After staying there for another two days, they resumed their journey.
Originally, they had thought they would reach Haicheng within a week, but after all the delays along the way, more than a month had passed and they still had not arrived.
The Apocalypse really was unforgiving.
Gu Nuan was almost three months pregnant.
While they were travelling that day, she took out the ultrasound machine and performed an examination on herself. She had previously spent a great deal of time learning how to operate an ultrasound machine and interpret the images.
Sitting on a chair, she placed the machine in front of her, lifted her shirt, applied some ultrasound gel to the probe, and gently pressed it against her abdomen. At first, she struggled to find the correct position, but after adjusting it a few times, she located the gestational sacs.
Three tiny figures floated inside like little tadpoles, already beginning to resemble human babies.
“These are our babies.”
Just then, Chen Qingzhou returned from outside and overheard Gu Nuan’s words.
“You’ve found them?”
“You’re back. Come and look at our three little ones.”
Chen Qingzhou looked at the screen, watching the three babies wriggling gently inside Gu Nuan’s womb.
A smile of pure happiness spread across his face.
He took the probe from her hand and adjusted it slightly before turning up the volume.
Soon, the rapid sound of the babies’ heartbeats filled the RV.
They sounded just like tiny trains.
The two of them smiled at one another.
After putting the machine away, Chen Qingzhou carefully helped Gu Nuan onto the bed so she could rest.
He gently rested his hand on her still flat stomach.
It was hard to imagine that three babies were growing inside.
“Thank you, Gu Nuan, for being willing to have my children.”
Gu Nuan leaned comfortably against him.
“What are you saying? I’m the one who should be thanking you. After everything I did wrong in my previous life, you were still willing to forgive me.”
“I was at fault too.”
Chen Qingzhou held her hand tightly.
“I shouldn’t have left without saying goodbye. If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have suffered so much afterwards.”
“That wasn’t your fault.”
Gu Nuan placed her hand over his.
“I simply didn’t know how to cherish such a wonderful man in my previous life. Everything that happened was my punishment from heaven. But now it’s different. From now on, we’ll live happily together.”
“Mmm.”
Chen Qingzhou smiled softly.
“Get some more rest. I’ll continue driving so we can cover a bit more distance before nightfall.”
“Alright.”
After Gu Nuan fell asleep, Chen Qingzhou continued driving.
Suddenly, a tremendous crash echoed above them.
The RV lurched violently, swerving towards the mountainside.
Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Chen Qingzhou immediately spun the wheel and slammed on the brakes, finally bringing the vehicle to a stop.
Gu Nuan had been jolted awake by the deafening noise.
As the RV swerved sharply, the force threw her off the bed.
She instinctively protected her stomach, making sure it did not hit the floor, but she still felt a sharp pain in her abdomen.
The moment the vehicle stopped, Chen Qingzhou turned around and saw her lying on the floor.
“Nuan Nuan! Are you alright?”
He hurried over and helped her up.
Holding her stomach, Gu Nuan wore a pained expression.
“My stomach hurts a little. Help me up first.”
Chen Qingzhou immediately lifted her into his arms and carefully placed her back on the bed.
Seeing the cold sweat covering her forehead filled him with panic.
“I’m alright.”
Gu Nuan forced a reassuring smile.
“I probably just disturbed the pregnancy. I’ll feel better after resting for a while.”
She took out a cup of stream water from the System Space and drank a little.
Soon, she felt much better.
Only after confirming that she was alright did Chen Qingzhou step outside to investigate the loud crash.
It turned out that a falling boulder from the mountainside had smashed into the roof of the RV.
Since they had installed solar panels on top, Chen Qingzhou had previously covered them with three layers of explosion resistant glass. The glass protected the panels without affecting their ability to absorb sunlight.
Thankfully, although the falling rock had struck the roof, it had failed to damage the vehicle.
“How is it?” Gu Nuan asked.
“It was a falling rock.”
Chen Qingzhou climbed back inside.
“It hit the roof, but the explosion resistant glass protected the solar panels. Nothing was damaged.”
He looked at her apologetically.
“But you were thrown from the bed. I’m sorry. I didn’t notice the rock falling.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Gu Nuan gently reassured him.
“The babies are fine, and I’m feeling much better now.”
Only then did Chen Qingzhou finally relax.
He restarted the RV and continued driving.
However, before long, an enormous crack appeared across the road ahead.
Only a tiny strip of ground remained connecting the two sides.
The RV could never cross it.
It looked as though the earth itself had been violently torn apart.
With no other choice, Chen Qingzhou parked the RV, and the two of them decided to continue on foot to investigate.
After getting out, Gu Nuan stored the RV inside her System Space.
“Hold on tightly. We should be able to make it across.”
Chen Qingzhou picked her up in his arms and carefully crossed the narrow strip of remaining ground.
The instant they reached the other side, a loud crack rang out behind them.
The last remaining section collapsed.
“That was close.”
Gu Nuan patted her chest in relief.
The surroundings fell deathly silent except for the sound of the wind.
Suddenly, a swarm of mutated rats burst out from nearby.
Each one was enormous, with glowing red eyes.
Chen Qingzhou immediately drew the long blade from his waist and shielded Gu Nuan behind him.
His movements were swift and precise.
Every swing of his blade cut down several mutated rats, while his lightning ability continuously swept through the horde.
For some reason, unlike zombies, his spiritual ability was unable to control the mutated rats.
There were simply too many of them.
Gradually, he began to struggle.
His ability energy was almost exhausted.
Despite the pain in her abdomen, Gu Nuan gritted her teeth, took out an electric baton, and joined the fight.
At that moment, an even larger Mutated Rat King appeared.
It lunged directly at Gu Nuan.
Just as disaster seemed inevitable, a beam of laser fire suddenly shot through the air and struck the Rat King.
A passing group of survivors had come to their rescue.
Armed with advanced weapons, the newcomers joined forces with Chen Qingzhou and quickly drove the mutated rats away.
Gu Nuan collapsed onto the ground in fright, clutching her stomach as she gasped for breath.
“Are you alright, Nuan Nuan?”
Chen Qingzhou immediately picked her up and asked anxiously.
“I’m alright.”
Looking up, Chen Qingzhou turned towards the three people walking over.
“Thank you for saving my wife.”
“No need to thank us.”
The man smiled. “We were only passing through.”
He then looked towards the collapsed road behind them.
“Are you heading that way? We just came from there. The road has completely collapsed. There’s no way through.”
“What?”
Chen Qingzhou frowned.
“So there’s no route across anymore?”
The man suddenly smiled awkwardly.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself.”
“My name is Xia Tian. I used to work in electronic chip design. Those two are my colleagues.”
“We were on a business trip and planned to head home afterwards, but we never expected the Apocalypse to happen.”
“I’m Chen Qingzhou.”
He shook Xia Tian’s hand.
“This is my wife, Gu Nuan.”
“Life really is unpredictable,” Xia Tian sighed.
“Who could have imagined the future would change like this?”
“Where are you two headed?” he asked.
“We’re going to Haicheng.”
Chen Qingzhou replied, “We’re both students, and my home is there.”
“When the broadcasts were still working, I heard that Haicheng had established a survivor base.”
Xia Tian looked at them.
“Is that where you’re heading?”
“Yes.”
Xia Tian turned to his two companions.
“In that case, let’s go with them. Since we can’t get home anymore, we might as well head to Haicheng together.”
“Fine.”
One of them nodded.
“We’ll follow Engineer Xia.”
“Same here.”
The other readily agreed.
Xia Tian smiled at Chen Qingzhou.
“Then let’s travel to Haicheng together.”
After everything that had happened, Chen Qingzhou became even more cautious than before.
With Gu Nuan’s safety and the babies’ wellbeing as his highest priorities, he decided that travelling together with Xia Tian’s group would be much safer.
Hopefully, Haicheng would provide a secure place to welcome the new lives that were about to enter the world.