{"id":18327,"date":"2026-09-15T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/?p=18327"},"modified":"2026-09-13T15:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T19:02:56","slug":"teld029","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/teld029\/","title":{"rendered":"Two or Three Events in the Last Days 029"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Chapter 29: Huangtai Town<\/span><\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The group of eight sat by the roadside to rest while Zhao Shaoqian went to knock on a nearby door. The woman who lived there was also a doctor and worked with his father at the Huangtai Town Health Clinic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

He knocked for quite a while before someone finally answered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The woman who opened the door was startled when she saw Zhao Shaoqian.<\/span><\/p>

“<\/span>Xiao*<\/span><\/span> Zhao? Do you need something?” Even though she knew him, given the current situation, she only opened the door a crack.<\/span><\/p>

*Xiao = Little, basically calling him Young Zhao, or Little Zhao<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>

Understanding her caution, Zhao Shaoqian asked, “Sister Hong, I just wanted to ask about the situation in your village. Besides the wild plant growth, has anything strange happened?”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Sister Hong replied, “Does an increase in mosquitoes count? Oh, right. Someone returned from the provincial capital yesterday evening. We heard from him that the situation outside is pretty bad. If you want the details, you can ask at his house.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

As she spoke, she pointed toward a two-story building nearby.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Unlike Chashan Ridge, which was a village of mixed surnames, most of the people here were surnamed Xie. Sister Hong’s full name was Xie Hong. The homeowner she had pointed out was named Xie Wen, and the person who had returned the previous evening was Xie Wen’s younger brother, Xie Shu, who had moved to the provincial capital years ago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

When Xie Shu learned that Zhao Shaoqian and the others were asking about conditions outside, he gave them a general account of what he had witnessed.<\/span><\/p>

“At first, things weren’t too bad. Every day the government sent water trucks to designated locations, and every three days people could collect relief food. But the water was only enough to keep people from dying of thirst. There wasn’t enough even for washing your face, and the food barely kept people half full.”<\/span><\/p>

“As time went on, more and more people lost their patience. Robberies, looting, and violence happened everywhere. After the earthquake, things became even more chaotic. Street gangs started organizing themselves and collecting protection fees from residential areas. They fought openly in the streets over territory, acting like they didn’t care whether they lived or died. Even the police couldn’t control them.”<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD)\u00a0 is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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“Eventually we couldn’t take it anymore and decided to return to our hometown. The day before we left, a family living downstairs from us had their door broken down in the middle of the night. Every member of the household was murdered, and all the food in their home was stolen.”<\/span><\/p>

Xie Shu had remained relatively calm at first, but as he continued speaking, his eyes reddened. His wife and two daughters looked haggard and quietly cried beside him. Everyone else fell silent.<\/span><\/p>

The listeners could imagine the events he described, but they could not truly understand the despair and terror of those who had lived through it.<\/span><\/p>

“The night before last, we arrived at the county town. It was already late, and all the shops and inns were closed, so my wife, daughters, and I spent the night in a looted shop.”<\/span><\/p>

As he recounted this, a look of fear appeared on his face.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

“Before going to sleep, I carefully observed the nearby buildings. I remember very clearly that across the street from the shop there was a potted morning glory covered in flowers. It looked quite beautiful.”<\/span><\/p>

“We’d been traveling continuously and were exhausted. Since we’d finally reached our home county, we relaxed a little. Normally we never dared sleep too deeply, but that night all of us slept soundly\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>

\u201c\u2014 until a scream woke us up in the morning.”<\/span><\/p>

As Xie Shu spoke, everyone’s eyes widened.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Startled awake, Xie Shu had immediately jumped to his feet and awakened his wife and daughters. He cautiously peeked outside and saw a scene that nearly made his legs give out.<\/span><\/p>

The morning glory across the street had somehow transformed into a massive, sprawling thicket. Its blossoms had grown as large as washbasins, and their colors had changed from plain purple to vivid, multicolored hues. Thick vines sprawled across half the street.<\/span><\/p>

Within clear view, a man was tightly wrapped in the vines. One funnel-shaped blossom had clamped itself around the man’s head. He struggled for a while before going still. Then the flower loosened and pulled away.<\/span><\/p>

It took his head with it.<\/span><\/p>

The flower had literally twisted the man’s head off!<\/span><\/p>

His body was then carried back along the vines like cargo on a conveyor belt toward the roots of the giant plant, where it quickly disappeared beneath layers of foliage.<\/span><\/p>

As for the flower that held the severed head, the blood staining it rendered it even more gruesome and macabre.<\/span><\/p>

The terrifying sight filled Xie Shu with fear, but when he thought about his wife and daughters behind him, he forced himself to calm down. He turned around and quietly instructed them not to make a sound. Carrying only their belongings, they carefully slipped out of the shop.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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But the morning glory seemed almost sentient. The moment they stepped outside, nearly every blossom – as if endowed with eyes – swiveled in unison to face them.<\/span><\/p>

Realizing they had been spotted, Xie Shu knew there was no point hiding. He shouted and grabbed his daughters, sprinting forward as fast as he could. As they ran, the vines surged toward them like snakes. Fortunately, the plant occupied the opposite side of the street, leaving some distance between them.<\/span><\/p>

Just as they were about to escape its reach, his wife suddenly cried out. Looking back, Xie Shu saw that the nearest blossom had bitten onto her backpack and was dragging her backward.<\/span><\/p>

He shoved his daughters forward and shouted, \u201cRun!\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Then he spun around, grabbed his wife’s legs, and told her to raise her arms high, as he hauled her towards himself.<\/span><\/p>

Although terrified, she had not completely lost her composure. She immediately lifted her arms as instructed, and working with the force of his pull, instantly freed herself from the backpack\u2019s grip.<\/span><\/p>

Neither of them dared look back. They grabbed their daughters, who were crying and reluctant to leave, and continued running. Only after putting a great distance between themselves and the plant did they finally stop.<\/span><\/p>

Once they did, they discovered that the entire county town had changed beyond recognition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The roads were cracked and uneven. Weeds covered large areas. Towering trees rose everywhere. Some buildings had been lifted and destabilized by massive trunks growing beneath them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Huge monkeys wandered through the trees. They bared sharp fangs and postured threateningly at anyone nearby.<\/span><\/p>

Having barely escaped death, Xie Shu’s family immediately tried to return to their village.<\/span><\/p>

But because Xie Shu only came back during major holidays, he was unfamiliar with the constantly changing county town.<\/span><\/p>

They wandered lost for half a day.<\/span><\/p>

During that time, they saw countless unfamiliar or transformed creatures and plants.<\/span><\/p>

In only a few hours, they encountered cats as large as wolves battling strange plants, spiders the size of millstones spinning webs, and enormous pythons as thick as buckets devouring giant wild dogs.<\/span><\/p>

Filled with fear and hunger, they finally found the correct route out just before their nerves completely collapsed. Traveling cautiously, they managed to return to their village before nightfall.<\/span><\/p>

For Xie Shu’s family, life in the provincial capital had felt unbearable, but it was nothing compared to those few hours in the county town.<\/span><\/p>

The constant terror of becoming prey at any moment still haunted them.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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When Xie Shu heard that the group intended to travel to Huangtai Town, he warned them, “No matter where you go now, carry weapons for self-defense. Any ordinary-looking plant or animal could be a predator.”<\/span><\/p>

“My elder brother also told me there are quite a few thugs around the county. Morality doesn’t restrain them anymore, and the law has lost its power. If anything, it only emboldens them to cause even more harm to others. Human nature can be terrifying, so you need to be on your guard against that, too.”<\/span><\/p>

Although the world had changed dramatically, the villagers had never imagined conditions outside were this severe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Yan Fei asked, “What about the people still in the county?”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Looking exhausted, Xie Shu replied, “They’re probably hiding. City residents have no food source other than government relief. Things were already chaotic before, and now with all the changes in plants and animals, nobody knows what the future holds.”<\/span><\/p>

“Yesterday we spent most of the day wandering around the county and only saw a few residents searching for food.”<\/span><\/p>

After the power outage, panic buying had swept through the county. Almost every household had stockpiled supplies, so food had not immediately become a problem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

But supplies would eventually run out. People could not remain locked inside forever.<\/span><\/p>

While many still placed their hopes in the government, survival would ultimately depend largely on themselves.<\/span><\/p>

At that moment, many of the villagers realized something.<\/span><\/p>

Before all this, they had lived difficult lives as laborers. Yet now that true hardship had arrived, they were actually in a better position to survive than many city dwellers.<\/span><\/p>

After all, they still had farmland.<\/span><\/p>

Hearing how dangerous the towns had become, someone voiced their hesitation. “Maybe we should just go back and forget about going to town.”<\/span><\/p>

Yan Fei glanced at him. “From what Uncle Xie said, it’s obvious that many of these mutated plants and animals have already begun claiming territory. In the future they’ll likely stand in opposition to humans.”<\/span><\/p>

“The plants are still growing and changing. If one day their territory expands into our village, are you going to move away to avoid them?”<\/span><\/p>

His words were harsh, but they carried weight. The future would not allow anyone to retreat. People from the same village needed to stand together. If they shrank back out of fear from the beginning and never learned to face danger, then by the time those plants had fully matured, it would be too late.<\/span><\/p>

Life was like that. If you didn’t move forward, you fell behind.<\/span><\/p>

The man’s face reddened from embarrassment. Still, he was fundamentally a decent person; otherwise he would never have volunteered to come and investigate in the first place. Though awkward, he took no offense. In fact, he felt Yan Fei was right. So he merely laughed sheepishly and scratched his head.<\/span><\/p>

Soon afterward, the group bid farewell to Xie Shu’s family. Their strength had recovered after resting, and they continued toward Huangtai Town.<\/span><\/p>

Before long, they arrived at a crossroads. The left road led to Jinhe Town, the right to Huangtai Town, and the road ahead continued toward another village.<\/span><\/p>

In the past, small supermarkets lined both sides of the intersection. There had also been vegetable stalls, meat stalls, teahouses, and two small clinics. No matter when someone passed through, the crossroads had always been lively and crowded.<\/span><\/p>

Now there was not a single person in sight. The place was eerily quiet.<\/span><\/p>

No one had cleared the grass growing over the road, though traces of previous travelers had created a barely visible path. The winding trail detoured around exposed tree roots and abandoned vehicles left to rot where they had stopped. Some cars had been overturned by roots erupting from beneath the pavement. Others had become hosts for climbing vines, completely entangled beneath layers of vegetation.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Words from the Translation Crew<\/strong><\/h3>

Miiya: One of two for the week.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Translator: Miiya<\/em>
Editor:\u00a0<\/em>MushroomKnight73
<\/em>Proofreader:\u00a0<\/em>Yume<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Avid BL reader, editor, and translator with 1 story completed (CLWP) and 1 story in progress (TELD). Support this translation with a Ko-fi. Three Ko-fis will add an extra chapter from the stockpile to the next weekly release.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":15070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[92,35,93],"class_list":["post-18327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teld","tag-apocalypse","tag-bl","tag-farming"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/clwp.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18327"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18331,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18327\/revisions\/18331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}