System, are you messing with me? - Chapter 18: Chapter 18

The weather outside of the cave was as hot as before and a blade sharp wind whirled up the dry sand from the ground until it was difficult to even see a few meters far. But Shu Ning couldn't stop now that he was actually pressed for time. Even in his exhaustion and the torturous heat engulfing his body, he continued to move while keeping an ear out for any Sphinx camping nearby.
Behind him trailed a tired Zhou Feng that had long already started complaining again as the path they took got harder and harder to walk on and the wind was cutting into their exposed flesh, making Shu Ning already irritated enough.
"Yang Quan. Yang Quan. Hey, Yang Quan. Stop ignoring me already."
Zhou Feng finally couldn't stand the fact anymore that the boy in front of her didn't pay any intention to her and was just continueing his way unperturbed by her whining and raised her voice slightly to be heard over the whistling sound of the air. At last that got Shu Ning's attention as he spun around in anger from the Female Lead's unresponsible behaviour in a dangerous situation.
"Shut your mouth already. Do you want to die? You are supposed to be a soldier, so act like one and get your grip together. We are in enemy's territory and you actually start yelling. Do you want to attrackt unwanted attention? Then be my guest but don't blame me afterwards for leaving you behind as a distraction."
The female opened her eyes wide in surprise at Shu Ning's disgust expression directed at her. Never in her life had someone looked at her with such hate and irritation before. As a girl she was always doted on and loved and as a boy she awed everyone around her and earned their respect.
Snapping out of her daze, Zhou Feng flushed red from anger and stomped her feet hard on the ground to make her thoughts about the boy's rude remarks clear but still lowered her voice when she spoke next because even she understood how bad the consequences of her actions could be.
"Yang Quan. You have some nerves treating me like that. Aren't we comrades? Shouldn't we look out for each other? This wind is just too strong to safely continue our way. Why couldn't we wait a few more hours until it settled and then move on?"
"Because this wealther is perfect for staying undetected. The Sphinx can't see, smell or hear well with all the sand in the air."
Shu Ning actually didn't want to pay the girl any attention at all but at this moment he counldn't let his emotions influence his judgement. The other was a trained soldier after all and she really could be usefull to have around once they passed the border to the Sphinx hideout later, so he needed to tollerate her for now. That was also the only reason why Shu Ning actually took her with him in the first place.
"It's just very difficult to see anything. Are we even going in the right direction? The aircraft we decided to steal should be at the edge of the battle ground of our people."
Zhou Feng noticed that the youth walking in front of her didn't react to any of her complaining anymore so she immediately changed her tactic and softened her voice to approach him more gently. But Shu Ning wasn't born yesterday, so he of course perceived her sudden change in attitude immediately and he couldn't help but curve his mouth into a mocking smile. He couldn't believe that the Female Lead actually thought of him as an idiot she just needed to be friendly with, so that he would do her bidding.
Shu Ning didn't care about his companion anymore and just concentrated on setting one foot in front of the other as he passed through the heavy wall of wind. But just because he liked to spend this time in silence, doesn't mean that Zhou Feng could keep quiet for more than a few minutes.
Shu Ning was a tollerant person normally but with the females constant blabbering and questioning on the way even he would reach the end of his patience.
"Shut your mouth. You annoying wretch. It seems like you didn't take my warning serious before, so let me make it a reality."
With a turn of his body, Shu Ning lifted his leg and aimed a kick at the girls knee to bring her down but even though the other was pale with fright from the cold voice of the boy, Zhou Feng still automatically dodged the incoming attack. For a second both of them seemed to move in slow motion as they looked into each other's eyes with their thoughts unknown.
After snapping out of her surprise, the Female Lead deflected her companion's incoming ellbow and started to return the punches and kicks as well. But what seemed to be a tie in strength at the beginning soon turned in favor of Shu Ning as his footwork got faster and faster.
Just when Shu Ning's arm broke through Zhou Feng's defenses, he stopped his attack millimeters away from the others throat making the other swallow her sallvia nervously.
"How were you even accepted as a soldier with these mediocre skills and your undisciplined behavior. You should really quit this job while you still can. Not because you are a girl but because you are too arrogant without the talent to back it up. The space ship you want is at the east of the fighting grounds. You can go and find it yourself. I have other things to do right now instead of Babysitting you, Princess."
Without another look at the Female Lead's aghast expression, Shu Ning turned around again to continue walking the way he decided on before. This time though he couldn't hear an extra pair of feet trailing behind him anymore and so the travelling speed was way faster than before.
In the one hour, that he needed to arrive at the deep crack in the ground that marked the start of the Sphinx hideout, the fierce wind surrounding him had stopped as well, making it easier to see where he was going but more dangerous as well.
Luckily, Shu Ning didn't encounter any of the huge Sphinx residing on this planet , so he could save up the rest of his strength for the infiltration.
Shu Ning: "Alpha. Can you scan this place for me? There should be a cave somewhere here that I need to find. And tell me how many Sphinx are close by."
System: "Yes Host... Scan is complete. There are over a thousand Sphinx in the area. I will send the details to you immediately."
A small map of the huge waste land appeared directly inside of Shu Ning's head, marking all the positions of the dangerous creatures red and the caves and dugouts of them in green.
Like the youth had expected, almost the whole area was painted in red and green, covering the few plants or rocks that could might be seen symbolised on the map.
Shu Ning looked over the projection in his head again and again until he found the sign of a small cave just a few killometers away from where he stood. That was most likely the place where he needed to go to find what he was searching for. But the way there was swarmed with multiple groups of Sphinx, making it almost impossible to sneak past such high defenses.
So because there was no direct path Shu Nng could take to his destination and there were no tall trees or rocks that could give him cover, he chose a more direct approach and just crossed over the crack in the ground and begun walking to the first group of Monsters in his way.
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Shu Ning was smeared with blood and muckus and a few deep scratches lined the skin on his arms as he stood at the entrance of a large cave, panting for air. His legs felt wobbly from the contiued strain of running and fighting and he needed to support himself with one hand on the stone wall next to him, so that he wouldn't slip and fall down on to the cold ground as he walked in to the pitch black hole in front of him.
A cold wind blew at him from the way he came from, sending shivers down his spine as the small passage he had walked in widened into a bigger room with a thin tree growing in the middle. On a place with almost none vegetation the sight in front of Shu Ning was trully a beautiful one.
The plant's leaves were a healthy green and red and pink, juicy fruits dangled from it's weak branches. At first sight it really looked like a normal peach tree with delicious and full friuts growing on it but knowing that this was the home of alien creatures, Shu Ning didn't rush over immediately and first looked around the place.
It was still very dark inside the cave and he had difficulties seeing properly but it wasn't nesessary to highten the sight the original had as he laied eyes on the floor covered in the thin roots of the small tree in the middle, digging into the stone as if it was melting together.
Shu Ning carefully stepped over the bulging roots that were sucking the nutrition of the stone cave and slowly made his way to the center while not forgetting to pay attention to his suroundings. But nothing happened as he came to a halt right in front of the plant. After checking the small thing carefully again, Shu Ning noticed a small flower bud growing in the middle of all the leaves as if it was being protected.
After hesitating for just a moment Shu Ning stretched out one of his slender fingers and softly poked at the tiny bud in front of him. Only a few seconds later an almost unnoticable movement could be felt from the soft blossoms and the flower opened up to reveal a dark blue and shiny stone inside.
Shu Ning: "The Blue Moon. So this is the stone from the plot? It is smaller and more beautiful than I thought. No wonder the Female Lead couldn't part with it."
Shu Ning looked at the roots on the ground one last time, grabbed the blue stone from the baby peach tree and then jumped back a bit to prepare for any attack that could be occuring. But instead of any aggressive behaviour from the small plant in the middle, it just pulled back it's roots to it's main body and covered all the leaves and fruit in a brown and wooden cocon like a barrier of sorts.
Just when Shu Ning thought that nothing dangerous will actually happen because of his thieving, a low rumble passed through the stone underneath his feet and large cracks started to appear in the cave he was standing. Stones in the size of pebbles roled down from the walls and fell from the sky, rapidely growing in size untill the entire stone cave was collapsing right above Shu Ning's head. After loudly cursing because of his awful luck since entering this world, the youth spun around to make his way out of this cave while barely dodging all the stones being thrown around.
Thanks to the constant training the original had received since small, the speed with wich Shu Ning ran back all the way through the narrow passage and to the outside wasn't slow, so he just managed to jump out of the cave's entrance when everything behind him crashed down onto the ground into a pile of dust and rocks, covering up the only vegetation Shu Ning had seen in a while.