Fei Xia’s brows furrowed slightly.
She had just sensed that something felt off.
“Wow! Camping! We’re actually camping!”
An excited cheer suddenly burst out beside her, shattering the heavy atmosphere inside the vehicle.
Before Fei Xia could react, a hand in a white glove grabbed her arm.
Amber Flowing Light, utterly clueless about reading the room, leaned in with a face full of excitement.
Her eyes sparkled like she was heading out on a spring picnic.
“Hey, hey! Little Red Bean! Since we’re camping, how can we skip the bonfire?”
She pointed at the faint phosphorescent glow flickering in the ruins not far away and continued enthusiastically.
“I spotted some glowing stuff over there ages ago! It’ll look super pretty when it burns! Come on, help me gather some!”
‘Dude, what the hell do you mean “glowing stuff burns and looks good”?
“I’m not going.”
Fei Xia refused on instinct.
It wasn’t that she minded playing pack mule, but doing so would risk her cloak tearing wide open.
She also didn’t want to take off the cloak and expose the mortifyingly frilly dress underneath.
“Aww, don’t be such a killjoy! Let’s go, let’s go! Juniors have to listen to their seniors, you know!”
Amber Flowing Light didn’t give her any chance to refuse.
She simply dragged Fei Xia by the collar and jumped out of the vehicle, pulling her toward the deeper ruins far from the supply truck.
Watching the two most uncontrollable “children” bicker and wander off into the distance, Qinghai Starlight secretly let out a breath of relief.
This was the perfect opportunity.
She turned her head and casually scanned the soldiers around her.
“What are you all standing around for? Didn’t you hear that noise earlier?”
The fierce-looking team leader suddenly roared, pointing at an open patch of ground dozens of meters away from the supply truck.
“Over there! Set up camp over there! Get away from this junk heap—it’s giving me a headache just looking at it!”
“But Captain, according to regulations, we’re supposed to stay close and guard the supplies…”
A young rookie started to protest.
“Shut up! This is the wasteland, not military school!”
The team leader smacked the rookie on the head and cut him off roughly.
“The engine overheated. You want to sleep next to a bomb? Everyone, on my command—right face! Go start the fires and cook over there! I don’t want to see this wreck anymore!”
“Yes sir!”
Though the soldiers looked a little confused, the team leader’s long-standing authority made them move quickly.
They grabbed their gear and headed away from the supply truck.
In just a few minutes, the area around the heavily guarded supply truck was completely deserted.
Only the team leader remained.
With his back to Qinghai Starlight, he continued barking orders about setting up tents and walked away without looking back.
‘Luck is on my side…’
Qinghai Starlight’s heart pounded as she watched the scene.
She assumed it was just the team leader being careless, or these veteran soldiers wanting to slack off.
After all, staying safe behind the walls for too long could dull even the sharpest edge.
But this was exactly what she wanted.
Qinghai Starlight took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to act right away.
It was still too early. No one was asleep yet, so it would be easy to get caught.
‘Wait until two in the morning.’
She silently set the time in her mind.
That was when everyone would be deepest in sleep.
As long as she was fast enough, she could sneak away a portion without anyone noticing.
She glanced at the lonely supply truck sitting in the darkness, her eyes firm and resolute.
Then she straightened her skirt, put on an indifferent expression, and walked toward the soldiers’ campfire.
The moment she turned around…
The team leader, who had been shouting in the distance, suddenly paused.
He looked back at Qinghai Starlight’s retreating figure, then at the now “unguarded” supply truck.
A complicated, helpless bitter smile flickered across his fierce face.
He pressed down the brim of his cap and spoke quietly into his earpiece.
“This is Falcon. Stage setup complete. Over.”
***
“So… this is the ‘glowing stuff that burns and looks good’ you were talking about?”
In a collapsed corner of a ruined laboratory deep in the wasteland.
Fei Xia pointed at the broken glass pipe on the ground and the puddle of eerie green slime leaking out of it.
The corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
“Are you sure this thing can even burn? Or will it just explode?”
To test her theory, Fei Xia picked up a small pebble at her feet and gently tossed it into the liquid.
Sizzle—!
Accompanied by a teeth-grinding corrosive sound, the hard pebble instantly gave off a pungent white smoke and dissolved completely in the blink of an eye, not even leaving dust behind.
Fei Xia looked at Amber Flowing Light with a deadpan expression. She said nothing, yet somehow said everything.
“Aww, don’t sweat the small stuff!”
Amber Flowing Light’s eyes darted around guiltily. She whistled innocently, then immediately regained her righteous tone.
“Anyway, this place is huge—there’s gotta be other treasures! We finally got out, so of course we should… cough, gather lots of fuel to take back!”
Wow, she really slipped up. So this was just an excuse to go exploring and play around.
“If you want to play, go play by yourself. I’m heading back to help out.”
Fei Xia sighed and turned to leave.
“Wait, wait, wait! Little Red Bean!”
Before she could take a single step, a pair of arms locked around hers.
Amber Flowing Light clung to her like a koala, batting her big, sparkling eyes and putting on a pitiful look.
“Nooo! It’s so dark and scary here! What if there are ghosts?!”
Fei Xia looked down at the human pendant attached to her and felt a deep wave of helplessness.
If this had been two or three days ago, even having someone brush against the hem of her clothes would have made her bristle like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Yet after spending less than a day with this overly familiar orange sparrow, she had already been completely desensitized.
Was this what they called “he who lies down with dogs rises with fleas”?
Even though she knew it was an act, looking at that pitiful face made it impossible for Fei Xia to harden her heart and refuse.
“…Fine.”
Fei Xia gave in.
“Half an hour max. If you go over, I’m leaving you here to feed the ghosts.”
“Yay! Little Red Bean is the best!”
Amber Flowing Light’s expression flipped instantly. She let go, then bounced off like an excited rabbit toward the deeper ruins.
‘…Am I babysitting right now?’
Fei Xia shook her head, sighed, pulled her cloak tighter around herself, and followed.
Their footsteps gradually faded until they disappeared into the darkness.
Dead silence returned.
Beside the shattered glass pipe, the previously still puddle of eerie green slime suddenly rippled with an unnatural disturbance.
Gurgle… gurgle…
The liquid began to boil and churn, as if something was about to break through.
Plop.
A murky eyeball covered in blood vessels slowly pushed its way out from the center of the slime.
It had no eyelids.
Completely exposed to the air, its pupil rotated in an unnatural circle before locking rigidly in the direction Fei Xia and Amber Flowing Light had gone.
It “watched” for a moment.
Then the entire puddle of liquid came to life.
Wrapping around the eyeball, it slithered away like a silent slug, disappearing into an even deeper, darker crevice.