Xiao Fan's home was located in the suburbs of Yan Yun City, in a place called Chishui County.
Moreover, his home was not even in the county seat, but rather a town under Chishui County, called Yanshan Town.
The town had a population of around 30,000 to 40,000, which was not small, not even counting the surrounding villages.
Xiao Fan's father, Xiao Zhenyuan, was a farmer, but he did not farm any land. All of the Xiao family's fields were contracted out, and Xiao Fan's father made a living by grinding tofu in town.
Contracting the fields plus grinding tofu were both recession-proof businesses. Although they could not be considered wealthy, it was enough to support Xiao Fan and his younger sister Xiao Tian, and to pay for their education as they grew up.
Xiao Fan was very grateful to his father, so no matter what, he had to return to his hometown. As long as his father was still alive, he would absolutely save him.
There was also his younger sister Xiao Tian. The little girl was still in high school. The two siblings had always had a great relationship since they were young, so he had to find her too.
The reason he had not paid much attention to development during the initial period was that he was anxious to hurry home.
The mood to return to his hometown was excited yet worried. If it were not for the sudden appearance of a toll station ahead...
The entrance to Yan Yun City, which was the other end of the bridge, was actually blocked by a pile of sandbags that sealed off the entire road.
In the middle of the sandbags was a horizontal bar originally used at a railway crossing. The road could only be opened by lifting the bar.
In order to get home, Xiao Fan needed to get off the highway on the other side of the bridge, then take the provincial road, pass through Chishui County, and then he would arrive home. But now this road was blocked, and he absolutely could not tolerate it.
"Let's get off and see what's going on," Xu Qiang said as he jumped out of the car.
He came to the front of the pile of sandbags. Behind the sandbags stood a wooden sentry post, where a man was standing guard.
The man was holding an old semi-automatic rifle in his hands. Seeing Xiao Fan's group coming over, he was visibly panicked.
The military-looking Cat vehicle and the group of camouflaged soldiers in military uniforms brought tremendous pressure on him.
Xu Qiang looked up at the man and shouted, "Open the bar, we need to pass through."
"Who are you people?" The man poked his head out from the sentry post and shouted loudly.
Xu Qiang let out a cold snort, "Who we are is none of your business. Move it when I tell you to move it, don't ask so many useless questions."
Seeing Xu Qiang's arrogance, the man didn't dare say whether he would move it or not, but stalled, "Please wait, let me check with my superiors."
Xu Qiang said impatiently, "Hurry up, I can wait, but our commander in chief cannot tolerate waiting. Whoever dares to displease our commander in chief has already become zombie crap!"
Upon hearing the words "commander in chief", the man became even more apprehensive. He hurriedly grabbed the walkie-talkie and called out, "Boss, there's a convoy of vehicles with people in military uniforms carrying weapons outside, and there's even a military vehicle. They say it's a convoy led by some commander in chief. Should I let them pass?"
"Oh, something like this? Wait a moment, I'll be right over," came the reply.
The man put down the walkie-talkie and said to Xu Qiang, "Please wait a few minutes, our boss will be here soon."
Xiao Fan also didn't mind waiting a few minutes after their long journey back home. He didn't want to get into a firefight with some unknown people as soon as he returned, so waiting a few minutes was fine.
Moreover, Xiao Fan was also a little surprised. More than 20 days into the apocalypse, he had not seen any rescue efforts or surviving forces during his journey, but unexpectedly saw some as soon as he returned home.
Logically, around this time, the survivors hiding everywhere should start coming out to search for food, yet someone here was able to establish a force so early. They were clearly not ordinary people.
He didn't want any trouble, so he patiently waited for a while.
About ten minutes later, the roar of engines sounded as four or five SUV off-road vehicles arrived at the roadblock.
The first to get off was a burly young man, probably around thirty years old. He had a pistol tucked into his waist, and although the model was obscured by the holster, it looked like a police-issued firearm.
The remaining dozen or so people were also armed, with a wide variety of firearms.
Semi-automatic rifles were top of the line, while the rest were mostly hunting rifles, and some had pistols, but those pistols were just for show in Xiao Fan's eyes, as useless as his previous revolver.
Seeing Xiao Fan's convoy, these people also showed nervous and uneasy expressions, seemingly very worried.
At this time, Xiao Fan got out of the car.
The infantrymen and PLA soldiers also got out of the cars and stood in neat rows in front of Xiao Fan, raising their 81 rifles and 95 light machine guns at the group of people opposite.
The armored vehicle's machine gun turret was also raised, forming a powerful deterrent.
Seeing this, the young man hurriedly put on a smiling face and jogged over to the barricade. He kept bowing to Xiao Fan, "Misunderstanding, this is all a misunderstanding! Military comrades, we are all law-abiding citizens who have never committed any crimes. Our current actions are all for self-protection, and we never intended to offend you. This is a misunderstanding."
He even swallowed and anxiously added, "Our weapons are ownerless now. We obtained them at a heavy cost, so they shouldn't count as illegal, right?"
He looked at Xiao Fan apprehensively, afraid that Xiao Fan would confiscate their weapons.
Xiao Fan was very clear about what this Han Dongyang said.
This was the only road in and out of Yan Yun City. Whether it was survivors inside trying to escape or outside trying to get in, they had to pass through this highway bridge.
These people were blocking the road to rob travelers, hoping to gather some supplies, or possibly expand their forces.
While not exactly good, Xiao Fan did not have a position to intervene, nor did he really want to intervene. This was probably an inevitable result of the apocalypse.
Aohuang was right by his side, eyes fixed intently on these people but not attacking, which meant they did not harbor ill intentions.
Since that was the case, Xiao Fan decided not to make a big deal out of it with these people. Leaving quickly was the right thing to do.