Chapter 1 The New Year's First Day

Even having to work hard on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Lu Xiaoyao was almost moved to tears by her own dedication.

Of course, it was also possible that she was glared into tears by Mu Chen's gaze beforehand.

Right after midnight, she coaxed and begged (forced) Mingmei to make her the first boxed meal of the New Year.

Ah, Lu Xiaoyao actually dared to fight with Mu Chen for such a meaningful boxed meal! Thinking back on her actions just now, Lu Xiaoyao couldn't help but praise herself for becoming brave (shameless)!

"I said, didn't you say that the attacks outside are likely to be from mutated animals? Why are you all buying boxed meals?"

Thanks to Lu Xiaoyao, besides her, Mu Chen, Bai Xiao, and Wang Wenfei were also in the kitchen, all waiting for her boxed meal.

"Isn't this just in case? Who knows if zombies will suddenly pop up from the snow and scare people?"

After Lu Xiaoyao finished speaking, everyone except Mu Chen nodded in agreement. Mingmei glanced in Mu Chen's direction but saw him deliberately avoiding her gaze.

Mingmei: ???

Mu Chen would never admit that he joined in the fun just because he heard Lu Xiaoyao say "Mingmei's first boxed meal of the New Year."

There was no need to say such a thing.

"It's better to prepare for this kind of thing in advance, better safe than sorry."

Wang Wenfei answered very seriously. Mingmei sighed and resigned herself to making the boxed meals. It wasn't until they left early to gather that Mingmei finally went back to her room to rest.

She only hoped that the boxed meals she made tonight wouldn't be needed.

Being needed wouldn't be a good sign.

…

In the early hours of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the heavy snow had just stopped. Looking up at the sky without light pollution, you could see tiny but undeniable starlight dotting the night sky.

After Lu Xiaoyao and the others arrived at the meeting point, she pulled down her mask and breathed a puff of hot air into the air, watching it instantly turn into a frosty mist. She immediately hung the cotton mask back on her face and muttered, "Oh my god... so cold~"

"It's already cold, no need to prove it by breathing~"

Bai Xiao and Wang Wenfei were also wrapped up very thickly. They had been to icy and snowy planets with temperatures of tens of degrees below zero in space before, but in space, they had special thermal insulation materials and didn't have to wear such heavy clothes like in the game.

"Hmph~ I'm just curious if breathing really does that~"

"Come on, you've been doing this to the window every morning these past few days, looking at the window frost you breathed out, and you're still playing now? Lu Xiaoyao, aren't you childish?"

Lu Xiaoyao's explanation didn't gain the trust of the people present. Instead, Wang Wenfei and Bai Xiao mercilessly exposed her.

Enraged, Lu Xiaoyao shouted "I'm going to fight you!" and entangled with Wang Wenfei and Bai Xiao.

The three girls looked like three fat penguins, bumping into each other with their round bodies, with no harmful power at all. Mu Chen couldn't help but repeatedly cough lightly to remind them to pay attention to their image.

There were other people coming here later, so could they have some face?

But just as Julian arrived with the patrol team from above, Lu Xiaoyao was in the heat of the moment with Wang Wenfei and the others. Lu Xiaoyao even felt that it didn't hurt to bump into people and fall down while wearing thick clothes, so she used her ability directly when rushing towards Bai Xiao and them.

Unexpectedly, Bai Xiao dodged, and Lu Xiaoyao couldn't stop her feet on the snow and rushed towards Julian and his group!

"Ah—!"

"Bang!"

"Bang, bang!"

"Ouch!"

In that instant, Lu Xiaoyao's body slammed into Julian solidly. As he slipped and retreated, her hands looked like propellers, flailing wildly like someone who couldn't swim falling into the water, grabbing whatever they could. In the end, everyone fell to the ground, orz.

Mu Chen: "..."

Bai Xiao: "..."

Wang Wenfei: "..."

In the end, during this less-than-beautiful gathering scene, both those who fell and those who watched the fall were speechless. The teachers who had been observing their behavior were amused.

Cheshire silently took a sip of hot tea, the upward tilt of his mouth indicating that he had found another couple to ship.

And Julian's homeroom teacher raised his hand to cover his lips, shaking his head helplessly, amused by the scene. But he thought his student must be very sad.

Obviously, compared to Cheshire, he seemed to be a more serious teacher who didn't spend much time online.

…

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, um, is your mouth okay?"

Even though it was an apology, Lu Xiaoyao was so insincere and still poking at people's scars.

Julian wore a mask and stood in the middle of the patrol team with a cold face. His aura was now several degrees more severe than the howling north wind.

Shouldn't he be asking Lu Xiaoyao, the iron-headed kung fu master, if his mouth was okay?

Why was her head so hard?!

"Hey, Julian, besides your upper lip, is your tongue also injured? After we go back, your medical expenses... um, if it's not too expensive, I'll cover it all, how about it?"

Lu Xiaoyao asked seriously, her little head with a sheep hat leaning over.

"What if it's expensive?" Julian asked coolly.

"Ha! So you can talk, then it seems like your mouth injury is okay~ Then I won't cover it, okay~"

Immediately, Lu Xiaoyao was so happy that she could even jump two steps nimbly despite wearing a heavy patrol uniform and holding a cumbersome shield in her hand, happy that she had saved some money~

Julian: "..."

"Patrolling, be vigilant!"

An uncle standing in front of them suddenly turned his head and looked at the young couple standing together with a strange look. Finally, he clicked his tongue and sighed, "It's good to be young."

Lu Xiaoyao tilted her head: Eh 0.0? What is this uncle saying?

Julian: ...

"Uncle, you're not old either, no need to envy young people~"

Wang Wenfei scanned the surroundings vigilantly with a flashlight while helping the uncle change the subject.

With Lu Xiaoyao's thick nerves, she would definitely not know what the uncle was saying, but if he said something more, Lu Xiaoyao might understand, and that would definitely make her head explode with embarrassment.

That's not all, the key is that in the current situation, she shouldn't be given the opportunity to relax and think wildly.

"Besides the footprints of the previous patrol team, there doesn't seem to be anything else."

Mu Chen was at the front with another ability user, taking the lead. He looked down at the footprints on the snow and sighed, "Fortunately, it's not snowing now, the traces on the snow are still there."

"Yeah, we're really lucky." The uncle's attention was attracted by Mu Chen's words. "In this case, we just need to follow the footprints of the previous team, but we still need to rely on Xiao Liu for some environmental reconnaissance along the way!"

After he finished speaking, the young man standing next to Mu Chen hummed.

The young man named Xiao Liu's eyes faintly emitted a light green glow in the darkness, looking towards the woods beside them.

Xiao Liu: !!

Suddenly sensing the change in the aura of the person beside him, Mu Chen immediately became alert. The next second, he heard Xiao Liu's tense voice, "Be careful!"

"What?"

Before Xiao Liu could explain, the atmosphere of the team suddenly became tense. The previous straight line formation instantly shrank into a circle, raising the shields on their arms towards the direction Xiao Liu was staring at.

"Xiao Liu, what did you see?"

Even though the others shone their flashlights in the direction Xiao Liu was looking, they still couldn't see anything. They could only hear Xiao Liu's teeth chattering, which was exceptionally noticeable in the quiet environment where no one was speaking.

It was impossible to ignore.

"It's... it's wolves~~"

As soon as Xiao Liu finished speaking, suddenly, the sound of wolves howling echoed through the silent night...