A Post-Apocalyptic Journey to Another World

It was nearly night, and Xiangzhuang, surrounded by dense forest, was eerily quiet. There wasn't a sound from the nearby woods either. This made Zhang Xi very uncomfortable. He would rather hear a few wolf howls; he wasn't afraid of wolves, but the deathly silence made him feel uneasy.

Fortunately, Amber was with him. This transformation didn't consume as much of Amber's energy as the last one, and it remained completely black. At this moment, it was dozing off on Zhang Xi's lap like an ordinary pet dog, only its small ears twitching occasionally showed that it remained alert even while resting.

Zhang Xi sat cross-legged on a relatively clean small square rug, like a monk meditating. He patted Amber's head, then looked at the eleven small glass bottles in front of him, filled with the potions he had concocted that afternoon—three purple and eight blue.

The blue one was naturally the Hard Man Potion that Zhang Xi had drunk, and the purple one was the complete version of the Mighty Strength Potion. Unfortunately, there were only three Starlight Grass plants, which was already beyond Zhang Xi's expectations. Starlight Grass grows in the Chaotic Forest of another world, and heaven knows where Huang Lin got it from.

Zhang Xi had originally planned to refine some "Hardcore Potions," and these three bottles were a pleasant surprise. His parents were already old, and the "Hardcore Potions" were too potent for them. Moreover, their weak constitutions would increase the chances of failure and death, even though the success rate was only about three percent. He still didn't want his parents to take the risk.

Perhaps if necessary, I could really lend Huang Lin a hand; at least he does his job conscientiously, doesn't he? Zhang Xi thought, looking at the three bottles of purple potion.

……

At dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, a group of militiamen on guard duty outside a group of bunkers in Liaocheng witnessed something unexpected. A motocross motorcycle was approaching from a distance, and despite the cold weather, the rider wasn't even wearing a helmet.

One of the militiamen said to their captain, "Captain, we didn't expect these scavenging outlaws to be so brave! They actually dared to spend the night outside the city! But judging from their appearance, they don't seem to have made any progress."

“He’s not from Liaocheng; he must be from another city,” the militia captain said. “Put your guns down.”

The militiamen lowered their guns; ever since the humanoid monster appeared, they'd all been on edge. The militiaman who had spoken earlier asked, puzzled, "Captain, you remember all those scavengers who left the city yesterday? How do you know this person isn't from Liaocheng?"

"Idiot! Can't you tell from his attire? That outfit, and that gun, that's equipment only special forces soldiers in the main force have!" the captain scolded irritably.

Zhang Xi slowed down his vehicle a few hundred meters away from the bunker complex and drove slowly toward it. After showing the relevant documents and explaining his purpose, he entered Liaocheng.

The enthusiastic militia captain asked one of the soldiers to show him the way, and Zhang Xi readily agreed, as it was his first time in Liaocheng. Old Zhao hadn't given him the exact address, but luckily he knew which neighborhood committee it was, making it easy to find.

Liaocheng is a county town, not as densely populated as Pingyuan City, but it is now overcrowded with refugees. The supplies here are probably far less than those in Pingyuan City, as can be seen from the pale faces of the militiamen leading the way. At least in Pingyuan City, able-bodied men and militiamen do not go hungry.

Zhang Xi hadn't eaten breakfast yet. He took out a pie, broke off a small piece for himself, and handed the rest to the militiaman who was leading the way. The militiaman's eyes lit up—a white pie! This was good stuff. He also broke off a small piece and then put the rest in his pocket.

He seemed to be carrying a precious treasure. How long had it been since he'd had such a pie? He couldn't even remember. He'd been eating compressed biscuits for dozens of days and was almost sick of them.

Zhang Xi and his team found the neighborhood committee and got Old Zhao's address. They carefully crafted their story, trying to convince Old Zhao without arousing suspicion. Zhang Xi wasn't good with words, and this persuasion task was proving quite challenging.

Old Zhao's home is in an old-fashioned apartment. In China, housing prices are ridiculously high, and it's already quite an achievement for Old Zhao, a long-haul truck driver, to be able to buy an old-fashioned apartment.

In his previous life, Old Zhao mentioned during a casual chat with Zhang Xi that before the catastrophe, Old Zhao was a long-haul truck driver. His wife died in a traffic accident when their daughter was five years old. From then on, Old Zhao raised his daughter alone, and whenever he went out, he could only entrust her to relatives or friends or have her board at school.

The lack of a stable family environment for a long time made Lao Zhao feel indebted to his daughter. When disaster struck and he lost his daughter, it became a deep sorrow for Lao Zhao.

Finally arriving at Old Zhao's door, Zhang Xi knocked for a long time, but no one answered, rendering all the excuses he had prepared useless. Old Zhao was a truck driver without a fixed job, so Zhang Xi could only go to his daughter's school first.

The militiamen who led the way were very helpful, running up and down to ask Zhang Xi for directions. Finally, the two arrived at their destination: Liaocheng Primary School. This was the best primary school in Liaocheng. If he remembered correctly, Old Zhao's daughter was named Zhao Yu, and she should be twelve years old.

After finding the classroom, Zhao Yu was not found. The students were studying on their own. After asking around, they learned that the teacher and several students had gone to participate in military training.

After dismissing the militiamen who had led the way, they hurried to the training ground behind the teaching building. The ground wasn't large, but it had been converted into a training area. From afar, Zhang Xi's gaze was drawn to a small figure.

Among the tall, imposing adults, her small figure appeared even smaller. She had a bob haircut, round eyes, and a round face; most striking were her long eyelashes, which fluttered when she blinked, making her even more adorable. But beneath that lovely face lay a somewhat somber expression.

Zhang Xi had confirmed that it was Zhao Yu; she was practicing shooting with a rifle. Perhaps due to insufficient arm strength, the rifle she held horizontally trembled and shook incessantly, but she didn't stop to rest, instead continuing to maintain the horizontal rifle-holding posture.

Walking over like that felt a bit abrupt, so Zhang Xi left the scene first, found Zhao Yu's homeroom teacher, explained his purpose, and won the teacher's favor with some food.

Perhaps it was because Zhang Xi had a very pleasing appearance, or perhaps it was because the food had won him enough favor, but in any case, Zhang Xi soon met Zhao Yu in an empty office.

After the homeroom teacher happily introduced the two, she left, leaving Zhang Xi and Zhao Yu alone. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yu spoke first, asking somewhat cautiously, "Who are you? The teacher said you know my father, but I've never heard him mention you?"

Zhang Xi rubbed his nose, thinking to himself, "I've known your father for about half a year, so of course he won't mention me now." But he couldn't say it directly, so he avoided answering the question. He introduced himself, "My name is Zhang Xi, I'm a friend of your father's. Where is he? I need to talk to him about something."

“My dad works at the police station. You can wait for him to get off work or go directly to him,” Zhao Yu said, looking at Zhang Xi with suspicion.

Zhang Xi was taken aback by these words, and it took him a while to realize that the girl in front of him was bluffing! Looking at the girl's tense, round face and serious expression, Zhang Xi couldn't help but laugh: "Haha, your father's name is Zhao Guangming, and he's a truck driver. When did he start working at the police station?"

When Zhao Yu fell to the ground, her lie about being a little girl was exposed, and she couldn't help but blush. She simply lowered her head and stopped talking.

Zhang Xi thought for a moment and realized that the best way to dispel the other party's doubts was to tell them about Lao Zhao's usual preferences and some things that only very close people would know.

Thinking of this, he broke the silence and said, "Your father loves beer the most. He doesn't smoke or drink liquor, he only drinks beer and he drinks it with almost every meal, even in winter." As he said this, a trace of nostalgia appeared on Zhang Xi's face. He had been introduced to beer by Lao Zhao.

"Also, your father has two red moles in his hair. He often tells you that one of these moles represents your mother and the other represents you, so he wants to keep them forever," Zhang Xi said.

Upon hearing this, the little girl who had been keeping her head down and not saying a word suddenly raised her head and looked at Zhang Xi curiously.