Chapter 33: Seeing Through

Little Radish swung to the last tree, leapt up, and landed on Li Qianxia's shoulder.

"Ah! It's freezing me!" She jumped away as if she had touched boiling water.

"Little Radish~~" Li Qianxia embraced it as if she were seeing a family member.

With an agility rating of 8, Little Radish could not avoid being used as a warming pad.

It kicked vigorously against Li Qianxia's cold, tender face with both hands and feet, resisting in a way that resembled a baby harassed by its father's stubbly beard.

"Let's keep moving," Yang Qinglan said. "Let Little Radish find a safe spot quickly and start a fire, to dry our clothes."

Before leaving, Li Changzhou glanced back.

They were standing right at the confrontation line between the rain, snow, and clear skies.

The world was half bright and half gloomy, dreamlike and illusory.

The four— it was fine to say that, or four primate animals—left the ridge and stepped into the dense forest at the mountainside.

Yang Qinglan meant to walk by himself and moved a bit only to discover that his entire body was stiff.

The moment his toes touched the ground, pain shot through them as if they were about to break.

Seconds later, an unbearable pins-and-needles sensation crawled from the tips of his toes all over his body, making it impossible to move, let alone walk.

If they took some time, he might recover, but with their clothes wet and the chilly wind blowing, hypothermia could set in and make them sick.

To avoid delay, Li Changzhou carried him.

With only her right arm, Yang Qinglan endured the itch and slowly moved it to regain its flexibility. Her right palm clenched a handful of grass seeds Li Qianxia had spontaneously collected.

The mountain path was gentle and smooth, the pine forest fresh, and the air clear.

Afternoon sunlight filtered through the stacked leaves, forming columns that stood among the sea of trees, like trees of light.

"There's danger ahead," Little Radish suddenly said from behind.

Li Changzhou halted, and Yang Qinglan, with eyes as clear as water from atop his back, unblinkingly stared. Li Qianxia tightened her grip on the Blood-colored Steel Spear.

"How dangerous?" Li Qianxia turned and asked Little Radish.

"Hmm," Little Radish perched on a tree like a monkey, hands supporting its cheeks, gazing up into the sky in contemplation.

After a while, she said, "A red frog jumped onto the tree; it's poisonous, but it went to drop its offspring into a little puddle on the tree."

"So, dangerous but not unexpected?" Yang Qinglan confirmed.

"Exactly, exactly, that's what I meant to say!" Little Radish nodded vigorously.

"Don't worry. If it were really dangerous, it would have run off alone—no, a single monkey would have run off," Li Changzhou said.

"Not at all!" Little Radish retorted loudly, then muttered softly, "You're the most dangerous one."

Whether Li Changzhou was the most dangerous or not, they now had to be alert to face the red frog helping its offspring up the tree.

After walking a few steps, Li Changzhou, whose intelligence was diminished, causing a lack of concentration, suddenly asked, "Right, what kind of frog is the red frog?"

"Poison dart frog. Shut up," Yang Qinglan crisply responded in his ear, his tone flat.

They did not pretend nothing was amiss.

In the game of value, no amount of caution could be considered excessive.

So, they might as well be thoroughly prepared and not waste energy and thoughts on pretending.

Soon, "red frogs" appeared—two middle-aged persons dressed in sportswear with full-cover masks.

Yang Qinglan glanced at them and saw no weapons.

Generally, competitors would carry weapons with them, as retrieving them from their backpacks took the time of five heartbeats.

The two men looked surprised at them, examining Li Qianxia in the lead and her steel spear.

They lingered on Li Changzhou's AK for a while, then their gaze was drawn to his shoulder—Yang Qinglan's unparalleled beauty rested there.

After several looks, the two glanced behind them at Little Radish, perched on the tree, and appeared somewhat frightened.

Little Radish looked like a miniaturized adult, roughly the same age as Li Changzhou and the others, but only the size of a palm, white and tender like a radish, and as adorable as a legendary elf.

"Who are you?" Li Qianxia demanded.

"Don't be aggressive!" the two hurriedly raised their hands.

"We mean no harm!" the older man called out loudly.

"Then step aside!"

"No problem! No problem!" The two men slowly cleared the way, while saying, "May we team up? This game is damn brutal; all the beasts are vicious, killing without batting an eye."

"Team up?" Li Changzhou asked.

"Yes, brother, team up!"

Yang Qinglan pressed lightly on Li Changzhou's left shoulder twice.

"Just the two of you? Don't you have any teammates?" Li Changzhou asked again.

"No, no, just us two."

"That's good." Li Changzhou raised his AK, and the bullets surged out of the barrel, competing to exit first.

"Ah!"

A scream sounded as a person fell from a tree on the left, along with a Strong Bow.

Panic flashed across their faces, which quickly turned fierce.

But before they could do anything, a Wolf Howl surged through the empty forest like waves, echoing back and forth.

Li Qianxia slightly bent her knees and had already closed in, her spear moving like a Snake Shadow, biting the neck of the person on the left.

The Snake Shadow shifted and bit towards another person.

The person's figure ducked down, and his calves sank into the ground, his body continuing to sink into the earth.

Yang Qinglan's eyes turned blue, the upper body of the person staggered backward, falling over, with his legs firmly embedded in the ground, looking like wheat blown down by the wind.

Before Attract And Repel was activated, Yang Qinglan had already raised her right hand, and the seeds she threw landed right beside that person.

"Puchi!"

Ten Iron Grass Arrows, three of which pierced through the body, one piercing right through the heart.

Blood flowed down the Iron Grass Arrows, pooling on the ground into a small pond.

"Bang!" The first person killed by Li Qianxia's steel spear fell to the ground, his face still showing panic, confusion, and anger.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

"If it weren't for the water in the shoes and the heavy clothes, the second one wouldn't have escaped either!" Li Qianxia pressed her chest with some dissatisfaction and squished out a handful of water with a splash.

She shivered, feeling very cold, as if the cold water had been warmed by her, providing insulation.

"Wow, you're amazing!" Little Radish exclaimed as she hopped over.

"Just average, 60 points." Li Qianxia bragged, then looked at the body again with pity, "It's such a pity that the Blood-sucking Gun can't suck blood from corpses, otherwise it could keep us warm. Is there any animal that can suck blood from corpses?"

The silent Li Changzhou had already picked up the Identity Cards of the three people.

[Nickname: KGB]

[Name: Li Guanghong]

[Value: 0]

[Instinct: Earth Tunneling]

[Skill: 'Sharp Claws' (F-grade), 'Chase' (F-grade), 'Unlearned', 'Unlearned', 'Unlearned', 'Unlearned']

[Nickname: Village Bully of Li Family]

[Name: Li Guangwen]

[Value: 0]

[Instinct: Auditory Exclusion]

[Skill: 'Toxic Saliva' (F-grade), 'Splash Sand' (F-grade), 'Unlearned', 'Unlearned', 'Unlearned', 'Unlearned']

[Nickname: Loved to Hunt Birds Since Childhood]

[Name: Li Guangming]

[Value: 0]

[Instinct: Archery]

[Skill: 'Visual Enhancement' (E-grade), 'Unlearned', 'Unlearned', 'Unlearned', 'Unlearned', 'Unlearned']

Besides the Identity Cards and bows and arrows, these three people also dropped an Iron Rod, owned by the one with 'Auditory Exclusion.'

When these three teamed up, their combat power was definitely not low, and they were also cunning; an ordinary human was no match for them.

'Earth Tunneling' was not bad, but unfortunately, Yang Qinglan was right on his back, and there were no strong winds or heavy rains to prevent her from opening her eyes, so Li Changzhou only glanced at it and did not dare let the black fog take action.

Yang Qinglan hummed deeply and meaningfully into his ear with her delicate and beautiful nose.

Only the two of them could hear it.

"What, what's wrong?" Li Changzhou asked, trying not to show any expression.

"Why are you panicking?" Yang Qinglan countered.

"Enemies are all around, I am on guard. You scared me."

Li Changzhou recalled his own black Identity Card, his Intelligence had not yet recovered.