Donglin Town is in the northeast of Yuncheng, so they did not leave from the tunnel exit on the Dahei Mountain side, but had to go out of the jungle from the woodland side.
That is, go north and then east from the previous black nest.
"We have to get beaten back before we even get out of the door," said Qiu Shi.
"Avoid the nest." Li Feng's voice came from the headset.
"Thank you for your nonsense," Qiu Shi said, "Is anyone monitoring this trip?"
"Yes," Li Feng said, "someone from the technical team will take notes. Director Wu and Director Zhang will be here. If you want to find me, I will be here too. However... Director Wu estimates that your mission system will be disconnected from us in about 20 hours. Only the newly implanted communication device can continue to maintain it."
"Very good." said Qiu Shi.
"Let's go when you're ready." said Li Feng.
Director Zhang got them a very nice car, which looked like a smaller version of the Big Black Car. According to Li Feng, this car was very old, but had very good performance. There were many new car models in the Yuncheng Army, and this model had been preserved since the war years and had never been discontinued.
In Qiu Shi's opinion, this car had almost no electronic equipment. Compared with the car with eight hundred screens that Li Feng usually rode, it was very primitive. It looked only slightly sturdier than the car they used to collect corpses.
"The frame and chassis are great, they have good passability, are bulletproof, and are easy to repair." Li Feng summarized the advantages.
"Who will fix it?" Qiu Shi threw his backpack on the back seat of the car. "When our car broke down to collect corpses, it was Zhao Lu who fixed it."
"Xing will definitely know." Li Feng said.
Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi and said, "He used to wear a suit, but he can also repair cars?"
"Basic skills." said Li Feng.
"Alright," Qiu Shi started the car and listened to the sound. "It's fine. Let's go. Do I need to apply for departure? Otherwise, the City Defense Bureau will chase me and beat me up if I go out."
"This car has an electronic pass." Li Feng said, "Let's go, and have a safe journey."
The car drove out of the passage of Nest No. 1, and there was no one nearby.
The part of Nest No. 1 that they could see at a glance was completely withered, like a serious disease in the dense forest, leaving a huge scar that might take a hundred years to heal completely.
Qiu Shi touched his forearm and a map appeared in front of him, on which he could see the way to Donglin Town, bypassing the nest.
"This map will be out of range in a while, and you will have to provide navigation for me," said Qiu Shi.
"It's okay now." Xing Bi said.
"I'm afraid there's an ambush nearby, so I have to look at the map," Qiu Shi said. "Maybe Deng Yeye is following us."
"No." Xing Bi looked out the window.
"Are you sure?" Qiu Shi glanced at him.
"Ninety-nine point seven percent sure." Xing Bi said.
"That means there is a possibility that there are still 0.3 Deng Yeye nearby," said Qiu Shi.
Xing Bi didn't say anything, but leaned against the car window and laughed: "Director Wu said you went to school."
"What's wrong? There's a refugee school in the outer city," Qiu Shi said. "Is there anything wrong with my conversion?"
"Then maybe one of Deng Yeye's fingers is following behind." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi smiled and steered the car to avoid a rock in front.
"There is no trace of them near Yuncheng," Li Feng's voice came, "Everyone related to Deng Yeye has been investigated. Except for a few who escaped, they are all under surveillance. The area around Yuncheng is safe."
"How do you monitor?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It's surveillance in the literal sense," Li Feng said, "It's impossible to arrest anyone at this time. I will do my best to ensure your safety."
"There's a pit a hundred meters ahead," Xing Bi said, "keep left."
"Did you see it or remember it?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Remember." Xing Bi said.
We can no longer laugh at Xing Bi's small-mindedness. It's not surprising that he can roughly remember the terrain after so many years, but it's really amazing that he can even remember the distance so accurately.
Looking at the map, the distance is indeed one hundred meters. It is a pit formed by a sinkhole. It looks like it is passable on both sides, but after driving past it, you will find that there is a steep drop like steps on the right. The car can pass through, but it will probably be difficult to pass.
This road in the dense forest is basically the former river channel. Yuncheng cut off the water from the upstream and brought it into the inner city, so this place has dried up.
This road was not easy to drive on, it was swaying from side to side, and Xing Bi had to hold on to the top handle all the time.
"Why don't you give me some hints?" Qiu Shi said, "Tell me where there are rocks and pits, so I can avoid them in advance."
"It's not that accurate." Xing Bi said.
"Then the quality of your brain is still not good." Qiu Shi said.
"There are rocks five meters ahead. If you avoid them to the right, there is a pit. If you avoid them to the left, there are rocks two meters ahead." Xing Bi said.
"… What does this mean?" Qiu Shi frowned.
After the car jolted wildly for a while, Xing Bi glanced at him and said, "It means that no matter how we drive, we can't avoid it."
"Thank you." said Qiu Shi.
"Get closer when you pass by Nest No. 3." Director Zhang's voice suddenly came from the headset.
"We won't go through Nest No. 3," Qiu Shi said. "Nest No. 3 is east, and we have to go north now."
"I received an order from Colonel Xu to approach the No. 3 nest. We have not collected enough data on No. 3," Director Zhang repeated. "Xing Bi is now a symbiote. Go and give it a try."
Qiu Shi frowned, very unhappy: "We can't be sure how long it will take to get to Donglin and back, so we can't waste time on the road."
"Don't make me repeat it a third time," Director Zhang said, "The temporary change in the mission content will not affect it."
"Li Feng?" Qiu Shi gritted his teeth. This man was silent at this time.
"Colonel Xu has the authority to make temporary adjustments to the mission." Li Feng spoke, and his voice didn't sound very happy.
"Is this a fucking fine-tuning?" Qiu Shi said.
"Xing Bi," Li Feng said, "think of a way... to get there."
Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi, wondering why Li Feng said this to him, and what he said was nonsense.
"Got it." Xing Bi replied, made a gesture to Qiu Shi, and pointed in the direction of nest No. 3.
"Fuck." Qiu Shi glared at him and cursed. After hesitating for two seconds, he still turned in that direction.
Reason told him that he did not trust Xing Bi 100%, but he did not have time to hesitate or argue. He would certainly not be able to win by fighting. If he controlled Xing Bi, he would be left alone and could not go to Donglin Town. In addition, his brothers were still under control. In the current situation where they were being monitored, he could not ask more questions and could only make a quick decision.
The only thing that can be confirmed is that Xing Bi is not a second or third level biochemical being who only obeys orders strictly. He has his own judgment. From the time we met until now, he has always been calm and stable. It would not be good for anyone to waste time...
Nest No. 3 is behind Nests No. 1 and No. 2, further east, and completely off the road. It would take about two hours to drive there. If you encounter biological creatures on the way, even if Xing Bi can handle them, it would take more than three hours to return without taking the original route.
Qiu Shi was so angry that he didn't care about the road conditions. He drove very fast on the road full of rocks and dense forests. The car was shaking so much that his butt was not on the seat for much time.
Xing Bi kept looking out the window without saying anything, as if he was feeling something.
Director Zhang would speak out from time to time to confirm their real-time location, and he was very diligent in carrying out Colonel Xu's orders. It was obvious that Director Zhang did not care whether they could reach Donglin, nor did he care whether they could find out the other party's situation and intentions. As for Hu Xiaoling, he had never considered him.
This man has always been questioning Xing Bi's controllability. Like Colonel Xu, he is full of contempt for his partner Qiu Shi, the corpse collector, and just hopes that the symbiote experiment can be advanced as soon as possible.
Qiu Shi felt that in their eyes, he was probably just a medicine.
After driving for about forty minutes, we had just bypassed nest No. 2 and were still not too close to nest No. 3 when a signal suspected to be from a biochemical organism appeared above the map.
"Directly ahead," Qiu Shi eased off the accelerator and reported the coordinates, "Suspected life..."
Before he finished speaking, Xing Bi suddenly stretched out his left hand and placed his palm behind his neck. Qiu Shi was stunned, not understanding what he was going to do.
"Transformation." After saying this, he suddenly noticed that there was noise in the call.
"What?" Director Zhang on the other end seemed not to hear clearly.
"Stop the car and check." Xing Bi said as he removed his hand from the back of his neck, and the noise disappeared.
Qiu Shi looked at him. After saying this, Xing Bi sat in the car without moving.
"... It seems that there is..." Qiu Shi started to speak. When Xing Bi's palm came close to him again, the noise appeared again, "Interference..."
"It's turned off." Xing Bi turned his face to the side and spoke in a very low voice, almost only lip movements.
Qiu Shi paused for a second, touched his arm, and turned off the communication map. The map in front of him disappeared, and the sound in the headset also disappeared.
"What should we do with the biochemical creature in front?" He pulled off his headphones.
"There's a road ahead on the left," Xing Bi retracted his hand, "He can't catch up with the car."
Qiu Shi stepped on the accelerator and rushed to the left front. Sure enough, he saw a slightly wider gravel road that slanted downward. There were many fallen dead trees on the roadside. This was a road formed by a mudslide.
They rushed to the lowest point and, following Xing Bi's command, began to move forward in the northerly direction.
After driving for almost twenty minutes with his butt hitting the seat, Qiu Shi finally asked, "Did you get rid of it?"
"Get rid of it." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi stopped the car and turned to look at him: "Any explanation?"
"Which part?" Xing Bi asked.
"How did you do that?" Qiu Shi glanced at his left hand.
Xing Bi stretched out his left hand, and when he opened his palm, Qiu Shi saw a faint black color coming through his palm.
"What the hell..." Qiu Shi was stunned.
"Just try it," Xing Bi put his hands in front of his eyes and looked down, "If the distance is close enough, it may cause interference."
"How did Li Feng know? Did you tell him?" Qiu Shi asked.
"He doesn't know," Xing Bi said, "He's just taking a gamble to see if I can avoid going."
"They can still contact me directly, because I can't turn off the overall control system," said Qiu Shi.
"There has been no contact for 20 minutes," Xing Bi said, "which means he has already dealt with it. If there is a situation, someone will contact you. If they want to threaten you, someone will also contact you."
"If we don't use the map now, I can only rely on you," Qiu Shi leaned back in his chair and sighed softly, turning his head to look at him, "Can I still trust you?"
"Yes." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi was silent for a while: "Okay."
As the car drove forward again, he asked again: "What do you rely on to judge when you choose to trust someone?"
"What about you?" Xing Bi asked back.
"Intuition." said Qiu Shi.
"Logic." Xing Bi said.
"A comprehensive analysis?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Well, I analyzed it in my little cube brain." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi didn't say anything. After a while, he started laughing: "What on earth is that little square?"
"A device that maintains the body's biochemical reactions." Xing Bi said.
"That's a battery!" said Qiu Shi.
"Yes, I am actually a solar robot," said Xing Bi.
"Finally, you're telling the truth." Qiu Shi said that after the car hit two potholes and entered the dense forest again, looking for a passable path between the trees. At this time, he had to admit that the performance of this car was indeed good.
Only after gradually adapting to this difficult way of traveling did Qiu Shi finally have time to think.
He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "Your hand."
"Well, we don't know when we can see black." Xing Bi said and stretched out his hand again.
Qiu Shi heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the color of his left palm had returned to normal, but he frowned again soon after: "If this thing is all over your body in the future, you will..."
"Sometimes black and sometimes white?" Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi found it a little funny, but he couldn't laugh when he wanted to.
"No." Xing Bi said.
"Are you so sure?" Qiu Shi said.
"Except for the infection source in Nest No. 1," Xing Bi said, "no other biochemical bodies have been found to have undergone significant changes after symbiosis."
Qiu Shi was distracted thinking about this sentence when two water impact pits appeared in front of him at the same time. He didn't have time to see where to avoid it, and rushed straight towards one of the pits. The wheel of the car got stuck in the pit, and his face almost hit the steering wheel.
"Controllable?" He turned to look at Xing Bi, "For a biological body, is this thing controllable?"
"Let me drive." Xing Bi opened the car door and got out.
"Is that what you mean?" Qiu Shi also got out of the car.
"It's possible," Xing Bi said, "but I can't do it now."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything and moved to the passenger seat. Xing Bi skillfully backed the car out of the pit and continued driving forward.
Xing Bi didn't say anything else, just looked at the road ahead. He probably really remembered a lot of details about the road. The road had not changed much over the years, and the car was much more stable than when Qiu Shi drove it before.
Qiu Shi kept thinking as the car swayed, and when he felt he was about to fall asleep, he asked, "Xing Bi, what is your specific mission this time?"
Xing Bi smiled.
"What are you laughing at?" Qiu Shi said, "Are you laughing at the fact that I finally remembered this question?"
"Assist you to Donglin Town and ensure your safe return." Xing Bi said.
"More than that." said Qiu Shi.
"Get in touch with the other party's symbiote and learn as much as possible about its characteristics." Xing Bi said.
"Was this mission decided by the general?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Mr. Long's decision." Xing Bi said.
"Didn't they say that a partnership like ours is useless?" Qiu Shi frowned, "Why does a mission like this still require Mr. Long to decide?"
"We are useless, but this form of symbiotic survival is very important, and the first contact in so many years is also very important," said Xing Bi.
"Fuck." Qiu Shi closed his eyes. "Then do you know what my mission is?"
"Find Hu Xiaoling." Xing Bi said.
"Is this also included in your mission?" Qiu Shi turned and looked at him.
"Yes." Xing Bi said.
"Is it against the rules for you to tell me about other tasks?" Qiu Shi asked again.
"I didn't say I can't tell you." Xing Bi replied.
"But if I don't ask, you won't tell me," said Qiu Shi.
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
Qiu Shi didn't say anything else, feeling a little upset.
This feeling of being kept in the dark made him feel powerless and vaguely desperate. His anxiety, his obsession, and the things he cared about all existed only within his "personal" scope.
Qiu Shi didn't know when he fell asleep. He woke up because the car suddenly stopped.
When he opened his eyes, he was startled by the scene in front of the car and he took out the gun from his boot.
In the dim woods, seven or eight people stood in a row in front of their car, holding weapons in their hands, including wooden sticks, homemade spears, and even two rifles.
"Refugees?" Qiu Shi asked in a low voice.
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
Qiu Shi glanced at their faces and opened the car door. The people on the opposite side immediately became nervous and pointed their guns at him.
But Qiu Shi got out of the car without stopping.
He was very familiar with the expressions on these people's faces. No matter how fierce they looked, there was confusion, despair, and a hint of pleading in their eyes.
Perhaps they themselves don't know what they are seeking.
Even if such a person has a gun in his hand, he has no killing power. These two guns have never killed anyone. They are used for hunting. Judging from the state of the gun, Qiu Shi can even be basically sure that there is no bullet in the gun.
"Where did it come from?" Qiu Shi held a gun in his hand, but his arm was hanging down and not raised.
"Where are you from?" a middle-aged man holding a gun asked him loudly.
"Going to Yuncheng?" Qiu Shi didn't answer him.
The middle-aged man didn't say anything, and a woman holding a stick next to him whispered, "Yes."
It's too far, and the road is too difficult to walk on. The forest here is dense. If they don't have accurate navigation, they will definitely get lost and die in the forest if they walk like this.
This is why, for so many years, refugees have almost all entered the city from the Big Black Mountain Tunnel. Over there is a wasteland, so relatively speaking, the chances of reaching Yuncheng as long as they don't starve to death, die of thirst, or run into the jungle on the way are much higher than coming from the north.
Qiu Shi looked at these people's faces as if he was looking at a group of dead people.
There was a sound of wild animal movement in the woods behind me, which sounded like a wild boar.
Qiu Shi was a little hesitant.
Xing Bi, who had been sitting in the car without moving, suddenly got out and glanced at him from the window: "I'll go."
Xing Bi disappeared into the woods behind him.
Qiu Shi stood face to face with the group of refugees. He didn't know what they were going to do, and he didn't want to have too much communication with this group of "dead people".
The wild boar in the woods let out a very brief roar and then fell silent.
Then Xing Bi came back dragging a huge wild boar.
Given the size of the wild boar, the refugees in front of them looked hungry for a long time. With two guns without bullets, they couldn't even catch up with the boar and eat it alive, let alone kill it.
Xing Bi threw the wild boar on the open space next to him, opened the car door and got in.
"Make way." Qiu Shi said and got into the car.
These people slowly lowered their weapons and retreated in confusion.
When Xing Bi started the car and passed through them, those people just stood outside the window and looked at them. No one spoke, no one thanked them, no one asked questions, and no one even asked how far it was to Yuncheng.
Maybe everyone knows the ending.
"Is there no point in that?" Qiu Shi leaned back in his chair, looking at the swaying shadows of trees passing by outside the window.
"What?" Xing Bi said.
"Why don't you understand suddenly? Aren't you supposed to answer it quickly? Aren't these questions you have thought about?" Qiu Shi asked.
Xing Bi smiled.
"Does it make sense?" Qiu Shi asked again.
"It depends on the situation." Xing Bi said.
"Hmm?" Qiu Shi leaned towards him and looked at him.
"It made sense just now," Xing Bi said, "but it would be meaningless if it were you."
"Why?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Because you need to be fast enough, it will take you longer to kill the wild boar," Xing Bi said, "and you might get hurt..."
"Bullshit," Qiu Shi rejected the second half of the sentence, "I have a gun."
"Firing a gun may cause unnecessary trouble. If you don't fire a gun," Xing Bi said, "it will take you longer. When you are not around, they may steal your car and the supplies in it, which will waste your time."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
If he were alone, he wouldn't even stop his car.
"Am I a little hypocritical?" Qiu Shi asked.
"No," Xing Bi said, "You are just fragile."
"Your ancestors!" Qiu Shi cursed, "Don't use words carelessly if you don't know how to use them. It will easily affect your partner's mood!"
Two hours later, the road gradually became less bumpy and the density of the surrounding forests also decreased.
"Are you going to wear it outside?" Qiu Shi opened the car window and leaned out to take a look.
"It will be soon." Xing Bi said.
"What's in front?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Mud flats," Xing Bi said, "partly a swamp."
"Will the car get stuck?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Not necessarily," Xing Bi said, "the terrain here is always changing."
"The car is getting stuck, so we have to walk," Qiu said. "I thought we could at least drive to the river."
"There is a river after the mudflats. We will be able to see the river early tomorrow morning," said Xing Bi.
"No wonder the time limit is 28 days," Qiu Shi was stunned. "This car can only be driven for one day."
"That's about right." Xing Bi said.
“… I’m hungry,” Qiu Shi said, “I’ll get something to eat.”
Xing Bi stopped the car, Qiu Shi took the gun, got out of the car and blocked it with the car door, looked around before walking to the back, opened the door, took two cans and a bottle of water and returned to the passenger seat.
Xing Bi didn't drive away immediately, but waited for him to drink water.
"Xing Bi," Qiu Shi raised his head and drank a sip of water, looking ahead, thinking for a while before speaking, "Have you been able to communicate or sense or have some other messy connection with other symbiotes?"
Xing Bi didn't say anything, just turned his head and looked at him.
"I got off the car in an unfamiliar environment," Qiu Shi also looked at him. "Without a map, you didn't get off the car, and without any warning, were you sure there was no danger around?"
"I can confirm there is no danger." Xing Bi said.
"How do you know for sure?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Intuition." Xing Bi said.
"My intuition tells me that you are lying to me," Qiu Shi opened the can, pinched a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, "but I have no evidence and you won't admit it."
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
"Will you kill me?" Qiu Shi asked.
"No." Xing Bi said.
"Don't you know how or can't you?" Qiu Shi asked.
"No." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi ate another piece of meat, rubbed his hand on Xing Bi's sleeve, picked up the bottle and took another sip of water: "Okay, I believe you."
The author has something to say:
It's a bit sad. I have to change my self-driving tour to hiking...
See you tomorrow\\^O^/.