The Post-Apocalyptic Rival Who Crashed My Wedding with a Baby - Chapter 31

With Shen Qingyu’s prompt, Jiang Weiqing began to re-evaluate Xiao Mi from the ground up. In her mind, Xiao Mi had been a young mute girl, a pitiable victim exploited by Lingshui Village and forced to fight under the hollow title of “Priestess.” But the reality was that Xiao Mi was not nearly as fragile as she seemed.

The girl met Jiang Weiqing’s gaze with a detached, cold look. Without saying a word, she stoically rolled up her sleeve and carved away another piece of her own flesh, feeding it to the giant octopus just as she always had. These orphans had been meticulously “fed” by Granny Huang so that their flesh and blood were exceptionally sweet, making them a favorite of the deep-sea beast. However, for reasons unknown, the sacrifice had to be given willingly; otherwise, the blood would turn bitter, a taste the Sea God loathed.

“Xiao Mi, can we talk?” Jiang Weiqing called out loudly. She stood on a level reef, looking directly at the girl.

Xiao Mi shook her head. Her lips did not move, but a human voice emanated from her abdomen. “You are already as good as dead.”

Jiang Weiqing raised an eyebrow in surprise, not expecting Xiao Mi to be a ventriloquist. Beside her, Shen Qingyu caught her eye and gave a subtle look. Jiang Weiqing understood immediately. Currently, the enemy was strong and they were weak; they needed to stall for as much time as possible to find a turning point.

Weiqing flashed a quiet “OK” sign behind her back and stepped closer to the girl. “Do you really want us to die?” she asked softly. “I know you are kind at heart. You aren’t like the others.” By “others,” she meant the selfish people like Granny Huang and Village Chief Li, who only saw people as tools to be used.

Xiao Mi shook her head again. “I don’t want that. But the Sea God needs sacrifices, and I’ve already warned you several times.” Her gaze fell heavily on Lin Yunxia, An Songyu, and Chen Huawei.

Lin Yunxia gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. “So that’s why you followed me that night? You were trying to scare me so we would leave this place?”

An Songyu and Chen Huawei also had a sudden realization. “The uncontrollable urge to eat seafood… the way we felt forced to bow to the statue… those were your warnings too?”

Xiao Mi blinked and gave a small, silent nod of admission.

Duan Muyu narrowed her eyes and offered her own deduction. “That first hand gesture you made to us… it was telling us to run, wasn’t it?” Although Duan Muyu wasn’t an expert in sign language, she recognized common gestures for gratitude and warning. It was from that moment that she had sensed Xiao Mi’s oddity and decided to play along and enter the village.

Xiao Mi bowed her head slightly and let out a low sigh. “But it is too late now.” As she spoke, she slapped the giant octopus beneath her. Sea water surged toward the group like a massive waterfall. For a split second, Jiang Weiqing felt as if her nerves were being pricked by tiny needles, causing her to freeze for several precious seconds. Facing the towering wave, her deep blue pupils darkened. she manifested a water sphere to stabilize herself, but the force of the wave still pushed her back.

“Captain, look out!”

“Captain, come toward us!”

“Watch out for the hidden reef!”

No one expected Xiao Mi to strike so suddenly. Seeing their leader under attack, the Longyu Squad members shouted out in alarm. Chen Huawei looked at Xiao Mi with pure resentment. “If I had known, I never would have saved her from those zombies. I should have let her die!”

Xiao Mi looked small and thin, barely twelve years old. Despite her introverted nature, the team had treated her well, only to be met with such betrayal. Chen Huawei, having been particularly moved by Jiang Weiqing’s ghost story about a girl with the same name, felt like a fool for having cared.

On the island, Duan Muyu looked up from her tablet, her face grave. “She wouldn’t have died. She’s an Esper.”

“An Esper?” Lin Yunxia cried out, her eyes wide. To her, Xiao Mi had always been a regular human.

Duan Muyu gave a firm nod. “She is a Spirit-type Esper.”

The conviction in her voice was absolute, and on her tablet, the energy readings flared with a bright light that confirmed her words. Shen Qingyu felt her heart sink. She tightened her hold on the baby, her eyes full of worry as she looked toward Jiang Weiqing.

Spirit-type Espers were different from the standard elemental types. They didn’t produce physical energy, but they could launch mental attacks to confuse or even control others. This meant that they might have stepped into another illusion the moment they first met her. This was the worst possible scenario.

******

One thousand meters. Eight hundred. Five hundred.

“Banmeng, are we going the right way?” Lin Qitong asked anxiously. She watched the system markers on her screen change from a pale pink to a dangerous crimson. “Did we take a wrong turn?”

The closer they got, the closer they were to a Level 5 deep-sea beast. They were only five hundred meters away now, and the distance was shrinking with every step. The sound of the crashing waves, the nearby roars, and the flickering shadows of combat made Qitong’s heart leap into her throat. She bit her lip, wondering if they could actually defeat a Level 5 monster. She considered asking her system for a points loan just to stay alive.

Xu Banmeng saw her fear and patted her shoulder with a light smile. “Don’t worry, Qitong. We haven’t missed it. We’re almost there.”

“But we’re getting so close to the octopus,” Qitong whispered, her voice trembling.

Lin Xixi rolled her eyes nearby. In her view, Qitong was just being dramatic to get the Captain’s attention. At the back of the group, Lin Wenguang stomped his foot in frustration. “Xu Banmeng, are you taking us to regroup or are you taking us to die? If there were other Espers here, that octopus probably ate them already!”

While he had initially dreamed of taming the beast, one look at its massive silhouette from afar had turned his legs to jelly. Now, he only wanted to survive. His teammates began to grumble as well, questioning if anyone was actually waiting for them or if they were just risking their lives for nothing.

“What is wrong with you people?” Lin Xixi snapped, her temper flaring. She rolled up her sleeves, fireballs circling her body. “Do you want to fight me instead?”

“Bring it on!” a man from the other team shouted, his emotions frayed by the life-threatening pressure.

Xu Banmeng massaged her temples as her teammates and the others faced off. “We’re all in the same boat. Why are you fighting?” She gave Lin Xixi and the others a sharp look, and they stepped back. She turned to Lin Wenguang, deciding to be blunt. “We are going to regroup with Jiang Weiqing’s squad. We need to work together to take this thing down.”

The name sent a ripple through the crowd.

“Jiang Weiqing from the Longyu Squad?”

“One of the four S-Rank teams? They’re incredibly strong!”

“If we’re joining them, maybe we really won’t die!”

The Longyu Squad’s reputation was legendary, and the mood shifted instantly from despair to hope. Lin Wenguang, however, looked both relieved and annoyed. “Xu Banmeng, don’t play with us. Weiqing said she wasn’t taking the mission. Why would she be here?”

“Because I saw them,” Xu Banmeng said, thinking of the little cat head she had seen on the boat.

“I saw them too, before we docked,” Gao Hang added firmly.

Lin Qitong’s eyes lit up with genuine joy. Jiang Weiqing is the protagonist of this world, she thought. In a crisis like this, if you don’t follow the protagonist, you’re just cannon fodder. But to Lin Wenguang and Xu Banmeng, her joy looked like lingering affection for her ex-fiancée.

The Minglin and Longhai squads finally reached the center of the island and joined the battle. After a few initial exchanges, Jiang Weiqing confirmed the octopus possessed a high level of intelligence and was being directed by Xiao Mi. Since they now had three Level 5 Espers among them, their chances had improved to fifty-fifty.

Suddenly, An Songyu failed to dodge a massive tentacle. The blow left a deep, bloody lash across his back. He shouted in pain and cursed at the “stinking octopus” for using its size to bully them. Lin Yunxia immediately applied her healing light, and the wound vanished, leaving behind skin so pale it contrasted sharply with the rest of his tan.

“Stop talking and focus, Brother Yu,” she warned.

The octopus was effectively using five tentacles to fight the main group while using the other three to trash the island and scare off other mutated animals. Chen Huawei was struggling under the pressure, shouting for help since Hutong was pinned down elsewhere. An Songyu quickly conjured several earth shields around Lin Yunxia and the baby. “Take care of the little one!”

Because the beast was so powerful, Shen Qingyu had entrusted the baby to Yunxia. She didn’t want the child anywhere near the direct combat. Lin Yunxia was honored and terrified, hugging the child close. “Don’t worry, Sister Qingyu! She’ll be safe with me.” She looked at the calm baby and pinched her cheek. “Your Mama finally trusts me, huh?”

Jiang Weiqing, Shen Qingyu, and Duan Muyu led the charge as the strongest offensive fighters. As a Level 5 Water Esper, Jiang Weiqing finally had the home-field advantage. The ocean felt like a battery, constantly refilling her energy as she launched water dragons and whips at the massive, unmissable target. Shen Qingyu was a blur of steel, manifesting complex weapons and firearms to shred the creature’s hide. Duan Muyu used her ice and mental prowess to strike with surgical precision, her ice blades hitting the octopus’s weak points with a 100% success rate.

Above them, Little Black circled with the others, dropping down for hit-and-run attacks that kept the monster distracted. Everyone knew Xiao Mi was the true weak point, but the octopus kept her shielded behind its thickest limbs.

The arrival of the other two squads provided much-needed relief. Lin Wenguang shouted orders to his team, wanting to look impressive in front of Jiang Weiqing.

“Why are they here?” Weiqing asked, surprised.

“If they hadn’t come, they’d be the next sacrifices,” Duan Muyu said coldly.

Lin Qitong saw the group and stopped in front of Lin Yunxia with a sweet smile. “Yunxia, you’re a Healer. Let me protect you.” Yunxia thanked her, grateful for the familiar face. Qitong summoned several thick vines, but instead of attacking the octopus, she used them to reinforce the earth shields, keeping an eye on the battle from a safe distance.

She looked at the baby. “She’s so cute. Whose is she? Can I hold her?”

“She’s Sister Qingyu’s child,” Yunxia replied, moving back slightly. She wondered if Qitong was blind—Shen Qingyu had literally crashed the engagement party with that baby.

“Is it really hers and Jiang Weiqing’s?” Qitong asked, her face stiffening. She knew that in this world, technology allowed same-sex couples to have biological children.

“I believe so,” Yunxia lied. She knew the Captain didn’t like Qitong anymore, so she wasn’t going to give the girl any hope.

Strange, Qitong thought. Even with Shen Qingyu appearing, they shouldn’t have a child yet. According to the original plot, they only fall in love and have a child much later in the apocalypse. Is the plot forcing them together?

“Qitong, go help the others,” Yunxia urged. “I’m safe here.”

Qitong nodded and left, her mind racing. She was convinced that Shen Qingyu had used the child as a “despicable” way to trap Jiang Weiqing.

*****

Duan Muyu briefed the newcomers. “The girl, Xiao Mi, is a Spirit-type Esper. She’s controlling the octopus.”

“So what?” Lin Wenguang scoffed. “She’s just a kid. She can’t be higher than Level 2. Why haven’t you just killed her?”

“The octopus is Level 5,” Weiqing said. “It’s difficult.”

“You women are too soft-hearted,” Lin Wenguang said, conjuring massive fireballs. “Just kill the girl and be done with it.” He prepared to strike, but Shen Qingyu grabbed his arm with an iron grip. “No. She isn’t the enemy. She’s being forced.” Her cold gaze made Lin Wenguang flinch and extinguish his flames.

Jiang Weiqing called out to the girl again. “Xiao Mi, let’s talk. I know you’re a good person.” Her sincerity seemed to reach the girl, who began to walk toward her. The octopus roared, though it sounded weak from its wounds.

Across the water, Granny Huang watched with a cruel sneer. “Disobedient brat.” She crushed a pill in her hand, killing the “Mother” parasite within.

Instantly, Xiao Mi collapsed, coughing up blood. Miao Jialing leaped down to examine her, but quickly shook her head. “She was poisoned with a Mother-Child parasite. It’s been in her since she was a baby.”

“Can you save her?” Xu Banmeng asked.

“The parasite is a dual-life bond. If the Mother dies, the Child dies instantly,” Jialing explained. The toxins were already flooding Xiao Mi’s system.

Shen Qingyu’s face was dark. “Granny Huang did this.”

As Xiao Mi’s life faded, she reached out and tugged on Jiang Weiqing’s sleeve. Her voice, still projected through her abdomen, was as clear as a fawn’s.

“Actually… my name isn’t Xiao Mi.”

“There is no Happy Orphanage… or Granny Huang.”

“I heard your ghost story… and I changed reality to match it.”

She finished the three sentences with great effort and stared up at the sky. Jiang Weiqing reached out a trembling hand to her neck, but the girl was gone.

“She’s dead,” Shen Qingyu said softly, placing a hand on Weiqing’s shoulder. “Don’t cry.”

Jiang Weiqing tilted her head up and wiped her eyes on Shen Qingyu’s shoulder. “I’m not crying,” she muttered, her voice thick.

Shen Qingyu felt the dampness on her shoulder and gently rubbed Weiqing’s cold fingers. “Right. You aren’t crying.” The warmth and comfort helped Weiqing regain her composure. She realized with a start that Shen Qingyu was the one supporting her.

She stepped forward and gently closed the girl’s eyes. “I will always remember you.”

The warnings had been there from the start. They had just assumed it was a coincidence—a simple ghost story.

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