Another huge thanks once again to Green KiTea for the Kofis. Enjoy the bonus chapters!

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The wild boar ran ahead, with Jian Xingyi and Shuixi chasing after it.

They didn’t rush to shoot it, but instead wanted to track down the boar’s den.

Shuixi said, “There might be a boar king in the den.”

Just like how there’s a Dodo beast king in a Dodo beast den.

The two chased through the woods, and sure enough, a cave appeared not far ahead!

Shuixi pulled out his rifle. “I’ll give you five seconds before I shoot, or the boar will get away.”

Jian Xingyi: “…Alright!”

Jian Xingyi immediately kept his eyes on Shuixi’s gun muzzle, ready to activate his skill the moment the boar was shot.

The moment to test their teamwork had arrived…!

Jian Xingyi swallowed hard and began coordinating with Shuixi.

Bang!

Bang! Bang!

One held the rifle steady while the other activated his skill. Jian Xingyi closely observed Shuixi’s movements, and Shuixi followed his rhythm. Jian Xingyi was surprised to realize they were working together surprisingly well!

Wave after wave of boars burst out of the cave—groups of them, big and small. The two coordinated flawlessly, hunting down every single boar in the den without leaving a single one behind.

BOOM——

Just as the two had bagged a pile of wild boars, the cave collapsed with a thunderous crash. A giant, spiky boar burst out, baring its fangs at them.

This massive boar was covered in spikes, its appearance hideous. It opened its mouth to reveal two rows of sharp teeth—it looked like it had already been infected.

…Which is kind of strange—the little pigs were all ordinary, edible wild animals, but this king had been infected.

But as far as Jian Xingyi was concerned, he didn’t care whether the meat was infected or not; as long as he turned on his synthesis machine, he could eat it!

The boar king’s body was so hard that bullets couldn’t penetrate it. Shuixi frowned slightly, switching to a gun used during zombie outbreaks—not the cheap, disposable ones he used for daily wear and tear—and aimed at the boar’s head.

But the boar was surprisingly agile. After locking eyes with Shuixi, it actually… turned and ran!

Jian Xingyi: “……”

This boar is even more of a slacker than he is!

Don’t let its massive size fool you—it runs surprisingly fast! The surrounding snowy ground trembled as it sprinted. With its back to Shuixi, the boar had hidden its only weak spot—its head—making it impossible for him to take it down for the moment.

Shuixi pulled out his snowmobile, and Jian Xingyi instinctively hopped on. The two gave chase on the snowmobile.

Once they left the woods, the landscape opened up. To one side was a massive, steep snow slope; the snow on top was trembling slightly from the violent shaking caused by the boar.

Shuixi furrowed his brow slightly.

He floored the throttle, finally catching up to the boar and finishing it off with a single shot.

After Jian Xingyi stowed the boar in his backpack, Shuixi took a sharp turn and sped away.

Jian Xingyi nearly got thrown off and, startled, clung tightly to Shuixi’s waist.

“This… this fast?”

The next moment, he realized why Shuixi had to leave so quickly.

On the slope beside them, more and more snow was being shaken loose and began rolling down. Cracks even appeared in the snow, which then shattered into chunks of varying sizes before collapsing!

Jian Xingyi: “This… this isn’t an avalanche, is it?”

“Yeah, but it’s not a big one. Don’t worry.”

ROAR———

Jian Xingyi turned to see snow slabs colliding with one another, pouring down like a flood with overwhelming force, enough to engulf everything around them!

This was followed by the earth shaking and mountains trembling.

He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but the wind around them felt even colder.

Jian Xingyi: “……”

You call this ‘not very big’?!

Shuixi said, “Hold on tight.”

“Oh oh…!”

The cascading snow rushed toward them. The tables had turned—just moments ago, they were chasing a wild boar, but now the snow was chasing them from behind. It felt as though if they slowed down even for a second, they’d be swept away by the snowwave.

Jian Xingyi could feel the surging wave of snow behind them closing in, and chunks of snow hitting their bodies, but Shuixi kept charging sideways toward the end of the avalanche, steering them away from its path.

“Boom—”

Just as the avalanche was nearly over, the two were knocked down by the aftershock and fell together into the snow.

The snow was soft, and they landed safely.

Only then did Jian Xingyi let out a sigh of relief.

Goodness… that was way too sudden…

But before he could fully relax, he felt a sudden, fierce gust of cold wind hit him.

The aftershock of the avalanche brought another wave of snow crashing down, covering both of them from head to toe. Not only was the impact quite strong, but Jian Xingyi felt his face go cold and numb.

“Pfft…”

Jian Xingyi looked at Shuixi, whose face was just as covered in snow, and grabbed a handful of snow to stuff into Shuixi’s clothes.

Shuixi raised an eyebrow, grabbed Jian Xingyi’s wrist, and yanked him toward him.

“Yaaah…!! I’m sorry!” Jian Xingyi cried out in alarm as she struggled, but Shuixi was too strong; he couldn’t budge an inch.

Shuixi also grabbed a handful of snow. Just as he was about to return the favor, he paused, then released his grip, stood up, and said, “Let’s go. We shouldn’t stay here too long.”

……?

“Oh…”

Jian Xingyi paused, momentarily stunned.

Something seemed off about Shuixi.

Was it just his imagination, or… was Shuixi really avoiding him, trying to keep his distance?

But soon, Jian Xingyi’s attention was drawn to the scattered pieces of wood all around them.

Goodness…

The avalanche had swept all the trees down the slope; now the area was littered with snapped logs and branches, densely buried in the snow.

Amid his excitement, Jian Xingyi also felt a sense of relief, as if he’d narrowly escaped disaster. Thankfully, Shuixi had reacted quickly and driven skillfully to avoid the avalanche’s path; otherwise, they wouldn’t just have been buried alive by the snow, but also crushed by these logs.

Jian Xingyi walked around and exclaimed happily, “We can collect all of this!”

The logs wouldn’t respawn until three or four people had collected them, so the two of them began gathering the wood.

Jian Xingyi didn’t forget to check his backpack.

After activating his skill on all the pigs in the pen, his backpack was indeed filled with a substantial number of sheep and cattle, replenishing his livestock resources. Now he finally didn’t have to worry about a shortage—otherwise, as the demand for meat grew, his supply of lambs and calves would have been insufficient.

Not only that, but these pigs… had even given him piglets!

Great news!! The system finally worked properly for once—no more mismatched rewards. This might even be the only time!

Previously, the fishing spot yielded loach, and the wild boar spot yielded lambs. This time, the wild boar actually produced… piglets!

Jian Xingyi was left both amused and exasperated.

Pork, great!

Jian Xingyi spent 500,000 to expand Livestock Area No. 6 and started raising piglets.

He wasn’t in a hurry to expand further, since Area No. 6 was still only D-grade. He’d wait until it upgraded to B-grade. Currently, he only has a paltry 88 points—not even enough for a fraction of the cost to upgrade to C-grade.

And it wasn’t just the livestock needed for farming; Jian Xingyi had also harvested countless pounds of pork and the Wild Boar King’s meat. He could use the pork to make potato boxed meals, and thanks to the Dodo beast, his inventory of game meat had always been inexhaustible. Now, with the addition of this colossal Wild Boar King, his stockpile had grown even larger.

If asked what food currently dominates Jian Xingyi’s inventory, it would undoubtedly be game meat, followed by potatoes. This is why the majority of the meals Jian Xingyi provides to guilds consist of stir-fried game meat with potatoes.

Pork, lamb, and other meats—whether hunted from uninfected animals or raised on farms—are quite rare and come with special bonuses. However, the system is never stingy with beast meat, which can only be made edible through recipes and synthesis machines.

Presumably, this is because not many people can turn beast meat into something edible; most people simply throw away the infected lean meat they obtain.

Just thinking about this made Jian Xingyi wince. But he couldn’t exactly walk up to someone and say, “Hey, let’s be friends—hand over your beast meat!”

Never mind his pride; that would be way too inefficient.

I wonder if there’s any way to solve this…

Collecting wood was incredibly boring. As Jian Xingyi repeated the mechanical tapping motions, his mind wandered.

After the two of them had been collecting wood for ages, Jian Xingyi received a private message from Lone Wolf.

Lone Wolf: 【We’re halfway up the mountain. Send us your location】

After Jian Xingyi sent his location, he soon heard the sound of motorcycle engines.

“Hey!”

“Long time no see!”

Lone Wolf and Haihai were in the lead, followed by seven members of the “Long Live for A Hundred Years” guild. Actually, Lone Wolf and Haihai’s original team had nearly forty members, but since not everyone could adapt to the map of Thousand Bells Snow Mountain, those with insufficient combat strength didn’t come along. Instead, they stayed behind at Flag-Raising Mountain and Lava Volcano to continue gathering wood.

Jian Xingyi nodded with a smile, “Well, you’ve arrived just in time. An avalanche happened here a moment ago, and the trees were swept down. There’s plenty of wood to gather all around.”

Many hands make light work!

“An avalanche…?”

Jian Xingyi laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m fine, and Shuixi is here with me.”

Jian Xingyi walked over to Shuixi, patted him on the shoulder, and introduced him to everyone: “This is the friend I mentioned in the chat—the one traveling with me this time.”

All eyes turned to Shuixi.

Apart from the Lone Wolf—who believed everything Jian Xingyi said and whose eyes remained as clear as ever—everyone else, including Haihai, was brimming with unhidden curiosity.

So this is… the mysterious man behind the Big Shot Xinghe! That friend whose relationship with him is rumored to be anything but simple!

“Hello,” Shuixi nodded without much expression.

But Shuixi didn’t satisfy everyone’s curiosity, nor did he continue chatting with them; he simply went off to the side and silently started gathering wood on his own.

Because his aura was so icy, as if keeping everyone at arm’s length, no one dared to approach him.

Everyone silently gathered wood, while Jian Xingyi, Lone Wolf, and Haihai exchanged brief updates.

One wall requires 400,000 pieces of wood. Previously, the guild had successfully collected just over 5,000, but after the system update, many loopholes opened up—not just those mentioned in the announcements, but players were gradually discovering numerous changes beyond them as well.

For instance, there was significantly more wood on the maps, and the amount of wood that could be harvested from a single log had also increased. The higher the difficulty of the map, the more wood there was, but even on Peace Mountain, the amount of wood had multiplied several times over.

As a result, after just two days of everyone working together tirelessly to grind and collect, they managed to boost the original total of over 5,000 to 15,000.

“It’s not just that there are more maps; the amount of wood dropped as dungeon rewards has also increased. Akita has been leading the guild’s high-level players through dungeons recently and noticed that the wood drops are getting more and more.”

Jian Xingyi glanced at the guild’s records.

Wood: 15,078

Zombies Killed: 3,371

The number of zombies killed, on the other hand…

But everything must be done step by step; for now, everyone should focus on the wood.

Jian Xingyi nodded and said, “Alright, there’s plenty of wood around here anyway. Resources in the Snow Mountains are indeed plentiful; I’ve already collected over 2,000 just from this forest and the avalanche site!”

“What??”

The two of them froze.

A little??

After Jian Xingyi clicked “Submit,” the guild’s records updated again.

Wood: 17,100

Zombie Kills: 3,371

Heiye: 【??】

Baizhou: 【??】

Akita: 【?? Where have you been, Xinghe?】

The last time he reported, Jian Xingyi only had a little over 500. How could he have gone solo and racked up over 2,000 in just two days??

What new tricks does the resource tycoon have up his sleeve!!

Jian Xingyi laughed, “The 500-plus logs were ones I picked up at the foot of Flag Mountain and Snow Mountain before the system update. But now that it’s updated, Snow Mountain is completely different—and around here… after the avalanche, there’s really a ton of wood!”

Everyone immediately got excited and pumped up. No wonder the guide for Grapevine Peak recommended Snow Mountain.

Let’s go!

After Haihai explained the situation to the guild members, Akita was also tempted and wanted to head to the dungeon at the foot of Snow Mountain.

Meanwhile, Jian Xingyi continued gathering.

【Player 【Xinghe】 gathered wood x11】

【Player 【Xinghe】 gathered wood x9】

……

【Gathering successful, absorbed 【Essence】 x5】

【Gathering successful, absorbed 【Essence】 x4】

……

It also boosted his Essence points quite a bit.

Everyone was busily picking up wood, including Shuixi. Haihai glanced at the silent Shuixi and thought to himself that he was usually quite sociable. He was about to go over and strike up a conversation, but then Shuixi turned and looked at him…

Shuixi thought he had no expression on his face, but Haihai felt as if he’d been repelled by an invisible killing intent.

“Uh… nothing.”

Except…

“Shuixi, Shuixi!” Jian Xingyi rushed forward and whispered into Shuixi’s ear: “Look at this, isn’t it…”

The two were practically pressed against each other as they spoke.

Everyone: “……”

Wow.

Haihai was speechless.

Jian Xingyi suddenly got excited and shared this because after he clicked on one of the pieces of wood…

【Player 【Xinghe】 Collected Wood x250】

That’s way too much!!

What kind of magical wood is this?

“I checked the description; it says it drops from Grade A trees. I even checked other types of wood, and they’re all Grade B.”

After pondering for a moment, Shuixi understood, “These special timbers come from places up there that ordinary people can’t reach.”

Shuixi pointed to the peak of the nearby hillside.

Jian Xingyi suddenly understood. The trees growing high up on the slope were not only massive but also more resistant to wind and snow. Moreover, due to the rugged terrain, not only was it difficult for people to climb up there, but there were no zombies either, making the environment even purer and the grade as high as A. Meanwhile, the ordinary trees on the ground were all B-grade.

Come to think of it, the plants on the lava volcano might all be Grade C. It was just that he hadn’t unlocked that function yet and couldn’t see the ratings; he could only judge by the amount of essence collected. And just like essence, Grade B wood was rarer, while Grade A was more abundant.

However, after talking for a while and getting closer, Shuixi slowly pulled back, taking two steps away.

Jian Xingyi: “……”

Though the movement was subtle, he noticed it nonetheless!

Jian Xingyi pouted slightly, suppressed his emotions, and forced a smile. “So it seems we really did turn misfortune into fortune because of the avalanche… Too bad we can’t encounter avalanches every day, and even if we do, we might not be as lucky as we were this time.”

Shuixi pondered for a moment before speaking cautiously, “Not necessarily.”

“Hm?”

Shuixi raised an eyebrow. “As long as you follow the avalanche routes marked on the map, observe the snow’s layers and condition, locate a weak snow layer and detonate it with explosives, or ride along the path where the weak snow layer would slide down, an avalanche can be triggered artificially.”

Jian Xingyi: “……”

Jian Xingyi was speechless.

What kind of crazy scheme is this!!

Jian Xingyi: “Are… you serious?”

Shuixi said, “We can choose to trigger a small-scale avalanche.”

Jian Xingyi swallowed hard. “Won’t that be dangerous?”

Shuixi: “We can clear the area first. I can handle it. You guys stay back a bit; come over to pick up the gear once I give you the signal.”

“No way…!” Jian Xingyi frowned. “If we’re really going to do something like this and take such a risk, then I’m going with you. I’ll just sit quietly on the back of your motorcycle and promise not to cause any trouble!”

Although bringing him along… would really only serve as a prop, at least if anything happened, they’d have someone to look out for each other. Besides his basic Nut Wall, he had plenty of life-saving items, like the pouch, the Spirit Talisman, and the Wish Bottle.

In short, he still couldn’t feel at ease letting Shuixi go on this adventure alone.

He had a premonition that if he didn’t go with him, Shuixi would definitely act recklessly without a second thought.

Shuixi paused. In fact, Jian Xingyi’s premonition was spot on. The reason Shuixi had come up with such an idea was that, at his core, he was someone obsessed with extremes and thrills. In those few seconds of pushing the limits, letting himself go—whether it was an unrestrained burst of energy or a fierce battle—he could release everything.

Shuixi: “Wait for me down below.”

Jian Xingyi, usually mild-mannered and soft-spoken, suddenly became stubborn. He furrowed his brows and said, “I’m going. No discussion.”

Shuixi: “……”

Jian Xingyi said, “You’re not allowed to do anything reckless.”

“……”

In the end, Shuixi had no choice but to give in.

Jian Xingyi told the others about this.

“Once we’ve finished gathering the wood here, we’ll head to the next location together. You guys can gather resources nearby while we trigger an avalanche in our area. Once the avalanche is over, come over and reap the rewards!”

“Holy shit?”

“???”

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Is that even a thing??

Haihai asked worriedly, “Is that really feasible?”

An avalanche on the Thousand Bells Snow Mountain is no joke.

Lone Wolf added, “If you’re even a second too slow, you’ll be buried under the snow.”

Jian Xingyi said, “Don’t worry, Shuixi is here. Besides, letting you know is just an extra safety measure. If we really can’t make it out in time, I’ll send you a signal and our location. Remember to come dig us out.”

“……”

Oh, man.

Jian Xingyi smiled, “High risk, high reward.”

Everyone couldn’t help but feel even more curious.

To be so confident about doing something like this, Shuixi must be a big shot even stronger than the average T1 player, right?

But why haven’t we heard of this ID before?

However…

Lone Wolf glanced at the guild records. After their group had spent the entire afternoon gathering resources here with Jian Xingyi, the recorded amount of wood had changed again.

Wood: 25,100

And it had originally been only 17,100!

A whopping increase of over 8,000—compared to the guild’s total of just over 5,000 in the past ten days, it really was high risk, high reward! No wonder Jian Xingyi wanted to do this.

“Alright, we’ll keep an eye out for the signal,” Lone Wolf grinned, baring his teeth. “Go for it without worry! If you get buried, I’ll dig you out in a flash!”

Jian Xingyi: “Yay!”

“……” Haihai: “…Of course, try not to get buried if you can help it.”

After collecting all the wood, the total successfully skyrocketed to 29,000—like a rocket launch. Heiye and Baizhou were dumbfounded, and Akita was clamoring to join in.

The group then headed to another section of the coniferous forest. Everyone stayed behind to gather resources, while Shuixi studied the markings on the map, unfolding it and running his finger lightly along the mountain ranges.

Leaning against the motorcycle, Shuixi lowered his gaze, carefully calculating and making predictions, while Jian Xingyi sat quietly beside her, waiting.

After roughly determining the direction, Shuixi raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to come up with me? On foot.”

Shuixi pointed at the slope ahead.

To avoid operational errors, Shuixi needed to hike up the mountain to prevent accidental triggers. Only after confirming the snow conditions and direction would he ride his snowmobile down the slope, triggering an avalanche.

Jian Xingyi glanced at the towering slope.

Um…

Jian Xingyi swallowed hard. “I may be a noob, but my stamina has improved!”

He’d promised to accompany Shuixi up—he couldn’t go back on his word! If he didn’t follow, he feared Shuixi would go all out and come back covered in injuries.

Besides, Jian Xingyi was curious whether the essence values of the trees up there would be better; maybe there were even some rare and exotic plants.

As it turned out, Jian Xingyi wasn’t bragging. The two of them climbed step by step. Although Jian Xingyi was a little scared—he kept his eyes fixed on the snowy ground and breathed lightly to conserve energy—he managed to keep up.

Shuixi watched for a moment, then reached out and took Jian Xingyi’s hand, pulling him up with her.

Jian Xingyi froze, murmuring softly, “I thought you didn’t want to hold my hand anymore…”

Shuixi had been keeping his distance from him these past few days—could it be… that he didn’t like him anymore?

With his back to Jian Xingyi, Shuixi whispered, “It’s different now.”

They were climbing a mountain now; the situation was critical, so naturally, it was different from usual.

Jian Xingyi looked up. So did Shuixi actually dislike him? But that didn’t make sense—they’d always gotten along fine, and they hadn’t even argued.

Why had Shuixi suddenly changed his mind?

Besides, judging by the way Shuixi was acting toward him—other than keeping his distance—nothing else suggested she disliked him.

Jian Xingyi lowered his gaze.

At a certain altitude, the ground began to grow increasingly steep. The two used their walking sticks, driving one deep and the other shallow into the snow to gain leverage as they climbed.

Jian Xingyi felt his body tilting nearly 90 degrees. With one hand gripping the walking stick and the other holding onto Shuixi, he told himself not to be afraid—as long as he didn’t look back, everything would be fine.

As the slope grew steeper, Jian Xingyi’s pace slowed. Seeing the snow ahead become even more inclined, he hesitated, momentarily unsure where to place his feet.

Shuixi took two steps downward, walked over to Jian Xingyi’s side, wrapped an arm around his waist, and whispered, “Let’s go.”

Once they had successfully climbed to the top of the slope, Jian Xingyi froze for a moment. Above them, the trees were dense and the space narrow; further up lay an even steeper slope, but that was no longer their destination.

Shuixi took out his motorcycle and began looking for a suitable spot to slide down, while Jian Xingyi cast his skills around them.

【Collection Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x35】

【Collection Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x21】

【Collection Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x20】

……

Wow!

Although there aren’t many plants here, the essence values are so high!!

Ah! It really pays off to climb all the way up here!

Just as Jian Xingyi was feeling elated, she spotted a blue flower beneath a tree nearby.

This tiny flower was hidden away, yet its petals shimmered like crystal, and its shape resembled a lotus bud about to bloom.

What… is this?