Chapter 16

Chapter 16: There Must Be a Reason

“He agreed?” Huang Fu Miao Miao blurted. She looked genuinely stunned.

Even if he didn’t know much about ability cards, the name alone should’ve told him jellyfish belonged in water. A tunnel was the worst place for it.

“Exactly what I expected,” Feng Ling said, smiling. She set the tablet down and stood to blow-dry her hair.

Huang Fu Miao Miao hugged the tablet tighter and stared at her. “You’re really going?”

“Yeah.” Feng Ling glanced over. “And you’re coming with me.”

“I’m going too?!” Huang Fu Miao Miao nearly jumped. “I didn’t sleep all night! I haven’t eaten!”

“Drink a few bags of jelly.”

“Jelly?”

“The stuff you were sucking down in the car.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao blinked, then bristled. “That’s nutritional gel! You have to buy it with points! Two points for one small bag!”

“Two points?” Feng Ling’s mouth twitched like she was trying not to laugh. “How many points do you have?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao’s lips pushed into a miserable pout. “Sixteen.”

Feng Ling didn’t even pretend to hold it in. She laughed, hair dryer in hand, loud and sharp.

“I thought I was poor,” she said between laughs. “Turns out you’re worse. Sixteen points? That’s tragic.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao glared at the floor.

“With sixteen points, you wanted to sign a contract with me and give me fifty milliliters of recovery agent every day for free?” Feng Ling mocked, delighted. “Wouldn’t you go bankrupt in two days?”

“If we signed, I’d do more missions,” Huang Fu Miao Miao insisted, stubborn. “I’d earn more.”

Feng Ling’s laugh softened, like she found it funny in a different way. “There are two packs of instant noodles in the kitchen. If you want them, cook them yourself. I’m going out.”

She headed for the bedroom to change.

They were both women, so she didn’t bother closing the door. Huang Fu Miao Miao trailed after her like a shadow, firing questions in a panic. “Where are you going? What are you doing? When will you be back? Don’t you need rest? Aren’t you tired?”

Feng Ling didn’t feel tired. Her energy was weirdly high. If anything, the night’s noodles were catching up to her—too much of the same flavor, too much salt, too much grease.

“Too many questions.” Feng Ling pulled on a hoodie and athletic pants. “You get one.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. She watched Feng Ling dig her ID and bank card out of her suitcase and walk to the door like she had all the time in the world.

At the last second, she blurted, “If you run into a player out there… what do you do?”

Feng Ling didn’t even hesitate. “Call the police, obviously.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao stared, speechless.

It was unsettling—like a madman suddenly remembering how normal people talked.

Click. The front door shut.

Huang Fu Miao Miao stood there for a long moment, then drifted back to the sofa and sat down.

The place was big. With Feng Ling gone, it felt cavernous. Empty air. Empty corners. Huang Fu Miao Miao didn’t know where to put herself.

She was starving. She was exhausted. She was so tired her bones felt heavy. Ever since those two men—one fat, one thin—had caught her, she hadn’t truly rested.

The sofa was soft. So soft it felt dangerous.

Maybe she should sleep. Just for a bit…

But what if a player showed up? What if they ran into a hidden Boss? She’d only just gotten a foothold. She didn’t want Feng Ling to get into trouble.

So she opened the player forum and forced herself to focus.

Every post with “hunt Boss” in the title, she clicked. Every comment, every update, scanning for Feng Ling’s name, for locations, for hints.

Words started to smear. The screen turned thick and sticky, like someone had poured glue over the letters. Her eyelids fought each other. And then the fight ended.

She curled up on the sofa and fell asleep.

…

When Feng Ling came back, Huang Fu Miao Miao was out cold.

Her small body was curled into the cushions, hair a tangled curtain over her mask and cheeks. Her missing arm lay exposed, the healed edge clean but final—the half that had been melted away would never return.

Feng Ling watched her and thought, She looks like a dog.

Feng Ling actually liked animals. But stray cats and dogs had always detoured around her. Even pet shop animals would bare their teeth. She’d never managed to keep anything close long enough to call it hers.

And now she’d ended up raising an aberrant.

She set the kid-sized clothes, shoes, and socks beside the sofa, then sat down and pulled out her new phone.

Chao Qiang Chao wanted to add her to a group. Without a phone, it would’ve been a hassle. So she’d left early, hit an ATM for cash, then went to the service counter to get everything set up. She even arranged a secondary SIM card for Huang Fu Miao Miao.

She’d been busy all morning.

Now, she installed the usual apps and joined Chao Qiang Chao’s group.

The moment she entered, someone complained the schedule was too tight to get a decent train ticket.

Chao Qiang Chao replied: can’t you buy a plane ticket?

The person snapped back immediately: There isn’t even proof there’s an aberrant, and you want me to buy a plane ticket?

I haven’t seen a cent of reward money, but you want me to throw a few thousand into it first. You think money grows on trees?

Feng Ling’s first thought was, fair.

Her second thought came a heartbeat later, when Chao Qiang Chao kicked them out of the group.

[Chao Qiang Chao: Latest is 7 a.m. tomorrow—tunnel entry. Anyone who can’t make it, leave now.]

[Chao Qiang Chao: If you stay, change your name to your forum ID so we can recognize each other.]

People left one after another.

In the end, only six remained.

Someone named “Spirited Girl Li Kui” suggested doing it tonight. Finish early, get paid early.

Chao Qiang Chao seemed frantic enough to consider it. He asked if everyone could make tonight.

Feng Ling glanced at Huang Fu Miao Miao sleeping on the sofa and replied: too rushed. Tomorrow at 7.

[Chao Qiang Chao: Fine. 7 it is. Get to Jiang Kou City train station first. I’ll send the exact location at 6 a.m. Don’t be late.]

Jiang Kou City was a nearby fourth-tier city, only a two-hour drive from Qing Jiang City.

Feng Ling opened her map app, zoomed in, and studied it. Flat terrain. No obvious mining industry. Nothing that screamed underground tunnel.

“Can’t scout ahead,” she muttered, faintly disappointed.

Feng Ling liked plans. She liked clean steps and clear exits.

No scouting didn’t mean no prep. Tunnels meant bad lighting—maybe no lighting at all. Emergency lamps. Flashlights. Rope. Non-slip shoes. Tools that could double as weapons: hammer, axe, shovel.

She scrolled through an online store’s glossy product photos and frowned.

Why was everything so expensive?

An axe was priced at eighteen hundred. At that point, the seller might as well grab a mask and do it themselves.

A text message popped up.

[Your e-banking account received 1,000,000 yuan at 10:25 on May 11.]

Feng Ling paused.

Then she tapped Buy Now and confirmed payment without blinking.