Chapter 776: 461. Hitchhiker

At that moment, everyone was stunned.

They huddled on the ground, watching as the vehicles that brought them turned into fireballs.

Soon, someone realized they had no vehicles left.

The vehicles belonging to Qing Chen’s production crew had all been bombed.

The vehicle driven by Director Zhou was still there, but the keys had left with the assassins and Shadow…

Federation vehicles, with their latest anti-theft technology, were impossible to start without keys, regardless of whether they had fingerprint, iris, or voice recognition systems.

The production crew looked toward the campsite, where their tents had been completely slashed open, unable to even block the wind.

This meant they would have to spend the following days out in the cold wind.

The falling snow was getting heavier, and the scenery they had once looked forward to was now particularly deadly.

Liu Liqun stood bewildered in the snow, “What can we do now? It’s at least 600 kilometers back home. If we try to walk back, I’m afraid everyone will die in the Great Snow.”

Apart from their vehicles, their supplies and food had been destroyed too.

Sun Chu Ci quickly reacted and said to everyone, “We can only keep moving north, toward the small town outside the Taboo Land No. 065. Although it’s expensive there, it’s an inhabited place with vehicles. Compared to the distance to City No. 10, it’s only 120 kilometers to that town, and we can handle it.”

According to the military’s marching speed, a forced march covers about 45 to 75 kilometers per day, while an emergency march covers 200 kilometers a day.

But the physical condition of the production crew and artists was far inferior to that of soldiers, and it was snowing heavily.

Just walking those 120 kilometers might take three or four days.

Certainly, some people would not be able to endure it, but they had no choice.

Meanwhile, Qing Chen was pondering over something; Shadow had even thought of this. The enemy had long been certain that the crew had to go to that small town outside the Taboo Land No. 065, and there was no other option.

He suddenly sighed, thinking how exhausting it must be to have Shadow as an enemy.

Shadow knew there was something wrong with those vehicles but did not warn the crew in advance.

Such a superior being had never really valued human life as anything precious.

Yet why would such a person help him?

…

Song Niannian stood up and didn’t run toward the vehicles. She quietly observed the crowd, only to find that Qing Chen was no longer among them, suddenly feeling a sense of loss.

Her agent whispered, “What do we do now?”

Song Niannian replied, “What else can we do but follow the group north.”

The agent looked troubled, “I heard that town is a haven for desperate criminals. It’s not about spending money; I’m afraid someone there might target you.”

Song Niannian pondered for a moment, “Sticking with Sun Chu Ci, these people are quite decent and they’re related to Qing’s Family. As long as they’re willing to help, we should be fine.”

The agent murmured softly, “The guy who invited you here, not taking you with him when leaving, just how far have you two gotten? Have you even held hands?”

Song Niannian could only laugh, “What are you talking about, sis? I was just repaying him for saving my life once, there’s nothing between us.”

The agent muttered, “All men are the same; he invited you here but didn’t take you with him when he left, obviously, he doesn’t care about you… I’m telling you, you can’t be too eager to get close to him, otherwise he’ll never take you seriously.”

Song Niannian comforted her with a smile, “Sis, maybe he has more important things to worry about, especially since Shadow personally showed up; how could he care about such trivial matters?”

Zhou Cang, standing nearby, had a strange expression on his face as he heard the agent discussing so unrestrainedly.

Hidden among the crowd was Qing Chen, equally bewildered.

The snow was getting heavier.

Qing Yi said to his own protector, “Gather the supplies from the camp; we need to get on the road as soon as possible. Oh, and take Sun Chu Ci and his group with us; they are my father’s people, we can’t let them die in the wilderness.”

The Protector hesitated for a moment, “Why didn’t he take you with him when he left…”

Qing Yi’s expression turned cold, “Is Master someone you can just talk about? Go gather the supplies.”

The Protector said no more, leading others to collect the limited food from the camp. Some people wanted to complain about them taking all the food, but seeing Qing Yi’s subordinate, they didn’t dare to speak.

Qing Yi thought for a moment and said, “Leave the necessary food for us; throw the rest to them.”

The Protector paused, seemingly puzzled.

Qing Yi continued, “If Master were here, he would probably do the same.”

The Protector pondered for a moment, then threw out a quarter of the supplies he had collected, and led the way through the heavy snow at the front.

Qing Yi waved to Sun Chu Ci, “Follow us.”

It must be said, this Protector arranged by Qing Yi’s father was indeed competent.

Regardless of the level of strength, the one leading at the front broke the wind for Qing Yi, even deliberately slowing his pace so that Qing Yi, who was relatively shorter, could step into the snow footprint left by him with every step.

The stride of the two was completely different, yet this Protector was able to adjust his own stride to make it more comfortable for Qing Yi to walk.

Qing Yi said from behind, “Sorry, my tone was a bit off just now, but sir is sir.”

The Protector smiled, “Young master, no need to explain, I understand. By the way, what about Li Yu, he’s still alive.”

Qing Yi looked back at Li Yu, smiled and said, “People like him won’t survive to the town, let’s go.”

At this moment, seeing Qing Yi and the others decisively leaving, the other people in the camp quickly followed.

Of the twelve assistants brought by Li Yu, only eleven remained: five men and six women.

One of them had been shot to death during Zhou’s interrogation.

Li Yu said, “We shouldn’t leave, the affairs here will soon be reported back to the Federation. When my friends hear of it, they will come to rescue me. Don’t follow them; walking 120 kilometers in the Great Snow, traversing three or four days will definitely freeze you to death on the road. I can’t make it that far!”

The assistants urged him, “Let’s go, no one will come to rescue, and the nearest city from here is over 300 kilometers away.”

What they did not say out loud was that Li Yu’s friends were just fair-weather friends, who would actually come to save him?

Li Yu’s reluctance to leave was just due to his spoiled nature.

This was the man who once complained about a minor injury on his hand, causing an entire film crew to stop work.

The assistants hadn’t expected him to be so stubborn under these circumstances.

Looking at a few male assistants, Li Yu said, “I really can’t walk that far, how about I give you some money to make a simple sled with tents, and you can drag me along. A million for one, five hundred million for five, it’s not too hard.”

The assistants exchanged looks, their hearts stirred.

In their view a hundred kilometers was something they could manage if they all worked together, couldn’t they?

Their salaries on ordinary days were only three or four thousand. If they could get a million, after returning they could open a small shop in the Federation and even pay off a bunch of loans.

A few assistants looked at each other, “Let’s sign an agreement.”

Li Yu’s eyes lit up, “Sign, let’s sign now!”

Five million was nothing to him; with his fees, it was an amount he could make back in just two days.

Liu Liqun signaled the field workers to collect usable materials from the ground and himself dismantled several tents, thinking that patching them might still make them useful.

Not only that, he even stripped clothes from several corpses, claiming he needed to wear them.

As Liu Liqun was stripping the clothes, he muttered looking at Li Yu, “Money can really make the Ghost Grinding, stuck in this wilderness and still using money to make people work like cattle… Zhou Cang, don’t just stand there, come over and help.”

Zhou Cang smiled, “Boss Liu, you really are fearless.”

Liu Liqun gave a bitter smile, “We field workers live cheap lives; whenever we handled the props, wasn’t it tougher than now? Just think of those dead people as props.”

However, just then, the howling of wolves came from the distant snow night. Qing Chen looked up and saw vultures circling in the sky.

The predators of the wilderness had sensed the scent of blood and had finally arrived.

Qing Chen furrowed his brows, wondering what size the wolf pack could be in this sparsely populated wilderness.

If the wolves set their sights on them, the Transcendents might be okay, but the straggling Ordinary People might really not stand a chance of survival.

While musing, he turned to look south, where seven figures cloaked in black linen capes, resembling ‘crows,’ were swiftly approaching.

The leader turned out to be an old acquaintance, April.

The crows moved quickly across the snowy expanse, their capes flapping in the harsh wind against the silver-white snow.

In just a few minutes, the crows had reached the camp. April glanced at the bodies in the camp without concern.

She asked the crowd, “Um… are you heading to that small town in the north? Can we hitch a ride?”

Qing Chen was stunned, even the crows from the Contraindicated Tribunal had arrived—didn’t this mean there would be a fierce battle in the small town?

At that moment, Liu Liqun said to April with a wry smile, “I’m sorry, but the vehicles in the camp are all inoperable.”

April knitted her fine brows, “But aren’t there some intact vehicles outside the camp?”

Liu Liqun explained, “Those vehicles… don’t have keys.”

April was stunned, her face suddenly sullen, “It’s all Qing Chen’s fault, sending us out on a business trip and we don’t even have a car to ride.”

Qing Chen thought to himself that it wasn’t his fault at all and curiously asked, “Did you walk all the way here?”

“Not really, we hitchhiked to a spot a few dozen kilometers south, but the ride had to change directions to another place, and we had to continue on foot north,” April sighed, “It’s really a pitfall…”

…

Sorry for just finishing now.

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