Holding Their Own Space, the Family Returns to the Apocalypse

70: This kind of kindness is rare in the apocalypse.After a period of rest, the refreshed person and tiger drove the kaibaihe battle shield to continue their journey to find their safe house.

Along the way, Ai Yue encountered several groups of highway robbers who used every trick in the book. Someone had even placed a board of steel spikes on a necessary path, hoping to puncture the tires of passing cars. At this time, anyone who could still drive a car on the road was someone well-stocked with food and fuel.

Ai Yue met with a mishap right here.

As she passed a section of the road backed by mountains and forests, she heard a ”clank,” and the entire car jolted. Ai Yue quickly stopped and got out to check. A whole board of steel spikes was stuck in the tire. Although it hadn’t punctured, it was wedged firmly against the rubber.

Ai Yue sighed at her bad luck and could only take out tools from her space, intending to remove the steel board.

Before she could even start, a long sword was suddenly pressed against her neck.

Ai Yue tilted her head slightly and saw—oho, a real sword! And a sharp one at that; the blade reflected a glint of strong light under the sun.

With the sword at her throat, Ai Yue stood up calmly and turned around. She saw a young woman with hair as messy as a bird’s nest, looking nervous as she gripped the sword with both hands, staring at Ai Yue in panic.

”Don’t move! I don’t want to hurt anyone; I just want food. Give me all your food, and I’ll let you go,” the young woman said with a trembling voice. Although she couldn’t see Ai Yue’s face, seeing her slender frame, her eyes flickered with a hint of hesitation. She added, ”Just give me seventy percent of your food!”

Ai Yue’s heart stirred. Her hand, which had intended to kill her directly, paused. She sighed inwardly; this person must have been driven to a dead end by the Apocalypse and forced to resort to such a low tactic as robbing travelers.

It looked like this was her first time doing it; the sword in her hand had been shaking non-stop since Ai Yue turned around.

”Fine!”

Hearing this, the young woman became even more agitated, and tears instantly streamed from her eyes. ”Come on, get in the car and get it for me!”

”I’m giving you food not because I’m afraid of you, but because you still have kindness in your heart. This kind of kindness is rare in the Apocalypse.” After saying that, Ai Yue grabbed the blade in front of her. Amidst the other’s terrified gaze, she pushed the blade aside and snatched it into her own hands.

Having lost her weapon, the young woman turned pale with fright. She jerked back two steps and frantically picked up a branch from the ground, pointing it at Ai Yue as she cried out in terror, ”You, what do you want to do?”

At this moment, their roles had reversed; the hunter had become the prey.

”Don’t be afraid, I won’t do anything to you. You’re just a weak girl; how do you dare to rob passing vehicles all by yourself? You should know that in this world, anyone who can drive a car alone is no ordinary person. How could you be so bold?” Ai Yue put away the sword and said with a sigh.

Hearing this, the young woman—perhaps having been too severely frightened—let out a ”waa” and began to wail loudly.

After a while, she finally stopped crying and slumped on the ground, looking at Ai Yue helplessly. After a long time, she began to tell her story through sobs.

”I... I didn’t want to either, but I was truly at my wit’s end. My parents went out to find food and never came back. At home... only my younger brother and I are left. He’s still so small; I can’t let him starve to death. Otherwise, how... how could I have the face to see my parents in the afterlife...”

”Fortunately, my family has a beehouse in the mountains. After the Apocalypse started, my parents saw that things weren’t right and brought us here overnight. That’s how we luckily avoided several rounds of natural disasters and the greed of ill-intentioned people.”

”But since my parents went missing, I could only take my brother to dig for grass in the mountains to eat. But eating these every day, my brother became severely malnourished and is on the verge of death. I really had no choice, so I came up with this wicked plan. Boohoo...”

Ai Yue felt sympathetic, but she also understood that she couldn’t help her too much. She and her brother would eventually run out of resources, and at that time, they would face the same predicament again.

Thinking of this, she already had a plan in mind. ”Wait here.”

As she spoke, Ai Yue nimbly jumped into the car. A moment later, she brought out a bag of rice and many cans of meat to give to her. She then pulled a packet of seeds from her bosom and solemnly stuffed them into the woman’s clothes. ”These are grain seeds I’ve kept. I’ll give them all to you. There must be land near your house; plant them, and you’ll have a harvest in half a year.” Ai Yue then pointed to the items in her hands. ”And these, eat them sparingly; they should last until the grain is harvested. Once the grain is husked, it becomes millet... Don’t ever do this kind of thing again. Take care.”

After finishing her earnest advice, Ai Yue returned the long sword to her.

The young woman opposite her clutched the bag tightly, having long since broken into tears. It took a while for her to find her voice and repeatedly say thank you. Ai Yue told her to go back quickly and not to come down the mountain again.

The young woman, her eyes full of tears and gratitude, looked back every three steps. Finally, she gave a deep bow, gritted her teeth, and quickly ran off until she was no longer in sight.

Ai Yue went under the car to continue clearing the steel board stuck in the tire. She violently dismantled the board, put it into her space, and continued driving westward.

Two more days passed, and Ai Yue was now infinitely close to Xusui Mountain.

Meanwhile, at Xusui Mountain.

Two groups of people were in a standoff in front of a village.

If Ai Yue were there, she would definitely not be unfamiliar with these two groups.

One team was Gu Xiheng and his companions, who had borrowed Ai Yue’s marauder. Each of them was injured, but they still held their guns firmly, aiming at the opposite side without showing any signs of defeat.

The opposite side was no better off, looking even worse than them, but they had the advantage of numbers and were qualified to stand off against Gu Xiheng.

Ai Yue also knew the leader of this group; it was Old Man Sheng, who had ordered the siege on her on the mountain during the Virus Rain period and had coveted Dawang.

The area around the two groups was littered with corpses; they appeared to be ordinary people from the Apocalypse.

”Elder Sheng, you are a dignified research academician, yet now you are committing a massacre of a village. You have truly wasted the country’s nurturing of you.”

Gu Xiheng’s eyes were bloodshot as he pointed at Old Man Sheng opposite him, accusing him in a fit of rage.

”Pfft, Young Master Gu, how can you be so naive? The nation has already collapsed; what I do is none of your business. You’d better get lost and don’t interfere in my affairs,” Old Man Sheng said nonchalantly, his expression and tone as casual as asking if someone had eaten.

”Sheng Jiyuan! Although the nation has collapsed, we are descendants of Huaxia. Even if we cannot help each other in times of hardship, we shouldn’t kill each other.”

”What do they count for? A bunch of trash. In the Apocalypse, such ordinary people shouldn’t be alive. Since they are trash, what’s wrong with me killing some? Gu Xiheng, for your father’s sake, I won’t kill you. Take your people and get lost.”

Gu Xiheng glared at Sheng Jiyuan, trying to suppress the rolling rage in his heart. A moment later, he had become very calm. He squinted his eyes and looked Sheng Jiyuan up and down, then smiled playfully: