Chapter 81: The group of cars
After taking in potent spiritual energy for an entire night, Huo Zaiyuan opens his eyes the next morning, body full of vigour. Before he leaves, he remembers to check on the little tree spirit, who is currently sleeping on top of the bamboo table, clutching a bright red cherry tomato in its tiny arms.
Upon seeing this, the corners of his lips curve up in mirth, then he disappears in a flash of light. Little did he expect to be immediately pulled into an embrace the moment he reappears and pressed into the mattress.
"Little Yuan, morning." Burying his face in Huo Zaiyuan"s neck, Long Zhanye murmurs, planting a kiss on the skin there.
The gentle touch against his neck causes his heart to thump and another blush to rise. Writhing beneath the weight, he pushes against the body above him a little timidly.
"Older brother Long, you…get up already."
"Zhanye…" Another murmur sounds, hot breath tickling Huo Zaiyuan"s ear. The tip of it turns red, making it look quite cute.
"W - what?" Huo Zaiyuan stutters, struggling to get his brain to work properly.
"Let me hear you call "Zhanye" once. I"ll let you go after you say it." Simply gazing upon that flushed face, Long Zhanye feels his heart all but bloom.
"Zhan…Zhanye." Averting his eyes from the older man, Huo Zaiyuan finally mumbles.
"Heheh…"
After finishing breakfast, the four go off in separate directions to accomplish their allocated task. Huo Zaiyuan and Long Zhanye get into the off-road vehicle and drive out of the village.
Like before, yellow soil and sand kick up as the vehicle crosses the dirt road. Within the speedily moving car, Huo Zaiyuan is seated in the pa.s.senger side, munching on an apple and looking at the map spread out on his lap.
"I sure hope there will be an operational truck at the nearest tollbooth."
"There definitely was a lot of people fleeing X City, so there would surely be quite a few vehicles left behind on the road." Plucking the half-eaten apple from Huo Zaiyuan"s hand, Long Zhanye bit into the section he was nibbling on.
"We’ll know once we see it."
With Long Zhanye driving, a trip that would have taken an hour normally only takes them forty minutes. Once they turn into X City"s main highway, they head straight for the nearest tollbooth.
This particular highway is the closest one to X City, hence, during Judgement Day, countless vehicles were squeezed onto the lanes when everyone tried to escape the chaos. As the off-road vehicle exits the dirt road and enters the main highway, one can see multiple different vehicles in a single glance. The majority of them were there due to collisions or other accidents. Some had doors torn from its hinges, some had blood staining the interior. A rare few even had a zombie or two trapped inside, their heads sticking out of the windows, jaws hanging open as they growl continuously.
Signs of calamity and misfortune line the entire highway, but nothing they witness here manage to incite any major reactions in Huo Zaiyuan and Long Zhanye. Still moving forward at a relatively high speed, the off-road vehicle smoothly navigates the gaps between these groups of stationary vehicles.
"There is a truck over there. It looks large enough to fit every villager in." Huo Zaiyuan"s sharp eyes manage to pick out a medium-sized truck located not too far away in the sea of vehicles.
Looking in the direction where Huo Zaiyuan points, Long Zhanye studies it for a second before nodding. "Let"s continue ahead for a while to find another, then we will pick this one up as well and drive them back."
"Un."
Between the two of them, an agreement had already been made. They will find two trucks and drive one each back to the village. As for their off-road vehicle, it will be directly stored into Huo Zaiyuan"s s.p.a.ce and later placed in the back compartment of one of the trucks. That way, they can avoid any suspicions.
As the car continues its forward trek, occasional zombies dithering on the highway are drawn by the engine"s noise and pounces in their direction. As one is able to infer from this situation, this place is not the least bit safe.
Very quickly, the pair manages to find another truck. Only, this particular one is stuck in a rather inconvenient position, right in the middle of a ma.s.s pile-up consisting of smaller vehicles. In order to drive it away, one will have to go through a lot of trouble shifting all that sc.r.a.p metal to one side and clear a path. That is, of course, the natural thought process of an average person when faced with such a situation.
With Huo Zaiyuan and his interdimensional s.p.a.ce, however, getting this truck out of there is a very simple matter.
The off-road vehicle comes to a halt. Clutching a steel sword in their hands, Huo Zaiyuan and Long Zhanye cautiously exit the car. Around their waist, a holster is strapped to the belt, pistol undrawn but ready to use at a moment"s notice.
While Huo Zaiyuan turns to store the black car into his s.p.a.ce, Long Zhanye casually chops down the first zombie bounding over. Lifting a leg, his foot comes smashing down hard on to the back of a crawling undead dragging two broken legs behind it. In the next instant, that crippled zombie"s brain is smashed to a pulp.
"Little Yuan, we"d better retrieve those trucks and leave as soon as possible. Although these zombies only come in twos or threes at a time here, it will be difficult to escape if we are surrounded."
"Un."
As the number of obstacles in the form of cars are too many to count, the zombies also have no choice but to trickle forward in twos or threes. Nevertheless, the fact that these undead are able to leap out from any direction is extremely dangerous. If one"s reaction speed is a second too slow, there will be a high possibility of falling victim anytime. Being surrounded by undead in this kind of unfavourable circ.u.mstances is much riskier then directly confronting a horde on open ground.
Even though he can simply enter his s.p.a.ce anytime when the situation gets too dangerous, Long Zhanye cannot do so. Therefore, quickly retrieving the trucks would be the best solution right now.