Tenth Year After the End CH4

004

The room where the little monster was staying smelled terrible. The scene inside stunned me as soon as I opened the door, but I reacted fast and entered.

The little monster was lying on the bed, surrounded by what looked like vomited gunk, with undigested rat meat in it. It was still dark outside, and the faint light coming in through the window was not enough for me to see what was happening with the little monster, so I had to light the candle again.

After the candle was lit, I saw that the little monster was dirty all over. I pressed on its shrunken belly, and it let out a faint whimper. Its breath was weak, and its eyes seemed unable to open, but at least it was still alive. I didn't dislike the little monster that was covered in its own vomit. After all, during my worst, I couldn't take a shower for several months in a row, and the smell was much worse than this.

This thing is fortunate; it is still alive after all this torture. I think it probably can't eat mutant rat meat, but to be honest, I was not sure what to do.

Without thinking for long, I took the little monster back into the kitchen, took off the clothes that were rolled up and stained with vomit, before casually cleaning it up. Then, with a big coat, I wrapped it up, stuffed the naked little monster into it, and finally tied the two sleeves of the coat around myself. With this, the little monster could be held by my chest.

I have to go out and find things. If I leave it here, it might be eaten by some mutant animal that sneaks in, so I have to carry it around like this.

Given that it didn't cry once despite all of this tossing and turning, the little monster was most likely severely weakened. It was tucked in the soft warm clothing. I adjusted this makeshift baby carrier until I felt that the position it was in would not affect my slashing. I took out a bamboo basket and a small hoe from the corner of the kitchen, as well as some other miscellaneous items.

Most houses in the countryside have these tools. I collected all the useful things from other houses in the village, and a bunch of farm tools were placed here, most of which are very practical.

After I gathered my tools, I took a sack from the cupboard and slung it across my body, putting two dry biscuits in it. I also filled a kettle with water. After making these preparations, I locked the kitchen door and walked out with the hatchet and other tools.

The place I was going to was not far away, but I was used to bringing everything along with me every time I went out; you never know what kinds of emergencies you might face. A faint hint of white appeared on the horizon, and the darkness before dawn was slowly fading away, the road in front was slowly getting clearer.

No matter how urgent the situation, I would only walk outside during the day and avoid dark areas where my vision would be impaired. It's just too dangerous.

The morning dew in early spring was quite heavy. I put on a pair of thick rubber gloves and opened the gate, first looking around outside. When nothing out of the ordinary was found, I went out, closed the gate, and walked towards the road heading out of the village.

This road was a clean cement road, but now there are many cracks on the road surface, with weeds and brown tree roots growing in those cracks. The houses on both sides of the road were originally newly built by the villagers, but after being abandoned for ten years, they have become dilapidated, with various plants growing inside and outside the houses, many branches sticking out of the windows, and even the walls are covered with various vines and weeds.

In comparison, the old tile-roofed house where I live seems to be the most sturdy. When I settled here two years ago, only that tile-roofed house was not covered in weeds.

As I walked along the road, there was a big pagoda tree ahead of me. This pagoda tree had mutated, but it had only grown many times in size. It was not like other dangerous mutant plants that hunted animals. Its roots extended to 500 meters around it, and it also reached the front of the old tile-roofed house where I lived. The tree canopy was not that big, but it resembled a tall tower, and the thick fallen leaves that fell were all underneath the tree.

When it is rainy season, a lot of mushrooms grow under the tree, which you can pick and eat. During the summer, when it is the hottest, the shade under the tree is cooler than anywhere else.

But now, I would rather take a detour than go near that tree, there might be some dangerous mutant animals resting on the branches. The pagoda tree is too big, and some small mutant animals like cats and weasels like to stay on it at night. The light was not very bright right now, and it was even less visible due to the tree canopy. If I went under the tree at this time, I might be unlucky and run into those hungry mutant animals hiding on the branches and would have to go through a fight.

I have always tried to avoid this kind of unrewarding situation, as once I get hurt, my life's condition will be greatly affected, especially now that there is a little monster.

I pursed my lips and lowered my head to examine the small monster's bare black hair while still keeping an eye on my surroundings.

It was quiet all around, everything was still asleep, even the insects in the grass didn't squeak at this time. I walked on the cleaner road, as there might be something hidden in the deep grass, even if I had to walk through the grass, I would use the hatchet to push the grass aside first.

The dew on the grass leaves wet my tight pants leg. Suddenly, some mutant insects jumped out from the grass and crawled across the surface of my shoes. A few pitch-black beetles also bit my shoes. I stomped my feet to shake them off and then smashed them to death one by one with the hoe.

This thing is mutant lice. If it bites a living thing, it will pierce into the skin and stay inside the flesh like a nail until your blood is sucked dry. A few of them are easy to deal with, but if there were a bunch, even the most powerful people would have to turn around and run away.

I was very familiar with this road and soon arrived at the village entrance. There were two roads at the entrance of the village, one leading to the town and the other leading to the mountain. The fields of this village were at the foot of the mountain, so whether I was collecting firewood or working in the fields, I had to go down this road.

That is also where I am heading today, but I am not going to the fields, I am going into the mountains.

My parents passed away in the beginning, and I drifted around like duckweed. Although I encountered a lot of bad things, I also met good people.

The person who treated me the best was a middle-aged woman. I called her Aunt Li. She was from the countryside and was going to the city to find her daughter, but everywhere was full of zombies, mutated plants, animals, and cannibalistic people, so she couldn't find her daughter. Maybe because her daughter and I were about the same age, when we fled together with a large group, she treated me very well and taught me a lot.

A lot of what I know now was taught by her.

During our escape, I once vomited and had diarrhea due to eating too much raw, harsh, and indigestible foods. At that time, I didn't know where to find medicine. But Aunt Li dug up the roots of a plant by the roadside and boiled them in water for me to drink. She said that people in her village didn't like to go into the city to see a doctor for any minor illnesses. This was the method the elderly taught, to dig these wild roots nearby and boil them in water to drink.

After the apocalypse, even a minor illness can be fatal. Those plant roots have saved me several times, so I remember them. During my two years here, I haven't used any of the plant roots anymore, but I remembered seeing it somewhere when I went up the mountain before.

A large area of available farmland in the village has been abandoned, covered with lush wild grass, and only two acres of land have been planted with crops. During these two years, I tried to plant corn, beans, eggplants, peppers, and many other things. Some of them survived, some did not. I had no idea what to plant in what season, and no one had taught me how to farm. I went in and planted blindly, figuring it out on my own. There weren't many collectible seeds, but at least there were some good harvests.

The fields are now filled with wheat planted last fall, and a few other miscellaneous things. In fact, in addition to the two acres of land I have worked on, I occasionally find some unexpected surprises in the other abandoned fields. Some things that were once planted, although no one is taking care of it anymore, and most of their seeds were lost it would still grow every year. It's not much, but it is enough for me to eat alone.

There are no zombies or people here, and I like it here very much.

It's just...... sometimes I feel a little lonely. Of course, I would only have this thought for a short period, most of the time, I felt repulsed at the presence of other people.

I couldn't help but look down at the little monster by my chest. Honestly speaking, this change made me feel uneasy, but now, I can only take it one step at a time.

After walking past the two acres of fields, I headed towards the foot of the mountain, paying attention to the fields and ditches around me. Most of those wild roots grew in shaded ditches. I used my hatchet to remove the thorny vines under my feet and to push aside the overly grown weeds.

It really was the season where all things grow. When I came here a week ago, I didn’t see any weeds. Now, a week later, these weeds suddenly popped up in large patches, and even the branches were green.

I searched back and forth at the foot of the mountain. The sky had become brighter, and the sun rose from the eastern hilltop, gently shining down. As the sun shone on me, the little monster in my arms moved, half of its face tucked into my arms. I held the little monster with one hand, and continued to search through the weeds with the other.

Not knowing whether it was dew or sweat that gathered on my forehead, it slowly slid down my cheeks. I raised my hand and wiped it with my clothes before standing up and heading toward another place to look for it. If I couldn't find it here, I would have to venture deeper into the forest.

By the bank of a dry ditch, I saw a newly grown vine with leaves that looked like the ones I was looking for. I cut down the surrounding thorn trees and dug up the soil there with the hoe.

Having the little monster in my arms and it was difficult to exert force, so I could only put the little monster down into the bamboo basket.

But as soon as I placed it down, it started to struggle in the basket. I kicked the basket with my toes「Be quiet.」

I haven't spoken to anyone in a long time, and when I spoke to this little monster, I felt that the sound was strange, my voice was a little hoarse, and it didn't sound good. I coughed and spoke again, 「Don't make a fuss.」

The tenacious little monster seemed to be feeling a bit better now. It stretched out its claws to grab the edge of the bamboo basket as it tried to climb out. However, as soon as it raised its head, with a slap it fell back, bleating pitifully in the basket.

I ignored it. Picking up the hoe, I dug at the soil. After digging a bit, I found the wild roots I was looking for. Three wild roots were as thick as my palm, and two smaller ones strung together. I squatted down and picked up the wild roots, shaking off the soil, and lifted them all up.

As I turned around, I saw that the little monster had already struggled half of its body out of the basket, but since I had wrapped it in clothes, its lower body couldn't get out. With a thud, the little monster fell headfirst into the wet soil at the edge of the field, crushing the piece of newly grown grass under it.

TL note: So in the last CH, since we found out the little monster was male I translated the "it" as "he" but I noticed after reading more that the author continues to just call the little monster as "it" so I will just default back to using "it" for the little monster too unless there is a change in the way the author addresses the little monster later on. 

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