From the end of the world

Chapter 269: Hug from behind

I had agreed with Ma Zao that I would help her get familiar with modern society, and later I would take her out to enjoy the scenery of the peaceful era in my free time. However, there have been so many things to do recently, and it is not convenient to stay in the city, so this matter has been put on hold for the time being.

Now that we have two rare days of safety, and we are about to set off for Yueyin Mountain, three or four hundred kilometers away, I took this opportunity to take her on a train.

In fact, as long as I launch the "firefly" at dozens of times the speed of sound to the Yueyin Mountain area, and then use flame transmission, combined with Ma Zao's space transfer, we can reach the target location in a very short time. Any transportation vehicle is far less efficient than this method. However, I noticed that Ma Zao has always been very curious about many public facilities.

It is said that in the apocalypse, although not many people use vehicles such as cars and motorcycles, some of them can still be started and ridden. Ma Zao said that she seemed to have seen it a few times. However, it is different for large public transportation facilities such as trains and airplanes. She has only seen abandoned trains and airplanes before, and has never seen such things in motion.

Even if we arrive at Yueyin Mountain a few hours in advance, we must wait in the ancient town at the foot of the mountain until tomorrow to have a chance to meet Yin Yue who holds Chang'an's soul hostage. At least that's what the Lord of the Seal said in his dream last night. So I took the opportunity to satisfy Ma Zao's curiosity. On the other hand, I also have my own little calculations.

In fact, I had already launched the "Firefly" in advance, intending to search Yueyin Mountain first.

There is a high possibility that Silver Moon is hiding there. Although I probably won't meet her even if I go there in advance, I might find some useful clues. Moreover, since it is where Silver Moon is, who knows what kind of dangerous place it is. I like to take risks in unknown areas, but that doesn't mean I will deliberately step into them without any precautions. The preliminary investigation is also part of the adventure. The "firefly" itself has the function of being a reconnaissance tool, so this is also the best use of it.

After arriving at the target location, Ma Zao will definitely not choose to stay out of it. Rather, since I have to rely on her unlucky physique to help me find Yin Yue, and she has a much better investigation and tracking ability than me, then I will definitely rely on her more. In order to prevent her from getting into trouble, I must first use the time on the road to clear out as many "mines" as possible at the target location.

We had a quick lunch of hamburgers and fries at the train station and then boarded the train.

I bought a sleeper ticket. There were not many people in the carriage, and about half of the beds were empty. There were adults and children nearby, some well-dressed and some slovenly. Some were chatting, and some were playing audio on their phones.

I took Ma Zao to the corresponding bunk, and she looked around with interest, and I didn't know what specifically caught her interest. Perhaps from her perspective, the fact that there were so many people sitting or lying around her in a relaxed posture was enough to make her feel fresh and strange.

Looking at the surroundings, I suddenly remembered what Dongche said. He said that he captured the senior researcher of the Humanitarian Department when he was passing by the Fufeng base on the train. So he should have also left by train after leaving the Fufeng base in the morning. Of course, he should not be on the same train with us now. And he also promised me that he would not go near the Hujia Village in the next two days. Maybe he is still staying in the town near the Fufeng base.

I hadn't mentioned to Mazao yet that we might meet Dongche again in the future, so I said it to her now.

"Winter car..."

She showed a disgusted expression. For some reason, she seemed to dislike Dongche. Especially when Dongche approached me, she seemed particularly unhappy. Maybe it was because it was not clear whether Dongche was a human or a ghost, so she was particularly vigilant.

There was a flight attendant pushing a cart selling food and drinks. After the other party passed by us, I looked at Ma Zao's empty hands and thought about buying her some food, so I left my seat temporarily and chased the flight attendant from behind.

On the way, I heard the sound of the passenger next to me playing a video on his mobile phone. He seemed to be watching a live broadcast of the news. At this time, the news happened to interrupt with a weather report, saying that mysterious weather suddenly appeared in some areas, and a mass of warm air of unknown origin was moving towards the west, which might cause strong winds and rainfall in the near future.

"Why is the weather so strange? It's November, and there's still warm air?" The passenger chatted with the person next to him, "Have you seen the news this morning? The country seems to have acknowledged the existence of paranormal phenomena, saying that some kind of amnesia is spreading..."

"What on earth is this world going to become..." sighed the passenger next to me.

The warm air current moving towards the west... I had some associations in my mind, but I could only suppress them temporarily and talk about them later.

The conductor had already gone to the next car. I caught up with him and bought some snacks and soft drinks. On my way back, I passed by the bathroom.

The washbasin was set outside with a mirror on it, and his familiar face was reflected in the mirror.

How does Ma Zao really see me? This question popped up in my mind again. Although I asked Xiao Wan last night to know if Ma Zao might have a romantic crush on me, even Xiao Wan couldn't make a definite conclusion. After all, Ma Zao had shown his disgust and contempt for "adult men who like little girls" many times in front of her.

Xiaowan suggested that I should not ask Mazao directly about her true attitude towards me, so I followed her advice for now. But that would be a bit tricky.

If I could just become best friends with Mazao, or have a family-like relationship with her, I would naturally not be satisfied. Assuming that she really has no such thoughts about me, then what should I do to take our relationship to the next level?

If I were a few years younger, maybe it wouldn't be so inappropriate. Although others might say that I was in a premature relationship, it would be better than being considered a pervert by Ma Zao. It was probably because of similar thoughts that I was alert when Dong Che showed interest in Ma Zao. When the demon hunters at the Fufeng base compared Ma Zao and Dong Che, I actually felt a little conflicted.

So, is it possible that if I really become smaller, I won’t look so abnormal?

While no one was noticing, I quietly disassembled and reassembled my body, mimicking my appearance when I was twelve or thirteen years old.

I changed into this form twice before in front of Mazao, and she showed a look of regret after seeing me change back quickly. Although I don't understand what's good about this look, maybe she likes me turning into this, or maybe she just feels fresh.

I plan to use this form first to test her reaction.

I took the snacks and soft drinks in my arms and returned to Ma Zao. When she saw me like this, she was surprised and asked me why I changed my appearance.

"It's just a change of mood, don't worry about it."

I answered seriously, and then put the snacks and soft drinks next to her. She nodded in confusion, and then looked at me from head to toe with a particularly curious look, as if she wanted to burn the current me into her retina. It was the first time that she looked at me like this, and I actually felt a little unsure of where to put my hands. After all, I could be said to be pretending to be young by doing this. If she had made a joke, I would have relaxed. Now that she was looking at me like this without saying a word, to be honest, I felt embarrassed.

"By the way, Ma Zao, take this..."

In order to change the subject, I summoned my own divine seal fragment and handed it to her.

"Hmm? Okay."

Although she didn't seem to understand my intention, she still took the fragment of the divine seal and asked curiously, "Why are you giving this to me?"

The fragment of the divine seal of the chosen one in the virtual world should not be accessible to anyone other than oneself, even if it is someone who has a connection with it. However, this fragment of the divine seal did not pass through Ma Zao's hand. After reconfirming this phenomenon, I told him the meaning of it and my own speculation about it.

Perhaps this result is also the effect of my unlucky constitution, and the reason why I can have a connection with the fragments of the divine seal is probably thanks to Ma Zao... I explained in a serious tone, and as I spoke, I slowly realized that Ma Zao had been looking at my face, as if there was something strange painted on my face.

Maybe it seems a bit strange for me to talk about such a serious topic in my current posture.

In order to test whether she was focusing on the topic, I tried to ask her a question - since people without destiny cannot touch the fragments of the divine seal, it is a bit strange that Chen Long can use the fragments of the divine seal. Could it be that Chen Long also happened to have destiny with the fragments of the divine seal? Judging from Fu Feng's attitude, such people should be quite rare.

"Chen Long himself should not have had a direct connection with the fragment of the Divine Seal." Ma Zao seemed to be recalling the information he had investigated from Chen Long's broken arm in the past. "He did not use the fragment of the Divine Seal directly, but used Doctor Silver Mask as an intermediary. In essence, he influenced the fragment of the Divine Seal by influencing people who were predestined with the fragment of the Divine Seal, and in turn was affected by the power of the fragment of the Divine Seal."

The existence of Doctor Silver Mask in the real world is no different from that of a magic weapon. This is probably the truth.

It seems that Ma Zao is still listening to me carefully.

Just as I was thinking this, I saw her sitting on the edge of the berth, patting the side of herself, and saying expectantly: "Zhuang Cheng, come sit over here?"

"Huh? Why?"

I asked in confusion, but at the same time I obeyed her and sat next to her obediently.

She curled up inside the bunk, moved slowly, squeezed behind me, then stretched out her arms from behind and hugged me gently.

I could feel her soft and slender body pressed tightly against my back, and her body temperature was transmitted through the fabric of her clothes.

This wasn't the first time she hugged me, but I only realized I was being hugged after I woke up from sleep before. And the last two times I pulled away before she woke up. This was the first time she took the initiative to hug me from behind while we were both awake. My heart seemed to speed up.

Is it right to change into a twelve or thirteen-year-old? She hasn't been in close contact with me recently, and now that I've changed, her sense of distance from me has changed immediately. Before, she probably secretly thought I was a pervert who liked little girls, but if I'm not an adult, but a boy, then my liking for her is just liking someone of the same age.

Her voice sighed, rang very close to my ear.

“It feels like I’ve become a sister,” she said.

Sister... It feels a little different from what I expected. In this case, it seems that I am only regarded as a brother and sister, not a lover. I want to change back. But if I change back to an adult now, she may not hug me.

Since she is happy, I will change for a while longer.

Ma Zao didn't say anything else, she just hugged me quietly, as if enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. I didn't struggle, I just sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the touch and warmth of her hug from behind.

After a while, I suddenly received a message from afar.

It was not the information received by the phone, but my consciousness. It was a thermal energy mark in the distance that triggered the preset command and sent me a prompt. I remained calm and followed the connection between the thermal energy mark and felt the past. The source was a branch facility somewhere in Luoshan, and it was the thermal energy mark I left in Lu Chan's body.

One of the preset instructions I set for this thermal energy marker is to alert me when Lu Chan makes a noteworthy move.

This is a rather vague pre-set instruction. It is quite difficult to define what actions are worth noting, and if it is not accurately defined, there will be huge problems in the practical execution stage. Originally, this kind of pre-set instruction could not be executed by the thermal energy mark and "firefly", but since the awakening of power, my ability to manipulate this aspect has also increased, and it has become more handy. For example, this kind of vague instruction can also work.

And now, under the medium of thermal energy marks, I saw Lu Chan sitting at a desk, holding a black fountain pen, writing a short line of words on a notebook -

"Zhuang Cheng, are you there?"

(End of this chapter)