The group waded through the dense jungle.
The morning forest still clung to a damp, cold mist. Underfoot, a thick carpet of rotting leaves felt soft and spongy with every step.
Tang Yuqing and Yu Le took the point, having borrowed hunting machetes to hack away encroaching vines, their movements looking surprisingly competent.
Logan and Gu Xinran brought up the rear to guard the tail end.
Along the way, Gu Xinran chattered like a small bird, her mouth barely stopping for breath.
"Logan, look at that flower, it looks so weird."
"Logan, what were you actually thinking when you took down that wolf yesterday? Weren’t you scared at all?"
"Logan, do you think we still have a chance of getting home?"
Logan offered only half-hearted replies, keeping mostly silent while his eyes swept the surroundings with sharp vigilance.
Gu Xinran naturally picked up on his coldness.
Her chatter tapered off, and a heavy, awkward quiet settled over the group.
After marching a bit further, Gu Xinran finally snapped. She halted abruptly, stepping right into Logan’s path to block him.
Tang Yuqing and the others upfront noticed the stop and turned around with curious looks.
"Logan."
Gu Xinran gathered her courage, staring straight into his eyes.
"Do you... look down on me?"
Logan stopped moving. He didn’t say a word.
"Do you think less of me just because I’ve dated a lot of guys?"
Gu Xinran’s nose stung, but she stubbornly bit her lower lip.
The question was painfully direct.
Logan stayed silent for a long moment before giving a slow, subtle nod.
It was as good as an admission.
He did hold a bit of bias in that area.
Like many people, he naturally harbored some reservation toward a girl who changed boyfriends as often as clothes.
Though Gu Xinran’s favorability rating was already high, in his mind, she still sat in a different category from girls like Bai Nian or Ye Xin’er.
Receiving that silent confirmation brought tears straight to the rims of Gu Xinran’s eyes.
Frustrated tears threatened to spill, but she held them back with all her might.
"Yeah, I admit I’ve been in relationships before."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"But that’s because my grades weren’t great, and unlike you guys who are top students with endless things to do, I was bored out of my mind! I just wanted someone to play games with and talk to!"
"I... I barely even held hands with any of them!"
To prove her point, she threw her head back, puffed out her impressive chest, and blurted out in a reckless burst of defiance.
"Forget all that! My first kiss is still right here!"
"As long as you want it!"
The declaration stunned everyone within earshot.
Up front, Tang Yuqing and the other girls dropped their jaws in absolute disbelief.
Xinran was... seriously going this wild?!
Logan was equally blindsided by the sudden fastball pitch.
Was Gu Xinran actually confessing to him right here, right now?!
He could tell she had summoned every ounce of courage she possessed to say those words.
Her tear-filled eyes were flooded with hurt and raw stubbornness.
Logan’s chest tightened. The mental walls he had built up around her cracked open.
He averted his gaze, unable to keep looking at her tear-bright expression.
"Stop messing around and keep moving."
Logan wanted to dodge the awkward spot. Su Qingyao had warned them that her divination had a hard time limit; wasting minutes now could ruin everything.
Instead of backing down, Gu Xinran stood her ground, stubbornly blocking his path.
"I’m not messing around!"
She took a deep breath, making a heavy executive decision.
Before anyone could register her movement, she lunged forward on her tiptoes.
A flash of warm softness brushed lightly against Logan’s cheek.
Like a dragonfly skimming water, it was gone almost as soon as it touched.
Logan froze completely.
A faint, sweet fragrance lingered right at the tip of his nose.
"Now do you believe me?!"
Gu Xinran’s face turned as red as a beet. The second she dropped the words, she spun around and bolted toward the front of the line like a startled deer.
"..."
"..."
The remaining girls stared at each other in stunned silence before turning a mix of shocked and teasing glances back at Logan.
Logan reached up to touch his cheek, where the warm impression still lingered, a mix of amusement and exasperation washing over him.
The girl was an absolute handful.
...
Amidst the lingering awkwardness, the squad finally reached their destination.
It was a clear stream, its waters babbling over smooth stones and catching the sunlight in bright ripples.
"This is it!" Tang Yuqing confirmed.
The two container-carrying girls sprang into action immediately.
Scouting the nearby foliage, they found a plant with massive broad leaves, sliced off a few sections with their machetes, and shredded some tough vines to rig up makeshift funnels and water skins in seconds.
The resourcefulness of the girls truly shone in survival situations.
Logan, meanwhile, sat out the water collection to focus on tracking down the opportunity Su Qingyao’s divination had flagged.
Something red...
He scanned the perimeter. The riverside environment was totally mundane—just rocks, dirt, and various shades of green brush. No bright red objects stood out at a glance.
What could it be?
A red flower? A red berry?
As he scanned the area intently—
"Whoa! Chief! Come look at this!"
Gu Xinran’s excited shriek rang out a short distance away.
Logan’s pulse quickened as he sprinted toward the sound.
Gu Xinran was crouched over with her hips pushed out and her back arched, peering intently at a patch of tall grass as if reaching out to touch something.
Right in front of her stood a massive mushroom!
It was half a person tall, washed in an eerie, vibrant shade of crimson, speckled all over with bright white spots.
That color scheme...
That screamed toxic death-cap from a mile away!
Logan’s chest tightened. The memory of yesterday’s food poisoning fiasco, where Gu Xinran had spent half the day sprinting to the bushes, flashed vividly in his mind.
The girl genuinely lacked any sense of self-preservation!
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
Logan bellowed in a panic. He surged forward in two long strides, closed the distance, and without a second thought, swung his open palm down hard against her rear end!
Smack!
A crisp, sharp pop echoed across the quiet riverbank.
The startling spring and softness under his palm made even Logan pause for a split second.
"Ow!"
Gu Xinran yelped from the impact, stumbling forward and nearly face-planting into the dirt.
She whipped her head around, looking equal parts shocked and furious.
"What... what are you hitting me for?!"
She clutched her backside, her face burning with humiliation and hurt.
"Hit you? I ought to ground-pound you!"
Logan glared at her, letting out his frustration. "Did you already forget how you got poisoned yesterday? You’re going to touch a mushroom this bright? Do you have a death wish?!"
"I—I wasn’t trying to touch it..."
Gu Xinran cowered under his scolding, sniffling as she defended herself.
"I just saw... I thought there was something hidden behind it..."
Something behind it?
Logan stopped dead.
He cast a suspicious glance past the giant, toxic fungus, brushing the tall grass aside.
Tucked away in the shadows right behind the mushroom stem sat a wooden chest, its corners reinforced with metal plates and its surface carved with archaic runes.