Chapter 98:

In the end, because the weather was really bad, the later it was, the stronger the wind and snow, and there was no place to settle down due to the unobstructed white snow around, so I decided to drive to a place with light. There are weapons in it, and they know a little self-defense skills. If the situation is not right, just leave immediately. At this time, they couldn't help sighing, thanking them for being a country with arms control, otherwise they might not have the courage to go to an unknown place to investigate in this kind of wilderness and snow.

The speck of light that can be seen in the telescope, but the real distance has been half an hour later, the closer to it, the house covered with snow is gradually revealed, it should be a house similar to a courtyard before , half of it may have collapsed in the earthquake and was half buried by snow, and there are two other houses that are intact, one is dark and empty, and the other is occupied by people. Come out, and there are no other houses in this area except this small courtyard.

Qin Huai and Xu Ming looked at each other, since they came here, they could only get out of the car to check, Qin Huai held a small crossbow in his hand, and Xu Ming held a knife in his hand, although he had a bow and arrow, but Bows and arrows are not suitable for melee combat, so you have to bring some self-defense. Before getting out of the car, Qin Huai asked Mu Nan to sit in the driver's seat: "The car doesn't turn off, you always pay attention to the situation and adapt to the situation, you know?"

Mu Nan nodded humbly: "Be careful, run away if something goes wrong."

The two got out of the car and entered the yard from the side that collapsed.

Mu Nan sat in the car and watched nervously. Song Jia in the back seat came over and whispered, "When you look at the surrounding environment, do you have the feeling of a murder case in a deserted village?"

Mu Nan was already nervous, so he quickly stopped him: "Don't talk nonsense, it's scary to death."

It was already dark, the cold wind was howling outside the car, large flakes of snow hit the car windows, and the people who got out of the car walked a little farther, and were obscured by the staggered wind and snow. After talking about such a terrible thing, Mu Nan felt that goose bumps were about to pop out of his body.

Song Jia said: "There is nothing around, only this small courtyard, don't you think it is very awkward, you see, there are no cars in the courtyard, what do people living here usually eat? What do they use? According to what I have watched TV series for many years Experience, it's not easy here."

Song Jia said that Mu Nan was fluffy, but she still couldn't help asking, "Why isn't it simple?"

Song Jia slightly lowered her voice and said: "Usually at the beginning of this kind of plot, there must be an old couple or an enthusiastic old man living in it, and the residents inside will definitely welcome outsiders very warmly, and they will sigh, saying that it has been a long time I met a stranger."

Mu Nan swallowed her saliva: "And then?"

Song Jia: "Then welcome us in, and say with a kind face, it's such a cold day, it's freezing, come in to warm up, drink some hot tea."

Mu Nan was a little nervous: "And then?"

Song Jia continued: "Then they will start to talk about why they live in such a wild place, either waiting for the children who have left to come back, or waiting for the lover to come back. Those who enter the house listen to the stories and feel the warmth. The vigilance will gradually soften, and then drink the tea unknowingly."

Mu Nan looked at Song Jia: "Is there a problem with the tea?"

Song Jia said: "There must be a problem. After drinking tea, my head slowly begins to dizzy, and my vision becomes blurred. I may not be able to wake up from this dizziness, or after waking up, I find that my companion has become an adult. I have eaten a plate of Chinese food, and the strange old man inside may not be able to finish it all at once, and then he will feed you, eat your arm, gnaw your leg, and wait for the next one to be killed in the wilderness after eating you. People attracted by the firelight."

Mu Nan couldn't help but trembled: "It's a waste of talent if you don't become a storyteller."

Song Jia: "There is another version, do you want to listen?"

Mu Nan couldn't resist curiosity: "What version?"

Song Jia said: "You haven't started drinking tea yet, but you suddenly feel sick to your stomach, so you borrow someone's toilet, usually it must be a toilet, and the toilet must be outside, and then you accidentally fell, wow, this fall, it's just You were frightened to death when you found the bones buried in the snow, so go back and tell your companions that there is a problem, and then a thrilling battle royale begins."

When Song Jia was creating an atmosphere for Mu Nan, the car window was knocked suddenly. The sudden sound scared the two of them into hugging and screaming. When they turned their heads, they saw Qin Huai standing outside the car door. Mu Nan was almost frightened The soul came out of the body: "Brother, you are frightening to death."

Qin Huai asked Mu Nan to sit next to the co-pilot: "What are you two doing in the car? You are shouting so loudly, making you pay attention to the situation outside. I knocked on the window and didn't notice."

Mu Nan looked at Song Jia who retracted to touch the dog's head, and accused: "He talked to me and distracted me!"

Song Jia, who couldn't get rid of the pot, smiled and didn't refute. Seeing Qin Huai driving the car directly into the yard, she asked, "What's going on inside, and how many people are there?"

Qin Huai said: "There is an old couple living here."

Mu Nan couldn't help but exchanged glances with the Song family, why did he suddenly become a little scary.

After the car drove into the yard, an old man wrapped in a thick padded jacket came out, and opened a place covered by a cloth curtain. It should be a woodshed, full of firewood, but the vacant space is just enough to park a car .

After parking the car, the old man looked at Mu Nan and Song Jia who got out of the car with a wrinkled smile on his face: "These two young men are so young, I haven't seen outsiders here for a long time."

Song Jia and Mu Nan: "..." The body began to become slightly stiff uncontrollably.

The old man led them into the house, and said enthusiastically: "It's freezing cold, it must have been froze, come into the house to warm up, there is a fire and a kang in the house, drink some hot tea."

The two of them stopped in unison, and suddenly they couldn't get out.

Qin Huai looked back at Mu Nan: "What's wrong?"

Mu Nan looked at Qin Huai with a stiff smile: "Are we going to spend the night here?"

Qin Huai nodded: "It can only be here, there are no other residents nearby, go in quickly, the wind is getting stronger and stronger.

Mu Nan looked at Song Jia who was also pale, and was dragged into the room by Qin Huai.

Xu Ming was already sitting next to the brazier to keep warm, and there was an old lady in the house who was pouring tea enthusiastically. When she saw the three people who came in, she also smiled and said, "Hurry up and get warm, you are still here in such a cold day." It’s freezing outside, isn’t it?”

Song Jia and Mu Nan were a little afraid to speak, Qin Huai patted the snow on Mu Nan's body: "Grandma is talking to you."

Mu Nan hurriedly said, "Grandma is good."

The old lady responded with a smile: "Okay, you are also welcome, sit down quickly."

Xu Ming was rubbing his hands beside the fire, and he had already started chatting about family matters: "So your two elders have been living here all this time, and you want to wait for the child to come back?"

The old grandma sighed: "Not all of them, it's just that I have lived to this age, where is it not to die, it is better to die in my own home, so I just stayed like this."

Mu Nan already felt that Tian Ling Gai was getting cold, so he couldn't help leaning over to Song Jia and whispered, "Honestly speaking, did you take the prophet's card?"

Song Jia hugged Niuniu cowardly and shrank beside her: "Don't ask, even if I ask, I will panic."

Mu Nan said, "How high do you think the possibility of the story becoming true?"

Qin Huai handed the hot tea to Mu Nan and Song Jia: "What are you whispering, drink some hot water."

Mu Nan was holding the cup and couldn't drink it. Seeing that Qin Huai was about to drink water, she quickly grabbed him and said in a low voice, "Brother, are you sure it's safe here? You don't think there are only two old people, you think it's safe. Don't you think it's weird here, there is nothing around, what do they eat and drink, do you think they buried a lot of bones in their backyard, and then they burn charcoal fires in the snow to attract others with light?"

Qin Huai looked at the extremely nervous Mu Nan with a funny face: "What do you think about in your little brain? Don't worry, we have observed it, and this water is our own water, but it is very important for you to be alert. Not bad, but don’t scare yourself too much, drink some hot water to warm up.”

Seeing that Qin Huai didn't relax his vigilance, Mu Nan breathed a sigh of relief and took a sip of water. Although it was cold, they were still in the car with the heater on, so it wasn't too cold, but it would It's still a lot more comfortable to have a sip of hot water.

When Mu Nan was on guard there, Xu Ming had already chatted to the point where he had almost figured out each other's situation. The two old men were surnamed Tong, one from a village, and the other with a surname. It used to be a small village here, but the people who stayed here were all Some old people, with the completion of the semi-safari park, some developers bought land here, and wanted to build a resort with a zoo theme. It happened that the village was within the scope of the enclosure, and many people took the money to buy land. Let's go, after all, they have dilapidated brick houses here, where there are high-rise buildings where they can live comfortably.

They didn't leave because the small courtyard house had been repaired and it was quite new. First, they were reluctant, and second, the new house bought with demolition funds had not yet been handed over. In addition, their home was at the very end of the village. The long-term project has not yet come here, so Mr. Tong discussed with others to let the old couple continue to live. He cooks for the workers and provides three meals for the old couple. No wages are required. When the demolition came here, they left immediately.

"As a result, the former village was just bulldozed. Before the migrant workers' dormitory was built, the epidemic began, and the project was forced to stop. After this stop, it has come to the present. There are still a pile of collapsed sheds in the front , but it’s covered in snow, so be careful when you drive away, don’t get stuck in the rubble.”

Xu Ming thanked Mr. Tong for his reminder, and said again: "You live in such a remote place, and your life is too inconvenient. After we go back, tell the soldiers at the base to come and pick you up. Now that it has started to be rebuilt, it can be regarded as a new city, if you want to find grandson, you may go to the base to look for it, the hope is even greater."

Mr. Tong waved his hand: "Grandson wants to come back, we are always here, if we don't come back, it will be a drag if we go looking for it, we are old, we can't make much contribution to the country, we can't do much work, and we have to eat food for nothing, We have also seen some of those rescued soldiers. They are all half-grown children. The skin on their bodies is peeling off layer by layer. Why bother them anymore? In this life, I will live like this. , When I die in the future, I will die in my own home, so that I won’t become a lonely ghost and can’t find my way home.”

Xu Ming said: "Look at what you said. It is said that an old family is like a treasure. Your life experience may be the greatest treasure in today's difficult world."

The old couple of the Tong family were amused by Xu Ming's words, and Grandma Tong narrowed her eyes with a smile: "What treasure, that is, the rice that has been eaten for a few years, old man, where did I put my box of needles and threads?"

Mr. Tong stood up, looked through two cabinets, found a box of needles and threads from the cabinet, and proudly handed it to Grandma Tong: "Isn't this here? What kind of memory is it? It's not as good as mine."

Grandma Tong still smiled: "Yes, yes, you have the best memory." As she spoke, she walked up to Song Jia with a needle and thread: "Son, take off your coat, it's all torn here, grandma will sew it up for you." .”

Song Jia hurriedly said: "No need grandma, I'll do it myself, can I borrow your needle and thread for use?"

Grandma Tong didn't let Song Jia take over: "How can a child as young as you know how to mend clothes? Grandma will sew for you, very quickly."

Song Jia glanced at Mu Nan, and took off her clothes helplessly. Grandma Tong took the clothes and sat on the edge of the kang, squinting her eyes and threading the thread. The old man is probably in his seventies, but his eyes seem to be good. No problem at all.

Xu Ming said: "Grandma Tong, you have really good eyesight. When my grandma was your age, her eyes were so blurred that she couldn't see clearly."

Mr. Tong laughed and said, "She only has good eyesight, and she's not good at anything else. When I first married, I couldn't tell the difference between sugar and salt."

Grandma Tong stared at him while mending clothes: "Nonsense, have you cooked less for you these years?"

Mr. Tong immediately refused to admit defeat: "That's what I taught you too!"

Grandma Tong snorted: "It's just your cooking skills that can burn through a pot of soup and stew a pot of meat."

The old couple bickered back and forth, Mu Nan leaned on Qin Huai, and finally came out of the terrifying atmosphere that Song Jia had described just now, listening to them pull some old things out of the past. After coming out to scold, he couldn't help but said: "I think this is also very good."

Qin Huai tilted his head slightly, and said with a low chuckle, "They are like this?"

Mu Nan hummed: "It's enough to live seventy or eighty years old, and then in the old house where I've lived all my life, it's great to walk to the end with each other's companions."

If it were him, he probably wouldn't want to go to any base. Living in his own home with a lover by his side, even waiting for death doesn't seem so scary.

The two old men bickered for a while, and finally remembered that there were outsiders in the house, so they stopped. Mr. Tong took out the pot and took out a strip of bacon: "Hungry, let me make some fumigated rice for you, in the cellar There is also some sauerkraut, I will take one out, chop it up for you, mix it in the rice and cook it together, the white rice can also have a taste."

Qin Huai hurriedly stopped the old man: "No need, Grandpa Tong, we have brought food ourselves, how can we eat yours, we would be very grateful if we could stay with you for one night."

Mr. Tong said disapprovingly: "There is still some rice at home, you sit and sit, and I'll get the sauerkraut."

Grandpa Tong went to the cellar to get things, and it was difficult for them to follow. Grandma Tong was afraid that they would be uncomfortable, so she said: "You can eat at ease, there is a lot of food at home, we are old, and we can't eat so much by ourselves. It’s a waste if it’s broken, but luckily it’s winter now, and things can be stored, if it’s like last year’s heat, I’m afraid I won’t be able to store it.”

Mu Nan asked curiously: "Grandma, are you and Grandpa Tong the only two people here?"

Grandma Tong said: "Of course not. There are people living in the mountains behind. They are all the residents in the front. They used to be near the school. It was too hot last year, and many people couldn't bear it, so they went to live in the mountains. They didn't know them. How did they dig it? They dug out a hole that could live in the mountain wall, and they survived the high temperature. Now I don’t know if they have gone to the mountain to escape the cold. During the snowy day, I didn’t see many people. After the earthquake, I and I The old man has never been to the mountains, and he doesn't know if it has collapsed."

Song Jia said: "Then we are the group of people you saw in winter?"

Grandma Tong said: "It's the third wave. There were two times before. They were driving cars like yours and asked which direction to go in the previous zoo. How many animals can there be in this zoo. After the earthquake, they all ran away. How can we wait?" Let people go hunting, there are some monkeys in the mountains, but monkeys can't eat this thing, it's taboo to eat it."

Song Jia was curious: "What's the taboo for a monkey to eat it?"

Grandma Tong returned the sewn clothes to Song Jia, and then carefully put away the sewing box: "That's what I heard from my grandma when I was young. In those days, life was hard and the grain output was low. Unlike now, the output of one mu of land can feed a person for many years. At that time, the output of one mu of land was only a few hundred catties. When the harvest was not good, people had to dig wild vegetables in the mountains to make ends meet. If you rely on the mountain, you will eat the mountain. Some young people went hunting in the mountain and caught a monkey.

Song Jia: "What happened after eating? Are you sick?"

Grandma Tong said: "After eating it, I became obsessed with the taste of monkey meat. How much meat can a monkey have? The food will hook people, and the hook will die. We discussed going to the mountains to catch monkeys together, but none of them came back. Later, people from the village went to the mountains to search, but only found a pile of clothes, and then found some people's broken limbs in the ravine , and empty, brainless heads, my grandma said, the way those people died, especially the empty heads, is just like the remains of the monkey they ate."

Song Jia rubbed her arms, and Mu Nan squeezed into Qin Huai's arms. In the middle of the night, there was heavy snow blowing outside. Telling such ghost stories in the room would really scare a person to death.

Grandma Tong said: "So, you guys hunt, just hunt chickens and birds, you can't touch monkeys, those things are amazing."

Xu Ming said: "Don't worry, we won't hunt monkeys." Not to mention the existence of monkeys, which belong to primates, it is not so easy to accept psychologically when hunting. Human genes mean that, for humans, monkeys have some susceptibility to virus transmission, such as the terrible Ebola virus. Although the source of the virus has not yet been determined, monkeys are not only fruit bats , one of the biggest ways to infect humans. Based on this alone, let alone hunting, even if he sees monkeys, Xu Ming will directly let them take a detour.

Soon Mr. Tong came back with frozen hard sauerkraut, defrosted it in a pot on the stove, turned around and went to wash the bacon. But after washing off the black smoke on the surface, the meat inside is very beautiful pink, with a smoky salty taste, mixed with rice and cooked, it is very fragrant, not to mention a little chopped sauerkraut inside, empty mouth Just a big bowl of rice.

However, they were not so unceremonious about eating other people's food. Although they couldn't refuse the enthusiastic old man Tong, Qin Huai asked Mu Nan to go to the car to get a bag of cereal for the two old people. Of course there is none in the car. The food they bring is some dry food, but the food is put in their own bags, and no one else knows what is in it, so it is not unreasonable for Qinhuai and the others to bring cereal. In such a cold climate, it is necessary to add sugar And heat is necessary.

How could the two old people accept the young things? Seeing that they all came out to hunt for a living, they knew that life was not easy, but in the end they couldn't hold back their persistence, and they wouldn't eat the food they cooked if they didn't accept it. They had no choice but to accept it, but they brewed a small pot of oatmeal directly after the meal, and let them each have a drink, which made them happy.

Mr. Tong’s house has a kang, this kang is not small, anyway, enough people can sleep in a room, Mu Nan let Qin Huai sleep, Qin Huai has to drive during the day, driving in snow requires a high degree of concentration, too tired, he You could sleep in the car, so he and Song Jia kept watch at night. He kept watch in the first half of the night, and Song Jia kept watch in the second half.

Qin Huai rubbed Mu Nan's head, and stuffed him in a warm place: "If you're sleepy, go to sleep."

Mu Nan said: "I know, you can go to sleep, sleep peacefully, there is me."

Qin Huai smiled, lay on the bed and closed his eyes: "Then it will be hard work for you."

Mu Nan was lying on the bed. Although he had discussed it with Song Jia, it was still a matter of habit. He couldn't let go of his wariness towards others. It wasn't that he was wary of Song Jia, but it was outside. He was worried about the safety of himself and Qin Huai. I left it to someone else, so I simply let Song Jia sleep until dawn. Just as Song Jia had slept well, he could observe prey with a telescope during the day, and he would catch up on sleep in the car.

Song Jia woke up in a daze in the morning, remembered that he had promised him to stay in the middle of the night, sat up quickly, and then looked at Mu Nan who had already started dressing: "Why didn't you call me, did you fall asleep? "

Mu Nan yawned: "No, I'm on guard at night. If I can't wake you up, I'll just let you sleep. Just in time, you've slept well. During the day, keep an eye on the prey's tracks. I want to catch up on sleep."

Song Jia was a little embarrassed at once, he didn't know he could sleep so soundly, so he quickly said: "No problem, you sleep as you sleep."

This is outside, and there is no condition for washing, so I can only rinse my mouth with hot water, because if I brush my teeth, the foam in my mouth will turn into ice, and I can’t use it around the stove like at home. The basin is still there, so I can only rinse my mouth and wipe my face with a hot towel to wake up. Seeing Qin Huai coming to pour water, Xu Ming said, "Your brother doesn't feel safe." He didn't call Song Jia at all last night, and Song Jia slept next to him. May not know.

Qin Huai paused for a moment, and hummed, he had already discovered this, Mu Nan trusted him completely, so when there were only the two of them, Mu Nan was still the same as when he was a child, relying on him, trusting him, as long as he was there , I am not afraid of the sky falling. But to outsiders, they are not as careless as they are in front of him. Instead, they are very vigilant. Even Jian Chu, Xu Ming, and Mu Nan, who are already in a good relationship, have not completely let go of their guard. It was discovered that Mu Nan was not deliberately guarding against others, nor was it out of suspicion or mistrust, but a feeling that in his subconscious, he could only rely on his own feelings.