Without Yao Tang, however, everyone felt as though they had all lost their backbones. They no longer had the confidence to push forward. If anything, they only felt more insecure.
Meanwhile, the girl in question took out her phone from her backpack. She tinkered with it for a while, and when she was done, it had turned into a special monitoring device.
“I knew it. It should be this way.”
Yao Tang put the device away and headed toward her left.
…
At that same moment, in a cave in the depths of Lingyun Peak, a few strands of blue light floated in the space before disappearing into wisps of green smoke.
Outside, many animals were trudging toward the entrance as they sucked in large mouthfuls of energy from the air.
A handful of people were scattered among the horde. They had confirmed their target and were now headed inside the cave to find it.
“They caused such a big commotion; this had better be worth a lot.”
“Wasn’t there a piece of news saying that it’s at Fengyue Peak? Why would it be here? It’s a good thing that we had some extra manpower, or someone else could have snatched it away from us.”
The people were deep in discussion as they walked in the direction of the cave.
In another part of the area, not too far away, Yao Tangwas walking among the animals as well. Compared to the other group, she was far more relaxed. She patted the creatures she passed by while using a stylus pen to mark them.
Suddenly, a poisonous snake darted out from the rocks. Without batting an eye, Yao Tanghurled the pen toward it, piercing its body and nailing it to a nearby tree.
She then removed the pen and wiped it clean with a tissue, her face twisted in disgust the entire time.
After taking several steps forward, she heard two people talking just a few feet away from her. They were lugging large bags on their backs. Yao Tangapproached them.
“Aren’t we there yet? If those people got to it first, the higher-ups will have our heads.”
“Come on, Big Beardy, be patient. This is not our turf. If our identities were discovered, we can no longer stay here. Those cunning bastards from City Aare not easy to deal with!”
Although they were whispering, Yao Tangheard them clearly.
She took in their words and their foreign accents. This was definitely no simple matter this time. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have drawn so many people to it
“Who’s there?!”
The bearded man roared all of a sudden.
The beautiful woman next to him immediately looked around and asked in their native tongue, “Haven’t we just checked the surroundings? No one else is here, right?”
The man said nothing, but he peered in Yao Tang’s direction.
Yao Tang slowly emerged from the shadows, her expression calm and at ease. Contrary to the pair’s disposition, she didn’t appear to be nervous at all.
Seeing that it was just a teenage kid, the two sighed in relief.
Even so, they remained vigilant. Yao Tangmight look like an ordinary girl, but this was no place for any ordinary person.
“Who are you?” the man asked in his broken attempt at the local language. “What are you doing here?”
“An earthquake.”
Yao Tang’s tone was nonchalant, and she glanced at them indifferently, as if she couldn’t care less about them.
“What about you guys?”
She was just a few steps away from them, but she made no move to come closer.
And she was far too calm for someone who had just experienced a massive earthquake.
Without warning, Big Beardy lunged forward and made to punch the girl.
She hunched her shoulders and cowered in place, as though she was terrified of getting hit. If she really was someone to be wary about, she would have instinctively dodged or struck a punch of her own.
In the end, Big Beardy’s fist landed on the tree directly behind Yao Tang.
The woman walked over and looked her up and down. “Huh, it seems like you’re just some lost teenager.”
Big Beardy nodded and decided to let his guard down. He flashed Yao Tanga smile and said, “I’m sorry, Young Lady. I thought I saw a snake above your head just now. It looks like I was mistaken. I didn’t scare you, did I?”
The man sighed dramatically and continued speaking, even as he observed Yao Tang’s expressions.
“We came to Lingyun Peakfor a little holiday, but we got trapped here by the earthquake. Thank heavens, we didn’t run into any danger.”
“Look at you,” the woman remarked. “Are you a high school student? We heard that a group of students was also hiking the mountain today. Are you one of them?”
“Yes.”
Yao Tang’s reply was short and simple, rendering the pair incapable of pursuing further conversation.
The man cleared his throat for a couple of seconds before trying again.
“All right. Since you’re lost, then let’s go down the mountain together. You can tell us about other tourist spots we should check out in the city. We can’t possibly leave you on your own, anyway.”
He ended his offer with a bright smile.
Yao Tang would have bought it, too, if he hadn’t tried to attack her earlier.
