Chapter 81: Extreme Heat 22
Chu Yian breathed a slight sigh of relief watching the group emerge from the house.
They searched quite thoroughly, even discovering the well Chu Yian had covered.
“Holy crap, boss, found something good!”
The boy who found the well whispered to his companions, and soon, a group of people gathered around the well.
“A well!”
“Damn it, I’m going to drink my fill this time!”
“Is there anything to draw water with? If not, I’m jumping in!”
“You’re jumping for what? Who the hell wants to drink your bathwater?”
…The six of them excitedly gesticulated by the well, some even eager to jump in immediately. However, he was stopped by his companions. They found a bucket for drawing water in the utility room and lowered it all the way to the bottom.
Thud—
A hollow sound echoed between the bottom of the bucket and the bottom of the well.
No water.
A false alarm.
The smiles on the six people’s faces were still frozen as they looked at each other.
“Flashlight, who has a flashlight to shine down there.”
“Damn it, it’s such a deep well, I don’t believe there’s not a single drop.” They stubbornly shone a flashlight down.
There really was no water, not a single drop. A day ago, the well was still slightly damp, but now the bottom was dry and cracked.
The few people saw the bottom of the well clearly and finally accepted the fact that there was no water down there.
They grumbled, threw some stones and trash into the well, and grumbled as they left the house.
Chu Yian watched these people leave, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.
Fewer people were on the road tonight than yesterday.
But several groups had entered their house.
These people all came in after the young group opened the main door. They also walked around the house a few times, then looked at the well. Some even took an interest in the vehicles parked in the courtyard. They pried open the car doors, pulled out wires to try and start them, and then found there wasn’t a drop of fuel inside.
Of course there wasn’t.
The last bit of gasoline had all been siphoned out by Lu Qingyuan.
These people didn’t find anything inside the house, so they wandered around and left.
After 2 AM, the number of people on the road began to decrease. By 5:00 AM on the sixteenth day of the game, no one was continuing their journey, and looking out, more than a dozen new corpses littered the road.
8:00 AM
The temperature rose to 52 degrees Celsius.
Chu Yian’s throat was practically smoking, and the sweat on her body had dried and re-dried, forming patches of white salt crystals on her outer layer. By now, Chu Yian’s head was throbbing. When she came down from the roof, her vision went black, and she almost missed a step on the wooden ladder, nearly falling directly from the second floor.
No sooner said than done.
Lu Qingyuan grabbed her and pulled her back onto the stairs.
The process was not romantic; on the contrary, it was very dangerous.
The moment Chu Yian was pulled up, her head hit the wooden ladder’s tread, leaving a large bruise directly on her forehead.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
The large bump on her head was swollen, shaped like a longevity god, yet she claimed to be fine.
Uncle Chu, a true man.
She didn’t even know how she got back. Relying on instinct, she took a shower, changed her clothes, and then lay down on the bed. Her body alternated between chills and fever.
Lu Qingyuan came in after his shower and saw her wrapped tightly in the quilt, her face flushed red.
He walked past Chu Yian without glancing at her, but stopped at the bedside, only half a meter away from her. A moment later, he stepped over the low wall and stood by her bed, touching her flushed cheek with his cool, cold-water-rinsed fingertips.
Very hot.
She had heatstroke.
He found the Huoxiang Zhengqi water, cut it open, and poured it into her mouth.
The action was not gentle; Chu Yian choked twice.
“Do you have any alcohol?”
Lu Qingyuan sat next to her and asked.
“Alcohol… I, I guess so. Too much alcohol makes you drunk. I usually don’t drink before bed. Erguotou and Laobaigan mixed together, with a little rock sugar, might taste good.”
Chu Yian was already rambling, not even knowing what she was saying.
Fortunately, Lu Qingyuan found two small bottles of disinfectant alcohol in the medical kit himself.
There’s a specific way to wipe with alcohol for heatstroke.
The chest and back should not be wiped indiscriminately.
The best places to wipe with alcohol are where large blood vessels flow, such as the forehead, both sides of the neck, both armpits, palms, elbows, wrists, inner thighs, and soles of the feet.
Lu Qingyuan mixed the alcohol with warm water in the correct proportion, then wet a towel. Aside from some more private areas, he wiped her forehead, neck, and other places to cool her down.
In the extreme heat, Chu Yian had also been tanned by the ultraviolet rays.
She was originally very fair, and the areas unexpectedly exposed and those covered by clothes had formed two different shades. Lu Qingyuan wiped her arm, looking at the skin that was much fairer than her forearm, and expressionlessly pinched it twice.
Both fair and soft.
Chu Yian had long been dazed by the heat. Lu Qingyuan helped her cool down with alcohol three times.
When Chu Yian woke up, she felt weak all over, a strong smell of alcohol lingered at her nostrils, and her flabby arms were a bit sore.
She had slept all day, waking up after 4 PM. In a few more minutes, they would have to prepare to go upstairs again to monitor the passersby.
“You don’t have to go on watch tonight.”
As soon as Chu Yian sat up, Lu Qingyuan said from beside her.
What?
She looked up.
“Just stay in the basement. Don’t make any sound.”
Lu Qingyuan continued, this time, he would go out alone.
Although Chu Yian was very brave, she didn’t dare to act recklessly. She was indeed struggling a bit, but she could still prepare things for Lu Qingyuan to take upstairs.
Since it was just him today, Chu Yian prepared an extremely generous supply of provisions.
Bottled water: 6 bottles;
Salted bottled water: 3 bottles;
Sugared bottled water: 2 bottles;
Coconut with hard shell pried open: 1;
Compressed biscuits: 2 pieces;
Huoxiang Zhengqi water: 1 box (10 tubes);
Pink piggy hand-cranked fan: 1;
Nine-toothed rake: 1;
Emergency whistle: 1;
There was so much stuff that two backpacks couldn’t hold it all.
Lu Qingyuan looked at her, “Are you trying to make me move house?”
“You’re guarding up there alone, so of course you need to prepare more things.”
Chu Yian handed him the largest bag, while she carried a small one in her hand, another small one around her neck, and the rake in her other hand. “Most of these are for hydration and preventing heatstroke. Compressed biscuits for energy, the rake for self-defense, and if you encounter danger and can’t handle it alone, just blow the whistle, and I’ll rush up to help you immediately.”
Each of these items was essential, not a single one was superfluous.
Lu Qingyuan:…Chu Yian’s enthusiasm was hard to refuse. Lu Qingyuan went up and down three times to bring all the things she prepared to the rooftop. Then he had to go back downstairs, wait for Chu Yian to return to the basement, put the sundries back in their original places, and hide the basement entrance well.
Wait!
Chu Yian heard the sound of heavy objects being moved upstairs and suddenly remembered that the basement entrance was all covered, so she couldn’t get out herself.
That whistle… it seemed useless?
