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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 128: The Trek
"I swore at that time, once I stepped out of that door, I could be bitten to death by a Zombie, die from illness, or even be killed by other Survivors... but one thing I absolutely would not allow was to starve to death!" Ming Junwei paused, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and grinned at the others beside him before continuing, "There were candles in the room, but I didn't dare to light them. I had no idea how many Zombies were outside. I only slept two hours a day, not because I wasn't tired, but because I couldn't fall asleep. At first, I was counting the time. I found a pen holder and some sticky notes on my desk, and when I was about to start recording, I remembered I couldn't light a lamp; even if I wrote it down, I wouldn't be able to see it. So I threw away the paper and pen and used a knife to carve marks on the wall. Our Factory Director's office is quite large, and they put effort into the decor; the walls are so smooth that even a knife wouldn't leave a mark, which frustrated me to no end. But I found a way around it—I tore up all of the Factory Director's clothes and figured that after one day, I'd tie a knot. By the time I left, can you guess how many knots I tied?"
Ming Junwei took a breath and plopped down onto the soft Loess ground, using his sleeve to wipe away the incessant sweat. The others also stopped, collapsing onto the ground in exhaustion—some sitting, some lying down, panting heavily.
"Sixty?" An Zheng said with a bright smile as she sat down next to the little boy. Her ever-present white coat had changed color, and her dark leggings were covered in dust. An Zheng guessed a number and seeing Ming Junwei smiling without answering, she didn’t press further and began taking off the boy's shoes to pour out the sand inside.
Aside from Jin Bo and Cao Liang who were still standing and looking around, everyone else was too tired to move, their chests rising and falling as they eagerly looked at Ming Junwei, waiting for his answer.
"One hundred thirty-three." Ming Junwei waited for a while before no one else answered and finally revealed the result.
"No way?" Chao Yifan said as he ran his fingers through his now unkempt hair. He calculated with his fingers and asked, "How did you keep track of time?"
"I forgot; anyway, that's what I counted. At that moment, I was dazed—four and a half months! What does that mean? That's nearly a year!" Ming Junwei exaggeratedly held up his fingers for emphasis. Once everyone had laughed enough, he self-deprecatingly added with a grin, "Now guess how many days I was actually trapped?"
"How on earth are we supposed to guess that!" Chao Yifan lay back against the handle of his Great Knife in a sprawled position, staring up at the clear blue sky with a long sigh.
"Come on!" Song Yao slapped him lightly and scolded, "Stop shouting; don’t attract any Zombies."
"I'm not worried; there won't be any Zombies around here. If there were, they'd have turned into mummies by now." Jin Bo and Cao Liang checked their surroundings before returning with uneven steps.
"So how long was it really?" Su Lan asked curiously as she picked off dried grass leaves stuck to her stockings while continuing to press for an answer.
"Come on, guess! It's so boring to just give the answer," Ming Junwei chuckled as he pulled out the last half pack of cigarettes from his pocket and tossed one to each of the smokers present.
"It's still sixty, two months," An Zheng said, taking off his shoes and gently pressing the soles of his feet. He had walked too much in the past few days, and his feet were killing him.
"I'll guess two months too; it can't be more than that," Zeng Yadong said as he tied Luci's long hair up. He took a swig from the water bottle handed to him by Wheat and added, "If it were Xiao Wei and Xiaomi, it would probably last even longer."
"No way, we can't stay that long; at most, we'll have to run out in a week," Xiaomi grinned, humbly waving her hand. "Brother Cao should be about the same; he's an outdoor expert after all."
"Don't make fun of me! Have you ever seen such a disheveled outdoor expert? I couldn't even find water for everyone," Cao Liang exhaled smoke and coughed a couple of times. His leg was much better now; he no longer needed to hop on one leg and could keep pace with the group using a wooden stick.
"Stop keeping us in suspense! Just tell us!" Song Yao lay there for a while, feeling that his strength had somewhat recovered. He sat up and shook the sand out of his hair, urging Ming Junwei to reveal the correct answer.
"I'll say it!" Ming Junwei clapped his hands and laughed heartily, winking mysteriously. "The exact time is... twenty-two days!"
"......"
"Pfft! You big liar!" Chao Yifan laughed loudly, pointing at Ming Junwei and spitting out, "Less than a month, and you actually tied yourself up for half a year?? Have you lost your mind?"
The others either laughed or scolded him, creating a lively atmosphere.
"I'm serious!" Ming Junwei said without blushing or panting, adopting a serious tone. "I originally thought that even if there was some discrepancy in time, it would only be three to five days. Who would have thought it was off by so much!"
"So how did you know the exact time?" Luci asked, holding her stomach as she laughed for a long time. "And how did you manage to hold on for a month?"
Ming Junwei threw a proud glance and said, "Did you see that? This is the correct way to support someone! Ahem, I must admit, I ended up tearing apart the Factory Director's clothes. I had no choice but to look for ropes everywhere, and when I finally looked up, I found a glow-in-the-dark calendar on the desk..."
"Are you saying you've been blind all this time? Riding a donkey to find a donkey?" Chao Yifan burst into laughter, slapping his thigh. "After all this, our versatile athlete Ming the Great Hero was just a clueless rookie before he made his debut!"
"How can you call it clueless? You have no idea what kind of despair I was in! I was one of the first people affected by the Cataclysm, you know? The entire Plant Area had only me left alive; it was a miracle I didn't go insane!" Ming Junwei was quite displeased with Chao Yifan's comment, rolling his eyes and saying, "You think you could remember the time in that situation?"
"You're underestimating me, aren't you?" Chao Yifan smugly rubbed his nose. "I have a clock hanging in my bar and plenty of candlesticks. Jiang He and I had clear roles; not only could we keep track of time, we could even write a memoir if we wanted!"
"..."
Chao Yifan, this big mouth, finished speaking.
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