“If there’s no problem, go back to your rooms and rest. Tomorrow morning, we’ll head out together to find that soapberry tree,” Nan Muran said as she stood up.

Chengcheng looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. In the end, she just sighed. She had originally wanted to ask if she could sleep with Nan Muran, but it was obvious that the four of them had no intention of splitting up.

Nan Muran naturally sensed what she was thinking, but she couldn’t be bothered to worry about it.

After the four of them left—

Seeing Chengcheng’s troubled expression, Han Yingtian said to her, “It’s inconvenient for a girl to stay with guys, but we wouldn’t feel at ease if we split up either.
It just so happens that Principal Wang’s room is a suite—you can stay in the inner room, and the three of us will sleep outside.”

Hearing this, Chengcheng immediately nodded, letting out a long sigh of relief. Although she looked like a tomboy, she was still a girl after all. It would be inappropriate for her to really share a room with them.

After dinner, Nan Muran and Si Ye said they were going out for a walk.

“It’s snowing, and you two are going for a stroll?” Eagle couldn’t understand their behavior.

Could it be… love? But no, apart from a little ambiguous atmosphere, nothing seemed off.

Jiawu didn’t hesitate to punch Eagle and warned him, “Shut up, will you?”

Then he turned to Nan Muran and Si Ye and said, “Go ahead, just be careful.”

A thin layer of snow had settled on the ground, glistening under the moonlight.

Nan Muran and Si Ye walked side by side in silence.

“Um…”

“You…”

The two of them spoke at the same time, then smiled helplessly at each other.

“You go first,” Si Ye said, stopping and looking at Nan Muran.

Nan Muran nodded. “Time ability—when I lived through the apocalypse for five years, I never heard of it before.
If someone could manipulate time, they’d become something strange and terrifying in the eyes of others—people would do anything to get rid of them.

That’s why… you can’t let anyone know you have a time ability.”

“And you?” Si Ye looked at Nan Muran, a hint of unease in his eyes.

Nan Muran frowned, not quite understanding what he meant.

“Are you afraid of me because of my time ability?” Si Ye continued. He didn’t care what others thought, but Nan Muran’s opinion mattered to him.

Nan Muran’s beautiful eyes seemed to shimmer with light as she smiled, “Why would I be afraid? It’s not like you can use it against me.”

Si Ye stared at her silently, obviously dissatisfied with her answer.

“Fine. Even if you could use it against me, I wouldn’t be afraid. Because I am very sure—you would never hurt me,” Nan Muran said, her voice firm.

Because of her unconditional trust, Si Ye smiled—a rare, radiant smile that seemed to light up his handsome face.

“You look better when you smile,” Nan Muran praised without holding back.

Si Ye nodded. “I’ll smile more often then.”

“But don’t smile at just anyone. It’ll cause trouble,” Nan Muran added after a moment’s thought.

Si Ye’s looks were too striking; it was better if he kept his usual cold demeanor to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

Si Ye understood her deeper meaning. After all, he wasn’t always cold for no reason.

“Si Ye, let’s upgrade your time ability,” Nan Muran suggested.
She was curious if it could do more than just stop time.

Her sixth sense told her that the time ability wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

In her previous life, when she had used her psychic powers to investigate, she overheard a madman saying that there were two most powerful abilities in the world—abilities so strong they defied the laws of nature.
She had been curious at the time.

Now it seemed that one of those abilities was probably Si Ye’s time power. As for the other…

Si Ye nodded, equally curious. “Alright.”

Nan Muran told Si Ye everything she had heard and her own guesses.

Si Ye didn’t overthink it. “Controlling time could indeed count as one.
As for the other, once we clear out the underground lab completely, we should find out.”

“Once we get the fruit and level up, let’s move quickly. I’m getting impatient.”

Looking at her, Si Ye suddenly felt that even this cold winter seemed full of warmth. “Let’s head back. It’s getting colder.”

Nan Muran glanced back and realized they had wandered far from town. It was getting quite chilly. “I don’t really want to walk back.”

“I’ll carry you.”

As Si Ye bent down in front of her, Nan Muran happily jumped onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lazily rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m so happy.”

“Because you don’t have to walk?” Si Ye chuckled.

“Because it’s you carrying me,” Nan Muran answered sincerely.

“Nan Muran, as long as I’m alive, I’ll always stay by your side,” Si Ye suddenly said.

Nan Muran immediately gave him a light smack on the head, scolding him, “Leave out the part about ‘as long as I’m alive’!”

Si Ye hadn’t expected her to react so fiercely, but he obediently corrected himself, “Nan Muran, I’ll always stay by your side.”

“That’s more like it.” Satisfied, Nan Muran rested her head back on his shoulder.

As she drifted into a sleepy haze, she suddenly found it funny.
Before, she had thought Si Ye was a completely straight-laced guy.
But now that he was awkwardly trying to say sweet things—
Alright, a straight-laced guy plus a flirting disaster… honestly, a perfect match.

When Nan Muran opened her eyes again, it was already the next morning.

Everyone packed up and set out to find the soapberry tree.

The tree was still on Emperor Mountain, but this time they had to follow the mountain path toward the summit.

The military had been able to secure the tree thanks to a tip-off.
When they reached a deserted village halfway up the mountain, they saw an elderly man, around sixty, waiting under a tree.

“An old soldier,” Jiawu said confidently after just one glance.

Nan Muran was puzzled—how could he tell this frail, hunched old man was a soldier?

“His eyes,” Si Ye whispered to her. The man’s gaze was sharp and full of killing intent—the kind that only a veteran of countless battles would have.

“Follow me,” the old man said briefly after glancing at them, then turned to lead the way.

As they walked, Nan Muran used her psychic ability to probe the village, trying to judge whether the old man could be trusted.

To her surprise, she found that although the village only had a dozen or so households, almost everyone had survived, and they were living fairly well.

Most importantly, there was a boy about twelve or thirteen years old with a late-stage level-two psychic ability.

Si Ye noticed that Nan Muran was focused, worried she might trip, so he reached out and held her slender left hand.

He sighed helplessly when she didn’t react at all.

Nan Muran, however, was too busy sensing the boy’s psychic aura, noticing it seemed slightly different from her own.

Walking at the back, Eagle and Jiawu noticed Si Ye’s little gesture.

“Looks like they’re finally done being all awkward,” Eagle said, feeling relieved for Si Ye.

Jiawu just smiled and said nothing, clearly happy about it.

Despite his hunched, frail appearance, the old soldier moved quickly.

After reaching the summit, he continued leading them toward a neighboring peak.
The path grew more desolate and overgrown with weeds.

They had to clear the way as they went.
It was only after Nan Muran walked completely out of her psychic sensing range that she realized—Si Ye was still tightly holding her left hand.