Yan Yu’an nodded, then seriously began examining this unfamiliar place.
The place Ning Bingque had landed was a stretch of beach, the golden fine sand soft underfoot.
It was actually Xie Ji and the others’ first time seeing such fine, thin sand. He scooped up a handful in his palm, but it quickly slipped out through the gaps between his fingers.
Could this be the sea? The absurd thought suddenly popped into Yan Yu’an’s mind—but who had ever seen a freshwater sea? And though this lake was a bit bigger than an ordinary lake, it was nowhere near the size of the sea.
“An’an, look!” Xie Ji ran barefoot across the beach, then shifted back into lion form and rolled around in the sand.
Yan Yu’an: “…” Just as I thought—a big cat.
His behavior quickly drew mockery from Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque. If they could, they really would have liked to leave this guy here.
Xie Ji’s golden mane was covered in grains of sand. He couldn’t help shaking his head.
Those grains of sand flew onto Ning Bingque and Shen Yuanzhou one after another.
Yan Yu’an glanced at their darkened faces and silently prayed for Xie Ji in his heart.
“Alright, stop playing for now.” Yan Yu’an interrupted Xie Ji, who was just about to romp wildly on the beach.
Xie Ji immediately shifted back into human form and obediently leaned close to Yan Yu’an’s side. He looked strangely at Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque, then yelped: “You two are filthy—stay away from An’an.”
…
Why don’t you look at who made them like this.
Seeing their looks of having eaten shit, Xie Ji’s tail couldn’t help curling high, looking like he’d won a battle.
Yan Yu’an couldn’t help shaking his head. He gave a soft sigh, then stepped forward to wipe the two of them clean.
Xie Ji: “…” Now it was his turn to be displeased.
“Where did you find this thing?”
After a while, Yan Yu’an picked up the giant net on the ground and asked Ning Bingque.
Ning Bingque raised his hand and pointed in a direction. “Over there. But I think we should still have Xie Ji go see what the situation is over there.” As he spoke, he looked up at the displeased Xie Ji.
Shen Yuanzhou smiled. He knew that Ning Bingque was a person who always repaid grudges—Xie Ji had just made him unhappy, so he would definitely find a way to get back at him.
Xie Ji looked at him in confusion, as if not understanding why he had to go.
Yan Yu’an pondered for a moment, then glanced again at the hook marks left not far away. “It’s fine. I can go.” If it was a human, he wasn’t worried at all.
Having lived in this place for so long, he didn’t believe that in a place that couldn’t even compare to humans’ most basic civilization, there’d be a beastman able to use iron to make this net.
“Then I’ll come too.” Xie Ji carelessly put his arm around Yan Yu’an’s shoulder and said, “I’ll protect you.”
Yan Yu’an gave Xie Ji a thoughtful look, thinking: you’d better protect yourself first—those two look like they want to kill you.
Of course, Yan Yu’an didn’t tell Xie Ji this, or those two would complain again that he was playing favorites.
The four of them walked toward that place together. Just like at the very beginning, they tacitly surrounded Yan Yu’an in the middle, guarding against danger.
“This mark…” Yan Yu’an crouched down and looked at the two holes. “It’s probably been a while.” As he spoke, he looked up at the tree beside them and, sure enough, saw a very thick hemp rope.
“Human?” He couldn’t help muttering. Please don’t let it be a human from the apocalypse… he prayed in his heart.
Apocalypse humans were brutal, bloody, and greedy. The reason the apocalypse had happened in the first place was that humans had begun slaughtering wantonly, seizing precious resources, and at the same time continuously discharging pollution into nature, causing countless plants and animals to mutate.
After the apocalypse began, those people not only didn’t think about how to resolve these situations—instead they began fighting over land, treating countless ordinary people as their slaves, and even, to make their own resources more precious, persecuting the environment even more brazenly and squeezing their living space.
He raised his hand, wanting to untie the rope, but unfortunately the rope was tied too high and too tight—Yan Yu’an alone simply couldn’t untie it.
Shen Yuanzhou glanced at him, and just as his hand touched the rope, another hand with distinct knuckles suddenly pulled at the knot.
Shen Yuanzhou followed that hand with his eyes—it was Ning Bingque.
Ning Bingque smiled at him and immediately untied the knot.
“Sorry about that.” Ning Bingque’s mouth moved, in a direction only the two of them could see.
Shen Yuanzhou’s hand snapped back. He gave Ning Bingque a cold look, ignored his smug expression, turned, and took Yan Yu’an’s hand from beside Xie Ji, seriously pushing his hair back for him.
A trace of confusion appeared in Yan Yu’an’s black eyes. The pretty mole at the corner of his eye made his fair face even more bewitching in the sunlight.
Shen Yuanzhou’s breath caught, and he turned his head away.
“Done.” Ning Bingque interrupted Yan Yu’an and Shen Yuanzhou. He handed the untied hemp rope to Yan Yu’an.
Yan Yu’an examined it carefully, and as if he’d discovered something, his brows immediately furrowed.
By the degree of wear on this hemp rope, it had been there for at least about a year. Yan Yu’an let out a slight breath of relief.
He knew that if it really were apocalypse humans, those lunatics would definitely find a way to take this island for themselves—they’d even covet that forest. They absolutely wouldn’t have stayed quiet for so long.
Thinking that way, Ning Bingque must have strayed into that person’s trap at the time and even cost them a hemp rope.
“Probably nothing to worry about.” Yan Yu’an said softly, his long eyelashes casting a small shadow. The other three heard the relief in Yan Yu’an’s tone and were a little puzzled.
But they all tacitly didn’t speak.
“Who’s there?” Ning Bingque suddenly turned and ran swiftly forward. Xie Ji and Shen Yuanzhou exchanged a glance and saw a figure running at flying speed toward the depths of the jungle.
The next second, Shen Yuanzhou pulled Yan Yu’an into his arms, while Xie Ji vanished without a trace.
“What was that?” Yan Yu’an watched that inhuman speed in shock, his heart pounding. Could he have been wrong—was that thing a beastman? Or a mutant?
But soon, his guess was overturned.
Xie Ji and Ning Bingque returned.
“Didn’t catch it?” Yan Yu’an was a little puzzled.
Ning Bingque frowned, his tone rarely serious. “We have to leave this place as soon as possible.” He paused, then continued, “There’s a very powerful mutant in this place.”
At these words, even the usually calm Shen Yuanzhou was shocked. “That thing just now?”
Xie Ji shook his head. “No.” He gave Yan Yu’an a heavy look. “There’s a mutant protecting that thing.”
“I was just about to catch it, but when it ran to a hilltop, I couldn’t get in no matter what.” Xie Ji’s tone sounded troubled. “But I can guarantee that guy definitely isn’t a mutant.”
“Then how do you know there’s a mutant protecting it?” Yan Yu’an’s tone was a little anxious. The direction they’d just chased was the direction of God-Slaying Grass—if they couldn’t get through, there was a very good chance they’d miss it entirely.
Ning Bingque sighed, a little helpless. “We ran into that very powerful mutant.”
Yan Yu’an frowned, his doubts growing.
“We just don’t know yet what his true form is—we only know his strength is very great.”
Xie Ji paused and gave Yan Yu’an a thoughtful look, his tone a little tense. “That guy…”
His hesitation aroused Yan Yu’an’s confusion. He tilted his head and looked at him uncomprehendingly.
Xie Ji pressed his lips together and glanced at the equally puzzled Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque. After a long while, he said in a low voice: “That’s my younger brother.”
The three of them: “!!!”
Even the calm Shen Yuanzhou couldn’t help his eyes going wide at these words, while Ning Bingque and Yan Yu’an were even more shocked, their mouths hanging open.
“You’re not joking, are you?” Yan Yu’an swallowed. His pretty eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief.
“I didn’t recognize him at first, but thinking back on it now, that guy had beast ears and a beast tail, and there was a scar at the corner of his eye.” He lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes hiding the unknown expression in them. “Exactly the same as my younger brother who went missing all those years ago.”
Is this an idol drama?
Yan Yu’an thought.
Shen Yuanzhou sighed and rubbed Yan Yu’an’s hair, then secretly squeezed his hand. Only after seeing Yan Yu’an turn to look at him did he slowly say: “Since it’s your younger brother, doesn’t that make things much easier?”
Ning Bingque frowned and shook his head. “Hard to say.”
That one word left Shen Yuanzhou a little puzzled. Though he’d bitten all his own brothers and sisters to death, in his impression the lion clan had always lived together—by rights, brothers killing each other shouldn’t happen.
He couldn’t help looking at Xie Ji.
Xie Ji nodded silently and only after a sigh said: “Back then my parents were also two wandering lions. After they gave birth to me and my brother, they were torn apart and eaten by a brown bear.” He paused. “That time, my brother and I ran in different directions. The brown bear didn’t come after me.”
He didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.
Shen Yuanzhou clearly hadn’t expected things to develop this way. He seemed never to have known that this carefree Xie Ji had actually had such an experience.
Yan Yu’an stepped forward, wanting to comfort him, but unexpectedly was pulled into Xie Ji’s embrace.
“Actually, I’ve wanted to go find him too, but I don’t know if he still remembers me.” His voice was muffled, but Yan Yu’an still heard the longing in his tone.
“Then let’s go find him.” Yan Yu’an patted his back to soothe him. “He definitely misses you too.”
The scenery on this island was lovely. Sunlight spilled through the gaps in the leaves, dappling Yan Yu’an’s body.
When Xie Ji was close to him, he could even smell his fragrance—an indescribable, faint fresh scent.
Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque were speechless for a moment. Watching the two of them embracing under the tree, they felt an inexplicable discomfort in their hearts.
“I want to go try.”
After a long while, Xie Ji’s muffled voice came through. His burning breath fell on Yan Yu’an’s fair neck, a little ticklish.
Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque exchanged a glance, stepped forward, and pulled Xie Ji over. Ning Bingque raised an eyebrow at him and patted his shoulder. “We’ll go together. Afraid he’ll kill you.”
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