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Chapter 181: Chapter 181: The Unknown Distance
——Wei Jie drove his car parallel to the HUMVEE, maintaining the same speed. He rolled down the window, waved at Han Jiaojiao, and shouted, "Jiaojiao, I’m heading to Lingchuan. Can I tag along with you guys on the way!"
Han Yi frowned slightly. His patience for any male creatures approaching his sister was not good.
Han Jiaojiao leaned out the window and shouted back, "Just follow behind us!"
Wei Jie waved his hand, slowed down, and followed behind the military truck.
Beicheng Base and Lingchuan Base, though both in the north, were far apart, with one in the northeastern corner and the other in the northwestern corner. The highway connecting the two bases was regularly cleared, so the road conditions were very good. It would take four hours on the highway, and after getting off the highway, another hour’s drive would bring them there.
Han Yi planned to arrive at Lingchuan Base before sunset that evening, but unexpectedly, the weather changed. The originally clear skies suddenly became overcast with a large swath of clouds blocking out the sun, darkening the entire sky in an instant.
They could continue driving forward, but the noise of the car engines would attract a lot of Alien Species, and even if they reached Lingchuan, they might be followed by a long tail of Alien Species... Lingchuan Base probably wouldn’t open the gates for them, right?
Han Yi informed the lead vehicles to set up camp and rest using the wireless communicator.
The convoy moved forward a distance and finally stopped at an abandoned gas station. Everyone got out of the vehicles and began setting up tents.
Han Jiaojiao took out two tents and held them in her arms, planning to deliver them to Tian Xinyue and Wei Jie. The model of tent they were using could sleep two people. Since Tian Xinyue was a girl, it wasn’t appropriate for her to share a tent with a man, especially now that it was hot and people wore cooler clothes to bed at night...
Tian Xinyue was talking with Wei Jie as the two were familiar with each other from the Special Training Team. They struck up a conversation as soon as they parked. There was a girl with ear-length short hair next to Wei Jie that Han Jiaojiao found familiar but did not recognize.
When they saw Han Jiaojiao coming over, they greeted her. Wei Jie put his arm around the girl’s shoulder and introduced her, "This is my girlfriend, Liu Ling. We plan to go to Lingchuan to seek refuge with my uncle. What about you guys, what are your plans?"
"We also plan to take a look at Lingchuan, but we’ll have to wait until we get there to decide on the specifics," Han Jiaojiao finished answering and asked them, "Do you have everything prepared? Let me know if you’re missing anything. Don’t be shy."
Tian Xinyue grinned broadly, her personality seemingly having reverted to her usual straightforwardness after leaving Beicheng, "Hahaha... I know you’re generous, I definitely won’t be shy with you."
Han Jiaojiao smiled and handed over the tents.
Wei Jie quickly thanked her, "I actually needed this; I was thinking about sleeping in the car tonight. Thanks."
Han Jiaojiao waved her hand with a smile and said, "Get settled in first; let me know if you need anything else."
After delivering the tents, Han Jiaojiao returned to the off-road vehicle. Han Yi and Lu Changyuan had already gotten out of the car, and the brothers had cleaned up the gas station’s convenience store. Han Yi and Lu Changyuan were discussing business inside the store, seemingly arranging the itinerary for the next few days.
Han Jiaojiao got into the car and had Bai Kairui drive it forward a bit more to make it convenient to let her pets Xiaogua and Xiaodou out.
In fact, almost everyone in the yard knew she kept pets, and Yan Xiao’s explanation to them was that a few tree seedlings from the Han Family’s villa had mutated, and because they were not harmful, they had been kept nearby. Nowadays, with so many anomalies in the apocalyptic world, everyone easily accepted Yan Xiao’s explanation. Lu Changyuan had also cautioned them not to spread the word. 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
However, considering Tian Xinyue and Wei Jie were there, Han Jiaojiao decided not to let the Space-Time Beast appear in front of them. Trust was one issue, and explaining would be troublesome, not to mention Wei Jie had brought a girlfriend they did not know at all.
The little ones in the car had been stifled for quite a while, unaware of the move, they thought it was just a regular walk like usual. Normally, they were let out after an hour or two, but this time it took a bit longer. As soon as Han Jiaojiao opened the rear compartment, Xiaogua and Xiaodou couldn’t wait to rush out, but she grabbed one with each hand—
"Don’t run too far, don’t scare people, and don’t attract Alien Species, got it?"
"Gurgle gurgle gurgle!" Xiaogua and Xiaodou twisted their vines, their anemone heads swaying non-stop.
Han Jiaojiao let them go and leaned in to pick up Cotton Candy, "Alright, go play."
Xiaogua and Xiaodou had run off in the blink of an eye. Cotton Candy stretched with a yawn and slowly ambled away.
Han Jiaojiao sighed and brought out Pepper, the last one. It was still being raised in a flowerpot and had grown to the height of a calf’s belly, its purple veins gleaming like jade and the center of its puffy anemone head tinged with magenta, almost resembling a purple water lily at first glance.
"Bored?" Han Jiaojiao said as she flicked the anemone head with a finger, "Once you grow a bit more, you won’t have to stay in the pot all day."
"Gugu..." Pepper stretched out two tendrils and affectionately hugged Han Jiaojiao’s wrist.
Bai Kairui was leaning on the steering wheel and asked as he looked into the distance, "Should we wait for them?"
"No need, they’ll come back on their own when they’ve had enough fun," Han Jiaojiao said, carrying Pepper back to the car, "Let’s go, we’re heading back."
The car had only driven seven or eight hundred meters ahead of the gas station, and Han Jiaojiao had no worry that the Space-Time Beasts wouldn’t be able to find their way back. Back in the Gobi Desert, they would go out to run wild early in the morning and wouldn’t return until the evening, and that area was much larger than the current one.
When Han Jiaojiao and Bai Kairui returned, people at the campsite had already started a fire and were preparing to cook.
Wei Jie, standing amidst the crowd, looked around and greeted Han Jiaojiao upon seeing her, asking, "Jiaojiao, have you seen my girlfriend?"
Han Jiaojiao paused for a moment and said, "No, I haven’t. Can’t find her? Maybe she went to the toilet?" There was a public toilet behind the gas station.
Wei Jie said somewhat embarrassedly, "Could you help me check if she’s in the women’s toilet? I’m a bit worried about her."
"Sure," Han Jiaojiao agreed readily.
Han Jiaojiao and Wei Jie walked toward the back of the gas station, chatting as they went.
"How did you meet your girlfriend?"
"Well, she’s from the ability team, and once our Special Training Team had a mission with the ability team, that’s where we met..." Speaking of his girlfriend, Wei Jie’s face wore a gentle smile, "She’s quite the prima donna, very delicate. Initially, I found her quite annoying, but then I realized that even though she always complains, she’s very serious about doing things..."
As Wei Jie spoke, he proudly pulled out the corner of his shirt hem to show Han Jiaojiao, "Look, she sewed this for me."
The hem of the shirt was obviously torn and had been stitched back together. However, the stitches varied in size and were crooked, causing the fabric on both sides to wrinkle.
Han Jiaojiao looked and covered her mouth, laughing. "Sewed better than me, haha..."
Wei Jie beamed with delight and said, "This was her first time sewing."
Suddenly, a male voice sounded from around the corner—
"Tell me, what’s so important that you wanted to talk to me alone?"
Han Jiaojiao stopped in her tracks. It was her brother’s voice.
She exchanged a glance with Wei Jie, confusion written on both of their faces.
Then a female voice rose: "...I’ve heard those rumors, I can tell you who started them... I... I want to stay by your side."
Wei Jie was frozen in place, his face pale!
