Chapter 74: The ecology of Zhengzhou

Translator: Letty / Editor: DarkGem / Jello

North China University of Water Conservancy and Electric Power was where Chang and Ming Yi agreed to meet. It was located near to Zheng Kai Avenue and was not far away from the welcome sign where they had a brief meeting.

The trek was about to end as they trudged on the street. Although the concrete had not yet been broken through by the plants, there were cracks here and there that showed the vitality gifted by the red fog of some plants. The ever-bustling campus was now dilapidated and rusted. The plants seemed less aggressive here compared to the jungle, where they ruled.

“The gate is locked, and someone must have used the lock recently.” Qing Shui paid attention to the manmade details, opposed to how he had behaved in the jungle. “If it’s locked, that means there are human activities. It is also a sign that there might’ve been humans hiding here before Ming Yi came.”

“How do you come to that conclusion? What if the lock was placed by Ming Yi?”

“They were only a group of three, locking the gate is meaningless.” Qing Shui rubbed his chin. “Only if there are large amount of people staying in here would locking the door be effective to prevent an attack on the people. Otherwise, they can just hide anywhere convenient. It makes no sense to lock the door. Do you know what this suggests?”

“What does it suggest?” Chang shook his head with chagrin. “Just tell me the conclusion next time. I am not smart as you, and I can barely answer your questions.”

“I too was actually asking myself when I was asking you.” Qing Shui climbed the wall, and continued to talk to himself, “If there are more than 100 people living in here, it means it is easier to survive in Zhengzhou than in Kaifeng. You just can’t find a big group of people living in a school in Kaifeng. In fact, the environment is too harsh for any human to survive, except under the shelter of the military base. I am pretty sure the ecology of Zhengzhou is more beneficial to humans than to other species.”

“Well, that sounds like a good news.” Said Chang. “Rare good news.”

“Indeed.”

While they were talking, Qing Shui had climbed to the top of the wall. As he found a stable position, Chang handed over Pangzi’s body to Qing Shui so that they could go behind the wall altogether.

“I got him.” Qing Shui jumped off the wall with Pangzi on his back.

Chang’s climb looked effortless as he climbed and jumped over like a cat.

“How do we find them though?” The campus seemed empty. Perhaps it was because it was dark, but they had found no trace of life.

“The grass! Someone walked here before, if they weren’t Ming Yi’s, then it must be someone else’s.” Qing Shui asked Chang to carry Pangzi again. He then pointed at a spot under the light as he said, “As long as we can find a human, that means we are one step closer. We just need to follow these foot tracks.”

“There is a trace? Are you sure?” Chang looked down at the grass, but he couldn’t spot any differences.

“You probably can’t tell, just follow me.”

“Hmm..” Chang caught up with Qing Shui and tried to crack a joke. “If you had such a keen ability of observation before the red fog, then I think you would have made a good private detective.”

“I don’t think so. Even if I had this ability, I would still be a teacher. I like teaching.” Qing Shui picked up the topic as he said, “But you all would never be able to cheat. I would have caught you right away. Hahahaha.”

“Uh…” Chang sunk back into silence, “I don’t know what to say about your joke…”

Qing Shui nodded expressionlessly to end the conversation and continued to be the guide.

They soon approached a building, and Chang and Qing Shui worked together to find an entrance. Not long after, they found a modified room with windows sealed by wood. The door was reinforced to resist any potential attack. It was obvious that these could have only been modified by a human.

“Here it is.” Qing Shui’s knuckles drummed on the door insistently.

“Who is that?” A voice of vigilance sneaked through the door immediately.

“We’re just passing by here. Can we stay for a night? We are looking for someone.” Qing Shui shouted.

His words caused a burst of disturbance in the room, soon after, a familiar voice asked, “Mr. Li? is that you?”

It was Ming Yi who spoke. The door was opened from the inside, asMing Yi revealed himself from the dark.

“Chang! Mr. Li! Come on in.”

“This is our day, isn’t it?” The flashlight in Qing Shui’s hand illuminated the room.

Other than Ming Yi, there were another 7 or 8 figures lying on the ground, covered by blankets. All of them were so thin that they seemed emaciated with sallow faces. They looked like refugees in a famine. Chang glanced at them one by one. It was easy enough to tell that they were students. The sudden arrival of the red fog probably blocked their way back home. Loneliness and fear kept them together, but it seemed like they would soon starve to death.

“How did you get in?” Although they were grasping for their last breath, their mental guards were never put down.

“Wasn’t too hard. I shared some of my food with them, and they let me in for exchange.” Ming Yi walked to the other end of the classroom to keep some distance with the students. “Of course, we had disputes and they are still unfriendly. But that shouldn’t be bothering us as we will be leaving tomorrow. Let’s not talk about them, I am just so happy to see you back. You guys did it, you rescued Pangzi!” Ming Yi smiled with joy.

“It’s true that we rescued him, but the openings on his body with the spider eggs could kill him. I don’t know how to deal with them.” Chang placed Pangzi on the table and asked, “How is Jing?”

“She is over there.” Jing lay on one of the desks. “She is better, but still in coma.”

“Good to hear that. Alright, let’s think about how we can get rid of these spider eggs.” Chang made sure Pangzi was lying comfortably. He tried to gently squeeze out some green spider eggs from Pangzi’s arm. The stickiness felt awful in his hand. Chang felt slightly desperate as he turned to Qing Shui and said, “How are we going to clean out the spider eggs? There are so many!”