To be honest, it’s really not easy to tell which one is the Mutant’s face just by looking at a petrified Mutant.
If it were a close relative you’ve seen day and night, maybe you could tell from their aura or presence. But now it’s impossible, because these three—Ming Yu bear and the others—have no blood relation to me at all.
“Alright, let me take a look. Three people—one is from the town, one is a woman, and the last… no, should be a man.”
Xiao Si Nuo held a small notebook, hanging a chestnut-colored gel pen he used for homework, jotting down notes. Before coming here, Xu Chuyao said that since Ha Dai was handling the specimen, he needed to be more professional.
Both the process and conclusion had to be recorded.
The other two stood up front, so naturally he, the third wheel, handled the clerical work. The three Mutants came back, escorting Chief Li.
They seemed rather dazed but showed no signs of aggression—for now, at least. “Just like that, I cut off a small piece of Daystone, transformed seven Mutants. Four attacked, then I smacked them all dead with one slap.”
Xu Chuyao brushed off her sleeves, recounting her heroic feat from earlier.
She gestured coolly at the three remaining Mutants behind her and said, “These few seemed more friendly, so I just brought them back.”
Xiao Si Nuo finished recording in the notebook and casually asked, “So, what’s our experiment for today?”
“Let’s wait and see.”
Xu Chuyao left it at that, then suddenly walked over to Shen Ning’s side and planted a kiss on her cheek. Imua~ Shen Ning wiped the saliva from her face, looking bewildered at her own girlfriend.
“What are you doing?” Why did she kiss me out of the blue? Xu Chuyao glanced at her, then at the unresponsive Mutants, scratching her head. “Why isn’t your reaction the same as last time?”
“Maybe because I already used this trick before, and it’s only been a few days,” Shen Ning said calmly.
“I’m not really the Little Chef… not really that person, so how could it always work?” Even if you were truly the Little Chef, you can’t expect a single kiss to keep someone happy all night.
“So you mean I have to come up with something new? Shen Ning, you’re really a difficult research subject.” The girl walked quietly towards the three docile Mutants. They opened their mouths as if to make some inaudible sounds. “Chief Li, if you want a way, I could give you some advice. I usually read romance novels sometimes—”
“Shh.”
Xu Chuyao whispered, “Don’t interrupt. Shen Ning is communicating with them.” A soundless wind swept across the vast Supernatural Wilderness outside. When the wind stopped, dust returned to dust and soil to soil; the Mutant’s bodies turned to fine powder, becoming part of this barren land.
The girl returned, lost in thought. “What’s wrong, Shen Ning?” Xu Chuyao poked her head out from the off-road vehicle. “You look like something’s bothering you.” She couldn’t hear the conversation and waiting around was boring, so she drove over.
Shen Ning slowly climbed into the passenger seat, her mind still lingering on the conversation with the Mutants.
“They said, they’re willing to support me, to bring a faint light to this world of the dead.” Xu Chuyao gave a thumbs up: “So, when did you get elected as leader?”
“I didn’t. But that’s what they kept saying, that ones like them are rare, so…” Shen Ning tilted her head, “I don’t really know what use their words are.”
After all, she wouldn’t go perform a Dream Ritual in a place with no physical form.
Xu Chuyao pondered at the steering wheel, suddenly getting excited and saying happily, “That’s great! We’re finally on the right track!” Shen Ning and Xiao Si Nuo both looked at her with suspicion.
“Think about it—why did we start these experiments in the first place? Because up there, there’s some old guy in charge, who wants to use the power of the Daystone to extend his life and be the boss in there.” Xu Chuyao pinched her fingers, “He definitely isn’t like the others, who are controlled and affected by your emotional influence. So there’s an irreconcilable conflict between you all.”
“Damn, there’s actually something like that?” Xiao Si Nuo exclaimed, “That guy in charge or whatever, let me ask the Officer—just gossiping.”
Xu Chuyao smiled faintly, “Don’t ask.” Really. Xiao Si Nuo understood. Maybe it’s better not to know about this, lest it mess with his memory.
“The good news is, you’re now getting closer to that position.” Xu Chuyao looked at where the Mutants had been, “Earlier, three human-willed beings voted for you. It might not be much, but it’s already a lot.” Shen Ning yawned, then turned to look out at the barren wilderness: “But I don’t need to extend my life.” Uncle Meng once said that, and now they say it too, but she didn’t understand at all.
All these years, she’d just been struggling—moving from Dream Demon to Dream Demon, trying to settle accounts with her own past. A Survivor, a not-so-normal girl. But now, suddenly being asked to become king… She really couldn’t understand.
“You’ll succeed.”
Xu Chuyao looked seriously at her girlfriend and said, “In the not-so-distant future, you will be crowned king. That’s the result I read in the .” The girl’s eyes shone like stars, reflecting the moonlight of Starlit Lake, filling her heart with a special, indescribable feeling. Mmmmm, she still didn’t quite get it, but since Chuyao said so, she’d give it a try. “That’s right, that’s how it should be. If a person doesn’t have dreams, what’s the point of the journey?”
“Yes! That’s great!”
“Chuyao said it, you have to become king.” Their voices echoed in her ears, like heartbeats whispering right beside her, making the girl’s head fill with stars.
“By the way, what is the Apocalypse?” she asked the serious-faced girl.
“Something from legend, like a divine oracle or prophecy or something. Anyway, it’s pretty mystical.” Xu Chuyao answered offhandedly, then turned to Xiao Si Nuo, “You said you could give suggestions, let’s hear them.”
Xiao Si Nuo didn’t realize he’d become a convenient distraction and replied with great enthusiasm: “Lots of ways! I’ve read those in romance magazines and short novels. For example, when you guys are leaving the classroom, heading down the stairs, suddenly force her against the wall, put one hand on the wall by her head, and say, ‘Woman, you…’”
“Wait a second.” Xu Chuyao was baffled, “Where did you read that?”
“Um, Angel.com? Or Heaven Era, Fireworks, something like that, can’t remember which magazine.”
Xiao Si Nuo scratched his head, “My dad dug it out of an old newspaper archive from a publishing house. Said it was pre-cataclysm stuff—pretty impressive, right?”
“No need to ‘said’, it really is.”
Xu Chuyao’s gaze was profound, “You like reading old newspapers, but this is too old.” Even if you traveled to the Heaven Era, it’d be something from childhood.
“Thank goodness for you,” she said to her girlfriend, “but don’t ever use those tricks.”
Shen Ning nodded, showing she never intended to. With her own strength, if she slammed her palm against a wall, she’d just break public property.
“Alright, let’s head back.”
They came quietly and left quietly.
The off-road vehicle’s engine rumbled, but no one cared what the girls had gone to do.
Even the guard assumed Xu Chuyao’s outing must have been official business.
—
Back in her room, the girl hugged her little pillow, rolling and tumbling around her bed over and over. She made up her mind. She wanted to become king.
But… how was she supposed to do that?
“Don’t ask us, we’re just echoes,” the shadow reflection pointed at the girl in a dress and short boots, “We can’t just cheat a bug for you every time.”
The milky shadow cleared its throat: “Chuyao said it, you’ll succeed.”
“So much useful information, thanks a lot.”
Apparently, you couldn’t always cheat a bug.
Shen Ning didn’t have too many hopes.
After all, with Chuyao by her side, she’d definitely find a way.
As for herself, she might as well get some sleep—maybe she’d enter a special dream.
“Not like you get that every day, either…”
Zzzzz
—
Boys’ dorm.
Xu Chuyao was telling Mi Xiaolu, who’d just woken from his afternoon nap, a story.
It was about a girl who braved countless deaths, overcame all odds, cut her way through thorns and brambles, and finally reigned as King of the Dead Nation.
“Bro, you’re actually telling fairy tales instead of politics today?” Mi Xiaolu, who was stretching with a huge yawn, felt like he could see the light of humanity radiating from his friend.
“Wait, are you up to something?” First you win his trust, then next time when Xiaolu lets his guard down and listens for real, suddenly switch to a totally different story.
Xu Chuyao rolled her eyes: “If I wanted to trick you with that stuff, would I need to set you up? I’d just wait until midnight and whisper in your ear after you’re asleep.”
Mi Xiaolu’s face instantly turned pale: “Please, anything but that…” That would be too terrifying.
—
Afterward, Xiaolu went to class. Xu Chuyao made up for her early start with a delicious, long nap.
On the other side, Xiao Si Nuo went to the activity room. As a part-time worker, he had no time to nap. After lunch, he and Flower organized the so-called experiment records.
“That’s right, our goal is to help Shen Ning become king. The Mutants’ spiritual world needs a king. I don’t know the details, but that’s what Chief Li said. It’s definitely a good thing—when Shen Ning becomes king, we can have your dad appointed as a guest, and then you can come visit anytime… cough, maybe I’m thinking too far ahead?”
“Ah, it’s fine. Thank you.”
—
Everyone had things to do, and Chuyao was just as busy.
She struggled through to the next morning, feeling grateful to Mi Xiaolu for bringing her supper last night, so she got up, ate, and went back to sleep. This morning, as soon as she picked up her phone, she saw a message from the Class Advisor: [Xu Chuyao, are you awake? If you are, come to the Principal’s Office with Shen Ning. The Principal is waiting for you.]