It seemed safe—for now.
Li Yingxue slightly lifted his head from Lu Yun’s tightly restraining embrace and tilted his ear, listening carefully.
The shrill screech of the strange mutated bird and the flapping of its wings had already disappeared. All that remained in the air was the nauseating smell of burnt fur and the faint wind from afar.
He let out a soft breath, trying to calm his racing heartbeat from the shock, and called gently, “Darling…”
Lu Yun set Li Yingxue down, letting his feet touch the ground. However, his hand still remained around Li Yingxue’s slender waist, maintaining a protective hold.
The smell from the charred mutated bird corpse was truly unbearable. Li Yingxue’s brows had remained tightly furrowed, and his face looked even paler.
Noticing his discomfort, Lu Yun subtly guided him a few steps away, avoiding the direction of the wind carrying the stench.
A group of five people that had suddenly appeared were still cautiously observing them.
The first to act—the red-haired man with a distinctive split eyebrow—spoke loudly first.
“Hey! Who are you guys? Which safe base did you come from?”
Li Yingxue knew nothing about these questions. He simply kept his mouth shut, lowered his head slightly, and buried half his face against Lu Yun’s shoulder.
Lu Yun glanced at the red-haired man and replied briefly, “None.”
The red-haired man had a rugged appearance, his split eyebrow giving him an even fiercer look. After hearing Lu Yun’s answer, he did not respond immediately, but instead subconsciously turned to look at the tall black-haired man standing behind him in a dark gray coat.
The black-haired man had pale skin, a cold demeanor, and sharp features. He stepped forward a few paces and calmly scanned Lu Yun’s guarded posture before speaking in a steady voice.
“Don’t be nervous.”
His gaze eventually fell, almost involuntarily, on the person tightly protected in Lu Yun’s arms—Li Yingxue.
Even just half a side profile and that striking white hair were enough to be breathtaking.
“We’re an external operations team from the S Safe Base. I’m the captain, Shen Zhuonian.”
He gave a simple introduction.
The red-haired man beside him added, “I’m Jiang Heng. Heng—with the grass radical.”
Li Yingxue listened carefully to their conversation, quickly making calculations in his mind.
He did not expect to encounter an official safe-base supernatural ability squad halfway through. This was undoubtedly a good thing.
Neither he nor Lu Yun knew the location of any safe base, and it was far too dangerous for Lu Yun to travel long distances alone while dragging along someone as weak as him.
If they followed this team, their safety would be greatly improved.
After thinking it through, Li Yingxue gently tugged on Lu Yun’s hand and lifted his face, calling softly, “Darling…”
He wanted to tell Lu Yun his thoughts and suggest traveling together.
But Lu Yun spoke first, addressing Shen Zhuonian.
“We were just planning to find a safe base to settle down.”
Jiang Heng scratched his red hair and asked directly, “Then do you have supernatural abilities? Things are chaotic outside. Without some ability, you won’t even reach a base.”
Lu Yun nodded slightly, acknowledging it, but gave no details.
Shen Zhuonian did not seem surprised. He took out a folded, slightly worn map from his bag and handed it over.
“This marks the S Base and several smaller known settlements, along with relatively safe routes.”
He paused, then added sincerely, “However, our mission isn’t finished yet, so we won’t be returning to base for now. You can either use this map and go on your own… or join our team and travel with us until we complete our mission, then return together.”
Their team often looked out for stranded survivors or unaffiliated supernatural ability users during missions.
After the apocalypse, humanity had little room for trust—death and bloodshed were common—but they were still willing, within their ability, to help those in need.
Of course, the final decision was entirely up to the other party.
Lu Yun took the map, unfolded it, and scanned it quickly. In an instant, he memorized all the key information—his memory and analytical ability far surpassed ordinary people.
Meanwhile, Shen Zhuonian and his teammates could not help but keep their attention on Li Yingxue.
Only half his face was visible, yet even that was enough to convey overwhelming beauty. It was clear he was male—an exceptionally beautiful male.
His skin was as pale as fresh snow, his exposed wrist delicate and slender, his entire presence fragile and out of place in this harsh apocalypse.
He stayed closely against the man beside him, dependent and trusting. From their intimate posture and atmosphere, it was clear they were a same-sex couple.
In the apocalypse, that was nothing unusual. Survival itself was already difficult—who had the time to care about such things?
Still, Shen Zhuonian found Li Yingxue’s side profile strangely familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before—but he could not recall where.
Li Yingxue had originally assumed Lu Yun would choose to travel with them. That would have been safer and less exhausting.
But unexpectedly, Lu Yun folded the map carefully and returned it to Shen Zhuonian.
“I’ve memorized it. Thank you for the map, but we’ll go to the safe base on our own.”
A hint of surprise flashed in Shen Zhuonian’s eyes, but he did not try to persuade them further. He simply nodded.
“Alright. Stay safe.”
Li Yingxue felt slightly confused, but Lu Yun had already considered more factors.
These five people were clearly highly skilled. Any mission requiring such an elite team could not be simple.
If they followed them, they might end up being led into extremely dangerous areas. Moreover, he was already carrying a sickly burden who could faint after a few steps. Even for himself, he did not want to expose his true strength or abilities in front of outsiders too early.
More importantly, Li Yingxue’s body was too weak to endure the forced marches and frequent battles such missions would require.
Without further explanation, Lu Yun half-supported, half-carried Li Yingxue back toward their off-road vehicle.
After placing him carefully in the passenger seat, Lu Yun closed the door and said in a low voice, “Wait in the car. I’ll go ask them a few more details.”
Li Yingxue nodded obediently. “Okay.”
The system had already provided general background information for the instance, but Lu Yun needed to maintain his role in front of Li Yingxue, so he had to obtain those details from others.
Aside from Shen Zhuonian and Jiang Heng, the other three had already gone to inspect the mutated bird.
At first, Li Yingxue waited quietly in the car—but suddenly, he pressed his hands over his ears in discomfort.
Something was wrong.
He leaned out of the car and shouted loudly, “Lu Yun, a lot—”
“—a lot of mutated birds.”
He had just withdrawn his spiritual perception when Lu Yun turned back.