My neighborhood has time-traveled.

Chapter 5 Sunbathing

In the morning, a faint light shone into the room.

Li Hao opened his eyes on the bed.

"Huh, my body doesn't seem as swollen anymore."

He rubbed his arm.

"So sturdy."

I clenched my fist and felt my body fill with power.

He went to the window, drew back the curtains, and the sunlight shone on him, making him feel warm and comfortable.

It feels as comfortable as soaking in a hot spring.

"This feeling..."

He looked up at the two suns in the sky. The suns, which were originally scorching hot, now seemed incredibly gentle, and a sense of joy welled up inside him.

"It looks like you're cured."

I picked up a bottle of water from the computer desk next to me, took a sip, and my throat no longer felt like I was swallowing razor blades; it had returned to normal.

He went out of his room, into the living room, and ate some bread and kiwi.

Arriving at Li Wen's door, he placed his hand on the doorknob, paused for a moment, and then gently opened the door and went inside.

The room curtains were drawn, making it somewhat dim.

It's very quiet.

Li Hao held his breath and squatted down beside Li Wen's bed, hearing Li Wen's faint breathing.

This relieved him.

Without intending to disturb anyone, he quietly left the room and closed the door behind him.

He picked up the axe from the corner.

"Huh, is it lighter now?"

He swung the axe in the air and felt that it seemed a little lighter than yesterday.

"Could it be that I've been training, which is why I feel lighter?"

I didn't think about it carefully.

He took the axe, looked through the peephole to make sure no one was outside, opened the door, and went out.

He closed the door, but instead of going downstairs, he went upstairs.

The apartment building he lives in has 32 floors, and he lives on the 9th floor.

"Cough cough cough."

As soon as you go up one floor, you can hear a heavy cough coming from inside a door.

After walking down two more floors, I heard a couple arguing inside, their voices hoarse.

Woman: "You're the most useless one. Everyone else managed to grab something, but you didn't."

Man: "Go ahead and try if you dare. You think it's that easy?"

After going up a few more floors, the faint sound of crying could be heard from one of the houses.

Two voices came out intermittently, hoarse in tone.

"Mom is dead now, what are we going to do?" It was a woman, her voice choked with sobs.

"What else can we do but notify them to cremate us?" the man sighed.

"There are no crematoriums anymore, so where are we supposed to be cremated?"

"Notify the property management."

The woman said, "Go ahead, I'm too sick. If I go out now, I'll definitely die. I feel like I'm going to die any minute now."

The man immediately said, "Am I not seriously ill? I also feel like I'm about to die, cough cough cough."

After a brief silence.

The woman suggested, "Let's leave Mom's body here for now. There's a seven-day mourning period, right? Let's leave it for a few days until we're better before we notify the property management."

Man: "Okay, sure."

The woman said, "Mom, please bear with this for now. Just consider it as spending more time with us at home."

Li Hao left the door of that house and continued walking uphill.

During this time, some more sounds came out intermittently, but he didn't listen to them anymore.

The information gleaned from these sounds made him realize that the situation was far more serious than he had imagined.

The only thing that made him feel fortunate was that he was cured.

The body is the capital of revolution.

As long as he is physically okay, he believes that if he and his brother work together, they will be able to establish themselves in this strange world.

Upon arriving at the 32nd floor, the door to the rooftop was open.

He knew that many women would often bring their blankets and clothes to the rooftop to air them out.

In the residents' group chat, he often sees messages about who put their clothes in the wrong place or who didn't bring in their blankets when it rained.

Stepping onto the rooftop, I found it completely empty.

Sunlight streamed down.

The bright sun shone on him.

"So heartwarming."

Li Hao faced the sun, opened his arms, and closed his eyes.

You can clearly feel that your skin is getting warm, and your whole body feels warm.

A sense of joy also came over me.

He opened his eyes a few minutes later.

He carried his axe to the edge of the rooftop and looked into the distance.

The towering mountains rise and fall, forming a continuous expanse.

Various large trees and plants sprang up from the ground, creating a desolate scene.

A great river meanders through the mountains and forests, and its upper reaches connect to a huge lake.

Large birds flew over the mountains and forests.

Occasionally, one can also hear the sounds of unidentified birds and wild animals.

"I have to say, it gives me the feeling of a grand villa in the mountains."

Li Hao's lips curled up slightly.

He looked at the river and lake outside the residential area, and his heart, which had just relaxed a little, tightened again. "Is it an electric eel?"

He pictured the man convulsing in the water.

Unless a grown man is having an epileptic seizure, it's impossible for him to stand in the river trembling and not come out.

The man's body was being dragged behind him, and the water suddenly became murky, clearly indicating the presence of ferocious fish.

"And that snake."

Li Hao lowered his head, his eyes deep in thought.

It was just a fleeting glimpse, but that snake was unlike any he had ever seen before.

Those scales were practically like metal.

It was so fast, it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Um?"

Just then, Li Hao saw a man walking around on the rooftop of a building next door.

The other building is shorter than this one, only 30 stories.

After spotting Li Hao, the other party waved the machete in their hand in this direction.

It's a way of saying hello.

Li Hao also waved the axe in his hand at the other party.

The two men had excellent chemistry.

The man across the way only observed from the balcony for a while before going down, glancing at Li Hao one last time before leaving.

Li Hao lay on the rooftop, closed his eyes, and enjoyed a sunbath.

As the sun rises higher.

There were more noises coming from the neighborhood.

Faint sounds of coughing, arguing, and children crying.

There was also the sound of something falling to the ground.

A small black bag was suddenly thrown out of one of the windows, falling from a great height and hitting the ground.

About an hour later, Li Hao got up and looked down, but there was still no one moving around.

It's much quieter now.

"Let's get started!"

He stretched out a big yawn, feeling full of energy.

He could fight for three days and three nights without any problem.

After going downstairs, I arrived at the ground floor.

Patrol the community.

Several convenience stores were looted, with waste paper, debris, and crushed household items scattered at the entrance.

He saw a house on the first floor that was planning to renovate, so he went inside.

Inside, it was a bare shell, with a row of cement piled up in the corner and sand and bricks piled up in the open space in the middle.

"Looks like we can take some back and build a clay stove."

Since there's no electricity now, we'll have to rely on fire from now on, and we can't do without earthen stoves.

He had already planned in his mind to build a clay stove on the balcony so that he could cook meals in the future.

Li Hao put the axe on the ground, gripped the cement bag with both hands, and before he could even lift it up, two men carrying machetes came out.

One of them had a wolf's head tattooed on his arm; he was the man who had fought for control of the neighborhood.

The other one is blond.

The two men were visibly taken aback when they saw that there were already people inside.

"Big brother, I didn't expect anyone could get out of bed." The younger brother looked Li Hao up and down, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

They just walked around and didn't see a single living person down there.

Even many of their brothers were ill.

Hearing the noise, Li Hao put down the cement and turned around.

"Big brother, it's that guy from 905."

The blond-haired thug recognized Li Hao at a glance.

The last time he came to visit was with another brother.

"Hey bro, which group have you joined yet?"

Zhao Meng smiled and walked towards Li Hao, casually taking out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it as he went.

"Not yet." Li Hao shook his head and gripped the axe in his hand.

"Haha, no good ones, here, have a smoke."

Zhao Meng glanced at the axe, took out a cigarette, and handed one to Li Hao.

"I don't smoke." Li Hao didn't answer and shook his head.

When Zhao Meng heard that Li Hao wasn't smoking but was still exhaling smoke, he paused for a moment, then stubbed out the cigarette he had just taken a puff of against the wall next to him.

He put the two cigarettes back into the pack, gestured towards Li Hao, and said...

"So, how about it? Interested in joining us?"