34: A kitten

Amidst the sound of gunfire, the shrewd Sun Ergou edged bit by bit toward the main gate.

"Ergou! Save me, quickly!" Seeing Sun Ergou about to leave unscathed, Fang Zhongguan—who had been playing dead after taking a bullet to the thigh—hastily called out to him.

Hearing Fang Zhongguan's voice, Sun Ergou whipped his head around. However, he didn't go back to save him. Instead, he flashed a grin at him: "Boss, you shouldn't have called out to me."

As he spoke, he raised his gun and shot Fang Zhongguan right in the forehead. With a cold snort, he continued crawling forward. Soon reaching the gate and moving out of firing range, he quickly stood up and bolted, vowing never to return to Villa No. 35 ever again, no matter what.

Fang Zhongguan's eyes were wide and round, watching his most trusted subordinate, Sun Ergou, shoot him. The last glimmer of light in his eyes vanished as he watched Sun Ergou's retreating figure run away.

Meanwhile, Ai Guosheng stood outside the door, spraying bullets at those trying to escape. With the father and daughter attacking from both sides, the battle ended quickly. Except for Sun Ergou, everyone else remained in Villa No. 36 forever.

Ai Yue and Ai Guosheng carefully carried Li Shilan back home. Fortunately, Ai Yue had a complete stock of medicine, and Li Shilan's vital organs hadn't been hit, so Ai Yue and her father were able to handle it.

After giving Li Shilan a simple bandage to prevent infection and administering anti-inflammatories, Ai Guosheng felt so distressed that he insisted on personally brewing chicken soup to help her recover.

Lying on the bed, Li Shilan took Ai Yue's hand and said with a sorrowful expression, "Yueyue, I'm sorry. My selfishness caused such a big mess for the family, I..."

"Mom, what are you talking about? Why are you being so formal with me? I'm your own daughter. No matter what you want to do, I'll support you. It's okay."

"However, it really was dangerous this time. If I had arrived a moment later, you would have been in real trouble."

"It won't happen again. It's my fault for being foolish. I thought Big Sister Zhao was a good person, so I let my guard down. Even though I knew it was the Apocalypse, I still trusted someone so easily. I got hit on the head from behind and put you and Old Ai in danger, ugh... I..." Li Shilan's heart was filled with grief, and she couldn't control her tears as she wailed. She hated herself for not seeing the situation clearly and befriending outsiders so easily.

"Mom... it's okay now, we're all here. It's over." Ai Yue hugged her mother and gently patted her back to comfort her.

Li Shilan had suffered a heavy psychological blow. At some point, exhausted from crying, she finally fell into a deep sleep.

At that moment, Ai Guosheng pushed the door open carrying a bowl of chicken soup and whispered, "Is your mother asleep?"

"Shh..." Ai Yue put a finger to her lips and waved at Ai Guosheng, signaling to talk outside.

The two of them tiptoed out and closed the door.

"Dad, Mom took a huge psychological hit this time. You must try your best to console her."

"Sigh, it's all my fault. I used to go with her every time. If I had been there, they might not have dared to do anything." Ai Guosheng knocked his own head in frustration.

"A wolf is a wolf after all; it can't pretend to be a sheep for long. This day was bound to come sooner or later. Dealing with them now is better than being stabbed in the back by them later when we're unaware."

"Sigh..."

Father and daughter were silent for a long time.

Ever since the incident that day, Li Shilan had been listless and unable to pick up her spirits. Ai Yue and her father saw this and were worried sick. They tried every trick they knew, but Li Shilan could hardly manage a smile.

"Dad, what do you think we should do? If Mom continues like this day after day, her spirit will eventually be exhausted." Ai Yue tugged at her hair in worry.

She hated herself for not knowing anything about psychology. Even if she had stocked up on some psychology books, it would have been good. Sigh, saying all this now was useless.

"Don't they say that for people with psychological issues, animals can help with recovery? Your mom loves cats the most. If we had a cat, maybe it could help her move on."

Ai Yue looked troubled: "A cat? Where would we find a cat at a time like this? Even the rats have almost been eaten to extinction."

"We can't just wait like this. Dad, you watch Mom, I'm going out for a look." Ai Yue suddenly stood up and walked toward the door.

"Yueyue, be careful!"

"Don't worry, Dad."

Ai Yue searched her entire hill but didn't even find a single hair. Helpless, she had no choice but to head further away.

She drove the assault boat and killed no fewer than ten people along the way. She searched parks, botanical gardens, woods, and nearby mountains—every sparsely populated place. Forget about cats, there wasn't even a single stray dog, which used to be all over the streets before the Apocalypse.

Ai Yue placed her last hope on the city's zoo.

Ai Yue arrived at the zoo smoothly. As soon as she entered, the water surface was covered with the rotting carcasses of various animals. Ai Yue's heart sank halfway; in this environment, how could any animal still be alive?

In the short span of less than a year, the entire zoo seemed to have returned to a primitive society. The trees were lush, showing no sign of the withered state they had been in during the Extreme Heat.

The former concrete buildings were overgrown with weeds, and small flowers bloomed haphazardly.

Ai Yue carefully pushed aside the carcasses blocking the front of her boat and struggled to search the entire zoo, but found no living creature.

Just as Ai Yue was about to head back in dejection, she suddenly heard a faint kitten's meow coming from not far away.

Ai Yue was startled. She listened carefully, but for a long while, there was no further sound. Just as she thought she was hallucinating, that faint sound came again.

This time Ai Yue heard it clearly and immediately steered the boat toward the direction of the sound.

The meowing stopped near a rockery. Ai Yue parked the assault boat and climbed up the rocks.

Ai Yue searched the entire top of the rockery but found no sign of a small animal.

Suddenly, the sound appeared again, right from beneath Ai Yue's feet. She quickly knelt down to search in the crevices of the rocks. Sure enough, a skinny little thing had its eyes closed, meowing feebly.

Ai Yue carefully reached in and gently pulled it out. It was indeed a kitten that hadn't been born for long. The little guy was so dirty that its original color couldn't be seen, but based on Ai Yue's careful observation, it should be white.

The little guy was so hungry it couldn't even open its eyes, letting Ai Yue turn it over and over to inspect it.

Fortunately, there were no injuries. Its weakness was entirely due to hunger. If she gave it something to eat, it would surely survive.

Holding the cub in one hand, Ai Yue leaned over to look into the rock crevice and found two more kittens inside. Unfortunately, they were already dead, their bodies stiff.

Thinking about it, if Ai Yue had arrived a day later, the little guy in her arms would surely have stayed here forever with its siblings.

Ai Yue affectionately stroked the little guy's head, took some water from her space, and fed it bit by bit. Seeing the little guy regain a bit of spirit, she then took out some shredded meat porridge and placed it in front of it.

Smelling the scent of meat, the kitten plunged its head into the bowl with its eyes closed, and in a short while, it reached the bottom.

After finishing the porridge, the kitten had some strength and meowed, indicating it wanted more. Ai Yue didn't dare feed it too much, but seeing it meowing at her with such a cute face, her heart couldn't help but soften, and she added another small spoonful.

The kitten smelled the familiar fragrance but didn't eat. Instead, it struggled to push the bowl toward the rock crevice.

Seeing this scene, Ai Yue's composure broke for a moment. It was still thinking of its siblings, but it didn't know that it had lost them forever.