Chapter 322: End of the journey and you

"Wow, oasis! Such a big crocodile!"

"Is there a possibility that it's called a lizard?"

Ji Jue sighed. How remote is the An family? It's fine not to have gone to high school, but how come they haven't even watched Animal World?

Unfortunately, before he could hear Ji Jue's explanation, An Ning had already jumped off the car, nimbly flipped over the sand dune, and leaped toward the small oasis.

Mixed into it.

The many wild animals gathered by the pond and lowering their heads to drink didn't even raise their heads, or didn't dare to raise their heads, and were plucked up by her one by one to take pictures.

Until the oasis couldn't stand her anymore.

Amidst the earth-shaking, yellow sand rolled and surged, pushing toward both sides.

The oasis rose, and a head like mountain rock stretched out from the stone crevice, as if looking back, glanced at them, and then a few giant feet like rocks supported a body that was a full few kilometers in size, carrying the pond and green plants, swaying and walking toward the distance.

Seemingly slow, but actually fast.

In just a few minutes, it disappeared between the yellow sand and was gone.

Only An Ning, who had been blown in the face with sand, jumped excitedly and returned: "Did you see it? Brother Ji Jue, alive, it's really alive."

"Indeed, so big."

Ji Jue leaned on the driver's seat, looking at the direction the oasis moved away, and sighed softly.

First time seeing such a huge creature.

Some experts say that it is also a kind of disaster beast, it seems to be a mutated land tortoise, but a rare gentle type. Even if it only eats soil and sand, it can live, and its body will continue to grow, so it has no natural enemies. Because there are no rare materials, no one will hunt it.

Its biggest hobby is sunbathing, and if you are lucky, you can occasionally find the traces it left in the desert.

Maybe it had enough sunbathing and went to find a place to take a nap.

Or, it felt something.

"It's going to be windy, An Ning."

Ji Jue waved his hand: "Let's go, the sandstorm is coming."

The news from the satellite map showed that a large cyclone was moving in the south. If they stayed in place, they might be completely swallowed.

After galloping, an hour later, the wind speed was so high that the road couldn't be seen. Amidst the increasingly dense yellow sand, after trapping the tires many times, Little Niu Ma switched to walking mode, eight mechanical limbs nimbly jumping between sand dunes, and finally found a wind shelter under the residual cliff that hadn't collapsed and weathered.

In the darkness, the aftermath of the sandstorm whistled past them, and countless sand and fragments fell like heavy rain.

The car with the lights off was buried underneath, and one could hear a burst of roaring, mixed with earth-shaking loud noises.

It was like the sand sea boiling.

An Ning poked her head out curiously, looking out.

And then she and Ji Jue saw that, amidst the raging rampage of infinite dust and sand, the sleeping giant slowly rose beneath the rolling sand sea.

Limbs like giant pillars shot out abruptly, toward the firmament, into the storm cyclone.

As if biting something, instantly amidst the roaring hiss that shook the world, the storm became more tyrannical, and massive amounts of viscous blood spilled down from the dust and sand.

Soon, the strange limbs like heavenly pillars retracted, most of them incomplete. But on the wriggling limbs, there was still a broken wing, connected to pieces of shells and wriggling flesh and blood.

With the burial of the storm, it returned beneath the yellow sand and disappeared.

When the cyclone blew into the depths of the desert like a living thing, half an hour later, the storm subsided, the desert was still the desert, and the wilderness was still the wilderness.

It was as if nothing had happened.

The slaughter between those two huge disaster beasts seemed like a hallucination.

"So spectacular." An Ning sighed.

"Yeah." Ji Jue was also immersed in the magnificent scene.

She flipped through the blurred pictures taken by the camera and sighed with regret: "Unfortunately, it's not clearer."

"This distance is the limit, going any closer is just courting death."

Ji Jue raised his finger, tapped her camera, adjusted the parameters, and after removing the irrelevant occlusion, the image was enhanced by itself, unfortunately, it still couldn't be called clear.

Just a matter of convenience, treat it as leaving her a souvenir.

It's just that when the image was enhanced, Ji Jue saw that the camera had a bunch of his ugly photos at some point... and photos of him being scribbled on his face after falling asleep, and even having fingers stretched into his mouth as a prank.

His blood pressure went up!

"Brother Ji Jue, what's wrong?"

An Ning looked over with an innocent face, and there was no trace of cultural pollution in her pure smile.

Ji Jue rolled his eyes and didn't want to talk to her.

Little Niu Ma rose from the sand, shook off the yellow sand, and set off again.

Under the sunset glow, the desert seemed to have turned pink, and it couldn't see the cruel and ferocious appearance before.

Also saw a mirage.

Really lucky.

At dawn, they had already crossed the outskirts of Longyuan and arrived at the Haizhou checkpoint, still among the best.

The time taken was more than seven hours ahead of other teams.

The competition hadn't ended, but the result was already without suspense.

After another round of interviews, after resting for a day, at noon the next day, the final S4 stage began.

I don't know if it was an illusion, but when starting, Ji Jue seemed to see many familiar faces in the crowd around the relay station, and even seemed to see Lao Lou.

But Lao Lou seemed to still have that unhappy look, with a drooping face in the crowd, glanced at him, and then patted his butt and left.

The feelings have faded, and he didn't even send a text message to cheer for the competition.

Ji Jue sighed with emotion, flipped through all the congratulatory messages on his phone, and conveniently built a separate group for all contacts who didn't send encouragement, waiting for the opportunity to deepen the friendship in the future.

After entering Haizhou, it was different from Longyuan before.

It was as if jumping from land into the sea, the air that was dry to the point of nosebleeds suddenly became humid to the point of suffocation.

In the back seat, the potato chips that had been placed for a few days actually grew hair in just one day.

The sunlight became more tyrannical, the scorching rays were violently ravaging every inch of skin not covered by sunscreen, and at the same time, the rain was dense and the fog was heavy. Between the wilderness covered in swamps, the vegetation became more lush, and at the same time, snakes and insects gradually became closer.

Although it was more troublesome to move, compared to before, it was a smooth road, after all, Ji Jue was already used to it, and it was completely a home game.

Occasionally, when passing by some gathering places or near small cities, he could still see the appearance of familiar peanuts and radishes, but... they had almost all been changed beyond recognition.

Ji Jue stopped after seeing it, scratched his head and thought for a long time, but couldn't figure it out—how did these big technical bullies in the settlement install tracks on small tricycles?

And some small tricycles, like driving a train, could also be in a string...

As for more, they were all kinds of monsters and ghosts with various violations of overloading, very vividly bringing some insignificant secondary creation shocks to the original work, Ji Jue only felt that his years of mechanical engineering were about to be killed.

In just over half a month, there had been many changes on the wilderness.

Even if he started it, Ji Jue was dumbfounded at this moment.

At the same time, he felt a sense of honor.

It's a pity for so many precautions...

According to the original plan, he still planned to drive a train, pull a wave of hatred, and strive to solve the problem in Haizhou's home court. By then, every gathering point on the wilderness would be his arsenal, and a slight hook of his finger would be enough to let his opponents see the shock of Coastal Automobile Factory's cold dish platter.

It's a pity that the wilderness of the entire Haizhou seems to be peaceful. 【

Having been combed through countless times by local Anquan Bureaus and various families, even a single stone on the road would be shoveled up and hauled away.

During the journey, many pedestrians in the wilderness cast their gazes from afar, and sometimes, they even waved to signal.

Some recognized Ji Jue's face, or others were watching the live broadcast of the race and honked their horns to say hello, making it onto TV for a moment. Others just smiled slightly, watching from a distance, wishing him a smooth journey.

The many troubles in the wilderness had already vanished.

The journey that was originally expected to take two days was completed in a day and a half.

In the distance, between the gradually thickening buildings and roads, the massive outline of Chaocheng faintly emerged; the terminal was already in sight.

On both sides of the road, amidst the mud, there were more and more onlookers behind the guardrails.

In the end, it was almost a sea of people.

Under the filming of cameras, they shouted excitedly and waved their hands; some even suddenly climbed over the guardrails, wanting to touch the car as it passed by.

Even if they were splashed all over with mud.

Little Niu Ma honked the horn excitedly, having never enjoyed such enthusiastic cheering and crowds before; his rear end was even wiggling as he ran, accelerating once more, and he even performed a stunt while cornering, sparking a wave of excited shouts.

Then, the mud that flew up immediately plugged the mouth he had just opened.

Yet those excited spectators didn't take offense and were happy to keep at it.

Just like that, under the illumination of countless camera flashes, the speeding off-road vehicle crossed the finish line, and the coastal staff who had been waiting around the finish line for a long time rushed up, their faces flushed, shouting fanatically.

Yan Jian, leaning on his cane, watched such a scene from afar, his eyes already streaming with tears.

Joy overflowed in every inch of the air.

For the first time, Ji Jue saw so many smiling faces; although his heart had been completely calm when crossing the finish line, now, he was unexpectedly dazed for a moment.

He didn't come back to his senses until the car was parked in the garage.

Not until a disappointed sigh came from the passenger seat.

"It's over."

"Yeah." Ji Jue nodded, raised his fist, and knocked on her head: "You've worked hard all the way."

"What a pity."

An Ning pouted, her eyes suddenly lighting up: "How about... we run another lap!"

【?】

Ji Jue was stunned for a long time and was almost amused: "The rally is already over, where else can we go?"

"We finished running vertically, but we can still run horizontally, right?"

An Ning said excitedly: "After we finish running horizontally, we can run in circles. Besides, even if the Federation is finished, there's still the Middle Earth, and the Empire!

We've barely started; the true competition is to rely on our wheels to conquer the whole world!"

Ji Jue's eyelid twitched wildly, helpless: "Not to mention how wheels can drive on water, you just want to play, right?"

"Eh? Isn't Brother Ji Jue the same?"

An Ning glanced over, resentful: "You were clearly having a blast!"

"But we always have to go home, right?" Ji Jue sighed slightly and shrugged: "No matter how much fun we have, there are always things to do, and a whole pile of matters to resolve."

"..."

An Ning didn't speak again.

She looked at him.

Her eyes were puzzled, or perhaps, angry.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't understand, from the past until now, I completely don't understand."

An Ning crossed her arms, unable to hold back any longer, and asked unhappily: "Brother Ji Jue, there is one thing about you that has always been strange... why must you always go and do things? What is so important that you can't let go of, that it must be done by you?"

Ji Jue shrugged: "If..."

An Ning shook her head, interrupting his words: "I mean, does everything have to be meaningful to be worth doing? Just how much is enough? Just how much do you have to do to be satisfied?"

"..."

In the silence, Ji Jue remained silent.

It was as if he didn't understand her meaning, or perhaps, he had understood it long ago but didn't know how to answer.

Constantly pursuing meaning and results, rushing forward day after day, breathless, stumbling upward... does such a life really have an end?

After countless meanings and achievements, will there really be meaning and achievements?

He didn't know.

But if he didn't do this...

"Actually, just being happy is enough, right?"

An Ning widened her eyes and leaned in: "Even if you find a tree you like, lie down and do nothing, and sleep under the tree for a whole day, it doesn't matter. Happily going to find the food you want, happily doing nothing is also fine... no one has ever been able to dictate how a person must live, right?"

"... You're talking like a child again."

Ji Jue sighed, but even though he wanted to speak, he couldn't say anything more.

It was An Ning who reached out her hand.

After thousands of kilometers of rushing, she gathered her courage and finally crossed the final short distance between the driver's seats. Standing on her tiptoes, she gave a gentle and solemn embrace, holding his face in her arms.

A breath as light as a bubble engulfed Ji Jue.

Dreamlike and illusory.

"You've already worked very hard."

An Ning stroked his hair and whispered to him: "It's okay to rest occasionally."

Ji Jue froze in place.

For a long, long time, until she finally let go.

An Ning slowly turned her head back.

She looked out the window.

Her soft gaze gradually turned cold, filled with disdain, as she looked at the figure that had appeared in the corner of the garage at some unknown time.

"It's fine, don't mind us, you two continue."

"Just pretend we don't exist."

"Oh my, I say, youth..."

At the garage entrance, those two middle-aged men wearing the tourists' signature floral shirts and big shorts wore identical sun hats and big sunglasses, wearing flip-flops, and carrying a pile of souvenirs in their hands.

They had no presence at all, and one didn't even know when they had appeared.

An Neng and An De.

They were cracking melon seeds, excitedly watching the sweet story of youth, their two faces almost smiling out a withered remnant flower and a willow beaten by the vicissitudes of life.

"Tsk, the family is here..."

An Ning pouted, withdrew her gaze, and looked at Ji Jue: "I'm leaving, Brother Ji Jue, is there nothing you want to say to me?"

Ji Jue was silent for a long time and told her: "Go home quickly, don't dawdle."

"And then?" An Ning pressed.

"..."

After another silence, Ji Jue sighed and lowered his head sincerely: "Thank you."

"And then? And then?!" An Ning became even more expectant.

Then, she saw Ji Jue get out of the car, find the package he had long ago instructed his subordinates to prepare, open it, and place a thick stack of math, biology, physics, chemistry, and history textbooks, as well as test papers, into An Ning's hands.

Piled into a small mountain.

"Study hard and strive to get rid of being illiterate!"

Ji Jue said solemnly: "Take these books and practice exercises back, study and do them slowly, and strive to get into a good university."

【???】

An Ning was dazed, looking down at the pile of brand-new textbooks and questionnaires in her arms, then looking at Ji Jue, back and forth many times, until she couldn't help but be angry:

"You really are hateful!"

"Yeah."

"You're still lying to people even now!"

"Yeah."

Ji Jue nodded and was just about to speak, but his collar was grabbed.

So violently.

Forcibly pulled over, forcing him to lower his head.

And then, An Ning stood on her tiptoes.

That pair of eyes, which seemed to overflow with the brilliant light of stars, drew near, and before he could react, they were pressed close, and a soft sensation emerged from his lips.

But it was no longer as gentle as before; instead, it carried the brutality and ferocity of a predator. The wolf that had been lurking for a long time jumped out of the shadows, and while the prey wasn't paying attention, it pounced on it, bit its vital point, and feasted.

Not until he was almost out of breath did she let go.

Appreciating the dying look of her prey, she grinned silently.

She raised her finger, wiped the trace of blood on the corner of her mouth—whose it was, she didn't know—put it into her mouth, and licked it to savor the taste.

"You got one thing wrong, Brother Ji Jue, I like you."

She stared at Ji Jue's stunned appearance and told him word by word: "Even if you aren't anyone's thing, I still like you!"

"..."

In the silence, Ji Jue remained dazed; several times he wanted to open his mouth but couldn't speak, and in the end, he could only ask as if to cover it up: "Is this sentence also a lie to me?"

And so, An Ning laughed.

"Guess?"

Ji Jue looked at that triumphant smile and could never guess: "You're also hateful, An Ning."

An Ning's smile became even happier.

She took two steps back and turned to leave.

But after walking two steps, she turned her head back, rushed back again, and while Ji Jue was on guard, she snatched his phone, entered the password she had peeked at, saved her own phone number and all contact methods, and finally, put it back in his hand.

Immediately after, while he wasn't paying attention, she grabbed his collar again.

And kissed him again.

"Next time, if you want to go out and play again, come find me, Brother Ji Jue."

She let go, took two steps back, appreciated Ji Jue's expression, and smiled softly:

"Anytime, anywhere!"

Ji Jue froze, not knowing what to say.

He subconsciously raised his head and looked at the garage entrance, at those two figures who were excitedly watching, full of doubt and shock: No, your niece is underage and dating, and she's kissed him several times right in front of you, are you just going to watch like this?!

Where is the copper-headed belt?

Take it out!

But An Neng and An De continued to smoke and chat, with no reaction.

Sensing his gaze, they immediately gave a disdainful smile.

It's just a niece dating, it's not like she's being abandoned by a scumbag, are we supposed to be furious?

When we were playing rock and roll back in the day, you didn't even know where you were!

We Bai Lu are like this, kid!

Do you understand what freedom is?

Ji Jue had nothing more to say.

Just like that, he watched An Ning leave with them.

Disappearing from sight.

He even forgot to say goodbye.

In the garage that had returned to silence, he sat down on the textbooks An Ning had abandoned, inexplicably shocked.

Although, however...

I understand the logic, but you Bai Lu are too fucking free, aren't you?