The boss gone, Shen Xingyue's subordinates naturally stopped fighting and retreated, getting into their vehicles and leaving.
"Hey, Bingbing, stop. It's over," the Deer Demon said, taking the water pipe from Bingbing.
Bingbing opened her eyes and, after a long moment, let out a soft sigh. She wiped a thin layer of sweat from her forehead and smiled at Yaoyao, "I felt like a puppet controlled by you just now, only capable of that one action."
I thought it was because Bingbing was too nervous for her first battle formation, hence the feeling. To my surprise, Yaoyao said, "You're right. I did control your consciousness, making you lose your fear, and your body merged with the water element of the formation. That way, the safety of the water square's core could be ensured. So, I apologize. You've lost quite a bit of water from where you should be holding it. You'll need to rehydrate well when we get back."
"Ah? Really?" Bingbing instinctively looked down. It was too dark to tell if there was any water.
"What about me?" I asked Yaoyao, "Was I controlled by you just now too?"
"What do you think?" Yaoyao liked to ask questions in return.
I thought back. It didn't seem so. I had been actively engaging the whole time.
"Your courage is quite good; you didn't need control," Yaoyao explained, which I took as a compliment.
As we spoke, Shen Xingyue and her group had already left. After confirming they hadn't left anyone to follow us, our five-person team also departed from Fanshen Village.
As usual, we first headed towards the brothel for a stretch, then took a turn at a fork in the road towards the provincial capital.
This time, there was no need to worry about being captured by surveillance cameras along the way, as we hadn't used a vehicle the entire time. The Eagle Demon and Yaoyao traveled by air, while Bingbing and I rode the deer. Of course, without a mission, our speed wasn't that fast. We meandered along leisurely, and by the time we returned to our base camp at Qipan Mountain, the eastern mountains were already streaked with the pale light of dawn.
The Deer Demon and Eagle Demon, having fought and traveled all night, were severely depleted. They immediately went into the mountains to hunt and replenish their energy.
Bingbing, perhaps due to Yaoyao controlling her consciousness, was dazed throughout the journey. Fortunately, I held her, preventing her from falling off the deer's back. When we reached her room, she collapsed onto the bed, too tired to move. I had to help her undress, simply wipe away the dust of travel, adjust her position, and cover her with the quilt.
Indeed, as Yaoyao had said, it was quite a drain. I placed several bottles of opened mineral water on Bingbing's nightstand so she could drink them directly to rehydrate when she woke up thirsty.
Yaoyao also needed to replenish, but perhaps seeing how exhausted I was, she didn't insist. We simply took a bath together, and after some playful moments, she went into the mountains to watch the sunrise with the other demons.
I collapsed onto the bed and slept until the sun was high in the sky. When I woke, I checked my watch; it was already ten in the morning.
No one was in the room. There was noise in the courtyard downstairs. I peeked out the window and saw Yaoyao and the others playing basketball. Dazed, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. My stomach growled with hunger, so I called Zhao Nana at the front desk to ask if there was anything to eat.
The time was awkward; breakfast was over, and lunch wasn't ready yet. Zhao Nana said they could only offer some snacks. I told her anything was fine and asked her to send them to my room.
Before long, there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Zheng Bingbing, holding a plate of snacks and juice.
"You're up so early? Are you feeling better?" I asked with a smile, inviting the little cutie and the snacks into the room.
"Last night, thank you all!" Bingbing said shyly. "I just contacted my dad again. Mom's blood pressure has dropped significantly thanks to the medicine Sister Yaoyao prescribed. She can be discharged today!"
"That's great," I said while eating the snacks.
"That..." Bingbing fiddled with the hem of her clothes, her lips pursed, looking like she had something to say but hesitated.
"Go ahead, there's no one else here. Why are you beating around the bush? Do you want to go home again?" I asked.
Bingbing shook her head vigorously, "No, no, Brother Chengfeng, you misunderstood. I want to..."
"Want to what?"
Bingbing moved closer to my bedside and whispered, "I want to thank you properly..."