Qi Xiang happened to see this, and her imagination instantly ran wild with a million-word fanfiction:
’In the dead of night, a cold, impossibly handso man silently takes a fried pastry from his pocket. He turns it over and over in his hands, but his mind is filled with the delicate and beautiful face of a young girl...’
Just then, Wei Heng ca over and asked Zhou Qian, "How far is the nearest safety camp from here?"
He had just been to the bottom of the pit. He could probably lift the as-yet-unidentified object out with his Earth Ability.
But Wei Heng’s gut told him the object would likely be big trouble, and it was better to let the professionals handle it.
"About six hundred-plus kiloters," said Zhou Qian. As the team’s liaison, he had already done his howork on the area.
"How far is that from Camp 3366?" Wei Heng asked again.
Shen Yue’s group was at Camp 3366 right now. According to their original plan, if nothing unexpected happened, the two groups would rendezvous in a few days.
But now...
Gu Xi idly fiddled with the small green sprout on her fingertip and glanced at He Yue and his n gathered around the deep pit. ’This next leg of the journey probably won’t be so smooth.’
"So, what exactly is in that pit?" Qi Xiang asked curiously, rubbing her chin.
Gu Xi listened quietly. Qi Xiang had asked the very question she wanted to know the answer to.
Wei Heng slowly shook his head. "It’s still not clear. The material is rather unusual. The exterior is a single, seamless piece that looks like tal, but several Gold Elent users have tried and none of them could open it..."
Gu Xi had originally thought the Special Service Team might know sothing, since Ye Junhan was the one who chose this temporary campsite. But when she looked at the expressions on Zhou Qian and Dongfang by the fire, she saw they were just as baffled and confused.
Because of this massive, unexpected discovery, He Yue’s side was no longer demanding they break camp imdiately.
The sky gradually darkened, and soone started a campfire.
The distant trees cast looming shadows. A gust of night wind sent the leaves rustling—a sound that mingled with the nacing silhouettes that seed to twist and reach like grasping claws. As the sound carried through the dense forest, it seed to subtly warp, stirring a sense of dread in the dark.
The shadows seed to twist into ghostly figures, and every rustle of the wind sounded like a harbinger of doom. The few timid researchers traveling with them began to huddle together for warmth. After the apocalypse, even the weather had beco erratic. The days were lethally hot, while at night the temperature plumted below freezing.
Most of those researchers were ordinary people. It was one thing to be at the base, but how could they possibly endure this sudden exposure to the wild?
They were practically scared to death.
Seeing this, Ye Junhan had so people set up a few tents near the campfire, settled the researchers inside, and arranged for team mbers to stand guard nearby.
anwhile, He Yue had just climbed out of the pit. Seeing the scene, he shot a fierce glare at the people he’d brought with him. ’How could they let the Special Service Team win people over like this?’
’They have absolutely no awareness.’
The mbers of the Guard Team had also set up their tents and were about to go inside to rest. ’It’s freezing cold outside at night, and with the Special Service Team mbers standing guard nearby, there’s no need for us. Why should we make things hard for ourselves?’
’Are the tents not comfortable enough, or is the fire not warm enough?’
But now, having been glared at by their own captain, the mbers of the Guard Team were suddenly at a loss.
He Yue took a deep breath and scanned the crowd. Not seeing Gu Xi, he was just about to go look for her when soone called out to him, "Mr. He, where are you off to?"
Zhao Qingxiao ambled over with a smile, neatly blocking his path.
He Yue had no choice but to stop, feeling rather displeased.
’I’m the captain of the base Guard Team, after all, on the sa level as Ye Junhan. Yet Zhao Qingxiao’s attitude is so casual and dismissive; it’s clear he doesn’t respect as the Guard Team’s captain at all.’
But Ye Junhan was standing not far away...
No matter how dissatisfied He Yue was inwardly, he didn’t dare show it. He could only force a semblance of bravado and laugh nonchalantly, saying:
"Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just getting late, isn’t it? I was about to find Mr. Ye to discuss the night watch duties. We can’t just let the Special Service Team do all the hard work; I need to get my own boys moving too..."
His excuse was perfectly reasonable, leaving no room for argunt.
Zhao Qingxiao smiled. "What a coincidence. I’m actually the one who always handles guard duty arrangents for our team... Mr. He, why don’t you call your n over, and I’ll make the arrangents?"
Of course, He Yue couldn’t let soone from the Special Service Team boss his Guard Team around, but the words were already out of his mouth, and he couldn’t imdiately co up with another excuse.
While He Yue was being held up by Zhao Qingxiao, inside a tent, Qi Xiang sat down next to Gu Xi and began to sigh dramatically.
"Can’t sleep?" Gu Xi asked, turning to her.
Qi Xiang nodded. "I’m too hungry to sleep."
With so many people around, they couldn’t very well cook for themselves in the open, so they ate compressed biscuits with everyone else.
Qi Xiang had only eaten a little and was now faint with hunger.
She lay limply on her sleeping pad, staring up at the night sky. ’It really is hard to go from feast to famine...’
Gu Xi actually had so food in her space. She was just about to take it out when Qi Xiang suddenly flipped over and sat up.
"Gu Xiaoxi, how about we get Wei Heng and go cook sothing for ourselves later?" the young lady asked with a completely serious expression.
At two in the morning, nearly everyone was asleep except for those on night watch.
Qi Xiang crept stealthily out of the tent and looked left and right. ’Perfect. A dark and windy night. The mood is just right...’
Wei Heng erged from the adjacent tent and paused for a mont. ’We’re just going out to cook sothing to eat. Is all this sneaking around necessary? Anyone who didn’t know better would think we were going out to murder and commit arson.’
"Let’s go," Gu Xi said, following Qi Xiang out of the tent. She glanced at the guards on the periter and took the lead, heading toward the other side of the valley.
’I think I rember seeing a patch of decent wild vegetables over there,’ she mused. ’They might go perfectly with the three-year-cured ham in my space.’
Not far away, Liu Hao sniffled, his nose red from the cold, and suddenly turned to look north.
’Mr. Wei is taking two young ladies out in the middle of the night? What are they up to?’
Ye Junhan was leaning against an off-road vehicle, wiping his curved blade. He lifted his gaze and gave him a faint glance.
Liu Hao mulled it over. ’Is he telling to follow them and see what’s going on?’
...
Wei Heng was efficient. After finding a suitable spot, he quickly started a fire and set up a pot.
Staring at the wild vegetable soup in the pot, Qi Xiang turned to Gu Xi and said lancholically, "I kind of miss Da Hong."
"Why miss it?" Wei Heng asked casually, taking a packet of secret-recipe seasoning from his pocket.
Qi Xiang flopped onto the grass, looked up at the night sky, and sighed, "If Da Hong were here, we could be having mushroom soup tonight." Not to ntion, Da Hong’s skill at finding mushrooms was absolutely top-notch.
Wei Heng: "..."
Nearby, Qi Xiang smacked her lips, a nostalgic look on her face. "The mushrooms Da Hong finds always go especially well with chicken soup."
"Who’s Da Hong?" Liu Hao asked casually, pretending to be passing by on patrol.
"Da Hong is a chicken—a chicken that’s especially good at finding mushrooms for making chicken soup," Qi Xiang explained very seriously, not at all surprised to see him.
"You make a chicken find mushrooms... for your chicken soup?" Liu Hao asked, a look of utter shock on his face.
’What kind of twisted, real-life horror story is this!’
Qi Xiang shot him a disdainful glance, her expression clearly saying, ’How can you be so ignorant?’ She then said with prim satisfaction, "Our Da Hong is no ordinary chicken..."
When it ca to finding mushrooms, not even Gu Xi could compare.
Liu Hao walked away, shaking his head. ’No wonder they say a woman’s heart is the most vicious,’ he thought. ’Qi Xiang is so beautiful, but to think... she’s so cruel and terrifying.’
’And that chicken nad Da Hong is just too pitiful, to have fallen into the hands of this group of depraved people.’
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