Chapter 85: Sleet

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Sleet

This standoff only lasted a few dozen seconds before the whole wolf pack suddenly backed off and turned to leave.

Renee Morgan: "???"

She wasn’t the only one creeped out—viewers in the livestream were freaking out too. Who the hell are these two, that they’re not afraid of wolves, and wolves actually run when they see them?

The theories in the chat were all over the place for a while.

Renee held her torch and walked up to them. Seeing their totally chill faces, she was even more frozen in place.

Jay Monroe yawned lazily, then deadpanned to Renee, "I’m a Beast Tamer. I reasoned with them, so they left."

Renee: "..." Why do I not buy that?

He didn’t even say a word just now.

But hey, dodging a crisis was still a good thing. Renee knew curiosity killed the cat, so she just let it go and walked back to the campfire.

Jay and Hugh were thinking about going back to sleep, but suddenly, it started pouring rain.

Renee was pretty sure this was artificial rain. No way this was just a coincidence; she was set to leave tomorrow and now all this weird crap was happening tonight.

Jay and Hugh couldn’t sleep anymore either. The three of them had to pack up and find shelter from the rain.

But the rain just got heavier and heavier. The three of them looked like drowned rats, and they couldn’t just stay put in the jungle—they were terrified a bolt of lightning would strike them dead.

And, at night in the jungle, there are snakes and all sorts of other animals around. Even if Jay and Hugh could scare off the wolves, who knew what else might happen. Renee nervously kept moving in another direction.

That was a place they hadn’t explored yet; on the other side it was all hills, and they hadn’t seen any caves, so they figured they’d try somewhere else.

Hugh and Jay kept silent, just following behind her.

Renee shielded her head, rain soaking her through. She grabbed a few big leaves and handed one to each of them, then hurried off ahead.

No idea how long they walked—didn’t find a cave, but ended up at the upper end of a stream, where there were some tall stone walls, just right for blocking the rain.

The three of them climbed onto the rocks under the cliff. Their clothes were soaked, and for a while, no one said a word.

It was pitch-dark, out in the wild, but they could still see a bit.

Hugh leaned against the rocks with his eyes closed, resting.

Jay looked at his soaked clothes, frowning, then saw Renee wringing out her shirt and wiping off the rock before plopping down and sighing in relief.

Jay sat beside her, looking for something to say: "Those people back there?"

Renee realized he meant Taylor’s group, and told the truth: "We met at the base."

Jay got it and asked, "You came in here alone?"

Renee shook her head. "There were sixteen of us."

Came in as a group—Jay nodded. "So now you’re the only one left?"

Maybe. Renee nodded hesitantly, no idea why Jay was even asking all this.

Jay laughed. "Guess you’re pretty tough then."

Not that he really thought Renee was tough. Nothing’s settled till the end; anyone could get knocked out at any time—classic base forest rules.

Renee didn’t think she was that tough either: "Honestly, luck’s a big part of it."

Jay perked up, "How’s that?"

Renee hesitated: "For example, you two decided to let me stay?"

Jay: "..."

"Pffft..." Jay laughed again, his handsome, pale face kind of glowing in the dark.

Hugh stayed still, still lean against the wall.

Renee had no clue what was so funny. Wasn’t she just telling the truth?

Once Jay stopped laughing, he asked, "What skills do you have?"

Don’t give me that about luck, Jay didn’t buy it. She was the only one left after everyone else got eliminated—there’s no way that’s just luck.

Renee had no idea why he was asking, thought about it, eyes lighting up. "I know Tai Chi."

She even did a few moves on the spot, though there wasn’t really enough room to show it off.

To Jay, it looked more than a little ridiculous—he started doubting himself: Maybe it really was damn luck?

Renee saw Jay struggling not to laugh and turned red. Remembering their wolf-repelling skills earlier, she couldn’t help asking, "How about you? What can you do?"

Jay: "Oh, plenty. For example—I speak Beast Language..."

Renee: "..." Forget it.

Jay saw her drooping face, totally out of patience, and laughed again. Hugh, like he finally couldn’t stand it, opened his eyes and glared at Jay—What’s gotten into you tonight, grinning like a fool?

Barely a minute later, Jay couldn’t laugh anymore—because it was cold as hell.

All their clothes were soaked, temperature dropping fast. Everyone’s face was going a bit white.

Renee knew they couldn’t just sit and wait for death. She stood, walked to flat ground, and started practicing Tai Chi.

The rain was dying down, but the temperature was dropping even harder; Jay and Hugh might have skills, but they’re still human. Hypothermia set in, leaving their faces ghostly pale, with a faint blue tinge if you looked close.

The livestream viewers goggled even harder. Had they just seen sleet?

It’s summer in Merrick—where the hell did the snow come from?

No doubt about it, they were getting artificial snow.

What for? Obvious.

At first, Renee was freezing too, but once her Tai Chi was in full swing, she kinda forgot about the world. Half an hour later, when she stopped, Hugh and Jay were shivering, on the verge of collapse.

That’s when Renee noticed it was actually sleeting. No wonder it felt this cold.

Maybe thanks to the Tai Chi, Renee’s hands and feet were warm; she didn’t look like Jay and Hugh. Still, she stayed alert, kept her breathing steady to avoid losing body heat, and went over to pat the two of them, both half-asleep and cuddled up to the wall.

The two looked confused, dazed from the cold, staring at Renee.

Renee urged, "You guys can’t fall asleep. If you sleep now, you might not wake up."

Hypothermia and falling asleep could mean death—Renee wasn’t lying.

Jay and Hugh hadn’t expected it to get this cold. They snapped to and tried to pull themselves together, but it only lasted a few seconds.

"I’m freezing to death," Jay stomped his feet, grumbling under his breath. The base forest must be doing this on purpose. He wasn’t afraid of people or animals, but he was still human—everyone’s scared of the cold! Middle of the night, crazy rain, sleet, the wilderness—who the hell could survive that?

Oh wait. Maybe someone really could survive that crap.

Jay glanced back and saw Renee shivering too, but somehow her face looked normal. He fell quiet for a moment.

"..."

Renee had trained since she was a kid; her body was different from most. She still hated the cold, but thanks to a set of Tai Chi and her practiced Energy Technique, keeping her breath under control, she stayed warmer than most people.

But damn, it was still cold. She kind of wanted to bail, but remembering all the crap she’d endured just to make it this far, she felt too stubborn to give up.

If you practice martial arts, you need willpower, perseverance, drop by drop until the stone breaks.

Never give up until the very last moment.