Chapter 1251 Wind, Strong Wind (1/2)

There was a fleet of eight cars, each of which could carry eight people. However, they brought along a lot of luggage and so each car could only sit four to six people.

The engines of the eight vehicles roared, and with the momentum of Godzilla on the road, they rushed north along the highway.

One thousand kilometers later, the road conditions became vastly different.

The infrastructure in the Siberian region was very primitive. The city and its surrounding area had pretty decent infrastructure, and the roads were well-maintained. As they penetrated the more deserted area, the road seemed to disappear very soon.

In that vast region, there were no roads connecting the cities and towns. From that, it could be deduced that Russia's finances were in an embarrassing state. Compared with the United States and China, the regional development was far from decent.

Had they been driving a regular car, they would have probably been hopelessly stuck after leaving the highway. However, in their current vehicles, even without roads in the taiga, the ride was still a smooth one.

On that day, the road did not disappear right after they exited the city. It was only after five hours on the road, when they were far from the city, that they really entered the wild Siberia. That was when they faced the situation of having no proper road to travel on.

Of course, if they went directly to the Evenkiysky Autonomous District, it would not be completely road-less. Li Du and his group had wanted to go through the wilderness area to try their luck at bumping into some ivory hunters to ask them about news of the Black Snake.

A satellite positioning system had been installed in the car. After switching it on, road directions appeared. They continued their journey down the deserted path.

However, they were in bad luck. Although the sun had been shining brightly in the morning, the sky suddenly turned gloomy in the afternoon.

Li Du asked, ”Will it snow?”

Hudi, who was in the same car, wore a serious expression. After staring out of the car window for a few minutes, he said, ”No, it looks like the wind will be strong, but there won't be snow.”

Li Du heaved a sigh of relief and said, ”Thank God. The road conditions are poor enough even without rain or snow.”

At that point, they were already very far away from the nearest city. The car had entered a flat taiga area of small gravel terrain and muddy slush. The car had to pull through the road conditions.

Peering out of the window, Li Du did not see many trees nearby. Instead, he only saw some fluffy balls of various sizes rolling around on the ground.

Prior to the trip, he had done his research and now knew what the fluffy balls were.

Those were bunches of tumbleweed, also known as the Prickly Russian Thistle. It was an annual herbaceous plant with a height ranging from 10 to 100 cm, defined as a semi-shrub or shrub.

As the name suggested, tumbleweed could be lifted by the wind. The plants were shaped like balls, large grass balls with dry, fine foliage.

Most people referred to the plant as a ”nomad”. It was more common in the Siberian wilderness. When the drought came, the plants would detach their roots from the soil, roll into a coil and be carried by the wind until they arrived somewhere with abundant water, There, they would re-root to survive.

It was a plant with a strong will to live. As long as the environment was not too extreme, it would usually survive. As the wind brought the plants to new areas, they would likely find a place suitable for them to grow new roots and germinate.

Li Du only glanced briefly at the tumbleweed. Such plants were common in the wilderness and were nothing special.

However, he learned of the power of those plants not long after.

The car carried on for around another hour in the gloomy weather when the wind started to grow stronger.

The first to be affected were the tumbleweed balls. They flew in all directions with the wind and from time to time would smash against the car.

Of course, as they were light, they did not cause any harm to the car. However, they did impair their vision from inside the vehicle. Besides, the tumbleweed was curved and had many rough bristles on the outer surface, hence the balls would stick to each other once they came together.

Just like that, when the wind grew stronger, they would be blown together and clump into one. Then its volume would be enlarged, and the grass ball of less than one meter in diameter would turn into a huge monster of five, six, or even ten meters!