Thank you to our kofi supporter for the kofis. Enjoy the bonus chapters!

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

The weather had been clear for the past few nights, with bright moonlight, so Tong Zhanyan hadn’t felt anything unusual. But when the sky suddenly turned overcast and he looked up at the towering trees, an eerie feeling became all too apparent.

“What do we do now?” someone asked. “Wang Yanzhou and the others haven’t come back yet.”

“We don’t know what’s in the woods yet. If we just go straight in…” 

“Which way did they leave?” Qing Jiyue asked.

Tang Shijin pointed to the left, in the opposite direction from where they had fled. “That way—both groups went that way.” 

“Let’s go around to the front,” Qing Jiyue said.

If Wang Yanzhou and the others were to return, they would likely take that route.

No one objected. A few of them quickly mounted their beasts, while the others scrambled onto their backs, and they set off at a brisk pace.

They had been running to the right the whole time, and since they’d been moving quite fast, it would take them quite a while to get back. Considering the creatures still lurking in the woods, they didn’t dare venture back in, instead running parallel to the forest.

As they moved, everyone couldn’t help but glance toward the woods, staying on guard in case those things spotted them and gave chase.

Whether it was good luck on their part or because those creatures had truly been scared off by Tong Zhanyan, a few minutes later, when they successfully circled around to the left side of the woods, there was no sign of movement whatsoever in the woods they had just passed.

The group found a nearby grove and stopped there.

This grove of trees also bordered the cliff face. Since they weren’t sure if those items were there as well, the group didn’t venture further in and stopped at the edge. Once they stopped, they took stock of their belongings.

It was at this moment that Tong Zhanyan realized several of Yang Hong’s group’s backpacks were missing.

With no food or drink available outside, their backpacks were essential to their survival; they would never lose them unless absolutely necessary. Sensing Tong Zhanyan’s gaze, Qing Jiyue and the others looked over as well.

“What exactly happened?” Qing Jiyue asked.

“Don’t even get me started—it nearly scared the life out of me,” Yang Hong said, his voice still trembling slightly as he recounted the incident. “We followed our plan and kept moving forward until late at night. We didn’t notice anything wrong, so we found a spot to set up camp.”

“I took the first half of the night watch with one of our squad members. Everything went smoothly—no problems at all.”

“When it was time for the shift change, I sent the other person to call the next guard, while I went into the nearby woods to relieve myself before going back to sleep. There wasn’t much moonlight tonight, was there? Plus, our camp was on the backside of the mountain, so it was so dark I could barely see a thing.”

“As soon as I finished and looked up, I saw someone crouching nearby.”

“At first, I didn’t think much of it; I assumed it was another member of our team who’d also come to relieve himself. Just as I was about to say hello and head back, I saw the person crouching there slowly lift their head and look at me…”

As Yang Hong spoke, he couldn’t help but shiver.

Tong Zhanyan and the others all had the image of that “thin-slice” figure raising its head fresh in their minds, and they, too, couldn’t help but shudder.

“I was startled at the time and was about to run, but before I could even move, that thing suddenly sprang into action—it skimmed along the ground and vanished into the darkness in an instant. It moved so fast that for a split second, I thought I was dreaming.”

“When I got back, I told the others. They were just about to take over our shift. They heard the story and thought I was dreaming, and then…” 

“When we looked up, the woods were already filled with more than ten of ‘them.’ They just stood there, staring silently at us…”

“We’d never seen anything like that before. Without a word, we grabbed our stuff and ran, but no matter how fast or how far we ran, those things kept following us.”

“Then we ran into you guys…” Yang Hong looked at Tang Shijin and his group. “At the time, we thought you were those things too, and we almost attacked you.”

Tang Shijin spoke up, “Our situation was similar to yours, but we were there a little earlier. Before it was even time for the shift change, the night watch spotted people in the woods.”

“We don’t know how long those people were just watching us from the woods…”

“The night watchman woke us up right away, and then we ran. We ran into you guys on our way out. Later, we talked it over and decided to come back and look for you guys. Since we ran into that guy, you probably ran into him too.”

“Instead of going our separate ways, let’s get together and figure this out.”

As Tang Shijin spoke, he glanced at Qing Jiyue and Tong Zhanyan. Qing Jiyue’s ability was very useful, and although Tong Zhanyan had little combat experience, his ability was equally unique.

Seeing Tong Zhanyan, Tang Shijin recalled what had happened earlier. “Why did those creatures run away the moment they saw us? What did you do?” Those creatures had chased them the whole way.

Everyone turned to look at him.

Tong Zhanyan furrowed his brow as he tried to recall. After Yang Hong and the others had left, he hadn’t encountered anything strange and hadn’t left the camp—he’d simply gone about his usual routine of eating, standing guard, and sleeping…

“Ointment,” Tong Zhanyan suddenly snapped back to reality. “I got a bit sunburned earlier, so I applied some ointment.”

Strange.

“Could it be because that ointment has a certain smell?” Tang Shijin speculated.

At Tang Shijin’s suggestion, the group immediately began rummaging through their backpacks to apply some to themselves.

Outside the protective shield, danger lurked, so the nutrient solution, water, and ointment were all odorless or nearly so. But just because they couldn’t smell anything didn’t mean the creatures couldn’t smell it either.

They certainly didn’t want to deal with those ghostly things again; even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, they had to give it a try.

Once they were done, the group felt a little more at ease.

“I wonder if Wang Yanzhou and the others might also—”

“Is that them?” Tang Shijin looked down at the base of the cliff. The group immediately turned their gaze in that direction.

Below the cliff face, a group of eight or nine people was fleeing in a panic, just like Shidong.

After running into the basin at the base of the cliff, they immediately darted into the ring of trees near the cliff’s edge.

It was pitch dark, they were moving very fast, and the distance was extremely far—by the time Tong Zhanyan looked over, he could only make out a blurry string of figures.

“It looks like them,” Tian Xinqing said. “One of them looks a lot like Teacher Wang.”

Qing Jiyue added, “He does look like him.”

The Devil King was easy to spot—he was the only bald man in the group. As they fled, his protective suit had slipped off his head.

Seeing that both Qing Jiyue and Tian Xinqing had said this, the group immediately began moving along the cliff face toward them.

If they let the Devil Kings and their group continue on, they would surely return to where they had set up camp earlier—and they didn’t know if their belongings were still there.

“It looks like it’s over there—I see them,” said one of the people running ahead. The group behind all looked down at the base of the cliff.

The trees at the base of the cliff, receiving little sunlight, were relatively stunted—though “relatively” was the key word; from above, the area was densely packed with branches and tree canopies.

It took Tong Zhanyan quite a while to spot several dark figures that looked like people at the edge of the cliff face to the right front.

“Call out to them,” Yang Hong said as he quickly pulled out his flashlight and began signaling down below. The Devil King moved very quickly; if they couldn’t stop them now, it would be difficult to catch up later.

500 meters, 300 meters—just as those people were about to run right beneath them, one of them finally spotted the signal. He stopped.

Immediately afterward, the few people ahead seemed to notice something unusual and stopped one after another.

The one who first spotted Tong Zhanyan and his group moved toward the cliff face at their feet; the others hesitated for a moment before following suit. High up on the cliff, Yang Hong and his group moved with lightning speed to find a rope, tie it to a tree, and then throw the remaining rope down below.

As they worked, they kept glancing around, especially at the spot where Tong Zhanyan and his group had previously camped, to make sure those creatures hadn’t spotted them. The rope swayed.

Tong Zhanyan took a step forward and stood at the edge of the cliff, ready to pull them up at any moment.

As they threw the rope down, the group led by the Devil King moved even closer to the cliff face, leaving them completely exposed and no longer hidden by the foliage. Tong Zhanyan looked down, and the moment their eyes met, goosebumps broke out all over his body.

“Run!” Without a second thought, Tong Zhanyan let out a roar and turned to flee. “It’s not the Devil King—they’re not human—”

Before Tong Zhanyan could finish the words on the tip of his tongue, the rope they’d thrown down began to sway violently, then snapped taut. Immediately afterward, something resembling black mist crept up the rope from the edge of the cliff.

Yang Hong and his group realized what was happening and, without a second thought for the rope, turned and ran.

They were already moving so fast that in what seemed like an instant, they were right alongside Tong Zhanyan.

But it was pointless, because the things hanging from the cliff face were faster than they were; almost the moment they started running, the edge of the cliff was already a writhing mass of black.

“Shh…”

Those things charged straight at them.

“Ugh…” A pained groan came from the last person.

The next moment, before Tong Zhanyan could get a clear look, a bolt of lightning sliced horizontally through the woods behind them. The black creatures were pierced by the lightning and came to a sudden halt.

But it was only for an instant; those things began moving again, gradually taking on human forms, then crawling rapidly toward them.

“Qing Jiyue,” Chu Yi said. His abilities were formidable in one-on-one combat, but they were of little use in this situation.

Almost the instant his words fell, an invisible force crushed and pulverized the vast forest behind them. The black creatures scattered accordingly.

But before anyone could catch their breath, the figures coalesced once more, like smoke. Qing Jiyue’s attack had been ineffective.

By the time Tong Zhanyan realized what was happening, his body had already reacted—a black figure streaked overhead, followed immediately by a surge of blue flames.

“Sizzle—”

This time, the attack was effective; the black entities were instantly reduced to ashes, and the air was filled with a strange smell, like burning plastic. Realizing that Tong Zhanyan’s attack had worked, the group slowly came to a halt.

Just as the last remnants of those things were about to burn away, Chu Yi and Qing Jiyue were about to go back to see what exactly it was when a disturbing voice echoed, “Behind you!”

Tong Zhanyan immediately turned to look.

The woods behind them had, at some point, become filled with “people,” and without exception, they were all staring at them.

Dressed entirely in black, they stood or crouched—their numbers were so vast that even knowing his flames would be effective against them, Tong Zhanyan still felt a chill run down his spine.

These must have been the same ones that had been chasing Yang Hong, Tang Shijin, and the others earlier; they’d been drawn over by the commotion just now.

“The ointment isn’t working…” someone behind them warned. That made everyone’s already taut nerves grow even more on edge.

Those creatures were clearly capable of attacking, and there were so many of them—yet Tong Zhanyan had virtually no combat experience…

“Don’t be afraid.” Tong Zhanyan’s palms were sweating when a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder, accompanied by Qing Jiyue’s voice. Tong Zhanyan took a deep breath. 

Beside him, Yang Hong and his group had all gathered around Tong Zhanyan.

“Among us, pick your moment and unleash flames in all directions at the same time,” Qing Jiyue said. “Don’t worry—if anything gets missed, I’ll cover it.”

Tong Zhanyan’s composure steadied somewhat as he looked up at the chicken circling overhead.

They’re always at each other’s throats, but that chicken never lets them down when it counts—in its eyes, there’s nothing but calm.

Tong Zhanyan grew even calmer and quickly calculated the maximum range.

Ever since he’d learned that the chicken could control fire, he hadn’t had a chance to see it in actual combat, so he wasn’t sure exactly how capable it was. 

This was a great opportunity.

With these thoughts, the last traces of Tong Zhanyan’s nervousness vanished completely—this was exactly why he’d come out here.

“Tong Zhanyan……”

The moment Qing Jiyue’s voice rang out, blue flames instantly engulfed them. At the same time, the flames swept out in all directions at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.

In what seemed like an instant, they engulfed the entire grove, as well as several adjacent groves and the entire basin below the cliff face. There was no moonlight tonight, yet at that moment, the blue flames illuminated the entire sky.

At the same time, Tong Zhanyan felt a sudden dizziness, as if someone had violently yanked something from his body. Qing Jiyue steadied Tong Zhanyan; he was experienced.

The flames were extremely hot; the trees were reduced to charcoal and toppled almost instantly. Within the forest, the “people” who had been watching them were reduced to ashes before they even had time to react.

Witnessing that hellish scene, a look of shock involuntarily flashed across the eyes of the group.

They all turned their gaze to Tong Zhanyan.

With an area-of-effect attack of this magnitude, it was truly a shame that Tong Zhanyan had stayed at the base instead of coming to the front lines. If only he had been here… Their taut nerves finally began to relax.

Just as Qing Jiyue tossed the tree that had been crashing down on their heads aside and was about to speak again, a black figure suddenly “rose” up.

It pounced on Tong Zhanyan.

“Tong—” Qing Jiyue reached out his hand.

The thing had barely touched Tong Zhanyan’s backpack when it seemed to lose all courage; with a faint rustling sound, it quickly darted away.

The only place without flames was right around them. After circling once and realizing they couldn’t escape Tong Zhanyan, those black things actually charged straight into the flames. They burned as they fled; in no time, they were reduced to the size of a basketball before vanishing completely.

Everyone turned to look at Tong Zhanyan, though this time their eyes held an added touch of bewilderment. What on earth was going on with Tong Zhanyan?

“Qing Jiyue!” The Devil King’s voice echoed from the distance. The group turned to look in that direction.

Beyond the sea of fire, far out on the grassy plain, a group of eight or nine people was waving at them.

The flames illuminated the sky, but they covered such a vast area that the group could only vaguely make out human silhouettes—they couldn’t make out the people’s features at all. No one dared to approach; the group felt a chill run down their spines.

“It must be real…” Tong Zhanyan said. “Those black shadows earlier never made a sound.”

After a pause, Tong Zhanyan added, “Those dark shadows must have been imitating us.”

They had previously believed the dark shadows below the cliff were Devil Kings—not because they had all misjudged them, but because those shadows had transformed to match their own appearances.

No one spoke; the group simply stared in that direction, their brows furrowed.

“We’ll know for sure if we go take a look,” Qing Jiyue said, turning to Tong Zhanyan.

Tong Zhanyan nodded, then immediately tried to clear a path through the sea of fire.

The dizziness in his head hadn’t quite subsided yet, but perhaps because he’d used the ability so many times, he could now vaguely sense the presence of the flames. The path wasn’t completely clear—residual flames lingered everywhere—but he had indeed carved out a one-meter-wide passage.

The group began to move.

Several minutes later, they finally emerged from the sea of fire. The Devil King and his group immediately came to meet them.

They had distinct features, were fully clothed, and carried backpacks; they weren’t mere illusions—they were real.

“What’s going on?” Wang Yanzhou and the others had noticed Tong Zhanyan and his group’s momentary hesitation and wariness. “Just now…” Yang Hong briefly explained the situation.

Upon hearing this, Devil King and his group exchanged glances.

The next moment, the Devil King pulled a thumb-sized glass vial from his backpack—and to their shock, the vial contained the very same black shadows that had been chasing them earlier.

“Is it this?” Seeing the others’ expressions change, the Devil King immediately knew he’d guessed correctly. “You encountered them too?” Yang Hong asked in surprise.

“How did you catch them?” Tang Shijin asked.

The Devil King didn’t answer, but instead turned to look at the people behind him.

It was only then that Tong Zhanyan and the others noticed that half of the Devil King’s group were wrapped in blood-stained bandages. As they watched, one of the men with an injured arm unwrapped the bandage, revealing the wound beneath.

The wounds were round holes, each about the size of a soybean, but they were densely clustered and numerous.

“Is it them?” Ning Langdong asked in astonishment.

The wounds on those mutant beasts earlier had looked exactly the same.

The Devil King said, “We’ve looked into it—they’re probably mosquitoes, the smaller kind.”

“After mutating, they seem to have developed a certain level of collective intelligence. They mimic the creatures they see to lure them closer, then attack.”

“They don’t just suck blood—they can also release a strong acid, which is what causes those distinctive wounds.” 

“Probably due to the physical changes, they no longer fly high; they almost always skim the ground.” Hearing this, the group didn’t know how to react.

Most of them had spent time at Tong Zhanyan’s base and knew what mosquitoes were, but the mosquitoes at Tong Zhanyan’s base were in a completely different league from these.

“So what do we do now? It’s not far from the protective shield. If they spot the shield…”

With numbers like this and such destructive power, even if they prepared firearms, it would be difficult to defend against them completely.

If they were allowed inside—if they were allowed to breed on the surface—it would be a never-ending disaster. The crowd fell silent.

“Let me take a look,” Tong Zhanyan said, breaking the silence. “I think I know what’s going on.”

Everyone turned to look at him.

The Devil King, still puzzled, handed him the bottle.

Tong Zhanyan took it, glanced at it briefly in the faint moonlight, then quickly took off his backpack, opened it, and crouched down to rummage through it. As the others watched in confusion, he pulled out a translucent bottle containing the moth that had been coughing earlier.

Once he’d found it, Tong Zhanyan handed Qing Jiyue a flashlight and motioned for him to turn it on. Then, under the light, he unscrewed the glass bottle’s cap. As he removed the cap, he held the moth’s corpse above the bottle’s opening.

The black mosquitoes had been bumping around inside the bottle, trying to escape, and the moment the bottle was opened, they immediately flew upward. Almost the instant they reached the opening, they acted as if they’d seen a ghost in broad daylight, frantically darting downward.

In just a moment, they had all hidden at the bottom of the bottle.

Tong Zhanyan screwed the cap back on, handed the bottle back to the Devil King, and put the moth’s carcass back into his backpack. “Let’s go back.” Once they figured out what had happened, everyone’s faces twisted in disbelief.

They’d been scared half to death, thinking they’d actually seen a ghost, only to find out it was just a swarm of mosquitoes…

Mosquitoes were one thing, but to be afraid of moths as well…

“Those moths must feed specifically on those mosquitoes,” Tong Zhanyan added, seeing that no one was moving. “Once we take this moth back, we can try to figure out if we can replicate its scent. If we can, that should keep these mosquitoes at bay.”

Normal moths are mostly herbivorous, but normal mosquitoes aren’t this aggressive either.

Those mosquitoes hadn’t been seen around here before, and Yang Hong and the others hadn’t seen these moths either.

If his guess is correct, the moth must have followed the mosquitoes here, or perhaps the mosquitoes migrated this way to escape the moth. The group fell silent.

The next moment, they all turned to look at the sea of fire.

Immediately afterward, the group climbed onto the beasts’ backs and quickly made their way toward the protective shield. The mosquitoes they’d encountered earlier were dead, but they had no idea how many more were still lurking nearby.

“Does this count as a kind of ecosystem?” Su Yanran suddenly asked.

The group couldn’t help but chuckle, and their tense nerves gradually relaxed. A faint smile also tugged at the corners of Tong Zhanyan’s mouth.

He had been constantly talking about wanting field training and learning to fight, but now what he wanted most was to return to the base as soon as possible.

As various facilities were gradually improved, food was no longer scarce—in fact, there was even a surplus—an ecosystem had taken root, and the workforce had stabilized at around five hundred people… Now, the base could steal half a day of leisure every few days, and life had become much more comfortable.

“Let’s head back,” Qing Jiyue said, clearly sharing the same thought.

The group picked up the pace, running swiftly through the darkness.

They ran nonstop for over four hours, putting the cliff face far behind them, before finally stopping at their previous campsite. The group bandaged their wounds, ate a light meal, and then drifted off to sleep as the temperature rose.

In the afternoon, they reentered the forest where they’d seen the fireflies before.

This time, some of them wore gas masks from the start, and the group spread out slightly to prevent anyone from being affected together. Three days later, they reached the other side of the forest.

The same path, the same amount of time.

Three days later, they saw the familiar protective shield and, beyond it, the dilapidated, run-down city.

It was just past 10:00 a.m. when they reached the edge of the protective shield. The moment they passed through it, the intense heat was cut off, replaced by a pleasant temperature of 15 to 25 degrees.

Upon returning to the Qing Family’s quarters, Qing Jiyue immediately handed over the somewhat decayed moth and the nearly lifeless mosquito in the bottle to others for examination. Tong Zhanyan and his companion, meanwhile, took a bath and changed into clean clothes.

After half a month, he had visibly darkened, yet his complexion remained a pallid white, and just as Qing Jiyue had predicted, the sunburn on his wrists had formed a thin layer of peeling skin, causing some itching. By the time Qing Jiyue returned, it was already late at night, and Tong Zhanyan was already fast asleep.

The next day, when Tong Zhanyan woke up, Yang Hong and the others had already left.

It was a rare chance to see them again, yet the visit had been so rushed that Tong Zhanyan couldn’t help but feel disappointed—especially since he hadn’t even had time to thank them. Although the trip had been filled with many unexpected events, overall he’d learned a lot and had a great time,

Despite his disappointment, Tong Zhanyan had intended to suggest staying at the Qing Family’s home for a few more days before leaving. Since Qing Jiyue was back for a rare visit, he went ahead and booked their return flights. Tong Zhanyan found this a bit odd, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on what was strange about it.

Early the next morning, the group boarded the plane.

Tong Zhanyan took a nap on the flight.

When he woke up, the plane was already preparing to land.

Tong Zhanyan and Qing Jiyue were escorted off the plane and into a car, and the group set off for the base.

In the car, that strange feeling came over Tong Zhanyan again, as Ning Langdong, Tian Xinqing, and Su Yanran were all visibly nervous.

But they were returning to the base, not going out—what was there to be nervous about? The car drove straight into the base through the back entrance.

It was around four or five in the afternoon; the sun was already low in the sky, but it wasn’t yet time to call it a day, so the area was completely silent. After getting out of the car, Tong Zhanyan picked up his luggage and was just about to head toward the dormitory building.

From the hallways, the cafeteria, and nearby buildings, countless people surged out like a tidal wave. Tong Zhanyan’s first instinct was to summon his spirit beast.

Has the “Mosquito Man” gone mad too?

At a glance, Tong Zhanyan spotted Yang Hong and the Devil King in the crowd—people who should have already returned—as well as a group of students led by Gu Yunyang, who had long since graduated and left. Among them were also Dai Shuda, Boss Bai, Old Xu, Old Wang…

Everyone who had ever stayed at this base was gathered here at that very moment. 

“Everyone…” Just as Tong Zhanyan was trying to figure out what was going on, a series of firecracker explosions suddenly rang out overhead. “Boom…”

Beneath a shower of streamers and confetti came a chorus of voices—not perfectly in unison, but clearly rehearsed.

“Senior Da Liu, Tong Zhanyan.” “Congratulations on your graduation.”

Once he realized what was happening, the bewilderment in Tong Zhanyan’s eyes was quickly replaced by a wave of warmth; his eyes stung uncontrollably, and his vision grew blurry.

“Hehe…”

“Surprised?”

“Didn’t see that coming, did you?”

“We’ve been rehearsing this for a long time…”

“I never had a chance to say this properly before, but congratulations, senior…”

Over the course of four years, Tong Zhanyan changed their world.

By the time Tong Zhanyan graduated, however, they had all gone their separate ways, each busy with their own lives, and didn’t even have a chance to formally wish him a happy graduation.

Half a month ago, when Qing Jiyue suddenly mentioned in the group chat that he was going to take Tong Zhanyan for outdoor training, someone brought it up—and immediately, the large group chat with hundreds of members buzzed with activity.

Tong Zhanyan was also in the group chat, but he hardly ever read the messages, which allowed their plan to proceed smoothly.

Qing Jiyue pushed his way through the crowd to stand in front of Tong Zhanyan. With all the chatter around them, he had to raise his voice a bit. “Tong Zhanyan, congratulations on your graduation!”