Li Tie and Li Yu waited downstairs for a while, then took a piece of rags to cover the body where the woman fell from the pier.
The house exuded an eerie atmosphere, damp and cold inside, and neither of them intended to go in again.
After opening a pack of cigarettes and sharing them, Li Yu, Li Tie, Li Gang, and Da Pao stood in front of the car, puffing away.
Li Yu had no intention of re-entering the house to search for items; the base already had plenty of supplies, and anything that needed searching for would likely be for immediate use.
It had just rained, and the sun was out, making the air very fresh.
The four waited in place for a while.
Then they saw Da Pao and Li Hang emerge from behind the building, their expressions unreadable.
However, the mud on their pant legs indicated that their pursuit had not been easy.
"Those two were both shot dead.
They ran too fast, even running to the river and hiding under the bridge.
If Xiao Hang hadn't been sharp-eyed, they would have escaped," Da Pao explained proactively when he saw the four men's questioning expressions.
Immediately, without ceremony, he took a cigarette directly from Li Yu's hand and joined them in puffing smoke.
Hearing what Da Pao said, Yang Tianlong, who was beside him, was the most appreciative.
"Oh, Xiao Hang is amazing now!
Applause!" Yang Tianlong exaggeratedly clapped his hands in perfect cooperation.
Li Tie and Li Gang also clapped, giggling.
Li Hang, who was usually thick-skinned, scratched his head somewhat shyly: "I just shouted, Pao Ge was too accurate, he took them down with two shots."
Everyone calculated; 12 people, according to the number the interrogated man had given, if he wasn't lying, then this time, they had basically eliminated them all.
After finishing their cigarettes, everyone got into the cars and started heading back to the base.
This time, they had been out for quite a while; they hadn't even returned to the base before, to resolve future troubles, they immediately came out again.
The journey was uneventful, and everyone arrived safely at the base.
It is worth mentioning that after this incident, everyone's vigilance had been raised several levels.
Each time they returned to the base, they would proactively clear their tracks on the road to avoid being observed by those with ulterior motives.
Some distance from the base, in the direction of the county town, the Salvation Army's convoy had already arrived.
And in a small building in the suburbs, Song Min and her outdoor personnel were reporting to Song Min about encountering the Salvation Army group.
Li Yu was unaware of all this.
He hadn't slept much last night, and coupled with encountering that crazy, babbling woman in the building today, his nerves were highly strung.
He just wanted to get a good night's sleep now.
At the base, although Li Yu was somewhat tired, he felt sticky and very uncomfortable, so he simply took a quick shower and then flopped directly onto the bed to sleep.
The window was open, and a gentle breeze blew in, carrying a hint of dampness mixed with earth, creating a unique fragrance.
Li Yu slept very soundly.
Today, the six of them had worked together exceptionally well.
With sufficient firepower, the team's mutual trust and cooperation made their work far more efficient than a single person fighting alone.
Li Yu felt very secure.
Although he wasn't sure about the Salvation Army's current situation, Li Yu was confident he could face them.
He slept from 4 PM directly until 6 AM the next morning, his unchanging biological clock waking Li Yu once again.
Li Yu felt refreshed all over.
He got up, his bones clicking, his mind clear and alert.
Taking a deep breath, a feeling of joy spread through him.
Humming a tune, he simply put on a tracksuit, washed up, and then headed out for a run.
Morning exercise.
The Chinese people are wise; a balance of yin and yang, tension and relaxation.
It always needs to be harmonized; people are not machines, they always need a change of state to start better.
Even though the Salvation Army matter was still on his mind, Li Yu was not overly worried.
If the Salvation Army headed north, they would definitely be in the county town, and if any trouble arose, Li Yu would surely learn something when he went there after a while.
He would wait and see.
For now, he would rest at the base.
At the base, Ding Jiu and the other workers had been there for quite some time.
Their sense of belonging to the base was growing stronger.
Recently, they even approached Li Yu with a suggestion: to raise the height of the perimeter wall.
Currently, with the raised foundation and the electric fence on top, it's about 8 meters in total.
According to their suggestion, they wanted to add another 4 meters in height.
That would make it about 12 meters high, roughly the height of a 4-story building.
Anyway, in the neighboring town, there was a Cement Factory, and further away, there was an even larger factory.
In recent years, the Government had been building infrastructure, and with housing development in the county town, many suppliers of steel and cement had emerged in the past two years.
However, Li Yu was thinking about something else: whether to simply expand the base and add an even larger wall outside the current perimeter.
But this matter would have to wait until later.
It had been raining continuously recently, making construction very inconvenient, and the zombies outside were extremely frenzied.
At this time, it was not advisable to go out; staying at home was much better.
In the days following Qingming, the rainfall became heavier and heavier, and everyone in the base stopped going out.
Except for the personnel on duty, everyone else stayed in their rooms.
The diesel generator they had bought was also tested and used these past two days.
Originally, with photovoltaic energy storage, the electricity was abundant, and a large portion of it was even unused.
These days of rain were a good opportunity to use up the stored electricity.
In each room, everyone had something to do.
For example, Li Suxin and Second Aunt's two younger children, with outdoor activities canceled during this period, spent every day studying in the classroom.
Xiao Lata, however, had been very quiet lately, practicing with a crossbow every day in the small courtyard in front of the mountaintop, under the eaves where the rain couldn't reach.
Li Yu would encounter Xiao Lata during his morning exercises.
They didn't exchange many words, but they could clearly understand each other's thoughts.
The base remained a picture of harmony.
Li Yu had always quite disliked rain.
After the apocalypse, every rainfall meant the zombies would go into a frenzy, and if there was heavy rain, there was even a possibility of a zombie horde outbreak.
Now, rain meant even more zombies, and greater danger!
Therefore, since the apocalypse began, Li Yu had never properly listened to the sound of rain; he had no time, nor the inclination.
These past few days, however, there hadn't been any heavy rain, just continuous light drizzle.
Although there were still many zombies outside, they had not formed a large-scale zombie horde.
Moreover, there were almost always two people on watch on the wall, plus rotating perimeter base patrol personnel and people observing in the monitoring room.
The entire base, if not completely impenetrable, could be considered relatively safe.
Under these circumstances, Li Yu was able to calm down and do what he wanted to do.
