Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 298: Picking Wild Vine
Upon hearing Gouzi's words, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's eyes widened immediately.

He looked at Yao Wei, whose eyes flickered, and he couldn't tell what she was thinking.

Judging from this, this woman probably had the same guess as him, right?
Could the two people who were in this return capsule really be Yao Wei's parents?

"Dog, which 'huo' is in Yao Huo's name?"

Lu Xian asked.

The dog replied: "This character can be used to form the phrase '藿香正气' (Huo Xiang Zheng Qi). If you don't understand, Mechanical Dog 02 can explain the strokes to you and help you write it. Please check it yourself."

"no need."

Lu Xian said.

He breathed on the driver's side window and wrote the character "藿" on it.

This character has too many strokes, and when they are piled up, they appear too dense. Therefore, he had to write each stroke as finely as possible in order to make it clear.

Yao Wei stared silently at the words Lu Xi'an had written on the car window.

After finishing writing, Lu Xi'an turned to Yao Wei and asked, "Does the character 'Wei' in your name have the same grass radical as this?"

Yao Wei nodded and said, "Yes."

Lu Xi'an pondered for a long time before saying, "Then it should be... that's it..."

"Is it?"

Yao Wei widened her eyes slightly and asked.

They seemed to be speaking in riddles, but the meaning behind their words was perfectly clear to them—

All these clues point to that answer—

Yao Wei's parents were very likely from this place.

They came from heaven!

Absolutely!

How could it not be?
Lu Xi'an carefully connected the clues he knew.

Actually, you don't need too many connections; just one is enough.

"Actually, you can tell a lot just from the name."

Lu Xi'an said, "Yao Wei, your name is so different from the people in this world."

“Look at what other people’s names are: Liu Hua, Tang Er, Xuan Xiaocao, Yang Guan, Da Chang… Chai Xin and Luo Ping are considered to be better names.”

"But their names, no matter what, are very simple, very ordinary, and have no particular meaning."

"But yours is different. Although the character '微' is common, it is somewhat unusual to people in this world."

"And you also know perfectly well that your name is the 'Wei' in 'Caiwei', not some other 'Wei'."

"And there are the languages ​​you understand, which most people in this world don't understand."

"They are far inferior to you. All the words you know, your mother taught you, right?"

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded. But then, as if remembering something, she said, "But your name is also very different. A name like Lu Xi'an is quite different from others."

“You can read, and you know more than anyone else. Luo Ping can also read.”

Lu Xi'an leaned back in his seat, looked at the windshield in front of him, and let out a long breath.

The moonlight fell and shone on the windshield of the RV, turning into a row of dazzling lights.

The dazzling light fell on Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's faces, as if it lit up their eyes.

"I really don't know how to talk about my situation."

Lu Xi'an said with a sigh, after hesitating for a long time, "If I told you that I am a time traveler, would you believe me?"

He originally intended to keep this to himself forever, and not tell anyone.

This is my biggest secret right now, a secret that I shouldn't let anyone know.

In the online novels of my past life, revealing this secret to others was the biggest flaw.

But he didn't feel the need to hide it from Yao Wei.

Having known Yao Wei for so long and grown so close, he knew very well what kind of woman she was.

Even Yao Wei herself probably doesn't know as much as Lu Xi'an does.

Therefore, Lu Xi'an knew that he didn't need to hide anything from Yao Wei; this woman would absolutely not do anything to harm him.

They are already one, so why should they keep any secrets from each other?
Hmm... the dog is fine too.

The dog is quite safe. Lu Xi'an has been using the dog a lot since traveling from south to north, and he knows it very well.

He confessed, but Yao Wei didn't understand: "A time traveler?"

Lu Xi'an said, "You can think of it as me coming from another world, crossing time and space, and appearing in this world unintentionally."

"The world I originally lived in was just like those videos you've seen—everything was fine: cities, villages, schools, shopping malls..."

"Everything is here, everything is fine."

"You've seen it on TV; everyone there goes to school and learns, so our names are different from most people in the world."

"That's why I know so much that you don't."

He had expected Yao Wei to suddenly realize something and then ask him more questions, but to his surprise, after he finished asking, his hand, which was on the gear lever on the center console, was suddenly grasped by Yao Wei.

"I'll take care of things from now on."

Yao Wei spoke softly, her voice gentle and rare, like a warm current flowing into Lu Xi'an's ears, "I will always be here."

Lu Xi'an suddenly realized that the woman had understood the subtext in his words.

He recounted the splendor of his former world to Yao Wei, but she also sensed the desolation and loneliness she felt when she arrived in this world. The contrast between the two would be difficult for most people to accept, and might even cause them to break down.
Perhaps Yao Wei was thinking of her own experience; when her mother had just passed away, she was all alone and helpless, and it was just as difficult for her...

Lu Xi'an chuckled softly, took Yao Wei's hand in return, looked directly into Yao Wei's eyes, and said, "I've always been here too."

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded, her voice revealing her happiness.

She suddenly asked again, "What do you mean by 'picking ferns'?"

She seemed very concerned about this question, staring intently at Lu Xi'an.

Lu Xi'an replied, "That's a poem from the Book of Songs: 'Gathering ferns, gathering ferns, the ferns are now growing; gathering ferns, gathering ferns, the ferns are now tender; gathering ferns, gathering ferns, the ferns are now strong...'"

The poem "Picking Ferns" is quite long, and Lu Xi'an couldn't remember it, so he didn't explain it to Yao Wei in detail.

He simply extracted the phrase "picking ferns" and explained it to Yao Wei, "The word 'ferns' actually has two interpretations."

One interpretation is that it refers to a rose, a very beautiful flower; another interpretation is that it refers to a wild vegetable.

The "wei" in "caiwei" refers to this kind of wild vegetable. "Caiwei" means picking wild vegetables.

"However, that poem only uses the metaphor of picking wild herbs to describe the cruelty of war and the pain of homesickness."

"Your parents named you this, perhaps hoping you would grow up to be as beautiful as a rose, or perhaps they were reminiscing about their hometown? Maybe they had some kind of hope for you when they named you this?"
"Which of these two do you think your 'Wei' refers to?"

Yao Wei thought about it and said, "I don't know."

Lu Xi'an then changed her question, asking with a smile, "Which one do you want?"

But Yao Wei thought for a moment and still said, "I don't know." Then she turned to Lu Xi'an and asked, "Lu Xi'an, which one do you think it should be?"

Lu Xian: "..."

He looked directly into Yao Wei's captivating eyes and blurted out without even thinking, "As for me, I think you have both."

"It has the beauty of a rose, and the tenacity of wild vegetables picked from the wild herbs."

"You are good no matter what, possessing all their advantages."

Yao Wei suddenly looked away, unable to meet Lu Xi'an's gaze.

This woman, who is usually so straightforward and speaks so frankly about having children, suddenly became shy and bashful, her face flushed red—it was unbelievable.

"Let's go, we still need to go inside and take a look."

She hastily changed the subject and started to get off the bus.

Lu Xi'an couldn't help but chuckle and said, "We haven't finished asking Gouzi yet."

Yao Wei paused, her hand on the doorknob momentarily unsure of where to put it.

"Go ahead and ask."

She had no choice but to withdraw her hand and say.

Lu Xi'an then asked Gouzi, "Gouzi, what's special about the other three places?"

The dog replied, "There are inscriptions on the bulkhead inside the cabin. The contents are judged to be an operation manual. They have been severely corroded by salt. If the cabin is intact, they can be of reference value after repair."

Lu Xi'an caught the key point: "Is the hull still usable?"

The dog said, "The damage and corrosion are severe; it's deemed unusable."

Lu Xian: "..."

Then what are you even talking about!

"What about the other two?"

Lu Xian asked again.

The dog replied, "The amber-like organic matter on the ground contains crumbs of compressed biscuits and self-growing fungi, and has a strong hallucinogenic effect. It can play a special role, so I suggest collecting it."

Hmm, this is somewhat useful...

Lu Xi'an recalled those amber-like things and felt that they didn't resemble Yunnan mushrooms at all.

Who knows what kind of hallucinations would occur after eating that stuff?
But since the dog has already said so, then we should collect them later.

If it can have a special effect in certain special circumstances, that would be good too.

"What about the one place left?"

Lu Xi'an then asked, "What's that lump on the ground in the corner? Is there anything special about it?"

The dog immediately replied, "This is an extremophilic microbial community, attached to the storage compartment partition. The storage compartment can be opened after cleaning."

So that’s it!
Lu Xi'an suddenly realized.

During the previous search of the cabin, some drawers and cabinets were found, but they were all empty and nothing was found.

He wondered if there was a hidden door, and he searched for it, but found nothing.

He initially thought he was mistaken, but he never imagined that some kind of microorganism was blocking the storage compartment door.

How do I clean it?

he asks.

He had already looked at that place before, and there was no way to make a move there.

The dog replied, "I suggest cauterization."

"Ok, I see."

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei immediately got out of the car, took a lighter, went inside, squatted down in a corner, and lit a fire with the lighter.

The extremophiles shrank instantly upon being scorched by the flames, like the receding tide, until they disappeared completely.

Beneath the extremophile microbial community, the cabin partition was revealed.

(End of this chapter)