Chapter 20
Qian Hui was stunned for a long moment, both delighted and at a loss.
So Nan Tingjin had already seen the letter he wrote…
Last night before bed, he was still thinking about him, hoping to find a way to sneak into the Safe Zone the next day.
He never expected that when he woke up, Nan Tingjin would already be standing in front of him.
“Mm…”
Qian Hui nodded absently, unable to resist taking another half-step forward. He suddenly threw himself into Nan Tingjin’s arms, clinging tightly to him.
“Did you get it?” Qian Hui lifted his head, words tumbling out in a rush. “My letter—I wrote it myself, and I even signed it…”
His beautiful red eyes sparkled, all traces of the previous day’s gloom and despondency vanished.
Luobo perched on the low wall nearby, observing the scene with a satisfied expression. It seemed Qian Hui had thoroughly enjoyed this “gift.” Their efforts to stay up all night, guarding Nan Tingjin until Qian Hui awoke, had not been in vain.
Yumi, the corn, climbed onto the wall beside Luobo, offering its companion a shoulder massage. Luobo patted Yumi’s head, signaling approval of the idea.
“I received it,” Nan Tingjin replied.
Unlike Qian Hui, he didn’t show much outward joy at their reunion. Yet his gaze remained fixed on Qian Hui, breaths slightly tense and low.
Blissfully unaware, Qian Hui’s happiness momentarily clouded his thinking. The letter had specified a meeting at the Safe Zone—how had Nan Tingjin known to come here?
“W-when did you…” Qian Hui stammered.
As he spoke, he suddenly noticed a familiar branch wrapped around Nan Tingjin’s neck. Its razor-sharp leaves pressed against his skin—just a fraction tighter and they’d slice through the veins.
Qian Hui froze, realizing something was amiss.
He released Nan Tingjin and turned to look at Xiaozhi.
Xiaozhi shook its head, indicating it wasn’t responsible, then raised a leaf to point at Luobo.
“Woo!” Luobo stood side by side with the corn on the low wall, calmly admitting its involvement with a hint of pride in its posture.
Next, Lajiao and Tudou also climbed onto the wall.
Tudou appeared equally excited, but Lajiao seemed slightly guilty, its gaze darting around as if afraid to meet Qian Hui’s eyes.
Qian Hui even noticed Mimosa among them, now the size of a fingernail and pressed against Lajiao’s forehead, its color nearly blending into the plant’s skin.
He opened his mouth, then looked back at Nan Tingjin standing before him.
And then there was the game notification he’d seen upon waking, “Did something extraordinary” “Caused massive impact”…
Could it be… what Yumi said that day…
Qian Hui drew in a sharp breath. Before he could recover from his stunned state, both Xiaozhi and Luobo turned their heads toward the distance, sensing the approach of unfamiliar presences.
Oh no, the Safe Zone people have come looking!
Luobo let out a series of “whoo” sounds, waving its leaves to signal everyone to make a quick escape.
It had stubbornly waited until dawn rather than waking Qian Hui in the middle of the night. By now, Nan Tingjin’s subordinates must have noticed something amiss and sent search parties.
Under normal circumstances, Luobo wouldn’t have feared this. But with Nan Tingjin captured, they couldn’t risk losing him during a confrontation with humans—that would undo all their efforts.
Nan Tingjin’s strength was considerable. Better safe than sorry—they’d retreat first. After all, successfully abducting the leader of a major base brought Luobo immense satisfaction.
There was no time to lose. Xiaozhi immediately expanded its size. Lajiao hurried to retrieve the cabbage shell, picked up Qian Hui’s backpack and Xiao Baocai, then tossed them all into Xiaozhi’s mouth.
There was no time to organize the backpack properly. The man-eating flower grew larger again, lowering its head to let other plants hide inside, making it easier to take them all away.
Only Qian Hui and Nan Tingjin remained. Xiaozhi opened its maw, indicating there was still space inside.
This way, even if discovered on the road, only the flower would be visible.
Everything had happened too suddenly. Qian Hui stood frozen in place, as if still in a daze.
So, his plant had secretly infiltrated the Safe Zone in the dead of night, kidnapped Nan Tingjin, and now humans were hot on their trail.
Qian Hui’s mind was a whirlwind. He’d initially rejected Yumi’s proposal because the risks seemed too great. Though he was clueless about many things, he knew the leader’s status must be important among humans…
But now, with Nan Tingjin standing before him, Qian Hui couldn’t contain his elation.
Moreover… abducting a leader had actually earned them 100 Prestige Points!
Under Xiaozhi’s urging, Qian Hui steeled himself.
He frantically pulled Nan Tingjin into the gaping maw of the plant.
As they sat up, the space suddenly constricted. The surrounding plants all squeezed closer to the edges.
Xiaozhi closed its mouth, leaving a narrow gap for ventilation. With a forceful whip of its stem, it moved dozens of meters away in an instant.
Not long after the man-eating flower departed, a team of ability users arrived in the vicinity.
The team leader held a detection instrument, its needle indicating high energy levels nearby—strong evidence of a Grade A mutant plant.
But the area was empty. They searched several ruins that could potentially hide mutated plants, finding neither any mutant plants nor any trace of Nan Tingjin.
The team drove two modified vehicles further in the direction of the lingering energy signature, but the signal eventually vanished completely, cutting off all leads.
The team leader’s expression turned grave as he spoke to the communicator, “Third team’s search yielded nothing. Preparing to return.”
Over an hour earlier, within the Safe Zone.
All ability users from Black Spine Mountain Base who had participated in the mission gathered in the courtyard. Several of them were taking turns to interrogate the subordinate who had been involved in the incident the previous night.
The subordinate claimed he had come to find Nan Tingjin but encountered several mutated plants instead. He was knocked unconscious and remained unconscious until discovered the next day, when he was taken for treatment.
After regaining consciousness, he had recounted everything he had seen exactly as it happened.
“You’re saying mutated plants breached the premises?!”
“I saw it clearly,” the subordinate declared with conviction. “The leader was entangled in green vines and under attack by a mutant carrot.”
He witnessed the mutant carrot pressing its spear against Nan Tingjin’s neck. Before he could intervene, a pepper and corn struck him unconscious in a coordinated assault.
Now Nan Tingjin had vanished. The gate guards claimed he’d departed alone by carriage last night, yet his communicator remained abandoned on the desk.
Even if Nan Tingjin had some private matter requiring secrecy, he would never leave without his communicator.
Later, while searching the room for signs of plant intrusion, someone discovered a line of writing on the desk.
Upon closer inspection, it read: “I’ve taken your leader.”
The handwriting was crooked, with “leader” misspelled. When scraped with a knife, it emitted a scent of grated carrot.
This was clearly the work of Luobo. Being illiterate, it had enlisted the help of Lajiao to write on the table with a carrot spear, deliberately leaving it for humans to find. The message appeared to say “your leader is safe,” but the provocation was palpable.
The tactic had achieved its effect. Everyone’s faces turned grim, disbelief etched across their features.
Combining this with the subordinate’s account and the abandoned communicator, could it be…
Their leader had been kidnapped by mutated plants?
But given Nan Tingjin’s strength, how could he have been so easily overpowered by mere plants?
Moreover… mutated plants working in pairs or larger groups? Such cooperation was virtually unheard of.
The subordinate continued to be questioned, describing the appearance of the mutated plants from the previous night.
A tall, slender carrot. A deep green pepper with a hooked tail. A thin, green vine. A short-statured corn…
Soon, someone speculated, “Carrot… Could it be the same super-grade mutant plant that attacked the outer wall two days ago?”
“Mutant pepper… Could it be that one with the exceptionally unique ability…?”
In the crowd stood two squad members who had personally experienced the pepper’s energy-accumulating attack. They knew all too well how this ability could counteract ability users.
If it truly was that mutant pepper, combined with a fierce and aggressive super-grade mutant plant, their abduction of Nan Tingjin… made sense.
Not long after, the team sent to search for the modified vehicle returned with news. The vehicle had been abandoned by the roadside outside the Safe Zone, carrying residual traces of a super-grade mutant plant. Nan Tingjin was nowhere to be found.
At this point, even the most reluctant minds had to accept reality.
The leader of the prestigious Black Spine Mountain Base had been kidnapped by mutated plants.
Had this occurred within the Black Spine Mountain Base itself, they might have temporarily withheld the information. But this happened in the inner circle of the Safe Zone, directly threatening the security of other bases. Moreover, due to that exceptionally unique mutant pepper, the Sky Base had also been drawn into the situation.
In summary, this was no trivial matter. The purpose of the mutated plant remained unclear. After a brief discussion, the base personnel immediately contacted the leaders of the Safe Zone and Sky Base, informing them of Nan Tingjin’s disappearance.
The Safe Zone had three chief administrators. Upon hearing that the leader of Black Spine Mountain Base had been kidnapped by mutated plants that infiltrated during the night, one of them nearly lost his footing from shock.
To avoid causing mass panic among the populace, they chose to act covertly. While urgently inspecting the inner circle and strengthening defenses, they dispatched teams to continue searching for Nan Tingjin.
Meanwhile, the Sky Base, located far on the other side, also received the news.
A subordinate carrying the message hurried to the attic at the central building but was stopped at the entrance.
“Mr. Wen has not yet awakened,” the guard said. “You cannot enter now.”
The subordinate frowned. “Why is this happening again…?”
Wen Jue’s state of disorientation was becoming increasingly frequent. His ability was highly unusual; when disoriented, his consciousness would become trapped in past memories, leaving him in a vegetative state that was extremely painful.
To maintain the base’s order, only a few close confidants knew about his condition, and he was rarely seen by outsiders.
The Sky Base developed medicines, captured mutated plants for domestication or various experiments—all in an effort to resolve this crisis once and for all.
Yet Wen Jue’s excessive use of his ability had taken its toll. The stronger an ability user became, the more severe their loss of consciousness symptoms grew.
Even the medication only provided partial relief, as if cursed specifically against human ability users. While zombies and mutated plants had also evolved through the apocalypse, they remained completely unaffected by this affliction.
As his subordinate prepared to leave, he noticed the attic lights come on.
Wen Jue had awakened.
He waited outside for a moment. After the guard informed Wen Jue, he pressed the switch on the iron door.
The subordinate hurried into the attic to find Wen Jue sitting by the window, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed in rest.
His hair was graying, yet his face appeared only around fifty years old—a peculiar sight.
“Sir,” the subordinate approached and handed over the communicator, “We’ve found traces of the mutant pepper, but…”
Before he could finish, Wen Jue opened his eyes and took the communicator.
After reading the message, he frowned deeply, pondering. “Several plants… kidnapped Nan Tingjin?”
“Would you like to see the footage, sir?” the subordinate asked. “The man-eating flower might also be present.”
After Liang Jie’s team ventured out, they had been missing for days, with ominous signs suggesting their fate was grim. Recently, there were reports of a man-eating flower appearing near the Safe Zone’s perimeter, accompanied by a special-grade mutant plant carrot.
In recent weeks, there had been an increasing number of strange occurrences involving mutated plants. These plants, which never used to gather together, had now gone so far as to abduct a human leader.
The information they had was still fragmented, but Wen Jue’s “premonition” could see everything.
Moreover, his subordinates knew Wen Jue had a particular interest in Nan Tingjin. They were trying to gain the support of the Black Spine Mountain Base, and this situation presented an opportunity to help. If they could use their mutant plants to locate Nan Tingjin’s whereabouts, it would be a perfect chance.
Wen Jue put down the communicator, then after a moment said, “I can’t see it.”
He couldn’t see Nan Tingjin’s past, present, or future. It was as if this person didn’t belong to this world at all.
Not only that, but he couldn’t see anything related to Nan Tingjin, including the mutated plants mentioned in the communication.
Wen Jue had always been curious about Nan Tingjin. His ability seemed particularly special, not just simple object manipulation.
He wanted to know what Nan Tingjin’s ultimate limit was. Mutated plants and zombies could unleash stored energy attacks, and human ability users could do the same in theory, though very few could actually achieve it.
Unfortunately, Wen Jue had never succeeded.
Hearing this, the subordinate felt a jolt of surprise.
He looked up and saw Wen Jue’s troubled expression. Not daring to ask further, he picked up the communicator and excused himself.
The wind howled outside, occasionally blowing into the gaps between the man-eating flower’s teeth.
The Money Tree, concerned about Qian Hui catching cold, covered him partially with its leaves, making the interior even darker.
The mutated plant’s mouth was dry and soft, like a small room made of leaves.
Qian Hui sat among the plants, hugging his knees as he quietly observed Nan Tingjin across from him.
“Woo!” Luobo hung from Qian Hui’s arm, waving its spiny hand dramatically as it recounted last night’s exploits in vivid detail.
With Lajiao’s occasional additions, Qian Hui pieced together most of what had happened.
He frowned slightly and whispered, “Not listening at all…”
And they even took the timid Mimosa along… What if something had gone wrong?
But Qian Hui knew the plants had done this all for him.
He couldn’t bring himself to scold them harshly. Instead, he gathered the plants close, checking for injuries and asking if they’d been frightened by the humans inside.
Luobo and Lajiao needed no reassurance, and Tudou and Yumi were equally bold. Only Mimosa seemed genuinely frightened, hiding timidly in Qian Hui’s sleeve and remaining motionless.
Qian Hui wanted to call Ruanteng back, telling it to stop restraining Nan Tingjin. But Luobo reached out to stop him.
It shook its head solemnly, “Woo!”
Nan Tingjin’s strength was considerable. To play it safe, they decided to keep him restrained until reaching a secure location.
The soft vine diligently maintained its skill state, waving a branch segment to indicate everything was fine.
Qian Hui relented. After a moment’s thought, he set down the plant in his arms and fumbled through his backpack in the dark for some biscuits and water.
He sidled up to Nan Tingjin. “Are you hungry… or thirsty?”
“No need,” Nan Tingjin replied softly.
Whether due to the life-threatening situation or not, the man showed no inclination to resist, remaining silent throughout.
Qian Hui made a noncommittal sound and casually handed the biscuits and water bottle to Tudou.
The other plants also observed Nan Tingjin in the darkness. Yumi remembered encountering this human before in the forest.
So he’s supposed to be a leader, huh…
Not particularly impressive! We captured him effortlessly.
The corn swaggered over, preparing to deliver a punch to Nan Tingjin like it had to Liang Jie that night.
As it approached and looked up, its gaze met Nan Tingjin’s directly.
Despite being immobilized, the man’s cold, dark eyes somehow instilled fear in Yumi.
Its body stiffened, the raised fist slowly unclenching as it scratched the back of its head. Embarrassed, it scurried away and hid behind Luobo.
Not long after, Xiaozhi’s speed began to slow.
It had ventured far from the Safe Zone, with a forest ahead—a more convenient place to hide.
Xiaozhi’s mouth was stuffed full. It raised its head, its flower stem pushing through the tree canopy as it continued deeper into the forest. Finally, it stopped in a wide clearing and lowered its head to open its mouth.
The plants jumped out one by one, curiously examining their new surroundings. Qian Hui and Nan Tingjin followed closely behind.
This place was very similar to the previous forest. The unfamiliar plants in the area had fled early upon sensing the man-eating flower’s presence. There were no zombies, so it was temporarily safe.
None of the plants that had participated in the kidnapping last night had slept much. Luobo was now extremely drowsy.
Qian Hui fed them some food, then had Xiaozhi take them to sleep nearby.
Only Xiao Baocai and Money Tree remained, obediently following at Qian Hui’s feet.
Qian Hui told them to play nearby but not to stray too far from Xiaozhi. Then he turned to look at Nan Tingjin, who was sitting under a tree.
He slowly walked over and crouched down, hugging his knees. “Um, I…”
Qian Hui wanted to say that forcibly bringing Nan Tingjin here wasn’t his intention.
But when the words reached his lips, they became an explanation for the plants instead.
“Don’t be angry. Luobo and the others didn’t mean it,” Qian Hui stammered, perhaps still affected by the kidnapping incident. He then declared with conviction, “It’s… because I wanted to see you!”
He glanced at Nan Tingjin, lowered his head, and began recounting his experiences after they parted that day. “I didn’t mean it either. I encountered humans bullying Xiaofen… When I returned later, I couldn’t find you.”
Remembering the direction Nan Tingjin had given for the base, he came here, infiltrated the inner circle of the Safe Zone, and seized an opportunity to write a letter.
Qian Hui spoke in fits and starts, just as he always had. When Nan Tingjin wasn’t by his side, he would tell his companion every detail of what happened.
Nan Tingjin listened quietly, showing no sign of impatience.
When Qian Hui finally finished speaking, he couldn’t resist moving closer to Nan Tingjin. His fingertips brushed the man’s sleeve. “I really missed you…”
Nan Tingjin gave a low murmur in response and raised his hand toward Qian Hui.
Feeling uneasy, Qian Hui froze momentarily before happily throwing himself into Nan Tingjin’s arms. He buried his face in the man’s collar, nuzzling affectionately.
Nan Tingjin looked down and gently stroked Qian Hui’s silver hair, his touch incredibly soft.
After a moment, Qian Hui suddenly felt Nan Tingjin’s palm shift position, grasping the back of his neck.
The pressure wasn’t heavy, but it made Qian Hui inexplicably feel a hint of apprehension.
He instinctively tilted his face upward, letting out a soft, kitten-like mewl as he pushed against Nan Tingjin, but couldn’t break free.
Nan Tingjin leaned closer, his warm breath cascading over Qian Hui’s hair. He held Qian Hui in his arms, the grip around his nape loosening slightly.
“Did you miss me…” Nan Tingjin murmured, “How much?”
Good day, readers!
Long time no see~ It’s been two weeks, hehe, sorry! I actually planned to update last weekend, but suddenly my university’s Student Representative Council held a congress, and all organization leaders were required to attend (yep, that includes me, hehe).The congress went on for four days to discuss student organization regulations on campus. It ran from morning till night, so I couldn’t even open my laptop.
Then on Monday, midterms started, and I had to catch up on all the projects I missed because of the congress and, well, because of play rehearsal too, hehe.
As an apology, I’m uploading 6 chapters today to catch up on the missed update schedule!
Really sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you so much for waiting 💗
![[Western Fantasy] What Kind of Character Did the Devs Give Me Anyway?](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/冥河摆渡者.jpg "[Western Fantasy] What Kind of Character Did the Devs Give Me Anyway?")
