The Journey of Resident Evil - Chapter 32 - Girls' Nightmare
“Damn it, what are we waiting for? Fire!”
Distance is 30 meters, wind speed… and the shooting range is optimal.
Ye Xiang held a sniper rifle, aiming at the wild boar.
“Stop talking nonsense, the wild boar is hopping around over there, and you’re still not firing.”
Why does it seem like the wild boar isn’t running away? Oh, there are piglets; I didn’t realize. Damn, if it were just one wild boar, it would’ve run away by now. But there are five or six piglets around, not too big, but not small either.
“Bang!” One shot went off, and the wild boar went even wilder, crashing around, while the piglets behind it scampered about. Damn, missed it! That’s a waste!
“Bang!” Another shot, but it missed again. Damn, how can I miss like this?
Liu Yonglin grabbed the machine gun and sprayed bullets, finally killing the wild boar.
After a while, the wild boar lay on the ground, and the piglets around it stayed by its side without leaving.
The large wild boar is dead, but the piglets remain. They’re not too big or small, but catching them to eat isn’t practical, and leaving them here is a problem.
However, catching them is also an issue.
“Should we drag it back now or wait until tomorrow?” Ye Xiang asked.
Going now is a bit dangerous, but doing nothing isn’t ideal either. Going has its risks.
“You girls watch the rooftop and keep an eye out for any zombies or anything!” I thought for a moment and said.
We haven’t had such a delicacy in a while; now we can have a feast. The kitchen has plenty of other supplies too!
There’s enough oil and salt, and the armory has other necessities. Today’s wild boar means a bonus meal tomorrow.
“Fei Fei, I know you can handle a gun, keep an eye on things here.” I walked up to Fei Fei and said.
Fei Fei chuckled, “Hehe, how did you know I could?”
“Just looking at you, I can tell. Stay alert.”
“Liu Qi, Liu Yin, Liu Feng, Qian Jing, along with Liu Yonglin, Ye Xiang, and myself, we’re all heading downstairs.”
Ye Ling, Xueyang, Shen Wei, Xueqi, Qimeng, Fei Fei, and Sun Jing stay upstairs. They can handle hand grenades, but there’s still some worry about potential zombies outside, especially Qimeng, who is quite concerned. Xueqi is relatively better.
As I headed downstairs, Qimeng and Xueqi saw me off. I feared they might follow, so I asked Sun Jing to bring them back upstairs.
While it’s heartwarming, it does feel a bit naggy. Being looked after by your wife is nice, but when it’s too much, it can be a bit troublesome.
Standing in front of Liu Feng and watching his knife skills as he sliced the pork made me a bit envious. I can’t do any of that!
The difference between men.
“Alright! Stop staring, it’s making me feel awkward!” Liu Feng said.
“Okay! You’ve got to teach me someday!”
“Hah! Teach you? I’m not even that skilled myself, how could I teach you!” Liu chatted with me while cutting the pork.
“Sigh!” I walked out of the kitchen, taking in a breath of fresh air.
Feeling refreshed, but another issue arose!
“Qimeng!”
“I’m telling you, we’ve decided not to go, are you happy now?”
Qimeng appeared indifferent on the surface, but I knew she was pleased inside, “It’s your decision, nothing to do with me.”
“Sigh! Seeing you like this, whether we go or not, it’s the same. Might as well go, right!” I looked at Qian Jing and said, “Isn’t that right?”
Qian Jing caught my hint and responded cooperatively, “Yes! I think it’s better if we go! Look, we said we’re not going, and you didn’t react at all! Now we have to cook ourselves!”
Upon hearing this, the group of women immediately ran out of the room, “We’ll cook, you guys rest!”
“Go on!”
Liu Feng had already been pushed out by Fei Fei, and even more so for Liu Qi, who was carried out by four people and thrown onto the straw. That’s the effect we wanted. Not having slept well last night, I wanted to sleep too, so I lay down next to Liu Qi on the straw.
Liu Feng hadn’t slept much last night either and quickly fell into slumber, snoring away!
I don’t know when it happened, but suddenly the aroma hit me, a fragrant and sweet smell of pork! I opened my eyes to see Qimeng and Xueqi each holding a bowl of pig trotters in front of me!
The smell made my mouth water.
Liu Qi carefully opened the iron gate. After we all stepped outside, he closed it again. It’s not a big deal if something happens to us, but these girls need to stay safe.
Under the moonlight, we searched the field for the wild boar. With Fei Fei’s guidance, we finally found it.
Liu Qi, Liu Yin, Liu Feng, and Qian Jing were the stronger ones, so they went to lift the boar. Surprisingly, the wild boar piglets around didn’t run away; they just stood there, staring at us without making a move.
Liu Yonglin, Ye Xiang, and I guarded the area, as every second was dangerous. We needed to get the boar inside as quickly as possible to ensure safety.
But Liu Qi seemed quite wary of these piglets, hesitant to move forward. It looked like they were also considering capturing the piglets.
As Liu Feng reached out to lift the boar, the piglets took a few steps back.
That was a relief; they’re so small, and I felt a bit guilty just thinking about getting rid of them. It would be great if we could catch them, but how do we do that?
These are wild boars, after all; if they were easy to catch, they wouldn’t be wild anymore.
“Be careful,” Liu Qi, Liu Yin, Liu Feng, and Qian Jing all lifted the boar together. Judging by their expressions, this boar was heavy, too heavy for even several grown men to lift easily.
“Damn, it’s heavy!” I noticed them struggling and asked.
I quickly went to lend a hand. With five of us, it was much easier, and we successfully carried the boar back. As we approached the iron gate, we noticed the six piglets had followed us.
When we opened the gate to bring the boar inside, the six little piglets walked in on their own, not our responsibility. So, we just shut the iron gate behind us.
When Qimeng and the others saw us return, they all rushed downstairs.
Ye Ling, Xueyang, Shen Wei, Xueqi, Qimeng, Fei Fei, and Sun Jing were happily playing with the piglets and feeding them corn, effortlessly ignoring us. With the lights on, I could clearly see that my beloved watermelon had been given to the wild boar piglets by Qimeng.
Do wild boar piglets eat watermelon? I was doubtful, but to my surprise, they actually did. Maybe they were just too hungry, as they devoured it quickly.
We guys laid the dead boar on the ground, not bothering to speak since the girls weren’t paying attention to us. That’s typical; they tend not to like anything involving killing.
“Just wait! When it’s time to eat, they’ll find it delicious, though seeing it is a different story,” commented Ye Xiang.
“Let’s take it to the backyard!” I said.
Liu Qi grabbed a couple of knives from the kitchen. Looks like we’ll have an improved meal tomorrow, and just thinking about it made me quite happy!
With some effort, we managed to haul it into the yard. Looking at the boar covered in blood, I thought to myself, geez, it got hit by five bullets! It was targeted with a machine gun; I can’t quite wrap my head around how it took so many bullets!
But who cares? We were going to eat it anyway! Liu Qi was like an old hand at this, a seasoned pro at butchering.
Liu Qi skillfully extracted the bullets from the boar. When he cut into it to remove the bullets, the boar still showed reflexive movements.
“Wow, it can still move!”
“Don’t worry, that’s just a natural reflex. It’s normal for pigs to do that when slaughtered,” Liu Qi explained.
I’ve only ever eaten pork but never witnessed the process of slaughtering. As long as it’s edible, that’s all that matters to me!
Liu Yonglin and Ye Xiang were in the same boat; they’ve eaten pork and seen pigs run, but this was their first time witnessing a slaughter.
Liu Qi made a swift cut at the pig’s neck, and I got goosebumps all over. Liu Yonglin reacted the same way, unable to watch, while Ye Xiang was even more dramatic, hugging both me and Liu Yonglin as he cowered to the side, gripping my chest tightly. Ouch, it hurt a lot!
I pushed Ye Xiang away and rubbed my sore chest. “If you want to grab something, go grab Ye Ling’s! Why are you grabbing mine?”
Liu Yonglin burst out laughing, “Ye Xiang has gone mad.”
“Ouch, it hurts like hell.”
Ye Xiang then clung to Liu Yonglin again, who quickly moved aside to avoid any more chest grabbing.
Worried about the girls in the yard, I took Ye Xiang over there, but they were fine, just sitting on the benches, eating watermelon.
Suddenly, everyone felt a chill, so we gathered some straw and branches to start a fire in the yard, adding the unburnt wood from yesterday.
These wild boar piglets weren’t afraid of people at all. Ye Ling, Xueyang, Shen Wei, Xueqi, Qimeng, Fei Fei, and Sun Jing were having a great time playing with them. The piglets were so obedient, it reminded me of the little dog that Ye Xiang used to have. I wondered how it was doing.
“Qimeng, Xueqi, come over here, why aren’t you talking to me?” I said, gesturing for Qimeng to come over so I could hug her.
Xueqi obediently ran over and sat on my lap, but Qimeng stayed where she was, seemingly holding a grudge, probably related to the pig.
Ye Xiang was now clinging to Shen Wei!
“Xueqi, what’s up with Qimeng?” I asked, playfully patting Xueqi’s bottom.
“It’s about the piglets,” Xueqi replied, giving me a quick kiss.
I knew it! It’s really about these piglets. With their mother gone, they’re bound to be sad.
“You guys killed their mom; of course, they’re going to be upset!” Xueqi pouted.
“Nonsense, why would they be upset? Sure, they have feelings, but that’s just how the world works,” I said.
I spoke a bit too loudly and startled Xueqi. I patted her gently. “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to scare you!”
Xueqi shook her head. “Qimeng is just worried about the dangers outside when you go out. You should call her over.”
“Qimeng, come here.” I set Xueqi down and walked over to Qimeng, who was still feeding the wild boar piglets some watermelon. Seeing all those watermelons devoured by the piglets made me realize they hadn’t eaten in days, and today their mom brought them out to find food, only to be killed by us.
“Okay, okay, I’m done being mad at you,” Qimeng said with a smile.
Judging by her expression, I could tell she wasn’t really done being upset-there was more she wanted to say. But since she seemed a bit calmer, I gently asked, “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Can you guys take care of these wild boar piglets?” Qimeng asked.
I could see it clearly; Qimeng had a soft spot for these piglets. She loved animals and felt compassion for them-as girls often do.
Honestly, I couldn’t bear the thought of eating such tiny piglets either. We definitely wouldn’t do that!
“Don’t worry! You all can play here while Ye Xiang and I stand watch. Be careful not to let the piglets bump into you,” I said, grabbing some corn to munch on as I pulled Ye Xiang upstairs with me.
After the commotion caused by the wild boar, no one had taken up the night watch. It was probably the early hours now, and there would likely be no zombies appearing. Besides, it was very cold at this time.
“Hey, Ye Xiang, do you think we can head out tomorrow?” I asked with a chuckle.
“You’re asking me? How should I know! But I can tell you for sure, we’re definitely not going anywhere tomorrow,” Ye Xiang said, loading his gun with bullets.
“Why not?” I asked, eyes wide.
“We haven’t finished eating the boar yet, have we? What’ll happen to it if we leave?” Ye Xiang joked.
“Nonsense! We can’t take the piglets with us! Plus, the girls won’t agree to it!”
Thinking about those girls started to make me a bit depressed. With Qimeng leading the charge and Shen Wei and Fei Fei tagging along, Sun Jing and Xueqi seemed more obedient.
I wondered if I could get anything out of Sun Jing, but it didn’t seem likely; they were all in this together.
“Sigh, it’s our turn to stand watch tonight,” Ye Xiang said wearily.
“Standing watch isn’t so bad. Look at how beautiful the stars are! Take your time to enjoy them!” I replied.
“Liu Yonglin is still in the yard, watching them finish up the pig butchering. Looks like they’re done; I’ll go call him up.” Ye Xiang wanted to fetch Liu Yonglin, but didn’t realize he could just shout for him instead of going down.
Watching him run downstairs, I didn’t bother saying anything. We were on the fourth floor-not too high and not too low-so it didn’t really matter!
Just as I was about to lie down, I saw Ye Xiang coming back up. “Why are you back up here?” I asked.
“Haha, I just realized you can see Liu Yonglin from here! I can’t believe I was dumb enough to run down there,” Ye Xiang laughed sheepishly.
“I thought you knew that already!”
“Liu Yonglin! Come on up! What’s a scholar like you doing watching a pig being slaughtered? Come check out the scenery instead.”
“I’m no scholar! Quit with the shouting,” Liu Yonglin replied.
“Yes, you are a scholar! Stop pretending to be otherwise!”
“Oh, forget it, I’m not going to argue with you.”
Before long, Liu Yonglin came up, and he brought Qimeng with him.
Seeing Qimeng, I called out, “Qimeng, what brings you up here?”
“I’m here to watch the stars with you. Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“Of course, I am! Come, have a seat!” I said, offering her a chair.
Qimeng’s eyes hinted that she had something to say, but not in front of Liu Yonglin and Ye Xiang. So I suggested, “Qimeng, let’s head downstairs for a chat.” Then I told Liu Yonglin and Ye Xiang, “You two keep watch, though I doubt any zombies will come.”
I took Qimeng to a room on the second floor, turned on the light, and we sat on the bed. “Qimeng, what do you want to talk about?” I asked.
Qimeng thought for a moment, holding my hand, and asked, “Have you all decided about tomorrow?”
“You still don’t want us to go, right?” I replied.
Qimeng nodded, “Yes.”
“Tell me your reasons. If you explain, we’ll consider them!”
“That night when you talked about going out to rescue people, we all had the same dream. It wasn’t just me; the others had the exact same dream. Xueqi and I woke up at the same time,” Qimeng said, squeezing my hand tightly.
I sensed her hands were starting to sweat, showing a bit of anxiety. I wasn’t sure if Qimeng was telling the truth, but I decided to believe her.
“I’ll talk to them about it. I trust your dream,” I said. I didn’t ask her what the dream was about, probably because I figured it wasn’t something pleasant and didn’t want to scare myself by knowing more details.
After seeing Qimeng downstairs, I returned to the rooftop to continue keeping watch with Liu Yonglin and Ye Xiang.
Liu Yonglin asked me something, but I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. I was still a bit uneasy about it all.
“Liu Yonglin, Qimeng told me that the girls all had a nightmare. It was the same for everyone, and that’s why they don’t want to come with us,” I explained.
“When did this happen?” Liu Yonglin asked.
“She said it was the night we talked about going to the mountain,” I confirmed.
“Come to think of it, that night Ye Ling woke up and said something I couldn’t understand,” Ye Xiang added.
“So, that means what she said is true!” I concluded.
It seemed like they really did have a bad dream and probably didn’t sleep well that night. I guess I misjudged them.
Before we knew it, time had passed, no zombies showed up, and the sky had started to lighten. The morning was filled with birds chirping and the sound of a rooster crowing.
I opened my eyes groggily and saw the sun rising. It was a deep, vibrant red-big and round, truly beautiful.
I walked to the backyard to have a look. Liu Qi and the others were no longer there; they must have gone to sleep. They had been busy all night. I nudged Liu Yonglin and Ye Xiang awake. “Time to get up!” I said.
Liu Yonglin sprang up suddenly, revealing that he hadn’t been asleep after all. Meanwhile, Ye Xiang was snoring like a boar, oblivious to everything-sleeping so soundly at a time like this! Incredible.
“You didn’t sleep last night?” I noticed Liu Yonglin’s eyes were red and smiled at him.
“Damn it! You two pigs were sleeping. What else could I do?” Liu Yonglin said, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
I didn’t even realize when I fell asleep myself. As for Ye Xiang, I heard his snores before I even dozed off. Unbelievable!
“Thanks for sticking it out! I’ll ask Qimeng to make some pig trotter stew for you later!” I said, remembering the wild boar from last night. As I tried to pull Ye Xiang up, he started swatting at me in his sleep, eyes still closed, thinking he could hit me. I just grabbed a stool to shield myself. No pain for me!
“Ouch!” Ye Xiang shouted suddenly.
Without a doubt, he hit the stool. Liu Yonglin and I snickered as Ye Xiang finally got up, rubbing his hand while eyeing the stool in my hand. He looked like he wanted to fight, but his hand was still sore. Better focus on taking care of himself for now!
“You beast, so ruthless,” Ye Xiang grumbled.
“Haha, can’t even stay still while sleeping, trying to hit me.”
“Well, you woke me up!”
“You don’t even know what time it is! We were on watch last night,” Liu Yonglin chimed in.
“Feeling like having some pig trotters?” I teased with a smile.
The mention of pig trotters instantly perked up Ye Xiang, who was practically drooling. Who knows how long it’s been since any of us had meat? The last time was back in school! My gosh, that little bit of meat cost ten yuan. I still get annoyed just thinking about it.
Liu Yonglin, Ye Xiang, and I went downstairs to find everyone already up, including the six wild boar piglets. Qimeng and Xueqi were by the fire.
Liu Qi and Liu Feng were in the kitchen cooking. What was going on?
Liu Qi and Liu Feng cooking? That’s unusual! It was always the girls who cooked. What changed today?
I walked into the kitchen and saw Liu Feng cutting pork, so I curiously asked, “Liu Feng, what’s up with them?”
Liu Feng shook his head. “Don’t even mention it. They just don’t want to!”
So that’s how it is! Ah, women! Oh well. I glanced at Qimeng and Xueqi, who were both silent. Xueqi was usually so sweet, but not today. She wouldn’t even acknowledge me, let alone cook!
“I’ll help out too!” I said, rolling up my sleeves.
But I soon realized I was useless-I couldn’t chop vegetables, and the food was already cooked. They didn’t need me!
Seeing my incompetence, Liu Qi handed me an ear of corn. “Just go eat this on the side,” he said.
I gave an awkward smile, considering whether I should just leave, but I didn’t know how to tell Liu Qi. After a pause, I said, “Liu Qi, let’s skip going to the mountain today. We can finish the pork first.”
Then I added, “And don’t ask why!”
“I didn’t plan on asking anyway! I actually knew already. They told us last night.”
“What did they tell you?” I wanted to compare what Qimeng had told me with what Liu Qi knew.
“They said they had a dream, but they didn’t specify what kind of dream it was, and we didn’t ask.”
Well, I guess everyone understood. I didn’t ask, and neither did Liu Qi and the others. Suddenly, I felt a strong sense of camaraderie. The bond between brothers is easy to develop-it’s just a matter of time.