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Whoosh.

Thud.

An arrow zoomed through the air, nailing the target dead center. Lin Feng, looking sharp in his clean, white archery uniform, let out a steady breath.

“How’s it coming along?” Yan Aoxue’s voice gently floated towards him.

“Feels good, pretty solid,” he responded, his hands confidently gripping a traditional bow, a notable change from the high-tech compound bows he’d been using. “Should get the hang of this bow and arrow soon.”

The traditional bow, with its hefty pull and pliable nature, offered a distinct freedom compared to the assembly and maintenance-heavy compound bow. Still, its lack of sighting and stabilizer gear did take a bit of adjusting.

“I was talking about your outfit,” Yan Aoxue sighed, eyes staying on Lin Feng as he carefully handled his arrow.

“Oh, the outfit! Love it. Thanks, Yan Aoxue,” Lin Feng flashed a grin, his tail playfully twitching from behind his trousers.

Yan Aoxue had generously lent her sewing skills when Lin Feng, bamboozled by a needle and thread, needed modifications to accommodate his tail. She didn’t just finalize the tail’s position but also embroidered a charming blue kitten onto the collar of his archery uniform, eliciting a stream of compliments from Lin Feng.

Curiously, she deliberately grazed against his tail and ears during the fitting. A sly move, perhaps seeking some clandestine measurements?

Lin Feng wasn’t particularly bothered by Yan Aoxue’s gentle touch. At this point, several of his classmates sought myriad, often peculiar reasons to teasingly pet his fur and tail, some female students barely masking their playful intent.

In contrast, Ruolian’s touches were the most comfortable — gentle, yet purposeful. Yan Aoxue, cautious to a fault, offered barely a semblance of sensation, lacking any significant feeling.

Liu Mengqi, on the other hand, was rough beyond measure. Especially with how he hugged and toyed with his tail to the point of him questioning his cat life.

“Sorted out your hair issue yet?” Hao Jian queried, leisurely lounging on a bench in the rest area post-practice, sipping water.

“Kind of. It seems my recovery amplifies when I’m on the brink, but the color dulls. Still figuring out my exact limits, though,” Lin Feng pondered, observing a minor cut on his palm.

To test his theory, Lin Feng, through a suppressed grimace, deliberately sliced a non-lethal area on his body.

The result was dismal.

Lin Feng noticed his wound wasn’t healing with the same rapidity as before. In past instances, a day would have sufficed for a full recovery, albeit accompanied by a temporary darkening of his fur color. After a few days, it would revert back to its usual white, a peculiar occurrence that yielded no clues.

“How are the preparations going?” The principal, approaching Lin Feng and Hao Jian amid their archery discussion, bore a faint trace of hesitation on his face.

“About there. I think we can prepare to depart soon,” Lin Feng nodded affirmatively. The entire team had been rigorously training in archery and enhancing their individual capabilities, day and night in recent days.

But why?

They were soon to abandon the school and its environs. The spiders’ encroachment, albeit slow, was increasingly becoming too much. Their webs had expanded immensely, now engulfing the once zombie-infested lotus pond in a sprawling mesh of various sizes.

The academic building had also succumbed to the spiders. Even though the webs weren’t omnipresent, Lin Feng, having encountered Mr. Spider’s venom before, wasn’t eager to engage with these chitinous creatures.

Not that they didn’t want to stop them; they were merely overwhelmed, outmanned and outmaneuvered by the spiders. Now, a hasty retreat seemed the only logical choice.

Regarding the spiders, after learning about the northern blockade of E City, Lin Feng had decided to leave them to the politicians on the outside.

Currently, E City resembled a massive, mist-enshrouded circle. Lin Feng aimed to avoid any complications and exit this disaster zone.

And so, the subsequent plan was hatched.

Leaving the school meant facing an unfamiliar environment and opening themselves up to more opportunities. Outside, they could drive cars, utilize various transport modes, and employ more potent weapons. However, they would also need to deal with unfamiliar and unknown circumstances.

To be honest, during his university days here, aside from a few visits to the nearby shopping malls and supermarkets, Lin Feng rarely ventured far.

Hopefully…

They won’t get lost…