Days on the Run

Huaxia Front, Azure Research Institute 2, late at night. "Yaoyao?" A colleague squinted to make out her figure, recognizing the young genius coming down the stairs, and raised a hand in greeting. "Why are you heading home so late?" "Oh, just suddenly got a bit busy lately." Xin Yaoqiao smiled and waved to her colleague. At home, her mother was just as curious and bewildered. "Why have you suddenly become so hardworking lately, Qiaoqiao? Staying so late in the language lab every day before coming home?" In Mother Xin's memory, her daughter had never liked being cooped up in a laboratory; her heart was set entirely on the sighting frontline battlefields. If not for the family suppressing her at every turn, she probably would have run off long ago. Xin Yaoqiao didn't say a word. She merely looked up at her mother, her eyes curving into cheerful crescents. "Not pining over that confirmed bachelor anymore? Did you see the light and decide to focus on research?" Mother Xin asked, looking down at her. "Still pining." Xin Yaoqiao's eyes twinkled, and she gave a smug little chuckle. "That's why I need to earn more source energy blocks! Once I crack the Great Spikes' linguistic system, I'll hide it away and use it to blackmail Grandpa." "Blackmail my father?" Mother Xin looked at her with a helpless expression. "Do you really want source energy blocks that badly?" "Yep, I want them. And I was thinking, once we can talk to the Great Spikes in the future, maybe we can blackmail them, too," Xin Yaoqiao said. "Tricking them works, too, and after that..." "Understood." Mother Xin connected the dots and turned around decisively, ready to exit the conversation. As a mother, she felt so aggrieved. With her little Yaoqiao's background and looks, how could her romantic prospects be this pathetic?! Seeing her mother about to leave, Xin Yaoqiao hopped up, grabbed her arm, and dragged her down onto the sofa. She continued: "Mom, you have no idea. Recently he actually went to participate in that trial at the Third Fixed Exploration Site, and he even went with a little Swiss girl! That girl, um, looks... well, kind of pretty... But he doesn't like her! He just wants source energy blocks, that's all." Mother Xin's face fell. "How do you know he doesn't like her?" "You said it yourself! You said someone like him is destined to be a bachelor for life." "...Fair point." Mother Xin nodded. She still felt genuinely furious at that brat who had dared to crush a beetle against her daughter's supraclavicular fossa. "That girl probably isn't blind either." "Exactly." Xin Yaoqiao nodded vigorously, seeming much more at ease now that she had her mother's agreement. Mother Xin smiled wryly. "Then why are you still hoarding source energy blocks for him?" "Well, because I am blind." Xin Yaoqiao spoke breezily, happily closing her eyes and popping them open again. "..." Mother Xin stood up, this time refusing to be held back. She made it all the way to her bedroom door before suddenly remembering something. She turned back and said, "You made me so mad I nearly forgot. Your grandmother called earlier to ask if you're coming to her place for the New Year." Xin Yaoqiao thought for a moment and said crisply, "I'll go." A win! Given that every year, the two elderly couples of the Qu family and the Xin family had to fight over this, Mother Xin felt a small surge of satisfaction. She gestured with her chin and said, "Then call your grandmother yourself. She hasn't gone to sleep yet; she's waiting for you." "Okay." Xin Yaoqiao rolled over, picked up the telephone, and dialed. Mother Xin stepped into her bedroom, leaving the door cracked open. She stood listening for a moment and heard her daughter acting coy over the phone, dropping hints to her grandmother that for this year's lucky money, she wanted source energy blocks. Mother Xin: "..." *She's going to drive me crazy.* "I wonder if he's in any danger..." In the living room outside, Xin Yaoqiao murmured to herself. "That damn trial claims lives every single time." *** Third Fixed Exploration Site, trial grounds, late at night. Wen Jifei finally couldn't hold back any longer. He made an excuse to have Han Qingyu accompany him outside the cave for a smoke, crossing over the mountain ridge to sit beside a stream, where he asked about the metal block. This time, Han Qingyu didn't hide it from him. He told him everything about being able to absorb the metal block directly, as well as absorbing and pouring back blue crystal blocks. "So that's why, on the way to the source energy field back then, I told you I might be really strong," Han Qingyu mentioned. "Oh, I remember now. Back then, I said I might be really strong too." Wen Jifei laughed as he spoke. "So what the hell are you, anyway?" Han Qingyu shook his head helplessly. "I don't know either." "Hmm... Could it be that you're a miniature human source energy field?" Wen Jifei had a sudden flash of inspiration. "That's why you clashed and collided with the testing field and shorted it out!" "Huh?" Han Qingyu froze, genuinely pondering the possibility. Suddenly, voices drifted up from downstream. The two quickly dropped flat against the slope to hide, observing under the faint moonlight. "Head wraps," Wen Jifei whispered. "Yeah." Han Qingyu's expression turned grave. "It's that gang, but there seem to be more of them than before. Look at the ones without wraps—at least two of them are top-tier fighters." "Oh. Then what are they sneaking around for? They couldn't be looking for us, could they?" Wen Jifei thought for a moment. "Did that Wu Xu leak our general location?" "Probably not," Han Qingyu said. "Besides, the location he knew is still quite far from here." "Then..." "Regardless, let's avoid them first. Let's go." Before the Great Spikes arrived, Han Qingyu didn't want to get into a fierce clash, especially with so many enemies and powerful fighters backing them up. All five members of their squad were together; if a chaotic melee broke out and he couldn't cover everyone, casualties could easily happen. The two decisively returned to the cave, rounded up Shen Yixiu and the other two, packed their gear, and quickly withdrew. They scrambled to the summit of an opposite mountain with a sheer cliff face, lying prone to watch. Sure enough, before long, Adubu led his men straight to the cave entrance, surrounded it, and began shouting inside... Shen Yixiu asked, "How did he know where we were? Did someone happen to spot us and tail us without our noticing?" Han Qingyu shook his head. "No idea." Over by the cave, seeing no response, Adubu had his men slowly creep inside. After confirming the situation, he led the rest of his men in as well. There were obvious signs of recent habitation, but the occupants were already gone. "These are... my falcon's... feathers!" Inside the cave, Adubu picked up several raptor feathers from the dirt. After examining them closely, he finally confirmed—his sacred falcon had been roasted and eaten! With that, he sprang up, charged out of the cave hollering and shrieking, and this time he was shouting in English. Judging by his posture, he was brimming with confidence. "He says he knows we haven't gone far. He's telling you to come out... to step forward," Yin Caixin translated in a whisper. "He also says he's going to reclaim his dignity from last time, and that we all have to pay for his falcon with our lives." "Damn, didn't he lead his own people away last time? Qingzi didn't force him to leave. And what kind of bandit logic is that? He sent that thing to spy on us, and we weren't supposed to catch and eat it?" Wen Jifei muttered under his breath. Meanwhile, Han Qingyu gauged the distance, judged it sufficient for an escape, and whispered a few words into Yin Caixin's ear. Yin Caixin cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "How did you know we were here?!" Adubu paused over there, then shouted a reply. "What did he say?" Han Qingyu asked. Yin Caixin turned her head. "He said it was divine guidance." *Like hell anyone would believe that.* Right then, standing at the cave entrance, Adubu simply raised a hand. He pulled out the metal block and continued shouting loudly. Yin Caixin said, "He says if you want it, come down." Go down? Of course not, Han Qingyu thought. Adubu couldn't absorb the metal block anyway. As long as the trial wasn't over, there would always be another chance. Just then, Shen Yixiu warned vigilantly, "Not good. They've secretly sent men climbing up the mountain." At her words, several of them drew their blades. Yet Han Qingyu said, "Run." They ran. At that moment, Han Qingyu had no idea that this run would last through the night until dawn. Then, just as they were preparing to rest during the day, the pursuers caught up again, forcing him to lead the group on the run once more. Adubu seemed to have completely lost his mind. One day, two days, three days... Soon, the entire trial grounds knew Han Qingyu's squad was being hunted down. The days on the run dragged on for several days, until the trial grounds alarm blared, and the Great Spikes descended.