CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49: CLIFFSIDE SHELTER

Lu Xi’an judged that the shelter should not be far away.

In the recording, Fang Shuxin said that he originally dug this shelter for fun, not expecting it to come in handy in the end.

Therefore, Fang Shuxin didn’t need to run too far.

Moreover, judging from the mountain road’s path after entering the mountain, if it were too far, the cliffs outside the road would definitely get higher and more dangerous, making it not easy to dig.

Just as he expected, the drone didn’t fly far off the road before hovering in mid-air, and the two eyes of the mechanical dog in the car lit up brightly.

Lu Xi’an braked to a stop, got out of the car with Yao Wei, and walked to the edge of the road to take a look.

A railing was built at the edge of this cliff, wild grass arching over the road, growing chaotically, even wrapping around the railings.

The two of them cleared the grass off the railings and pulled aside some wild overgrowth. Only by holding onto the railings could they look down; the cliff here wasn’t considered too high, but it certainly wasn’t low either, at least two stories.

In the middle of the cliff face was an entrance, and Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei vaguely saw that small tiles were pasted at the edge of the entrance.

A bamboo screen hung in a diamond shape on one side of the entrance, sparsely populated with bamboo sticks, as if many were removed.

Lu Xi’an recognized that it was a screen that used to hang at the entrance as a door. The rope used for hanging had aged and broken from disrepair over the years, leaving it in this state.

"I really didn’t expect that this shelter was dug out of a cliffside. No wonder Fang Shuxin said ’dug’ in the recording."

Lu Xi’an remarked while looking at the entrance.

The bottom edge of the entrance was more than two meters off the ground, making it difficult to go up or down the cliff face.

If this shelter was dug out before the apocalypse, it seems that Fang Shuxin indeed had a fondness for building shelters.

Digging a hole here isn’t easy.

"Hmm."

Yao Wei nodded, expressing agreement.

But her understanding slightly differed from Lu Xi’an’s; she thought of those Old-Humans.

She had never seen what humans originally looked like, only knowing there were no Neo-Humans in the old world.

Looking at those Old-Humans who always aged quickly and faced so many survival issues, how difficult it must have been to undertake such a large project!

Yao Wei couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration.

"You wait here, I’ll go down and have a look."

Lu Xi’an said.

Yao Wei responded with another "hmm," not objecting.

She knew under the current circumstances, someone needed to stay by the car to keep guard—covering for Lu Xi’an on one hand, and watching over their car on the other.

The road was unobstructed in both directions, unlike before when they could tuck it into a corner behind a gas station building; now they could only park on the road.

If both of them went down and someone passing by noticed the car, it would be disastrous.

She took the gun in her hand and kept watch by the car.

Meanwhile, Lu Xi’an had already climbed down the cliff.

There should have originally been a rope ladder hanging from the cliff. Lu Xi’an found a knot of rope at the base of a railing, but it had become brittle from being squeezed by wild grasses.

However, there was only one knot left here; Lu Xi’an guessed that Fang Shuxin had cut the rope ladder tied here when he left to prevent anyone from climbing his rope ladder inside.

Not having a rope ladder didn’t bother Lu Xi’an.

He grabbed an axe, swung over the railing, and struck the cliff face with force, holding onto it.

Unfortunately, the soil quality of this cliff wasn’t soft enough. Otherwise, he could have slid down like Kratos, using the axe.

He swung, pulled the axe out, went down a bit, swung the axe again, and continued this pattern until he reached the entrance. With a final swing and pull of the axe, he used his waist’s strength to jump in.

Luckily, his waist strength was sufficient, for such a series of actions tested the waist’s strength the most.

Neo-Humans are indeed great!

Lu Xi’an thought to himself as his feet landed inside the cave.

This was a cave dug along the cliff face, supported and secured by round logs on the top and three walls, with small rectangular tiles on the floor.

One wall inside the cave even had a small fireplace carved into it.

Lu Xi’an poked his head out to take a look. The chimney of the fireplace exited through the cliff face behind the wall, appearing as if it had been chiseled out and a pipe buried.

The setup inside was very simple—just a small table and a bean bag chair.

The chair was moldy and couldn’t be sat on. A kettle and a military-green enamel cup, chipped and holed beyond recognition, were on the table.

If this were called a shelter, it only kept out the wild beasts of the mountains.

Or rather than a shelter, it would be more apt to call it a mountain camping spot.

Lu Xi’an thought, if it were his previous life, he might have enjoyed resting at a place like this during outdoor adventures, sitting in a bean bag on a cliffside, quietly listening to the forest’s sounds.

But as it pertains to the apocalypse, it wasn’t suitable for residing.

No wonder Fang Shuxin only came here to receive radio signals instead of taking refuge.

However, Lu Xi’an was still puzzled. Compared to the gas station spot, this place was more secluded. Wouldn’t the signal be worse?

Why couldn’t Fang Shuxin receive signals in his own home but could here?

Unable to find a clear reason, he chalked it up to differences between two worlds.

Lu Xi’an stopped thinking about these now-useless matters and began to search.

This cliff cave wasn’t large, and its contents were out in the open. Lu Xi’an saw the sofa and table, the kettle, and the enamel cup but didn’t see the radio Fang Shuxin mentioned.

He should have brought Gou down here.

He thought to himself.

But bringing Gou over a cliff was truly not easy. If he wasn’t careful and Gou fell, it would be a futile loss.

He decided to search on his own carefully...

Lu Xi’an looked around carefully, moving both the sofa and table, even flipping the bean bag and shaking it, but found nothing.

Glancing around, his eyes suddenly fell on the fireplace where Fang Shuxin had cut out round logs from the wall. Inspired, he reached his hand inside, knocking on various parts of the fireplace’s walls.

"Thud, thud, thud—"

Finally, a distinctly hollow sound came from above the fireplace.

He explored a while and felt an opening, then slid his finger inside, hooking downward.

A long, soft object slid into his hand.

Withdrawing his hand, he saw it was something wrapped in cloth.

Unwrapping layer upon layer of cloth, inside was a cold black rectangle with a row of metal buttons on top, and the front had a speaker covered by a mesh grille.

It was indeed a radio!

He pressed the buttons on top of the radio, but it was unresponsive. After a careful inspection at the back, he found a compartment, and after opening it, it was empty.

There were no batteries.

Wasn’t this fortuitous?

Lu Xi’an recalled the battery model in the drone and couldn’t help but chuckle.

Lady Luck had smiled on him once again!

Now, he had batteries.