After Hell Week, the school launched a class-based camping trip under the slogan *"Witness Nature's Ruthless Craftsmanship."*
Frankly, I hated the slogan. Sounded like volunteering for a beating.
Only first-years participated, each class dispatched to different sites. Ours headed to Qingqiu Ridge north of Qiongkong City—led by Liu Yifeng himself.
Ouyang Jiyu drilled one order into me: *"Carry the gun."* She couldn't join—urgent business elsewhere. *Perfect timing for assassins to strike*, she'd warned. *Some bodyguard. What's more urgent than my life?*
Though aware of the danger, excitement overrode fear. This was hunter vs. prey. But I'd be the wolf—the *armed, cunning* kind.
*"Your eyes like galaxies, each sparkle enthralls me, divine—mmph!"* For **two solid hours**, Wu Yanxin recited love letters stuffed in her desk. Drank water. Continued. Relentless.
When she tore open the sixth pink envelope, I snapped. My hand clamped over her mouth. Jealousy curdled in my chest—*why do girls write HER love letters?* Sure, she looked like a pretty boy, but she was all girl! *"Little fairy"? No—that term's poisoned now. She doesn't deserve that.*
"Shut up, Jiaozi! Two hours of this! And why bring these camping?" I released her, frustration vented. "Planning to burn them for warmth?"
While others packed snacks and bug spray, she'd brought half a backpack of letters... and half air. Worse? I'd barely packed food either—just instant meals to avoid the promised *"chicken slaughtering activity."*
"Jealous?" She leaned in, breath ghosting my cheek. "Jealous girls write *me* love notes..."
"Ha! Who'd want rejects throwing themselves at you?" *Liar.* *Why do YOU get admirers?*
"Really?" She tilted her head. "Your face says otherwise."
That smug sparkle in her "galactic eyes" broke me. I pinned her across my lap. *Time for payback!*
"Ahhh! Let go! This is awkward!"
"Admit you're annoying!" I taunted, fingers digging into her cheeks.
"Never! I did nothing wrong!"
*Exactly. I just want to bully you.* "Admit it!"
As I tightened my grip, she gasped—a soft, shuddering sound. The chattering bus fell silent. All eyes locked on us.
*Click—*
"Finally! Pure art!" Chu Yuan—*"Sis Smut"*—grinned at her phone screen. "So... who's the top and who's the bottom?"
*Obviously I'm the—Wait! She's a girl!* "What top and bottom between a guy and a girl?!"
"Delete it, Sis Smut," I freed Wu Yanxin. "Good girls stay flat-chested."
"Then I'm keeping it!" She tucked away her phone. "Don't worry—just personal *research material*."
*...Screw being nice.*
"Miaomiao," Wu Yanxin leaned on my shoulder, "since when did you have such a pretty cousin?"
"Recently found out." Too flippant. "Distant cousin, like I said."
"She's got this... elegant aura. An ice queen!"
"The kind who dismantles Gundams?" I scoffed. *Elegant?* Compared to her, YOU'RE the lady!
Ouyang Jiyu was less a bodyguard, more a tyrant. I cooked. I cleaned.
Dinner? Midnight snacks? *My job*—"outside food's unclean." Given her steel-twisting physique, she could drink gutter oil unscathed. Morning milk? *Warmed.* Bread? *Toasted.* Laundry? Everything but bras and panties—*even socks.* I bought bulk socks online and tossed them after two wears!
A pampered princess—and I was her serf.
I *could* rebel. Then visit the hospital for bone realignment. Still... having someone at home felt... warm. She needed me. *A house becomes a home with people.*
*...Why do I sound so pathetic?*
"What's a Gundam?"
"Nothing..."
"Tell me!"
"You wouldn't get it." *Mecha is a man's romance. What would a tomboy know?*
"Look! Something green! Like a wolf!" Big Li behind us shouted.
"Just a stray dog with weeds on it," his seatmate yawned.
"It *was* a wolf! All green! On that hill!"
"Sleep. You're carsick. Don't puke on me. Green wolf? Next you'll see red dogs!"
The chatter resumed... but unease prickled between my brows. *Danger.*
Humans sense threats—an ancient instinct.
Some science magazine called it the "beast instinct," tied to the pituitary gland. Frowns when unseen sharp objects near the forehead. Faint pain as warning.
Animals predict disasters this way. Humans evolved past relying on it—cooked food, tools, society dulled the edge. Most still have it, faint and ignored.
Mine? Razor-sharp. Real danger = throbbing between my brows. Stronger threat, sharper pain. Unmistakable. It'd saved me before... but felt like a curse.
Now—*worse than when Jiyu aimed her gun.* Why?
*Are they making their move?*
*"Fried rice yummy~ Noodles yummy~ Pork cutlet delish... Miaomiao, your cooking's divine!"* Wu Yanxin mumbled against my shoulder. *What ARE you dreaming?!* Thank gods she whispered. Otherwise, I'd jump from the bus window preemptively.
As I pinched her nose playfully, weightlessness struck. Suffocating. Tumbling.
Screams. Crashing luggage.
*The bus had plunged off the cliff.*
——
I woke dangling upside down. Alive. *Lucky.*
The bus hadn't hit bottom—snagged halfway by thick trees and vines. Without them, we'd be paste.
Pain seared my chest. Metallic blood coated each breath.
After an eternity, I fumbled with the seatbelt—*thud!* Head met ceiling. *No wonder everything felt wrong.*
"Help! Anyone?" A clear voice cut through darkness—Class President Shu Tong. She'd given me ice for my battered face on day one. We rarely spoke since, but I kept her handkerchief. Wu Yanxin adored her.
"Prez? Hurt?" My hand closed on the emergency hammer.
"Stuck! Can't undo the belt!" Relief—she sounded unharmed.
"Hold on. Finding an exit." Pitch black. How long had we fallen? Phone gone.
The windshield was my target. The door? Warped shut.
*Time to test this hammer.*
Gripping it, I swung at the glass, chanting like a demolition worker:
***"Bāshí! Bāshí! Bāshí!"***