As the weather grew colder, people became sluggish, apart from their shifts and daily work assignments.
Everyone basically stayed in the underground planting base during the day and returned to their rooms to sleep at night.
The three wolf pups' condition had also been improving recently; they were much livelier now compared to their near-death state initially.
One day, when Li Yu came out of the duty room holding a thermos, he looked at the frozen, rock-hard wall and couldn't help but pour some water on it.
In less than a few seconds, the poured water slowed its flow, gradually solidified, and turned into ice.
"Ice!" Li Yu seemed to have thought of something.
If some water were sprinkled on the walls and then frozen, it would actually improve the wall's defensive capabilities, as ice is slippery!
If someone were to walk over and approach the wall, encountering a sturdy yet icy-slippery surface, the difficulty of sneaking up would undoubtedly increase significantly.
He decided to act on the idea immediately and discussed it with his second uncle and others. Everyone thought it was a good idea, but the temperature was simply too low now; Shantang Reservoir had already frozen over.
It seemed they would have to find another solution.
For such a long wall to be completely covered in ice, relying on carrying buckets of water would be incredibly inefficient.
Moreover, with the current low temperatures, if water were transported slowly, bucket by bucket, it would easily freeze during transit.
Finally, they came up with a method: there were still many water pipes, but transporting the water was an issue.
Currently, everyone was using heated hot water.
If all this hot water for heating were collected and directly piped from the residential area to the perimeter wall, even if the water temperature cooled during transport, it certainly wouldn't freeze as quickly.
The challenge was maintaining a continuous supply of hot water, but thanks to the enormous water heater Li Yu had built, if all heating equipment were fully operational, they should barely be able to maintain the supply.
With preparations complete, they began the operation.
To everyone's surprise, things proceeded very smoothly!
In the evening, Li Yu stood on the perimeter wall, looking at the ground below, which had already frozen solid.
It reflected a unique glow under the dim yellow sunset, bringing a sense of calm to his heart.
The temperature had dropped to minus ten degrees Celsius, and it was even colder at night.
Dozens of kilometers away from Li Yu, in the county town, a small team of women huddled in a tiny house.
In the center of the room, some wood burned, the flames illuminating the entire room and casting the shadows of the people gathered around the fire onto the walls.
Six or seven women were very close to the bonfire, at a distance where any closer would risk getting burned, as if only this way could they feel the warmth of the flames.
"Bai Jie, all the surrounding wood has basically been collected here, and the wooden furniture upstairs has also been chopped up and burned as fuel," an older woman said.
"Hmm, I understand. We'll go out again tomorrow and see what else we can find," Bai Jie said.
These people were precisely Bai Jie and her group who had left Liberation City some time ago, and they had now arrived in Xin City.
"Cough, cough, cough!" A violent fit of coughing erupted.
"Xiao Yan, just hold on a little longer. We'll definitely find medicine for you tomorrow. Sigh," Bai Jie said, looking at a girl who was only a teenager.
The girl was wrapped in thick clothes, but her face and lips were pale, though her forehead was covered in sweat.
Yet, she felt incredibly cold, and even though she was by the fire and wearing so many clothes, her body still trembled uncontrollably.
"Sister, I'm fine. I can hold on," the sensible girl said, the exhaustion in her eyes making one's heart ache.
A flicker of guilt crossed Bai Jie's eyes. She had led these people out, and now, in this apocalypse, they were living such a difficult life, which made her feel terrible.
A stove hung in the center of the flames.
Bai Jie took the stove down, poured out some hot water, and handed the cup to the girl, saying, "Drink some water to warm yourself up. Drink more later, be careful, it's hot."
"Thank you, Sister. Cough, cough, cough."
The room was very small because in larger rooms, the temperature dissipates too quickly.
More than half of the room's space was filled with firewood, and besides this, the adjacent room was also packed with firewood.
Bai Jie didn't just sleep directly on the floor; instead, she moved some beds in, as sleeping on the ground was still very cold.
The windows were tightly shut, but because firewood was burning in the room, some gaps were left.
Through these small gaps, cold air whistled in.
Bai Jie, who was near this gap, felt another gust of cold wind behind her, frowned slightly, and pulled her quilt tighter.
She looked at the gap, thought for a moment, then walked over and made the gap slightly smaller, then took a breathable cloth and simply covered it.
This allowed fresh air to enter the room while preventing the cold wind from blowing directly on her.
The room was very quiet, except for the violent coughing that came every once in a while.
Actually, it wasn't exactly quiet; it was just that the sounds were much simpler and purer: outside the room, the whistling wind, which could be heard through the small gaps.
Then there was the crackling sound of burning firewood, crackle, crackle~ ~
Crackle, crackle~ ~
Bai Jie and her group were just a microcosm of this winter apocalypse; similar things were happening in many places.
However, many people's living conditions were even worse than Bai Jie and her small house.
At least they had enough firewood to burn!
Normally, in the cold winter, people are very comfortable in a warm indoor environment.
But most people in this apocalyptic night faced the desperate situation of freezing to death.
It's important to remember this was in the south, where many people had never seen what snow looked like in their entire lives, nor had they ever experienced temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius, let alone minus 10 degrees; they had rarely even experienced sub-zero temperatures.
Now, in such cold weather, without heating equipment, electricity, or a safe place, it was truly too difficult to survive.
With food already scarce, being cold and hungry was the state of most people.
Not everyone had enough physical strength to search for heating materials, nor could everyone find a safe place.
In this cold weather, one not only needed to keep warm and avoid frostbite but also had to guard against the appearance of zombies.
In this atmosphere of despair, many people, unable to bear the pressure and the cold, eventually jumped from tall buildings.
This cold winter seemed to freeze people's passionate hearts, leaving them unable to feel warmth, unable to feel hope.
