Chapter 357 - 172: Person in the Sand

Chapter 357: Chapter 172: Person in the Sand

"What kind of mission?"

"To clear out the zombies in Jiangzhou." Old Zheng said, "He said Jiangzhou wasn’t far from here, about... uh, I don’t know exactly how far, but anyway, they were going there to clear out the zombies and establish a base. Once they were done, we could go back home."

Xu Mo’s brow furrowed.

"How many of them were there?"

"A lot," Old Zheng said. "I couldn’t count them all, but there were at least several thousand. The convoy was so long you couldn’t see the beginning from the end."

"What about weapons?"

"They had everything, light and heavy weapons."

Xu Mo fell silent, his mind racing as he analyzed the information.

A combat force of several thousand, fully equipped, with standard uniforms and organization—this was definitely a large-scale operation. Ming Pearl Port had dispatched a considerable force to clear out Jiangzhou City.

’But did they succeed?’

’If they succeeded, why is Jiangzhou City still a city of the dead? If they failed, where did they all go?’

"Did they ever come back after they left?" Xu Mo asked.

Old Zheng shook his head.

"No. After they left, we never heard from them again. We waited for a month, two months, half a year, a year... but nothing. Eventually, we slowly gave up. We figured they must have failed, or maybe they went somewhere else."

Xu Mo looked at him, seeing a flicker of disappointment and helplessness in his eyes.

"You’ve always wanted to go back?" Xu Mo asked.

Old Zheng nodded.

"Who wouldn’t want to go back? That’s our home. Even though it’s become what it is, we still want to go back. Even if we could only live on the outskirts of the city, it would be better than being out here in the desert. This place is too harsh. There’s hardly any water, nothing to eat, and we have to fight for our lives against those sandworms every day. Who would want to spend their whole life here?"

He paused, then looked at Xu Mo, seeming to want to say something but holding back.

Xu Mo remained silent. He knew what that look in Old Zheng’s eyes meant. By telling him that Ming Pearl Port had lost contact, he had undoubtedly shattered their last illusion.

Old Zheng took a deep breath, then picked up his bowl and took another sip of soup. His expression returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

"Are you headed to Ming Pearl Port?" he asked.

"Yes." Xu Mo nodded.

"I’ve never been, but I heard the soldiers from that unit say you have to head southeast for a very, very long way. You have to cross this desert, then go over a few mountains, and only then will you reach the coast. Ming Pearl Port is on the coast." Old Zheng told Xu Mo everything he knew.

Xu Mo silently committed it to memory.

"How much longer to cross the desert?"

"At your vehicle’s speed, probably another three or four days," Old Zheng said. "Further ahead, the dunes get higher and harder to traverse. You need to be careful not to get stuck in the sand. Once you’re bogged down, it’s very difficult to get out."

"And then there are the sandworms," Old Zheng continued. "They don’t come out much during the day, but at night, there are lots of them. It’s best not to drive at night. Find a place to stop. If you have to walk at night, be very careful where you step. Don’t tread on them. If you do, you’ll startle them, and then you’ll be swarmed."

"Are they dangerous?" Xu Mo asked.

Old Zheng thought for a moment.

"A single one isn’t too dangerous. An ordinary person with a little training could handle it. But if you get surrounded, you’re in trouble. They’ll pounce from all directions. You might be able to kill one or two, but you can’t kill dozens. When we hunt, we always go in groups of several people to watch each other’s backs."

Xu Mo nodded in understanding.

"One more thing," Old Zheng said. "Further on, you’ll encounter some... things. I can’t really say what they are, just that they’re very strange. They’re not sandworms, and they’re not zombies. They’re something else. They’re bigger than sandworms, and more dangerous. We’ve run into them a few times, and lost several people. If you see them, it’s best to go around. Don’t get close."

"What kind of things?" Xu Mo’s expression grew serious.

Old Zheng shook his head.

"I don’t know. Just... something huge. It moves very fast under the sand. We saw one from a distance once. It looked like a giant snake, but much thicker—as thick as a person’s waist. It tunneled through the sand, and then it was gone in an instant."

Xu Mo filed this information away.

’So there aren’t just sandworms in the desert, but something even bigger. This desert journey is getting more and more interesting.’

The two of them talked for a while longer, with Old Zheng doing most of the talking and Xu Mo listening. Old Zheng shared a lot about the desert: where to find water, where one was likely to encounter sandworms, and which routes were relatively safe. Xu Mo noted it all down. This kind of experience could help him avoid a lot of trouble.

As the sky gradually darkened, Old Zheng stood up and brushed the sand from his clothes.

"You should stay here for the night," he said. "Leave tomorrow morning. Traveling at night is too dangerous."

Xu Mo considered it for a moment, then nodded.

"Then I’ll have to trouble you."

Old Zheng smiled.

"Don’t be so formal. It’s not every day we get a guest. We’re just happy to have you."

He called someone over to arrange a place for Xu Mo to stay. It was a small shack on the edge of the camp, built from canvas and wooden planks. Although simple, it offered shelter from the wind and sand.

Xu Mo sat at the entrance of the shack, watching night slowly fall.

A few bonfires were lit in the camp. People sat around them, chatting, eating, and watching their children. The firelight illuminated their faces—some normal, some mutated—but all of them seemed peaceful and warm in the glow. Occasional laughter drifted through the night air.

Xu Mo’s gaze swept over the people, an indescribable feeling rising in his heart.

’This is another way of life in the apocalypse. Not the perfect order of Jiang City, not the zombie-infested streets of Luochuan City, and not the frenzied slaughter of the Mutants, but this simple, rustic form of survival. A group of people, gathered together, helping and supporting one another, finding a way to live on in a desperate world.’

’They don’t have powerful weapons or ample supplies—just homemade spears and some cobbled-together junk. But they’ve survived, and they’re not doing too badly.’

’Xu Mo thought of Zhao Dazhu and his family, of all the survivors hiding in every corner, struggling to get by. They were the silent majority of the apocalypse. Not heroes, not villains—just ordinary people trying to stay alive.’