281 Entering the Desolate City (1/2)

The journey ahead of them would involve traveling across mountains and rivers, and breaking through brambles and thistles.

Some who were following the latest hits hummed along the journey as they slowly advanced, following the railway. A few were immersed in thoughts about their future, but they eventually felt uncertain when they collected their thoughts, knowing that they were still in the midst of a dangerous adventure. None of them were in the mood to enjoy the pleasant scenery, as they knew they were in the demon beasts' territory.

Apart from the relatively thrilling experience at the tunnel, the journey had been rather peaceful. They had not encountered any similarly large groups of beasts since then.

With their current strengths, they did have the ability to look after themselves against ordinary demon beasts.

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After spending more than ten days traveling, Jinlin City was finally visible in the distance.

They came up to another hill, which also had a tunnel the railway was leading into. This time, they decided to take an alternative route instead of going through the pitch-black tunnel.

They immediately saw a spacious basin when they arrived at the top of the hill. Plenty of foothills could be seen leading in the distance toward their destination.

In the north was a river with many bends and curves, eventually ending up running alongside the remains of a city, now overgrown with plant life. The river continued to extend into the distance and bent towards the east, towards the hill that the group had just crossed.

”That would be Jinlin City. It's only been fifteen years. How did it end up like this?” Zheng Bingxiao wondered, staring at the distant desolated city.

”It's pretty much expected, since the beasts were using it as a habitat. The houses, streets and roads would be in utterly destroyed. The plants are intaking their waste as fertilizer, so they can grow very fast. You will find the whole place crawling with moss, vines, and weeds,” Qingqing said.

”Come, we should scout the outer area first and count the beasts roaming around,” Song Xia suggested.

The periphery of the city was a big open plain surrounded by woods, and also one of the key places to be investigated. If there was any point in reconstructing the city, they had to know if the perimeter was occupied by the beasts.

Fortunately, they were not sent here to wipe out every single beast from Jinlin City. It was big enough to be described as a second-grade city. Even the perimeter alone was more spacious than they could have imagined, let alone the city that was now a den for the beasts. It would be quite impossible to restore it to a human habitat without a few army brigades.

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After spending some time investigating the woods, the group was surprised to find out that they only saw a few individual demon beasts searching for food, instead of moving in groups.

In the end, the investigation around the city's perimeter was carried out smoothly. They marked the map grids with green ticks, implying that there were only a few beasts roaming in them.

”Let's head inside. We should finish our task and head back earlier. I feel quite uncomfortable staying out here,” Luo Song proposed.

In fact, Luo Song had toned down significantly over the past ten days. Either way, he did not want to suffer any longer by staying outside of the safe zone.

”This kind of investigation will take quite some time. Besides, the places we are investigating are extremely huge. We have already marked the spots on the map, unless we are splitting up...”

”Splitting up isn't a rational decision.” Song Xia shook her head.

If the seventeen of them could stick together, they still stood a chance against beasts that were inclined to move in groups. It would be a completely different scenario if they were to split up.