Chapter 39: Chapter 39 - 33: Cardiac Chip

Shen Tang was surprised and speechless, "System, are you sure it’s a good time to attack now? Your host is barely surviving, how can I be in the mood to please a man!"

The system calmly analyzed, [After the host disappeared, there’s panic inside the camp, Shen Li is leading people everywhere to search for the host’s whereabouts. He’s personally escorting Zhao Yin to find An Ya, convinced she orchestrated this and demanding she hands you over. The expression on that woman’s face must be quite ugly now. Host, why not return later and scare them with a sudden resurrection.]

Shen Tang thought about it. The longer she was missing, the more anxious the camp would be.

If she returned now, the situation might ease, so it would be better to delay and make things difficult for An Ya.

"Alright, then as you say, let’s go find Xue Yinzhou first."

...

Moonlight like gauze gently spilled over the silver-blue surface of the lake. A gentle breeze stirred, creating fine ripples as if countless pieces of silver flickered in the darkness.

Shen Tang, covered in dust, pushed through the half-human-tall shrubs and was suddenly faced with this dreamlike scene, holding her breath for a moment.

Never expected there would be such a beautiful view inside the pollution zone!

Suddenly.

The sound of water breaking echoed clearly.

The moonlight shattered into circles of ripples.

Under the moonlight, a half-naked silver-haired man floated to the surface.

His upper body was unclad, his naked torso as if carved from jade, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, strong build, pale sickly skin, and his waterfall-like silver hair flowing like moonlight. His back was bewitching and darkly elegant.

Shen Tang’s eyes widened.

Is this the benefit of being attacked?

Perhaps she was too excited, and she instinctively took a step forward, stepping on the dry leaves and branches below, creating a noticeable sound.

"Who’s there?"

Xue Yinzhou suddenly stopped moving, turning his head to look in Shen Tang’s direction, his silver eyes like a knife, bone-chilling!

Shen Tang was so frightened she retreated, crouching down to conceal her chubby figure with the tall shrubs.

The commotion ahead ceased.

Curiously, she pushed aside the grass, glancing at the lakeside, but found the figure on the water had vanished!

She stared wide-eyed like seeing a ghost, suddenly feeling a cold, damp breath on her neck,

A gloomy, low voice slowly whispered in her ear, like a ghostly soul-calling,

"Are you courting death?"

"Ah!"

Shen Tang was so frightened she fell back onto the ground, staring with fish-like dead eyes, terrified at the ghostly figure of the man in front of her.

"You! Weren’t you just bathing in the water? How did you suddenly end up behind me!" Shen Tang’s voice was stammering.

"Spying on my bath, self-admission." Xue Yinzhou looked at her coldly, his wet silver hair winding around his broad, straight shoulders, the water trickling down his smooth, beautiful muscles, collecting at the transformed snake tail like a water ghost.

But this water ghost... was exceptionally attractive!

Shen Tang belatedly realized that Xue Yinzhou wasn’t wearing a mask today.

Despite traveling for so many days, it was the first time she saw the true face of this mysterious Snake Husband.

His features were stunning, heavenly, flawless like jade, refined and aloof like snow, yet exuded a chilling murderous aura that made it impossible to have any improper thoughts about him.

Xue Yinzhou’s gaze turned even colder, his lips parted slightly, "Do you remember what I said before? If you commit this again, I’ll break your neck."

"No, no! I wasn’t spying on your bath on purpose, I just happened to pass by and accidentally saw!"

"Shen Tang, do you think I will believe your lies again?" Xue Yinzhou sneered, suddenly approaching, and clasped her neck.

His knuckles were distinct, yet held no warmth, only cold and slippery.

Shen Tang could hardly breathe, her face flushing red, "I, I’m telling the truth, I’m not lying... If you don’t believe me, go back to the camp and ask! Tonight, I was assassinated, that guy dumped me in the pollution zone, wanting me to fend for myself, I... cough cough! I’m really not lying to you!"

Xue Yinzhou narrowed his eyes dangerously, pondering for a moment before releasing his cold grip.

Shen Tang fell to the ground, clutching her neck and coughing.

Xue Yinzhou cast her a cold glance, without a touch of pity in his eyes, and turned to go.

"Wait!" Shen Tang quickly called after him, climbing up from the ground and stumbling to catch up with his steps, "Don’t leave, I need you to stay with me! If I, a woman, stay in the pollution zone alone, I won’t survive the night!"

"What does that have to do with me?" His words were cold and sarcastic, "If you keep following me, I don’t mind sending you to die first."

Shen Tang felt a chill in her heart. Other male leads might just have sharp tongues, but this snake wasn’t scaring her for amusement!

In the original story, the character of this Snake Beast was extremely reclusive, preferring to be alone, and the pollution zone was like a deserted place for him. He avoided following the group mostly to stay away from Shen Tang.

Asking him for protection was too unrealistic.

Shen Tang suddenly recalled a plot from the original story, Xue Yinzhou hated her yet had to reluctantly submit to her because of the chip implanted in his heart, a chip that controlled his life and death.

But now Xue Yinzhou was living like a walking corpse, indifferent to it, willing to go down together as he no longer wanted to live.

"Haven’t you always wanted the chip’s key? If you help me this time, I might consider unlocking it for you."

Xue Yinzhou stopped and turned, looking at her coldly, "Are you threatening me?"

"Just, negotiating!"

Xue Yinzhou stared at Shen Tang for a moment, a hint of meaning flashing in his silvery-purple eyes, unknown what he was thinking. After a while, he slowly spoke, "Alright, what do you want me to do for you, escort you back to the camp?"

Shen Tang shook her head, pulling up the map saved in Xiao Jin’s Light Computer, "Take me to the abandoned factory."

A flash of surprise crossed Xue Yinzhou’s eyes, but he didn’t mind much. After all, it made no difference to him where he went.

He glanced at the map, swung his snake tail, and walked ahead, "Follow me."

Xue Yinzhou walked ahead without the slightest intention to wait for her, forcing Shen Tang to run to barely keep up with his pace.

The two followed the direction marked on the map and moved forward. The closer they got to the abandoned factory, the more polluted creatures, and the higher the pollution levels.

However, these advanced pollutants were powerless in Xue Yinzhou’s hands, turning into feed for the giant snake.

Staying beside Xue Yinzhou made Shen Tang feel both secure and terrified.

Afraid that if he was displeased, he might swallow her too.

Xue Yinzhou, sensing the female’s uneasy mood beside him, lowered his long lashes slightly. After a long silence, he suddenly asked, "Where exactly is the key?"

Shen Tang’s heart trembled. Naturally, she didn’t know where the key was. Although the chip was implanted by the original owner, she had no memory of it.

She was merely using this as an excuse to bait him into helping her, making him handle matters for her.

After returning to the Imperial Palace, she might find some clues, and she would certainly do her best to help him remove the chip. Even if she couldn’t find the key, it wouldn’t count as lying to him.

What she said was "consider."

Xue Yinzhou stopped walking, catching Shen Tang off guard, almost bumping into him. She averted her gaze guiltily, "Why did you stop?"

Xue Yinzhou turned, looking down at her mockingly,

"Is it that you don’t want to say, or... you just don’t know?"