Chapter 17 Days Later

Seventeen days later, in the snowfields.

Jiang Xiao's four-person team was huddled in a cave.

The cave was large and crowded, with a circle of awakened ones sitting around a huge bonfire.

There were the four students from Jiang Xiao's team, some social veterans, and many soldiers, collectively known as the Guardian Corps.

Since Jiang Xiao and his three teammates were escorted to this supply point by the Light Chaser Squad 17 days ago, he could only watch as the three-person squad quickly left, gradually disappearing into the wind and snow.

Well...

How to put it...

Jiang Xiao felt like he'd been used and discarded.

Did she forget that he risked his life for her?

He braved life and death with her,

Climbed snow mountains, descended into tunnels,

Exited mazes, entered the sacred ruin.

Did she forget all those beautiful memories?

Did she remember the crooked-neck tree next to the sacred ruin?

It was watching her!

That heartless woman!

That star pet who betrayed her master...

He knew he was slow, but she could carry him!

What were the tactical straps for? For holding weapons? Clearly, they were for use as ropes!

When she was tired, he could give her Blessings; when she was hurt, he could ring the bell for her; he...

She had Hai Tianqing, and she didn't need him anymore.

Wow,

Heartbroken.

"Bored?" Li Weiyi stood up from beside the bonfire, walked to a bed in the corner of the resting area, watched Jiang Xiao lying down playing with his fingers, and plopped down on the edge of his bed.

"Listless, like a prisoner," Jiang Xiao said, pouting.

Indeed, although they weren't prisoners, under these special circumstances, their personal freedom was restricted by the Guardian Corps.

There were quite a few awakened ones staying here, including some social veterans, but regarding the restriction of personal freedom, they mostly just complained verbally. In this snowfield, few dared to confront the soldiers head-on.

After all, this wasn't the normal, orderly world outside.

Jiang Xiao didn't have the nerve to cause trouble. Without Er Wei (Two Tails), the star pet, by his side, Jiang Xiao couldn't flex his power, and his combat strength had plummeted...

Plummeted drastically,

Plummeted sharply...

Thinking it over, it seemed that only Xia Yan in the team had the qualifications to act as a "star pet."

Jiang Xiao planned to cultivate Xia Yan well in the future, to see if he could train a fierce star pet.

If this four-person team faced a mercenary group, the four of them would definitely be in dire straits.

Apart from Han Jiangxue's Shattered Space, the four of them basically had no star techniques that could harm the opponent.

After all,

Those mercenaries were all Xinghe (Star River) stage awakened ones, not comparable to these Xingchen (Star Dust) and Xingyun (Star Cloud) stage children.

Er Wei facing the mercenaries was like chopping melons and vegetables, effortless and carefree, and would never let Jiang Xiao's perception of his own strength be a problem.

"Your Azure Glow is excellent, I heard it's Silver quality," Li Weiyi said with a smile.

Jiang Xiao raised his eyebrows and casually replied, "Oh."

Li Weiyi said softly, "You rarely reveal your Star Map at any time. For example, during the Grade One finals, when fighting the school bully Gao Junwei, or even before, when fighting in the sacred ruin, you never revealed your Star Map."

Jiang Xiao was stunned. Before he could speak, a "ding ding" sound came from above.

The beds in the resting area were bunk beds. Jiang Xiao was on the lower bunk, and Han Jiangxue was naturally on the upper bunk.

At this time, Han Jiangxue was leaning against the head of the bed, holding a book borrowed from the guardians in her hand, and put the other hand on the edge of the bed, bent a finger, and gently tapped the iron plate on the edge of the bed, making a crisp sound.

Li Weiyi stood up. At 187 centimeters tall, he could easily look directly at Han Jiangxue's face on the upper bunk.

"I know you mean well and want to better understand Xiao Pi's strength." Han Jiangxue turned a page of the book with her fair and slender fingers, and continued, "Xiao Pi's strength will be clearly displayed in our battles again and again, and we will work together very well."

"Hmm..." Li Weiyi pondered, without giving a direct response.

Han Jiangxue continued, "He is very inferior. From the moment he awakened his Star Map after graduating from junior high school, he was ridiculed by everyone around him. I hope you understand his pain."

Nine star slots were indeed the lowest of the low.

Li Weiyi, with 25 star slots, received all kinds of envious and worshipful gazes every day, and naturally couldn't understand the feelings of an awakened one with nine star slots. He had never considered the problem from that perspective.

So, when Han Jiangxue said these words, Li Weiyi was stunned.

Jiang Xiao was also stunned. What did he hear?

Han Jiangxue was actually lying?

She was the kind of person who absolutely disdained lying.

How much did Miss Sister care about him?

Han Jiangxue's cold face became an umbrella. Li Weiyi didn't notice her discomfort, after all, her face was always cold.

Jiang Xiao followed the trend, smiled self-deprecatingly, and said, "Indeed, I have a bit of a psychological shadow. Even in the sacred ruin, in such a life-and-death situation, I was sincerely resistant to revealing the Star Map. I've been ridiculed too much."

In fact, thinking about it carefully, these words were a bit contradictory.

When Jiang Xiao first contacted and sparred with Li Weiyi, he had revealed his Star Map once, just to experiment whether the maximum intensity of the Silver quality Azure Glow could shatter Li Weiyi's shield.

Xia Yan, on the upper bunk of the bed next door, looked at Li Weiyi with pity, watching Li Weiyi being deceived by the demon siblings, but was suddenly glared at by Han Jiangxue.

Xia Yan subconsciously shrank her head and stuck her tongue out at Han Jiangxue with a smile.

Then, Xia Yan climbed onto Han Jiangxue's bed with her long legs, nestled in her arms under Han Jiangxue's disgusted gaze, and said, "What are you looking at? So engrossed?"

"'Swallowing Evolution', borrowed from the soldiers. The people in the book are similar to us and have special abilities," Han Jiangxue responded casually, pushed Xia Yan's head on her chest, and finally gave up the impulse to kick her off the bed under Xia Yan's coquettishness.

"Really? Are there any special abilities that overlap with ours?" Xia Yan asked with interest.

"The heroine's lava form is similar to the star technique displayed by Er Wei in the sacred ruin. I guess the author of this book has seen this star technique in reality," Han Jiangxue shook her head.

Xia Yan curled her lips and said, "This author is lazy, copying it directly into the book."

"The male protagonist is a bit interesting," Han Jiangxue said casually.

"Huh?" Jiang Xiao, on the lower bunk, sat up directly and said, "What kind of man interests you?"

Han Jiangxue stomped her foot, and the bed made a "thump" sound, seemingly as a warning to one who was proficient in psychology, criminal psychology, micro-expression studies...

Jiang Xiao: "Do you like those who can see through people's hearts? Isn't it tiring to be with such a person?"

Han Jiangxue said quietly, "I just know what kind of extracurricular books I should choose for you."

"Well said!" Jiang Xiao said firmly, "I choose Five-Year College Entrance Examination, Three-Year Simulation."

"Attention everyone!" From a distance, a soldier's voice suddenly came, "Thirty minutes of preparation time, we're leaving for Earth."

In one sentence, the people in the supply point were all excited.

On the upper bunk, Xia Yan lay across Han Jiangxue's body, her fingers grabbing the edge of the iron bed, revealing her head.

Xia Yan looked at Jiang Xiao on the lower bunk with a grin and said, "You said it yourself, Sister will buy it for you."

Jiang Xiao: "..."