Chapter 46: Pavilions in the Mist and Rain

Assuming that all grades of officers and priests above the lowest-ranking chanters are considered advanced intelligent worms, Qi An had indeed seen them.

She had seen an apprentice priest when Sector 4 Southeast fell.

"The gap between advanced intelligent worms and ordinary corrupted worms is even greater than the gap between humans and pigs, and it is said the gap between advanced intelligent worms themselves is even wider! Every single intelligent worm has its own distinct characteristics..." You Zi usually didn't talk much, but she showed extreme interest whenever the topics of "purification" and "mutation" came up.

However, this still felt like a digression to Yu Shuang. As she walked back, she said to Qi An, "What I mean is human interaction. When people are kind, they get taken advantage of. It's quite dull."

"Wasn't it like that before the apocalypse? Were people truly equal back then?" Qi An asked.

It was a genuine question, as she had never experienced the world before the apocalypse.

Yu Shuang choked on her words for a moment, vaguely recalling how a group of boisterous kids in her class used to bully a skinny, somewhat autistic child.

For no reason at all, those noisy kids would kick the autistic child's stool every day, knock over his pencil case, and corner him after school.

Why? Simply because the autistic child had poor grades, the teachers didn't pay much attention to him, his guardian was his elderly grandmother, and his own fists weren't hard enough to fight back.

True equality before the apocalypse?

Yu Shuang felt rather irritated. Qi An then said, "If things have never been equal and can never be equal, yet you want the environment around you to be equal, the only choice is to make yourself stronger.

Just like us and the people from Morning Star Team 1 and North 2—aren't we quite equal now?"

"Yes." Yu Shuang smiled and threw an arm around Qi An's shoulder. "Although human strength has its limits, if I push myself to the limit of my natural talent, I can still create a small circle around myself where the people near me can be a bit more equal and a bit happier."

She would only ever say this to Qi An and her team members. She felt that if outsiders—like that guy Qin Tianmiao—heard it, they would definitely mock her mercilessly.

Yet Qi An couldn't help but look up at Yu Shuang.

The setting sun had already sunk below the horizon, and a few early stars were dotting the night curtain.

Qi An's gaze shifted from Yu Shuang's glowing eyes to a bright star shining above.

There truly were all sorts of people in this world.

And she, or perhaps the deputy leader as well, couldn't help being drawn to someone like the team captain.

***

There were plenty of ingredients all over the ranch. Tang Long carefully selected two rabbits, two chickens, and two large carp, along with some freshly picked vegetables from the greenhouse. He whipped up a steaming table of dishes featuring a mix of meat and vegetables, and even simmered fish soup for the wounded.

Ever since their departure, everyone in the convoy had been chewing on hard, dry compressed rations, having only managed a sip of warm spinach soup the morning they left the village.

Therefore, no one could resist such a delicious meal!

While everyone in the convoy was devouring the food, the dogs at the ranch were scratching at the doors!

After finishing the meal, the admiration received by Tang Long, You Zi, Ruan Xiaoyu, and the other kitchen assistants was second only to that of the pilot vehicle trio from the previous day!

Night watch shifts were still scheduled for that evening, but broken into four rotations to ensure everyone got a full six hours of sleep.

The night watch wasn't meant for guarding against corrupted worms or wild beasts, but rather to prevent anyone from the North 3 base from still harboring thoughts about the autocannon vehicle, or holding a grudge over the minor skirmish during the day.

However, the night passed without incident. In the morning, the ranch administrator even sent over steaming hot corn porridge.

The person delivering the supplies was no longer Captain Liu from the day before, but an older, middle-aged captain.

This man didn't talk much. After introducing himself with the surname Wen—explaining that he belonged to the same regiment as Captain Liu but a different combat squad—he directed his men to unload the boxes.

The supplies were complete with nothing missing, and the autocannon ammunition indeed consisted of two full crates.

Yu Shuang was surprised and couldn't help asking why Captain Liu hadn't come.

Captain Wen only said he wasn't sure. But after escorting their convoy for fifty kilometers, as the two sides parted ways, he still couldn't resist saying:

"Armored vehicles and autocannons are indeed extremely precious weapons and equipment, but our commander said that equipment is not as important as the safety of you comrades."

He saluted: "May you all successfully complete your mission and return home safely!"

The two vehicles of Captain Wen's squad drove away into the morning light.

Everyone in the convoy looked at each other in dismay. Yu Shuang was the first to smile, her mood instantly brightening to the utmost!

"Let's go, let's set off! In just one more day we'll enter the mountains. There are definitely fewer corrupted worms in the mountains, maybe we can even enjoy the scenery!" she shouted with a smile.

A day later, the convoy indeed entered the mountains.

This mountain range ran northeast-southwest, forming the border between two provinces. The peaks were towering and majestic, and the terrain was exceptionally treacherous.

Towns in the mountains were far sparser than those on the plains. They traveled for three or four days without encountering a single wave of corrupted worms.

Yet the old problem remained: where towns were sparse, the roads were difficult to travel.

In the mountains, the convoy encountered dangerously steep cliffside roads, road blockages caused by mudslides, and mountain-crossing tunnels already occupied by rabbit-sized mutated rats. The sheer variety of difficulties completely drained everyone's patience and problem-solving brain cells!

By the fifth day, it even started to rain. A continuous, lingering drizzle persisted for days, and the weather abruptly turned damp and cold.

Zhao Bohan, who had just recovered from his injuries and was still physically weak, caught a bad cold while moving rocks in the rain and developed a high fever again.

One of the young drivers accidentally slipped off a mountain cliff while pushing a vehicle; although he was caught by trees, he broke one of his legs.

However, by midday on the sixth day, the rain lessened into a fine mist as thin as hair, lingering indistinctly. The terrain in this area grew gentler, and the road ahead became slightly easier to navigate.

Qi An had just been relieved from the driver's seat by Yang Yuning. Looking up, she saw vaporous clouds steaming from the distant peaks, with a scattering of flying eaves faintly visible. Surprised, she asked over the public channel:

"What is that on the mountain behind us? Is it a village?"

It certainly didn't look like a village, and its location was far too high; all the mountain villages they had seen along the way were nestled in the valley floors at the foot of the mountains.

Yu Shuang glanced over from the lead vehicle and looked somewhat surprised as well: "Ancient architecture?"

"That is Mount Donglin," Li Yi said. "A Buddhist temple, very famous before the apocalypse."

He was the oldest person in the convoy. When the apocalypse began, he was already thirteen years old, leaving him with the deepest impressions of the pre-apocalyptic world.

Zhao Bohan insisted on rolling down the window to take a look. Though he was usually calm and reserved, his gaze and tone were somewhat excited at the moment:

"Mount Donglin! It houses the largest complex of Buddhist temple architecture on the mainland, and the oldest temple among them has a history of nearly two thousand years!"

Hearing this, Qi An hurriedly picked up her binoculars to look.

It truly was a vast expanse of ancient architecture, scattered along the mountain with halls and pagodas half-hidden in the drizzle and clouds, giving Qi An the illusion that it was a fairyland from another world!

The vehicles rumbled over a patch of gravel with severe jolting. Qi An's line of sight was blocked by a cluster of fir trees, and she almost anxiously leaned her upper body out of the window.