Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 957 - 468: Life (End)

Liu Sheng is still alive, though his arm's wound hasn't gotten infected, it's far from healed. The two survivors in the cellar dare not go outside, nor do they dare to dispose of the bodies of the three deceased. It's the height of summer, hot, and the corpses have been left in the damp, dark cellar for so long that they've become severely decomposed. With them eating, drinking, and relieving themselves all in this cellar, surrounded daily by decay and excrement, the environment is despairingly grim...

Qin Huai Guang, hearing Chen Qiusheng speak, can already imagine such hellish misery.

Chen Qiusheng advised that Liu Sheng and the other survivor should venture outside occasionally to avoid losing their sanity in such conditions, but Liu Sheng refused.

Before their wounds heal, they are nothing but ticking time bombs; any appearance would bring ruin to the Chen Family.

Zhao Cheng'an asked perplexed, "How can their wounds heal a bit faster?"

Chen Ping'an sighed, "There's no doctor now, and we lack the conditions to prepare medicine. From Father's description, the other person's wound is likely infected too. Unless we have penicillin, otherwise..."

"What's penicillin?" Zhao Cheng'an asked.

"A medicine that's only available in hospitals," Chen Ping'an said. "For such gunshot trauma, penicillin is the only cure for rapid healing without infection."

Zhao Cheng'an nodded, somewhat understanding.

In the following days, Chen Qiusheng and the others mostly hid in the cellar. With them hiding for so long, they knew little about the outside world, and as food dwindled, even the usually level-headed Chen Qiusheng began to feel anxious.

Once the last candle burned out, Zhao Cheng'an suggested he go outside to steal some candles, medicine, and wood, and to see what the situation outside was really like.

In desperate times, food can be gnawed raw, and Chen Qiusheng had prepared many cornbreads for hard chewing without worry, but Chen Ping'an's medicine was needed daily. The wood consumption was much faster than Chen Qiusheng anticipated, and the cellar was almost out of wood.

Chen Ping'an was also running out of medicine.

Initially, Chen Qiusheng disagreed, but after Zhao Cheng'an pleaded for several days, Chen Qiusheng agreed. Zhao Cheng'an, still clueless about the current situation, excitedly left the house for the first time under the cover of night.

Outside was silent.

There were still bloodstains not washed away on the roadside; some houses were intact, some were unrecognizable, and some had burned to rubble.

Zhao Cheng'an had prepared early, studying the ingredients in Chen Ping'an's recipe, and went straight to a pharmacy once he left. A result awaited him: the pharmacy had been looted, the door destroyed, and there were old, unresolved bloodstains on the counters.

Zhao Cheng'an tried scraping out some usable medicine from the gaps between the shelves, but to no avail, he had no clue what he was looking for. He could only scratch his head and move to the next target, leaving a remark:

"It's one thing to steal gold, silver, and jewels, but why steal the medicine too?"

The next pharmacy wasn't much better.

Throughout the night, Zhao Cheng'an nearly ran through all the pharmacies he remembered in Beiping, only two seemed not completely ransacked, but even then, there were scant supplies left.

He couldn't gather all the herbs needed for Chen Ping'an's recipe.

It was past midnight; Zhao Cheng'an could continue stealing, but without a known source, he lost his way forward.

He took a handful of herbs and the three candles he managed to find from the cupboards back home, planning to ask Chen Qiusheng if there were any remaining pharmacies in Beiping; medicine was priority, not wood.

Under the cover of night, Zhao Cheng'an skillfully dodged the patrolling Japanese troops and returned home.

Upon reaching the door, Qin Huai instantly sensed something amiss.

The door was ajar.

There was a strong stench of blood inside.

Zhao Cheng'an also noticed without climbing over the wall, and ran directly through the front door to the backyard. Before he reached the courtyard, he stumbled upon a body.

Qin Huai looked at the ground under moonlight; it was a patrol soldier.

Farther ahead lay another corpse, one of the wounded soldiers in the cellar who had still been alive earlier.

Blood pooled everywhere, the stench of blood emanating strongly from there.

"Master, Ping'an." At such a time, Zhao Cheng'an ignored the taboo of speaking loudly and shouted directly.

"A sheng." Chen Qiusheng's voice came from a corner.

Zhao Cheng'an dashed over, sparking the candles from his pouch with flint. By candlelight, Qin Huai saw the situation clearly in the corner.

Chen Qiusheng sat quietly against the wall, cradling Chen Ping'an, whose abdomen was entirely stained red with blood, soaking through his clothes. His consciousness was blurry, face and lip pale to a terrifying degree; except for the faint breath he still took, he seemed no different from a corpse.

About three to four meters to the right of Chen Qiusheng lay another patrol soldier's body, Liu Sheng collapsed against the wall, covered in blood, making it impossible to discern wounds, eyes open, the corners of his mouth carrying a relieved smile, pupils long gone unfocused.

"Master, you..." Zhao Cheng'an nearly crawled before Chen Qiusheng, knelt, holding Chen Ping'an's hand, trying to confirm he was still alive, hoping to feel warmth in his hand.

Chen Qiusheng, almost numb, looked toward Zhao Cheng'an, still maintaining the posture of cradling Chen Ping'an, like holding a giant child. His hand covered Chen Ping'an's abdomen, as if it could hold the wound shut.