.

Even though the vendor didn’t say anything, his warning expression upon hearing the word “patients” was already an answer.

Once outside the museum, they retrieved the plastic bags from their weapons and shoved them into the pockets of their raincoats.

Chen Fa lowered her rain hood and leaned in closer to Shu Fu, saying one word: “Yes.”

Shu Fu nodded.

Not only was it “yes,” but the people around them, like the family members of the patients from the Yang Can team, seemed to avoid the topic altogether.

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After leaving the museum, Shu Fu and Chen Fa clearly felt more eyes on them. Their waterproof backpacks, now containing canned goods and bottled water, bulged slightly under the raincoats, making it obvious that they had something inside.

However, since the backpacks were hidden under the raincoats, any refugees who wanted to steal from them would have to confront them directly.

For the refugees, it wasn’t about whether they could overpower them; in such a chaotic world, women walking alone couldn’t be underestimated. It was possible they had a whole team behind them, and it could be dangerous to provoke someone with a large group behind them.

If they were caught, it could mean broken limbs or being beaten to death.

The refugees weren’t foolish. They wanted to steal, but they also wanted to survive, so they usually waited and didn’t employ such direct methods.

Chen Fa gripped her multifunctional shovel in one hand, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings as she pulled Shu Fu along. She periodically warned, “Around this area, you often see women and children who’ve been ‘beaten,’ or people arguing. You might also encounter young, attractive women who seem helpless and beg for food. Don’t pay attention to them; they’re all traps.

“They usually show up in the afternoon because many people who come for trading stick around to use the internet. Most leave by the afternoon, and that’s when we’re seen as easy targets.”

“After so much chaos in the city, people coming to trade must be somewhat wary. Do you really think people fall for these tricks?” Shu Fu asked. Even she, seeing hungry refugees, couldn’t help but feel some sympathy, but she also understood that no matter how much sympathy she had, she couldn’t afford to show it in this environment.

Because giving in to that sympathy could cost more than just some food or water—it could cost her life.

There was no need for Chen Fa to respond; the truth was clear.

On the rain-drenched street, a young man wearing a waterproof jacket was frantically trying to push a woman who had fallen into his arms away: “What are you doing?! Didn’t I already give you something to eat? Hurry up and go back… Ah, don’t touch me! You’re dirty, I don’t need your thanks, this jacket is new… Okay, okay, I’ll give you some more food—”

He turned around just as he saw Shu Fu and Chen Fa passing by and, like seeing a savior, he loudly shouted, “Two big sisters, help me out!”

Shu Fu: …

She really didn’t expect there to still be such naïve people in this world after everything that had happened.

To avoid trouble, she and Chen Fa immediately quickened their pace, going from walking quickly to jogging, and deliberately circled around them.

When the man saw them speed up and leave, he panicked: “Hey! Hey! Why are you running?! Are you even women? Are you misandrists?! Why ignore your fellow women who need help?! … Hey! I don’t need you to give me anything, I just need you to help pull her off me! … Can’t you hear me?! Why are you running?!”

His shouting continued behind them, but the more he yelled, the faster Shu Fu and Chen Fa ran.

They even started suspecting that this man was part of the “trap” or “scheme.” Otherwise, how could there still be such foolish people in this world?

As Chen Fa and Shu Fu quickly ran down the street, staying alert, the situation ahead had already changed.

They turned around and saw that the man, who had been by himself, now had several people around him. One was grabbing the baseball bat he had been using as a weapon, another had come up behind him and was restraining his arms, swiftly stuffing a dirty rag into his mouth. A third person snatched the backpack from his hands.

The woman who had been leaning on him was now quickly taking off his waterproof jacket, pulling items out of his pockets and stuffing them into her own arms.

During this process, she deliberately smeared the dirt and muddy water on her hands across the man’s face, as if avenging the insult he’d just made about her being dirty.

It didn’t stop there—seeing that he wasn’t resisting very strongly, perhaps because he was more show than strength, they quickly overpowered him, pinning him to the ground. They stripped off his waterproof pants and boots, leaving him with only his underwear and a T-shirt. Then, they swiftly bound his wrists behind his back and scattered before he could get back up.

“Damn!” Chen Fa exclaimed in surprise, then grabbed Shu Fu’s arm and quickly increased their pace, speeding away from the street like the wind.

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Because of this incident, Shu Fu and Chen Fa were more cautious on their way back. After all, they didn’t have a team behind them, and they could only rely on themselves in any situation.

Along the way, they were also targeted by other gazes, but Shu Fu had a map, and Chen Fa had been to Lucheng before. They purposely chose streets with no buildings on the sides where people could hide, or they passed near areas controlled by other teams.

These areas had patrols, and the ordinary refugees didn’t dare to ambush and loot here. The people in these territories were on high alert for unfamiliar faces, but if someone was simply passing along the border, it usually didn’t attract the attention of the teams.

Using these tactics, they managed to shake off several people tailing them and eventually made it out of the city center, crossing through the ruins area and back to the edge of the city.

By this time, it was already evening. The heavy rain had turned into a torrential downpour, and the wind had picked up. Their faces and hair were soaked, and the wind and rain hit them, causing their faces to feel a sharp, numbing pain. The rain seeped into their collars, dampening their clothes inside.

A lightning bolt flashed across the darkened sky, and the thunder crashed soon after.

“The wind and rain are so intense today, it might turn into a thunderstorm. We need to move faster,” Shu Fu said. They had been walking briskly and jogging in the rain for over two hours, and their energy was nearly depleted. Now, with the weather turning, they had no choice but to push themselves even harder.

When they finally arrived at the abandoned complex, another thunderclap split the sky, followed by an even louder rumble of thunder. They both heard a screeching sound and a massive rumble from the direction of the nearby Qing River tributary.

The area they were in was at a low elevation, surrounded by overgrown plants, so they couldn’t see what was happening in the direction of the noise.

At that moment, hurried footsteps came from the building they were temporarily staying in—it was Chen Yuezhen, running down to meet them.