Heart on His Sleeve

Zhao Mou couldn't possibly hang up the phone one second and teleport to the snow-capped mountain the next.

So even when Zhao Yijiu said that, all that came through the phone was a mischievous chuckle, and then the old fox drawled out, clearly gloating, "Sorry, A Jiu, I still have some things to take care of."

"Your sister Qu is going there. She's fast; she'll be there in half a day. You just need to keep an eye on Yu Xing for half a day and make sure he doesn't do anything wrong."

"Oh, by the way, Carlos has rejoined the team and told me everything that happened in the dungeon. I've already started dealing with Yu Xing's return. He also said that you two entered a special space near the end of the dungeon, and I have a pretty good idea what happened."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "Did you get the item, or did someone else get it?"

Judging from the way he asked the question, Zhao Mou probably didn't know that the thing everyone was fighting over was the ticket to Yin Yang City.

Zhao Yijiu: "Yu Xing got it, but..."

He subconsciously reached for the bandage on his neck, then noticed Yu Xing watching him. He twitched his fingers, but ultimately didn't move. "We'll talk about it when we get back. We've obtained a lot of new intelligence. The situation is more far-reaching than we imagined. The Absurdity System has made another big move."

"Okay, we'll have a meeting again when we get back. The most urgent thing right now is to get Yu Xing back to his senses, but judging from the current situation, he's not very dangerous. He hasn't endangered ordinary people, nor has he harmed you, right?" Zhao Mou's smile faded slightly, and his voice turned serious. "Try to go along with whatever he wants to do. It'll be a good opportunity to see what's affecting his consciousness and what he's craving."

Zhao Yijiu thought to himself that the thing was thirsty for blood, he couldn't possibly actually...

Zhao Mou didn't know what his brother was thinking, but he simply stated his own thoughts. "Take advantage of the time when the danger of that thing is restrained by Yu Xing himself to investigate more, so that we will have a plan in place if anything goes wrong later."

Zhao Yijiu: "... Okay."

At least Qu Xuanqing was already on her way, and with this deadline, things immediately became much easier.

After hanging up the phone, he turned his head and met Yu Xing's raised eyebrows.

"So your brother means you should go along with me." Yu Xing licked her dry lips. "He's such a good brother."

Zhao Yijiu:!

It was overheard.

Yu Xing stared at Zhao Yijiu's calm expression and soon saw a hint of annoyance on that face that hadn't changed much over the years.

He laughed out loud, and asked in bewilderment, "My hearing hasn't deteriorated, so why didn't you let me leave the room for a moment before making the call? If you wanted to discuss how to settle me, how could you make such a basic mistake?"

Zhao Yijiu lowered her eyes. "Because they're teammates."

With teammates around, they are always more relaxed than in other situations, especially now that they are not even in the simulation dungeon. He didn't constantly think about whether Yu Xing's hearing was good enough to hear the phone call clearly.

His leg was bumped again.

The bark was rough, giving off a gritty, abrasive feeling. He looked down and saw a section of branch about the size of a bowl, with no beginning or end, arching up from the floor.

The branch that had just extended from the wall was gone, its whereabouts unknown, but more thick branches twisted and turned, crowding into the room from all directions.

If you look closely, you'll see that the branches don't actually penetrate the walls or ceiling; they come from some kind of void. They don't exist on the same level as the matter we can see; rather, they overlap with it.

Now the branches are multiplying, and they seem to be trying to fill the house completely.

"What are you doing?" Zhao Yijiu couldn't help but ask.

Yu Xing shrugged. "I'm just stretching my muscles."

A very arrogant vine stretched out in front of him, its tip curving upwards.

A nerve in Yu Xing's brain was triggered, and she vaguely received a wisp of consciousness from the vines.

[It's the master, but how come the master is a human?]

The surrounding plant shadows also began to chatter.

Humans are too weak, but their masters are not.

[The human next to me is very weak.]

Are you guys blind? This guy next to us isn't even human, and he's not weak at all!

[Do you care if our master is human or not? We'll be under his control anyway.]

[This person looks interesting, will he taste good?]

I'd like to try it.

I'd like to try it.

I'd like to try it.

The voices emanating from their consciousness gradually became unified, as they began to crave food due to hunger.

Yu Xing, dissatisfied, gripped the arrogant vine in her hand and tied it into a tight knot, ignoring its screams.

Then his stomach growled.

"..."

Yu Xing gazed longingly at Zhao Yijiu.

"If you absolutely must have blood," Zhao Yijiu said, understanding Yu Xing's meaning. He sighed, flicked his wrist, and the Stop Killing appeared in his palm. "Then I'll give you your blood to drink."

He wasn't stingy with his blood; he had spilled countless amounts of blood in battle. The reason he had refused Yu Xing before was because he was afraid that Yu Xing would be controlled by the anomaly and would be even less likely to regain her senses once she drank his blood.

But now he knows why Yu Xing has become like this. Yu Xing just told him in the memo not to worry, so she's probably just really hungry.

Besides, Zhao Mou has already said he wants to go along with Yu Xing.

All the branches in the room trembled excitedly; some of the more flexible ones swayed like seaweed drifting in the wind.

He said he could give us his blood to drink.

[Suck him dry!]

I don't think one human is enough to share.

Zhao Yijiu couldn't hear these whispers in his mind; he only felt that these things were too anthropomorphic.

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "When you met me in the city outside Base 51, it seemed you controlled a tree branch to pierce through the pollutants I was chasing. You could control these things back then, right?"

Yu Xing was about to kill the tree branch that claimed to have sucked the plants dry when he heard this, and casually said, "Yes, but back then I could only control existing plants. Now I can summon them from the void."

As for controlling plants, he already knew how when he came out of Dead Silent Island.

But these things in the void, perhaps they could be considered plants, but they felt more like incarnations of an evil god to him.

Yu Xing caught a glimpse of Zhao Yijiu about to slash her arm, and he grabbed her, saying, "Don't take the blood from here."

Zhao Yijiu said with a blank face, "Heh, you're quite picky? Blood from anywhere is all the same."

"I can smell the blood on your neck. The snow there is the sweetest." Yu Xing touched the gauze and watched as Zhao Yijiu's body instantly stiffened.

He shook his head. "But you're hiding something from me. You don't want me to see what's under the gauze, so I can't drink the blood from there."

Zhao Yijiu didn't know how to reply.

Can anyone tell him why Yu Xing is more perceptive now than when he's sober?

Before he could prepare what to say, Yu Xing continued, "You've been keeping this from me, so I can't ask, right? I don't care. I don't want your blood anymore. I want to go play on the snowy mountains."

"Play?"

"This place seems to be called a scenic area." Yu Xing racked her brains, searching for common sense in her memory. "Humans like to play in scenic areas. I'm not a monster, so I want to play too... in the snow, in the snow."

"Then first!" Yu Xing stood up, as if to announce something extraordinary.

Zhao Yijiu pricked up her ears.

Yu Xing held up one finger. "I want a down jacket with a fur collar."

Zhao Yijiu: "..."