After dealing with the Mutated Bear, everyone hurried to finish clearing the fallen rocks. If there was a Mutated Bear in the area, there were bound to be other mutated creatures as well. It was simply too dangerous.
Before long, they had cleared away most of the rocks, leaving a path wide enough for a single vehicle to pass.
Seeing everyone busy with the work, Gu Nuan returned to the motorhome to prepare some fresh juice. They had harvested so much fruit the previous day.
She took out apples and carrots to make juice, then prepared pan fried dumplings and slices of bread. After setting up a folding table and several stools in front of the motorhome, she called out to them.
“Take a break and come have something to eat!”
“We’re coming,” Chen Qingzhou replied before turning to the others. “Let’s go and rest for a bit.”
After washing their hands, everyone sat down.
“Wow, there’s so much delicious food. It all looks amazing. Thanks for your hard work, sister in law,” Lu Qingshan said as he looked at the spread on the table.
Gu Nuan smiled.
“You’ve all worked hard too. Hurry up and eat.”
Just as everyone was about to pick up their chopsticks, a deep growl echoed from nearby.
Everyone instantly became alert, putting down their food and grabbing their weapons.
A gigantic Mutated Lizard slowly crawled into view, its scales gleaming with a metallic sheen.
“There’s actually one of these things too?” Chen Qingzhou frowned.
An idea suddenly came to Gu Nuan. She quickly took out several strongly scented medicinal herbs from the System Space and threw them into the distance.
The Mutated Lizard caught the scent, hesitated for a moment, then changed direction and crawled toward the herbs instead.
“Quick, let’s go!” Gu Nuan shouted.
Everyone immediately packed up their things and climbed into the vehicles.
Once the vehicles started moving, Gu Nuan finally let out a sigh of relief.
Lu Qingshan couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
“Good thing my sister in law reacted so quickly. Otherwise, we’d have been in for another tough fight today.”
Chen Qingzhou nodded and said to Gu Nuan, “It’s better to stay cautious. This area is much more dangerous than we imagined.”
Taking her hand, he continued, “No matter what happens, as long as we’re together, we’ll overcome any difficulty.”
Gu Nuan smiled warmly.
“As long as you’re with me, I’m not afraid of anything.”
The two vehicles drove through the cleared section of road and continued onward.
Gu Nuan took out the food they hadn’t finished earlier, feeding herself one bite and Chen Qingzhou the next.
“We need to get out of these mountains as quickly as possible. There are too many dangers here. If you’re tired, go to the back and get some rest.”
“I know.”
Meanwhile, in the second vehicle, Xia Tian and the others were still shaken by what had happened.
“Brother Tian, that was terrifying. How did that thing mutate into something so huge? These mutated animals are even scarier than zombies.”
Lu Qingshan patted his chest as he spoke.
“Yeah, it was frightening. Luckily, my sister in law had a solution.”
“You know,” Sun Zecheng said thoughtfully, “we’ve travelled along this road before and never encountered so many mutated animals. I bet that snowstorm drove them down from the mountains.”
“I think you’re right.”
“Brother Tian, we’re going to get some sleep first. You can switch with us later.”
“Alright. You two get some rest.”
After sitting in the passenger seat for a while, Gu Nuan also went to the back of the motorhome to rest. Carrying triplets was draining her energy, and she became exhausted very easily.
After driving for some distance, the road ahead suddenly collapsed.
Chen Qingzhou slammed on the brakes, and everyone got out to investigate.
A putrid stench filled the air, as though some enormous danger were lurking nearby.
“This place feels strange.”
As he spoke, Chen Qingzhou released strands of his psychic ability to investigate the surroundings.
But he found nothing.
“That’s odd…”
“Brother Qingzhou, what did you find?” Sun Zecheng asked.
“By all rights, there should be zombies around here, but I can’t detect a single one.”
“What? Then what’s going on?”
Before anyone could finish speaking, the ground suddenly shook violently.
Chen Qingzhou immediately pulled Gu Nuan into his arms.
“What’s happening?”
The tremors soon subsided.
“Could it have been an earthquake?” Gu Nuan asked uncertainly.
“That’s possible.”
However, just as everyone thought everything had calmed down, a massive crack suddenly split open in the ground.
Countless black tentacles stretched out from the fissure.
“What kind of monster is that?”
Everyone stared in horror.
Chen Qingzhou shielded Gu Nuan behind him while gripping his long blade tightly.
A gigantic spherical creature slowly emerged from among the tentacles. Its entire body was covered with eyes, making it an utterly horrifying sight.
“Whatever it is, attack together!”
Lu Qingshan shouted as he charged forward first.
The others immediately followed.
However, the tentacles were astonishingly tough. Their blades could only leave shallow marks.
Beams of light shot from the monster’s countless eyes, and wherever they struck, large pits were instantly corroded into the ground.
Thinking quickly, Gu Nuan took a special crystal out of the System Space. The crystal was capable of disrupting energy fluctuations.
She hurled it toward the monster.
The creature was immediately affected, and its movements slowed considerably.
Seizing the opportunity, Chen Qingzhou gathered every ounce of his strength and unleashed his lightning ability at the monster.
Accompanied by a miserable shriek, the creature crashed heavily to the ground.
Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After taking a short rest, they worked together to fill in the collapsed section of road before climbing back into the vehicles and cautiously continuing their journey, hoping to leave this region full of unknown dangers as quickly as possible.