Dragging Everyone Down

The spider girl's awakening put everyone at the scene on alert, but Xiao He remained unfazed. The spider girl's name was still "Lin Tiannan," not her original name, so his ability was still in effect. No matter whether she could travel a hundred thousand miles in a single leap or transform seventy-two times, she could never escape his grasp.

"W-Why am I here?!" Xia Yu looked around before backing away in terror. Then she looked at the coat draped over her body. "Am I on a helicopter? Why am I not wearing any clothes?"

"If you don't mind, put on mine first." Ye Wanqing handed her the clothes she had been wearing earlier, then shot Xiao He a glare. "So certain people don't get any improper ideas..."

Xiao He curled his lip, too lazy to argue with her. Honestly, he had already seen pretty much everything before carrying the girl back. There was no need to ruin what little reputation he had left at this point.

"So, you don't remember what happened before?" Cui Man asked curiously.

"I don't know..." Xia Yu shook her head, looking both confused and frightened. "I went to the warehouse to get some clothes in a customer's size, then it felt like something bit my hand, and then... the world around me changed. I couldn't see anything clearly, only make out some blurry shadows. But I could feel a lot of things, like tiny vibrations..."

"Ma'am, I think even her senses may have turned into those of a spider," one of the accompanying researchers explained. "Spiders perceive things differently from humans. Their vision is terrible; they basically rely on sensing vibrations to hunt prey."

"So even her physical structure changed, and she became a complete spider?" Cui Man suddenly understood. "That's why she couldn't communicate with the people around her at the time... Her ability to receive sound was affected too, and without human vocal cords, she couldn't speak."

"I was scared, so I could only run somewhere quiet and wait for it all to pass..." Xia Yu said fearfully, clutching her head.

"You should have a supernatural ability. As for what triggered it, we don't know yet." Cui Man held her hand and smiled kindly. "If you're willing to come back to the Special Response Department with me, I can help you figure it out. Maybe in the future, you could consider working with the Special Response Department. We'll offer you generous compensation, just like these two over here..."

As Cui Man spoke, she turned toward Xiao He and Ye Wanqing. In truth, Xiao He wanted to tell the girl not to get involved, especially since all she could do in the future might be act as cannon fodder to buy time like he had today.

Making a girl who looked barely older than a middle schooler do something like that... was simply too cruel.

But he couldn't say those words in front of Cui Man.

"I-I don't know... My mind is still a mess right now." Xia Yu looked extremely nervous.

"It's all right, it's all right." Cui Man wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into an embrace, comforting her softly. "We won't force you. If you don't want to, we'll help you find out how your ability was triggered, then help you return to a normal life, okay? You don't want what happened today to happen again, right? Once we understand how it works, we can prevent it."

"Mhm..." Xia Yu nodded gently, finally calming down a little.

"Want something to eat?" Xiao He raised the half-eaten compressed biscuit in his hand.

"...Yes." Xia Yu stared at the compressed biscuit and swallowed.

Xiao He immediately felt awkward. He had only been making polite conversation, but he didn't have any extra compressed biscuits. Even this one had been given to him by Ye Wanqing. So he turned to Ye Wanqing, pointed at Xia Yu, and said, "Babe, give her one too."

Ye Wanqing muttered something under her breath, then grabbed a pack of compressed biscuits and a bottle of water from the side and handed them to Xia Yu.

Using her ability had clearly left Xia Yu starving. After changing clothes, she wolfed down the compressed biscuits and drank half the bottle of water before finally settling down, falling asleep against Cui Man's shoulder.

"This child... she must have been terrified today." Cui Man stroked her head and sighed.

"She shattered every bone in my body..." Xiao He muttered quietly from the side.

"You had a hard day too," Cui Man replied. "She seems like an honest girl. Once you escort her to the research institute, you can head home."

There was no longer any urgency on the way back, so the helicopter flew slowly. After two hours of flight, it finally landed at the military base in Beichang City.

Since Xia Yu was still weak and emotionally unstable, they arranged for her to stay there for the time being, planning to begin their research after she rested for the night.

Once they confirmed that she was stable and would not transform again, Cui Man sent someone to drive Xiao He and Ye Wanqing home.

"Today is finally over..." Xiao He complained as he rubbed his shoulders after entering. "What a long day."

"Yeah." Ye Wanqing sighed with a frown. After changing shoes, she collapsed onto the sofa. "Home is still better..."

"What do you want for dinner? I'll order for you. Sister Man said we completed a mission today, so we can reward ourselves a little." Xiao He said excitedly. "How about McDonald's? Or do you want KFC? Pizza Hut?"

"I'll pass. I didn't really exercise much. Just get me a salad," Ye Wanqing said weakly.

"You..." Xiao He frowned. "There's no need for that. You're not fat."

"Just do that. I'll rest for a while." Ye Wanqing turned over, putting her back to him.

Xiao He shrugged, grabbed his phone, and started ordering food nearby.

Ye Wanqing was actually a little angry with herself. She felt that although she was Xiao He's partner, she couldn't do anything when it mattered. Even when Xiao He was in danger, all she could do was watch from afar and wait for the technicians to provide her with an ID bearing a name. She felt that she was, at best, logistical support—not really a partner.

To put it bluntly, she felt like she had been dragging him down. It made her unhappy, but there was nothing she could do about it. So at the very least, she wanted to strictly carry out the list the Special Response Department had given her. That made her feel like she was doing something meaningful.

"Dinner's here, darling." Xiao He grinned as he placed her salad beside her. "I got you a salad, plus chicken breast, tuna, steak, and a yogurt purple sweet potato mash. Even a fitness meal can be a little more substantial, right? The mission was so exhausting today. You should treat yourself."

"You..." Ye Wanqing sat up and glared at him. "Then what's the point of a fitness meal?"

"Come on, people should make themselves happy while they're alive." Xiao He opened his McDonald's meal with a smile. "Watch some shows, have a fizzy drink, pair it with some junk food..."

"Your happiness is way too simple." Ye Wanqing couldn't help smiling. "What are you watching?"

"The Haunting," Xiao He replied. "Want to watch? I can cast it to the TV, and we can watch together."

"No... I hate horror movies the most." Ye Wanqing protested. "Who watches horror movies while eating? If we're watching something during dinner, it should be a food show."

"Then how about The Solitary Gourmet?" Xiao He asked tentatively.

"That works." Ye Wanqing nodded. After a pause, she added, "Tomorrow morning, let's go for a run."