Xiang Yunjian was seeing for the first time two pairs of eyes that could shine so strikingly even in the dark. It was also the first time he had seen his unfilial daughter wear such a kind and amiable expression toward him.
Flattered yet wary, he wisely resisted the urge to smile and calmly asked again, “What are you two doing crouching over there?”
Cheng Feng got up, wiped his face, and forcibly held back his tears. She adjusted the light source in her hand and aimed it straight at Xiang Yunjian, making him turn his head away with a wince.
The shadows swayed along with the movement.
“I want water!” Cheng Feng’s voice rose sharply, sounding particularly pitiful. “There’s water down here!”
Xiang Yunjian said sympathetically, “How pitiful.”
He reached into his backpack, produced two pieces of fruit – one in each hand – and asked his poor child, “Orange or apple?”
Cheng Feng’s breath caught for a second. Her already large eyes widened a fraction more, and her stunned expression was filled with self-doubt. She lowered her voice and said, “Orange!”
Xiang Yunjian found it amusing. “Call me ‘Dad.'”
Cheng Feng: “Dad!”
Xiang Yunjian tossed the orange over. Cheng Feng caught it with ease and crouched down to peel it.
Unfortunately, her left hand lacked strength, and wearing thick gloves made her fingers even clumsier. In the end, she still had to rely on her teammate, whose moral awakening was clearly lacking.
Yan Shen had no idea why he had to endure her scorn while still doing things for her. Perhaps this was the true reality of being a long-suffering father figure.
And all the while, Cheng Feng kept her eyes fixed on him, afraid he might snatch away the big orange she had earned by renting out her “filial child” position.
Both of them were furiously rehearsing their lines in their heads, thinking about how to tattle to Xiang Yunjian.
But Cheng Feng, having just eaten the orange, felt completely uplifted – her heart had broadened considerably. When she finally spoke, she only asked tactfully, “Where did the fruit come from? Why do you have an orange?”
“Took it from the camp.”
Xiang Yunjian walked over, found a spot to sit down, and bent low to observe them closely. His gaze swept over their faces, hands, and feet before he realized just how battered and disheveled they were.
“You two teamed up, so how did you end up like this?”
Yan Shen took the water from his hand and said bitterly, “We ended up like this precisely because we teamed up.”
“You mean it’s my fault?” Cheng Feng shot back firmly and sternly. “If it weren’t for me, you’d have been dead before you even got past the first map!”
With a new teammate by her side, Cheng Feng no longer felt the need to maintain even the flimsiest pretense of camaraderie.
She was brash.
She was domineering.
She was merciless when she had the upper hand.
She had regained the confidence of being the boss.
“It’s…” Yan Shen swallowed the humiliation and held back. He turned to ask, “Why are you in the mountains in the middle of the night?”
“Jiang Linxia and Xin Kuang have both made it back. You two were the only ones with no news. We thought something might have happened to you, so we cross-checked your starting positions and decided to split up to look for you.” Xiang Yunjian asked, “Where are your communicators?”
Cheng Feng sighed.
To lighten her load, she had discarded all the useless equipment – including the communicator, which had brought her nothing except Yan Shen.
As for Yan Shen, considering they were already not far from the camp and the communicator wouldn’t be of much use, he had thrown his away too.
The two exchanged a deep, knowing glance. Both had plenty to say, the words brewing silently in their wordless mutual accusation.
Xiang Yunjian propped his chin on one hand, his gaze darting between the two of them. He was tempted to strike a spark and set off that fire, but he was also afraid it would backfire and burn him instead.
Netizens burst out laughing at the scene.
“Congrats to Cheng Feng – she’s finally out of hidden ultra-rare fail mode!”
“I vaguely heard countless cries of ‘Dad’ on a loop. Went back and watched again. Pretty sure it wasn’t just me hallucinating.”
“Xiang Yunjian’s entrance, even though it was at night, really had that divine radiance to it.” “When you compare them, Yan Shen, you’re seriously such a letdown!”
“The ‘Good Luck Come’ BGM has finally started playing in Cheng Feng’s livestream room!! I’m so relieved.”
“So can I watch in peace now? I followed this all day yesterday and nearly had a heart attack.”
The three of them had already set off again, worried they wouldn’t be able to reach the camp and clock in before noon.
But Cheng Feng, having drunk water and eaten a small cake, was fighting with a level of vigor unlike before. She didn’t even need to write down talking points before launching into her complaints.
“He exploited me. He bled me dry.” Cheng Feng’s words dripped with grievance. “I carried him on my back for six hours…”
Yan Shen interrupted her. “That’s already seriously detached from reality.”
Cheng Feng snapped back, “Three hours is still a long time!”
Xiang Yunjian was clearly playing favorites. He asked his buddy, “What’s your deal?”
“Well, isn’t this fine?” Yan Shen said irresponsibly. “She’s still alive.”
If that was the standard… then yeah, fair enough.
Cheng Feng said, “Most of that was thanks to my own efforts.”
Xiang Yunjian stopped and waved her over. “Come here.”
He was in good shape – sound limbs, fully functional. He had rested at the camp for a while, and the system had adjusted all his stats to peak condition. A far cry from Cheng Feng and the others, who had clawed their way back from death’s door multiple times. Carrying Cheng Feng was as easy and light for him as hoisting a weighted training pack.
He hoisted Cheng Feng onto his back, told her to hold on tight, propped one hand against the cliff wall, and carefully hopped down the narrow passageway.
Tiny stones clattered down from his movements. The fading sound seemed to carry its own echo in the silent night.
Stopping on a safe ledge, Xiang Yunjian turned back, waved, and signaled for Yan Shen to follow the path he had taken.
Yan Shen stood still where he was, head lowered, staring straight at him through the beam of light.
His gaze was deep and dark.
As cold as the night air.
The moment it landed on you, it sent a chill down your spine.
He even angled the light onto Cheng Feng’s face as a hint.
Xiang Yunjian spat out a “Pfft” and said ruthlessly, “In your dreams. Get down here!”
Yan Shen had his moment of mischief, but recognizing where he stood in the team’s hierarchy, he had no choice but to rely on his own strength and jump down.
When he and Cheng Feng had been traveling together, his livestream was practically on mute mode.
Xiang Yunjian wasn’t exactly a talkative person either, but the moment he appeared, the whole channel became lively. He had a knack for throwing out questions and starting conversations.
Yan Shen gave him a brief account of all the hardships they had encountered since meeting each other.
“How did you two get so unlucky?” Xiang Yunjian was astonished. “Has this happened before? I don’t really remember.”
Yan Shen said, “Never had the chance to test it out.”
After saying this, he thought back for a moment and corrected himself. “Actually, I was pretty unlucky the first time we worked together. She betrayed me and killed me.”
Xiang Yunjian said, “That one could still be explained… Don’t strangle me, Cheng Feng. Tilt the light down a bit – yeah, like that. I’m doing this for your benefit, got it? If you’re hungry, you can grab something to eat from my pocket. But if you can’t hold on and fall off, I won’t be able to catch you.”
This was his second time traversing the mountain path, and Xiang Yunjian had already become very proficient. The three of them crossed the most dangerous stretch of the mountainside without any trouble.
As they neared the foot of the mountain, Cheng Feng indicated that she wanted to get down and walk on her own. Xiang Yunjian obliged.
But the wound on her left arm was still causing her to run a high fever. With a debuff on her stats panel, combined with hidden injuries in all her joints, her steps were weak and unsteady. She had to trot just to keep up with the two long-legged young men.
Xiang Yunjian tried to talk to her, but when he noticed she was slow to respond, he hoisted her back onto his shoulders and hurried toward the camp.
Xiang Yunjian had a broad back, and his military uniform was fitted with quite a bit of gear. Cheng Feng rested her chin on his shoulder, getting jolted painfully with every step he took.
But there was a certain scent of safety about Xiang Yunjian. It made Cheng Feng’s consciousness grow hazy and her eyes heavy with drowsiness.
Just as she was drifting off, she heard the voices of her other two teammates through the communicator pressed close to Xiang Yunjian’s ear. She forced her heavy eyelids open and looked ahead. There, standing within her field of vision, was a tall tower. On its outer wall was affixed the alliance’s insignia.
The camp was here.
She heard Xiang Yunjian ask in a light tone, “The finals are finally over. Tomorrow’s a holiday. Have you packed your things?”
Yan Shen said, “Not yet. I’m still sorting things out.”
“Winter break is only a few days long. There’s hardly any joy in having time off.” Jiang Linxia chimed in. “Sixteen minutes left until the deadline. You two are cutting it pretty close, huh?”
Xin Kuang asked in surprise, “You actually didn’t get lost?”
Jiang Linxia asked, “What about Cheng Feng? Did she fall asleep during the exam?”
Cheng Feng struggled to lift her head, trying to respond, but her body wouldn’t obey. Red alerts kept flashing on her interface. She glanced at her stats panel and saw that her freely rising body temperature had already reached around 40 degrees Celsius.
For a machine, that really wasn’t a big deal. So she simply raised two fingers and made a “V” sign.
Xiang Yunjian broke into a jog and said, “Hurry up and clock in, or you’re really going to get disconnected.”
A moment later, Cheng Feng heard the system notification. [This official exam has now concluded. Congratulations to all candidates on successfully passing! After exiting, please do not make loud noises. Follow the examiner’s directions and leave the venue as soon as possible.]
Cheng Feng felt relieved and clicked to exit. As soon as the sensory connection was severed, she burst out of the simulation pod, full of energy and vigor.
