Chapter 316 - 245: Vast Sky, Boundless Wilds, a Banshee Becomes a Little Girl

Chapter 316: Chapter 245: Vast Sky, Boundless Wilds, a Banshee Becomes a Little Girl

Inside the abandoned construction site, a somewhat surreal clamor filled the air.

In the open space before the main building, several high-powered industrial LED spotlights were mounted high up, their intense white beams illuminating the area as bright as day.

Survivors sat in small groups on the open ground, using wooden planks or bricks as cushions. Without exception, they all clutched steaming stainless steel bowls. Inside was a thick, tenderly stewed meat broth, along with dense flatbread and coarse grain rice. No one spoke; there were only the sounds of swallowing and sighs of contentment rising and falling.

Steam still rose from the wooden stove and the pot, and a complex aroma of grease, grains, and burning firewood enveloped the entire site.

Aside from a few soldiers on duty, standing guard with guns in high places and on the periphery, the so-called "management" and "bigwigs" of the camp had also gathered here, completely without airs.

Liu Bin, who had just finished the busy work of distributing food; Wang Yuanhua, who was in charge of operating the "crane"; even the security captain Tan Wei; the mature and steady Major Wang Zhong; and the researchers—all of them were sitting together. They sat on a few bricks or a cement bucket, each holding a small stainless steel basin, and shoveled food into their mouths with total disregard for their image.

"Well now, what are you two doing here? Where are the others?"

Liu Bin looked up from his bowl and saw two familiar figures: Lin Fan’s two followers, Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian. It was clear Liu Bin got along well with them; his words were familiar and held no reservations.

"Hey, they’re having their own private meal over there. It’s just the women and the kid, so we didn’t want to get in the way."

Chu Zhaotian raised his bowl to greet everyone, then smiled at Liu Bin. With a secretive air, he dug into his pockets. Like a magician, he produced a large handful of vacuum-packed cocktail sausages from the bulging pocket of his tactical suit.

"Here, here, something extra for everyone! We won’t fight them for the meat, so we came to mooch off your big pot."

"Hey! You shouldn’t have brought anything..."

Although his words were polite, Wang Yuanhua’s big hand was not polite at all. Before Chu Zhaotian could even fully extend his arm, he had snatched two packs with lightning speed. Tearing one open with his teeth and stuffing it into his mouth, he mumbled indistinctly while chewing on his rice,

"Mmm! Classy!"

"Oh, get outta here... Scoot over! Move it! Look at that big ass of yours, taking up space for two people!"

Chu Zhaotian cursed with a laugh and promptly bumped him with his hip. He forcibly shoved Wang Yuanhua over by one person’s width and plopped down on the now-vacant, still-warm half of the I-beam.

"What the fuck... Easy! Don’t hit my bowl!"

"Who are you kidding? With my skinny frame, I couldn’t knock over your bowl even if I kicked it! Just hurry up and eat!"

The back-and-forth bickering between the two drew a roar of laughter from those around them.

Xu Qian, on the other hand, was much more refined. He smiled and found a relatively flat wooden board from the nearby rubble, patted the dust off it, and sat down quietly next to Tan Wei and Wang Zhong, handing them each a sausage he’d peeled.

"Now that Brother Lin is back, they must be much more at ease..." Liu Bin glanced at Chu Zhaotian, then raised his head, looking over the crowd toward the other side of the road. He then brought his gaze back and smiled. "Forget them, even we feel much more relieved."

"Last night in the parking lot, it was pouring rain. I was on edge the whole time I was on watch..." Wang Yuanhua said with feeling as he shoveled rice into his mouth. "This is great."

"Yeah, it really is."

...

In an empty lot across the road, an RV was parked. A camping lantern hanging from its side cast a soft glow, illuminating the area.

A folding table was set up next to the RV. Chu Zhaozhao, Ye Qingniao, and the little girl, Yiyi, had their three heads huddled around the electric hot pot in the center of the table. Necks craned in unison, their eyes were glued to the surface of the pot as if performing some solemn ritual.

Meanwhile, Su Qing stood at the RV’s external cooking station, the kitchen knife in her hand rising and falling rhythmically.

"TOC, TOC, TOC."

The blade made a soft sound as it sliced through the muscle fibers. Beneath her hands was a piece of perfectly thawed Fresh Meat.

These were supplies Lin Fan had intentionally left behind before he departed: four vacuum-packed packages of chilled meat.

Two packs of beef and two of lamb, each weighing a good two pounds. When the packages were torn open, the meat felt cool and springy to the touch, its color a healthy red.

’He can conjure up meat this fresh...?’

As Su Qing skillfully sliced the beef into thin pieces and arranged them on a plate, she marveled silently.

The other two, however, whose only job was to eat, weren’t thinking that deeply...

Scalding hot oil bubbled and rolled in the pot, bursting into savory, fragrant splashes.

Billowing white steam rose, carrying the distinct, rich aroma of beef tallow.

"The meat’s ready!" With a cheer, two pairs of chopsticks shot into the pot like lightning.

"Sister Niao! That was my piece!" Chu Zhaozhao watched as Ye Qingniao snatched a big helping of beef from right under her nose, and she protested with playful sarcasm.

"All your meat is growing on your waist. You have some in the pot, too?" Ye Qingniao’s comeback was clearly a cut above.

As she spoke, she fluidly moved the large helping of meat, placing half of it into Yiyi’s bowl nearby. She stuffed the other half into her own mouth and, while chewing, mumbled smugly, "...So good."

"Yiyi, you have some more. Don’t mind these two..." Su Qing glanced at the pouting Chu Zhaozhao, then at the effortlessly familiar Ye Qingniao, and simply walked over with two more platters of freshly sliced meat piled high like small mountains.