Ch33 Shen Que, Come Over, Let's Discuss This
"Are there any other instructions?"
Meng Ci ran his fingers over the smooth, featureless wall, muttering to himself.
The books described spaces filled with mountains and rivers, but his was just a barren patch of land-utterly devoid of anything.
"The soil within this space is unsuitable for planting. To grow plants, you must find soil yourself!"
After mentally complaining to the wall, a line of text suddenly appeared on its surface.
What the hell!
He had to go outside to find soil for planting?
With the downpour outside, where was he supposed to find soil?
Plus, he'd wasted two packets of seeds and so much tap water.
Why hadn't they told him about this crucial detail sooner?
"Anything else I need to know?"" Despite his complaints, Meng Ci still wanted further instructions.
"Can the space hold water?" Meng Ci looked at the wall expectantly.
However, the wall seemed annoyed by his complaints and remained unresponsive for a long time.
The line of text didn't disappear either.
"Fine!"
Seeing no reaction from the wall, Meng Ci assumed the space had no other uses and stepped out.
Seemed like he shouldn't enter it unnecessarily in the future-better save time for later.
After leaving the space, Meng Ci found himself back at the spot where he'd taken photos earlier. Liu Jie and Li Xiaoya had already gone back, so he groped his way upstairs in the dark.
It was already 12:30 AM. Meng Ci washed his face and went to bed.
"Neighbors upstairs and downstairs, do you still have power?"
"Who's got a power bank I can borrow?"
"Does anyone have gas? Lend me some to cook a meal!"...
Early the next morning, Meng Ci was jolted awake by the shouts from downstairs. Furious, he rolled around in bed several times.
Rubbing his eyes, Meng Ci grabbed his phone and saw it was only ten o'clock. Were these people bored out of their minds?
Didn't shouting tire them out?
Oh, right-they literally had nothing better to do.
But couldn't they at least save their breath and conserve some energy?
He opened his phone to find every group chat venting about the blackout.
Some complained their phones were down to 5% battery, while others insisted the power would return soon.
"The water's been cut off for days with no one fixing it. Now the power's out-who's gonna handle this?"
"Don't be so pessimistic upstairs. With this downpour outside, repairs will take time."
"Exactly."
"Looks like the government's given up on us-no food, no water."
"When will this rain stop? At least with power I could play games to distract myself from hunger. Now with no electricity, no mental escape-how am I supposed to survive?!"
The group chat buzzed with both upbeat optimism and gloomy predictions. Meng Ci lurked for a while before closing it.
He then opened a novel-reading app to browse stories.
Meng Ci was reading a post-apocalyptic novel, mainly to see if it offered any reliable survival tips for the end times.
After half an hour, Meng Ci stretched lazily before getting up to cook.
After eating, Meng Ci called Shen Que.
"Want to come over? We can figure out where to find food tonight."
"Sure!"
Shen Que agreed and soon knocked on the door, carrying a plastic bag.
"Didn't I tell you not to bring food?"
"If you insist on bringing it, don't come in!" Meng Ci paused midway through opening the metal gate.
Meng Ci had plenty of food stored in his spatial pocket; he wasn't short on supplies.
Besides, Shen Que had always treated him well, so Meng Ci couldn't just refuse something he'd brought.
Shen Que chuckled softly before pulling out a bag of sunflower seeds.
"I didn't bring food. Just some snacks-sunflower seeds, potato chips, that sort of thing."
"I figured we'd be discussing things, and just talking would be a bit dull, so I brought some snacks."
Meng Ci glanced at the open plastic bag, confirming it contained only snacks, before finally letting him in.
Since Shen Que had brought treats, Meng Ci couldn't be too stingy.
While fetching water, Meng Ci retrieved two cups of instant milk tea from his spatial pocket and prepared one for each of them.
Then he began planning where to find food.
Meng Ci had saved a map of City M on his phone and pulled it up, but it was awkward for both of them to view it together.
Shen Que pulled a piece of paper from the pile of snacks, unfolding it on the coffee table.
It was actually a map of City M, clearly marked with locations-far more detailed than the one on his phone.
"We're here now!"
Shen Que pinpointed the location of Jinshang Jiayuan, then took a pencil and began scribbling on the map.
"The floodwaters have already reached the third floor. These areas are low-lying. Even if there's anything inside, it's probably ruined by now."
"We could consider this area!"
Shen Que pointed to the eastern part of M City, which was higher in elevation.
This area was dominated by high-rise buildings and several large shopping malls. Even if the water reached the third floor, they could still explore upward.
"Alright!" Meng Ci nodded. He had studied M City's terrain before, and this area was indeed a good choice.
With the general location confirmed, the two chose the largest shopping mall in the area.
The basement level sold snacks, while the first and second floors mainly featured various accessories and children's play areas.
The third and fourth floors housed clothing stores, while the fifth floor featured a large supermarket. The remaining floors, including the sixth, were occupied by various restaurants.
The seventh floor held a cinema and several venues for script-based murder mystery games.
Their primary target this time was the supermarket on the fifth floor.
"My inflatable boat is pretty big-it can hold a lot. We can pack quite a bit."
"Remember to grab plenty of containers for food."
Meng Ci nodded.
"I doubt the power will be back anytime soon. If we find a gas stove or something similar, we should grab one."
"If not, we'll just have to stick to bread, instant noodles, and that sort of thing."
"Mm." Shen Que found Meng Ci's reasoning sound, his mind racing.
"Over here." Shen Que suddenly pointed to a spot.
"I remember there's an outdoor camping store here. "
"Maybe we can find a suitable wood stove or portable camping stove inside to bring back!"
"Alright!"
With their plan set, Meng Ci bid farewell to Shen Que.
The power was out, rendering the surveillance system Meng Ci had installed useless.
Fortunately, the two had moved from the fifth floor early that morning to unit 1206.
Closer to the seventeenth floor, it was also within the surveillance fly's monitoring range.
So Meng Ci released a surveillance fly to see what Liu Jie and the others were up to.
Now unable to boil water, the two could only eat instant noodles dry.
"Brother Jie, are you sure no one will find out about last night?" Li Xiaoya stared at the white wall, uneasy.
Though the walls here were immaculate, Li Xiaoya sometimes experienced flashes of her mother's blood-soaked head, staring coldly at her.
"Relax!"
This was Liu Jie's first time disposing of a body too, and he felt fear, though he handled it better than Li Xiaoya.
"Stop dwelling on it. Eat up-filling your stomach is the priority right now!"
"Mm." Li Xiaoya took two bites of the instant noodles, dry and hard to swallow.
Suddenly, she recalled how, before the storm, she'd never even glance at such junk food to maintain her figure. She never imagined she'd now rely on this stuff to survive.
Seeing Li Xiaoya wallowing in melancholy, Liu Jie felt no urge to comfort her.