Embers Ad Infinitum

Compared to the time when the "Old Tune Group" had just returned from Qifeng Town, the scenery in the wilderness was even more desolate, as if it had gone from late autumn to early winter overnight.

"Is it going to snow soon?" Long Yuehong looked at the lead-colored sky outside the window and guessed expectantly.

He had only seen snow scenes in textbooks and slides.

"At this time in previous years, it was almost time to snow." Jiang Baimian replied casually while driving.

Bai Chen, who was in the passenger seat, glanced at the rearview mirror and said:

"It may have snowed several times in the north of the swamp."

The northernmost part of the Black Marsh Wilderness is connected to the ice field, which is a freezing world.

However, because the Black Swamp Wilderness covers a large area, the weather in the area south of the swamp is not that extreme and has four distinct seasons.

"I really want to see what a vast expanse of white means." Long Yuehong retracted her gaze and sighed.

Shang Jianyao, who was sitting upright, immediately responded:

"That's not auspicious words."

"Why?" Although Long Yuehong knew that Shang Jianyao's dog couldn't spit out ivory, she still couldn't help asking.

He is very sensitive to topics such as good luck, bad luck, and fate.

Shang Jianyao laughed:

"Think about it, when everything on the earth is covered by a blizzard and only a vast expanse of white remains, will that be auspicious?"

"That's true..." Long Yuehong had to admit that what Shang Jianyao said made sense.

Listening to the conversation between the two, Jiang Baimian added:

"Every winter, countless wanderers in the wilderness freeze to death. Snow is a disaster for them, right, Bai Chen?"

"Yes." Bai Chen pulled the dusty scarf around his neck, "Many houses in settlements are in disrepair and can easily collapse when the snow gets heavy. Many people don't have enough clothes, let alone heating."

Long Yuehong was silent for a while, and then sighed after a long time:

"The company is better."

In any case, employees can have winter clothing and practical hot water bottles.

The higher the level, the more energy rationing, and the ability to turn on the heater for an hour or two from time to time - if you can snap it up or trade it.

Speaking of "Pangu creatures", Long Yuehong suddenly thought of something and asked with fear:

"Team leader, tell me, if our mission plan is really seen and leaked by the hidden people of the 'Life Ritual' cult, will the cultists on the surface ambush us in Shuiwei Town?"

The route can be changed, but the destination cannot be changed!

"Faced with this situation, we can first send bait to test." Before Jiang Baimian could answer, Shang Jianyao's smile became bright.

He patted Long Yuehong's shoulder and said:

"This glorious task is entrusted to you."

"Why me?" Although Long Yuehong didn't want to admit it, she still knew that she was the weakest person in the group and she really couldn't bear the responsibility of being a bait.

On the one hand, this was really dangerous and he was scared. On the other hand, he felt that his psychological quality was not yet at the level of the team leader and Bai Chen, so he could easily mess up the task of baiting.

——Long Yuehong divided the psychological qualities of the members of the "Old Tune Group" into four levels. He himself was in the lowest fourth level, and one level above were Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen who were both in the second level. Jian Yao is the only one.

Shang Jianyao "seriously" explained:

"Because you look like bait."

"..." Long Yuehong couldn't figure out the logic behind this.

"Don't scare him!" At this time, Jiang Baimian, who was driving, laughed and scolded Shang Jianyao.

She turned to Long Yuehong and said:

"Let me ask you a question:

"Does anyone in the company know where Shuiwei Town is?"

"I don't know." Long Yuehong answered subconsciously at first, and then suddenly realized. "That's it..."

Only then did he remember that one of the important reasons why Shuiwei Town had been able to survive relatively safely from the time of the destruction of the old world to the present was that it was located in a hidden location, making it difficult for outsiders to find it.

When Jiang Baimian reported this incident, he consciously concealed the specific situation of Shuiwei Town and only said that he met their hunting team in the wilderness.

After thinking about it, Long Yuehong was quite ashamed:

"I actually forgot about that."

"You tend to panic easily when encountering potentially dangerous situations. Remember to calm down and think more about it in the future." Jiang Baimian taught him something first, and then comforted him, "But, can you think of the 'Life Sacrifice'?" 'The fact that outside members of the cult ambushed us at our intended destination is pretty good for you, who is only on the surface for the second time."

After receiving the praise, Long Yuehong immediately became more confident.

His thoughts changed and he said excitedly:

"So, the possible danger is not in Shuiwei Town, but in Weedy City?"

The two planned destinations of the "Old Diao Group" are Shuiwei Town and Weedao City.

Compared to Shuiwei Town, Wild Grass City is a relatively well-known city among the areas where the three major forces - "Pangu Creatures", "Primary City" and "White Knights" - are located. It is well known to many relic hunters and wilderness wanderers, and there is no way to find it. Not a problem.

Before Jiang Baimian could speak, Shang Jianyao said to Long Yuehong equally excitedly:

"This is good, keep it up!"

Not bad...wait, why should I be excited? What a serious and dangerous thing this is! Long Yuehong suddenly wanted to raise her hand and pat her face.

"Why are you so excited?" Jiang Baimian scolded Shang Jianyao again, and then said to Long Yuehong, "Not bad, not bad, it's good to be able to react so quickly. We all have to think about it on the way ahead. How do you enter Weeda City without exposing yourself, and how do you determine whether there is a problem with the company's intelligence personnel there? Haha, don't worry, let's take care of things in Shuiwei Town early."

"Yes, team leader!" Long Yuehong responded loudly.

He felt that he was slowly transforming into a trustworthy team member.

After the jeep drove for a while, Bai Chen looked outside for a long time, frowned and said:

"There are a lot of signs of animal migration."

After hearing her words, Long Yuehong discovered that on the gray and yellow withered wilderness, there were many footprints crowded together, as if they had stepped on a road connecting the north and the south.

"The weather this year is not normal. Many monster groups are migrating, and the animals should be the same." Jiang Baimian recalled the news and news he had seen and heard, and his expression seemed to be quite touching. "I have seen many wanderings in the wilderness. For me, this winter is difficult.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a group of strange birds flew past in mid-air.

They are much larger than crows, their bodies are covered with black feathers, and their skulls are exposed and stained with filth.

The birds flew lower and lower, and soon fell into the swamp not far away.

During this process, they made no sound, as quiet as if they didn't exist.

When Bai Chen saw this scene, he said with a slight sigh:

"Send the bird to death...

"It looks like there are a lot of dead bodies over there."

"A death bird? Is this a kind of crow?" Long Yuehong asked curiously.

He remembered that the textbook mentioned that crows were considered unlucky in many places in the old world and were called death birds.

Bai Chen withdrew his gaze and explained in detail:

"This is an aberrant creature, we all call it the death bird or the bone crow.

"They only eat dead bodies. Wherever they gather, there must be death."

Jiang Baimian, who was driving, nodded slightly and added two sentences:

"This kind of deformed crow is amazing. Even with its skull exposed, it can still live well.

"They are not aggressive to living creatures, but if you encounter them, be careful. They can protrude a tube from their mouths, similar to flies, and spit out digestive juices. This digestive juice is very dangerous and can melt the body very quickly. It is made into juice, which is convenient for the bone crow to eat.

"Since this kind of digestive juice can melt dead bodies, I think the effect should be good if it is applied to living people."

Long Yuehong thought about that scene and hissed suddenly.

"Then here's the question." Shang Jianyao said enthusiastically, "What's the quality of this crow meat? What does it taste like when roasted?"

Jiang Baimian turned his head and glared at this guy:

"This kind of crow itself is deformed, and coupled with the characteristics of its food and living environment, it is unknown how many toxins and germs it carries."

After she finished speaking, Bai Chen suddenly said:

“The meat is of good quality.”

Jiang Baimian held the steering wheel with one hand and touched his ear with the other:

"You have eaten?"

"Well, it was a winter like now, and there wasn't enough food. Compared to humans, I think it's more acceptable to eat bone crows..." Bai Chen said in a recalling tone, "The quality of the meat is surprisingly good, and their eggs are better These are the best eggs I’ve ever tasted…”

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong raised their hands at the same time and wiped the corners of their mouths.

After doing this action, Long Yuehong woke up and felt ashamed.

Shang Jianyao turned his head and said to him seriously:

"I used 'reasoning clown' to control you, so you made the same moves as me."

"Really?" Long Yuehong was relieved and frightened at the same time.

"Fake." Shang Jianyao replied with a smile.

Jiang Baimian ignored the conversation between the two people in the back seat and curiously asked Bai Chen:

"Aren't you going to be poisoned or infected with a disease?"

"The poisoning may not be obvious, which is fine." Bai Chen subconsciously glanced out the window, "But at that time, there were more than ten or twenty people among us, and almost half of them fell ill and died, and their corpses fed more bone crows..."

The corners of her mouth were slightly raised, with a bit of ridicule towards someone.

"On dusty soil, sometimes you can only choose the lesser of two evils." Jiang Baimian sighed sincerely.

During this exchange, the gray-green jeep raced through the wilderness, got into the swamp before it got dark, and arrived at Shuiwei Town in a circuitous way.

Because they already knew each other, had transactions, and were trustworthy people, after Bai Chen came forward, the guards let them directly into the town and parked the vehicle at its old location - outside a wooden shed at the corner of the fence.

As soon as Jiang Baimian got out of the car, he saw an acquaintance.

"Puppy." She greeted with a smile.

The member of the town guard who was nicknamed Gouzi and was wearing a dusty windproof suit suddenly turned red in the face and murmured:

"I, my name is Ding Ce..."

Bai Chen didn't give Gouzi a chance to continue and asked directly:

"Where is Mayor Tian?"

Ding Ce's expression suddenly turned sad:

"Mayor, mayor, he is ill.

"Hurry, it's almost time to die."