After receiving the coordinates from Kaiwen and Duan Ze, the group moved deeper into the completely ruined city, walking through the red haze that had already settled into the air itself.

Collapsed skyscrapers towered around them, roads split apart with jagged cracks running through the ground, bodies and bones scattered everywhere. In the distance, several three eyed birds perched on broken streetlights. At first glance, they looked like ravens, but they definitely were not.

They were E rank monsters called Dovos.

Wenzhi spotted them again and again overhead and already knew why they lingered around this area. Dovos mostly fed on corpses that had long gone cold.

"There’s a survivor camp ahead," Zhaohe announced. "Sector Two’s commander briefed me before we mobilized. They’ve gathered the locals in this area, but they’re grounded with too many people to move. It might be best if we dig in here." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

She glanced at Xinyuan. "Xinyuan, I need you with me."

Wenzhi looked at her in surprise. Weren’t they supposed to head toward Kaiwen and Duan Ze?

"Does that mean we’re abandoning the route to Kaiwen and Duan Ze?" he asked.

Zhaohe sighed. "It’s too late. Trying to reach them now is a suicide mission. They know the drill, stay hidden, survive the night. We head out at dawn."

Xinyuan shook his head. "Absolutely not. You remain here with the survivors. I’m going after Kaiwen and Duan Ze."

He stopped walking completely and Zhaohe’s expression darkened instantly.

"I get that they’re our team, but Kaiwen is an SS-rank for a reason. We have a mission to prioritize. Securing these survivors and sealing the rifts. That comes first."

"Then go." Xinyuan countered coldly. "You’ll have your reinforcements. I’m not stopping you. But don’t think for a second that I’m staying behind."

Zhaohe’s eyes narrowed. "Fine. But Wenzhi stays here."

Truthfully, Wenzhi wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about going with Xinyuan either.

Xinyuan turned toward him. "He’s coming with me."

"Shao Xinyuan, I am your commander," Zhaohe snapped.

"And I need my guide with me just as much as you need yours," Xinyuan shot back seriously. "We already lost someone. I’m not letting the others die too."

Wenzhi couldn’t deny that part of him was impressed. "You can handle yourself, Xinyuan. I’ll stay at the camp and..."

He didn’t even finish speaking.

Dark mist burst violently from Xinyuan’s body, forming a thick tentacle that instantly wrapped around Wenzhi’s torso and lifted him clean off the ground.

"What the fuck—"

Wenzhi was dragged straight through the air toward Xinyuan while Zhaohe stared at him in disbelief.

Xinyuan simply turned and continued walking in the opposite direction as if carrying Wenzhi around with shadow tentacles was the most normal thing in the world.

Wenzhi: "Let me down!"

Xinyuan: "No."

Commander Jiang Zhaohe gritted her teeth as she watched them leave. "That asshole."

Nuo looked at her helplessly. "He is just worried about the others. I mean... Suye is dead. I still can’t believe it."

Commander Jiang scoffed. "Let’s head to the camp."

The two of them walked deeper into the ruined city.

Meanwhile, Wenzhi was still suspended in Xinyuan’s mist, a deep frown on his face as he said, "Let me go, sleeping beauty. I have legs."

Xinyuan glanced at him. "I know you do but I think I like seeing you like this. Dangling in my grip. It’s a nice sight."

Wenzhi looked at him like he was insane. "You know what? I’d rather we do not speak to each other."

He tapped his watch and a blue holographic screen appeared before him as he pulled up the coordinates. His face creased with thought.

"It’s a long way to the lower sectors. We need to find a truck. Wait... don’t you have teleportation?"

"I do." Xinyuan answered without looking at him.

Wenzhi could not believe his ears right now. "Okay. I need to be on my own legs if I’m going to make any sense of this."

He started slapping at the mist wrapped around him, but it was like trying to punch a cloud. Every time his hand passed through the vapor, the strands simply parted and thickened behind his palm. It was sinister and deeply frustrating.

Without warning, an enormous bird with three piercing, unblinking eyes burst through the air, diving toward them like a fallen star.

Its wingspan was massive, almost as large as a Quetzalcoatlus. The violent flap of its wings sent fierce winds crashing through the ruined streets as it released a sharp shriek that echoed through the entire area.

Even Commander Jiang and Nuo, who had only just reached the entrance of the camp, stopped at the sound.

Wenzhi’s freckled face paled as the creature swooped down. One second away from grabbing him.

"Wenzhi!" Xinyuan yanked his guide, his arm snaking around Wenzhi’s waist to pull him flush against his chest.

The force of it knocked the breath from Wenzhi’s lungs; he blinked rapidly, his fingers digging into Xinyuan’s forearm in a blind, instinctive grip.

The giant bird landed in front of them with a violent boom, opening its jagged mouth as it shrieked at them again.

Xinyuan’s mist exploded outward.

The dark tendrils shot straight into the monster’s wings, tearing through flesh and bone. The monster screeched in pain but still lunged forward.

Xinyuan moved. Fast.

His psychokinesis activated at the same time and the moment his foot stepped against the ground, the cracked earth shattered further beneath him.

The creature’s wings suddenly bent against their natural direction.

"Stay here." Xinyuan released his hold on Wenzhi as his scythe spun into existence, a curved shadow of death in his grip.

He collided with the creature in a blur of motion, sparking a full-blown battle that turned the red haze into a spray of black blood and sparks.

Wenzhi turned sharply, watching the full blown fight unfold before him.

To be frank, this was the largest bird he had ever seen in his life but Xinyuan fought it like it was nothing more than a warm up exercise.

Wenzhi was actually starting to pity the creature instead.

In no time, the monster’s head was separated from its body.

Xinyuan turned, his scythe resting against his shoulder, his hair loosened from the fight and shadows clinging to his body.

He smiled with his eyes as he gazed at Wenzhi, the sharp lethality of the battle replaced by a look that was almost painfully needy. It was the look of someone waiting for a reward.

He wanted praise, wanted Wenzhi to be breathless and impressed by him. It almost looked like he expected Wenzhi to run into his arms, bury his face in his chest, and marvel at the raw power he’d just witnessed.

But Wenzhi only stared blankly, his lips parted vaguely. "Why... Why are there dinosaurs here?"

The triumphant smile vanished as Xinyuan saw Wenzhi’s state. He dismissed his weapon, the scythe melting into a dark mist that his body drank in.

He reached for Wenzhi at once. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

Wenzhi’s eyes moved slowly toward the enormous corpse. "I want to get out of here."

Xinyuan smiled faintly. "Perhaps we can make camp and leave in the morning?"

"What?" Wenzhi looked at him like he had lost his damn mind. "Why did you refuse the commander..."

"I wanted to be alone with you." Xinyuan cut in honestly. "I like being alone with you."

Wenzhi chose not to comment on that.

Instead, he walked past Xinyuan toward the decapitated creature. "This bird... I think it’s a mutated Dovos."

Xinyuan stopped right beside him. He tapped his watch, letting the scanner sweep across the creature’s body before the data was absorbed into the screen.

Without a word, his arm snaked around Wenzhi’s waist, hauling him back until there was no space left between them.

The impact was sudden, pinning Wenzhi’s back against the hard planes of his chest.

Wenzhi stiffened. "Xinyuan?"

"Make it quiet," Xinyuan leaned in, his forehead dropping against Wenzhi’s shoulder yearning for a sanctuary from the voice screaming in his head.

As soon as he lifted his fingers to Wenzhi’s neck, the careful touch against heated skin, "Can you start a fire?" he asked quietly.

Wenzhi stayed still for a moment before finally answering. "Yes."