CHAPTER 354: CHAPTER 333: THE SAME SONG

As the gathering came to an end, Tang asked Luo Ping, "Over at Northern County, aren’t we going to check it out? There should be good stuff on their turf too, right?"

Luo Ping said, "We definitely have to go. It’s not easy to wipe out the Neo-Humans at Northern County. If we don’t go hunt for spoils, wouldn’t all that effort be in vain?"

Tang asked, "Then when are we going?"

Luo Ping replied, "No rush. The Northern County gang isn’t weak, and they love to expand. The fact that they dared to leave no one at home proves they are confident, trusting no one will dare to raid their place while they’re away.

"—After all, everyone has to weigh whether they’d have to face the wrath of Boss Liang and Xu if they stole from there.

"This is the result of their usual tyranny and accumulated threats.

"So until the news of their death spreads, no one will visit Northern County.

"We can rest up a bit, restore our energy, and adjust our state before heading to Northern County to take a good look at what they have."

Tang nodded slightly and said, "That’s true. I remember back when Xuan Xiaocao ran wild over in Jiangbei, took everyone away, and no one dared to go looking for trouble on her turf.

"—Even I, knowing her place was empty of Neo-Humans, dared not venture south and stayed put in the north."

Luo Ping chuckled, clapped his hands to gather everyone’s attention, and said, "Everyone, get some rest early. Tomorrow, we’re off to Northern County."

Lu Shou asked, "What about the people from Healing Village?"

Luo Ping said, "Have them stay home and collect food, storing up as much as possible. When we come back, it’ll be about time to move north.

"We don’t have many vehicles, they can’t carry everyone, the journey will be longer, and we’ll need more food.

"You stay here and watch over everyone. There’s no need for so many people to go to Northern County."

Hearing what Luo Ping said, Lu Shou finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I have to go since no one knows Northern County’s situation better than me."

Luo Ping said, "Indeed."

After the discussion, everyone rested, and as usual, Chai Xin boarded the vehicle with Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei.

The three of them lay in bed and on the sofa, yet didn’t fall asleep as early as Luo Ping suggested.

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei initially wanted to play a cartoon for Chai Xin—lately, the girl was quite interested in them, but today Chai Xin just didn’t want to watch.

"I want to talk."

That’s what the girl said.

Tonight, after the post-battle gathering, Chai Xin felt the impending separation even more keenly, and so she just wanted to talk.

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei sensed Chai Xin’s mood, so they lay there and chatted casually for a while.

Even Yao Wei, who usually wasn’t talkative, said a lot that night.

Until gradually, they fell silent without knowing when they simply had nothing more to say.

That’s when Chai Xin said, "Brother, could you sing another song? Your singing is both pleasant and fresh, I like listening to it."

Pleasant and fresh...

Lu Xi’an hesitated a bit, but ultimately decided to indulge Chai Xin, smiling as he said, "Shall I sing something fresh?"

Fresh means different, Chai Xin could tell, and happily said, "Yes, please."

Lu Xi’an lay on his bed, stared at the car roof and pondered for a while, suddenly recalled a song, and began to sing:

"The flowers once told me how you’ve walked through, the earth knows every corner of your heart, sweet dreams no one will miss, finally welcoming today~ this moment of gathering..."

While he sang, Yao Wei and Chai Xin listened quietly. Outside, it was peaceful as well.

When he finished, he asked, "How was it, did it sound good?"

Chai Xin nodded afterward and said, "It sounds good."

Yao Wei, lying beside Lu Xi’an, also nodded but didn’t speak.

Chai Xin said, "Brother, I want to learn. When I go back, I also want to sing to everyone, sing to Master Shu. He loves to sing opera, and I don’t like it."

"Haha!"

Lu Xi’an chuckled, not refusing her. He originally wanted to say that opera can actually sound nice, but ultimately didn’t express that.

He himself hadn’t liked opera when he was young, and as he grew older occasionally found it novel, but didn’t much like it if it went on too long.

Being like this himself, why force it on Chai Xin?

"The flowers once told me how you’ve walked through..."

He began to teach Chai Xin line by line.

...

In another vehicle outside the RV, Tang Er, who had shut his eyes, suddenly opened them and said to Liu Hua, "Liu Hua, let me sing you a song."

Liu Hua, seemingly still awake, opened her eyes and turned to look at Tang Er, saying, "Sure."

This vehicle was not just about the two of them, everyone else was also awake, as Tang Er had realized, hence he dared to speak.

Upon hearing the exchange between Liu Hua and Tang Er, Bottle and Yao, who were in the same car, also opened their eyes, laughing and saying:

"Tang Er, what song are you going to sing?"

"Don’t tell me you’re singing the song before bedtime again. Didn’t get enough of singing earlier?"

Tang Er sneered, glancing at the two, and said, "What are you thinking? It’s a new song, you guys haven’t heard it!"

The other three immediately became interested and said, "What song? Come on, let’s hear it."

So Tang Er sang, "Starlight filled all our childhood days."

But he only sang this one line before stopping.

After waiting a while, he continued singing, "Wind and rain traversed the world’s corners."

Then he stopped again, before singing: "The same feelings..."

"Why do you keep stopping after every line of the song?"

Bottle asked curiously.

Yao nodded, also feeling puzzled: "And just now, you only sang half a line."

Tang Er laughed, "Haha," and then explained: "I was following Mr. Lu. Mr. Lu is teaching Chai Xin to sing."

"So that’s how it is."

The three of them suddenly understood.

Liu Hua said: "Mr. Lu is really amazing, knowing so many songs. Put him in a movie, and he’d definitely be a singing star, right?"

Bottle said: "A singing star can’t withstand even half a punch from Mr. Lu."

Liu Hua: "..."

Tang Er: "..."

Yao: "..."

In another car, Chou Nu couldn’t help but chuckle, "Pfft."

Luo Ping opened his eyes and asked: "Why are you laughing instead of sleeping?"

Chou Nu said: "I’m listening to music."

Tang also sat up: "Where’s the music?"

Chou Nu said: "In Mr. Lu and Mr. Yao’s car, Mr. Lu is singing, something we’ve never heard before."

Luo Ping couldn’t help but sigh: "Type A Neo-Humans are really something."

"Indeed."

Tang sighed as well and suddenly thought of something, asking, "When someone’s doing that in your place, can you hear it too?"

Chou Nu: "..."

Luo Ping looked at Tang deeply, his eyes seeming to acknowledge him more, as if he finally found someone of like mind.

In Healing Village, Lu Shou lay on a soft pile of weeds, hands behind his head, one leg bent, the other resting on the bent one, humming softly:

"A friend walking together for a lifetime, those days will never come again, hum hum hum hum hum, you and me still here..."

"What a great song..."

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei heard these sounds naturally in the camper, but they didn’t say anything, just found it quite amusing, teaching others to sing from such a distance.

So when Tang Er was learning, Lu Xi’an deliberately paused to let Tang Er catch up with the learning pace.

Tang Er, realizing this while learning, shouted loudly: "Thank you, Mr. Lu!"

Luo Ping’s voice followed closely: "What are you yelling for? Go to sleep!"

Lu Xi’an also shouted: "You’re welcome, listen to Luo Ping, go to bed early."

Luo Ping’s voice rang out again: "Big brother hasn’t slept yet, haha, what a coincidence, neither have I."

Lu Xi’an suddenly remembered "A Chinese Odyssey," where Sovereign Treasure stood under the moonlight, flamboyantly saying how the long night made it hard to sleep and thought he was the only one awake, only to find out Miss Jingjing couldn’t sleep either, causing a chill.

He quickly cleared his mind of the chaotic thoughts and said: "Going to sleep now."

Luo Ping said: "Alright, alright, I’ll sleep too."

The village inside and out became quiet for a while.

Nothing more was said for the night, as there were other Type A Neo-Humans in the other vehicles, and Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei dared not make too much noise.

The next day after waking up, Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei went with Luo Ping and others to Northern County to prevent any unexpected events.

Luckily, nothing dangerous happened on the way. The Resonant Gene Scanner was also checked, and from Healing Village all the way to Northern County, the scanner’s map showed no other red dots, ensuring safety.

Northern County seemed to have been a very thriving city, with numerous high-rise buildings, covering a large area.

However, many of those skyscrapers have collapsed, and the tallest building remains intact.

Luo Ping and others initially thought Boss Liang and his people lived in the tallest building, but it turned out that where they lived was quite far from it.

Those residing in the skyscrapers were ordinary people from Northern County. They were under centralized management in this building. Only those needing to care for Neo-Humans would be assigned to where the Neo-Humans lived.

Currently, a bunch of Neo-Humans went to fight, so they were all driven to the skyscrapers.

Lu Shou pointed out the distribution of people in Northern County to everyone and explained that the Neo-Humans lived in an already abandoned armed forces department.

The group didn’t bother with those ordinary people, and Luo Ping said:

"We temporarily lack the resources to deal with them, and it’s not easy to distinguish their good or bad intentions quickly, making it difficult to take them back.

"Mouse, you should go tell them that Boss Liang and his people won’t be back for a while, so they should stay put here obediently. When we have the capacity, we’ll return."

Tang said: "I’ll handle this later. Anyway, I’m in the south, overseeing the people under Xuan Xiaocao’s command, and adding this bunch of people isn’t a problem.

"Once I’ve confirmed their reliability, I’ll send them up north."

He had made up his mind, determining his role within Luo Ping’s team as a kind of filter.

Luo Ping had no objections to this plan, so Lu Shou nodded and said: "Alright! Once we’ve settled the people in Healing Village, I’ll go with you."

Soon, in the nearly suburban abandoned armed forces department, people found many supplies.

These supplies were mostly food and clothing, along with some everyday items like pots and pans, and then maps and cars.

Besides the two cars driven away by Boss Liang and his team earlier, there were actually four more cars here.

And all four cars even had their keys. Luo Ping glanced at the map and said: "The map has marks indicating that there are functioning gas stations in the county.

"Let’s see if we can fill up the cars, then drive back. With these four, we’ll have six vehicles in total. Among the four, there are two pickups, so carrying more people won’t be a problem. This way, we won’t have to move to Shanyang on foot."

Luo Ping glanced around