Chapter 154 - 152: Another Introduction

Chapter 154: Chapter 152: Another Introduction

"Daoist, now that the Maze Master is dead, when will all the pollution that spread out finally disappear?" Feng Ling asked Li Qing.

Li Qing was cross-referencing the coordinates with the notification of the Maze Master’s death.

"The genetic activity will enter a period of decay and then gradually dissipate. At the shortest, it could take a few months. At the longest, it could even take several years," he replied.

So, Feng Ling added a follow-up to her post—

[Feng Ling: We will have to wait several months or even years for the pollution in the area to dissipate completely.]

’There.’

She checked the post one more time. No typos, no grammatical errors, and no cutesy tilde marks.

She hit "post."

Feng Ling couldn’t help but muse, "I remember the Sanqing Mountain Maze covered several hundred square kilometers. If every Maze is that large, then 122 of them, plus the area the pollution spreads to... all told, that’s almost the size of a small country."

"It’s actually more than that," Li Qing said, still preoccupied. "If a Maze merges with the real world and the Maze Master is still alive, it will be driven by biological instinct to expand its territory. Once its active space increases, the Pollution Bodies within its domain will enter a period of rapid reproduction, accelerating the spread of the pollution."

Feng Ling frowned at his words. "The mechanics of this ’game’ of yours are just sick."

Li Qing paused. After a moment of silence, he replied, "From your perspective, yes... it is sick."

Huangfu Miaomiao sat nearby, silent.

She had been terrified just moments before, and hiding in the tent had only brought slight relief. The more she thought about it, the more unfair it seemed. ’I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m a victim, too. So why do I have to endure humanity’s loathing and hatred? Why can’t everyone just get along? There are bad Alien Species, sure, but there are good ones, too.’

She felt lost and afraid. The Hunters outside filled her with a deep-seated panic. ’Will there come a day when Feng Ling hates me, just like they do?’

Huangfu Miaomiao hugged her knees tightly, her gaze fixed on Feng Ling.

Feng Ling was staring down at her phone.

In the few minutes since she published her post, it had already received over eighty replies.

If it were eight replies, she might have answered them patiently. But eighty? And with the number still climbing toward a hundred, she couldn’t be bothered.

A quick scan revealed a surprising number of replies asking her to step up, take charge as the leader of the Hunter Alliance, and deliver a crushing blow to the Alien Species.

’How is that any different from being a mom?’ Feng Ling thought.

She was already raising four, and that was already a handful. Becoming a leader was something she’d think about later. Much later.

’Best to pretend I didn’t see any of these replies.’

Feng Ling snapped her phone shut. Catching a glimpse of Huangfu Miaomiao out of the corner of her eye, she asked, "What is it? Why are you staring at me?"

Huangfu Miaomiao, startled, nervously picked up two skull masks. "Wh-which one do you think I should wear?"

"You have a small face, so you should wear the raccoon dog one," Feng Ling said, picking up the other mask, which was fashioned from a goat’s skull, and handing it to Li Qing. "You should wear one, too."

Li Qing agreed that he needed a mask. Both his face and his identity needed to be concealed. Taking it, he said, "Thank you."

Huangfu Miaomiao: "..."

’Unfair... Unfair... UNFAIR... Those are all mine! Why does *he* get one?!’

"Got any more?" Feng Ling asked, holding her hand out to Huangfu Miaomiao with a smile. "I’ll wear one, too. Then we’ll have a matching set."

"I do!" Huangfu Miaomiao said, happily pulling out a whole string of skulls—all bones she had collected in the Maze.

... ... ...

...

Su Yuqing leaned by himself against a classroom window, head bowed as he scrolled through the chat history on his phone.

After Ye Zheng had set out with the expedition team, the two of them had kept in constant contact by phone.

She would share updates from inside the Maze with him from time to time—sometimes text, sometimes photos. When the team stopped to rest and had a spare moment, she would even send a video, usually just ten or twenty seconds long.

Through these messages, Su Yuqing had formed a preliminary understanding of the Maze in Daling Forest.

Then one day, Ye Zheng suddenly sent him a single word: Squirrel.

He asked what "Squirrel" meant, but Ye Zheng never responded.

At first, he didn’t think much of it. It was impossible to be glued to your phone while on a mission.

But when he continued to receive no word from Ye Zheng, he truly began to panic. The hair of all his doppelgangers turned white overnight.

He was only able to relax after seeing news reports that the northern expedition had been a complete success.

He tried to contact Ye Zheng, but still couldn’t get through. He inquired with his superiors about the expedition’s status. They told him that while the team had concluded its mission, the forest was vast, and the return journey would take time. He was told to wait patiently.

While he was waiting, two more messages arrived from Ye Zheng.

The first message was his own name: Su Yuqing.

The second message was simply: Back.

He couldn’t make any sense of them, which made him suspect that Ye Zheng’s phone might have been damaged by the extreme cold.

He still couldn’t get in touch with Ye Zheng.

When the news broke, Feng Ling had sent him a "Congratulations." He couldn’t feel any joy, but he also didn’t dare assume the worst had happened to Ye Zheng. All he could do was reply with a smiley face emoji that feigned happiness.

Now, using a newly created and completely healthy doppelganger, he had come here to personally confirm whether Ye Zheng was safe.

Someone walked over and gently tapped Su Yuqing’s arm. "Still worried about Ms. Ye?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Su Yuqing looked up to see Xu Yiming, the one who had brought him here.

"Yeah..." Su Yuqing put his phone away, feigning a calm expression. "I just tried calling her a few times. Same as always—it won’t connect."

"She’s probably still in the Maze. We’ll find out what’s going on once we get inside, so don’t worry too much," Xu Yiming said reassuringly.

Then he asked, "Have you seen the post on the forums?"

Su Yuqing paused. "What post?"

Xu Yiming handed his own phone over. "The one from the number one ranked Hunter. You know, that young woman you introduced us to on the train."

"Oh, you mean Feng Ling..." Su Yuqing glanced over the post. "The information she’s providing will be solid. You can trust it."

"Really?" Xu Yiming was a little surprised. He had known Su Yuqing for many years and knew how meticulous he was in both word and deed. He rarely spoke with such absolute certainty.

Su Yuqing gave a faint smile. "It’s true. When it comes to her, some of her intel might even be more accurate than official sources."

Xu Yiming fell silent at that.

"What is it?" Su Yuqing asked him.

"Old Su, could you introduce us again?" Xu Yiming asked earnestly.

Su Yuqing paused. "Didn’t I introduce you all last night?"

Xu Yiming gave a wry smile. "What kind of introduction was that? We just said hi and exchanged a bit of small talk. How about a proper introduction this time? We’re about to head into the Maze, and we’ll definitely be splitting into teams. If we can get her on our side, she could be a huge help in finding Ms. Ye."

Su Yuqing glanced toward the tents on the field, looking hesitant.

Seeing his hesitation, Xu Yiming added, "If she’s difficult to get along with, then never mind."

"Oh, she’s easy enough to get along with..." Su Yuqing thought. ’It’s just that she gets a little unhinged when she starts killing.’