Part 3
Zhù Shāngchén listened to her and did as he was told.
“This!”
Mǐ Qiū used one finger to vaguely point at his abdominal area.
Zhù Shāngchén revealed his eight-pack abs.
“So,” he said, “this is what you like.”
It looked like he really had noticed her watching that video of muscular Sentinels.
Her eyes curved into a smile. “Is it?”
“It’s a bit inconvenient for me to unbutton it myself. Why don’t you help, Guide Mǐ Qiū?”
Mǐ Qiū didn’t know why, but she got nervous every time she did this. Her fingertips were cold as she undid one button after another.
Soon, Mǐ Qiū entered Zhù Shāngchén’s dream.
This time, the spiritual snow leopard had truly broken its chains. Without the restraints, it no longer cowered at the sight of people.
The bloody gashes on its body had all scabbed over, which meant it was mostly healed.
Mǐ Qiū slowly approached it.
The snow leopard just eyed her coldly, its expression blank.
“Hi! Little Snow Leopard, are you thirsty? Hungry?”
Mǐ Qiū thought it would at least react if she spoke to it. Mǐ Qiū tried calling it “Little Shāng.”
The snow leopard stood under a tree, not responding. Instead, it was scratching the trunk with its claws. At first, Mǐ Qiū didn’t know what it was doing, but then she realized it was probably trying to climb the tree.
It wants to climb?
Probably. It’s a leopard’s nature to climb. Now that there’s no cage to hold it, it wants to successfully climb a tree just once.
If that was the case, Mǐ Qiū had to help it, even if just this once.
But Mǐ Qiū didn’t know how.
It seemed the leopard had recovered some strength. Its limbs were powerful and agile, but because of its old injuries, it still wasn’t moving smoothly.
Mǐ Qiū thought of a way. Could she just boost the leopard’s body from below? Maybe that would be better.
Mǐ Qiū decided to do just that. She was quick to act. The leopard still seemed to be struggling.
It couldn’t get a good grip on the trunk. Its sharp claws scraped the bark, and after several failed attempts, it gave up.
The boosting method wasn’t working. Mǐ Qiū thought of another way. Although Little Shāng didn’t seem to understand her, she still said to it, “Little Shāng, do you want to try a running start? If you get some distance from the tree, your limbs can exert more force. Little Shāng, give it a try.”
It could understand her.
It actually backed up a few steps. Mǐ Qiū crouched beside the snow leopard, one hand gently stroking its slightly trembling back. Little Shāng was probably still worried it would fall. It was panting heavily.
Mǐ Qiū did her best to soothe it. The snow leopard was making its final preparations.
Its gaze was now firmly fixed on the fir tree ahead.
Mǐ Qiū comforted it, then moved close to its ear and whispered, “Little Shāng, I know you can do it.”
The snow leopard evened its breathing, then tensed its body, coiling into a ready stance. With explosive speed, it shot towards the thick trunk.
The running start worked, allowing the snow leopard to scramble onto a thick branch.
The leopard curled its entire body, having finally made it up the tree.
Mǐ Qiū had helped it overcome its fear. It then slowly jumped down from the tree.
After it landed, Mǐ Qiū encouraged it, “Little Shāng, you’re amazing!”
For the first time, Little Shāng nuzzled its head against Mǐ Qiū. The leopard’s head was round, its body snow-white and covered in black spots.
It was beautiful. Mǐ Qiū gently stroked it. She knew snow leopards were naturally fast runners and climbers; they looked so majestic when they ran.
At least the snow leopard wasn’t so hostile to her now. The two were finally getting along.
This time, Mǐ Qiū stroked its chin. As she did, Little Shāng actually squinted its eyes, looking like it was enjoying it.
It really felt like a cat. Some cats loved having their chins scratched. They really were felines; they had their similarities.
A long, black corridor stretched out like a tunnel. Mǐ Qiū continued forward.
The scene changed again.
When Mǐ Qiū opened her eyes again, a roaring sound nearly burst her eardrums.
She soon realized she was on a high rooftop, about three or four meters up.
To her upper right, the roar of a helicopter was incessant.
A man quickly rappelled down the rope hanging from the helicopter. This man was none other than Zhù Shāngchén.
Zhù Shāngchén’s movements were swift as he landed on the platform.
A voice from the communicator in his breast pocket said: “Stay hidden!”
Mǐ Qiū felt like she was in an abandoned building.
After the helicopter flew away, before she could react, the man behind her yelled, “Get down!”
She hadn’t realized this place was so dangerous. Mǐ Qiū was alone and could only try to get as low to the ground as possible.
“Get out of here, go!”
“I’m here to help you!”
“Help me with what?”
Mǐ Qiū didn’t know how to answer him, but since she was already here, it meant she had a purpose. She definitely couldn’t turn and leave now.
“If you’re aiming at the enemy, I can tell you that the last bomb came from the southeast. There’s probably more than one person.”
This observation was actually something Zhù Shāngchén himself had taught her when he was teaching her to snipe.
Mǐ Qiū’s eyesight was pretty good. She knew there was more than one because she had seen them. She was certain.
“What else do you know? Continue!” Zhù Shāngchén said.
Mǐ Qiū told him, “I think the bomb they just threw up here was probably to test if anyone was here, right? Of course, that’s just my guess.”
Zhù Shāngchén: “If you want to live, stay by my side. Don’t move a single step!”
Of course, he also knew that if Mǐ Qiū left, her life would be in danger. So Mǐ Qiū had to lie here quietly. It was the only way to be safe.
Mǐ Qiū stayed beside him, trying to remain silent. They had to stay hidden and not be easily discovered by the enemy.
Mǐ Qiū asked him in a very low voice, “Who exactly is our enemy?”
“X-type alien monsters.”
Zhù Shāngchén used an extremely quiet voice to tell her: “Their heads are triangular, with an ‘X’ mark on their foreheads. They walk with limp limbs, like zombies. Blue-green mucus occasionally appears on their cheeks. They can disguise themselves as humans. You can call them people, or you can call them monsters. In short, they are a hybrid ‘neither-here-nor-there,’ and they are extremely dangerous.”
After speaking, Zhù Shāngchén focused intently on aiming at his final target.
His mission was extremely difficult. He couldn’t make a single mistake, or it could mean total failure, the annihilation of his entire team.
He had to take out the leader of the X-type monsters, the big boss. Only by capturing it could he demoralize the subordinates. He had to do this now.
Even as sweat soaked his hands and neck, Zhù Shāngchén’s posture, holding the gun, remained perfectly still.
Mǐ Qiū saw the sweat dripping from him and used the cloth she carried to wipe it.
“What are you doing?”
Mǐ Qiū put a finger to her lips, “Shh.”
Afraid he was too nervous, Mǐ Qiū kept wiping his sweat. At that moment, the target appeared in Zhù Shāngchén’s scope.
The leaders could truly transform into humans, but their walking posture was strange, stiff like a robot. It was extremely obvious.
Moreover, Zhù Shāngchén already had the portrait his superiors had given him in his mind, making it even clearer.
About ten meters below his position, a person was walking this way.
Mǐ Qiū held her breath along with him. She had never seen such a tense scene and was becoming incredibly nervous.
She was just hiding her emotions. As a soother, she couldn’t let herself be afraid.
She didn’t know how much time passed, maybe half an hour.
Zhù Shāngchén knew he absolutely could not make a mistake this time. Not even a 0.0% failure rate was acceptable.
He was extremely cautious this time. The air seemed to freeze.
As for Mǐ Qiū, she couldn’t hear any sound.
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