Embers Ad Infinitum

A piece of snow, a piece of snow, a piece of snow.

This was Long Yuehong's only feeling after the "Old Tune Team" trekked on the ice field for three days.

Here, apart from the light blue and darkness of the sky and the various colors of the "Old Tone Group" itself, he could only see white.

In this season, the few creatures on the ice sheet have not yet entered an active state.

If it weren't for the sunglasses, Long Yuehong would have suspected that she was blind.

"Where are the robbers? Can't there be some robbers?" Shang Jianyao, who was driving, muttered while staring ahead with his eyes tightly protected by sunglasses.

At this moment, music seemed unable to make him forget the boredom outside.

Jiang Baimian, who was in the passenger seat, pushed up his sunglasses and sneered:

“Where did the robbers come from in the ice field?

"The only result of being a robber here is to starve or freeze to death."

There are very few human settlements in the ice field, and there are no caravans coming, so there are not many bandits that can support them.

In the summer months, when the ice and snow melt and the climate is no longer cold, many ruin hunters come to explore the abandoned cities in this area and obtain corresponding supplies. This makes the place more lively and bandits appear.

The current itinerary of the "Old Tune Team" was planned by Gnawa. They will not go deep into the ice field. Instead, they will follow the southern end of the ice field and head east to the area close to the "White Knights" to look for the last place where Shang Jianyao's father appeared. The ruins of that city.

In this way, they can avoid a lot of extreme weather, and the surrounding temperature will not be too cold, which is beneficial to their team's Jeep that uses high-performance batteries.

Shang Jianyao deliberately ignored Jiang Baimian's words, looked at the rearview mirror and said:

"Xiao Hong, why don't you pretend to be a robber?"

If the scenery outside was not so boring, Long Yuehong would not bother to pay attention to this guy:

"Why not you?"

The shock of the ice and snow had faded away from him.

"Okay, okay!" Shang Jianyao answered without hesitation.

This made Long Yuehong not sure how to answer it.

Fortunately, at this time, Bai Chen next to him looked ahead and said:

"There seems to be ruins over there."

"Yes." Gnawa gave positive feedback.

Shang Jianyao then looked around and found that in the area ahead, where the sky and snow met, there was a black shadow that looked like a high-rise building rising from the ground.

They are all covered with snow, but there are always exposed parts, otherwise Bai Chen would not be so sure that they are ruins and not snow-capped mountains.

"Come over and have a look?" Shang Jianyao looked at Jiang Baimian and suggested eagerly, "Anyway, I'm on my way."

It's just a small arc.

Jiang Baimian thought for a while and said:

"Yes, it's much safer to camp overnight in the ruins of the city than in the wilderness."

Those high-rise buildings can protect the "old tune team" from wind and snow, and if they are sleeping on the ice fields in the wilderness, if there is a snowstorm, the Jeep may be directly buried. This is a natural force that Jiang Baimian and others cannot resist.

Of course, generally speaking, urban ruins often have other dangers, but for the "old tune team", those dangers are mostly of a type that they can solve themselves.

"Ula!" Shang Jianyao shouted like old world entertainment materials to express his excitement.

Long Yuehong asked Gnawa cautiously:

"Are you sure that's not a mirage?"

"Theoretically not, but if we really encountered a large-scale illusion created by the Awakened, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference for the time being." Gnawa answered very honestly.

"Wouldn't that be better?" Shang Jianyao became more and more interested.

Towards evening, Jeep finally arrived at the ruins of the city.

Thick white snow accumulates on the top of every building here, and ice ridges hang down, covering part of the exterior walls and creating a crystal clear feeling.

In addition, the ground, pools, house protrusions, iron railings, and abandoned vehicles are all covered with snow. At a glance, the city seems to be frozen in time.

This is completely different from the scenery of all the urban ruins that the "Old Tune Team" has visited before. It is more shocking and has a sense of desolation and end of life.

"It looks the same as the ice and snow forest we passed before." Shang Jianyao retracted his gaze and expressed his opinion.

Long Yuehong noticed that the abandoned vehicles on the street were crowded together in a chaotic manner. They seemed to be in a panic and completely blocked the main traffic artery. There were protrusions of suspected skeletons everywhere.

Those skeletons were buried in the snow, and most of them only showed a certain outline. Only a few were exposed for various reasons and were decayed and dilapidated.

No matter how many times he sees similar scenes, Jiang Baimian can't help but feel depressed and sigh.

This is not the ending that humans should have.

Neither natural disasters nor wars are what humans, or the vast majority of humans, want to see.

Phew, Jiang Baimian breathed out and said:

"Find a place to park and camp where the wind and snow can be blocked."

She did not intend to go to the high-rise buildings in this city to enjoy the protection of the walls, lest she suffer an accident and lose her car.

Being in the ice field, without the vehicles and the supplies loaded on them, the "Old Adjustment Team" could not last for many days no matter how strong their personal abilities were.

The same goes for Gnawa.

Soon, under the survey and calculation of the intelligent robot, the Jeep of the "Old Tuning Team" drove into the back of a tall building and stopped next to the collapsed wall.

The whining wind was blocked by the building, bypassed from both sides, and no longer invaded them.

"Eat, eat!" Shang Jianyao eagerly opened the door and got out of the car.

"Why are you so positive?" Long Yuehong, who got off the car, asked casually.

After getting through the excitement of first arriving in the ice field, he had never seen Shang Jianyao in such a state.

Shang Jianyao replied with bright eyes:

“Eat and drink enough to go on an adventure.”

"Have a good rest." Jiang Baimian on the other side of the jeep stopped this guy's delusions.

Just as Bai Chen opened the door, she suddenly saw far away, a white figure leaping from the top of a tall building covered with thick snow to another, and then disappeared from her sight.

"There seems to be some creature over there." Bai Chen pointed in the corresponding direction.

Jiang Baimian stared away and found nothing, the same was true for Gnawa and others.

"What is it?" Shang Jianyao asked curiously.

Bai Chen pursed his lips and said:

"A white leopard, or some other cat creature."

"An ice creature with strong cold resistance?" Jiang Baimian nodded slightly.

Shang Jianyao is concerned about another question:

"What does this creature usually eat?"

"Other ice creatures." Long Yuehong thought there was something to ask.

If it has nothing to eat, will you feed it?

Jiang Baimian clapped his hands and said:

"Okay, everyone knows about the existence of ice creatures, let's do our own thing."

Except for Shang Jianyao, no one else had any objections.

Soon, the "Old Tune Team" was divided into two teams. One team prepared dinner, and the other team broke down doors and windows nearby and collected a large amount of firewood.

The bonfire was lit, and the dancing flames made people feel warm.

Long Yuehong hadn't seen the flames for several days, and now she was quite moved.

He exhaled and said:

“I used to feel that compared to the company, places like Blackmarsh Wilderness were not places where humans should live, but now I feel that compared to the ice fields, places like Blackmarsh Wilderness are like paradise.”

This time, Shang Jianyao rarely refuted him.

In the middle of the night, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao wrapped themselves in thick clothes, got out of the jeep, and replaced Bai Chen and Long Yuehong on duty.

The bonfire swayed gently, bringing light and warmth, but also darkness and silence.

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao were both experienced warriors. They did not lower their vigilance due to the harsh environment. They walked slowly around the campfire, observing and sensing their surroundings.

After nearly an hour, Jiang Baimian suddenly frowned and tilted his ears:

"Is there any noise?"

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands:

"Your ears are much better than before."

With this answer he meant that there was indeed a sound.

The sound was booming and low, coming from afar, with a hint of the whine of the wind.

Jiang Baimian concentrated for a while and said to himself:

"The sound of engines? And there are more than one, even more than single digits..."

"A fleet?" Shang Jianyao guessed excitedly.

Jiang Baimian frowned:

"What kind of team wouldn't take a break in the middle of the night?"

More importantly, what teams will come to the ice sheet this season?

"You have to ask them about this." Shang Jianyao said confidently.

Jiang Baimian listened for a while and said:

“The sound of the engine is getting farther and farther away, it probably has nothing to do with us.

"Stay basic vigilance and don't go over there and get involved."

"Okay." Shang Jianyao didn't get sick this time.

After more than half an hour, those sounds completely disappeared.

It wasn't until dawn that Jiang Baimian informed Gennava, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong about the incident.

Then, they had breakfast, got on the jeep, and prepared to leave the ruins of the city and continue to the area where their destination was.

The jeep drove out of the city along the streets on both sides of the highway.

After passing an intersection, Shang Jianyao, who was sitting in the back row catching up on his sleep, suddenly opened his eyes and said excitedly:

"There are people over there, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..."

He kept counting until Jiang Baimian interrupted him:

"A rough number."

Shang Jianyao had to stop counting:

"It's less than a hundred, but it's not much different."