The driver today is still Lu Xi'an, and Yao Wei, sitting in the passenger seat, takes out "World Map One".

She flips to the page with the map of Shanyang County, glances at it, and guides Lu Xi'an, "Up ahead is the Qin River, and once you pass it, there's a crossroad where you can turn north towards Qin Mountain."

Lu Xi'an replies, "Hmm, then we'll get some water up ahead, then use the Resonant Gene Scanner to take a look, and then head north."

Yao Wei says, "Alright."

But when they get to the bank of the Qin River, after refilling the water in their buckets and pots and letting Gou power up, they switch on the Resonant Gene Scanner, only to find four red dots all to the north of Shanyang County.

The four red dots are separated; one is outside the mountain, three are inside, and among the three inside, two are together while the other is slightly distanced from the two, but not far.

"What kind of situation is this?!"

Lu Xi'an is somewhat puzzled, unable to figure out what the status of these people is. Are they a group? Or is there some special circumstance?

He recalled a moment when he observed the situation from afar, there seemed to be some changes with the current position, but the difference didn't seem significant.

Why didn't he pay more attention to these circumstances back then?

Lu Xi'an carefully observes the electronic map on the Resonant Gene Scanner, seeing that the positions of the four red dots have only slightly shifted, yet they haven't moved much overall, making it tricky to gauge.

"Why don't we take a closer look first, get some sense of the situation, then make plans?"

Lu Xi'an asks Yao Wei.

Yao Wei agrees it's unwise to act recklessly, so she responds, "Hmm."

The two then find another place to park the car and spend a long time studying the Resonant Gene Scanner.

During this time, they notice that of the four red dots, only one down the mountain is moving, even making a trip to Shanyang County's town before returning to the foot of the mountain. Meanwhile, the other three dots have slight positional changes, except one remains completely still.

"What do you think?"

Lu Xi'an asks Yao Wei.

Yao Wei's reply consists of three words, but not "don't know," instead it's "something's wrong."

As for the specific problem, she still doesn't know, prompting Lu Xi'an to simply not pursue the question.

Yao Wei doesn't know, and Lu Xi'an himself doesn't know either; he just shares the suspicion that something is amiss.

Just by looking at the map's red dots, there's a clear distinction between those on the mountain and below it.

The two red dots on the mountain sometimes separate and then converge, always staying relatively close but never approaching the completely still dot.

And as for the red dot below the mountain, needless to say, it made a trip to Shanyang town and returned to the foot, always hovering below the mountain, never venturing into the mountain.

This gives Lu Xi'an the feeling of three distinct forces staging acts on the mountain and below in a sort of Triumvirate conflict, though whether it really is like a Triumvirate still needs further observation.

"Shall we watch for a little while longer? If tomorrow's the same, we can do what we did in Yao County, keeping guard outside, see if we can intercept someone and ask questions."

Lu Xi'an suggests, pointing at the red dot below the mountain, "This person went to Shanyang town once; if there are people in town, how could they not notice a Neo-Human entering?"

"Well, there is a possibility it could be normal for others not to notice..."

Having caught onto what Lu Xi'an means, Yao Wei says, "Chai Xin?"

"Yes."

Lu Xi'an nods, "If a Neo-Human entered the town and nobody else knows, then it must be Chai Xin. Then we can just directly go find him at that time.

"If it's Luo Ping or other people that have been settled here for years, surely those in town would be aware. We can ask them at that time and confirm who it is.

"According to the situation on the Resonant Gene Scanner, it seems Shanyang town is safer than the north."

Yao Wei agrees with Lu Xi'an's reasoning and nods.

The two spend an afternoon parked there, observing.

Throughout the afternoon, the positions of the red dots on the Resonant Gene Scanner remain unchanged, particularly the one on the mountain - it doesn't move an inch, giving off a deceased-like vibe.

But when the Neo-Human was killed by Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei in Mengxin City previously, it didn't show up on the Resonant Gene Scanner, so it's absolutely impossible for this one to be dead.

Is it closed off meditating?

Does the person have Fungus Stone, capable of breakthrough?

Lu Xi'an engages in wild speculation to no avail, opting to suppress the vexing questions and wait for the next day.

The laptop that had been basking in the sun all day suffices for watching another movie. Still, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei are preoccupied with the situation at Beiqin Mountain of Shanyang County and choose not to switch on the laptop.

They eat some stir-fried corn kernels and then sleep. The next morning, as they wake up, seeing rabbits darting from the brush, without hesitation, Yao Wei nocks, draws the bow, and shoots the rabbit dead.

This woman takes decisive action, never indulging in dilemmas like "rabbits are so cute, why eat them."

She carries out the skinning and boning herself after hunting the rabbit.

Lu Xi'an assisted nearby, started a fire and roasted the meat, together they had a feast of grilled rabbit.

While eating the rabbit, Lu Xi'an thought of a question and asked, "I was always up north before, and hardly saw any animals. When I headed south and reached here, I've only seen wolves, dogs, wild boars, and the like.

"I heard Chai Xin say she caught a deer once, and this is the first time I've seen a rabbit. What about you? Besides these, have you seen any other animals?"

"Birds, chickens, sheep."

Yao Wei gave three answers.

Lu Xi'an couldn't help but feel a bit hopeful: "I wonder what kind of chickens they are? If they're hens, it would be great, we wouldn't even have to kill them. We could catch one and keep it in the car to lay eggs.

"Then we could achieve egg freedom and even have egg fried rice."

In the past life, hens didn't need a rooster to lay eggs, but such eggs could only be eaten, not hatched into chicks. I wonder if it's the same in this world?

Yao Wei knew about eggs, and after spending time with Lu Xi'an, she could roughly understand what "egg freedom" meant, but she didn't know what fried rice was.

However, since Lu Xi'an mentioned it, it must be something good. So Yao Wei said, "Let's catch one when we see it next time."

"Okay."

Lu Xi'an smiled, feeling a new sense of hope in life.

After finishing the roasted rabbit, the two tidied up briefly and set off in their car.

After crossing the Qin Mountain River and continuing on for a bit, the full view of Shanyang County finally emerged before their eyes.

This county town seemed slightly larger and more prosperous than Yao County. However, by now, no matter how prosperous it was, it had already come to an end.

From afar outside the city, the two saw many standing or fallen buildings, green vegetation wrapping around them, transforming the entire city into a "green coral reef on land."

In its time, Shanyang County might have been a major agricultural county. Outside the city were barren fields.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei also saw remnants of greenhouses, but unlike those in Yao County, these did not have earth walls but were simple structures built entirely from steel frames.

By now, the plastic film of the simple greenhouses was long gone, many steel frames had disappeared, leaving only a few still standing or fallen.

The standing frames had vines climbing up, forming a unique scenery in this desolate world, like vine-formed arch bridges, extremely shaded underneath.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei drove their car under the green "arch bridge" to hide.

At this moment, a breeze passed through, slightly shaking the steel frames long obscured by vines, with only a creaking sound betraying the presence of these relics of the old world.

Such a spectacle is rarely preserved in this world, as time and disaster have ravaged them, leaving only a fraction surviving.

Lu Xi'an thought that the steel frame before them must have been of good quality back then?

Sunlight shone down through the "arch bridge" gaps, casting dappled spots on the car window.

Lu Xi'an squinted his eyes and looked up at the sky; it was still early, and today, staying here for a day, he wondered if they might make any discoveries?

He took the Fungus Stone, placed his hand on the central console, and said to Yao Wei, "Come."

Yao Wei needed no further prompting, she clasped her hand onto his, together enclosing the Fungus Stone.

Now, with nothing else to do and staking out in the car, they might as well use the Fungus Stone to enhance their strength.

This was a legitimate pursuit; they should do it whenever they had leisure.

Moreover, holding the Fungus Stone could improve their physical and mental state; only by maintaining a good state could they stake out effectively.

From morning till afternoon, they maintained sufficient patience, not eating at noon.

——In this world, Yao Wei always had the habit of having two meals a day, and Lu Xi'an, to conserve food, gradually developed this habit after arriving here, so he didn't need to eat at noon.

After noon passed, sudden movement was heard outside the "arch bridge."

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei instantly perked up and exchanged a glance.

Peering through the gaps between the arch bridge's leaves towards the source of the sound, they could dimly see someone walking towards them from the direction of Shanyang County.

But the vines were too dense, and they couldn't see clearly, so they had to separate their hands and get out of the car.

Walking quietly and stealthily to the edge of the "arch bridge," looking out again, the sound came closer. It was a man and woman pushing through the wild grass towards them.

Their stature not as small and thin as people elsewhere, though hunch-backed and aged, with many wrinkles, yet they were better off than others.

Judging by their observation, life in Shanyang County seemed better than in Yao County.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei watched silently as the two people headed directly towards the "arch bridge."

Wondering whether they came here to hide or do something?

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei exchanged a look, deciding to wait here and handle things when the pair approached.

When the two walked closer, Lu Xi'an heard the man say, "Leaving like this, are we being unfair to Mr. Luo?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.