Snake Moon's Skyfire

Feng Ling sat in the car, her face dark as could be.

The traffic was awful...

A trip of less than ten kilometers had taken her a full hour.

She watched helplessly as the sun sank lower and lower until it finally disappeared completely. At eight in the evening, the city's streetlights came on, illuminating the gradually clearing roads.

But what was the point?

The sky was already pitch-black. After they got onto the bridge, aside from the road lit by the headlights, the river on both sides was as black as ink, blending into the night sky. Nothing could be seen.

What frogs? What White Bird? All of them—she couldn't see a thing!

Zhou Diao drawled from inside the car, "This road is always congested. There was a traffic accident today too, so it got even worse. Since it's already dark, let's just take a lap around the bridge and head back."

"Let's go back." Feng Ling felt thoroughly disappointed. "We'll come again tomorrow."

"If we find White Bird tomorrow, will we be able to find the Maze entrance?" Zhou Diao asked her.

Feng Ling shot him a glance. "There are three lines in the riddle. The last one is: Snake Moon's Skyfire burns out the gate in the ashes."

Zhou Diao said easily, "It's only three lines. We already have leads on the first two, so the third one will definitely be quick to find. No need to rush at all~"

Feng Ling closed her eyes and leaned against the seatback, replying irritably, "Twenty-nine percent."

Zhou Diao: "..."

Right. They still needed to hurry.

An odd silence fell over the car.

Half a minute later, Zhou Diao rallied and said to Feng Ling, "We shouldn't sit around doing nothing. Even if it's dark and we can't see White Bird, we can use the time to figure out what the third line means. Let me think... Snake Moon's Skyfire... hmm..."

Racking his brains, Zhou Diao glanced out the window. "Can't even see the moon..."

"It can't be that literal, can it?" Feng Ling frowned. "Snake Moon means a moon shaped like a snake? Skyfire means fire in the sky?"

Huangfu Miaomiao was also thinking hard. "Fire in the sky... either the sun or a meteor?"

Feng Ling grew annoyed. "The sun is a daytime thing, and meteors only show up at night! Why did they make a Maze so complicated? Do they even want people to get inside?!"

Zhou Diao thought, Mazes weren't meant for humans in the first place.

Before he could voice that complaint, he saw Huangfu Miaomiao frantically shaking her head at him in the rearview mirror. Her lips moved slowly, and judging from the shape of them, she seemed to be saying—

Don't... provoke... her?

Zhou Diao: "..."

Maybe he ought to persuade Feng Ling to enter the Gas Chamber instead. This pressure that could erupt at any moment was far too terrifying.

No one spoke in the car, and Feng Ling was in no mood to chat either.

Irritably, she took out her phone and unexpectedly discovered that Daoist Priest Li had sent her a message.

'Daoist Priest Li has transferred ￥650.00 to you. Please accept.'

'Daoist Priest Li: Have you found a safe place to stay? Have you prepared enough food and water?'

Feng Ling's face visibly brightened.

How could she not brighten up after receiving money?

Without the slightest psychological burden, she tapped to accept the transfer and happily claimed the six hundred and fifty yuan. Her whole demeanor turned gentle and pleasant, leaving Huangfu Miaomiao and Zhou Diao staring in astonishment.

"Who sent you that message?" Zhou Diao could not suppress his curiosity.

"A good person." Feng Ling's eyes curved as she lowered her head to reply.

'Aisha: Found one~(^w^)~'

'Aisha: Daoist Priest, would you like to come over? I'll treat you to dinner~'

'Daoist Priest Li: Don't tell me your address, and don't tell anyone else either. They'll be here soon.'

They would be here soon?

Feng Ling narrowed her eyes slightly.

'Aisha: But I already said on the Forum that I went to Yunhai City.'

'Daoist Priest Li: Not all Players pay attention to posts on the human Forum.'

'Daoist Priest Li: Some of them form alliances specifically to hunt high-Points targets traveling alone. Contaminants and Bosses are their targets as well. Be careful.'

Feng Ling thought, Could there be some new development on the Player Forum?

'Aisha: How many of them are there? Are they strong?'

The Daoist Priest did not reply for a long time.

She waited for a while before sending him a question mark.

There was still no response from the other end. He might have been busy with something.

Feng Ling scrolled back through the chat history, savored the 650-yuan transfer again, then put away her phone.

Seeing her calm expression, Huangfu Miaomiao and Zhou Diao both secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

By the time they returned to the apartment, it was already nine at night. Feng Ling opened the chat again, but there was still no message from the Daoist Priest.

That was strange.

She did not dwell on it too much and habitually opened a food delivery app to order dinner.

The two nests on her body were absorbing energy every moment. She had to keep eating huge amounts to meet her body's needs. Otherwise, she feared that not only would she fail to feed the nests, but she herself would starve to the point of collapse.

There were pitifully few restaurants open at night, and there were fewer delivery riders too. The delivery fees were shockingly high.

After all, on nights when Xenomorphs were more active, everyone was risking their lives to make money.

Feng Ling did not have many options. She found a Shaxian Snacks restaurant that had not closed yet and ordered every item on the menu.

She was even worried it would not be enough, so she went to the kitchen to boil some frozen wontons.

Zhou Diao was amazed by her appetite and even a little envious. He mused, "If you ate like this every day for several days straight, would you not need to eat for the entire next year?"

"It's a special period lately, so I'm eating more," Feng Ling said as she ate.

"A special period?" Zhou Diao sat across from her and asked, "What special period?"

"It's a little hard to explain..." Feng Ling thought for a moment, swallowed the food in her mouth, and explained, "You can think of it as me being pregnant with Twins and needing a lot of nutrition."

Zhou Diao froze. "You... are pregnant?"

"It's only a metaphor." Feng Ling continued eating. "Forget it if you don't understand. It's not important."

Zhou Diao had been somewhat confused, but after hearing her out, he could not help getting angry. "How do I not understand? You're the one who didn't explain it clearly! What woman uses herself being pregnant as a metaphor?!"

Huangfu Miaomiao silently raised the perfume bottle beside him.

Zhou Diao: "..."

He suddenly felt a little guilty.

Zhou Diao cautiously watched Feng Ling's reaction. Only when he saw that she was still eating calmly, with no sign of anger, did he relax slightly.

"Then..." he asked hesitantly, "Then when, ahem, will you probably give birth?"

"Any time," Feng Ling replied.

Zhou Diao fell silent for a long time.

What did "any time" mean?

Did it mean what he thought it meant?

He silently scrutinized Feng Ling. No matter how he looked at her, she did not seem like someone about to give birth...

Zhou Diao had always believed he feared neither heaven nor earth, but when he thought about Feng Ling being pregnant and having a child, why did it feel so horrifying? It made his heart pound in terror.

"Tonight... will you give birth?" Zhou Diao gathered his courage and asked.

Feng Ling shook her head. She seemed to have genuinely considered the matter and answered, "Xenomorphs could appear at any time, the Maze still hasn't been found, and the Corruption Value problem hasn't been solved. There's a whole pile of things waiting for me to do. The timing isn't right. It's not time to raise babies."

As she spoke, she flicked her left wrist.

The two Silver Bracelets on her wrist suddenly turned into two Silver Cards, floating beside Feng Ling.

Unlike ordinary Silver Cards, these two cards seemed layered. One inner layer bore a pattern, while the outer layer was inscribed with Big Eyes.

"Holy shit..." Zhou Diao exclaimed in amazement, unable to stop himself from reaching out. "What the hell are those?"

"Don't touch them," Feng Ling said. "Otherwise, I'll give birth to you."