Chapter 32: The Fugitive
Fugitive?!
Huai Yu was startled. “Water-type abilities can also identify people?!”
That was incredible.
The man opposite her paused for a moment. “No, it’s just that he’s wearing prison clothes — look at his chest.”
As he spoke, another stream of water quickly washed over the middle-aged man’s chest, clearing away the mud and revealing a few embroidered characters:
[Third Prison — Ⅲ]
Before she could ask more, the man raised a finger to his lips and winked playfully at her:
“Shh.”
“I snuck over quietly. Best not to let anyone know.”
“Can I leave the prisoner to you? By dawn tomorrow, you should be able to hand him over to the Mutated Plant Defense Army — by then, I’ll be gone, so it won’t matter if they find out.”
Huai Yu sighed along with him. “You think too highly of me… The Mutated Plant Defense Army said we shouldn’t get rained on casually.”
“It’s fine,” he smiled. “You have abilities, your resistance is much stronger. As long as you don’t have close contact with mutated plants, it’ll be fine.”
Huai Yu: …
She remembered she hadn’t just had close contact — she had even knocked her head against the rose a few times.
Turning her head, she looked at the rose branch still stubbornly blooming in the porous brick vase. After a moment of silence, she stepped aside:
“Come in.”
“Hm?”
“You can stay at my place for the night and leave at dawn. After you leave, I’ll bring the prisoner over — you tied him securely, right?”
Her generosity surprised the man: “You’re not afraid anymore?”
Huai Yu shook her head. “I want you to teach me how to use my ability.”
He was so strong — if he wanted to subdue her, it would only take a blink. Before, she had relied too much on the powerful Rose Corridor. Now she realized she needed strength of her own.
The young man smiled, flipped his fingers, and the water rope binding the middle-aged man burrowed into the ground, pinning him motionless in the pouring rain.
Then he extended his hand to Huai Yu, his fingers broad and his palm dry.
“Hello, I’m Lin Xuefeng.”
Huai Yu nodded and shook his hand. “I’m Huai Yu — Yu, as in the elm tree.”
Their hands clasped briefly. Lin Xuefeng looked at her for a moment and suddenly smiled, as if relieved.
Huai Yu, still holding her multitool shovel in the other hand, quickly set it down and picked up the soybeans again, heading back inside under his watchful gaze.
Inside the treehouse, Lin Xuefeng looked around, surprised: “You built this yourself? It’s pretty spacious.”
“Of course!” Huai Yu said proudly. “It took a lot of effort.”
Lin Xuefeng’s gaze circled around the wisteria roots and he nodded approvingly: “Indeed. Your ability doesn’t seem very strong yet, so rooting and growing vines must have been tough.”
Huai Yu poured the soybeans back into the pot and sighed: “If I knew you could tell right away, I wouldn’t have bothered hiding it… Scared myself half to death in the middle of the night. My soybeans even got damp again. I’ll dry them once more.”
“If you don’t want to join the Mutated Plant Defense Army, hiding your ability is fine. It’s personal freedom.”
There was only one makeshift brick stool inside, but Lin Xuefeng casually stacked a few more bricks for himself.
A stream of invisible water cleaned the old dirt from the bricks, making Huai Yu envious again.
“Can you remove the moisture from the beans?”
She looked at Lin Xuefeng expectantly.
He rested his chin on his hand and smiled: “I could.”
Then he raised his finger and wagged it: “But I won’t, because the aroma from roasting over fire is the most tempting.”
“I was planning to leave overnight. I saw the firelight when passing by and came out of curiosity. Didn’t expect to smell something so good right away.”
Maybe because they had exchanged names, Lin Xuefeng’s serious demeanor relaxed, and he now seemed like a casual, friendly neighbor.
“I only kept two hundred points for the journey, but this handful of soybeans completely derailed my plan… Since you’re letting me stay overnight with food included, you can have all my points.”
This time Huai Yu didn’t refuse. She handed him the transaction wristband and asked curiously: “Where are you headed?”
“Hmm…” His gaze was fixed on the pot of soybeans as he said nonchalantly, “To the Wastelands.”
“An explorer?” She was curious. “How will you get there? Isn’t it said that the Rose Corridor is impassable? Why are you coming through here?”
“It’s fine,” Lin Xuefeng smiled with a hint of pride. “If you’re strong enough, you can get past before the Rose Corridor reacts! If it weren’t for this rain, it wouldn’t be that aggressive. Most of the time, it’s like a silent little girl.”
A silent little girl?
What a fascinating metaphor.
Huai Yu slowly stirred the soybeans and felt like she was opening a “100,000 Whys” encyclopedia:
“What does the Ⅲ on the prison uniform mean?”
Just as she asked, Lin Xuefeng, quick as lightning, snatched a soybean from the pot and popped it into his mouth—
“Ow, hot!”
He mumbled through the heat, then chewed with a happy crunch: “As expected, unpolluted soybeans… Huai Yu, you sure have a lot of secrets!”
Despite the words, his tone was light and casual, making it impossible for Huai Yu to feel nervous.
“Needs more salt,” Lin Xuefeng commented quietly, then answered: “The number indicates the crime level. He’s a high-level felon — and you’re too weak right now to sense it, but he’s fire-type.”
“Rainy weather is the best time to subdue him. Don’t feel pity and let him inside. A night in the rain won’t kill him… but if he goes mad or dies, it’s no loss.”
Too much rain could drive someone mad or kill them…
Was it because the polluted rainwater raised mutation levels?
Huai Yu pondered.
“What kind of people become high-level felons? Murderers?”
“Not just that.” Lin Xuefeng shook his head. “It’s a new post-catastrophe classification — those who, for personal gain during the chaos, directly or indirectly caused multiple deaths.”
“So, when you see a criminal, don’t hesitate.”
Huai Yu nodded seriously.
“Your ability is so strong — how did you train it? I want to learn.”
But Lin Xuefeng advised her: “If you can, it’s better not to.”
“The improvement of abilities comes with an increase in mutation value. The closer you are to the critical point, the stronger you are. Techniques are just different ways of thinking and practicing.”
“For example, even though I’m water-type, if I’m strong enough, I can instantly drain all the water from a plant or boil its juices by vibrating the liquids inside.”
“Very effective against mutated plants.”
Huai Yu thought for a moment: “What about… people?”
Lin Xuefeng smiled gently and kindly: “People too.”
