Chapter 23: Am I the Bait? (Please Follow and Bookmark)

Page 1/3

Xia Tong decided to stay hidden in the shadows and observe the situation first. If they could smoothly retrieve the item and leave, that would be best. If they ended up clashing with the Bloodwing Bats or some other creatures, perhaps she could seize the opportunity to take advantage of the chaos—that would be fine as well. She curled up silently in the shadow beneath the plants, waiting patiently. Suddenly, the silent Amu lifted his head, and his eyes beneath the hood seemed to casually scan the corner where she was hiding.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately shrank deeper, her breath nearly ceasing. However, Amu’s gaze did not linger; it soon dropped again as if it was just an unconscious glance. Yet Xia Tong dared not be careless and quietly activated her power. “Little brother, don’t scare me.”

This shadow power awakening user felt even more dangerous to her than the mental perception specialist Xiao Ling. Perhaps he could sense through shadows! If so, wouldn’t she have been exposed long ago... Xia Tong forced her mind to calm and stopped dwelling on such pointless thoughts. For now, she could only take things step by step.

Time passed by slowly. There was no significant noise from the underground safe passage, only some muffled thuds and faint energy fluctuations. Evidently, the three were clearing obstacles or small mutated creatures from the passage. Xia Tong waited patiently—she had all the time in the world. In this post-apocalyptic world, patience was often one of the most vital traits for survival.

After about ten minutes, just when Xia Tong thought they would continue searching below, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from the entrance to the safe passage. Scarface, the team captain, returned to the hall with Xiao Ling and Ke Ji. They were dust-stained and looked exhausted, clearly the exploration below had not gone smoothly.

“Damn it, it’s even more troublesome down there than we thought!” the burly Scarface cursed first. He was covered in patches of green slime and dust, his face showing impatience. Ke Ji followed closely, wiping the grime from his glasses with a handkerchief as he spoke:

“Also, the structural map of the third underground level doesn’t match reality. Many corridors were blocked by collapses and mutated plants since the early days of the apocalypse. Those fungal aggregates are low-level but so numerous, and the spores they release have hallucinogenic effects, which wastes a lot of time.”

Xiao Ling’s face grew serious. She shook her head at Amu and said, “The scent of the ‘Moonlight Orchid’ is very faint and severely interfered with by other plants’ odors, making it difficult to locate. We forcibly cleared several paths, but the further down, the more those burrowing worms appear—very troublesome.”

Page 2/3

“I have a feeling there’s a highly evolved mutated creature down there similar to the one on the rooftop.” Xia Tong listened to their complaints from the shadows, her mind clear. It seemed this “Moonlight Orchid” was not so easy to obtain. Though these people were quite capable, facing the complex underground environment and endless low-level mutated creatures proved challenging.

Then, Amu, who had been standing guard by the vehicle, suddenly moved without warning. His head under the hood abruptly turned toward the vine-covered shadow where Xia Tong was hiding. Though she couldn’t see his expression clearly, Xia Tong felt an icy gaze lock onto her!

Almost simultaneously, the beam of a flashlight swept across, and the complaining Scarface, Ke Ji, and Xiao Ling instantly fell silent, all turning their eyes sharply toward where Xia Tong was concealed. Xiao Ling’s brow furrowed tightly, her gaze cutting like a blade.

“Damn, I really got exposed!” Xia Tong’s heart sank. Her body hairs nearly stood on end; she shouldn’t have been so lucky. She never imagined that even after suppressing her aura to the extreme, she would still be discovered! It was that hooded man named Amu!

“You stubborn fool! Waiting for me here, huh!” Scarface growled.

“What’s that? Come out!” Scarface glanced coldly at Amu, his huge axe raised slightly, muscles tensed, ready to strike.

“Prepare for battle!” Ke Ji pushed up his glasses, the glow from his tablet flickering on his face as he scanned for abnormal energies.

Xiao Ling was even more direct, sending an invisible mental wave surging toward Xia Tong’s hiding place like a tide.

Xia Tong clearly felt the mental force rapidly scanning around her, but in the next moment, the “Source Core” in her mind trembled slightly and completely shielded off the probing mental power without alerting them.

Still, Xia Tong knew hiding any longer was pointless and would only invite fiercer attacks. She took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, a calculating gleam flickering in her cat-like eyes. Then, she slowly stepped out from the gap in the vines.

A soft “meow~” sounded, gentle and even a bit lazy, breaking the silence.

Page 3/3

Compared to those terrifying mutated beasts, her little cat form seemed more likely to earn human trust. Perhaps...

Xia Tong’s intuition was correct. When the group saw that it was a small black cat with strange glassy eyes emerging from the shadows, Scarface and the others were momentarily stunned, hesitating to strike immediately.

“A cat?” Ke Ji raised his eyebrows in surprise as the energy readings on his tablet showed no strong signals.

It seemed to be just an ordinary cat?

But… could that be possible?

Xiao Ling scrutinized Xia Tong up and down, her gaze probing. “This cat... something’s off. The environment is so harsh here, yet it’s so clean, and it’s not afraid of humans at all!”

None of them were fools. Anyone who survived in the ruins had some skill, especially a cat so sleek and jet black. Indeed, Xia Tong’s glossy black fur formed a stark contrast against the dust-covered, mossy ruins, standing out conspicuously.

More importantly, facing four powerful awakened users exuding a fierce aura, this cat showed no panic—only unusual composure.

Scarface fixed his gaze on Xia Tong, a strange glint flashing in his eyes before he grinned, a somewhat sinister smile:

“Heh, a mutated cat? Looks pretty clever. Just right, aren’t those burrowing worms a nuisance?”

“You little thing, you’ve just met your bad luck.”

Ke Ji immediately understood the captain’s meaning, adjusting his glasses: “The captain means... use it as bait? Those burrowing worms are very sensitive to the scent of living flesh. If we throw it ahead, it should attract most of their attention and buy us time.”

“That’s a plan,” Xiao Ling’s eyes turned icy, showing no mercy. “But we have to catch it first. Judging by its looks, it’s not an ordinary cat and won’t be easy to deal with.”

“Just a cat, how much trouble can it cause?” Scarface sneered, turning his eyes toward the silent Amu. “Amu, you go. Catch it alive. Don’t kill it—still useful.” His tone was flat, as if describing something completely routine.