Chapter 31: Danger
“Who?!”
Huai Yu stood up cautiously, gripping the nearby multi-functional shovel tightly.
At this moment, she felt a bit of regret.
Because the branches she had just cut had gotten soaked in the rain and were too wet, producing a lot of smoke when burned, she had lifted the door curtain.
Captain Zhou had deliberately given her an opaque, waterproof tarp for extra safety in the dark. But now…
Also, the shed outside the treehouse was supposed to serve as a kitchen, but because it was too cold, she chose to cook inside. If she were outside right now, she could at least run if she couldn’t fight.
All these seemingly trivial choices now tangled together, weaving a growing sense of danger.
“Sorry,” a low voice came from outside the door. “I was just passing by. I smelled something really good and didn’t expect there to be… uh, a house here.”
Huai Yu held her breath: My treehouse is built so nicely, why did you hesitate before speaking?
But her sense of alertness only heightened.
With the heavy rain and the deep darkness, the treehouse being close to the Rose Corridor meant their shadows merged. She believed the person might not have seen the treehouse.
But claiming to smell the aroma…
Huai Yu tightened her grip on the shovel.
The man outside seemed to sigh lightly: “Sorry, the smell of soybeans is really strong. I have 200 points. If I could trade them for some soybeans, would you be willing?”
Huai Yu wanted to say no, but the man didn’t seem like he was going to leave. And if he forced his way in, she wouldn’t be able to stop him anyway.
As for 200 points… right now, her life was more important!
She hesitated, then said coldly, “Wait there.”
The fragrant fried soybeans clattered into a bowl. After being stir-fried dry, half a pound barely filled a small bowl. Carrying it outside, Huai Yu’s heart ached as if she were handing over a bowl of gold.
“I’ll leave the bowl at the door. Take it yourself.”
Holding the shovel tightly, her heart pounded like a drum.
As she approached the door, the fire’s light grew dimmer. She could only vaguely see the tall silhouette of a man.
She carefully placed the bowl down, took two steps back, and raised her shovel, ready to strike the moment he bent down to pick up the bowl.
Huh?
After squatting down to set the bowl, she looked up instinctively—and froze.
In the pouring rain, standing at the door was a man in a snow-white uniform. The white wasn’t soft—it gleamed like snow. Under the faint firelight, the fabric seemed to shimmer with silver sand.
The style resembled a defense soldier’s uniform but was slightly different—still clearly standardized.
Even his boots looked different, wrapped in a hard metallic layer.
Most importantly, he wasn’t using an umbrella.
Despite the relentless downpour, he stood there dry, his posture tall and straight. His refined features looked at Huai Yu, full of apology and helplessness.
And the most shocking thing—
“Why… aren’t you wet?”
The rain still fell heavily, but around him, it was as if an invisible shield kept every drop away, wrapping his entire body from head to toe, not a single drop touching him.
Huai Yu, stunned, asked blankly.
The man paused slightly before replying, “I’m water element.”
Ah? So that’s a water ability user! Huai Yu couldn’t help but study him carefully, feeling much less wary—
After all, someone this skilled wouldn’t need to negotiate if he intended harm.
At the same time, a bit of envy rose in her heart:
“Water powers are that handy? My raincoat and boots together cost 100 points…”
The man chuckled softly, looking a bit puzzled for a second, then pointed to the bowl of soybeans: “Can we complete the trade? If we wait too long, the moisture will make them less crispy.”
Since he wasn’t an enemy, Huai Yu relaxed and said generously, “I don’t need 200 points. Just 20 points for half the bowl. I haven’t even tasted them yet.”
The man laughed, his face looking a bit pale under the rain: “Are you saying that because of my clothes?”
“No need for that. These soybeans must be rare and unpolluted original seeds, right? 200 points might not even be enough to buy them.”
“But,” he added, looking a bit embarrassed and annoyed, “I only have 200 points left.”
Huh?
Huai Yu thought, I didn’t even try that hard growing them, how can they be so rare? Can seeds get polluted too?
And his clothes—Is he from the high ranks of the Mutated Plant Defense Army? But then why does he only have 200 points?
She didn’t ask, just lifted her wrist and set the trade amount: “20 points.”
The man paused, then smiled helplessly.
Just as he was reaching out, his expression suddenly shifted. He turned his head sharply, his face turning serious.
Without moving his body, the rain in front of him twisted into a transparent water rope that shot forward like a snake into the darkness!
Not long after, a scream rang out in the dark—
“Ahhh!”
Huai Yu’s face turned pale.
The man turned back calmly to reassure her: “It’s fine. I’ll check later. We’re close to the Rose Corridor—there can’t be any big fights or injuries here.”
He glanced warily at the dense, wall-like Rose Corridor: “When the mutation index rises, they get easily agitated.”
Huai Yu: …Hearing that didn’t make her feel any better.
The man then said, “You have powers too, right? Wood element? Very weak, a bit odd, but I can feel it.”
Huai Yu thought for a moment—she probably was wood element. So people can sense others’ powers? I never noticed anything…
She wanted to ask more questions, but was afraid of exposing herself.
The man continued:
“Did you choose to live here because you have high plant affinity? If so, you should be more alert around people. In the Dark Forest, firelight is dangerous—for you and for others.”
Huai Yu felt helpless. If the wood wasn’t so wet and she didn’t want to smoke herself into a sausage in the enclosed space, who would want to leave the door open at night?
She pointed into the distance: “What’s going on over there?”
“Not sure,” he replied easily, then flipped his wrist. In the darkness, a figure was dragged over.
When the figure reached the door, Huai Yu finally saw clearly—it was a middle-aged man.
His hair was cropped short, and he wore a filthy, old shirt that might once have been blue or gray. His pants were also caked with mud, making him look pitiful.
But even in this state, when he raised his head to look at them, his eyes were full of fear—and hostility.
He couldn’t speak, though, because the water rope was tightly strangling his neck, and a swollen red welt was visible across his right cheek.
“A fugitive?”
Everyone knew that the Dark Forest followed Big Liu’s theory.
