Chapter 5: The Thorny Road and

Inside the carriage hung a faint smell of blood, sweat, and rusted metal. Sister Ai Li stood like a silent stone statue at the carriage's only breach, a hand crossbow resting on her knee, her hawk-like gaze piercing through the crack, warily scanning every inch of wasteland outside. The wind moaned, and occasionally the distant, unidentifiable shrieks of some creature drifted in, adding to the desolation and dead silence.

Lin Mo leaned against the cold carriage wall, the searing pain and exhaustion clinging to him like a bone-burrowing maggot. He carefully unwound the bandages on his arm and chest; the wounds had torn open again during the earlier fight, the edges swollen and red, the seeping fluid tinged with an ominous dark yellow. The manual's description of infection made his blood run cold.

"Have to deal with it…" he gritted his teeth, drew the last of his drinking water from the system space, and endured the agony to flush the wounds once more. The icy water jolted a shiver through his whole body, but the burning pain seemed to ease a fraction. He re-bandaged them, clumsy yet unusually careful. Sister Ai Li's words, "Infection, dead," hung over him like a sword.

After finishing, his gaze fell on those few dark-red chunks of irradiated wolf meat. Hunger burned like fire, his stomach screaming in protest. The manual had clearly warned of the enormous risk of mutated beast meat, but… the water purifier gave him a sliver of mad inspiration.

He carefully cut off a small piece of wolf meat, used a broken iron can he had found to hold some sewage filtered through the water purifier, and soaked the meat in it. He couldn't be sure this crude soaking would remove the radiation and toxins, but it was the only "purification" method he could think of. A dead horse prescribed as a living one!

After all this, a wave of crushing exhaustion finally took him down completely. He could hold on no longer, curled up in the corner, and his consciousness quickly sank into darkness. In the instant before he passed out, he seemed to see Sister Ai Li tilt her head slightly, glance at him, her gaze still icy, yet seemingly… a little less indifferent than at the start?

This sleep was far from peaceful. The throbbing of his wounds, the sudden chill of the wasteland night, and the fear of unknown dangers haunted him like a nightmare. He dreamed of the company's cold cubicle, of the irradiated wolf's ghostly green eyes, of Sister Ai Li's emotionless crossbow bolt…

He didn't know how long passed before he was woken by a smell of food… or rather, the burnt scent of heated protein.

He opened his eyes; the light inside the carriage was dim, dawn seemed close. At some point Sister Ai Li had stacked a few stones in a corner of the carriage to make a crude little fire pit, and a small piece of wolf meat was roasting over the weak flame, sizzling, its edges already charred black. She had cut the meat herself? Wasn't she afraid of the radiation toxins?

Lin Mo's eyes snapped to the iron can where his meat was soaking. The water inside had turned cloudy and red, and the color of the meat seemed… a little lighter?

"Awake?" Sister Ai Li's voice rang out, still hoarse, but seemingly less parched now that she'd had some water. She didn't turn around, focused on turning the meat. "Your meat, soaked, can eat a little. Won't die." Her words were like stating a fact, without any emotion.

Lin Mo's heart jolted! She had seen? And she seemed to know this method? He hurriedly picked up his piece of meat and held it close to sniff; that sharp, irradiated fishy smell had faded quite a bit. Mimicking Sister Ai Li, he found a metal skewer, threaded the meat, and held it near the weak flame.

The meat was cooked half-raw, tough as wood, carrying an indescribable burnt taste and a faint earthy tang, chewing like sawdust. But hunger was the best seasoning. Lin Mo fought down his nausea, tearing off small bites; a faint warmth flowed down his esophagus, driving away some of the chill and weakness. Sister Ai Li also ate her share in silence, quick and efficient.

After that hard-to-swallow yet vital "breakfast," Lin Mo felt some strength return; the wounds still hurt, but showed no sign of worsening. The water purifier had produced more water, and he carefully drank a few sips; the sweet, clear water moistened his parched throat like rain in a desert.

"Move." Sister Ai Li stood, extinguished the fire pit, her movements clean and crisp. "Not safe here. Smell of blood too strong."

Lin Mo had no objection. He quickly and carefully disassembled the water purifier, and along with the canteen, that precious survival manual, and the remaining seeds and soil conditioner, stored them all in the system space. The rusty blade he gripped tightly in his hand. He looked at Sister Ai Li: "Where to?"

Sister Ai Li's gaze turned toward the distant grey fog, where the outlines of some taller wreckage, like the spines of giant beasts, were faintly visible. "West. There's a place, might have an 'old water tower.'" She paused, then added, "Might also have 'Blood Claw' people." At the words "Blood Claw," Lin Mo clearly felt the killing intent radiating from her, as solid as substance, making the temperature inside the carriage seem to drop several degrees.

Blood Claw? Lin Mo recalled the manual seemed to mention that name, a notorious band of raiders. Did Sister Ai Li have a grudge against them? He didn't dare ask.

The two left the subway wreckage that had given them brief shelter and a great crisis. Sister Ai Li led, her steps light, weaving through the ruins like a ghost, deftly avoiding loose sand and metal scraps that might make noise. Lin Mo struggled to keep up, but the pain of his wounds made him stumble, his pace slow.

Though silent, Sister Ai Li did not abandon him. She paused from time to time, warily scanning the surroundings, waiting for Lin Mo to catch up. Once, she even silently pointed at an almost imperceptible metal jaw half-buried in the sand on the ground. Cold sweat broke out on Lin Mo's back; that was very likely a beast trap!

They trekked for the better part of a day. The wasteland scenery was monotonous and oppressive, endless ruins, cracked earth, twisted metal skeletons. The sky remained that suffocating leaden grey. Along the way, Sister Ai Li, with her astonishing insight, found a few dark-green succulent plants, like cacti, growing in metal crevices. She skillfully sliced off the thick leaves with a small knife, squeezed out the viscous juice inside, and gestured for Lin Mo to apply it to his wounds.

"Old folk method. Stops bleeding." She was concise. The juice on the wound brought a coolness, seemingly truly easing the pain and inflammation. Lin Mo once again felt the precious survival knowledge this wasteland girl carried.

Near evening, they finally reached the "place" Sister Ai Li had mentioned. It was a relatively open depression, with a massive, rust-mottled metal water tower skeleton standing at its center; the tower itself had long since half-collapsed, leaving only twisted supports pointing at the sky. Around the water tower were scattered some low shanties, barely cobbled together from metal sheets and concrete blocks, but most had collapsed and were clearly long abandoned.

"This is it. Careful." Sister Ai Li's voice dropped very low; she crouched low, using the shadows of the ruins to approach quickly. Lin Mo tensed up too, gripping his cleaver, and mimicked Sister Ai Li, tiptoeing behind her.

They circled the abandoned shanty area, searching. Sister Ai Li checked very carefully, examining ground traces, sniffing the air, even using the tip of her hand crossbow to poke aside some rubble. Finally, she stopped in front of a relatively intact shanty. This shanty was built against half a concrete wall, its roof a slanted metal sheet, and a tattered, oil-stained canvas curtain hung at the entrance.

Sister Ai Li signaled Lin Mo to keep watch, while she used the crossbow tip to gently lift a corner of the curtain and slipped inside sideways. A few light sounds of rummaging came from within. Soon, she crawled back out and nodded at Lin Mo: "Safe. For now."

Lin Mo followed her in. The shanty's interior was cramped and dark, filled with the smell of dust and rust. The floor was hard-packed earth. In a corner were piled some rotten wood and rags, and a stone fire pit long since extinguished. To his pleasant surprise, right beside the fire pit stood a half-person-tall metal bucket, rusted but looking fairly intact! This was absolutely perfect for storing water!

"Here." Sister Ai Li's tone carried a trace of imperceptible resolve, as if declaring sovereignty. "Clean it up. Water source…" she pointed outside the shanty, "lowest part of the depression, might have standing water. But… very dirty."

Lin Mo immediately understood her meaning. This place, this broken shanty leaning against half a wall, was their temporary base! Though dilapidated, it was far better than sleeping in the open! And with the metal bucket, it meant they could store more purified water!

Hope! A long-absent surge of excitement welled up in Lin Mo's heart. He immediately set to work, enduring the pain, and together with Sister Ai Li cleaned out the trash and debris inside the shanty, throwing out the rotten wood and rags, leveling the floor. Sister Ai Li went out to keep watch and search for water in the depression.

When Lin Mo finally righted that heavy metal bucket, wiped off the thick dust, and looked at its relatively intact inner wall, a sense of a "home" taking shape welled up spontaneously. He walked out of the shanty; the afterglow of the sunset (if that sinking of the murky light could be called a sunset) dyed these ruins a strange dark red.

Sister Ai Li was standing on a taller concrete block not far away, warily scanning the distance. Her back looked especially thin and tough under the gloomy sky.

Lin Mo walked to her side, gazed at this barren depression and the water tower ruins, and a surge of boldness rose in his chest. He pointed at that little shanty and said to Sister Ai Li: "From today on, this is our base! Let's call it… 'Hope Outpost'!"

Sister Ai Li didn't turn her head, but the hand gripping the hand crossbow seemed to tighten a little. She was silent for a few seconds before saying in her characteristic hoarse voice: "Names, useless. Living, that's hope." Her gaze, however, turned toward the direction further west of the depression, where rolling, fog-shrouded hills lay, and deep in her eyes flickered a bone-deep coldness and… deeply buried anguish.

Just then, Sister Ai Li's ears twitched slightly! She dropped into a crouch and yanked Lin Mo down with her!

"Shh!" She held a finger to her lips, her gaze sharp as a blade, fixed on the edge of the depression, a shadow obscured by a massive concrete block!

Lin Mo's heart leapt to his throat as he followed her gaze.

From that shadow, three figures slowly emerged. They wore armor crudely pieced together from tattered leather and metal scraps, with fierce red claw-mark totems painted on their bodies, carrying homemade spiked clubs, cleavers, and a rough double-barreled shotgun! The leader, a burly bald man, had a centipede-like knife scar across his face, his eyes fierce and greedy, staring at Lin Mo and Sister Ai Li in front of the shanty like sizing up prey.

On his shoulder, a conspicuous emblem of a dripping, bloody claw radiated an ominous aura in the gloomy light.

"Heh! Little mice!" The bald man bared his yellow teeth, his voice rough and grating, "Found a new nest? And gave it a pretty interesting name? 'Hope Outpost'? Hahaha! Too bad, your luck's run out! This territory belongs to 'Blood Claw' now! Hand over the food, the water, and that little wench—everything to me!"

Blood Claw! Raiders! They had actually come knocking so fast!

Sister Ai Li's body tensed instantly, like a cheetah about to spring, a cold killing intent spreading like something solid. She slowly raised the hand crossbow in her hand, the ghostly-blue bolt aimed at that bald man.

Lin Mo felt a chill rush from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head. Hope Outpost had just been established, and now faced its cruelest trial! He looked at those three ferocious raiders, then at Sister Ai Li beside him like an arched-back she-leopard, and the rusty blade in his hand seemed to grow heavier.

The survival law of the wasteland presented itself to him once more, in the most direct way—fight, or die!