Outside the villa, there is an east-west road that has already cracked.
Weeds grow alongside the road, creeping up and into the cracks.
Lu Xi'an looked around and asked, "Which way should we go?"
"West."
Yao Wei replied, then turned and headed westward.
Lu Xi'an followed and asked, "Are we going to find a place to refuel or going to the car?"
Yao Wei: "Refuel."
Lu Xi'an: "..."
Yao Wei's three words seemed to turn into "Go" and "India" in his ears. This woman never uses two words if she can convey her meaning with one.
But he's no sovereign treasure, and the woman in front of him, with her thick, beautiful hair bubbling with beauty, is not a bald monk from 500 years ago.
However, on second thought, this woman is much tougher than Monk Tang. Her shooting is accurate, her strength is not to mention, and her endurance is just as strong—as strong as his own.
They had already endured through a whole night plus a day in Villa 272 and amazingly still had energy.
Lu Xi'an had never figured out why he had become so strong and enduring. He thought Yao Wei's physical condition was similar to his and might know something.
But he didn't ask, as he wasn't very familiar with Yao Wei, and they were still wary of each other; showing too much vulnerability wasn't good.
His current condition could probably hold for another night, but how long could Yao Wei last?
While thinking, Lu Xi'an followed Yao Wei walking westward, passing Jiang Yu Road No. 274, 275, 276, but 273 was nowhere to be found.
The No. 274, 275, 276 were quite a distance from Villa 272 and were all stand-alone courtyards but not as impressive as the villa, far less.
The houses within these standalone courtyards had long since collapsed due to years of neglect.
Lu Xi'an approached to see the roofs had fallen to the ground, brick walls collapsed, and vines complexly covered almost everything. The courtyards were overgrown with weeds, with no place to step.
He had seen such scenes many times, walking all the way from the north to the south.
Such buildings without reinforced concrete structures were too easy to collapse, and there would typically be nothing worth scavenging inside.
If he wasn't desperately lacking resources, Lu Xi'an would never easily set foot in such places.
Beyond No. 276, Jiang Yu Road directly led into a vast wilderness.
Under the night sky, sparse starlight was visible, with the outlines of weeds bowing to the wind, forming patches of chaotic ink waves.
Amidst the ink waves, a solitary building stood by the roadside. Because it was so far away, it could only be seen as a small dot.
Lu Xi'an guessed that might be the gas station.
He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Are you sure there's gasoline at the gas station? Aren't you afraid it'll be empty?"
"Taking a chance."
Yao Wei answered.
Okay, this time she used two more words than before.
Lu Xi'an smiled.
Indeed, isn't everything about taking chances? Along the way, where isn't it a gamble?
Without luck to scavenge resources, people wouldn't survive.
So, his luck had always been quite good. It should be the same this time too.
Two people and a dog hastened forward in the dark, listening to the howling wind. After walking for about half an hour, they finally reached the building, which indeed turned out to be a gas station.
Yao Wei quickly stepped forward, and Lu Xi'an asked, "How did you know there was a gas station here?"
"There's a map, from the old world."
Yao Wei answered.
Lu Xi'an understood after she said that.
Gas stations were all built during the old world, and if there's a map from that time marking these locations, finding here shouldn't be a problem.
However, she didn't have the intention to show the map to Lu Xi'an, nor did he ask to see it.
It's just unclear whether that map is paper or electronic? In this world, electronic things aren't stable, but paper ones usually mark these places clearly, right?
Whether it's paper or electronic, given the chance, Gou must look at it carefully.
Once they part ways with Yao Wei, having a map in hand will make it easier to know directions and where to go. That's much better than just heading south all the time.
"Gou, go take a look first."
Lu Xi'an lowered his voice and gave Gou a new order outside the gas station. Although the station was pitch-black and seemed deserted, he habitually stayed cautious.
The mechanical dog trotted ahead, swaying into the darkness.
Yao Wei also paused, glancing at Gou with slight envy.
But Lu Xi'an had figured out Yao Wei's temperament, catching the change in her expression with just one glance.
They squatted aside, waiting for the mechanical dog to return from its reconnaissance.
Lu Xi'an sighed and said, "Actually, the mechanical dog isn't really suitable for reconnaissance, it's too noisy."
Yao Wei said, "Better than nothing."
"True."
Lu Xi'an said, "It would be nice if it had four wheels."
Yao Wei: "Hmm."
After a while, two lights lit up inside the gas station, recognized by Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei as the mechanical dog's eyes.
"Let's go, it's safe, no problem."
Lu Xi'an stood up as he spoke.
He and Yao Wei entered the gas station together.
Yao Wei didn't go directly to the fuel pump but instead circled the station house, looking for the electrical box hanging outside and opened it to check inside.
Lu Xi'an instructed Gou to help illuminate with its dog eyes, and Yao Wei glanced back and said, "Thanks."
Lu Xi'an smiled and said nothing.
He observed Yao Wei's operation carefully, but unfortunately, he couldn't understand it.
Anyway, Yao Wei fiddled around and seemed to have found a certain electrical circuit. Then she laid down her backpack, took something out from it, connected it, and the lights on the fuel pump came on.
"Impressive!"
Lu Xi'an praised.
Yao Wei said, "I scavenged it." She meant the item she took out of her backpack.
"Still impressive."
Lu Xi'an said.
His dog was scavenged, too.
With the power connected, Yao Wei hurried to check under the fuel pump. Lu Xi'an followed and saw there were four fuel pumps; two screens lit up, and two didn't.
Yao Wei went directly under one of the lit fuel pumps and began fiddling again.
Lu Xi'an didn't bother her further and took Gou inside the gas station's station house.
The station house's door was glass, long smashed, so it was wide open. It seemed like it had been visited countless times.
But since they came, they couldn't not look. Lu Xi'an followed the mechanical dog inside.
Inside the station house was a small supermarket, with two or three rows of shelves, all empty, long cleaned out. The floor was messy with some useless things, covered in a layer of dust.
Lu Xi'an brushed off cobwebs, checked around, then went to the cashier counter and office room to look. The tables, cabinets, and drawers were left open, empty inside, covered in dust.
Indeed...
He completely gave up and walked out from the inner room, inadvertently sweeping his gaze on the ground. He suddenly saw several things, packaging ripped, scattered in pieces, which turned out to be toy motorcycles.
The motorcycles seemed to be either trampled or smashed, and perhaps due to being useless in the apocalypse, someone vented their frustration by deliberately destroying them.
But the wheels were still good.