271: Chapter 271 Stop looking, Xu Zhixia is much better at seizing opportunities than you are.

He turned back to glance at the sunlight outside the platform; under the sunlight was the beach, and at the end of the beach was the forest.

That gray face from last night surfaced in his mind again.

"I'm not going."

Yang Ningcong shook his head faster than a rattle-drum. "That thing is outside, I'm not going down."

Liu Feifei rolled her eyes.

"It's broad daylight, the sun is shining. Didn't you say last night that thing only comes out when it's foggy?"

"What if it's here during the day too?"

"Then how long do you plan to keep stinking?"

Yang Ningcong didn't speak.

Liu Feifei turned her head to glance toward the compartment. "Qingxue is pregnant. She's already prone to nausea in early pregnancy, and smelling something fishy and foul will make her throw up even more easily."

Liu Feifei lowered her voice, but deliberately didn't lower it completely, letting the others hear as well.

"If your stench makes her retch and hurts the fetus..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but her tail was cocked high.

Yang Ningcong's face stiffened for a moment.

"Yang Ningcong."

Lin Fan's voice came from the supplies area. "Go wash up."

Yang Ningcong opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but meeting the glance Lin Fan swept over, he closed his mouth again.

With his head lowered, he slowly stood up, his legs still weak.

After taking two steps, he turned back to glance inside the cave.

No one showed any intention of bolstering his courage.

Zhou Kai leaned against the cave wall leaning on a wooden stick, not even glancing at him.

Song Ya was also tidying up, and Liu Feifei had already squatted back down beside the campfire.

Yang Ningcong gritted his teeth and shuffled step by step toward the outside of the platform.

When he reached the entrance of the slope, his calves began to tremble, and the knuckles of his fingers supporting himself against the rock wall cracked audibly.

Lin Fan didn't look at him much longer and tied all the water bottles together.

Now that his body had been strengthened, the water that previously required several people to carry back could now be managed by him alone.

Xu Zhixia put down the herbs in her hand. "I'll go with you."

As she spoke, Xu Zhixia had already stood up. "If you go into the forest alone and happen to run into that kind of thing Yang Ningcong mentioned, there won't even be anyone to lend a hand."

Lin Fan swept his gaze up and down over her.

Xu Zhixia's physique was well-proportioned among women, but compared to him, it was more than an order of magnitude different.

If they really ran into that kind of thing, the help she could provide was approximately zero.

Furthermore, he would have to protect her...

Xu Zhixia seemed to see through Lin Fan's thoughts and changed her phrasing. "There are rhizomes of several vine plants at the edge of the forest that can stop bleeding and reduce inflammation. The amount gathered last time wasn't enough."

She paused. "You've seen Qingxue's condition too; her vital energy and blood are severely deficient. Relying solely on rice won't replenish them; she needs medicine."

"Besides stopping bleeding and reducing inflammation, we also need things to nourish vital energy and blood."

Lin Fan's movements paused for half a beat.

Xu Zhixia's words hit the mark precisely.

His purpose in going to the forest was to find sour fruit for Su Qingxue, and Xu Zhixia's purpose was to find herbs.

With the same direction, an extra person truly means an extra pair of eyes.

More importantly, he also had some questions he wanted to ask Xu Zhixia alone.

"Alright."

Lin Fan put on the back basket and walked toward the cave entrance.

Song Ya's muffled voice came from behind.

"Lin Fan, stay safe."

Without turning his head, Lin Fan waved his hand.

Xu Zhixia followed his pace, the two of them walking one after the other to the edge of the platform.

Below the slope, Yang Ningcong was squatting in the shallow water area scrubbing his arms, raising his head to glance toward the forest every two scrubs, his whole body taut like a spring.

Ignoring him, Lin Fan stepped on the stones and walked in another direction.

Xu Zhixia followed half a step behind.

At the Karst Cave entrance behind them, Song Ya stood on the platform, placing her hand against her forehead to block the sunlight, staring fixedly at the two figures growing smaller and smaller.

Beside her, Liu Feifei leaned over. "What are you looking at?"

Song Ya didn't speak.

Following her line of sight, Liu Feifei saw the clear outlines of Xu Zhixia and Lin Fan walking side by side on the beach.

Liu Feifei curled her lips and patted Song Ya's shoulder.

"Stop looking, Xu Zhixia is much better at seizing opportunities than you."

Song Ya turned her head and glanced at Liu Feifei.

"What do you mean?"

Liu Feifei folded her arms across her chest and raised her chin toward the two figures on the beach that were almost out of sight.

"What do I mean? Don't you understand yourself?"

Leaning her back against the rock wall, Liu Feifei slowly squatted down, her buttocks resting on a flat stone.

"Xu Zhixia and Lin Fan, two people, going to the forest."

"There's everything in the forest—flowers, grass, fruit, and those unspeakable deeds."

"To put it bluntly, those two definitely went to hook up in the wild."

Song Ya's face blushed. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Nonsense?"

Liu Feifei rolled her eyes. "Do you really think Xu Zhixia went just to pick herbs? What they call that is strategic follow-up."

"Do you understand?"

"Su Qingxue is already pregnant, and her status is as stable as this stone. Xu Zhixia is a smart person; if she doesn't vie for her position now, what is she waiting for? Waiting for you, Song Ya, to finally figure things out?"

"That would take until the Year of the Monkey."

Song Ya stood by the edge of the platform, the wind blowing her hair into a complete mess.

She didn't respond.

What Liu Feifei hated most was Song Ya's reaction like this.

Neither making a fuss nor refuting, just standing there with an expression of 'I'm listening, but I'm not participating'.

If this were in the entertainment industry, it would be called putting on a hypocritical front of being above worldly affairs.

"Song Ya."

Liu Feifei stood up. "I'll ask you a question, you give me an honest answer."

Song Ya turned her head sideways. "Do you like Lin Fan?"

As soon as those words fell, Song Ya turned red all the way from the root of her neck upward.

The redness was very even, spreading from her collarbone to the tips of her ears. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

Watching her look like this, Liu Feifei almost laughed out of exasperation.

"Alright, alright, no need to answer, it's written all over your face."

"Even a blind person anywhere in the world could tell you like him, only you are pretending."

Song Ya lowered her head, her fingers starting to twist the corner of her clothes again.

"Song Ya, you were the first person Lin Fan acknowledged, you know that, right?"

Song Ya was stunned for a moment.

"Back on the island, everyone mocked him and isolated him."

Liu Feifei poked Song Ya's shoulder with her finger.

"Just now Lin Fan said it himself, you're core faction. Understand what core faction means?"

"In ancient times, that would make you a founding subject who helped the emperor ascend the throne; in civilized society, you're the earliest angel-round investor."

Song Ya raised her head. Of course she remembered the way Lin Fan looked when he said those words.

Those words falling into her heart were more effective than any sweet talk.

Yet she simply didn't know how to respond.

"But what about you?"

Liu Feifei changed the subject, her tone rising by half a notch.

"You held a hand of royal bombs and played them out with the effect of a pair of threes."

"Heaven is chasing after you to spoon-feed you, and you've welded your mouth shut, haven't you?"