Stirring Things Up in the Wasteland 137

Chapter 137

According to Li Qianjin, the current situation at the first base was not very good.

Since they were already out, he had simply ordered his assault boats and rubber boats to disperse and rescue any surviving people. On the way back, he briefly reported the current situation of the first base to Xia Jin.

Most of it was just as she had feared.

The extreme cold ended, and the extreme heat came suddenly. The glaciers had all melted in an instant. At first, they hadn’t noticed the change in temperature in time. Although they had later noticed something was wrong, by then, it was clearly too late to do much more.

A warning had been issued to the entire base, but unfortunately, who knows if it was because the time was too short or what, not only outside the base, but even inside, many people either didn’t know or didn’t take it seriously. They were immediately swallowed by the melting glaciers.

Although no statistics had been compiled yet, it was clear that many more people had been lost.

And at the same time, the plants on the back mountain had thawed and, at the moment of their revival, had all mutated. Although the first base did not have the spiritual energy of Ning Mountain, and the newly awakened mutated plants could not possibly be as strong as those on Ning Mountain…

But for ordinary survivors, they were still extremely dangerous.

The first base, besides dispatching ships to rescue the survivors who had fallen into the water and to kill the mutated animals in the flood, also had to immediately dispatch troops to suppress the mutated plants on the back mountain. It was a chaotic mess for a while.

“And them? Did they make a move?”

Knowing that Xia Jin was asking about Han Wenkang’s faction, Li Qianjin shook his stubbled face, then nodded and sighed. “They did. They participated in the rescue together, but…”

“Most of the survivors they brought back were weak or had disabilities. There were almost no able-bodied young men or children.”

Although the explanation Han Wenkang had given was reasonable, even a fool would know that there was definitely a problem.

Xia Jin’s face was grim. She was afraid they had taken the people away for that plan, and with such a sudden change in events, they wouldn’t be able to investigate.

“Then find them. We have to find them.”

Li Qianjin sighed. “We’ve already sent people. But there’s no news yet.”

But if Han Wenkang had really made preparations, it probably wouldn’t be easy for them to find them.

Xia Jin also sighed. So this was when she had been exposed, when she wasn’t at the base.

Her faction, because of Chief Jiang’s serious illness, and with her not there, had had to dispatch people on three fronts. But it was also because their faction controlled most of the base’s military power and had strong weapons that Han Wenkang’s faction didn’t dare to really confront them head-on, and could only resort to such underhanded tactics.

He had come out this time because he had heard that Han Wenkang had sent people to intercept her, so he had rushed out with his men.

But he had never expected to run into her when he came out, and even less that it was Song Xun who had brought her back.

“How is the Chief’s condition?”

“…The same as always.”

Li Qianjin’s voice paused imperceptibly. Xia Jin understood. It was already very bad.

She was worried. “Let’s go over first. I’ve brought back the medicinal materials.”

Li Qianjin was taken aback. The medicinal materials were found and brought back?

But how? He hadn’t seen anything.

But he trusted her. Hearing her, he just nodded and didn’t ask any more questions. Although the two of them were being very secretive, Song Xun had more or less understood the general meaning. And based on her past life memories, she could piece together at least a basic truth.

No wonder so many ability users had appeared out of nowhere at the first base in her past life.

And no wonder that after all the bases had used the evolution awakening method they had announced, although the probability of awakening an ability had greatly increased, it had also brought great hidden dangers and side effects to the body.

They had been the same back then.

This situation wasn’t resolved until two years later, and by then it was the third generation of ability awakening methods.

So, this was the reason.

Han Wenkang was indeed the second leader after Chief Jiang, but it seemed he hadn’t been in power for many years before he had suddenly fallen ill and died. As for who the next leader was, she didn’t know.

After all, she was too busy surviving to pay attention to things so far away.

It had been over a month since the extreme heat had begun, and the basic situation at the first base had stabilized. Upon arriving at the Dongshan base and stepping on the dry, cracked black earth, Song Xun also put away the assault boat.

The matter of the spatial ability user would be exposed sooner or later anyway, so it didn’t matter.

Under the leadership of Li Qianjin and Xia Jin, Song Xun, Ji Chao, and Shi Tou followed them to the innermost part of the base.

This was a secluded small courtyard surrounded by layers of armed soldiers. Song Xun looked around and could clearly sense that there were definitely more than just them here. There were people in the shadows.

But this was the location of the first base’s chief. It was not surprising that there were so many guards.

Seeing someone approach, the soldiers immediately raised their guns in alert. But seeing that it was Xia Jin, they all lowered them in unison and, without a word, saluted.

Clearly, the people here all respected her very much.

The small courtyard was noisy. You could faintly hear it from a distance. As they got closer, it became even clearer. Clearly, Chief Jiang’s condition was not very good, and he might even be on the verge of death.

Xia Jin was anxious. Without a word, she grabbed Song Xun’s hand and rushed in.

Seeing the usually calm person so flustered, Song Xun didn’t struggle.

The courtyard was indeed, as she had thought, in the middle of a rescue. There were many people, more than a dozen, who all looked like doctors. Guan Yang and Zhang Jinhe were also among them.

Seeing Xia Jin rush in with Song Xun, and recognizing her, Guan Yang and Zhang Jinhe were both taken aback for a moment, but they had no time to reminisce. They just asked Xia Jin, “Did you find it?”

“I found it.”

As Xia Jin answered, Song Xun also took out the medicinal materials Ji Tang had sorted out last night from her backpack, a large black bag with 10 doses of medicine inside.

She estimated that Chief Jiang’s condition might not be very good, so Ji Tang had specially packed some extra.

After all, Chief Jiang could not die.

If he died, then her reward would be for nothing. And in her past life, she and the others had all used the method passed down from the first base to complete their ability awakening, and the side effects were naturally not few. She naturally held a deep hostility towards Han Wenkang’s faction.

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. It made a lot of sense.

She didn’t understand why it was her who had taken out the medicine, but Zhang Jinhe didn’t ask much. She nodded at her and then took the medicine and rushed back in.

Guan Yang and the others also quickly went in to help.

As long as Chief Jiang didn’t die before taking the medicine, then he would definitely not die. After all, the traditional Chinese medicinal materials in her space had all been cultivated with spiritual water by Ji Tang. At the very least, if they couldn’t guarantee saving his life, they could still extend it for a few days, giving them more opportunities to neutralize the effects of the medicine and cure his illness. So Song Xun was not worried at all.

Ji Chao and Shi Tou also weren’t worried.

But Xia Jin and Guan He didn’t know this, and they were all pacing anxiously.

Li Qianjin didn’t stay long and quickly left. Although he was also very worried about the chief’s safety, after all, there were still many things to do in the base.

With Zhao Yuan dead, Zhao Qing was probably going crazy.

It wasn’t until 7 PM, near dusk, that good news finally came from the courtyard. Xia Jin finally relaxed and let out a long sigh of relief.

Although Chief Jiang was not awake yet, at least his life was temporarily not in danger.

At that time, Song Xun, Ji Chao, and Shi Tou were huddled in the shade of the courtyard, cooling off and chewing on ice cubes to replenish their water. They saw Xia Jin coming over with a relaxed and grateful expression.

“It seems he’s fine.”

“He’s fine for now. Thank you.”

Zhang Jinhe had said that the medicine Song Xun had given was of very good quality and had a strong effect. Of course, she hadn’t said this, afraid that she would use it as an excuse to blackmail them.

This person was definitely capable of it.

Although she was also curious how she had gotten such potent traditional Chinese medicinal materials in this apocalypse, and had protected them so well, she wouldn’t ask much.

She knew that even if she asked, she wouldn’t say it.

“It’s late. I’ll send someone to take you to rest first. I won’t send anyone to bring you dinner. After all, you probably wouldn’t like what we eat.”

Song Xun: “…”

What kind of person is this? I brought you back from afar, helped you save someone, and you won’t even give me a bite to eat?

Is this something a human would do?

Xia Jin turned her head and ignored her disdainful face, then beckoned for someone to come and lead the way.

It was so direct that the three of them were speechless.

But if they didn’t give, they didn’t give. After all, they had plenty of food and drink in their space, and they didn’t really care about this. Perhaps Xia Jin had also seen this and was thinking of saving some grain.

But to just swallow this insult was not her style. As she was leaving with the person, she turned back. “Captain Xia, forget about dinner. But I brought you back, and I gave you the medicinal materials. You’d better not forget to pay me. We had a deal.”

Xia Jin: “…”

I really want to hit someone. What should I do?

“Don’t worry. You don’t have to remind me. I will definitely do what I promised you.”

Song Xun smiled sincerely. “Of course. I have absolute faith in your reputation, Captain Xia.”

Xia Jin turned and left.

She didn’t want to talk to this person anymore. She felt she would probably be angered to death.

What was happening outside, the three of them didn’t care.

The base was too chaotic now, and housing was also tight. They had originally been arranged two rooms, but in the end, Song Xun had only taken one, a double room. She had one, and Ji Chao and Shi Tou had one.

The room was not large, about thirty-something square meters. Divided into two rooms, it seemed even smaller.

It should be a new building built after the apocalypse. There were only six floors, and they were staying on the sixth floor, the top floor.

Other than the bed and a thin quilt and pillow, there was nothing in the room. This made the not-so-large space seem much more spacious. But fortunately, the three of them didn’t care about these things.

It was dark, and even the temperature of the extreme heat had dropped a little. But the stuffiness that wouldn’t go away still made everyone sweat. The generator had noise and wasn’t good to take out. So she took out four rechargeable air conditioner fans, and with some ice cubes, she managed to cover all directions.

With the cool air, and after a while, the three of them finally felt that they had truly come back to life.

The weather was too hot, and they had no appetite. Shi Tou wanted to drink some ice-cold beer to cool down, so she took out a whole box.

The alcohol content wasn’t high. The three of them drank while gnawing on the duck products they had hoarded before but had never eaten. They were spicy, and then they discussed what to eat for the main course.

In the end, they didn’t want to eat anything too hot, and they didn’t want to cook anything too cold. And they didn’t have any hoarded food. After thinking about it, they decided to just eat instant noodles.

And besides, it had been a long time since they had had this. Even if it was hot, it was still tempting, right?

When Zhang Jinhe, Guan Yang, and Guan He came, the three of them were each holding a cup of instant noodles, sweating and eating with gusto.

Knowing it was the Guan family, Song Xun didn’t avoid them and directly went to open the door.

In reality, even with the door closed, you could smell the long-lost aroma. And since this building was for the base’s military soldiers, even if they smelled it, no one would come. Otherwise, just this smell would drive people crazy.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Guan He’s speechless face. “Can you not be so arrogant? This isn’t Ning Mountain.”

She stepped aside to let the Guan family in, closed the door, and just smiled. “We were hungry. Who told your Captain Xia to be so stingy, not even giving us a bite to eat or a sip of water?”

Guan He rolled her eyes at her. “What are you telling me for? If you have the guts, go and tell her tomorrow.”

“I dare to say it to her face.”

In the end, Guan He didn’t speak anymore. She thought for a moment, and she really did dare. She was definitely capable of such a thing.

But speaking of instant noodles…

Perhaps even Xia Jin couldn’t eat them now.

The room was very cool. After all, four air conditioner fans with ice were working at the same time. After having the Guan family sit down, she took out some more instant noodles. “Teacher, you must have just come over after you were done. Are you hungry? There’s a lot. Let’s eat together.”

She was calling her by Ji Tang’s seniority.

Guan Yang and Zhang Jinhe hadn’t had a chance to speak when Guan He nodded. “I’ll eat.”

Why not eat when there’s food? You can’t be polite with her.

Song Xun didn’t bother with her. Seeing Guan Yang glare at Guan He and about to refuse, she quickly and skillfully opened them, took out hot water from her space, and poured it in.

Then she put the lid on, and stuck a fork on top. It was perfect.

Guan Yang, Zhang Jinhe: “…”

Guan He was so hungry, she directly took a cup. “Mama, Mommy, you eat too. We owe them a lot of food from our time on Ning Mountain. Tomorrow, we’ll just have Captain Xia pay for it all. After all, she’s not worried about being in debt.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Guan Yang glared at her, but Guan He’s eyes were fixed on the instant noodles, her gaze full of longing. She didn’t even receive the angry look from her mother.

In the end, under the repeated persuasion of the three of them, Guan Yang and Zhang Jinhe, who were already hungry, could only thank them and eat the noodles.

Guan Yang and Guan He even each had a bottle of beer.

The group ate and drank and talked. They hadn’t come for anything else, just to ask about the situation since she and the others had left without a word and there had been no news.

Although Guan He had told them what she could, it wasn’t everything. They were still very worried. After all, for so many years before the apocalypse, they had also really treated Ji Tang and the cubs as their own children.

Song Xun briefly recounted what had happened after they had left the base. Of course, the things she couldn’t say, like the matter of the Chen family’s base, she wasn’t foolish enough to say.

In the end, she seriously sought their opinion. “Teacher, why don’t you come back to Ning Mountain with me?”

Guan Yang and Zhang Jinhe were both silent. Even Guan He was speechless for a moment.

She ate her instant noodles, gnawed on her duck products, and then looked at her Mommy and Mama. If you asked her, she would definitely go. But if it were Guan Yang and Zhang Jinhe…

“I’m sorry, Little Song.”

Guan Yang sighed. “Chief Jiang saved our lives. At this time… we can’t leave.”

Zhang Jinhe also added, “Little Tang is very outstanding. Her ability is no less than mine. With her by your side, the two of us old folks will just stay here for now.”

Since the two of them had said so, she didn’t insist. “Alright. Then let’s wait for another chance. In a few days, after Captain Xia pays the reward, we’ll have to hurry back. In the future, if anything happens, you can come to Ning Mountain to find us. We’ll always be welcome.”

“Okay.”