Yueye trailed at the very back of the group like a broken doll, utterly motionless, as though none of this had anything to do with her…
Her small frame trembled faintly… She didn’t know what would happen if she kept following them, or what she should do next. She didn’t know how to face her teammates—or even how to face herself. The pain of the changes brought on by her bloodline awakening… Yueye felt that simply keeping up with the group was already her limit…
And Yueye wasn’t the only one. No one on the team knew what to do next… It was like slapping someone and then immediately expecting them to make up with you. It was asking too much—and even you’d feel disgusted with yourself…
As he walked beside the group, Su Lin kept stealing glances at Yueye. But her tightly wrapped clothes completely blocked his view. He couldn’t see her expression, and a million guesses and thoughts fought for control in his mind… He didn’t know why, but he felt like he couldn’t focus on anything until she accepted his apology. The despair in her eyes when he’d decided to abandon her kept flashing before him like a nightmare, impossible to shake.
“Let’s camp here…” The open clearing that suddenly appeared before him cut off Su Lin’s thoughts. He gave the order with a helpless sigh, only to realize that Yueye’s despairing gaze had taken root in his mind. He couldn’t shake it.
“Here? All right…” At the order, everyone began unloading their camping gear and getting to work. But they seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement: no one paid Yueye any attention… as if she were “invisible.” They simply left her standing there alone. No one assigned her a task or even asked how she was.
Seeing this, Yueye gave a faint, cold laugh beneath her hood. She ignored the others, who were deliberately keeping their distance, and simply crouched down, letting her clothes cover every part of her body… She quietly felt the stinging pain of the changes taking place within her, along with the ** that came afterward….
Who knew how much time had passed? Several tents were already up, and the campfire in their midst had been skillfully lit… As night fell, the flames selflessly shared their warmth with everyone resting there…
The others, long since used to this, gathered around the campfire and sat down, enjoying its warmth. The temperature in the forest plunged as night set in… Yet it seemed even the fire had forgotten Yueye existed. The group ignored her, sitting in a circle around the flames…
“Hey, where’s Yueye? I haven’t seen her…” Wang Tong glanced around and was about to get up to call Yueye when someone else grabbed him.
“Why go get her? Doesn’t having her around make you uncomfortable?” Zhao Zhihua shook his head, signaling Wang Tong not to.
“Feeling uncomfortable is one thing, but we still have to say what needs to be said. Otherwise, we’ll feel bad forever.” Wang Tong shot Zhao Zhihua a look. He really thought the other guy was petty.
As he spoke, Wang Tong turned toward the spot where Yueye was… only to find Liu Huiying already standing beside her. He sighed helplessly, then slunk back to his seat and left everything to Liu Huiying, who’d already gone over.
Liu Huiying wasn’t sure when she’d ended up standing beside Yueye, or what had made her do it… Looking at Yueye’s petite figure beneath those oversized clothes, she felt both sorry for her and deeply guilty…
“...Yueye, we’ve got the fire going over there. Do you want to come warm up? It’s pretty cold here. You might catch a cold.” Liu Huiying asked tentatively… She stood behind and a little to the side of Yueye, and could just about tell that Yueye was looking at the stars…
“…” Yueye stared at the sky without saying a word. She knew that if Liu Huiying could see her eyes right now… she’d be so frightened that she’d run away.
They were no longer eyes as clear and vast as the sea… They’d become intimidating blue-gold, slit-pupiled eyes… like a dragon keeping watch in the dead of night, wild and dangerous…
“No one meant to do it today… It was a matter of life and death. And look, everyone came back for you, didn’t they?” When Yueye didn’t respond, Liu Huiying’s heart skipped a couple of beats… She tried to comfort her. She could more or less guess what was making Yueye so sad…
“I… don’t know…” She drew out both words, as if she’d spent a long time thinking before she spoke… Her pupils trembled faintly, as though a flicker of emotion had stirred within her…
“Everyone came back to find you… Don’t be sad. We all made the wrong choice at first. We shouldn’t have left you behind…” Liu Huiying was overwhelmed with guilt. She hadn’t known Yueye had been so deeply affected by what happened, and she had no idea how to make her feel better. She had a feeling… a girl’s sixth sense, perhaps… From the moment they chose to leave Yueye behind, she and the team would never be able to go back to the way things were.
“But… it seems only you and Zhu Yue wanted to come back for me…” Yueye replied coldly. What no one knew was that she could hear everything they did and every word they said. With part of her bloodline awakened, she’d gained the Dragon Clan’s keen senses. She’d clearly heard the small group talking from the spot farthest away from her… And now, she was curious about what Zhu Yue was coming over to do…
[A few minutes earlier, by the campfire]
“Yueye’s having a hard time too. Try to understand. We’re all on the same team. Let her come over here…” Su Lin said helplessly to the people in front of him… He’d just been about to call Yueye over himself, but they’d stopped him.
“What team? How many times has she gotten us into trouble? We did more than enough by going back to save her. Now she’s pushing her luck?” Wang Qian glared at Su Lin and spat the words out. She’d never liked Yueye, and the evil, impossible-to-kill figure from her hallucination still haunted her. In her mind, Yueye was to blame for nearly every danger the team had faced.
“Watch what you say!” Su Lin frowned. He knew there was something seriously wrong with what she’d said, but couldn’t find a good argument against it. Thinking it over, it almost seemed to make a little sense…
“Watch what I say…? Someone’s done so many awful things they can’t even show their face! She’s wrapped herself up from head to toe… and I’m the one who should watch what I say?” Wang Qian spoke as though the truth was on her side… She even deliberately raised her voice, hoping Yueye would hear from far away.
Wang Qian looked around. When no one tried to interrupt her, she pushed it even further… “What do you all think? Does what I’m saying make sense? When have we ever been in danger without Yueye being involved? She’s a monster sent to spy on us. As long as she’s here, we’re doomed to die. Have you all forgotten what she was like when she turned demonic?!” The more Wang Qian spoke, the more agitated she became… until she seemed almost deranged.
“That’s enough…!” Zhu Yue stood up and cut Wang Qian off. She couldn’t bear to listen to another word… She headed straight for Yueye, wanting to prove Wang Qian wrong through her actions. She knew how powerful words could be. If Wang Qian kept talking like this, even something that had never happened could become the truth…
Zhu Yue crossed the few steps to Yueye’s side, drawing almost everyone’s attention. Then she simply reached out and pulled Yueye’s hood off…
“Take a good look! She’s a person! She’s your teammate, someone you should treat sincerely—not the monster you keep calling her!” Zhu Yue shouted angrily at the people by the campfire. She didn’t notice how strange their expressions were…
“...Monster…” The face that should have been as exquisite as a work of art now made everyone’s hearts pound with fear… It was like seeing the hallucination all over again. Yueye’s face was starting to resemble the Yueye from that vision… It already had some Dragon Clan features…
Pale blue scales were spreading from Yueye’s neck onto her fair, delicate cheeks… Her once-beautiful blue eyes had become intimidating slit pupils… Faint blue-green scales beside her eyes made everyone’s hearts pound… The two incongruous bumps on her head made it unmistakable: Yueye’s body had changed in just a few hours…
“...Shhk…” Everyone drew their guns at once, like a flock of startled birds…
“...You’ve got to be kidding me…” Zhu Yue froze where she stood… She’d meant to show everyone Yueye’s cute face… She hadn’t expected to reveal a face that was truly half human, half dragon…
