Chapter 159

Chapter 159

Wang Suizi followed Yan Bubu's pointing finger, "It's a red crab! Such a huge crab, must be a mutant species! Aren’t crabs usually found near water? Why would it be up in the mountains?"

“That’s not a crab, it’s not... it looks like a spider, a red spider.” Yan Bubu suddenly remembered something, excitedly exclaiming, “A red spider! Shuttle Red Spider!”

“Shuttle what?” Just as Wang Suizi asked, she saw Yan Bubu already dashing towards the back mountain.

“Where are you going? Hey, why do you just run off like that?”

Yan Bubu quickly rushed up the path towards the back mountain, heading for the stone forest on the mountainside.

He and Feng Chen had been searching for the Shuttle Red Spider for a long time, always keeping an eye on the quantum beasts of the sentinel guides. But as time passed, the Shuttle Red Spider seemed to not exist in this world, or maybe it was no longer in the Central City, as they couldn't find any clues.

Yan Bubu rushed breathlessly to the spot where the Shuttle Red Spider had vanished.

This was a stone forest halfway up the mountain, surrounded by rugged giant rocks of bizarre shapes. He stepped into the stone forest and began searching around the large rocks.

Panting heavily with his heart beating wildly, Yan Bubu didn’t know if it was from exhaustion or excitement.

It would be great if he could capture that Shuttle Red Spider quantum beast, or follow it to find its owner, possibly leading to Lin Fen and Yu Yuan.

Concerned about Yan Bubu’s safety, Wang Suizi also followed. Just as she was about to shout his name, he popped his head out from behind a large rock, making a silence gesture, “Shush…”

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Wang Suizi didn’t make a sound, quietly approaching Yan Bubu from behind, “Are you looking for that red crab?”

Yan Bubu squeezed through a crack in a large rock, replying briefly and quickly, “That’s the Shuttle Red Spider quantum beast, related to Major General Lin and Colonel Yu.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Suizi instantly understood, asking no further questions and directly stepped into the stone forest to search with him.

Yan Bubu instructed, “You search to the left, I'll go right, we’ll close in from both sides and gradually push further in.”

The stone forest spanned one or two square miles, filled with giant rocks and hidden caves, making finding a quantum beast a challenging task. If the Shuttle Red Spider hid in a cave under one of the rocks, or simply circled around them, it would be very difficult to locate.

The entire afternoon passed, and both of them combed through the stone forest, encountering several mutant species but failing to find the Shuttle Red Spider quantum beast.

After meeting again, Wang Suizi, with her hair full of grass clippings, asked breathlessly, "Are you sure it came in here?"

“I’m certain. I saw it enter this stone forest just now, but I was a step too late,” Yan Bubu replied, covered in dust from squeezing through the rock crevices.

Wang Suizi looked around and said, “I think it’s hopeless. The terrain here is too complex. While we’re searching, it could easily slip away from the other side. And since it’s a quantum beast, its owner might have sensed us chasing it and could have already taken it back into their psychic domain.”

“...Taken back into the psychic domain,” Yan Bubu muttered, slowly turning to Wang Suizi, “If it can be taken back into the psychic domain...”

Wang Suizi's expression sharpened, “Right, if it can be taken back, then its owner must be in this area and couldn’t have gone far!”

Both of them excitedly emerged from the stone forest, only to stand in disappointment upon realizing the vastness of the area.

“Even if we know its owner is nearby, it’s still too hard to find them. Not just this mountain, but also the camp below, the settlement next to the plantation, with tens of thousands of people…”

Seeing Yan Bubu's disappointed face, Wang Suizi comforted him, “But as long as we know that the spider’s owner is around here, we'll eventually find them. Didn’t we see it today?”

“You’re right,” Yan Bubu nodded, “We didn’t even know where the Shuttle Red Spider’s owner was, and now we've confirmed their location, discovering they're actually nearby.”

After consoling each other and dispelling some of their dismay, Yan Bubu began to tell her about the connection between the Shuttle Red Spider and Lin Fen.

"…So that's the story. Since the Shuttle Red Spider is related to their disappearance, I'll keep an eye out for it too," Wang Suizi said earnestly.

At the foot of the mountain, the camp was a mess. The newly repaired houses had been damaged again, and everyone was cursing as they started repairs. The chef, directing people to carry the carcass of a hyena mutant to the kitchen, bellowed, “You all complain about hyena meat being tough and smelly, but wait until I stew it with potatoes, you'll be fighting over it.”

Yan Bubu went to check his house, relieved to find it undamaged by the hyenas, with only a dent in the wall which he fixed by hammering from the opposite side.

After dinner, Wang Suizi went to the plantation camp to see her aunt, while Yan Bubu and Binunu climbed to the roof to sit quietly, each with their quantum beast, gazing out at the desert.

“How much longer do you think before brother and Sasaki come back?”

“Binunu, close your eyes, and after a while, open them again. Maybe when you open them, they’ll appear.”

“I think about ten more minutes, and they should be back.”

……

Yan Bubu kept chatting with Binunu, who, despite looking impatient and frowning, actually kept closing and opening his eyes after a while.

The people who had gone for a walk in the plantation also gradually returned, but there was still no sign of Feng Chen and the others.

Yan Bubu picked up the water cup placed on the roof and took a sip, then said to Binunu, "Let's close our eyes again, this time for a bit longer. Maybe when we open them, we'll see them."

Binunu closed his eyes along with him. Yan Bubu began counting down softly, “100, 99, 98… 54, 53, 52…”

When he reached twenty, he sped up and finished in one breath, “21, 19, 14, 10, 5, 3, 2, 1. Okay, open your eyes.”

Both of them opened their eyes and looked towards the desert, and this time they really saw in the far distance, at the edge of light and shadow, a group of figures walking towards the camp.

Yan Bubu rubbed his eyes in disbelief, then suddenly stood up, with Binunu following suit. Together, they tried to make out the figures in the swirling sand and wind.

The distance was too great to see Feng Chen clearly, but Sasaki was especially noticeable walking among the group.

Without a word, Yan Bubu and Binunu quickly descended from the roof. Yan Bubu slid down the ladder while Binunu jumped straight off the roof. Once on the ground, they both dashed towards the desert.

In the desert, Cai Tao spat out the sand from his mouth, tightening the cap of his water bottle, “I don’t even know if I'm drinking water or sand, ugh... ugh, it’s so bitter.”

Chen Wenxiao scoffed nearby, “Told you to cover the bottle’s mouth with a cloth. You didn’t listen, so who's to blame? Serves you right.”

“No, I was just saying…” Cai Tao glanced at Chen Wenxiao, then quickly added in a more pleasant tone, “Indeed, you’re right. I should have covered the bottle’s mouth with a cloth. It’s my own fault.”

“Bootlicker, licker, bootlicker…” Ji Yi called out to Cai Tao’s wolf dog.

The wolf dog turned its head towards her, baring its fierce teeth, while the peacock spread its feathers, ready to engage in a fight.

Ding Hongsheng, however, stopped in his tracks and suddenly shouted, “Hey, look ahead, isn’t that Bubu? And it seems he’s with Binunu.”

Feng Chen, who had been walking with his head down, suddenly looked up at the sound, and the black lion also halted, its ears perked atop its head.

"...Brother."

Yan Bubu and Binunu were sprinting towards them, their figures, one large and one small, outlined by the backlight.

"That's Bubu, right? It really is Bubu!" Before Ding Hongsheng could finish speaking, his shoulder was nudged aside as Feng Chen burst past him.

The black lion too, whirled forward like a tornado.

Feng Chen ran a few steps then abruptly slowed down, merely quickening his pace. The others burst into laughter, teasing, “Feng, go ahead and run, don’t worry about your image.”

"What’s the point of stopping now? We've already seen you."

"Rare to see Feng lose his composure like this, too bad we can’t capture this moment."

"Hurry up, Feng! You can't let your quantum beast beat you. Look, it’s already ahead."

Feng Chen, who had been facing away from the crowd, chuckled and then suddenly stretched his legs and sprinted forward. The crowd cheered loudly, “That's right, no more pretending, run faster, go on! Catch up with your quantum beast.”

Seeing Feng Chen running out of the crowd, Yan Bubu couldn’t help but speed up his run, his curly hair bouncing with each step. Binunu, even faster, bounded ahead like a ball bouncing across the sandy ground.

As Binunu neared, the black lion leapt high into the air, meeting it mid-jump.

Binunu wrapped its arms around the black lion’s head, and upon landing, half-closed its eyes, letting the lion affectionately lick its face.

The sandy terrain was difficult, with each step sinking softly. Yan Bubu stumbled twice, but got up and continued running, finally plunging into Feng Chen's embrace.

Yan Bubu tightly hugged Feng Chen's neck, his legs wrapped around his waist, burying his face in his shoulder and breathing deeply, surrounding himself with the comforting, familiar scent.

"Brother, I missed you so much..." Yan Bubu's voice trailed off in a whine.

"Talk properly," Feng Chen said, shaking him slightly in his arms. "It's only been a day, you're acting as if we haven't seen each other for years. So melodramatic."

Though he spoke this way, he didn’t put Yan Bubu down, instead continuing to hold him as they walked forward.

Yan Bubu straightened up to look at Feng Chen's face and noticed it was covered in dust and his lips were cracked. He gently brushed off the sand and asked with concern, "Didn't you drink water? Your lips are so dry."

Feng Chen replied, "I did, but the sandstorm was too severe; drinking didn’t help much. Everyone looks like this."

As they neared the edge of the camp, Feng Chen finally set Yan Bubu down, saying, "Since you came to pick me up, help me with the luggage." He then loaded Yan Bubu with the gun backpack, weighing him down until his feet sank slightly into the sandy ground.

Feng Chen placed the steel helmet on Yan Bubu’s head, looking at him with a smile in his eyes, then wrapped his arm around Yan Bubu’s shoulder and walked back.

Yan Bubu asked, “Did you find Chen Liuwei?”

“No, we didn’t find anything.”

“What I discovered today is a big deal, though,” Yan Bubu said excitedly, lowering his voice even though there was no one around, “I saw a shuttle red spider.”

Feng Chen stopped in his tracks, “You saw a shuttle red spider?”

Yan Bubu then recounted the whole story to him, including how the shuttle red spider disappeared into the stone forest.

“It's a pity I lost track of it,” Yan Bubu adjusted the slipping helmet with the barrel of the gun, looking somewhat frustrated.

Feng Chen didn’t elaborate on the topic, merely saying, “It’s a quantum beast; it can retract its psychic domain at any time. Losing track of it is not your fault. But now that it has appeared once, it will definitely be seen again.”

Wang Suizi must have been watching the desert too, as she quickly ran up to meet the group returning.

“My darling,” Ji Yi opened her arms with a beaming smile, “Seeing you, my parched heart immediately sprouts a spring of sweetness.”

Wang Suizi swatted her hand away and, upon seeing her face clearly, exclaimed in shock, “Your skin is so dry! Just one day in the wind and sand has done this. You need to hydrate right away! Spray some of this on your face.”

“What’s this?”

“It’s a leaf retention water I made myself. It soothes and calms the skin.”

“Then spray it on me.”

Ji Yi closed her eyes slightly, letting Wang Suizi spray her face with the water. Cai Tao watched them for a moment before turning to Chen Wenchao, “I’ll go pick some leaves later and boil water for you to drink. They’re just spraying their faces, but taking it internally will surely be more effective.”

Chen Wenchao gave him a look, filled with speechlessness, but ultimately said nothing and turned his gaze away.

After returning to the camp and having dinner and a bath, Feng Chen was called to the military headquarters by Chen Sizhe.

"You don't like coffee, so have some tea. It's Qi Yun Mountain tea, which was hard to find even before the earthquake," Chen Sizhe took out a tin box from his desk, retrieved a tea cake, unwrapped the paper, and broke off a piece into a cup, "This is tea from over a decade ago, but it's well-preserved and can last for decades more."

He handed the freshly brewed cup to Feng Chen, "When the Central City fell, I instructed my aide-de-camp to leave everything else, even documents, but to make sure to bring my tea."

Feng Chen took the cup, noting Chen Sizhe’s tired smile and the redness under his eyes, and said, "Uncle Chen, your health is important. You should rest."

"I'm fine; I know my limits. I can still handle it," Chen Sizhe sat opposite Feng Chen, speaking earnestly, "Xiao Chen, I know you've been on continuous missions these past few days, to Yin Xia Mountain yesterday and the desert today, both dangerous. I initially thought to tell Kong Siyun to exclude you from some missions, but then I realized that protecting you from such dangerous environments is not beneficial."

Chen Sizhe pointed at him, "Your father raised you to be an officer from a young age. Though he's no longer here, I will continue to train you, to help you grow. That's the best care I can offer you."

Feng Chen responded solemnly, "Thank you, Uncle Chen. I won't let you down."

"Good to hear," Chen Sizhe nodded in satisfaction, then asked, "You haven't entered your second growth period yet. Have you found a compatible guide?"

Feng Chen considered for a moment, "I have my own guide, so I canceled the matching."

Chen Sizhe asked, "Yan Bubu?"

"Yes."

"Have you checked your compatibility? The sentinel-guide compatibility directly affects the extent of your breakthrough during your second growth period..."

Feng Chen quickly replied, "Compatibility is not within my considerations."

Chen Sizhe gave him a look, "Alright then, it's your choice. I won’t interfere."