Chapter 192 - Do You Know What Lurks Outside?
After everyone finished packing up, Lu Chen and Coco stood at the front, both of them using their skills to put out the fire on their path.
Everyone else followed them in single file, making sure that there were no surprise attacks from mutated beasts or zombies that took advantage of the fire, smoke, and confusion.
It took a few minutes but the group eventually got out of the zone of fire.
And as if the parted sea closed behind the sea goddess, the flames as well once again picked up and burned brightly behind them, spreading everywhere.
Qin Hua took a deep breath and calmed herself down as this reminded her of the burning world she had peered into for a short fraction of a second before running back out.
She still couldn't fathom what possible creature could possibly survive in a world like that, with just flames everywhere. And in case, something survives there, just how powerful it might be!
As she distractedly continued walking along with the rest of the group, they soon crossed the hospital zone and the water purification facility and were almost nearing the next city.
These areas had already been cleaned out thoroughly and there was no longer any random mutated beast or zombie.
However, Qin Hua still continued to sniff around making sure that there were no other spatial rifts. For all she knew, these could be as sparse as a needle in a haystack.
So she didn't put too many expectations on finding one. She simply kept a lookout just in case they did.
Not long after they reached the next city, suddenly a couple of military tanks blocked their path. There was also a group of men blocking the road.
Everyone immediately became alert and Lu Chen quickly explained to them. "I don't think they are standing there to attack us. This should be the boundary of the safe zone."
"Hmmm… Ya. I saw this yesterday also. Just like you said, this should be the boundary. But will they really not attack us?" Alex sighed.
"Let's see what happens. Guan Ye, you should hide." Lu Chen muttered and continued walking forward.
Qin Hua had already hidden inside one of the nearby shadows and Coco hid in the midst of the dense forest.
They were currently standing on the streets of a developed city which was a concrete jungle in the past but was now an actual jungle. So there was no scarcity of places to hide.
"Halt. Which group are you from? Why are you here? Show your identification cards." One of the military guards stepped forward and loudly spoke.
"We are just leaving the city." Lu Chen calmly answered him.
"Hmmm? You still haven't answered all my questions. Where are you from?" The guard narrowed his eyes and stared down at Lu Chen.
"We are just civilians from the neighboring city. And now we want to leave here." Lu Chen patiently answered him again.
"What do you mean by leave? Don't you know what is happening outside! Sometimes I feel like it is a waste of time guarding fools like you!"
"Just go back to the base and sit there quietly. You might think that you can survive the wilderness but trust me. You will die in a second."
"You have no idea what kind of monsters lurk beyond these gates! Don't act foolishly. There are women and children in your group too! Where the hell are you coming from?"
"How was the patrol group so lazy that they didn't even realize a big group wandering outside like this? Fucking incompetency everywhere."
Noticing this commotion, a few more people gathered around, and coincidentally, one of the Generals also walked in. Yahe's face completely changed as soon as he saw the familiar faces.
The others might not know who they were but he was fully aware of everything about this group here or at least about the few members of the group.
His gaze wandered fearfully when he met Lu Chen and the sight of him made the man subconsciously shiver.
"Oh!" Lu Chen exclaimed. "Greetings, General. Good that we finally see someone we know." He chuckled coldly, which made the man take a step back.
"We want to leave the city, but your men seem to have a problem with it. This one over here is even advising me on how to behave. Do you want to talk to them? Or should I?"
One end of his lips curled upwards and Yahe immediately stiffened up.
"Hey. Why are you blocking people? If they want to leave just let them leave!" He blurted out instinctively, shouting at the guard in the front.
"But General…" The man was confused. They had been given different orders and now the General was saying something else.
"Just let them go. Alright!" Yahe wanted to strangle the guy. Seeing that things could take a turn for the worse any time now, he quickly stepped forward and did it himself.
He personally moved the blockade and allowed the group to leave while everyone watched the scene dumbly. "Go back to your spots. Nothing to see here!"
"Well… that was rather easy…" Alex kept turning around and looking at the confused faces as they walked beyond the barricade.
"Mhm. We got lucky." Lu Chen shrugged. He had half expected this guy to spill all the truth but it looked like he had kept his mouth shut and didn't tell anyone about what had transpired.
The group continued walking for another half an hour when Qin Hua barked loudly and pulled Lu Chen aside into a nearby bush.
She then hurriedly pulled out all the grass on the ground and started scribbling. "Stay here for a while."
"You want us to camp here for a while? But why? For supplies?" Lu Chen asked. They already had a lot of supplies so he didn't understand the reason.
Qin Hua growled and then scribbled again. "I need to sniff!" And then she saw that her words made absolutely no sense so she erased it and wrote again. "Search and hunt for beasts here."
"Hmmm…" Lu Chen looked at the wolf pensively but he then nodded… They had after all come out to hunt more aggressively, so they didn't have any specific plan or path to follow.