Chapter 37: One Must Venture Out Eventually

Zombies like to drink powdered milk? What a strange preference.

Xiao Guang looked at the pre-prepared meal in front of him, then turned to look at the cups in front of Irene and Minju. It seemed their food was much more nutritious.

Eating separately had left Xiao Guang feeling a little unaccustomed. Ever since they started drinking powdered milk, whenever Irene saw him holding a steamed bun, she would grab Minju and run away.

Xiao Guang felt a bit apologetic. It was true that when Irene was first brought home, he had shoved a steamed bun at her, and the process had been indescribable. Still, reacting like this was going a bit too far, wasn't it?

Steamed buns and spicy stir-fried pork belly—what a perfect meal! Weren't they much better than some middle-aged and elderly nutritional milk powder?

As Xiao Guang began to eat, Irene once again pulled Minju back to the dining table, knelt down, tilted her head back, and drank her milk by herself.

Xiao Guang looked at their synchronized movements. Why did they have to make it feel so ceremonial? They could just drink anywhere; why did it have to be right by the dining table? Besides, they could drink while standing up—suddenly dropping to their knees like that gave him a start.

Should he remind them that they could drink standing up? Better not. Instead of dwelling on that, he should figure out where to find a couple of large mugs for them. Otherwise, one cup wouldn't be enough, and he would have to refill them halfway through.

Two cups of milk per meal, and no more—this was an agreement reached with great difficulty. While eating, Xiao Guang pondered taking a trip this afternoon to haul the entire warehouse of powdered milk back. Summer was visibly passing, autumn and winter were fast approaching, and his future outings would become increasingly rare.

"Ah—"

"Eat—"

Seeing them slam their cups onto the table with bold momentum, Xiao Guang immediately put down his steamed bun, unscrewed the lids, and poured in the milk powder from the small iron basin nearby. Should he leave a little scraping at the bottom of the basin so he could taste it too? The milk powder tub did say it was rich in various nutrients.

"Ah—"

"Eat—"

Looking at those delicate fingers pointing, Xiao Guang helplessly poured the remaining milk residue from the bottom of the basin into their cups. How stingy! They wouldn't even let him have a single sip.

Irene and Minju retrieved their cups with great satisfaction, once again tilting their heads back, pressing the rims against their lips to pour the contents in. Seeing their cute expressions, Xiao Guang picked up his steamed bun again. Storing flour like this seemed like it would last him for years without any problems. Then, casting a glance at the vegetable patch in the backyard, the cardboard taped over the glass wall looked rather glaring.

Since he didn't know how to fix glass, he had had to make do with cardboard, sealing the edges with duct tape. Actually, there was a better solution: moving.

He could even move deeper into the forest, where there was an even larger estate. But thinking of the massive amount of supplies stored in his warehouse, his laziness flared up, and Xiao Guang really didn't want to move again.

"Seoul winters aren't that cold anyway. As long as the solar panels work, the air conditioning will work. No, I still need to prepare extra heating equipment. The water flow has noticeably decreased. Is this a precursor to the water being cut off? If the water gets cut off, what on earth am I going to do about the flush toilet?"

Xiao Guang knew his thoughts were foolish. It was the apocalypse, yet he was still worrying about flushing the toilet. The problem was that aside from tap water, he had no source of running water; just that single swimming pool in the backyard gave him a lingering sense of eating through his reserves.

To be honest, he was really conflicted. Having grown up accustomed to modern society, facing these issues now made Xiao Guang deeply annoyed.

If survival was the only goal, of course the best move would be to find a place nestled among mountains and rivers, much like those rural villages near the hills. But having grown used to city life and holding onto so many supplies, Xiao Guang genuinely did not want to leave.

The outside world looked desolate, but Xiao Guang always felt it harbored dangers he couldn't counter. Living right here, if he ran into a sumo-sized Bolt zombie, he might feel a bit scared at most, but he would find a way to deal with it.

If he went out to the countryside and encountered a zombie like that—or an even more feral one—Xiao Guang didn't think he could win.

"Let's just check it out. What if I stumble upon a really nice place? Aren't there plenty of sanatoriums at the foot of the mountains?"

Xiao Guang stuffed the last piece of steamed bun into his mouth. Despite carrying a body full of lazy flesh, when it was time to go out, he had to go out—consider it a way to understand the outside world.

He put on a full set of protective gear, with the duct tape on his arms freshly wrapped. He also dressed the two zombie girls in two sets of wear-and-butter electrician overalls, thoughtfully making sure they wore undergarments underneath so the rough fabric wouldn't make them uncomfortable.

He also had to bring a cup of powdered milk for each of them, though they couldn't drink it right now.

~~~~

The outside world seemed draped in a layer of gray, or perhaps it was just that the sanitation workers had vanished for too long, leaving everything blanketed in dust.

He walked quite a long way north from the estate without seeing a single zombie on the street. Xiao Guang's mood was complex; vanishing zombies generally pointed to only two outcomes: either they were hiding, or they had completely perished in their frenzied state.

Neither scenario was one Xiao Guang favored. Last time, the four zombie girls hadn't been wandering the street, and the result was that when he encountered them again, they had tried to pounce and bite him.

Seoul was only forty kilometers away from the 38th parallel, but Xiao Guang wasn't heading straight north because there were bound to be plenty of military zombies in that direction. His destination was Mt. Surak, located in the northeastern part of Seoul—one of the four famous mountains in the suburbs of the city.

Xiao Guang had been there before. The mountain wasn't particularly tall, but it was a lovely tourist spot, featuring not only the Silla-era Heungguk Temple, but also several temples from various surrounding dynasties, along with multiple small waterfalls on the mountain slopes.

If conditions were good enough, Xiao Guang wouldn't mind trading his estate for life in a temple.

The vehicle gradually moved farther away from downtown Seoul. Zombies began to appear along the roadside, wandering crookedly or staring blankly at the truck. Judging from their movements, Xiao Guang could tell they weren't fully mutated yet. As for the few that actively threw themselves at the truck, when he ran them over, Minju let out an unhappy sound—her little ball had fallen off.

Leaving the urban area, more zombies appeared in the fields along the road. Xiao Guang observed his surroundings, mentally simulating dropping himself into such an environment.

The results were somewhat touching. If he were out in the wild like this and couldn't use force to scare the zombies away, the inevitable outcome would be getting tackled to the ground. Xiao Guang certainly didn't think he had enough stamina to outrun them in a marathon; he couldn't help but envy survivors who could run marathons.

"Actually, the city is pretty great too. If something really happens, you can run circles around buildings or make use of spatial layouts."

~~~~

"I knew things here wouldn't keep."

Xiao Guang muttered, kicking a box aside with a hint of regret. Several entire boxes of raw materials for grilled sausages had rotted away—didn't people say this stuff was packed with preservatives?

As a tourist attraction, he searched four shops at the foot of the mountain, but none of the supplies matched what Xiao Guang had in mind. As for the large, long chest freezers, Xiao Guang couldn't even be bothered to open them.

With the power cut and summer being so hot, the cold drinks and ice lollies inside would have melted everywhere. There might have been some frozen goods hidden inside, but after more than four months, looking at that layer of green and yellow grime on top of the freezers, Xiao Guang didn't want to get anywhere near them.

"Let's head up the mountain and take a look. I remember there's a small waterfall right next to a temple."

This was the destination of his trip. That temple was halfway up the mountain, boasting around four or five halls, and combined with the adjacent small waterfall, it basically fulfilled Xiao Guang's fantasy of a survival base.

~~~~

Arriving at the temple gates, Xiao Guang was about to step inside when his arm was grabbed. Turning his head, he saw Minju's small hand pulling on him.

"What is it? I didn't bring your cup. Can you hold on a little longer and drink when we get back?"

"Bite—"

What did that mean? Bite?

Xiao Guang couldn't help but look at Irene. "Could you translate?"

Irene noticed Xiao Guang looking at her and looked back. Xiao Guang helplessly pointed at Minju. "Don't look at me, look at her. What on earth does she mean?"

Irene turned to look at Minju and let out a low sound from her mouth, which sounded very much like meaningless static. Minju did the same. Xiao Guang watched them; clearly, he could sense they were communicating, but why couldn't he understand a single bit of it? Besides, had they invented some new language?

It seemed Irene finished her exchange. She turned around, raised a delicate finger to point toward the interior of the temple, and firmly spat out two words:

"So many—!"