Apocalypse: Last Traveler

Another day passed, but the cold wave didn't arrive; instead, the below-freezing weather suddenly disappeared.

The temperature spiked, seemingly reaching thirty degrees, making people crave air conditioning.

The air conditioning vent is aimed toward the back, so it won't blow directly on Yao Wei. Even at this special time, she can sit in the passenger seat with no problem.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei felt the weather outside the car and decided it's better inside.

Still, they wanted to check the shelter, so they climbed the wall and went into the empty shelter.

The smell of earth lingered inside, making one able to pick up the unique smell of an unfinished house even with closed eyes.

However, the ground felt better than yesterday, much more solid.

They both assessed the surroundings, then Lu Xi'an said to Yao Wei: "Since it's so hot today, staying here isn't comfortable. Shall we leave it to air for one more day?

"If the weather's good tomorrow, we'll come in and test it."

"Okay."

Yao Wei nodded in agreement and then looked at the doors and windows, "But these doors and windows..."

Lu Xi'an replied: "This works well, we can hear the wind and rain. We're not living here anyway."

"That's true."

Yao Wei agreed with Lu Xi'an's thoughts.

In fact, neither knew what to do with the doors and windows.

Yao Wei was inexperienced, and Lu Xi'an only watched a few videos and wasn't a professional.

Being able to copy what he saw in the video to this extent made Lu Xi'an feel quite capable.

After finishing their inspection of the shelter, they cooked corn and ate it. Then, they went to the river to refill their water supply.

While refilling, Yao Wei saw fish in the river and wanted to catch them with her hand.

Lu Xi'an stopped her with a smile, "Your period is coming soon, better not touch cold water," and took over the task.

Without using any tools, Lu Xi'an quickly reached into the river and caught a fish.

The fish was hefty and vigorously twisted its body and flicked its tail in Lu Xi'an's hand.

Lu Xi'an had to exert some effort to prevent the fish from slipping from his hand.

"Dinner settled."

He smiled at Yao Wei.

Yao Wei nodded, saying, "Let Gou check first."

Lu Xi'an: "..."

This woman thought more thoroughly than him!

But Yao Wei was right, Jianshan City had significant issues. Who knew if the living fish in the river were safe? It was indeed necessary to let Gou inspect it.

The car was behind them, and Gou was in the car.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei drove to Xiaogang Village and Xijian River, the distance was short, not consuming much fuel, and they could refill after arriving in East Mountain County.

Keeping the car nearby ensured that if anything went wrong, their belongings wouldn't suffer damage.

Lu Xi'an called over Gou to scan it, but he didn't expect Gou's dog eyes to flash twice, indicating the fish had problems.

Lu Xi'an carefully examined the fish in his hand and noticed its eyes were red, with many small bumps on the edge, looking highly abnormal.

It seemed like this fish, much like Shu, had been strangely affected in Jianshan City's odd environment.

Hmm... and the corn...

Though Shu's corn posed no threat to Neo-Humans like Lu Xi'an, the fish was unsafe even for Neo-Humans.

What a pity...

Lu Xi'an released the fish back, couldn't help but ponder what had happened to Jianshan City to cause such strange changes?

With Shu transforming into that stealthy form, why didn't the Resonant Gene Scanner detect anything?

Suddenly, he recalled that mysterious pressure on the dome the other night.

Could there be some connection among these events?

"Luckily we have Gou."

Yao Wei's voice interrupted Lu Xi'an's thoughts.

Lu Xi'an pulled himself away from his swirling questions.

Overthinking without understanding was useless; better to wait and see if answers surfaced later.

If no opportunity arises, it doesn't matter since Jianshan City was just a pass-through, not their final destination.

They drove back to the shelter area, parked the car, and after turning off the engine, joined Yao Wei outside to practice martial arts moves, then returned to the car to rest with the air conditioning.

It's Yao Wei's routine during free moments, and it's become Lu Xi'an's too. Regardless of yesterday or the day before, they practiced before working.

After all, compared to building a shelter bound to be abandoned, this was the real priority.

The day melted away in extreme heat, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei lounged in the car with the air conditioning, feeling utterly relaxed. Yao Wei glanced back, thinking how fortunate it was that Lu Xi'an brought this thing into the car.

Another night passed, and as daylight broke, the scorching heat seemed to linger in the night without following through. Lu Xi'an woke up to the sound of wind blowing outside, but it didn't feel particularly cold, making him think this weather might be apt for experiencing the shelter.

Then he saw Yao Wei sit up abruptly, frowning as she opened the door and stepped out without a word.

He quickly opened his door too and just as he stepped out of the car, saw Yao Wei disappear into the woods. Remembering something, he decided not to follow.

Instead, he returned to the car, turned off the air conditioning, released Gou, then shut the car door and climbed the wall into the shelter.

The raw smell persisted inside, but standing on the brick floor, it felt perfectly fine, so he sat on the ground against the wall, looking through the doors and windows at the swaying trees and rustling leaves—it truly felt delightful.

Yao Wei soon returned; seeing Lu Xi'an wasn't in the car, she entered the shelter as well.

"Sit."

Lu Xi'an patted the ground next to him and said.

Yao Wei did not refuse and came over to sit next to Lu Xi'an.

She followed Lu Xi'an's gaze out the window, and after a long while, said, "It doesn't really seem like much..."

"There wasn't much to begin with."

Lu Xi'an laughed, "But it's a great sense of accomplishment. Every brick and tile here, we put them up ourselves."

"Hmm."

Yao Wei nodded, feeling that Lu Xi'an made sense.

When she stood outside looking at this place yesterday, she inexplicably felt cheerful, and sitting here today, that feeling was even stronger.

The wind howled outside, and suddenly rain began to fall, "pitter-pattering," quickly growing heavier.

Since the doors and windows were still just frames, the rain slanted in, splashing on them and making them feel a bit chilly.

"Wait here for me. I'll get a sheet."

Lu Xi'an stood up and patted his backside, saying.

Yao Wei was somewhat puzzled, "What do you need a sheet for?"

"As a curtain."

Lu Xi'an said, "The rain's only getting heavier, and it's that time of the month for you. It's not good to run back to the car in the rain, so why not just stay here.

"I'll get a sheet from the car to cover the door. You sit by the door, and I'll sit by the window, so you don't get splashed by the rain."

Yao Wei said, "It's no big deal."

But Lu Xi'an just smiled and said, "We worked hard to build this shelter, we should at least enjoy its shelter from the wind and rain."

Yao Wei frowned and said, "But the rain outside is so heavy, you'll get soaked."

Lu Xi'an felt warmth in his heart but still smiled nonchalantly, "I don't mind, I don't have that time of the month."

"..."

Yao Wei was silent for a moment and asked, "Are you planning to use your own curtain?"

Lu Xi'an smiled and asked, "Why, do you want me to use yours?" He was indeed planning to use his own.

Yao Wei shook her head and said, "Let's use both mine and yours, let's cover the window too, so you don't get splashed by the rain."

She spoke firmly, and Lu Xi'an felt a warmth in his heart, "Alright, I'll listen to you."

So Lu Xi'an dashed out of the shelter into the rain, headed back to the car, took out his own sheet, and grabbed the four nails used to secure the shovel and wooden poles before returning to the shelter.

He carefully nailed the sides of the sheet above the door and window, dimming the light in the shelter.

Outside, the wind lifted the makeshift door and window curtains, letting in some light and rain occasionally, but it was much better than before.

Lu Xi'an thought for a moment and went outside to pick up a few bricks — leftovers from building the walls the day before.

He placed two bricks on the windowsill to press down the "curtain," and a few bricks by the door to press down the "door curtain," so now the rain and light could only come in from the sides a bit.

The wind and rain bulged the "curtains" inward, but it didn't matter; Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei confirmed the nails and bricks would hold.

In this not-so-large space, they felt the wind and rain outside and suddenly exchanged smiles.

Lu Xi'an said, "It really doesn't feel much different than being in the car. There, we could listen to the raindrops patter on the roof."

Yao Wei said, "But here, we built it. And it's more spacious than inside the car."

"Fair point."

Lu Xi'an nodded, then remembering something, he slipped out the side of the "door curtain."

He moved so quickly that Yao Wei barely had time to ask as he left, "What are you doing now?"

"The fireplace hasn't been used yet. It's a bit chilly, it's a good time to test if it works."

Lu Xi'an spoke while reaching in to secure the edge of the "door curtain" with a brick, then headed back to the car.

This time, he brought corn husks, corn cobs, some firewood, and a lighter. He stuffed the lighter into his pocket, using his clothes to cover the other items from getting wet in the rain.

Running back to the shelter, he re-secured the bricks and started fiddling with the fireplace.

Yao Wei also came over.

Listening to the wind and rain, they tinkered for a while, building a fire in the fireplace, igniting it with the lighter and corn husks.

The fire blazed up, smoke trailing up the chimney outside, the shelter aglow with firelight, suddenly reminding Lu Xi'an of doing homework by candlelight as a child.

He didn't know why these memories came to him, but in reminiscing like this, the little shelter seemed filled with a bit of nostalgia.

He sat on the edge of the fireplace, watching the fire and the curtains to make sure the wind didn't blow the "curtain" in and catch fire.

Of course, that was just a precaution. For now, it seemed the wind and rain weren't going to pick up, and the "curtain" would be fine.

"It's getting a bit warm down here."

After a while, Yao Wei suddenly looked down in surprise and said.

"Yeah, I feel it too."

Lu Xi'an nodded in agreement, feeling the warmth coming from the floor heating through his backside.

Who would've thought that this shelter, put together haphazardly following memories from a video, would actually work!

"Rustle, rustle, rustle—"

The wind and rain continued outside.

Inside the shelter, the firelight from the fireplace projected Lu Xi'an's and Yao Wei's shadows large upon the wall, nearly covering it entirely.

They looked at each other's silhouettes in the firelight and couldn't help but share another smile.