"It's the Yinchuan River!" Mike said, proving that she was not mistaken. "The Yinchuan River runs through this area, and the suspension bridge was built to cross it!"
"There is a lot of sand and soil piled up on the riverbank of Yinchuan River." Sheriff Rand did not keep anyone in suspense and directly told the good news, "It's not far from here. We can go and dig up the soil... to add some friction materials."
Well, that’s good news indeed!
Everyone, including Hitzfeld, was cheered up.
Because this plan can solve the problem once and for all - the fuel in the boiler room can't reach Nanxinze, but it is definitely not a problem to drive through Nanling City. If the sand reserves can be replenished, then they may not need to get off the car at all!
Not to mention that it will waste some time, in the eyes of most people, it is worth it even if they spend half a day staying to mine river sand.
Anyway, those evildoers couldn't catch up for a while, and it was freezing cold, so it was hard for peregrine falcons and homing pigeons to fly. Even if there were evildoers in Nanling City to help, they might not know what was happening here.
"Why didn't you think of this earlier?" Baliu looked at Rand-An with some surprise, "If you had thought of this earlier... we wouldn't be under so much pressure!"
"I haven't been here for a long time." Sheriff Rand spread his hands, "It was only after seeing the terrain nearby that I thought of doing this."
The matter was of great importance, so they quickly decided on the candidates to go out.
There were two groups of people. The first group consisted of Sheriff Rand and two police officers, a total of three people. The second group consisted of Leon, Bariu, Ashley, and Hitzfeld, a total of four people.
This was the original plan, but there was a slight change in the middle - Aman also asked to contribute. He claimed that he had rich experience in sand digging, and he and Miss Mary planned to join Leon's team, which expanded the second team to six people.
There is no technical requirement for digging snow and sand. As long as you don't confuse the riverbed with the ice surface, anyone with a little strength can do it.
So everyone knew that A'man was actually looking for an excuse. The reason he came here was actually because he was afraid that the evildoers would pursue him, and he had to stay with Li Ang and the others to feel at ease.
Hitzfeld didn't say anything. After all, it was for this reason that she was forced to come along by Barriu.
Baliu thought that although the probability of the evildoer catching up was not high, it was not zero. If she and Leon went out to work, they would not be able to protect Hitzfeld, so she asked her to wear thicker clothes and keep up.
Hitzfeld really didn't want to go.
It's freezing outside... In this damn era, women with a little bit of financial resources can't wear too thick clothes in winter because they care about their manners. She still wears a skirt outside, and even if she wears pants inside, it's still very cold.
She really wanted to ask Baliu - since you are so worried about me, why don’t you just not stay with Leon?
But then she thought about how she had just reminded her to care more about her lover, and then she thought about the emotional entanglement between the two of them.
Well, I really can’t say that.
Finally, the six members of Li Ang's team were decided, and the departure round was changed from the second round to the first round. The reason was that the three police chiefs had been watching the boiler for most of the night and needed rest more than them.
After finding a few iron buckets and shovels, Li Ang's team set out immediately and tried to go downhill on the thick snow.
Hitzfeld put on a pair of black-soled trousers over the three layers of tights and tucked the trouser legs into her deerskin boots, praying that the shoes were of good quality and would not slip when she tried to put her feet in.
Fortunately, the journey from the railway to the river beach was relatively safe.
Hitzfeld slipped twice, but was pulled back by Baliu each time. A group of people walked through the pine forest and came to the spacious river beach. They watched Aman measure the range of the river bank, find a good place and start digging.
After digging through a few layers of snow, it gradually started to turn black.
When they first came up, there was only some black soft soil. After changing to another place, they finally dug up sand.
It's a little moist, but it's okay, just go back and bake it in the oven.
There are not even any requirements on particle size or quality - after all, they are not mining sand to make concrete, they are just using it to prevent slipping.
"Don't dig too deep." Aman did not forget to give instructions. "It may be dangerous to dig too deep without knowing the terrain. Dig in another place and don't damage the riverbank structure."
He looked very professional and serious, which made Hitzfeld laugh.
She looked at the few people who were deceived by Aman and were moving to other places with serious faces, and then looked at the reserve tools that everyone brought with them: a total of six small iron buckets.
Even if you dig as much as you can, how much sand and soil can you pack in?
But she didn't intend to expose Aman. She knew he was under a lot of pressure and urgently needed to prove to this temporary team that he was more worthy of protection.
After digging a round of sand, they set off back and Sheriff Rand and the other two took turns.
Li Ang found a bed to sit on and fell asleep.
The others were also a little tired, but their qi and blood were circulated, and they felt warmer than before they went out.
After a while, Rand's team returned. Baliu woke up Leon and set off again with the empty barrel.
This time, Hitzfeld also tried to dig a bucket.
…Ashley had helped her dig it before.
It was more tiring than she had imagined. The sand was compacted by the snow and was wet, so she had to use all her might to shovel it out.
After a few diggings, Hitzfeld couldn't do it anymore. She threw down the shovel, found a place to sit and gasped for breath, looked up, and saw clouds and mist in the mountains in the distance.
An iron bridge can be vaguely seen among the clouds. It doesn't look too far from here, but it will take a while to drive over it.
"what is that?"
Several people who were digging nearby suddenly heard her asking the question.
They all stopped and looked in the direction she pointed, and found that the iron bridge had branches outside. In addition to the Line 4 track where the train was traveling, there were several branch railways next to it.
"That place is one of the two necessary routes to Nanling. Before Line 4 is completed, other lines must also go through here."
Li Ang thought she was making a fuss out of nothing.
"What about that one?"
Hitzfeld pointed to a plume of black smoke drifting toward the horizon.
They came from the right, but the black smoke came from the left. Its source was a black steam-powered locomotive, and it looked like it was heading for the iron bridge.
"Line 1." Li Ang narrowed his eyes.
"It's a bit strange... I remember Line 1 shouldn't be on at this time..."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone saw the car stop.
It was parked on the opposite hillside, with both the front and the carriage motionless.
It just lurks there, like a long, cold snake.
Chapter 68: The Kingdom on Rails
What does that mean?
Not only was Leon stunned, but the others who had not taken it seriously also frowned and stared at the stopped snake...looking at each other in bewilderment.
Something unexpected happened?
Or has he run out of sand too and is planning to come down to get more sand like them?
Ashley was closest to Hitzfeld, and she was the first to notice the girl began to stagger.
"Heath?" In her eyes, her little mother Heath suddenly covered her left eye with her hand, then covered her neck with her other hand, opened her lips slightly with the tip of her tongue half sticking out, squatted down softly, stared at the snow and gasped.
Hitzfeld didn't hear her cry at all.
The burning pain made her consciousness blurred, and everything she saw in front of her eyes were two shadows. Her left eye, which had been more "obedient" after the integration of the natural orb, suddenly rioted at this moment. She could feel... those fine tentacles trying to break through the seal of the collar and escape downwards.
Of course—and that’s why she doesn’t need evidence.
Her own feelings were the evidence.
"Don't worry about that thing..." Ashley supported Hitzfeld and heard her speak in an extremely hoarse voice.
"Don't look at it... go... go quickly!!"
"Listen to her." Li Ang took the lead in retreating. He picked up his own bucket, then picked up Baliu's bucket, turned around and walked back.
"Le Ang!" A scream came from behind.
Leon turned his head, his gaze shifted to the tree girl, and then he looked in the direction she was staring at again. The pupils of his two eyes began to shrink violently.
The long snake changed.
"Kakaka-!"
The pitch-black front of the car began to deform as if it had life. Tentacles and cables, mixed with various intertwined metal gears and parts, began to swell and expand, and in just a few breaths, the prototype of a castle was created.
Yes, the prototype of a castle.
Over a hundred meters high and wide, its base is still in the shape of a train chassis, hovering over the railroad tracks, but the things on it have changed drastically, becoming a steam fortress with interlaced gears and piled-up pipes.
And that's not the end.
Similar changes began to spread like a plague throughout the entire snake. The subsequent carriages started one by one and began to transform, from their original square shape to exquisite small pointed-roof houses - almost every small house had a clockwork power source.
Am I fucking dreaming???
Leon was completely confused. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that they were not illusions. Then he saw some very familiar reliefs on the outer contours of the steam castle. They looked like the "robot horse" that Bariu had described.
These people and horses really started to move.
But it was not for pursuit, a total of six people in two rows broke free from the relief structure, extended out of the castle with their bases, confronted each other, and took six instruments from their backs.
Drums, trumpets, flutes, violins, accordions... As they began to play, layers of parts rose from the back and formed a tall clock on the front of the steam castle.
"Dang-dang-dang-dang——"
The hour hand pointed to nine o'clock, the minute hand and the second hand coincided at twelve o'clock, the table clock made a deafening noise, the front glass door opened to both sides, and a slender figure could be vaguely seen standing inside.
damn thing!
Li Ang slapped himself suddenly, completely waking him up from the shock.
Then he kicked the snow, splashing the cold "white sand" onto his companions' faces, instantly pulling them back to reality and shouting at them to run for their lives.
This thing obviously didn't come here to do good things, so why did it stay here to watch the fun? Did it think its life was too long?
"Sit on me!"
The situation couldn't get any worse. Balyu tore off his coat and began to transform, revealing the centaur body from behind, and he was still growing rapidly.
This was because she had too many people to take with her, and the previous look might not be able to accommodate them, so she used more vine materials to increase her body size, which made the middle of her body appear a little empty.
Throwing away the extra tools, Ashley carried the unwell Hitzfeld on her back, and the five of them either climbed onto the horses' backs or crawled into their bellies. Bariu immediately turned to the west.
That was the direction they had come from, and it was obvious that they should now get back as quickly as possible to rejoin the train.
"Boom boom boom..."
In the centaur state, Baliu ran very fast, and only a vague black shadow could be seen in the snow.
"They're catching up!"
Li Ang hugged the horse's neck and turned back to report the situation to the driver: "Shit... they can really be disassembled and used?"
Baliu looked back while climbing up the hill and saw six streams of snow mist spreading down from the opposite hillside. The six pedestals at the entrance of the Steam Fortress were empty.
It’s those monsters covered in black flames!
Knowing how terrifyingly fast those things were, Baliu felt gloomy in his heart.
The direct sprint was so fast that she had no time to react. In addition, she was very heavy, so even if she was just touched, she might be torn to pieces.
Not to mention the passengers on her, even a touch could be fatal.
She quickly determined that at this distance she would not have enough time to get back to Resin Route 4, so she turned around under Aman's shocked and angry gaze and began to circle around the woods with the snowstorm fog behind her.
"If we do this... we will definitely be caught up!" A'man reminded her.
"A better...way? You do it?" Li Ang retorted.
The shaking was so violent that they could hardly breathe while talking. At times like this, the human body was more fragile. They could only watch as the blizzard and fog got closer and closer.
Finally, the first mechanical horse emerged from the snow and fog. It had a drum hanging around its waist and two solid armored arms tightly grasping a giant axe.
Then the second one, the third one...
These things are all equipped with corresponding musical instruments, and the musical instruments correspond to different weapons.
The drum corresponds to the giant axe, the trumpet corresponds to the lance, the flute corresponds to the musket, and the violin and accordion correspond to the two-handed sword and a heavy shield.
Looking down from the sky, six eerie black shadows emerged from the woods from six angles, almost blocking Balyu in the middle.
She barely turned, using the slippery snowy road to escape the encirclement, and began a race for life and death with these dangerous enemies.
She was not as fast as her enemies, but she knew how to use the terrain and the icy road to create obstacles. Although she could not get rid of them, she would not be hit by swords and axes.
This is not a solution, A'man thought for a moment, turned around and patted Miss Mary.
The latter understood what he meant, took out a small crossbow from his waist, loaded an arrow and handed it to him.
Aman was obviously very confident in aiming and shooting - he held the crossbow with one hand and closed one eye comfortably, locked a black horse into the bull's eye during the bumpy ride, and pulled the trigger hard.
