That night, Wang Qi continued practicing out-of-body cultivation. Ever since discovering its benefits, the rate at which his Internal Qi cultivation grew had nearly doubled.
He could clearly feel himself growing stronger every day, and the feeling utterly intoxicated him.
Only, something seemed a little strange today...
While out of his body, he dimly perceived fourteen threads connected to him. As he looked in the direction they extended, a powerful intuition arose in his heart, as though he knew there were people there.
Then he spread his arms, pushed lightly off the ground, and rode the wind into the air...
He drifted lightly across the sky, the mountain forest racing beneath his feet. Three li away, he spotted his teammates...
They were creeping toward him with textbook scouting movements, carefully watching every detail, as though afraid he might discover them.
This left him rather bewildered. What were these people doing?
He could not make sense of it. He sensed no malice from them... His perception was exceptionally keen in his out-of-body state. He knew he was their target, yet they bore him no ill intent.
That only made him curious. His consciousness remained floating in the air, watching them cautiously approach the place where his physical body lay.
He considered immediately returning to his body and responding by teaching them a lesson they would never forget, but abandoned the idea when he saw that they had not drawn their weapons.
Then his curiosity took over. What exactly were they trying to do?
All fourteen stopped within twenty meters. Then the woman with slit pupils, who had left such a deep impression on Wang Qi, stepped out from among them and wound her way through the snow. Her swaying figure truly resembled a beautiful serpent.
Forgive Wang Qi his limited experience, but he really had never seen anyone like her... Could it be a genetic mutation?
Curiosity filling his heart, he simply descended and followed close behind the woman with slit pupils... Suddenly, she stopped and looked suspiciously toward the spot where Wang Qi's consciousness stood.
Wang Qi immediately went still, astonishment rising within him. Can this woman sense my consciousness?
Under the gaze of those cold slit pupils, even his consciousness, untouched by sorrow or joy, felt a hair-raising chill.
The woman stared with her snakelike slit pupils, a puzzled expression on her face. She seemed both confused and hesitant.
Wang Qi marveled at her keen perception. The Yulin Shadow Guard really is teeming with talent... Even within just one unit under Commandant Lin, there's someone who can sense my consciousness.
He also understood that he could not remain there, so he simply returned to his body in a single step... His consciousness returned, but did not merge with his flesh. Instead, it waited above his body for the slit-pupiled woman to arrive.
Ran Jiao shook her head in bewilderment. What was that feeling of being watched just now?
She trusted her instincts deeply, which was precisely why she was so puzzled.
But then the sensation of being watched disappeared. She looked all around, yet could no longer find its source... In the end, she could only glance farther into the distance and attribute it to a false impression caused by her comrades watching her.
Yet because of this, her icy heart actually grew nervous... She did not know why she felt this way. All she could do was cast aside her doubts and continue toward the campsite, which almost blended into the snow-covered mountain forest.
The campsite was truly well chosen. Had there not been someone skilled in tracking and another adept at reconnaissance among them, it would have been very difficult to find.
She approached the tent cautiously. To quiet her footsteps, she swayed her supple waist so gently that she looked like a beautiful serpent.
She was the Shadow Guard's "Snake Beauty," after all. But she detested that nickname and only wanted others to call her by her real name.
Now she lifted the flap of Wang Qi's tent with the lightest touch, only to frown slightly...
She discovered that it was actually warm inside, so warm that it felt incredibly comfortable.
Clearly, there was no brazier here, nor any smell of burning charcoal, and the tent was not made of insulating felt.
What surprised her even more was that this man's tent did not "stink." There was not even any of the "stale foulness" of air that had sat enclosed all night.
The entire tent was clean and fresh, filled with a delicate fragrance like sunlight that she found utterly captivating.
But she quickly reminded herself why she had come and looked toward the figure lying at the far end of the tent... For some reason, looking at the lightly dressed youth, she actually worried that he might catch cold.
Just then, however, her scalp prickled and her heart jolted, because that strange, familiar feeling of being watched had returned.
And this time, it came from precisely the direction where Wang Qi lay!
She suddenly understood that Wang Qi was watching her... Never mind how she had discovered it. She simply trusted her intuition.
So she said coldly, "Since you've already noticed me, there's no need to pretend you're asleep, is there?"
Her tone was utterly certain.
And Wang Qi, who had been lying down, rose in response...
But something unexpected happened. The instant Wang Qi rose, her eyes seemed to catch sight of another Wang Qi sitting cross-legged before her, watching her!
The movement of the reclining Wang Qi sitting up swiftly overlapped with the seated Wang Qi. Then the two merged into one person who watched her coldly.
Her formerly narrow slit pupils suddenly widened, becoming perfect circles... For reflected within them at that moment was a figure with faint crimson-gold flames "flowing" all over his body!
Once again, she wondered whether she was seeing things, for in that instant she truly saw what looked like flames flowing over Wang Qi, pressed close against his skin.
But those "flames" soon sank into Wang Qi's body and vanished.
"What's wrong?" Wang Qi asked.
He had intended to sound sterner, but he could not help it. He discovered that once the woman's slit pupils became large, perfect circles, she looked strangely adorable...
This was also the first time he had properly studied her up close. Although she wore the same military uniform as the rest of them and had inevitably picked up some dirt and disarray, she had clearly taken care to keep herself relatively clean.
Her features were also quite lovely. It was only her slit-pupiled eyes that lent her an air of cold menace. Now that those pupils had "turned round," her whole demeanor had become rather intriguing.
"Hey?!"
But he noticed that she was still staring blankly, so he called out a little louder.
Only then did Ran Jiao snap to her senses. She hurriedly retreated two steps and turned her head away. "I only came to remind you that, as a soldier of the Scout Battalion, you must remain vigilant at all times. You should keep changing your campsite's location. Don't let someone creep right up to you without even noticing..."
After saying this, she turned and ran, her heart in utter turmoil... The sight she had just witnessed had truly frightened her.
Was that figure wreathed in flowing crimson-gold fire really Wang Qi?
Watching the woman suddenly run away, Wang Qi asked in great bewilderment, "Could you at least tell me your name?"
Ran Jiao did not answer.
Wang Qi did not particularly mind, though. Seeing the other teammates who had inexplicably appeared around him, he figured he could learn something like that by asking someone else.
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