Chapter 147: Unlike Us~
Chapter 147: Chapter 147: Unlike Us~
The animals in the shadows stared intently at the group of people.
All they needed was the order from Xiangxiang, and they would charge forward in an instant.
"Go." The leader of this mission, Lao Liu, waved his hand. He and one other person snuck quietly to the side of the tent.
The other four slowly surrounded the tent.
Lao Liu made a hand signal, counting down: three, two, one.
「Inside the tent.」
Gu Zhao was lounging leisurely on the belly of a Snow Wolf, a little fox nestled in her arms.
The others were all huddled in a corner. The two captives, in particular, had their mouths gagged to prevent them from tipping anyone off.
Although they couldn’t scream, their eyes screamed ’Holy shit!’.
The two of them truly felt like their world was ending. No, really! Why were these animals so obedient to a human?!
Their expressions were a mixture of utter bafflement and despair.
An Arctic Bear was curled up, squeezed in among a crowd of other animals, all of them secretly shifting closer to Gu Zhao.
When they heard the commotion outside, all the animals turned to look at the tent flap.
Their eyes filled with vigilance as they silently positioned their bodies to shield Gu Zhao from any harm.
Gu Zhao and the others heard the sounds too. They watched the show unfold in silence, especially Gu Jiao, whose face was getting stiff from holding back her laughter.
"Don’t move!" After the countdown, Lao Liu and his teammate burst in, and then...
...there was no "and then."
The two of them were squatting on the ground, hands clasped over their heads.
The animals surrounded them. Some, disgusted that the intruders might have scared Xiangxiang, simply turned their backsides to them.
The two men looked pathetic and utterly broken.
’They’re cheating!!’
Outside, the other four saw the operation begin and got ready to charge in at the right moment.
But a pack of animals appeared around them, quickly closing in and baring their teeth.
All four men froze.
They nervously eyed the animals, only to realize that while the beasts were surrounding them, they weren’t actually biting.
Not until someone emerged from the tent.
Gu Zhao walked out, still cradling the little fox, followed by the four little ones, their faces beaming with pride and excitement.
After them came Song Zhe and Zhong Siqi, and finally, their two very familiar teammates.
The two were herded out by the animals.
The teammates’ eyes met.
A bitter understanding passed between them.
’Bro... I feel you.’
Gu Zhao looked at them, then shoved the little fox in her arms to Song Yi. She rubbed her cheeks with her small hands, did a few mouth exercises, cleared her throat, and finally took a deep breath.
The others watched her preparations with curiosity. ’Is she about to unleash some ultimate move?’
Zhong Mingrui and the others watched with adoration. ’Big King is getting serious!’
As everyone stared, Gu Zhao suddenly opened her mouth and began to laugh.
"JIE JIE JIE JIE JIE JIE JIE!"
The sound was like a horde of frantic mice squealing...
[Ah, my ears!! I need a pair of ears that haven’t heard this!]
[I have a feeling this isn’t a problem that can be solved by scattering a handful of sticky rice.]
[Jie jie jie... that’s not the laugh of a good person (jk)]
[Monkey King, stop laughing!! Where did you go to study this?! Go get a refund for your tuition! They scammed you out of your money, but you’re trying to take our lives!]
[This is the first time I’d use the word ’lawless’ to describe Gu Zhao’s laugh!!]
Song Yi swallowed the words of praise that had been on the tip of his tongue.
Zhong Siqi put a hand to his forehead. ’Brother Lin, please come back soon!’
’The kid’s grown up and now she thinks she wants to be a mouse...’
Without Gu Xulin, Gu Zhao was like a monkey set loose in the mountains—completely uncontrollable.
Even the animals were taken aback.
They fell silent for a few seconds, then convinced themselves. ’Xiangxiang must have a reason for doing this!’
Following her lead, they too began to laugh, "Jie jie jie!"
The scene descended into chaos.
Zhong Siqi and the others silently covered their ears.
"Stop laughing! We’re begging you! Just stop! What do you want to ask?! Can you just ask already?!" The men surrounded by animals were on the verge of a complete breakdown.
The demonic sound echoed in their ears.
"I’ll talk! I’ll tell you anything! Just make them stop laughing!! How can you just skip the procedure and start torturing the hostages?!"
"Ask! Just ask us!"
Jiang Yuchen looked at Gu Zhao with dawning realization, her face filled with worship!
’She’s actually this incredible!’
’She shattered their psychological defenses with just a laugh?’
’It’s true! Reading ten thousand books is nothing compared to traveling ten thousand miles!’
Seeing them suddenly so cooperative, Gu Zhao was baffled.
’What’s going on?’
’Isn’t this how villains are supposed to laugh?’
Still, it was awesome not having her brother around! If he were here, she’d definitely be getting her butt spanked right now.
But... as awesome as it was, she still kind of missed him.
Gu Zhao rubbed her cheeks, which were starting to cramp from laughing. "Where’s your new camp? Hand over my brother."
"The camp... I can’t tell you!"
"But your brother... he ran off a long time ago."
Gu Zhao: ?
Gu Zhao’s expression turned grave. "Ran off? Where to? Why didn’t he come looking for me?"
"My brother doesn’t want me anymore?!"
Zhong Siqi also grew serious. "He probably got lost."
Gu Zhao immediately accepted this theory. ’If my brother dares to abandon me, I’ll break his legs!’
Gu Zhao had no time for anyone else. She immediately ordered the animals to go find him.
She herself hopped onto a Snow Wolf and took off.
Zhong Mingrui’s face was full of grievance.
"Did Big King abandon us again?"
Zhong Siqi looked utterly exhausted. ’She’s leaving? Just like that?’
He was bone-tired. It confirmed his belief that his own little brother was much easier to handle—at least you could spank him.
He and Song Zhe silently tied up the six men.
Zhong Mingrui and the others sat outside the tent, staring in the direction Gu Zhao had disappeared, like a row of statues waiting for her return.
Meanwhile, the boss and the others were anxiously waiting for a message on the walkie-talkie, but after a long while, there was still no response.
Someone was getting antsy. "They just went to grab a few kids. What’s taking so long? Why haven’t they reported back?!"
"Maybe they’re packing things up."
"Or maybe the kids are crying, and they’re trying to calm them down."
"Now that you mention it, that’s entirely possible. HAHAHA, good thing it wasn’t me. I really can’t stand listening to kids cry."
Hearing their conversation, Ye Zexi let out a scornful laugh. "Gu Zhao isn’t that easy to deal with."
He and Yibao had lost count of how many times they’d suffered at Gu Zhao’s hands!
He was speaking from experience.
"No matter how tough one kid is, there’s no way she can beat them," someone laughed.
"If she actually beats them, I’ll eat shit."
Everyone instantly burst into laughter.
"What’s the difference between that and saying nothing? Are you kidding me! Let’s play a different game. Let’s bet on how many of the kids cried! Loser does one hundred push-ups!"
"Deal! My bet is on all of them crying!"
As the group joked around, Ye Zexi found, for the first time, that being a spectator was incredibly satisfying. He couldn’t wait to see them eat their words.
...
「On the other side of the snow mountain.」
Gu Xulin and the penguin were also mooching off a child.
At home, you rely on your big brother. Out in the world, you rely on your little sister. And when you’re just a wanderer, you rely on a kid.
Ye Kui skillfully prepared the rabbit, found a spot sheltered from the wind, and took out a stove and fuel from her backpack.
The director had strongly insisted she bring them.
Watching the livestream at that very moment, the director felt incredibly relieved. ’Thank goodness I had the foresight for once!’
Originally, he’d only made her take it because he was afraid the universally disliked Ye Zexi would let Ye Kui starve to death.
At the very least, she could melt some snow to fill her stomach.
Soon, Gu Xulin was eating a hot meal. He was moved beyond words.
The penguin watched the two of them eat with longing eyes.
Just then, an Arctic Tern in the sky stared down at the people below for a few moments before immediately flying off in another direction.
Gu Xulin didn’t notice, blissfully enjoying his delicious food.
The Arctic Tern flew south until it spotted Gu Zhao on the back of the Snow Wolf.
It immediately dove down. "Big Sister~ I found him!"
"He’s with a two-legger who’s like you, Big Sister, but not as pretty and doesn’t smell as good as you! I’ll take you there!!"
It tattled, trying its best to stir up trouble. "They’re even keeping a penguin~ Big Sister’s brother was smiling so happily."
"Not like us. We only like our baby~" the Snow Wolf chimed in at the perfect moment.
The corners of their mouths were turned up in a smile, but their faces were a mask of worry.
They refused to have any internal strife now! They had to work together to keep Xiangxiang here!