Chapter 318

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Shen Yao

'What good would it do for the Officials to do this? Could it be that the Laboratory's progress is going smoothly, and this kind of special plant will actually be of great use?'

Beating around the bush, acting all coy—surely they aren't putting all their thoughts into these miscellaneous things.

Shen Yao was in a bad mood, a smile hooking the corner of her mouth, inexplicably making anyone who saw it feel afraid.

System:...

The System didn't know which of its words had touched the Host's sensitive nerves again; how was the Host becoming harder and harder to communicate with? Could it be that after her nature was released, the Host was just this kind of detestable ghostly appearance?

The System, unable to figure it out, pondered various things, seemingly also giving up on arguing with the Host.

Anyway, however the Officials wanted to do things, they didn't need to notify Shen Yao and the others; as members of the support construction effort, their sources of news were extremely closed off.

Before there was a threat, they could still purchase through Official channels by default, but now that the Officials had reached a consensus from top to bottom, how could they still let the news leak out?

Shen Yao called out to the System in her mind twice, and as expected, got no response; she put down the sleeping bag in her hand and simply crawled out of the tent to find someone.

Wei Mingyu sat in front of another tent, holding a not-too-thick book in his hands.

'What's wrong?'

Seeing Shen Yao appear before him, Wei Mingyu paused the movement in his hands.

'It's nothing, I just want to know how long we'll have to walk to get through this area.'

Shen Yao sat beside Wei Mingyu, wearing long sleeves and long pants that could cover her body.

Having not slept all night last night, Shen Yao's spirits were not as full as others'; wrinkles creased the space between her eyebrows, making her look as if she had aged several years overnight.

'Fast is three days, slow is five days,' Wei Mingyu said, pinching a branch and drawing a few strokes on the ground; instantly, a humanoid creature with slender limbs and an unusually long tail was sketched out.

Shen Yao's eyes widened, and she said softly, 'I saw it last night.'

The creature that had suddenly appeared on the road had frightened her so much she had to jerk the steering wheel to avoid it.

After this kind of creature appeared, Shen Yao quickly called Wei Mingyu to remind him to be careful on the road.

'This is a Swift Wind Monkey; it runs fast, jumps high, and most likes to eat the hearts of creatures; their daily food also comes from creature corpses.'

It can be said that this kind of monkey is completely different from other monkeys on the planet.

When they first arrived here, they didn't know the habits of Swift Wind Monkeys and suffered many losses, even with heavy casualties in their small team.

'How do we deal with them?' Passively enduring is not Shen Yao's character; she can't possibly pray for these monkeys to be blind and dodge them when attacking.

'Eyes and tail,' Wei Mingyu continued gesturing, and by the way explained that Swift Wind Monkeys rely on their tails to maintain balance, their eyes to observe all directions, and their hearing has seriously degenerated.

'Do the others know?' Shen Yao raised her hand and moved closer to Wei Mingyu.

Wei Mingyu shook his head, 'Not many know,' otherwise it wouldn't be this quiet; it would have caused a commotion long ago.

Shen Yao thought for a moment, 'Let's prepare first and temporarily keep handy tools by our side,' so that if they are needed, they won't be in a fluster.

'Tell Mom and Dad and Minzhi's side, but keep it secret from Chengning and the few children for now,' after all, children are inexperienced; saying it too seriously would scare them, but saying it too simply they might not take it seriously.

Simply put, for these few days, keep the children firmly in front of our eyes, avoiding the need for explanation while also being able to take care of them.

'We are still on the periphery now; the area with many Swift Wind Monkeys is in the center,' this group of monkeys has very high intelligence, good at bullying the weak and fearing the strong; once there are many people, they won't be reckless.

Or it can be said that their intelligence is not inferior to humans; if not for that coat of white fur and faces similar to monkeys, they would be suspected of being human mutants.

Wei Mingyu's expression was ruthless; he knew some of the Laboratory's research situation; when they first encountered these Swift Wind Monkeys, they hadn't failed to catch some and send them to the Laboratory; research and methods targeting Swift Wind Monkeys were classified secrets.

'Avoid them as much as possible,' this group of monkeys holds grudges; once they confirm an enemy, they will pursue the other party relentlessly.

Shen Yao patted Wei Mingyu's shoulder, 'Rest assured, when we travel at night, we'll move forward,' to reach the destination they must pass through this area; falling behind would make difficulties greater.

Admittedly, the people in front are easily attacked by Swift Wind Monkey groups, but if they can't fight, they can run; if they fall behind, there's nowhere to run.

'Follow closely behind the Officials; they have weapons and equipment with great lethality, which will be very useful for dealing with Swift Wind Monkeys,' Wei Mingyu knew the weapons equipped by the Officials were all exquisite; even after traveling for so long with inevitable losses, they were still stronger than these unarmed ordinary people like them.

By then, they could ride this east wind of the Officials to avoid the limelight of the Swift Wind Monkeys; who knows, they might not even need to fight.

Shen Yao could also understand the deeper meaning in Wei Mingyu's words; she made an 'en' sound and nodded, then turned around and returned to the tent.

Inside the tent, everyone was sleeping soundly; even Shen Yao's movements didn't wake them.

Shen Yao opened her own sleeping bag, lay down, reached out to straighten it, then closed her eyes; within a few minutes she was unconscious.

When she opened her eyes again, there was no one beside her, but outside the tent it was lively.

Rubbing her cheeks, Shen Yao got up, folded her sleeping bag, and strode out with long legs.

Outside it was bustling; everyone was preparing dinner, and after eating they still had to travel.

Wei's mother and Wei's father were busy; Wei Minzhi was taking care of the children; Wei Mingyu was organizing the vehicle.

Several family members circled around the not-too-large place before them, each doing their own thing.

Wei Chengning saw Shen Yao come out and hurriedly threw himself away from Wei Minzhi and pounced over.

Wei Chengen followed closely behind; the two little ones hadn't spent much time with Shen Yao recently; they lifted their heads with tear-filled eyes, as if they had been bullied.

Shen Yao lowered her head and bent over to coax them again and again; finally, she promised them a bag of jelly snacks before she managed to send the children away.

Not far ahead, there was the sound of quarreling, deliberately controlling the volume, afraid of being discovered by them.

Discovered by them?

Shen Yao glanced at the family members each busy with their own affairs, tilted her head to think for a moment, then simply lifted her foot and went over.

It wasn't a very opportune time; the topic of the quarrel had already stopped, but one could still see the red cheeks and hurried breathing of the people who had been arguing.

Obviously, someone had been angered, and the one being stared at viciously was also unconvinced and indignant; the two sides were just about to collide and start fighting.

Shen Yao moved a few small steps to the side, didn't speak, and only listened to the gossip of the people around.

After just a few words, the cause and effect were clear: both sides had taken offense at each other's positions, and because neither would yield, the conflict before them arose.

"Hey, leaving early or late works either way, why insist on squeezing to the front?"

"Yes yes, those people look unhappy, speak harshly and rudely, what are they after?"

"……"

Elders speak harshly; no one escapes being mocked.

Shen Yao thus knew their wish to push forward when traveling was probably hard to realize.

The people ahead aren't fools; Shen Yao waited a while then left, and when she returned, the prepared dishes were being brought to the table by Wei's mother.

Wei Mingyu grabbed Shen Yao's wrist, "Don't think too much," some things had nothing to do with her.

Shen Yao took the bowl and chopsticks Wei's mother handed over, then picked up a bite of stir-fry and put it in her mouth, "We're driving tonight," to guarantee the family's safety to the greatest extent.

…………

After dinner, waiting until the sky darkened and the sun set, the originally quiet camp suddenly stirred.

Rumble of vehicle sounds rose, also waking the wedding guests' originally sleepy expressions.

Wei's father and mother and Wei Minzhi already knew what they would face next; all three looked nervous, even holding the specially fetched long watermelon knife couldn't ease much.

"Don't be afraid, we might not meet them, besides we stay in the car," those monkeys couldn't easily break their defense, rushing ahead to block them and just roll straight over.

"Sister-in-law, I guarantee I won't drag you down," Wei Minzhi swallowed saliva while cheering herself on; whether her words were sincere or not, just looking at her made one feel some pity.

Foot on the gas without stopping, the driven car went around obstacles blocking the front; Shen Yao relied on the system cheat for navigation, constantly surpassing the vehicles ahead.

Wei Minzhi looked at the vehicles being surpassed beside her, her brother closely following behind; she didn't understand, but had the sense not to speak.

The long watermelon knife came with a sheath, specially requested when buying.

Times are different now; in peaceful times, where could you buy such a long blade? Even ordinary knives required reporting.

"Careful!"

Abruptly, Shen Yao spoke a sentence; following that, the still fairly steady speed suddenly increased, the car turned left, and the white shadows appearing ahead were knocked flying.

Wei Minzhi looked up and saw an ugly monkey appear on the windshield, slender limbs, somewhat like an octopus in the deep sea.

Quickly shaking her head, Wei Minzhi grabbed the door handle, turned her head to look at Shen Yao driving attentively.

"Sister-in-law, those are" Swift Wind Monkeys? They indeed have some speed too fast, hard to distinguish with just the human eye.

"You be careful," after saying, she turned and told Wei's mother a sentence, "Mom, you and Chengning close your eyes, just wait until dawn."

Swift Wind Monkeys don't move much at night; the number appearing wasn't many; Shen Yao was confident relying on her own driving skill to shake them off.

Wei's mother made an "en" sound, her eyelids twitching, still holding Wei Chengning in her arms, not letting this girl see any of the outside situation.

Shen Yao stepped on the gas again, and by the way ran over several Swift Wind Monkeys on the ground, also causing several drops of brightly colored blood to spray onto the windshield.

Wei Minzhi: ……

Wei Minzhi touched her thumping chest, not knowing what to say.

Mm, seems indeed a bit dangerous, what to do now.

The watermelon knife in her hand was held with both hands, the hand holding the door handle was also put down; Wei Minzhi nervously looked at the surroundings, afraid that if she wasn't careful, she'd be startled by a monkey squeezed to the window side.

Squeeze, roll over, then pass over.

Shen Yao stepped on the gas without mercy at all; she even saw where there was and turned there.

As for these monkeys holding grudges? Not only did she drive over monkey bodies, but other vehicles would also pass by; they have so many enemies, would they come for revenge?

At worst, wash with water during the day to reduce the smell spreading.

Drove all the way without stopping until dawn; the dim sky had light.

The official vehicles ahead stopped; Shen Yao and those following behind took positions to rest.

The originally fairly clean outside of the car was a mess; Wei Minzhi pushed the door open and almost retched.

"yue"

The smell was pungent; especially with the bloody smell, even more unbearable.

Shen Yao had Wei Minzhi stay back; she followed her to take out a water bucket, pour water, and wash the car surface.

Splash splash—

The ground was wet, obviously couldn't stand people; Shen Yao had to change to another place to rest. Wei Minzhi brought over sugar cubes and a mask, letting Shen Yao catch her breath first.

"It's fine, I'll go rest, we'll talk when I get back," having driven all night, Shen Yao's energy was obviously low; she simply said a couple of sentences and returned to the prepared tent, not even having time to change her own clothes.

Fortunately she and Wei Mingyu slept in different sleeping bags and tents; as long as she didn't mind, she also didn't worry about smelling up the other person.

After waking up from this sleep, her whole body ached, completely without the feeling of being refreshed.

Shen Yao immediately felt something was wrong; she rummaged out the medicine box on one side, took out medicine, took it with water, put it in her mouth, and swallowed.

At the doorway, Wei Minzhi poked her head around; seeing her own sister-in-law wake up, she hurriedly called her out to eat.

"Sister-in-law, it's almost dark."

Slept really long today; is she uncomfortable? She also saw the medicine box.

Wei Minzhi felt uneasy inside, stealing glances at Shen Yao beside her, blinking her eyes back and forth.

Shen Yao moved her sore shoulders, walked to the simple dining table, and sat down.

Wei Mingyu handed over the soup bowl in his hand, asking if she had taken medicine.

"Taken it," her throat was also a bit uncomfortable; Shen Yao simply coughed a couple of times and bowed her head to drink soup.

Wei Mingyu saw this, served another bowl and placed it in front of Shen Yao; anyway, there were quite a few bowls and chopsticks on the table; he wasn't worried about having no food to eat.

Shen Yao's physical condition was off; tonight no matter what, she couldn't let Shen Yao keep driving; simply relying on Wei Minzhi was also a bit overconfident; Wei Mingyu finally asked Wei's father for help, and by the way arranged Wei Minzhi onto his own car to take care of the two children.

Wei Minzhi pursed her mouth corner over this, feeling she could stay to help.

Wei's mother patted her shoulder, "Don't be willful," it's still safer to let Wei's father come; Wei Minzhi is a young girl, not old, driving all night she can't handle it.

"Alright, tonight is harder to endure than last night; you sit in the back seat and take good care of Chengyan and Chengen, avoiding them being scared by the outside situation."

Wei's father couldn't bear to part with his two grandsons, but the adult men in the family were only him and Wei Mingyu; it's not right to let Shen Yao take on all the work.

After exchanging a few words with Wei Minzhi, Wei's father put down his bowl and chopsticks, stood up, and went to inspect the vehicle, so that no problems would arise on the road and there would be no time to repair them, delaying their journey.

Shen Yao continued to eat with her head down; tonight's dishes and soup were both somewhat delicious, and she did not know whether it was because she had slept all day and was hungry or because her body lacked nutrition. Shen Yao ate a bit too much, and her belly felt slightly bloated.

However, after eating her fill and drinking enough, Shen Yao's spirits were even worse; she felt faint and her steps were somewhat unsteady.

Fine, Wei Mingyu could only have Wei's father drive slowly for a while when he drove later; this time he would lead the way at the front.

"Sleep in the car for a while; if there's a problem, I'll call you on the satellite phone," Wei Mingyu said, fearing Shen Yao would tough it out and ignore her safety by gritting her teeth and pressing on. He hurriedly spoke a few words to soothe her, and added that he was very familiar with this place, and their family would not lose their lives here.