Cliffside Shelter

Lu Xi'an figured the shelter couldn't be far away.

In the recording, Fang Shuxin had said he'd dug out the shelter for fun, never expecting it to come in handy in the end.

That meant Fang Shuxin hadn't needed to go too far.

Besides, judging by the mountain road's course after it entered the hills, the farther they went, the higher the cliffs beyond the road would become. It would be dangerous and difficult to dig there.

Just as Lu Xi'an had expected, the drone hadn't flown far beyond the road before it hovered in midair. The Mechanical Dog's two eyes in the car also lit up.

Lu Xi'an braked to a stop. He and Yao Wei got out and walked over to the roadside to look.

A railing ran along the cliff's edge. Weeds had grown over the road in a wild tangle, twining around the railing as well.

The two of them cut away the weeds on the railing and pushed aside the overgrown grass. Only then could they lean on the railing and look down. The cliff wasn't especially tall, but it wasn't low, either. It was a full two stories from top to bottom.

There was an opening midway down the cliff. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei could just make out small ceramic tiles lining its edge.

A bamboo blind hung in a diamond shape to one side of the opening. The bamboo slats were sparse, as if many had been pulled out.

Lu Xi'an recognized it as the blind that had once hung over the entrance as a door. The rope that held it up had weathered and snapped in one place after years without maintenance, leaving it hanging like this.

"I never would've thought this shelter was dug into the cliff face. No wonder Fang Shuxin said 'dig' in the recording."

Lu Xi'an spoke as he looked at the entrance.

The bottom edge of the opening was more than two meters above the ground. It wouldn't be easy to climb up or down the cliff.

If the shelter had been dug before the apocalypse, then Fang Shuxin really must have been fond of making shelters.

Digging a hole here couldn't have been easy.

"Mm."

Yao Wei nodded in agreement.

But she and Lu Xi'an had slightly different thoughts about it. She was thinking of the Old Humans.

She had never seen what natural humans looked like originally. She only knew that there had been no New Humans in the old world.

Considering how quickly those Old Humans aged and how many problems they faced just staying alive, how hard must it have been for them to build something so substantial?

Yao Wei couldn't help admiring them.

"Wait here. I'll climb down and take a look."

Lu Xi'an said.

Yao Wei gave another "Mm" and didn't object.

She knew that, given the situation, someone needed to stay by the car and keep watch. That way, she could cover Lu Xi'an, and keep an eye on their car as well.

There was no cover on the road in either direction. Unlike before, when they could tuck the car into a corner behind the gas station building, here they could only leave it on the road.

If both of them climbed down and someone passing by spotted the car and took an interest in it, they'd be in trouble.

She held her pistol and watched from beside the car.

Lu Xi'an had already climbed over the edge of the cliff.

There must have been a rope ladder hanging from the railing. Lu Xi'an found a knot at the base of one post. It had grown brittle and had been deformed by the pressure of the weeds.

But all that remained was the knot. Lu Xi'an guessed that when Fang Shuxin had left, he'd cut the rope ladder free to stop anyone from climbing down it and getting inside.

Not having a rope ladder wasn't a problem for Lu Xi'an.

He found an axe and gripped it in his hand. Then he swung himself over the railing and drove the axe hard into the cliff face, hanging from it.

Unfortunately, the cliff was too firm. If the soil had been looser, he could've slid down with the axe, like Kratos.

He swung, pulled the axe free, and drove it in farther down. Then he swung again, struck the cliff, swung, and struck again. Before long, he reached the entrance. He swung once more, pulled out the axe, and used his core strength to leap inside.

Luckily, he had enough strength in his core. A series of moves like that tested it the most.

Being a New Human was great!

Lu Xi'an marveled to himself as his feet landed inside the cave.

The cave had been dug into the cliff. Round logs braced the ceiling and three walls, while the floor was covered in small rectangular tiles.

Someone had even carved a little fireplace into one of the walls.

Lu Xi'an leaned over to look outside. The chimney passed through the cliff behind that wall. It seemed they'd once carved a passage through the rock, then buried a pipe inside it.

The furnishings were simple: a small table and a beanbag chair.

Mold had grown all over the chair, making it impossible to sit on. A kettle and an army-green enamel mug sat on the table, their paint long since chipped away.

If this place was a shelter, it was only meant to keep out wild animals from the mountains.

Maybe it would be more accurate to call it a mountain campsite than a shelter.

Lu Xi'an thought that if he'd been in his previous life, he would've been happy to take a break in a place like this while exploring the wilderness, sitting in the beanbag chair in the cliffside cave and listening to the sounds of the forest.

But it wasn't suitable for living in during the apocalypse.

No wonder Fang Shuxin had only come here to receive radio signals instead of using it as a place to hide.

Still, Lu Xi'an couldn't quite understand. This place was more remote than the gas station. Shouldn't the signal be worse here?

Why had Fang Shuxin been unable to receive a signal at home, but could receive one here?

Unable to think of a clear reason, Lu Xi'an decided it was simply a difference between the two worlds.

He stopped dwelling on things that were no use to him now and began to search.

The cave was small, and he could see all the furnishings at a glance. He saw the chair and table, the kettle and enamel mug, but nowhere could he find the radio Fang Shuxin had mentioned.

I should've brought the dog down.

That was what he thought.

But the cave was on the cliff face, and getting the dog down over the cliff wouldn't be easy. If he wasn't careful and the dog fell and got hurt, it would hardly be worth it.

I'd better search carefully myself...

Lu Xi'an looked around again. He moved the chair and table, even picked up the beanbag and shook it, but found nothing.

He glanced around, and his eyes suddenly landed on the fireplace. Fang Shuxin must have cut through the round logs in the wall to carve it out. An idea struck him, and he reached inside, tapping along its walls.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

At last, a distinctly hollow sound came from the top of the fireplace.

He felt around and seemed to find a notch. He slipped a finger into it and hooked downward.

A soft, rectangular object slid into his hand.

He pulled his hand back. The object was wrapped in cloth.

He peeled away the layers of cloth. Inside was a cold, black rectangle, with a row of metal buttons along the top and a speaker at the front covered by a mesh grille.

It was a radio, just as he'd thought!

He pressed the buttons on top of the radio, but nothing happened. He checked it carefully and found a panel on the back. He twisted it open. It was empty.

No batteries.

What a coincidence.

Lu Xi'an recalled the battery model in the drone and couldn't help smiling.

Lady Luck was smiling on him again!

Now he had batteries.