The Return of the Cambrian Period Chapter 15

 15 Global Evolution 

The hope of the two was crushed after driving for over ten kilometers.

The foundation of the highway was ruptured by the wildly overgrown vegetation. The once sturdy and smooth road surface now had several cracks of varying widths, some reaching depths of four to five meters. Vehicles couldn’t pass through, let alone people.

Cong Xia stood in front of a large fissure and let out a heavy sigh. “Should we find an alternate route?”

Cheng Tianbi shook his head. “No use. Even if we assumed that the roads elsewhere hadn’t turned out like this, we wouldn’t have been able to find that airport if we had taken a detour. My navigation map was last updated when there was a satellite signal; I couldn’t change the route.”

Cong Xia grabbed his hair, filled with distress. “Brother Bing, I’m afraid we couldn’t hold on much longer. We, and everyone else, we’re in the same situation.”

Cheng Tianbi slowly clenched his fist.

On the fourth day of the apocalypse, most communication systems and basic infrastructure had ceased to function. Currently, the only thing still operational was the water supply, possibly because the water supply system was relatively advanced in terms of automation. Furthermore, Kunming City hadn’t completely severed ties with government control. Without electricity or the internet, people could still survive, even without food by eating wild plants for a few days. However, without water, in such a large city, the consequences of hundreds of people rioting were unimaginable.

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Eblal vs ts cynj oyp plzq-lhkeldv.

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Usdt Dky ypjle, “Gal ol fwpv tkhkdt wr zkjl vbkp?”

Cheng Tianbi started the car and headed back the way they came. “No, we’ll find a way to contact the military. Maybe they can help us.”

Cong Xia nodded. “That was indeed a plan. By the way, which military region in Beijing did you belong to? What mission were you executing in Yunnan?”

Cheng Tianbi replied indifferently, “Don’t ask.”

Cong Xia showed no signs of retreat due to his attitude. Instead, he grew more interested. “Why can’t you say? Is it something you can’t disclose about your past or something related to the future? If it’s about the future, I can understand. But if you can’t talk about your past at all, wow, could it be that you belong to one of those legendary super-secret special forces, dedicated to carrying out special missions?”

Cheng Tianbi glanced at him. “Can’t you focus on getting enough to eat?”

“Huh?” Cong Xia was taken aback. “What?”

“You talk too much.”

Cong Xia chuckled, a hint of sadness in his eyes. “If only I were like you. These past few days have been so boring. It would be great if we could complement each other. Even though you’re not much of a talker, I enjoy our conversations. Otherwise, who would I talk to? Who knows how many more days I’ll be able to speak.”

Cheng Tianbi glanced at him again. That gentle and sincere smile had a way of making people relax. Cong Xia may be a bit weak, but he wasn’t foolish, and he never intentionally brought trouble upon himself. Moreover, he was self-aware and obedient. As a travel companion, Cheng Tianbi was generally satisfied with him.

Cong Xia continued, “It’s getting dark. Where should we sleep tonight? How about going back to my place?”

“No, your place is too close to that pine tree. Let’s find a house on the outskirts of the city and return to the city when it’s light.”

Cong Xia retrieved a map from Cheng Tianbi’s bag. “I’m familiar with the roads in the city. Let’s discuss tomorrow’s itinerary, and then I’ll draw a route to avoid the pine tree.” He circled a location on the map, which was the office building complex of his former company. “Assuming its attack range is one kilometer now, this distance should be safe enough.”

“Mark the large supermarkets in the city on the map as well.”

Cong Xia circled three large supermarkets based on his memory. “There probably isn’t much left in these places.”

“Exactly, these are the places we need to avoid.”

Cong Xia immediately understood what he meant. There would always be some persistent people gathering near supermarkets, and too many people could easily lead to chaos.

“Next, mark the gas stations that are indicated on the map.”

Cong Xia proceeded to label the gas stations one by one.

The two of them discussed tomorrow’s itinerary while marking circles and dots on the map. Just before nightfall, they finally returned to the place they had set off from several hours ago.

There was only about half an hour left until sunset. The streets were empty, and in such a sinister atmosphere, no one would want to be caught in the darkness on the streets.

The city lights seemed incredibly distant to them.

“Let’s stop here,” Cheng Tianbi drove the car into a residential complex.

The two of them carried their important belongings and entered a building nearby. Just like last time when they sought shelter from the sudden temperature drop, they broke into an empty house.

Cheng Tianbi turned on a flashlight and surveyed the room. It was an ordinary residential house, with an area of just over 50 square meters, one bedroom, and one living room. They chose such a small house to eliminate blind spots. That monkey incident last time nearly cost them their lives.

Cong Xia said, “Let’s save the flashlight battery. We searched so many shops today and only managed to find a few leftover batteries. Hey, even the candles were looted. I don’t know if this house has any. I’ll check.”

Cheng Tianbi turned off the flashlight. “Don’t bother searching. Let’s get some sleep.”

Cong Xia slumped on the floor. “I want to take a shower while there’s still water. I haven’t showered for three or four days. Why don’t you go first?” The weather was hot, and they had been constantly moving without a break. They were drenched in sweat, and their clothes were as dirty as if they had rolled out of the mud. Cong Xia had never experienced the feeling of not showering for three or four days in his life.

“You go first, I’ll look for clothes.” While Cong Xia showered, Cheng Tianbi entered the master bedroom and searched through the wardrobe for clothes. Cong Xia was of average height, around 1.78 meters, so there were plenty of suitable clothes in the closet. It was more troublesome for Cheng Tianbi as he rummaged through it for a while before reluctantly finding a tight-fitting t-shirt for himself.

Just as he had retrieved the clothes, Cong Xia suddenly shouted, “Tianbi, come wash up when you’re done. The water pressure has decreased, and I’m worried about water restrictions!”

Cheng Tianbi put his weapons into the bag and then took off his clothes, heading straight into the bathroom.

Cong Xia was in the midst of washing himself when unexpectedly, Cheng Tianbi didn’t even knock on the door. He stood there awkwardly and said, “I… I’m still drying myself…”

The sun hadn’t completely set, and the bathroom was still dimly lit. The two of them suddenly found themselves face-to-face without any warning. Cong Xia was a bit dumbfounded, but Cheng Tianbi didn’t react at all. Since he joined the military, he had never taken a shower alone. The only thing that made him feel uncomfortable was that he had seen enough of muscular, dark-skinned bodies. Men like Cong Xia, fair-skinned with slender arms and legs, were not much different from women in his eyes.

Cheng Tianbi frowned. “Move aside.”

Indeed, the water pressure had decreased, and he needed to hurry up and finish washing.

Cheng Tianbi closed his eyes as he rinsed his body from head to toe. Cong Xia huddled to the side, stiffly wiping himself. He knew it was nothing to be overly concerned about, but when he caught a glimpse of Cheng Tianbi’s naked body, his nerves got the best of him, and his tongue tied in knots.

His gaze couldn’t help but wander downwards, taking in the sight between Cheng Tianbi’s legs.

Oh… oh… it’s so big…

As men, how could there be such a difference?

“What are you looking at?”

At some point, Cheng Tianbi had opened his eyes and was now looking at him coldly.

Cong Xia jerked his head up, his face instantly turning beet red. His face and ears burned bright red. “I… I wasn’t…”

Cheng Tianbi glanced at Cong Xia’s private area and raised an eyebrow before turning his head away.

Cong Xia felt a mix of embarrassment and anger. He quickly grabbed a towel and hurriedly wiped himself before rushing out of the bathroom.

Once Cheng Tianbi finished washing, they both stopped.

Cong Xia had just changed into clean clothes when Cheng Tianbi emerged from the bathroom, his body wrapped in a towel.

“Did you collect the water?”

“Yeah, I filled two basins, just in case we don’t have enough tomorrow.”

Cheng Tianbi picked up his pants and handed them to Cong Xia. “Wash these for me.” Since there were no suitable pants in the house, he had to wear his old ones. Given the hot weather, they would probably dry overnight.

Cong Xia took the clothes, doing his best to avoid looking at Cheng Tianbi’s chest glistening with water droplets. “Oh, what about your coat? Should I wash that too?”

Cheng Tianbi didn’t hesitate and tossed the coat to him as well.

Cong Xia’s parents had passed away unexpectedly when he was in junior high, and ever since, he had been living on his own. He could take care of himself and was willing to help those around him as much as he could.

After washing the clothes, he noticed Cheng Tianbi sitting on the sofa, studying the map.

Cong Xia joined him, taking a seat.

A refreshing scent of shower gel filled the air, causing Cheng Tianbi’s nostrils to twitch lightly. Over the past few days, he had encountered the odors of sour food, decaying corpses, and various nauseating or horrifying scents. However, the scent emanating from Cong Xia, mixed with the fragrance of the shower gel, made him feel…

It smelled good, perhaps a nostalgic yearning for modern life. In any case, it was the first time Cheng Tianbi thought that a man’s scent could be described as pleasant.

Cong Xia leaned his damp head closer. “Didn’t we already finalize our route? What are you looking at?”

Cheng Tianbi pushed his head away. “Water dripping.”

Cong Xia chuckled awkwardly. “Do you have any other thoughts to share?”

“The route is mostly determined. Before going to sleep, let’s study the ancient jade.”

Cong Xia nodded and took out the palm-sized jade from his pocket. He had always cherished this jade and carried it with him. In truth, he had been meaning to find some time to study it carefully.

He fetched a stack of A4-sized photocopy paper and several pens from inside the house. “The amount of information preserved in the ancient jade is immense. Based on my current browsing, I’ve categorized the information into several groups.” Cong Xia divided the photocopy paper into multiple sections and wrote down the information he had come across on each sheet. “The first category is the Five Elements energy we discussed before. The energy mentioned in the ancient jade refers to evolutionary energy, which we have confirmed through your own experience. The second category is about enhancing energy and purifying energy cores. The higher the purity of the energy core, the greater the density and strength of the energy. Your evolutionary ability can be enhanced in various ways, and this is a crucial piece of information. The third category is even more intriguing, as it talks about using medium to create tools. However, creating tools requires two essential conditions: an adequate amount of non-attributed energy and a suitable medium. Non-attributed energy may refer to energy beyond the realms of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, but I don’t know what it is exactly. The medium is related to the tools that need to be created. It reminds me a bit of alchemy, such as using titanium alloy to make armor, but it’s also very different from alchemy because it doesn’t specify the quantity of the medium. Instead, it emphasizes the quantity of non-attributed energy. Honestly, all the information preserved in the ancient jade revolves around energy. As long as we could learn to use evolutionary energy, we could strengthen ourselves and protect ourselves.”

Cheng Tianbi looked at the hastily written photocopy papers and pondered for a moment. “Non-attributed energy seems to be a crucial factor. Didn’t the ancient jade require you to cultivate non-attributed energy?”

Cong Xia nodded. “Yes, but my body hasn’t undergone any changes. I haven’t evolved, so where does the evolutionary energy come from?”

“What if non-attributed energy isn’t evolutionary energy?”

“What else could it be? I can’t sense any mutations in my body.”

“I also took a long time to sense the energy core in my body. You should give it a try.”

Cong Xia sighed. “I’ve tried, but I don’t feel anything. Is the energy core virtual or actually present?”

“I don’t know, but if it exists, it would be in this location.” Cheng Tianbi placed his hand below Cong Xia’s navel. “The position of the Qihai acupoint, also known as the Dantian in Taoism.”

Cong Xia’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat, and he instinctively leaned back, awkwardly saying, “Uh… I can’t feel anything here.”

“I could feel it, and ever since I became aware of it, its presence in my consciousness grew stronger. I could even ‘see’ it slowly absorbing the green wood energy from heaven and earth.”

“Have you been practicing the techniques from the ancient jade?”

“In my free time,” Cheng Tianbi replied, gazing at the jade. “There are still many treasures to uncover within this jade.”

Cong Xia gently caressed the warm jade in his hand. “Exactly. I want to record as much valuable information as possible. Only when you become stronger will our chances of survival increase.” He spread the photocopy papers on the coffee table, ready to delve into the void within the ancient jade once again and document more findings.

Cheng Tianbi set his pen aside and discarded it. “Now, let’s get some sleep.”

********

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