Xiao Lou and his group of five left the Liuxi Village area. Ahead lay a fork in the road; the left path led into the pitch-black mountains, while the right path led into a dense forest. The howls of wolves echoed from the mountains. Xiao Lou asked, "Which way do we go?"
Yu Hanjiang frowned as he looked at the dark mountain and said, "Let's go to the woods." As he walked, he whispered, "Everyone, get your control cards ready. If any wild animals get close, use Balance to immobilize them."
Balance is a team-limited card, and each team can only bring one. But right now, the five of them haven't signed a contract book. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang are one team, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge are another team, and Liu Qiao is a separate team. They can use three Balance cards, one of which can immobilize an enemy for 5 minutes, so they don't have to worry about any beasts escaping.
Moreover, Ye Qi's guitar has wide-area control, and his teleportation card, flight card, and speed boots can help teammates escape quickly. If necessary, Xiao Lou's Tao Yuanming can even create a group teleportation portal. If all else fails, Yu Hanjiang has two guns. With Captain Yu's marksmanship, taking down several beasts wouldn't be difficult.
You need to be really capable to dare to venture into the forest outside the village.
The five of them walked forward together. Liu Qiao used the trees to move and scout the way for everyone. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge walked in front, Xiao Lou was in the middle, and Yu Hanjiang brought up the rear.
After walking for a while in the forest, Liu Qiao suddenly stopped and said, "Ahead are all thick, tall trees and many strange vines. The trees are blocking my view, so I can't see clearly. Do you want to continue deeper or stop here?"
Yu Hanjiang suddenly exclaimed, "Watch out for the trees!"
Xiao Lou turned around alertly—only to see a venomous snake, its body entirely dark green and almost the same color as the leaves, suddenly leap out from a branch and lunge at Liu Qiao's leg! Fortunately, Liu Qiao reacted quickly enough, and upon hearing Yu Hanjiang's voice, she didn't hesitate to fly down from the tree.
The venomous snake missed its target, opened its mouth wide, and flicked its red tongue at the group. Its tongue was thin and long, and its dark eyes were fixed on them. It made a hissing sound, seemingly extremely displeased that they had disturbed its sleep.
Yu Hanjiang shouted, "Back off!"
Everyone's expression changed, and they immediately followed Yu Hanjiang and took a few steps back.
Xiao Lou asked, "Is this snake poisonous?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "This is a green mamba snake that usually lives in trees. Its venom contains neurotoxins, and the mortality rate is extremely high if bitten."
Liu Qiao's face paled slightly. If Captain Yu hadn't warned her, she would have been bitten by a venomous snake. There was no medicine in the village, and being bitten by a venomous snake would have been fatal.
She glanced at the venomous snake with lingering fear. Just then, everyone heard a cacophony of hissing sounds. The village chief turned around and was immediately terrified, hiding behind Yu Hanjiang: "Ahhh... so many snakes!"
The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw countless green venomous snakes suddenly appear on the surrounding trees. As if summoned by the Snake King, the snakes flicked their tongues and slowly crawled on the trees, their bodies coiling around the branches, and in the blink of an eye, they had surrounded them all.
Yu Hanjiang said, "We've likely stumbled into a venomous snake's territory. Let's get out of here!"
Xiao Lou was terrified. He had only ever seen snakes in zoos before, and this was the first time he had ever seen so many venomous snakes in the wild. Yu Hanjiang grabbed Xiao Lou with one hand and the village chief with the other, and they sped off using their speed-enhancing shoes.
Unable to climb the tree, Liu Qiao checked Ye Qi's teleportation card and was delighted to find that its function had been upgraded. Previously, it could only teleport one person, but now it could teleport two. Ye Qi quickly said, " Liu Qiao, CEO Shao, I'll take you here! Come to my side!"
The two quickly positioned themselves on either side of Ye Qi. Ye Qi activated her skill and ran after Yu Hanjiang.
The group ran frantically through the dark forest for several minutes until they were out of the area of tall trees. Yu Hanjiang finally stopped. Xiao Lou took a deep breath, still shaken, while the village chief beside him was almost out of breath.
It's terrifying. Without excellent escape skills, recklessly venturing into a swarm of snakes will only lead to certain death.
Ye Qi stopped nearby with CEO Shao and Liu Qiao, panting, "Holy crap, that scared me to death! A dense swarm of green snakes! I've never seen so many snakes in my life!"
Yu Hanjiang said with a stern face, "The wilderness is much more dangerous than I imagined."
The village chief finally caught his breath. He patted his chest and said between breaths, "I told you long ago that the wilderness is too dangerous, but you didn't believe me!"
Shao Qingge, who was usually all smiles, looked very serious at this moment. His silence suggested that he was also somewhat frightened.
Liu Qiao looked at Yu Hanjiang and said softly, "Thank you."
Yu Hanjiang said, "You're welcome. I heard a sound behind you while you were talking, and that's when I realized that the snake had been coiled up on the tree, pretending to be a leaf."
Liu Qiao frowned and said, "It's not safe even in the trees. It seems we can't go back into that forest."
Xiao Lou thought for a moment and suggested, "Then let's go into the mountains?"
The howling of wolves came from the other side of the mountain, so they headed towards the forest first, only to find it full of venomous snakes and possibly other wild beasts.
Yu Hanjiang decisively said, "Let's go up the mountain. Wolves are afraid of fire. Let's find an open space and each of us will take a torch."
The group changed direction and entered the mountains.
As soon as we entered the mountains, we heard rustling sounds of animals crawling on the ground, and a woman's legs suddenly grew to two meters tall, just like a zombie.
She hopped around like a corpse, leaping seven or eight meters at a time. Xiao Lou said, "They're the two who left with the gems before!"
The woman had obviously seen them too, and jumped over, saying, "What are you doing here?"
The crawling man stopped, his body blending into the ground, only his head showing. He asked, "Were you driven out of the village?" The scene was very eerie, as if he were just a head lying alone on the ground.
The village chief turned pale with fright: "He...he doesn't have a body, he only has a head!"
Xiao Lou glanced at him, smiled slightly, and said, "Village Chief, don't be afraid, this is just a smokescreen."
The man asked in surprise, "Village chief? You're taking the village chief with you?"
Xiao Lou said, "We got the gems, but many people in the village haven't. They're worried about being robbed, so they've come to the outskirts of the village to take refuge for now. As for the village chief... he was tricked and driven out by Granny Sun, so he can provide us with a lot of information."
The man and woman exchanged a glance and asked, "Do you really have gems?"
Yu Hanjiang, who was in charge of keeping the gemstones, took out the dark green stone and showed it to them.
The two breathed a sigh of relief. The woman gritted her teeth and complained, "We've been hiding in these mountains for a whole day, damn it! There are so many wolves and tigers in the mountains. If I didn't have long legs and could hop around, I'd probably be food for those wild animals by now!"
The man, his face pale, said, "Those two Challengers who were driven out of the village on the first day have been eaten clean by wild beasts; only their bones remain, just ahead..."
Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang, who whispered, "Go into the mountains."
The woman stared in disbelief: "Are you crazy?! We can't stay in the mountains any longer, so we've been hiding around here. We advise you not to go in, just stay in this area!"
Xiao Lou understood Captain Yu's meaning and helped explain, "Wolves are afraid of fire, so we can light a fire."
The woman paused, then asked, "Did you draw a card like [Lighter]?"
Xiao Lou didn't directly say that he had drawn Bai Juyi. He smiled and said, "Anyway, we have a way to start a fire. If you two are willing, you can come with us. It will be easier to drive away wild animals if there are more people."
The man and woman exchanged a glance, and the man nodded, his head resting on the ground.
Ye Qi couldn't help but say, "Big brother, can you change your body back to speak? It's a little strange to only see a head."
The man said, "Okay."
He transformed back—this time even his last remaining head was gone, leaving only a clump of earth slowly moving around beside him.
Xiao Lou sighed, "Let's go."
The clump of earth quickly followed, and the woman who hopped around like a zombie followed beside her. Her legs were two meters high, like two pillars. This skill card was in no way inferior to Liu Qiao's ability to fly by using trees.
A group of people went into the mountains and saw a big tree.
The howls of the wolves grew clearer and clearer, and the low growls of many wild beasts could be heard in the distance. The timid village chief was so frightened that he trembled and covered his head. Only with Ye Qi holding him could he move.
Xiao Lou turned around and walked behind the tree with Yu Hanjiang. He quickly summoned Bai Juyi to light the charcoal fire. Before the couple could react, a cluster of flames appeared out of thin air. The woman exclaimed in surprise, "Your card is quite interesting. It's so useful in the wild."
Yu Hanjiang found a wooden stick, lit it, and handed it to Liu Qiao as a torch, saying, "Xiao Liu, check if there are any snakes in the tree. Take this torch and be careful."
Liu Qiao nodded, took the torch, and leaped up the tree. She carefully examined the tree, stepping on the leaves, and said, "There's nothing on this tree, except for a nest of bird eggs at the top." She picked up the eggs and said, "Anyone who's hungry can have a midnight snack."
Yu Hanjiang said, "This tree can provide shelter from the wind and rain, so let's make this our base."
Xiao Lou agreed: "Great, this tree is thick enough that everyone can sleep against it at night."
Ye Qi, Shao Qingge, and Xiao Lou immediately set to work. They brought some dry wood and placed it aside for later use. They also lit a torch for each of them to avoid being approached by wild beasts or poisonous snakes.
The village chief, trembling with fear, couldn't understand what these people were saying. Seeing the firelight, his expression softened somewhat. He took the torch Ye Qi offered and sat silently by the tree. Worried that the village chief might cry, Ye Qi considerately played a tune on his flute for him, helping him fall asleep.
Everyone sat on the ground around the charcoal fire, none of them feeling sleepy.
Just as they were about to roast the bird eggs over a fire, they suddenly heard footsteps coming from ahead.
Yu Hanjiang perked up his ears alertly and said, "Four people."
Xiao Lou paused, then lowered his voice: "Four of them, could it be Old Qi and the others?"
Liu Qiao immediately climbed the tree, took a look from the vantage point, and said, "That's right, it's them."
A moment later, the four followed the firelight to the open space and saw everyone roasting food around the fire. The four were surprised and said, " Old Han, you guys are living quite comfortably!" "Making a fire to scare away wild animals is a good idea."
Old Han is Yu Hanjiang's pseudonym. These four people are employees of a design company who have banded together.
Xiao Lou greeted him with a smile: "Come and sit down."
The four of them walked over and glanced warily at the unfamiliar couple. Xiao Lou said, "Don't worry, everyone here has already found the gems and is sure they can pass the level. There's no competition between us."
Yu Hanjiang said in a low voice, "To put everyone at ease, let's take out the gems and check them."
The group exchanged glances, and none of them dared to take it out.
Yu Hanjiang decisively took out his gem first, followed by Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao.
Old Qi then opened his palm, revealing the young...
The couple, Xiao Wu, also took out boxes from their pockets. Seeing that everyone else was taking them out, the woman who could do zombie jumps opened her palm to check as well.
"Chrysoberyl cat's eye, moonstone cat's eye, Hetian jade cat's eye, quartz cat's eye, tiger's eye cat's eye, tourmaline cat's eye…" Shao Qingge named all the varieties of cat's eye stones in turn.
"You know a lot about jade?" Curly-haired Woman asked curiously.
"Someone in my family is in this business." Shao Qingge smiled and stroked his chin, saying, "These gemstones are all of very high quality, with cat's eye lines all in the exact center, and they are delicate and clear. Each gemstone is priceless. A bracelet made of seven gemstones would cost at least several hundred thousand RMB. I'm talking about the price in RMB. If you convert it to gold coins, it should be worth tens of millions."
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this, wishing they could take the gem out of the secret room and exchange it for money.
Ye Qi asked curiously, "There are six here, where's the last one?"
Shao Qingge said, "The last one should be a red rutilated quartz cat's eye..."
No sooner had the words been spoken than the cat's-eye stones in everyone's hands suddenly vanished.
Everyone stared at the empty hands, stunned. Before they could react, Yu Hanjiang darted out like an arrow, pressing a Fruit Knife against the throat of a man not far away: "Give the stones back to everyone."
The man, wearing a silver mask, said calmly, "Don't get excited. You can pass the level with one gem or seven gems. I'm not stupid enough to steal your stones and offend all of you."
Through his mask, he glanced at the crowd gathered around the fire and spread his palms out.
In the man's right hand were the six gems that everyone had just taken out and confirmed, while in his left hand was the red eye stone he had obtained. He looked at Xiao Lou and said with a smile, "The last one is with me."
Xiao Lou nodded: "I've seen you by the pond. Your ability to 'remotely retrieve objects' is truly amazing."
The man smiled and said, "No problem, I'll borrow everyone's gems and return them to you right away."
Realizing he meant no harm, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The man asked, "Does anyone have thin thread? Or something like steel wire?"
Everyone said no, then Liu Qiao realized: "You want to string the seven gems into a bracelet?"
The man nodded, but unfortunately, no one had any string. Xiao Lou looked at the curly-haired woman and smiled, saying, "Could you please pluck a hair from her head and see if you can string it together?"
The woman immediately plucked a long hair and handed it to the Masked Man.
Masked Man threaded his hair through the small holes of the seven gems.
Ye Qi muttered to himself, "Could it really be that collecting all seven gems can summon Shenron?"
The moment the seven gems were strung together, a notification simultaneously appeared in the floating frames of everyone present—
Spade 4 [ Liuxi Village ] Secret Room: Challenger connects seven gems to trigger a hidden reward. Upon completion, an additional cat's eye gem is awarded. A perfect completion with an S rating grants each team a cat's eye gem bracelet and a [ Liuxi Village Story Card].
According to CEO Shao's estimate, a cat's eye stone bracelet is worth hundreds of thousands of RMB. Wouldn't it be a fortune to sell it in the main city?
Everyone's faces lit up with surprise and delight.
Unexpectedly, the most correct way to clear Liuxi Village is for all the Challengers who obtained the gems to team up and hide outside the village, restoring the gems to the bracelet of Sun Yueqing, who died 35 years ago.
Xiao Lou looked at Masked Man and said, "You knew this all along?"
The other person walked over and sat down next to him, saying, "I've been playing too many games, and I wanted to see what would happen if I collected all the items."
Ye Qi: "..."
This is really a common tactic in games!
Masked Man returned the gem to everyone, saying, "I heard your plan, and I'm joining in."
The Old Qi team and the Xiao Lou team had reached an agreement. The man and woman who had initially fled were unaware of the situation in the village. They exchanged a glance and asked in confusion, "What plan?"
Xiao Lou patiently explained, "On the fifth day, during Liuxi Village's annual Autumn Harvest Festival, Granny Sun and Granny Qin plan to massacre the village. We decided to save people, hoping to get an S rating."
Shao Qingge smiled at the two of them and said, "You two managed to escape the village beforehand, which was a lucky break. Now that you've run into Old Han and Brother Xiao, you can just sit back and wait to win."
The couple exchanged a glance, their faces filled with excitement.
They never expected to get a perfect score, but this happened, and they won without even trying? Their luck is just too good!
Shao Qingge, who has been winning without lifting a finger for years, said that winning without lifting a finger is really comfortable.
If he, Xiao Lou, and Captain Yu manage to enter the main city, they'll probably be the richest Challengers.
In Spade 3's Financial Crisis, Shao Qingge manipulated the stock market and made a million. In Spade 4's Liuxi Village, collecting all seven cat's-eye stones triggers a hidden reward; the bracelet can be sold for another large sum of money. Who knows, if they went to the main city, they'd be so rich they could just buy a huge house?
A wonderful life seemed to be beckoning them from ahead.