Chapter 177: All show and no substance

The room fell silent instantly.

One of them sat at a small round table drinking porridge, while the other sat at the foot of the bed quietly watching her.

Under the dim light, her face appeared exceptionally gentle, her long hair cascading softly over her shoulders, her eyes lowered, and she gently stirred the porridge in her bowl with a spoon.

Yun Zhao could feel that his gaze was fixed on him.

She was somewhat helpless; how could she eat like this?

"How about we make soup tonight?"

Yun Zhao broke the silence and said, "Jiang Mu should still have meat in his car. I saw the marinated chicken yesterday."

Otherwise, if he just sat there, the rabbits wouldn't dare come back.

As for the meat that Jiang Mu and the others got...

We'll provide them with emotional support once she's feeling better, and then we'll charge less points.

Xie Tu sensed something, lowered his eyes, and stood up. "Okay, then make chicken soup. I'll go get it now."

Just before leaving the house.

He stopped abruptly, then turned back and asked again, still worried, "Are you sure you don't want to rest for a few more days?"

Yun Zhao shook his head, "No need."

The Dawn Base is located in the mountains. If we encounter heavy snow blocking the mountain pass on our way back, the road will be even more difficult to travel.

Xie Tu said nothing more after hearing this, closed the door, and went downstairs to the kitchen to stew chicken.

*

When Jiang Mu learned that he still couldn't provide psychological counseling today, he didn't say much.

Before leaving Gansu, the two teams traveled the same route.

If not today, then tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then the day after.

It's pitiful for his child.

Seeing the guide right in front of her, yet unable to offer any emotional support, she resorted to pleading and acting cute to get out and have fun.

The spiritual entities of S-class Sentinels are quite large and possess astonishing destructive power, rarely having the opportunity to emerge outside the contaminated zone.

Jiang Mu was coaxing the child when he saw Xie Tu coming over to ask for chicken to make soup for the guide.

He generously gave out five chickens, saying, "Stew some more so we can all enjoy the delicious food and taste Captain Xie's cooking."

Xie Tu didn't even glance at him, and said rather coldly, "If you want to eat, come and help yourself."

He picked up the chicken and left.

Jiang Mu: "..."

*

By the time the two teams were ready to set off, it was almost 3 p.m.

The convoy that wanted to leave with them, fearing they would miss the deadline, waited patiently in the freezing cold from morning until this time.

"Sister Hong! They're out!" A young man ran out anxiously.

The convoy consisted of nine people in two vehicles, all of whom were sentries.

It comes from a place called Dongcha Town.

It was near Shaanxi, separated by the Wei River, with Tuoshi Town in Shaanxi on the other side. The two towns together had a population of only a few hundred people, making it a small refuge camp.

The nine people, carrying the supplies they had gathered, set off from the camp, intending to go to the large base to sell the supplies and buy a batch of food to take back.

This was their first time traveling far from home.

As a result, a group of people with no sense of direction looked at the map backwards and went in the wrong direction, getting further and further away from the main base.

They were chased by a group of advanced mutants along the way and inexplicably ended up on section 247.

The female sentry named Sister Hong rubbed her frozen, red hands and sighed, "Finally out! I'm freezing!"

The sentry post was just like an old-fashioned hotel.

Housing is divided into various grades.

The senior sentries at the main base live in the best rooms in the north, which have bathrooms.

They didn't have many points, and the nine of them were crammed into the cheapest room on the west side.

There is a distance between the two sides.

The sentries have very strong senses.

The nine men dared not go over to inquire about the situation, fearing that they might alert the group of high-ranking sentries. They could only stay in the parking lot and wait.

The young man who ran over heard her say she was cold, scratched his head, and tentatively said, "How about... we turn on the heating?"

He had just finished speaking.

A slap came flying at me.

Liu Hong said angrily, "Still turning on the heat?! Don't you even know how much gas we have left!"

"It's all Li Guo's fault! If you can't read a map, you should have said so earlier! One of you gave directions without saying a word, and the other just kept driving forward without saying a word. Are you two idiots?!"

The young man remained silent after being scolded.

Li Guo, sitting in the back seat, looked up and hesitated, "Um... Sister Hong, was that you driving the way?"

He endured Liu Hong's murderous glare and spoke in increasingly softer voices.

"They're here! They're coming!"

As soon as Liu Hong looked up, she saw a group of high-ranking sentries in black combat uniforms appear around the corner.

A dozen or so senior sentries walked together with an imposing presence. They were tall and muscular, still wearing summer combat uniforms despite the freezing weather, their muscular physiques were clearly visible...

"Huh?"

Liu Hong pointed to the petite figure walking in the middle of the road, "Why is there a little dwarf wearing a military overcoat?"

She had just finished speaking.

The man walking beside the girl suddenly turned around, his cold gaze fixed on her.

Startled, Liu Hong quickly shut up.

She tried to lower her voice, but she didn't expect that someone would still hear her.

That sentry has incredibly strong senses!

Now none of the nine dared to utter a sound.

They sat in two separate vehicles, watching the group of high-ranking sentries, and then each boarded one of two armored off-road vehicles not far away.

The vehicle looked like a steel behemoth, with huge, thick wheels and a body covered by heavy armor plates, giving it a dark metallic luster. It also had an automatic launching device on top.

It looks very safe.

Liu Hong looked down at their van, which was almost falling apart.

The car was made from materials found on the edge of the contaminated area.

The contrast is simply too stark.

The nine men looked at the armored vehicle with some envy and saw the girl in the military overcoat being clumsily helped into the vehicle by the man.

Two armored off-road vehicles started up one after the other, and the group quickly started their own vehicles to follow.

Li Guo spoke softly, "That... isn't a sentry, is it?"

The sentries were easily recognizable by their physique and agile figures.

Liu Hong realized what was happening and sighed heavily, "Oh, that's a precious guide."

There are no guides in Dongcha Town.

The sentinels rarely use their abilities, and the spirit beings are only released when their lives are in danger.

I heard that the large base sells guide hormones and inhibitors.

Once we arrive, we'll see how things go and see if we can buy less food and stock up on a dose of erythromycin and an inhibitor for future life-saving use.

Two wobbly vans followed the armored vehicle out of the sentry post.

Tao Haohao glanced in the rearview mirror and said, "Captain, they really have caught up."

Xie Tu gave a faint "hmm," seemingly unconcerned, and continued working on his chicken soup.

He stewed all five chickens.

A large bucket, covered, was placed on the back seat.

Xie Tu removed the surface oil, scooped some soup and the deboned chicken into a clay pot, intending to heat it up for her to drink that evening.

A row of folding beds in the back of the armored vehicle was lowered down.

Song Liang and the rabbit sat opposite each other.

Yun Zhao lay on the folding bed, completely ignoring the convoy following behind her, and quietly watched Xie Tu busy himself at the foot of her bed.

I can't quite describe how I feel.

I just feel that it's nice to have someone who can take care of me.

After watching for a while, Yun Zhao had nothing to do, so he decided to lie down and enter the spiritual realm to take another look.

Her teammates thought she wanted to sleep.

Knowing that she wasn't feeling well, the car became unusually quiet.

Even Tao Haohao, who was driving, tried his best to drive smoothly and slowly forward.

Jiang Mu followed behind their car, helplessly urging Qi Jun to keep moving at a snail's pace.

And further on...

Liu Hong stared at the two armored vehicles ahead, which were slower than her walking speed, and concluded, "See? Don't envy those vehicles. They look good but are useless. Their performance is not even as good as our vans."