Chapter 195 - Frozen Tundra Part1
Meanwhile…
After Guan Ye, Alex and Luo Zu arrived with the elders and the kids, Lu Chen immediately asked everyone to prepare for leaving once again.
This city was almost cleared as well and there weren't that many beasts and Qin Hua had also given him the go signal as she was unable to find any more rifts in the area.
So Lu Chen decisively gave the order and everyone started walking. But the members of the main group seemed a bit reluctant.
"Lu Chen, are we really leaving just like that?" Alex grumbled. "These people keep showing up like debt collectors and harassing us."
Guan Ye who was usually quiet also agreed with her. "Lu Chen, if we leave, then this might repeat again the next time."
"Ya, they are treating us like we are some sort of criminals or traitors. That fucker even said that we are banned from entering the place again."
Lu Chen understood their concerns. Of course, leaving like this made it look as if they were running away because they were weak and scared, but ultimately did that really matter?
"Let's just go. There is no point spilling blood when it is not necessary. We should not forget our main goal. We need to become stronger. Otherwise, in the future, we might really have to submit to someone else."
Woof! Qin Hua shook her head, agreeing with his thoughts. Just because some dogs were barking at them that didn't mean that they had to waste their time barking back!
"Bah! Whatever." Alex grumbled a little but everyone else as well agreed with Lu Chen. After all, there was only one thing that mattered right now, and that was strength.
The condition of the world around them was still unclear. Sure, there was some sort of stability and safety back in the city right now, but how long was it really going to last?
They could either stay back and gamble their futures, by relying on others or they could move forward and rely on themselves to protect their future.
And they had decided to do the latter.
The group silently started walking towards the next city. "Lu Chen, are we going east, west or north?" Guan Ye asked.
Earlier, they had talked about going to one of the main districts as those had the highest possibility of properly established safe zones, but now that they were actively hunting for mutated beasts, everything was different.
Hmmm… Lu Chen hummed, pondering out loud and then he looked at the wolf who shook her head from left to right. "Let's stay in the city for the night and then decide."
Guan Ye nodded and the group soon started moving around to see if there were any zombies or mutated beasts. This time they refrained from splitting into two.
Since this area was relatively untouched, Lu Chen also did not allow anyone to stay behind and the elders and kids went along with the hunting party.
The three teenagers held small daggers in their hands and stood at the back courageously.
The elders also did the same and grandpa Sheng even had a big smile on his face as he was able to personally harvest all the plants that he could spot.
Things continued smoothly for a few hours as they were able to spot several mutated beasts. In reality, these beasts were also sniffing them out so both parties ended up meeting midway.
Guan Ye and Alex led the close combat fight, while Lu Chen stood back shooting out bursts of deadly ice bullets and he also handled crowd control when the number of beasts became too many for them to handle.
As the mutated beasts were the ones being outnumbered this time, the fights were not drawn out and the beasts fell one after the other.
Of course, this was without a certain beast's involvement.
Qin Hua did not stick around with them as she had her own goals. She took Coco with her despite Xu Meilin's reluctant looks and then the two of them went about sniffing again.
However, unlike the rest of her teammates, the black wolf wasn't particularly having a productive time. She had almost combed through half of the city and was yet to find anything resembling a spatial rift.
[Woof! Coco, where the hell is your luck? Maybe I should make you run around by yourself!]
[Meow? Master, should I run?] The cat got down from her back and started running in circles around her.
[Stop it, you idiot.] Qin Hua sighed helplessly and whacked the cat with her paw, making her come to a halt.
The cat once again smiled innocently, as if she was filled with endless enthusiasm, happiness and positivity. Her smile was like a warm ray of sunshine in a dark stormy night.
It made Qin Hua feel… absolutely… nauseous…
[You indeed seem very energetic. Why don't you search for a bit and come back to me if you find anything? Growl!]
[Yes Master. I will find it right away! Meow!] The cat jumped up and down in excitement and ran away immediately.
Qin Hua sneered at the confidence of the damn feline. She had searched for so long and yet came out empty handed and now this was going to find it right away? Hmph! We will see!
She laid on the ground and rolled on her back to look at the vast sky above her.
This was one of the few areas that hadn't yet been enshrouded in trees and brambles, so she was able to get a clear look.
As she was absentmindedly looking around, suddenly her ears perked up and she had a prickly feeling as if someone was watching her closely.
Was there someone or something nearby? Qin Hua quickly sprung up on all fours and began to inspect her surroundings.
She dove into the shadows and tore through the messy vegetation and searched but she couldn't find anything at all.
[Hmm… What the hell?] Her blue and green eyes gazed in confusion, scanning every little thing around her.
Rustle. Rustle. Suddenly sounds of leaves moving and a twig snapping came from behind her, making her jump up in alarm, only to see Coco coming back to her.
[Woof! Coco! Don't sneak up on me like this!] Qin Hua sighed in relief, but then she immediately realized. [Why are you back already? Don't tell me…]
[Master! I found one!] The cat innocently cocked its head to the side and smiled.
[This… Fucccck!] Qin Hua gulped down the bittersweet feeling and gave a thumbs up to the being that was blessed by the heavens themselves.
[Alright. Woof. Let's go. You did your part. Now it's my turn to do the heavy lifting.] She tossed the furball on her back and ran towards Lu Chen and the others first.
As she left the area, behind her, another twig snapped and something appeared out of thin air. However, Qin Hua was already long gone.
…
…
…
Woof! Woof!
Just like how she was scared by Coco, the others also jumped up in fright on seeing her out of nowhere. Only Lu Chen remained calm as if he had been waiting for her to show up all along.
"Did something happen?" He walked towards the pitch black wolf and asked her worriedly.
Woof! Woof! Qin Hua grinned. [Yessh! I am going to take you to a good place!]
She summoned her clone out and wagged her tail, pointing her head in a certain direction. It didn't take long for Lu Chen to figure out what she was saying.
"Alright. Little white wants us to follow her. Let's go. If you are hungry or thirsty, make sure to refill your reserves right now."
Since Qin Hua was probably taking them somewhere to fight, Lu Chen warned others and he himself drank a few mouthfuls of water.
After that, the cat and the dog and the humans following them all moved together to the eastern part of the city.
And there, all of a sudden, the cat came to a halt, followed by the dog and then the others.
"Where are we, little white?" Lu Chen looked around in confusion.
There were only apartment complexes and small shops around them, nothing special in particular. it was just a random street in the city.
Woof! Woof! Qin Hua nodded her head. [Wait for it!]
Having come here, she no longer needed Coco's help in pinpointing the location of the spatial rift.
She lifted her snout and sniffed the air, immediately identifying the source of the dense accumulation of mana.
[Damn! It really is here! Good job, Coco!] She growled in excitement and then right in front of everyone's eyes, she touched a display window of one of the shops.
Everyone looked at her in confusion and the next second, the not so clean smudged window of the shop was nowhere to be seen, and instead, there was something bluish crystal white.
It was similar to Lu Chen's swirling vapors of ice as if a million tiny microscopic ice shards were floating around.