Chapter 169 - 168: Same Model Phone

Chapter 169: Chapter 168: Same Model Phone

Su Yuqing was startled. He immediately looked at the backpackers. "You’ve seen this kind of phone?!"

"...Uh, we found a similar one outside the cabin, but it’s broken."

They took out the broken phone and handed it to Xu Yiming, who was sitting beside them. He, in turn, quickly passed it to Su Yuqing.

The phone’s casing was mostly shattered, revealing the metal components inside, but it was still recognizable at a glance as the same model as a Hunter’s phone.

The body was too severely damaged to be powered on. Fortunately, the internal chip was completely intact. Once it was taken out of the Maze, the information on it could be read with the proper equipment.

Su Yuqing carefully inspected the phone for a moment before looking up to ask the backpackers, "When did you find it?"

"Probably on the third day we were trapped here... Rescue never came, so we tried to walk out on our own. But it was too cold outside. We’d start to freeze solid within minutes of leaving, so we had to keep coming back to the cabin. That day, we made it about thirty or forty meters out and found this phone on a hillside."

Su Yuqing pressed on, "During your time in the cabin, have you seen anyone or heard any commotions?"

The two young couples glanced at each other and conversed in low voices. "Have we? ... Does that one time count? That was a huge commotion..."

Su Yuqing asked impatiently, "What kind of commotion?"

"Well, there was one time... We heard a loud sound in the distance. When I opened the door, I saw a signal flare shoot up into the sky. It was glowing red, so it was really obvious. You could see it clearly even though it was snowing heavily."

Su Yuqing fell silent after hearing this and didn’t speak for a long time.

Feng Ling asked the backpackers, "Did you find the phone first, or see the signal flare first?"

They replied in unison, "We found the phone first."

Feng Ling turned to Su Yuqing. "Under what circumstances would an Inspector use a signal flare?"

"To call for rescue..." Su Yuqing paused, then added in a low voice, "Or to find a lost teammate."

A phone wouldn’t get damaged for no reason; something must have happened to its owner. Combined with the signal flare, one could at least surmise that a member of the expedition team had gone missing. Could that missing member be Ye Zheng?

Feng Ling pondered for a moment before asking Su Yuqing, "Does Ye Zheng have any easily identifiable features?"

The already grim expression on Su Yuqing’s face turned even darker.

The room fell silent.

Xu Yiming watched Su Yuqing, his heart in his throat, terrified that Feng Ling’s prodding would cause him to pass out right then and there.

’Feng Ling might as well have asked how to identify the body!’

’Actually, he also thought Ye Zheng’s chances of survival were slim. Forget the monsters in the Maze; the cold alone was lethal. If not for this little cabin, he had no idea how he would have made it through the night himself.’

In the end, Su Yuqing maintained his composure.

He raised his left hand and said to Feng Ling in an unnervingly lucid voice, "She wears a ring on her hand. It’s the same style as mine."

Feng Ling acted as if she didn’t notice he had been pushed to his breaking point.

She walked over nonchalantly and took a close look at Su Yuqing’s left hand.

"Okay, I’ve got it." Feng Ling nodded and addressed the group. "Everyone get some rest. Tomorrow, we’ll eliminate the Snow Woman. Then we’ll split into two teams. One team will continue searching for Ye Zheng, and the other will go out to contact Admiral Yan and get some protective suits sent in."

No one objected.

They each found a spot to rest, lying down huddled together in the cabin.

Before long, the room grew quiet, filled only with the sound of rhythmic breathing.

The blizzard outside seemed to have stopped, and all was still.

Feng Ling quickly fell into a dream.

She didn’t usually dream much; it was only in the Maze that dreams came easily.

Perhaps because her desires had been running rampant lately—wanting too much—this dream was particularly chaotic.

One moment, she was dreaming of the orphanage director; the next, of a giant eye. Then she dreamed she was heavily pregnant, which was utterly terrifying.

She woke up in the early hours of the next day.

It wasn’t yet five o’clock, but the sun was already rising.

Sunlight filtered through the thick frost patterns on the window, casting prismatic refractions onto the rough wooden floor.

Feng Ling got up and opened the door.

Nearby, the snow glittered in the sunlight. In the distance, white hills rolled endlessly. The world after a heavy snowfall always possessed a vast and sacred beauty.

Yet, this beauty concealed a murderous truth. Beneath the snow lay stark white bones, and within the Ice Cones were liquified corpses.

Feng Ling exhaled a cloud of white mist and closed the door again.

"Feng Ling, something’s not right with Old Su." Xu Yiming pressed a hand to Su Yuqing’s forehead, then tested his cheek with the back of his hand. "His fever is worse than yesterday..."

Frowning, Feng Ling walked over.

Su Yuqing’s condition was indeed poor. Yesterday, he had been able to barely remain conscious, but now he was in a deep slumber and couldn’t be woken. His lips twitched, as if he were about to start speaking feverish nonsense at any moment.

"What do we do? I only have medicine for external wounds, no fever reducer," Xu Yiming said worriedly. "Was it what you said last night? Did it upset him? ... Emotional instability can make his condition worse. Feng Ling, you need to be more tactful next time."

As Xu Yiming spoke, he looked up at Feng Ling and froze for a second.

Because there wasn’t a trace of worry in Feng Ling’s eyes—only faint disdain.

"Ugh, he’s so weak." Feng Ling made no effort to hide it; her tone was surprisingly sincere.

Xu Yiming: "..."

"Give him another shot," Feng Ling said to Huangfu Miaomiao.

Huangfu Miaomiao redeemed a syringe and expertly administered the injection to Su Yuqing.

"He’s a doppelganger, so his constitution is a bit weaker," Xu Yiming couldn’t help but defend him. "Once he recovers, he’ll be just like a normal person."

"You stay here and look after him." Feng Ling had no time to worry about Su Yuqing. She turned to the other three Hunters. "The rest of you, come with me to scout. Our priority is to clear a safe path out of the Maze. Once we reach Zone D, we can contact the other Hunters and General Yan. We have four civilians in the Maze, and we need to escort them out as quickly as possible."

Feng Ling was referring to the four backpackers in the cabin, who were as unlucky as they were lucky.

"Oh, right," she said, turning to one of the backpackers. "Come over here and point. Which direction was it where you found the phone?"

"Oh, right..." The person walked to the doorway and pointed. "It was roughly in that direction, straight downhill... It’s not far, maybe about thirty meters? Fifty at the most. I remember there was a snowman next to it that looked like it was holding its head."

Feng Ling nodded, threw on her winter parka, and jumped down cleanly.

The snow came up past her calves. She turned, looked up, and waved to the others in the chicken-foot cabin. "Let’s move out."