Chapter 140 Encirclement
"Don't worry." He Liang also peeked halfway out from the shadows and patted Ji Feng on the shoulder. "I'm here. I won't let your An'an get hurt."
"Cough cough..." Ji Feng's ears turned red, so he simply lay down and closed his eyes to rest.
"He Liang, you can't just say things like that. An'an is mine…when did she become Ji Feng's…" Yu Miaomiao teased the two of them.
"Alright, go do what you're supposed to do," Lu An quickly interrupted.
The vehicle then stopped in a relatively secluded location.
He Liang, in a dark shadow, quickly led Lu An out of the car and began a thorough inspection.
They meticulously searched every corner where a tracker might be hidden, including wheel chocks, the undercarriage, and even various concealed areas inside the vehicle.
Although He Liang was a programmer before the apocalypse, he occasionally liked to follow car modification media and had a relatively good understanding of vehicles.
The vehicle underwent a more thorough inspection, while Lu An, with his keen observation skills, noticed any subtle unusual details.
She meticulously searched every corner where the tracker might be hidden, taking advantage of He Liang's shadowy figure and shining a powerful flashlight to thoroughly search every hidden part of the car, including the gaps between the wheels, the undercarriage, and even the interior.
In the end, the two gained nothing.
The other passengers in the car were also checked inside and out, and no tracking devices were found on their bodies or inside the car.
So where exactly does the problem lie? The problem can only lie with the tracker.
Yu Miaomiao couldn't help but deepen her suspicion that the tracker was a special ability user.
Her intuition told her that if conventional methods didn't provide the answer, she should try the opposite approach.
"K, he can track us, but you also discovered him. So, can we track him directly as well?" Yu Miaomiao's words piqued everyone's interest.
"Yeah, since he's been looking for us, why don't we just find him directly and then… cut the Gordian knot?" Lu An chimed in.
"Wait, did you forget that K said he was tracking alone, but there was a group of people gathering behind him? If we go looking for them now, won't we be walking into the lion's den? I know you are strong and have your own opinions, but wouldn't it be better to avoid fighting if we could?"
Ye Jian's words made sense; he was thinking from a more idealistic perspective and hoped to minimize the losses. "Wouldn't it be better for us to rejoin the main force now?"
Everyone nodded in agreement; Ye Jian's suggestion was indeed worth considering.
"Your concerns are valid; acting blindly will indeed increase the risks. But we cannot and will not sit idly by and wait for our doom. That's not our style. He has been able to track our route all along, so we must find the problem at its source." Lu An knew there were risks, but she was more worried that rushing ahead recklessly would lead to endless troubles.
Yu Miaomiao remained silent, and the air fell into a stillness, with no one having any good ideas.
After a moment, Yu Miaomiao came up with a new idea. "Perhaps we could design a trap, using known information as bait to lure the trackers into revealing their true colors."
"How exactly do we do it?" Lu An asked eagerly.
"The troops were divided into three groups."
Seeing that everyone was confused, Yu Miaomiao simply took out paper and pen and drew a sketch.
"If a group of people are being chased by a bear, the way to maximize their interests is for everyone to run in different directions, ensuring that most of the group can escape and go back to retrieve their weapons to drive the bear away."
Let's assume the tracker is a bear. He should have a clear target, which is probably one of us, not a group of us.
So spread out and find out who he is tracking. The others can go around to the back and form an encirclement without the tracker noticing.
"Hmph, we'll catch him like a turtle in a jar, it'll be a piece of cake. We'll launch a surprise attack, catching him before he can send messages or provide clues for reinforcements."
"That does sound like a feasible strategy." Ye Jian also agreed with the strategy.
So the group split into two groups. Since Ji Feng was not easy to move, Ji Feng, Ji Mu, K, and Ye Jian were in one group and stayed in the car.
Yu Miaomiao and Xu Nanwei headed south, while Lu An and He Liang headed north.
The three groups split up and acted separately.
Moreover, through K, all three groups can communicate without barriers.
The trap is set; it's up to the tracker to make his choice.
Yu Miaomiao took out two motorcycles from her spatial storage. She gave one to Lu An and got on the other herself, letting Xu Nanwei sit on the back.
They each drove off in different directions.
Under the scorching heat, even speeding along on a motorcycle didn't bring any relief from the heat.
Motorcycles are more agile than RVs when navigating roads full of obstacles, but this also means they are more susceptible to venomous insects.
"Oh my god, there are so many bugs on my clothes." Xu Nanwei hugged Yu Miaomiao's waist with one hand and flapped her other hand.
Finding that they couldn't keep out the flying insects, they simply activated their supernatural abilities, causing the air to vibrate and isolate them, then creating an air shield.
The blood-sucking venomous insects seemed oblivious to the existence of the air shield, frantically flapping their wings and constantly attacking it.
"Like moths to a flame, overestimating their own abilities." Xu Nan smiled slyly, then activated his air slash again, wiping out a swarm of flying insects in a few swift movements.
However, she soon got tired because she discovered that although the flying insects were not very powerful, they were numerous and impossible to kill completely.
"Ah... I give up, there are just too many bugs to kill them all! How can there be so many bugs in this world!" Xu Nan was on the verge of collapse. Fortunately, the air shield wouldn't be breached, otherwise, the two of them would be in a very difficult situation.
He Liang and Lu An encountered the same problem. As night fell, more and more insects gathered together, creating a chaotic dance in the air.
"What a pity, we can't ride this cool motorcycle right away." The two of them hid in the shadows, and the motorcycle was pulled into the shadows as well. The shadows couldn't carry too many items, and pulling in a motorcycle was already the limit.
Riding a motorcycle in the shadows just doesn't feel quite right.
"Yeah, riding a bike here feels like you're not getting the wind or the push-back feeling. It's like you're just standing still in mid-air." Lu An found it a bit funny. The two of them were constantly moving, but they were relatively still in the shadows.
"Be content. It's better than eating a mouthful of bugs every time you laugh, even though it's at least a bit of protein."
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man who had been tracking them cursed under his breath, "Damn it, there are bugs everywhere at night, I've had enough."
"If you want to live, do what you're supposed to do." A voice came through his earpiece. "Don't forget, your life is in my hands now. I can press a button and you'll be dead."
His every move was being monitored, so he dared not slack off for a moment and kept trying to catch up.
"Don't be impulsive, calm down. Haven't I been chasing this the whole time? I can smell it, it's definitely going this way." The man was sweating profusely, and his legs were trembling from constantly rushing.
"But I really don't have any strength left. Could you give me a vehicle? A motorcycle is fine, an electric scooter, a three-wheeled vehicle, or a bicycle will all do... I really can't walk anymore."
"You have no right to make demands. Figure it out yourself, catch up as soon as possible, so everyone can report back." The call was cut off, leaving only the man's heavy breathing echoing in the night.
He kicked a pebble on the roadside in frustration, sighed helplessly, and could only rely on his own two feet to move forward along the faint scent.
But after walking for a while, he felt the smell getting stronger.
It seemed they had stopped, and the man rallied his spirits, ready to give chase in one fell swoop.
But he could only track it; he couldn't tell exactly how far away it was.
He hadn't expected his olfactory ability to have such a wide range, nor had he imagined that those people were actually hundreds of kilometers away from him.
Seeing that it was getting late, Ye Jian sent a message to the group through K's communication system, "Let's set up camp and rest in a suitable place. That person is too far away from us. We can basically tell that he walked. Let's give him some water."
Otherwise, he'll never catch up with us. We can't quite tell which direction he's chasing yet; we need to let him go a little further.
OK
Yu Miaomiao and Xu Nanwei stopped in an open space. Yu Miaomiao pulled Xu Nanwei and they immediately hid inside the space to rest. At the same time, they activated their mental energy to keep an eye on the outside world.
Tonight, we'll just wait and see which of the trackers slips up and falls into their trap.
"Oh dear, what if they're tracking us? I'm in the space, so he'll lose his target." Yu Miaomiao was leisurely lying on the sofa when she suddenly realized the key point.
He immediately straightened up, grabbed Xu Nanwei, and hurriedly left the space, taking out the RV and moving in.
Lu An and He Liang also found a place to rest and set up a temporary tent, all of which had been prepared in advance.
After days of travel and constant training before and after the apocalypse, Lu An and He Liang had developed strong wilderness survival skills. They quickly set up the tent, used their water-based abilities to carefully clear away the flying insects inside and outside the tent, and then began to eat dry rations inside.
There was no way around it; without Yu Miaomiao's space, any food with moisture exposed to extreme heat would turn into dry bricks.
Although they have settled down, they keep a close eye on K's communications and will act immediately once the trackers' progress is analyzed.
A long night can lead to many unforeseen events; a swift resolution is necessary.
As time went by, the unfortunate tracker struggled forward in the darkness, following the increasingly clear "scent," and a spark of hope ignited in his heart.
"Damn it, I might as well work myself to death."
Around dawn, in the darkest hour, the trackers finally arrived at a factory that appeared to have been abandoned for a long time.
The smells here are mixed, a blend of plant and animal scents.
He was very cautious, carefully sniffing the air to determine if there was any human scent present.
There are some, if not many, but they must have left here some time ago.
"Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make do here tonight."
He stepped into the factory and was about to search around for any usable supplies when suddenly bright lights shone all around him. Several powerful flashlights shone directly into his eyes, making it as bright as day, so bright that he couldn't open his eyes.
He could only rely on his nose to sniff carefully. Suddenly, he smelled the scent of several humans in the air. He looked up in surprise, squinted and observed carefully, and found that he was surrounded.
Yu Miaomiao, Lu An, Xu Nanwei, and He Liang appeared silently around him, forming a perfect encirclement.
The man looked around and realized he had fallen into a trap. He panicked, but dared not reveal to the other end of the headset that he was surrounded.
Because if this were exposed, he would die instantly; those people wouldn't leave him alive as a clue.
He was going to die either way, so he chose to try to negotiate first, hoping to survive for as long as possible. Wasn't that how he had always gotten through the apocalypse?
As he thought about it, he put on a smiling face. He knew the two women who lived in the villa opposite Ni Chongyang's, which meant they were Ji Mu's friends. Of course, he should make good use of this relationship. "Hehe, hello there... We're all down on our luck, there's no need to be so... so enthusiastic in welcoming me."
Yu Miaomiao couldn't be bothered to waste words with this kind of person. She simply pulled out her weapon, ready to send him on his way.
"Wait a minute, I have something to say! I'm Ji Mu's savior, you can't kill me!" Upon seeing the weapon, the man immediately covered his head with his hands, squatted down, and shouted, "Don't kill me, don't kill me, let me explain. Please, God, I hope you can listen to my explanation."
Upon hearing Ji Mu's name, Yu Miaomiao was taken aback. Ji Mu had friends? She wasn't quite sure. If he really was her savior, then she couldn't make the decision.
She sheathed her weapon, her voice still carrying a hint of coldness, "Before you explain, you need to tell us who you are, why you're tracking us, and what your purpose is."
Ji Mu's voice came through her earpiece, "Sister, listen to what he has to say first."
The man sighed, as if he had made a decision, and began to speak: "My name is Zhang Yuan. You can verify this with Xiao... Ji Mu. I am Ni Chongyang's gardener."
Ji Mu's voice came immediately, "Sister, don't do anything yet. Can you bring him to me? I know him."
Upon hearing this, Yu Miaomiao frowned. Her intuition told her that this person was not a good person. Some people can be judged by their appearance at a glance, but Ji Mu's request made her reconsider.
K's voice chimed in: "I'm analyzing his language, and so far I haven't detected any obvious signs of lying."
She turned to the others and exchanged opinions. They all nodded slightly, indicating that they would listen to his explanation before making a decision.
"Zhang Yuan, is that right? If what you say is true, we naturally won't kill you without reason." Yu Miaomiao's tone softened slightly, but she remained vigilant. "However, you must explain your methods and purpose in tracking us now, otherwise we will not bring you to see Ji Mu."
Zhang Yuan's eyes darted among the crowd, as if weighing something. Finally, he swallowed hard and slowly said, "I have a strange ability: I can smell the scent of familiar people. I used to be Ni Chongyang's gardener. Later, I went to the weapons factory and made a living in the boiler room."
The weapons factory was in complete chaos, and I escaped during the confusion. I had nowhere to go, and then I smelled Xiao Mu's scent. I had no choice but to go find her. I didn't know anyone; I just wanted a place to eke out a living, someone familiar to keep me company. I'm practically dead; I don't want to die alone, miserable and desolate, with no one knowing.