Ning Yu’an felt as if her body was about to fly off the ground, and breathing was becoming increasingly difficult.
Suddenly, she felt a chill run down her back, and the hairs on her body stood on end. It seemed as though she could already smell the foul, fishy stench coming from the toad.
“Croak!”
Ning Yu’an abruptly rolled to the left. From the corner of her eye, she saw a long pink tongue covered in slime shoot toward the spot where she had just been.
Since she could not outrun it, Ning Yu’an tried her best to weave between the nearby trees and the Mutated Toad.
Unfortunately, there were very few trees in this gathering area. The short and fragile bushes could not do anything to hinder the Mutated Toad.
As for the hedgehog spine in Ning Yu’an’s hand, she had no confidence that she could get close enough to the Mutated Toad without being caught by its long tongue.
After dodging several times, the Mutated Toad was clearly becoming impatient.
Its long tongue narrowly grazed past Ning Yu’an several times as she began to run out of strength.
Ning Yu’an grew anxious.
If this continued, she was afraid she would end up just like that man.
At that moment, Ning Yu’an steeled herself.
She stopped beside a tall tree and gripped the hedgehog spine tightly.
She focused all her attention on the instant the tongue attacked.
The moment the tongue shot toward her, she dodged sideways and then struck back, using the spine to viciously pin the tongue against the tree.
She clearly could not win in a direct fight.
Ning Yu’an only hoped this would slow the Mutated Toad down for a little while.
But she was disappointed.
The tongue had been pierced, and the toad let out a sharp cry that sounded like a child sobbing.
Then it easily retracted its tongue.
Ning Yu’an was not strong enough to drive the spine very deep into the tree.
Despair filled her heart.
Was she really going to die here?
She had only been dead for a few days, and now she was going to die again in this strange world?
Her house had not even been repaired yet.
Would the bearded man think she had run away when he came to deliver the materials tomorrow?
Just as the long tongue attacked Ning Yu’an again, filled with fury, her heart pounding wildly and her thoughts scattering from exhaustion, a gunshot rang out beside her ear.
“Bang!”
A streak of silver light accompanied the gunshot as it struck the Mutated Toad in the abdomen, exploding into a spray of blood.
The force of the shot knocked the toad backward.
A figure suddenly rushed out from behind Ning Yu’an, and a cold weapon plunged into its head.
The man dressed in black combat gear pulled out his long blade.
The blade flashed with a chilling gleam beneath the light.
She was saved?
Ning Yu’an froze for a moment.
Then her legs gave out, and she sank to the ground.
After confirming that the Mutated Toad was dead, the man turned to her.
“Are you all right?”
Meeting the man’s sharp eyes and brows, Ning Yu’an was still unable to recover from the shadow of death.
She blankly nodded.
Seeing her like this, the man frowned slightly.
“How did a Mutated Toad end up here?”
A puzzled male voice sounded.
Three figures dressed in the same clothes as the man entered Ning Yu’an’s field of vision.
“Captain, you’re way too fast. I couldn’t catch up even when I was jogging.”
A young man with a head of brown, naturally curly hair spoke to the man who had arrived first.
“You’re just too slow.”
A tall woman spoke as she walked over to Ning Yu’an and helped her up.
“Are you injured?”
Ning Yu’an shook her head.
“Thank you.”
A man wearing a monocle walked over to the Mutated Toad.
“Its body is still very moist. Is there a water source nearby?”
As he spoke, he took out the testing needle from his wristwatch, dipped it into some of the toad’s blood, and ran a test.
The result was exactly as expected.
“Beep. Level 5 radiation.”
Ning Yu’an had recovered somewhat by now.
Hearing his question, she answered, “There’s a depression ahead. It came from there.”
The man with the monocle pondered for a moment.
“Mutated Toads come looking for water sources to lay their eggs around this time. They hatch very quickly. If large numbers of Mutated Toads appear in the gathering areas during the Fog Season, it’ll be troublesome.”
He looked toward the captain.
“Should we report this?”
The man called the captain was wiping his long blade with a piece of cloth.
“Report it. This isn’t our team’s jurisdiction.”
After wiping the blade clean, he returned it to the sheath on his back.
He then walked over to Ning Yu’an.
“How did you end up here alone? This area is already close to the high-radiation zone.”
As soon as the captain asked this, the other two men and the woman immediately focused their attention on Ning Yu’an.
Their eyes gleamed with curiosity as they carefully sized up the young girl.
The girl’s eyes were clear but slightly nervous. Her skin was sallow, and her simple clothes were covered in patches. Still, this was a common appearance among people in the wasteland.
Standing beside the captain, the girl barely reached his chest.
Combined with her baby face, she looked as though she was not even an adult yet.
The captain actually cared about girls now?
There was gossip to be had!
The tall woman silently walked back to the other two and watched their captain with great interest.
Ning Yu’an was also a little confused.
Why did he sound as if they knew each other?
Seeing the confusion in her eyes, the man raised an eyebrow.
“Ning Yu’an, you don’t recognize me anymore?”
The fact that he could call her by name made Ning Yu’an desperately search through her memories.
She could not find any trace of the original owner having interacted with this man.
Seeing the girl’s increasingly bewildered eyes, the man sighed.
“I’m Li Heng.”
With that key name, Ning Yu’an finally found him buried deep within the original owner’s distant memories.
“Brother?”
Ning Yu’an was somewhat surprised.
“Brother?!”
The other three were equally shocked as they stared at the two of them.
When the original owner was seven years old, her parents brought home a boy who was four years older than Ning Yu’an.
The boy had saved Ning Yu’an’s mother from almost being bitten by a Mutated Snake.
He had fled from another base with his parents, but his parents had already died.
At the time, the Ning family still had a relatively sufficient supply of food, and the boy was also capable of working.
So they let him stay and keep Ning Yu’an company.
However, the winter when the original owner was eight years old was exceptionally long.
The family had no extra food left, and Ning Yu’an also developed a high fever.
After discussing it, Mr. and Mrs. Ning decided to send Li Heng to the Mercenary Guild.
Every year, the Mercenary Guild recruited some children with good aptitude for training and genetic modification.
People who underwent genetic modification experienced a tremendous improvement in their physical abilities, but their lifespans generally did not become very long.
At the time, however, given their circumstances, joining a mercenary team was the only way to have enough food to survive.
It also gave the original owner the resources needed for treatment.
Li Heng agreed with their decision.
Relying on the 50 contribution points from selling Li Heng’s service contract, the original owner survived that winter.
After that, the original owner never received any news about this “older brother” again.
Perhaps because they felt guilty, the original owner’s parents also never disturbed Li Heng’s life.
Thinking about this man’s identity, Ning Yu’an felt rather complicated for a moment.
Looking at the tall man in front of her, there was no resemblance whatsoever to the thin boy in her memories.
“Mm.”
Li Heng acknowledged her.
Thinking about how he had received the news of Ning Yu’an’s parents’ deaths, and looking at the girl’s clear eyes, he could not help adding a few words.
“The Fog Season is coming in a few days. Be careful on your own.”
Ning Yu’an pulled herself out of her chaotic thoughts.
Her mind was occupied by the unfamiliar term.
“Fog Season?”
Li Heng nodded.
“The news will probably be made public in another couple of days. There will be a lot of Mutated Beasts during the Fog Season. Try to stock up on some food in advance.”