Why did you provoke me?

Yu Meng understood what Niannian meant: when to find something good to help the lines advance.

"Take a few days off! It's not good to rush things."

Hua Shulang saw Yang Xue off from the fourth battlefield, intending to part ways there. But Yang Xue cried and refused to let go.

A look of helplessness appeared in Hua Shulang's eyes. "Yang Xue, you're safe now. Your father's men have come to pick you up, and you're no longer in danger."

"But you promised me inside that you would come to Kyoto with me," Yang Xue sobbed softly.

Hua Shulang took a deep breath. "When you go back to Kyoto, you're going home. When I go to Kyoto, I'm abandoning home."

He looked at Yang Xue seriously. "Do you want me to do this?"

"I... I don't know, but Kyoto is bustling and better than your home, and besides, Father will value you."

Hua Shulang wiped away Yang Xue's tears, "I swear, if I go to Kyoto, I will definitely go to see you first."

Despite crying and pleading, Hua Shulang still refused to go to Kyoto.

Yang Xue looked at the team members not far away, "Are you here because of them?"

This time, Hua Shulang readily agreed, "They are all my brothers."

"And what about me? You rejected me for their sake?" Yang Xue's eyes were filled with resentment.

Hua Shulang patiently explained, "If you go back, you'll live a very good life. You'll have fine clothes and resources from your family. But they have families to support and children to raise. I'm their captain, and we made a vow together."

Yang Xue's tears fell again, "But you promised Mom you would take good care of me."

"Isn't that what I'm doing? If you stay with me, you'll always be living a life of hardship. You'll be fine back in Kyoto. I haven't broken my promise to Aunt Yang."

Hua Shulang beckoned to a few people not far away, "I'm sorry to trouble you all. She's a bone painter, so she's bound to be a bit delicate. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please have some tea when you're free." As he spoke, he handed over a bag.

Yang Xue looked back at Hua Shulang every few steps, but Hua Shulang didn't take another step forward; he just waved from where he was.

Sitting in the car, Yang Xue still stuck her head out and shouted loudly, "You must come to see me."

Hua Shulang remained motionless, simply watching calmly.

Once the car had driven away, Hua Shulang turned to look at his team members. "Let's find a small hotel, rest for three days, and then go in to retrieve the treasure."

Everyone's enthusiasm immediately soared.

"Captain, your acting is amazing! I thought you were really going to leave with Teacher Yang."

"Yes, I believe it too."

"Shut up, all of you. Don't you know where you are? You can't even watch what you say," a middle-aged man hissed.

"Uncle Lao Tie, let us talk, we've been so bored these past few days."

Uncle Lao Tie curled his lip, "Walls have ears. You want to talk? Go ahead and say whatever you want, I won't stop you."

Hua Shulang walked ahead, listening to the noise of his brothers behind him, without showing the slightest impatience.

His eyes were slightly narrowed, and a faint smile played on his lips. It was good! His brothers were all still alive, and he had fulfilled his request to Aunt Yang.

He truly had absolutely no romantic feelings for Yang Xue. He was a smart man, always wary and calculating towards others. He had no desire to marry a woman who constantly tried to outsmart him, only to be easily seen through by him. That would be an insult to his intelligence.

At first, the team members took great care of her because of her mother's passing.

After all, her mother had indeed extracted the alien essence from many of them. In a way, she had saved them.

But later, Qingyuan gave him some small beads made of alien dough, and almost no one in his team ever parasitized an alien again.

Her mother's health deteriorated, and almost all the resources were used to seek medical treatment for her.

She was generally well-behaved, but later she noticed that Hua Shulang took special care of her, even granting her every request. Gradually, her demands began to increase.

One day, someone came looking for her, saying that her father had sent people to take her back to Kyoto. Her true intentions were completely exposed.

She actually asked these people to go to the ruins in the dense forest to find her a gift to give to her father.

Hua Shulang's feelings for her completely disappeared at that time.

The dense forest is no secret in the Fourth Battlefield, but it is absolutely taboo.

Because someone saw the person go in and waited for three days, but the person didn't come out.

Later, it became a legend that it was a man-eating forest.

Now that they were going to the dense forest, no one was willing. Yang Xue was a little clever, though. She didn't say anything, but just cried silently, saying that she missed her mother and that she wished her mother were here.

Hua Shulang had no choice but to discuss with her teammates that this was the last time they would help her. Once she returned to Kyoto, everything would be over for them.

They entered the dense forest, and the environment inside was completely different from the one Yu Meng had visited.

The trees there were in a state of utter devastation, as if they had been plowed by a wild beast; broken and cracked trees were everywhere, and entire trees had been stripped of their bark. Human bones were also occasionally visible on the ground.

Shortly after entering, Yang Xue stepped on human bones, and a soft, white worm crawled onto the back of her foot.

She screamed and jumped around wildly. They seemed to bump into something, and the area where they were suddenly sinking.

Before anyone could react, they all fell into darkness.

Yang Xue also fainted during the process.

When they turned on the lights they carried with them, the scene on the ground stunned everyone.

A large package was embedded in the stone wall of the cave. Although it was damaged, the contents were still inside.

A pile of unusual stones, with faint patterns on them.

Hua Shulang immediately checked on Yang Xue to make sure she was still unconscious, and then decided to secretly hide the item.

Everyone had no objections. The accident just happened the instant they picked up the package.

The package was unexpectedly heavy, causing everyone to gather around it. Before they could even pull it out, they began to fall again. This time, their luck ran out; they encountered an underground river of quicksand. When they finally regrouped, only they remained. The whereabouts of the others were unknown.

Fortunately, their backpacks were all tied in tight knots, so none of them were lost; otherwise, they would have had no chance of survival.

After exploring the surrounding terrain, Hua Shulang decisively activated the distress signal.

He knew the chances of being rescued in this environment were slim, but it was a glimmer of hope, better than nothing. He didn't tell anyone until Niannian's message arrived. No one knew what he was thinking at that moment.

After being rescued, he knew that Yang Xue would definitely target his communication bell.

That woman was completely different from her mother. That communication bell, capable of sending a distress signal even deep underground, was definitely her first choice.

Sure enough, he was right.

But he hadn't expected her to fall again. He didn't want to save her, but he couldn't show it. Until Jing Er pulled him away, no one knew the joy he felt at that moment.

Helpless, he could only voice his concerns. Yu Meng was truly remarkable; even aimless, she could find someone.

So he decided to follow Yu Meng from now on; given his personality, once he made a decision, he wouldn't procrastinate. After communicating with Yu Meng using the communication bell, he proceeded according to his plan.

Of course, his pledge of allegiance was that big bag, on the condition that all his teammates had to keep it.

Yu Meng didn't really care about any of that. But she knew that Hua Shulang had influence over Qingyuan, Secretary Wu, and even Nangong Tianshou. It would benefit these people and wouldn't harm her either, so she had no reason to refuse.

And so, they reached an agreement in private. But Hua Shulang didn't say anything, and neither did Yu Meng.

This led to a misunderstanding between Secretary Wu and Qingyuan.

But because of this incident, they changed their attitude towards dreams, which unintentionally turned out to be a great thing for dreams.