CH 91.2

Chapter 91.2 – On the Road

That night, Professor Guan made a phone call with them.

Professor Guan said: “Regarding the xuejian flowers, I have confirmed something.”

——What he said was that when Lu Tinghan was 8 years old, the Xuejian flowers had an outbreak.

On that day, Old Song questioned Lu Tinghan and mentioned that Lu Tinghan followed a group of light back to the convoy.

Where the light passed, the xuejian flowers’ time went back, so Lu Tinghan saw the footprints of the past and saw the way back.

Lu Tinghan told Professor Guan about this, but Professor Guan expressed doubts.

Professor Guan said: “We observed Shi Yuan’s wavelength and experimented repeatedly, but we have never seen this phenomenon. Most importantly… It is the infected creatures that will be affected by the abyss. Let’s say it’s possible, if Shi Yuan can really turn back time, it is also monsters that benefit, such as turning them from old to young, from dead to alive.” He sighed deeply, “But I will find a way to check it out.”

After two months, Professor Guan finally had the answer.

He said on the phone: “I compared the data of the xuejian flowers outbreak and found no abnormalities.”

Lu Tinghan asked, “Specifically?”

Professor Guan explained: “If the state of xuejian flowers changed, then there would be a significant difference in the flowers’ infection values during that period of time. Let’s say there are 100 flowers there now, and Shi Yuan’s light has changed more than 30 flowers from blooming to buds in a short period of time, then the infection will definitely decrease.”

Lu Tinghan: “In fact, the value did not fluctuate?”

“Not only was there no fluctuation, but there was also no change at all!” Professor Guan said, “The xuejian flowers are the same xuejian flowers from beginning to end. They have not been affected by foreign objects, not at all. I think that the so-called time rewind was just Old Song’s nonsense, otherwise, it was the illusion of Captain Huang – you know, pollen can easily confuse the vision, and what you see is not necessarily real.”

Lu Tinghan pondered for a few seconds: “I see.”

“That’s it, I’m still busy with wavelength simulation,” Professor Guan sounded a little tired, “How is Shi Yuan doing?”

Lu Tinghan gave Shi Yuan the phone.

Shi Yuan greeted the professor happily. When the professor heard his voice, he immediately smiled and asked him about his recent experience.

In the middle of the night, Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan lay together.

Lu Tinghan told him the professor’s conclusion.

Shi Yuan said, “I don’t remember what happened to that group of lights either.” He thought for a long time, “I only remember that I really, really wanted you to go home at that time. You came from too far away and I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to find your way.”

The child showed Shi Yuan pictures of the city, holding his hand, with light in his eyes.

Shi Yuan understood that the child loved that place and was destined to go back.

Lu Tinghan smiled: “No matter what, I went back safely.” He kissed Shi Yuan’s hair, “Don’t worry about this, maybe it’s a lie he made up. He was infected at that time and was out of his mind.”

Some things won’t have answers.

Just like in Yeran City, no one knew if the hunter really encountered a gray-blue sika deer with moss-covered horns.

No one knew whether the 8-year-old child followed the light and saw the way home.

Then, they went to Wei City, Jin City, Zheyan City, and Yongliang City…

Signal transmitters were placed one by one. Every half a month, correspondent 0293 would call regularly to broadcast the coordinates. They still couldn’t communicate, so they could only listen to the voice crossing the radio waves again and again in the long night.

Shi Yuan saw cities and landscapes with different styles.

The rainforest was dense, the canyons were magnificent, the mountains were endless, the river valleys were clear, and the springs were flowing.

He and Lu Tinghan walked across the plains and against the wind. It was extremely difficult. The thermos cup was filled with the radish soup stewed by Dr. Chi, which made them warm after drinking it; they stood on the cliff and shouted loudly, their voices drowned in the cliff. In the dense forest at the bottom, a round of setting sun was like a fire, burning the canopy to the fullest; they stepped into the once prosperous big city, saw the city hall, theater, and clock tower, sat by the dry fountain, and ate a piece meatloaf sandwich. Lu Tinghan said, there used to be a large flock of white pigeons in the square, flying like clouds.

Two and a half months passed in a flash.

They were almost at the border of the Alliance.

That night near the border, there was heavy rain.

There were thunderstorms and the visibility was not good. The aircraft hovered at a low altitude and waited for the weather to clear up the next day before setting off.

Shi Yuan played Go with Lu Tinghan during the day, he felt dizzy and didn’t win a game. He had no bargaining chips, and the price he paid was painful. Up to now, his waist was still a little sore, and the tip of his tail was curled up.

He listened to the sound of rain and went to bed very early.

However, in his sleep, he vaguely heard the conversation again.

Shi Yuan opened his eyes, Lu Tinghan was no longer next to him, and yellow light seeped in through the door. He yawned and got out of bed barefoot, ready to see what Lu Tinghan was doing and whether he was littering.

“…I see, then I will contact President Chai,” Lu Tinghan’s voice came.

Shi Yuan stood still abruptly.

Lu Tinghan was standing by the window on the phone, probably on a temporary business.

Shi Yuan secretly took a few steps back, preparing to go back to the room, and heard Lu Tinghan say, “Yes, there are only nine months left. Lieutenant General Fu, you must always remember to stabilize the emotions of the masses, and you must never let them panic.”

The person on the other end of the phone said something.

Lu Tinghan said again: “…Don’t promise things that you can’t keep. But, whether the journey is successful or not, we will come back.”

Shi Yuan quietly returned to the room.

The room was pitch black, his eyes adapted to the darkness, and he saw the cuckoo clock on the wall, the sudoku game spread out on the desktop, and the blue-green silk on the hanger.

In addition, there were the fallen leaves in the canyon he collected, the wildflowers in the plains, and a small crescent-shaped stone on the edge of the cliff that he collected—this was picked out by Lu Tinghan and him together.

He had a very happy and joyful time.

He also wanted to make Lu Tinghan equally happy.

After 10 minutes, Lu Tinghan gently opened the door and lay back on the bed.

He thought Shi Yuan was still sleeping, but he didn’t expect Shi Yuan to roll into his arms all of a sudden.

“…woke you up?” Lu Tinghan whispered.

“No.” Shi Yuan stretched out his hand and suddenly rubbed Lu Tinghan’s hair in a mess.

“What are you doing?” Lu Tinghan guessed, “Casting a spell on me?”

“What casting, I’m patting your head,” Shi Yuan said, “It will make you feel better!”

In fact, he was probably the only one who would rejoice over a head pat.

But at this moment, Lu Tinghan did laugh.

He laughed in a low voice, his chest shook slightly, and he hugged Shi Yuan: “It’s really useful.”

Shi Yuan was satisfied, and asked while in his arms, “Are we almost to the Empire?”

“Well, we’re almost there.”

The rain outside the window was pouring, the wind howled fiercely, the world was too dark, only the mad snake-like lightning could tear its veil for a short time, and the rest of the time, it was extremely dark. Hundreds of millions of water droplets fell from the sky, and the chill seeped in through the window glass. The bed was warm, and the two huddled together, their body heat pooled into a small fire that burned silently through the night, and never went out.

Early the next morning, the rain stopped.

The morning light lit up the clear sky, Shi Yuan got up and looked out the window.——

Endless, gray plains.

Unlike before, this plain was devoid of dead trees and weeds.

War machines that were mostly submerged in mud, the wreckage of aircraft, weird-shaped gears, broken and ruined flags, and the rotten soil that seemed to be oozing with countless blood and ashes.…

This was the junction of the Alliance and the Empire.

It was also their ancient battlefield.

Times had changed, and they could no longer hear the bullets breaking through the wind or the shells bursting out. The steel returned to the mud and dust, the ambition of the past faded with the flowing clouds, and the strong wind replaced the heroic warriors, still shouting on this land.