When Jiang Chuan said he was going to get a portable stove and small pot, he came back up carrying a backpack half as tall as a person.
Seeing Cheng Ye's puzzled look, he immediately explained, "There's storage space under the back seat. I like to stuff these little things in there normally."
Little things?
Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow, watching as Jiang Chuan unzipped the backpack. The equipment that came out nearly dazzled his eyes.
Three sets of portable stoves, two large and one small.
The large ones for cooking soup, the small one for heating nutritional paste.
Additionally, there were four canned jars containing chili, pickled mustard greens, mixed spice powder, and a small can of turmeric powder.
Three stainless steel pots nested inside each other by size. The largest was half a foot deep, big enough to stew a whole chicken.
There was also a folding cutting board, three kitchen knives of varying lengths, a long-handled ladle, portable dining sets for two, a portable dishcloth, spare gas canisters, a small bag of salt, sugar, half a bag of well-sealed sausages, and two large bottles of pure water.
"Are you here to accompany me through the second round of testing, or to experience wilderness living?" Cheng Ye stared in amazement.This wasn't bringing little things, it was practically moving an entire kitchen.
Jiang Chuan grinned and skillfully set up the portable stove, "After running around in the wilderness for a long time, you'll know that a hot meal is more important than anything else. Especially on rainy days like this, if we drink some hot fish soup, we'll stay warm all night without getting cold. But if we just gnaw on nutritional paste, you'll be shivering in a ball by the second half of the night."
"Also, the wilderness has contamination that gradually seeps into your spirit," he said.
As he spoke, without needing Cheng Ye to help, he directly pulled out a black stripe fish from the water bucket and began processing it.
As someone at the Unity of Heaven and Man level, half a step from transcendence, Jiang Chuan scaled fish very quickly.
In the blink of an eye, he had the black fish cleaned thoroughly. The removed innards were packed into sealed bags to ensure the fishy smell wouldn't attract mutant creatures.
"Humans are social animals. Separated from the group, your spirit will gradually become exhausted while wandering in the wilderness. This kind of exhaustion can't be recovered through sleep. You need to find some collective memories. I've seen many lone wanderers and ascetics before, each one monsters and madmen. To avoid becoming like them, you have to maintain your human essence."
"That would only happen after going out for months or a year or two, right?" Cheng Ye asked curiously.
He hadn't experienced the feeling Jiang Chuan described, because almost every corner of the modern world had human traces.
Finding a place far from human habitation while ensuring complete water, electricity, and signal access really wasn't that simple.
"It happens much faster than you think," Jiang Chuan shook his head, then suddenly changed the topic. "Inspector Cheng, do you really think the S4 virus has no effect on ordinary people?"
"Hm?" Cheng Ye was startled. "Does it?"
"Of course it does. The S4 virus doesn't just target transcendents, ordinary people can't escape either."
Jiang Chuan skillfully processed another white stripe fish, washed both fish clean, and threw them into the first pot.
He opened the chili jar, and a rich aroma immediately spread, mixing with the fish freshness and completely clearing away the moldy smell in the room. "Black stripe fish and white stripe fish have firm meat, suitable for cutting into chunks and stewing. Braising with this chili sauce will definitely be fragrant, though I don't know if you can handle the spice."
"It's fine, continue talking about the S4 virus first," Cheng Ye quickly waved his hand. He had read through so many materials but had never seen any book mention that the S4 virus was harmful to ordinary people.
"This is my speculation... well, you can consider it unproven intuition," Jiang Chuan grinned and turned on the portable stove switch. "Transcendents infected by the S4 virus don't die directly but go mad, attacking everything indiscriminately, including themselves. Doesn't this sound like mental contamination? And those contaminated transcendent creatures, after becoming infection sources, the scariest thing is their ability to subtly change your thinking."
"For example, Guardian Spiders. To resist their parasitic contamination, you need to find something, use another belief to resist their contamination."
"And the Walker, the Walker's ability is also to contaminate a group of people's thoughts."
"I believe the wilderness also has contamination! After staying outside for a long time, people become increasingly irritable, act more and more extremely, feel nothing has meaning, and want to attack anyone they see!"
"That's isolation syndrome. I've read about it in books," Cheng Ye chuckled. He had indeed been scared by Jiang Chuan for a moment. "If your spiritual support is built on groups, living alone for a long time will produce these symptoms."
"Really?" Jiang Chuan shook his head. "I don't know either. People have told me this before, but I always feel it's not that simple, because when I was young, going out for three to five months was no problem. Now, as soon as I'm away from the collective for two months, I enter these symptoms."
"Haha, isn't that normal? You're getting older, time to find a lover and start a family," Cheng Ye teased. "By the way, you know me well, but I still don't understand you."
"Me? I'm just an ordinary person with no special story," Jiang Chuan took out grass carp and silver carp, processed them, and threw the whole fish into the second pot to stew directly, adding some pickled mustard greens for seasoning.
He also picked up some red shrimp, washed them clean, and threw them in. The shrimp shells gradually turned red in the boiling water, dyeing the soup a light golden-red color.
After finishing all this, the two sat beside the tent.
He paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled, "I was born during the turn of the century, one of the last batch of the old era. I was exactly one year old in New Era Year 1. You definitely can't guess that I was born in Xinghuo Sanctuary City."
"My father was one of the first builders of Happiness City, but unfortunately, he had bad luck and died of disease just after arriving. My mother raised me, but she was also weak. After working hard until I was six, she passed away. Finally, Inspector Ding Xiao from the inspection station took me in, that's Station Chief Ding's father."
"I started practicing martial arts from a young age. Maybe I had some talent and quickly stood out among my peers. Unfortunately, Inspector Ding Xiao later left with your grandfather, and I was alone again. Fortunately, I was already eleven then, right at the beginning of the Great Development Era. Because I had grown strong from martial arts training, no one looked down on me for being young."
"I followed the Pioneer Corps from New Era Year 10 to 15, a full five years. I only settled in the buffer zone at sixteen, when Station Chief Ding discovered me. Well, he was still an inspector then and gave me the only clerk position."
Jiang Chuan's tone was very calm, as if telling someone else's story.
He didn't mention how a six-year-old child survived in the buffer zone, nor did he talk about how much life and death an eleven-year-old joining a Pioneer Corps would experience but Cheng Ye could read heavy suffering from those simple words.
He didn't dare imagine what it would be like if he were in such an environment.
Just as Huang Sheng had said, that generation really could endure hardship!
"Later it was following Station Chief Ding all the way, working hard to get to today. I've also witnessed the inspection station's journey from establishment to construction, to its current glory throughout the wasteland. Inspector Cheng Wu even once praised my martial arts talent."
"Haven't you tried transcendence?" Cheng Ye suddenly asked.
Jiang Chuan was suddenly startled, his expression immediately becoming serious, "Inspector Cheng, how do you know about transcendence?"
"I..." Cheng Ye paused. This was really hard to explain how he knew.
After all, it was common knowledge that transcendents in this era were still curses.
And to become transcendent, one needed symbiotic transcendent creatures.
"Uh, Researcher Qin told me. I caught an unknown infection source before, and it showed I could be rewarded with transcendent inducer!" Cheng Ye didn't mention his conversation with Downs, but instead told about his first experience learning about transcendence.
"Oh, that's right," Jiang Chuan's expression relaxed somewhat. "Transcendence isn't a secret, but trainees generally don't have contact with it. If you're curious, don't be too persistent. When it's time to know, you'll naturally know. But if you're eager to pursue it, you'll easily fall into pain and torment, even degenerating into..."
"Taking sides?" Cheng Ye picked up the conversation.
"Exactly," Jiang Chuan grinned. "Many people chose to take sides for transcendence, becoming slaves to power, making it even harder to master that power."
"So haven't you tried transcendence?" Cheng Ye asked again.
Jiang Chuan opened his mouth, first shook his head, then nodded, "I tried, but I failed."
"I understand," Cheng Ye didn't continue asking, which made Jiang Chuan breathe a sigh of relief.
He didn't want to lie, but not revealing details to people who hadn't contacted transcendence was an ironclad principle.
Once Cheng Ye knew too much, it would become much harder for him to pursue transcendence in the future but soon, his brow couldn't help but twitch.
"Then what's your belief?" Cheng Ye asked.
"Hm?" Jiang Chuan's mouth fell open, his expression changing dramatically.
Belief, transcendence, could it be that Cheng Ye already knew the key to wanting transcendence?!
But before he could speak, he heard Cheng Ye continue, "I heard Director Miao say that to achieve Unity of Heaven and Man, you must have firm belief."
Well, spell interrupted.
Jiang Chuan was like a deflated balloon, his expression turning bitter, "My belief isn't worth mentioning. Compared to others, it's like a firefly to the bright moon."
Seeing Cheng Ye's blinking eyes still showing curiosity, he could only sigh and say, "I want to protect things I think are good, just like Inspector Ding Xiao did for me back then."
Protection...
Cheng Ye's heart stirred. He hadn't expected Jiang Chuan's belief to be such simple yet heavy two words.
No wonder he had failed to achieve transcendence.
For transcendents, this wasn't seeking inward, making oneself live according to certain rules but seeking outward, binding belief with others, almost planting the source of belief in other people.
Protecting "good things," if they were inanimate objects, that would be one thing, but the latter part clearly pointed to people.
Protecting a good person?
But in this wasteland world, were there absolutely good people?
Or rather, were there good people who remained unchanged from birth to death?
Suppose that "good person" changed midway, even just slight deviation, as long as Jiang Chuan had the slightest doubt about his belief or his judgment, his foundation would shake once.
Even if he really became transcendent, if someday the person being protected changed or died, would he also be contaminated and become a curse?
Seeing Cheng Ye suddenly fall silent, Jiang Chuan also stopped talking, and the atmosphere in the room became somewhat oppressive.
"So Station Chief Ding is the person you want to protect?" Cheng Ye spoke first.
"Not only him," Jiang Chuan shook his head, his tone becoming lighter. "I also sponsor many children in the buffer zone, at least ensuring they won't starve to death. I occasionally teach them martial arts. When I meet scavengers who want to venture out, some dare to leave without even having guns, I'll help them out. And the elderly... there are many beautiful things in the buffer zone that need someone to quietly protect them."
Speaking, he suddenly remembered Ding Yishan's words in the car that day and couldn't help but chuckle, "Put it this way, if the belief you condense exists for power rather than what your heart truly wants, then it's better not to condense it at all."
"Very philosophical, like something you'd only see in books," Cheng Ye teased, and the atmosphere became relaxed again.
Next, he never mentioned anything about transcendence or beliefs again, because he had roughly guessed why Jiang Chuan treated him this way.
Because of belief, and because of protection.
Jiang Chuan was truly a good person who had been rained on, had someone hold an umbrella for him, and was willing to hold umbrellas for others.
Unfortunately, there was a heartbreaking saying: good people don't live long.
Perhaps with a different belief, with his talent, he should have achieved transcendence long ago.
Even his breakdown after being away from groups for too long might be related to losing the belief of protection.
Of course, it was still the same point: if achieving transcendence and gaining power was to do things you didn't like, then power itself would lose meaning.
"Come, have some soup," he said.
The fish in the first pot was almost done stewing. Jiang Chuan lifted the lid, and a spicy aroma burst forth.
He served two bowls. The moment steam rose, it blurred their vision but also dispelled some of the cold.
Cheng Ye took small sips. The spiciness wrapped around the earthy smell unique to freshwater fish, but the aftertaste carried a hint of sweetness.
Tasting carefully, he could distinguish four or five layers of flavor.
It was true that after eating bland food, everything seemed fragrant. Flavors previously ignored now clearly bloomed on his tongue.
Both were martial artists with frightening appetites.
After wolfing down the first pot of fish, the second pot of fish soup tasted even more special.
From spicy to sweet, the burning sensation from mouth to throat to stomach was slowly soothed, transforming into a warm current spreading through all limbs.
Those bright-colored red shrimp were also particularly chewy and elastic. While eating, Cheng Ye thought that once fishing began, with just these conspicuous colors, they'd probably be caught to extinction before long.
Finally, four packages of nutritional paste were heated in the small pot, two per person.
After drinking, they were just full, neither stuffed nor hungry, exactly the state for peaceful sleep.
The rain outside still poured down torrentially. Some cold wind passed through the broken window holes, bringing damp earth air, but couldn't dispel the lingering food aroma in the room.
"Sleep. Tonight is your first night in the wilderness. I'll keep watch," Jiang Chuan set up the camping light high in the room. The dim yellow glow cast swaying shadows on the mottled walls. Though not bright, it dispelled some of the midnight chill, wrapping them in faint warmth.
Cheng Ye nodded and bent down to crawl into the single-person tent.
The single tent wasn't large to begin with, and he was still wearing armor, so he could only lie straight with his back against the cold ground, even turning over was somewhat difficult.
But in the crisis-ridden wilderness, comfort had long been the most irrelevant thing. Having a corner to shelter from wind and rain was already rare stability.
"I never thought the first day in the wilderness would be spent like this..." Cheng Ye sighed inwardly, his mind involuntarily replaying the day's experiences.
From the tension and excitement when leaving the city at dawn, to seeing up close the massive ruins of Chuan City swallowed by vegetation.
From the bumps on the national highway to the potholes of county roads, and finally that muddy country road that nearly trapped their steps.
The hunters they encountered, the sudden attack of mutant malaria mosquitoes, the Guardian Spiders guarding the granary...
Thinking carefully, this single day had experienced almost all the dangers the wilderness might present.
There were also Dapo Town's crooked abandoned buildings, the rushing current at Baishui River's diversion point, the damaged hydroelectric station full of cracks standing on the river channel...
These images flashed by like a carousel, gradually making his originally vague understanding of the outside world clear and concrete.
While thinking, he heard Jiang Chuan's light coughing outside the tent, followed by footsteps.
"I'm going on night patrol. Sleep peacefully," he said.
Hearing those steady footsteps moving back and forth in the hallway, Cheng Ye's lips curved in a slight smile, and drowsiness gradually surged up.
How wonderful.
Although he had transmigrated to this harsh wasteland world where times were dangerous and people's hearts were anxious, from the day he woke up, there seemed to never be a lack of people who genuinely cared for him.
All sorts of people were much more real than the interactions in modern society, separated by screens and wrapped in pretenses.
After calling out Fire Sprout to help guard against surrounding dangers, he fell into deep sleep in just a moment.
When he woke up again, it was already late at night, almost dawn.
Cheng Ye pulled aside a corner of the tent and saw Jiang Chuan standing by the window with his back to him, looking outside, not knowing what he was thinking. His profile looked somewhat melancholic in the camping light.
Hearing movement, Jiang Chuan turned his head, "Why are you awake?"
"Yesterday wasn't too tiring. Let me keep watch, you sleep for a while."
"It's fine, it's already five o'clock," Jiang Chuan said, pointing outside. "It's snowing."
"Snow?" Cheng Ye poked his head out, and a bone-chilling cold immediately drilled into his collar, making him sneeze involuntarily.
So cold, it felt like the temperature had dropped to around minus four or five degrees Celsius.
He got up and walked out of the tent. Under the camping light's illumination, snow was indeed falling outside.
It wasn't heavy goose-feather snow, but fine and dense like a blanket, like countless white dust particles scattered from the sky.
"Looks like another wave of fog passage outbreaks," Cheng Ye was somewhat alarmed.
The sudden temperature drop meant the Void Mist was extracting heat again, forming fog passages connecting to other places.
He walked to the window and turned on his flashlight to shine outside.
Perhaps because of the heavy rain, there was no snow accumulation on the road yet, but some broken building tops were already covered with a thin layer of white, adding an eerie tranquility to this silent ruins.
"With such cold weather, construction will be really difficult," Jiang Chuan mumbled unconsciously, his gaze somewhat vacant, as if recalling past winter scenes in Happiness City.
Finally, he smiled freely, "It's almost over. Intelligence estimates this is the Void Mist's last outbreak."
"That's good. If this ghostly weather continued, nothing could be done," Cheng Ye breathed a sigh of relief, paused, then said, "Let's start packing up. Let's return to the city as soon as it's light, don't delay things."
"Good!"
Although it was snowing, it was still summer after all, so dawn came early.
The horizon was already showing faint fish-belly white.
Cheng Ye packed up the tent and picked up the water bucket containing fish, then suddenly froze.
[Collector detected biological information dispersing, automatically absorbing]
[Absorption complete, new creature guide recorded: Freshwater Fish]
"Eh, the fish in this bucket can also form a guide entry?" He was startled and looked down at the water bucket.
Only half a bucket of water remained. Four black stripe fish were still struggling and blowing bubbles, but the grass carp and silver carp had already died from oxygen deprivation, their fish eyes rolled white, bellies bulging as they floated on the surface.
Cheng Ye opened his panel and clicked into the guide to scan it.
Two illustrations: one from yesterday's first encounter, another of the belly-up grass carp in the bucket, somewhat comical.
The text below was even simpler.
[Freshwater Fish]
[Description]: Fish that survive in freshwater
[Currently recorded characteristics]:
Underwater Breathing (0.15%)
Swimming Ability (5.57%)
The description was just one sentence but regarding characteristics...
"Hmm, these two characteristics seem quite practical?" he thought.
Compared to the flashy special abilities of transcendent creatures and mutant creatures, the characteristics provided by ordinary freshwater fish were actually more aligned with survival needs.
Cheng Ye thought for a moment, pulled out his small knife, and decisively killed a black stripe fish.
Unfortunately, the guide didn't prompt for a new species, still categorizing it under "Freshwater Fish."
But after refreshing the page, there was one more illustration, precisely a close-up of the black stripe fish he had killed, and the freshwater fish characteristic list had one additional line:
Growth Factor (1.19%)
"The characteristics under the guide actually increase..." Cheng Ye was somewhat surprised.
As the name suggested, this new characteristic was mostly related to the black stripe fish's mutation.
Could it be the source of accelerated growth speed?
Unfortunately, one fish only accumulated just over 1%. To gather enough percentage for exchange, he'd need to kill nearly a hundred.
"Thinking about it this way, it doesn't seem like much?" Cheng Ye's gaze shifted, and he decisively targeted the remaining three black stripe fish and two white stripe fish.
Each time he killed one, the "Growth Factor" value jumped, with each contributing about 1% on average, finally stopping at 6.57%.
"Should I go back to the riverside to gather enough before returning?" Although the weather was freezing, the fish schools might be unusually active precisely because of the temperature drop.
Hearing he wanted to go back to the riverside, Jiang Chuan nodded without hesitation, "Let's go take a look. Snow-day fish schools might have unexpected gains."
The two packed up and got into the pickup. By now, dawn was breaking, and the snow seemed even heavier, with heaven and earth shrouded in vastness.
Fortunately, the cooling had slightly hardened the muddy road surface. The wheels no longer sank deeply when rolling over, only occasionally slipping with "crunching" sounds.
When they reached the diversion point, as soon as Cheng Ye pushed open the car door, he was stunned speechless by the scene before him.
What terrifying fish schools!
Whether stimulated by the plummeting temperature or not, the entire tributary had almost changed color.
The water surface was densely covered with a layer of fish floating on top. Black stripe fish, white stripe fish, grass carp... crowded together and churning, with red shrimp also gathering in shallow areas, dyeing the water surface mottled red.
Moreover, Cheng Ye's gaze suddenly fixed on the center of the fish school, where there was a gigantic black stripe fish with an exaggerated build, fully four times the size of ordinary black stripe fish. Its body length exceeded one and a half meters, estimated to weigh at least sixty to seventy kilograms.
Where it swam, surrounding fish schools moved aside, parting like Moses dividing the sea to create a passage.
Good heavens, so domineering?
Was it a mutant creature... or an infection source?!