Wang Yan and Chen Na

The middle-aged woman hesitated for a moment after hearing Guan Tong, then switched off her flashlight.

With the truck's headlights illuminating the area, she got a clear look at Guan Tong's face. He was young and clean-cut, looking like an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old student.

Judging by his appearance alone, Guan Tong did not look particularly aggressive. But the iron pliers in his hand still made a middle-aged woman with a child feel somewhat nervous and afraid.

She watched Guan Tong warily and said, "I'm from Sun Family Village. I saw online that places with fewer people get less snow, so I brought my daughter here. Where are you from, young man?"

"I came from Yunhua."

Guan Tong knew Sun Family Village. It was a village more than forty kilometers away, and he had passed through it when he drove here before.

"Mom, I'm cold..."

At that moment, the little girl spoke from behind the woman. The woman quickly picked her up and put her back inside the truck.

Then she said to Guan Tong, "Young man, my daughter and I are staying in the truck. If you have somewhere to stay too, let's not disturb each other."

"Fine."

Hearing the middle-aged woman say that, Guan Tong was happy to leave it at that.

"But be careful not to damage the path I cleared," he added as a reminder.

"Alright, we'll be careful."

Once Guan Tong heard her agree, he said nothing more and turned to head back along the path to his makeshift camp.

The middle-aged woman also returned to the truck. Her daughter asked curiously, "Mom, was that big brother bullied too, so he hid here?"

"I don't know." The woman touched her daughter's forehead and seriously instructed her, "Stay with Mommy at all times these next few days. Don't run around by yourself, understand?"

She had not expected anyone to be on Mingdao Mountain. Although Guan Tong did not look like a bad person, she was alone with her daughter. Two females in the wilderness facing an unfamiliar adult man had to be extremely careful.

After all, if a violent crime occurred here and now, there would be no rescue even if they called the Public Security Bureau.

"Got it, Mom. Mom, I'm a little hungry."

"Mm, there's food in the truck. Mommy will get you some."

Before the Apocalypse Rules, the woman had been a long-haul truck driver.

Driving long-haul trucks meant spending whole days in the vehicle, so she always kept plenty of food inside. Before coming out this time, she had also deliberately taken a large amount of food from home and stuffed it into the truck, enough for her and her daughter to eat for over twenty days.

She took out a bag of fruit bread, tore it open for her daughter, and did not forget to lock the truck doors.

That way, she could sleep more soundly at night. If someone wanted to force their way in, they could only smash a window.

The woman kept the crowbar right beside her, ready to grab at any time.

"Mom, I'm full."

"Mm, then get to sleep early."

These large trucks all had sleeper berths. They were narrow, but there was no problem fitting one person.

When the woman's husband had still been around, the couple had driven long-haul trucks together and taken turns. When one got tired, they rested in the berth while the other took over.

The woman watched as her daughter gradually fell asleep on the bed. She leaned against the driver's seat and looked at the snow outside the window, but the sorrow between her brows would not fade.

Since the truck's headlights remained on, visibility in the area improved considerably. Guan Tong also benefited somewhat in his camp, able to see the surroundings more clearly.

However, now that there were other people nearby, he had to be more cautious. He snapped some of the branches he had stored and scattered them across the ground in front of his camp, then covered them with snow.

That way, if the mother and daughter sneaked over in the middle of the night, stepping on the branches beneath the snow would make a crisp sound, allowing Guan Tong to wake up in time.

It might seem overly guarded, but he had no choice if he wanted to stay safe.

Guan Tong would not let down his guard just because they appeared to be a weak mother and daughter.

On the contrary, so many people had died after entering the Apocalypse Rules Era. The fact that this mother and daughter had survived in itself showed that they had something exceptional about them.

Besides, there were "black box items" like Mind Power Artifacts. No one knew what kind of artifact the other party possessed. If he dismissed someone merely because they looked weak, he risked being defeated when they pulled out a powerful artifact.

For now, both sides stayed out of each other's business and fought the rules to survive on their own. That was what both sides wanted to see.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Guan Tong woke up and looked toward the truck.

The mother and daughter had not gotten out, which was normal. The truck itself was essentially their camp. Unless necessary, there was no need for them to come out.

After one glance, Guan Tong withdrew his gaze and went on with what he needed to do.

After casually eating something, he picked up his folding shovel and began clearing the snow that had fallen on his path overnight.

The task itself was not difficult. What made it hard was doing it day after day, every single day for a month.

If he slacked off for even one day, the snow from two days would pile up and freeze, increasing the difficulty of clearing it by more than one level.

That day passed with him and the mother and daughter leaving each other alone.

Then another two peaceful days passed.

Three days later, June 9.

When Guan Tong got up to clear snow, he saw the mother and daughter clearing the snow near the truck door as well.

They had no choice but to clear it. If they allowed the snow to pile up, within a few days it would reach the height of the truck door. If frozen snow blocked the door shut, that would be troublesome.

However, the middle-aged woman cleared snow differently from Guan Tong. She started the truck and slowly drove forward, backed up, turned slightly, drove forward, and backed up again.

Using the truck's powerful engine, she smashed and crushed the snow with its thick, towering tires, compacting it beneath the wheels. It had to be said that this was far more efficient than clearing snow with manpower.

After finishing up over there, the truck door opened. The mother and daughter got out with Small Tools and cleared around the tires.

At that moment, Guan Tong was clearing his own path. When the little girl saw him, she took a small shovel and began helping at the end of the path, scraping snow away and tossing it outward.

Seeing someone voluntarily lend a hand, Guan Tong politely walked over and thanked her.

The little girl flashed him a wide grin, apparently finding it fun.

Her mother hurried over, looking somewhat apologetic as she said, "Sorry, did she cause you any trouble, young man?"

"It's fine. I was thanking your daughter for helping me clear the snow."

"She's not helping. She just thinks it's fun." The woman sounded helpless. "It's so cold, but if I keep her in the truck, she insists on coming down to play in the snow."

"It's normal for children to be playful."

After chatting for a few moments, the two gradually lowered their guard.

Neither side had done anything to make the other uncomfortable over the past three days, so both felt that the other probably meant no harm and was simply an ordinary person.

Thus, after talking for a while, they learned some basic details about each other.

The woman said her name was Wang Yan. She had previously been a truck driver, but after the Apocalypse Rules appeared, she stopped working and stayed home to look after her daughter.

Guan Tong also told her that he had been a senior in high school before classes and work were suspended. He was no longer attending school now either.

"It's good that you made it to your final year of high school." Wang Yan looked at her daughter Chen Na, who was playing with snow with a little shovel, and sighed worriedly. "My girl had only been in sixth grade before. She hadn't even started middle school. My education level isn't high either. How am I supposed to teach her in the future? It won't work if she only takes Online Courses and never interacts with people."

"Maybe schools will reopen later," Guan Tong said. "They might just take a different form."

Wang Yan said, "I heard a while ago that the authorities were going to open a university in the capital and recruit students nationwide..."

"That academy is meant to help students develop Mind Power, right? It probably doesn't teach other basic subjects."

"Ah? So that's how it is..." Wang Yan looked somewhat disappointed.

Guan Tong asked, "Sister Wang, I'm curious about something. I hope you don't mind me asking."

"Hehe, it's fine. Go ahead."

"The news that places with fewer people get less snow spread within hours of the rules appearing, didn't it? Why did you wait several days before driving your daughter here to escape the snow?"

Wang Yan's expression turned complicated. She seemed hesitant to speak, as though she did not know how to explain it.

Chen Na, who had been squatting on the ground playing with snow, suddenly raised her head. Pouting angrily, she said, "People in the village bullied us! That's why Mom took me away!"

"Bullied you?" Guan Tong was quite surprised.

He felt that a village community was different from a city. In cities, many people did not even know the people living across the hall, living completely atomized lives. That was why, when disaster struck, they were more willing to follow official instructions and act according to official calls.

But in a village, the villagers saw one another all the time, and practically everyone in the village knew everyone else. In that situation, once disaster broke out, they should have quickly banded together to resist it. How could there still be people bullying others?

Wang Yan had not wanted to talk about it, but Chen Na had spoken too quickly. She could only nod helplessly. "Someone saw that we were a mother and daughter alone, so they came to our home and took some food. They said they would return it later, but..."

Chen Na snorted. "They took a whole box of Instant Noodles and a whole box of yogurt from our house! Mom had saved those for me!"

"That actually happened?"

"Yes. A box of noodles and a box of milk aren't really much, but it had only been a few days and they were already acting like that. If we stayed, who knew whether they would come back and take other things from our house..."

Wang Yan sighed as she spoke.

"I would have been fine, but I couldn't let my girl risk going hungry. So I drove her out of the village in the truck at night. I figured the truck had a full tank, plenty of power, and high tires. Snow on the road wouldn't be a problem."

"I see..."

"Speaking of which, you're quite brave, young man." Wang Yan said, "You dared to come here alone from Yunhua. Yunhua is far from here, more than seven hundred li away."

"It was all for survival."

"Yeah. Ever since these rules appeared, I haven't hoped for anything else. As long as we can live well, that's enough."

"Today is already the ninth. Soon, one-third of the rules' active period will have passed." Guan Tong said, "Based on the snowfall here, as long as we clear it every day, we should be able to get through safely."

Wang Yan nodded. "I just wonder how things are in the village, and in Yunhua where you came from. That's a big city. The snow there must be especially heavy, right? After nine days of this blizzard, who knows what the city looks like now..."