Inside the carriage, Wang Qiang leaned back in his chair, his free-hanging arms swollen and red like sausages hung out to dry.

This was the result of excessive exertion, a series of hacks and slashes leaving him looking like a corpse.

"Hey, Brother Hu, what are you guys doing up there? What's taking so long? Doesn't seem like you found anything..."

"Found too many supplies!" Tang Xiaoquan swiftly interrupted, giving Wang Qiang a discreet nudge, while glaring at him to indicate he shouldn't ask too many questions, then quickly switched topics, "I think what's inside there looks like rice, right?"

"Yeah," Hu Xiaodong slightly nodded, glancing worriedly at the rearview mirror overhead, noticing Zhao Yunhai with his head bowed, lost in some wild thoughts.

For Zhao Yunhai, after escaping the building, his greatest wish was nothing more than reuniting with his wife and daughter, which was also the pillar of his survival until now.

But now that pillar has collapsed, the disappearance of his daughter and wife left him quite disheartened, and even though he had just regained a sense of self under Hu Xiaodong's encouragement, at this moment, when everything became quietly still, that kind of solitary sadness slowly nourished itself deep within his heart like unextinguished wild grass.

Weariness, exhaustion, lethargy, with the rising of that crestfallen mood in his heart, they began to slowly take over Zhao Yunhai's body, eventually causing him to close his eyes and fall into a deep sleep.

Yes, the man was truly exhausted. The kind of terror and helplessness of surviving alone in a monster-infested environment, probably only those who experienced it can fully understand.

Zhao Yunhai naturally doesn't remember how much time he actually slept in that past period. The only thing he clearly remembers is the bewilderment and fear of being startled awake every night by low growls.

That was his nightmare, a nightmare he might never be able to forget in his lifetime.

But now, he can finally sleep soundly because he has found a team he can entrust his safety to and companions he can trust.

The vehicle slowly drove out of Huagui Garden, navigating a narrow road before joining the main road.

Perhaps because of the accumulated experience from driving the first time, A-Cheng now appeared relatively calm, not as tense or reckless as before.

Listening to Zhao Yunhai's heavy yet steady breathing, Hu and Tang both exhaled a long sigh of relief.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing! I'm asking you a question, and you're interrupting me for nothing?" After a brief rest, Wang Qiang, having regained some of his lost energy, suddenly recalled his brother's inexplicable actions earlier and immediately started questioning him harshly.

Tang Xiaoquan rolled his eyes at him displeasedly and retorted without backing down, "I say, are your eyes just for decoration? Couldn't you see Uncle Zhao's expression? And still asking like nothing's happening, asking for nothing! If you have nothing to do, keep quiet for me!"

"You!" To be met with such a barrage of words for just a single question left Wang Qiang momentarily stunned, unsure of what to say next.

Seeing the two in the back exchanging banter, Hu Xiaodong couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "These young people really have a lot of energy! But..."

"Both of you pause for a moment, let's confirm our next step!"

Matters must be prioritized, and for the survivors at this moment, confirming their next direction is undoubtedly a major matter concerning their future survival, so Tang Xiaoquan and Wang Qiang immediately shut their mouths.

"Alright, everyone share your thoughts." Based on fairness and reasonableness, Hu Xiaodong tossed the topic to everyone.

Perhaps it was due to exhaustion, or perhaps because there were simply no ideas, in any case, for the 5 minutes after the topic was raised, the carriage was deathly silent, except for Zhao Yunhai's occasional snores, no other sounds could be heard.

This was undoubtedly the most headache-inducing situation for a leader. Although a leader should have the ability to make decisions, it is often best to gather broad opinions.

But...

Hu Xiaodong felt quite pained, and given the silence from everyone, he had to turn around to confirm.

His gaze swept across everyone, but the result... they either turned a blind eye or closed their eyes or simply lowered their heads, until his gaze landed on the frail young man, Hu Xiaodong decisively spoke up:

"Uh~ Xiao Tang, do you have any thoughts?"

Since no one volunteered, he had to "call on someone to answer."

Tang Xiaoquan already had a plan in mind; to be precise, he had already thought about the upcoming direction for the car during the journey here.

As for why he hadn't mentioned it until now, it was mainly because he wanted to hear others' opinions.

After all, three cobblers with a collective intelligence that rivals Zhuge Liang, he is not a god, he can't possibly know everything, nor can he cover every detail, but if he can integrate everyone's opinions, he believes that the conclusion reached in this way is unlikely to have major issues in terms of principles at least.

It's just... his companions here seem a bit too "reserved"!

Feeling helpless, Tang Xiaoquan had to throw out a suggestion as a catalyst, "Regarding where we go next, my personal opinion is... head towards the North Suburb, there are quite a few villages along the road, if we can find a suitable place to settle down, we can rely on the grain fields, and solve our food supply issue, plus the density of zombies there is lower than in the city! Perhaps we might even encounter other survivors!"

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement; they seemed to be quite in favor of the examples involved, although Wu Chao had slight doubts about one point, he calmly asked, "Quan, I have no objections to your idea, but what about the car's fuel..."

Checking the data on the dashboard, finding the gauge indicating the fuel tank's capacity, Hu Xiaodong raised his hand to make an "OK" gesture, confirming, "The tank is full, not a big issue!"

"Ah, that's good!" Wu Chao casually shrugged and then lay back in his seat, lazily licking his lips, "Then I'm good, no doubts!"

With that, Tang Xiaoquan's proposal was unanimously approved, but he didn't feel any joy from this because until a suitable settlement place has been practically found, anything can happen, hence...

Gently patting A-Cheng on the shoulder, Tang Xiaoquan said solemnly, "A-Cheng, we leave it to you from here on, we're heading north, but prioritize safety over speed, got it?"

"Okay," A-Cheng nodded in response, turning the direction towards the North Suburb...

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