Chapter 1024: 635. Pledge of Allegiance
Chapter 1024: 635. Pledge of Allegiance
“There is a saying from your Outer World that I really like,” Shadow sat by the campfire, slowly watching the flames dance: “People don’t live for a lifetime, or even for years, months, and days, but for those few moments. This saying is really beautiful. When I browse the books from the Outer World that Si Nianhua and the others brought me, I even feel somewhat moved.”
Shadow: “Instead of living a mundane and aimless life, I feel that I’ve lived brilliantly in this lifetime. I’ve had a lover and have stood on mountaintops to see different landscapes. So, Xiao Chen, you don’t have to mourn for me. Consider me as a scenery on your life’s journey.”
Qing Chen complained: “Next time I return, I’ll go challenge life and death, and then have someone bring you news of my death, so you’ll see if you can remain so calm. It’s easy to talk when you’re not the one leaving. If I were the one leaving, I could be just as relaxed.”
Shadow: “…Alright, alright, I won’t say anything more.”
Qing Chen said: “From now on, stop using your abilities. I’ll go find the rare plants myself later, you don’t need to.”
Shadow: “Alright, alright, I won’t go raiding anymore.”
The conversation between the brother and the brother was extremely odd.
Both were unafraid of death, but more afraid of the sorrow when a loved one leaves.
Qing Chen truly did not want Shadow to waste his life searching for some rare plant.
At this time, Qing Chen had already cooked the Dragon Fish, skewering it with a stick, cooking the fish until it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
The fish meat was marinated with ginger juice and chopped scallions for two hours, with not a hint of fishy smell left. Qing Chen sprinkled a bit of salt on it to maintain its original freshness.
It made Sun Chu Ci and Tuan Zi, who were beside him, drool with hunger.
Today was the last Dragon Fish for Each Yan and Xiao Mengqiu, and after eating it, they could complete their transformation.
Qing Chen shouted: “Mengqiu, come and eat fish.”
Xiao Mengqiu shouted back: “The tent is almost set up, boss, I’ll be right there!”
Just now, when he was fixing the tent with rivets, he accidentally hit his finger.
But he just blew on it and continued to work.
He didn’t know when it started, but certain beliefs had become his obsession.
He didn’t know how to walk that path, but he was unwilling to give up.
Each Yan grumbled: “Are you really going to let him do all the work? Look at the wounds on his hands, you can hardly see the lines on his palms. He’s still a child.”
Qing Chen shook his head and said: “The road is his own choice, I don’t interfere.”
Each Yan sighed, but she actually supported Qing Chen in her heart because she knew what Qing Chen had gone through on this journey. To walk a path of nine deaths and one life, one indeed must have the most unwavering determination.
Qing Chen opened his packet of compressed biscuits, carefully eating all of it without letting even a crumb go to waste.
Shadow watched this scene, knowing it was a habit Qing Chen had developed after leaving Base A02.
At this moment, Zhang Mengqiu came over, carefully eating all the fish, leaving no meat on the bones, mirroring Qing Chen’s eating style and even his posture by the campfire.
Shadow watched for a while and laughed, finding that Zhang Mengqiu still had traces of Qing Chen’s shadow on him.
As Each Yan and Zhang Mengqiu ate their last Dragon Fish, a rumbling like thunder echoed within their bodies, the warm currents coursing within stimulating their bones to transform, as if a current was constantly flowing.
Zhang Mengqiu closed his mechanical eye, the sudden acute hearing capturing every subtle change in the world.
The sound of insects crawling out of the soil in spring, crawling over dead branches and leaves, emitting a textured rustling sound.
The fresh branches sprouting from the trunk, the sound slow and gentle.
A wind blew from the horizon, painting the world in his mind.
No color, yet more vivid.
The change brought by the Dragon Fish transcended the mundane, filling Zhang Mengqiu with joy.
At this moment, he heard the sound of engines, coming closer from afar.
“Boss, someone is coming,” Zhang Mengqiu opened his eyes, pointing to the East.
Everyone looked towards the East, and soon, dozens of off-road vehicles appeared on the distant horizon, their flashing headlights casting huge beams of light.
The vehicles vibrated with harsh and explosive music, and the people inside moved with the music.
After thinking for a moment, Shadow said: “The spring hunt of Qing’s Family and Li Family descendants has begun.”
Last time, when Qing Chen went to the 002 Taboo Land, he encountered the autumn hunt and now, again, the spring hunt.
All this reminded him of the days he traveled with his master.
However, this time it was different.
Qing Chen calmly said: “Zard, puncture their tires for me, don’t let them go south anymore, don’t even let them get close.”
“Okay,” Zard cheerfully transformed into a mass of scattered sand and flowed into the ground.
The next moment, the ground began to ripple like the surface of water.
A little sapling beneath the ground rushed towards the convoy at incredible speed.
Inside the car, amidst the deafening music, the driver of the lead car suddenly turned down the volume, puzzled: “Did you guys see a little sapling moving fast on the ground, and it’s even bearing a red fruit.”
The young man in the passenger seat, still in high spirits, looked at the road ahead.
“What the hell is that?!” he exclaimed in shock.
With a closer look, it was clear that it wasn’t the convoy rapidly approaching the little sapling, but the little sapling rapidly approaching them!