Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 289 Sick Village, Young Dog

Weak life form? !

Upon hearing Gouzi's words, Lu Xi'an immediately looked towards the opposite bank of the river, while simultaneously straining his ears to listen intently.

Before them lay a broken bridge and a vast river. Looking out, they couldn't see any people. If there were any living beings ahead, they could only be on the other side of the river.

I can't see, but thankfully I can hear—

From the roadside on the opposite bank of the river, one could faintly hear the sounds of heartbeats and breathing.

His heartbeat was extremely weak, his breathing was intermittent, and he seemed to be on the verge of dying.

That feeling was indeed somewhat faint.

However, neither Lu Xi'an nor Yao Wei would make such a judgment so easily. As Lu Xi'an got into the car, he asked the mechanical dog, "Dog, is that life form ahead human? Is it dangerous? Besides that life form, are there any other dangers?"

He got on the bus to see the resonance gene scanner, so he went up through the door of the back garage. Once on the bus, he immediately saw the map of the resonance gene scanner.

The map showed only three lit red dots, which was a slight relief.

The robotic dog replied, "The scan revealed that the life form exhibits human-like characteristics, carries a harmful virus, but is not infectious, and is therefore deemed safe."

So... is there someone up ahead who's about to die from illness?
In any case, it's good that it's not contagious.

Lu Xi'an got out of the car, picked up a few stones from the ground, looked at the opposite bank of the river, and said, "Hey, you over there, could you please come out for a moment?"

Yao Wei followed Lu Xi'an's example and picked up her things from the ground to stand up. She not only picked up stones but also twigs, her hands full of things, much more prepared than Lu Xi'an.

Although Gouzi said the person on the other end was terminally ill and posed no threat, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei still preferred to have a backup plan.

If the other side cooperates honestly, everything will be fine; if they come out but don't cooperate, then the hidden weapons in our hands will have to come in handy; if they don't come out at all, then we might have to cross the river to take a look.

The person on the other side did not appear, but their voice did.

To Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's surprise, it turned out to be a child's voice.

The voice was extremely faint, and the breathing was labored, making it difficult to tell whether it was a boy or a girl: "Do you... want to fetch water?"

"If... huff... you need to fetch... huff... fetch water, please... go a little upstream... huff... fetch."

"Over here... huff... huff... these are all for us... huff... to jump into the river..."

"Huff...huff...huff...when I'm about to die...huff...I'll jump too..."

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei looked at each other in bewilderment.

The weakness in the voice seemed genuine, and the speaker revealed their location while speaking. Moreover, they continued to pant even after finishing speaking, and their location never changed.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei listened for a while longer. Seeing that the panting gradually weakened but did not change direction, Lu Xi'an said, "You stay here and cover me. I'll go check it out."

"it is good."

Yao Wei agreed, slightly raised her hand, prepared the "hidden weapon" in her hand, and stared intently at the other side.

The Guanhai River is very wide, and the riverbed is no longer full of water. Under the broken bridge, it has become a huge ravine. However, even though the water level is low, it still flows turbulently and is very powerful.

The Guanhai River flows eastward, making the already long broken bridge over the river appear even longer.

But this was not a difficult task for Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.

Lu Xi'an leaped lightly across the river.

As soon as he crossed the river, he saw the person who had made the sound.

It was indeed a child, who looked slightly older than Chai Xin.

Hmm... according to the people of this world, he should be considered a teenager.

He has an Adam's apple on his neck, so he must indeed be a teenager.

This judgment is based on the image of an ordinary person.

He was thin, pale, with dry, messy hair, wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes, and his expression was full of dejection due to serious illness.

This appearance is far inferior to that of Chai Xin today, but when Lu Xi'an looked at him, she couldn't help but think of the little girl who once raised her hands on the snow and froze.

However, this young man is different from the Chai Xin of the past.

The former Chai Xinhui mustered up the courage to stand in front of them, but this boy's first reaction upon seeing Lu Xi'an was to tremble all over, as if he had been frightened.

However, this should be the normal reaction of ordinary people when they see new humans. Chai Xin's reaction is abnormal.

"You're already willing to jump into the river and die, are you afraid of me?"

Lu Xi'an observed the boy from a distance and asked.

The boy dared not look Lu Xi'an in the eye, avoiding her gaze, and answered breathlessly, "I... huff... I thought I wasn't afraid, I... huff... I was about to die, so... so I just... huff... spoke."

"But... seeing you, I'm still afraid. You... huff... how could someone like you come to... huff... this place?"

Lu Xi'an asked, "Why can't I come to this place?"

"This is... Huff... Sick... Sick Village..."

As the boy spoke, he took a few deep breaths and then said, "We...huff...sick, crippled, that's why we're...huff...rushed here."

"How could someone like you...huff...come here? Isn't that...huff...dirty?" A sick village?

This is yet another claim I've never heard of.

However, the place, with its bright sunshine, flowing river, and lush green trees, doesn't resemble the gloomy, dark, and hopeless village in a certain game.

Lu Xi'an asked, "Where is this 'sick village' you mentioned? Up ahead?"

"Ah."

As the boy spoke, he seemed to understand, "You...you're from somewhere else?!"

Lu Xi'an did not answer.

He listened to the boy's words and roughly understood—

The Liangshan Village shown on the World Atlas I is now described by this young man as a "sick village".

Perhaps it's not just teenagers; there are probably many other people there, and people from other places, who have already come to regard that place as a sick village.

Ordinary people who were sick were driven to Liangshan Village to live. Therefore, this village, which was formed by many sick people, was called the "Sick Village".

"So, you were driven here from elsewhere? What's your name? When and from where were you driven to the sick village?"

Lu Xian asked.

Compared to the teenagers and the sick village, this is a more concerning issue. If this is the case, it means that there are people living in the area adjacent to Liangshan Village. Could there be new humans in that area, and could they pose a threat to them?

and also……

"Why did you jump into the river? Besides you, are there other people jumping into the river? Or are you all sick in the head, or are there other people from elsewhere who, when they are about to die, all want to jump into this river?"

The boy said, "I... huff... my name is Gouzi..."

Lu Xian: "..."

What the heck?! How come there are duplicate names?!

He suppressed the urge to complain and remained silent.

The young dog continued, "I...I came from Biyun County in the south. Before, I...huff...had a fever...and couldn't muster any strength. The master there...huff...thought I was useless, so he drove me...huff...to here."

"We useless people... huff... huff... will all be... driven here."

"The main problem is... huff... some of us are sick... huff... it might be contagious, and the Lord is afraid that he might infect everyone... huff... "

"Huff...huff...there are people watching over the west side. We came over...huff...but they wouldn't let us go. We could only stay in the sick village...huff...until we died."

“And other places… huff… yeah, everyone’s useless now… huff… they’ll all end up… huff… here…”

Hearing him panting heavily, Lu Xi'an felt really uncomfortable and said, "Take a break before we talk."

The young dog then stopped talking.

After a while, Lu Xi'an heard his breathing gradually calm down. Although it was still very weak, it was finally no longer panting. Then he asked again, "So, you are people from many different places who have gathered here after getting sick?"

The young dog replied, "Yes."

His breathing had indeed stopped. It seemed that he had been shouting across the river with Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, which was why he was in that state before.

Lu Xi'an asked, "Why did you go to the river when you were about to die?"

The boy said, "I don't know, but everyone does it. Even if someone dies and doesn't have time to jump into the river, someone will carry their body here and throw it into the river."

“I didn’t want to trouble others, so I came by myself. Actually… actually, I was afraid people would say I was thrown into the river and then secretly eaten. I heard that some people do that…”

Lu Xi'an wanted to say that if they went into the river, they would all be eaten by fish and shrimp anyway, so it was all the same. However, he thought that such a statement would be too much of a nightmare for the young dog, so he didn't say it.

He then asked, "What about other places? Would people jump into the river there?"

"will not."

The young dog answered.

Lu Xi'an continued, "How far is Biyun County from here? How many New Humans are there? Is it the closest settlement to here?"

"A settlement is a place where people gather."

The young dog said, "I don't know how far it is, but it took me three days to get here. I was sick, so I walked slowly. Some people say it only takes a day and a half."

“Other places include Tingxi County and Daze County, and even further away, over there in Biyun County.”

He couldn't distinguish east from west, but Lu Xi'an could tell that when he said "over there," he meant the west.

Lu Xi'an breathed a slight sigh of relief, but still wanted to ask if the three counties had formed an alliance, otherwise why would they all drive sick ordinary people here?
Those two counties are both west of Biyun County. Anyone wanting to get to Liangshan Village has to pass through Biyun County. Without an alliance, why would the people of Biyun County agree to let people pass?

However, before he could speak, he suddenly heard Yao Wei's voice coming from afar.

"Lu Xian!"

Yao Wei was calling his name.

(End of this chapter)