Volume One: Planet of Beasts Chapter 45: The Sudden Appearance of a Little Sister

Opening his eyes, he found that dawn had already broken.

Li Juxu checked his body once more and discovered no changes, which left him somewhat disappointed. That inky-black little snake appeared unusual, yet it proved utterly useless. Stuffing the remaining chocolate into his mouth all at once and ensuring everything felt alright, he began to climb.

The rock face was at an angle of roughly eighty degrees—near vertical—inflicting immense psychological pressure on Li Juxu. The only saving grace was the roughness of the rock surface, which provided plenty of purchase. Climbing upward inch by inch, every single step consumed a massive amount of physical energy. Li Juxu recalled the duration of his fall the previous night and estimated the height to be between three hundred and three hundred and fifty meters. However, upon actually starting the ascent, he realized the situation was far worse than anticipated.

Once the sun emerged, the scorching heat and intense physical exertion drained him far faster than under normal conditions. Every finger had been wrapped in gauze, yet sweat mixed with blood seeping from his wounds still soaked through the bandages. Gripping the rock with his fingertips made slipping extremely easy, but his current circumstances no longer allowed him the luxury of re-bandaging. What unsettled him the most was that after an hour and a half of climbing, looking up still revealed no peak in sight, leaving him entirely in the dark about how much distance remained.

Sweat streamed down his forehead and into his eyes, the stinging sensation constantly making him want to wipe them. Knowing he was no professional rock climber and unable to support his entire body weight with just a single finger, he climbed with utmost caution, selecting the safest possible routes and often preferring to detour rather than take risks.

Taking a detour consumed a bit more time, while taking risks saved very little time yet carried the danger of a fatal fall. His clothes were already completely soaked through with sweat. The reason he had kept his heavy garments was out of concern for protecting his skin against slips, but now they had become a burden—soggy, intensely uncomfortable, and hindering his movements. Regret, however, was useless now.

Glancing up at the sky, he saw the sun was directly overhead. Having started his climb at seven o'clock, he had already been ascending for five hours. Suddenly, he noticed something felt amiss.

Under normal circumstances, let alone five hours of high-intensity climbing, even two hours would leave him too exhausted to speak. Yet now, five hours had passed and he still possessed residual stamina. This was definitely no longer the bone-strengthening serum at work; his thoughts immediately drifted back to the inky-black little snake.

"An aboriginal species is quite nourishing indeed. I wonder what effects that strange herb might have," Li Juxu muttered to himself. If he truly could not hold on any longer, he would simply eat the plant. Logically speaking, something that smelled that fragrant was most likely non-toxic.

Another two hours slipped by before he finally caught sight of the ridge. By this point, all sensation in his fingers had vanished; they were completely numb, even stiffened. Exercising even greater caution, he dared not make a single mistake—falling at this stage was something he would never forgive himself for in hell.

True to Murphy's Law, right when he was less than five meters from the top, a protruding rock suddenly cracked and broke away. At that exact moment, his foot had already been lifted, concentrating his entire body weight on that single handhold. Blood running cold with terror, Li Juxu plummeted backward. The nearby rock face was smooth and vertical, entirely devoid of any handholds or grip points.

"I'm finished!" In that instant, absolute despair washed over Li Juxu.

***

"Catch!" A pleasant yet slightly soft voice rang out, followed by a rope dropping from the sky right before his eyes. It was as though a drowning man had spotted a straw; Li Juxu grabbed the rope like lightning. Having just begun his fall, his momentum was not yet overwhelming, and gripping the rope quickly stabilized his body.

A tremendous pulling force surged from the rope. He scarcely needed to climb; he was effortlessly hoisted upward. Rolling bodily over the ridge, he looked up to see a familiar and beautiful face.

"Little Sister!" Li Juxu would never have dreamed in his wildest dreams that his savior would be Little Sister. He would sooner have believed it was Wang Xiaoxin. Among the few women he had interacted with over the years, the ones he knew best were Wang Xiaoxin, Little Sister, and Lin Lu. Lin Lu had vanished in the vast desert, and Little Sister was back at the settlement. Only Wang Xiaoxin knew he had fallen off the cliff and might possibly have organized a rescue alongside Cao Gang and the others.

"Why are you here? How did you know I was in this place?" Li Juxu was filled with questions.

"I accepted a mission and ran into Cao Gang on the way. I asked about you, and he told me," Little Sister replied.

"You know my squad leader?" Li Juxu had never known about this connection.

"Back when Cao Gang used to run with the Black-Headed Bees, they collaborated with our team a few times. We aren't close, but we nod to each other when we cross paths." Little Sister left one thing unsaid: she had only bothered to speak to Cao Gang because of Li Juxu; otherwise, she wouldn't have wasted her breath.

"It's a small world after all," Li Juxu remarked.

"The settlement isn't that big to begin with. Many teams actually know each other, but they rarely keep in touch during normal times, given the competitive nature between them," Little Sister explained.

"I owe you my life this time. Otherwise, the next time you saw me would have been eighteen years later." Li Juxu lay flat on the ground, reluctant to get up, feeling how wonderful life truly was. Hovering between life and death was an experience profound enough to savor for a lifetime.

"On the surface, Cao Gang acts magnanimous, but he's actually selfish. You really shouldn't keep following him," Little Sister said. Originally, she had no particular opinion of Cao Gang, but learning that he had abandoned Li Juxu filled her with intense displeasure toward the man.

"What is your mission?" Li Juxu wanted to steer the conversation away from that topic. He was well aware of Cao Gang's various flaws, but regardless of anything else, when he had been in his most desperate hour, Cao Gang had taken him in. For the sake of that grace, he could not speak ill of Cao Gang behind his back.

***

"To gather one hundred blood-wolf flowers." As Little Sister spoke, she was already re-applying medicine and bandages to Li Juxu's hands, while also tending to the other wounds on his body.

"I heard blood-wolf flowers grow deep within the Blood Wolf Canyon, and it's extremely dangerous. Are you here all by yourself?" Li Juxu only now noticed that there was no one else on the ridge.

"Our team previously undertook a blood-wolf flower mission, so we know of a spot where quite a few of them grow. The area I'm heading to has no dangers," Little Sister said.

"Did you bring any food?" Li Juxu asked.

"Only dry rations!" Little Sister opened her pack. By this point, Li Juxu cared little for details; his stomach was growling fiercely. Forget dry rations—he could easily devour several blocks of compressed biscuits right then and there.

Only after eating his fill did he feel like he had truly returned to the land of the living. Taking the semi-automatic rifle from Little Sister with a grand, magnanimous air, he declared, "Let's go. Let's finish your mission first, and I'll watch your back."

Little Sister did not refuse. True to her word, although the location was deep within the Blood Wolf Canyon, for reasons unknown, no blood wolves roamed this particular sector. At an extremely secluded spot, a vast patch of blood-wolf flowers bloomed lushly. Little Sister harvested exactly one hundred blossoms and not a single one more.

"Blood-wolf flowers seem to be an ingredient used in refining certain antidotes, so people frequently post missions related to them. Relying on this hidden spot, we've made quite a bit of money," Little Sister said with a hint of pride in her voice. Such a treasure trove was something even tier-two or tier-three teams might not possess. Carrying the gun, Li Juxu felt like a mere shadow, performing zero labor along the entire journey.