Chapter 94: The Road of Exile, Part 36

Shi Xianyu opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing.

She did not know what words could express the guilt in her heart.

She had only wanted to take Lu Li away from the oasis and find a place where she could live safely, yet she had dragged Ye Liuyun and Lin Yuan down with her, forcing them onto the road of exile.

Shi Xianyu turned and looked at Lu Li.

Lu Li had been leaning silently against the sofa chair the whole time, quieter than at any other moment, as though afraid of being a nuisance, unable even to meet Shi Xianyu’s eyes.

She looked so pitiful, covered in wounds, yet Shi Xianyu had not forgotten that she, too, had once split her own skull open like a thorned serpent, revealing the monstrous nature of her mutation.

Shi Xianyu could not help wondering: what, exactly, was Hua Su? The girl she had rescued—was she Lu Li, was she Hua Su, or some strange being formed by the union of the two? Could such a being be called good or evil? Could it live peacefully among human beings?

No one could provide a definite answer.

Ye Liuyun gave the vehicle a brief inspection, then climbed back inside, took up her canteen, and drank with her head tipped back.

Lin Yuan said, “Looks like we’ve shaken them off.”

Ye Liuyun exhaled and slowly shook her head. “Those two vehicles that chased us just now were ordinary patrol units. Their skills were average, and the vehicles were average too, so we could get away easily. If the oasis sends a combat squad after us, things will be dangerous.”

Lin Yuan asked, “You think the oasis will send a combat squad?”

Ye Liuyun paused with the canteen in hand, then replied, “If they believed Madam He’s words, they definitely will.”

For ordinary fugitives, the oasis would not go to such lengths. But if the target was a suspected host of the parasite Hua Su—something that might threaten the very survival and safety of the oasis—they would certainly spare no manpower or resources.

Ye Liuyun did not want to imagine the outcome in such a grim light. With a self-mocking smile, she said to Lin Yuan, “Maybe we’re just scaring ourselves. Isn’t it better to use their manpower and resources to hunt a few mutated beasts? Why waste it on catching the three of us runaways?”

Lin Yuan thought it over and nodded. He also did not want to clash with those people from the oasis combat squads. It was not that he feared hurting feelings; the real problem was that his and Ye Liuyun’s gear was far too poor, and their ammunition was severely lacking. If they ran into a fully equipped squad, they would be at a serious disadvantage.

At that moment, Lu Li, who had remained silent the entire time, lightly tapped the car window with a finger.

Because of her special identity, every movement of hers drew attention. At the sound, everyone looked over at once, guessing what she meant to say.

Lu Li pointed in a direction.

Lin Yuan looked over in suspicion, and saw that far away on the dunes there seemed to be a grayish-brown shadow, like a stone that had happened to protrude from the desert.

Ye Liuyun lifted her binoculars to take a look, and her face gradually darkened. “It looks like desert hyenas.”

Lin Yuan frowned. “They don’t look very big. Are they dangerous?”

“They’re not mutated creatures, and they really aren’t large, but...” Ye Liuyun’s brow furrowed deeply. “There are usually many of them.”

As if to confirm her words, several more shadows appeared on the dune.

Disgust showed on Ye Liuyun’s face. “Why would hyenas show up in broad daylight? Could they be so starving they’ve even come out to hunt in the daytime?”

Unease rose in Shi Xianyu’s heart. “Let’s leave quickly.”

“We can’t leave right away.” Ye Liuyun frowned. “If we run too fast, the hyenas will think we’re afraid of them and treat us as prey. Even though we won’t be in danger while staying inside the vehicle, being entangled with them will still be troublesome.”

Lin Yuan said, “If we just drive away, they probably won’t be able to catch us.”

Seeing the pack of hyenas growing larger by the moment, Ye Liuyun frowned even harder. “Hyenas are cunning. Their current position is right in front of the stretch of road where we need to detour. Let’s see if they leave on their own first. Otherwise there’s no choice—we’ll have to force our way through.”

When it came to dealing with the creatures of the desert, mutated or not, Ye Liuyun had the most experience. They rested where they were for a while, but the hyenas not only failed to thin out, they grew more numerous by the minute. At last, they decided to break through by force.

Ye Liuyun prepared her weapons and instructed Shi Xianyu, “When the vehicle gets close, I’ll open fire on the pack. I’m hoping the gunfire will scare them off. You don’t need to worry about anything—just keep driving forward, and don’t stop.”

Lin Yuan frowned. “The RV is still too bulky. Ahead is a sharp bend, and there are also huge sandstone boulders by the roadside. If we’re not fast enough, they could leap onto the vehicle. Is there any other way to draw them off?”

Ye Liuyun was anxious and irritated. She was in the predicament of a clever woman unable to cook without rice; without enough ammunition, no number of tactics in her head could be carried out, and ammunition could only be requisitioned when taking on a mission.

“If it really doesn’t work...” Ye Liuyun gritted her teeth and looked at Shi Xianyu. “Abandon the vehicle. Is that possible?”

The RV was not fast enough, not maneuverable enough, and its outer shell lacked armor and was too thin and fragile. Charging through like this was far too dangerous.

But riding entirely in Ye Liuyun’s vehicle would also carry hidden risks.

The most immediate problem was space. If Lu Li were squeezed inside with them, would her wounds split open again? And without the food and water supplies on the RV, even if they delivered Lu Li to Qinghe, how would she survive there?

Shi Xianyu had a hidden spatial treasure, but she had not told Ye Liuyun or Lin Yuan. She was wondering whether she could use chili water to drive the hyenas away, when it occurred to her that the wind outside would be strong while the vehicle was moving, and the chili water sprayed out would surely be scattered quickly by the wind.

Besides, when those hyenas surrounded the vehicle, their positions would be constantly shifting, and from the driver’s seat she would be in a very passive position indeed.

After careful thought, Lin Yuan seemed to feel that the cost of abandoning the vehicle was too great, and asked Ye Liuyun, “Is there another road to Qinghe?”

“There is, but we’d have to turn back first, and we might run into the pursuers behind us,” Ye Liuyun said.

Lin Yuan asked, “If we don’t take the highway and go straight across instead, is that possible?”

Ye Liuyun curled her lip. “Possible, but more likely to get us trapped. Outside the highway, it’s either all sand, where the vehicle would sink and never get out, or sharp-edged rocks that can easily puncture the tires. Have you forgotten how we ran into the thorn serpent last time? It was because we wanted to take a shortcut and didn’t use the highway. In the end, the seemingly flat sandy ground turned out to be hollow underneath.”

Lin Yuan’s brow tightened, and he looked irritably toward the hyenas in the distance.

As they did not move, the hyenas did not move either. They watched them warily, as though ready to pounce at any moment.

Shi Xianyu looked at the wolves and thought that if only the chili water could be a little more flexible—like the bubbles Lu Li liked to blow—one would burst every time it met one.

Alas, she could not turn chili water into bubbles dancing across the sky.

Seated in the vehicle with the window open, Ye Liuyun chatted with them and said, “Anyway, we can’t think of a way out in a hurry. We might as well relax a little. Once we’ve all rested, we’ll gather our strength and charge through together!”

Suddenly, Shi Xianyu thought of something. She leaned out the car window and said to Ye Liuyun, “I’ve got it!”

Ye Liuyun blinked. “Huh?”

Lin Yuan said, “What?”

Shi Xianyu said, “Bubbles!”