Hunt Again

Song Chen clenched his fists.

Tomorrow, he would go out again.

But this time, he was no longer a 0.6-rated piece of trash.

Song Chen turned around, returned to his bed, and lay down.

His body was exhausted, but his mind was buzzing with excitement; he closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep.

Outside the window, the occasional sound of patrolling soldiers' footsteps drifted in, along with the faint, distant roars of beasts.

He did not know how much time had passed before he finally fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, he saw a red seed take root and sprout inside his heart, growing into a towering tree.

The tree was laden with fruit, and every single fruit was a life core.

He reached out to pluck one, and then he woke up.

It was already bright outside the window.

Song Chen sat up and stretched his body.

A new day, a new beginning.

He stood up, put on his jacket, and pushed open the door.

When Song Chen arrived at the assembly point, the others were already waiting in the clearing at the center of the camp.

Li Wei stood at the front, wearing a dark blue combat suit with her hair tied into a neat ponytail.

Her complexion was much better than yesterday; the wound on her arm had been bandaged, and color had returned to her face.

Wang Jun was squatting nearby, gnawing on a steamed bun, his eyes clearer than they had been the day before.

Sun Qiang and Liu Tingting stood together, whispering to each other. Seeing Song Chen emerge, both of them fell silent at once.

Li Wei nodded toward him: "Morning, Song Chen."

"Morning."

Song Chen walked over and took his place in the line.

Zhang Zhenyun was leaning against an armored vehicle smoking a cigarette; seeing that everyone had arrived, he stubbed it out and walked over.

"Roll call."

"Li Wei."

"Present."

"Wang Jun."

"Present."

"Sun Qiang."

"Present."

"Song Chen."

"Present."

Zhang Zhenyun nodded, his gaze sweeping over the few people before him.

Then, he frowned.

"Where is Zhao Wei? Why hasn't he come to assemble?"

No one spoke.

Sun Qiang and Liu Tingting exchanged a glance and lowered their heads; Li Wei remained expressionless, and Wang Jun continued to gnaw on his bun.

Song Chen stayed silent; he had no idea where the man had gone either.

Zhang Zhenyun's brow furrowed even deeper. He pulled out his phone, tapped it a few times, and held it to his ear for a moment.

Then he put the phone away, his expression subtle.

"Zhao Wei returned to the city last night."

"He claimed his leg injury was severe and insisted on going back for treatment. The school actually approved it for such a minor wound—what is going on? Just because he has connections doesn't mean he can treat the rules like a joke."

The group was silent for a second.

Then Li Wei gave a soft scoff: "Severe leg injury? It was just a scratch. My arm injury is much worse than his, and I didn't ask to go back."

Sun Qiang muttered under his breath: "He was just scared."

Liu Tingting didn't say anything, but the expression on her face said it all.

Wang Jun finally finished his bun, looked up, and for once, spoke up: "Coward."

Song Chen stood in the line, listening to the discussion with a blank expression.

Zhao Wei left?

As expected.

After that slap yesterday, Zhao Wei had huddled in the corner and hadn't said another word.

That kind of person was a bully who feared the strong and picked on the weak; he would strut around when things were going his way, but would be the first to run when the tide turned.

If he had actually stayed, Song Chen would have found it strange instead.

Zhang Zhenyun cut off the group's discussion: "Alright, he's gone, so be it. It doesn't change anything. Whether it's six people or five, we still have to kill exotic beasts."

His gaze fell on Song Chen and suddenly paused.

"You..."

Zhang Zhenyun stared at Song Chen, a strange look flashing in his eyes.

He stepped closer, looking Song Chen up and down.

"Your hand is healed?"

Song Chen raised his left hand and held it out in front of him.

The bloody, mangled holes from yesterday had completely returned to normal today.

Zhang Zhenyun looked at that hand and remained silent for a few seconds. Then, he raised his head to look at Song Chen's face.

"Your blood-qi value... it's not right."

Song Chen didn't speak.

Zhang Zhenyun narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze seemingly trying to see right through Song Chen.

"Yesterday you were at 0.6, but today I see you're around 1.1. How did you gain so much in a single night?"

The eyes of everyone in the team snapped toward Song Chen.

Li Wei's eyes widened, and Wang Jun was no longer listless.

Sun Qiang and Liu Tingting had their mouths agape, their faces full of disbelief.

An increase of over 0.5 in one night?

What kind of concept was that?

For an ordinary person, gaining 0.1 in a year of cultivation would be considered good.

Children from wealthy families, consuming all sorts of supplements, would only gain about 0.3 a year.

Gaining 0.5 in one night?

That was something one wouldn't even dare to dream about.

Song Chen met their gazes without a hint of panic on his face and gave the excuse he had prepared.

"When we were lying in ambush yesterday, I found a fruit in the grass."

"A fruit?" Zhang Zhenyun raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Song Chen's tone was calm, as if he were talking about what he had for breakfast.

"It was black, small, and hidden under the roots of the grass. I didn't know what it was, but it looked unique, so I just picked it."

"I was hungry last night, so I ate it."

The team fell into a dead silence.

The corners of several people's mouths twitched simultaneously.

Zhang Zhenyun stared at Song Chen for a long time, his gaze heavy with pressure.

An ordinary person might have already felt guilty under such a stare.

But Song Chen just looked back at him calmly.

After a long while, Zhang Zhenyun suddenly laughed.

"A black fruit? Do you take me for a three-year-old?"

Song Chen didn't speak.

Zhang Zhenyun stepped closer, lowered his voice, and spoke at a volume only the two of them could hear: "I don't know where you got that thing, and I don't want to ask."

"But let me tell you, out here beyond the city walls, eating random things will get you killed. You got lucky today, but what about tomorrow?"

Song Chen looked at him and nodded: "I know. Thank you, Captain."

Zhang Zhenyun stared at him for two seconds, then stepped back and returned to his normal volume.

"Alright, regardless of what you ate, it's a good thing your strength has improved. Now, get in the vehicle."

He turned and walked toward the armored vehicle.

After two steps, he stopped and said without looking back: "Remember, next time you find something, let me see it first. If it happens to be poisonous, at least I can collect your corpse."

Song Chen watched his back, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. This captain was interesting.

The armored vehicle drove out of the camp once more, passing through the defense zone and the alert zone, finally stopping in the same hilly area as yesterday.

Same spot, same waist-high grass, and the same tactic: lie still and wait for the exotic beasts to come.

"Get out of the car. Same rules as always: wait."

The five of them jumped out and crouched into the tall grass.

Zhang Zhenyun leaned against the vehicle to light a cigarette, his gaze sweeping across the distance.

The sun was bright today, and visibility was excellent.

Every detail of the ruins was clearly visible: collapsed walls, twisted rebar, and the occasional black shadow darting across the sky—the flying species among the mutated beasts.

Li Wei whispered, "Captain, are we waiting for wild boars again today?"

Zhang Zhenyun replied indifferently, "Not necessarily. We wiped out that pack of boars yesterday. What comes out today could be anything—wild dogs, mutated wolves, or if our luck is bad, a mutated bear."

Sun Qiang's face turned pale. "A mutated bear? A Tier 2?"

"Obviously. Even a Tier 1 bear is harder to deal with than a wild boar."

Zhang Zhenyun exhaled a cloud of smoke. "But don't worry, there aren't many Tier 2s in this area. You won't be that unlucky."

"Even if you do run into one, I'm here to hold the line. There's nothing to fear."