EDEH Chapter 87

Thick smoke billowed in mid-air, and the mountain range formed by towering trees was dyed red by fire. The flames licking at the treetops looked like torn red cloth strips, swaying with the wind, and even the air could be seen taking the shape of waves.

 

“The wind direction has changed!!”

 

Countless rescue armored vehicles stopped by the dirt road, with light mist dispersing in the surrounding air. Everyone’s faces were grave, their faces dirty and mixed with sweat.

 

The fire was too big, and the helicopters spiraling in the air didn’t dare lower their altitude, so the video transmitted to the rescue camp wasn’t very clear.

 

A man holding a handheld screen rushed into the meeting circle and said to the woman at the center: “Madam, the fire is trending westward toward the Myriad Shadow Canyon!!”

 

The woman called Madam frowned her delicate eyebrows and said softly: “Westward? The situation isn’t much better either.”

 

The woman beside her wearing Supervisory Office attire frowned, her work badge reading “Lu Lan.”

 

She scrolled through the video recorded by the helicopter. From above, the rolling mountain fires formed red wavy lines, like the beacon fires of the past.

 

“Forget it, as long as it doesn’t head toward the solar base station, resources from Myriad Shadow Canyon can be obtained elsewhere, just taking more time.”

 

The woman beside her smiled gently, looking up at the distant sky without speaking.

 

Sunlight illuminated her fair, plump neck, casting a layer of serene soft light on her profile, but her eyes were hidden in the shadows cast by the trees.

 

“General Huo’s last known location is thirty kilometers from us.”

 

Lu Lan’s appearance wasn’t the conventional aesthetic of delicate softness. Her facial lines were relatively hard, her features deep-set, her posture upright, full of heroic spirit. Her strong aura made people unconsciously overlook the wrinkles at her eyes and the fact that she was already in her fifties.

 

Upon hearing “General Huo,” her eyes suddenly darkened as she called out: “Evelyn.”

 

The woman called Madam turned around: “Hmm?”

 

Lu Lan asked harshly: “If General Huo hadn’t come and discovered something was wrong, how long were you planning to hide such a big matter along with the council?”

 

Evelyn said softly: “What good would revealing the facts do for everyone? It would only add to the panic.”

 

Lu Lan tightened her grip: “How could you bear to let them do five or six years of useless work!?”

 

Evelyn lowered her eyes, her chestnut curls swaying in the wind: “Haven’t all these years been useless work? It’s not just these five or six years.”

 

Lu Lan calmed down, her eyes slightly drooping, making the wrinkles appear deeper.

 

Only then did she show a bit of middle-aged fatigue: “Is that what you really think?”

 

Evelyn smiled gently, avoiding the question: “In all these years since birth, this is my first time coming to the surface… can you let me quietly feel the wind?”

 

Though called Madam, Evelyn was actually twenty years younger than Lu Lan. She was the leader responsible for planning and managing women in the underground city this term, hence called Madam.

 

She didn’t really like this title.

 

But just like she didn’t like the underground city, there wasn’t much she could do about it. Life was always like this—dislike was useless, and most of the time there was no right to choose.

 

The evening wind, scorched by the mountain fire, brushed against her cheek, bringing uncomfortable restlessness, yet still delightful.

 

She bathed in real sunlight and shadow, every breath of oxygen was free.

 

Lu Lan pressed the communicator, glancing sideways: “How’s the isolation zone clearing going?”

 

“Report, we’re finishing up!”

 

“Speed up! We start rescue operations in half an hour!”

 

“Yes!”

 

Evelyn looked at her, tilting her head: “It’s been several days now. Could General Huo still be alive?”

 

“Even if there’s the slightest possibility, we must conduct rescue operations.” Lu Lan said gravely: “Evelyn, if you have nothing to do, go back underground.”

 

Evelyn shook her head and laughed.

 

This smile was too lively for someone usually so quiet, but it didn’t seem out of place. Though in her thirties, her appearance and figure remained as soft and flawless as a young girl.

 

“I don’t want to go back… Could you let me see my mother?”

 

Lu Lan frowned: “Evelyn, you’re already in your thirties.”

 

“Yes, at this age, I still believe dreams can come true…” Evelyn’s red lips parted slightly: “I’m a small person without ideals. I’ve only had two wishes in my life: one is to be with the person I like, and the other is to see my mother.”

 

Lu Lan’s eyelid twitched, saying slowly: “We’ll have a good talk when we get back, but there’s no time now.”

 

Evelyn walked to the side and sat on a moss-covered stone.

 

Others couldn’t avoid the current natural environment fast enough, fearing contamination, but she loved it dearly.

 

“Neither of my two wishes can be realized. The person I liked died, and as for seeing my mother, you always make excuses.” The doubt coming from Evelyn’s mouth didn’t sound like accusation, more like gentle acting spoiled.

 

“Before, you told me she went to the surface after giving birth to me, that she didn’t want me. Later you told me that once I completed what I should do, you’d let her come see me. Then later, you said if I inherited her position and finished the responsibilities she didn’t complete, I could go live by her side.”

 

Lu Lan: “…”

 

“Round and round, I’ve been living in lies for over thirty years.” Evelyn turned her head, her beautiful hair falling by her side, her pretty eyes blinking: “Even someone in their thirties still wants their mother.”

 

Lu Lan turned away: “I don’t know how they explained it to you.”

 

Evelyn smiled: “I know, you can’t bear to lie to me.”

 

The earpiece suddenly called urgently, and Lu Lan immediately walked aside: “What’s the matter?”

 

A subordinate answered: “News from the main city, asking if we have any trace of General Huo. Seems like something happened to his family.”

 

Lu Lan hurried away toward the communication station.

 

Evelyn withdrew her gaze, looking at the people coming and going around her, either busy with rescue or busy pulling isolation barriers… as if everything had nothing to do with her.

 

She finally turned back to look toward the underground city’s direction, murmuring: “I’ll never go back again.”

 

…

 

“What’s going on? How could something happen to Sang Jue!?”

 

“He mixed in with the deviant team and came to the surface, even entered the manor.” Lin Shuyi sighed: “He was following behind me earlier, so he probably heard my communication with Huo Jiangmian about General Huo being missing.”

 

Ling Gen had just fought his way out of the monster horde, with countless antlion corpses behind him.

 

He turned around in place, anxiously saying: “Then hurry up and find him!”

 

“We looked. Sang Jue and others went to guard the west wall of the manor, but apparently a retired supervisor fell down while saving someone, and he also jumped down after them. Only half of a shelter bed bracelet was left on the ground, and both were dragged underground by antlions.”

 

Quite a few things had happened in the past half day.

 

Bao Cang and others waiting at the manor had contacted the military through Sang Jue’s access card, but shortly after contact, Lin Shuyi had already come to set up defenses according to plan.

 

Even though he had seen great storms and waves over the years, he was still stunned for a moment upon seeing the manor’s scene.

 

Though he had devoted everything to humanity’s future over the years, not seeking eternal fame, he was still deeply moved when he saw these columbarium walls and the names of these sacrificed people.

 

In that moment, he had only one thought—having someone like Huo Yanji was the survivors’ fortune.

 

It seemed Huo Jiangmian had long known Huo Yanji’s manor ‘secret,’ which is why he had called him here.

 

So Lin Shuyi made a call back, joking “your relationship isn’t as bad as it appears on the surface, you know each other’s secrets clearly,” then mentioned Huo Yanji’s disappearance.

 

But he suddenly heard movement behind him, discovering a slender, beautiful young man had been following him, and he had been completely unaware.

 

If not for Sang Jue losing his composure upon hearing about Huo Yanji’s accident, he might have been followed all the way without being noticed.

 

It took him a while to recognize Sang Jue as the person he had seen in photos – Huo Yanji’s beloved.

 

Indeed, he was an exceptionally good-looking boy. Most importantly, Sang Jue had a very special attraction, especially for people like them who had experienced and seen through everything, yet still hovered on the edge of life and death.

 

With just one glance, he understood why Huo Yanji would like Sang Jue.

 

The more complex a person was, the more they liked pure things.

 

Just like his past self, corresponding with that ordinary deviant woman for several years, arising from emotion but stopping at propriety, probably because they both enjoyed this pure feeling.

 

Ling Gen took the bracelet, which still had some half-dried bloodstains on it.

 

Even if he wasn’t dead, he must have been infected.

 

He looked at it repeatedly, then said dejectedly after a while: “When Huo Yanji comes back, don’t think I killed his little lover, okay?”

 

“…” Lin Shuyi smiled calmly: “What if he can’t come back? We have to prepare for the worst.”

 

Regardless of victory or defeat in this battle, they were severely injured and lost half their lives. With the underground city also in serious trouble, humanity had truly reached a dead end.

 

How much longer could they hold on?

 

“Damn!” After a while, Ling Gen couldn’t help but curse.

 

“…I’ll take people to guard the west side for half a day. Even if we have to dig, we must dig out Sang Jue’s corpse. If Huo Yanji comes back, it’ll be an explanation for him.” Ling Gen paused. He had already seen the columbarium walls in the manor: “Besides, the manor is probably the last motivation for deviants. After the war, once this place is made public, it might reunite people’s hearts. We must defend it.”

 

Standing in their position, being moved was one thing, but everything they talked about was inseparable from politics.

 

…

 

“There seems to be a breach below!!”

 

“Report to the commander quickly!”

 

“What do we do, the antlion swarm is about to rush in!!”

 

As if there was an earthquake, the walls and ground kept shaking, ladders trembling, bodies swaying constantly, making it extremely difficult to maintain balance. Many people fell directly from the wall ladders, but fortunately the ground inside the wall was relatively flat, so they weren’t seriously hurt.

 

But Bao Cang wasn’t so lucky. He fell straight toward the outside of the wall, where the constantly cracking earth below was full of writhing bulges that made it clear how many antlions were underground, making his scalp tingle.

 

He had no time to think much. The moment he fell, he instinctively pulled out a grenade – even if he died, he’d take a few with him!

 

An antlion leaped from the ground, opening its scythe-like sharp mandibles beneath him. Once clamped, it would at least be a bloody end of being cut in half.

 

Bao Cang even saw the shocked and angry expressions on his old comrades’ faces, but time was too short. He couldn’t react, his mind blank.

 

Suddenly he heard his comrades’ exclamations: “Holy shit, a dragon!!!”

 

“…?”

 

A large shadow covered Bao Cang entirely. He wasn’t cut in half by the antlion, but fell straight to the ground with a spine-breaking pain.

 

But he had no time to ease the pain –

 

Beside him, a completely black evil dragon had appeared. The fierce wind from its flapping wings beat against his rough skin, and its claws, with incredible sharpness, directly penetrated the antlion’s hard carapace, bringing the antlion that had just considered him food to three or four meters high, then slamming it hard into distant ruins.

 

Bao Cang was half shocked, half stunned.

 

He slowly looked around. How could an evil dragon appear in the main city? If it was also a monster wave, why was there only one?

 

That evil dragon seemed even more stunned than him. After smashing that antlion, it seemed to come to its senses. Its round black eyes turned, its feet slipped, and it swayed and fell to the ground like a fledgling learning to fly.

 

One man and one dragon stared at each other for a moment, both very nervous.

 

Bao Cang held his breath, only to see this evil dragon suddenly puff out its scale-covered chest, as if proud of being taller than him, looking down at him with black eyes and even breathing on him.

 

There was no bloody smell as Bao Cang had imagined, not even bad breath. The dragon’s fangs were white, and its mouth was actually tender pink.

 

“…” How did it suddenly become not evil?

 

The evil dragon spread its wings again, suddenly leaping above him and directly hooking his leather jacket.

 

While Bao Cang’s muscles tensed, his ears moved sensitively, and he suddenly shouted up to his comrades who were preparing to shoot and transform tentacles: “Don’t attack!!!”

 

Startled by this shout, the confused crowd hesitated for a moment. In those few seconds of hesitation, Bao Cang was directly swung into the wall by the evil dragon, rolling on the ground three or four times.

 

A nearby brother quickly jumped down from the wall ladder and helped Bao Cang up: “Are you hurt?”

 

Bao Cang endured the back pain and took off his jacket: “Hurt, but no bleeding – my tailbone seems to have broken from the earlier fall.”

 

The evil dragon that saved him suddenly dove toward the ground outside the manor occupied by the antlion swarm, like a falcon hunting at sea, rushing toward the hard earth. Its sharp claws directly pierced the soil, and within seconds it could penetrate and bring out a struggling antlion.

 

The pierced antlion would lose its breath after a while, and the dragon would then vent its fury by smashing it open and continue hunting the next one.

 

The people standing on the manor wall ladders: “…”

 

Someone asked uncertainly: “This evil dragon is killing antlions, right?”

 

“I think so…”

 

“It seems to have no interest in us?”

 

“I think so…”

 

“It just saved Old Bao?”

 

“…I think so.”

 

Another person said: “But Old Bao isn’t good-looking. Don’t they say evil dragons only like shiny things?”

 

“Maybe it was initially blind, then found him too ugly and threw Old Bao back?”

 

This explanation gained unanimous approval from everyone.

 

Bao Cang: “…”

 

“Damn, it’s really strong… antlions can’t last even ten seconds in its hands. If there was an evil dragon wave attack, wouldn’t we have no ability to resist at all?”

 

“Probably so. Don’t research results say that evil dragons are more than ten times stronger than other flying contaminants? Without sonic dispersal devices, humans would probably be finished.”

 

“Wait!!” Someone exclaimed, “Isn’t the dispersal device still fine in the lighthouse?! How did this one get in!!”

 

Everyone looked suspiciously at the evil dragon getting farther away: “It seems to be killing farther and farther away…”

 

“…It flew away.”

 

“Is it my imagination? How does it fly so slowly and so low?”

 

“Maybe it’s afraid of heights.”

 

“Are there dragons afraid of heights? Your joke is outdated. I think it’s too smart, afraid we’ll attack it, so it deliberately confused us, even helped us kill antlions, then escaped while we let our guard down.”

 

“Are you enough to fill its teeth?”

 

“That must be enough! This one looks like it just reached adulthood.”

 

The evil dragon flew farther and farther away, leaving behind a ground full of antlion corpses, condensing into a black dot in everyone’s eyes before finally disappearing.

 

Suddenly, cheers erupted from the city: “General Huo’s troops have returned!!!”

 

But no one noticed that General Huo himself hadn’t returned.

 

Only a height-phobic little evil dragon noticed, and flew unsteadily toward the distance, rising and falling erratically.

 

**

---