Yi Wenxue chuckled softly, reached out, and patted Ruan Xingyao on the top of her head. “Wait here,” he said.
Before long, Yi Wenxue caught a few fish and brought them back.
Under the canopy at camp, the fire was already burning.
The timing couldn’t have been better—just as they returned, heavy rain began to pour.
The group cleaned and prepared the food they had gathered, and with the sound of rain as their backdrop, they enjoyed a delicious meal together.
“I really thought this trip was going to be rough,” He Chengxuan said, smiling. “Didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”
Sitting under a dry shelter, eating good food, listening to the rain—this kind of comfort was something he’d never dared to imagine during missions before.
Especially since the food that Ruan Xingyao and Yi Wenxue brought back was of excellent quality.
Ruan Xingyao took his comment as praise and, resting her chin in her hands, swayed playfully.
“Stick with me and Seventeenth Senior Brother—you’ll live the good life out here!”
With her and Yi Wenxue around, at least when it came to food, no one was going to go hungry in the mountains.
It was already late.
After cleaning up, everyone crawled into their tents to rest.
Ruan Xingyao shared her tent with Baiyi and the little monkey.
Xie Lin and Lin Xubai took the night watch, while Yi Wenxue, Chen Yu, and He Chengxuan shared another tent.
Baiyi, still jealous that Ruan Xingyao had let the little monkey cling to her, grew even more upset when she brought it into the tent.
The whole mountain forest echoed with Baiyi’s indignant cries.
“Werwerwerwer! Werwerwerwer!”
【Stupid Xingxing! You don’t love me anymore! I’m gonna throw a tantrum, I’m gonna throw a tantrum, I’m really gonna do it!】
“Werwerwerwer! Werwerwerwer!”
【Kick it out! Wuuuu! I’m mad now! This time you can’t coax me!】
“Werwerwerwer! Werwerwerwer!”
【Bad Xingxing, wuuuu…】
The mountain rang with Baiyi’s “werwer” sounds until Ruan Xingyao finally grabbed its muzzle to silence it by force.
Though the noise stopped, its telepathic complaints continued endlessly in her head.
Ruan Xingyao had no choice but to use a little spiritual power to put Baiyi to sleep—finally, peace.
She was exhausted too.
After warning the little monkey not to cause trouble, she quickly drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Ruan Xingyao woke up refreshed after a deep sleep and stepped out of the tent full of energy.
Baiyi was even clingier than before, insisting on being carried in her arms.
The little monkey stood cheekily on Ruan Xingyao’s shoulder, grinning smugly at Baiyi.
Baiyi bared its teeth in fury.
If Ruan Xingyao hadn’t been holding it, it would’ve already leapt up to bite that little monkey’s neck.
The others had already woken up by then, and aside from Ruan Xingyao’s tent, everything else had been packed up.
Chen Yu walked over and said to her, “Xingxing, we saved you some breakfast. Go eat a bit first.”
Ruan Xingyao nodded, patted the little monkey on the head to get it to come down, then sat on a small stool with Baiyi in her arms and began eating her breakfast.
Meanwhile, Chen Yu and Xie Lin had already started packing up her tent.
By the time Ruan Xingyao finished eating, everything was ready to go.
The group set off once again.
The little monkey sat pitifully on the ground, gazing at Ruan Xingyao with wide, longing eyes.
【Humans! Are you leaving already? Can I come with you?】
Ruan Xingyao poked the little monkey’s head and said, “No, you belong here. Stay and live well, grow up healthy.”
The little monkey drooped its ears and whimpered softly in grievance.
Ruan Xingyao stroked its head and infused it with a generous amount of spiritual energy, ensuring it would live a lifetime free of illness or misfortune.
Then she patted its head again and sent it back to its own territory.
The little dog Baiyi, proud and smug, barked “werwer” incessantly at the monkey’s retreating back.
That cheeky, smug expression made Ruan Xingyao sigh helplessly.
She picked Baiyi up and said, “Alright, that’s enough.”
Baiyi nuzzled into her palm contentedly — with no little monkey to compete for her attention anymore, it was completely spoiled.
The group continued deeper into the forest.
After a good night’s rest, even though the rain had left the mountain paths muddy, their pace did not slow.
By noon, they stopped to take a break.
After traveling like that for three days, they finally crossed the mountain and arrived at the border with the neighboring country.
Across a rushing river, Xie Lin said, “According to the intel we received, the laboratory is on the other side. Yuanyuan Zhaizhai is being kept there.”
Ruan Xingyao and Yi Wenxue released their spiritual energy to probe the area — indeed, they could sense a dense gathering of small animals on the opposite bank.
They could also feel that the animals were in great pain.
The two exchanged a look, then extended their spiritual power toward that direction to ease some of the creatures’ suffering.
However, since they still didn’t know what exactly was happening over there, Ruan Xingyao and Yi Wenxue dared not release too much spiritual power at once, for fear that those in the lab might sense something unusual.
Ruan Xingyao turned to Xie Lin and asked, “Captain Xie, when will we cross?”
She couldn’t bear to see small animals in pain — not knowing their situation made her heart ache.
Xie Lin examined the river and said, “It’s too dangerous right now. We’ll have to wait.”
The heavy rain from last night had made the river dangerously turbulent — it was impossible for them to cross safely for now.
“At the earliest, after nightfall,” Xie Lin added.
Crossing during the day would make it too hard for them to stay concealed.
Ruan Xingyao thought for a moment but said nothing.
She simply found a rock to sit on and began conserving her strength.
Seeing this, Xie Lin couldn’t help feeling worried.
He wanted to have a proper talk with Ruan Xingyao, but just then, a message came through his communicator, forcing him to go deal with it first.
Yi Wenxue sat down beside Ruan Xingyao and said, “Don’t worry. Since we’re here, we’ll definitely save them all.”
Ruan Xingyao nodded and smiled at him. “Don’t worry, Seventeenth Senior Brother. I’m not anxious — just resting.”
She needed to be in her best condition so that nothing would go wrong during the operation later.
When night finally fell and everyone had replenished their supplies, they changed into diving suits and began preparing for action.
Ruan Xingyao glanced at Xie Lin and the others and said, “Actually, we could ask the creatures in the river to help us.”
For example, they could have the big fish carry them across.
That way, they might be able to save some energy.
At her words, Chen Yu and Xie Lin didn’t react much, but He Chengxuan and Lin Xubai’s eyes lit up with curiosity.
Even though they had already witnessed Ruan Xingyao and Yi Wenxue’s extraordinary abilities over the past three days, they were still eager to see how Ruan Xingyao would enlist the river creatures’ help.
However, Xie Lin said, “Give me a little time to observe first. I’ll need to report this to our superiors and get approval, alright?”
Ruan Xingyao nodded casually and said, “Sure, do as you like.”
— The end of the Chapter–
TL note : Join Patreon to support the translation and to read up to 50 chapters of the release :
https://www.patreon.com/DeCakraWnloverz
