Mo Fan, He Yu, and the Magic Association team naturally traveled together.
Zhang Xiaohou still followed He Yu around in a daze, utterly unaware of the long migration that was about to take place.
The villagers who remained began moving down into the well.
Luohua Village's "well" was not an ordinary water well, but a shelter cave dug and built by their ancestors a hundred years ago.
The space beneath the well opened into several connected earthen cellars, stocked with food and clean water—enough to sustain dozens of people for ten days or half a month.
They sealed the well entrance with thick wooden boards and stone slabs, then bolted it from the inside, leaving only a few concealed air holes.
Before leaving, Su Xiaoluo crouched beside the well and choked out toward its mouth.
"Auntie Liu, Uncle Chen, you must... you must hold on until the military comes to rescue you."
A muffled response rose from below.
It sounded like "Don't worry," but also like "Go."
In the end, the wooden boards were covered over, sealed tight.
Xie Sang gave Luohua Village one last look—the sealed well, the ancestral home where he had lived for over sixty years. With a long sigh, he turned away and said hoarsely.
"Let's go."
The group set off.
Fu Ye followed with the group, walking unhurriedly at the rear.
Liu Ru and Liu Xian continued to follow him in silence, as though they were merely two shadows.
He walked with perfect composure, as if he were not crossing a wasteland where undead could appear at any moment, but taking a stroll through his own backyard.
No one noticed that as he passed the sealed well, the cuff of his left sleeve shifted slightly. His index and middle fingers came together, tracing within his