Seeing that Hong Zhuang's red snake had stopped tracking her, she was not in any hurry. She raised a hand, and the red snake on the ground leaped into the woman's palm on its own.
Hong Zhuang lightly squeezed the pale, slender hand, and the snake exploded, splattering blood everywhere.
The blood landed on the ground, scattering across the grass, mud, and stones. In an instant, the snake's blood began to writhe and gather at a single point before stretching forward.
It stretched into a thin line of blood pointing west.
Hong Zhuang immediately turned west. Her body suddenly dispersed into a cloud of pale-red mist. The mist condensed into the shape of a giant python and swiftly slithered across the land.
Soon.
Dawn broke.
Hong Zhuang stood barefoot on a grassy slope.
The morning sunlight shone upon her face.
The woman frowned slightly, seemingly displeased, and moved beneath the shade of a tree.
She looked ahead. There was a Surface Base in the distance, and the personnel inside had begun moving about, busying themselves with the necessities of a new day.
Hong Zhuang had to admit that she had underestimated Qing Lian.
She was certain that Qing Lian had not gone west. She had merely used some method to deceive Hong Zhuang's divination.
"Hehe."
Hong Zhuang said softly, "Xiao Qing, I'll just assume you've stayed by Big Sister's side for too long and grown tired of people, so you went out to clear your head."
"You'd better not ruin my great undertaking."
"Otherwise, you should know what Big Sister is capable of."
With that said.
Hong Zhuang turned around and disappeared into a stretch of woods.
After a while.
Hong Zhuang's figure appeared inside the base. Strangely, even though she walked along the base's main road, the passing personnel