Chapter 49: Is No One Going to Do Anything About Su Miao’s Cheating?

Borei returned with the cannon fodder and ordered them to start felling trees on the spot to begin constructing a catapult.

But after having only left for a short while, he noticed something seemed off.

"Where's your team leader?"

Borei questioned a combat team member whose face was filled with terror.

"The team leader... the team leader was killed," the team member replied, his body trembling.

Borei shoved the man aside and walked forward a few steps, quickly spotting Li Mingtian, the leader of Team 10.

When Borei had left, Li Mingtian had been perfectly fine, and he was certain that Li had been hiding behind the blind spot of Villa 36, making it impossible for him to have been discovered.

How had he died? Was it a shot fired by one of their own?

Such things had happened before—if it was an inside job, it needed to be dealt with immediately. But if it wasn’t, that meant there was an unknown, hidden threat somewhere on the mountain, and things were no longer safe.

Borei quickly examined Li Mingtian’s body, his pupils contracting as he noticed the bullet wound piercing the top of Li’s head.

Judging from the fatal wound, it looked as though the bullet had fallen from the sky.

Borei’s expression grew grave as he looked into the distance. Not only Li Mingtian, but two others had been killed in a similar fashion.

One had been shot in the back, the bullet severing a major artery near the neck.

Three others had been wounded, struck in various places.

Bang!

Another shot rang out from the direction of Villa 36.

The combat team member who had just reported to Borei fell to the ground, his face twisted in terror even as he died.

Borei saw it clearly—the man had been shot in the back, and after collapsing, his body convulsed uncontrollably. There was no saving him.

The bullets truly were falling from the sky!

"Retreat! Fall back! Now!" Borei immediately grabbed the steel helmet hanging from his belt and slammed it onto his head, leading his team members to withdraw.

"Anyone with a helmet, put it on."

He had made up his mind—they would not approach the front lines again until the catapult was ready.

The enemy was definitely cheating; otherwise, how could they be so impossibly lucky?

And yet, he had no one to complain to.

Thinking of Li Mingtian’s death, he realized that if Li had been wearing his helmet at the time, he probably wouldn’t have died so easily.

After all, the leaders of every combat group had been equipped with a rare bulletproof vest; a body shot wouldn’t have been fatal.

...

Inside the villa, Su Miao clutched her M416, trembling.

The method she’d just used—firing skyward and relying on falling bullets to kill—had drained her mentally, and she was near her breaking point. She needed to rest and recover.

Xia Xiao’an, crouched to the side, looked pale and utterly spent.

"Xiao’an, are you all right?" Su Miao took out some food. "Do you want to eat something first?"

Xia Xiao’an shook her head. "Thank you, sis, but I’m not hungry."

"Then let’s rest for a bit," Su Miao said. "They won’t dare show themselves again for a while."

Xia Xiao’an nodded. She glanced at her older sister, hesitated, and spoke. "Sis, the ability I suddenly gained is actually..."

Su Miao patted her head gently. "You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. It’s all right."

"No, sis, I... I want to tell you." Xia Xiao’an looked into Su Miao’s eyes, her gaze full of the same fear Su Miao had seen in stray kittens, as if terrified she’d be abandoned once the truth came out.

It was a strange feeling.

Xia Xiao’an seemed to draw on immense courage. "That day, Mom took me to a restaurant. Suddenly, the earth shook, a landslide started, and just as we were about to fall, Mom pushed me away."

"I tried to find her, but she’d already fallen. I was so scared, so desperate for someone to save me."

"And then, you appeared, sis. You saved me."

Xia Xiao’an’s words were halting, trembling.

Su Miao listened quietly, blinking in disbelief at Xia Xiao’an.

"My ability must have awakened then. Sometimes I can hear what you’re thinking, and I can hear the thoughts of people nearby."

"You have terrible social anxiety—by rights, you’d never have ventured out to save me—but you did. Later, I started to suspect..."

"You’re so kind, sis. I took advantage of that goodness, using my psychic power to influence you, making you forget the danger and come for me."

"Afterward, I tried using this power on others and confirmed my ability."

"I’ve always been afraid to confess, afraid that if you knew, you’d send me away."

Su Miao stroked her head.

Xia Xiao’an had only told part of the truth, Su Miao suspected. She remembered that when Xia Xiao’an first noticed her magical abilities, a fleeting thought had crossed her mind—should she get rid of Xia Xiao’an? The girl’s face had instantly turned deathly pale, consumed by terror.

Back then, Su Miao had assumed Xia Xiao’an had simply been sick from too much exposure to the rain.

Later, when Su Miao had considered getting study materials for her, Xia Xiao’an’s face had gone pale again—she must have heard Su Miao’s thoughts and been frightened.

So, she was afraid of studying.

During combat, whenever someone tried to sneak up on them, Xia Xiao’an was always able to give advance warning. Apparently, the people plotting outside the villa were so full of mental chatter that Xia Xiao’an could hear them easily, despite the cover of the rain.

At this thought, Su Miao’s expression grew strange.

In gaming terms, Xia Xiao’an had essentially awakened both mind-reading and mind-control abilities—talents befitting a heroine in any novel.

And in an otome game, wouldn’t she be the star of the show?

Meanwhile, Xia Xiao’an, terrified that Su Miao might send her away, felt numb.

How had such a serious confession turned into something so melodramatic in Su Miao’s mind?

She had always, actively or passively, used Su Miao’s kindness for her own benefit.

Who could possibly like having their mind manipulated?

She was nothing but a burden.

Without her, Su Miao might have long since escaped.

"Xiao’an, you can’t hear all my thoughts, can you?" Su Miao suddenly asked.

"I… I don’t know," Xia Xiao’an replied, puzzled.

Su Miao smiled and patted her head. "What am I thinking right now?"

Xia Xiao’an concentrated, then her body shook violently. "You’re thinking about whether or not to kill me…"

"Try again," Su Miao prompted.

Xia Xiao’an’s mind went blank. "Xiao’an is just too adorable…"

Su Miao nodded. "Correct. Now, try once more."

Xia Xiao’an’s face turned ghostly pale. "Sis, I can’t hear anything now."

"Exactly," Su Miao said, patting her head. "You can hear some of my thoughts, but not all of them. Some things are out of your reach—maybe as you grow, you’ll hear more."

"And as for your power, yes, it can influence many people, but its effects are limited."

"If it were really that great, wouldn’t you have cured my social anxiety by now?"

"Why don’t you try?"

Xia Xiao’an focused her mind, attempting to influence Su Miao.

Su Miao simply looked at her, unmoved.

Her attempt to sway her sister’s mind had failed.