The bus was lying quietly at the bottom of the valley, its body stuck in a crevice, mostly buried by fallen rubble, and glowing grayish yellow under the cold moonlight. The window glass was shattered, and every time the wind blew in, it made a humming sound, like a ghost crying.
Lu Yuan stared at the scene in front of him in a daze, his mind went blank. When the bus lost control and overturned on the mountain road, he fainted due to the violent impact. When he woke up, he was already in a dense forest. He searched for a long time but couldn't find his companions. How could the wreckage of the bus suddenly appear here? !
Lu Yuan confirmed again and again that he was not dazzled. His heartbeat uncontrollably accelerated. He subconsciously wanted to go forward to check the situation, but he accidentally stepped on empty air. Then he realized that he was standing on the edge of a cliff. He hurried back and frantically searched for the military backpack in the instrument box.
The old professor who was digging for Originium subconsciously stopped digging when he saw this: "What's wrong with you?"
Lu Yuan took out a bundle of ropes from his backpack, put the backpack on his shoulder, made up an excuse, and said quickly: "It's okay, my things accidentally fell down, I'll go down and pick them up and come back soon."
After he finished speaking, he found a thick old tree at the edge of the valley, wrapped the rope around the trunk several times and tied a knot. He pulled it hard to make sure it was strong enough. Then he turned on the searchlight and used the power of the rope to slide down the valley little by little.
The valley was neither deep nor shallow, and the rope was just long enough to reach the bottom in no time. Lu Yuan stumbled forward in the dark, and almost fell because he was too anxious, but he finally reached the wreckage of the bus.
When he was only one step away from the bus, Lu Yuan gradually stopped. He pointed the searchlight at the bus that had been abandoned for a long time and suddenly he was afraid to get closer.
He didn't know what he was afraid of.
Memories, or death...
Lu Yuan felt his heart beating like a drum, and his palms were covered with sticky cold sweat. He stepped forward, struggled to pry open the long-damaged back door of the bus, bent over with a searchlight in hand, and got in. However, when he used the weak light to see the scene inside, he saw a man's body lying quietly on the floor of the car, which had already cooled down.
Lu Yuan's heart sank immediately. He subconsciously searched other corners of the carriage to see if there were other tourists. However, there was no one around, no living people, and no dead bodies.
Not far from the corpse was a pair of gold-rimmed glasses that had long been broken. The frame had been twisted and deformed, and was stuck just under the gap of the seat. A plastic sign with the words "Special seats for the elderly, the weak, the sick, the disabled and pregnant women" was hanging precariously on the wall, covered with fine spider silk and dust.
Lu Yuan had been suffering from acclimatization since he entered the mountains. He slept half the time in the bus and did not remember the appearance of other tourists. But he vaguely remembered that there was a man in a suit and gold-rimmed glasses sitting by the window opposite him. He was too respectable and gentle, and did not fit in with the poor mountain village, so he had a deep impression on him.
Lu Yuan took one last look at the place, then turned away and climbed up along the rope. He had no way to destroy the bus, so he could only leave it at the bottom of the valley, letting time weather and decay the pile of steel bit by bit.
The man lying on the ground had a young appearance, handsome features, and was at most in his early twenties. He was wearing a suit made of expensive materials, and his fingertips were slender and white. Although he had long lost his life, it was still not difficult to feel that he must have been a well-mannered and extremely particular person when he was alive.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan stepped forward and picked up the pair of gold-rimmed glasses, then carefully compared them with the man lying on the ground. Memories emerged in his mind, and he suddenly remembered that this tourist was also a member of the tour group.
Probably the other person's name.
There was a blood scab on his forehead that had long since solidified, which should be the fatal injury caused by the car accident.
Lu Yuan's pupils suddenly shrank, and he almost crawled to the side of the corpse. He reached out his hand in panic to feel the other person's breath and pulse, but the man had no signs of life. Whether it was his cold body temperature or his stopped heart, they all showed that he had been dead for a long time, but for some reason he had not decayed.
It has been quite a while since Lu Yuan traveled to the Zerg. Based on the dust accumulated on the bus, it is not difficult to guess that they fell into this time and space almost at the same time, at least three months. However, for some reason, the body of this strange man has not decayed and still remains in the state it was in before death.
Beside his hand grew a small blue unknown flower, its branches swaying gently in the moonlight, emitting a mysterious blue light. It was simple and quiet, not as beautiful as a rose, but more gentle and amiable.
“Dang!”
Lu Yuan took out a military shovel from his backpack and found a suitable place to bury the man, along with all the modern objects on the bus. During this time, he also found the man's wallet, which contained an ID card with two neatly written words in the name column:
The searchlight in Lu Yuan's hand fell directly to the ground, making a dull sound.
Korean Banquet.
I didn't expect to die like this...
The Chinese people believe in being buried in peace. Although Lu Yuan had never met the man before, he couldn't just watch him lie dead in the wilderness.
This discovery made him both happy and worried. He was happy that the other tourists were probably still alive, but he was worried that they might have just died far away and their bodies had not been discovered by him.
Lu Yuan was overwhelmed with emotions. He closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time. Finally, he folded the broken glasses without saying a word, gently stuffed them into the man's shirt pocket, picked up the searchlight, and moved the man's body out of the bus little by little.
Unfortunately, the conditions here are limited and there is no way to erect a monument. Lu Yuan filled it with the last handful of soil, just like burying all his past.
Lu Yuan thought the flower was beautiful, so he picked it and put it in his jacket pocket, intending to give it to Yusitu later. He buried the body of the fellow human and searched around again, but did not find any other tourists.
By the time Lu Yuan climbed up the valley, it was almost dawn, and the source stone that the old professors wanted to dig finally revealed its true face. A pitch-black stone was quietly piled in the rose bushes, its ugly and hard body still covered with mud, forming a sharp contrast with the soft and beautiful flowers. However, it was this source stone that nourished the rose sea covering millions of square kilometers.
The stone was more than two meters high. Several professors used instruments to cut it for a long time before finally revealing the golden core inside. It looked only the size of a head and felt heavy in the hand, but it was the source of all pollution.
The old professor endured the discomfort brought by the polluted energy and tried to pick up the core with difficulty, but Lu Yuan took it first. He had no reaction to this kind of stone, but felt it was a little heavy, which also pulled the wound on his back. He asked aloud: "Where is this core?"
Upon hearing this, the old professor quickly opened the instrument box and took out a white isolation box made of special materials. He entered the password and opened the sealing covers layer by layer. A strong chill suddenly came out from inside, and the temperature around him dropped a lot instantly: "Don't come into contact with the core for too long, put it in and seal it up!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan put the core directly into the box. Just when he retracted his hand due to the extremely cold air in the box, the old professor had already closed the isolation box with a click, and then quickly controlled the lock on the electronic display screen, starting the permanent sealing state.
After the old professor finished all this, he finally sighed with relief and collapsed to the ground as if exhausted: "Once we bring this box back to the experimental base, the mission will be completed. Finally, we have lived up to the Insect Emperor's trust."
Lu Yuan touched the box curiously: "Can't this box isolate the polluted energy? Why do we have to take it back?"
The old professor shook his head. "Although this box can isolate 99% of the polluted energy, it can only be sealed for a maximum of fifty years. After fifty years, it will be useless and must be brought back to the base for processing."
Lu Yuan was about to say something when he heard this, but he felt the ground suddenly shake, and then countless birds were startled and flew into the sky from the dense forest in the distance. The entire sea of roses seemed to be swept by a strong wind, and the petals flew into the sky one by one and began to wither rapidly at a very fast speed.
The old professor's face changed slightly when he saw this: "Not good! We must have dug out the Originium and affected the environment of the dense forest. Let's leave here quickly and join the main force!"
They were afraid that something might happen, so they didn't even bother to pick up the equipment after they finished talking, and hurriedly ran back with the boxes. The road was long and the flowers were clearing the way ahead. In a trance, it seemed that someone was calling his name in the distance, but it was too far away to hear clearly.
"It's a long way to go!"
"It's a long way to go!"
It's Justu's voice!
Lu Yuan tried hard to identify the source of the sound, and finally saw a figure in white military uniform at the end of the sea of flowers. His heart began to pound uncontrollably, and he immediately sped up and ran towards Justu.
The rose sea covering tens of thousands of square kilometers is withering rapidly. Every time Lu Yuan passes a place, the corner of his clothes can pick up a fluttering petal.
Rebirth is often accompanied by extinction. When the source of pollution is completely sealed, the life that once took root here will no longer exist, just to allow the land under our feet to continue to extend.
What we can do is to rush to the blooming season before the roses wither.
At this time, a streak of pale sky had already appeared in the horizon, and a red sun rose slowly from behind the mountains. It seemed to blow gently at the dark night sky, and then the twilight retreated like a tide, leaving only the gentle light blue that covered the sky, and then intertwined with the golden sunlight, gazing tenderly at the falling rain of roses.
Lu Yuan ran very fast, his ears were filled with the sound of the rushing wind, and Justu seemed to have noticed him and was speeding towards him. The distance between them was getting closer and closer, and finally they couldn't stop the car and bumped into each other heavily, and then they laughed and hugged each other tightly.
Lu Yuan suddenly felt very happy, an indescribable happiness. He hugged Justu tightly and rubbed his furry head hard like he was sucking a cat. He said ecstatically: "Success, Justu, we succeeded!" They finally reached the heart of the jungle and finally dug out the source stone. The hidden danger of Salilan Law for tens of thousands of years was finally solved at this moment.
Justu hugged Lu Yuan tightly, not wanting to let go for a moment. It was not until this moment that his restless heart finally settled down. He smiled and asked, "Has the Originium really been dug out?"
Hearing this, Lu Yuan let go of him, turned around and looked behind him, pointing at the old professors who were rushing here breathlessly and said, "The Originium core is in the box, it has been sealed inside."
He suddenly looked down at his coat pocket and took out a squashed blue flower of unknown name. He handed it to Justu and said, "For you."
Justu was stunned: "What is this?"
Seeing that he didn't move, Lu Yuan simply braided the flowers into a ring, and then gently put it on Youstu's ring finger, and said half-seriously: "It's an engagement gift for you."
Justu was surprised when he heard this and asked, "You want to get engaged to me? Not until graduation?"
Lu Yuan thought to himself, let’s go to graduation, of course finding a partner is more important, he directly took Yusitu’s hand and walked towards the army’s rest area, and said straightforwardly: “No need to wait, let’s get married when we get back!”
Justu couldn't help but raise his lips when he heard that, but he finally suppressed them. He coughed softly and said with disdain, "You said you would give me a gift, but you ended up giving me a broken flower to perfunctorily deal with me."
Lu Yuan said: "The gift is small but the sentiment is great, haven't you heard of that?"
Justu snorted and said, "I've definitely never heard of it."
However, he still let Lu Yuan lead him forward to meet up with Admiral Safir and his men, and then sent several soldiers to meet and teach them.
The wounded soldiers were resting under the tree. Maybe it was because the Originium was sealed, but their mental state had improved a lot. There was also a bruised bug sitting on the ground fiddling with his camera. It was reporter Mao Si. It was said that he was beaten up by the soldiers because he deserved a beating.
Lu Yuan wanted to kick him again, but he had to give up the idea after seeing the situation. After all, it would be bad to beat him to death. He frowned and asked Youstu, "Can this kind of insect become a reporter?"
Justu was still fiddling with the flowers in his hand. Hearing this, he said sarcastically, "He is not only a reporter, but also the most famous reporter in the empire. It is said that there is nothing in the world that he doesn't know about, and there is no news that he can't dig up."
Admiral Safire was very happy for a long time when he first heard that Mao Si was willing to follow the troops into the jungle. However, he did not expect that the other party was a person who only cared about news and not his life. Admiral Safire must be regretting it now.
Lu Yuan obviously didn't believe it: "It's probably just made up."
Justu didn't want to discuss that idiot Mao Si anymore, so he nudged Lu Yuan with his arm, frowned, and asked, "What kind of flower is this? Why have I never seen it before?"
When Lu Yuan heard this, he was about to speak, but Mao Si, who had been fiddling with the camera beside him, suddenly said, "It's Solo Flower."
He raised his camera and snapped a picture of the "ring" on Justu's hand. This action made Lu Yuan raise his leg and kick him, but Mao Si dodged it nimbly: "Hey, I didn't lie to you, this is really a Solo flower."
Solo represents soul in the Zerg dictionary.
Lu Yuan frowned so hard that he could kill a fly: "How do you know?"
Mao Si said proudly: "This flower is very rare and precious. It is said that it can be used as a habitat for souls, implying rebirth and abandoning the past. It only appeared in the History of Interstellar Plants and became extinct many years ago... How did you find it?"
Lu Yuan did not answer him, but asked suspiciously: "Are you sure this flower is rare and precious?"
Maus hummed, "Of course. There's nothing in Saliland Law that I don't know."
Hearing this, Lu Yuan's frown finally relaxed. He turned to look at Youstu and said in a low voice, "Did you hear that? Who said this is a broken flower? This is a rare species that has long been extinct. You can't buy it even if you have money."
Yusitu raised an eyebrow: "You believe a reporter who is full of nonsense?"
Lu Yuan directly extended his hand to him: "If you don't believe it, give it back to me."
Of course, Justu would not return it. He simply put his hands behind his back, curled his lips and said proudly: "Sir, there is no reason to take back what you have given away."
Just as he finished speaking, there was a sound of birds flapping their wings behind him, which was very similar to the three white crows he had met before.
Justu noticed it quickly and immediately drew his gun and turned around. However, to his surprise, the flying bird was not a scary-looking three-headed white crow, but a chubby little white dove with big red eyes.
It turned out to be an animal that had not mutated...
Justu's pupils shrank when he saw this, and the hand that was pulling the trigger paused slightly. In that moment of distraction, the Solo Flower ring on his ring finger fell quietly to the ground because it loosened.
The pigeon cooed twice, then suddenly picked up the Solo Flower on the ground and flew away at lightning speed. Justo was shocked and said angrily, "Damn it! How dare you take my ring!"
Seeing that Justu was so angry that he even pulled out his gun, Lu Yuan quickly pulled him back and pinned down the crazy rabbit: "Forget it, it's just a broken flower. I'll buy you a new one when I get back!"
Yustu was so angry that he wanted to bite someone: "The Solo flower has long been extinct! You can't buy it even if you have money!"
More importantly, that was the engagement gift Lu Yuan gave him!!!
Lu Yuan was both angry and amused. He grabbed Yusitu and stopped him from chasing after him, so as not to hurt the small animal. "Are you stupid? That flower will wither in a few days. I'll buy you a jeweled one when we get back. You can wear it for the rest of your life."
Yusitu looked at Lu Yuan suspiciously, "Really?"
Lu Yuan nodded: "Really."
Yusitu frowned: "Then you swear to the insect god?"
Lu Yuan: “…”
The two of them stared at each other expressionlessly, and after a few seconds they couldn't help laughing. Lu Yuan ruffled Yusitu's fluffy hair and said with a smile, "Okay, swear to the Insect God that I will buy you a jeweled ring for marriage when I get back, the kind that you can wear for the rest of your life."
Justu was actually pretty easy to coax. Upon hearing this, his ears turned red and he asked curiously, "How long is a lifetime?"
"Very long."
Until the breathing stops, until the heart dies, until the sea of roses withers and the mountains turn into the sea, until the last trace of self-consciousness gradually disappears in the universe.
And they will still meet in the cycle of time.
Lu Yuan looked up at the blue sky in the distance, only to see that the white dove that had taken the Solo flower had disappeared without a trace. He suddenly remembered what Mao Si had just said, that the flower represented rebirth and abandoning the past, and he couldn't help but smile.
Perhaps, that will be the beginning of a new story...
(End of this chapter)