A Woman's Words

"The back seat is for leaders. When it's just the two of us, remember to sit beside your friend. It's basic courtesy." Xia Yan sat in the driver's seat and looked at Jiang Xiao through the rearview mirror as she spoke.

Jiang Xiao shrugged, opened the door, and got into the passenger seat. "We're too well-matched. I'm afraid people will mistake us for a couple if I sit in the passenger seat."

Xia Yan froze for a moment, nearly rendered speechless by his retort. After a while, she said furiously, "We're well-matched!?"

Jiang Xiao's perfunctory expression was exactly like that of a man dealing with a disobedient girlfriend. "Mm-hmm, I get it. You don't have to shout."

Xia Yan: "*&%￥#!!!"

The pitch-black Land Rover roared all the way into Jiannan Village. Jiang Xiao didn't dare act up again, afraid this wicked woman would kick him out of the car.

What surprised Jiang Xiao was that this time, upon entering the Snowfield, Xia Yan not only hadn't looked for Han Jiangxue, she hadn't even hired any soldiers from the organization.

Under normal circumstances, this wasn't allowed.

To ensure the safety of Awakened and to serve as a means of supervision, teams of Awakened who came here were generally forced to take a soldier with them to act as a guide and bodyguard.

But whether Xia Yan was truly strong enough or had simply spent enough money, this time, only the two of them entered the Snowfield as a team.

Jiang Xiao didn't dare say anything, but he couldn't help feeling that a two-person team entering the Snowfield was more like a suicide mission.

However, given Xia Yan's relationship with Han Jiangxue, as well as Xia Yan's basically decent nature, she had no reason to deliberately get Jiang Xiao killed.

At that thought, Jiang Xiao didn't know whether he should feel relieved or worried.

Fortunately, Xia Yan also offered an explanation. She said that the situation they had encountered last time had been an exceptional case. Normally, the odds of encountering a White Ghost Witch were very low, and the odds of running into such a huge White Ghost Pack were even lower.

Strictly speaking, White Ghosts weren't pack animals. They were natural-born hunters, and what made them even more terrifying was that their prey consisted of their own kind.

If you discovered a White Ghost pack in the Snowfield, either the White Ghost Witch had gathered them together, or an unusually powerful individual had appeared within the pack—one capable of suppressing a group of fierce, irritable hunters.

In short: level suppression.

But in the vast majority of cases, White Ghosts were loners.

White Ghosts were strange creatures resembling Earth's mammals. They also possessed astonishing vitality and were perpetually in heat.

Under normal circumstances, a female White Ghost would kick the male away and raise her child alone until it was weaned.

A mother's instincts would make female White Ghosts restrain their urge to hunt their young. As for fatherly love, that was unreliable. When hungry, male White Ghosts would not only eat their children—they would eat their mates as well.

Of course, female White Ghosts also sometimes ate their young. Generally speaking, their intelligence was low, and their blood ran with the genes of slaughter. Sometimes, maternal instinct simply couldn't overcome their bloodlust.

Fortunately, they had an extremely strong reproductive ability. Otherwise, the White Ghost species could wipe itself out.

Humans had mechanically applied theories from their own society and managed to explain some of these phenomena, but this was ultimately a fantastical Different Dimension World. Many things couldn't be explained clearly. The species here were extremely limited, and it seemed impossible for a complete biological chain to form.

Back to the matter at hand.

Jiang Xiao wore a snow-colored Camouflage Uniform, dark-blue ski goggles, and a Marching Pack as he followed Xia Yan into the Snowfield.

Xia Yan was dressed in snow-colored Camouflage Uniform as well. With a two-meter-long giant blade on her back, she led the way.

Returning to this wondrous world once more gave Jiang Xiao the feeling that a lifetime had passed.

It was still the snow-covered world, still the dim sky. The stars glittered brilliantly overhead, while dreamlike auroras flickered along the distant horizon.

The scene was so magnificent that it was more breathtaking than any science-fiction blockbuster.

"What exactly is our mission this time? To test what I've accomplished over the past week?" Jiang Xiao caught up with Xia Yan and asked.

Compared to last time, the Snowfield's weather was much better. The howling wind was gone, leaving the place eerily quiet.

Xia Yan walked onward, her feet crunching through the snow with a pleasant "creak, creak."

"More or less," Xia Yan said.

Jiang Xiao asked tentatively, "Isn't this a little too aggressive? I've only trained for a week and just learned the basic movements."

"I think your fundamentals are very solid—more solid than mine were back then. You don't need to be modest." Xia Yan turned to look at Jiang Xiao. Her beautiful eyes appeared breathtaking beneath the brilliant galaxy.

"Uh." Jiang Xiao hesitated. Perhaps because of the Inner Star Map, even though his Barehanded Combat was only Bronze Quality Lv. 5, he had truly mastered the fundamentals.

"After reading ten thousand books, you should also travel ten thousand miles." Xia Yan strode forward, finally looking a little like a mentor. "Before this, you were a clueless rookie with nothing in your head. Even if you traveled ten thousand miles, you'd only be a postman."

Xia Yan patted Jiang Xiao on the shoulder. "But things are different now. You completed in one week a task I expected to take you a month. You've read a few books, so it's time for you to set out on the road."

Jiang Xiao fell silent, knowing she had more to say.

"Training is ultimately just training. Lei Jin can only give you the pressure of victory and defeat, but White Ghosts will give you the pressure of life and death." Xia Yan spoke softly. "A true beast isn't trained. It's forged through killing."

"You have far more potential, perseverance, and diligence than your sister imagined. I saw your transformation over those seven days. Even I find it unbelievable, but you truly did it." Xia Yan's words made Jiang Xiao's heart turn cold.

Have I been showing too much of my edge? I should've kept a lower profile.

"Your basic movements are already extremely solid. You truly are a genius—a genius with only 9 Star Slots." Xia Yan's voice held both admiration and regret.

"For the next ten days, the two of us will live here." As Xia Yan walked forward, she spotted the red-glowing Red Star Flag floating in the air. She put an arm around Jiang Xiao's shoulders and turned his face forward. "We'll survive in this Snowfield."

Jiang Xiao: ???

Xia Yan smiled. "Don't look at that outpost. We won't set foot in it."

Jiang Xiao stopped and said seriously, "I think this mission would be more suitable for me a month from now."

"No." Xia Yan shook her head with a smile. "Ten days from now, you'll return to school to participate in the final stage of military training. Fifteen days from now, you'll shine in the graduation assessment. After that, you'll be specially admitted into my team."

Jiang Xiao was silent for a long while before saying, "Xia Yan, I'm grateful for everything you've done for me, but I'm only a first-year high school student. My body has only just begun to mature, and my Star Power is still very weak. Carrying out outdoor missions with a group of Third Year of High School elite students like you isn't exactly ideal—"

"Then let me put it another way." Xia Yan cut Jiang Xiao off forcefully. "You'll join your sister's team. Her team is missing a support member. You know how scarce Medical Awakened are, and you know even better how important support is to a team."

Jiang Xiao said awkwardly, "I'm just a nobody with the Bronze Quality 'Blessing' Star Skill. I'm not stupid. I've seen how strong you are. Even if we counted every high school in Beijiang Province, you'd still rank among the best. I couldn't even last one round against you."

"Having a basic Medical Star Technique already proves your potential. Leave the matter of high-quality Medical Star Techniques to me." Xia Yan shook her head, rejecting Jiang Xiao's argument. "Medical Awakened are different from Awakened in other categories. You don't need to last one round against anyone, because I won't let anyone get near you."

The way she put it was strangely touching. Looking at Xia Yan before him, then thinking of Han Jiangxue, who had given him everything she had, Jiang Xiao could only sigh helplessly.

"One condition."

Xia Yan: "Hm? Go on."

Jiang Xiao: "For all the White Ghosts we kill, we'll split the Star Pearls eighty-twenty. I get eighty, you get twenty."

Xia Yan: "I won't take twenty. One is enough."

Jiang Xiao grinned. "You said it."

Xia Yan smiled brightly as well. "Also, don't misunderstand. I won't be fighting alongside you. I'm only here to protect you."

Jiang Xiao: ???

Hadn't she just said she wouldn't let anyone get near him?

She forgot that so quickly?

A woman's words—

A lying ghost!