Chapter 83

Last night, it was too dark for them to see the full extent of the southern part of the city. But now, as they walked along, everything around them became clear under the dim sky. Compared to Lucheng, this place seemed cleaner—there was no clutter of piled-up garbage or traces of violent conflicts. However, it was still desolate and rundown.

Wild grass and other plants had begun to grow through the cracks in the pavement and along the walls, slowly reclaiming every corner of the city, covering up the remnants of human presence. Judging by the situation here, the residents of the southern part of the city must have evacuated some time ago. There weren’t many corpses on the streets, which suggested that the evacuation had been orderly.

This gave the group a bit more confidence in the Nanjiao Military Academy.

But their optimism didn’t last long. After walking for more than an hour, they started to see human corpses scattered on both sides of the street. Some of the bodies hadn’t even decomposed yet, their exposed limbs and torsos covered in dense gray scabs.

Gray Scab Disease patients!

There were Gray Scab Disease patients in the southern part of the city too!

It made sense—how could one part of the city be overrun with the infected while the other remained untouched?

This was likely one of the reasons why the last remaining military unit in the south had evacuated with the surviving civilians. They must have also discovered that the infected were drawn to water, so they had tried to relocate to an area farther from the river, with smaller, sturdier buildings that would be easier to defend, manage, and treat the sick.

But this new disease was relentless. Along the way, more and more people must have died…

Fear settled over the group, and they instinctively huddled closer together. At the same time, they felt compelled to take a closer look. They had all encountered infected people before, but none of them had seen what happened when the disease reached its final stage.

In other words, they wanted to know at what point the infected succumbed to death.

In the end, Shu Fu, Chen Fa, Lu Zheng, and Xu Tingfeng stepped forward to investigate.

The rain was still heavy, and the closest body lay face down on the sidewalk. Half of its body was exposed, its gray scabs constantly being washed by the rain, making them appear unnaturally smooth. The cracks in the scabs revealed glimpses of raw flesh underneath.

The person’s hair was completely gone, and their scalp was covered in gray scabs as well, making them look eerily strange.

As the group examined the body, Xu Tingfeng suddenly frowned. “That’s odd… Why is the flesh beneath the scabs still red?” As he spoke, a thought occurred to him, and he prodded the corpse with the tip of his stick.

The moment he said that, Chen Fa immediately reacted, stepping in front of Shu Fu and pulling her back a few steps.

At the same time, Lu Zheng reached out and blocked Shu Fu’s other side.

Both of them were tall, and with her waterproof boots on, Shu Fu still didn’t reach 165 cm. Her vision was completely blocked. She hopped up twice before finally catching a glimpse of what was happening.

The “corpse” moved.

This infected person hadn’t died at all—daytime simply wasn’t its active period. After getting drenched in the rain last night, it had just collapsed on the ground. Unlike in the northern part of the city, where people actively rounded up the infected during the day and brought them back indoors, no one had done that here. That’s why they had mistaken it for a corpse.

The infected person’s aggression was clearly not as intense as it would be at night. Its reactions were sluggish and dull. Even after being disturbed, it only shifted slightly before settling back down.

Chen Fa thought about the fisherman who had left their group last night and never returned. If he had indeed headed south like them, then he must have passed through this area.

But at night, these infected weren’t as docile as they were now. If he had encountered them… the chances of survival were slim.

When the four of them rejoined the group, their expressions were grim. Many of the unmoving “corpses” scattered around could very well still be alive. These were likely the infected that the evacuation team had abandoned. That meant that even in the south, the military had been powerless against the disease—to the point where they had no choice but to leave the infected behind.

The rest of the group fell into silence upon hearing this conclusion. After all, no one knew what caused the disease. Any one of them could be next.

They could end up suffering from high fevers, losing the ability to speak, failing to recognize their loved ones, and then developing those gray scabs. Every night, their bodies would crack open in excruciating pain, again and again, until they were no longer human… nor fully dead.

With these thoughts weighing heavily on them, the group resumed their journey toward the Nanjiao Military Academy.

This time, they were even more cautious. Whenever they saw a “corpse” lying in the road, they would immediately adjust their path to avoid it.

They walked for another two hours before finally leaving the city and entering the suburbs.

The rain was still pouring. The road ahead was uncertain. They were exhausted.

Their clothes were already soaked through under their raincoats, and their shoes, covered in mud, had become unbearably heavy. But no one complained. No one slowed the group down. They all gritted their teeth and pressed on.

The big guy, grateful for Shu Fu’s painkillers, had been looking after her the entire way. He offered to carry her backpack and even suggested she sit on the back of the tricycle. “You’re light. One person’s pedaling is already hard enough—what’s one more?”

But then, he noticed that Lu Zheng had been keeping a close eye on Shu Fu, looking after her the whole time. It seemed like something was going on there, so he wisely backed off.

After another twenty minutes of walking, the buildings around them became sparser. The vegetation grew denser, the trees taller.

On the side of the road, they spotted a sign.

It had the words “Military Academy” on it.

That meant they were close to their destination.

With nowhere nearby to take shelter from the rain, they encouraged each other to keep moving forward.

Ahead, a three-way intersection emerged. The main road veered right toward the distant hilly terrain where the military academy was located. Another path, a smaller one, led into the dense forest, and at the far end of the woods, the faint outline of another mountain ridge could be seen.

A signpost stood at the intersection. Lu Ce jogged ahead to check it, then returned excitedly, announcing that they were only two kilometers away from their destination.

The group pressed on, quickly passing the intersection. As they walked, Shu Fu suddenly froze in place and stopped.

She reached out tentatively, and within moments, she was sure of it.

A barrier.

For some time now, she had been traveling—leaving Hexi Town, going to Lucheng, leaving Lucheng, heading to the Salt Lake, and finally making her way to Youcheng, hundreds of kilometers away. This continuous journey had almost made her forget that she was not truly free.

Now, here in the southern outskirts of Youcheng, so close to the borders of Xiangzhou Province, just two kilometers away from their goal, she was once again stopped.

Unlike Lu Zheng and Chen Fa, who walked through without issue, she remained an anomaly.

The others quickly noticed Shu Fu’s sudden stop. Chen Fa, Chen Yuezhen, Lu Zheng, and Lu Ce all turned back and walked toward her.

“What’s wrong, Shu-girl? Are you feeling unwell?”

“Did you twist your ankle?” Chen Fa held her arm for support.

Lu Zheng glanced at the stopped tricycle ahead. “You can ride on the cart, you know. If you don’t want Big Guy pedaling for you, I’ll do it.”

“I can pedal too! I’m really good at it!” Lu Ce chimed in eagerly.

Ahead, the others also stopped and turned back. They weren’t sure what was happening, but seeing both Chen Fa and Lu Zheng gathered around Shu Fu made them concerned.

“Everything okay?” Xu Tingfeng and Yue Dong walked over as well.

After experiencing this mysterious “ghost wall” so many times, this was the first time Shu Fu truly felt that she wasn’t alone. Even in this world, where she was an anomaly, she had friends—people who cared about her.

She smiled and said calmly, “I’m sorry, but I can’t go any further with you. I actually… have other important matters to take care of. I can only accompany you up to this point.”

“What?” Lu Zheng was confused.

Chen Fa also didn’t understand. “If you have something to do, I can go with you first. Then we can go to the military academy together.”

“You two should wait for a moment. I need to talk to you both.” She addressed Lu Zheng and Chen Fa, then turned to Chen Yuezhen and Lu Ce, offering her apologies.

Lu Ce was unwilling to accept it. “But I want you to come with us! What’s so important that you have to deal with it right now? We’re almost there! There’s a place to rest, and probably hot food too. Can’t you just take a break before heading off?”

Compared to the others, Chen Yuezhen was the first to accept it. “Don’t push her. It must be something really important. Besides, taking care of us was never her responsibility. But Shu-girl, the world is tough right now. If we part ways here, it might be really hard to meet again.”

After all, they didn’t know what conditions awaited them at the military academy, or where they would be heading if they continued moving south.

“I know. But after I handle my matters, I’ll keep moving southwest. I have friends in Xizhou Province, and we’ve already arranged to meet there. I want to set that as our rendezvous point too.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to take Grandma there as well.” Not just for Shu Fu’s sake, but also because Xizhou Province was the safest region in Huaguo right now—and likely would be in the future too.

Lu Ce was still reluctant to leave, but since Shu Fu had something to say to Lu Zheng and Chen Fa, he had no choice but to go ahead. In the end, after saying their goodbyes, Xu Tingfeng and Chen Yuezhen led the rest of the group forward.

They agreed to slow their pace to wait for Lu Zheng and Chen Fa.

Once the others had moved on, Chen Fa turned back to Shu Fu. “What’s really going on?” She had been with her every day and had never heard of any so-called ‘important matters’ before.

“I didn’t plan to separate from you all this soon. It’s not that I don’t want to keep going—I can’t.” Shu Fu pointed to a spot a meter ahead. “There’s an invisible barrier there that no one else can see. It restricts my movement.”

“What?!” Chen Fa and Lu Zheng both looked stunned.

She didn’t go into detail. After all, she herself didn’t understand why this barrier existed or why, despite all of them being Awakened, she was the only one affected.

All she could do was state the fact: she couldn’t continue moving south with them. Let alone leaving the Northern Plateau or going to Xiangzhou Province.

Of course, she was sure that someday she would be able to. She just didn’t know when.

“If you can’t leave, then we’ll stay with you,” Lu Zheng said after a brief silence. “Lucheng, Salt Lake, and now Youcheng—we’ve traveled across such a large area. We’re bound to find a place where we can settle down.”

“Don’t be silly. You might be willing to stay with me for a month or two, but what about a year? Two years? The Northern Plateau isn’t a place to settle down. There’s no water, no food—nothing but those monsters crawling up from the rivers and strange diseases spreading everywhere. And if we wait too long, there could be even worse disasters. Did you notice the water level of the river in Youcheng last night? The whole greenbelt along the shore was already submerged…”

Although my knowledge is limited, I can tell you this: in the near future, this entire planet will become an ocean. Most of the land will be submerged beneath the water, and this place, with its insufficient elevation, will also be flooded. Only a few high mountains and elevated plateaus will survive. The Fengshang Plateau, where Xizhou Province is located, will become one of the largest and safest land areas on the planet. You should act quickly—before the place becomes overcrowded—move as soon as possible!”

“But we have rafts. We’re not afraid of the land being submerged,” Chen Fa glanced at Lu Zheng, already acknowledging him as a companion.

“Your rafts aren’t sturdy enough. Forget about a world-ending tsunami hundreds of meters high—even a single giant wave in the waters outside Lou Yuncheng could easily capsize them…”

Shu Fu looked at them and smiled. “It’s fine, don’t worry about me. You have family to care for, teammates who need you to walk this path with them, missing memories to recover, and the truth of your existence in this world to uncover. And I also have things I must do. Really, don’t worry. This isn’t my first time—I’m used to it.”

“Then where are you planning to go now?” Lu Zheng asked.

“I’m lazy. I don’t want to backtrack. I’ll probably look for a suitable place nearby to settle for now.” As she spoke, Shu Fu took out a waterproof bag containing her phone, opened the pre-downloaded map, and started checking it on the spot.

Maybe it was finally her turn for some good luck—after their string of misfortunes—because she quickly found a lake nestled in the foothills along the small road leading left from the three-way intersection they had just passed.

According to the topographic map, it was a fairly large lake situated in a valley where several mountain peaks intertwined. The elevation wasn’t particularly low, thanks to the surrounding peaks raising the terrain. It wouldn’t be submerged so quickly.

She pointed at the lake on the map. “I’ll stay here!”

Lu Zheng was momentarily stunned, then realized that she also had a raft and understood her reasoning.

In the end, the three of them agreed that Shu Fu would temporarily stay by the lake in the foothills while they went to the military academy to check the situation there with the others.

If things looked good, they would continue heading south as planned. If not, they would return to Youcheng, find a larger vehicle, repair it, gather some fuel, and form their own team to move south.

Of course, no matter what, they would come to the lake the next day to inform her of their decision.

Shu Fu found the plan reasonable. “Alright. Even if the lake turns out to be unsuitable, I’ll wait for you guys to arrive before relocating. Also, I’ll prepare lunch tomorrow—no need to bring gifts!”

“A raft meet-up?” Chen Fa laughed, then suggested she take out her car so they could help her change the tires, saving her from the miserable task of walking alone to the foothills.

“Car?” Lu Zheng was puzzled until he saw the off-road vehicle that should have been left behind in the northern part of the city suddenly appear before them.

The car was originally quite sturdy, and later modifications had turned it into something akin to a steel-clad tank. Unfortunately, the tires remained its weak point.

As Chen Fa helped her replace the tires, he also taught her how to do it. Lu Zheng assisted as well, reminding her, “You only have one spare tire left. If another one breaks, you won’t have a replacement. Drive carefully.”

Shu Fu looked at the two of them. “Aren’t you curious how I managed to store something this big?”

“What’s there to be curious about? It’s not like everyone’s cheat ability is exactly the same. Meanwhile, you were still stuck outside Youcheng’s southern suburbs like a fool…” Chen Fa replied nonchalantly.

Shu Fu: …

Lu Zheng turned his head to stifle a laugh.

Lu Zheng stored the removed tire in his backpack compartment, mentioning that they could try to repair it if they got the chance.

Shu Fu then took out a canister of fuel and a soft hose, and Lu Zheng helped her refuel. The three of them then bid farewell. Before they left, Shu Fu handed each of them five bottles of that strange red liquid. Even though she still didn’t know exactly what it was, it had proven extremely effective against the mutant fish.

She wasn’t just giving them the bottles for self-defense—she also hoped they could find a way to secretly hand them over to the authorities for research. If they could develop a similar substance, it might be possible to counter the mutant fish effectively.

“You still have more?” Chen Fa was shocked. “How much did you take back then?”

“Take a guess.” Shu Fu smiled at her before climbing into the jeep.

Chen Fa also laughed. Judging by Shu Fu’s expression, she had probably taken everything.

The off-road vehicle turned around and headed toward the three-way intersection they had come from.

Lu Zheng and Chen Fa stood silently, watching as her car disappeared down the road. Once it had smoothly turned into the side path, Chen Fa finally said, “Let’s go,” and Lu Zheng turned to follow her.

**

From the map on her phone, Shu Fu could see that the lake she was heading to was actually closer to Youcheng in terms of horizontal distance.

In other words, if the invisible barrier preventing her from leaving the southern suburbs of Youcheng was positioned further ahead along the road past the intersection, then this lake should still be within the barrier—meaning she could reach it without obstruction.

The modified off-road vehicle handled the rugged mountain roads with ease. As it weaved through the dense forest near the intersection and ascended the foothills, there was no sign of the “ghost wall” phenomenon she had feared.

Eventually, the road led her safely up the mountain path, around the peaks, and into a vast mountain valley.

A vast expanse of dark lake water stretched out before her. The overcast sky cast a grayish hue over the surface, making the lake appear somber. In reality, the water was quite clear, but without sunlight, it looked dull and lifeless.

Perhaps because there were no people within several kilometers, there was no human-made trash or ruins. The area lacked the desolation of the city and instead resembled an ordinary mountain lake from before the apocalypse.

The lake itself had a zigzagging shape, winding through several mountain peaks. Beyond the uneven terrain, even taller mountains could be seen in the distance, with the highest peak still bearing traces of snow on its summit.

It seemed that the northern plateau had experienced snowfall during the winter.

On the side of the lake, near a gentle slope, stood a row of flat-roofed houses—likely built in the past as a resting spot for fishing enthusiasts.

Shu Fu climbed onto her off-road vehicle and used binoculars to examine the buildings. After confirming that their doors and windows were damaged and that no one was living there, she felt reassured. If she patched them up, they could serve as shelters for the four hours each day when she couldn’t use her raft.

She got back into the vehicle and drove toward a wooded area near the lake.

This forest hadn’t originally been so close to the water, but months of rainfall had caused the lake’s water level to rise significantly. Many trees ahead were now partially submerged, and the area where she parked had turned into a wetland.

The trees here were tall, their dense branches and leaves shielding many areas from the rain. Under normal circumstances, such places would be teeming with flying insects and crawling pests, but perhaps due to the higher elevation and cooler temperature, the situation here wasn’t too bad.

Shu Fu stored her off-road vehicle back into the “compression display cabinet,” activated the raft’s protective shield on her wristband, and then placed the raft onto the water.