The next day, it was around 12:30 noon when a large caravan composed of five buses, ten off-road trucks, four jeeps, a cargo truck, a fire truck, and a tanker truck left from the south gate of the base where the Chinese Renaissance faction was settled.
The soul evolvers and soldiers guarding the south gate watched nervously and intently as the fleet of about twenty vehicles modified to withstand the ongoing wars on this harsh world moved farther and farther away until they became a distant dot on the horizon before finally disappearing.
Standing on top of the southern wall, two men stood side by side and under the respectful gaze of all the nearby soldiers and soul evolvers they also silently watched until the caravan of vehicles disappeared into the distance.
“Keqian, didn’t you say you wanted to see how that young boy led?” Sun Yun asked curiously as his eyes were fixed in the distance.
Wu Keqian gave his brother-in-law a sidelong glance before turning his attention to the nothing before him as he calmly said, “There’s no need for me to be there. Your sister can watch for me… Besides, I doubt that a man my daughter chose is a useless and incapable man.”
While Wu Keqian wanted to go on this mission trip personally as there were very important things that needed to be carried out, the base could not go that long without a Second Order existence holding down the fort. Before last night’s party, everything would have been fine as Sun Yun could fulfill that role while Wu Keqian was going to lead the expedition himself, however, with Bai Zemin’s parents staying at the base, Wu Keqian could not risk his brother-in-law doing something crazy as even if Bai Delan was strong there was no way he could stop him.
While it was unlikely since Sun Yun was a smart man, Wu Keqian would rather be safe than sorry.
Of course, Wu Keqian did not know that the reason Bai Zemin felt comfortable leaving his father and mother at the base even though he would be away during this time was because his family was not unprotected at all. In fact, even if Wu Keqian himself dared to attack them it was highly likely that he would lose his life in the process.
There was no way Bai Zemin would leave without securing his loved ones first, let alone after all the commotion he caused the past night!
* * *
Sitting in the military jeep leading the front load, Bai Zemin was rereading the documents he had already read earlier with a serene expression on his face.
Changping Silver Mountain was very close to Xingshou Town and was composed of an extension of mountain ranges approximately 60 km long, a place loved by cyclists and also by tourists since near the scene there were several restaurants serving local food, a beautiful natural waterfall, thirteen mausoleums, and many other truly picturesque sights to be seen. However, with the expansion of the Earth that mountain range probably expanded to over 250 km long and all the beautiful buildings had collapsed.
The thing was that actually, Changping Silver Mountain was also known as Silver Mountain Pagoda Forest since in the middle of the mountain ranges five large pagodas had been built during the Jin Dynasty. With over 500 years of history, it was no exaggeration to say that the five pagodas were a national treasure that even with the passage of time stood firm.
“But how could those pagodas not have collapsed when the expansion earthquake shook the entire world…?” Bai Zemin frowned slightly as he came to this part of the report where there were several photographs taken by unmanned drones.
“It’s also the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.” Interjected suddenly Wu Yijun, who was sitting in the front seat next to the driver.
She was resplendent today as for the first time in days she was finally able to get a full night’s sleep without being afraid of tomorrow.
“Except for the buildings in the privileged area that is protected by the treasure that Uncle Wu obtained, all the other buildings should have collapsed several days ago.” Shangguan Bing Xue, who was sitting to the left of Bai Zemin, pointed out.
“Mmm…” Bai Zemin closed the folder with papers and looked at the person sitting on his right. “Meng Qi, what do you think?”
In fact, instead of bringing his father with him, Bai Zemin chose Meng Qi. He had three reasons why he made this decision.
First, by bringing Meng Qi with him he could prevent Sun Jie from having some crazy thoughts. While Bai Zemin was not scared of problems, if he could avoid them then it would be the better. Second, by leaving Bai Delan together with his mother who for obvious reasons could not come Bai Zemin felt more at ease as the power of Bai Delan was already strong to begin with not to mention after Bai Zemin shared with him several passive skill scrolls and some powerful active skill scrolls that could not be ignored. Finally, the third reason was that Meng Qi would probably be of great help on this trip; at least that was how Bai Zemin felt.
Meng Qi was silent for a few seconds before she carefully said, “I don’t know much about this world since in contrast to all of you most of my time was spent within a safe perimeter rather than exploring… But in my opinion, it is possible that there is a treasure or a magic circle protecting the structures in that place.”
“I agree.” Wu Yijun nodded from the front. “The five pagodas are located in the middle of mountain ranges, that is, in the middle of forests. It’s weird that they haven’t been knocked down by some crazy mutant beast or by the shockwaves resulting from the battle between a few creatures.”
Shangguan Bing Xue, Meng Qi, and Wu Yijun continued to explore different theories and give their opinions on the matter. The three women were clearly getting along well and were comfortable with each other thanks to all of them being smart and bright-minded.
“Why do I have to drive…” Chen He complained under his breath as he glanced in the rearview mirror occasionally.
Bai Zemin forced a smile and said without knowing what to do, “Weren’t you the one who kicked out the previous driver? Take care of your stuff man.”
Chen He muttered something to himself and stepped on the accelerator as if he wanted to release his frustration by speeding up. Unfortunately, after being modified there was no vehicle that could exceed 60 km/h so no matter how hard he pushed the pedal there wouldn’t be too noticeable changes.
“Hehehe…”
A chuckle sounded like a silver bell swaying in the spring breeze, attracting Bai Zemin’s attention. He looked to his right only to find his little sister’s dark hair as at this moment Meng Qi was looking with much amusement at something outside the vehicle.
She even raised a hand and waved prettily.
Bai Zemin looked up to see what was going on and when his eyes finally saw beyond the glass the corner of his mouth twitched a couple of times.
Next to the military jeep was an open box SUV in the back. The driver had a look of helplessness on his face because what he was carrying in the back was not weapons, food, tents, or even people.
A dog-like creature that was clearly too big to be a dog was sitting up while turning its head to the left. Its snow-white fur danced furiously in the wind as did the long tongue out of its mouth that let drool spittle everywhere, its blue eyes shone brightly as it peered into the military jeep and occasionally let out a high-pitched bark as if it wanted to get attention.
“Big brother, Little Snow must be happy now that she finally got out of the house after being locked up all this time.” Meng Qi said still looking at the animal and waving at her with her little hand.
“… I guess.”
Bai Zemin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but not because of the giant dog but because behind him he could feel two excited eyes looking past him… Bai Zemin was sure that if he turned around now he would meet the bright eyes of Shangguan Bing Xue looking intently at Little Snow.
* * *
The distance between the Chinese Renaissance base and Xingshou Town was about 100 kilometers in the past, but with the expansion of the Earth, that distance grew to about 400 kilometers. Therefore, the caravan of just over twenty modified vehicles took about seven hours to get there.
By the time the 370 soul evolvers and 200 soldiers got out of the vehicles after arriving at the now ruined town, it was already after 19:30 pm, only about 40 minutes before the sun went down completely and the night began to ascend over their heads.
Bai Zemin immediately ordered them to start preparing the tents for the night while he ordered the others to set up a secure perimeter in the surrounding area and set up several simple traps and alarms to prevent being caught with their pants down during the night.
As for Bai Zemin, he along with others spread out at several key points with some elevation in order to observe the surroundings with more clarity as the camp was set up.
As he and Meng Qi chatted quietly on top of a huge pile of rubble that had once formed one of the tallest buildings in the area, Bai Zemin suddenly felt a series of soft, delicate footsteps slowly approaching in their direction.
The zombies had already been devoured by the various mutated beasts that inhabited the mountains so there was no chance that it was one. Moreover, Bai Zemin could sense a familiar aura from the approaching person.
Indeed, when Bai Zemin turned to confirm his suspicions, the first thing he saw was a curvaceous silhouette with lustrous fire-red hair and a gorgeous face walking with hesitant steps toward him.
Meng Qi also turned around but her expression immediately turned ugly when she saw Feng Tian Wu walking in their direction. Subconsciously, she took a step forward and stood in front of her big brother as if she was a mother lioness guarding her cubs for fear that they would get hurt.
Feng Tian Wu probably noticed the hostility and clear hatred in the eyes of the young girl since her steps stopped more than five meters away. She raised both hands and said in a clear voice, “I don’t come here to fight. I just want to talk with you.”
Bai Zemin looked stupidly behind him as if to make sure no one else was there before looking back at the woman in front of him and saying with genuine astonishment, “You want to talk with me? I don’t think we have anything to talk about?”
There was no hatred or disdain in Bai Zemin’s voice but rather his voice was brimming with real astonishment since in his eyes both he and Feng Tian Wu had no reason to interact.
Feng Tian Wu lowered her hands and frowned slightly before asking in a low voice, “You… Do you remember me?”
“Of course, I do remember you.” Bai Zemin nodded calmly and pointed. “First love is hard to forget regardless of the experiences you had… Well, you’ve changed a lot since then though.”
Feng Tian Wu sighed and fell silent. She had thought that maybe the young man in front of her didn’t remember her at all or maybe he couldn’t recognize her because of the change in her appearance, but now it was clear that this was not the case.
“Can we… Can the two of us talk alone?” Feng Tian Wu said looking at Meng Qi sideways. “I would like to apologize with you from the bottom of my heart. I mean it and not because of your current strength and not because of your appearance either, I genuinely want to explain my reasons even though I know I don’t deserve to be forgiven.”
Feng Tian Wu paused for a short moment and a somewhat complicated smile appeared on her heroic face as she whispered, “Although it’s not like there’s much to explain either…”
“This…” Bai Zemin hesitated for a moment before saying with a slight frown, “Can’t you just say it? My sister isn’t very strong and I don’t feel safe sending her away from me.”
However, Meng Qi surprisingly looked at him and said calmly, “No, big brother. I think you need to talk with this woman, both of you calmly.”
Both Feng Tian Wu and Bai Zemin looked at her in surprise.
“Meng Qi?”
At her big brother’s questioning stare, Meng Qi whispered in a voice low enough for only him to hear, “Big brother, you told me earlier that you have a skill called Stone Heart, didn’t you? But this skill of yours doesn’t seem to evolve even though you have completed all the requirements. If this skill of yours is really related to this Feng Tian Wu woman, then there is a possibility that she has something to do with completing the evolution of this skill… Maybe something like a hidden requirement.”
