Chapter 10: Fetching Water

Three figures bent down and walked out of the storage room from under the door gap.

The plastic bucket was shaped by Chen Mu into a portable ring, like a hula hoop slung diagonally across Wei Dalei's body; after all, a bucket‑shaped object, even if not heavy, is awkward to carry, and for Chen Mu, once made, the second time is much easier.

Outside it was already dusk, the sun about to touch the horizon.

For humans at this time, perhaps only the sun and moon look unchanged from before.

Wei Dalei took the lead, keeping Chen Mu and Tang Jing at a distance so that if danger arose and they needed to flee, the two behind would have enough reaction time.

Chen Mu thought it unnecessary, but did not refuse his kindness.

They walked a few steps.

Chen Mu asked Tang Jing beside him: "The outside road is rough, and after dark our danger will greatly increase—why do you insist on coming along?"

Tang Jing laughed: "It's only two or three kilometers; hurry and we'll be back within an hour. Besides, do you know where the drink storage is?"

"I've heard your description, so I roughly know."

"My description is wrong," Tang Jing said.

"Huh?" Chen Mu stopped.

"It's not entirely wrong; the place I mentioned does have plenty of drinks, but there's another spot that should also have them, closer, though I can't be certain."

"So why just now—"

"Because we'll need to keep fetching water later; if we get our hopes up for nothing, it would hurt morale badly."

"Hmm."

Chen Mu nodded, agreeing with Tang Jing's approach, resumed walking, and asked: "Where is that place?"

"It's in another storage room along the way, so even if it's empty we won't waste much time."

"Why does the cafeteria like to set up so many small storage rooms instead of putting everything together?" Chen Mu wondered.

"The cafeteria is just a general term; actually it contains many subcontractors—for example, the cooks are one company, the cleaners another, and each serving window might be run by a different boss."

"Is it necessary to be so complicated?" Chen Mu really didn't understand these things.

"I don't care about the exact reason; maybe it's profit distribution, but many schools are like this, especially universities." Tang Jing spread her hands.

The sky grew darker.

The outdoor concrete ground used to seem fine, but after shrinking we noticed it was pitted and uneven, with a rolling feel in the distance; as the light faded, danger felt ever near.

At first Tang Jing nearly fell several times, each time Chen Mu steadied her, but this class monitor adapted quickly; after a few minutes she no longer needed help.

After walking about ten minutes, Tang Jing pointed to a room ahead similar to the previous storage room and said: "Here it is."

Chen Mu called out to Wei Dalei.

"Arrived?" Wei Dalei felt the route was much shorter than expected, but didn't think much of it.

Chen Mu offered no explanation, leading the two straight through the gap under the door.

After entering.

Chen Mu scanned the high surroundings and found this was a grain storage: several sacks of rice piled on the floor, and small bags of flour on the wall shelves.

"Grain?" Chen Mu's voice unintentionally revealed delight.

"This is also my second reason for coming here; it looks like we guessed right." Tang Jing also wore a pleased expression.

"Could we move in here to live?" Chen Mu asked again.

"No." Tang Jing shook her head: "The granary's biggest problem is mice; before, people came in often to clean, so it was okay, but now with no humans, it will quickly become a paradise for rodents—we can't move in, and we should stay as far away as possible; all this rice and flour would feed mice for a long time."

Chen Mu was also momentarily dazed, but after Tang Jing's reminder he understood immediately and nodded: "Then let's bring back as much as we can."

"We may need to come back several more times; let's wait until tomorrow—today we just bring water back."

Tang Jing pointed to the spot against the wall behind the door.

Chen Mu turned his head and saw an opened cardboard box there; judging by the print, it looked like a case of bottled water.

Nongfu Spring, 380 ml bottled natural drinking water, a case of 24 bottles.

The three approached the box's opening and found that four or five bottles had been taken.

Although just small bottles, to Chen Mu and the others each bottle seemed like a tower.

"Why not just carry one bottle back?"

Wei Dalei did a few stretches, then confidently stepped into the horizontally opened cardboard box.

Chen Mu and Tang Jing did not stop him.

One minute later.

Wei Dalei returned, dejected: "Damn, this thing is too heavy—I can't even move it, let alone knock it over."

Chen Mu laughed: "Old Wei, use your head—even if you could move it, how would we get it out through the door gap?"

"Right." Wei Dalei slapped his forehead.

Tang Jing chuckled: "If we could carry this bottle back, ignoring loss and evaporation, it would supply us for decades."

Chen Mu blinked: "Really that long?"

Tang Jing said: "If a person originally needed 3000 ml of water per day, at our current size they'd need only 0.003 ml; for ten people that's 0.03 ml. This bottle holds 380 ml, enough for over 12,600 days—about 35 years."

Chen Mu, though not bad at math, couldn't match that mental calculation; he vaguely felt the method defied intuition, but didn't pursue it.

Wei Dalei would think even less; since Tang Jing said it, it must be right.

"So you mean one bottle of mineral water would last us 35 years?"

"Of course we can't calculate it that way."

Tang Jing laughed: "In reality there will be loss, and people need water not just for drinking but for washing, rinsing, laundry—those are the main uses; most importantly, bottled water spoils within days after opening, so how long a bottle lasts is actually meaningless; for long‑term survival we must have a stable water supply system."

"Build our own water plant?" Chen Mu laughed.

"Maybe." Tang Jing winked.

"How could that be?" Chen Mu chuckled.

Tang Jing smiled and didn't answer, changing the subject: "Let's get water quickly; they probably can't wait any longer."

Chen Mu turned his hand and changed the cleaver into a spear, then lightly stroked the tip for a moment, making the point sharper; after stepping back a few steps, he used a run‑up to thrust the spear hard at the side of the mineral water bottle.

However, the plastic bottle now is really too thick for Chen Mu; this thrust did go in, but it didn't pierce through.

He sighed, then handed the spear to Wei Dalei.

Even before, Chen Mu couldn't match Wei Dalei in brute strength, and now this guy has awakened his ability.

Although he could use his ability to make a hole in the bottle, Chen Mu wasn't sure whether a plastic bottle bearing water pressure would be as easy to control as an empty one; besides, he always follows the principle of not using his ability when out unless absolutely necessary, aiming to conserve mental energy to prevent unexpected incidents.

Wei Dalei took the spear, exerted force with one arm, made a sideways lean‑back motion, and with a "whoosh" thrust the spear out.

This thrust not only pierced the bottle wall, but also drove half the spear shaft inside.

Wei Dalei held the spear, twirled it around a few times, stirring to enlarge the bottle's opening.

Then he pulled it back.

Cool, clear water gushed out.