Chapter 56: Super Mold 20
On the highway heading to X City, the sun had already risen from the east, and You Che had taken over the driver’s seat from Chu Yian.
Having driven all night with her heart in her throat, Chu Yian was now utterly exhausted. She rested her eyes in the passenger seat, but the events of last night made it hard for her to sleep.
All the plans and actions at the time went smoothly, but after finding a drivable car amidst the chaos, she got a little carried away.
A sudden surge of heroism made her ram into that pervert, and she recklessly provoked the serial killer. As brave as she was then, she regretted it just as much now.
What if that psychopath was extremely vengeful and they encountered him again?
She was still too young, too impulsive.
Amidst her intense regret, Chu Yian still managed to doze off for a while. When You Che woke her up, they had already arrived at X City.
The X City road sign by the roadside was so prominent that You Che even turned on the car stereo out of excitement.
Chu Yian reached out and turned off the stereo, then took out two compressed biscuits to eat. “Don’t play music; it will prevent us from hearing the sounds around us.”
The closer they got, the more cautious they needed to be.
“Don’t get complacent too early. If we mess up at this final hurdle, it would be a huge loss.”
With Chu Yian’s reminder, You Che reined in the joy on his face.
Chu Yian munched on a compressed biscuit while looking down at the map of X City. Her phone had completely lost signal two days ago, but luckily, she had already marked the route on the map.
They reached a fork in the road.
You Che, who didn’t know the way, leaned over. “Big Chu, which road is best to take now?”
Although X City was vast and sparsely populated, it wasn’t without towns and urban areas where people gathered. The two closest routes to the Axi Dimi Mountains both passed through populated areas. Now, it wasn’t a matter of distance, but of safety.
“We’ll go through the Great Plain Grassland and detour around the Pingwan Gobi.”
This was definitely a long way, but it would allow them to avoid most people. They had enough food, and with You Che, they didn’t have to worry too much about vehicle issues. Taking a detour was more cost-effective than charging directly through crowds.
“From now on, we won’t rest.”
Time was points, and arriving early was also very important. “Except when eating, each person will drive for three hours in rotation.”
You Che had no objections; after all, he listened to everything Chu Yian said.
But hearing the words “eating” immediately energized him.
“Big Chu, what are we having for lunch today?”
Eating compressed biscuits every day, they were almost choking him. He had seen the contents of Big Chu’s golden treasure box, and besides compressed biscuits, there were quite a few good things inside.
“Finish the biscuit in your hand first,” Uncle Chu said coolly, showing no compromise to his gluttony.
It wasn’t until night that they reached a road with no cars in front or behind, and an unobstructed, open view all around.
It was You Che’s turn to drive again, and Chu Yian finally decided to be generous, taking out some good things from the treasure box.
“Self-heating hotpot and canned yellow peaches!”
You Che saw what Chu Yian took out and instantly became excited.
He loved hotpot, he loved canned food!
Chu Yian glanced at him. “Pay attention to your driving, don’t get distracted.”
It wasn’t long before the aroma of the mini hotpot filled the car. You Che couldn’t help but swallow his saliva because of the smell. Chu Yian waited until the mini hotpot was fully cooked before having him stop the car. She looked around the roadsides, made sure no one was nearby, and then allowed them to start eating.
It was fragrant, truly too fragrant.
As You Che ate, he inexplicably felt that he would definitely clear this game.
After a full day, they drove out of the no-man’s land and finally saw a continuous stretch of mountains—that was the Axi Dimi Mountains!
As they got closer, they encountered survivors.
Then, more and more people appeared near the Axi Dimi Mountains. Airplanes flew overhead, and they even saw tanks and armored vehicles passing by pedestrians.
Chu Yian had not deciphered the specific information about the survival zone, but everything around her at this moment confirmed that the survival zone was indeed here.
“Follow them!”
She made this decision quickly.
However, there were also many refugees on both sides of the road. Most of them were sallow and emaciated, clutching at car doors, begging passersby for a little food.
Some even held up emaciated children, carried dying elderly, and there were even pregnant mothers… Famine truly amplified human suffering.
You Che couldn’t bear it. “Big Chu, why don’t we…”
“We don’t have food.”
Chu Yian looked at him, preempting him with that sentence.
How could she not have food? They had only eaten one-third of what was in the treasure box. The survival zone was already within reach, and she could totally give some to these people, but she didn’t dare.
Although she refused very decisively, her heart was being strongly condemned. This feeling made her uncomfortable, so she buried her head like an ostrich, pretending not to see or hear.
At this moment, someone in the vehicle behind them screamed.
“Get out of the way!”
“It’s gone, we really have nothing left.”
“Get lost!”
…Chu Yian looked up through the rearview mirror and saw that the car behind them was surrounded and being robbed. The owner of the car was dragged out, and some people were being trampled. However, the famished refugees didn’t care at all; they only wanted to find food inside the car.
This was the price of kindness.
Chu Yian composed her chaotic emotions, her eyes becoming firm again.
Following the tanks and armored vehicles, they kept driving uphill. About half an hour later, they encountered a checkpoint. Outside the gate, soldiers in uniform stood guard with guns. To enter, each person needed to pay 3 compressed biscuits or items of equivalent value.
Food was so precious now; no wonder so many displaced people outside the survival zone didn’t go in.
However, 6 compressed biscuits might be difficult for others, but for Chu Yian, it was fine.
They easily entered the outer perimeter of the survival zone.
“The real survival zone isn’t somewhere people like you and I can easily enter.”
An uncle next to them said, “One hundred compressed biscuits or items of equivalent value—who could have that much? If I had that much food, why would I come here? But it’s still better inside than outside.”
The uncle’s tone then shifted. “Inside, at least you don’t have to worry about being stolen from or robbed. If you get up to work on time every day, you can even exchange work points for a black biscuit.”
Not full, but not starving either.
Hearing the uncle’s words, the two of them, before they could even feel happy, encountered a new problem—the amount of food in Chu Yian’s treasure box was far less than 100 compressed biscuits.
You Che hadn’t expected it to be so difficult to enter the survival zone. “Big Chu, we won’t be able to get in, will we?”
