Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Snake Moon’s Heavenly Fire

Feng Ling sat in the car with a face like thunder.

The traffic was obscene. Less than ten kilometers had eaten an entire hour.

She watched the sun sink lower and lower until it finally dropped out of sight. By 8 p.m., the streetlights were on, and the gridlock began to loosen at last.

But it didn’t matter.

Night had swallowed everything. Once they got onto the bridge, all she could see was the strip of asphalt lit by headlights. On both sides, the river was black as ink, blending into the night sky.

Whatever she’d seen from the Ferris wheel—frog, white bird, wings—was gone.

All of it. Invisible.

Zhou Zhou leaned back in his seat, voice lazy. “This road’s always jammed. Today there was a traffic accident, so it’s worse. It’s dark now anyway. We’ll make a loop on the bridge and head back.”

“Head back,” Feng Ling said, flat and annoyed. “We’ll come again tomorrow.”

“If we find the white bird tomorrow, does that mean we can find the Maze entrance?” Zhou Zhou asked.

Feng Ling cut him a look. “The riddle has three lines. The last line is: ‘Snake Moon’s heavenly fire burns out a gate in the ashes.’”

“Only three lines.” Zhou Zhou tried to sound upbeat. “We’ve already got a direction on the first two. The third will be quick. No need to panic.”

Feng Ling shut her eyes and leaned her head against the seat. “Twenty-nine percent.”

Zhou Zhou went quiet.

Yeah. They still needed to panic.

The car fell into a strained silence.

After half a minute, Zhou Zhou forced some energy back into his voice. “Okay, then we don’t waste time. Even if it’s dark and we can’t see the white bird, we can work on the third line. Snake Moon’s heavenly fire… Snake Moon…” He glanced out the window. “Can’t even see the moon tonight.”

“Don’t tell me it’s literal,” Feng Ling said, frowning. “Snake Moon is a moon shaped like a snake? Heavenly fire is fire in the sky?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao thought hard. “Fire in the sky… the sun? Or a meteor?”

Feng Ling’s patience snapped. “The sun’s a daytime thing. A meteor is at night! Why make the Maze so complicated? Do they even want people to get in?”

Zhou Zhou swallowed his first instinct—The Maze was never meant for humans.

In the rearview mirror, he saw Huang Fu Miao Miao shaking her head at him, frantic and pleading. Her mouth formed the words silently: Don’t. Provoke. Her.

Zhou Zhou exhaled through his nose.

Maybe they really should shove Feng Ling into a gas chamber. Living next to pressure like this felt like standing beside a bomb with a cracked timer.

No one spoke after that. Feng Ling didn’t seem interested in small talk, either.

She unlocked her phone out of sheer irritation—and froze.

A message from Daoist Master Li.

Daoist Master Li transferred ¥650.00.

Then another:

Daoist Master Li: “Have you found a safe place to stay? Do you have food and water ready?”

Feng Ling’s whole face brightened, unmistakably.

Of course it did. Money would do that.

She accepted the transfer without the slightest guilt, and her mood visibly softened. Huang Fu Miao Miao and Zhou Zhou stared at her like they’d just witnessed a miracle.

“Who’s messaging you?” Zhou Zhou asked, unable to help himself.

“A good person,” Feng Ling said, smiling as she typed.

Aisha: “Found one~(^w^)~”

Aisha: “Daoist Master, want to come visit? I’ll treat you to dinner~”

Daoist Master Li: “Don’t tell me your address. Don’t tell anyone. They’re coming soon.”

Coming soon?

Feng Ling’s eyes narrowed.

Aisha: “But I already said on the forum that I went to Yun Hai City.”

Daoist Master Li: “Not every player watches the human forum.”

Daoist Master Li: “Some form alliances that specialize in hunting lone high-score prey. Polluted entity and Boss are both targets. Be careful.”

Aisha: “How many are there? Are they strong?”

The reply didn’t come.

Feng Ling waited, then sent a single question mark.

Still nothing. Maybe he was busy.

She scrolled up, reread the transfer, savored the number—650—then locked her phone again.

It wasn’t a fortune, but the sender clearly understood aberrants. That alone pleased her. It only hardened her resolve to find him.

Huang Fu Miao Miao and Zhou Zhou saw her calm down and both released a breath they didn’t realize they’d been holding.

By the time they made it back to the apartment, it was already 9 p.m. Feng Ling checked the chat again—still no message from Daoist Master Li.

She didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she opened a delivery app and started ordering food.

The two nests inside her never stopped drawing energy. If she didn’t keep eating—constantly—she wasn’t just worried about starving the nests. She was worried about starving herself.

Night options were bleak. Few restaurants stayed open, fewer riders were willing to run deliveries, and the added fees were outrageous.

In a city where aberrants were more active after dark, people were literally risking their lives to earn money.

Feng Ling didn’t have the luxury of being picky. She found a Sha County snack shop that hadn’t closed yet and ordered the entire menu.

Still uneasy, she went to the kitchen and boiled frozen wontons on the side.

Zhou Zhou watched her eat like he’d never seen a human being eat. Amazed—almost envious—he said, “If you ate like this every day for a few days, would you not need to eat for the next year?”

“It’s a special period,” Feng Ling said, eating steadily. “So I eat more.”

“Special period?” Zhou Zhou asked, leaning forward. “What kind of special period?”

“It’s hard to explain.” Feng Ling swallowed, then tried anyway. “Think of it like I’m pregnant with twins. I need a lot of nutrition.”

Zhou Zhou’s eyes went wide. “You’re… pregnant?”

“It’s a metaphor.” Feng Ling didn’t even pause. “If you don’t get it, forget it. It’s not important.”

Zhou Zhou’s confusion flared into irritation. “How is it my fault I don’t get it? You’re the one explaining it like a lunatic! What woman uses pregnancy as a metaphor?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao, silent as a shadow, lifted her perfume bottle a few centimeters.

Zhou Zhou’s throat tightened. He suddenly felt a lot less brave.

He watched Feng Ling carefully. She kept eating, calm and unbothered, and only then did he relax a fraction.

“Then… uh…” He cleared his throat. “When are you due?”

“Any time,” Feng Ling said.

Zhou Zhou went quiet for a long, long moment.

Any time?

He looked her over. She didn’t look like she was about to give birth. Not even close.

And yet, the thought of Feng Ling “giving birth” to anything made his skin crawl.

“Tonight?” he asked at last, forcing the words out. “Are you… giving birth tonight?”

Feng Ling shook her head, as if she’d actually weighed it. “An aberrant could show up at any moment. We still haven’t found the Maze. The corruption problem isn’t solved. I’ve got too much to do. This isn’t the time to raise babies.”

She flicked her left wrist.

The two silver bracelets there shifted and unfolded, turning into two silver ability cards that hovered beside her.

They weren’t like normal silver ability cards. These looked layered—nested—one pattern sitting inside another. The outer layer was etched with a design that resembled a huge, staring eye.

“Holy shit…” Zhou Zhou breathed, reaching out on instinct. “What is that?”

“Don’t touch it,” Feng Ling said without looking up.

Zhou Zhou’s hand froze midair.

“Or I’ll give birth to you.”