WS - Chapter 122

Chapter 122

In the cave, Ni Jinghe's forehead had hit the ground quite hard. After passing out once, her head had been heavy and her whole body felt a weary, sore listlessness.

But she still remembered clearly what had happened before she hit her head. If not for Feng Qianqian, that large rock would have come straight at her own head. Now that she had only minor injuries, Ni Jinghe naturally felt full of gratitude and guilt toward Feng Qianqian. Even though she herself felt unwell along the way, she never forgot to keep an eye on the person on the stretcher.

At this moment, Ni Jinghe was guarding Feng Qianqian even more closely, afraid something might go wrong during the night.

Her body was uncomfortable and her mind was heavy with worry, so for a moment she didn't hear the small noise of Ning Chuyang crawling over behind her. The sudden tug on her clothes nearly made her jump out of her skin.

Startled, her heart thumped loudly, and only with considerable effort did she make out the words Ning Chuyang whispered.

"This afternoon, Teacher Yu brought Teacher Song over for me to take a look. Teacher Song seemed quite tired then, so it's probably normal for her to be fast asleep now," Ni Jinghe said, rubbing her chest. "You saw it too—that rock was so huge. Teacher Song was lifting it with veins bulging as if they'd burst. She overexerted herself; her energy was definitely excessively drained."

Ning Chuyang listened to Ni Jinghe's words, thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I just feel something's off. It's not only Song Shiyue; I think Teacher Yu seems a bit off too."

"Teacher Yu?" Ni Jinghe froze for a second, then instinctively looked over toward Yu Nianbing.

It was a bit far; by the firelight, she could only vaguely see that Yu Nianbing was sitting.

"Yes, ever since we got here, Teacher Yu has been like a hen guarding her eggs. Every time I look over, I feel like her gaze is warning me off. I haven't dared to get close enough to look at Song Shiyue," Ning Chuyang said, carefully lowering her voice even more.

Ni Jinghe: "..."

Because it took all her effort just to keep her attention on Feng Qianqian along the way, Ni Jinghe really hadn't made such detailed observations.

Ning Chuyang tugged at Ni Jinghe again. "Doctor Ni, you're a doctor—help me go take a look, okay?"

After saying that, still half-lying on her stomach, she pressed her palms together in a difficult pleading gesture.

At this point, Ni Jinghe naturally had to go take a look.

She had originally thought Ning Chuyang was just overly worried about Song Shiyue, and that was why she felt Yu Nianbing was a bit off. But she hadn't expected that before she even got close, she would meet Yu Nianbing's somewhat guarded gaze, and she couldn't help but pause in her steps.

Clearly that afternoon when she had brought Song Shiyue over to be examined, Yu Nianbing hadn't been like this...

Though she froze for a moment, Ni Jinghe still remembered her duty as a doctor. Bearing that inexplicable, slightly cold pressure, she walked up to Yu Nianbing.

In just those few steps, Ni Jinghe saw with her own eyes Yu Nianbing shift from one side of Song Shiyue to the other, precisely positioning herself between Ni Jinghe and Song Shiyue...

"Teacher Song was exhausted this afternoon; I came to see how she's doing," Ni Jinghe said, showing a gentle, soothing smile.

Yu Nianbing, however, glanced over toward Ning Chuyang not far away, who was propping her head up on her elbow.

Even though she couldn't hear the conversation over there, Yu Nianbing was well aware that Ni Jinghe had been busy attending to Feng Qianqian. Most likely Ning Chuyang had said something when she crawled over earlier.

Only...

Song Shiyue's condition along the way, and the words they had spoken when alone in the forest, had given Yu Nianbing some unsettling guesses she didn't want to confront. Even... Yu Nianbing didn't think that if her guesses were correct, Ni Jinghe could offer any help. After all, before, Ni Jinghe hadn't been able to see anything or help at all. So, she hadn't sought out Ni Jinghe again.

But now that the person was right in front of her, with so many people around and surely many still awake, if she blocked her, it would only make things more conspicuous.

Yu Nianbing hesitated, then finally stepped aside a little, revealing Song Shiyue, whom she'd been shielding behind her, to Ni Jinghe's eyes.

Ni Jinghe crouched down and immediately reached out to feel Song Shiyue's breath.

Even though she knew Song Shiyue was fine, seeing this motion made Yu Nianbing's heart clench.

Breathing steady, pulse normal, expression peaceful—compared to when she was panting like a dog in exhaustion that afternoon, her condition was much better.

"She's fine. Let her sleep well," Ni Jinghe said after a check, her expression much more relaxed now that she had been doubly startled by Ning Chuyang and Yu Nianbing.

"Okay, thank you, Doctor Ni," Yu Nianbing nodded, but the taut string in her heart tightened even more.

Sure enough... it was something unusual that Ni Jinghe couldn't see either.

Just like that afternoon...

On her way back, as Ni Jinghe passed Ning Chuyang, she briefly repeated the results of the check.

Unlike Yu Nianbing, Ning Chuyang felt greatly relieved upon hearing the doctor's words. Having been tense and then suddenly relaxed, when she lay back down, waves of drowsiness washed over her.

The night grew darker, and around the campfire, snores big and small gradually started to sound.

Zhao Er and Captain Yang sat on opposite sides, forming two endpoints of a diameter by the fire, paying no attention to each other.

Captain Yang rubbed his injured left ankle and calf, his face clouded by a gloom that even the firelight couldn't dispel.

No one knew that his struggle with Zhao Da and Zhao Er for the team's say and leadership that afternoon was not because he was so obsessed with the leader position that he wouldn't give it up even after the Yaoxing Storm.

The truth was... Captain Yang was afraid.

In over sixty years, for Yaoxing Storms on various planets, apart from the one on Pinggu Prime, thanks to timely predictions, there had been no casualties.

But that time on Pinggu Prime...

As a professional in outdoor team-building and wilderness survival, Captain Yang was very interested in the Pinggu Planet Yaoxing Storm. He had watched most of the films, documentaries, various materials, and even the memoirs written by survivors who had experienced it.

Disasters, especially those where you don't know when rescue will come, truly... test the human heart.

And the weak are often the first to be abandoned.

Captain Yang didn't consider himself weak, but... if not for the fact that everyone had been through so much today and was utterly exhausted, if not because they were still carrying Feng Qianqian on a stretcher and simply couldn't move fast, then with his crippled leg, it would be very difficult for him to keep up with the group.

No matter whether it was an injured forehead, shoulder, or hand, it wouldn't affect walking speed.

In the team, apart from Feng Qianqian, only he... was injured in the foot.

Now, it was only the beginning. Yet Captain Yang felt he could already see the fate of Feng Qianqian being abandoned soon.

And what about himself?

Back then, on Pinggu Planet, the earthquakes and aftershocks, mountains collapsing, rivers shifting—what they saw now was just a corner of this mountain range.

Everything had just begun, and the real hardship hadn't even reached them yet.

And to reach the Old Castle, there were still many mountains, many rivers. Not to mention the tasks originally set on terrain where you couldn't walk normally, all for the sake of the program effect. Would the live food ingredients the Production Team had arranged further ahead really last until they reached those points? Relying only on the Boxed Meals the Production Team buried at camps, how far could they walk?

Even... was the Old Castle the final destination? Putting aside whether the Old Castle was intact, how many people could the resources there support, and for how long?

Captain Yang was deeply pessimistic and very afraid.

When resources were insufficient for them to slowly advance, he... which number would he be among those abandoned?

Captain Yang tried to seize the right to speak, tried to take control of the team, tried to put himself in a safer position.

But clearly, Zhao Da and Zhao Er, the two brothers with their unbreakable natural alliance, had luckily come out of the cave uninjured, making Captain Yang's schemes very difficult to carry out.

At the two ends of the fire, each absorbed in their own thoughts, they stayed silent, keeping watch for a long time.

Later, it was Zhao Er who, remembering that Zhao Da still had things to say to Mu Xingzhou, figured the time was about right, broke the silence, and woke the two people for the next shift.

After Zhao Da and Mu Xingzhou got up, Zhao Er lay down, but he didn't rush to sleep. Instead, he pricked up his ears, trying to listen to their conversation.

Zhao Da himself was a light sleeper. After being woken up, he first cast a glance around at everyone.

They were all lying down, though whether they were all asleep he didn't know.

As before, the two kept silent watch without words. But with throats sore from lack of water, such silence didn't feel awkward.

Just when Zhao Er was waiting in doubt, growing annoyed, and nearly falling asleep, he finally heard Zhao Da's voice.

"Are you tired? If you're tired, sleep a bit more. I can keep watch alone," Zhao Da's voice was steady, tinged with friendliness.

And that friendliness, given that he had saved Feng Qianqian and helped carry the stretcher the whole way, in Mu Xingzhou's eyes, truly was quite friendly.

"Thanks, I can do it," Mu Xingzhou said briefly, but his tone was full of sincerity.

With that good start, the two gradually struck up a conversation, going back and forth.

Zhao Er grew drowsy listening, then fell asleep without waiting for Zhao Da to try probing Mu Xingzhou as planned.

But the topic eventually came.

In the night, tired people are always easily warmed, always easily... open their hearts a little more.

After Mu Xingzhou had started calling Zhao Da "Brother Zhao," and Zhao Da felt the timing was right, he leisurely spoke: "Back in the cave today, you were quite anxious about Qianqian. Did you two know each other before?"

This time, Mu Xingzhou was silent for a moment before slowly uttering, "Mm."

After the most urgent moment had passed, he also realized that his behavior had been rather obvious; at the very least, the fact that they knew each other could no longer be hidden.

"Ha, I knew it. Back then, even with your shoulder injured, you still struggled so hard to climb over that tall pile of rocks," Zhao Da praised Mu Xingzhou a bit, then deliberately lowered his voice, with the air of an insider sharing a secret. "Are you two secretly dating?"

In the darkness, it was Mu Xingzhou's silence; this silence was much, much longer than the previous one.

But Zhao Da wasn't in a hurry, just quietly waiting.

And among those lying not far from the fire, someone also perked up their ears.

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