Chapter 8
The area outside the city is still occupied by dense forests. No one has left the city during this period. Some brave animals began to come here to look for food, but were frightened by the roar of cars and fled everywhere.
In order to save energy, the seven of them rented two cars. It used to take them more than an hour to reach Congshan, but now they arrived in just a short drive.
Tong Le got out of the car and stretched: "I'm dying of suffocation. It's so comfortable outside! Ah! Ah!"
She screamed a few times, startling a flock of birds.
Wei Zhirong pushed her and said, "Stop yelling! What if you attract some mess?"
"I haven't been out for a long time, I'm a little excited." Tong Le stuck out his tongue and put on his bulging backpack.
Everyone was carrying a huge marching bag, except Liu Huaizhao.
He looked at this and that, and said with rare tact: "How about I help you get some?"
Qin Zunyue said: "Don't worry about us, we are used to it."
"That's right." Tong Le jumped up and down twice. "By the way, if we didn't follow you, would you have just flown up?"
Liu Huaizhao shook his head. He looked at the mountain. Perhaps these mortals couldn't see it, but he could vaguely see that the entire mountain was slightly emitting black air. He said, "This whole mountain is very strange. Be careful."
"Ah?" Tong Le was shocked by what he said. He also looked up and down the mountain, but could not see anything.
"When I met you, this mountain was filled with a thick, foul smell, but it has lightened considerably now."
"Isn't this a good thing?" Zheng Shu asked.
"The turbid air has lessened, which means that person is no longer here. But since he is not here, there should be no turbid air in the mountain." Liu Huaizhao frowned slightly, "It is very likely that he left something on this mountain."
Everyone looked up at the mountain that had gone through thousands of years of changes but was still towering, and their minds were filled with thoughts.
"Let's go." Qin Zunyue said, taking the lead and clearing the way as usual.
He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt today, the sleeves of which were tightly attached to his strong arms. Liu Huaizhao looked at his muscles for a few seconds, then looked back at Qiao Lang's, and felt that Qin Zunyue's was better looking.
Qiao Lang didn't know that he had lost to Qin Zunyue in the muscle competition hosted by Master Liu because he had trained too hard. He followed Tong Le and argued with him while walking. In the end, he was defeated by the eloquent Tong Le and was very angry.
He didn't want to see Tong Le's victorious smile, so he turned his head to the side. Then he glanced at something and suddenly stopped. Wei Zhirong, who was walking behind him, almost bumped into him.
"What are you looking at?" Wei Zhirong asked.
Hearing their voices, the others also stopped.
Qiao Lang raised his hand and pointed at a tree: "I seemed to see a dark shadow there just now."
"Is it a monster?" Zheng Shu asked.
"It shouldn't be. It looks like a human figure."
So Qin Zunyue walked forward slowly to check, but found nothing behind the tree.
"Maybe I'm seeing things?" Qiao Lang said.
Qin Zunyue put away his gun and looked around again, "Not necessarily, let's be careful."
"How could there be someone on the mountain?" Zheng Shu frowned. "Logically, no one would climb the mountain in such conditions. Could it be someone from somewhere else?"
The few of them had no idea what to do and could only continue climbing up the mountain.
Liu Huaizhao had been using his spiritual power to sense the place where the turbid air was most concentrated. The few of them walked and stopped from time to time, but found nothing.
Qin Zunyue took a sip of water, looked back at the sweaty people, and said, "Let's take a break first and continue after lunch."
So they found a relatively flat place and sat down in a circle.
Liu Huaizhao took a look at the dry steamed bun and chose not to eat it.
The temperature was so high that even hiding under the shade of a tree made it feel like I had no appetite. Tong Le took two bites of a crumbly steamed bun and said, "I want to go on a fast too... I can eat when I want to, and I won't starve to death if I don't want to."
"If you really don't want to eat, I got some nutritional supplements." Qin Zunyue said, pretending to take them out of his bag for her.
"No, no, no, I'm just kidding. That thing is worse than chewing a steamed bun." Tong Le said, taking a big bite of the steamed bun, but suddenly choked. Qin Zunyue handed her water and stroked her back, "Look at how little you can do."
"Nutritional supplement?" Liu Huaizhao had never heard of this and asked.
Seeing that Tong Le had recovered, Qin Zunyue took out a liquid packaging bag from his bag and handed it to Liu Huaizhao. "This was something the research institute made a long time ago when Safe City was first established. It can meet people's most basic survival needs. However, as people gradually had food to eat, no one ate this anymore. But this time, just to be safe, I still took a few bags in reserve."
There was a green liquid in the transparent bag. Liu Huaizhao twitched his mouth in disgust and returned the nutrient solution to Qin Zunyue.
But this is a good thing. If we had it back then, so many people would not have starved to death.
After resting, they continued to climb.
Several monsters appeared along the way. They used smoke guns. After seeing that the smoke guns could indeed dispel the black fog on the monsters, they became excited. This meant that they no longer had to worry about being hurt by the monsters' black fog!
After easily killing the monsters without the cover of black fog, Zheng Shu looked at the golden elixir left by one of the monsters and sighed, "This bead was useful once, but now it can't save anyone anymore."
But Qin Zunyue still stepped forward and put the bead away, saying, "It's still useful. Before I came out this time, Commander Yan told me that the research institute is trying to find a way to decompose the golden elixir. Didn't Liu Huaizhao say that the golden elixir has pure energy? The research institute is trying to use the golden elixir to make a smoke gun, which can save existing resources."
While chatting, they stretched their arms and legs and set off again. The man-made steps on the Fir Mountain were already covered with moss. They walked very carefully. It was almost evening when Liu Huaizhao called them.
"Don't go any higher." Liu Huaizhao looked up, "The air up there is a bit heavy."
So a few people cleared out a place to set up camp. This time they brought tools for making fire. After finding a sheltered place, they gathered up the weeds and dead branches. Qin Zunyue set up the firewood and prepared to make a fire and cook.
The dinner was hot, and Liu Huaizhao ate a few bites. It was his first time to make a fire and cook in the wild, and it was very novel. He also tried to grill the meat himself and almost got his sleeves lifted up. Tong Le was so scared that he poured the water in the bowl over to him.
After dinner, we divided into two teams to keep watch as before.
Liu Huaizhao did not choose to rest in the tent. Not sleeping for a night had no effect on him. Although nothing unexpected happened during the day, the foul air on the Fir Mountain still made him feel uneasy.
So Qin Zunyue rearranged the shifts, he and Liu Huaizhao would guard the first half of the night, Zheng Shu, Qiao Lang and Liu Huaizhao would guard the second half, so that the others could get a full night's sleep.
Fir Mountain is very quiet at night, with only the occasional hooting of an owl. Most of the time, it is so quiet that you can hear each other's breathing.
Liu Huaizhao sat quietly, not knowing what he was thinking about.
Qin Zunyue tilted his head slightly to look at him. When Liu Huaizhao didn't speak, he really looked like the immortal young man in those books and paintings. His extraordinary temperament made people dare not approach him for fear of disturbing him.
"What's wrong?" Feeling his gaze, Liu Huaizhao also turned his head to look at him.
"Nothing, it's just that seeing you now still feels magical." A person who came from thousands of years ago and can cast spells is more than just magical.
Liu Huaizhao pursed his lips slightly and confessed, "I was shocked when I saw you guys."
Seeing Qin Zunyue's puzzled look, he continued, "What you were wearing... was too indecent. You were exposing your arms in broad daylight, and everyone else was also exposing their arms. I didn't expect that when I woke up, the world would have become like this."
"Really?" Qin Zunyue chuckled and said, "But you didn't seem to react at the time."
"I was pretending. I was just imitating my senior brother." Liu Huaizhao laughed along with him. "My senior brother is just like that. Master said he's the one in our sect who looks most like a god. Every time we go out to slay the foul demons, he's the one who talks to the mortals, and we're the ones who keep our faces cold and don't say anything."
When talking about the past, he smiled with his eyes curved. In fact, for him, the time he spent in the sect was not long. After all, he had been sleeping unconsciously for thousands of years. And a month before he went to Changhuai Mountain, he was still traveling around with his senior brothers and sisters to eliminate monsters.
Qin Zunyue listened quietly to him. He talked about how he and his younger sister had been reading a sketchbook and forgotten to practice, and how they were both punished by their master and then discovered that their master had been secretly reading their sketchbook. He talked about how his eldest brother, although outwardly stern and unkind, often secretly wept in his room, and when he saw him, he bribed him with candy beans not to tell anyone. He talked about how his master often fought with his uncle, and almost always won, because his master often tinkered with some inferior tricks. He also talked about how he was the youngest junior brother, so although his brothers and sisters often teased him, they would also help him vent his anger when he was defeated in a fight...
The endless anecdotes gradually outlined Liu Huaizhao's once carefree life. By the end, his voice became softer and softer, with a slight sob.
This was the first time Liu Huaizhao cried after waking up.
Qin Zunyue didn't know what to do for a moment. In a panic, he reached out and wiped away Liu Huaizhao's tears.
Both of them were stunned for a moment. Qin Zunyue withdrew his hand awkwardly, secretly cursing himself for being out of his mind. It would have been better to just look for a tissue in his bag instead of doing this.
But Liu Huaizhao burst into laughter and said, "I'm fine, don't worry."
Qin Zunyue was still embarrassed and felt that what he did was really offensive. He could only say that it was fortunate that they were two grown men. If Liu Huaizhao was a girl, he would be considered a hooligan.
The awkward atmosphere was interrupted by Zheng Shu who got up to change shifts. She was startled to see Liu Huaizhao's tear-stained face: "What's wrong, Xiao Liu? Wipe it off quickly."
As he said this, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket.
Liu Huaizhao simply wiped his face and replied, "Nothing."
Qiao Lang also came over yawning at this time, and before he even opened his eyes, he said to Qin Zunyue, "Brother, go to sleep."
Qin Zunyue nodded and patted his face gently, "Wake up."
Seeing Qiao Lang nodded, Qin Zunyue looked at Liu Huaizhao again, then went into the tent to sleep.
Liu Huaizhao took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and said to Zheng Shu, "I'll meditate for a while. If you need anything, just call me directly."
Zheng Shu nodded and watched him close his eyes.
The night was peaceful. Qin Zunyue slept until dawn. When he woke up, others were queuing up to wait for Liu Huaizhao to perform the cleansing technique.
"Brother!" Tong Le called him excitedly, then patted his muddy hands and stretched them in front of Liu Huaizhao. Then a golden light flashed, and Tong Le's hands immediately became clean.
"That's amazing! Can I try it again?"
Seeing Liu Huaizhao nodded, Tong Le was just about to squat down and get his hands dirty with dirt, but Qin Zunyue grabbed his collar and pulled him aside.
"Hurry up and eat. Do you think we're out for a picnic?"
Tong Le made a face at his back and went to make breakfast with the others.
During the meal, Zheng Shu said, "We were pretty lucky last night. We didn't encounter a single monster during the time we were on guard."
Qin Zunyue paused and said, "It was the same in the first half of the night. Did you notice that the closer we got to the top of the mountain, the fewer monsters there were?"
After a few people thought about it, it seemed to be true.
"I wonder what's on the mountain..." Tong Le said in a low voice.
"We're going up today anyway," Qiao Lang said nonchalantly, "We'll know what's going on when we go up there."
"Yes." Qin Zunyue smiled, "Let's eat first. We've come this far, so it won't take too long."
After quickly finishing their meal and packing up their things, they didn't hesitate any longer. After a night of corrections, they moved very quickly and reached the top of the mountain in no time.
Qin Zunyue was holding a smoke gun, and the others were holding their pistols. Even Liu Huaizhao was holding the Lieyang Sword in his hand. They looked around vigilantly, but found nothing.
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