A huge vertical rock slab was breaking away from the steep cliff on the right, and the flying debris wrapped in dust and withered bushes rose into the air, like a slow-motion fireworks show, pouring down into the valley.
Soon, the first loosened gravel fell onto the roof of the car, making a crisp sound.
The view ahead began to be filled with dust.
"Don't slow down," Qiu Shi said, standing behind the driver's seat, looking at the rock slab that was about to be completely separated from the cliff, "Go for it."
The bottom of the rock slab had become sharp due to wind erosion, like an axe without a handle. With this speed and weight, if it fell on a car, the car would be destroyed and the people on board would be killed. If it fell in front of the car, they would be blocked in the narrowest part of the valley. A head-on conflict was inevitable, and the attacks from top to bottom would be enough for them to suffer, even without heavy weapons.
"Blow it up." Qiu Shi gave the order without hesitation.
There is a mini cannon on the passenger seat. Qiu Shi had seen it before but hadn't figured out how to fire this thing at the windshield.
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Yi grabbed a handle next to the passenger seat and pulled it, and the entire passenger seat popped out of the car, hanging in the air outside the car.
Zhao Yi fired a shot at the rock slab that had already started to fall without even aiming.
After the loud bang, the rock slab in the air was blown into several pieces, the rubble scattered everywhere, and several large rocks rolled and broke along the mountain wall as they rushed down. The impact of rocks of this size could not cause much impact on their car.
But it is fatal to the human body.
Only after the rock slab was shattered did Qiu Shi discover to his shock that the passenger seat could not automatically return after being ejected.
Without thinking, Qiu Shi grabbed the top of the car door and was ready to reach out and pull Zhao Yi back.
As for the distance the passenger has gone out, if he wants to pull it back, let alone whether he can reach it, even if he can, it is difficult to use this posture...
At the moment when Qiu Shi was hanging by the car door and thinking of a way out, Xiao You rushed over from his side, opened the car door, leaned out, grabbed the back of the passenger seat, and pulled Zhao Yi and him back into the car.
As the car door closed, a stone the size of a head hit the spot where Zhao Yi had just been.
"Fuck." Qiu Shi cursed with lingering fear, then turned his head to look behind the car.
The team members in the middle continued to be on guard against the top of the mountain wall.
Sang Fan and Xiao Zuo were both standing.
Xing Bi was still sitting, a black line spreading from his left collarbone to the side of his neck like a vine.
Qiu Shi knew that it must be Xing Bi who controlled Xiao You.
Only after Xiao You walked back to his seat did they sit down together.
This was the first time he saw Xing Bi's state when he controlled the symbiote, so calm as if nothing had happened.
"Doesn't this thing have a device that can automatically return to its original position?" Qiu Shi turned and looked at Zhao Yi.
"No," Zhao Yi seemed to have just recovered, "The original design was not intended for fighting like this."
"Then it's just a semi-finished product." said Qiu Shi.
"It cannot be understood so arbitrarily..." Zhao Yi said.
"Is this your first time using it?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Yeah." Zhao Yi responded.
"Thank you for your hard work." said Qiu Shi.
"Is it a symbiote attack?" Long Hao stared ahead and did not dare to release the accelerator. The car kept speeding forward at high speed.
"No, it's a human, a symbiote..." Qiu Shi turned around and glanced at Xing Bi, "They probably wouldn't use such an inconvenient trap that relies on luck to hit the target. As for their purpose, I don't know."
No one in the car spoke anymore, all their attention was focused outside the car.
Xing Bi was in charge of the rear of the car. Qiu Shi did not return to the rear of the car for the time being. He kept observing from behind the driver's seat while staring at the map in front of him.
Although he really wanted to ask Xing Bi about controlling the symbiote, what it felt like, whether there were any effects, etc., he was now a captain after all, and probably the only human who had been outside and dealt with all kinds of vagrants and biological organisms. In such an emergency, he couldn't be lazy.
However, he felt relieved by the reaction and performance of this team of people just now. Zhao Yiming knew that the executioner-like seat was a semi-finished product that could not be taken back, but he still got himself out of the car without any hesitation. This was something Qiu Shi did not expect.
When Zhao Yi led his men to run for the shelter, no one expected that he would be so powerful when something happened.
The car quickly and safely rushed out of the valley and turned southwest along a gravel road.
"There was a rock in front of us, a single rock," Qiu said. "I stopped there for a few minutes to check the condition of the car, and I heard a sound from the chassis."
"Okay." Long Hao listened carefully and glanced at Qiu Shi again, "Captain has good ears."
That's true. After all, living in the wilderness, any noise could be fatal. People with poor hearing have died.
That rock was the signpost that Qiu Shi used every time he returned to Yuncheng from Xima Town. When he saw this lonely rock on his way back, it meant that he was almost at Yuncheng.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the first attraction of the trip to Xing Bi.
Long Hao parked the car next to the rocks for easy hiding, and then everyone got out of the car.
The first person to get off the car was Lu Yu. After getting off the car, he bent down and took a look under the car. He immediately raised the gun in his hand and shouted, "There's someone!"
"What?" Qiu Shi was shocked. It was not shown on the map.
He jumped out of the car, bent over to take a look, and said, "Dead."
His many years of experience in collecting corpses allowed him to tell at a glance that it was a person who had been rolled under the car along with the rocks in the recent landslide, and the body was in shattered form.
Qiu Shi habitually reached under the car, ready to remove the body that was stuck in a twisted posture.
But Xing Bi squatted down and pulled him.
When Qiu Shi turned around, he saw Xiao Zuo and Xiao You getting out of the car.
"Let them do it, captain," said Xing Bi.
"... Yeah." Qiu Shi stood up.
Xing Bi was still squatting beside the car. Xiao Zuo and Xiao You nimbly crawled under the car. It didn't take much effort for them to remove the body from under the car and drag it to the side.
When seeing this pile of scattered bodies, Long Hao turned his head and retched twice.
Qiu Shi glanced at him without saying anything. He squatted beside the corpse, pulled the clothes on the corpse and looked at it, then looked at the face and the back of the neck, and then checked the body again.
Nothing special was found except a bracelet worn on the wrist of the corpse.
At first glance, this bracelet doesn't seem to be anything special. It's just a string of white stones. The stones are of a slightly loose texture and look no different from those self-polished little things you can buy at the refugee market.
But when Qiu Shi took it in his hand and looked at it carefully, he found something wrong.
"Bones." Xing Bi stood beside him and said in a low voice.
Yes, that's right, it was a bone, but he couldn't tell whether it was an animal bone or a human bone... When he examined it carefully, he suddenly discovered that the smallest bead was not round.
It was a tiny tooth, much smaller than an adult's tooth.
"Fuck his ancestors." Qiu Shi felt nauseous and threw the bracelet back on the corpses.
Except for a person being crushed under the car, there was no problem with the car as a whole. Everyone repaired it on the spot for a while and then continued to head towards Xima Town.
Qiu Shi was drinking a bottle of water when Li Feng's voice came from the headset: "Team Two."
"Yes." Qiu Shi responded.
"Stop moving?" Li Feng said.
"I ran into a few people who might be vagrants, but I'm not sure," Qiu Shi said, "but I shook them off."
"Is it safe now?" Li Feng asked.
"It's safe for now." Qiu Shi looked around. The sky was very cloudy, not as bright as it should be in the morning. It was probably going to snow again. "Let's rest for a while and then get ready to set off. We'll try to reach the campsite before the snow gets heavier."
"Okay." Li Feng said.
"How are the two teams doing?" Qiu Shichong tilted his head towards Xing Bi and walked towards the rock.
Xing Bi followed.
"Everything is going well so far," Li Feng said, lowering his voice. "Have you been to Shidi Town and Zhuyuan Town?"
"I haven't been there, but I've been to the village next door," Qiu Shi said, "but I know the direction. What's the problem?"
"It's okay, just asking." Li Feng paused, "Qiu Shi, Team 2 is the only team I'm not worried about."
"It's different when I become the deputy team leader," Qiu said. "My words become sweeter."
Li Feng smiled, said nothing else, and ended the call.
"This is..." Qiu Shi patted the rock and looked at Xing Bi, "The first stop of our trip."
"Does this attraction have a name?" Xing Bi also patted the rock and found a relatively smooth spot to rub it.
"I call it 'single stone'." Qiu Shi looked at the side of Xing Bi's neck and found that the black extending from the collarbone had disappeared.
"It has no effect." Xing Bi said and touched the stone again.
"Sharp," Qiu Shi also reached out and touched the place where Xing Bi had touched, "What are you touching?"
"Touch this place every time you pass by it next time," Xing Bi said, "and it will slowly become smooth."
“… Then what?” Qiu Shi asked.
"Nothing else, just smooth." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi looked at him.
"Our ancestors particularly liked to touch them this way," Xing Bi said. "For example, if the statues at the gate of Yuncheng were placed in the past, their feet and heads would definitely be very smooth."
Qiu Shi found it difficult to understand.
"May good luck to you." Xing Bi said.
“That means they are doing pretty well,” Qiu said. “There are still people who think good luck can be prayed for.”
Others believe in good luck.
Qiu Shidu rarely heard the word "good luck". The last time he heard it was at the refugee market, where someone got an opportunity to work in the inner city. Everyone smiled and said, "Good luck to you."
Qiu Shi touched the stone again.
Do you know who the beheaded statue is among those statues at the gate of Cloud City? You should know him.
He really wanted to ask Xing Bi.
But no one asked. The head of the statue was chopped off. It must have been after the big cleanup, when Xing Bi personally cleaned up all the biological creatures in Yuncheng.
“For good luck.” Qiu Shi touched the stone again, “For everyone who wants to survive.”
Xing Bi also touched it.
After a short rest, the team returned to the car and continued on their way.
Going south, there are fewer mountains. The mountain range extending from the Dahei Mountain disappears after passing "Dushi". What remains is relatively flat slopes with a few hills occasionally.
It is easy to spot danger in this kind of terrain, but if there is any danger, it is directly exposed under the enemy's nose.
The snow started falling ten minutes ago and it was getting heavier and heavier. Now I couldn't see the road ahead clearly.
"Drive a little further west," Qiu Shi looked at the map. "It's about a kilometer further. After you go down the big slope, there's a pit below. You can park there."
Long Hao did as he said and finally arrived at the destination in the snow and wind where the road was almost invisible.
This is a big pit that collapsed after the groundwater stopped flowing. The terrain is relatively low, so it is basically difficult to find it if you hide in here.
"You know about this kind of place?" Zheng Yu sighed.
“You guys…” Qiu Shi didn’t finish his words. Considering that everyone would be together for many days, he didn’t say “Not only do you not have any practical experience, you have never even left the inner city.”
"You don't usually come here," he said.
"We usually train in the northwest area," said Zheng Yu.
"Take a two-hour break," Qiu Shi got out of the car, took a look, and patted the door. "Let's go when the snow is a little lighter. If everything goes well, we can reach Xima Town before dark at this speed."
"Do you need to rest for so long?" Zhao Yi asked.
"If the snow doesn't stop in two hours, it will take even longer," Qiu Shi said. "Before, we hardly encountered anyone here except refugees who wanted to go to Yuncheng, but now it's different. We don't know where those people came from or what they were going to do."
"I don't know if the other two teams had a rest." Zhao Yi said.
"Don't even think about competing at a time like this," Qiu Shi couldn't help but say, "This is the real world, not your usual practice of training without physical objects."
Zhao Yi frowned and looked at him.
Qiu Shi said nothing more and returned to the car: "It's time to eat and drink. Let's keep going when the snow stops."
Xing Bi and Sang Fan stood up, and Xiao Zuo and Xiao You followed them and got out of the car together.
In this kind of weather, the only ones who go out to keep watch during breaks are biochemical beings.
Qiu Shi ate a can of food in the car, wrapped himself in a scarf, and got out of the car again.
But he couldn't see where Xing Bi and the others were in the wind and snow.
Just when I was about to open the map to take a look, a whistle came from behind me on the right.
Qiu Shi turned around and saw Xing Bi leaning against a slope, half of which was covered with snow.
"Fuck, it's hidden so well." He ran over and lay down next to Xing Bi. From this angle, he could just stick his head out and see a large open area in front of him, but at this moment all he could see were dancing snowflakes.
"Why did you run out?" Xing Bi said, "Can't you find a place to wipe your hands?"
Qiu Shi laughed: "Why do you seem to have such a big opinion?"
"Where do you wipe your hands when no one is around?" Xing Bi asked.
"On myself," Qiu Shi said, "what else?"
Xing Bi smiled and said nothing.
"Is it cold?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It's not cold." Xing Bi looked at him, "You'll freeze if you lie there for another two minutes."
"Are you controlling them now?" Qiu Shi looked around but couldn't see Sang Fan and Zuoyou.
"There is no control." Xing Bi said.
"Aren't you afraid of them..." Qiu Shi opened the map and could see that except for Xing Bi and him, there was a biochemical body in each of the other three directions.
"It will be a bit tiring," Xing Bi said, "I will control them if I find any problems."
"Are you tired?" Qiu Shi frowned.
"Well," Xing Bi said, "I can sense more information, which still needs to be identified."
"You haven't used that little cube of your brain like this for a while," said Qiu Shi.
"Yes," Xing Bi said, and looked at him again, "Let's go back to the car."
"I'll stay with you for a while," Qiu Shi said, "Others may think that biochemical bodies are very strong, not afraid of wind or snow, and don't know cold or heat..."
"That's right." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi sighed.
"Go back to the car first," Xing Bi said, "You're shaking when you talk."
"Is there?" Qiu Shi said, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... Happy birthday..."
As expected, he was shaking a little, and the sound he made through gritted teeth was indeed unnatural. He held on for a while and said, "Okay, I'll go back to the car first."
"Yeah." Xing Bi smiled and responded. When he got back to the car, Qiu Shi realized that he was completely frozen. When he got in the car, his legs were stiff and he almost fell to his knees.
"Captain." Lu Yu handed over a coat.
"Thank you." Qiu Shi took a quick look and saw that everyone had put on their coats, so he put one on too. "Those who can sleep can sleep for a while. I'll be watching over you. When Zhao Yi wakes up, it'll be my turn."
"Okay." Zhao nodded.
Qiu Shi sat in the passenger seat, staring at the snowflakes outside in a daze.
The snow was falling heavily and there was no sign of stopping.
More than an hour later, Zhao Yi came to replace him.
Qiu Shi walked to the back of the car and sat down, switching to Xing Bi's call channel: "Xing Bi."
"Yes." Xing Bi replied.
"What's the situation?" Qiu Shi asked.
"No," Xing Bi said, "It's very quiet."
"I'm going to sleep for a while," Qiu Shi said, "Zhao Yi is watching over me now."
"Well," Xing Bi responded, "Good afternoon."
Qiu Shi smiled.
The snow stopped three hours later. When Qiu Shi opened his eyes, it was already light outside the window. The whole view was silver-white, without any other colors.
Zhao Yi woke him up, and Xing Bi and the others returned to the car.
"Let's go." Qiu Shi put on his sunglasses and sat back in the last seat with Xing Bi. "If nothing unexpected happens, we can reach Xima before dark. They have a turret in the middle of the town, at the highest point. We can spend the night there."
This time it was Lu Yu's turn to drive. Perhaps because he had enough sleep, he was full of energy and created a cloud of snow mist on the snow.
The journey returned to the peaceful state that Qiu Shi had remembered, and there were no more accidents. Although Qiu Shi could not figure out the origins of those people who made bracelets with human bones, he never met them again.
Before arriving at Xima Town, you will first pass by an abandoned small village. I don’t remember what it was called. The sign with the village name at the entrance has long disappeared. Qiu Shi named this village Xiniu Village. There is another village further south of Xima, which Qiu Shi called Xiyang Village.
"Are we there yet?" A team member named Cao Shu asked with some surprise when he saw the small brick house outside the car.
"We've reached the village," Qiu Shi said. "Half an hour ahead is Xima Town. Be alert. It's very suitable for Tibetans to hide here. It's a good base."
The team members in the car were on alert with their weapons pointed outside the car.
The village was originally made up of low, one-story brick houses that were almost collapsed. Now covered with snow, it looked as if they had never existed.
"There are footprints." Zhao Yi shouted in a low voice.
Qiu Shi stood up and aimed his gun through the shooting port. Sure enough, he saw messy footprints on the path leading to the village. They were very fresh footprints, not covered by snow at all.
"I'll go take a look." Xing Bi stood up, "Slow down the car and drive forward. Don't stop."
The car slowed down, Xing Bi jumped out, and walked quickly in the direction of the footprints.
Qiu Shi stared at the map and found nothing unusual.
Xing Bi quickly caught up and returned to the car: "The footprints belong to four human males, with weapons."
"Has there been anyone here before?" Zhao Yi looked at Qiu Shi.
"No," Qiu Shi said, "Be careful."
"Let's get off the car and it will follow us." Xing Bi tilted his head towards Sang Fan.
Sang Fan, Xiao Zuo and Xiao You stood up.
When they got off the car, Qiu Shi saw a thin black line extending upward from Xing Bi's collarbone, and then it stretched out branches like some kind of plant, slowly becoming thicker and climbing up the side of Xing Bi's neck.
Several team members nearby also saw it, with obvious shock and unconcealable fear in their eyes.
After Xing Bi got off the car, he and Sang Fan were at the front, with Xiao Zuo and Xiao You on either side. The four of them walked forward in a fan shape.
Qiu Shi stood behind the driver's seat, staring at the road ahead and the map in front of him at the same time.
The snow was quite thick and all the old traces on the ground had been covered up. If there had been any traps or something like that before, there probably would be no other way to discover it except Xing Bi and the others.
"Can you hear anything?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It's very quiet," Xing Bi said. "There's not a single sound."
"This road is the only accessible road to the town," Qiu said. "If anything happens, this road is most likely to have problems."
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
Several biochemical bodies were walking very fast, half running, with the car following behind them. It wasn't long before they could see a steel pillar standing at the entrance of the town in the distance.
"We're here." said Qiu Shi.
At this moment, Xing Bi suddenly stopped and raised his hand to signal to stop the car.
Qiu Shi stood at the shooting position in the middle of the car, stuck his head out from the roof, and saw a set of footprints fifty meters ahead through the sight, but the footprints all stopped in the same position.
At their distance, it was difficult to see what was happening ahead without using any equipment and just looking directly ahead.
Lu Yu stopped the car and quickly put his gun on the shooting port and aimed forward.
"What's the matter?" Qiu Shi asked.
"I'll try." Xing Bi said as he walked to the side of the road, dug through the snow, and took out a dead branch from underneath. Then he raised his hand and threw the dead branch forward.
At the moment the dead branch touched the ground, the snow on the ground suddenly exploded into a white mist, and it seemed as if a whole wall suddenly bounced up from the ground, flashing dense cold light and rushing towards them.
Qiu Shi was shocked to see that these were metal spikes nearly one meter long inserted into the wooden frame.
Hanging on the spikes were two people whose bodies were pierced by seven or eight spikes.
The moment the spiked wall bounced back, Xing Bi and the other three jumped back at the same time, avoiding the attack. While in the air, Xing Bi and Sang Fan threw two mines towards the wall at the same time.
After the continuous explosions, Qiu Shi heard a low groan of pain from the other side.
But there was nothing shown on the map except the people in their team.
The author has something to say:
To be continued tomorrow⊙▽⊙.
Brother Shi! All the good places are taken!