<h4>Chapter 948: Camel</h4>


    "Who told you to make the decision on your own?!" The news that Qing Ling had entered the Mist only stoked Gao Yang''s anger. "Couldn''t you have waited until you returned to do the experiment? At least Hong Xiaoxiao could have given you each a hairpin..."


    "Gao Yang, as you said, it''s the Mist we''re talking about." Dr. Jia''s voice carried a sharp edge. "If they got swallowed by the Mist, do you think Gamer would work? Even if it did, they would be too far away for it."


    Gao Yang''s protests died in his throat.


    "Alright, alright." War Tiger''s easy smile cut through the tension. "What''s gotten to you, Little Yang Yang? They''ve made a great contribution. Even if you don''t have anything nice to say, it''s wrong to scold them!"


    "And Little Qing, you''ve made a mistake too. As team leader, you should look at the big picture. You won''t make a decision on your own next time, okay?"


    Qing Ling turned away from Gao Yang''s heated re. She knew it was wrong, but she also knew Gao Yang too well; if she had reported to him first, he would have taken matters into his own hands. That was just who he was. And that was exactly what she couldn''t allow.


    Since she had proposed the idea, she would be the one to take the risk.


    Nainai had insisted on apanying her, not the other way around. Even Qing Ling''s de hadn''t deterred her. The prospect of adding "Mist Disperser" to her already grand titles had captured Nainai''s imagination—a feat truly befitting a supreme empress.


    After careful consideration, Qing Ling had decided Nainai''s level 7 Gale would serve them well, both for swift travel andbat. If they encountered danger in the Mist, Gale would aid in both offense and retreat. Only then had she agreed to let Nainai join her.


    "Come on. Let''s keep watching." Dr. Jia pressed y, uninterested in the couple’s spat.


    The video showed Qing Ling riding her de to catch up with Nainai, their hands meeting. Their figures grew smaller and smaller until vanishing into the unknown.


    The video ended there.


    "Four minutester, they returned," Dr. Jia said. "As expected, the micro cameras captured nothing. The Mist''s barrier sealed itself as soon as the ck Gold battery depleted. We had less than thirty seconds. When we approached again, we found ourselves moving in ce, just as before."


    Gao Yang had regained hisposure, his face settling back into the calm mask of leadership. He looked up at Qing Ling. "What did you find in the Mist?"


    Qing Ling met his gaze steadily. "Nothing much."


    "What do you mean?" War Tiger asked.


    Qing Ling nced at Nainai, knowing the girl would embellish the story with unnecessary flourishes, and decided to exin herself.


    Her words came precise and measured.


    The ck Gold energy had indeed granted them passage through the Mist, but crossing the barrier had felt unremarkable—no threshold, no sensation of transition. Beyondy the same boundless desert, except now they could move freely through it. It felt neither different nor unfamiliar.


    This desert, she realized, must be the one Dr. Jia had mentioned—the tourist site from twenty years ago that the Mist had devoured. The Heavenly Way, whether by choice or necessity, had erased all evidence of its existence.


    And now, twenty yearster, Qing Ling and Nainai had returned to this forgotten ce.


    There was nothing beyond the Mist.


    That was an answer neither Qing Ling nor Nainai could ept. They would have preferred facing dangers or mysterious enemies.


    With precious time remaining, they pushed their speed to the limit. And finally, they made a discovery.


    “An oasis.”


    Qing Ling''s voice held the room spellbound, the silence broken only by her measured words.


    In the boundless desert, they had spotted a deep green circle. One shared nce, and they swooped toward it.


    The oasis spread before them, norger than two ser fields. At its hearty an emeraldke, surrounded by towering palm trees that formed a living crown around the jewel-like water.


    Landing at the fringe, they approached with caution. Nainai sent a probing wind through the oasis. Palm fronds rustled, and theke''s surface rippled, but nothing else stirred.


    Time pressing against them, they ventured through the palm trees to theke''s edge. The watery mirror-smooth. No buildings stood here, no traces of civilization remained.


    However, there was a living being—a dark brown dromedary camel with short, soft fur and long legs and neck. Its tail was short. Its eyshes were lush and dark. Its lips had a pronounced cleft. And its nostrils were t. It looked docile and friendly, no different from themon camels found in Ni Nation.


    It drank from theke withzy contentment.


    And that very normalcy made everything stranger.


    "Camel?" Nine Frost''s voice dripped with disbelief. "What does that mean?"


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "It was just a regr camel," Qing Ling said.


    “It can’t be.” Gao Yang lowered his head in concentration. “The patch of Ni Nation desert was devoured by the Mist twenty years ago. How could the camel have been around for twenty years?”


    Qing Ling nodded. “I looked it up. The average lifespan of a camel is thirty years old. The camel looked young, though, and it couldn’t have survived on water alone for twenty years.”


    “Can it be a double or an illusion?” War Tiger made a reasonable guess.


    “I thought so too, so I cut it,” Qing Ling said.


    "Holy! That''s harsh." War Tigerughed. "What did the poor thing do to deserve that?"


    Qing Ling continued, ignoring hisment.


    The camel had seemed harmless. When they called out, its keen little ears twitched. It raised its head slowly, regarding them with azy look devoid of surprise or fear. Then it simply returned to drinking, sending small ripples across theke''s surface.


    Qing Ling checked the time. Twenty seconds until they had to turn back.


    Unsatisfied, she manipted her Tang Dao to deliver a light swat with the de''s back.


    "Hmph..."


    The camel''s cry of pain echoed as it stepped steadily away, maintaining a few meters'' distance. Then it stopped and resumed drinking, the threat already forgotten.


    Qing Ling considered killing it but hesitated. Time was too short, and she worried about triggering unknown dangers. Even a brief dy could trap them in the Mist forever.


    Taking the camel with them seemed even riskier—if it was even possible.


    In the end, they left the oasis empty-handed.


    They cleared the Mist just before the ck Gold battery died. Back with Dr. Jia, they removed the recorders from their waists. When yed back, the recordings showed only darkness, though the runtime counter marked four minutes.


    "That''s it?" War Tiger leaned forward. He was just getting into it.