80: Insect plague first appears

Ai Yue stopped dwelling on what the two had gone through. Without Dawang on the truck, it wasn't convenient to take out the drone to search the mountains. She could only head to a nearby city to look for a place that might serve as a shelter.

Since Mo Li and the other were both directionally challenged and couldn't tell north from south, the two of them obediently refrained from questioning Ai Yue's itinerary. Thus, they didn't realize this wasn't the way back... When they encountered people looking for trouble on the road, Ai Yue simply drove through them with an expressionless face. Seeing that the speeding vehicle had no intention of stopping, the people blocking the way scrambled to the side of the road in a pathetic mess, then stood up and chased after her car, shouting curses.

Ai Yue gave a cold snort and ignored them completely.

In this world, whoever isn't ruthless enough will die!

After barreling through, they reached the nearest city.

Mo Li and the other were quite discerning and didn't ask Ai Yue what she was doing, assuming she was just searching for supplies.

Whenever they reached a place where Ai Yue needed to get out and search, Mo Li, who had difficulty moving, would stay in the vehicle while she and Ye Rui went out to scavenge.

The places she took Ye Rui to search were mostly villa districts. Her behavior seemed very strange to Ye Rui; searching was one thing, but she specifically went to nooks and crannies to tap and kick around. If she found nothing, she would even show a look of disappointment.

When passing by large shopping malls or dilapidated shops, she would take Ye Rui inside and collect all the gold and silver jewelry she could find into her bag.

Ye Rui didn't understand why Ai Yue wanted these things. Although she was very puzzled, she controlled her curiosity well and didn't ask.

Ai Yue was very satisfied with the girl beside her, who was sometimes silent and sometimes excited. She appreciated her sense of propriety; she never spoke up about things she shouldn't ask.

Ai Yue didn't offer an explanation. She didn't want to make up a random excuse to deceive her, but she couldn't tell her the truth either, so she could only avoid the subject.

In the future, Ai Yue wouldn't have to hide from her when searching for gold, jade, and other items, which was good.

As they passed an industrial park, Ai Yue felt a sudden impulse. She had never been to such a place before. Since they were passing by, there was no harm in going in to take a look.

Ai Yue drove slowly along the road. The industrial park was not nearly as clean and tidy as it had been before the Apocalypse.

Forklifts were parked haphazardly, and most were damaged. She had originally wanted to get one, but now she could only shake her head.

There were still goods on some large trucks that hadn't been unloaded in time. After several rounds of natural disasters, they were all ruined.

Many factories were locked. Thinking there might be some good stuff inside, Ai Yue pulled a black hairpin from her head, straightened it, and inserted it into a keyhole. Soon, the door was opened by her.

To her surprise, as soon as the door opened, there was a "splash," and a stream of foul-smelling sewage, half a person high, gushed out.

Ai Yue and Ye Rui bore the brunt of it and were hit directly.

"Ugh, this water smells too bad." Ye Rui couldn't help but bend over and retch.

Ai Yue's mouth twitched, the veins on her temples throbbed, and her body stiffened as she lifted her foot and shook off the water.

There was no need to go in and look; the things inside were definitely ruined by the water.

She stopped looking at the locked factories and took Ye Rui elsewhere. After wandering around for most of the day, Ai Yue actually found something. They entered a machinery manufacturing plant and found a room full of diesel and lubricant in the basement.

Over the past two years, the diesel she had stockpiled was almost gone. This discovery solved her urgent need.

Ai Yue sent Ye Rui away and secretly collected all the diesel and lubricant in the room. She clapped her hands and went out in a good mood to meet up with Ye Rui and continue searching the next place.

She and Ye Rui were in a pharmaceutical factory where they found many well-packaged condoms—enough to fill a whole truck. This was a pleasant surprise for Ai Yue; these were good items.

This item ranked high on the barter list. After the Apocalypse, there was no place to produce such things, so they had to be taken.

Other than that, there wasn't much to be gained elsewhere. The entire park was basically ruined.

In this period, being able to find anything was a stroke of great luck. She was rarely this happy.

Having spent a day traveling through most of the city, night fell, and the three decided to rest here for the night.

They found a three-story villa in a relatively open area. After checking it, they found that everything in the entire villa had been looted, leaving it empty, but there was nothing unusual.

The three didn't stay in the rooms. Instead, they stayed in the living room on the first floor, lit a fire, had a quick bite to eat, and found a comfortable spot to lie down.

Ai Yue and Ye Rui kept watch, while Mo Li, being the injured one, was lucky enough to sleep through the night.

"Ye Rui, if you're tired, wake me up to keep watch for a while. I'll take a nap first," Mo Li said to Ye Rui.

His day had been thrilling and stressful, and with his injuries, he really couldn't hold out any longer. After instructing Ye Rui, he lay on the ground and fell asleep.

Ye Rui kept watch during the first half of the night. Ai Yue took a light nap, but before her turn came, she suddenly woke up with a start.

She found Ye Rui's little head nodding off. The girl suddenly jerked awake and pinched herself hard in annoyance, grimacing in pain.

Ai Yue couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at the sight.

At that moment, she also realized Ai Yue was awake and hurried over, whispering, "Sister, did I wake you up? I'm sorry. It's still early, sleep a bit longer, I'm watching."

Ai Yue gave a silent smile, sat up, and said, "It wasn't you who woke me. I can't sleep anymore. You go to sleep; I'll keep watch."

"Sister, you should sleep a bit more, I'm not tired..."

"Alright, I'm really not tired. Be good and go to sleep."

"Oh." Ye Rui couldn't win the argument with Ai Yue and could only lie down and curl up. After a moment, the sound of steady breathing could be heard.

Ai Yue stood up and walked to the window, looking at the pitch-black night sky. Since the Apocalypse, human factories no longer emitted gases or sewage containing heavy metals, and the dense crowds of cars no longer started. The stars in the sky grew brighter day by day.

It was a pleasing sight to behold.

In the dead of night, looking up at the stars and the moon could temporarily make one forget the cruel reality.

For a moment, Ai Yue was somewhat mesmerized. Unbeknownst to her, under the moonlight, a layer of starlight shimmered around her, swirling up and down her body!

As the starlight swirled, faint glints of gold appeared within it.

If Dawang were here, it would certainly understand that this was due to the energy stones.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the silent night sky. Ai Yue was instantly startled out of her meditative state. The starlight around her vanished instantly as she moved, as if it had never existed.

Ai Yue frowned and walked toward the source of the sound, which was coming from the bathroom on the first floor.

She took out her flashlight and opened the bathroom door, only to be startled. She saw dense swarms of mutated insects, as thick and long as a thumb, crawling out of the toilet.

Startled, Ai Yue slammed the door shut with a "clatter."

But closing the door was useless; the insects squeezed out through the cracks in the door bit by bit.

Seeing those familiar insects, Ai Yue felt her scalp tingle.