Chapter 175

Chapter 175: Abnormal Operations (Three-In-One)

This was an awful night’s sleep. The sweltering heat, the cramped space, the suffocating humidity—not to mention spending the first half of the night squashing bugs crawling on her.  

Only in the latter half, when she’d drowsily hugged something soft, did she manage to sleep somewhat soundly.  

When we get back, I’m definitely training my ability harder—gotta make sure mosquitoes can’t get within twenty-four feet of me.  

When she opened her eyes, she found the black-haired, straight-haired girl who’d taken off her hair tie to sleep, already awake and staring at her from way too close. Her clothes even had what looked like Yiwen’s drool on them.  

Those beautiful, color-indifferent eyes held a faint mistiness, dispersing to the corners with each slow blink. No expression. No emotion.  

A picture-perfect girl—but Yiwen wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it. All she felt was the heat from their close contact.  

Just as she was about to angrily shove her away, she realized—she was the one who’d been clinging to her. She’d even been lying on her hair.  

And, uh… her hand might’ve been inside the other girl’s clothes.  

Yiwen calmly withdrew her arm from under the other girl’s armpit like it was totally normal.  

…A little awkward.  

At least they were both girls. Otherwise, this’d be really bad for Mi Xiaoliu. Cheating right after getting together? No way—I’m a loyal, virtuous woman!  

After a quick wash with their limited supplies, she checked her reflection in the stream.  

Ugh. Her hair stuck up in two dumb cowlicks. Without shampoo, just water, it’d get greasy again in an hour. Summer was the worst.  

Meanwhile, the black-clad girl just tied her hair back and was still that effortlessly edgy beauty, completely unaffected.  

But that wouldn’t last. A few more days cut off from civilization, and she’d turn feral too.  

Watching Mi Xiaoliu store the tent in her system inventory, freeing up a slot after equipping the new combat suit, Yiwen couldn’t help feeling envious—though her flight ability had made plenty of people jealous too.  

She also noted an important detail, The Black-Clothed One can store and retrieve items but can’t teleport.  

A temporary truce didn’t mean she’d forgotten they were enemies.  

The two continued following the river downstream. Generally, upstream leads deeper into wilderness, so heading downstream should be safer when lost.  

Should.  

There were no absolute rules in unfamiliar terrain—except maybe going in circles.  

Though one foolproof survival tip existed, courtesy of Jim, the self-proclaimed “Class Brain”:  

“Just build a city in the wild. Then you’ll always be safe!”  

Brilliant. Everyone lost in the wilderness should try that.  

Yiwen skimmed just above the ground while Mi Xiaoliu weaved through the trees—not much different from how they moved in the city.  

Flying low meant not missing any passing hunters. Hell, even spotting a bear trap would be comforting—proof someone’s been here.  

…On second thought, maybe not. The cost of finding said bear trap might be too high.  

“Hey, little brat. Why were you in my room yesterday?”  

Same question as yesterday. Same silence in response.  

Yiwen looked down at the girl hopping through the undergrowth—only to see her casually catching snakes with her bare hands. What kind of fearless lunatic—  

“At least tell me what that machine was. Part of it was my dad’s, right? Do you know where he is? A middle-aged guy, pretty buff, chooses to squint even though his eyes are fine—turns a perfectly handsome face into a total creep.” She mimicked the squint.  

Still nothing. Only Sasha’s internal “Should’ve hit her harder that day.”  

“I’ve heard of plenty of kids your age getting hooked on Black Element. You’re not dumb enough to throw your life away for a cheap thrill, are you?”  

She glanced down, but that pretty face remained blank.  

Two days without conversation was wearing on her. “Could you at least—”  

Before she could finish, Mi Xiaoliu suddenly kicked off a tree, launching herself upward and yanking Yiwen out of the air.  

“What?!”  

No immediate threat, so Yiwen didn’t resist, letting herself be pulled to the ground.  

Mi Xiaoliu didn’t speak, just hugged her arms and crouched, staring at a tree ahead.  

…Is she scared?  

Yiwen frowned, examining the tree.  

From above, it looked normal. But at ground level—  

The entire trunk was wrapped in leaves, no bark visible.  

Yiwen snapped off a branch and poked at the foliage from a distance. After batting the leaves aside, she uncovered thick, coiling brambles crawling up the tree, their thorns as long as a 500ml water bottle and gray as decay.  

The vine itself was thicker than Yiwen’s calf, its surface pockmarked with holes that pulsed like breathing. Trypophobia nightmare. Yiwen’s skin crawled.  

Worst of all—bones hung from the thorns. Some fresh, some old. No idea what animal they’re from.  

“This thing? Trouble.” Sasha recognized it.  

So did Yiwen.

“Bloodglow Vine?”  

Ignoring its thickness, it technically belonged to the grape family—a mutated species born after the meteor impact. It grew by climbing other structures, sometimes entwining with trees as they grew, other times scaling cliffs like ivy.  

Its leaves and stems could be used medicinally, primarily for dispelling dampness when ingested. However, its severe addictiveness prevented widespread use, and cultivation costs were high—because it required animal flesh to fully mature.  

If any creature—human or animal—accidentally brushed against its thorns, the tiny holes would extend countless hooked barbs that latched onto the wound and fed, rapidly draining blood.  

It wasn’t strange that Yiwen knew about it. Back in middle school, there’d been news of a climber whose gear failed mid-ascent. He’d managed to grab onto a plant to save himself—unfortunately, it was Bloodglow Vine.  

The tragedy that followed became the subject of countless dark jokes online.  

Yiwen had seen on TV how even a tiny scratch from this thing required either surgical removal or ripping off the entire chunk of flesh. The worst part? If not removed in time, it could strip a sheepdog-sized patch of skin clean—a real-life killer vine.  

The real problem was…  

“We’re near the meteor crater?”  

This thing only grew around the crater.  

Yiwen scanned the surroundings—more Bloodglow Vines everywhere.  

By nature’s laws, immobile plants that could hunt had to have a method. The vine hid its thorns perfectly beneath its leaves, blending in seamlessly. On cliffs, it might’ve gone unnoticed, but wrapped around trees, it stood out. This kid’s sharp—spotted it instantly.  

For a moment, Yiwen found Mi Xiaoliu slightly less annoying.  

But the girl just hugged her arms tighter, cautiously backing away from the tree.  

…She’s scared.  

Not as much as with needles or fire, but fear was still fear.  

A faint ache pulsed in her head—fleeting fragments of blank memory surfaced.  

Falling into blue light. Desperately grabbing at vines on a cliff.  

The thorns weren’t as long then, but one still pierced clean through her palm, the pain sharp and relentless.  

An impossible choice—let go and fall, or cling on and suffer.  

Survival instinct kept her gripping tight, even as the barbs writhed inside her flesh, eating away at her.  

Holding on until her strength gave out… until her arm could no longer support her…  

This feeling… wasn’t that bad.  

Not as painful as Easter.  

Yet somehow, it was part of those missing memories.  

“Master, we have to change direction. We can’t go closer to the crater.” Sasha urged.  

The danger was one thing—but what if all those blank memories resurfaced?  

“What’s wrong?” Yiwen noticed her odd behavior and pressed a hand to her forehead. “You sick? Did you get pricked?”  

Summer fevers from external factors were nasty.  

Mi Xiaoliu shook her head and quietly crouched in a corner.  

Mostly to avoid Yiwen touching her forehead.  

But Yiwen misinterpreted it as emotional distress.  

Between all the chaos and their rivalry, she’d almost forgotten—this was just a middle-school girl. Suddenly facing something like this had to be hard.  

And what the hell was Dad thinking, keeping something like this locked up like treasure?  

“Stay here and rest. I’ll fly up again to check.”  

Sighing, Yiwen shot straight up.  

At her usual max height, she still saw nothing. How big is this forest? On the map, it looked tiny…  

Going higher in her current outfit was risky. Wind already seeped through her collar, the fabric slapping her skin raw. Miss that stuffy combat suit now.  

She couldn’t negate gravity and soften airflow yet.  

Time to risk it. Wandering blindly won’t help.  

(Dangerous maneuver—do NOT imitate.)  

Holding her breath, Yiwen rocketed upward. Clouds whipped past as the air grew thin, making breathing difficult.  

But that wasn’t the real danger. Skydivers jumped from this height all the time—in specialized suits.  

For Yiwen, the real threat was the high-altitude jet stream. Like when the little brat had shoved her into a spin.  

Forcing her eyes open, she finally saw the forest’s edge—but her body hit its limit. Thin air wasn’t something willpower could overcome.  

Pointing firmly in one direction, she plummeted back down.  

Stars danced in her vision, but she had to stay conscious—or splat.  

Stumbling on landing, she hastily drew an arrow in the dirt before collapsing into a daze.  

Mi Xiaoliu poked her.  

No response.  

She ran off, then returned with water cupped in her hands—like she’d seen on TV—and dumped it on Yiwen’s face.  

“Pfft!”  

Effective. Yiwen choked as water shot up her nose.  

She swallowed what had reached her mouth and shot Mi Xiaoliu a glare.  

Couldn’t she let her rest after last night’s awful sleep?  

Wait—the stream’s far. Did she carry water all the way here?  

Her confusion faded as she watched Mi Xiaoliu pull her soaking-wet boots back on.  

And here I was starting to soften toward her because of her age.  

Yiwen took a deep breath: Ultimate Slide Tackle. Target: Ass. Conqueror’s Might.  

……  

After the scuffle, thankfully, the arrow marking their direction remained intact.  

“This way.”

Although the city was too far to make out clearly, she successfully determined the direction of the meteor crater. From there, all they needed to do was head in the opposite direction—simple enough.

The problem was, that direction was perpendicular to the stream, which meant they’d be without a direct water source for quite some time.

And once they ran out of water… What, were they supposed to drink urine? They didn’t even have anything to store it in. If it came to that, the only way would be for the two of them to go mouth-to-“mouth” to share it.

No way. That couldn’t happen. She was a beautiful girl, after all!

“Can your ability store water?” Yiwen asked.

Mi Xiaoliu didn’t answer. She just rubbed her butt while staring at Yiwen with a blank look—basically saying she had no idea.

But paired with that look, her gesture made Yiwen think she meant: “Are you out of your damn mind?”

Maybe even in her different-dimensional storage, gravity still worked the same? Without containers, trying to store or retrieve liquids would just result in them spilling everywhere?

Yiwen didn’t know the specifics of how spatial abilities worked, so she just assumed Mi Xiaoliu’s storage space worked similarly to reality.

So now what? In the heat of summer, hydration was the most important issue.

Yiwen glanced at Mi Xiaoliu’s right boot, which was still damp. It looked like it was made of cloth, but somehow it had managed to retain water over such a long distance. Maybe the inner lining had seamless leather?

No no no—why was she having such gross thoughts?

Yiwen gave herself a slap across the face while Mi Xiaoliu gave her an odd look.

Containers were hard to make, but they had to try, didn’t they? What were superpowers for, anyway?

Wooden containers were out—she lacked the skill, and regular wood would absorb water and be impossible to wring out. So they’d use stone.

Yiwen went to the river, picked a properly sized stone, and started grinding it into shape using another long stone—just like how one might drill wood to make fire.

While Yiwen busied herself, Mi Xiaoliu played by the water, using leaves as little boats.

Finally, Yiwen managed to hollow out the center of the stone to make a crude bucket. After cleaning it, she filled it with water.

A bucket of dirty water.

No matter how many times she washed it, it stayed murky. Still, at least the volume of water hadn’t decreased much.

Looking at the result of all her hard work, Yiwen felt a wave of despair.

Had she picked the wrong kind of stone? She wished she remembered if Old Gao had ever taught her about this. She swore that next time she’d pay attention in class—maybe even sleep ten minutes less per session.

Yiwen turned again to the little black-clad girl who’d been completely useless since yesterday—saying nothing, doing nothing, just eating for free.

Noticing the stare, Mi Xiaoliu looked back at her.

The two of them silently locked eyes.

…

“I didn’t expect your boots to look and feel like cloth, yet actually be waterproof,” Yiwen said, patting the two boots now filled with river water.

These kinds of non-breathable shoes usually developed a strong odor. Yet, weirdly enough, they didn’t smell that bad. This little b*tch was a real mystery—always so active, and she didn’t even wear socks inside!

Yiwen tied up the boots filled with water using grass rope. Just thinking about drinking from them made her feel deeply humiliated.

Whatever. She’d already drunk from them anyway.

Sasha was stunned: “Master, why are you rewarding her?”

The beginner combat suit had decent durability. As clothing, it could withstand small-caliber bullets and would reset to its clean state every time it was removed.

It also had a somewhat mystical feature, when the host needed it, what should be breathable could become sealed or thickened. Originally designed to ward off cold and rain, this function was now being used… for other purposes.

“Let’s go. I’ll get you out of the forest. Let’s hope we don’t veer too far,” Yiwen said, glancing at the blazing sun. Her stomach was grumbling—it was probably around noon.

Forests made it hard to orient yourself, and she had terrible directional sense—barely able to tell up from down. So of course they’d go off track.

Mi Xiaoliu rubbed her bare feet.

“What now?” Yiwen frowned.

Mi Xiaoliu rubbed her bare feet again.

“Emmm… You’re so tough, yet you don’t dare walk barefoot?” Yiwen sighed and grabbed Mi Xiaoliu’s hand, lifting them both into the air.

It would drain more energy this way.

Mi Xiaoliu had lost her combat suit enhancements due to damage.

Before leaving, she stored away the stone bucket and its contents into her space—taking out the tent first, then putting the bucket inside the tent. That way, she could save space—only occupying one slot, although retrieval couldn’t be done separately.

Yiwen saw it and didn’t say anything.

If they could somehow find a plastic bottle or something, they might be able to build a filter. Until then, drinking dirty water was still safer than risking mouth fungus.

Yiwen asked Mi Xiaoliu to store the boots too, but she refused.

Yiwen mentally noted the important detail: the black-clothed girl’s storage space must already be mostly full—maybe it even held something the size of an entire building?

Such a massive space, yet not a single useful survival item? What exactly was she storing in there? Could there be a hidden agenda?

Surviving out here sucked—but she’d treat it like part of the mission.

Old Chen, you spent years investigating these people and got nowhere. I’ve been with this black-clad girl for two days and already uncovered so many secrets.

Maybe when I get back, we’ll finally have enough evidence to catch her.

Yiwen was filled with anticipation.

She didn’t know how long they flew. The past two days, she’d been constantly pushing her ability to its limits—and she could feel herself getting stronger.

They were still in the forest, but at least the Bloodglow Grass was gone. More animals had appeared too. She just didn’t know if they were going in the right direction.

They landed again. Yiwen handed Mi Xiaoliu one of the boots, forcing herself to drink more from it—even though she’d already drunk so much from it.

Then she felt a gentle tug on her clothes.

Honestly, the movement was just like Mi Xiaoliu’s—submissive and timid.

Yiwen turned her head. The black-clad girl pointed at the stone bucket on the ground, then pointed to herself.

You want to drink that?

“That stuff is dirtier than your feet. You can’t drink it,” Yiwen said, taking another sip from the boot. “What, even you are disgusted with yourself now?”

Mi Xiaoliu shook her head silently, still staring at the bucket of river water.

Just now, under Sasha’s suggestion, she had tried something unconventional.

She took out the bucket and selected it again—but this time, she didn’t pick the whole thing. The system could store wholes, but it could also store components treated as wholes.

She excluded impurities, retaining only the pure water. A nearly impossible operation—but Mi Xiaoliu somehow succeeded. Even though she didn’t really understand how.

The system was actually very user-friendly. As long as her eyes could see it, she could store it. And her eyes just so happened to be unusual.

Now, her system space displayed:

23.3 liters of drinkable water—safe for consumption.

No need for containers. You could even choose how much to retrieve—super convenient.

Mi Xiaoliu quickly demonstrated this to Yiwen.

Yiwen spit out a mouthful of water in shock.

But to Mi Xiaoliu’s confusion, instead of being happy, Yiwen chased after her to beat her up.

“You little b*tch—you’re dead meat!!”

The loud shout scared up a flock of birds.

“Smack!” The sound of a palm landing on a butt.

Meanwhile, Sasha was delighted. The more things like this happened, the more Yiwen’s favorability would drop—possibly to negative numbers.

…

Two days.

Two more days had passed.

No baths. No hair washing. No grooming whatsoever.

There were no mirrors, but Yiwen knew she looked like a wild woman.

Who knew how worried her mom and Xiaoliu were right now?

Why was this little b*tch still so pretty?! Did she have some kind of secret technique?

There was so little water, and the weather was hot. They’d run out by the second day. Since then, they had to rely on wild berries to stay hydrated.

This led to a very funny scene: Yiwen testing various berries for poison, while Mi Xiaoliu stood beside her with detox herbs, ready to rescue her at any moment.

The “miracle herb” theory turned out to be real—but Yiwen didn’t enjoy the discovery process at all.

Diarrhea. Vomiting. Hallucinations.

After all that, she’d rather just drink foot wash.

To find her way, Yiwen risked going high up into the air a few more times. She was finally getting used to it. Two people lost together, but only the directionally challenged one was leading.

This little b*tch really was useless—except for being cute.

Her own Mi Xiaoliu was definitely cuter.

But hard work paid off—they finally stumbled onto a man-made dirt path. There were no weeds, clearly showing signs of frequent foot traffic.

“We’re almost back!” Yiwen turned around happily to share the good news—

Only to realize the black-clad girl who’d been with her the last three or four days had disappeared.

[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]

[https://ko-fi.com/golden_dragon]