Not Shang Qi, but Wen Shang Qi.
It was just that Su Ling wasn't present, and he was glad Su Ling wasn't present.
Otherwise, if she heard how Rao Beichen addressed the man, she would have been utterly confused.
Upon hearing Rao Beichen call his name, the man's consciousness slowly returned. Realizing he was not in danger, he released the wrist he had been gripping tightly.
As he let go, the pain in Rao Beichen's wrist instantly vanished.
Rao Beichen looked down at his hand, a twitch at the corner of his mouth. He was truly strong; his wrist was red and bruised.
"Rao Beichen," Wen Shang Qi sat up. Even though his movements, too large, had pulled at his wound, he didn't even frown. He looked at the person, his hoarse voice speaking again, "You're in a southern city, how did you end up in the north?"
Seeing that the man recognized him, Rao Beichen handed him a bottle of water. "Didn't they say there was a survivor base in the north? So, I brought my sister to seek refuge, hoping for a place to settle down."
Wen Shang Qi took the water, unscrewed the cap, and tilted his head back, gulping it down.
It was evident he was very thirsty and hadn't had water in a long time.
After finishing the bottle, Wen Shang Qi crumpled it in his hand. "You believed such nonsensical talk?" he asked.
If anyone else had said that, Rao Beichen would have argued back.
But if Wen Shang Qi said it, he believed it.
Rao Beichen turned to face Wen Shang Qi, staring at his well-defined jawline. "So?"
"The apocalypse has arrived, all beings are equal." Wen Shang Qi uttered these eight words and revealed no more.
However, Rao Beichen understood. This sudden apocalypse was akin to heaven disrupting all existing structures and systems. All hierarchies, such as scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, had crumbled under the apocalypse.
This was a new era, an era of new opportunities.
In this new world, survivors held their fates in their own hands; whether they could carve out a place for themselves depended on individual destiny.
But Rao Beichen knew it wasn't that simple.
The systems had collapsed, but what needed to change wouldn't.
The strong would become stronger, the weak would become weaker; the law of the jungle, the jungle law, was an eternal truth.
If one truly believed in the equality of all beings, they wouldn't last long in this apocalypse.
Those who possessed cold weapons and those who were utterly defenseless were two entirely different kinds of people.
"Is there any food?" Wen Shang Qi clearly didn't want to discuss such a heavy topic. After asking Rao Beichen, his gaze fell on the steaming basin of water. "I'm hungry."
"Yes, wait," Rao Beichen replied and got up. Before leaving, he looked at Wen Shang Qi, "While I prepare something for you, I suggest you clean yourself up. Clean clothes are on the bed."
After Rao Beichen left the room, Wen Shang Qi sat on the bed, looked at the clean clothes beside him, and then at the basin of hot water in front of him.
He picked up a pair of scissors and cut open his clothes. He was too lazy to take them off; it was the most effective method for saving time.
When Rao Beichen emerged from the room, he went to the kitchen.
He retrieved two packets of instant noodles, four eggs, and a small bunch of small green vegetables that Rao Can had ripened with her ability.
Those were Rao Can's spoils of war; she had been very happy and bragged about them for a long time.
Rao Can wasn't in the room, so Rao Beichen knew without looking that she was outside tending to the vegetable garden.
Ever since she discovered her awakened wood ability, the seedlings in the vegetable garden had become her experimental subjects.
Her tinkering had yielded results, such as this bunch of verdant small green vegetables.
Their siblings hadn't eaten yet, so they would use Wen Shang Qi as an experimental subject!