Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 288 Heroes of Liangshan
Luo Ping drove quite a distance until the car became a tiny dot, and Chai Xin, still leaning out the window, kept waving.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei could no longer see the girl, but they could still hear the sounds from the car.

"Alright, we've already come this far. No matter how far you wave, my brother and sister won't see you. Come on in. Be careful not to fall."

"Yes, they can! They're Type A Newtypes, and even more powerful than regular Type A Newtypes. They can definitely hear us! Goodbye, big brother and big sister!"

"What you said makes some sense... Goodbye, big brother and big sister!"

"Dudududu——"

Car horns started blaring.

Then Luo Ping led the singing of a song:

How can I forget old friends? How can I not think of them? How can I forget old friends? Our friendship will last forever...

"Crackling——"

A chorus broke out from the cars in the distance; some people were tapping on the steering wheel, some on the console, and some on the seats—a muffled sound, completely different from the clatter of pots and pans.

Hmm... it seems they've all learned this song. Although there's not much technique involved, they sing it so smoothly and boldly that it touches the heart.

Beneath this grand spirit lies a lingering attachment and reluctance to part.

The mingled singing and percussion sounds faded into the distance, as if drifting into the sky, slowly disappearing into the clouds until they vanished completely.

"They're gone..."

After the singing had completely faded away, Yao Wei spoke calmly.

But Lu Xi'an could still hear the desolation and loneliness that followed the excitement.

This is always how it is after the noise; it takes some time to adjust.

Lu Xi'an hugged Yao Wei and said, "Yeah, it's just the two of us again."

Yao Wei unconsciously rested her head on Lu Xi'an's shoulder. She had never learned to do this before, but now it felt natural.

It seems that only in this way can one find the greatest solace after the hustle and bustle has faded away.

Yao Wei said, "That's why I didn't want to go to Jiangbei in the first place, because I was afraid of this."

She was referring to the time when they were in Jianshan City, and their road ahead was blocked. They hesitated whether to pass through Jiangbei to reach the base that Luo Ping had mentioned.

Looking back now, she was right. Parting from people you've become familiar with and plunging back into solitude from bustling crowds is indeed painful.

Having spent a long time at the 923 Institute base, they genuinely didn't want to leave.

"Ah."

Lu Xian nodded.

Fortunately, they had enough perseverance to stay true to their goals and bid farewell to what was destined to be beautiful scenery along the way.

After standing there for a long time, Lu Xi'an said, "Let's go too."

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded.

Last night, while they were having dinner and resting, they had already driven their car to the side of the road, across the ditch from Luo Ping's car.

At this point, all you need to do is lift the car over the ditch, onto the road, with the front of the car facing east, and you can continue your journey.

Yao Wei was driving, while Lu Xi'an sat in the passenger seat looking at the map.

Before looking at the World Atlas I in his hand, he first glanced at the resonance gene scanner on the table behind him. The instrument's map showed five red dots moving away.

Two of them are naturally Fungus Stones. The remaining three are Luo Ping and the others; Tang Er will not show them.

"This time it's their turn to use the fungus stone to bolster their own power. We three red dots can't rely on them to intimidate us."

Lu Xi'an smiled.

"Ah."

Yao Wei said, "If we appear weak on the surface, we can lower others' guard."

"Right."

Lu Xi'an smiled.

According to this logic, they both have their reasons.

The sea has thawed and receded; judging by the time, the next tide should be coming soon.

Yesterday, Lu Xi'an told Luo Ping and the others about the terrifying sudden arrival of the sea and the engulfment of the city. If Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei hadn't both been Type A new humans, they probably would have already perished in the sea.

Therefore, Luo Ping and his group planned to get to Caiyang Mountain as soon as possible, drive the car up the mountain before the tide came in, and then dig out the memorial medal buried by Lu Xi'an. When the tide came in, Hu Xiaodong and his son would arrive by boat.

At that time, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei pushed their bikes directly onto this road from the ice, while Luo Ping and the others had to take a slightly different route to get there.

Yao Wei drove the car to the intersection and turned south. They had a long way to go to reach the next city.
On the map, the three red dots representing them and the six red dots representing Luo Ping and his group of four finally began to move in opposite directions. It wouldn't be long before Luo Ping and his group would walk out of the Resonance Gene Scanner's map.

After closing the World Atlas, Lu Xi'an said, "Let's go. We should be able to reach Liangshan Village in about another day. Liangshan Village... hey, what a great name!"

"What's a good name?"

Yao Wei asked. She didn't see anything particularly good about the name.

Lu Xi'an said, "There used to be a story about Liangshan in ancient times, which said that there were 108 heroes in Liangshan Marsh..."

Yao Wei asked, "Is he the kind of hero you described last night?"

Lu Xi'an shook his head and said, "No. What I said last night, if it were shown to people later, they would also think I was a hero."

"But by the standards of later generations, those 108 heroes can only be described as scoundrels and scum of the earth."

"The world changes, things change, and people change. I have been to Liangshan. Times have changed people's moral standards, and time has also changed the environment."

"Liangshan no longer has any water features. This Liangshan Village must be different from before, right? Maybe it has been submerged by the sea."

"Hmm," Yao Wei said, "Tell me the story of Liangshan you mentioned?"

Having nothing else to do, Lu Xi'an simply said, "Okay," and began to speak.

The story is very long, and Lu Xi'an has forgotten most of it. He only tells the part he remembers, starting from the beginning when Grand Marshal Hong of Longhu Mountain released the demon star, then Shi Jin, Wang Jin, Lu Zhishen, and Lin Chong, and then the birthday gifts from Song Jiang to Wu Song.

By the time the story of Wu Song fighting the tiger on Jingyang Ridge was finished, it was already dark.

Yao Wei commented: "They are so weak."

Lu Xian: "..."

This assessment, coming from Yao Wei, is quite accurate. Whether it's Lu Zhishen uprooting the willow tree or Wu Song fighting the tiger, for Yao Wei, they were indeed just casual matters.

Compared to Yao Wei, Wu Song's fight with the tiger was so scare-inducing that he sobered up completely, and Lu Zhishen had to take off his outer garment to prepare before uprooting the tree. They were simply not as impressive.

Lu Xi'an inexplicably recalled the story of "Lin Daiyu uprooting the willow tree" from her previous life, and thought that if Yao Wei were dressed in ancient costume, she could capture some of the feeling.

Yao Wei can only match Daiyu in physique; she is definitely not as delicate in spirit. Her appearance would probably only show the form but not the spirit, and if posted online, it would be criticized by netizens.

"We are a new kind of human. There were no new kind of human beings in ancient times. It's already quite amazing for an ordinary person to become like them."

Lu Xian said so.

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded.

They parked their car by the woods outside the road and prepared to rest.

There is no vast ocean here, and I don't know if it's really far from the coastline or if the tides haven't come in yet.

Comparing the road conditions here with those in Yangcai County, Lu Xi'an felt that the former was the better option.

Places that are submerged by seawater year-round will inevitably undergo changes; careful comparison will reveal the differences.

The two of them prepared some simple food and ate while watching a movie on their laptops in the car.

Lu Xi'an asked, "Do you think the people in the stories I told during the day were good people or bad people?"

Yao Wei thought for a long time, then shook her head and said, "I can't explain it. I feel they're neither good enough nor bad enough. Is this what a hero is like?"

"Who knows?"

Lu Xi'an smiled.

After that, Yao Wei never let Lu Xi'an tell the story again. She felt that the characters in the story were too weak and it wasn't very interesting to listen to.

Lu Xi'an said, "Look at the people in these movies and TV shows, they're pretty weak. Don't you find it boring?"

Yao Wei said, "It's better to have a visual representation; you can learn something from it."

Lu Xi'an laughed: "Just like that one you saw the other day, right?"

"Which one?"

Yao Wei didn't realize what was happening at first and even asked a question. But after seeing Lu Xi'an's expression, she suddenly understood.

Without the slightest bit of shyness, she directly and bluntly asked Lu Xi'an, "Do you want to have a child?"

"..."

This direct question left Lu Xi'an speechless. After a long pause, he decided to follow his heart and say, "Yes."

Yao Wei shook her head: "No. I can't have a baby now."

Lu Xian: "..."

This woman is a real pain.

They rested there for the night. When they woke up the next day, they washed up, exercised, and ate something. Yao Wei frowned and said, "We're running out of water. We need to find somewhere to get some."

There was actually plenty of water before, enough for the two of them to use for several days. However, Luo Ping and the others used up quite a bit of it by making that big meal and washing the dishes.

The water buckets in the vehicle are now empty, but there are still plenty of water in the RV's water tank. If used sparingly, it can last a long time.

But as the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Both of them had become accustomed to having plenty of water, and now they felt uncomfortable with the current situation and wanted to replenish their water supply as soon as possible.

"Ah."

Lu Xi'an agreed, opened the "World Atlas I", glanced at it again, and said, "There is a Guanhai River ahead, just north of Liangshan Village."

"Let's drive there and we can get some water."

"Ah."

Yao Wei responded as she cleared away the dishes after the meal.

They then drove south.

This time, it was Lu Xi'an's turn to drive. Yao Wei sat in the passenger seat, feeling the road conditions getting worse and worse, the car swaying and becoming increasingly bumpy.

The trees on both sides arched over each other, like a bridge built on the road, or perhaps they were about to collapse and crush the bridge.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei soon saw the real bridge, which was dilapidated and broken in the middle.

The break was right at the mouth of the Guanhai River. The river was full of water, and the current was very rapid, making a "splashing" sound.

It's no wonder it's called the Guanhai River, given how rushed it is.

"Looks like we'll have to skip that in a bit."

After seeing the broken bridge in the distance, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei said.

"Ah."

Yao Wei agreed and drove the car to the bridgehead. The two planned to lift the car across the river first, and then come back to fetch water.

But just as they got off the bus, they suddenly heard the mechanical dog on the bus announce through the loudspeaker: "Slight life form detected ahead, identified as human. Please be careful."

(End of this chapter)