Volume 2: Winter’s End
Crossing the central street and entering the range of the southern half of the city, the field of vision seemed considerably empty. The smoothly paved streets were covered with a heavy layer of flawless white snow, resembling immaculate white jade, making it difficult for people to step into.
“Should we look for survivors first?” The area near the central street was the most prosperous in Micro City and also the most resource-rich. Initially, Lie Yang hesitated to enter the southern city due to the bizarre situation between the two cities. Now that he knew the reason, his concerns and doubts gradually dissipated.
“No need, let’s collect supplies first,” Shu Xun, pulling at his small tuft of hair, said in a very casual tone.
In the vast southern city, finding a single person would be quite challenging. Moreover, judging from the current situation, the surviving little girl was likely actively avoiding them and strongly opposed to leaving Micro City. Faced with the sudden arrival of strangers, especially curious children, they often chose to observe secretly from the shadows. Therefore, Shu Xun decided to prioritize collecting supplies.
The vicinity of the central street was indeed bustling, and it seemed that the public order had been maintained well at the time. At least the nearby shops were relatively intact, suggesting that the central street was a key protected area for law enforcement.
The first place the group chose was a super-sized shopping mall. Although half of the goods in the mall were missing, the remaining supplies were still quite substantial. Due to the large area, the group decided to split up and take separate actions.
Shu Xun also hopped down on his own, and Ye Qian didn’t stop him. After all, there were no survivors nearby, and there was no imminent danger. So, amidst the towering and neatly arranged shelves, a small earnest figure could be seen diligently collecting and selecting supplies.
Experiencing the joy of shopping in a mall for the first time, Shu Xun felt somewhat reluctant to leave. With such a plethora of supplies in the mall, they couldn’t take everything, so they had to choose items with high utility. As he walked, Shu Xun suddenly stopped, facing a massive shelf, his eyes sparkling. On this entire shelf, neatly arranged, were cans of peach canned fruit. The yellow peach pattern on the cans was particularly eye-catching.
Half an hour later, Lie Yang, Nuan Dong, and Ye Qian successively returned to the entrance on the ground floor. They waited anxiously for Shu Xun, but there was no sign of him. Just as they began to wonder if something had happened, there was a sudden commotion near the stairs.
Then, quickly, a large cloth bag appeared in the sight of the group. The bag was slowly moving forward, and upon closer inspection, it turned out that the small figure was earnestly dragging the bag with his short legs at the front.
Lie Yang was once again dumbfounded. The bag was not large for them, but for the little round creature, it looked more than ten times bigger. It seemed this was indeed not a normal round creature.
Shu Xun dragged the bag to the stunned group, then lifted the bag onto himself. He took brisk steps toward the exit, and in an instant, in the eyes of Ye Qian and the others, Shu Xun’s figure completely disappeared, leaving only the “giant” bag moving.
Noticing that no one followed, a slightly puzzled and childish voice came from under the bag. “Are we going? Don’t we need to find a place to stay before it gets dark?”
Ye Qian and the others finally snapped out of their daze and started walking. Shu Xun was about to take a step when the entire bag, along with him, was lifted into the air. Turning his head, he saw that Ye Qian had lifted him up. Ye Qian, with an indifferent expression, took Shu Xun out from under the bag, placed him back in his pocket, and then checked the bag. With a single glance, he saw the abundance of peach canned fruit inside. Under Shu Xun’s gaze, he transformed the bag into storage mode and put it back into his pocket.
Shu Xun, holding his chubby paws, looked on earnestly…
Finally, the poker-faced Ye Qian spoke. “I’ll keep it for now.”
Shu Xun nodded in satisfaction.
Lie Yang looked shocked. “You actually spoke.” Clearly, in Lie Yang’s view, Ye Qian would not speak unless absolutely necessary.
Ye Qian looked at Lie Yang expressionlessly, extinguishing any desire for further communication.
After collecting enough supplies, the group left the mall. As the sky darkened and the storm intensified, they began searching for a place to stay. However, the survivor still hadn’t appeared.
This situation could only mean that the survivor vehemently avoided contact with others and paid no attention to their actions in the Micro City. This was a troublesome situation.
In the end, Shu Xun and the others found a hotel for their temporary stay. The hotel was located south of the central street, at a street corner with a relatively open view. After the group finished dinner, the outside had completely darkened.
Nuan Dong was busy organizing his huge backpack, Ye Qian was dealing with a piece of ore, and Lie Yang had already laid down on the bed and fallen asleep. Shu Xun, hugging the empty peach can he just finished eating, seemed to suddenly think of something. He ran to Ye Qian, asked for some hot water, and then carried the empty can to a cabinet, disappearing inside.
Nuan Dong and Ye Qian’s gazes shifted to Shu Xun for a moment and then looked away again.
In the quiet space, time passed silently. After a while, the cabinet door creaked open again. Simultaneously, the little dumpling walked out with light steps. Its fluffy little head was still damp, the small chubby face slightly flushed, giving it the appearance of someone who had just taken a bath.
Recalling the scene of the round creature staggering away while hugging an empty can, Nuan Dong and Ye Qian suddenly had an unsettling thought.
As expected, when Shu Xun happily walked over to them, the two sensitive individuals immediately caught a faint peach scent in the air.
Nuan Dong: “…”
Ye Qian: “…”
Shu Xun (≧ω≦)
Regardless of whether they had noticed it before, from this moment on, both of them deeply realized Shu Xun’s obsession with peaches.
In the live stream, there was already a chorus of “good night” wishes. Of course, there were also sleepless viewers enthusiastically discussing the clues discovered in the Micro City today, hoping to speculate on the truth behind “Winter’s End” before others.
“Eh? Why is the little dumpling’s hair wet? Did he just take a bath?”
“Shu Xun after bathing! Too bad we didn’t get to see it!”
“Clean-loving little dumpling~”
“Why do Nuan Dong and Ye Qian both have expressions like they’ve been choked?”
“Nuan Dong probably doesn’t know, but God Ye must be internally banging his head against the wall for missing the little dumpling’s post-bath picture! Hahaha!”
“The comments above are so scary! Taking away the little dumpling!”
“No, no, no! God Ye must have remembered that life-saving bathwater!”
“…”
Satisfied with the peach scent, Shu Xun took out the smooth stone given by Nuan Dong and then pulled out a small towel. Sitting by the charcoal fire, he began to dry his hair while roasting himself.
Ye Qian and Nuan Dong: “…” Roasting like this only intensifies the peach scent.
After drying his hair, Shu Xun laid out his sleeping bag, bid everyone good night, and directly crawled into the small sleeping bag. Sniffing the faint peach fragrance, he contentedly sank into dreams. Even in his dreams, he couldn’t resist pursing his lips. Surely, he was having sweet dreams, and Shu Xun’s dream might be entangled in an irresistible world of peach can goodness.
The next morning, the Micro City woke up in silence. Shu Xun squatted in front of a small teacup, washing his face with the water inside. The sleepy feeling instantly alleviated. After breakfast, Shu Xun lay down by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the snow-white Micro City. The sky remained gloomy, the clouds hanging low without any sign of dispersing. Surprisingly, the fierce snowstorm that blew all night seemed to have stopped at some point. The dried branches on both sides of the street were motionless, and although the sky was dim, there was no falling snow. It was an unexpectedly calm day without wind or snow.
Shu Xun pulled at his hair, recalling that he had encountered such weather only twice since entering the game. The first time was on the night he entered the game when he took the opportunity to search for food in the Baiyan Forest. The second time was near the Micro Lake before the arrival of the blue light. As Shu Xun speculated on the current situation, he suddenly saw a red figure running past the corner of the street to the left.
At a glance, Shu Xun judged that it was the survivor mentioned by Lie Yang. Before Shu Xun could remind the others, he had swiftly been stowed into a pocket, and Ye Qian’s body, like the wind, dashed towards the outside. The other two also acted quickly, following closely behind. Clearly, it wasn’t just Shu Xun who had noticed the survivor.
Due to the rare good weather, there were clear footprints on the snowy ground. The group quickly followed the trail.
From the surveillance videos, they already knew that the survivor was a seven or eight-year-old girl. Obviously, a child’s speed could not surpass that of three evolved beings from the interstellar era. In less than a minute, they spotted the red figure. The figure also noticed them and turned to run towards another street. Lie Yang’s eyes shone brightly. Suddenly, a faint light appeared on his back, and a pair of fiery red wings emerged. In the next moment, he was already standing in front of the survivor, who was more than ten meters away.
The girl seemed shocked by Lie Yang’s speed, standing still for a while without moving. When she came to her senses and realized there was no way to escape, the girl, looking at the three tall figures around her, suddenly, tears welled up in her clear blue eyes. Then, with a look of grievance, she burst into loud sobs.
With this, the three tall figures suddenly froze in place. If the survivor were an adult, perhaps the three could have communicated, but faced with such a young child, especially one who was now crying, the three “gods” suddenly turned into novices, unsure of how to proceed.
Shu Xun scratched his head and waved his chubby hand in greeting. “Hello, I’m Shu Xun. What’s your name?”
The sudden inquiry made the girl pause in her crying. She opened her eyes, searching for the source of the voice. Eventually, her gaze settled on the pocket of Ye Qian. The crying stopped, indicating that Shu Xun’s appearance exceeded her understanding. However, the cute and fluffy little creature temporarily overwhelmed her fear. After a moment, the girl’s voice rang out, “My name is Qing Meng.”
The three tall figures simultaneously sighed in relief. They were extremely fortunate to have brought along the cute little dumpling. Otherwise, communicating with the child would have been quite challenging. Although Shu Xun was also a “baby,” he gave the impression of being exceptionally sensible and intelligent, with an unusually high IQ. Suddenly curious, Lie Yang asked, “What race did the little dumpling awaken? It’s so small, but its intelligence is impressive.”
After a moment of contemplation, Shu Xun proudly puffed up his little chest. “It belongs to a race favored by eternal luck, a race that embodies all the treasures of the world, an extremely rare and precious race!”
Lie Yang: “…”
He couldn’t figure out what kind of race Shu Xun was talking about. Glancing at the other two poker-faced individuals who showed no emotions, Lie Yang refrained from asking further questions to avoid being looked down upon again, thinking he had a rare moment of intelligence.
Similarly, Nuan Dong and Ye Qian had a bunch of question marks in their minds. Summing up Shu Xun’s proud description of the little creature, it essentially translated to: “Species not found.”
Thanks to Shu Xun’s presence, the girl named Qing Meng gradually stabilized her emotions. It seemed that children had a special way of communicating with each other, something that adults couldn’t achieve.
“What are you doing so early? I can help you,” Shu Xun offered, not delving into the recent events in the Micro City or continuing to inquire about Qing Meng’s personal matters. Instead, he expressed his willingness to assist with a cute, baby-faced expression.
Qing Meng, showing low guard towards Shu Xun, happily nodded in agreement. “The blue butterflies are coming. I need to prepare a lot of food; otherwise, it will be very cold when I go out to find food.” Speaking of butterflies, Qing Meng’s gaze noticeably shifted to Lie Yang, although his wings were already retracted.
Although seemingly a simple statement, it provided Shu Xun with a wealth of information. The sudden cessation of the snowstorm was indeed due to the approaching blue light. Blue-eyed individuals could move in the super low temperatures of the blue light without succumbing to the cold. It appeared that this was also the reason why, in the villa near the micro-lake, Qing Mo’s cause of death was starvation rather than freezing. Those with blue eyes were indeed different from ordinary people, better adapted to the winter temperatures and more likely to survive.
Following Qing Meng, the group arrived at a supermarket and collected plenty of food. Qing Meng clearly liked Shu Xun a lot. Even when Shu Xun stood on the shelves picking out food, she sneakily reached out to touch Shu Xun’s little head. However, upon seeing her dirty hands, she quickly withdrew. Shu Xun extended his chubby paw and shook Qing Meng’s hand before she could retract it. Qing Meng suddenly became overjoyed, seemingly forgetting everything, and the sincere happiness reflected in her clear blue eyes seemed to bring them back to the time before the apocalypse.
So, after a while, in the quiet supermarket, Qing Meng pushed a shopping cart almost as tall as herself, while Shu Xun stood on the cart directing the three tall figures in front to take items from the shelves. Soon, the cart was filled, and Lie Yang organized the items in his hands, ready to leave. However, Qing Meng suddenly remembered something, ran back into the supermarket, and skillfully took two bottles of familiar-looking medicine from the medicine sales area. Shu Xun recognized them; they were the stimulants that Qing Mo had also used.
The world’s control over medicines did not seem to be very strict. As long as it wasn’t a lethal drug, various supermarkets had them. Perhaps before the end, these drugs were sold by specialized individuals. However, after the end, with no one to manage, Qing Meng’s skilled retrieval of the needed medicine was intriguing.
