Chapter Nineteen: The Wind Stops and the Rain Ceases
This level of continuous purification will not pollute Qi'an, not even if it were twice as strong.
But she was truly exhausted. Her sleep was a deep, almost unconscious state. When she opened her eyes again, the sun was shining brightly, and the air was filled with an enticing aroma.
She sat up abruptly, her first instinct was to reach for the gun, and her second instinct was to check the pollution monitoring bracelet.
The gun wasn't even touched, and the data on the pollution monitoring loop didn't show any red indicating danger.
Several hours have passed already? Have everyone's pollution levels naturally decreased?
Qi An's eyes adjusted to the light and he found that she was still in the car, occupying the entire back seat by herself, with a fragrance wafting in from outside.
Her sudden movement startled the people outside. Immediately, someone pressed their head against the car window and exclaimed in surprise, "Sister Qi is awake!"
Then several heads came from all directions, some surprised, some worried, all looking at her first to see her spirits and complexion.
Qi An looked dazed, with his hair sticking up in a mess, but his eyes were bright and his cheeks were rosy, indicating that he had slept very well. Everyone couldn't help but smile with relief and joy.
"It's good that you're awake."
"My sister Qi is fully recovered!"
Qi An couldn't help but smile.
It seems she slept for a long time and is now safe.
Yu Shuang reached into the car with her "Lushan claws" and pinched Qi An's fair and rosy cheeks. Su Qingran brought out water that she had specially warmed for Qi An and examined her.
The young war god, Jiu, standing by the front window, seemed somewhat dazed, still unable to recover from the memory of that smiling face with its hazy eyes and falling starlight.
Su Qingran determined that Qi An's nerves were not damaged and there were no aftereffects of the mutation. She was currently in good health and had abundant energy!
The triumphant atmosphere of the team escaping alive reached its peak!
"You slept for a full 12 hours! We're quite far from Hualin County now, and there aren't any bugs around. Come out and eat!" Yu Shuang called out with a smile.
Qi An put on his coat and stepped out of the car, immediately enveloped in the warm afternoon sunlight.
The car was parked in a sunny valley. In front of it was a gently undulating hillside. Several willow trees with new buds were lazily stretching out on the slope. Under the trees, Tang Long set up pots and pans to cook.
The spring breeze is gentle, and the fragrance wafts from there.
"Sister Qi, come quick! I roasted a rabbit, made a pot of soup with pigeon meat, and my brother specially found some quail eggs, which are especially good for your health!" Tang Long waved a spatula at Qi An amidst his busy schedule.
For some reason, this person also started calling her "Sister Qi".
Qi An felt a lazy warmth emanating from the bottom of his heart. He strolled up the hillside and sat down to wait for the meal to be ready.
Chef Tang's skills never disappoint. He uses the simplest cooking methods to create the most amazing delicacies, and the entire team eats without lifting their eyes or looking up.
Wild vegetable and pigeon soup and quail eggs were piled up in front of Qi An.
She actually has a small appetite, but after much persuasion, she only left half of it, and still drank until her belly was round.
This is one of the benefits of joining the long-distance team. Everyone has some hunting skills, and once you relax, you can eat wild game that's ridiculously expensive at the base without any problem!
"The intelligence regarding the mother hive was reported to the base as soon as communications were restored. Our mission has been successfully completed!"
"The sun is shining brightly, and the solar panels will fully charge the car in a little while. Then we can just drive home slowly," Yu Shuang said.
She lay lazily on the grassy slope, chewing on a blade of grass, and said with a touch of emotion, "These past two weeks have felt like a dream."
"It feels like a dream since Sister Qi joined our team," Zhuang Xiao said. He has inexplicably become a "Sister Qi fanboy" and is very obsessed with her, mentioning her in every other sentence.
Qi An quickly changed the subject: "Don't we only have one car left? Are all six of us going to squeeze into one car to go back?"
“There’s a team that’s supposed to meet us a few days ago, but they’ve gotten lost and haven’t been here since.” Yu Shuang pouted. “They should be able to get here tonight or tomorrow morning. We’ll share a ride with them.”
“I see,” Qi An said, glancing at Jiu, who was sitting alone on the other side.
They'll be returning to base soon, and then they'll have to say goodbye to him.
The boy was also looking at her, and Qi An looked up and their eyes met.
Those eyes were truly captivating, filled with intense and complex emotions, making Qi An feel that the concrete image of a vast and desolate universe might not be accurate.
For some reason, Qi An suddenly thought of the cold laboratory in Jiu's memory, and the long, cold needle piercing his body...
She abruptly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her mind was a jumble of emotions. She couldn't help but give the boy a sincere and gentle smile.
Jiu was taken aback, her sharp eyebrows curving slightly, instantly overshadowing the warmth of the sun.
The day was sunny, and the night remained clear. The moon was a tiny crescent, and the stars shone brilliantly.
The base has a huge biofuel refinery that emits pollution. Such a starry sky is rare. If it weren't so cold, everyone would spend the night on the roof of the car, looking at the stars and chatting about life and ideals.
After days of fighting, everyone in the team was exhausted, but Qi An had slept for 12 hours and was full of energy. He volunteered to take the first night shift.
She usually keeps watch with Yu Shuang at night—the weakest one always has to be paired with the strongest.
But the strongest one now is the God of War. He immediately followed up after Qi An proposed keeping watch, asking to join in.
Seeing the boy's gaze and remembering his past offense of hugging Qi An without clothes on, Zhao Bohan insisted on joining in, and the three of them kept watch together.
The flames crackled and popped. Actually, spending the night with two handsome men was not a bad thing at all, but Qi An felt a little uncomfortable because none of the three of them liked to talk, and the atmosphere was silent and subtle.
In this subtle moment, Jiu suddenly frowned and looked in a direction in the night sky.
Qi An also sensed something was wrong at the same time. She was surprised that Jiu had noticed the abnormality before she did!
There are fallen insects!
This is northeast of Hualin County, which is quite far away. The team must have scouted the area before setting up camp, and there should be no worms gathering nearby.
Could it be a motorcade?
Zhao Bohan noticed Jiu's unusual behavior and became alert. Jiu glanced at Qi An and stood up: "There might be bugs. I'll go check."
"...Call for backup if there is any danger." Zhao Bohan trusted Jiu's combat capabilities and tossed him a walkie-talkie.
The dove caught it and climbed the high slope in a few steps.
Qi An focused his mind on the fire and sensed that there was only one Fallen Insect.
Meanwhile, the dove, like a shadowy figure in the dark night, also spotted the fallen insect on the opposite bank of the stream; there was only one.
It was rushing in this direction, very fast, but in a slightly disheveled manner, plunging into the river from the opposite bank, crawling along the frozen surface, and then hurriedly climbing back onto this side of the riverbank.
Dove raised his sniper rifle.
At a distance of 500 meters, on a clear night, in open terrain, he could actually kill someone with a single shot without any equipment.
But before he could pull the trigger, a gunshot rang out from another direction, and the fleeing worm fell.
Jiu narrowed his eyes slightly, lowered his body slightly, and stared at the direction from which the gunshot had come.
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