HBWnovel Chapter 261 Survival Instinct
Chapter 261 Survival Instinct
Above the yellow sand, the deathly silence was shattered by heavy breathing and the low roar of engines.
The convoy, like a battered and bruised behemoth, slowly dragged itself across the scorching sands.
No one speaks.
The walkie-talkie was silent, with only the monotonous static and the pounding of my heart against my eardrums.
Fu Xiaojian gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white.
Looking in the rearview mirror at the cars following behind, I felt even more empty inside.
He didn't know what to say to boost morale.
Perhaps he doesn't need to say anything more.
He believes that, having migrated to this point, the team members have enough confidence to break through the barriers.
Only by breaking down this barrier can the convoy go further.
"Speed up, get out of this area before dark," Fu Xiaojian said to Yang Fan in the driver's seat. Although his danger perception was now yellow, he couldn't feel at ease.
"...Okay," Yang Fan replied a beat late, as he was also in a state of confusion at the moment.
The convoy began to accelerate, its tires carving a jumble of grooves in the sand.
However, the increase in speed was not significant, as the desert greedily devoured every bit of power.
Xu Si leaned back in the driver's seat, his starry eyes half-closed.
They curled up in the crook of his shoulder, their wings occasionally fluttering slightly.
Since her last promotion, the little one no longer likes [Heart of the Ice Abyss]. She wants to stay with Xu Si and always stay with him.
A faint pulse emanated from the Seed of Life within the dimensional space, carrying a hint of...soothing?
Is he trying to comfort himself? Or is he trying to comfort something else?
Xu Si was uncertain.
This strange object is too mysterious.
"Xu Si." Yi Yi's voice was soft, like the wind blowing through the cracks in an icicle.
"Hmm? What's wrong..." Xu Si responded, glancing at Yi Yi before looking out the window.
"It's okay, I just wanted to call out to you. It's alright if you don't answer!"
"I see! Then go ahead and shout!"
"Xu Si!"
"Um!"
"Hehe, Xu Si!"
"Um"
"..."
The blood-red sun is setting, staining the sand dunes with congealed blood.
The sky was a dirty crimson, cloudless, and devoid of birds; even the crows had stopped flying.
The appearance of two powerful entities in succession left it somewhat exhausted.
It was perched on top of the ambulance, feeling much more relaxed from being flown.
As Xu Si looked out the car window at the boundless, suffocating emptiness, he couldn't help but recall the only words left behind by that supreme being.
"My territory"
"His Promise"
What kind of agreement is this?
What kind of territory is this?
Could these strange phenomena have split Earth apart?
How many "territories" has this land been divided into?
What are humans in these "territories" at this time?
Night fell silently in the desert's cold stillness, a stark contrast to the scorching heat of daytime.
The convoy eventually stopped behind a huge, sheltered sand dune, the engines were turned off, but no one got out of the cars, as if staying inside would provide some sense of security.
At that moment, no one felt hungry.
Even the rough-lined Tashan Mountain is like that.
Xu Si sat in the driver's seat of "Nirvana," the window rolled down a crack, letting in the cold, dry night wind, carrying the soft sound of sand rubbing against each other.
Yi Yi was already asleep, her small body curled up in the passenger seat, breathing evenly, her wings occasionally emitting a faint glow in the darkness, like stardust.
Fu Xiaojian finally broke the silence that had lasted for hours over the walkie-talkie.
"The convoy will rest here tonight. Xiao Luo, psychic barrier. Ta Shan and Jiang Li, it's your turn to keep watch tonight. The rest of you..." Fu Xiaojian trailed off, unsure of what to say next.
"Received." Su Su was the first to respond and the first to get off the bus. She hadn't even thrown her punch today; the fighting spirit instilled in her by the sequence wouldn't allow her to back down.
"Understood." The responses rang out one after another, and the convoy seemed to finally come to its senses.
Xu Si jumped onto the roof of the car again. Whenever the weather was good, he would spend the night on the roof.
There's no other reason than that you can see the stars.
Even with his eyes closed, the starlight did not completely extinguish; a scarlet glow slowly flowed within them, like magma that had not yet cooled deep within the earth's crust.
He believed that advancing to the middle rank would give him more control in this cruel apocalypse, and even allow him to travel the world freely.
But his daytime encounter extinguished his newly ignited hope of finding his family, leaving only a wisp of smoke.
A mayfly trying to shake a tree, or a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The being that easily annihilated the [Viphan], without even truly revealing its form, proclaimed what a "vast difference" truly meant.
True strength doesn't depend on what kind of strength you possess.
Xu Si fell asleep at some point, and neither did the convoy.
The first rays of dawn did not come from the horizon, but from the tops of the dunes, a pale white with a gravelly texture. The sunlight seemed to be heavily filtered by the dunes.
Xu Si opened his eyes on the roof of the car. His starry eyes reflected the still-lingering night sky and a few stubborn, cold stars that seemed to be nailed to the curtain.
He sat up, his bones making a slight crackling sound.
The morning wind in the desert was chillingly cold, a stark contrast to the scorching heat of the day.
His gaze swept across the camp.
Tashan's massive figure leaned against the leeward side of the sand dune, his rock-like skin even covered with a thin layer of frost. He closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. Letting Tashan stand guard at night was the worst decision ever.
The price of his excessive sleepiness is that he can fall asleep instantly with the slightest lapse in concentration; if I had to describe it in one word, it would be "instant sleep," or perhaps "shutting down" would be a more appropriate term.
Not far away, Jiang Li seemed to sense the gaze and looked towards Xu Si on the roof of the car.
Xu Si then realized that the convoy had been enveloped in a barrier.
The two exchanged glances, indicating that at least Jiang Li's insurance was reliable.
The others were still huddled in the car. Everyone got up exceptionally late today, perhaps because they had expended a lot of energy yesterday.
Xu Si looked around and saw that Su Su had disappeared. Xu Si slightly expanded his star veins and "saw" her on the top of a sand dune not far away, facing the blood sun that was about to rise, slowly and firmly practicing that set of punches that seemed to have no end.
Every movement was accompanied by a sharp, tearing sound as it ripped through the cold wind.
Xu Si smiled knowingly. Sure enough, when it came to diligence, no one could surpass Su Su.
It seems I need to get impatient too.
a long time.
Jiao Jiao's pickup truck door opened a crack, and she poked half her head out. Her hair was messy. When she saw Xu Si looking over, she immediately glared at him fiercely before shrinking back in.
Perhaps the little girl is currently frantically tidying herself up.
It wasn't until she got out of the car again that Xu Si realized she had actually conducted a thorough re-examination of the people in the convoy who had fainted the day before.
Judging from the technique, it seems that Tang Jinxiu taught it to him, and it does look quite professional.
Before long, the convoy began to bustle with activity.
Wang Hu was inspecting the convoy's tires, while Xiao Wu assisted him. The two worked silently but efficiently.
Yao Yao, who was in the back seat of the Volkswagen, also opened her eyes. The little girl rubbed her eyes, her face still showing the lingering fear from the nightmare.
DouDou, DouBao, KaoChang, and WeiFuZi squeezed around the ambulance. The two amber beetles on WeiFuZi's shoulder seemed a little sluggish in the cold, but their compound eyes still turned alertly.
Something subtle and resilient is quietly resurfacing in this cold dawn from the ashes of last night's despair.
Survival seems to have become an instinct.
No one had a mental breakdown.
Fu Xiaojian, standing to the side, felt deeply gratified, perhaps his words could once again stir up everyone's emotions to face the future.
However, courage that arises from within oneself is the strongest and most reliable shield.