Outside the supermarket, Xiao Mo and Old Lu were completely encased in ice.
Old Lu squatted on the ground, head bowed, his expression focused, veins bulging on his hands as if trying to pry the ice off Xiao Mo's legs.
Yet, his face was completely devoid of blood.
Xiao Mo placed her hand on Old Lu’s head, seemingly trying to brush the ice shards off his hair.
Her face still held a smile, as if envisioning something.
Because Xiao Mo had just learned to apply makeup a few days prior, her face was still made up, making her look much like her usual self. This made her appear even more lifelike. The decision made at that time…
No one knew what they had discussed before death that would cause Xiao Mo to still have a smile on her face as she passed.
The supermarket's rolling shutter door had been breached by over 10c…
Otherwise, she wouldn't have remained immersed in the grief of her parents' passing, unable to move on.
In her previous life, after Tang Guo was swallowed by the flood, she had also cried for a long time. She even felt that living alone in the world was meaningless and had considered ending her own life.
At this moment, she naturally understood Tang Guo’s feelings.
Allowing Tang Guo to cry in her arms, Tang Li quietly waited.
After Tang Guo calmed down a little, Tang Li gently asked, "Can you tell me what exactly happened?"
Tang Guo nodded and recounted everything that had happened from beginning to end.
"Only 5 meters short! If Xiao Mo had run just 5 meters more, she could have made it back to the supermarket!"
"With just these 5 meters, I couldn't save her. I could only watch her die at the doorway!"
Upon hearing this, Tang Li did not offer any comforting words like "natural disasters cannot be resisted by human power."
Instead, she asked, "Does it hurt? Does it feel bad?"
Tang Guo nodded repeatedly.
Tang Li suddenly gripped Tang Guo's shoulders with both hands, her expression serious, and said:
"Then remember this heartache, remember this pain!"
"Don't let me experience this kind of heartache and pain like you are now, okay?"
Tang Guo was stunned by her words.
She noticed that Tang Li had specifically emphasized the word "again."
At this moment, Tang Guo did not know that Tang Li had been reborn, nor did she know that Tang Li had already experienced her death once. She only thought Tang Li was referring to the time when their father and mother died.
Thinking of how Tang Li had been unable to move on after her parents' death, Tang Guo's heart ached fiercely.
After a long pause, she solemnly replied, "Okay!"
Though it was a single word, it carried the weight of a thousand pounds.
This was Tang Guo's promise to Tang Li, and it would also be their lifelong pact.
"By the way, you said that Uncle Lu didn't want to come back himself? What's going on with that?"
Hearing Tang Li's question, Tang Guo sighed and began to explain to Tang Li.
It turned out that Old Lu was a retired soldier.
Before the catastrophe, he was successful in his career and had a complete family. His family of five was very happy.
In July, after the catastrophe began, as a veteran, he was recalled to participate in disaster relief.
However, his hometown was in the Yellow River Flood Zone, and his parents and wife and daughter were all there. After the Yellow River breached, his entire family was swept away by the flood, and he was the only one left.
It was likely for this reason that he chose to die in this catastrophe rather than live alone.
"This is what Uncle Wu told us later, and that's how we found out."
After hearing Tang Guo's account, Tang Li also fell silent.
After the catastrophe began, there were not a few people like him who, having lost their families, lost their faith, or saw no hope for the future, chose to end their own lives.
In the apocalypse, some people would do anything to survive, while others would easily give up their lives due to psychological breakdown. These were very common occurrences.
In her previous life, if Tang Li hadn't had the belief of going to the underground city to support her, she probably would have given up long ago.
But what would be the point of going to the underground city?
She hadn't thought about it, and she dared not think about it.