Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Peach Blossom People from Peach Blossom Spring

Shen Feng froze. But seeing Firefly’s worried expression, which didn’t look faked, he asked,

"Can you read what’s on this?"

Firefly shook her head. "How could I possibly know what this is? It’s all divine language and images of gods from the ancient era. But even if I can’t read it, I know it’s a treasure. It could sell for a lot of money!"

’Has writing been lost? Just how long has it been since the nuclear war, and what exactly happened?’

"Money?" Shen Feng pulled out a blue mineral water bottle cap. "You mean this?"

Firefly nodded. "Yes... that’s it..."

She didn’t know why this sturdy young man had suddenly pulled out money. From the look of him, he seemed to be clueless about many things.

His guess confirmed, Shen Feng nodded. He gently cut the ropes binding Firefly’s hands with his dagger and said,

"I mean you no harm, and I suggest you do the same. Otherwise, you’ll end up just like them."

Firefly immediately nodded, her large eyes blinking timidly.

"Okay, Barbarian... sir... I don’t know what to call you. Thank you for saving me."

Shen Feng said impassively,

"My name is Shen Feng. I need you to take me to Nameless Town. And I have a lot of questions for you."

He waved the supermarket sales flyer. "Once we reach Nameless Town, I’ll give this back to you."

With that, he folded the flyer and tucked it into his pack.

He then walked over to the fire. From his backpack, he took out a half-eaten can of luncheon meat and another can of braised pork, placing them directly on the campfire to heat.

He also took out a compressed biscuit and began to chew on it slowly.

The kind of compressed biscuits he’d bought contained a good amount of nuts, making their texture far superior to standard military-issue ones. They were also excellent when soaked in the braised pork’s gravy.

As the flames heated the braised pork and luncheon meat, they immediately began to sizzle, releasing an irresistible aroma.

Firefly, who had been about to run, froze in her tracks. She slowly turned and sat down by the fire, her eyes fixed on the tin cans as she swallowed repeatedly.

’What is this?!’

’It smells so good!’

’So good I could pass out!’

A moment ago, she hadn’t felt it, but now it was as if a thousand tiny hands were reaching out from inside her stomach, desperate to grab hold of whatever was making that scent.

Shen Feng poked the firewood with a branch and adjusted the cans to heat them more evenly. "Want some?" he asked nonchalantly.

Staring at the two cans, Firefly began to nod frantically.

She didn’t just want some. She was dying for it.

"Then eat," Shen Feng said.

He rummaged through the Desert Bandits’ belongings, found a small, thin metal plate, and handed it to Firefly. Taking the two cans off the fire, he used his Swiss Army knife to scoop half of the piping-hot luncheon meat and braised pork onto her plate.

He then added two compressed biscuits to the plate.

Firefly had, of course, never seen a Swiss Army knife. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the small, folding knife with so many tools packed into its body.

But the aroma quickly recaptured her attention. Ignoring how hot the food was, she wiped her hands on her clothes and began grabbing chunks of meat and pieces of biscuit, stuffing them into her mouth.

The moment the braised pork touched her tongue, an unprecedented flavor—a combination of caramel, spices, soy sauce, and meat—struck her taste buds like a sledgehammer.

Firefly’s expression froze for an instant before she began to wolf down the food.

She had never eaten anything so delicious in her entire life!

Shen Feng watched her from the side, spearing chunks of meat with his own knife and nodding to himself.

’In this wasteland, it’s obvious they don’t have the spices to cook complexly flavored food.’

’Looks like what’s left of human society in this world is even worse off than I thought.’

Firefly devoured most of the meat, then began dipping the compressed biscuit into the gravy, quickly finishing one bar. She felt as if she had never tasted anything so delicious; it was like a dream.

Then her expression darkened. She stopped eating, suddenly covered her face, and began to sob, smearing grease all over her cheeks.

Firefly then looked at Shen Feng with a desperate yearning.

"You’re one of the Peach Blossom People, aren’t you? Did you come from Peach Blossom Spring? Please, can you take me with you to Peach Blossom Spring? Please..."

Shen Feng frowned. "What’s Peach Blossom Spring? I’m not from there. I’m just a wanderer in this land. You can just assume I found a small treasure hoard and that’s how I got these things."

Hearing no deception in his voice, a flash of disappointment crossed Firefly’s eyes. She then said,

"Sorry, I thought you were one of the Peach Blossom People... You don’t know about Peach Blossom Spring?"

This young man seemed ignorant about many things, a complete stranger to this world.

But this world was full of oddballs, including people who had lived in isolation since birth, so Firefly wasn’t too surprised.

Shen Feng nodded. "Tell me everything you know about this world. Consider it after-dinner entertainment, and payment for the meal."

Firefly quickly replied, "Even though I’m already a sixteen-year-old middle-aged woman, I don’t know much about the world. Most of it is just things I’ve heard from others... If I get anything wrong, I hope you won’t hold it against me..."

With that, she began her tale.

The people of this world are roughly divided into three types.

The first are ordinary people, like Firefly. They might have some minor, non-lethal mutations, but they can still live normal lives.

Firefly, along with the bandits Shen Feng had killed, were all considered "Normal People."

The second type are humans who have been completely altered by radiation. Many of them have taken on inhuman forms, or have lost their sanity entirely, becoming extremely violent.

These people are known as Barbarians.

It’s said that the first Barbarians were people who were severely irradiated during the great cataclysm, along with those born with severe deformities. They were ostracized by Normal People and eventually left human society, gradually gathering to form their own tribes.

They often live right inside radiation zones. After so many years, many have even developed a resistance to certain levels of radiation.

These mutants usually have grotesque appearances and immense strength, often coupled with insane minds. To a Normal Person, they are monsters straight out of a nightmare.

The third type are the Peach Blossom People!

They say these Peach Blossom People live in a place called Peach Blossom Spring. They were prepared before the apocalypse ever happened. All these years later, they’re supposedly still living happily there.

Peach Blossom Spring has preserved all the wonderful miracles of the old world, but nobody knows where it is.

You only hear occasional legends about Peach Blossom People appearing in the wastes, wielding Divine Power, but no one knows if they’re real.

Shen Feng nodded.

’So these so-called "Peach Blossom People" must be the ones who hid in radiation-proof Shelters before the nuclear war.’

’Theoretically, a Shelter with a nuclear reactor for unlimited energy could support life for as long as ten thousand years.’

’Of course, it would have to be big enough and have its own ecosystem.’

No wonder Firefly had mistaken him for one of the "Peach Blossom People" from a Shelter. After all, his clean clothes stood in stark contrast to the bandits’ rags.

The lives of "Normal People," however, were incredibly difficult.

In the towns and villages where they lived, they not only had to worry about raids from Barbarians, but also constantly search for supplies to survive.

Being a miner was one such profession.

However, these miners didn’t work in ordinary mines. They excavated the ruins of pre-war cities that hadn’t yet been completely enveloped by radiation.

The various resources in these city ruins had been picked over countless times, leaving basically nothing behind.

Except for one thing: the rebar inside the buildings’ concrete walls!

Steel! Something Normal People had long since lost the ability to produce!

Scavenging for steel from the city ruins—that was their mining industry!

When Firefly had finished her explanation, Shen Feng asked her again how many years had passed since the nuclear war. The girl didn’t even know what a "nuclear war" was, only the term "Great Cataclysm."

And even the Great Cataclysm was nothing more than a distant legend to her.

Afterwards, Shen Feng tied Firefly’s hands and feet, bundling her up like a bedroll. Only then did he extinguish the fire and go to sleep.

「The next morning.」

The two of them each mounted a horse and set off in the direction Firefly indicated.

They had to cross the ruins of a town—the very same place Firefly had been "mining" the day before.

Walking amidst the rubble of crumbling walls and dilapidated buildings, they could still faintly make out the main thoroughfare and various side streets.

After questioning Firefly, Shen Feng quickly located what was once the town library.

Only a pile of rubble and the charred marks of a great fire remained. Not a single scrap of paper was left.

Firefly bit her lip and said, "There’s a secret spot. A lot of people know about it, but no one’s ever been able to open it. Shen Feng, do you want to check it out?" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Quite a few miners knew of the place, but none had ever gotten inside.

She didn’t know what the man was looking for, but she had to get on his good side if she wanted to get her treasure back.

"Lead the way."

Soon, they arrived before a large pit.

At the bottom of the pit, the corner of a square of metal alloy was exposed, glinting in the sunlight.

It was an underground bank vault.