While Xiao Wen, Gu Sha Duo Jie, and others had a harmonious and light-hearted exchange in the leader’s tent, on the other side, the young people who set up camp in an empty space behind the tribe with the Tibetan youths were not as peaceful.
There was not much friction, and after Lin Yan and Mo Yan led the team to park, everyone began to set up camp and start a fire in an orderly manner. The tribal youth, who had not seen outsiders for a long time, gathered in twos and threes outside, watching them busy, and some even came forward to help.
Most of them were young people, and it was easy to strike up a conversation. Through their interactions, Lin Yan also learned about the daily lives of these Tibetan people during this period, while the tribal youth also inquired about the situation in the Central Plains. Xiao Tao and a group of young people who were neither too young nor too old couldn’t help but exaggerate their journey, making it sound thrilling and heart-stopping. In particular, the danger of being surrounded by zombies in a city amazed and frightened the tribal youth, although some thought they were being too exaggerated.
The surviving young people in the tribe had also experienced the mutation of their companions and the domesticated cattle and sheep. However, among them, only a few had left the Tibetan region and entered the Central Plains, and they were not familiar with the dense population of the Central Plains. The huge population numbers they heard only existed in broadcasts and couldn’t be related to reality.
“Pft! With so many zombies, how could you possibly make it here? You guys would have been eaten alive by those zombies!” One of the young men named Yun Dan expressed his disbelief in what Xiao Tao said.
Xiao Tao raised his eyebrows and said, “What’s with the ‘pft’? Don’t underestimate our abilities! Although there are many zombies, after they retreat, we have enough strength to fight our way out!”
“Who doesn’t have any abilities? We have many people in our tribe with abilities, and our leader’s ability can control all the plants. We are invincible on the grasslands. If all of you can make it out, then our leader can come and go as he pleases!” Yun Dan said disdainfully.
Xiao Tao raised his eyebrows and replied coldly, “What’s so great about wood-based abilities?! Our leader has speed abilities, and his movements are so fast that you can’t even see him swing his sword! With a flash of light and shadow, he can chop off several zombie heads! Your leader’s wood-based ability will run out eventually, and when that happens, he’ll be trapped in the zombie horde! Even if our leader’s ability runs out, he can still run away! His speed is so fast, you can’t even see him blink!”
Yun Dan sneered, “When his ability runs out, he can only run away and won’t care about you guys. Our leader’s ability is enough to support all of us to fight against the zombies together!”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Tao laughed, “We don’t need our leader to save us. Look, almost two-thirds of the people in our five cars have abilities. When the zombies surrounded the rescue station, not only us, but nearly two thousand ability users from the outer wall of the entire station released their abilities together. There were all kinds of abilities, and the attacks were super powerful!”
“We’re not weaker than you in terms of our abilities!”
“Let’s compare then?”
“Let’s compare!”
Li Yunsheng and Mo Gang sat by the campfire, watching the two groups of young people talking back and forth, chuckling.
Lin Yan smiled as he watched them eagerly preparing for the competition without saying anything to stop them.
Competing with each other can deepen the relationship between young people, and they can also discover their own shortcomings through competition.
Of course, Lin Yan was well aware that the training plans tailored by Xiao Wen and Han Ya for each person along the way had yielded significant results. Compared to when they were besieged by zombies, the abilities of both the powered and non-powered members of their convoy had doubled. Overpowering these young people who had been living a peaceful life in the Tibetan area was a piece of cake.
For these outsiders who had just entered the Tibetan area, their strong abilities would also make the locals treat them differently. Even those with ill intentions would have to consider their actions when dealing with them!
So when Xiao Wen, Han Ya, and Gu Sha Duo Jie arrived at their camp, they saw two young people competing with each other’s powers in the open space between the two bonfires.
Lin Yan and another middle-aged man who held a relatively high position in the tribe watched the competition from the sidelines to prevent unnecessary accidents.
The competition ended when they decided to stop, and Xiao Wen and Gu Sha Duo Jie looked at each other and smiled.
The caravan, which originally planned to continue their journey on the second day, had to stay for two more days due to the warm hospitality of the tribe. During these two days, Han Ya gathered a lot of information about the situation in the Tibetan area and the provincial capital N city from Gu sha Duo Jie.
Meanwhile, the young people were keen on comparing their abilities with each other. By the third day, the competition was not limited to the two groups, and many young people from the same caravan also challenged each other.
The young people from the tribe, led by Yun Dan, had to admit that this foreign caravan had gone through too many battles, and their abilities were much stronger than theirs, even those who were not superpowers had much better skills than those who run on the grasslands every day.
As they were about to depart, many young people who had formed brotherly bonds during the past three days secretly shared with the local youth the training methods taught to them by Xiao Wen and Han Ya. Both sides exchanged sly glances and thought they had gotten away with it, not realizing that the leaders of both groups were well aware of what was going on. On the night before their departure, Gu Sha Duo Jie specially hosted a banquet to express his gratitude towards Xiao Wen and his team. He knew very well that Xiao Wen was aware of the exchange between the young people from both sides, but chose to turn a blind eye to it.
As the sun rose again, the convoy bid farewell to the tribe, turned their backs to the rising sun, and drove deep into the Tibetan area. The young people in the convoy leaned out of the windows, waving their hands until the tribe was no longer visible.
“Long time no feel this happy.” Han Ya watched through the rearview mirror as the young people slowly withdrew their arms, some even couldn’t help but look back towards the direction of the tribe.
Yin Chengyang heard Han Ya’s exclamation and turned around with a smile, “The people here are much more straightforward than those from our hometown. They don’t beat around the bush and speak their minds!”
Han Ya rolled his eyes at him, “Well-built limbs but simple-minded!”
Yin Chengyang just chuckled and didn’t mind.
Wen Le pursed his lips and watched the two of them, finding it amusing: “They don’t look like a couple at all!”
After hitting the road, Han Ya, Xiao Wen, and Wen Le buried themselves in the seats, spreading out the map of the Tibetan area and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of each location, gradually narrowing down their range to five places.
One location was near the Tibetan salt lake, the second was far away from the snow mountains and N city, the third was close to the Xile mountain range, the fourth was located between the Xiyaxueshan, N city, and the salt lake, and the fifth was between Xiyaxueshan and another shorter snow mountain in the Xile mountain range.
All five locations were deep in the Tibetan area, taking into consideration the danger of weather changes, melting snow, and the potential for zombie migration into the Tibetan area.
Each of the five locations had its own advantages, and safety levels were more or less the same. The three of them were a bit indecisive, and in the end, they brought Lin Yan in to help make the decision while they were setting up camp at night.
But ultimately, it was Li Yunsheng’s words that gave them a moment of clarity.
After hitting a dead end in their decision-making, Han Ya, Xiao Wen, and Wen Le spread out a map of the Tibetan area on the seat in front of them and began analyzing the pros and cons of each location. Eventually, they narrowed down their options to five locations, each located deep within the Tibetan region and away from potential dangers such as melting snow and zombie migration.
However, the three of them were still unsure about which location to choose, and they even brought Lin Yan into their discussion when they set up camp for the night. It wasn’t until the third day, when Li Yunsheng, noticing their indecision, suggested they focus on their future development rather than safety that they finally found a solution.
Li Yunsheng’s words made Han Ya slap his friend’s leg, realizing how they had been overthinking and overlooking the bigger picture. Afterward, the group made their decision and set out towards their chosen location.
After hitting a mental block for a long time, they finally realized that the safest place may not necessarily be the best place for their future development. After listening to Li Yunsheng’s reminder, the four of them immediately buried their heads in the map again, studying the terrain of each location.
After a night of research, they finally decided on their future base. It was the fourth location that they had previously planned – the center of the triangle formed by the West Ya Snow Mountain, N City, and the salt lake.
After traveling deeper into the Tibetan area, they finally confirmed the location and the convoy no longer wandered aimlessly. They found the exact direction and distance, and headed straight to the designated spot with five cars in tow.
Finally, on the eleventh day, they arrived at the location they had calculated. Without a satellite positioning system, there was bound to be some deviation in the calculated location in the vast snowy terrain. But since the location had been chosen, they tried their best to make it as accurate as possible.
After temporarily settling in, the team did not rush to establish a permanent base. Instead, Mo Yan, Huang Tao, and Xiao Tao each took a group of psychics and enough supplies to survive for half a month, and headed towards the West Ya Snow Mountain, N City, and Salt Lake in three different directions, estimating the distance to each location to determine whether their temporary base was at the location they had circled on the map.
After nine days, all three vehicles returned to the camp. Han Ya calculated the estimated distances they had determined, and the whole team packed up and drove for a full day.
As night fell, Han Ya ordered all vehicles to stop through the radio.
Everyone got out of the car and stood in the snow, looking at Xiao Wen holding the map.
Xiao Wen looked at everyone seriously, and slowly spoke amidst their excited and expectant gazes, “The journey ends here, and this will be our new beginning!”
“Ah~~”
“Ah! Ah! Ah!”
“Hahaha…”
Everyone cheered. Zhao Xiaogang even lifted Qi Rui with a few young people and threw him into the air.
Watching everyone’s excited screams, Wen Le stood between Xiao Wen and Han Ya and couldn’t help but laugh.
After two and a half months in the apocalypse, they finally found a place to settle down and establish their foothold in this world.
Looking at the happy faces and hopeful eyes in front of him, Wen Le turned around and faced the sparkling stars in the night sky, silently saying to himself: “Here, with these people, we will embark on a new journey in this apocalypse…”