Chapter 36 Grassland Market - 1 Tang Bufan and Lu...
Tang Bufan and Lu Yi spent two days adjusting their schedules. For the past two weeks, they had been crossing the desert, and their days and nights had been completely reversed. This schedule was exhausting, and even Lu Yi, as a beastman, found it hard to stand, let alone Tang Bufan.
The two slept in the dimly lit RV with the curtains drawn. Kai drove the RV, and to avoid disturbing their rest, he deliberately slowed down. The RV swayed slightly, and the two slept comfortably, one on the bed and the other on the floor.
On the third day, the RV officially drove out of the Tarim Basin. Lu Yi and Tang Bufan sat in the driver's seat, looking at the glass screen in front of them, and discussed the next route.
Beyond the Tarim Basin lies the Qilian Mountains, which stretch 800 kilometers in a northwest-southeast direction. In ancient times, it was an important section of the Silk Road. Although the geological structure is that of a folded fault-block mountain range, it is much easier to traverse than the scorching desert.
"Brother Kai, can we get into the Northeast Plain before winter?" Lu Yi asked Brother Kai. Once the RV gets into the Northeast Plain, the road ahead will be much easier.
“It’s almost mid-September now, no way.” Kai said in a gentle electronic male voice, “The RV can only travel on flat ground. If there were roads a thousand years ago, it might be possible, but now that area is wilderness and ruins. We can only follow the route Evelyn gave us to go around.”
It paused for a moment, then added, "And the beast tide is coming soon too."
Since humans began living underground, mutated beasts have proliferated. They have survived radiation, acid rain, war ash, and even drinking nuclear wastewater. They are extremely strong and can easily kill even low-level beastmen, let alone humans.
A beast tide is a massive migration of hundreds of thousands of powerful mutated wild beasts.
Every year, they migrate south before winter, and after surviving the winter, they migrate north in the spring to avoid the heat, so there are two beast tides: the autumn tide and the spring tide.
Tang Bufan had lived in the apocalypse for four years and had experienced several beast tides, so he knew how terrifying they were.
“We can’t fight the beast tide head-on, the RV will be trampled flat.” Tang Bufan knew he didn’t have long to live, but told Lu Yi not to be in such a hurry: “Although the RV is not good at climbing hills, it can still go up the mountain by finding a specific route. When the beast tide comes, we must stay on the mountain.”
Every spring and autumn, Uncle Wolf would lead Tang Bufan and Eberron to avoid the beast tides in this way. At that time, Tang Bufan was standing on the mountaintop and saw wild beasts surging in from afar like a tide, their running sounds creating a thunderous roar.
If the terrain is wide, it's fine, but if you encounter narrow mountain gullies, those wild beasts will crowd each other, and the number of those trampled to death could pave a road. In the end, the ground becomes a pulp of flesh, and blood flows down to the lower areas, forming dark red streams. After two days, it will emit an overwhelming stench, a smell that would make even Tang Bufan, who is located on the mountaintop, faint.
Lu Yi stared at the map in front of him for a moment, then raised his finger and pointed to a green dot: "Then let's be on the safe side and go to this market to replenish our supplies, mainly the teacher's medicine, so we can get through the winter."
The green dot is the market location marked by Evelyn, located on the Mongolian steppe, near their usual route, and can be reached once the RVs drive out of the Qilian Mountains and continue upwards.
"We also need to be careful with gasoline," Tang Bufan said. "We only have two and a half barrels left. In winter, the sunlight won't be good, and we'll have to rely on gasoline for heating and power generation in the RV."
"We should be able to get oil at the market." Lu Yi started worrying about money, reaching up to touch the gold necklace around his neck: "Hopefully, that market is connected to the internet."
The presence of online marketplaces indicates that people are willing to accept electronic currency. In the bustling areas of the Federal Central City, one can use it by card. Many mid-level orcs will specifically go to the Federal Central City to register their identity bank cards, which is a symbol of wealth and power.
If there's no internet connection, Lu Yi will have to exchange his gold necklace for it.
Tang Bufan saw through Lu Yi's intention and immediately frowned: "Don't even think about taking your mother's necklace to exchange for it."
“My mom has so many of them.” Lu Yi didn’t actually value the necklace as much as Tang Bufan thought. He turned to Tang Bufan and said, “She hasn’t worn this one much. It’s just more suitable for men, so I chose this one from her closet.”
Lu Yi's gold necklace features a sun motif and has a relatively long chain. He wears it like a young, handsome celebrity, looking very fashionable. Tang Bufan never imagined it would belong to his mother.
"That's not good either..." Tang Bufan was still unwilling, and said in a complicated way, "Let's talk about it when we get to the market. The gold bracelet we picked up is quite heavy, and with the ring and necklace, it should be enough to exchange for it."
“Teacher.” Lu Yi looked at him earnestly: “Believe me, if my mother were alive, she would be happy to use this necklace to exchange for your medicine.”
Tang Bufan was slightly taken aback. Feeling strange under Lu Yi's gaze, he hesitated for a moment before giving in.
"Well... thank you, Mom."
Lu Yi smiled slightly, then suddenly noticed that a sandstorm was blowing outside the window behind Tang Bufan, with some fine sand hitting the glass.
"Is the wind getting stronger?" Lu Yi immediately looked at the row of information in the corner of the glass screen, and sure enough, the wind speed was slowly increasing.
Almost simultaneously, he and Kai said in unison, "Sandstorm."
Tang Bufan reacted quickly, glanced out the window, and immediately got up and walked into the carriage.
"Kai, find a suitable sheltered spot. Lu Yi, go to the corner of the kitchen and get the rope and hammer. I'll find some nails," Tang Bufan said methodically. He was the one who organized the RV, so he knew where things were better than Lu Yi.
Although RVs are heavy, they can still be shaken by hurricanes, causing things to fall everywhere.
Lu Yi quickly hoisted the heavy, coiled rope onto his shoulder, holding an iron hammer in his hand, while Tang Bufan dragged out heavy, thick iron nails from under the shelf. The two of them stood by the window, looking out at the increasingly dim light.
"We didn't encounter a sandstorm in the desert, but now we've run into one," Tang Bufan muttered, frowning.
“It would be more troublesome to encounter it in the desert.” Lu Yi looked at the fine sand pattering against the window and said, “The RV is buried under the sand, it won’t be easy to get out.”
“Indeed.” Tang Bufan then felt relieved: “There are mountains here that can shelter us from the wind.”
He turned to face Lu Yi and said, "Come on, let me tie a rope around your waist."
"No need..." Lu Yi thought to himself that the wind wouldn't blow him away.
"Shut up, safety first." Didn't Tang Bufan know him well enough? He was a shameless person who would rather die than save face.
"..." Lu Yi then fell silent.
Kai followed the route Evelyn gave him through a wide area, so he drove for another half hour in the sandstorm before finding a small hillside.
By this time, the RV was starting to feel a bit shaky, and the wind chimes hanging there were jingling loudly. Meanwhile, Tang Bufan was packing cups and other odds and ends from the storage rack into boxes in the kitchen.
Lu Yi walked to the door with a rope wrapped around his waist, thinking of securing the RV with rope and nails as soon as possible. But as soon as Kai Ge opened the door, a strong wind carrying sand rushed in, and Tang Bufan, who was standing in the kitchen, was knocked to the side by the force of the wind.
Lu Yi swiftly rushed over and hugged him, carefully protecting the slender Tang Bufan in her arms, and led him into the small bathroom.
Their hair was blown all over their faces by the wind and sand.
“I think it’s you, teacher, who should be tying the rope around your waist.” Lu Yi bent down, his strong arms wrapped around Tang Bufan, and spoke in his ear.
"You underestimate me." Tang Bufan retorted, "I can hold the refrigerator in place with my own hands!"
"The refrigerator's about to fall over, and you're still clinging to it." Lu Yi finally got Tang Bufan into the windless bathroom and slammed the door shut: "You're not allowed to come out until I get back!"
Tang Bufan wanted to argue, but the RV was blown violently by the wind, so he immediately raised his hands to brace against the bathroom wall and obediently huddled inside.
Lu Yi bent down and threw the box full of heavy iron nails out of the car. Then, he jumped out into the sandstorm, carrying a thick rope and a hammer. Kai Ge immediately closed the car door, but the rope wrapped around Lu Yi's waist got stuck in the gap.
...I told him not to tie the rope, but he wouldn't listen. Lu Yi silently cursed Tang Bufan in his heart. In order to prevent more fine sand from being blown into the car and making it dirty, he reached out and untied the rope around his waist.
Lu Yi raised his hand and knocked on the metal car door. Kai Ge opened the door slightly, and Lu Yi immediately threw the rope from his waist in. Only then did Kai Ge close the car door completely.
At this moment, visibility outside had dropped to zero. Lu Yi, in his beast form, squinted and began to secure the RV in the hurricane. He used a hammer to forcefully drive large iron nails into the ground, quickly wrapped ropes around them, and then leaped high over the roof of the RV to drive iron nails on the other side.
The thick rope for the RV was over a hundred meters long. Lu Yi quickly nailed the RV firmly to the ground. He then climbed onto the roof in the sandstorm to take a look. The solar panels had been taken down by Kai Ge and protected with an electric steel roller shutter. A thick layer of sand had been piled on top, and the four plant cultivation boxes were also basically covered by sand.
The vegetables in the incubator need ventilation. If the ventilation holes are blocked by sand, they will wither. Lu Yi thought for a moment, then jumped off the roof of the car. Kai Ge opened the car door at the right time, and Lu Yi stepped on it and strode towards the storage rack.
"Are you done?" Tang Bufan asked him from the bathroom.
"I'll take care of the incubator on the roof, teacher, please don't come out yet." Lu Yi said as he picked up some tape and a sheet, then quickly walked to the back of the carriage, looked around, and picked up a stack of shrubs.
Kai opened the car door, and Lu Yi, carrying the things, jumped high onto the roof. In the huge sandstorm, he carefully spread the shrubs he was carrying onto the plant cultivation box, pressed them down with his feet, covered them with a sheet, and began to wrap them with tape, one circle after another.
Brushing aside the thick layer of sand, Lu taped a piece of tape to the side of the vehicle. He squinted and looked at it. With the support of the shrubs and the protection of the sheet, the air in the plant cultivation box should be guaranteed. Only then did he jump off the roof and return to the RV.
He let out a long sigh, knocked on the bathroom door, and Tang Bufan opened it. Lu Yi, covered in dust and sand, was about to play the victim when he saw Tang Bufan glance at his waist.
"Where's the rope?"
"..." Lu Yi felt bitter.
"Look at you." Tang Bufan smiled helplessly, reaching out to brush the sand off his head with heartache. "Go take a shower."
“No, we have to conserve water.” Lu Yi refused. It had been a week since the RV left the oasis on the mothership and they hadn’t been able to replenish their water supply, and they didn’t know when they would find the next water source.
Tang Bufan thought for a moment, then bent down to pick up the iron basin on the ground: "Then wash your hair, wipe your body with a cloth, and let the water purifier treat the dirty water."
Lu Yi raised a hand and ran it through her curly hair. There was indeed too much sand in it. She nodded, then began to ponder:
"How about I cut my hair?"
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