Chapter 336 - 167: Night Talk

Chapter 336: Chapter 167: Night Talk

The SUV sped through the night. Xu Mo gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the mountain road illuminated by the headlights.

The mountain road was rough and uneven, littered with gravel and potholes. The wheels jolted violently as they rolled over them. His body swayed with the vehicle, but his hands remained steady on the steering wheel.

Xu Mo didn’t like traveling at night. In the apocalypse, night travel meant danger. Limited visibility shortened reaction times, and the mutant creatures that hid during the day became more active after dark.

Most survivors would find a place to spend the night before sunset, then hide in a relatively safe corner to wait out the long, dark hours.

But tonight, Xu Mo had no other choice.

Xu Mo glanced in the rearview mirror. The stretch of mountain forest behind him was completely engulfed in flames.

The blaze shot into the sky, dyeing half of it a dark red. Thick smoke billowed in the mirror, like a colossal black pillar soaring into the heavens.

The fire raged through the forest, emitting a crackling sound that could be heard even from a great distance.

The fire was spreading too quickly. The sustained high temperatures had made the trees in the mountains incredibly dry. The dead trees and the carpet of fallen leaves were perfect fuel. The few logs Xu Mo had thrown hadn’t just ignited a small patch of bushes, but the entire mountain.

Xu Mo looked away and continued driving. He knew he had to get out of here as fast as possible. The fire wouldn’t stop. It would keep burning until it had incinerated the entire mountain range or encountered an impassable natural barrier.

The road grew steeper, forcing Xu Mo to slow down and carefully navigate around the large boulders and fallen dead trees blocking his path.

Just then, Xu Mo saw movement at the side of the road.

A massive mutant boar, its body charred black, tumbled down the slope and slammed into a tree with a pained squeal. It struggled to its feet and staggered away into the distance, completely ignoring the SUV on the road.

Then, a few smaller animals shot out of the bushes, scrambling headlong down the mountain. One mutant creature even dashed right across the path of the SUV, not even sparing it a glance in its desperate flight for survival.

Farther away, a pack of mutant wolves weaved through the forest. They were no longer predators, but fugitives. They ran at incredible speeds. Some collapsed mid-stride, only to be trampled by their packmates, never to rise again.

Xu Mo watched the fleeing mutant creatures and fell silent for a few seconds.

’They’re afraid of fire! More afraid of it than they are of me!’

Fire is nature’s most primal force, a fear etched into the very genes of wild animals. No matter how powerful or ferocious a beast, in the face of an out-of-control wildfire, its only option was to flee for its life.

Xu Mo drove on. After about another half an hour, he noticed something strange in the sky.

There were birds circling in the air, sometimes diving, sometimes climbing, but they had clearly lost their sense of direction. Some would be flying one moment and then suddenly plummet straight down, hitting the ground like a stone, never to get up again. Others struggled in the air, their wings flapping erratically, before diving headfirst into the sea of flames.

Xu Mo narrowed his eyes, watching the falling birds. ’Are they suffocating from the smoke? Or seared by the high temperatures? Maybe it’s both!’

The thick smoke and heatwaves generated by the forest fire were lethal to birds. No matter how high they flew, they couldn’t escape the toxic fumes and searing air currents.

The glow of the fire behind him grew more distant, but it was still clearly visible. The smoke spread across the night sky, obscuring the starlight on one side. The air was filled with a scorched smell that made his throat tighten.

...

Several hours of the night passed just like that. By the time Xu Mo finally drove out of the mountains and reached the plains, it was already past two in the morning.

He stopped the car and looked back at the mountain forest he had just escaped. It was completely transformed.

The entire mountain was burning. Flames licked their way from the foot to the midway point, and from there to the summit, covering at least half of the mountain. The once lush, green trees were now giant torches, swaying in the night wind. The glow of the fire stained half the sky red, and thick smoke billowed upward, forming a huge mushroom cloud in the night sky.

The sight was terrifyingly magnificent.

Xu Mo stood by the car, gazing at the literal "Flame Mountain." After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke, making a rather random statement:

"You know, sometimes, when too many trees grow on a mountain, they can absorb all the nutrients from the soil. When that happens, you need a large-scale clearing of the vegetation to let the mountain regain its vitality..."

Who was he saying that to? Was it for himself? For the mountain? Or perhaps for the mutant creatures that had been burned to death?

Xu Mo didn’t know, but he felt he had to say something. In any case, after he said it, he felt much better.

After one last look at the Flame Mountain, Xu Mo turned and got back in the car.

The SUV continued onward, driving into the pitch-black plains.

Three in the morning. Xu Mo was driving along a flat highway.

The Flame Mountain behind him was getting farther and farther away, but its glow was still faintly visible. The surroundings were silent, save for the roar of the engine. There were no roars from zombies, no cries from Mutant Beasts, not even the sound of the wind. Nothing.

With over three hours to go until dawn, Xu Mo was starting to feel a little bored.

Then, Xu Mo’s gaze fell on the car radio on the passenger seat. He reached out, flipped the switch, and the speakers hissed with static.