Chapter 1261: Missing

Since he had just woken up, Zhang Zian’s mind was still somewhat fuzzy. In addition, he had this constant fear that something was wrong, that perhaps something bad had happened. He looked at the time and realized it is time to change shifts with Nabari. This might be a sign that perhaps nothing was wrong and everything was still normal.

“I am awake,” he replied as he got dressed. “Mr. Nabari, please go take a break.”

Nabari’s footsteps indicated that he was slowly walking away.

Zhang Zian yawned and saw that Famous was awake too. He said, “You can continue to sleep for a while if you want to.”

“I will go with you. I slept a lot during the day, and now I am not sleepy.” Famous stood up, looking very well rested.

“Okay.” Zhang Zian got dressed and was about to leave the tent when he sensed that something was wrong. He used a mobile phone to illuminate the space and looked around the tent, but he found nothing unusual.

Subsequently, his gaze fell on the small mat that Fina slept on.

Fina sometimes slept with a thin blanket and sometimes without it. Today she had covered herself with it, and the blanket could be seen bulging.

Zhang Zian had already been doing two nights’ worth of shifts. Every time he was woken up by someone in the middle of the night, Fina would complain, then turn over and fall asleep again. However, today, the blanket had not moved at all.

Fina loved to sleep, but it is impossible that she had not heard Nabari’s voice. For her to be woken up without making a ruckus was not possible. Zhang Zian’s instincts were clearly onto something.

“Fina, do you want to go together? Don’t just eat and sleep all day,” he said.

If Fina was there, he would certainly get another hole in his denim pants, but the blanket remained motionless.

Famous also noticed something wrong. He sniffed and said, “Fina is not in the tent.”

Zhang Zian slowly went forward and cautiously picked the blanket up. This was a dangerous action. If he was wrong, he could get a lot more scratches.

There was no Fina under the thin blanket, only two empty water bottles.

Empty bottles could not simply magically appear in the tent. That was definitely the doing of Fina, who had deliberately used the empty bottles to pretend that she was still sleeping. In fact, she had already secretly left the tent.

Where could Fina have gone?

When he thought back on her recent abnormal behavior, the answer was obvious – she had likely gone to the Devil’s Sea all by herself.

He was secretly angry at Fina. Why had she not discussed this with him before making such a decision?

The fact of the matter was that he had always wanted to go in, yet he did not want to go in with Peter Lee and his team. He wanted to find another more opportune way to enter. Why couldn’t Fina have waited a little longer?

“I slept too much and didn’t notice anything…” Famous said angrily.

“I don’t blame you. If she really wants to hide something from us, she will always succeed.” Zhang Zian comforted Famous.

He was feeling very anxious, but in times like this, it was even more important to stay calm.

He looked at the time and said, “She can’t drive and shouldn’t have run far. We have time to catch up.”

Pulling down the tent zipper, he and Famous rushed out.

The surroundings were silent, and Nabari had already returned to the tent to rest. They were the only ones awake.

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Famous bent down and started sniffing. However, Fina seemed to have anticipated this and thrown about many conflicting areas around the tent. This made Famous sniff around the ground in circles, unable to determine which was the actual recent smell of Fina.

Alas, it was a good plan, but there were loopholes.

Although Zhang Zian was not as sensitive as Famous, he could guess what Fina was doing. If he were to work as Fina had planned, he would most certainly be fooled.

He patted Famous and brought him to the edge of the camp closest to the Devil’s Sea. There, they found the fresh smell of Fina and even saw her footprints. They were visible on the sand, albeit rather shallow. They disappeared into the darkness of the Devil’s Sea. Had it not been for Famous, Zhang Zian would most definitely have missed them.

Fina’s tricks laid around the tent were supposed to delay Zhang Zian’s search. However, that did not happen, and it had instead made her lose precious time.

In addition, her footprints had not been buried in the fine sand by the night wind, further adding proof that Fina had just left.

“Are we going to chase after Fina?” Famous stared into the dark, eager to go. He felt that it was his responsibility to keep an eye on Fina, and he wanted to make up for his mistake.

“Wait.” Zhang Zian looked back at the camp. If he were to chase after Fina, wouldn’t the camp be without a vigil?

He had volunteered to take over the duties of the vigil, and everyone trusted him. Now, he was ditching his job. What if something bad happened?

Asking someone to take over may prove more difficult. Luckily, he could turn to his elfins for help.

Facing the air, he released Old Time Tea, Vladimir, Snowy Lionet, and Galaxy. He left Sihwa and Pi in his mobile phone, as they were still sleeping. Not waiting for the elfins to ask, he quickly explained the situation at hand.

“Fina ran into an area that could be dangerous. I am going to chase after her now! Master Old Time Tea, please help me to take care of the camp…”

He had yet to finish his sentence, and Old Time Tea hadn’t responded. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his calf, as if he had been pinned.

“Oh no! I have been stung by a scorpion!” He immediately remembered the Orthochirus Innesi that he had encountered before, and he got so afraid that his legs went soft!

He could not believe that despite all that he had been through, perhaps this was the day that he died.

The scorpions in the desert were often highly toxic. Even if one was lucky enough to retain their life, they were more than likely to lose their mobility for a day. If that happened, who would search for Fina?

If this thing was made known, how could he keep up his own reputation?

“Hey hey hey! There is no scorpion!”

Zhang Zian turned and saw that there was no scorpion behind his calf. He was instead stepping on Snowy Lionet.

It licked its claws and looked at him fiercely. “Smelly man, bring Old Time Tea with you to chase down Fina. I will watch over the camp!”

Snowy Lionet knew that its legs were not built for speed and would likely slow everyone down. Thus, it volunteered to replace Old Time Tea to look after the camp instead.

Zhang Zian, seeing that it was not a scorpion, heaved a sigh of relief.

He decided to take Snowy Lionet’s suggestion. After all, he doubted that anything would happen at the camp. Making Old Time Tea guard the camp seemed like overkill as well.

“Okay, let’s go. I will fill everyone in on the details as we go!”

Time waited for no one. He rushed the elfins to prepare to set off immediately. As for Richard, he would be left to sleep in the tent. Anyway, with his night blindness, it would be cumbersome to bring him along.

“You stupid man, you better bring Fina back unharmed. If she loses a single strand of hair… I will turn you into a human meat patty!” Snowy Lionet snarled as she gnashed her teeth.

Zhang Zian had no time to bicker with her—although he hoped it was just bickering that they were having.

At the front of the pack, Famous sniffed for the smell of Fina. Zhang Zian and the other elfins followed behind. At the deepest time of the night, without saying goodbye to anyone, he ran into the horror land described by the Bedouin as the Devil’s Sea.