Chapter 126 - 109: Spider [2 in 1]

Chapter 126: Chapter 109: Spider [2 in 1]

Yet at this moment, they shared one thing in common.

That was—they both had to go very far away.

So far away that just thinking about it made her voice tremble when she finally spoke.

"If he were fine, or if there was still hope for him to recover from his injuries... why would he be waiting for me at the hospital?" she murmured.

Although she liked Zhou Qian very much, and he treated her well, their relationship wasn’t exactly close. If Zhou Qian were really just recovering, why would he send someone to specifically pick her up?

Unless...

The driver looked up at her through the rearview mirror, and the person in the passenger seat also couldn’t help but turn around to glance at her.

The frail girl had her hair down, wearing simple loungewear. On her feet was even a pair of slippers, embroidered with cute, pinkish-red strawberries.

At this moment, she tightly clutched the plastic bag in her arms, her face as pale as snow.

No one in the car said a word.

Yet in this silence, Huai Yu understood too much. Her eyes stung uncontrollably, and then tears fell one by one.

When Lin Xuefeng left, she hadn’t understood anything. Although she had felt a slight reluctance to see him go, she hadn’t thought much else of it.

But when it came to Zhou Qian, she had already grasped the meaning of death in this moment.

Her heart felt hollow. It was as if she were reliving the scene of her ruined house, only a hundred times more painful.

It took a long while before she gasped out a trembling question, "Is he... is he going to die?"

The two Defense Army soldiers in the front remained silent. After a long moment, the driver finally replied. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his veins bulged, and his entire body was tense. His voice trembled as he continued, "Yes.

"When our squad was marching toward the Wilderness, a mutated banyan tree had formed a cooperative relationship with a mutated Kou Spider. The banyan tree was responsible for strangling intruders with its aerial roots, while the Kou Spider wove webs to hunt...

"Captain Zhou was in charge of covering our retreat. He was caught by the banyan tree’s aerial roots, which tried to strangle him but failed. However, the mutated Kou Spider bit his arm, injecting neurotoxins and digestive enzymes into his body..."

In that instant, Huai Yu’s world spun. The image of the spider in the bamboo forest hunting and sucking its food dry magnified before her eyes, making her dizzy.

Even though... she and Zhou Qian weren’t exactly close.

Zhou Qian didn’t even know her secret.

But since she had awakened from her ignorance, there had only been a handful of people who treated her well, and Zhou Qian occupied the majority of her life...

Huai Yu knew she shouldn’t be this heartbroken, yet at this moment, she still felt an agonizing pain in her chest.

The car slowly drove from the bumpy road into the city. Through a few sharp, urgent breaths, Huai Yu gradually managed to hold back her tears.

Her eyes were red, but she didn’t shed any more tears. She just asked again, "Then... why are you bringing me over? Is he still alive?"

The Defense Army soldier in the passenger seat answered, "He’s awake, and in a lot of pain. But he doesn’t have any other relatives, so he requested to leave his remaining points and personal belongings to you.

"We thought you might want to see him..."

To be precise, they wanted Zhou Qian to have family by his side in his final moments, even if it was just the young girl from the Wilderness he had mentioned, who had absolutely no blood ties to him.

Huai Yu froze.

Zhou Qian... had no other family?

He always looked so cheerful and carefree. Although his sense of duty meant every word out of his mouth was a weighty piece of advice, at his core, he was still the same Zhou Qian who would laugh heartily, ruffle her hair, and tell her she didn’t have to put on a sweet act just to ask for a favor.

Huai Yu hugged the bag in her arms even tighter and gave a heavy nod. "I want to see him."

A moment later, she asked, "What about that Kou Spider and the banyan tree?"

"A Guard Army reserve unit turned back after receiving the news. One of the Guard Army soldiers had a Wood Element mutation geared toward mind control...

"They guided the banyan tree and the Kou Spider into killing each other, successfully completing the mission in the end."

Huai Yu nodded and said no more.

The car stopped at the entrance of a hospital she had never been to before. When Huai Yu stepped out, her legs felt like jelly. She was still hugging the bag of dried locust flowers, having long forgotten its existence.

As she turned around, she happened to see a young girl walking past in a snow-white uniform.

The girl had a deep scratch on her face, and her hair was a mess, as if a large chunk had been sliced off. The scar on her cheek was a dark red. One of her arms was in a sling with a splint, and she was currently tilting her head, pressing a phone between her ear and shoulder to make a call.

"...Mom... I’m fine... I’m really fine! I’m your daughter! I’m Bai Yu! Don’t you know how capable I am..."

Huai Yu turned her head back, took a deep breath, and followed the Defense Army soldiers into the hospital.