When Gu Xi returned to the surface, the eastern sky was already showing the pale light of dawn.

She raised her hand to check the time. It was 5:30 AM. The vast white miasma that had originally shrouded the swamp had now mostly dissipated after the long night.

Only a few wisps of mist remained, appearing gentle and ethereal under the rosy rays of light filtering through the clouds.

Gu Xi stood in place for a moment, carefully sensing the activity within her space—after her superpower’s latest upgrade, her space could finally hold living things.

Sprouty drooped limply from her fingertip, looking rather listless. It had indeed worked too hard last night.

Gu Xi took a deep breath and casually poked the tender leaf at its tip. She was about to head back to camp when, after only a few steps, she saw Ye Junhan standing beside a giant vine, his head lowered as he wiped his scimitar.

Gu Xi stopped. The man looked up.

In the faint morning light, their eyes met. Ye Junhan walked over to her, his gaze sweeping over her impassively.

’A night had passed. Had something about the girl before him changed?’

But upon closer inspection, Gu Xi was still the Gu Xi he knew. It was just that compared to the sharp, conspicuous edge she had a few days ago, the girl before him had reverted to the calm, composed, and unruffled Gu Xi he’d first met after they became adults, her edge now turned inward.

’This is good, too...’

Ye Junhan sheathed his scimitar with a reverse grip.

"Let’s go back. They’re all waiting for you." After speaking, Ye Junhan was the first to turn and head toward the camp.

Gu Xi followed behind him in silence.

The early morning swamp was exceptionally quiet. Aside from the rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze, there was only the sound of their footsteps.

Gu Xi lowered her gaze to the little green sprout on her fingertip. Suddenly, she stopped and looked up, calling out to the man ahead of her. "Ye Junhan."

Ye Junhan paused his steps and slowly turned around. His gaze fell on the young woman before him. Hearing the name "Ye Junhan" from her lips felt... somewhat unfamiliar to him.

His memories of her were mostly still stuck in the past, back when she was a little girl who would secretly, away from the other older kids, softly call him "Jun Han"...

Back then, her eyes were pure and warm. She was so soft and sweet, making one want to protect her. Not like now... her eyes were deep and bottomless, holding an emotion he couldn’t quite decipher.

Gu Xi walked up to him and tilted her head up slightly to meet his deep, calm eyes. "My superpower has upgraded," she said seriously.

No one knew better than Ye Junhan what those words meant.

Because he himself was just one step away from that same threshold.

And it was precisely because he was that single step away that Ye Junhan knew just how difficult it was to take it.

After a long moment, he looked away. "Let’s go back."

The man’s voice was low and cold.

He didn’t want to think about how that soft, fragile little girl from all those years ago had transformed into the god of the apocalypse—the Blood-colored Asura.

Because dwelling on it was pointless. He had already missed her past.

’Fortunately, they still have a future...’

The two walked toward the camp in silence. Along the way, they encountered several groups of Special Service Team members on patrol. The members all nodded and greeted them, and after they passed, huddled together with arms around each other’s shoulders, winking and nudging one another at the sight of their retreating backs.

...

Gu Xi had just returned to camp when Qi Xiang rushed up to her. "Are you okay?"

In the middle of the night, she had suddenly woken up from a nightmare and instinctively went to look for Gu Xi, only to see her walking out of the camp alone.

Qi Xiang had wanted to chase after her then, but Ye Junhan had stopped her.

At this thought, Qi Xiang’s eyes darted around. She took two steps forward, affectionately linked arms with Gu Xi, and shot a beaming glance at Ye Junhan. ’Heh, trying to steal someone from me? Go on, try pulling a knife on me now in front of Gu Xiaoxi.’

Ye Junhan didn’t even spare Qi Xiang a glance. He just gave Gu Xi a slight nod before walking over to a few team members nearby. The swamp was likely to get busy soon, and there were some things he needed to prepare for in advance.

Qi Xiang quickly pulled Gu Xi aside and whispered, "Gu Xi, not long after you left last night, the miasma in this swamp started to recede rapidly... First thing this morning, those guys from the research team and the Superpower Team outside wanted to barge in, but they were stopped by Yang Liu and Zhang Wen..."

At this point, Qi Xiang paused, looking at Gu Xi as if she wanted to say more but was hesitant.

"It’s fine." Gu Xi laughed when she saw her expression. "You can ask whatever you want." She hadn’t planned on hiding it from everyone anyway.

"Gu Xi, you..." Qi Xiang had actually already sensed that something was different about Gu Xi. After all, her superpower was unique, and having recently integrated some plant characteristics, her perception of certain energies was particularly sharp.

But seeing Gu Xi being so open, Qi Xiang suddenly didn’t know if she should ask.

"...Did something happen?" In the end, she chose to ask vaguely.

Gu Xi nodded. Just then, Shen Yue sauntered over, yawned, and leaned against a dead tree nearby. His eyes landed on her, looking her up and down before raising an eyebrow. "Is it just me, or do you look a little paler?"

Gu Xi was taken aback. She hadn’t actually noticed.

"What the hell do you know?" Seeing this, Qi Xiang obviously misunderstood something and quickly covered for her. "We girls are naturally fair-skinned. Plus, we’ve been cooped up in this misty forest without any sun for days. Isn’t it normal to get a little paler?"

As she spoke, she raised a hand to stroke her own cheek. "I also feel like my skin has gotten much better recently..."

"Really?" Hearing her say that, Shen Yue also raised a hand to touch his own darkly handsome face.

Qin Yi, holding a bowl of vegetable congee freshly made by Wei Heng, squeezed over. "I’m afraid our camp is going to get lively in the next few days..."

Qi Xiang glanced toward the edge of the camp and scoffed. "Of course it’ll be lively. They’re all thinking of coming to pick the peaches~"

Liu Hao, who was passing by, heard this and immediately stopped. He changed direction and ambled over. "Why would we need others to pick peaches?"

He looked at Gu Xi eagerly, a simple, honest smile on his face. "Miss Gu, are you planning on growing peaches today? If so, you can leave the picking to us."

Qi Xiang gave him a look.

’Just as I thought. No one who makes it into the Special Service Team is a fool.’

Liu Hao pretended not to see her, continuing to look at Gu Xi with an enthusiastic and guileless expression. Every so often, he would surreptitiously slurp up his drool. He’d heard that before the apocalypse, honey peaches were the most delicious. He wondered if he and his brothers would have the good fortune to taste them today.

Gu Xi thought back. It seemed she had only grown watermelons and cherry tomatoes on this trip. ’Growing some honey peaches today wouldn’t be a bad idea, would it?’

She hadn’t thought of growing peaches before simply because she found eating such a fuzzy fruit to be a bit of a hassle.

’But since everyone likes them... I might as well grow some.’

No sooner said than done. The group didn’t even eat breakfast, just waited for Gu Xi to grow the peaches.

「Ten minutes later.」

Liu Hao reluctantly walked up to Gu Xi, holding a peach pit he had gnawed clean of every last shred of flesh. His expression was earnest and solemn. "Miss Gu, could you help me plant a peach just for me?"

You couldn’t blame Liu Hao for being so greedy. The only thing to blame was how delicious the peaches were.

That’s why Liu Hao had reluctantly saved his peach pit, unlike those animals next to him who had even dug out and eaten the kernel inside the pit.

’They have no concept of sustainable development at all!’

Liu thought smugly.

It was just that the pit had been gnawed... to a truly gruesome state.

Gu Xi silently averted her gaze, looking at the several fruit-laden peach trees nearby. She said tactfully, "Honey peaches don’t keep well. Why don’t we finish these first, and then we can talk?"

"Alright then." Liu Hao was a little disappointed. He turned, crushed the pit, and popped the kernel into his mouth.