Chapter 57 - 1#
Wandering Photos 03#
The second time I went to that tavern called “Thirty-Three” was about a month later.
Before that, Shen Xuanyi assigned a task to Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen: a powerful energy reaction had appeared in some uninhabited place. Because the distance was too great, machines were useless, and someone had to go investigate in person.
Although the mission was merely to survey the situation, taking into account travel time and the obstacles encountered during the task, it ended up consuming nearly half a month.
Mu Yanshen suffered a minor injury—mainly because while dodging a mutated creature, he accidentally twisted his back, and a series of subsequent chain reactions left him with quite a few superficial wounds.
When He Ziyue heard about this, she specially ran to the medical room and laughed at him for a full half hour.
The uninjured Chu Chenli went to report to Shen Xuanyi.
Just as they had initially guessed, the place where the unknown energy erupted also concealed a massive black stone. But with only Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen’s strength, there was no way to bring it back, and destroying it was no easy task either.
The consequence of leaving it unattended was that the surrounding mutant creatures were mutating at an alarming rate.
The reason Mu Yanshen got hurt sounded funny, but his reaction had been quite fast. If it had been anyone else—even He Ziyue or Hua Jin there—they’d have been lucky to escape with just skin peeled off.
The mutant that injured him was not only extremely fast but could also conceal its aura. Chu Chenli only noticed its existence when it was right beside him.
Of course, this dangerous mutant was eventually dealt with by Chu Chenli, and the corpse was brought back to a specialized lab for analysis and research.
The signals it sent out were unsettling.
Shen Xuanyi pondered for a long time. In the end, the only thing he could do was mark that area as a danger zone and warn all bases not to approach it casually.
Even Chu Chenli found it troublesome. Sending more people would only be sending them to their deaths.
“If Xiao Tao and the others were still here—”
If Xiao Tao and the others were still around, if a few more of their returned teammates remained, at least they’d have the confidence to take a risk.
But now, with so few people left, Shen Xuanyi couldn’t afford to gamble.
More importantly, he couldn’t bear to lose them.
Shen Xuanyi shook his head and didn’t continue. “…Never mind. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. There will be a way later. You’ve worked hard this time. Take a few days off and rest well.”
Luo Yunshu was waiting outside the office. When he saw Chu Chenli push the door open, he quickly followed, telling him about changes in the dormitory area, the communication device upgrade to a new version, upcoming events in the city, and so on.
Ever since Shen Xuanyi assigned him to handle the trivial matters of the other teammates, Luo Yunshu had basically been hovering around these few people.
“By the way, that tavern you visited last time—the owner seems to be in some trouble lately,” Luo Yunshu said.
“What happened?”
“I heard he got into a conflict with someone. But I don’t know the details. Matters big and small within the city are handled by another department—our external area can’t easily interfere.”
Luo Yunshu had overheard someone mention it two days ago when he ran an errand to buy wine for Shen Xuanyi.
Apparently, the last time Shen Xuanyi went to visit his father, their conversation didn’t go well, ending on bad terms. But since a son couldn’t very well ask his father to make the first move, he planned to bring a couple of jugs of wine to his old father in a few days as a gesture of reconciliation.
Shen’s father was also busy with countless affairs daily; his only small hobby was drinking a little wine in his spare time to relax his perpetually tense nerves.
Luo Yunshu, focused on completing his errand, hadn’t asked further; he bought the wine and hurried back.
When they pushed open the door to the medical room, He Ziyue happened to say she wanted to buy some fruit wine from the same shop they’d visited last time. Though she had a low tolerance for alcohol, she had a persistent fondness for that sweet, fizzy beverage.
Mu Yanshen, as always, went with the flow—if Chu Chenli went, he would go too.
He Ziyue looked up and saw Chu Chenli walk in. Her eyes immediately lit up, full of anticipation. “Let’s go together, let’s go together, let’s go together…”
Chu Chenli nodded. “Sure.”
He Ziyue cheered, then remembered Mu Yanshen’s injury and hesitated, glancing at him. “Is your injury okay?”
Hua Jin frowned slightly. “Are you doubting my skills?”
He Ziyue replied, “I’m not doubting your skills—I’m worried Xiao Mu might suffer a mental blow, fall into a dark pit, and never recover—”
Mu Yanshen raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that something you’re more experienced with?”
He Ziyue shot back, “And you’re not the one clinging to A-Li’s leg every day!”
Mu Yanshen admitted it openly, quite proudly: “I am.”
He Ziyue: “…Can’t you have some shame?”
Mu Yanshen: “No.”
Hua Jin: “…”
Chu Chenli: “…”
It really was a scene so familiar it gave them an oddly touching sense of déjà vu.
Hua Jin propped his forehead and sighed silently, then turned to Chu Chenli. “You guys go with her to relax. These past few days have been tough on her too. I still have a patient here, so I won’t go.”
Chu Chenli nodded.
Hua Jin changed the external medicine for Mu Yanshen. The shallower wounds he could handle easily, but the sprain wasn’t as quick to treat, nor was it necessary to rush—just apply some medicine and rest for two days.
Luo Yunshu helped apply for a pass and then escorted them to the entrance of the city.
Mu Yanshen and He Ziyue had been bickering the whole way. April and Chu Chenli, who had been dragged along, looked completely used to it. Luo Yunshu gradually stopped finding it strange, though he sighed with a hint of envy. “You guys have such a great relationship.”
Chu Chenli just smiled and asked him, “Are you coming with us?”
Luo Yunshu shook his head, somewhat regretfully. “We’re officially assigned to the base side, so it’s not easy for us to meddle in city affairs. At most, we can listen in on city matters—actually interfering would only bring trouble.”
Once you had too much contact with people, conflict was hard to avoid, so the best way to prevent problems was to keep your distance.
Before parting, he repeatedly reminded them not to use their abilities casually in the city.
The ability detection devices had been continuously upgraded; in just the past month or two, they had been installed all around the city. If anyone was caught using abilities arbitrarily, they would face accusations of bullying ordinary people with their powers, leading to major trouble later.
Of course, lethal weapons were also strictly prohibited from being brought into the city or used.
In short, once they stepped into the city, they’d better disguise themselves completely as ordinary people.
He Ziyue and the others understood this was kind advice. Though they didn’t think they’d run into any trouble, they dutifully took note, thanked him, and turned toward the city.
This time, the group had a clear goal. They quickly crossed alleys and streets and found the tavern tucked away in a corner.
The owner still remembered Chu Chenli—that striking face was indeed unforgettable. When he saw the people beside him, looking around with a mix of unfamiliarity and curiosity, he immediately understood and invited them upstairs to “catch up.”
“What a coincidence—Yansheng just arrived a little while ago,” the owner said warmly. “Make yourselves comfortable. There are two jars of freshly opened wine on the table—help yourselves. I have some things to take care of downstairs; I’ll be back when I’m done.”
Chu Chenli took a moment to realize that “Yansheng” referred to Xiao Bai.
They had been calling him Xiao Bai for so long that he’d almost forgotten his full name.
Xiao Bai was also very surprised to see Chu Chenli, but he recognized the others following behind, so he wasn’t as nervous or flustered as before. He stood up and greeted them politely.
Chu Chenli noticed the work ID hanging around his neck and asked, “Working?”
Xiao Bai glanced down and quickly tucked the badge inside his jacket.
But this time, it wasn’t because he’d been careless again; he was using it as a pass to handle work matters in the city.
Recently, a few people in the city had unexpectedly awakened abilities. Most of them had honestly gone to the management center to report and were waiting to be uniformly arranged into the base for further examination and training. Unfortunately, there were still one or two troublemakers—either too scared or too arrogant—who kept hiding in the city.
Since monitoring data showed that the newly awakened abilities weren’t very lethal, Xiao Bai had been assigned to do some “psychological counseling.”
That meant if the person stubbornly refused to enter the base and couldn’t be controlled, Xiao Bai could rely on his ability to “persuade” them by force.
Wearing the work badge meant he was permitted to use his abilities within certain limits.
But Xiao Bai hoped he wouldn’t have to use his ability at all.
His presence at the tavern now was because the monitor showed that the newly awakened individual had been appearing near the tavern several times recently. Preliminary speculation pointed to someone who had caused trouble at the tavern earlier, threatening to make the owner’s life difficult from then on.
At the moment, Xiao Bai’s two partners, who specialized in search and capture, were waiting downstairs like a cat watching its prey.
After learning the situation, the owner had proactively offered to cooperate.
The “business” the owner had mentioned earlier was exactly this.
He Ziyue found it interesting, but since this wasn’t their jurisdiction, she only asked a few curious questions.
Xiao Bai had some confidentiality requirements and gave vague answers, so He Ziyue didn’t press further.
If she really wanted to know something classified, she could just move her fingers and find out much faster.
The tavern didn’t only sell wine—it also served food. But last time, the cook in the back had been on break, so only snacks like peanuts were available. This time, probably on the owner’s special instructions, someone soon brought up several dishes, knocking on the upstairs door, saying they were for the guests to pass the time.
He Ziyue had somehow produced a deck of cards and was already starting to play.
Chu Chenli never joined in card games. He stood alone by the window, looking down.
This window faced the side of the tavern, overlooking a small alley below. On the other side of the alley was a wall, but the wall wasn’t even as high as two stories—you had to look down through the window to see it. Looking straight ahead, all you could see was a stretch of woods.
Beyond the woods, a circle of towering, thick walls was faintly visible, extending in both directions to surround the entire city.
Occasionally, glints of light flickered—reflections of sunlight off various instruments.
The perimeter of the city was protected by many new devices and weapons, and there were independent guard posts at short intervals. Some ability users with less powerful abilities would later be assigned here as guards to protect the city.