Rotting Land: Survive

The scorching sun silently climbed up the sky. The survivors who were laboring could clearly feel the rising temperature around them.

The harvest was proceeding unusually smoothly. The women, having years of experience in harvesting rice and wheat in the fields, found this task extremely easy. Even the iron blocks in their hands did not slow them down at all.

As for the women on the flanks, Tang Xiaoquan had anticipated that they might encounter sudden situations, so to be on the safe side, almost all the scythes were allocated to them. This made the harvesting speed at these positions particularly astonishing.

Often, as the middle position just finished harvesting one bundle, the sides had already done three, four, or even more bundles.

Wang Qiang stood dumbfounded in place, nearly half an hour of standing had worn out his patience.

To ensure the success of the operation, they were assigned only one task: guard duty.

At first, Wang Qiang was secretly pleased that he didn't have to participate in the labor, but as time passed, he realized he was wrong.

Why? It's simple, three words: too boring!

Wherever he looked, Wang Qiang saw nothing but rice, absolutely nothing else.

Moreover, the long period of standing not only made his limbs numb and sore, but the monotony had started to strain his eyes.

The discomfort Wang Qiang experienced was also felt by others. Tang Xiaoquan tried hard to keep his eyes wide open, constantly reminding himself to stay alert, but for some reason, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but feel drowsy.

Zhao Yunhai felt as if his upper and lower eyelids were long-separated couples trying their best to meet each other, intending to "live together" forever.

Hu Xiaodong noticed the changes in his brothers. He completely understood their current state because even someone like him, who had great patience as an archer, was exhausted by this tedious guard duty.

He lifted his wrist to check the time, the large round waterproof watch face showing the hour and minute hands overlapping.

Hu Xiaodong glanced at it briefly, then muttered to himself: "It's already 8:20!"

This time marked exactly an hour since the operation started, and according to Wei Yang's instructions before departure, Hu Xiaodong realized it was time to call for a water break.

Thinking of this, he straightened his back, took a deep breath, and then shouted, "Everyone, stop for a moment, come over and have some water, take a break!"

As his voice fell, the survivors in the field orderly formed groups and approached the vehicle as usual.

Hu Xiaodong lifted the prepared clean water to the ground. To be honest, even though it was just a small bucket, for the current survivors, it was like "precious treasure".

The women were anxiously licking their lips, making it clear they were quite parched.

But due to the limited water supply, Hu Xiaodong had to emphasize in advance: "Half a bowl per person, please adhere to this!"

With a total of four bowls, people took turns to scoop water according to their group order.

Almost everyone drank with extraordinary care, and for the first time, Tang Xiaoquan truly understood the meaning of "the preciousness of water".

The cold water went down his throat like a cool spring, spreading throughout his body, bringing immediate refreshment to Tang Xiaoquan.

At the same time, he couldn't help but reflect on his past wasteful habits with water.

Perhaps if it weren't for the apocalypse, he would never comprehend the concept of water scarcity in his life!

"Damn, this guard duty is too damn boring. Everywhere you look, not a single moving thing. What are those zombies up to? They should at least send a couple over so I can have some fun!" This unfounded complaint from Wang Qiang immediately drew unanimous disdain from the nearby women.

"Hmm! If you really feel there's nothing to do, you can always head back to the village to collect supplies. Plenty of zombies there, I'm sure you'll find satisfaction for your amusement." Regaining his composure, Tang Xiaoquan didn't hesitate to tease his brother, even though he knew the latter's words were just a joke and not meant seriously.

But jokes have their time and place, don't they? You must know that most zombies here were once local villagers, and these mutated creatures could very well be the relatives, friends, or even children of these women!

And speaking so openly about "playing with zombies" in front of them, regardless of whether such an expectation is appropriate, just the desire to "play with zombies" alone is enough to make the women view him as an oddity, someone to be disliked.

Perhaps realizing he had gone too far, Wang Qiang uncharacteristically refrained from retorting.

"Brother Hu, how long have we been working now?" Seeing that his brother was silent, Tang Xiaoquan shifted his gaze to Hu Xiaodong beside him.

Hu Xiaodong wasn't in a hurry to answer. He first carefully placed the half-empty water bucket back on the truck, then covered it with a piece of plastic film.

After all, these were priceless treasures, and every drop was extremely precious, so he couldn't allow himself to make the slightest mistake.

Only after completing all this did he slowly turn around and then responded seriously, "Just over an hour!"

Nodding to himself, Tang Xiaoquan instinctively glanced at the distant fields, while quickly calculating in his mind: At this rate, in another hour and a half at most, they should be able to complete the harvest of this area!

With a rough idea in mind, Tang Xiaoquan's gaze instantly became sharp. After waiting for more than ten minutes, he gave the command to resume action.

Back in the field, the four teams returned to their positions. Not long after they did, Wang Qiang felt bored again.

He listlessly swung his right leg, his impatient mood quickening the metabolism in his body, and soon he sensed something unusual inside.

So...

He forcefully planted the Long Spear into the ground, hung the Corpse-Blocking Shield from his left hand onto the spear shaft, and without any warning, casually walked towards a secluded spot in the rice field.

No doubt, everything Wang Qiang did completely violated the operation rules, causing Tang Xiaoquan, who had been watching his actions, to raise an eyebrow, then shout angrily, "Wang Qiang! Where are you going!"