Chapter 83.2

Editor: Kat

Proofreader: Junyans

“Hey, I’m back!”

In the theater room of the Homeward tour party, a person suddenly pushed the door open and entered. She had a high ponytail and was full of energy, with deep-set facial features and green eyes, appearing mixed-blood.

“Betcha didn’t expect that I would come back early!”

The girl’s voice was a little hoarse like she was a smoker, and her canine teeth were pointed and reflected a cold glimmer when she grinned. From her upper thighs to her kneecaps, she appeared like an ordinary human, but from below the knees, she was like a werewolf from the legends, with snow-white animal limbs with long fur and claws.

“Xiaole, I heard that your Teacher Three Waters is coming to our tour party. That’s great news!”

The werewolf girl strode in, and her nose suddenly twitched. She rushed to Mao Xiaole and Wang Yushu like a wolf, snatching the fried chicken bucket and grilled wings from their hands. She moved like a flash of lightning, and her assault was so powerful that her wolf claws broke the specially reinforced sofa. Then she landed on another beanbag, holding a bucket of fried chicken as her gray and white tail swayed restlessly. The look in her eyes was provocative, and a low growl emitted from her throat.

However, Mao Xiaole and Wang Yushu were still paralyzed on the sofa as if their souls had left their bodies, staring at the livestream screen like two old withered humanoid trees with no vitality.

“What’s the matter with you two?” the werewolf girl muttered in dissatisfaction and threw the fried chicken into her mouth.

Without even spitting up the bones, her cheeks bulged like a hamster as she said, “Don’t look so depressed. Why do both of your expressions feel like you’re mourning the captain’s death has died.”

“Sister Cheng, please stop talking nonsense.”

Mao Xiaole said weakly, his eyes shifting from the livestream screen to the werewolf girl, and his gaze fixed on her. He stared at Lu Shencheng’s wolf legs and wolf claws, making her feel strangely intimidated. Her wolf ears stood up vigilantly.

She said suspiciously, “What’s the matter? Your Three Waters is finally coming, so why are you unhappy?

“Or are you afraid that he won’t come? He is indeed a great newcomer tourist, and other tour parties will definitely want to recruit him——but rest assured, we have our core competencies as well!”

Lu Shucheng said cheerfully as she turned her eyes to the livestream screen, and saw Wei Xun eating canned food on the livestream. Her green eyes lit up.

“I’ve eaten this brand of canned food and it tastes pretty good, but it’s not as good as my own marinated beef. Hiss, just imagining the taste is absolutely amazing. Having a picnic in the ruins, as expected of Teacher Three Waters who’s been acquainted with you for five years. This temperament of his is compatible with us!”

Lu Shencheng’s scarlet tongue licked her white teeth, she narrowed her eyes, and covered her stomach and sighed. “That fool Howard dropped everyone’s supplies into the Atlantic Ocean, so I was hungry and could only eat ice all day long. I was so cold that my fur turned white. Catching a few fish wasn’t enough to fill my stomach… Damn, I’m hungry again. Is there any fresh beef in the fridge?

“Forget it, I’ll go buy it. I’ll buy more delicious food. When Three Waters arrives, I’ll show him my skills, set up a big table, and make sure that he will happily join our tour party. To snag a man, you have to win over his stomach first!”

Lu Shucheng clapped her hands, jumped off the sofa, and was about to go out.

Mao Xiaole hesitantly said, “Sister Cheng, I, I have something to ask you…”

“What’s up?”

Lu Shucheng turned her head around vigilantly, and angrily stated, “I will cook the beef before eating it, and I won’t eat raw meat again!”

Even though she said that, she couldn’t help swallowing her saliva when talking about raw meat. To others, she felt more like a beast than a human now. “Huh… I’ll eat a little at most. I promise you, very little..”

“That, I, you said…”

Mao Xiaole was still hesitating, and Lu Shucheng pulled up her ears impatiently. If Mao Xiaole had something to say, he should just say it like how one should quickly let out a fart. Before he spoke, Wang Yushu bumped Mao Xiaole with his elbow and said with a smile, “Xiaole doesn’t want to wait for the end of the tour to go to Qiangtang in northern Tibet to pick up Three Waters. After all, you also know that there will be a lot of little Slaughterers who want to make trouble, and people from other tour parties will also send someone over there too.”

“But didn’t he just provoke the captain? He doesn’t dare to go alone if the captain will be there. It just so happens that you came back early, so he wants to invite you to go with him. Isn’t Xiaole too thin-skinned and embarrassed to say it?

“So that’s what happened.”

Lu Shucheng waved her hand indifferently, smiled, and agreed, saying with great interest, “Okay, I also want to see Three Waters. According to Xiaole, he should be a smart, weak, and sickly beauty. It’s been too long since a normal person joined our tour party. In any case, we ought to have a first look at him!

“No problem, just wait for me to buy meat and return first. I was too busy on my tour and journey back so I didn’t have a chance to watch the livestream. Let’s watch it together later!”

Lu Shucheng’s mind was filled with thoughts of eating, and she didn’t notice that when she mentioned “sickly beauty” and “normal person,” the corners of both Mao Xiaole and Wang Yushu’s eyes twitched.

“I didn’t offend Captain.”

When she left, Mao Xiaole said in a dissatisfied manner, “You are the one who offended Captain. Captain is very satisfied with my recent performance.”

“What, didn’t you want to ask Sister Cheng to pick up Wei Xun with you?”

Wang Yushu rubbed his chin and smiled meaningfully. “Wei Xun likes humanoids. He would definitely like our tour party if Sister Cheng stands in front. Otherwise, wouldn’t you have to win against the fox spirits of the Feihong Tour Party and the green snakes of the Big Dipper Tour Party? Believe it or not, these people will definitely be waiting for Wei Xun at the end of the tour.”

“Teacher Wei is talking nonsense. He’s just saying this casually. How can you take it seriously? If you take it seriously, then you must be a fool.”

Mao Xiaole stubbornly said, “And with the friendship between me and Teacher, how can those foxes, dogs, and snakes compare? The pure relationship and feelings we have would be affected if we used such a method to recruit him!”

“Okay, okay, you’re right.”

Wang Yushu pondered and said to himself, “Actually, I think Captain is even better. Say, Captain should simply not turn back into a human. How about we let the snow leopard bring Wei Xun into our tour party!”

“Pft!”

Mao Xiaole let out a sneer and answered, “Wang Yushu, you are really hopeless. When Captain comes back, he will definitely beat you into a pig’s head.”

Even though Mao Xiaole said this, inwardly, he felt uneasy.

Was Teacher Wei talking to his ferret?

Of course, Mao Xiaole could see that Wei Xun’s two sentences were abrupt. It didn’t look like he was talking to himself, but more like he was having a conversation with others. Even though the other party didn’t speak, it might not be because it “couldn’t” speak, but because it was communicating nonverbally with Wei Xun.

And the only one that could be communicating with Wei Xun was the so-called “ferret cub.”

But how could they discuss such a topic when they were talking to each other!

“It must be that ferret spirit that taught Teacher Wei awful things. That ferret cub…”

Mao Xiaole gritted his teeth, and in his heart, ferret spirits were now as evil as the fox spirits. These kinds of spirits loved to absorb Yang Energy, so he must be talking about some strange topic to Teacher Wei!

“It’s better if he could turn into a snow leopard,” Mao Xiaole said loudly, “Snow leopards are stronger than ferrets.”

Not only were they strong, but they were also conservative in that aspect. It was very difficult for a male snow leopard in the wild to find a mate, and ever since their Captain An had transformed into a snow leopard, for the past few years, he didn’t feel the urge to do that at all.

The snow leopard was the strongest!

‘Wu wu, bark, bark, I want the snow leopard.’

At this time, the young fox was also acting like a spoiled brat with Wei Xun. Five or six hours had passed since he left the ruins, and it should be bright outside. Wei Xun had always maintained the state of being possessed by the fox fairy, which had consumed a lot of Yang energy.

Wei Xun had only taken some leopard blood on the first day, and he didn’t have any more Yang energy! This made the young fox, who had been making plans in advance, worry for the future.

‘With the amount of energy we have, can we even last 2 days?’

Wei Xun fed the last piece of braised pork to the young fox, and then kept the garbage in his backpack.

‘I’ll be back in a day or two.’

Wei Xun estimated the time. They would stay at the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom for three days, and it was already six or seven o’clock the second morning. He could only stay in the ruins for two more days at most, so it seemed that the Yang energy, food, and water were still sufficient.

Dog IV-1 had been summoned by him, and it would carefully explore the road that the young fox had traveled to unlock the difficulty. All that was left to do was wait. Closing his eyes, Wei Xun was guarded by Xiaocui and the young fox. He took the time to rest and fell into a light sleep.

Until a thunderous sound woke Wei Xun from his sleep.

Wei Xun opened his eyes abruptly, his eyes gleaming brightly without the slightest bit of tiredness. He picked up his backpack and jumped to the side. It was a close call, but he managed to avoid the falling gravel above his head. The entire ruins were shaking, including the ground beneath his feet and the rock walls next to him. The pitch black river water had turbid waves rolling forth, which swept the waves inland even more turbulently as slapped against the shore.

The swarm was moving about restlessly. Even with the mutated mother of the swarm controlling the situation to calm the insects down, facing the terrifying power of nature, the swarm still felt an instinctual fear and panic. Even the three mantis brothers and Xiaojin, who were still in the insect ball, were terrified.

It was an earthquake!

“It’s an earthquake!”

Early in the morning, Duoduo started barking, waking everyone up. Soon, the ground began to tremble, and the tour group on Qianzong Mountain gathered in the center of the relatively empty camp, waiting anxiously. Yin Baitao’s eyes lit up when she saw the figures rushing over from the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom, but when she saw the number of people, she grew anxious.

“Why are there only two of you? What about Senior Wei?!”

“Leader Wei is still underneath, in the ruins!”

Fei Lezhi couldn’t help but look back anxiously.

“We can’t go there now, since a lot of the ruins have collapsed. Fuck, it’s an earthquake!”

Ji Hongcai spat out rubble and mud. After Wei Xun had entered the ruins alone, everyone in the tour group had spontaneously divided into teams, ensuring that two people would guard the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom, ready to support Wei Xun at any time.

As a result, an unfortunate earthquake occurred!

At this time, Wei Xun was still exploring the ruins underground. How could this earthquake come at precisely this time!

“Don’t panic everyone, the tremoring isn’t very strong, and it shouldn’t cause much of an impact.”

Jiang Hongguang’s calm tone suppressed everyone’s anxiety. “There is no prompt from the Travel Services, so Leader Wei is definitely fine. When the shaking stops, Hongcai and Qin Xinrong will go to the ruins to find Leader Wei.”

At this moment, the Tour Guide Brooch and other items were temporarily held by Jiang Hongguang. If the tour group leader died, the Travel Services would definitely elect a new captain in the absence of a tour guide.

This was the only consolation for everyone in the tour group. The Travel Services did not react to the earthquake, which meant that Wei Xun was not in danger at present.

“I will go with you,” Xu Yang said without hesitation, “I can sense my underground in a ten meter range… Maybe I can find Brother Wei.”

“Xu Yang, the aftershocks of the earthquake are also very dangerous,” Jiang Hongguang said rationally, “We are not as strong as Leader Wei and cannot protect you in the face of danger.”

Even so, Xu Yang insisted. Jiang Hongguang saw that his face was pale, and he was obviously equally afraid, but he was willing to take risks for Wei Xun. Jiang Hongguang couldn’t help sighing in his heart as his eyes fell on Duoduo, who was being held by Xu Yang. Suddenly, his eyes focused and he said urgently to Fei Lezhi and Ji Hongcai, “What about the snow leopard, have you seen the snow leopard following Leader Wei?”

“No, it disappeared before the earthquake came.”

Ji Hongcai shook his head. “I thought it was out hunting, but who knows…”

The perception of wild animals was more sensitive than that of humans. A snow leopard who lived on the highlands must have been aware of the arrival of earthquakes earlier, just like how Duoduo was howling and barking to wake everyone up.

“It should be hiding. Snow leopards are more tenacious than humans in these highlands.”

“Well, you’re right.”

Jiang Hongguang nodded. He was thinking just now, if the snow leopard sensed that danger was coming, would it run to Wei Xun? If they could follow it, wouldn’t they be able to spot Wei Xun’s trail?

However, he denied the idea. It was impossible, as snow leopards were just wild animals. Not to mention that it wouldn’t be as loyal as a dog, Wei Xun was not his master. To put it simply, no wild animal would defy its survival instincts and put itself in danger amid an earthquake.

Wei Xun must be fine.

The shaking of the earth still continued, and all the tourists subconsciously looked in the direction of the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom with worry in their eyes.

Wei Xun, please don’t meet with an accident!

T/N: I will be away up to 3 weeks from next week onwards, but I’ve scheduled the chapters to be posted. Do dm me on discord if anyone needs to contact me.