Chapter 34
Lin Yuxuan suppressed the shock and confusion in her heart, feigning a relaxed tone. “Well, am I not perfectly fine right now?”
She suddenly found herself unable to understand what Su Xinge was playing at. It was one thing to help her with minor matters, but risking her life repeatedly to save her was another thing entirely.
Why?
Why treat me so well just when I finally have the strength to take my revenge?
Su Xinge crinkled her nose, glanced at An Le standing obediently nearby, and asked, “How come you and An Le haven’t changed your clothes yet?”
The smell was indeed unpleasant, and their bodies were still covered in sticky grime.
Lin Yuxuan’s expression turned serious. “There wasn’t time. Besides, I didn’t let anyone else into this room; I was worried about another accident.” She shot Su Xinge a meaningful look while glancing at An Le.
Su Xinge nodded. “No wonder.”
She didn’t say much more; it seemed Lin Yuxuan was also aware that An Le had no memory of what had happened.
At that moment, An Le approached Lin Yuxuan and said, “I want to go down and change now. I feel all sticky after that nap.”
Lin Yuxuan pondered for a moment before nodding. “It’s a good time for us to change too. Go to the second-floor hall, find some clothes, and wait for us. I brought the backpack up earlier. Tidy up, and be careful not to wander off, okay?”
She didn’t dare leave An Le alone with the others yet. It would be bad if another accident occurred; though she had confirmed An Le wouldn’t hurt people in that state, she couldn’t guarantee the others wouldn’t be terrified by her.
An Le nodded, turned, and padded out of the room. Only Lin Yuxuan and Su Xinge remained.
Su Xinge was the first to break the silence. “How did those marks on An Le fade? Were they washed off?”
Lin Yuxuan rose and replied, “Some of the color came off when we got out of the lake. I cleaned her up a bit more once we were on the shore.”
Su Xinge, full of questions, asked, “So how did you get back to shore? And how did An Le turn back to normal?”
Lin Yuxuan hesitated for a second before speaking: “I’m not entirely sure what happened. An Le’s state back then was clearly different from now. After entering the water, she moved us very quickly, but I fainted shortly after. When I woke up, we were near the shore, and almost all the monsters around us were dead.”
She knew she couldn’t hide everything, so she told the truth—or at least, most of it. The only thing she withheld was the fact that she had awakened a new ability. It was different from her previous life, and the awakening had been so sudden and strange that even she hadn’t fully grasped how to use it yet.
Su Xinge nodded. “I also felt An Le’s state was different; her strength was likely even above mine. But since she has no impression of what happened, it’s hard to say if that’s a good or bad thing.”
Lin Yuxuan looked down in silence. There were plenty of Awakened stronger than Su Xinge. Unless Su Xinge awakened a second ability, she was usually relegated to a support role.
“Anyway, the important thing is that you’re both unhurt.” Su Xinge leaned against the bed. “We need to discuss what to tell the people downstairs about An Le.”
Lin Yuxuan nodded and added, “It’s not that I’m afraid they’ll do something to her. It’s just that news spreads. If word gets back to the base, it might cause trouble. Secrets aren’t easily kept; everyone has people they’re close to.”
Su Xinge suggested, “Right. Let’s just say those floating things in the lake were killed by some other unknown creature in the water.”
Lin Yuxuan raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Do you think An Le did it?”
Su Xinge shrugged. “I can’t rule out the possibility.”
Lin Yuxuan leaned against the table. “Let’s just say An Le fell into the water while sleepwalking. We went out to find her together but got separated.”
She decided to play along and keep her own awakening a secret from Su Xinge. After all, an unmastered ability didn’t count as a real one yet. And she couldn’t quite explain if she was… trying to test for a different kind of possibility.
Su Xinge grinned. “That’s a good excuse.”
Lin Yuxuan suddenly remembered something and looked up. “Your wound… is it okay after being in the water?”
Reminded of this, Su Xinge immediately put on a pained expression and cried out, “Aiyoh, it hurts so much!” Her attention had been entirely on the other two until now; only now did she have time to notice the wound on her back. The pain was still there, though it had grown somewhat numb.
Lin Yuxuan frowned. “Go down and change first. It’s no good trying to apply medicine while you’re this dirty.” She couldn’t tell if Su Xinge was faking the intensity of the pain, but having been soaked in water and then standing for so long, it certainly wouldn’t feel good.
Su Xinge nodded, rose, and walked out with Lin Yuxuan.
They reached the hall, where An Le was already waiting for them. Lin Yuxuan walked over, knelt down to tidy the girl’s clothes and hair, and said, “Let’s go.”
Once they were downstairs, Lin Yuxuan turned to Su Xinge. “You go in and wash up first. Don’t worry about the wound; I’ll help you handle it in a bit.”
Su Xinge nodded and headed into the restroom, while Lin Yuxuan led An Le into the main first-floor hall.
Seeing them come down, Xiang Tiange asked with concern, “Are you guys okay?”
Lin Yuxuan shook her head and replied, “We’re fine. Just exhausted. We couldn’t help but rest for a bit just now.” It was possible that using too much of her power had taken a toll on her body.
Zhang Tian walked up to An Le. “Good thing you were found. It’s dangerous out there. If something happened to you, I’d have no one to play with.”
An Le looked up, her expression blank.
Lin Yuxuan stepped in to explain. “She didn’t even know she’d run out. She must have been sleepwalking.”
“Ah…” An Le looked at Lin Yuxuan, her small face scrunched up as she processed the information that she supposedly sleepwalked.
Wang Qingyue smiled. “As long as you’re okay. But while we’re still here, we should probably use the key to deadbolt the door.”
At this point, Ye Hai inquired, “You were all wet when you came in. Did you all go into the water?”
Lin Yuxuan nodded. “An Le accidentally fell in. Su Xinge and I went to save her, but then Su Xinge and I got separated. I brought An Le back first. I wanted to tell you to go get Su Xinge, but I didn’t get the chance to say it before…”
Xiang Tiange nodded. “We went out to look for you in the middle of all that, but we couldn’t find anyone. We thought an accident had happened.”
Ye Hai frowned and asked again, “What about those corpses floating on the lake?”
Lin Yuxuan shook her head. “Not sure. Maybe some powerful creature in the lake did it.”
Zhang Tian leaned back against his shelf and interrupted, looking at Ye Hai. “Why so many questions? You sound like you’re interrogating a prisoner. Is it appropriate to badger people who just woke up from exhaustion?”
Ye Hai explained, “It’s just to gather info so we can leave sooner. Who dares to act when everything is unknown?”
Wang Qingyue played peacemaker. “Everyone has a point. But our teacher hasn’t fully recovered. If you really want to leave, you’ll have to go on ahead.”
Ye Hai shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. It’s better to leave together. I’m just worried about those monsters in the passage from our way here. Seeing how those lake monsters died so miserably, I was wondering if there’s a way we can deal with the passage monsters the same way.”
Zhang Tian settled back into his spot, speaking lazily. “Let’s go see first. Maybe the monsters in the passage are gone too. Besides, I feel like it’s not bad here.”
Just then, Su Xinge walked out and said to Lin Yuxuan, “I’m done. Your turn.”
Lin Yuxuan nodded, took An Le, and went into the restroom.
Su Xinge walked over to the group. “What are you all discussing so enthusiastically? I could hear you from inside.”
Xiang Tiange explained, “We’re talking about when to head back to the base.”
Su Xinge nodded. “That is worth discussing. I didn’t get a chance to check earlier—how is your teacher?”
Wang Qingyue replied, “Much better. She used to have nightmares every night which made her sleep poorly, but she suddenly slept well last night. I looked at her leg too; she’ll probably be fully recovered before long.”
Su Xinge walked forward, turned, and asked Zhang Tian, “Did you have nightmares last night?”
Zhang Tian yawned. “Don’t know. Probably not. I didn’t feel anything when I woke up.”
Su Xinge looked at Ye Hai. Meeting her gaze, Ye Hai understood and replied, “I had nightmares in the first half of the night. I felt I couldn’t sleep well upstairs, so I came down. I slept fine in the second half—no dreams then, I think.”
“What about the day before?” Su Xinge pressed.
Ye Hai shook his head. “I spent most of the night before on watch. I was more likely to be daydreaming.”
Zhang Tian asked, “Have you thought of something again?”
Su Xinge nodded. “I’m wondering if our dreams are related to some monster in the lake. A large number of monsters died in the second half of the night, which is exactly when Ye Hai stopped dreaming. And it was the same for the teacher. Could there be a connection?”
Ye Hai smiled. “There’s some logic to it, but isn’t that a bit far-fetched? After all, Xiang Tiange and the others never had nightmares, right?”
Xiang Tiange waved her hand. “Maybe it only affects you Awakened.”
Su Xinge spread her hands. “Forget it, who knows. I’m going back up to rest.” She’d also asked An Le earlier; since An Le was also an Awakened, what made her different from them?
Xiang Tiange tossed a can to Su Xinge. “Take this with you.”
Su Xinge caught it. “Thanks.” She then went to the shelves, grabbed some bedding, and headed up to the second floor.
Zhang Tian stood up and walked over to Ye Hai, whispering, “Don’t be so quick to dismiss that ‘far-fetched’ stuff. It might actually be true.”
Ye Hai leaned against the shelf. “I think you’re the one who’s far-fetched.”
Comments 0
You must be logged in to comment.
No comments yet. Be the first!