Looks like we're stuck here

Carrying Lu Jingheng through the rugged canyon drained far more stamina than Luo Li had expected.

Although his physique far surpassed that of ordinary people, and he had the energy fed back by Enma to sustain him, carrying someone completely incapable of moving on his own inevitably slowed him down.

Worse still, just as Lu Jingheng had predicted, the sky rapidly darkened.

The Blood-Erosion Clouds seemed to grow thicker, devouring the last trace of daylight. The canyon soon plunged into darkness so complete they could not see their own hands. Only the eerie howls of unidentified creatures occasionally drifting from afar added to the gloom.

"We can't keep going."

Luo Li stopped and carefully set Lu Jingheng down beneath a massive rock sheltered from the wind, then caught his breath.

"Visibility is too poor at night, and the terrain is complicated. Something could easily go wrong."

He tried taking out the tactical communicator issued by the guild. The screen still displayed a glaring red cross-no signal.

"Still no signal, as expected..." Luo Li frowned and took out his personal phone, only to get the same result.

Some kind of powerful energy interference field seemed to exist in Howling Wind Canyon, completely blocking communications between the inside and outside.

Lu Jingheng sat against the rock. The movement had pulled at his wounds, leaving him even paler, but he remained calm. After examining their surroundings, he said softly, "The rock formations here... seem to contain large quantities of minerals that interfere with signals. And... the remnants of the A-rank vampire's domain may also have made things worse."

His analysis sounded very professional.

Luo Li glanced at him without saying anything, but his heart sank.

The loss of communications meant they could neither call for outside help nor report the important news that Earl Shadowwing had been killed. The guild would most likely conclude that they had all died in the line of duty.

Now, they could only rely on themselves to get out of this canyon of death.

But moving blindly through the darkness was no different from suicide.

"Looks like... we'll have to stay here for a while."

Luo Li made his decision, his voice calm and betraying little emotion.

He needed to recover his stamina and wait for daylight.

"Yes, safety first."

Lu Jingheng nodded without any objection, being very cooperative.

"I'm sorry for the trouble, Mr. Luo Li."

His attitude remained impeccable throughout.

Luo Li said no more and began setting up a temporary shelter.

He had chosen a good spot. The massive rock could shelter them from wind and rain and conceal them from most lines of sight from above, while the relatively open view ahead made it easy to keep watch.

From his Portable Space, he took out emergency supplies stockpiled for previous missions-compressed food, energy bars, water purification tablets, and even a lightweight thermal blanket.

Seeing Luo Li produce these things out of thin air, a perfectly measured trace of surprise flashed through Lu Jingheng's eyes, but he quickly concealed it. He asked no further questions, merely thanking him sincerely. "Thank you, Mr. Luo Li. You've thought of everything."

Luo Li handed the thermal blanket to Lu Jingheng, then sat back against the other side and silently began chewing on a compressed biscuit.

He had not completely let down his guard. Although he appeared to be resting, he kept [Remembrance Perception] running at its minimum level, monitoring every disturbance within several hundred meters.

"Mr. Luo Li..."

Lu Jingheng took small sips of the water Luo Li had treated with purification tablets, then suddenly spoke softly.

"Earlier... was there a crash? I think... I heard a very loud explosion."

His question sounded natural, as though he was simply concerned and wanted to understand the situation.

Luo Li paused in his chewing, swallowed the food in his mouth, and gave a vague grunt of assent, with no intention of explaining in detail.

"Then... the others..."

Lu Jingheng's voice held a trace of hesitation and distress.

"Most likely, they all died."

Luo Li's tone barely fluctuated as he stated the facts.

In the apocalypse, life and death had long since become commonplace.

Lu Jingheng fell silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I'm sorry for your loss."

His consolation was brief, but did not sound perfunctory.

Silence fell between them again.

The canyon was especially cold at night, the damp chill seeming to seep into their very bones.

Lu Jingheng pulled the thermal blanket tighter around himself. His body trembled slightly from the cold and his injuries, but he still gritted his teeth without uttering a single complaint.

Luo Li glanced at him, hesitated, then took another blanket out of his Portable Space and tossed it to him.

"Thank you." Lu Jingheng caught it, his voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor of gratitude.

"Your... storage ability is very practical."

He seemed to be making conversation to break the silence, yet deftly avoided directly asking what type of ability it was, merely expressing a kind of friendly envy.

"It's all right."

Luo Li's answer remained brief.

He did not want to reveal too much about his abilities.

Although Lu Jingheng had so far acted like a harmless, well-educated survivor, it never hurt to be cautious.

"The exploration team I belonged to... was also equipped with some Space Folding gear, but its capacity was very small, and it was highly unstable."

As though oblivious to Luo Li's coolness, Lu Jingheng continued on his own, his tone carrying a researcher's characteristic eagerness to discuss technical matters.

"Apparently... the Star Torch laboratory, which answers directly to the Supreme Council, has already made breakthroughs in related fields. Unfortunately... those aren't accessible to people with level-three clearance like us."

The information he disclosed sounded authentic, touching on the names of organizations within Longxia and their clearance levels, subtly lending credibility to his identity.

Luo Li felt a slight stir, but did not respond. He merely took out another energy bar and ate in silence.

Lu Jingheng did not seem to mind Luo Li's response. Leaning against the rock wall, he tilted his head toward the night sky, where the Blood-Erosion Clouds hid every star, and said softly, "The energy readings in this canyon... have always been abnormal.

"The main purpose of our exploration this time was to find the source of the energy anomaly zone... I never expected..."

His words carried a trace of regret over the mission's failure, along with the complicated emotions of having survived a disaster.

Luo Li remained silent, but his ears pricked up slightly, catching the information in his words.

The source of the energy anomaly zone? Could there be something else here besides Earl Shadowwing?

"Based on our deductions from the fragmentary data we collected earlier."

Lu Jingheng continued, as though organizing his thoughts, or perhaps sharing intelligence with Luo Li. "Deep inside the canyon, there may be a... small, unstable spatial rift."

A spatial rift?

Luo Li was startled.

This was an extremely rare and dangerous phenomenon, usually accompanied by leaks of otherworldly energy and the arrival of unknown creatures.

"Of course, this is only speculation. It hasn't been confirmed."

Lu Jingheng added, his tone becoming rigorous again.

"And even if it exists, its stability and danger level are still unknown."

The information he had provided was highly valuable.

If there really was a spatial rift, the guild would have to reassess Howling Wind Canyon's danger rating.

Luo Li glanced at Lu Jingheng. He was gazing at the night sky, his profile sharply defined in the faint ambient light from some unknown source, bearing a scholar's focus and composure.

He looked entirely harmless and had even volunteered important intelligence.

The scales in Luo Li's heart unwittingly tipped a little further in his favor.

But reason still reminded him-he could not trust him completely.

"Get some rest."

Luo Li ended the conversation. "Conserve your strength. When it's light tomorrow, we'll figure out how to find a signal or a way out."

"All right."

Lu Jingheng nodded obediently and fell quiet. He closed his eyes, seemingly trying to sleep, but his faintly trembling eyelashes showed that he had not fully relaxed. The pain in his leg was clearly still tormenting him.

Luo Li also closed his eyes, but did not sleep.

Half his awareness remained on guard, while the other half sank into his body. He began slowly circulating the power of the [Spacetime] Path to accelerate the recovery of his stamina and mental strength, while carefully exploring the [Spacetime Displacement] skill he had just comprehended.

The skill consumed enormous amounts of energy, but it could save his life at a critical moment. He had to familiarize himself with it as quickly as possible.

Time passed slowly amid the silence and cold.

In the darkness, there was only their soft breathing and the faint, unsettling rustling drifting from afar.

After an unknown stretch of time, Lu Jingheng, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly stirred ever so slightly and let out a suppressed, pained gasp.

Luo Li immediately opened his eyes and looked at him.

Lu Jingheng's brows were tightly furrowed, his forehead covered in cold sweat. His left hand instinctively covered his broken left leg, and his body curled slightly from the intense pain.

"Your wound hurts?" Luo Li asked evenly.

"...Yes."

Lu Jingheng forced the word through his teeth, seemingly unwilling to disturb Luo Li, yet truly unable to bear it.

"S-sorry... I disturbed you..."

His voice was weak and apologetic.

Luo Li was silent for a moment, then took the pain-relief spray left over from earlier and some clean gauze out of his Portable Space.

He walked over, crouched down, lifted the blankets, and checked the splint securing Lu Jingheng's leg.

The wound was seeping a little blood from their earlier movement, and the swelling had become more pronounced.

Luo Li said nothing. With practiced movements, he cleaned around the wound again, applied the pain-relief spray, then lightly bandaged it with clean gauze to prevent infection.

His movements could not be called gentle, but they were professional and effective enough.

Lu Jingheng bit his lower lip tightly throughout without making a sound. Only when the cold spray touched his skin did his body give an almost imperceptible shudder.

"...Thank you."

Once the treatment was finished, he let out a long breath, his voice weak with relief as he thanked him quietly again.

Luo Li did not respond, merely returning silently to his original spot.

After this little incident, the atmosphere between them seemed to ease ever so slightly.

At least Luo Li had confirmed that Lu Jingheng's injuries were real, and that he was indeed enduring immense pain.

An actor who could be this ruthless even toward himself? That possibility seemed a little less likely now.

"Mr. Luo Li..." Lu Jingheng had recovered somewhat, though his voice was still very soft.

"Once we get out... I'll definitely repay you."

His tone was earnest, not like an empty courtesy.

"No need," Luo Li replied mildly.

"Let's get out alive first."

"Yes." Lu Jingheng answered and said no more.

During the latter half of the night, they took turns resting (in practice, Luo Li did most of the guarding, while Lu Jingheng spent most of the time in a half-asleep haze from pain and weakness).

When the first faint ray of light struggled through the thick Blood-Erosion Clouds, bringing a dim glimmer to the canyon, Luo Li opened his eyes.

He stood and stretched his somewhat stiff body.

He had recovered well.

He tried the communicator again, only to get the same disappointing lack of signal.

Looks like we could only rely on ourselves.

He glanced at Lu Jingheng, who was still sleeping lightly, and began packing up.

Today, he had to find a way out, or... at least somewhere with a signal.

(PS: Finally finished writing. I've used up far too much inspiration, and right now I just want to get some sleep. Good night, everyone.

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