The fire in the kang stove had been lit, and the clay kang swiftly became warm, then hot, warming up the entire cabin as well.
But in the latter half of the night, without additional wood to fuel it, the kang's warmth would diminish, and the room's temperature would only drop further.
Gao Yuan had a sleeping bag, so he had no problems when sleeping alone, but now there were two people and only one sleeping bag.
The simplest solution was to spread the sleeping bag out, with Gao Yuan and Luo Xingyu each covering themselves with a part of it. This way, although neither of them could stay very warm, neither would freeze, either.
The only problem was that sharing a sleeping bag required them to lie very close together.
It was at this moment that Gao Yuan realized Luo Xingyu's body odor was indeed not pleasant—two months without bathing meant that even with new clothes, the smell wouldn't be nice.
But all of that was secondary, as a tired Gao Yuan quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Hearing faint but strange noises, Gao Yuan, who had not long fallen asleep, suddenly opened his eyes and swiftly sat up, grabbing the knife next to his pillow with his left hand. Only after his right hand had taken hold of the knife's handle did he remember that he wasn't sleeping alone anymore.
There was another person lying beside him, and realizing this, Gao Yuan first felt an inexplicable surge of happiness, then he let out a long sigh of relief.
Luo Xingyu made a slight murmur in her sleep, but as Gao Yang made some noise with his movements, Luo Xingyu's murmuring stopped, and even her breathing sounds disappeared.
Gao Yuan knew what was happening. Over these two months, he hadn't been able to sleep soundly, and Luo Xingyu's situation was even worse, so it was unlikely that she could remain asleep now.
Extreme fear, tension, loneliness—having been in such a psychological state for a long time, it would have been odd if Luo Xingyu hadn't become particularly alert.
"You're awake, aren't you?"
It was a moment later that Luo Xingyu replied in a low voice, "Mm."
"I'm just not used to having someone else by my side. I got startled awake just now, no worries. Let's continue sleeping."
Gao Yuan explained, because he worried that Luo Xingyu might have some unpleasant thoughts.
After all, it was a lone man and a lone woman together, and with only morality restraining Gao Yuan, it was normal for Luo Xingyu to be afraid.
Luo Xingyu sighed softly, then she sat up and whispered, "I can't sleep anymore, it might take me a very long time to fall asleep again."
Certainly in this world now, insomnia must have become a common affliction most people faced.
Gao Yuan whispered, "Me too, let's just talk then."
"Mm, can we have some light?"
"No, batteries are precious, and the pine torch smoke is too much."
"All right, um, what to talk about... "
Luo Xingyu hesitated, and Gao Yuan whispered, "Anything but family, anything else is fine."
Not wanting to confront the bloody wound in his heart, at least not yet, Gao Yuan preemptively set the bounds for the conversation.
After hesitating for a while, Luo Xingyu finally said, "Then tell me why you're here. I mean, why did you choose to live here?"
"Good question, choosing this place of course has its reasons. First, this village has been abandoned for at least twenty years. The reason it was abandoned is that the transportation here was too difficult. There's only one narrow path to the outside world, and at two points it turns into steps carved out of a mountain slope, with the widest spot being less than a meter. Our location is roughly at the mountaintop, with an altitude of 986 meters, so forget cars, even bicycles can't make it through. The bike and the large packages, I had to carry them up in two separate trips. It would be easier to relocate everyone for poverty alleviation than to try to help this place, so the village was abandoned."
"Oh, just one road? I saw another small path leading to the mountaintop; what's beyond the mountain ridge?"
"Over the mountaintop and downhill leads to a stretch of abandoned farmland, overgrown with trees and difficult to navigate. If you go through the farmland and follow the ridge, there's basically no path, and you have to walk about eighteen kilometers in winding loops before you can descend the mountain."
"Having only one path makes it safer, right?"
"Exactly. We're in the middle section of Mount Taixing. The most distinctive geological feature here are the continuous cliffs and precipices. Without a path, climbing up or down the mountain is particularly dangerous. Our location is advantageous because, apart from the small path leading up here, it's highly unlikely anyone would come from any other direction. And we are far from any main road, greatly reducing the chance of being discovered accidentally by others."
After pondering for a moment, Luo Xingyu asked, "The villa where I was staying before, is it in that direction?"
In pitch darkness, Gao Yuan was unable to give directions; all he could say was, "The road into the village runs east-west, and the place I found you was to the north. I was chasing a wild boar when I happened upon it; there were no roads, making it difficult to judge the distance. On our way back, we must have walked about ten kilometers, but..."
Gao Yuan fell silent, then frowning, continued, "That means it's actually possible to come here from the villa."
"There wouldn't be any zombies that could make it here, right?"
Gao Yuan whispered, "Shouldn't be. Why would zombies climb mountains and trudge through forests for that distance? I'm not familiar with the area where you lived. Tell me about the terrain nearby."
"Well, it's by a new highway, just opened. The village is near the highway. I didn't dare to continue when I saw the village. Then I spotted a newly paved cement road. I thought to bypass the village, so I followed the small cement road for about two or three kilometers. That's where the unfinished villa was. Later, I visited the nearby farmland of the village but didn't get too close to the village itself, so I don't know what it looks like inside."
Shenzhou had developed too rapidly in recent years. When Gao Yuan and the others chose this abandoned village as a retreat, that highway didn't even exist.
"Were there any road signs? Did you notice? Do you know the name of the village?"
Luo Xingyu hesitated, "I didn't pay attention. Oh, I remember a sign that said there was 32 kilometers to Shanxi Province. I didn't notice any other signs."
Gao Yuan whispered, "Mm, we're nearly at the border of Hebei and Shanxi."
After pondering for a moment, Luo Xingyu spoke softly, "How did you find this place?"
"The three of us..."
They had agreed not to talk about family, but Gao Yuan then realized he couldn't talk about friends either.
Talking about friends was equally heart-wrenching.
So Gao Yuan couldn't continue.
Luo Xingyu realized this and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, let's talk about something else."
"No need."
After taking a deep breath, Gao Yuan said softly, "The three of us knew each other from a long time ago, we all liked the outdoors, so it was always the three of us going places, never joining up with other hikers because our styles were different."
"So you met each other through outdoor activities?"
"Uh, not really, we... all came from Stonegate City and worked in Ji City. I knew Pipe first because we both enjoyed crafts, and after getting to know him, Pipe introduced... Ham to me because Ham and I shared a common passion for the outdoors. And then, by hanging out together, I influenced them, and they were also the kind of people who took crisis awareness seriously. We were hobbyists who decided to stick together should a real crisis occur, so our relationship was always very good."
"So you started stockpiling supplies then."
"Yes, we would go out on trips at least twice a year together. One time, through an introduction from another hiker, we came here and found this place to be perfectly suited for our needs. So we decided to turn it into our number one safe haven. Um, that time, we left our leftover biscuits and canned food here, and then we consciously came here more often, each time bringing more nonperishable food and some outdated but still functional equipment to hide here."
Sighing lightly, Gao Yuan continued, "Like the radio, that was... Ham's; he was a radio enthusiast. He thought we should have a radio here, so he brought it. But our primary stockpile was food. Um, that's about it."
"Number one safe haven, do you have any others?"
"No, just number one. We didn't have the resources or time to prepare another safe haven elsewhere, nor a suitable location. But the main reason was the lack of money."
Luo Xingyu sighed, for her father was the richest man, yet he didn't have such a safe haven.
Without much thought, Luo Xingyu asked, "Pipe and Ham, are those your nicknames?"
"No, they were the call signs we first agreed to use when communicating by radio. We were supposed to change them later, but we ended up using them, and never changed them over the years... Let's not talk about this!"
Gao Yuan's heart ached. He thought he was fine, but he found he was not, so he had to change the subject.
"Your plans... What are your plans?"
Gao Yuan wanted to shift the topic to Luo Xingyu, but after starting, he quickly realized he couldn't ask about Luo Xingyu's family, so he immediately changed the subject again.
Luo Xingyu was silent for a long time and then said softly, "No plans. Being able to eat and sleep in warmth now feels like heaven on earth to me. I don't have any plans right now. Brother Yuan, do you have any plans?"
The question was thrown back at him. After pondering for a moment, Gao Yuan replied softly, "I don't have any plans either. I'm a survivalist, which makes me a pessimist by nature, because optimists wouldn't stoop to stockpiling supplies for disaster, something so tedious. They only think about the good things."
Gao Yuan couldn't help but smile, but then he lamented, "So I never thought about going back to my old life, nor do I expect to drive away the aliens. The most optimistic plan I can make is to hope zombies starve to death, then I'd go to the nearby villages to search for any usable supplies. If possible, I'll try to find any seeds that can be cultivated, farm the land, something that could allow me to live here long-term and comfortably."
Luo Xingyu replied in a low voice, "Have you never thought of leaving here?"
Gao Yuan shook his head and said, "I've never thought about it. I've always enjoyed life in the mountains, and now I believe only the mountains can keep me alive. So I don't think of leaving; I really don't want to leave. Um, do you want to leave?"
Luo Xingyu said without hesitation, "Leave? Where to, where can I go?"
Gao Yuan really had no response.
Luo Xingyu sighed and said softly, "If possible, of course I would like to find my father, if he's still alive... Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
Luo Xingyu, sensitive and kind, immediately stopped upon realizing this topic had strayed too far.
Gao Yuan said softly, "It's okay. I just don't want to talk about myself. If you still have family alive, I would be envious and happy for you, really. So if the chance arises, you should go look for them, and I will help you if you need it."
Luo Xingyu fell silent.
In the darkness, Gao Yuan couldn't see Luo Xingyu's expression.
After a long time, Luo Xingyu said softly, "Brother Yuan, thank you."
"Uh-huh, you're welcome."
After a short while, Luo Xingyu added softly, "Now you're my family, really."
Gao Yuan also replied softly, "Likewise, really."
In the end, they still touched on the topic of family because it was unavoidable no matter how much they tried to steer clear.
Both lapsed into silence, and after a while, Gao Yuan finally said, "Tired, let's continue to sleep."
"Okay, let's sleep, good night."