Chapter 73

"Shut up!" Curly-hair laughed and scolded, habitually reaching out to pat Little Braid's back of the head.

Little Braid instinctively shrank his head and closed his eyes; an eighth-level life form like Curly-hair could deliver a painful slap even if it was just a joke.

But when Curly-hair's hand landed on his head, Little Braid didn't feel any pain; it was as if he had been gently caressed.

Little Braid was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered that Curly-hair was no longer the same powerful person he used to be.

Although his head didn't hurt, Little Braid felt as if his heart had been tightly gripped, and tears welled up in his eyes uncontrollably.

He held back his tears and tried to make his voice sound less shaky: "I heard that a big shot from above came down, and the city lockdown was lifted this morning. We can leave Black City now."

Although Curly-hair had long been prepared mentally, his subconscious action still made him feel quite disappointed.

But when he saw Little Braid's tearful eyes and trembling voice, Curly-hair knew he had to stay strong, with no other choice.

"That's great news." Curly-hair grinned, one eye squinting and the other wide open, the smile on one side of his mouth looking rather strange.

He knew he looked ugly, even scary, when he smiled, but he had to smile to reassure his brothers: "Then we can start setting up our black market shop. We need to report to Black City, find a place to rent, and start collecting goods."

Wang Ge didn't say much, but he decided to spend the time before leaving the Mountain City Base hunting and gathering herbs, not for selling, but to provide stock for Curly-hair's black market shop. Running a black market shop always required some black goods.

After leaving Black City, Wang Ge returned home. Before arriving, he had already called Wang Fei to let her know he was safe.

Because of the previous all-night absence, Wang Fei had developed some mental resilience this time. Although her eyes were still red and swollen from lack of sleep, her mental state was much better than before.

"Feifei, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to not notify you in advance..." Wang Ge, feeling guilty, smiled apologetically at Wang Fei: "Curly-hair wanted to open a shop and asked us to celebrate. You know I don't like drinking, but they kept forcing me, and I ended up drunk. Hehe, Feifei, I won't do it again..."

Wang Fei understood her brother much better than Wang Ge imagined. She didn't complain or scold him because she knew he wouldn't have stayed out all night just to drink. When she saw Wang Ge's tired face and his forced smile, she felt really bad.

She wouldn't expose her brother's well-intentioned lie, nor would she restrict him. She just tried to repay him in her own way for everything he had done for her.

"Curly-hair and the others dared to get my brother drunk, humph, I won't let them off next time!" Wang Fei waved her little fist and then took out an ear pick: "Brother, come over, it's time to clean your ears!"

"Ah, okay, okay..." Wang Ge secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he had fooled the little girl.

After their parents passed away, Wang Ge, as the eldest brother, supported the small family. He could do almost everything, but there were things he couldn't do, like cleaning ears.

In the past, it was always their mother, Tian Yuan, who cleaned his ears. After her death, Wang Fei took over.

At first, Wang Ge felt embarrassed, but Wang Fei was very persistent and proposed a trade: if Wang Ge didn't let her clean his ears, she wouldn't let him give her foot massages.

This forced Wang Ge to submit to his sister's demands, and gradually it became a habit.

Wang Fei leaned against the pillow, sitting on the bed, while Wang Ge lay on his side with his head resting on her thighs. This was a habit they had inherited from when their mother used to clean Wang Ge's ears, and both of them naturally continued it.

A small hand gently pulled Wang Ge's ear to open the ear canal. Wang Fei bent down, holding Wang Ge's head, and inserted the ear pick into his ear canal.

The ear pick had a built-in light at the tip, illuminating the dark ear canal clearly.

Wang Fei looked inside the ear canal seriously, as if taking an exam, and carefully cleaned it with the ear pick.

The gentle scraping of the ear pick on the ear canal and the ear canal itself made Wang Ge relax involuntarily. The natural scent of Wang Fei, which he was very familiar with, made him feel incredibly at ease, as if he was in the embrace of a loved one.

In this embrace, he could let down all his burdens and defenses, knowing that she would never harm him.

As his mind relaxed, Wang Ge, who had been up all night and was highly tense, gradually lost consciousness and fell asleep.

Wang Fei finished cleaning one ear and saw the accumulated earwax on the paper towel. She smiled, feeling a sense of accomplishment every time she cleaned Wang Ge's ears, as if she had completed a great project.

It was time to switch ears! Wang Fei was about to twist Wang Ge's ear as a signal, but she suddenly realized that Wang Ge had already fallen asleep.

His steady, even breathing showed that he was sleeping soundly.

Feeling a pang of sympathy, Wang Fei lost her playful mood, gently released Wang Ge's ear, and leaned back against the pillow, allowing him to continue sleeping with her thighs as a pillow.

Wang Fei extended her hand and used her thin, rosy nails as a comb, gently and slowly combing Wang Ge's hair from front to back.

In the past, when their parents were still alive, if their father came home from a hard day's work and complained of a headache, their mother would comb his hair, and he would always look very comfortable and relaxed.

So Wang Fei, following her mother's example, combed Wang Ge's hair. She could do little for him, so even a trivial daily task made her very happy.

Wang Ge's scalp was gently scratched by the rosy nails, and the white fingertips massaged his head's acupoints. Wang Fei tried her best to remember and do it, but she inadvertently put Wang Ge into a strange state, even though he was already sleeping soundly.

Wang Ge was walking in a daze, not knowing where he was going because there was no path under his feet.

This place was unlike anything he had ever seen. The dense, unexplored primeval forest was far more extensive than the mountains near the Mountain City Base.

What surprised Wang Ge the most was the sun in the sky. It was so large, so round, so bright, and so radiant.

But why was he surprised? Wang Ge vaguely felt something was wrong, but he couldn't figure it out.

Squinting, he looked at the sun a few more times, and then began to observe his surroundings. The trees here were not only tall and dense but also different from those in his world.

If it were before, Wang Ge might not have been sure, but after developing the ability to identify herbs, he was certain that the plants here were completely different from any he had seen before.

Where was this place? Wang Ge wondered as he continued walking forward, believing that if he kept going, he would eventually find a turning point.

As Wang Ge was walking, he suddenly saw a few small, earth-colored dots rapidly moving towards him. At such a distance, the dots were so similar to the ground that he couldn't understand how he could see them clearly.

As the earth-colored dots got closer and larger, Wang Ge finally saw them clearly—they were wild wolves.

After seeing them clearly, Wang Ge felt something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what. He didn't have time to think about it either, as he instinctively turned to run. Encountering so many wild wolves at once was too dangerous.

But for some reason, Wang Ge's legs felt like they were filled with lead, and he couldn't run fast.

As the wolves got closer, Wang Ge could even feel the foul breath from their mouths. He kicked his legs hard, his body shaking, and suddenly woke up.

"Brother, brother, what's wrong?" Wang Fei, who had also been leaning against the pillow and had been up all night, was jolted awake by Wang Ge's movements. She was a light sleeper and woke up before him, gently patting his face, worriedly asking, "Brother, did you have a nightmare?"

"Ah... Feifei..." Wang Ge panted heavily, and when Wang Fei wiped his forehead, he realized it was cold sweat. He finally woke up completely, realizing it had been a nightmare...

But why did the dream feel so real?

Although Wang Ge was awake, the events of the dream were still vivid in his mind, as if he had just watched a movie.

After waking up, Wang Ge's mind seemed to clear, and he finally understood what was wrong in the dream.

First, the sun.

Since the Third World War, the sky had always been filled with gloom and clouds, and the sun was like it was covered by a frosted glass, never clearly visible.

Wang Ge, who had lived for twenty years, had never seen the sun so clearly. If he had never seen it clearly, how could he have a clear image of the sun in his dream?

Second, the wild wolves.

These wolves had no armor, and Wang Ge, who had grown up, had never seen such wolves. All wild animals had either mutated or become insect beasts; such wolves could only exist in movies or animal history books.

Could it be that he was visualizing things he had seen in movies and books in his dream?

Wang Ge shook his head, feeling that while this explanation made sense, it still felt strange.

[If I don't ask for recommendations, it feels like I'm violating a natural law~]

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