Chapter 31: Uncle, You’re a big baddie!
He followed the mountain path down, until he saw a row of newly erected graves:
“Grave of Xiang Wei Ge, Father.”
“Grave of Huang Xiu, Mother.”
“Grave of Xiang Wei, Brother.”
“Grave of Chen Xiang Yun, Sister-in-law.”
He looked further and saw “Grave of Xiang Jia Hao, Nephew.” and 2 other graves, a total of 7.
When the apocalypse happened, the man’s family had begun to turn, and in front of him, devoured his little nephew Xiang Jia Hao. He had then killed them all, but the blow to his mental state was too strong, and he had been living in guilt, fear and blame in these past months.
The man was afraid of coming in contact with the outside world, and even more so his own home. Hence, he had only come at night to check, until he met Zhang Xiao Qiang. Zhang Xiao Qiang could not be sure if death was a good or bad ending for the man, if he hadn’t come across Zhang Xiao Qiang, he might have lived on, but in constant fear and torment.
“This fucking apocalypse!!” Zhang Xiao Qiang’s heart was overcome with an intense rage.
After he came down the mountain, he remembered that there were some farming vehicles in the cave, and turned around to make his way there.
“Tu-tu-tu-tu!!” He operated the tractor to the mouth of the cave, and was a little excited, “Damn son, I have a vehicle!” After getting used to the machine through a few rounds, he stopped the tractor.
He sat on the bonnet, and lit a cigarette, inhaling a deep breath to calm himself down. With this vehicle, it was better than travelling on foot, and although he had experienced a lot since leaving home, it was the first time he had felt joy again at the prospect of gaining a means of transport.
He opened up the hatch, and discovered that the fuel was still half-full. “Should I check the cave for some fuel?”
The inside of the cave was quiet, and the passage dark and narrow. Zhang Xiao Qiang turned on his torch and went deeper in. After 30m, the cave started to become even more narrow, allowing at most 2 to 3 to fit in the tunnel, before suddenly broadening up at the 50m mark.
In front of him, there was a huge cavern, with the roof being about 30m from the ground, and there was a deep, narrow crack on one side of the wall. Light came in from that crevice, allowing sight in the cavern.
At another 7 or 8m in front, there were a few stone steps leading downwards, where there was a pool. It was not large, but the pool was deep, so much so that the bottom could not be seen. The water was clean and clear, and it must have been ok for consumption, as the man had been here a few months without being ill.
Climbing up the steps, there was a large platform, of about 500 or 600 sqft, and it was dry and well-ventilated. There was a bed in the centre of the platform made of grass, covered by a bunch of cotton quilts. Not far away, there was a small makeshift furnace made out of stone, stacking together to become a stove. There was even a large iron pan on top the stove.
Everywhere around the platform, there were several jars, filled with hundreds of plastic woven bags.
Zhang Xiao Qiang observed his surroundings carefully, and noticed that the cave was well stocked up, and those hundreds of plastic bags were filled with rice and other rations. Each bag could carry a hundred jin, hundreds of them meant there was a few ten thousands of rations here. There was even dried bacon hung on one side, and the amount seemed to have been gleamed off at least 2 fat pigs.
That was not all. Zhang Xiao Qiang discovered that there were even a thousand jin of cabbages, all placed neatly, as well as a dozen jins of dried plums, 2 huge jars of pickles, and there was even a coop of a dozen chickens, comprising of a rooster and his hens pecking about in one corner.
“This is too sick, it’s a hell of a base!” Zhang Xiao Qiang exclaimed.
“Should I just stay here till I die?” He was extremely unwilling to leave the resources behind.
However, the moment he thought of living together with Yang Ke’er for life, he felt a chill down his spine. That lass was too domineering, if he really had to live with her? It wasn’t going to become a relationship with his wife, it would be more like serving his ancestor.
As he drove the tractor slowly into the garden, Yang Ke’er who was training stared at him dumbly. Zhang Xiao Qiang immediately smirked: “Little Yang, you haven’t seen such a cool tractor before right?”
“Uncle, where did you steal that from?” That sentence almost caused Zhang Xiao Qiang to topple from the vehicle.
“What do you care, quick pack up, we’re moving!!!” Zhang Xiao Qiang barked at Yang Ke’er.
In the end, he decided to move to the cave to live for a period, before making his way towards the capital. Humans were after all social creatures, when facing the dangers of the apocalypse, a group was better than an individual. Furthermore, Yang Ke’er was training, and before she had fully grown, it was better to gain some street smarts to survive out there.
As they moved the mattresses and blankets from the upper storey, as well as other necessities from the rest of the house into the tractor, he called for Yang Ke’er to prepare to move out.
“Uncle, did you notice something different about me today?” Yang Ke’er used her hands to place her hair behind her ear, using a strange tone to ask.
Zhang Xiao Qiang squinted, nothing was different about that flat figure. “Nope, nothing’s different!” He announced.
“Uncle, look carefully again.” Yang Ke’er walked up to him and raised her head.
He fought his instincts to draw back, even though her clothes had been washed once, it had a history not being changed in 3 months, and that smell that emitted from her, it was truly indescribable!
“En?” Something was not right, each time Yang Ke’er got to within a 3m radius, Zhang Xiao Qiang would be overwhelmed by the smell till his tears came out. However, there was no weird stench today, in fact, it felt…fresh?
Yang Ke’er had combed her hair neatly, and her shoulder-length hair tied neatly into a ponytail by the side. She was wearing a colorful scarf around her neck, and she was dressed in a pale yellow windbreaker. A pair of jeans that was a little white from being washed too often covered her bottom, and her feet donned a pair of female hiking shoes.
Her entire person had become fresh, furthermore, adding to her bath yesterday, that pale face was a little flushed, and her lips that had been dry seemed to be a little lush. She blinked her huge eyes, wrinkling her nose in a mischievous way, causing her to look a little charming and cute, like a young flower that had no equal. Zhang Xiao Qiang stared, and unconsciously felt a little light-headed. Then he took one more look at her figure, and the previous dreamy-like fantasy in his mind disappeared without a trace.
At this moment, Zhang Xiao Qiang knew himself clearly, he had always thought that he was a lolicon, and thought that he had the bearing of some perverted uncle, now that he saw this loli in front of him, seeing that flat washboard-like figure, he finally understood.
“Seems like, I’ve always been a connoisseur of curvy women!” He nodded slightly to himself.
“What’s nice to see, how long have you not brushed your teeth? Your mouth smells!” Zhang Xiao Qiang could not help but tease Yang Ke’er.
“Uncle, you’re a big baddie!” Yang Ke’er pouted.
Her clothes seemed to remind Zhang Xiao Qiang of his own dirty clothes, with holes in some places as well. “Guess I should go get changed as well.”
After flipping over everything upstairs, he finally found some suitable clothes, just that the colour was a bit too bright for his liking. In fact, it might draw the attention of some mutant beasts from afar. He looked some more and discovered an unopened pair of lingerie, “Should I get Yang Ke’er to try these on?” He thought evilly.
“Forget it, if given to her, it’d be a waste of a nice pair of lingerie!” Zhang Xiao Qiang shook his head.
He came downstairs, having donned a piece of black down jacket, with a high-necked sweater inside, and he wore an old-fashioned blue navy pants, which was of unknown material, but it was rugged and resilient. It was suitable for any situation, and was most likely worn by the man’s father in the past during his service. It still looked new, and was extremely comfortable.
Zhang Xiao Qiang then threw the rest of the clothes into the boot, “Sit tight!” calling out to Yang Ke’er, before driving the tractor towards the cave.