After Ye Qingtang was taken away, the entire group became much quieter.
After some time, the poison in their bodies naturally faded. They tried to use Xue Ling’s sharp sense of smell to track Jiang Qian.
But Jiang Qian was the most cunning among all the male leads. There was no way he would leave any trace for them to follow.
In the end, they returned without success.
The ones who felt the most guilt and sadness were Zhong Tianxiang and Xiao Cheng.
At least Xiao Cheng still had Lin Yue Ru by his side. Although she had feelings for him—and might even secretly wish the female lead would disappear—she still comforted him.
As for Zhong Tianxiang, Mo Han had to step in himself.
But comforting someone was always the same—
“Ye Qingtang is lucky. She’ll survive this,” and similar words.
He obviously couldn’t say,
“Don’t worry, Jiang Qian won’t hurt her. He’s just… doing that with her.”
Anyway, Mo Han knew that before they reached C City, the female lead and Jiang Qian would reappear.
By then… things would already be irreversible.
Even without the female lead, the two male leads still attracted trouble everywhere.
The journey became full of danger, making Mo Han feel exhausted and frustrated.
The main characters really are trouble… best admired from afar, he thought.
The only good news was that Xue Ying had finally fully awakened its ability.
The little one, who had been sleeping in Mo Han’s arms all this time, finally woke up.
Perhaps because Mo Han had helped it awaken, Xue Ying wasn’t wary of him at all. Instead, it was very close to him.
When it opened its bright black eyes and looked at him—
Mo Han felt like his heart melted instantly.
So cute!
Walking beside him, Situ Yu felt a strange jealousy.
“It’s just a puppy. What’s so special about it?”
Mo Han looked at him with disdain.
“Someone like you, who has no love, wouldn’t understand this kind of happiness.”
Situ Yu almost choked in frustration.
“How am I someone without love?!”
“I already said it—you look like a street punk. And more importantly, you kept complaining about Xue Ying the whole time.”
Situ Yu immediately acted innocent.
“Did I? I don’t remember that. Xue Ying is so cute—I would never complain.”
Mo Han rolled his eyes and ignored him.
Still, Mo Han felt puzzled.
Shen Yuan and Situ Yun were both reliable people—so how did they raise someone like Situ Yu?
Curious, Mo Han walked over to Shen Yuan.
“Brother Shen Yuan?”
Shen Yuan nodded.
“What is it?”
Mo Han hesitated, then asked directly,
“Situ Yu… wasn’t he raised by you and his older brother?”
Shen Yuan smiled slightly.
“But his personality is completely different from ours, right?”
Mo Han nodded awkwardly.
“If it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to answer,” he added quickly.
Shen Yuan didn’t mind.
“It’s nothing secret. Situ Yu’s older brother and I are both strict people.”
“But Situ Yu’s personality is actually more like his mother.”
His mother?
This wasn’t mentioned in the original story.
Shen Yuan continued, sounding a bit helpless.
“Before she got married, his mother was the leader of a group of street thugs.”
“Even after marriage, her personality never really changed.”
He added,
“Situ Yu admired her since he was young and always tried to imitate her.”
“We tried to change him, but in the end, we gave up.”
Mo Han laughed.
“So that’s why… I thought he had some tragic past.”
Shen Yuan almost wanted to say—you’re overthinking it.
Situ Yu had actually grown up very comfortably.
At that moment, Zhou Wu and Zhao Yan returned from scouting.
“There’s a small survivor base ahead. Should we go around it or go in and rest?”
Lin Yue Ru spoke first.
“Of course we should go in! We’ve been traveling for days—I’m exhausted.”
Shen Yuan said,
“Let’s vote. I think we should rest. Everyone is tired after constant travel and attacks.”
Since Shen Yuan spoke, Zhou Wu, Zhao Yan, and Liu Qing agreed with him.
Du Xiao, An Ke, and Lin Yue Ru also wanted to rest.
So the decision was quickly made—to enter the base.
Zhong Tianxiang was worried about his parents in C City, but he couldn’t oppose the group.
Mo Han also didn’t want to go.
But since everyone else agreed, he couldn’t stop them.
He couldn’t just say,
“That base is dangerous,” without proof.
No one would believe him.
Besides, in the original story, the base wasn’t described in detail.
Mo Han only knew that there shouldn’t be any life-threatening danger.
So in the end, he could only follow along—
Knowing there might be danger, but walking straight into it anyway.