After returning to her room, Bai Youwei never got to experience the luxury of being “unable to get out of bed,” because she fell asleep almost the moment her head touched the pillow.

She slept deeply, as if trying to recover all the tension from those thirty grueling hours in the werewolf village.

Shen Mo sat on the edge of the bed, gently brushing the strands of hair from her cheek, leaned down to kiss her, then lay down beside her and fell asleep as well.

……

The next day, the research team sent over a report — an analysis of Wang Jingxian’s location.

Bai Youwei read through the report and stared blankly for a long time.

Shen Mo picked it up and looked it over, and he too said nothing for a while.

The document indicated that, after repeated cross-referencing of architectural environments, Wang Jingxian was very likely currently in Mudanjiang City — a prefecture-level city in Heilongjiang Province, nicknamed “Snow City.”

That itself wasn’t alarming. The problem was that during that particular time period, Mudanjiang’s snowfall had been nowhere near enough to create the sweeping, large-scale snowy landscape she had seen.

In other words, the scene Bai Youwei had witnessed in the crystal shard was both Mudanjiang — and not Mudanjiang.

The two sat together in the room for a while. Then Shen Mo asked Bai Youwei, “Do you remember the game of hide-and-seek?”

“Yes.” Bai Youwei let out a long, quiet sigh. “I remember. It was in that amusement park.”

Shen Mo said, “That amusement park was a perfect replica of a real-world environment — but with subtle differences.”

Bai Youwei understood what he was getting at.

She glanced at him and murmured, “You’re saying my mother is inside a game right now?”

“That area hasn’t been claimed by any King, so a game existing there is entirely possible.” Shen Mo said. “Beyond that, I can’t think of any other reason to explain why the investigation results would differ from what you saw.”

Bai Youwei said nothing.

Shen Mo continued, “Of course, the investigation results aren’t necessarily accurate either. Perhaps Mudanjiang has undergone dramatic changes. Without going to see for yourself, no one can know for certain what the reality is.”

Bai Youwei furrowed her brow. “You want me to go look for her?”

Her tone was reluctant.

Although there was no deep grievance between her and her mother, their relationship had always been cold and distant. Their normal dynamic meant they’d barely see each other a handful of times in a month, and even when they did meet, they’d hardly exchange a few words.

That Bai Youwei had been willing to proactively investigate her mother’s whereabouts was already remarkable. If she was also expected to risk her life to bring her back — she truly couldn’t convince herself to do it. Besides, if her mother really was inside a game, going there wouldn’t even mean they could meet.

“Now really isn’t the right time,” Shen Mo said. “Let’s adjust our condition first and prepare for the next battle.”

Bai Youwei nodded.

Besides, from what she had seen in the crystal shard, her mother wasn’t in any immediate danger. So she should take care of her own affairs first.

……

The days that followed passed as usual.

Battle 5 required 4 subjects in addition to the King. On Bai Youwei’s side, she had only Shen Mo, Tan Xiao, and Ashalina — they were still one short.

She had promised Ashalina that she wouldn’t put Alon at risk again. Yu Chaohui had left the base. Cheng Weicai was too old and Pan Xiaoxin was too young — neither was suited for combat.

Shen Mo looked around the base on her behalf, searching for candidates.

Du Lai was also at the base, recruiting people of his own.

Fu Miaoxue’s next battle was Battle 20, requiring at least 10 participants. Right now her subjects were only Du Lai, Leonid, Chen Hui, and Yan Qingwen — the gap in numbers was enormous. And since Fu Miaoxue had long since let it be known that she intended to surrender, pulling together enough people was proving unexpectedly difficult.

But Du Lai always had plenty of ideas, so Bai Youwei had no need to worry about their side.

She assumed that once the numbers were sorted out, training could begin quickly — building teamwork and coordination and all that. But after a few days, the person Shen Mo had selected refused to join them.

Shen Mo then approached a few more people, and without exception, every single one turned them down.

Meanwhile, Fu Miaoxue and Du Lai managed to fill their ranks surprisingly fast.

—