Then let the witch offer her loyalty

The dry food I brought this time was mostly compressed biscuits. These things are as hard as plasterboard, extremely dry, and when you take a bite, your teeth are filled with wheat flour, like pouring sand into your mouth.

Swallowing also requires a lot of effort, and the tongue and palate are often rubbed raw, sometimes requiring water to swallow.

As the chief academician, Zhou Si and his relatives naturally enjoy excellent living standards.

In this freezing weather, not only are they not allowed to eat their usual meals, but Chen Moxin also forbids them from lighting a fire, and even forbids them from eating self-heating food at this time, saying that she is afraid of exposing the heat source, and they can only eat these biscuits.

Zhou Si could manage, but it was tough on his parents, who were quite old and had few teeth left, yet they still had to grit their teeth and chew on this stuff.

The two elderly people tried to take a few bites, but they couldn't chew them at all. Zhou Si could only use a hard object to help them break the compressed biscuits into crumbs before letting them eat them, in order to reduce the pressure on their teeth.

Of course, there was another person who suffered particularly badly from the food, and that was Wolf Moon.

Given the current conditions, where would we get raw meat for her to eat?

She forced herself to eat a few bites of the compressed biscuit, but it felt like gnawing on sawdust. Unable to eat any more, she threw the biscuit down in frustration and went outside for some fresh air.

Chen Moxin leaned back in her seat, finished her portion of compressed biscuits, drank a few sips of water to rinse off the crumbs, then glanced at the time, opened her communicator and said, "Zhongguo, come back and rest. Zhou Yan and I will cover your shift."

In such remote and desolate areas, it is essential to have someone on guard at night to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.

The factory was in a good location, on high ground with a wide view, so Chen Moxin arranged for her colleagues to take turns resting and on duty.

"Okay, you guys come up, I'm going to catch up on some sleep."

After hanging up the call, Chen Moxin and Zhou Yan went outside.

Zhou Si and the others had been working hard all day and were exhausted, so they prepared to rest.

Zhou Si's wife carried Zhou Xiaoxiao to the last row of seats, gently stroking the bandage wrapped around her eyes, and said softly, "Xiaoxiao, let Mommy take the bandage off for you, so you can sleep more comfortably this way."

Zhou Si spoke up to stop her, saying, "Hey, you can't take it off. Didn't the doctor say you have to wear it for at least 72 hours?"

His wife rolled her eyes at him.

"What does it matter? We sleep with our eyes closed anyway, so we can just wrap them up again when we wake up."

"If the doctor says it can't be removed, then it can't be removed."

"You listen to the doctor in everything? Are doctors gods?"

"Hey, doctors are all about science, don't argue with science, okay?"

Hearing her parents bickering, Zhou Xiaoxiao took her mother's hand and said softly, "Mom, let's listen to Dad. The teacher also said that when you're sick, you should listen to the doctor."

Those eyes, covered by thick bandages, revealed no expression, but the small face was full of gentleness and childlike innocence, making one feel pity for it.

Actually, Zhou Si's wife was used to the bickering between husband and wife; it was a part of life, and she never took it to heart.

Zhou Si's wife reached out and picked up her daughter, Zhou Xiaoxiao, and laid her flat on the chair, gently stroking her little head: "How about Daddy sings you a song before bed, like before?"

"Okay, okay." Zhou Xiaoxiao smiled sweetly, looking very cute. One wonders what beautiful eyes are hidden under those bandages to match that adorable smile.

Looking at his daughter's smiling face, Zhou Si's mood improved, and the fatigue from his journey seemed to disappear. He walked over and squatted down next to Zhou Xiaoxiao, just like on many nights in the past, gently patting his daughter's little hand.

Then, he hummed a familiar melody softly: "The moon moves, I move too, I carry a lantern for the moon. The lantern shines, illuminating the way, shining on the little willows by the river..."

Zhou Si's singing is actually a bit tone-deaf, but it carries a father's unique gentleness, and this deep voice can give children a full sense of security.

The night was deep, and Zhou Si's humming of a children's song echoed in the carriage, making the air seem less cold.

Just as Zhou Si was singing to lull her daughter to sleep...

"Knock knock knock!" A sudden knocking sound came from the car door, interrupting the singing. The violent knocking made the car window glass vibrate slightly.

Zhou Si and the others were startled. The couple instinctively pulled Zhou Xiaoxiao into their arms, and the latter shrank back in fear, not knowing what had happened.

The group swallowed hard and instinctively looked up.

"Wow—"

The car door is opened.

A little head with fluffy ears peeked in from outside the door.

Wolf Moon's hair was disheveled by the night wind, his ears were perked up alertly, his brows were furrowed, and his face was full of impatience.

"Why is the dog barking so late at night?!"

Chapter 233 Dark Rainy Night

Currently, among the five people in the escort team, Zhou Si dislikes Chen Moxin the most.

This guy is cold-blooded, ruthless, and has no morals. He's always making sarcastic and sarcastic remarks, and he even pointed a gun at his head. It's really hard for anyone to like him.

But if you were to ask Zhou Si who she fears the most, it would undoubtedly be this little girl in front of her.

Zhou Si had witnessed firsthand how insane Wolf Moon was; he was bloodthirsty, slashing anyone he saw, and would chop off people's heads and pile them up like a mound of corpses if they disagreed.

Such a twisted person, and still a child, could never possibly be a proper escort soldier.

However, Zhou Si didn't dare to ask too much about this, because no matter what the truth was, it seemed that these people were indeed protecting him during his evacuation.

If he and his family didn't survive this disaster without these people, Zhou Si simply decided not to investigate further.

At this moment, Zhou Si cautiously glanced at the furry ears on Lang Yue's head, shut his mouth and stopped making a sound. The others also held their breath nervously, not daring to breathe.

Wolf Moon snorted coldly and threatened, "Don't make a sound, do you hear me? Be quiet, or I'll chop you all up."

After saying that, she closed the door and left.

Zhou Si breathed a sigh of relief, took her coat off her shoulders, and draped the still-warm coat over Zhou Xiaoxiao.

He leaned down, his eyes even softer than before, and his voice even lower: "How about Daddy continues to sing for you? This time I'll sing softly."

Zhou Xiaoxiao clutched the collar of her coat with her little hands, a slight smile curving her lips, and replied softly, "Okay~"

Zhou Si smiled gently, her fingertips stroking her daughter's soft hair as she softly hummed, "The moon moves, I move too, I carry a lantern for the moon..."

His singing was very soft, almost as if he was breathing to create the melody, and his gentle voice echoed faintly in the empty carriage.

however--

"Dong Dong Dong!!!"

Suddenly, the violent pounding on the front door came again, even louder than before, making the whole car shake.

Zhou Si's singing was interrupted. He looked up in confusion and glanced towards the car door.

"Wow—"

The car door was suddenly pulled open, and there was Lang Yue again. This time, she was holding a knife, the sharp metal reflecting a cold, white light that inspired fear.

She stormed in, her expression extremely agitated, and brandished a knife at the crowd, yelling, "You fucking dare to bark at me again?!"

The other party had a weapon, which terrified the men, women, and children in the car.

The two elderly people, who were half asleep, suddenly sat up, their eyes filled with terror.

Zhou Si quickly pulled her daughter into her arms, holding her tightly. Her face turned deathly pale, and she stared wide-eyed as she demanded, "Are you crazy? What did we do?!"

Just then, Alexander, who had just returned from his shift, strode in from outside the car and asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Why are you making so much noise?"

Wolf Moon spat and cursed, "These people don't sleep in the middle of the night, they just keep barking like dogs! I told them to stop barking, but they still keep barking!"

Zhou Si was furious and almost yelled back, "This person is just looking for trouble! I was just singing a song softly to my daughter, already very quietly, how much quieter do you want me to be? Is this how you bully people?!"

Wolf Moon is not known for his good temper, nor does he listen to reason.

When Zhou Si retorted, her eyes immediately turned red. She grabbed a knife and rushed forward, her voice filled with a murderous intent that threatened to skin someone alive: "I think you deserve to be killed!"

Zhou Si's wife was terrified and instinctively reached out to pull her husband's sleeve, pulling him and their daughter back.

The two elderly people were so frightened that they shrank back into their chairs, repeatedly shouting in panic, "Don't hit me! Let's talk this out!"

"Wolf Moon! Stop fooling around here!" Alexander immediately activated his psionic energy and used magnetism to disarm Wolf Moon's knife to prevent her from hurting anyone.

Alexander knew he had little say in front of Wolf Moon and his words were useless, so he directly brought up Chen Moxin.

"Don't forget why we're here. If you keep making such a fuss, I'll ask Brother Chen to teach you a lesson."

Sure enough, Wolf Moon was intimidated and stood there staring blankly at Alexander.

After scolding Wolf Moon, Alexander was prepared to give both sides equal blame. He didn't give Zhou Si a kind look either, and said with a stern face, "You two should also pay attention. Wolf Moon's ears are more sensitive than the average person's. She can hear many sounds that we can't hear."

“It’s late at night and everyone should be resting. You must have disturbed her. Keep your voices down.”

Zhou Si said irritably, "I was just humming a couple of lines of a nursery rhyme, it wasn't loud at all. If this is considered noisy, then we might as well not breathe at all."

Alexander, too lazy to argue with Zhou Si and the others, waved his hand impatiently: "Then why don't you just stop singing? Will it kill you to sing a few less lines?!"

"Stop talking, that's all. Go to sleep, we have to travel early tomorrow morning."

Alexander shoved Wolf Moon off the bus and went back to rest.

After being put through this ordeal, Zhou Si lost all interest in singing nursery rhymes. She tucked her daughter in with a blanket, lay down on a chair, and went to sleep.

...

The night was as dark as ink, and the bus was so quiet you could hear breathing, occasionally broken by the sound of someone turning over or someone muttering in their sleep.

As Zhou Si was sleeping, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, as if something cold was creeping up her back.

He groggily opened his eyes and subconsciously turned to look out the car window, only to see a thin layer of fog on the glass.

He raised his hand and wiped the water vapor, creating a clear slit to look out.

It was still late at night, and it was pitch black outside. Only the light pollution in the distant sky provided a faint glow. The rain was still falling, like countless silver needles weaving through the darkness, tapping on the factory's dilapidated tin roof with a crisp "crackling" sound.

Because the bus was not running and the air conditioning could not be used, the cabin was filled with cold and dampness. Even wrapped in a blanket, I could still feel the cold seeping into my body, making my hands and feet icy cold.

Zhou Si wrapped the blanket around himself, slowly exhaled, stood up, and tiptoed to where his daughter was sleeping.

Little Zhou Xiaoxiao was curled up in the seat, breathing softly and evenly, sleeping soundly.

Seeing this, Zhou Si felt much more relaxed. He reached out to help his daughter pull the blanket tighter and turned to return to his seat.

Midway through, a faint voice rang out.

"Old Zhou."

Zhou Si looked in the direction of the sound and found that his wife had also woken up at some point.

He walked over and asked in a low voice, "Honey, what's wrong?"

The woman raised her hand to rub her tired eyes, her gaze falling on the dark rain outside the car window. She said worriedly, "I just don't feel like I can sleep well out here in the middle of nowhere..."

"If we sleep here, won't those lunatics sneak up on us in the dark at night?"

As she spoke, the factory yard outside the car window was shrouded in a misty white haze from the rain, and the shadows in the distance seemed to be wriggling, as if something truly dangerous might be lurking there.

To be honest, Zhou Si also had this concern.

Even when laws and social rules still existed, people could still encounter unpleasant things in the suburbs, let alone now.

The world is in chaos now, and public order has long since disappeared. Nights in the wilderness can be described as extremely dangerous.

Zhou Si quickly suppressed his unease, turned to look at his wife, and gently comforted her, "It's alright, get some sleep. With those soldiers on guard, even if enemies get close, they'll definitely spot them immediately."

However, the woman's brow remained furrowed. Her gaze drifted to the darkness outside the car window, and she muttered, "Are those people really reliable? It's pitch black. What if the enemy sneaks up and they don't notice? What if they're asleep?"

Zhou Si was about to offer some words of comfort, wanting to tell his wife that the other party was a professional and couldn't possibly make such a basic mistake.

Suddenly, he heard his wife gasp, saying with some fear, "Hiss... Lao Zhou, don't you think it's too quiet here? It's eerily quiet..."

Zhou Si subconsciously held her breath and looked out the window.

It might not be accurate to say it was quiet, because it was raining, and the sound of raindrops hitting the tin roof and the ground could be heard continuously.

But there was indeed a sense of oppressive tension that made one's heart pound, and this oppressive tension came from the emptiness of the surrounding space.

Outside the window, all that could be seen were the blurry and eerie outlines of the abandoned buildings. The dimly lit factory resembled the gaping maw of a monster, swallowing up all other sounds except for the sound of rain, as if the entire world consisted only of the people in the car.

Zhou Si felt increasingly panicked. Under the influence of her mind, the air in the carriage seemed to become sticky, and the woman unconsciously clenched the blanket. Every breath and every slight sway of the seat in the carriage was amplified, making people uneasy.

Just as Zhou Si's heart was in his throat, he finally caught a sound in the darkness.

The sound of running came from deep within the rain, growing clearer and clearer as it approached.

Before long, he saw a familiar figure.

Chen Moxin and Zhou Yan ran in from the rain outside the factory. They were both wearing dark raincoats, and water droplets dripped down the waterproof fabric, splashing into tiny water droplets on the ground.

Chen Moxin took off her raincoat, shook her head, brushed the wet hair from her forehead to the side, picked up the communicator and said something.

In another corner of the factory, Lei Lie and Alexander ran out, took the equipment from the two men, put on their raincoats, and then turned and stepped into the rain.