As they got closer, they could smell a putrid odor wafting over. Evelyn Ford studied the giant red flowers, then drew a long blade and sliced off a petal.

"These are Cannibal Flowers."

The petal was huge, with a circular indentation in the middle, and the red surface was dotted with raised white spots.

"Cannibal Flowers usually live in the swamps of tropical rainforests. What are they doing here? The smell that made us dizzy and nauseous earlier must have come from them."

An idea suddenly struck Evelyn Ford. "Ronan Kendrick, I’m going to put all these Cannibal Flowers into my space. Maybe I can make them into a poison."

"I did a quick scan. There must be several thousand Cannibal Flowers here."

They got to work immediately. Ronan Kendrick used his long blade to chop down the Cannibal Flowers at the root, while Evelyn Ford, wearing a mask and gloves, collected them all into her space.

Although plants had started to grow back in the mountains, it was still strange to find such a large patch of Cannibal Flowers here, especially since this mountain range wasn’t a tropical rainforest.

In just over an hour, the pair had cleared out the huge patch of Cannibal Flowers. Ronan Kendrick then took another look around the mountain and found another large patch in a wetland area below.

This patch was even larger than the one above, and it had many buds.

It took them nearly an hour and a half to finish clearing it.

"That’s all of them. Let’s go back."

"I’m hungry. Let’s eat something first."

Evelyn Ford took some food out of her space, planning to cook them a proper meal before heading back. They had been subsisting on dry rations for a while, and with Ronan Kendrick’s large appetite, he hadn’t been eating well.

"Another five hundred kilometers and we’ll reach Aeridor. But we have to pass through some counties and small towns on the way. There’s a base in Aeridor, but I don’t know if it’s still there."

Fortunately, they hadn’t encountered any real danger on the road. It was just endless travel.

After eating and drinking their fill, the two started back down the mountain.

When they returned to the convoy, the others quickly gathered around.

"Did you find anything unusual?"

"We ran into some Cannibal Flowers and cut them down. How is everyone doing now? Still feel like throwing up?"

Taylor Vance waved his hand. "Much better. We should be able to get back on the road."

"Mr. Ronan Kendrick, was there any game in the mountains?"

Everyone stared at Ronan Kendrick. He pressed his lips together and shook his head. "No."

"None again, huh."

"Alright, it’s not like there’s that much game waiting for us to hunt. Let’s leave this place for now. There’s a place called Moon Lake up ahead. We’ll rest there for two days." Zion Lowell waved for everyone to get in their vehicles. Since everyone was feeling fine, it was time to press on.

"How long will it take to get to Moon Lake?"

Zion Lowell pulled out a few maps. "About five or six hours. Once we get to Moon Lake, anyone who wants to go hunting is free to go. If there’s still water in the lake, we can also catch some fish."

Zion Lowell’s words were like a shot of adrenaline, and everyone’s blood began to pump with excitement.

Everyone quickly returned to their vehicles, and Ronan Kendrick got into the driver’s seat to drive.

Back in the mountains, Evelyn Ford had also dug up more than twenty saplings. She felt like she was developing a collecting habit; she had to grab something from every place she went, or she’d feel uncomfortable.

On the mountain road, mosquitoes and other insects buzzed incessantly, but they didn’t dare approach the humans, hovering at a distance instead.

Quincy and Wyatt Vaughn suddenly started singing. Evelyn Ford was tone-deaf, so she didn’t join in.

"For a second there, I thought we’d entered a Miasma Forest," Quincy sighed. ’Even just traveling is full of twists and turns. Every day is a struggle through hell and high water.’

"There are a lot of Miasma Forests in the south, so we do need to be careful."

Quincy looked despairing. "I was just talking nonsense! Please don’t let us run into a Miasma Forest!"

"You have a real talent for jinxing things. You should probably talk less," Wyatt Vaughn couldn’t help but roast him.

Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick exchanged a look and both of them smiled.

"The mountain road has eighteen bends, the river here has nine sharp turns..."

Quincy was belting out the song when a RUSTLING, SCRABBLING sound came from the mountain. Everyone looked up to see a monkey standing in a tree.

"Whoa, a monkey!"

The next second, the monkey threw a rock it was holding, smashing it directly against the car door.

Quincy quickly rolled up the window, all the while cursing the monkey’s entire ancestry.

"Macaque! Wild monkey! Vicious little ape!"

The monkey kept chasing their car through the mountains, throwing rocks. Evelyn Ford glanced back at Quincy. "Stop talking. Just shut up."

Over ten minutes later, they finally managed to shake off the ill-tempered monkey.

"From this day forward, the animal I hate most in this world is the monkey," Quincy grumbled, still stewing over the incident.

"Who asked you to sing? It was so awful even the monkey couldn’t stop itself from attacking you." Wyatt Vaughn still wasn’t cutting him any slack.

Quincy clutched his chest. "Actually, my childhood dream was to be a singer."

Everyone was speechless.

Evelyn Ford closed her eyes and slept for a while. When she woke up, the temperature seemed to have dropped, and she felt a little cold.

She put on her jacket just as the car in front of them stopped.

"We’re at Moon Lake. Everybody out."

Quincy and Wyatt Vaughn couldn’t wait to get out of the car. Claudia Schultz remained cautious, not even daring to speak loudly. Evelyn Ford understood her; in a relatively unfamiliar environment surrounded by people she didn’t know well, and after surviving natural and man-made disasters, her ingrained wariness wouldn’t fade away so easily.

"Come on, let’s go take a look too." Evelyn Ford also let Mina and Lola out. There was water in Moon Lake, but only in a few small puddles.

Zion Lowell had said they would rest here for a few days, so Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick took out their tent and began to set up camp. The others had already run to Moon Lake to see if there were any fish.

"This place used to be a tourist attraction. Because the lake is shaped like a moon and it’s a freshwater lake, the scenery was said to be stunning. There were even hundreds of acres of azaleas on the surrounding mountains. It’s a shame we’ll never get to see it."

Serena Lynch came over with Annie and Wendy in tow. Evelyn Ford gave Wendy a hug, and the two children ran off gleefully to the lake to look for fish.

"There’s fish! Lots of fish!"

Someone shouted, and Serena Lynch, Wyatt Vaughn, and Claudia Schultz all went over. After finishing with the tent, Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick also went to join the commotion.

"Why do these fish look so strange?"

"It’s a giant salamander. They say its cry sounds like a baby crying."

A giant salamander weighing over ten pounds was lifted up. The creature looked like a snake, enough to make one’s skin crawl.

’But this is the apocalypse. Who can afford to be squeamish about such things?’

Everyone was excited about the giant salamander. Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick decided to go hunting in the mountains. The others were so captivated by the salamander that no one noticed them leave.

Some small azalea seedlings were growing in the mountains. Evelyn Ford carried a small hoe, digging them up as she walked. She didn’t know why she was so obsessed with collecting plants, but her sixth sense told her that these things would definitely be useful and she had to take them.

Just as they entered the mountains, Ronan Kendrick spotted a gray rabbit. He didn’t even need to draw his blade; he just picked up a rock and threw it, killing the rabbit instantly.

"Is there more game in the mountains?"

Ronan Kendrick squinted into the distance, his handsome jawline tight with concentration.

"Yes. A lot."