Under the moonlight

Huang Meng didn't even have time to drink water along the way. She kept walking along the path, seeing many dilapidated houses, all deserted. She stopped when she saw the girl standing outside a door. She slowly approached the house, making sure the little girl was alone, before walking closer. Afraid of frightening her, she greeted her in Speech from a few steps away: "Hello, little sister, are you alone?" The explosion had happened suddenly, and many people had been separated from their families. Huang Meng wanted to confirm if the girl was truly alone.

"Hello, my dad is lying inside." Hearing the familiar hometown dialect, a happy smile finally appeared on the girl's face. Since her father was injured and fell down, she had been taking care of him all by herself, sleeping close to him at night, and hadn't spoken to anyone for a long time.

Seeing that she didn't seem too resistant, Huang Meng quickened her pace and walked over, half-squatting down as she looked at her with a smile and said, "Is your father injured? Can I go in and see him?"

The girl didn't say anything, but turned around and skipped into the house. Huang Meng looked around and followed her in.

The man lay there with his eyes still closed, his clothes dirty and disheveled, but his calf had a patch of white gauze on it, as if it had just been bandaged. Huang Meng looked him over and asked the girl with a smile, "Did you bandage your father's wound?" Huang Meng had a vague guess in her mind.

"No, it was an older brother who helped my dad with it, and he gave me these things too." As she spoke, she took out the water and compressed biscuits that Xu Ao had given her from under the mattress next to her father.

She hid, afraid of being discovered. Before her father collapsed, he told her that people were different now than before. They were no longer kind and friendly, and would snatch food from her.

Huang Meng immediately recognized the water and compressed biscuits packaged the same as those in her backpack. Her heart began to pound uncontrollably. She knew that Xu Ao had been here and must have left not long ago.

She excitedly grabbed the little girl's hand and said, "Put these things away carefully, don't let anyone find them, and don't come out alone. Stay inside the house, okay?"

Huang Meng smiled with relief after seeing the girl nod seriously. After giving the girl some instructions, she returned to the path and started running. Xu Ao should be not far ahead. Fortunately, he had stopped here for a while. She kept running and was finally about to catch up with him.

Huang Meng kept running forward and finally saw a figure moving not far ahead. She wanted to shout for him to stop, but just as the figure in front was about to turn around, a figure jumped out of the bushes and covered her mouth, pulling her into the ditch next to her.

Huang Meng didn't know who the person behind her was, and dared not make any rash moves. She was controlled by him and could only lean against his chest and lie diagonally with the person behind her in the ditch covered by grass.

Her back was pressed tightly against the chest of the person behind her. She could feel his tense and rapid heartbeat. The hand covering her mouth was also exerting a lot of force, making it difficult for her to breathe. Just as she was about to raise her elbow to attack backward, she heard footsteps coming from the path above her head. It seemed that someone was pacing around in circles. Then there was a crackling sound of electricity. Huang Meng clearly heard: "Report, there is nothing unusual here. It's probably just a stray cat. I'll go back now."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was another crackling sound, and the footsteps lingered on the path above where they were hiding for a while before gradually fading away.

Xu Ao slowly loosened his grip, and Huang Meng was about to turn around and retaliate when he quickly leaned close to her ear and said, "It's me."

Hearing the familiar voice, her tense body finally relaxed. The two of them did not go out immediately, nor did they move around. They remained in the same position for nearly 20 minutes.

Xu Ao glanced at his watch and whispered in Huang Meng's ear, "Don't move yet. I'll climb up and check. You can come out when I'm sure it's safe."

Huang Meng nodded silently. She knew that these mercenaries were different from those they had encountered before. Judging from their uniforms and communication style, they were more formidable than the previous ones. She couldn't be careless when facing them.

Seeing that Huang Meng remained still, Xu Ao turned around and pressed himself tightly against the ground, crawling slowly upwards. He dared not make any large movements, as the tall grass could provide good cover for their bodies, but making too much movement would easily expose them.

After a while, Huang Meng could only see his feet through the grass. After a while longer, he began to move downhill quickly. Xu Ao looked at Huang Meng and said, "There's no one left on the path. They must have left. Let's go up."

Huang Meng and Xu Ao climbed onto the roadside. Xu Ao still dared not be careless and took a few more steps forward while half-squatting. Huang Meng followed behind him in the same posture. After walking for about several hundred meters, they straightened up after confirming that it was safe.

Xu Ao stood there with his hands on his hips, let out a long breath, and, ignoring the weeds that were stuck to his clothes, stared at Huang Meng silently.

Huang Meng had planned to give him a good scolding once she found him, but now that he was staring at her like that, it was as if she had done something wrong. She glared back defiantly and said angrily, "What are you looking at? I haven't even settled accounts with you yet, and you're glaring at me!"

Xu Ao was amused by her puffed-up, defiant look: "Hmph, who dares to glare at you? I was just mesmerized by your beauty! Hey, Miss, are you really not afraid of death? Just now..."

"Just now, I was careless. You did save me, but you still drugged me. And I didn't hold it against you, did I?"

Huang Meng interrupted him, saying, "I can't let him finish speaking."

"Hmph, even drugging you couldn't stop you. Sigh, am I that charming that you'd disregard life and death?" Xu Ao leaned closer to her, raising an eyebrow and saying with a smile in his eyes.

Huang Meng noticed that although he had a smile on his lips, his eyes were still deep and serious. She knew that he was trying to make her happy and ease her tension.

Huang Meng quickly pushed him away and said seriously, "Don't joke around, what time is it? By the way, I came to see you because I have something to tell you. Right after you left, we found out that they lifted all the blockades on the main city. The people and armored vehicles that were called in last night are gone. They should have all entered the main city. I was afraid you would run into them, so I rushed to tell you." Huang Meng finished speaking in one breath and looked at Xu Ao with a worried expression.

After hearing this, Xu Ao's smile vanished, replaced by a frown. He said to Huang Meng, "I was walking along the road when I heard the sound of vehicles ahead. At first, I thought I had misheard, so I hid to the side. After a while, I heard voices. I wanted to peek out to see what was going on, and then I saw you running towards me. It looked like you were about to run forward, so I pulled you down to hide. The noise probably attracted their attention, which is why someone came to check. From what you've said, it seems they've brought people and weapons into the city, and there are even people patrolling here."

Seeing Xu Ao deep in thought, Huang Meng pulled him aside and said, "No matter what they're up to, we still have to go in. Jiang Ying and I suspect they're probably going to..."

"A massacre?" Xu Ao said coldly. "Since the blockade has been lifted, it means that the people inside are no longer a threat and have no value. It seems that the current government is determined to deal with the New Dealers' actions, and the New Dealers are not lenient either. It's just a pity for the innocent people in the city."

Seeing the coldness in Xu Ao's eyes, Huang Meng reached out and grasped his hand, saying, "We are not their saviors. Even if it hurts, we are powerless. We can only do our best to save our own people." Xu Ao squeezed Huang Meng's hand back tightly, closed his eyes to calm himself, and said to Huang Meng, "Let's go. The road ahead may not be so easy."

The two said no more and continued along the path. However, walking was not as easy as before. Now that they knew that the mercenaries might appear at any time, they had to be vigilant and extremely careful. Fortunately, their patrols here were relatively lax, and they would not be attracted unless there was a major disturbance.

They stopped and started for almost half a day before finally reaching the end of the road. Fortunately, they didn't encounter anyone else. Just as Yuri had said, the people here had long been herded into the main city like sheep, leaving only empty houses.

Xu Ao and Huang Meng walked for a long time, and then sat down by the roadside to rest for a while. This was the end of the path, and in front of them was a dilapidated wire fence, which had been cut open to reveal a large hole.

Beyond the barbed wire fence lay a dilapidated concrete jungle. Huang Meng looked into the distance; all she could see were collapsed buildings and shattered structures, but not a single person in sight. A bad feeling crept into her heart.

Xu Ao stood by the barbed wire fence, bending over and peering inside. He suddenly turned to Huang Meng and asked, "I remember when we went through the city last time we picked up supplies, the road was almost entirely gravel, with no foothold, right?"

After wringing out the water bottle, Huang Meng nodded at Xu Ao and said, "Yes, their bombing was all aimed at buildings, so what fell on the road were mostly huge rubble that piled up on the road." Huang Meng looked at Xu Ao with a puzzled expression, and Xu Ao stood to the side of the barbed wire fence, gesturing for her to come over and take a look.

Huang Meng peered through the barbed wire for a while, then suddenly turned to look at Xu Ao with a surprised expression. Xu Ao knew she had noticed something amiss, just like him, and silently nodded.

The two then sat down by the roadside. Huang Meng looked at Xu Ao and said, "They actually cleared the road surface and piled up the gravel by the roadside. No wonder when I glanced at it earlier, I could only see stones on the roadside but not the road surface inside."

"The road was probably cleared to allow armored vehicles to enter more easily." Xu Ao tilted his head back and took a swig of water, while Huang Meng kept her head down and didn't say anything.

After resting briefly, the two took advantage of the darkness to slip through the barbed wire fence. The main city was just ahead. Although they hadn't seen any mercenaries yet, they might run into them somewhere, so it was best to be careful.

However, clearing the road surface did make things easier for them. They walked quickly along the roadside, constantly looking around and paying attention to any movement around them.

Xu Ao walked ahead, with Huang Meng close behind. Both of them were on edge. After walking for a while, Xu Ao suddenly slowed down and stopped. Huang Meng, following behind, asked nervously, "What's wrong?"

Xu Ao turned around and looked at Huang Meng with a worried expression, saying, "Something's not right. Haven't you noticed? There's no one here."

At this moment, Huang Meng seemed to sense something was wrong. Logically speaking, they had trapped everyone in the main city area. Even if the available food and water were dwindling, it was impossible that they had walked for so long without seeing a single person. Something was definitely not right.

Xu Ao adjusted his glasses and looked around. It was completely dark now, and they needed to turn on their lights to move forward, but that would make them easy targets. Xu Ao scratched his head impatiently.

Suddenly, Huang Meng remembered someone: "Nasha!"

Xu Ao didn't react immediately and looked at her in confusion. Huang Meng looked at him anxiously and said, "Nasha, have you forgotten? You've seen him before, in the city when we were getting supplies last time." Reminded by Huang Meng, Xu Ao remembered her and looked at her, saying, "And then? Why did you suddenly mention him?"

“We can find him first. He’s been trapped in the city. Maybe he knows what’s been happening in the city these past few days. We can ask him,” Huang Meng said excitedly.

"But where can we find him? We haven't seen a single person yet."