The night is still quite nice tonight, but it's almost the end of the lunar month.

Only a small portion of the moon remained, still reflecting the sun's rays, appearing as a waning crescent.

So when Shen Mu Ning was about to go out at night, it was pitch black outside.

Fortunately, she still had the mental energy to project outwards, allowing her to see her surroundings clearly.

In this way, even at night, in the absence of light, she can walk steadily outside.

Just as she got out of bed and was about to open the door to go out...

She suddenly remembered that Chu Mingxu had good hearing and was a light sleeper.

Last time, she thought she made a little noise when she opened the door, but he noticed.

He didn't mind the trouble and followed her.

Fortunately, he was quite far away at the time and did not see her use her mental power and wood-type abilities.

However, this time she decided to be careful not to wake him up.

After all, no one knows what Cao Jin is up to this time, and the situation is uncertain.

If I have a little tail following me around, what if something happens?

Using superpowers or something, you still have to be careful not to let him see it.

Therefore, after a moment of contemplation, Shen Mu Ning decisively used her mental energy to form a mental energy shield.

The protective shield covers a circle with a radius of one meter around her.

This protective shield was something she learned during the apocalypse; it could block sound and smell, or withstand attacks.

Of course, the smaller the area, the less mental energy is consumed.

In order to withstand an attack, one's mental energy will be rapidly depleted according to the power of the attack.

During the apocalypse, this protective shield helped her escape from zombies that could only locate people by sound on numerous occasions.

Last time, she didn't expect that Chu Mingxu, who had been retired from the military for so long, would still be so vigilant.

The slightest sound she made when she opened the door was enough to make him follow her outside for so long.

Since I don't want him to find out this time, I'll use this protective shield that I haven't used in a long time.

"Squeak." For some reason, her door always makes this sound when she opens and closes it.

Fortunately, her protective shield covered the door, preventing the sound from getting out.

Shen Mu Ning cautiously went out, and even stood at the door for a while to make sure there was no movement from Chu Ming Xu's room.

Only then, with her mental protective shield in place, did she climb over the wall and leave the house.

As she hurried towards Cao Jin's house after leaving the house, she also used some of her mental energy to investigate the educated youth settlement behind her.

Yes, the courtyard was completely dark, without a single person in sight, and only then did she feel completely relieved.

This time, with no one behind her, she didn't need to slow down because of others.

He started running at his maximum speed on the deserted path.

Sure enough, it only took four or five minutes to get to Cao Jin's house this time.

When they arrived at Cao Jin's house, it was completely silent.

Anyway, Shen Mu Ning didn't see Cao Jin in the courtyard.

She knew that she had the Bloodthirsty Vine extend its branches, climb over the courtyard wall, and gently knock on the window of Cao Jin's room.

The moment the Bloodthirsty Vine tapped, there was a slight commotion in the room.

A moment later, Cao Jin came out of his room with a flashlight.

He thought Shen Mu Ning was standing in front of his window, so he shone his flashlight on the bedside when he came out.

As a result, there was nothing in front of the window.

Just as he thought he had just hallucinated and was about to go back to continue waiting, Shen Mu Ning called him from outside the courtyard.

"Cao Jin, come out." A crisp, clear female voice suddenly rang out from outside the courtyard.

If he hadn't remembered that he had made an appointment with Shen Mu Ning, and if he hadn't thought the voice sounded familiar, he would have screamed out loud.

Seriously, how can this big shot manage to do something so unusual, yet equally terrifying every time?

Not daring to answer loudly for fear of waking his parents, Cao Jin quickly calmed himself down.

He quickly walked to the courtyard gate, opened it, and went outside.

As Cao Jincai stepped out of the courtyard, he saw Shen Muning, holding a flashlight, standing right next to his gate.

Cao Jin was afraid that he wouldn't be able to speak properly in front of his own courtyard gate, so he pleaded in a low voice.

“Shen Zhiqing, can we talk in the grove in front? I’m afraid we’ll wake up my parents here.”

"Alright, you lead the way."

In fact, Shen Mu Ning's protective shield always surrounded the two of them, so no one else could hear what they were saying.

But Cao Jin didn't know that; he was still thinking of getting away from his own courtyard.

He knew that after learning how terrifying Shen Mu Ning was, he shouldn't have contacted her anymore.

But he wasn't sure if the methods Shen Mu Ning had left on him would be fatal.

Will I still be controlled by her in the future, making me do things I don't want to do?

This concerned his future safety, even his life, which is why he risked trying to talk to her.

Although he wouldn't threaten her to force her to give in and let him go, he's unlikely to anger her.

But whether she will become enraged and try to harm herself after her secret is discovered is uncertain.

For safety's sake, he still wanted to talk to her about it some distance from his home.

What if she gets angry and wipes out his entire family?

Even though his parents were seen as useless and lazy by outsiders.

Sometimes he wanted to complain, wondering why they couldn't work as hard as the others in the brigade and earn some money.

However, his parents had at least raised him to adulthood and poured their hearts and souls into it.

No matter how much resentment he harbors, he can't let him drag his parents down with him to their deaths.

"Alright, this is fine." Shen Mu Ning wasn't thinking anything complicated; she just wanted to see what kind of trouble he was going to cause this time.

She usually only targets those who threaten her safety, and is not as bloodthirsty as Cao Jin imagined.

Even in the apocalypse, she didn't have the habit of wiping out entire families without saying a word, let alone in this orderly era.

Seeing that they were some distance from his home, Cao Jin obediently stopped.

Shen Mu Ning raised an eyebrow, gesturing for him to speak: "What do you want to talk to me about? You can tell me now."

Cao Jin held back for a long time, his hands holding the flashlight were already sweating, before he finally said everything he wanted to say in one breath.

“Shen Zhiqing, I know it was wrong of me to try to scheme against you before.”

"But since you've already taught me a lesson, we should be even, right?"

"Then can you please let me go and stop controlling me?"

Realizing that his first two sentences sounded somewhat accusatory, he softened his voice considerably when he spoke his third sentence.

Shen Mu Ning didn't seem to care much about that, and simply asked him indifferently, "So, what do you want to do?"

Having already realized that something was wrong with his body and understood that she was behind it, he still wanted him to let him go so easily?

Was he too naive, or did he think he was so stupid?

Can you really just let someone who knows your secret live outside your control?