Chapter 9: 9 He

“What are you doing? Stop right now!” Hui Mei barked with commanding authority; Xi Tiao Ning also frowned.

“Why? Why are you treating me like this!” the girl cried out, terrified and shocked.

The leader of the biker gang twisted his handlebars, and the five motorcycles circled around her.

“Because you’re nothing but a little monster—you had to be dealt with before you grew into a big one.”

“That’s right. The [Wu] appeared because of you. Get out of this village!”

The girl called Xiao Xue shouted in protest: “I didn’t! The [Wu] hasn’t done anything wrong! I just want to get along with everyone—why are you treating me like this?”

The five bikers burst into laughter at her weak rebuttal: “Why? She’s actually asking why? Do you think we care about this thing?”

“Stop this at once!” the glasses-wearing village chief walked over: “You’re causing trouble again—don’t you see the Victory Team has arrived?”

After being scolded, the bikers turned their bikes and left, but not before sneering at Xiao Xue: “Hah! The Victory Team’s here—now the [Wu] will be wiped out, and who’ll protect you then?”

Hearing this, the girl named Xiao Xue looked at the four members of the Victory Team, clenched her lips, and ran into the white snowy wilderness.

“Chief, just now—that was…” Xi Tiao Ning stepped forward, frowning.

“Those reckless riders? Ugh, they call themselves the [Satan Party]. They always gather to cause trouble, bully people, and extort or scare tourists who come here.”

“They don’t even let us sleep at night—revving their engines and screaming, driving us all crazy. Everyone in the village curses their names.”

An Tian asked: “They called that girl a little monster?”

The chief: “They’re just picking on Xiao Xue because she’s an orphan with no one to stand up for her.”

He sighed faintly and began recounting Xiao Xue’s past.

“It happened fifteen years ago, on a night of heavy snowfall. A mother and daughter appeared out of nowhere.”

“The mother died of cold and hunger, but the baby in her arms was unharmed.”

“That’s why the villagers all say she’s the daughter of the Snow Woman.”

Shan Zhong: “So she’s always been bullied?”

The chief: “An old charcoal burner took her in, but he died two years later. Sigh… The girl is lovely and beautiful, but everyone says she’s the daughter of the [Wu], so she’s never welcomed.”

Hui Mei, hearing this, couldn’t help but glance toward the direction Xiao Xue had vanished: “How has this child managed to endure all this?”

Her father had disappeared three years ago—this made Hui Mei understand the girl’s feelings.

An Tian was more concerned with the monster they needed to confront: “So what exactly is the [Wu]?”

The chief: “I’m no expert on this, but since the [Wu] appeared, tourists have plummeted and the Gaoshan Rescue Team won’t even come. To ensure the village’s future, we must eliminate it.”

Thus, Hui Mei stayed behind to gather more intelligence.

“Deputy Leader, someone says when the [Wu] appeared, they saw the girl named Xiao Xue shouting at it: ‘Don’t use violence, go back to the mountains!’—and then the [Wu] vanished.”

Xi Tiao Ning: “It’s probably coincidence. Keep gathering intelligence.”

The other three slid on sleds, following the map provided by the chief and road signs toward the valley where the [Wu] was rumored to have left footprints.

But half an hour later, they realized something was wrong.

Shan Zhong pulled out the map: “It feels like we’re getting farther from the valley on the map.”

An Tian: “Someone tampered with the road signs? There’s no annoying magnetic fog here—use satellite positioning.”

Xi Tiao Ning spun around sharply: “Who’s there?”

A little girl in a red cotton-padded coat peeked from behind a dead tree—she was Xiao Xue, the girl they’d seen earlier.

“Did you do this? Do you know who we are?” Shan Zhong immediately realized the culprit behind their wasted time and lunged forward to grab her.

Xiao Xue shouted: “You’re the ones who destroy monsters without asking why—frightening people!”

At these words, Xi Tiao Ning’s eyelid twitched.

“Frightening people?” Shan Zhong: “What are you talking about? The Victory Team fights monsters to protect human peace!”

“Liar! You’re here to kill the [Wu]—it hasn’t done anything wrong!” The girl flung a handful of snow into Shan Zhong’s face and ran off into the distance.

Shan Zhong brushed the snow from his mask and face: “Damn it!”

He was furious but couldn’t lash out—he had to restrain himself even when facing the “empty shell” Qi Ming, so he certainly couldn’t take out his anger on a child.

At that moment, their PDI communicators beeped—Hui Mei’s voice came through: “Qi Ming’s locator emergency signal has been activated—the rescue team is already on the way.”

Shan Zhong, still seething, had nothing but scorn: “He has a locator and still needs a rescue team? Useless. He was so full of big talk earlier—maybe we should ask him if he even saw the monster in the mountains.”

Xi Tiao Ning: “Our priority is dealing with the [Wu]. Re-establish satellite positioning and head for the valley.”

After circling around and reaching the correct location, the group searched thoroughly—only monster footprints remained, no sign of the creature itself.

Hui Mei called again: “New update: the distress signal came from the two missing college students—they say they encountered a monster in the mountains!”

“Huh?” Shan Zhong froze, stunned. An Tian looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

………………………………

The three, having found nothing, returned to the village. The rescue helicopter had already delivered the two students to Snow Village, so the Victory Team could question them face to face.

The student who met Qi Ming said the man who gave him the locator was dignified and fearless, treating the fifty-meter monster like a dog, buying him time to escape.

Hui Mei listened, dumbfounded: “That powerful?”

“There really is a monster—and this guy guessed right.” An Tian felt deeply embarrassed.

Shan Zhong kept his head down, unconsciously scuffing his heel against the ground.

He had just spoken the harshest words, implying Qi Ming was hiding from real danger by stubbornly staying in Wuchui Mountain chasing a phantom monster.

Now not only was the monster confirmed, but Qi Ming had faced it head-on… Had he always been this brave?

Zhu Xing Tuan, listening from the command room, felt reassured—he believed that although Qi Ming was an outsider, he still upheld his duty in crisis. His faith in him had been right.

Only Xi Tiao Ning frowned: “Alone in the deep mountains, holding off a monster? That’s suicide.”

The student: “Not necessarily—he jumped three meters high. The monster couldn’t hit him, but he could hit it. He’s practically a superhero!”

An Tian thought: Jumped three meters high? That’s beyond the world record—why not just say he can fly? Even praising your savior doesn’t require such exaggeration.

He asked: “So what did the monster actually look like?”

“Its head was sharp, its arms like pincers, it walked on two legs like a human, and its body was ringed like a tire.”

The other student objected: “No way—that’s what you saw? The monster’s head was round and flat, its body smooth, and it had no pincers!”

“It’s you who’s wrong—even with the fog, you couldn’t have mistaken it that badly!”

The two students immediately began arguing, leaving the four members of the Victory Team with complicated expressions.

Xi Tiao Ning: “They’re probably delirious from extreme stress—hallucinating.”

An Tian: “Then is their testimony even reliable?”

Shan Zhong, who had just seemed deflated like a wilted sprout, suddenly revived:

“No wonder Qi Ming found them—it seems dreamers attract each other.”

“No human can jump three meters high. A monster’s head can’t be both round and sharp.”

At that moment, the helicopter pilot spoke up:

“Uh, can I say something?”

“When I rescued them, I heard a huge commotion from the other side of the mountain—a terrifying roar. There really is a monster.”

Shan Zhong fell silent again.

(End of Chapter)