Reborn in the end of the world, I scavenged in the empty city and bought for free

The missing child belonged to the young couple from the Dai family at the end of the village. At the time, the couple were burning firewood in the kitchen to cook dinner, and their five-year-old child was making a fuss about wanting to go out and play.

Although it was so cold in the yard that people were shivering, everyone had adapted to the weather of dozens of degrees below zero during this extremely cold period. As long as they wore thicker clothes and did not stay outdoors for a long time, it would not affect their activities outside for a while.

The five-year-old boy was making a snowman in the yard. The hostess heard him playing around before, but then she didn't hear any noise from him for about five or six minutes. The hostess thought it was a little strange, so she put down her work and went to the yard.

As a result, the gate of the yard was still closed, but there was no one in the yard at this time. Only a half-built snowman and strange footprints of varying depths were left in the snow...

The news of the missing child immediately alarmed the entire Xiaoxi Village. The Dai couple frantically searched the whole village for their child, but no matter how hard they looked, they couldn't find any trace of the child. They were even more worried that the child would freeze to death in the snow under such circumstances.

Upon learning the news, Zhang Youfan immediately organized a team of more than 40 people in the village to search for the child.

Xiaoxi Village is not very big, and it only takes an hour to walk around the whole village. Everyone searched from six in the afternoon until almost eight in the evening, but there was still no sign of the Dai family's children, so they had to temporarily withdraw their manpower and only leave groups of ten villagers to continue patrolling at night as before.

The patrol team held torches in their hands and looked solemnly at the Xiaoxi Village, which had no lights at all.

Since there was no electricity, in order to save the use of candles or kerosene lamps at night, basically all activities were carried out in the dark, and meals had to be eaten before 6 pm.

Qiao Laoer from the patrol team held a torch in one hand and an axe in the other as he walked along a rural path that he had walked no less than a thousand times. He listened to the rustling sound of the cold wind and tightened his collar to prevent the cold wind from entering his clothes.

Because of the light reflected from the snow underfoot, and the fact that everyone was holding torches in their hands, the scenery about three or four meters ahead could be clearly illuminated.

Even so, everyone still felt a little nervous when walking outside, especially after seeing Liu Dawei's body and the disappearance of the Dai family's children. Now the villagers are in a panic, and families with children no longer let their children go out alone, not even in the yard.

Others also started to do what Gu Tongwan did before. Those who had wooden boards used them to reinforce the windows and doors, and those who didn't have any tried their best to wrap a circle of wire to make a simple burglar-proof trap.

Qiao Laoer's group is responsible for patrolling from 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock in the morning, which is about two or three times. When they come out, they all look gloomy. After all, at this time of year, they usually stay in their warm beds. Who would be willing to do something that has no benefits and is risky?

But once they thought about the patrol being for the safety of the village, especially since everyone had wives and children, and thought about the fact that it was also for the children at home, they gritted their teeth and dragged their feet slowly along the country path.

Qiao Laoer was walking in the front. The person walking side by side with him hunched his neck and had been shivering since he left the house. He stared at the dark area in front of him and complained, "Damn it, it's so cold, and we have to go out. I just want to go back to the house and sleep on the warm kang."

Qiao Lao Er smiled disdainfully and asked, "Still heating the kang? Are you sure there's still firewood at home?"

The man immediately pursed his lips upon hearing this, and his expression gradually darkened. He then sighed, "Hey, you know what, the firewood in the yard has been almost used up these past two days. I wonder when the village chief will organize people to go to the orchard."

Qiao Laoer clenched the machete in his hand a little tighter and stared at him with an expression that seemed to be neither smiling nor laughing. In fact, he knew very well that the atmosphere in the village was not good recently. The village chief must be having a headache as well. The orchard was 20 kilometers round trip. If one had to walk, one would have to leave in the morning and return in the afternoon. Furthermore, too many young and middle-aged people could not go there at one time, otherwise who would be in charge of the village security?

Tomorrow is the first day to go to the orchard. There are more than a hundred people in the village who have signed up, but there are actually only 25 places. Zhang Youfan can only let each household draw lots, and those who don't get a place can only wait for the next time.

However, the firewood that is chopped must be distributed to those whose families have used up all the firewood, and the amount to be distributed depends on the villagers themselves.

Qiao Laoer thought there was nothing wrong with this approach. It was the best arrangement the village chief could make.

The man who was speaking took out a cigarette from his pocket tremblingly, nudged Qiao Laoer beside him with his elbow, and said shamelessly: "Hey, lend me a light, let me smoke a puff."

"Bah, you're still thinking about smoking even when you're on patrol."

"Haha, aren't you afraid of getting sleepy? One can help you stay awake. Do you want one?"

Qiao Laoer hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head, "No, it's not convenient to smoke with something in your hand, hurry up." Then he handed over the torch.

The man smiled, raised the cigarette in his hand, then lit the burning torch. The crackling sound of the torch burning kerosene was heard in his ears.

In the flickering light of the fire, the man with a cigarette in his mouth seemed to see something flash by on the snow in front of him, so fast that it was difficult to capture with his eyes.

"Are you ready?" Qiao Lao Er urged irritably.

The man's eyes were fixed on the place where the black shadow had just flashed by. Even Qiao Laoer noticed that something was wrong with the man.

Qiao Laoer had been a soldier in his early years. Although he was discharged after only five years, his alertness and judgment were higher than ordinary people. He immediately squinted his eyes, gritted his teeth, and made a gesture to the people behind him.

"What's the matter, Qiao Laoer? Why did you stop suddenly?" asked the villager who was traveling with him.

Another person asked impatiently, "That's right, I'm almost freezing to death, and it's even colder if I stop."

The tip of Qiao Laoer's tongue pressed against his tooth crown, his pair of black eyes were tightly fixed on everything around him, and the torch began to change direction continuously.

The people behind him also sensed that something was wrong with Qiao Laoer, and they suddenly became nervous, holding the weapons they carried when they went out.

"call out!"

At that moment, a black shadow flashed past the wall of a nearby house. As the torch moved over, everyone could vaguely see the bloody face of that thing.

"Ah!" Someone couldn't help but scream in horror.

"Stop shouting, don't form a formation, and don't run around, unless you want to die!" Qiao Laoer shouted, and then he saw something lying face down on the snow under the wall. It seemed to have been thrown down by the thing that just passed by.

Qiao Laoer took the lead and walked closer. He shone the torch downwards and suddenly took a deep breath.

The thing lying there turned out to be the Dai family’s child who disappeared yesterday!