Chapter 81: A Foreboding Premonition

Chapter Eighty-One

An Ziyou found it hard to drive the two women out, since after all, they were merely borrowing a place to stay, and there was indeed room in their tent. So he said, “You can stay, but you must not disturb anyone else. Otherwise, I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“Of course, no problem! Thank you, Brother An!” Hearing this, Xiao Keran nodded quickly, shooting An Ziyou a grateful smile.

An Ziyou didn’t reply, merely sitting down near the entrance, keeping his distance from the two women.

Seeing the cool indifference of her idol, Xiao Keran couldn’t help but look a little dejected. She didn’t understand what was wrong with herself—why was her idol so cold to her? Was that just his true nature, and all the gentle warmth he’d shown fans before merely a performance? But he was still just as gentle to that little girl!

Curling up under her blanket, Xiao Keran sulked, her mood gloomy. Situ Qing, seeing her friend’s state, couldn’t help but speak up on her behalf.

“Hey, tell me, in what way is our Keran unworthy of you? She just tried to talk to you, and look at your cold and lofty attitude. So what if you look good and have some special abilities? What’s there to be so arrogant about?”

An Ziyou didn’t even lift his eyelids at Situ Qing’s words, continuing to rest with his eyes closed, as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

Situ Qing, finding herself entirely ignored, grew even more annoyed. Thinking of how Mo Chen also treated her in the same way, she felt the two of them were equally insufferable.

Just what was so special about that little girl? Relying on her cuteness, always clinging to Mo Chen and acting spoiled, coaxing everyone into pampering her. Was it just because her abilities were a little higher? What was so remarkable about that! She didn’t even show any respect to the Situ family, and had even wounded her third uncle so badly that he couldn’t participate in this mission. She was picky about food, always trying to make herself stand out. When the bats came tonight, she’d clearly noticed them early, but didn’t say anything. If she’d spoken up sooner, maybe not so many people would have died! Keran was also a precious healer, but you didn’t see her acting so high and mighty!

Were all these men blind? Why did they all insist on revolving around her?

The more Situ Qing thought about it, the more indignant she became. Even when Mei and the others returned to switch shifts, she was still simmering with anger.

As soon as Mei and the others entered the tent, they saw An Ziyou by the entrance and noticed the presence of two people who shouldn’t have been there.

Seeing that Xiao Keran seemed to have already fallen asleep, Mei made no move to drive the two women out. After all, it was only for one night—what did it matter?

“Forget about them. Let’s get some rest while we can. Who knows when something might happen,” Mei stopped Mo Chen as he was about to ask the women to leave, handing out sleeping bags and urging everyone to rest.

Ironically, Mei’s gesture didn’t win Situ Qing’s gratitude; instead, Situ Qing felt she was showing off, flaunting her position, which only fueled her resentment.

She was about to say, “No need for her fake kindness. If she were really kind, why not share a sleeping bag with them, instead of leaving them to freeze?” But before she could speak, Ye Jingxuan shot her a frosty look. That cold, murderous gaze made Situ Qing shudder and forget entirely what she’d wanted to say.

Mei, uninterested in Situ Qing’s feelings, curled up in Mo Chen’s arms, seizing the chance to rest.

For some reason, she had a bad feeling. She sensed that their journey into the mountains tomorrow would be fraught with danger. If she didn’t take every chance now to rest, there might not be another opportunity once they were deep in the wilderness.

The others felt much the same; no one paid any attention to Situ Qing, leaving her to stew alone in her resentment. She didn’t sleep a wink before her shift for the night watch arrived.

That night, apart from a few zombies drawn by the scent of blood, they encountered no further dangers.

At dawn the next day, the group slowly roused themselves.

After a night’s rest, the energy that lingered in the wounds left by the mutant bats had dissipated, and the injured began to heal. With some help from Xiao Keran’s healing, everyone was soon out of danger.

Seeing that their fighting strength had largely recovered, the group’s heavy mood from the previous night was finally somewhat lifted.

After breakfast, they piled back into their vehicles and headed for the foot of the mountain to prepare for the ascent.

The laboratory was built deep in the mountains. In the past, supplies and personnel had always traveled by helicopter. But now, with birds mutated and the skies even more dangerous than the ground, they had no choice but to cross the mountains on foot.

According to their map, reaching the laboratory would take at least a day and a night of trekking through the mountains. The night was too dangerous to travel, meaning it would take them at least two days to reach their destination.

Each person carried not only weapons, but also food and other supplies. The people Ling Feng brought along even carried a variety of instruments, though no one knew what for.

The heavy snow had only recently stopped after falling for half a month. Though the temperature had risen, little of the snow on the mountain had melted. Each step left a deep hole, the snow reaching up to their knees, which slowed their progress even more.

Ling Feng had anticipated this, instructing everyone to tie branches to the soles of their shoes to increase the surface area and prevent them from sinking deep into the snow.

“Mei, aren’t you going to tie branches to your shoes?” Qu Wenyuan asked curiously, seeing that Mei hadn’t moved.

Mei shook her head, then took a few steps across the snow. Only a few shallow footprints were left behind; she hadn’t sunk in at all. Qu Wenyuan stared in amazement.

“Walking on snow without leaving a trace! Mei, I didn’t know you could do lightfoot work!” Lin Shaojie exclaimed, drawing the others’ attention.

“With her weight, what’s the point of practicing lightfoot skills? She’s light enough already—any lighter and a gust of wind would carry her off!” Mo Chen, who knew best how little Mei weighed, curled his lip in disdain.

No matter how much meat she ate, her weight never increased. If anything, she seemed to be getting lighter. He wondered where in the world all the food she ate went.

With the help of the branches, walking in the snow became much easier for the group, though each step still meant snow flooding over their shoes. After a while, many found their shoes full of melting snow, cold and wet—an unbearable feeling.

At times like this, Mei’s uniqueness became even more enviable. Her knee-high boots kept the snow out, and her lightness meant she never sank in, so only the soles of her boots got dusted with snow while the rest stayed clean and dry.

Mei paid no attention to the envious stares; she released her psychic senses, carefully probing for any sign of danger nearby, ready to warn the others if needed.

That morning, aside from the difficulty of moving through the snow, nothing untoward happened. At midday, the group stopped for a brief rest, gnawing on compressed biscuits for lunch.

With snow everywhere, Mei didn’t bother having Mo Chen heat up a meal. She simply dipped two pieces of meat pie into hot soup, finishing her lunch.

“Mei, what’s wrong?” Ye Jingxuan, who had been watching her closely, noticed her distracted air even as she ate.

“It’s nothing. Just a bad feeling—like something ominous is about to happen. All of you, be extra careful. If anything seems wrong, protect yourselves first. The badges I gave you—if you channel your psychic energy into them, they’ll activate a defensive array. It can block any ability below level seven for three minutes. But it only works once, so use it wisely.” She confided the badges’ other uses quietly to a few of them, unable to shake her worry.

It was the first time Mo Chen and the others had seen her so unsettled—not even during the giant serpent’s siege in the valley had she seemed so uneasy. So they all nodded gravely, promising to be extremely careful.

Seeing that they took her warning seriously, Mei felt a little more at ease.

After half an hour’s rest, they set off again.

This mountain range was a protected primeval forest, filled with towering ancient trees. While the treetops were blanketed in snow, the leaves beneath were still vibrantly green.

The further they walked, the more uneasy Mei felt, as if something were watching them, though her psychic senses couldn’t detect anything. After a while, she suddenly heard a faint, slow breathing and immediately called a halt.

“Wait, something’s here!”

After last night’s experience, none of them dared take her words lightly. At her warning, everyone stopped and stood on guard, eyes scanning their surroundings.

But apart from trees and snow, nothing was to be seen.

Mei drew her bow, holding her breath and listening intently, trying to pinpoint the source of that breathing. But the rhythm was so slow, as if the creature only needed to breathe once in a long while.

“You’re not just trying to scare us, are you? There’s nothing around here.” After a while with no movement, Situ Qing couldn’t help but challenge her.

Just then, as Situ Qing spoke, the breathing came again. But her interruption made it impossible for Mei to locate the source, and Mei’s eyes flashed with irritation as she glared sharply at Situ Qing, finding her increasingly insufferable.

Startled by Mei’s piercing gaze, Situ Qing instinctively took a step back. But then, realizing she’d been intimidated by a child, she puffed up, ready to step forward again—only for someone to block Mei from her sight.

“Brother!” Situ Qing called out.

“Quiet,” came the gentle reply.

Though Situ Huang didn’t have Mei’s sharp hearing, his instincts told him something was nearby, and he could see that Mei’s reaction was genuine. So he stopped his sister from making things worse.

After that, no one made a sound, but nothing else happened either.

Just as some were beginning to wonder if Mei had made a mistake, a sudden scream split the air, sending a jolt through everyone’s heart.

Wishing everyone a peaceful Christmas Eve—and tomorrow, there will be a double update!