The place was said to be incredibly effective for making wishes, so tourists came from all over the country to visit.
Two days ago, someone discovered that the wild turtles in the Imperial Consort Pool had grown considerably larger. No one paid much attention to it.
That changed when a certain young heir, heartbroken after a breakup, was walking along the covered bridge. He leaned against the railing and cried, only to be bitten on the waist by a turtle. He fell to the ground and was rushed to the ICU.
Only then did people begin taking the matter seriously.
“Fortunately, he fell forward. Otherwise, he would have been eaten by the turtle.” Li Yiyi patted her chest.
Butler Zhao gave her a cool glance and said irritably, “Madam has finally woken up.”
Li Yiyi looked at him in confusion. “Did something happen?”
Butler Zhao had been expecting her to snap back at him, so he was momentarily speechless.
He turned his face away. “Nothing.”
Apart from the pilot, there were only the three of them on the helicopter.
“President Fu, we can’t go any farther. They’ve put up an electric fence along the border,” the pilot reported.
Li Yiyi looked outside the cabin.
A huge white net blocked their path. Sparks flashed brightly, and even from a distance, they seemed to hear the crackling sound.
It was a high-voltage electric fence, probably installed to isolate the radioactive substances in the air above Antarctica.
No wonder all international flight routes had been suspended.
Fu Sizhe said, “Land.”
The helicopter had not been registered for landing in an urban area, so the pilot chose an open patch of grass.
They were now at the western border. If they wanted to return to Beijing, they would have to find another way.
After leaving the helicopter, they discovered that this place was nothing like the freezing Antarctic.
It was somewhat hot.
The land was dry, the grass sparse, and the bushes scattered thinly across the terrain.
It was a typical subtropical grassland.
While no one was paying attention, Li Yiyi stored most of the sandwiches, stewed rice, and fruit from the rest area inside her Storage Bracelet.
After getting off the helicopter, Fu Sizhe called for a car.
However, his phone showed that there was no service. They had no signal and could only walk toward the city before deciding what to do next.
The pilot and Fu Sizhe were both in excellent physical condition.
Butler Zhao and Li Yiyi, on the other hand, were not doing so well.
Before long, they were panting heavily.
When they reached a patch of greenery, they decided to stop and rest.
The sun was not harsh, but the humidity in the air was extremely low, leaving their mouths and throats dry.
Li Yiyi’s lips had begun to crack.
She took two apples out of her Storage Bracelet and divided them among everyone.
“Where did you get those?” Butler Zhao’s eyes lit up when he saw the apples.
“I took them from the helicopter. I was worried I’d get hungry halfway through.”
She cut the apples in half, and everyone ate half.
The crisp, sweet, juicy apples filled the air with their fresh fragrance. They felt much better after eating.
Li Yiyi did not want to reveal the existence of the bracelet so soon.
She was afraid someone would take it from her.
The bracelet did not recognize an owner. Whoever held it could use it.
“You’re not eating?” Fu Sizhe looked at the quarter of an apple Li Yiyi held out to him. Her bite marks were still visible on it.
Li Yiyi smiled sweetly.
“I’m full. You can have it.”
The Male Lead should eat more so he would have more strength. If they encountered danger later, he would be better able to fight.
She had eaten quite a lot on the helicopter and was not hungry anymore.
Fu Sizhe accepted the apple without hesitation.
He did not mind. During his missions in the wilderness, he had eaten all kinds of things and was not particular about such matters.
Butler Zhao stared at them in disbelief.
He could not understand why the relationship between these two had suddenly become so good.
He had just eaten Li Yiyi’s apple, so he felt awkward about saying anything now.
“Be careful.”
Fu Sizhe’s voice suddenly dropped.
There was a rustling sound.
Something was rapidly approaching them!
“Li Yiyi, don’t move.”
Hearing that, Li Yiyi froze in place.
She could feel a shadow falling over her head.
She remained completely still and moved only her eyes upward.
A gigantic snake’s tongue appeared above her.
It was larger than her head, forked at the tip, and flicked rapidly in and out.
Fear surged through her.
She trembled slightly as she met Fu Sizhe’s calm gaze, then closed her eyes, forcing herself to remain calm.
“Come here!”
Fu Sizhe threw the apple core in his hand.
It struck the snake directly.
The snake hissed and, enraged, rapidly slithered toward Fu Sizhe.
Only then did Li Yiyi dare to open her eyes.
Its black scales shimmered beneath the sunlight.
Its head was oval-shaped, its neck could flatten and expand, and there was a huge white ring around it.
It was a king cobra, and it was highly venomous!
While the snake chased Fu Sizhe, the helicopter pilot quickly ran in the opposite direction.
He did not want to die here.
The Fu Family was paying him extremely well, which was why he had been willing to risk making the flight.
But no amount of money was worth his life.
He immediately ran for his life.
Fu Sizhe rolled across the grass several times before rolling into a cluster of bushes, using them as cover to hide.
The giant snake hissed continuously as it searched for Fu Sizhe.
Snakes had poor eyesight and primarily relied on sound and scent to identify their prey.
After remaining still for a moment and sensing the surroundings, it rapidly moved in the direction the pilot had run.
Soon, a scream came from the distance.
“Ah!”
Fu Sizhe said, “Let’s go. We need to get out of here quickly.”
That snake had clearly mutated.
An ordinary king cobra was only about a meter long, but the one they had just encountered was as large as a python and was highly venomous.
They had no idea how many other dangers were lurking in this wilderness.
This was not a place they could stay for long.
Li Yiyi was still shaken.
She and Butler Zhao ran behind Fu Sizhe, panting heavily and not daring to stop.
Along the way, they saw the bloodied corpses of many animals.
Cheetahs.
Lions.
These former kings of the grasslands were covered in bite and claw marks.
Finally, the three of them reached the border.
An administrator wearing a gas mask and holding an electric baton blocked their path.
“You can’t enter.”
“During this special period, no one is allowed to cross the border.”
No matter how much they tried to reason with him, he refused to let them through.
Butler Zhao became angry.
“Do you know who we are?”
The administrator simply repeated, “You cannot enter the country.”
Fu Sizhe began making another phone call.
No one knew what he said, but soon afterward, the administrator received a call.
He then allowed them to enter the country.
Fu Sizhe always had a way.
The good news was that high-speed rail within China was still operating normally.
The three decided to rest for one night and take the high-speed train back to Beijing the next day.
“Please take your room cards.” The receptionist handed over two room cards.
Fu Sizhe gave one to Butler Zhao.
“President Fu?”
Butler Zhao hesitated.
As far as he remembered, even when these two were at home together, they ignored each other completely.
And now they were staying in the same room?
Li Yiyi followed Fu Sizhe upstairs.
“I’m going to take a shower first.”
Fu Sizhe left her with that sentence before entering the bathroom with his upper body bare.
Li Yiyi’s face turned slightly red.
Why did he have to phrase it in such a suggestive way?
It sounded as though she had been waiting for him to finish showering so they could do something together.
Her attention was drawn to his broad, muscular back.
There were even several scratch marks she had left on it.
She quickly looked away.
Right.
When she had been escaping from the violent penguins, her mother had called her.
Li Yiyi connected her phone to the charger and called her back.
Beep…
Beep…
It rang for a long time before someone finally answered.
“Yiyi? Why did you take so long to call back? Mom was worried something had happened to you.”
Li Yiyi froze.
In the real world, her family had treated her very well too.
After her death, she had no idea how heartbroken her mother would be.
“I’m fine. I couldn’t answer while I was on the plane. Is something wrong?”
“Nothing. I was just worried about you. I had a bad feeling last night and was afraid something had happened to you. Come back as soon as you can. Mom misses you.”
Of course she had a bad feeling.
Li Yiyi had almost turned into a popsicle the previous night.
She had even seen Jiang Jibai open the window.
“I’m done showering. You can go wash up.”
Fu Sizhe pushed open the bathroom door.
His short black hair was still dripping with water.
Droplets slid down his muscular chest, passing over his defined eight-pack abs and the line of his hips before disappearing beneath the white towel.
Li Yiyi swallowed.
“What are you looking at?”
Fu Sizhe wiped his hair with a towel.
“Eh? You’re with Xiao Fu? You two go ahead, go ahead. Beep…”
Her mother hung up.
Uh…
Li Yiyi stared at the end call, feeling that her mother seemed to have misunderstood something.