The two of them got back into the car and continued driving south. The third bridge had almost completely collapsed, similar to what their convoy had encountered before. Apart from the parts on both sides, the bridge had completely disappeared.
They searched for traces of a bridge to cross the river throughout the journey until it grew dark, and they finally spotted a relatively narrow bridge in the distance.
Yue Zheng folded up the map in his hand and said to Xu Song, who was in the driver’s seat, “There should be a gas station about two kilometers after crossing this bridge. Let’s replenish our supplies there. After driving for a while, we’ll pass by a zoo on the outskirts of S City, and then we’ll enter the city area.”
“Oh, that’s good. I was afraid we would get lost taking detours today.” Xu Song smiled and headed towards the direction of the bridge.
“We will pass by a zoo,” Yue Zheng repeated with a serious face.
Only now did Xu Song react and looked at Yue Zheng with a shocked expression. Yue Zheng also stared silently at him.
“… Are you kidding me?!”
On the way, they encountered only occasional dogs that devoured one person from their team, a flock of sparrows that nearly wiped out the entire convoy, and a group of fish that killed more than half of the people in their convoy! Now, there was actually a zoo on the road they had to pass through?!
Yue Zheng nodded silently, and Xu Song had already stopped the car. Although the bridge seemed intact, the vegetation on the other side made it impossible to determine the exact situation.
“How… far? From our current position? No, how long would it take to reach that zoo?”
Yue Zheng estimated silently and replied, “If the road conditions on the other side of the river are similar to this side, it will take about two days.”
“Can we take a detour?”
“We can, but… that zoo is very close to the city area of S City.”
In other words, if something happened at the zoo, then… S City might already be overrun by these animals!
Anxiety surged in Xu Song’s heart again. Should he feel fortunate? Previously in Y City, there was a theme park, but there wasn’t a well-known zoo.
“Let’s go.” Xu Song sighed and stepped on the accelerator, driving onto the bridge.
The car raced across the bridge, heading towards the other side. Perhaps due to the shadow left by the previous collapsed bridge, Xu Song always felt that driving on the bridge was very dangerous. He would rather face unknown land creatures hiding in the trees than fall into the water and be devoured by various strange fish.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Yue Zheng quickly turned his head to look at the back seat, and the seedling seemed to be nervously trembling and “looking” in the direction outside the east window. Yue Zheng also looked in the same direction.
The calm water surface seemed to be split apart by something, and a few fish hurriedly swam west, occasionally leaping out of the water, creating large splashes.
Gradually, the object separating the water surface revealed its silhouette, a dark blue-black back and a massive dorsal fin standing high above the water, chasing the small fish fleeing in front of it!
“Speed up!” The thing was too fast, and its body was too large! Yue Zheng shouted loudly to Xu Song, simultaneously stepping over the handbrake between them and grabbing the steering wheel to help him. He stepped firmly on the accelerator.
Although Xu Song hadn’t seen the approaching creature, he could sense the urgency in Yue Zheng’s voice. He clenched his teeth and accelerated, accelerating as much as possible.
“Bang, crackle…” The huge, black fin slammed into the middle of the bridge, causing it to break apart like a jigsaw puzzle, spreading outwards.
The two of them accelerated with all their might, and the car flew forward as if it was about to take off. After a series of bumps, it crashed into the bushes on the opposite side…
“What was that…?” The SUV crashed violently into a bush, and Xu Song’s arm hit the steering wheel, causing a drop of blood to fall onto his arm.
“Brother Yue?!”
Yue Zheng had stood up to accelerate the vehicle, and when the car crashed into the bushes, his head hit the already shattered car window. Fortunately, the airbag deployed, preventing any major injuries.
“I’m fine, just hit my head.”
Xu Song lifted his head, only to see a blood-red scene. Fresh blood flowed from Yue Zheng’s forehead, dyeing his entire face crimson. It made Xu Song’s heart tighten. If he hadn’t seen him with his eyes open and speaking calmly, without passing out, he might have thought he was about to sacrifice himself…
Struggling to reach out from the airbag, Xu Song undid his seatbelt and quickly turned to grab the first aid kit in the back seat.
As he turned around, he saw the small tree seedling, which they had forgotten about, swaying round and round. Xu Song paused for a moment, making an effort not to look at it, and reached for the first aid kit.
Carefully wiping away the blood from his forehead with alcohol-soaked cotton, it turned out to be just a superficial abrasion.
Gently cleaning the wound, ensuring there was no dirt inside, Xu Song applied some alcohol and a medical gauze pad, then used a large bandage to gently secure it, finally exhaling a long breath of relief.
Yue Zheng felt his forehead being patched up and was about to get up, but Xu Song was taken aback and quickly held his shoulder. “Wait! The blood hasn’t been wiped clean yet… Let me check if there are any other injuries.”
Strangely, hearing him nagging didn’t bother Yue Zheng at all. He leaned back on the seat and looked up, watching Xu Song busily tending to him.
Xu Song had a serious expression as he repeatedly wiped away the blood from Yue Zheng’s face, carefully inspecting his scalp to make sure there were no unnoticed wounds. After a while, he confirmed that everything was fine and let out a sigh of relief. He shook his hand. “Okay, no problem. Fortunately, the wound isn’t deep enough to require stitches. I never learned how to sew anyway… Ouch…”
“What’s wrong?”
“My arm… I bumped it just now…” Busy tending to the blood on Yue Zheng’s face, Xu Song had actually forgotten that his arm had also been bumped. Now that he relaxed, he felt the pain.
Yue Zheng’s face instantly darkened as he grabbed Xu Song’s arm and pinched it. “Here? Is it here?”
“No… Ouch, be gentle! It’s here…”
Fortunately, after they checked each other, they confirmed that Yue Zheng only had a superficial abrasion on his head, which didn’t seem to cause a concussion. Xu Song’s arm was also not broken.
“The car… probably can’t be used anymore.” After a simple bandaging, Yue Zheng pulled the still smoking SUV backward. His strength had increased significantly compared to before.
Xu Song walked to the front of the vehicle, and the SUV’s front end was dented, with smoke coming out of the engine. He reached up and tried to open the hood with one hand, but he couldn’t.
Yue Zheng used one hand and opened it easily…
Looking at Yue Zheng in disbelief, Xu Song realized that this guy was becoming more and more like a violent monster.
“The engine… is ruined, and the bumper is broken. The remaining equipment in the front is all smashed. It can only be driven if if also mutated.”
“It’s scrapped, and we don’t have tools or spare parts. There’s no way to repair it.” Xu Song looked at Yue Zheng helplessly.
Yue Zheng also had a similarly helpless expression as he looked back at him. It seemed that… “We can only walk.”
“We’ll have to discard most of our belongings, right?” To be honest, Xu Song was very reluctant, but now there seemed to be no other choice.
Silently glancing at the still-full backseat and trunk of the car, Yue Zheng sighed in his heart. Sacrifices had to be made to gain something.
The sky grew darker, and Xu Song and Yue Zheng quickly organized the items in the car. They surveyed the area and decided to rest in place for the night, planning to leave with their organized luggage after daybreak.
The riverside was relatively calm now, and the monstrous fish that had wreaked havoc in the river was nowhere to be seen. But they didn’t dare to stay too close to the riverbank for the night.
This area was at the border of two provinces, and they didn’t know if there was a county town nearby. If there were cities, there might be the same kind of undead that had appeared near City Y, making the night dangerous.
“You sleep first, and we’ll switch shifts at midnight.” Yue Zheng had rested in the car in the afternoon, so he wasn’t sleepy yet.
“Okay, wake me up if anything happens.” Getting into the sleeping bag, since there were only the two of them now, they didn’t bother setting up a tent and planned to make do in the sleeping bags for the night.
After all, there was a possibility that they wouldn’t even be able to take the sleeping bags with them before reaching City S, let alone the tent. Now both of them silently prayed in their hearts, hoping that no hail would fall from the sky again before they reached their destination!
Perhaps the daytime experience was too eventful, but the heavens didn’t add any more excitement to the unfortunate duo during the night. After switching shifts throughout the night, the two welcomed the bright sunlight of the second day.
“Brush-la-la, brush-la-la.” That small sapling returned to the thickness of a bowl under the rising sun and twisted towards them, facing the sun. It twisted and turned, causing the soup Yue Zheng was boiling in a pot on the fire to shake three times.
“Are you awake?” Yue Zheng had already started a fire, and now he was cooking instant noodles in a pot.
“Yeah, is everything alright?” Rubbing his eyes, although still feeling sleepy, it was already late, and if he went back to sleep, their journey for the day would be delayed.
“No problem. Here, eat up before we pack up.”
When Yue Zheng handed him a bowl, Xu Song yawned and then started eating the noodles.
The little tree twisted and turned under the sun, and suddenly it turned around. Several roots twisted and extended towards the two of them. Startled, Xu Song looked up and saw a shadow covering his head. He lifted his head and saw green leaves and yellow flowers right in front of him, causing him to suck the soup into his nose and start coughing.
The sapling seemed startled, and a few roots trembled from bottom to top. The root that had extended over withdrew with a “whoosh” sound and then, reluctantly and cautiously, extended again, poking at the pot they had just cooked the noodles in, poking it again when they seemed clueless.
“What… do you want to eat instant noodles?!” Xu Song stared in astonishment at this strange and eerie tree.
“Brush-brush, brush-brush.” The peculiar tree nodded.
Well even instant noodles can have nutritions.╮(＾▽＾)╭,,,,,,,,, right(٥↼_↼)
For some reason I feel that instant noodles would be too salty for the tree
Thanks for the chapter
Maybe the tree used to be human?
+1 wondering about that.
+2
+3
+4
The tree is definitely a teenager…
Maybe the tree is a spirit from the tomb… That is why it follow them?