At the break of dawn, a white speedboat was already waiting by the side of the Windwing, its pointed bow pressed against the hull, bobbing lightly with the ripples of the lake.
Wearing raincoats and carrying walkie-talkies, Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao stepped into the thick curtain of rain under the watchful, worried eyes of the old man and Zheng Yijie. They climbed down the emergency rope ladder they’d prepared in advance and boarded the speedboat waiting below.
Gu Mengran had considered taking a diesel boat himself. That way, if things went south after they landed, he could at least make a quick escape. But the more he thought about it, the less that made sense. Either way, once they docked, the boat would be stuck at shore. If the people there meant trouble, they definitely wouldn’t give him a chance to run.
More importantly—the diesel boat didn’t have a roof. It wasn’t pouring, but the rain was steady and thick, mist rising off the lake in waves. If they had to get soaked all the way there… yeah, no thanks. That would just be miserable.
There were only four people on board. Besides Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao, there was the round-faced guy they’d met last night, and a tall, broad-shouldered man at the helm, who looked like he’d been carved out of stone.
Their eyes met briefly as they boarded. The guy had sharp features, thick eyebrows, and a jagged scar splitting the right brow—definitely not the friendly type. He was a stark contrast to the pale, pudgy-faced, small-eyed guy with zero sense of menace.
Gu Mengran suspected this was the gruff, secretly softhearted guy from the other night. But since the man kept his mouth shut and focused on steering, he couldn’t confirm it by voice.
With his space ability as a hidden card, Gu Mengran wasn’t too anxious about getting on a stranger’s boat. Calmly, he gave the two men a once-over, then casually looked around the interior before breaking the silence like an old friend.
“This is a nice ride. Small, agile, fast—and the inside’s kinda fancy. Must’ve cost a fortune, huh?”
“Y-yeah, of course!” The pudgy guy responded without a second thought, puffing up with pride. “This was a luxury sightseeing boat, made for the scenic tours. Before the disaster, one ride cost two or three hundred per person.”
Gu Mengran raised a brow. “Wow, that pricey? Must’ve been popular.”
The guy waved a hand. “Not that bad. This was a 4A-rated tourist spot—super busy. On a normal day, you had to line up just to ride one of these.” He sighed. “But now…”
Now what? Gu Mengran was about to ask when the speedboat reached the shallows. The mist on the lake thickened, and a few old fishing boats drifted past the windows like ghosts.
The speed was too fast—Gu Mengran barely caught a glimpse before the speedboat left the scene far behind. The thick curtain of rain blurred everything, and with a hint of regret, he turned back and asked, “What was that just now?”
The ever-chatty pudgy guy glanced back at him. “Fishing boat. You seriously didn’t recognize it?”
“I recognized it,” Gu Mengran said, amused. “I meant—was that your boat too?”
A subtle shift passed over the guy’s expression. He gave Gu Mengran a look like he was an idiot. “I told you already, this is our turf. Of course only our people are allowed to fish here. The dried fish we gave you guys? Caught by them right here in the lake. How’d it taste?”
“Delicious. My grandpa really liked it,” Gu Mengran replied with a dry smile—seeing as he hadn’t dared eat it at all.
The guy nodded, pleased, his attitude warming immediately. “There’s not much food left these days. The water level’s rising, and the fish are drifting off with the current. Honestly, being able to eat anything is already a blessing. A while back, a big boat came through from downstream—just like yours. Some of their people were infected, and they didn’t have any food, so we generously gave them some dried fish. But guess what? They turned their noses up at it.”
“I doubt it was because they were picky,” Gu Mengran said with a small laugh, offering a guess. “If they came from downstream, they probably saw all those dead fish floating in the river. Might’ve been worried the water—and everything in it—was contaminated.”
Not to mention… if you’d seen that many bloated fish carcasses drifting downstream, anyone with a weak stomach probably wouldn’t touch fish again for a while.
The pudgy guy shrugged dismissively. “Yeah, I know what you’re talking about. My Brother Duan even went to check it out himself—pretty nasty scene, he said. But this is Fengjin Lake, man. We’re upstream from the Lanjing River. There’s no way contaminated water from Lingjiang Port could flow all the way up here.”
“And besides, there’s no dead fish in our lake. We eat the fish ourselves. What, you think we go through all that effort catching them just to poison people? Use your head! I swear, some people are so paranoid it’s ridiculous.”
He had clearly found his rhythm now, ranting freely without even stuttering.
Gu Mengran nodded along in agreement, then asked, “So what happened to them? That big boat you mentioned—did they leave, or are they still around?”
Before the guy could answer, Gu Mengran saw the answer with his own eyes.
The speedboat gradually slowed as it approached the shore. This had likely once been a bustling tourist pier. Now, the docks were crowded with all kinds of boats—speedboats, diesel-powered vessels, sightseeing cruisers… and the ‘big boat’ the pudgy guy mentioned: a mid-sized cargo ship.
There was no doubt now—the people from that ship had stayed behind.
Once the boat came to a stop, Gu Mengran disembarked with Liang Zhao close at his side, sticking to him like a shadow. They followed the pudgy guy and the silent man into what had once been a lively resort—now quiet, desolate.
The earthquake had left the lake untouched, but the land bore its scars. The concrete road beneath their feet was covered in deep cracks. The lush greenery had withered into brittle yellow grass. A large section of the resort hotel had collapsed, dragging down nearby buildings with it. The rain had washed away the dust, leaving behind broken bricks and rubble—like scars that would never heal.
The farther they walked, the less commercial the surroundings became.
After winding through a maze of paths, all signs of modern architecture disappeared. It felt like they had stepped from the city into a completely different world. Traditional stone houses, solid and weather-worn, now lined the narrow lanes.
Stone cottages. Stone alleys. Stone steps. Even the cracked concrete road gave way to smooth cobblestones. Houses of all shapes and sizes had been built from these stones, forming a primitive, rustic village.
Most importantly, the buildings here were low and sturdy—none taller than two stories. That was why, even after a massive earthquake, these stone houses still stood proudly in the rain and wind, bearing silent witness to everything they had endured.
Children ran through the drizzle. Women cleaned fish on stone platforms. Elderly folks stacked firewood under the eaves. For a moment, it felt like they’d gone back in time—before the disaster. A quiet, peaceful life, untouched.
A “chosen village”? Gu Mengran’s eyes widened as he took in the scene, still stunned when the pudgy guy and the silent man led them into a larger, two-story stone house.
Before he even stepped inside, a loud bang erupted from within. “Duan Yueyan! Are you a rabid dog or what? I just fixed that damn thing two days ago, and you chewed through it again?! What, you think I got nothing better to do than fix your damn walkie-talkie every day?!”
A man’s voice followed, furious and explosive, making the entire house seem to shake.
The pudgy guy, who had gone in ahead of them, wasn’t the least bit startled. On the contrary—he gleefully crept up to the closed door on the right side of the living room, clearly enjoying the drama as he pressed his ear up against it.
The wooden door didn’t do much to muffle the sound, and the person inside had a voice like a megaphone. Gu Mengran, still standing in the main hall, could hear everything loud and clear.
“I lasted a whole week, didn’t I? This is the last time—last time, I swear!”
“I don’t care! Take your busted junk and get out!”
“C’mon, Zhou Feng, I swear, this time’s really the last. I won’t come back till next month.”
“Screw you! You think I don’t know what day it is? It’s the goddamn 30th!”
“Uncle Zhou~”
“Get out or stay put, I don’t care—but if you don’t move, I swear I’m gonna—”
Before he could finish, the door suddenly burst open from the inside. The pudgy guy, still leaning against it to eavesdrop, lost his balance and stumbled straight through the doorway.
But before he could hit the ground, someone inside gave him a hard shove, sending him staggering backward a good four or five meters before he finally managed to stay on his feet.
Even after being manhandled like that, the pudgy guy wasn’t the least bit angry. In fact, he grinned sheepishly at the person in the room and tried to play it off. “Heh, Brother Duan, I wasn’t eavesdropping. Promise.”
Recognizing the name, Gu Mengran glanced toward the wooden door—just in time to see a tall, striking young man in his early twenties step out.
Deep-set eyes. Sharp nose. Thin lips. His features were stunning, with a strong exotic flair—like a sculpture carefully carved by a master. He looked like he belonged in an art gallery, not this shadowy, rundown house.
Gu Mengran blinked. This was the guy with the explosive temper?
As if to confirm that thought, Duan Yueyan shut the door behind him with a flick of his wrist, tilted his chin toward the pudgy guy, and snapped, “Move it. You really out here laughing at me, huh?”
“N-no way,” the pudgy guy stammered, waving his hands in surrender, shrinking back like a scolded quail.
Gu Mengran: …This is so not the energy I expected.
Noticing the unfamiliar faces in the room, Duan Yueyan dropped the scolding and shifted his gaze to Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao. He studied them openly, with zero restraint, then pulled over a nearby stool and sat down—no gesture for them to sit, no small talk. He went straight for the jugular: “Well? You’ve had time to think. You’ve seen enough. Ready to give me an answer?”
Rain still dripping from his hair, Gu Mengran didn’t even have time to wipe his face. He let out a slow breath, a little tense now. “We’ve thought it through. But I still have a few questions.”
Duan Yueyan’s mouth twitched. He let out an annoyed tsk. “Ugh, you’re such a drag. Spit it out already.”
Gu Mengran didn’t hold back. “Do you guys know what it’s like outside? Are you planning to stay here long term? You said working means we get food—what kind of work exactly? Also—”
“Are you the human version of Ten Thousand Whys?” Duan Yueyan cut him off, clearly fed up. Then he tossed a look at the pudgy guy. “You explain.”
The chubby guy gave a dazed little “Oh,” then slowly started answering, like it was just another lazy afternoon chat. “Yeah, we know what’s going on out there. Total chaos. Brother Duan says this is probably the end of the world or something.”
“The houses in our village aren’t like the ones out there. Ours are solid. Even after that monster quake, most of them are still standing. So yeah, we’re planning to live here for the long haul.”
“As for work, well, you’re all guys, so it’ll be stuff that needs muscle—chopping wood, fishing in the lake, digging up potatoes in the hills, stuff like that.”
“Potatoes?” Gu Mengran latched onto the word. “Where are you getting potatoes? You mean you go out foraging?”
The pudgy guy laughed. “Man, are you slow or what? This place was turned into a resort area, sure, but our original village, Shijin, never moved. We’ve still got farmland in the mountains. Even before the disaster, folks around here kept farming.”
No wonder… Fish, potatoes—they weren’t lacking food because they grew it.
Gu Mengran nodded thoughtfully, then turned back to Duan Yueyan with the most important question. “If we agree to join, will we still have freedom? Can we work during the day, and go back to the boat to sleep at night?”
Clearly picking up the intent behind his question, Duan Yueyan let out a low chuckle. “So you want in on our food, but keep your freedom. You’re basically saying… work for hire?”
Gu Mengran smiled back. “Something like that. What do you think?”
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