Chapter 254: Swish, Swish, Swish

Chapter 254: Chapter 254: Swish, Swish, Swish

The group arrived at a new safe house, destroying another offering table along the way.

By now, the sky had begun to darken, and it was nearing dusk.

The timing was awkward. It was too early to rest, but they didn’t have enough time to go after the Maze Master. By the time they reached his location and were ready to act, it would already be dark.

Feng Ling didn’t care about the darkness, but she was wary of the thick nightly fog. She decided they would rest at the safe house for the night and move out at dawn.

The moment Huangfu Miaomiao heard they could rest, she breathed a sigh of relief. ’Finally, no more walking!’

She took various daily necessities out of her backpack’s inventory slots, busying herself gleefully with making the beds and boiling water.

Xu Yiming helped her tidy up and clean the place.

He muttered as he cleaned, "This is our third night already. I wonder if the people outside think we’ve died in the Maze..."

Feng Ling found this amusing. Leaning against the doorframe, she laughed and said, "It would be hilarious if they held a funeral for us. We could suddenly show up and give the whole country a heart attack."

Ye Zheng was speechless. "Can you rein in that morbid sense of humor of yours?"

Feng Ling added, "We could also give the Alien Species a big scare. They’re definitely keeping an eye on the Guangshan City Maze. They’ll see we haven’t come out for days and nights and assume we’re dead in here. Then—hehe—we make our grand entrance! How fun would that be?"

This time, Ye Zheng didn’t scoff. He nodded and said, "That is a little interesting."

Li Qing glanced at the two of them, looking as if he wanted to say something but holding his tongue. In the end, he remained silent.

’Hard to know what to say.’

...

「The sky grew darker.」

Inside the safe house, everyone occupied themselves with their own activities—resting, drinking water, staring into space, or turning in early.

Bored, Feng Ling leaned against the doorframe and looked outside. The once-clear view of the street was gradually being obscured by fog, until all she could see was a small patch of the gray brick sidewalk by the door.

The rats grew active at night. She heard many faint sounds—the scuttling of claws hurrying across the floor tiles, the gnawing on wooden furniture. They even seemed to communicate, squeaking messages back and forth, endlessly busy.

’Life is tough.’

For some reason, this thought stirred within Feng Ling.

’Rats are disgusting, but they’re only trying to live. They attack us to survive, reproduce to survive, even worship gods and make offerings to survive. To survive, to survive... to survive...’

Feng Ling suddenly felt that the Mouse Monsters and humans were very much alike.

"I don’t want to die. I want to live..." she murmured thoughtfully.

"What are you saying?" Li Qing asked.

"Nothing," Feng Ling said, leaning against the door with her head tilted. "It just reminded me of the prayers I heard back in the mountains. It feels like it isn’t easy for anyone to survive. Whether it’s us or the rats, we all want to live."

"The survival instinct is ingrained in our genes. All living beings are the same in that respect," Li Qing replied.

Feng Ling let out a soft laugh. "It sounds like we’re all just puppets of our genes."

"You could see it that way," Li Qing nodded.

"That’s no fun," Feng Ling said languidly. "It’s like being controlled by a program. My genes tell me what to do, and I do it. All my behaviors and habits are written into my code. So what, exactly, is my own will?"

"There are uncontrollable parts," Li Qing said slowly, mulling it over. "For example, the bonds between people, the flow of emotions... Those are things genetic programming can’t control."

THUMP THUMP THUMP—

Huangfu Miaomiao came jogging down from upstairs, calling out to Feng Ling, "I’ve made the beds! Feng Ling, do you want the side by the window or the one against the wall?"

"Either is fine," Feng Ling replied.

"Okay~" Huangfu Miaomiao chirped, then scampered back upstairs.

"You should go upstairs and rest," Li Qing told Feng Ling. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be tough."

"Tough or not, one night’s sleep won’t make or break it." Feng Ling straightened up, rolling her shoulders. She ambled over to the Cat Spider in the corner and squatted down to stroke its head.

The Cat Spider hadn’t been in good shape ever since it lost a leg. It seemed agitated and unwilling to let Feng Ling pet it. It kept its abdomen pressed to the ground, swaying from side to side as its spinnerets constantly produced silk for some unknown reason.

Li Qing frowned. "Are you not planning to sleep tonight?"

Feng Ling didn’t answer. She stroked the Cat Spider’s head a few more times until she’d had her fill, then pulled her hand back so as not to disturb its silk-spinning. She turned to play with the Cat Owl instead.

The Cat Owl wasn’t keen on being petted either. ’Is my technique off?’ Although it didn’t resist, after every few strokes from Feng Ling, the Cat Owl would twist its head around to preen its feathers, as if annoyed she was messing up its grooming.

Li Qing asked again, hesitantly, "Are you really not going to sleep? We have to face the Maze Master tomorrow..."

"Sigh..." Feng Ling let out a breath. "That’s exactly why I can’t sleep. I always have nightmares when I sleep in the Maze."

Li Qing froze for a second, his gaze involuntarily shifting to the Illusion beside her. "...Right. You’ve been marked. Your dreams will be affected."

The Illusion was currently translucent, its effect gradually weakening over time.

Li Qing guessed that the mark’s effect would completely disappear in another day and night, at most.

"You had nightmares at Sanqing Mountain, too." He paused, then asked, "Do the nightmares affect your combat performance the next day?"

"It’s not that serious..." Feng Ling said, frowning. "But it really sours my mood. Who doesn’t want a nice, peaceful sleep? And besides..."

She turned to look at the Illusion beside her and said wistfully, "Since the mark’s ability is designed to draw out my inner fears, it’s bound to dredge up a lot of bad memories in my dreams. But I don’t want to keep remembering them. Wind Mother is already dead. In the future, when I remember her, I want them to be good memories, not the bad ones."

Li Qing sat up straighter, trying to be a good listener. "She must have been very important to you."

Feng Ling smiled at his words, her eyes glinting with amusement as she looked at Li Qing. "I don’t know if she was important to me, but she was very important to you and Little Skeleton."

Li Qing blinked. "...Do I know her? Have I met her?"

"You’ve never met her," Feng Ling said with a mischievous grin. "But if it weren’t for her, the two of you would have died by my hand long ago. She was the first person to teach me that you need a reason for everything you do."

Feng Ling, why are you fighting?

Feng Ling, why did you break the window?

Feng Ling, why did you steal someone else’s egg?

Feng Ling, you can’t just do whatever you want! You must have a reason! A proper reason! To act without reason is to be in the wrong, and being in the wrong means you’ll be punished! If someone is good to you, you must be good to them in return. If someone hasn’t harmed you, then you cannot harm them. Do you understand? Do you understand!

Feng Ling gazed at the Illusion’s face, a perfect copy of Wind Mother’s, and sighed softly. "Most of the children where I grew up were the offspring of criminals. When their parents went to prison, the children were left without guardians and sent to that place. That’s why she was always so strict with us. She was afraid we’d become criminals, too."

Li Qing was silent for a long moment before speaking in a low voice, "So, she was the first person to help you establish a proper sense of order."