She smiled at Su Lin’s back. Even in the thickening fog, with Su Lin at the head of the group, all she could see was a broad, sturdy silhouette. Still, she could feel the other person’s kindness...

Yueye understood how frail she looked in other people’s eyes. And yet Su Lin had chosen to respect her decision instead of handing the task of carrying Liu Huiying over to someone else...

“Thank you, Su Lin...” Gratitude flickered in Yueye’s pale blue eyes, but her expression soon turned serious. She knew danger could lurk anywhere in this fog-shrouded forest...

With visibility down to just one meter, Yueye’s top priority was keeping up with the group. It was easy to get lost in a forest like this, and even more dangerous...

The group had started out with fourteen people. Now there were twelve. Everyone followed the person ahead in silence... As time passed, the oppressive atmosphere became a fatal weakness for the group. The thick fog left the people who hadn’t slept well the night before looking exhausted. Like whales that had lost their sense of direction, they pressed on through the forest by following the faint sun, at risk of running aground at any moment...

“Cough, cough...” Hearing movement on her back, Yueye slowed her pace a little.

“Where are we, Mom...? The fog’s so thick...” The little one on her back mumbled strange things in her sleep, leaving Yueye unsure whether to laugh or cry.

“We’re almost home. Once you’re better, we’ll go back...” Yueye answered softly, her voice so gentle it could lull anyone to sleep.

“Okay...” Liu Huiying’s reply was sweet as could be. She shifted her head, then fell quiet again, making Yueye even more careful not to wake the sick girl on her back.

“Hey...” Now that she’d slowed down, Yueye realized the teammates ahead had vanished into the thick fog at some point. She hurried to catch up.

“Did those guys really walk that fast?” Yueye had been focused on Liu Huiying and hadn’t noticed how quickly the others were moving. Honestly, she’d only slowed down for a few steps. There was no way she should’ve fallen so far behind that she couldn’t even see their shadows.

Not daring to call out, Yueye hurried along the footprints in the damp soil. She knew the group must have run into something. Otherwise, there was no way they’d suddenly sped up so much.

“Hallucinogens... Master, can you hear me? There’s a hallucinogen in the air!” the Sword Loli called out from Yueye’s mindscape. After being silent all night, the little sword finally spoke up.

“You mean I’ve been drugged with a hallucinogen...?” Yueye stopped. An inexplicable sense of alarm welled up inside her.

“You haven’t, but your teammates definitely have. Your constitution can resist this low-grade hallucinogen, but theirs can’t...” The Sword Loli’s voice had a Kongling quality to it, and she sounded very weak.

“What’s wrong with you?” For some reason, Yueye found herself worrying about the Sword Loli first. From the moment they’d met, that familiar feeling had made her trust the Sword Loli. And now, it was that same feeling that made her worry about her first.

“...It took a lot of energy to awaken your soul memories, Master... I need to rest for a while. I’m fine...” The Sword Loli’s voice was faint as a mosquito’s, almost as quiet as Liu Huiying’s.

“Soul memories...?” Yueye suddenly felt overwhelmed. For some reason, it seemed like everyone around her was sick.

“I’ll explain it to you later, Master... Hurry and save your teammates... I think they’re in... danger...” The Sword Loli fell silent after that. Yueye had no idea whether she’d used up too much energy or what.

Carrying Liu Huiying, Yueye broke into a jog. The footprints seemed to scatter from here, and she couldn’t tell which way her teammates had gone.

In her panic, Yueye sensed something. It felt like something was watching her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. She could sense the threat of a presence far stronger than herself...

“D-Don’t come any closer!” Zhu Yue’s voice suddenly rang out ahead, interrupting Yueye as she tried to pinpoint the source of the threat.

Yueye’s expression tightened. After a brief hesitation, she hurried toward the voice...

“Don’t come any closer!” The moment Yueye appeared, she saw Zhu Yue aiming her gun squarely at Zhao Zhihua’s head. Yueye’s eyebrow twitched three times...

The others were just as tense, as if a fight could break out at any moment...

“Why did you kill Yueye?! And Liu Huiying too?!” Zhu Yue’s expression edged toward madness—or at least, it was a look Yueye had never seen on Zhu Yue’s face before...

“Why?! You’re asking me why?! Weren’t they the ones who tried to force us to hand over our exchange points?” Zhao Zhihua swung the long blade in his hand, his face twitching more and more. Yueye listened from the side, completely bewildered. She had no idea what was going on.

“Su Lin, tell them yourself. Didn’t Yueye force you to trade for medicine for Liu Huiying?” Zhao Zhihua looked toward Su Lin, who was being held at gunpoint by Wang Qian...

“...I told you that medicine only cost twenty points! What are you doing?!” Su Lin said angrily, as if the two people in front of him were making a fuss over nothing.

“Then why did two hundred points disappear from our exchange-point balance? Yueye had a gun to your head just now. If it weren’t for me, you’d already be dead! And even now, you’re still speaking up for those two burdens on the team?!” Wang Qian looked almost relieved, as if she’d finally dealt with something that had been weighing on her.

“I don’t know why two hundred points disappeared! Even if that medicine was worth two hundred points, that doesn’t give you the right to kill someone!” Su Lin shouted furiously at Wang Qian. The two of them had gone mad.

“I don’t care! If two people aren’t contributing to the team, shouldn’t they be eliminated? And they even threatened the team’s interests, using force to take our exchange points!” Wang Qian raised her gun. In her mind, it had just taken the lives of Yueye and Liu Huiying. Now, nearly out of her mind, she wanted to take a third life...

“If you’re the team leader and you’re too cowardly to look after the team’s interests, then you can just die...” Wang Qian glanced around at the others, a trace of madness in her eyes.

“Yueye took those reward points to save someone. Wang Qian, put the gun down...” Du Shengjie raised his gun and aimed it at Wang Qian, freezing her in place. He knew Yueye had been wrong to take the exchange points by force, but he couldn’t let Wang Qian keep making a scene...

“You’re the one who should put your gun down, Du Shengjie! I’m sick of you bastards who only look after your own people! Do you even know what Yueye’s actions just now meant...?” Zhu Chao’s dagger was already pressed against Du Shengjie’s neck. The scene descended into chaos...

“Everyone saw it! Yueye pointed a gun at Su Lin and forced him to hand over the exchange points... And now you’re still taking her side?” Zhu Chao shouted angrily.

By this point, Yueye had figured out what was going on with the others...

It seemed her teammates had all started hallucinating for some strange reason, and the things she’d done in their hallucinations had caused a rift between them...