Chapter 150: Spiritual awareness
Upon the soft mattress rests two large suitcases. Long Zhanye opens the lid of one of them to reveal various firearms, fully-loaded clips, hand grenades, etc.
"The factory's new products." Removing a pistol, Long Zhanye slots a magazine in before examining it from all possible angles.
"Everything here appears rather incredible. Anyway, only the two of us will be going on this mission?" Huo Zaiyuan lies stomach-down on the other end of the bed, a hand cupping his cheek and loose hair scattered over his shoulders and onto the mattress below. No matter how one looks at it, the image is both charming and touching.
"Why, are you afraid? My Lord Taoist priest." Long Zhanye teases as he sets the pistol back into the suitcase and sits down beside Huo Zaiyuan, reaching out to gather the loose strands of hair into a bundle.
"Do you think there is a possibility of me being afraid?" Huo Zaiyuan's eyebrows rise slightly as he pushes himself upright. Hands running over both suitcases, he sends them into his space.
"Of course, it's not possible. How can my peerless Lord Taoist priest be afraid?" Long Zhanye's arms encircle his waist, tugging Huo Zaiyuan into an embrace.
"Ai…at that time when I was hiding from you, I deliberately ran all the way to Z City to wait for Judgement Day to arrive. Little did I expect to run into you so early in the apocalypse and eventually follow you all the way to A City. Say, don't you think fate tying people together is rather strange?" Placing a hand on a broad shoulder, Huo Zaiyuan leans closer as he murmurs.
"It's not strange at all, because you are mine." A hand moving up from the waist to the chest, Long Zhanye twists his body a little, pinning the slim man beneath him. Dark eyes bore into Huo Zaiyuan's own, gaze deep and tender. "No matter where you flee to, I will always find you."
"Arro - "
"Self-assured!" Long Zhanye drawls, then kisses those tempting, red lips. "I love you."
~~~
After a year of preparation, the internet and phone line is up and running once again. As it is, Li Qing was dragged away by General Long to provide surveillance assistance to those responsible for removing obstacles on the road leading into A City, which is why he has to stay back in the safe zone. Qin Jun is placed in charge of leading the other medics in preparing the medical bay for emergency situations. Zuo Hanyang and You Nuandong are both busy with their respective assignments.
Thus, the Long Yuan squad members undertaking the mission of heading to X and Y City to escort survivors back is only Long Zhanye and Huo Zaiyuan. A soldier with incomparable fighting ability together with a Taoist priest with outstanding skills, no one dares to suggest that they are lacking in firepower.
Climbing into the Hummer which hasn't seen use for a long while, Huo Zaiyuan and Long Zhanye depart A's safe zone.
In the span of a year, every remaining safe zone was ordered to clear all debris like abandoned vehicles and large pieces of junk from the main highway. One of the reasons this act was initiated is to ensure this ‘safe zone migration’ plan will go smoothly. Or at least, the vehicles coming and going will not need to use the smaller dirt roads. From the furthest cities to A City, it will only take around twenty days if one travels on the main highway.
Deft fingers fly skilfully over the pistol, fine-tuning it swiftly even as Long Zhanye splits his attention between it and watching the serious expression on Huo Zaiyuan's face.
"No need to be so nervous, it's only driving a car," Long Zhanye says, amused by his lover's adorably serious look.
"How can I not be nervous? I haven't touched a vehicle in more than a year. If it isn't because there's only the two of us going on this mission, would I need to be so restless?!" Huo Zaiyuan huffs in discontent.
He first learned how to drive in the small mountain village, but after meeting Long Zhanye during the apocalypse, he rarely drives, if at all. Only under select circumstances does he take the wheel. Coming out not even a week from 'closed-door cultivation', he is afraid that he has forgotten everything to do with driving.
"Yes, yes. It's my wrong. Actually, you can let me drive the whole distance." Long Zhanye grins and moves his face closer to Huo Zaiyuan.
Glaring fiercely at the smiling man, Huo Zaiyuan snorts coldly. "If I'm not concerned about you becoming too exhausted…"
"Heheh…I just know that little Yuan is the best." The grin morphs into a smirk and Long Zhanye plants a kiss on Huo Zaiyuan's fair cheek.
"You…move away. You nearly made me crash into a zombie!" Huo Zaiyuan's hands jerk at the unexpected kiss, causing the Hummer to swerve slightly and nearly knocking a wandering zombie off its feet.
"If you knock them over, then knock them over. Serves them right for intruding in our world and interrupting our alone-time," Long Zhanye says dismissively, an arm snaking around Huo Zaiyuan's waist and he kisses the youth a few more times.
"Long Zhanye, you rascal!!"
Following this yell, the Hummer originally moving forward smoothly and steadily begins to swerve in an ‘S’. Along the way, countless zombies are sent flying into the air or crushed beneath the wheels…
After two days, Long Zhanye and Huo Zaiyuan turn onto G City's Huan Shi road (instead of passing through the city, they decide to take the road leading around it). Compared to when they were heading towards A City all those months ago, they saved so much time travelling along the main highways.
"Those trees over there look a little unusual." Huo Zaiyuan stares out the window, head propped up by a hand on his cheekbone.
Around the perimeter walls of the city, several sky-high trees stand in a formation he is extremely familiar with: the bagua. Distinctly, he is also able to sense that those trees are not ordinary plants.
"Those are mutant plants. Half a year after we brought back the research materials pertaining to transforming demonic plants to filter evil energy from the air, the Head priest brought a few other first-rate Taoists to lay an array around this city, sealing it as well as the dead volcano responsible for starting the apocalypse. From then on, the large cloud of purplish-red fog gradually dispersed," Long Zhanye answers as he drives.
Hearing this, a small smile appears on Huo Zaiyuan's face. "The Elder priest is truly a rare genius."
The research that old professor exchanged his life for only tells how to cultivate mutant plants capable of absorbing the evil energy in the air and purifying it, but the Head priest took it one step further by arranging it in an array, directly sealing the energy into one single location and preventing it from spreading.
"Whether the Elder is a genius or not, I have no idea. However, I know his outwardly kind but inwardly evil disposition is extremely compatible with my grandfather's weird personality!" Every time Long Zhanye thinks about the kind of things those two elderlies get into when they are together, he can't help shaking his head and sighing.
"That's true. Zhanye, stop the car for a while. I want to explore G City a little," Huo Zaiyuan says as he winds down the car window.
"Explore? How are you plan to do so?" Stepping on the brake, Long Zhanye doesn't try to stop Huo Zaiyuan, instead inquiring with a smile. It's not hard to tell he has complete trust in Huo Zaiyuan.
"After cultivating for an entire year, I broke through into the sixth level and acquired an awesome skill." An attractive smile curves his lips as he taps his chin thoughtfully.
"Hmm…than I shall sit back and wait to see it in action," Elbow resting on the steering wheel, Long Zhanye comments.
Huo Zaiyuan's only reply is a short laugh before he crosses his legs and makes a small cut at the tip of his tongue with his teeth. Smearing fresh blood on his forefinger and middle finger, he draws a rune in the air, then places his blood-stained finger to the area between his eyebrows. Closing his eyes, the blood rune hanging in the air before him shoots out the window, trailing silver rays of light behind. In a blink of an eye, it vanishes in the direction of G City.
Immediately, images flash through Huo Zaiyuan's mind eye, first appearing rather blurred before slowly sharpening. His spiritual awareness easily passes through his master's array, slipping between the formations and entering G City. The air within is shrouded in thick, purplish-red evil energy. On the streets and within the buildings below, numerous undead wander aimlessly back and forth. Purplish-green cracked skin, scarlet red eyes, razor-sharp teeth and malevolent expressions, Huo Zaiyuan can feel that even if a random zombie down there is selected, it will definitely not be anything less than a Rank 3. There are even ones stronger than the infant zombie they met in the hospital. Mentally urging his awareness forward, he witnesses more than a few fights and pursuits with the victors devouring the brains of their preys.
Is it because of the ample feasting ground they have here that these zombies refuse to leave G City? Huo Zaiyuan can't say for certain. What he knows, however, if that the situation here is extremely pessimistic.
Pondering over it for a while, he continues onwards to the dead volcano that spewed forth swarms of devil ants and expelled poisonous gas from within.
Thin antennas quivering upon their heads, the insects Huo Zaiyuan is reluctantly familiar with are currently defying natural order and crawling around in the air. Not in the hundreds. Not in the thousands. Rather, it is tens upon hundreds of thousands, too numerous he can't bear to estimate it. His subconscious mind shudders as he recalls the end he met under their tiny mandibles. No matter how much he suppresses his fear of devil ants, somewhere in his mind, he remains deathly afraid.
Inhaling a deep calming breath to settle his panicking heart, he decides to explore the depths of his volcano… A thick, viscous, blood-like liquid saturated with evil energy meets him. Like he predicted, a poisonous swamp appeared in this dead volcano. No…it should be the inside of the volcano is filled with swamp liquid. If this large volume of liquid spouts out, then this world will experience another large-scale infection…
Debating with himself for a moment, Huo Zaiyuan eventually decides to send his spiritual awareness diving into the disgusting substance. His vision blackens, disabling him from seeing anything.
[Hahaha…really unexpected. To think that someone has the ability to use spiritual awareness in order to pass through the demonic barrier by me, this leader…]
A voice rings through the darkness, making Huo Zaiyuan stiffen and glance around, trying to catch a glimpse of something - anything - in the dark.