The doctor cleaned Ding Qi’s wounds and bandaged her, and the rest was up to fate. 

Jiang Ning opened the thermos and fed her the fever-reducing medicine and antibiotics. 

After handling everything, she explained her relationship with the others to the staff and decided to take care of them personally. 

The staff had no objections, so Jiang Ning set up a two-room tent next to them using her large backpack. 

It was raining and there was water everywhere. She laid out a moisture-proof cloth and then used an inflatable mattress, and moved Zheng Weili and Ding Qi in. 

One room for the two of them, and one for her and Doudou. 

The rain pattered on the tent, making a rustling sound, and it felt like it was hitting Jiang Ning’s heart; she felt cold and lost. 

After rebirth, she did her best to prepare supplies, whether it was training or venturing out to eliminate threats, just to keep the right to choose in her own hands. 

But fighting against nature, she still felt so insignificant. 

A sandstorm could make the people or the dog she cared about disappear, and even if she dug three feet deep, she wouldn’t be able to find them. 

That’s the nature of natural disasters, so unpredictable that it makes people collapse. 

No news is both good news and bad news. 

As the days passed, what were the chances of his survival? 

It took only half an hour to get from the rescue site to the settlement camp, and it was no exaggeration to say that there were corpses everywhere. 

Jiang Ning didn’t want to think about it, but she couldn’t help wondering if Huo Yishen was among them. 

“Sister-in-law.” Doudou looked worried and cautious. 

Jiang Ning took a deep breath and took out a cold steamed bun from her bag and handed it over, “It’s okay, your brother and Coke will be safe.” 

Doudou was hungry, but she couldn’t eat the steamed bun in her hand. 

At night, the two lay on the inflatable mattress, tossing and turning without sleep.  

They were both missing the same person and the same dog, but no one dared to say it easily, for fear of putting pressure on the other. 

In the end, Jiang Ning swallowed a melatonin pill and fell asleep. 

When she woke up, she was dizzy and exhausted from the nightmare. 

The two hadn’t woken up yet, but Ding Qi’s high fever had subsided, though she still had a low fever. She was very confused and seemed to be mumbling something. 

Jiang Ning listened for a long time before realizing that she was calling Zhang Chao’s name. 

It seemed that the elder sister was really moved, but Zhang Chao was nowhere to be found. 

The rain outside was gradually easing. Jiang Ning gave more fever-reducing medicine and antibiotics, and asked Doudou to stay to look after the two of them and at the same time pay attention to the newly rescued victims in the settlement camp. 

She couldn’t wait for the news and wanted to go out to look for them again. 

Doudou was anxious, “Sister-in-law, I’ll go with you.” 

“If we all leave, what if your brother comes and finds that we are not here, and rushes to look for us somewhere else?” 

First of all, it is safe to leave someone to wait, and secondly, it is too dangerous outside. She has space to respond flexibly, but she will have a lot of concerns if she takes Doudou with her. 

After suffering through sandstorms and landslides, even with good physical health, Doudou was extremely weak. If something happened while she was out, how would she explain it to Huo Yishen? 

Doudou was very sensible. “Okay, I’ll wait for my sister-in-law and brother to come back, and Coke will be fine too.” 

The settlement camp also had no surplus food, just two meals a day—each meal a fist-sized dough ball made from black moss. It was barely enough to keep starving to death but not sufficient for proper nutrition or filling. 

Jiang Ning left a few packets of compressed biscuits and told her to pay attention to safety and protect herself. 

The rain persisted, and there was rotten yellow mud everywhere, but the water level was much lower than yesterday, and many pits were exposed. It was difficult for boats to pass and people to walk.  

Not only was it difficult to pass through, but it was also more dangerous. If you were not careful, you might step into a deep pit. 

The settlement camp was full of people waiting for their lost relatives. They were impatient and surrounded the staff, pestering them over and over again. 

The murky water was the most dangerous; if pricked by rusty metal, it was easy to get tetanus. 

Huo Yishen was infected in this way in his previous life. 

Jiang Ning put on a one-piece raincoat and high-top rain boots. Seeing that the rescuers had just returned, she took the opportunity to ask a few questions, “Brother, where have you been these days?” 

The rescuers told him the general direction, “Sister, it’s too dangerous outside. I suggest you stay and wait. Don’t let us come to rescue you when you can’t find anyone.” 

This kind of situation happened every day. Many people didn’t listen and insisted on going out to search, which only made the rescuers exhausted. 

Jiang Ning denied, “I’m not going out, I’m just asking you.” 

As soon as they left, she left the camp immediately. 

Finding a place where no one was around, she took out her phone to check the nearby map, and then entered the areas the rescue teams had searched for a proper investigation. 

Based on the terrain, she analyzed the direction of the sandstorm and the place where Huo Yishen might be swept off and went out with a hopeful mentality. 

The terrain was muddy, with deep and shallow pits; it was easy to slip if she wasn’t careful. 

A shallow pit in one step, a deep puddle in the next—she almost fell in. 

This was the result of the worsening environment, with the whole area being unrecognizable. 

Jiang Ning used a hiking stick to test the depth and moved forward at a snail’s pace… 

After several days of search and rescue by the Guancheng authorities, the number of living people trapped outside was dwindling. After more than two hours of walking in a row, there was nothing left but water and floating corpses. 

Around noon, a team of hikers came towards her. When they saw Jiang Ning, they were particularly happy and asked about the direction of the settlement camp. 

This group of people had bumped into each other for shelter during the sandstorm. Since their luggage was not lost, they managed to survive by rationing their supplies. 

Before they could wait for rescue, the water level dropped, so they came here by themselves, wanting to rest and replenish their supplies in the settlement camp before setting off. 

Jiang Ning told them the direction of the settlement camp and then told them what Huo Yishen looked like, “Have you seen him?” 

Everyone shook their heads, “No.” 

Jiang Ning was unwilling to give up, “Have you seen a German Shepherd?” 

German Shepherd? Everyone’s memory was fuzzy, and they thought for a long time before they remembered what a German Shepherd looked like. 

It had been so many years since the end of the world, let alone a living dog, they hadn’t even seen dog hair. 

Jiang Ning was very disappointed, but she didn’t dare to give up. 

There was a rumbling sound of the motor behind her, and a speedboat came from far away and suddenly rushed towards the hiking team. It made an exaggerated and rapid turn, and the turbid yellow mud water splashed at them. 

Everyone was angry and couldn’t help cursing. 

There were two people on the speedboat, who looked less than 20 years old, and one of them was wearing camouflage clothes and a life jacket. 

Seeing that they dared to scold him, he pulled out a gun from his waist and fired several times, causing continuous screams. Some were even so scared that they squat with their heads in their hands. 

The boy laughed arrogantly, “Haha, look at how cowardly they are!” 

It wasn’t a real gun, it was a rubber bullet, but it would hurt a lot when it hit the body. 

Nine years after the end of the world, judging from his dress, who else could it be, this must be an arrogant and foolish guy from the second generation of the official? 

Not wanting to get involved, Jiang Ning ignored the commotion and continued on her way. 

Not long after, the speedboat passed by the river. It drove a few dozen meters away and stopped again. The boy turned around and looked at Jiang Ning and said in a frivolous tone. “Sister, you look really good.”