The bonfire is burning, illuminating the boundless night. The wind at night was soft and cold, gently blowing through the flames, causing them to twist their empty bodies like dancing girls, and scattered sparks, flashing the most dazzling light, and then quickly extinguished.
The green leather car had left Silvertree City and stopped outside an abandoned farm about 50 kilometers away from the town. Zero and they will spend the night here before continuing their journey the next morning.
The car was parked next to the farm, and Ji'an cleared out an open space. Because solid fuel was not available, a primitive bonfire was lit. The grass on the farm has long since died, but there are still a few dwarf trees barely surviving. In the cruel living environment of the new era, the genes of plants also change with the changes of the environment. Like these few dwarf trees, their height is only less than two meters, but the crown is surprisingly large. From a distance, it looks like a giant umbrella.
If you dig up the soil, you will see that the roots of the tree are about ten meters deep into the ground. That can prevent the roots of the old trees from being directly sunburned by the strong sunlight because they are located in the shallow soil layer. The roots that go deep into the ground can not only hide from the sun, but also absorb the little water in the earth to struggle for survival.
Ji'an and the others dug the soil under the dwarf trees and intercepted some of these roots. The deeper the burial, the roots not only contain water, but also starch. After peeling, it is boiled in a tin pan until it becomes pulpy, and it can be eaten like potatoes in the old days. It's just that the taste of this tree root is a bit bitter, and it carries a certain amount of radiation. But regardless of zero and others, they don't care about such a small thing.
Zero silently observed Ji'an's actions. Although it is a good thing to be able to find food, they are not greedy. The truncated tree roots are only about one-third of the original number. From spring to autumn, the dwarf trees have time to grow new roots without dying. It's ironic to say that in the old days when resources were abundant, people only knew how to invade nature. On the contrary, now that resources are scarce, they understand the principle of stocking and living.
There is a large pot on the campfire, and when the roots are boiled into a thin slurry, each person is assigned a bowl.
Zero and Leah sat in the corner of the crowd, and Teddy brought two bowls of tree mud to them. The young driver's eyes fell on Zero Waist's gun, and Teddy said with all his mouth, "Hey, brother. Can you lend me that gun?"
After taking the slime, Zero pulled out the pistol backhand and handed it to Teddy.
Feeling the weight of the big piece of metal in his hand, Teddy was secretly speechless. The large-caliber muzzle, which is different from ordinary revolvers, silently tells the power of this pistol. Teddy knew that its recoil must be huge. He looked at Zero, and couldn't believe that such a weak person could use such a weapon.
But thinking about the gesture of lifting Jian with one hand, Teddy also felt relieved.
"Are you a supernatural user?" Teddy returned the pistol to Zero.
Zero didn't answer, and in his character, no objection was the default. It's a pity that Teddy didn't know Zero very long, he just thought this man's temper was weird. But it doesn't matter if it's weird. Since Zero dusk personally found food and medicine in the convenience store, Teddy and Ji'an can feel Zero's overtures. It shows that this strange traveler intends to integrate into their team. No matter what Zero's starting point is, being able to join a fighter like him is only beneficial and not harmful to the journey to Remut.
"Eat more, there are not many plants like dwarf umbrella trees. Tomorrow we will bring more tree roots for backup, but it is enough for us to eat again. After that, I am afraid we will have to eat some dry food .Water is also a problem, and I hope to find supplies along the way. But I think God will bless us, won't you?" Teddy blinked and said, and then left.
Zero put his bowl of tree mud in front of Leah.
Even at night, Leah never lowered her hat. She said softly in the hat: "I can't eat so much."
"Eat it." Xiaoyong said in a commanding tone, and then said in a more gentle tone: "Eat more, it will be good for your illness."
"how about you?"
Zero took out a piece of chocolate from his jacket pocket, which he found in a convenience store. He kept a piece for himself, and handed over the rest to Ji An. Zero gently opened the outer packaging of the chocolate. This piece of dark chocolate, which should have been exuding fragrance, is now covered with a layer of gray fungus. Sweep off the gray fungus with your fingers, and then put it in your mouth to chew slowly.
The food that has been severely expired naturally tastes bad. It doesn't have the sweetness that chocolate should have, but it also has a bitter taste. Zero seemed to be biting a piece of wood, but he still crushed the thing with his teeth, and finally swallowed it. In fact, all the food delivered to Ji'an has passed the retention period, but no one will take it seriously. For people in the old days, no one would care about the taste of food unless they were big nobles and famous gentry.
Although the food has expired and deteriorated, people's inexpensive stomachs are enough to digest them and convert them into energy for the body. As for substances that have deteriorated or even produced toxicity, even if they cannot be excreted from the body, they will be suppressed. Until one day, people's physique can no longer accommodate more toxic substances, and they will collectively erupt.
For Zero, there is no such concern. The food will disappear after entering his stomach pouch, and the extracted energy will be provided to him for a longer period of activities through careful distribution. As for harmful substances, they will be excreted with sweat during exercise, so there is no such thing as accumulation of toxins.
It's just that Ling would rather eat expired food by himself than touch the unpalatable, but at least fresh tree mud. Liya's heart trembled slightly, she didn't speak any more, picked up the tree mud and started eating. She ate so carefully tonight that when Teddy came to get his bowl back, he found there was not a single crumb in it.
In the middle of the night, the temperature dropped, and people went back to sleep in the carriages. Liya was no exception, and bought a blanket from Teddy with two yuan of pocket money, and now it is wrapped around Liya's body.
Zero didn't sleep, sitting in front of the campfire whose flame was almost extinguished. He was on vigil, and with him was Ji An, as well as another white man named Parn.
"A cigarette?"
After the three of them sat silently for half an hour, the black man took out a cigarette and handed it to Zero.
Zero Quiet took it, lit it directly on the flame, and then took a deep breath. The smell of inferior tobacco penetrated into Zero's lungs, and after a cycle, he sprayed it out from his nose. There was a bitter taste in his mouth, but there was a slight smile on the corner of Zero's mouth.
"Although it's not a good product, but I can smoke one every day, and I think it's God's favor."
Jian and Byrne also smoked. The black man swallowed the clouds with his eyes closed, and seemed to be enjoying himself.
"I agree with this point." Zero replied, he never talked much. Short, but accurate.
The black man opened his eyes, looked at Zero and said, "That girl, is she sick?"
The flames of the bonfire suddenly fell, and Zero's breath suddenly collapsed like a steel cable. He looked at Jian, his eyes became cold and ruthless again.
"Hey hey, don't be nervous, I'll just ask casually." Ji'an waved his hands again and again: "In these years, except for the delicate and expensive nobles, no one in the wilderness has a disease or anything."
The black man's words made Zero's body, which was also tense, gradually relax. Ji An breathed a sigh of relief, and continued: "So, you want to go to Remut to see a doctor?"
"Probably." Zero replied concisely, but in an instant, the muscles that had just been relaxed tensed again. On the skin, there was a slight pinprick sensation.
Feeling the change in the atmosphere, Ji An's face changed, and he just wanted to explain, but his mouth was covered by Zero.
"Don't make any noise, wake everyone up. Something is approaching." Zero's ears were moaning softly, and a faint and inaudible sound entered his ears from a very far away with the wind.
Zero stood up, kicked up the nearby sand and stones and sprinkled them on the campfire, extinguishing the flames.
Just after doing all this, under the moonlight, at the other end of the road, several shaky figures appeared.