Chapter 112

Bai Xuechao didn't stand on ceremony with Yuan Lan either.

He replied directly: [When are you coming to find me? Or where should we meet?]

The other party quickly replied: [I'll come find you~]

After reading the message, Bai Xuechao didn't reply again.

If he wasn't mistaken, the phone in his hand had a positioning function, and Yuan Lan could see his location.

Bai Xuechao lay on the sofa for a short while, then got up and went to the small dining table by the window to eat a few bites of the pastries the male servant had brought to tide him over, and was satisfied to find that the sweetness was just right. After that, he also poured himself a cup of tea, sipping it while gazing at the scenery outside the window, lost in thought.

Until the phone he had placed on the table vibrated.

He opened the message. It was a friend request from the male servant through the small group, and the reason for the request stated that the pies were ready.

Bai Xuechao glanced at the time; it was just past 12:15.

He accepted the male servant's friend request. When the other party asked when he would like to have lunch, he replied that it could be sent to the dining room now.

After replying, he also left the bedroom and headed to the dining room. If nothing unexpected happened, he should be able to run into Yu Ruolan halfway through his meal.

Bai Xuechao arrived at the first-floor dining room. Apart from the male servant waiting for him at the door, there was no one else. On the long dining table in the center, there was only a solitary lunch. The huge stained-glass window behind the main seat of the dining table was illuminated by the sun, reflecting a magnificent and colorful luster that couldn't be seen last night after the sun had set. It was very beautiful.

Bai Xuechao sat down at the seat corresponding to his lunch, the same as where he had eaten last night.

The male servant followed him to his side and asked in a low voice if he needed anything to drink.

Bai Xuechao lowered his eyes, looking at the uniformly sized and neatly stacked pies on the plate. He gently poked them a few times with the chopsticks in his hand as if in thought, then said, “Make me some corn soup, or any other soup will do, something light.”

Making soup, another thing that required time. He could surely, and logically, wait for Yu Ruolan to arrive.

“Alright.” Before leaving, the male servant asked Bai Xuechao if he needed anything else.

Seeing Bai Xuechao shake his head, he bowed and left.

Bai Xuechao picked up a pie. The steaming heat, carrying the aroma of the mutated species meat filling, wafted towards him. He blew on the obviously still hot pie and took a small bite.

As he ate, he thought that the chef at the Apocalypse Society was really skilled. If only he could poach him, Duan Xingzhi would definitely be happy.

He ate slowly and deliberately. By the time he finished the first pie, a servant arrived to deliver a meal.

Of course, it wasn't his soup, but Yu Ruolan's lunch.

Two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and a soup, along with a small bowl of rice, were placed directly opposite Bai Xuechao, which was also the seat Yu Ruolan had occupied during their gathering last night.

Before long, the faint sound of footsteps approached—even when no one was around, Yu Ruolan's footsteps were very light.

Then, a very soft gasp was heard at the entrance of the dining room.

Bai Xuechao looked over, "following the sound," and nodded a greeting to Yu Ruolan, who was standing at the door covering her mouth in surprise, “What a coincidence.”

“...Mm.” Yu Ruolan nodded slightly. After taking a few steps towards the dining table, it seemed as if those few steps had given her courage. She took a deep breath and began to speak, “Y-Yes, what a coincidence… Are you eating too?”

After speaking, she added in a panic, “Sorry, I think I asked a stupid question…”

“Yes, pies.” Bai Xuechao's tone was natural and calm, which eased some of Yu Ruolan's nervousness. “My soup isn't ready yet, I'm waiting.”

Yu Ruolan sat down somewhat stiffly opposite Bai Xuechao. After picking up her spoon, she didn't move for a long time. Her violet eyes flickered with indecision, as if two little figures were fighting in her mind. After a good while, she finally said, “Then, do you… do you want my soup?”

So she had been struggling all this time just to ask this.

Bai Xuechao said politely, “No, thank you. My soup should be ready soon.”

“Okay…” Yu Ruolan began to eat with her head down.

Perhaps wanting to finish quickly and leave the dining room, she ate rather fast. Her mouth kept moving, and her cheeks were puffed out by the food inside, a bit like a hamster with its cheek pouches stuffed full of grain.

Bai Xuechao felt that if he told her to eat slower, she might be so startled she would choke.

This was the time to bring up someone close to her to shorten the distance.

“By the way, Yuan Lan said he's taking me on a tour of the laboratory at two in the afternoon.” Bai Xuechao mentioned it as if by chance. “Have you been to the laboratory?”

Perhaps afraid of making Bai Xuechao wait, Yu Ruolan immediately tried to speak, but ended up choking, “I—er, ugh, ugh!”

Bai Xuechao: “…”

There was no need to be in such a hurry.

Yu Ruolan quickly chewed and swallowed the food in her mouth, took a sip of soup, and said embarrassedly, “I've been there…”

Bai Xuechao raised his eyebrows slightly.

Been there? Can all members of the Apocalypse Society enter the laboratory?

He asked, “Have you all been there?”

“Mm… not all of us, maybe half?” Yu Ruolan bit her spoon, thought for a moment, and then said in a low voice, “If you want to go, just tell Brother Lan, and he'll decide based on the situation whether it's okay or not. Uncle Tao and Lin Lang aren't interested in it, so they've never mentioned it.”

She rarely spoke such a long string of words. After finishing, she continued to bite her spoon, her pair of moist, beautiful violet eyes staring at Bai Xuechao.

A faint fragrance of violets lingered in the air; it was the scent of her lure-pheromone.

Yu Ruolan seemed to realize that Bai Xuechao had smelled the faint fragrance and quickly apologized, “Sorry… I thought no one would be here, so I didn't take my medicine…”

“It's fine,” Bai Xuechao said, “I didn't take any either.”

The effect of the X8 pill lasts for 12 hours. The one he took last night had long since worn off.

Now, besides Yu Ruolan's violet fragrance, there was also a light and slightly cool, faint fragrance of plum blossoms in the air. The two floral scents mixed, fragrant and fresh, and smelled quite pleasant. Yu Ruolan was probably too nervous talking to Bai Xuechao to notice the faint scent just now.

Yu Ruolan nodded and continued to eat.

This time, her eating speed was a bit slower; she was probably starting to relax.

Just as Bai Xuechao was about to speak, the male servant arrived with the corn soup, briefly interrupting their conversation.

After the male servant left, Bai Xuechao looked at the bowl of steaming corn soup before him, his gaze circling over the peculiar "corn."

The "corn" kernels in the bowl were very plump, looking like they were about to burst through their thin skin, appearing somewhat translucent, but their color was a strange emerald green.

From its mutated state, it should be a harmless Level 1 mutated species, but the mutated corn species Bai Xuechao had seen before didn't look like this.

He asked, “Is this a new mutated species?”

“Mm, it was accidentally hybridized with a mutated green grape…” Yu Ruolan said, “It's especially sweet and a bit crunchy. Mm… and a bit juicy when you chew it.”

What a strange texture.

Bai Xuechao fell silent after hearing that, not because of the texture, but because it was the first time he had heard that mutated species could be cross-species hybridized. Moreover, if he remembered correctly, the mutated green grape could crawl on its own like a snake. Accidental hybridization? How did that happen??

However, this did provide a topic and an excuse.

“After we finish eating, can you take me to see this corn?” Bai Xuechao asked, resting his cheek on his left hand.

“…Ah.” Yu Ruolan lowered her eyelashes. “Okay.”

Seeing this, Bai Xuechao said “thoughtfully,” “Is it a bit of trouble for you? If you don't want to, you can refuse.”

He knew that if he said this, it would be impossible for Yu Ruolan to refuse.

As expected, Yu Ruolan raised her eyes to look at him and explained in a flustered tone, “No! I—I don't not want to, it's no trouble at all!”

“Don't be nervous, I didn't mean that,” Bai Xuechao soothed her.

Only then did Yu Ruolan calm down and give a soft “mm.”

By the time they finished their meal, it was almost one o'clock.

Bai Xuechao had an hour to spend with Yu Ruolan.

They left the castle on the mountainside and headed to the Apocalypse Society's garden at the foot of the mountain, which was also where various mutated plants were grown.

The Apocalypse Society's garden occupied a large area at the foot of the mountain. Looking down from the stone path while descending, apart from the lush green vegetation, there were also scattered clusters of vibrant colors, all of which were mutated plants.

Yu Ruolan walked in front without saying a word the entire way, perhaps not knowing what to say.

Bai Xuechao didn't take the initiative to make small talk either.

The two walked one after the other to the foot of the mountain and entered the garden along a cobblestone path.

Neither of them had taken X8 to conceal their lure-pheromones. Even with deliberate restraint, a faint floral scent still drifted out with the gentle breeze, filling the surroundings.

A slight "rustling" sound came from the bushes, as if something was slithering on the ground, rubbing against the grass and stones.

Bai Xuechao realized something and looked towards the sound.

“Swoosh—”

A vine shot out quickly from the bushes. At the tip of the vine was a fist-sized, dark green "seed." As it flew out, the "seed" split open from the middle, revealing two rows of fine, sharp thorns, like a mouthful of sharp teeth.

It came straight for Bai Xuechao with its thorns exposed!

Bai Xuechao was wearing the black bracelet, and his special ability was in a restricted state, but his physical fitness was not.

He dodged the attack with his agile movements.

The vine bit into the bush behind him. With a crisp "crack," a branch of the bush was bitten off by the vine's "teeth." Immediately, it swung its slender body and once again raised the thorned seed, biting at Bai Xuechao again!

“Ah!” Yu Ruolan let out a small cry of alarm. Watching Bai Xuechao dodge sideways, she said in a panic, “Sorry, sorry, I forgot!”

As she spoke, she rushed forward, grabbed Bai Xuechao's clothes, and pulled him, running out of the garden.

At the same time, more and more rustling sounds came from the bushes. Bai Xuechao had no intention of staying either, allowing Yu Ruolan to pull him out of the garden.

A new vine shot out from each side of the path, flying towards Bai Xuechao with teeth-like thorns exposed. Yu Ruolan raised her hand and swung hard, knocking the vines away.

Despite her petite appearance, as a special ability user, her strength was naturally not small.

The vines relentlessly pursued them, or more accurately, pursued Bai Xuechao.

Yu Ruolan kicked away a vine that had crawled up to them at an extremely fast speed, and pulled Bai Xuechao out of the garden in one breath. Her pace didn't stop; she continued to pull him along in a sprint until there were no more rustling sounds behind them for a long time.

The two stopped halfway up the mountain, where there were only ordinary trees on both sides of the road.

Bai Xuechao leaned one hand on a thick tree by the road, his chest heaving as he panted continuously. Yu Ruolan had a burst of speed, pulling him so far in one go. A rough estimate would be two kilometers, but they had finished it in just a minute and a half.

His poor heart and lungs were already wailing.

Yu Ruolan stood aside obediently and remorsefully, as if she had done something wrong.

Her face was a little flushed from the rapid run, full of apology, and she stuttered an apology, “S-Sorry, I forgot you didn't, didn't take your medicine. The mutated species would, would attack you… Are you okay? I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to, to forget to remind you…”

It was normal for mutated species to attack special ability users who emitted lure-pheromones.

But Yu Ruolan's words were a bit abnormal.

Her words seemed to exclude herself from the mutated species' targets.

“It's fine, you don't have to apologize. If I didn't want to be attacked, I should have remembered to take the medicine myself.” Bai Xuechao calmed his drumming heart, feeling a dull pain in his chest from the powerful throbbing. While catching his breath slowly, he asked, “I'm just a little curious, don't the mutated species attack you?”

Upon hearing this, Yu Ruolan seemed even more remorseful.

She lowered her head, and her long blackish-purple hair slid down from her shoulders due to gravity. Her bangs covered her violet eyes, making her expression unclear. He could only hear her say in a small voice, “My presence is very low… even mutated species ignore me.”

So that was why all the mutated species had attacked Bai Xuechao just now.

Bai Xuechao didn't speak for a moment.

Good grief, a low presence could be used like that?

No wonder Yu Ruolan was so remorseful. It was like two people walking into a den of man-eating snakes, but one of them was secretly wearing snake-proof protective gear, leaving the other to be unknowingly chased and bitten by the snakes.

However, Bai Xuechao was a special ability user, after all. His body had been enhanced, so even with his ability restricted, those few low-level mutated species couldn't do anything to him.

Hadn't Yu Ruolan just swatted away the vine with her bare hands? She hadn't used her special ability.

But Yu Ruolan took this matter very seriously and shouldered all the blame.

Xiao 6 held up a red heart, and as if afraid of scaring Yu Ruolan, it also said in a small voice, “Host, she's so cute!”

Because Bai Xuechao hadn't spoken, Yu Ruolan felt uneasy. She carefully raised her head and peeked at him.

She unexpectedly met Bai Xuechao's gaze.

Bai Xuechao's beautiful red eyes sparkled like jewels in the afternoon sun. There was no anger in them, only a calm, mirror-like surface reflecting the dazzling sunlight.

He asked, “Why is your presence so low?”

Perhaps out of apology, Yu Ruolan didn't hide anything and explained, “Because my special ability… the price of using it is a reduction in my presence.”