Chapter 166: What a Coincidence, It’s You Again

Upon entering, Ji Yanqing saw that Lu Xuyin and Shi Lingfeng were both in Gu Weilan’s room. He froze for a moment before a flash of awkwardness crossed his eyes.

Standing at 192 centimeters, Lu Xuyin was slightly taller than the 189-centimeter Ji Yanqing. With his chin tipped up slightly, he exuded an unexpected aura of condescension. The left corner of his mouth curled into a half-smile as he looked at Ji Yanqing, his eyes betraying a hint of barely suppressed displeasure.

Shi Lingfeng, on the other hand, merely gave Ji Yanqing a slight nod, his eyes devoid of any wariness or dissatisfaction. Having lived with his Female Master for so long, he knew that if one paid enough attention, they would realize Gu Weilan was actually a very aloof and proud female. Although she usually appeared approachable and easygoing, that was nothing more than a superficial disguise. Shi Lingfeng knew all too well that his Female Master was not the type to get back together with an ex. Because of this, there was even a trace of pity in his eyes when he looked at Ji Yanqing.

Gu Weilan walked from the bedroom to the living room and sat down on the sofa. Gazing at the night sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, she couldn’t help but ask curiously, “It’s so late. Does the Commander of the Seventh Army need something from me?”

Ji Yanqing took a deep breath. “I’m here to confirm with you, Weilan Female. Are you really going to the frontline?”

“Yes,” Gu Weilan nodded.

Ji Yanqing wanted to persuade her otherwise, but after glancing at Lu Xuyin and Shi Lingfeng, he swallowed his words of advice. He cleared his throat, sat on the sofa opposite her, and asked softly, “How many days do you plan to stay on the frontline this time? Do you have any plans for our route?”

Gu Weilan frowned slightly, looking at him. “Our? Isn’t a third of the Seventh Army currently resting and recuperating near the Medical Hospital?”

“Yes, but I am fully recovered,” Ji Yanqing nodded. “I’ve applied to join your mission this time.”

Her frown deepened. The last time they were in the forest, Ji Yanqing had suffered a massive puncture wound to his abdomen from the Mantis Insect Clan while trying to save a soldier. Even if the Healing Pods could repair his muscle tissue, it would take a tremendous amount of time for his tendons and neurons to fully recover their previous mobility. There was no way he was already fully rested.

Gu Weilan shook her head. “Although my background isn’t in medical nursing, I did study Pharmacy. Given your condition, you’re not suited to travel with us.” She didn’t hesitate to state the cold, hard truth. “You would be a burden.”

Lu Xuyin’s eyes widened slightly, and he pursed his lips. He couldn’t help but steal a glance at Shi Lingfeng, but the bespectacled man remained perfectly calm, looking as if he were completely accustomed to this.

Taking a deep breath, Ji Yanqing gently advised, “Weilan, don’t act impulsively. Three fully rested teams from the Seventh Army will be going on this trip. If I am present, it will be much easier to organize things.”

Lu Xuyin narrowed his eyes; he found those words particularly grating. Shi Lingfeng sneered coldly but said nothing. He couldn’t remember exactly why Ji Yanqing and his Female Master had dissolved their match in the first place, but with this kind of lecturing tone, there was no doubt the Female Master would dislike it. From behind his glasses, Shi Lingfeng fixed an unblinking gaze on Gu Weilan.

Gu Weilan raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly before giving a small nod. “Suit yourself. If that’s what you think, I’ll leave the arrangements to you.

“I plan to head to Zone C3 this time. Small groups of the Insect Clan occasionally try to break through the defense lines there to destroy the temporary medical points set up on the frontline.

“Several wounded soldiers sent back from that location have been infected by the parasitic insect clan.”

Looking at the map Gu Weilan was pointing at, Ji Yanqing frowned slightly. Finally, he pursed his lips and nodded. “Alright.”

Gu Weilan had been prepared to argue that her Light Element Beast Rank’s Holy Light Healing Talent Skill could help save more Beastmen on the frontline, using that as leverage to convince Ji Yanqing to let her go to Zone C3. To her surprise, he agreed this time without her even needing to make her case.

After finalizing this matter, they rested for three days and departed immediately.

The moment they stepped into the frontline territory, a pungent stench—a mix of scorched earth, blood, and dust—slammed into their noses, choking them and making them frown. The devastation here was a hundred times more tragic than in the forest Gu Weilan had previously visited. Even the wind seemed to carry a lingering sense of ruin, desolation, and despair.

The ground beneath their feet had long lost its original color. It was rock-hard to the touch, covered in blackened crusts baked by artillery fire. With every step, they could hear the fine crunch of grinding gravel. As far as the eye could see, there wasn’t a single trace of greenery—only the withered, charred remains of trees. Some were snapped in half, while others were reduced to bare stumps, smoked glossy black by the fires, like a frozen portrait of the war’s sheer brutality.

The temporarily constructed medical point was heartbreakingly crude. In the massive space, there were only six Healing Pods. Their exteriors were stained with dust and blood, and their indicator lights blinked weakly, as if struggling to keep running. Injured Beastmen were crammed into every corner of the facility. Some had severed limbs with wounds still gushing blood, while others had been burned by the venom of the Insect Clan, their skin ulcerated and blackened as they convulsed in agony. They could only clutch bottles of emergency life-saving potions, taking small, desperate sips. Their eyes, filled with exhaustion and anxiety, were fixed on the Healing Pods, praying that their turn would come soon enough to snatch their lives back from the jaws of death.

Looking at the scene before her, Gu Weilan felt as though an invisible hand was squeezing her heart, making her chest ache with suffocation.

It was hard to say whether their timing was lucky or completely unfortunate. They had barely arrived and hadn’t even caught their breath when an ear-piercing BZZZ BZZZ echoed from the perimeter of the medical point, followed by the rustling sound of churning soil. A swarm of grayish-black mole crickets of the Insect Clan, relying on their tough exoskeletons, were forcing their way out of the dirt right beneath the perimeter’s insect-repellent shock batons. Their compound eyes gleamed with a cold green light, and their mandibles snapped open and shut with a bone-chilling CLICK-CLACK. Clearly, they had locked onto the defenseless casualties inside the medical point.

Without hesitation, Gu Weilan instantly unleashed her Vines! They shot out with the speed and ferocity of flying arrows, plunging directly into the mouths of the mole crickets. Ignoring the nauseating sight before her, Gu Weilan gritted her teeth. She just wanted to absorb the Vitality Energy of these insects before anyone else could open fire!

But she never could have imagined that this swarm was merely the vanguard of a much larger Insect Clan army. As the first insect shriek rang out, an overwhelming mass of bizarre and repulsive creatures erupted from the soil, forming a dense, black wave that instantly surrounded the medical point.

Gu Weilan and the accompanying Beastmen had no time to think; they immediately threw themselves into the battle. Gunfire, insect screeches, the sickening crunch of Vines tearing through exoskeletons, and the furious roars of Beastmen intertwined. The fierce battle raged from the afternoon straight through to dusk, starting and stopping without a moment of true respite.

Gu Weilan absorbed the Vitality Energy of sixteen insects, breaking through to the Twelfth Rank in her Beast Rank. Without pausing, she continued to devour energy while simultaneously splitting her focus to unleash Group Control. Her Ice Domain Talent Skill inflicted a massive debuff on all insects within a five-hundred-meter radius, severely slowing their speed, energy recovery, and energy consumption. Meanwhile, the Domain awakened by her Space Beast Rank at the Seventh Rank allowed all allied Beastmen to move faster while consuming less energy.

As for when she ran out of energy? It didn’t matter. The Energy Transfer she had awakened at the Wood Element’s Tenth Rank allowed her to steal one-third of the enemy’s energy and transfer it to herself!

Just as their side became locked in a grueling stalemate, a penal squad rushed over from a short distance away and joined the fray!

“What a coincidence, Female Master. We meet again.”