Chapter 144: 144, Each other's secrets

In the crowd of students leaving school, the figures of Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin walking against the flow toward the rooftop stood out a bit, but everyone was in a hurry to go home, and no one paid them any mind.

Ren Xiaosu followed behind Yang Xiaojin when he suddenly noticed her figure was quite good, tall and slender...

At the corner of the staircase, Yang Xiaojin glanced at him, and Ren Xiaosu immediately withdrew his gaze.

When they reached the rooftop, Yang Xiaojin pushed open the rust-stained iron gate and stepped out. Ren Xiaosu stood on the rooftop and instantly felt his vision broaden. This was his first chance to overlook the barriers, and though the teaching building wasn't particularly tall, he could already see far into the distance.

At that moment, Yang Xiaojin threw something to Ren Xiaosu—it was the dagger she had stolen from him earlier.

"That settles it," Yang Xiaojin said calmly. She didn't explain why she had taken the dagger in the first place, and Ren Xiaosu didn't press further.

The two stood on the rooftop in a stalemate.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the rooftop entrance behind Ren Xiaosu. He turned and saw, to his surprise, a boy and a girl ascending the stairs hand in hand, clearly a couple.

The couple, upon noticing people on the rooftop, didn't seem to mind and continued upward. In response, Ren Xiaosu slammed the rooftop door shut.

The couple stared at the closed door, their faces blank with confusion.

When Ren Xiaosu turned back after securing the door, he found Yang Xiaojin already holding a small silver pistol aimed at him.

Ren Xiaosu recognized the gun at a glance—a SIG P238, a classic compact model from SIG Sauer, the epitome of a pistol's beauty.

Yet he remained unperturbed. "If you wanted to shoot, you would've done it already. Coming here means you wanted to talk things through, doesn't it?"

If Yang Xiaojin truly intended to fire, she wouldn't have gone through the trouble of returning the dagger. Ren Xiaosu was unusually calm.

Yang Xiaojin holstered the gun. "How did you escape the Qingshi Group's encirclement?"

"Just ran straight out," Ren Xiaosu feigned ignorance.

"After we left, what exactly happened in Jingshan?" Yang Xiaojin asked.

"Countless test subjects broke loose, and monsters from the crater," Ren Xiaosu replied briefly. "A lot of unexpected events occurred. You can't imagine how terrifying the creatures in the crater were."

"I can imagine," Yang Xiaojin corrected.

Her answer left Ren Xiaosu stunned, for her tone was resolute. Could it be that Yang Xiaojin had encountered such a being before?

"Are you worried I'll report you to the Qingshi Group?" Ren Xiaosu asked curiously.

"Not anymore," Yang Xiaojin said. "Because you have secrets you fear the Qingshi Group might discover too."

"What secrets?" Ren Xiaosu felt something amiss, as if he had overlooked a crucial detail.

Yang Xiaojin smiled, a hint of pride in her expression. "When Xinyu Luo and I returned, we realized the wolves had been waiting at the canyon's end all along. If not for Xinyu's ability to traverse shadows, we might have had to take a detour. I calculated your return time—you must have reached the settlement before the fall of the 113th barrier. First, if you were just an ordinary person with brute strength, you couldn't have moved that fast. Second, an ordinary person couldn't have passed through the wolves' blockade."

Ren Xiaosu's heart tightened. "I didn't see any wolves on my way back. I just ran straight through the canyon. The human-faced worms aren't exactly swift, and by the time they emerged from their caves, I was already past them."

Yang Xiaojin stared at him seriously. "I don't believe you."

Ren Xiaosu: "???"

He was helpless—his lengthy explanation was dismissed with just three words.

But Yang Xiaojin suddenly added, "I'm not threatening you. I just want you to understand that we all have secrets. Don't do anything that would hurt us both."

"Deal!" Ren Xiaosu said. That was his intention too. As long as they could coexist peacefully, there would be no problems.

Their time in Jingshan had been relatively harmonious; there was no need for a life-or-death struggle here.

Moreover, if Yang Xiaojin and the others truly intended to act, his weaknesses were more numerous—Yan Liuyuan, Xiaoyu, and the others were all ordinary people.

Of course, a brief truce didn't mean Ren Xiaosu would let his guard down. After all, Yang Xiaojin was the type to steal back a dagger she had given him—what else couldn't she do?

As he spoke, Yang Xiaojin prepared to descend. When she passed him, she noticed Ren Xiaosu suddenly clutching the dagger.

"Why did Huohuo Company acquire supernatural blood? And why did you kill Qing Zhen?" Ren Xiaosu asked.

"The danger of the 109th barrier exceeds your imagination," Yang Xiaojin said. "Don't provoke Huohuo easily, and don't sell your blood. That's all I can say. As for our conflict with Qing Zhen, it's not something you can meddle in."

"Is there more danger?" Ren Xiaosu paused. Were there other organizations beyond Huohuo?

"Forget it," Yang Xiaojin said. "Besides, you probably don't have time to worry about other matters. You might underestimate how aggressively the barrier people reject the refugees."

Ren Xiaosu pondered. So the refugees entering the barriers still hadn't ended?

At that moment, from his elevated vantage, he saw a girl wrapped in a headscarf and sunglasses standing at the school gate. When their eyes met, she waved and greeted him.

Just from that familiar gesture, Ren Xiaosu knew it was Xinyu Luo...

At this point, Ren Xiaosu voiced his final question, or rather, the doubt that had long plagued his heart: "Why do supernatural beings exist?"

Yang Xiaojin stood at the rooftop entrance, turning back to look at him. She tapped her temple with a finger. "Throughout human evolution, we've been weakening our physical abilities. You mentioned this in Jingshan too—the 178th barrier's Zhang Jinglin once said it was the price of wisdom."

"I know," Ren Xiaosu nodded. At the time, Yang Xiaojin had hinted that Zhang Jinglin wasn't ordinary. It seemed she had already suspected his identity then, though she wasn't entirely certain.

Suddenly, Ren Xiaosu felt this conversation was pivotal. Yang Xiaojin seemed to be using the knowledge she possessed to unveil the truth of this world. He listened intently.

"So, with a price paid, there must be a greater reward," Yang Xiaojin said.

Ren Xiaosu was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Yang Xiaojin smiled. She lowered her duckbill cap and said, "When disaster strikes, spiritual will is humanity's first line of defense."