System, are you messing with me?

Ark 2 - Blue Moon

The weather outside of the cave was as hot as before and a blade sharp wind whirled up the dry sand from the ground until it was difficult to even see a few meters far. But Shu Ning couldn't stop now that he was actually pressed for time. Even in his exhaustion and the torturous heat engulfing his body, he continued to move while keeping an ear out for any Sphinx camping nearby.

Behind him trailed a tired Zhou Feng that had long already started complaining again as the path they took got harder and harder to walk on and the wind was cutting into their exposed flesh, making Shu Ning already irritated enough.

"Yang Quan. Yang Quan. Hey, Yang Quan. Stop ignoring me already."

Zhou Feng finally couldn't stand the fact anymore that the boy in front of her didn't pay any intention to her and was just continueing his way unperturbed by her whining and raised her voice slightly to be heard over the whistling sound of the air. At last that got Shu Ning's attention as he spun around in anger from the Female Lead's unresponsible behaviour in a dangerous situation.

"Shut your mouth already. Do you want to die? You are supposed to be a soldier, so act like one and get your grip together. We are in enemy's territory and you actually start yelling. Do you want to attrackt unwanted attention? Then be my guest but don't blame me afterwards for leaving you behind as a distraction."

The female opened her eyes wide in surprise at Shu Ning's disgust expression directed at her. Never in her life had someone looked at her with such hate and irritation before. As a girl she was always doted on and loved and as a boy she awed everyone around her and earned their respect.

Snapping out of her daze, Zhou Feng flushed red from anger and stomped her feet hard on the ground to make her thoughts about the boy's rude remarks clear but still lowered her voice when she spoke next because even she understood how bad the consequences of her actions could be.

"Yang Quan. You have some nerves treating me like that. Aren't we comrades? Shouldn't we look out for each other? This wind is just too strong to safely continue our way. Why couldn't we wait a few more hours until it settled and then move on?"

"Because this wealther is perfect for staying undetected. The Sphinx can't see, smell or hear well with all the sand in the air."

Shu Ning actually didn't want to pay the girl any attention at all but at this moment he counldn't let his emotions influence his judgement. The other was a trained soldier after all and she really could be usefull to have around once they passed the border to the Sphinx hideout later, so he needed to tollerate her for now. That was also the only reason why Shu Ning actually took her with him in the first place.

"It's just very difficult to see anything. Are we even going in the right direction? The aircraft we decided to steal should be at the edge of the battle ground of our people."

Zhou Feng noticed that the youth walking in front of her didn't react to any of her complaining anymore so she immediately changed her tactic and softened her voice to approach him more gently. But Shu Ning wasn't born yesterday, so he of course perceived her sudden change in attitude immediately and he couldn't help but curve his mouth into a mocking smile. He couldn't believe that the Female Lead actually thought of him as an idiot she just needed to be friendly with, so that he would do her bidding.

Shu Ning didn't care about his companion anymore and just concentrated on setting one foot in front of the other as he passed through the heavy wall of wind. But just because he liked to spend this time in silence, doesn't mean that Zhou Feng could keep quiet for more than a few minutes.

Shu Ning was a tollerant person normally but with the females constant blabbering and questioning on the way even he would reach the end of his patience.