"Bro, bro, wake up quickly, there seems to be something outside my window."
Qin Ziwen, who had been exhausted from moving all day, was woken up and couldn't suppress his irritation. "What the hell are you, a 187cm sports student, scared of a damn chicken feather for!"
"It seems like a bat, a really big bat."
"A single bat scared you into this pathetic state!"
Qin Ziwen reached to the bedside table to turn on the light.
Click, click.
He pressed the switch several times, but the room remained pitch black.
"Bro, it seems like the residential complex lost power. I couldn't turn on the lights earlier either."
Sitting up from the bed, Qin Ziwen glanced at his younger brother sitting by the bedside in the moonlight coming through the window, grumbling as he got up: "Let me see just how amazing this bat is that scared you so badly. I'll beat it into dried bat jerky and hang it by your bedside every day."
Entering the secondary bedroom, "Where's the bat? Why did you stick such a huge poster on your window?"
"That's not a poster, I didn't stick anything on my window." Qin Ziwu's voice trembled slightly.
Qin Ziwen: ?
He looked at the window, at that black, writhing thing that almost covered the entire glass surface.
The 1.2*1.8m glass was almost completely filled.
Moonlight shone through from outside, vaguely revealing its outline that somewhat resembled a bat. A big question mark flashed in his mind, "Is this a bat?"
But that wasn't the main point. The main point was how his recently purchased downtown apartment had turned into a wilderness forest house, with a river meandering not far away.
He pointed outside the window, "Where's my huge downtown area?"
"Holy crap! Bro, your house is worthless now." Only then did Qin Ziwu realize, his attention had been completely focused on this thing earlier, and he hadn't had time to observe outside.
Thump!
The glass vibrated with a loud noise. Their talking had attracted its attention, and its claws began scratching at the window.
Qin Ziwen took a step back, his left hand hooking the door handle. "Go to the kitchen and get knives, quickly."
Qin Ziwu hurried to the kitchen and brought back two kitchen knives.
Taking the knives from his younger brother, Qin Ziwen felt slightly more at ease with the blades in hand.
After a brief standoff, the bat perched on the window suddenly spread its wings, its body instantly expanding two to three times in size, flapping its wings as it flew toward the forest behind.
Even through the window, they could hear the "flapping" sound of its strong, powerful wings.
Only after the bat flew far away did Qin Ziwen's tense body finally relax slightly, wiping cold sweat from his forehead.
Returning to the bedroom, he picked up his phone beside the pillow and unlocked the screen - zero signal in the upper right corner.
Although he had mentally prepared himself when seeing the scenery outside the window, when reality increasingly approached the truth, he still felt dazed for a moment.
So, did my residential complex really transmigrate?
Swish—
He pulled open the main bedroom curtains.
Under the night sky's illumination, the complex buildings bathed in cold moonlight. Outside the complex, in every direction, were vast stretches of continuous dark forest.
......
Chirp chirp~
On the large trees on both sides, colorful birds that didn't look like Earth's native species curiously watched these uninvited guests below.
In the open space not far from Building 8, many homeowners gathered together, the atmosphere oppressive.
A middle-aged man in a suit said gravely: "I tried many times, calls won't go through, there's no signal at all. Even going to the rooftop is the same, and I observed the surroundings from up there—it's all forest..."
A middle-aged woman said worriedly: "Will the government come to rescue us?"
A younger woman nearby pointed at the two suns in the sky: "I think it's unlikely. It's not even certain we're still on Earth."
A teenager in gray sportswear angrily blamed his companion, "It's all your fault for insisting we come to your place to hang out. Now look, we've all transmigrated! How do I get back? My mom must be worried sick."
His slightly taller companion, facing the accusation, also looked somewhat displeased. "How the hell was I supposed to know? Do you think you're the only one with a mother? How could I have predicted something like this? Instead of blaming me, you should think about how to survive."
Qin Ziwen and his younger brother Qin Ziwu stood to the side, exchanging a glance.
Qin Ziwu whispered: "Bro, good thing we transmigrated at night, your house is still here. If we transmigrated during the day, not only would your house be gone, but you'd still have to pay the mortgage."
Qin Ziwen gave his brother a sidelong glance. "Do you think you're being funny?"
Qin Ziwu showed an awkward smile. "Since things are like this, let's be optimistic. It can't possibly get worse anyway."
After waking up in the middle of the night, the brothers didn't dare sleep for the rest of the night and had accepted the fact of transmigration. Holding out until dawn, residents in the complex gradually noticed something was wrong, with some going door to door knocking.
Their Yujing Jiangcheng residential complex had 10 buildings in total, mostly low-rise residential buildings. The transmigration range happened to cover the entire complex, including the complex walls, south gate, and east side gate. There was also a usually closed large iron gate locked with a padlock on the north side.
At the same time, the underground parking garage on the negative first floor remained intact, with the garage entrance/exit located next to the east side gate.
Plus, since the transmigration happened at night, residents were mostly at home. Rough estimates suggested at least one to two thousand people.
In the center of the crowd, the middle-aged man in a suit looked around at everyone: "The water, electricity, and gas in our home are all cut off. Yours should be the same, right? After the power outage, food in the refrigerator won't last long before spoiling. To survive, I think we should unite and find stable food sources in the surrounding area."
A bald man in a short jacket diagonally across suddenly interjected: "There's a forest right next to us, how could we lack food? I think you're just trying to seize power while you have the chance. I've seen plenty of people like you."
The suited middle-aged man's expression remained unchanged. "I'm just making a suggestion, not forcing anyone. I'm looking for like-minded friends. Those willing to cooperate, we can strive to survive together.
My name is Huang Tao, I live in Building 7. I've studied freestyle fighting for several years, enjoy mountain climbing and camping, and have some experience with setting up camps and making fires."
At the edge of the crowd, an elderly woman surnamed Li who lived on the second floor of Building 8 clapped her hands: "Oh dear, the power's out! Then the meat in the refrigerator will spoil. I need to hurry and smoke it."
After saying this, Granny Li hurriedly turned and left.
Many bystanders were reminded and immediately returned home.
Some didn't know how to do it and quickly asked neighbors who did. Many only knew that smoking meat involved placing it over fire and smoking it, but didn't know specifics like how long to smoke it, how high to place the meat, whether to rub it with salt, or if they should just dry smoke it directly.
Qin Ziwen gently nudged his brother with his elbow. "Let's go take a look."
Qin Ziwu was shocked. "Bro, we always order takeout normally. There's no meat at home at all."
Qin Ziwen: "We don't have any now, but that doesn't mean we won't have any later."
Granny Li was very enthusiastic. When people came to ask, she answered each one, eventually inviting others into her home to demonstrate how to cure meat.
"This smoked meat, the technique is actually simple. Just remember: cure, smoke, store. In the past, we used coarse salt to rub it inside and out several times, then used stones to press out the blood from the meat, then smoked it with smoke. Remember not to directly roast it with fire—use wet wood or sawdust that produces smoke but not flames, slowly simmering and smoking it. Hang the meat above to slowly dry it out. When the meat turns deep red, feels hard when pinched, and feels light when lifted, then it's properly smoked."
"No salt? You can smoke it directly too. Cut the meat thin, don't leave large pieces, cut it into thin strips, hang it up and slowly smoke it with smoke. This way it can be preserved a bit longer too, but without salt it still won't last very long."
Granny Li's husband, sitting in a wheelchair, went to the sink to wash some fruits and distributed them to the neighbors who had entered the house.
Some people ate the fruits directly after receiving them, while others pocketed them.
"Thank you." Qin Ziwen accepted an apple with both hands.
The old man gave Qin Ziwen a friendly smile, then handed another apple to Qin Ziwu, who quickly accepted it.
After Granny Li finished curing the meat, she taught the neighbors many other food preservation tips.
She used to live in the countryside, but after her husband broke his leg, living in the countryside became inconvenient. After their son divorced, he simply brought the elderly couple up to take care of them.
"Where's your son?" someone asked.
Granny Li said with a smile: "He was on night shift yesterday, not at home."
Many people in the room felt a chill, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to undergo a subtle change.
Qin Ziwen took his brother and left.
Crunch.
On the stairs, Qin Ziwu took a big bite, smacking his lips as he savored it, somewhat regretful. "This apple is really sweet. Probably won't be easy to eat something like this in the future."
Returning home, Qin Ziwen began taking inventory of their household items.
Actually, he had already sorted through them once last night.
Household appliances were now basically useless. Tables and chairs could still be used for now. Not much food—just a box of small breads that had arrived by courier the day before yesterday and a box of white oak turkey noodles. There was half a can of protein powder in the cabinet, and half a bucket of water under the water dispenser.
In the drawer was a bottle of unused glue, two large buckets, one solid wood clothes drying pole, several clothes, bedding, ropes, and threads, two kitchen knives, one fruit knife, and one pair of scissors.
"Some people went outside." His brother standing by the window pointed outside.
Outside the complex wall, a dozen or so adults were cautiously exploring outward.
The surrounding trees were somewhat sparse, with about several dozen steps of distance.
"Ah!"
A startled cry came from the crowd below.
Someone pointed ahead.
Faintly, Qin Ziwen heard, "Snake." "Such a big snake."
Not far from that group, the grass waves rolled as a dark green giant snake thicker than a sewer pipe, startled, fled.
From the upstairs perspective, that snake was at least five to six meters long.
Qin Ziwu raised his eyebrows. "Bro, that snake could probably swallow a person."
Qin Ziwen looked grave. "A snake that long can indeed eat people. I keep feeling like the animals here are all quite large. We need to be careful."
After encountering the giant snake, the group downstairs fell into stagnation, with people in the team discussing something.
After a moment, the team dispersed, with three people turning back toward the complex.
Qin Ziwen removed the fruit knife blade, then used a kitchen knife to first grind then split a groove at the top of the clothes drying pole, inserting the blade into it.
He wrapped rope around the joint section, dripped glue into the gaps, and after the glue dried, wrapped another layer of rope outside.
This created a simple makeshift spear. He tested it several times to ensure it wouldn't easily come loose.
"Put this on." Qin Ziwen threw a winter long-sleeved jacket to his brother. He and his brother had similar height and build, so their clothes were basically interchangeable.
Before going out, Qin Ziwen specifically put on winter high-top thick-soled Martin boots, wore a leather jacket and long pants outside, with thermal underwear tucked into thick cotton socks, all tightly secured.
After going downstairs, the two headed straight for the south gate.
In the open space before the south gate, people gathered in small groups, mostly by family units, somewhat resembling team channels in games. Teams with strong adult males were more popular.
"Hey, Little Qin, come over here." A woman not far away waved at Qin Ziwen.
"Sister Wang?" Qin Ziwen didn't expect to encounter department supervisor Wang Juan here.
Next to Wang Juan was her husband, whom Qin Ziwen had met a few times, and a slightly younger woman wearing glasses who was secretly sizing up Qin Ziwu.
"Little Qin, what exactly is going on? There's a project progress meeting at the company today, and now it's all delayed!" Wang Juan sighed.
Qin Ziwu glanced at her, somewhat displeased. Who do you think you are, calling my brother "Little Qin" so casually?
The woman with glasses said: "Anyway, there are no two suns on Earth. We probably can't go back."
Wang Juan said with a smile: "You, and your brother, perfect—team up with my husband. More people means more safety. You men have good physical strength, responsible for scouting and protection."
She continued: "My sister is a nurse, studied first aid, can handle logistics. We're just short of two strong laborers. You should just join us, it'll be more efficient."
Qin Ziwen's mouth twitched, finding it both irritating and laughable. He said calmly: "We have our own arrangements, no need to trouble you, Sister Wang."
After saying this, he turned and left.
"Hey, wait! Young people these days have no team consciousness. What era is this? Going solo won't accomplish anything. There are three of us, and two of you."
Qin Ziwen didn't respond further. Running into such a peculiar person first thing in the morning was just bad luck.
Still acting like we're at the company.
Wang Juan's husband watched their retreating figures, frowning discontentedly: "Why is your subordinate so disobedient? No sense of the bigger picture at all."
After walking farther away, Qin Ziwu complained: "Bro, your leader... still thinks she's at the company?"
"Maybe some people just get used to being leaders."
Walking down a short flight of steps, they arrived at the main south gate. Qin Ziwen stopped, and the visual impact was immense.
One of the glass doors of the gate was damaged, with another wide open. Inside the door were smooth floors, while outside were overgrown wilderness.
Knee-high weeds grew in large, disorderly patches. Further away were vast stretches of lush forest. In the sky, several birds flew past.
......