Apocalypse: Last Traveler

This time, the weather went from cold to hot quickly, and by the second morning, the whole world had already heated up.

Not warm, but hot.

So much so that the snow on the ground melted quickly, seeping into the soil, making the roads wet and muddy.

But fortunately, Lu Xi'an had good driving skills, and Yao Wei's car performed well on all kinds of terrains. Even if the car accidentally got stuck in a ditch, the two Neo-Humans could lift it out.

So Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were not afraid of these road conditions.

After Lu Xi'an unplugged the air conditioner from Gou's back, Gou energetically jumped to the front at Yao Wei's feet.

Chai Xin was startled, her curled-up body popped up, and her head hit the car roof with a "thud." She then looked forward in shock and curiosity at Gou by Yao Wei's feet.

But Gou had already transformed back into a box.

"That's a dog, haven't you seen one before?"

Lu Xi'an asked.

"I've seen one..."

Chai Xin said, "When I was in Tongzhou County, we often hunted dogs. But this is clearly a box, even if it looked like that before... The dogs I've seen didn't have legs so short."

Lu Xi'an chuckled.

Chai Xin then said, "I'll go get something. Can you guys wait for me here?"

Lu Xi'an asked, "How far is the place you want to go from here?"

Chai Xin said, "Not far, just near where you encountered the wolves. I happened to be at the den on the other side of the river; otherwise, I wouldn't have heard the commotion so quickly to chase the wolves away."

"Oh, I see..."

Lu Xi'an pondered for a moment and didn't directly respond to Chai Xin but instead sought Yao Wei's opinion, "How about we drive there together?

"It's faster this way. I really don't want to stay in this place, Mengxin, even for a moment longer."

At first coming here, it actually felt fine; the sky was vast, and it seemed to broaden one's mind.

But staying for long, the monotony becomes unbearable, making people feel the immensity of the universe and the insignificance of humans, always reminding Lu Xi'an of memories from when they first crossed over.

The scenery then was different, but it was equally desolate and boundless, making one's heart frantic.

So Lu Xi'an was eager to leave this place.

Yao Wei had no objections; she nodded and said, "Okay." Then she glanced at Chai Xin, frowned, and asked, "But with her sitting like that, how will you drive?"

The space was cramped. Even curled up, Chai Xin needed to stretch her legs a bit behind the center console, affecting Lu Xi'an's ability to operate the gearshift.

Before Lu Xi'an could speak, Chai Xin volunteered, "I'll go to the roof. How about I sit on the roof? If anything happens, I can shoot arrows from up there to cover you."

Lu Xi'an said, "No need for you to cover us; just sit on the roof."

He wasn't joking—how could they easily return a weapon to Chai Xin's hands?

Though young, Chai Xin was skilled enough with a bow and arrow to drive away a wolf pack. Before thoroughly confirming she was not a threat, neither Lu Xi'an nor Yao Wei would be comfortable letting her have a handy weapon again.

"Okay."

Chai Xin sighed, feeling it was a pity. But she didn't think much of it, and after Yao Wei opened the car door for her, she nimbly climbed onto the roof.

The snow on the roof had already melted, so she had no problem staying there.

"I'm ready."

She told Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei from up there, and then Lu Xi'an started the car and drove back onto the road.

On the slippery grass, the shaky ride made it difficult for Chai Xin to stay on the roof, but soon the car reached the highway, and although a bit bumpy, it was much better than outside the road.

Chai Xin sat on the roof, enjoying the sunshine and the breeze, feeling unprecedented comfort.

"So nice... Having a car is great..."

She couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

Inside the car, Lu Xi'an, hearing the sounds from the roof, oddly remembered an old Korean animated "Journey to the West" series he watched as a child in his past life.

In it, Monk Tang drove a car, Sun Wukong rode a skateboard holding nunchakus, transforming whenever he wanted to brush his teeth.

Hmm...

Who was in the passenger seat, again, a shooter? He glanced over, but the image didn't match. How could Zhu Bajie compare to Yao Wei?

Even if that old pig carried a rocket launcher, Yao Wei only played with a handgun.

"What are you looking at?"

Yao Wei noticed Lu Xi'an's gaze and asked.

"Nothing."

Lu Xi'an quickly said, focusing on the road ahead, driving intently.

He couldn't let Yao Wei know he was associating her with a pig.

The car traveled for a while when a familiar forest appeared before them, and Lu Xi'an asked, "Where should we go first?"

From the roof came Chai Xin's voice, "Shall we first go to where you encountered the wolves before? Although it's unlikely, I'm still worried the wolf meat there might be gone."

"Okay."

Lu Xi'an agreed and continued driving.

The initial place where they encountered the wolf pack was before a turn. There were tire tracks; it was uncertain if those were still edible.

Apart from that, Yao Wei had also killed a wolf and thrown it away. If the body was still there, frozen for this long, it should be rock-solid and not spoiled. Dried a bit, it should be fine for Chai Xin to take along as road food.

Finally, they reached the turning point in the road, turned, and continued onward.

Lu Xi'an suddenly squinted his eyes, noticing something, and abruptly stepped on the brakes.

—There was actually a row of stones on the road ahead.

Those stones had been specially treated, ground, and sharpened. A single glance revealed they were man-made.

The car stopped some distance from the stones.

The wolves' bodies were all gone, and with a heavy snowfall, the original bloodstains had dissolved and disappeared with the melted snow, leaving no traces. But Lu Xi'an confirmed that this was where they had encountered the wolf pack before.

"Gou."

Lu Xi'an called out.

The dog beneath Yao Wei's feet immediately transformed from its box state without needing further instructions from Lu Xi'an. It sensed the intent and, after Yao Wei activated the drone switch and opened the car door, operated the drone to take off, flying out of the car.

On the car roof, Chai Xin also lay completely against the tire, her eyes wide, taking in everything before her.

Her eyesight wasn't as sharp as Lu Xi'an's and Yao Wei's; she didn't notice the stones on the ground until the abrupt brake almost gave her a sprain and prompted her to look more closely.

She didn't know what she was thinking, but her expression suddenly turned somewhat unpleasant.

She heard Lu Xi'an call "Gou" in the car but couldn't comprehend what he meant.

Then she saw the drone take off and enlarged her eyes, alternately watching the stones on the road and the metallic machine flying up without any apparent support.