I popped back near the spot we split up, one quick Void Jump, acting like I hadn't just erased five grown "superhumans" like they got lost on the way to school.
Act natural, I told myself.
Which was hilarious, because I haven't been "natural" ever since that damned Seed started living inside my chest like a parasite.
I pushed through some bushes and stepped out.
Yeah. Bushes. Classic peek-a-boo entrance. Very professional guide behavior.
Lin Xue reacted first.
She didn't turn, didn't step away — just stiffened, like a cat hearing someone open a food packet behind it.
Her head tilted a tiny bit.
Great. Perfect.
Miss Ice Statue probably smelled something weird on me.
Liu Cheng was sitting on a rock, licking barbecue dust off his fingers like he was tasting ancient treasure.
Zhao Rui was… blending into a tree. Literally. Dude was going for full camouflage. Good for him, I guess.
I cleared my throat.
"Found it."
I held up the Azure Vein Root like some kid showing off a rock he found on the ground.
All three looked over.
Lin Xue's eyes narrowed about half a millimeter — which, for her that's basically screaming.
She looked at the root.
Then at me.
Then at the root again.
I could practically hear her thoughts:
Too fast…? Too easy…? Suspicious? Do I freeze him?
Or maybe just:
…Great. He showed up.
Hard to tell.
She took the herb from my hand carefully, she checked it like she expected it to explode. Or me to explode. Hard to tell.
Good. Means she suspected "idiot luck," not "he probably killed five people."
Liu Cheng blinked at me like I'd just brought him extra snacks.
"Oh! You found it? So fast?"
Fast.
Right.
Speedrunning the mission because I accidentally teleported onto the objective like a bugged NPC.
"I guess I was just… lucky," I said.
Inside, I was screaming:
Lucky? Bro, you literally landed on it like a drunk cat falling off a roof.
Zhao Rui looked at me for half a second — Shadow Moth eyes, unreadable — then nodded once.
Which could mean "okay" or "yeah I saw something weird but whatever.
Honestly?
Both work.
That was it.
Just a quiet nod.
Like he knew I went somewhere.
Did something.
But didn't care enough to ask.
That guy gives more creepy feeling like he saw something familiar in me.
He lowered his gaze again, slipping right back into the shade.
Yeah.
He's gonna be a problem someday.
Lin Xue turned away without a word, checking the herb, scanning it with her card, making sure it wasn't fake, rotten, poisoned, cursed, or whatever else she assumes I can mess up.
She didn't comment on how fresh it was.
Or how clean.
Or how suspiciously perfect.
Good.
Maybe she didn't notice anything weird about me.
Definitely not the faint… nervousness clinging to my spine.
Not guilt.
No.
I don't do guilt.
Just that tiny awkward feeling you get when you walk into class late and pretend nothing happened—except my version was "I killed five people and cleaned up."
Still, I took half a step farther from her.
Just in case she had a sudden urge to interrogate me with ice.
Liu Cheng yawned, stretched, and mumbled something about lunch, brushing chip crumbs off his shirt like we weren't in a dangerous mutated death forest.
Zhao Rui?
Already gone into shadow mode again.
Man blends better than I hide my problems.
Lin Xue finally spoke.
"We'll finish mapping and return. Don't wander."
What it sound to me was like, you reek of bullshit, but I don't have the energy to deal with it right now.
I nodded like the world's most obedient student.
Inside, my brain was spinning:
Sure, sure, "don't wander."
Totally.
Not planning to investigate assassin squads.
Not planning to hunt monsters.
Nope.
I'm such a rule-follower.
Yeah yeah, good boy Shen Yan.
I stretched lazily — the "totally tired from running for the herb" act — and not because I just drained the life out of five rookies like some discount reaper.
Liu Cheng didn't notice a thing.
Lin Xue noticed everything she didn't like.
Zhao Rui noticed everything he did like.
Which… yeah, concerning.
We started moving again, the three of them leading, me following behind like the world's most harmless F-2 Rockhide Ape.
Walking quietly.
Breathing evenly.
Acting like the definition of "background character."
Nothing suspicious here.
And deep inside?
And somewhere under all that calm, my thoughts stirred on their own, slipping out like a quiet whisper in the back of my skull:
…yeah, don't mind me.
Just casually walking with the team…
with five kills of our half brothers rookie Guide sitting warm in my pocket.
As we moved through the zone, mapping everything on our fancy card-scanner thing, I kept hearing weird noises from every direction.
And the trees?
All the damn same.
Same shape, same color, same "I'm definitely hiding a monster behind me" vibe.
After a few minutes, I finally understood why they want us to map this place.
Without the scanner, you could walk straight for an hour and end up in the same spot like some idiot rat stuck in a maze.
I kept walking, pretending I was admiring nature, but my mind…
yeah, it was somewhere else entirely.
Who the hell sent those rookies after me?
Why send Guide trainees?
Why inside a zone this small?
Why now?
I kicked a rock out of the way and kept walking, eyes on the ground like I was checking tracks, but really… I was checking memories.
And one came up immediately.
Annoyingly sharp but still fresh.
Back in that university test… first day I awakened.
Couldn't even use my own hands right.
Everyone thought I had a Null bloodline.
And still…
Assassins crawled out of the dark like I was some prize someone posted a bounty on.
Who sent them?
Mei Lin. I guess.
My dear sister.
I felt my jaw tighten a little just thinking about her.
Of course she'd try something again.
Of course she'd want me gone before I turn into something she can't boss around.
But then a stupid thought poked me in the head.
Wait… why the hell would she even care?
No one knows about my Bloodline.
No one knows what I can do.
I'm literally walking around with a fake profile and a trash Rockhide Ape sticker on my forehead.
So why send people to kill me?