Chapter 220 - 187: Bamboo Forest Tunnel

Chapter 220: Chapter 187: Bamboo Forest Tunnel

Kuang Biao’s resentful wails were deafening.

Huai Yu didn’t quite understand how mutant plants felt pain, but Kuang Biao had clearly devolved from a lovesick fool into a crying toddler. Remembering that he was only eight years old—including his two normal, un-mutated years—she couldn’t help but sigh.

However, Rose Corridor was only teaching him a lesson to vent on her behalf. She absolutely couldn’t plead for him now! That would break Rose Corridor’s heart! So, she had no choice but to just stand there.

Fortunately, Rose Corridor clearly knew her limits. Just like how she had beaten the defiant Kuang Biao into submission in the beginning, she now suppressed him into a perfect C-shape, forming a hidden bamboo forest tunnel. Once that was done, she retracted all her sharp thorns.

Instantly, Kuang Biao stopped howling.

With the pain gone, having a mere two outer rows of bamboo stalks bent over was nothing to him. He shook his branches and leaves, intending to throw out a few more harsh words, but after glancing at the vines still wrapped around his other end, he swallowed them back with a huff.

Seeing her opening, Huai Yu finally managed to perfectly capture the swagger of someone backed by a heavy hitter. "Kuang Biao, if you let your bamboo pierce through my house again just to peep at me, I’ll have Rose Corridor beat you up again."

Kuang Biao cried foul!

"I’m not human, and I don’t even have eyes! How could I peep at you?

"All I see are blobs of color!

"Just like that guy—he’s just a giant blob of color too, though I could see the creeper vine on his leg clearly enough.

"I only went to take a look at that red, round washbasin. It was so big and so red! Who’d want to look at you? You narcissist!

"And you actually told Rose Corridor to stab me! You’re so vicious!"

Of course, even though he was yelling at Huai Yu, he had just taken a beating. Right now, he was keeping his bamboo leaves tightly furled, not daring to let a single one drift down. After ranting for a good while, he grumbled, "It’s not like I... I could help piercing through the house... Fine, I won’t do it next time."

He probably knew it was wrong too, so he offered a terrible idea. "Otherwise, just leave it alone and let me grow a bamboo stalk right there. Once it grows up, you won’t even be able to see the hole anymore."

Huai Yu was utterly speechless.

Too lazy to even argue, she decided to just go check out the bamboo forest tunnel instead.

Although Rose Corridor had retracted her thorns, she hadn’t untied the vines from the bamboo. Huai Yu followed the spacious, C-shaped bamboo forest tunnel inside. The light was dim, but it was refreshingly cool. The faint scent of bamboo wafted through the air, and the temperature was noticeably lower than outside.

It was already mid-May. During the peak of the day when the sun was strongest, weather broadcasts reported temperatures of twenty-eight or twenty-nine degrees Celsius. But inside this bamboo forest tunnel, a cool breeze blew gently. The faint floral scent of the Rose intertwined with the unique, crisp fragrance of the bamboo leaves. Plus, since it was right next to Rose Corridor...

Huai Yu realized she could absolutely open a hidden door here leading up the mountain, and no one would ever find out!

"Rose Corridor..." Gently stroking the flower branches beside her, she was so moved that her eyes brimmed with tears. She reached out her hand, hesitating slightly. "Do you want some Superpower?"

She extended her hand tentatively, thinking to herself that she had just said she wasn’t afraid of the alarm going off, and now it was going to go off once again.

To her surprise, Rose Corridor’s branch lightly tapped against the back of her hand before pulling away. Clearly, she didn’t care for it.

Huai Yu fell silent again.

She felt like she had fallen out of favor. Was she not practicing her abilities enough? In the very beginning, Rose Corridor would even get jealous if she carelessly gave her Superpower to other plants or animals!

Harboring these doubts, she strolled around the bamboo forest tunnel for a little while longer before picking up her basket, hopping on her bicycle, and heading toward Zhou Qian’s house.

Meanwhile, at Zhou Qian’s house.

He was busy tidying up his new home. This was his first time seeing the place, and after exploring for quite a while, he began unpacking the daily necessities sent over by the Defense Army.

Truth be told, the mental shock from earlier had been too great. If he didn’t keep himself busy with chores right now, he didn’t know what kind of messy thoughts would creep into his mind. He could ignore the ginseng’s footbath water, but the thing the Mutant dung beetle had chewed up, spit out, and rolled into a ball with its claws...

PHEW!

He took a deep breath, firmly deciding to erase those memories from his brain.

Just then, the crisp sound of a bicycle bell rang out from outside the door.

RING RING RING!

Following that came Huai Yu’s joyful shout. "Zhou Qian! I brought you some vegetables!"

Zhou Qian, still holding a quilt in his arms, couldn’t help but pause. A smile he didn’t even notice himself tugged at the corners of his lips. He mused that while he still hadn’t gotten over his own mental hurdles, Huai Yu had moved past hers perfectly fine. After all, she had dropped all pretenses—she wasn’t calling him ’brother’ anymore.

He set the quilt down and walked outside. His tall, sturdy body, forged by years of intense training and life-or-death struggles, featured broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His skin was tanned dark, and two terrifying, jagged scars marred his face.

Yet, as he stepped out, his eyes were soft and a gentle smile graced his lips. His long strides were smooth, his posture relaxed and composed... It was as if he had never been injured, as if he had never endured any suffering.

Huai Yu parked her bicycle. Hugging the flower basket to her chest, she suddenly hesitated. "Your leg... Does it hurt when you walk like that?"

The smile on Zhou Qian’s face gradually faded. He reached out with his large hand and gently patted Huai Yu’s head. "You really did see me when I was getting my prosthetic leg fitted."

He actually hadn’t gotten a straight answer at the nurses’ station, but during his follow-up examination, he had run into a doctor from the adjacent standard prosthetics ward. The doctor laughed and mentioned that a little girl had come looking for her brother, but she had gone to the wrong room.

Thinking back to Huai Yu’s red nose, her slightly bloodshot eyes, and that sweet piece of rock sugar she gave him that day... how could he not understand?

Huai Yu’s nose stung. She lowered her head and gave a muffled response. "Yeah. I saw it. It looked like it hurt a lot."

"It’s alright," Zhou Qian replied, his tone entirely relaxed. "If a person wants to become stronger, they always have to pay a price. In the past, it took days and years of endless training; now, it’s an overnight crash course.

"Even for a Superpower User, the stronger their abilities, the greater the mental torture they endure.

"To be honest, I’m actually very happy to have this opportunity."

He leaned forward slightly, grasping Huai Yu’s shoulders with both hands. His tall frame bent down to her level. Up close, his dark eyes were filled with nothing but absolute sincerity.

"I haven’t properly thanked you yet.

"Little Yu, thank you for saving my life."

He already knew that whenever Huai Yu sweetly called him "brother," she usually wanted something and was playing both sides. But she was living all alone out here. For the sake of survival, even knowing her tricks, Zhou Qian didn’t think she was doing anything wrong.

Yet this very girl, who struggled just to keep her own life afloat, had willingly laid all her cards on the table and risked everything to save him.

Zhou Qian’s hands felt heavy. As he pressed down slightly on her shoulders, a scorching heat transmitted through the thin fabric of her clothes. Huai Yu stared at him with wide eyes, only to see him smile once more.

"No matter what method was used, I survived, and I even got the chance to become stronger.

"Little Yu, thank you."