Shang Jianyao's answer was completely outside of Wang Fugui's expected scenarios, and he was briefly at a loss for how to proceed.
Fortunately, Shang Jianyao had already ignored him, glancing at the several relic hunters beside him before retracting his gaze.
At the same time, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen also took advantage of the opportunity of the exchange to openly and honestly sized up the people sitting with Wang Fugui.
Among them, what impressed Long Yuehong the most was a man with slender limbs.
He had brown hair and blue eyes, and looked quite sturdy, but he was wearing a black leather jacket and had pulled the zipper up high.
He was clearly bundled up tightly, but still showed a feeling of being unable to withstand the cold.
You must know that it is already high summer, and even if the temperature in the mountains is lower than outside, a normal human being would be fine with just a long t-shirt.
"Too weak? Injured before?" Long Yuehong muttered to himself.
The other three relic hunters had no obvious characteristics, but compared to most people in the Forward Camp, their clothes and complexions were much better, and it was clear at a glance that they belonged to the type who were doing quite well.
The other lone wolves Wang Fugui mentioned? Jiang Baimian nodded slightly to them, unobtrusively retracted her gaze, and sat down at the bar.
They came to the Coss Bar to solve their lunch problem.
This time, they didn't prepare much food in the car.
"Do you think Wang Fugui might be an Awakened?" Long Yuehong asked in a low voice after sitting down.
It was obvious that Wang Fugui had not undergone genetic modification, nor had he tried any mechanical or electronic modifications.
But he was able to live well as a lone hunter, and was described by Weter as powerful and terrifying, so he should have some abilities that surpassed ordinary people.
Excluding the first two possibilities, there were only two answers left: Distortion and Awakening.
But observing from his external image, the probability of Wang Fugui being a Subhuman was not high.
"If he is, what price did he pay?" Bai Chen asked back in a low voice.
Wang Fugui's words and actions were no different from a normal person, and it was impossible to tell that he had paid any price.
"It may be a more private type of price," Jiang Baimian gave her own idea.
Shang Jianyao immediately echoed:
"Maybe he has abnormal fetishes and likes animals."
He looked serious.
Obviously, this was inspired by a certain Awakened in the "Rootless" team, combined with the current situation of chasing the white giant wolf to make certain changes.
"No." Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen shook their heads at the same time.
This was a woman's intuition.
They could all feel that Wang Fugui appreciated the opposite sex very much, and had a desire for it, but this lone hunter was very restrained and polite, not to the point of being repulsive.
During their casual discussion, the four members of the "Old Task Force" used their lunch for the day:
The starchy roots of some kind of wild plant were roasted until fragrant and glutinous; several palm-sized stream fish were fried until crispy and charming - using oil from those hunts with poor meat quality; several common wild vegetables were washed and placed there...
After a good lunch, Jiang Baimian and others got up one after another, called on Genaver, who had been recharged, and boarded the third floor of the main castle building.
This was where those survivors had received treatment before.
They were lucky in that the white giant wolf had no need for money or inedible supplies, and did not strip them of their belongings, allowing them to afford medical expenses and avoid being driven out.
At a glance, Jiang Baimian found Long En.
The relic hunter immediately trotted over and asked flatteringly:
"Do you need something from me?"
Because of the injury to his ribs, his running posture was slightly strange.
"Have you seen a hunter named Feilintong?" Jiang Baimian nodded.
This was the relic hunter who knew about the Mirror Church, one of the targets of the "Old Task Force" for this trip.
After Shang Jianyao finished supplementing Feilintong's appearance, Long En shook his head:
"I saw him before being controlled by the white wolf, he was also looking for the white wolf, but later, I never encountered him again."
Does that mean Feilintong was not "bewitched" by the white giant wolf and did not become a伥鬼(chang gui,伥鬼 is literally a 'helper ghost', a ghost that helps a tiger find more people to kill and eat)? Jiang Baimian looked to the left and right, signaling Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Shang Jianyao to ask other survivors separately.
After asking for a while, Long Yuehong walked to the third-to-last target.
That was a relic hunter who had barely survived a gunshot wound to the abdomen. He was lying there, his lips slightly pale, and his mental state was not very good.
"Have you seen a hunter like this? Hair with a grayish tint, dark brown eyes, likes to use a shotgun..." Long Yuehong described Feilintong's situation in an orderly manner.
The relic hunter on the bed moved his eyes slightly and said:
"Seen him."
"When?" Long Yuehong perked up.
The relic hunter subconsciously wanted to say "you have to pay," but then remembered the strength of the opposing team and his own situation, so he changed his words and said:
"When I was controlled by the white wolf."
He didn't want his injury to get worse and be beyond recovery.
"Ah?" Long Yuehong was both surprised and delighted.
Jiang Baimian and Genaver approached.
After resting for a while, the relic hunter continued:
"The white wolf would have us act as guards, guarding different areas.
"I remember that night, I was guarding a fork in the cave, and I saw this person trying to sneak in. I, I shot at him trying to kill him. He was frightened and ran into another path, and then, then never appeared again."
Jiang Baimian listened quietly and asked a follow-up question:
"In other words, he was never controlled by the white wolf?"
"That's right." The relic hunter gave a very affirmative answer.
Jiang Baimian turned and asked:
"How did you see him in the cave?"
"There were torches," the relic hunter replied, "We used flashlights at first, but later the batteries ran out."
At this time, Shang Jianyao also asked about a similar situation from a survivor.
He was guarding another fork.
Combining the descriptions of the two, Jiang Baimian initially judged that Feilintong had entered the cave from another entrance, and was then discovered by the "guard" and rushed into a fork in a panic.
And where that fork led to, no one currently knows.
"It seems we'll have to go into the cave after all." Back at the parking place, Jiang Baimian sighed.
She deliberated for a few seconds and looked at Genaver:
"On the one hand, we're letting lone hunters like Wang Fugui 'help' scout the way, and on the other hand, we have to make some preparations, such as making simple versions of drones and remote-controlled cars, to scout first and then go deep, exploring section by section. This will be better to prevent the collapse caused by the previous explosion."
"Well, I'll try my best to collect electronic components and try to make them using the equipment I already have," Genaver spread out his right hand, "But you have to give me enough Ore."
As a law-abiding intelligent robot, if I don't buy it, do you want me to rob it?
"I'll help." Shang Jianyao was very interested in this and looked eager to try.
…………
Night fell once again, and a bright moon appeared in the sky.
Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao, who were on duty, patrolled one side each, seeing many vehicles swaying under the street lights, and hearing moans, sometimes faint and sometimes hoarse, coming from all directions.
A phrase naturally emerged in Jiang Baimian's mind:
"Seize the day."
Just then, she noticed Shang Jianyao stopping and looking at the bright moon in the sky, opening his mouth.
He wouldn't want to imitate these people, would he? Wouldn't that be too embarrassing? Jiang Baimian thought, feeling both confused and amused.
The next second, Shang Jianyao made a sound:
"Awoo!"
This roar traveled far in the relatively quiet mountain forest night, as if the white giant wolf had sneaked into the Forward Camp.
In an instant, all the moans stopped, all the swaying subsided, leaving only a little aftermath.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
--For those in the Forward Camp who had not yet fallen asleep, this "wolf howl" was completely different from the previous roar, clearly very close, and needed to be guarded against.
"..." Jiang Baimian was speechless, and really wanted to turn her head away and pretend not to know that guy.
Unfortunately, after the battle with the white wolf, the "Old Task Force" had made a name for themselves in this Forward Camp. Everyone knew that they had four members plus a robot, and their strength was very strong.
"You'll get beaten up like that!" Jiang Baimian quickly stopped Shang Jianyao from making a second "wolf howl."
Although Shang Jianyao was unwilling, he still chose to obey orders.
Beams of flashlight light then appeared, shining back and forth, but no dangerous wild animals were found.
After this incident, the moans and swaying vehicles decreased a lot.
After the "alarm" was completely lifted, Jiang Baimian asked Shang Jianyao in a low voice:
"Why did you suddenly howl like a wolf?"
Shang Jianyao replied seriously:
"I was simulating the white wolf's roar to see if I could lure the Nightmare Horse over."
Lure... Jiang Baimian's expression froze on her face, and the corners of her mouth twitched involuntarily.
"Do you have the ability to 'bewitch'?" she asked, feeling both annoyed and amused.
"No," Shang Jianyao answered honestly.
"Then that's that, right?" Jiang Baimian interrupted this exchange decisively.
As time passed, the moon gradually climbed higher, and various noises slowly disappeared.
Jiang Baimian looked around and finally felt the extreme tranquility of the night.
Tranquility... She suddenly frowned.
In the Forward Camp, each relic hunter team would leave someone on night duty, and the regular army of the "First City" stationed here would also send personnel to patrol to prevent dangerous creatures from invading.
So, no matter what, there couldn't be extreme tranquility.
Something's wrong? But I didn't notice anything... Could it be that there's something wrong with me? Is this, is this a dream? Has the Nightmare Horse really come? No, the Nightmare Horse can only make dreams more real, it can't make people fall asleep! Is it the Sleepy Cat? Has the Nightmare Horse's partner, the Sleepy Cat, also come? Jiang Baimian's mind raced, and she began to consider how to wake herself up.
Just then, she felt a clear tremor in the earth, and the entire mountain range shook violently.
At this moment, it was as if the end of the world had come again.
As she shook, Jiang Baimian heard the surrounding movements and saw Shang Jianyao's face.
He grabbed Jiang Baimian's shoulders and said with excitement:
"The Nightmare Horse and the Ghost Cat are both here!"