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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 212: Overnight Stay at the Farm
Three days later, the Truck Convoy turned off the Lianhuo Expressway and onto the Dingwu Expressway, arriving at Jingtai County for a rest. Jingtai County is located in central Gansu Province, bordered by the Yellow River to the east, Wuwei to the west, Baiyin to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the north. It lies in the transitional zone between the Loess Plateau and the Tengger Desert, with mountains and hills occupying three-quarters of its area, making it an ordinary county town.
As Jin Bo had anticipated, the weather changed after the convoy passed Zhangye; the sun shone brightly in a clear sky, quite different from the heavy snow that had blanketed Jiuquan. Although everyone had expected this change, they still felt a bit disappointed seeing such contrasting scenes.
The journey had been relatively smooth. They had raided a market in the city beforehand; although their food reserves were limited, they had enough clean water. Considering that many of their personnel were injured, they left most of the food for them. After all, Shaoshan had plenty of Soldiers under his command, so finding something to eat wouldn't be too difficult.
Jiang He and his companions were somewhat worried as they noticed that the trucks were still on the highway. Since leaving that ancient city, every highway they had traveled was plagued by heavy traffic. In previous instances, they had been forced to abandon their vehicles or turn back to find alternative routes. However, Shaoshan seemed unfazed, as if he owned the highway. For two days and nights, they maintained high speed, rotating drivers among the truckers to get closer to the port as quickly as possible. It turned out that Shaoshan's confidence was justified; many vehicles had been abandoned along this stretch of highway, but it was not like what they encountered near the ancient city. Most of what remained on the highway were large coaches; private cars were scarce, and large-scale Zombies were nearly nonexistent. Occasionally, small groups of Zombies appeared but posed no threat to them.
The endless barren mountains rose and fell around them. At first, there was some enjoyment in the scenery, but after a while, it became tiresome. From day to night, there was hardly any change; what once seemed like lush green hills now felt like yesterday's faded memories. All that met their eyes was a desolate landscape. What was particularly oppressive was that apart from themselves and the occasional Zombie sighting, there were no signs of life for hundreds of miles—no birds in the clear sky and no survivors in villages or towns.
Luci's Tabby Cat became a new favorite among them. The Brothers in Arms appeared tough as nails when fighting enemies but found themselves softened by a mere cat. The poor Tabby Cat was constantly passed around from one pair of hands to another; just as it closed its eyes for a moment of rest, it would be transferred again into another sweaty grip. The big cat grew impatient and let out low growls while scratching a few Soldiers to prove it wasn't to be trifled with. The Brothers in Arms laughed heartily like a bunch of children who hadn't grown up yet; even when being scratched, they remained playful. Eventually, Tabby Cat resigned itself to being petted by rough hands on its shiny fur. At this rate, by the time they reached Bohai Bay, Tabby Cat would likely look like a stray.
Jiang He and his group found it amusing and regretted not bringing Yellow Dog along; otherwise, their journey would have been filled with even more laughter.
"Those two clever little creatures," Zeng Yadong stretched his stiff back and chuckled. "They haven't lost any weight at all; they seem even rounder."
"Of course! Just look at how well they're treated compared to us," Jin Bo grinned foolishly. After leaving the snowy region, temperatures had risen somewhat; being crammed in the truck made them sweat despite their injuries still healing. During a break earlier, the medic had changed his bandages—though there wasn't much to do other than apply iodine for disinfection and wrap him up again.
Thanks to years of martial arts training, Jin Bo was recovering well; his wound had started to scab over with fresh pink skin forming around it. Chen Zhao Zhou's injury was more severe—the bullet lodged near his shoulder blade caused some nerve damage. According to the medic, even if he healed completely, he would likely suffer from lingering effects due to limited medical resources.
"It's nothing serious; I can wield a knife with either hand," Jin Bo replied nonchalantly with a grin on his face as he joked about wanting to be a one-armed hero since childhood but never managed to raise an eagle.
At noon on the third day, the convoy entered Jingtai County. Tired of the Loess Plateau and the endless barren mountains, the quiet little town offered a different kind of charm. Approaching the county seat, there were many knife-scarred Loess hills. Based on their previous experiences traveling through towns and villages, Shaoshan avoided the main road and drove into the city along a small path. They were in a hurry when they arrived, carrying ample firearms, and whenever they encountered a horde of zombies, they simply cleared the way with bullets. The Gobi Desert had drained them significantly, pushing everyone back to square one; with a long journey ahead, they dared not waste too much.
Fortunately, there were no horrific scenes of zombies crossing over. This county seemed to have been silent for a long time. Under the dim sunlight, particles of Loess swirled in the air, casting a yellowish hue over the entire small town.
The roar of the engine abruptly ceased as the Yellow Wind swept by. The distant mountains stood silent; it was yet another abandoned empty city.
The truck stopped in front of a Farm Stay, some distance from the center of the county. The asphalt road here had long fallen into disrepair, riddled with potholes. A few small buses were left on what was still a relatively wide road, while more motorcycles lay scattered and toppled over. The Farm Stay was on the left side of the road, flanked by two rows of tall Poplar Trees with light boxes strung between them. A red-brick path extended inward, leading everyone into an unremarkable farmhouse courtyard. The low walls on either side of the gate were painted white, adorned with large blue letters: on the left was "China Telecom, 3G New Era," and on the right was "Teacher Niu's English Crash Course," which looked rather mismatched.
Across the road stood an old five-story office building. The white ceramic-tiled stairs had turned black and yellow over time, and old blue Transparent Glass windows were half-opened and half-closed, faintly revealing some furnishings inside. Below, a row of motorcycle repair shops lined up, offering services for both motorcycles and cars, interspersed with some shabby little restaurants. A few dozen meters away stood Hanting Hotel facing the office building silently.
The truck halted on the road while soldiers rushed to the repair shop in search of useful items. The others cautiously stepped into the courtyard to prepare for lunch.
"Keep watch up there," Shaoshan instructed. Two young Soldiers quickly climbed onto the low wall and ran along it before scaling up onto the flat roof built against it. The courtyard was quite spacious; dining and lodging rooms lined both sides and directly ahead. A small path extended to the right leading to a large kitchen. They had visited similar Farm Stays before; prices weren't too high, and guests could eat and drink to their heart's content. Some remote or well-connected establishments even had ladies available; after guests filled their bellies and stayed overnight in the courtyard, these ladies would gracefully enter rooms to extract more from drunken patrons.
At the base of the walls flanking the entrance were many iron cages of various sizes. As they checked each one, disappointment washed over them. These cages were used for storing game—typically meat dogs, rabbits, free-range chickens, pigeons, and other ingredients. Guests would order fresh kills for immediate consumption; shopkeepers happily complied since live animals fetched higher prices. A few dusty luxury cars were parked in the courtyard as well; it was clear that wealthy individuals frequented this area—a large Mercedes wedged between a Hummer and a Raptor looked like an aggrieved little wife.
"Nobody touch this; that Raptor is mine," Jiang He exclaimed with shining eyes, his long-lost impoverished demeanor surfacing.
"Ambitious," Shaoshan scoffed lightly as he stepped on the tire of the Hummer and chuckled, "You could buy two Pickups with that."
"You don't understand my sentiment," Jiang He rolled his eyes and reached for the Raptor's door—it was locked.
"Shaolian, we can finally have some meat today!"
The two of them were circling around the car when a Soldier rushed out from the back kitchen, excitedly holding a chicken in each hand and a bunch of feathers on his head. "Chickens! And fish! Live ones! And turtles!"
"Is there pork? I haven't had ribs in ages." The allure of roasted chicken clearly outweighed that of the Hummer and Raptor, as everyone eagerly followed him into the kitchen, their faces beaming with joy.
Goodness, no wonder the cages were empty; it turns out they were all here! The kitchen and storage room faced each other, both wide open. As they rushed in, they happened to see several...
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